Sudan’s military accepts UN proposal of a weeklong ceasefire in El Fasher for aid distribution
Sudan’s military accepts UN proposal of a weeklong ceasefire in El Fasher for aid distribution/node/2606121/middle-east
Sudan’s military accepts UN proposal of a weeklong ceasefire in El Fasher for aid distribution
UNICEF said earlier this year that an estimated 61,800 children have been internally displaced since the Sudan war began. (WFP via AP)
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Updated 28 June 2025
AP
Sudan’s military accepts UN proposal of a weeklong ceasefire in El Fasher for aid distribution
Sudan plunged into war in April 2023 when simmering tensions between the Sudanese army and the rival RSF escalated into battles
The war has also driven more than 14 million people from their homes and pushed parts of the country into famine
Updated 28 June 2025
AP
CAIRO: Sudan’s military agreed to a proposal from the United Nations for a weeklong ceasefire in El Fasher to facilitate UN aid efforts to the area, the army said Friday.
UN Secretary-General António Guterres called Sudanese military leader Gen. Abdel-Fattah Burhan and asked him for the humanitarian truce in El Fasher, the capital of North Darfur province, to allow aid delivery.
Burhan agreed to the proposal and stressed the importance of implementing relevant UN Security Council resolutions, but it’s unknown whether the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces would agree and comply with the ceasefire.
“We are making contacts with both sides with that objective, and that was the fundamental reason for that phone contact. We have a dramatic situation in El Fasher,” Guterres told reporters on Friday.
No further details were revealed about the specifics of the ceasefire, including when it could go into effect.
Sudan plunged into war in April 2023 when simmering tensions between the Sudanese army and the rival RSF escalated into battles in the capital, Khartoum, and spread across the country, killing more than 20,000 people.
The war has also driven more than 14 million people from their homes and pushed parts of the country into famine. UNICEF said earlier this year that an estimated 61,800 children have been internally displaced since the war began.
Guterres said on Friday that a humanitarian truce is needed for effective aid distribution, and it must be agreed upon several days in advance to prepare for a large-scale delivery in the El Fasher area, which has seen repeated waves of violence recently.
El-Fasher, more than 800 kilometers southwest of Khartoum, is under the control of the military. The RSF has been trying to capture El Fasher for a year to solidify its control over the entire Darfur region. The paramilitary’s attempts included launching repeated attacks on the city and two major famine-stricken displacement camps on its outskirts.
SHARJAH: The two-day 14th edition of the International Government Communication Forum began here Wednesday with experts and thought leaders expected to discuss topics including food security, public health, education, environmental sustainability, and the green economy.
Launched in 2012 by the Sharjah Government Media Bureau, the IGCF’s theme this year is “Communication for Quality of Life” and features 237 speakers from across the globe.
In terms of food security, experts will discuss how governments can deal with this issue in times of crisis.
Several businesspeople, officials and academics will participate in sessions on Wednesday including Microsoft’s Chief Partnership Officer Sherif Tawfik, Purdue University’s Center for Global Food Security Managing Director Gary Burniske, and the International Center for Biosaline Agriculture’s Director-General Tarifa Ajeif Alzaabi.
Israel doesn’t ‘always act in interests of the US’, ambassador says after Qatar strikes
Israel’s UN envoy on Wednesday said his country does not always act in the interests of its ally the United States, after Israeli strikes targeting Hamas leaders in Qatar
Updated 10 September 2025
AFP
JERUSALEM: Israel’s UN envoy on Wednesday said his country does not always act in the interests of its ally the United States, after Israeli strikes targeting Hamas leaders in Qatar drew a rare rebuke from President Donald Trump.
The White House on Tuesday said Trump did not agree with Israel’s decision to take military action on the US ally’s soil and had warned Qatar in advance of the incoming strikes.
But Qatar, which hosts a large US military base and is the venue of repeated rounds of Gaza peace talks, said it had not received the warning from Washington until the deadly attack was already under way.
“We don’t always act in the interests of the United States. We are coordinated, they give us incredible support, we appreciate that, but sometimes we make decisions and inform the United States,” Israel’s UN ambassador Danny Danon told an Israeli radio station.
“It was not an attack on Qatar; it was an attack on Hamas. We are not against Qatar, nor against any Arab country, we are currently against a terrorist organization,” he said.
Palestinian militant group Hamas said six people were killed in the strikes, including a son of its top negotiator, but that its senior leaders had survived. Qatar said one of its security officers also died.
Danon said Israel was “still waiting for the results” of the operation.
“It is too early to comment on the outcome, but the decision is the right one,” he added.
Top officials with Hamas and its allies killed by Israel over the past 2 years
Yahya Sinwar, Hamas’ leader in the Gaza Strip, who masterminded the Oct. 7 attack on Israel, was killed by Israeli troops on Oct. 16, 2024
Mohammed Sinwar, believed to be the head of Hamas’ armed wing, was killed by an Israeli strike on May 13, 2025, in the Gaza Strip. He was the younger brother of Yahya Sinwar
Updated 10 September 2025
AP
BEIRUT: Israel has killed multiple senior officials with Hamas and its regional allies since the deadly Oct. 7, 2023, attack by Hamas-led militants in southern Israel that triggered the war in Gaza.
