Paramilitary attacks displace thousands in North Darfur

Paramilitary attacks displace thousands in North Darfur
Sudanese people who fled escalating violence in the Al-Jazira state are pictured at a camp for the displaced in the eastern city of Gedaref on November 23, 2024. (AFP/File)
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Updated 28 January 2025
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Paramilitary attacks displace thousands in North Darfur

Paramilitary attacks displace thousands in North Darfur

PORT SUDAN: Thousands of families fled their homes in Sudan’s North Darfur state over two days, the UN’s migration agency said on Tuesday, amid intensified attacks by paramilitary forces.

“Between 25 and 27 January 2025, an estimated 3,960 households were displaced from various villages across El-Fasher locality,” the International Organization for Migration said.

The paramilitary Rapid Support Forces — at war with the army since April 2023 — have captured every state capital in the vast western region of Darfur except for North Darfur capital El-Fasher, which they have besieged since May.

In its latest attempt to capture the city, the RSF last week issued an ultimatum demanding that army forces and their allies leave the city.

The IOM said the displacement occurred due to RSF attacks, which included reported incidents of “looting and burning of personal property.”

Army and allied forces have repeatedly repelled attacks by the paramilitary forces, who local activists said launched intense artillery shelling on residential neighborhoods in the city.

On Friday, a drone attack on the city’s only functioning hospital, which local monitors blamed on the RSF, killed 70 people, drawing condemnation from the UN.

Nearly 1.7 million people are displaced in North Darfur state alone, according to the UN, with an estimated two million experiencing extreme food insecurity and 320,000 in famine.

In the area around El-Fasher, famine has already taken hold in three displacement camps — Zamzam, Abu Shouk and Al-Salam — and is expected to expand to five more areas including the city itself by May, according to a UN-backed assessment.


Tens of thousands of Palestinians flee West Bank refugee camps

Tens of thousands of Palestinians flee West Bank refugee camps
Updated 11 sec ago
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Tens of thousands of Palestinians flee West Bank refugee camps

Tens of thousands of Palestinians flee West Bank refugee camps
  • The camps, built for descendants of Palestinian refugees who fled or were driven from their homes in the 1948 war around the creation of the state of Israel, have long been major centers for armed militant groups

JERUSALEM: Tens of thousands of Palestinians living in refugee camps in the occupied West Bank have left their homes as a weeks-long Israeli offensive has demolished houses and torn up vital infrastructure in the heavily built up townships, Palestinian authorities said.
Israeli forces began their operation in the refugee camp in the northern West Bank city of Jenin on Jan. 21, deploying hundreds of troops and bulldozers that demolished houses and dug up roads, driving almost all of the camp’s residents out.
“We don’t know what’s going on in the camp but there is continuous demolition and roads being dug up,” said Mohammed Al-Sabbagh, head of the Jenin camp services committee.
The operation, which Israel says is aimed at thwarting Iranian-backed militant groups in the West Bank, has since been extended to other camps, notably the Tulkarm refugee camp and the nearby Nur Shams camp, both of which have also been devastated. The camps, built for descendants of Palestinian refugees who fled or were driven from their homes in the 1948 war around the creation of the state of Israel, have long been major centers for armed militant groups. They have been raided repeatedly by the Israeli military but the current operation, which began as a ceasefire was agreed in Gaza, has been on an unusually large scale. According to figures from the Palestinian Authority, around 17,000 people have now left Jenin refugee camp, leaving the site almost completely deserted, while in Nur Shams 6,000 people, or about two thirds of the total, have left, with another 10,000 leaving from Tulkarm camp.
“The ones who are left are trapped,” said Nihad Al-Shawish, head of the Nur Shams camp services committee. “The Civil Defense, the Red Crescent and the Palestinian security forces brought them some food yesterday but the army is still bulldozing and destroying the camp.” The Israeli raids have demolished dozens of houses and torn up large stretches of roadway as well as cutting off water and power, but the military has denied forcing residents to leave their homes.
“People obviously have the possibility to move or go where they want, if they will. But if they don’t, they’re allowed to stay,” Lt. Col. Nadav Shoshani told reporters.
The operation began as Israel moved to banish the main UN Palestinian relief organization UNRWA from its headquarters in East Jerusalem and cut it off from any contact with Israeli officials.
The ban, which took effect at the end of January, has hit UNRWA’s work in the West Bank and Gaza, where it provides aid for millions of Palestinians in the refugee camps.
Israel has accused UNRWA of cooperating with Hamas and said some UNRWA workers even took part in the Hamas-led attack on communities in southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023 that set off the 15-month war in Gaza.

