Category Archives: Middle East and North Africa

‘Utter ruin’: Gaza economy would take 350 years to return to pre-conflict level, UN says

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Report says ‘intense military operations in Gaza have left unprecedented humanitarian, environmental and social catastrophe’

Gaza’s economy has been left in “utter ruin” by the year-long war between Israel and Hamas, and it would take 350 years to return to its pre-conflict levels, the United Nations has warned.

In a report on the economic costs of the war prepared by its trade and development wing (Unctad), the UN said the fighting since Hamas killed more than 1,000 Israelis on 7 October last year had devastated the remnants of Gaza’s economy and infrastructure.

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Blinken meets Netanyahu in renewed US push for Gaza ceasefire

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US secretary of state urges Israeli PM to capitalise on death of Hamas leader by securing release of hostages and ending conflict

The US secretary of state, Antony Blinken, has arrived in Israel to encourage efforts to revive the stalled Gaza ceasefire negotiations after Israel’s killing of the Hamas leader, Yahya Sinwar, last week.

Meeting the Israeli prime minister, Blinken urged Benjamin Netanyahu to capitalise on the death of the Hamas leader by securing the release of the 7 October attack hostages and ending the conflict in Gaza.

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FBI investigates intelligence leak of potential Israel plans to attack Iran

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John Kirby says Biden administration unsure if leak or hack led to secret documents appearing online on Telegram

The FBI has launched an investigation into the unauthorized release of classified documents describing Israel’s preparation for a potential retaliatory attack on Iran.

The White House national security spokesperson, John Kirby, said on Monday that the Biden administration was still not certain if the classified information was leaked or hacked but that officials did not have any indication at this point of “additional documents like this finding their way into the public domain”.

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US investigation of IDF unit over alleged abuse against Palestinians could jeopardize aid

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Nine members of Force 100 investigated over allegations of sexual assaulting prisoner at Sde Teiman detention camp

An Israeli military unit that has been accused of human rights abuses against Palestinian detainees is reportedly under investigation by the US state department in a move that could lead to it being barred from receiving assistance.

The inquiry into the activities of Force 100 was instigated following a spate of allegations that Palestinians held under its guard at a detention centre have been subject to torture and brutal mistreatment, including sexual assault, Axios reported on Monday.

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Israel claims Hezbollah bunker under Beirut hospital holds millions of dollars

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Sahel hospital evacuated despite Israel saying it would not attack it although at least four people died in nearby strikes

Israel has accused Hezbollah of keeping hundreds of millions of dollars in cash and gold in a bunker under a hospital in the southern suburbs of Beirut, though it said it would not strike the complex.

The Sahel hospital in Dahiyeh was evacuated shortly afterwards, and Fadi Alame, its director, told Reuters that the allegations were untrue.

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US ‘deeply concerned’ by intelligence leak over Israel plan to attack Iran

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Officials say no further leaks but investigation under way into how documents came to be published on Telegram

US government officials investigating the leak of two classified intelligence papers assessing Israel’s plans to attack Iran have said they did believe any more documents had been compromised.

However, the Biden administration remained “deeply disturbed” by the unauthorized release, John Kirby, the national security communications adviser, told reporters at a White House briefing on Monday.

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Israeli airstrikes on Lebanon hit branches of Hezbollah-linked bank

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Strikes targeted Al-Qard Al-Hassan buildings in Beirut’s southern suburbs, south Lebanon and the Bekaa valley

Israel carried out a series of airstrikes on the southern suburbs of Beirut, south Lebanon and the Bekaa valley early on Monday morning, hitting buildings belonging to the Hezbollah-run banking institution Al-Qard Al-Hassan.

At least 10 airstrikes were carried out in the southern suburbs of the capital, with an entire building collapsing and a jet of fire streaming into the air in the Chiyah neighbourhood. A building close to Lebanon’s only commercial airport was also struck, video footage showing a smoke plume billowing while a nearby plane sat on the runway.

