JERUSALEM: The Israeli military is checking whether senior Hamas militant Marwan Issa was killed in an air strike in Gaza this week, Israeli newspaper Haaretz reported on Monday.
The Israeli military did not immediately confirm the report, which said a site in central Gaza’s Nusseirat was struck two days ago, based on intelligence that Issa, believed to be the second-in-command of Hamas’ armed wing, was there.
Hamas did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the Israeli newspaper report.
Issa is at the top of Israel’s most-wanted list, together with Mohammed Deif, the head of Hamas’ military wing the Izz el-Deen Al-Qassam Brigades, and Hamas’ leader in Gaza, Yahya Sinwar, who are believed to have masterminded the group’s Oct. 7 attack on southern Israel that triggered the Gaza war.
If confirmed, his death could complicate efforts to secure a Gaza ceasefire and hostage release deal in negotiations that have already stalled.
Hamas-linked website warns Palestinians not to work with Israel’
A Hamas-linked website on Monday warned Palestinian individuals or groups against co-operating with Israel to provide security for aid convoys amid the five-month-old war in the Gaza Strip.
Those who did would be treated as collaborators and be handled with an iron fist, the Hamas Al-Majd security website said, quoting a security official in Palestinian militant forces.
The warning came in response to Israeli media reports that Israel was considering arming some Palestinian individuals or clans in Gaza to provide security protection for aid convoys into the besieged enclave as part of wider planning for humanitarian supplies after the fighting ends.
The Israeli Prime Minister’s office has declined to comment on the report, which came a week after dozens of Palestinians were killed in an incident in which crowds surrounded a convoy of aid trucks entering northern Gaza and troops opened fire.
“The occupation’s attempt to communicate with the leaders and clans of some families to operate within the Gaza Strip is considered direct collaboration with the occupation and is a betrayal of the nation that we will not tolerate,” the website said, quoting the official.
“The occupation’s (Israel) efforts to establish bodies to manage Gaza are a ‘failed conspiracy’ that will not materialize.”
With civil order increasingly strained in Hamas-run Gaza and police refusing to provide security to convoys because of the risk of being targeted by Israeli forces, the issue of secure distribution of desperately needed food and other supplies has become a major problem.
Gaza has several large traditional family clans, affiliated with political factions including Hamas and Fatah, the rival group that dominates the Palestinian Authority in the occupied West Bank. Some of those clans are believed to be well-armed and there has been no indication that they would consider working with Israel.
Responding to plans by the European Union and the United States to create a sea corridor to send aid ships to the enclave, senior Hamas official Basem Naim said it was a “positive” step but the world should have rather acted to end the war.
“Ensuring all the needs of the population in the Gaza Strip are met is not a favor from anyone; it is a guaranteed right under international humanitarian law even during times of war,” Naim told Reuters.
“If the US administration is serious about solving the humanitarian crisis, the easiest and shortest path is to stop using veto power to allow a ceasefire to be reached, and to compel Israel to open all land crossings and allow entry of all required aid,” Naim said.
Israel checking if top Hamas militant killed in air strike, Haaretz newspaper reports
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Israel checking if top Hamas militant killed in air strike, Haaretz newspaper reports
- Marwan Issa believed to be the second-in-command of Hamas’ armed wing reported killed in an air strike in Gaza this week
Macron says stance on Israel must ‘harden’ unless Gaza situation improves
- French leader says in Singapore that action needed “in the next few hours and days”
- He also asserted recognition of a Palestinian state with conditions was “not only a moral duty, but a political necessity”
With international pressure mounting on Israel over the deepening hunger crisis in Gaza, Macron said action was needed “in the next few hours and days.” He also asserted recognition of a Palestinian state with conditions was “not only a moral duty, but a political necessity.”
Paramilitaries claim capture of key Sudan towns
- For more than two years Africa’s third-largest country has been engulfed by a war between the army and the paramilitary forces
- The war has killed tens of thousands of people, displaced 13 million and created was described as the world’s worst humanitarian crisis
PORT SUDAN, Sudan: Paramilitary forces fighting Sudan’s military have said they captured two strategic towns in the war-ravaged nation, which has been hit by a cholera outbreak that killed 70 people in the capital this week.