 


How Baghdad’s first skatepark reflects renewed focus on the aspirations of Iraqi youth 

How Baghdad’s first skatepark reflects renewed focus on the aspirations of Iraqi youth 
Updated 4 min 18 sec ago
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How Baghdad’s first skatepark reflects renewed focus on the aspirations of Iraqi youth 

How Baghdad’s first skatepark reflects renewed focus on the aspirations of Iraqi youth 
  • The park’s opening aligns with government efforts to engage youth, including job training programs and the creation of Iraq’s first Youth Advisory Council
  • Iraq has one of the world’s youngest populations, with more than 50 percent aged under 25, making youth-focused initiatives critical for stability and growth

DUBAI: In a city long defined by conflict and uncertainty, a new skatepark in Baghdad is giving young Iraqis a space to express themselves, find community, and momentarily escape the pressures of everyday life.

The project, funded by Germany and France and supported by the Iraqi Ministry of Youth and Sports, reflects a growing recognition of the need to invest in the country’s youth — many of whom have spent their entire lives navigating war, economic hardship, and political instability.

The skatepark, which opened on Feb. 1, is the first of its kind in the Iraqi capital. Located near Al-Shaab International Stadium and tucked away from public view, it offers a safe haven for skateboarders, BMX riders, and inline skaters of all skill levels.

It was built by Make Life Skate Life, a Belgian-American charity that has constructed similar facilities in Morocco, India, and in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq’s northern city of Sulaymaniyah.

“For five years, we tried to secure land for this project,” said Arne Hillernes, founder of Make Life Skate Life. “After witnessing scores of Iraqi youngsters drive six hours to Sulaymaniyah to enjoy the Suli Skatepark, I knew this was something that Baghdad needed.”

The skatepark, which opened on Feb. 1, offers a safe haven for skateboarders, BMX riders, and inline skaters of all skill levels. (AFP)

The new skatepark in Baghdad, which has been designated as the 2025 Arab Capital of Sports, is more than just ramps and rails — it represents a shift in how Iraq is catering to its younger generation.

The facility, which is free to use, provides a structured, creative outlet for young men and women in a country where public recreational spaces are limited.

For many Iraqi youth, years of war and economic struggle have left them with few opportunities. Poverty and joblessness remain significant challenges, while some young men face recruitment efforts from armed militias that promise income and status in exchange for allegiance.

For others, the daily stress of financial hardship at home is overwhelming.

“Sometimes I feel the need to escape my house,” Mehdi, a 17-year-old Baghdad local, told Arab News. “I take my younger brother with me as the situation at home can sometimes be tense. My parents don’t seem to mind. I think they believe it’s better we are out playing sports than causing trouble or pledging allegiance to one of the armed groups.”

Iraqi security forces deploy to disperse protesters during a demonstration against the government’s employment policy near the parliament building on June 7, 2022. (AFP)

The park’s appeal extends to female skaters as well, despite the lingering societal resistance to women in sports.

“Finding a place in Baghdad to build a free and public skatepark was incredibly challenging,” said Safeen Mohammed from Suli Skatepark. “It took more than five years of persistence, but finally the dream of hundreds of skaters living in Baghdad has come true. The skateboarding community in Iraq will grow from here.”

The launch of the skatepark comes at a crucial time, as Iraq’s government attempts to engage with its young population in more meaningful ways. The Ministry of Youth and Sports, which helped facilitate the project, has also been involved in initiatives aimed at improving employment prospects and civic engagement for young Iraqis.

Among these initiatives is the Job Search Club, a program launched in partnership with the UN’s International Labor Organization and Prospects, an initiative aimed at enhancing youth employability.

Additionally, the ministry has teamed up with the UN to establish Iraq’s first Youth Advisory Council, designed to ensure that young people have a voice in shaping government programs and policies.

The park’s appeal extends to female skaters as well, despite the lingering societal resistance to women in sports. (AFP)

Such efforts have been welcomed, particularly in the wake of the October 2019 protests, when thousands of young Iraqis took to the streets demanding reform.

Frustrated by high unemployment, corruption, and poor public services, these demonstrators faced violent crackdowns, with more than 500 people killed and thousands more injured.

Although the movement succeeded in forcing the resignation of former Prime Minister Adil Abdul-Mahdi and securing parliamentary seats for youth-driven political parties, many of the grievances that fueled the protests remain unresolved.