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Network of Israeli citizens arrested after spying for Iran, police say

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Suspects are accused of photographing and collecting information about Israeli bases and facilities

Israeli police and the Shin Bet domestic intelligence agency say they have arrested a network of Israeli citizens spying for Iran who allegedly provided information on military bases and conducted surveillance of individuals.

The investigators claimed the network had been active for about two years. According to reports in the Israeli press, the suspects are accused of photographing and collecting information about Israeli bases and facilities, including the defence headquarters in Tel Aviv, known as the Kirya, and the Nevatim and Ramat David airbases.

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Top female footballers urge Fifa to end deal with Saudi ‘nightmare sponsor’

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Letter to governing body accuses Saudis of using sports to ‘distract from the regime’s brutal human rights reputation’

More than 100 professional female footballers have signed a letter calling on Fifa to end its sponsorship deal with the state-owned Saudi Arabian oil company, Aramco, accusing Saudi authorities of “brutal human rights violations”.

A four-year deal signed in April will see Aramco, which is 98.5% state-owned, sponsor major tournaments including the men’s World Cup in 2026 and the Women’s World Cup in 2027.

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Despair in Chad camps as violence and hunger in Sudan drive 25,000 across border in a week

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Warning of ‘lost generation’ in Adré and Farchana camps as Sudan’s civil war drives huge numbers across border

Refugees and aid agencies have warned of deteriorating conditions in overcrowded and severely underfunded camps in Chad, as intensifying violence and a hunger crisis in Sudan drive huge numbers across the border.

About 25,000 people – the vast majority women and children – crossed into eastern Chad in the first week of October, a record number for a single week in 2024. Chad, one of the world’s poorest countries, hosts 681,944 Sudanese refugees – the highest number globally.

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Palestinians describe being used as ‘human shields’ by Israeli troops in Gaza

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Detainees say they were sent into unexplored houses and tunnels before soldiers, in violation of Geneva conventions

After they burned down his family home in northern Gaza, Israeli troops separated Ramez al-Skafi from his family and detained him. They had a particular job in mind for him, he said.

For the next 11 days in early July, the 30-year-old Palestinian said he was sent into one house after another in his home district, Shuja’iya, watched by his Israeli military minders. According to the account he gave the Guardian, they turned him into a human shield against booby-traps and Hamas gunmen.

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Blasts heard across Beirut after Israel warns it will hit Hezbollah-linked finance group

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Hundreds evacuate after Israeli military says it will strike areas linked to Al-Qard Al-Hassan association, a US-sanctioned banking system

Hundreds of Beirut residents fled their homes on Sunday night as blasts were heard across its southern suburbs after Israel’s military said it was preparing strikes on branches of a banking system linked to Hezbollah, a further escalation of Israel’s nearly month-long war against the militant group.

Reuters witnesses saw dense plumes of black smoke billowing in the air in Lebanon’s capital after at least 10 blasts. Witnesses, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, said a building located in the Chiyah neighbourhood in the southern suburbs was reduced to rubble and the few people in the area had fled ahead of the explosion, resulting in no casualties.

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Israeli minister taking ‘legal measures’ against French arms fair ban

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Emmanuel Macron has banned Israeli companies from the Euronaval Salon defence fair in Paris next month

Israel’s foreign minister has announced he is taking “legal and diplomatic measures” against the decision by the French president, Emmanuel Macron, to ban Israeli companies from showing their wares at an arms fair in Paris next month.

Israel Katz described the “boycott” as an anti-democratic measure that was “not acceptable, especially between friendly nations”.

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Middle East crisis: UN special coordinator reports ‘widespread panic’ in Lebanon after evacuation orders– as it happened

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This blog is closing now. You can read our full report on the latest Israeli attacks on Lebanon here and our report on the latest Israeli attacks on Gaza here.

At least 42,603 Palestinian people have been killed and 99,795 injured in Israeli strikes on Gaza since 7 October 2023, the Gaza health ministry said in a statement on Sunday.