For more than two years Africa’s third-largest country has been engulfed by a war between the army, led by the nation’s de facto ruler, General Abdel Fattah Al-Burhan, and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF).
The surge in cholera infections comes weeks after drone strikes blamed on the RSF knocked out water and electricity supplies across the capital Khartoum, which now faces a mounting health emergency.
The RSF announced Thursday that its forces had retaken the key towns of Dibeibat, in South Kordofan state, and Al-Khoei, in West Kordofan state, which border South Sudan.
“The liberation of Dibeibat, followed by Al-Khoei, not only means a field victory; it also consolidates the complete control of the RSF over most of the Kordofan region,” an RSF spokesman said in a statement.
Al-Khoei, located around 100 kilometers (62 miles) from El-Obeid — a crossroads between Khartoum and the Darfur region — had been briefly recaptured by the army this month.
Residents confirmed to AFP that Dibeibat, which links the states of North and South Kordofan, was now under RSF control.
The conflict has effectively split Sudan in two: the army controls the center, east and north of the country, while paramilitaries hold almost all of Darfur in the west and parts of the south.
The war has killed tens of thousands of people, displaced 13 million and created what the United Nations has described as the world’s worst humanitarian crisis.
Last week, the military-backed government said it had dislodged RSF fighters from their last bases in Khartoum state, two months after retaking the heart of the capital from the paramilitaries.
Khartoum has been a battleground throughout the war and remains devastated, with health and sanitation infrastructure barely functioning.
Up to 90 percent of hospitals in the conflict’s main battlegrounds have been forced out of service by the fighting.
Now the capital is facing a major health crisis.
A cholera outbreak claimed 70 lives on Tuesday and Wednesday, the health ministry for Khartoum state said Thursday.
Health officials also recorded more than 2,100 new infections over the same two days.
But the UN’s humanitarian agency, OCHA, said it is “difficult to assess the true scale of the outbreak” with “significant discrepancies” in official data.
The federal health ministry reported 172 deaths in the week to Tuesday, 90 percent of them in Khartoum state.
Authorities said 89 percent of patients in isolation centers are recovering, but warn that deteriorating environmental conditions are driving a surge in cases.
Cholera vaccinations have begun in Jebel Awila, the hardest-hit district in Khartoum, UN chief Antonio Guterres’s spokesman said Thursday.
Meanwhile the World Health Organization had delivered more than 22 metric tons of cholera and emergency health supplies, spokesman Stephane Dujarric said.
Cholera is endemic to Sudan, but outbreaks have become worse and more frequent since the war broke out.
Since August, health authorities have recorded more than 65,000 cases and over 1,700 deaths across 12 of Sudan’s 18 states.
“Sudan is on the brink of a full-scale public health disaster,” said Eatizaz Yousif, the International Rescue Committee’s Sudan director.
“The combination of conflict, displacement, destroyed critical infrastructure and limited access to clean water is fueling the resurgence of cholera and other deadly diseases.”
Aid agencies warn that without urgent action, the spread of disease is likely to worsen with the arrival of the rainy season next month, which severely limits humanitarian access.
Sudan’s government also faces US sanctions over allegations by Washington that the Sudanese military used chemical weapons last year in its war against the RSF.
On Thursday, Sudan’s foreign ministry announced the creation of a national committee to investigate the charge, while expressing its “disbelief in the validity of the US administration’s accusations.”
US proposes 60-day ceasefire for Gaza, plan shows
- The plan is guaranteed by US President Donald Trump and mediators Egypt and Qatar: document
A US plan for Gaza seen by Reuters on Friday proposes a 60-day ceasefire and the release of 28 Israeli hostages alive and dead in the first week and the release of 125 Palestinian prisoners sentenced to life and the remains of 180 dead Palestinians.
