Region

GENEVA — The United Nations' International Organisation for Migration (IOM) on Monday said it was "deeply alarmed" by the dozens of migrant bodies found in mass graves in southeastern Libya.

On Sunday, Libyan authorities said they found the bodies of 28 sub-Saharan migrants in the southeastern district of Kufra, near a site where they were allegedly detained and tortured.

The UN agency expressed "shock and concern at the discovery of two mass graves in Libya containing the bodies of dozens of migrants, some with gunshot wounds".

The IOM said "at least 30" bodies were found in a mass grave in Kufra, whereas "as many as 70" others may have been buried there.

The statement received by AFP also said 19 bodies were discovered in Jakharrah, some 400 kilometres south of the coastal city of Benghazi, though it did not say when.

The circumstances of the migrants' "death and nationalities" remain unknown, it said.

The graves were "discovered following a police raid, during which hundreds of migrants were rescued from traffickers", it added.

Photos posted by Libyan authorities Sunday on social media showed emaciated migrants with scars on their faces, limbs and backs.

The authorities had said three people were arrested, "one Libyan and two foreigners".

Libya, a key transit country for migrants attempting to reach Europe, has struggled to recover from the chaos that followed the 2011 NATO-backed uprising that overthrew longtime dictator Muamer Qadhafi.

It remains split between the United Nations-recognised government and a rival authority in the east backed by military strongman Khalifa Haftar.

Smugglers and human traffickers have taken advantage of the instability since.

Libya has long been criticised over its treatment of migrants and refugees, with accusations from rights groups ranging from extortion to slavery.

Located around 300 kilometres from Italy, it is a key departure point for migrants, primarily from sub-Saharan African countries, who risk perilous Mediterranean Sea journeys to seek better lives in Europe.

In March last year, a mass grave containing "at least 65 migrants' bodies" was discovered in southwest Libya, the IOM said at the time.

Last month, authorities arrested two people accused of torturing and detaining 263 irregular migrants to extort ransoms in El Wahat, eastern Libya.

Authorities said at the time the migrants had been detained to "force their families to pay $17,000 in exchange for the release of Somali migrants and to pay $10,000 in exchange for the release of Eritrean migrants".

OCCUPIED JERUSALEM — Dozens of people gathered Monday outside a Jerusalem court to protest the arrest of two Palestinian booksellers in the city's east, occupied by Israel since 1967 and later annexed.

The protesters shouted slogans denouncing Israel as a "fascist state" and held placards accusing the country of "cowardice".

Mahmoud and Ahmad Muna, who were arrested on Sunday, were to appear in the court for an arraignment.

Both work for the Educational Bookshop, a cultural institution in east Jerusalem.

The Muna family's lawyer, Nasser Odeh, said "hundreds of books" had been seized on Sunday.

Sidra Ezrahi, an Israeli-American taking part in the demonstration, called the arrests "unbelievable".

"We've been coming to this bookshop not for years but for generations," the protester in her 80s said, adding the arrests were "exactly what fascist states are doing".

Francesca Albanese, UN special rapporteur for the Palestinian territories, also condemned the raid.

"Shocked by Israeli forces' raid on East Jerusalem's Educational Bookshop -- an intellectual lighthouse and family-run gem resisting Palestinian erasure under apartheid," she wrote on X.

"Internationals in Jerusalem: please show up, stand with the Muna family, and protect this vital hub," she added.

ISTANBUL —Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Sunday no-one had the power to remove Gazans from their war-devastated homeland, dismissing Donald Trump's plan to remove the Palestinians and let the US take control. 

"No one has the power to remove the people of Gaza from their eternal homeland that has been around for thousands of years," he told a late-night news conference. "Gaza, the West Bank and East Jerusalem belong to the Palestinians." 

Meanwhile, prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday praised a proposal from President Donald Trump for US control of Gaza and the displacement of its population as "revolutionary", striking a triumphant tone in a statement to his cabinet following his return to Israel from Washington.

Trump set out a plan earlier this week to move the Gazans out of the territory to other countries in the region, while the United States would take charge of redeveloping it, sparking a diplomatic backlash. 

Meanwhile, in Gaza, Palestinians were on Sunday able to cross the Netzarim Corridor, a strategic zone cutting the narrow territory in two, after Israeli troops were said to have withdrawn.