Of those, 84 Palestinians were killed in the latest 24-hour reporting period, according to the ministry, which has said in the past that thousands of other dead people are most likely lost in the rubble of the territory.

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‘You are next’: online posts show Islamic State interest in attacks on US ahead of election

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Internet chatter and Oklahoma arrest of alleged would-be IS attacker indicate terror group’s planning

After the FBI arrested an Afghan man in Oklahoma planning an election day shooting on behalf of the Islamic State, the terrorist organization re-entered what has become one of the most chaotic news cycles leading up to a November vote.

Nasir Ahmad Tawhedi, 27, of Oklahoma City admitted to investigators he and a co-conspirator expected to die as IS martyrs as they opened fire on crowds on election day, according to charging documents.

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More than 100 people killed in latest Israeli bombings in Gaza, say medics

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UN special coordinator says ‘nightmare in Gaza is intensifying’ and calls for immediate end to violence

At least 87 people have been killed or are missing and 40 injured after intense Israeli airstrikes overnight in the north of the Gaza Strip, part of the country’s ferocious renewed assault on the area, medics in the besieged Palestinian territory have said.

In the past 24 hours 108 people had been killed in bombings across the territory, according to local health officials on Sunday. “The nightmare in Gaza is intensifying. Horrifying scenes are unfolding in the northern strip amidst relentless Israeli strikes and an ever-worsening humanitarian crisis,” Tor Wennesland, the UN special coordinator for the Middle East peace process, said in a statement.

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Netanyahu’s house hit by drone as Israel and Hezbollah trade blows in Lebanon

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Shia group has not claimed responsibility for attack on PM’s home but says it fired several barrages of rockets

Benjamin Netanyahu’s house in the seaside town of Caesarea was hit by a drone on Saturday, causing superficial damage and no casualties, as Israel’s wars in Gaza and Lebanon rage unabated after the death of Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar.

The Israeli government said that one of the prime minister’s three homes was targeted by three drones, two of which were intercepted, and that neither Netanyahu nor his wife, Sara, were home at the time.

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Israel has its Bin Laden moment, but it can’t be sure killing Sinwar will see off Hamas | Jason Burke

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The history of ‘decapitation strategies’ tells us it is almost impossible to know what effect assassinating a key figure such as Yahya Sinwar will have

Israelis and others have ­welcomed the killing of Yahya Sinwar, the leader of Hamas and the ­master­mind of the 7 October 2023 attacks, as an “Osama bin Laden moment”. This reflects how many in Israel feel about the death of a man responsible for the ­murder of 1,200 people, mostly civilians and their compatriots, but ­terrorism experts have long debated the ­efficacy of eliminating the ­leaders of violent extremist groups, with some suggesting the strategy is counter-productive.

The truth is that no one is sure.

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‘All of this is to displace people’: Nabatieh reels from Israeli attacks on Lebanon

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Airstrikes Israel says are targeting Hezbollah have killed the city’s mayor as well as civil defence workers

Hussein Jaber, the head of Nabatieh’s civil defence station, picked his way through a mess of shattered concrete and twisted metal piled knee high, surveying what was left of the city’s Ottoman open-air market, built in 1910 and destroyed by Israeli airstrikes last Saturday.

“When we were kids, everyone would come here to buy their things. This market wasn’t just for Nabatieh, but for all the villages around,” said Jaber, 30, gesturing at the ruined promenade, still smoking five days later.

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Middle East crisis live: Death toll from Israeli strike on Beit Lahiya rises; Starmer ‘alarmed’ by attempt on Netanyahu’s life – as it happened

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At least 73 killed strike on northern Gaza, health ministry says, after drone attack on Netanyahu’s home. This blog is now closed.

Here are some of the latest images coming in via the news wires:

Naval drills hosted by Iran with the participation of Russia and Oman and observed by nine other countries began in the Indian Ocean on Saturday, Iran’s state TV said, according to Reuters.

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