The plan, which says it is guaranteed by US President Donald Trump and mediators Egypt and Qatar, includes sending aid to Gaza as soon as Hamas signs off on the ceasefire agreement.
The plan stipulates that Hamas will release the last 30 hostages once a permanent ceasefire is in place.
The White House said on Thursday that Israel has agreed to the US ceasefire proposal.
The Palestinian militant group Hamas told Reuters it was reviewing the plan and will respond on Friday or Saturday.
Deep differences between Hamas and Israel have stymied previous attempts to restore a ceasefire that broke down in March.
Israel has insisted that Hamas disarm completely and be dismantled as a military and governing force and that all 58 hostages still held in Gaza must be returned before it will agree to end the war.
Hamas has rejected the demand to give up its weapons and says Israel must pull its troops out of Gaza and commit to ending the war.
Israel launched its campaign in Gaza in response to the devastating Hamas attack in southern Israel on October 7, 2023, that killed some 1,200 people and saw 251 Israelis taken hostage into Gaza, according to Israeli tallies.
The subsequent Israeli military campaign has killed more than 54,000 Palestinians, Gaza health officials say, and left the enclave in ruins.
Dua Lipa, public figures urge UK to end Israel arms sales
- Actors, musicians, activists appeal to PM to ‘end Britain’s complicity in horrors in Gaza’
LONDON: Pop star Dua Lipa joined some 300 UK celebrities in signing an open letter on Thursday urging Britain to halt arms sales to Israel, after similar pleas from lawyers and writers.
Actors, musicians, activists, and other public figures wrote the letter calling on Prime Minister Keir Starmer to “end the UK’s complicity in the horrors in Gaza.”
British Albanian pop sensation Dua Lipa has been vocal about the war in Gaza and last year criticized Israel’s offensive as a “genocide.”
Other signatories include actors Benedict Cumberbatch, Tilda Swinton, and Riz Ahmed, as well as musicians Paloma Faith, Annie Lennox, and
Massive Attack.
“You can’t call it ‘intolerable’ and keep sending arms,” read the letter to Labour leader Starmer, organized by Choose Love, a UK-based humanitarian aid and refugee advocacy charity.
Sports broadcaster Gary Lineker, who stepped down from his role at the BBC after a social media post that contained anti-Semitic imagery, also signed the letter.
Signatories urged the UK to ensure “full humanitarian access across Gaza,” broker an “immediate and permanent ceasefire,” and “immediately suspend” all arms sales to Israel.
“The children of Gaza cannot wait another minute. Prime Minister, what will you choose? Complicity in war
crimes, or the courage to act?,” the letter continued.
Earlier this month, Starmer slammed Israel’s “egregious” renewed military offensive in Gaza and promised to take “further concrete actions” if it did not stop — without detailing what the actions could be.
Last September, the UK government suspended 30 out of 350 arms export licenses to Israel, saying there was a “clear risk” they could be used to breach humanitarian law.
Global outrage has grown after Israel ended a ceasefire in March and stepped up military operations this month, killing thousands of people in a span of two months, according to figures by the Health Ministry.
The humanitarian situation has also sparked alarm and fears of starvation after a two-month blockade on aid entering the devastated territory.
Over 800 UK lawyers, including Supreme Court justices, and some 380 British and Irish writers warned of Israel committing a “genocide” in Gaza in open letters this week.
Israel’s military offensive launched in response to the October 2023 attack has killed 54,084, mostly civilians, in Gaza according to its health ministry, displaced nearly the entire population and ravaged swaths of the besieged strip.
Lebanon takes border measures in coordination with Damascus to curb smuggling
- Discussed developments on the Lebanon-Syria border and ways to enhance cooperation to control it and prevent smuggling operations
- UNIFIL commander says situation along the Blue Line is tense as ‘violations’ continue
BEIRUT: Lebanese and Syrian delegations met in Damascus this week to discuss procedures for controlling cross-border smuggling, especially drug trafficking.
The Syrian Interior Ministry announced that both sides discussed developments on the Lebanon-Syria border and ways to enhance cooperation to control it and prevent smuggling operations.