Iraq has one of the world’s youngest populations, with more than half of its 42 million people under the age of 25, according to the World Bank. Despite the country’s gradual economic recovery, opportunities for young people remain scarce, with unemployment at 14.2 percent.

The situation is further exacerbated by climate pressures, which have disrupted farming livelihoods, rising living costs, and a struggling education system.

In October 2019, frustrated by high unemployment, corruption, and poor public services, thousands of young Iraqis took to the streets demanding reform. (AFP)

For years, militia groups have sought to exploit this vulnerability, recruiting disillusioned young men with promises of stability, money, and respect. Iran-backed armed groups like Kataib Hezbollah and Harakat Al-Nujaba have been particularly notorious for such recruitment efforts.

The presence of a skatepark may seem like a small step in comparison to these challenges, but for many young Iraqis, it represents a much-needed alternative to a bleak and uncertain future.

“I think this is the first time I feel seen by the leaders in government,” said Mehdi. “Usually, we feel like ghosts in our own cities, but this time they have actually done something for us.”

At the skatepark’s opening, Ishtar Obaid, a member of Iraq’s Olympic Committee, highlighted its significance beyond sports.

“This will provide a safe and welcoming environment for all our youth to express themselves and engage in physical activity,” she said. “It represents more than just a place to skate — it is a space for creativity, connection, and hope.”

The presence of a skatepark may seem like a small step in comparison to these challenges, but for many young Iraqis, it represents a much-needed alternative to a bleak and uncertain future. (AFP)

Hillernes, reflecting on the project’s completion, believes the skatepark will be a launching pad for a new era of youth engagement in Iraq.

“Skateboarding is not just a sport. It builds community,” he said. “The more spaces we create like this, the more young people will have a reason to stay engaged in something positive.”

For Baghdad’s youth, this skatepark is not just a recreational facility — it is a symbol of possibility, a glimpse of a future where their needs are acknowledged, and their potential is nurtured.

As Iraq continues on its path toward stability and development, initiatives like this serve as a reminder that addressing the aspirations of young people is essential to securing a more peaceful and prosperous future for the country.

 


AI models supplied to Israel by tech giants contributed to deaths of innocent people

AI models supplied to Israel by tech giants contributed to deaths of innocent people
Updated 48 min 51 sec ago
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AI models supplied to Israel by tech giants contributed to deaths of innocent people

AI models supplied to Israel by tech giants contributed to deaths of innocent people
  • After a surprise attack by Hamas on Oct. 7, 2023, Israel’s use of Microsoft and OpenAI technology skyrocketed, an investigation found
  • The investigation also revealed new details of how AI systems select targets and ways they can go wrong, including faulty data or flawed algorithms

TEL AVIV: US tech giants have quietly empowered Israel to track and kill many more alleged militants more quickly in Gaza and Lebanon through a sharp spike in artificial intelligence and computing services. 

But the number of civilians killed has also soared, along with fears that these tools are contributing to the deaths of innocent people.

Militaries have for years hired private companies to build custom autonomous weapons. However, Israel’s recent wars mark a leading instance in which commercial AI models made in the US have been used in active warfare, despite concerns that they were not originally developed to help decide who lives and who dies.

The Israeli military uses AI to sift through vast troves of intelligence, intercepted communications and surveillance to find suspicious speech or behavior and learn the movements of its enemies. 

After a surprise attack by Hamas militants on Oct. 7, 2023, its use of Microsoft and OpenAI technology skyrocketed, an investigation found.

The investigation also revealed new details of how AI systems select targets and ways they can go wrong, including faulty data or flawed algorithms. 

It was based on internal documents, data and exclusive interviews with current and former Israeli officials and company employees.

Israel’s goal after the attack that killed about 1,200 people and took over 250 hostages was to eradicate Hamas, and its military has called AI a “game changer” in yielding targets more swiftly. 

Since the war started, more than 70,000 people have died in Gaza and Lebanon and nearly 70 percent of the buildings in Gaza have been devastated, according to health ministries in Gaza and Lebanon.

“This is the first confirmation we have gotten that commercial AI models are directly being used in warfare,” said Heidy Khlaaf, chief AI scientist at the AI Now Institute and former senior safety engineer at OpenAI. 

“The implications are enormous for the role of tech in enabling this type of unethical and unlawful warfare going forward.”

Among US tech firms, Microsoft has had an especially close relationship with the Israeli military spanning decades.

Israel’s war response strained its own servers and increased its reliance on outside, third-party vendors, according to a presentation last year by Col. Racheli Dembinsky, the military’s top information technology officer. 