On Tuesday, Israel struck the energy-rich nation of Qatar, which has been mediating ceasefire negotiations between Israel and Hamas. Israel targeted a gathering of Hamas political leaders who were discussing the latest ceasefire proposal in Doha.
Hamas said in a statement that six people were killed, but that all of the targeted officials survived.
Hezbollah leader Sheik Hassan Nasrallah speaks to the crowd in a rare public appearance in the suburbs of Beirut on Nov. 14, 2013. (AP)
From Gaza to Lebanon to Iran, Israel has killed leaders with Hamas, Hezbollah, the Houthis and Iranian military leaders. Here is a list of top officials who have been assassinated by Israel during the war: Saleh Arouri
The deputy political head of Hamas and a founder of the group’s military wing, Saleh Arouri was killed Jan. 2, 2024, in a drone strike in a southern suburb of Beirut. Accused of masterminding attacks against Israel in the West Bank, Arouri was in Israel’s sights for years, and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu threatened to kill him even before Hamas carried out the Oct. 7 attack. Mohammed Deif
An Israeli airstrike on a compound on the outskirts of Khan Younis in southern Gaza killed the head of Hamas’ military wing, Mohammed Deif, on July 13, 2024. More than 90 other people, including displaced civilians in nearby tents, also died. Deif was believed to be one of the masterminds of the Oct. 7 attack and a founder of the Qassam Brigades, Hamas’ military wing. He led suicide bombing campaigns against Israeli civilians and built up a formidable arsenal of rockets used to strike into Israel. For years, he topped Israel’s most-wanted list. Fouad Shukur
An Israeli airstrike on a southern suburb of Beirut killed Hezbollah’s top military commander Fouad Shukur, on July 30, 2024. The secretive Shukur was in charge of Hezbollah’s forces in southern Lebanon and was a top official in its missile program. Shukur, who was a member of Hezbollah’s top military body, the Jihadi Council, was accused by the United States of planning and carrying out the truck bombing of a Marine Corps barracks in Beirut that killed 241 American service members. He was the first high-ranking Hezbollah leader to be killed. Ismail Haniyeh
On July 31, 2024, just hours after the strike that killed Shukur, Hamas’ top political leader, Ismail Haniyeh, was killed in a predawn strike in the Iranian capital of Tehran. Israel had pledged to kill the 62-year-old Haniyeh and other Hamas leaders over the Oct. 7 attack. The strike came just after Haniyeh attended the inauguration of Iran’s new president. Hassan Nasrallah
Israeli airstrikes on Beirut’s southern suburbs killed Hezbollah’s longtime leader and one of its founders, Hassan Nasrallah, on Sept. 27, 2024. An astute strategist, the 64-year-old Nasrallah reshaped Hezbollah into an archenemy of Israel, cementing alliances with Shiite religious leaders in Iran and Palestinian militant groups such as Hamas. Under his leadership, Hezbollah fought wars against Israel and sided with President Bashar Assad during the conflict in neighboring Syria. Nabil Kaouk
The deputy head of Hezbollah’s Central Council, Nabil Kaouk, was killed in an Israeli airstrike south of Beirut a day after Nasrallah. He joined the militant group in its early days in the 1980s. Kaouk also served as Hezbollah’s military commander in south Lebanon from 1995 until 2010. He made several media appearances and gave speeches to supporters, including at funerals for Hezbollah militants. He was seen as a potential successor to Nasrallah. Hashem Safieddine
Israeli airstrikes on a Beirut suburb killed Hezbollah’s new leader, Hashem Safieddine, on Oct. 3, 2024, days after he replaced his predecessor, Hassan Nasrallah. A familiar face in Lebanon and a leader with close ties to Iran, he was a member of the group’s decision-making Shoura Council and its Jihad Council, which acts as its military command. He also headed its Executive Council, which runs schools and social programs. Safieddine was a maternal cousin of Nasrallah. Yahya Sinwar
Yahya Sinwar, Hamas’ leader in the Gaza Strip, who masterminded the Oct. 7 attack on Israel, was killed by Israeli troops on Oct. 16, 2024. Israel had vowed to kill Sinwar since the attack on southern Israel that triggered the ongoing war, but his death finally came about in a chance encounter. Israeli soldiers killed him inside a building in the southern city of Rafah in the Gaza Strip, not knowing his identity until after his body was found. Mohammad Sinwar
Mohammed Sinwar, believed to be the head of Hamas’ armed wing, was killed by an Israeli strike on May 13, 2025, in the Gaza Strip. He was the younger brother of Yahya Sinwar. Hossein Salami
A wave of Israeli strikes on different parts of Iran killed several top officials with Iran’s military and the main paramilitary force on June 13, 2025. Among the high-level military officials killed was Gen. Hossein Salami, the head of Iran’s Revolutionary Guard. Ahmed Al-Rahawi
The prime minister of the Houthi rebel-controlled government, Ahmed Al-Rahawi, died in Israeli airstrikes on Yemen’s capital of Sanaa on Aug. 28, 2025. He was the most senior Houthi official to be killed since an Israeli-US campaign against the militant group started earlier this year. Abu Obeida
Israel said one of its airstrikes in Gaza on Aug. 30, 2025, killed the longtime spokesperson for Hamas’ armed wing, whom it identified as Hudahaifa Kahlout. Israel had said that Kahlout, who was better known by his nom de guerre, Abu Obeida, was behind the release of videos showing hostages as well as footage of the Hamas-led attack that sparked the war.