It said that Maj. Gen. Ahmed Latouf, assistant minister for police affairs, on Tuesday evening met with a Lebanese army delegation headed by Brig. Gen. Michel Boutros.
Chief of the Syrian army’s general staff, Maj. Gen. Ali Al-Naasan and Boutros had previously held a meeting to enhance military coordination between the two countries.
In a statement released by the Syrian Arab News Agency, the interior ministry said the meeting between Naasan and Boutros was part of a series of ongoing discussions between them.
According to the release, the chief of operations in Syria also attended the talks.
A Lebanese military source said that the Lebanese army was enhancing its presence along the land border with Syria and maintaining strict control over areas known for smuggling, noting that similar measures were being taken on the Syrian side.
Two days ago, Hamish Cowell, the UK ambassador to Lebanon, said on X that he had visited the eastern border of Lebanon with Syria the previous week. During his visit, he observed how the Lebanese army’s new forward operating bases supported counter-smuggling efforts and improved border security.
The ambassador commended the soldiers of the Land Border Regiment for their efforts in defending Lebanon, emphasizing that UK support is ongoing.
The UK had previously provided watchtowers to help secure the borders.
The Lebanese army command had clarified to the Syrian side that the watchtowers were to monitor the border, prevent the infiltration of terrorists, and control the smuggling of people, drugs, weapons, and contraband from and into Lebanon.
The army added that equipment installed in the towers was exclusively connected to the Lebanese military command and that cameras were aimed to monitor Lebanese rather than Syrian territory.
The purpose was to observe the movement of people and vehicles outside official border crossings and to prevent infiltration and smuggling activities on the Lebanese side of the border.
Lebanon shares a border with Syria that extends over 350 kilometers, threading through towns, villages, rugged terrain, and mountainous areas.
Much of this border is unmarked, allowing for the smuggling of people, goods, fuel, weapons, ammunition, wanted individuals, and stolen vehicles.
Hezbollah manages dozens of crossings, because the areas around these crossings are supportive environments for the party.
The Lebanese government has identified 136 illegal border crossings between Lebanon and Syria, a number that increased during the Syrian war. In comparison, there are only six official border crossings between the two countries, which are in the northern and eastern regions.
The Army Command announced on Thursday, the day after the Damascus meeting, that it had thwarted an attempt to smuggle a large quantity of drugs and fuel in the area between Yahfoufa and Baalbek. Nine suspects were arrested.
Army units detained 26 Syrians illegally present in the Bekaa region, along with a Lebanese citizen in the Arsal-Baalbek highlands who was trying to smuggle fuel and other materials.
On Lebanon’s southern border, Israeli breaches of Lebanese sovereignty continued.
Israeli army spokesperson Avichay Adraee said on his X account that an air force aircraft struck the Mount Shaqif area, eliminating a Hezbollah operative in southern Lebanon.
The operative was reportedly attempting to reconstruct a site that had previously been used by Hezbollah for fire control and defense.
He said such activity at the site constituted a violation of the understanding between Israel and Lebanon and has been targeted several times in recent weeks.
Adraee said that the army would continue to act to eliminate any threat to Israel.
The warning came as the Lebanese Ministry of Health confirmed the death of “a martyr in an Israeli drone strike … in Nabatieh Al-Fawqa.”
Maj. Gen. Aroldo Lazaro Saenz, the head of mission and force commander of UNIFIL, said that the situation along the Blue Line is tense as a result of ongoing violations and significant risks, and any mistake could lead to serious consequences.
On International Day of UN Peacekeepers, he said: “We welcome the calm that has prevailed since November, but weapons still roar and the challenges remain significant.”
Israeli forces, which still occupy five hills in the Lebanese border area, advanced on Monday night toward Mays Al-Jabal in a serious land breach and set up earthen barriers in the area.
The Lebanese army contacted the five-member committee overseeing the ceasefire agreement and then the next day proceeded to remove the newly erected barrier.