As she described how AI had provided Israel “very significant operational effectiveness” in Gaza, the logos of Microsoft Azure, Google Cloud and Amazon Web Services appeared on a large screen behind her.


Palestinians to decide Gaza future: Qatar

Palestinians to decide Gaza future: Qatar
Updated 54 min 29 sec ago
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Palestinians to decide Gaza future: Qatar

Palestinians to decide Gaza future: Qatar

DOHA: Qatar, a key mediator in the Gaza conflict, said on Tuesday that Palestinians — not outsiders — must decide the territory’s future after the Israel-Hamas war.

Foreign Ministry spokesman Majed Al-Ansari told a Doha news conference that the issue was “a Palestinian question,” after Israel insisted on removing Hamas and the US proposed taking over the territory.

“From our perspective, this is a Palestinian question on what happens post this conflict,” said Ansari when asked about Israel’s stated objective to eliminate Hamas.

“It is a Palestinian question on who represents the Palestinians in an official capacity and also the political groups and parties in the political sphere,” he said.

Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar said earlier on Tuesday that negotiations for the next phase of the Gaza ceasefire, which Qatar helped broker, would begin this week.

The second phase of the truce is meant to facilitate the release of all remaining hostages seized during Hamas’s Oct. 7, 2023 attack that sparked the war.

Saar said Israel demanded the “complete demilitarization of Gaza” and would “not accept the continued presence of Hamas or any other terrorist groups” in the territory, ruled by Hamas since 2007.

More hostage-prisoner exchanges are expected before the end of the first phase, which has also allowed humanitarian aid into besieged Gaza.

Hamas however has accused Israel of blocking the entry of prefabricated structures and heavy machinery to clear rubble.

Ansari, the Qatari spokesman, said that “the aid that enters the Gaza Strip today is insufficient.

“Using humanitarian aid as a bargaining chip in negotiations is a crime in and of itself.”


Beirut airport to close Sunday during funeral of slain Hezbollah leader

Beirut airport to close Sunday during funeral of slain Hezbollah leader
Updated 18 February 2025
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Beirut airport to close Sunday during funeral of slain Hezbollah leader

Beirut airport to close Sunday during funeral of slain Hezbollah leader
  • “The airport will be closed, and takeoffs and landings... will halt on February 23, 2025, from 12:00 p.m. (1000 GMT) until 4:00 pm,” the authority said
  • Qassem at the weekend called for broad participation as a demonstration of the group’s strength

BEIRUT: Beirut airport will close for four hours on Sunday during the funeral of slain Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah, Lebanon’s civil aviation authority has announced.
“The airport will be closed, and takeoffs and landings... will halt on February 23, 2025, from 12:00 p.m. (1000 GMT) until 4:00 pm,” the authority said in a statement carried by official media on Tuesday.
Nasrallah was killed in a huge Israeli air strike on Beirut’s southern suburbs on September 27, as Israel scaled up its campaign against the Iran-backed group following almost a year of cross-border hostilities.
Sunday’s funeral will also be for Hashem Safieddine, a senior Hezbollah figure who had been chosen to succeed Nasrallah, before he too was killed in an Israeli raid in October.
The funeral is to begin at 1:00 p.m. at a sports stadium in Beirut’s southern suburbs, a Hezbollah stronghold.
It will include a speech by current Hezbollah chief Naim Qassem, and is to be followed by a procession to Nasrallah’s burial site.
Iranian foreign ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei said on Monday that Iran “will participate in this ceremony at a high level,” without specifying who would attend.
Qassem at the weekend called for broad participation as a demonstration of the group’s strength.
“We want to transform this funeral into a show of support and an affirmation of (Hezbollah’s) plan and approach, and hold our heads high,” Qassem said.
After decades at the helm of the group once seen as invincible, the killing of the charismatic Nasrallah sent shock waves across Lebanon and the wider region.
Hezbollah has said 79 countries would be involved in the commemoration, whether at an official or “popular” level.
Earlier this month in a security alert about the funeral, the US embassy urged its nationals to avoid the area “which includes the airport.”
Qassem has said Nasrallah would be buried on the outskirts of Beirut “in a plot of land we chose between the old and new airport roads.”
Safieddine will be buried in his hometown of Deir Qanun in southern Lebanon, he added.
Nasrallah had been temporarily buried elsewhere because of security concerns, Qassem said, and the group had also put off the public funeral for security reasons.
A November 27 ceasefire deal put a halt to two months of all-out war between Israel and Hezbollah that saw the group weakened and numerous senior commanders killed.