Gaza aid flotilla activists say second boat hit by suspected drone
The incident comes a day after the activists said one of their boats was hit by a similar suspected UAV off the coast of Sidi Bou Said, but Tunisian authorities said “no drones” had been detected
The flotilla is an international initiative seeking to break Israel’s naval blockade and deliver humanitarian aid to war-torn Gaza using civilian boats supported by delegations from 44 countries
Updated 10 September 2025
AFP
SIDI BOU SAID, Tunisia: Organizers of a Gaza-bound flotilla carrying aid and pro-Palestinian activists said late Tuesday that another of their boats had been struck in a suspected drone attack off Tunisia’s coast.
Aiming to break Israel’s blockade of Gaza, the flotilla was due to resume its voyage on Wednesday after being delayed multiple times by weather conditions and other issues.
“Second night, second drone attack,” Melanie Schweizer, one of its coordinators, told AFP.
The British-flagged Alma was docked in Tunisian waters on Tuesday, when it was “attacked” and “sustained fire damage on its top deck,” the Global Sumud Flotilla said in a statement, adding no one was hurt.
AFP journalists at the scene saw a boat in the distance surrounded by Tunisian law enforcement vessels with flashing lights.
The incident comes a day after the activists said another of their boats was hit by a similar suspected UAV attack, but Tunisian authorities said “no drones” had been detected.
The activists said they would continue their “peaceful voyage” on Wednesday as planned, as the flotilla “presses forward with determination and resolve.”
- Two nights, two fires -
Francesca Albanese, UN special rapporteur for the occupied Palestinian territories, posted video of the burning Alma and said it indicated a UAV attack.
“Video evidence suggests a drone — with no light so it could not be seen — dropped a device that set the deck of the Alma boat on fire,” she wrote on social media.
The flotilla arrived in Tunisia at the weekend and was anchored off the coast of Sidi Bou Said, north of Tunis, when it reported the first incident.
Some members of the flotilla said they saw the drone, adding that the boat’s bow caught fire immediately after.
But authorities dismissed reports of a drone strike as “completely unfounded,” suggesting the fire may have been caused by a cigarette butt.
Tunisian national guard spokesman Houcem Eddine Jebabli told AFP overnight “no drones have been detected.”
Security footage posted by the flotilla organizers showed a burning mass falling from a distance onto the ship.
- ‘Distract and derail’ -
The activists did not blame Israel for the suspected attacks in their statement but said “they come during intensified Israeli aggression on Palestinians in Gaza, and are an orchestrated attempt to distract and derail our mission.”
The Israeli military did not respond to AFP’s request for comment on Tuesday.
The United Nations declared famine last month in parts of Gaza, warning that 500,000 people face “catastrophic” conditions.
Sumud means “resilience” in English, and the flotilla describes itself as an independent group not linked to any government or political party.
Among its high-profile participants is environmental activist Greta Thunberg.
2018 selfie image provided by Emma Tsurkov, right, she and Elizabeth Tsurkov are shown in Santa Clara Valley, Calif. (AP)
Updated 10 September 2025
Reuters
Princeton researcher Tsurkov released from militia captivity in Iraq
Elizabeth Tsurkov was kidnapped by the militia Kataib Hezbollah during a research trip to Iraq in March 2023, according to officials
Updated 10 September 2025
Reuters
BAGHDAD: An Israeli-Russian graduate student from Princeton University who was kidnapped by a Shiite militia in Iraq in 2023 has been released from captivity and is now in US custody, President Donald Trump and the student’s family said on Tuesday.
Elizabeth Tsurkov was kidnapped by the militia Kataib Hezbollah during a research trip to Iraq in March 2023, according to officials.
Trump said in a post on social media that Tsurkov “is now safely in the American Embassy in Iraq after being tortured for many months.”
Global Reach, a nonprofit that works for the release of Americans held in captivity abroad, said in a statement that Tsurkov had received a medical assessment at the embassy.
Emma Tsurkov, one of Elizabeth’s sisters, said in the statement her family was thankful to the Trump administration for helping secure her release.
“We cannot wait to see Elizabeth and give her all the love we have been waiting to share for 903 days,” Emma Tsurkov said.
In a statement on social media confirming Tsurkov’s release, Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia Al-Sudani said: “We reaffirm once again that we will not be lenient in enforcing the law and upholding the authority of the state, and we will not allow anyone to tarnish the reputation of Iraq and Iraqis.”
Under the previous administration of former President Joe Biden, Tsurkov’s family struggled to get Washington to throw its weight behind efforts to secure her release. US officials then said there was little they could do because she is not an American citizen.
A Trump administration hostage negotiator traveled to Iraq in February to push for Tsurkov’s release, according to sources.