"Israeli forces have dismantled their positions... and completely withdrawn their tanks from the Netzarim Corridor on Salaheddin Road, allowing vehicles to pass freely in both directions," said an official from the Hamas-run interior ministry.

AFP journalists saw no troops in the area, as cars, buses, pickup trucks and donkey carts travelled north and south along the road.

Gaza resident Mahmoud al-Sarhi said "arriving at the Netzarim Corridor meant death until this morning".

This is "the first time I saw our destroyed house", he told AFP of his home in the nearby Zeitun area.

"The entire area is in ruins. I cannot live here."

A senior Hamas official said the Israeli withdrawal from Netzarim had been scheduled for Sunday under the terms of the truce that took effect on January 19.

GAZA CITY, Palestinian Territories — Gaza's civil defence agency said Israeli forces shot dead three civilians on Sunday, as the military said it fired "warning shots" and hit Palestinians who had approached troops in the territory.

The incident occurred in Gaza City amid a fragile ceasefire between Hamas and Israel, in effect since January 19. During the truce, five hostage-prisoner exchanges have taken place between Hamas and Israel.

Mahmud Bassal, spokesman for Gaza's civil defence agency, said there were "three martyrs and several injured as a result of Israeli occupation forces opening fire on civilians in the eastern areas of Gaza City".

He urged residents to avoid the eastern areas and Israeli military positions, emphasising the importance of following official directives.

Israel's military acknowledged that its forces had fired at individuals who approached their positions, saying, "troops advanced military vehicles and fired warning shots toward the suspects".

It added that "several hits were identified after the shots were fired, and those approaching the barrier retreated".

Defence minister Israel Katz warned Gazans against approaching soldiers still deployed inside Gaza.

"Israel's security policy regarding Gaza is clear: anyone who enters the buffer zone will pay the price," he said in a statement.

"There will be zero tolerance for any threat against IDF forces, the border area, or Israeli communities."

The military said it was committed to defending Israeli citizens and enforcing the ceasefire, warning Gazans to avoid approaching troops in the area.

As part of the three-week-old ceasefire, Israeli forces on Sunday withdrew from a key route that bisects the territory a day after the fifth hostage-prisoner swap was completed.

The war in Gaza began on October 7, 2023, when Hamas launched a sudden attack on Israel, resulting in the deaths of 1,210 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official Israeli figures.

Israel's retaliatory military offensive in Gaza has killed at least 48,189 people, the majority civilians, according to the health ministry in the Hamas-run territory, figures which the United Nations considers reliable.

TEHRAN — Authorities in Iran ordered schools and offices in at least 10 provinces to close on Sunday to conserve energy amid a severe cold snap and heavy snowfall, state media reported.

Freezing temperatures have gripped the northern half of the country over the past few days, causing a spike in energy consumption.

"All government offices and schools are closed on Sunday, and remote learning has been arranged for students," the state news agency IRNA announced.

Among the provinces affected are Lorestan in the west, Semnan in the east and Gilan in the north.

Some parts of Gilan, around 130 kilometres north of Tehran, saw snow fall to a depth of 220 centimetres, meteorologist Mohammad Dadras told the Fars news agency.

The shutdown decision followed a similar measure on Saturday, when authorities ordered closures in more than 20 of the country's 31 provinces because of the extreme weather.

The capital also saw closures on Saturday but those affected reopened on Sunday -- a working day -- despite the wintry conditions.

IRNA said on Sunday some areas of Tehran received up to 30 centimetres  of snow overnight.

The snowfall caused widespread traffic disruption, and some residents cleared snow as others enjoyed snowball fights in city parks.

Snow is not unusual for Tehran in February, but the combination of heavy snow and sudden temperature drops caught many people off guard.

Heavy snow and rain across most of the country on Sunday also led to road closures.

IRNA reported travel disruptions in 25 provinces, with the heaviest impacts in the north and west where authorities advised people to stay at home for the next 24 hours.

Temperatures in at least 19 provinces fell to zero degrees Celsius or lower on Sunday, IRNA said.

Iran often orders educational institutions and offices to close during winter, citing extreme weather and fuel shortages.

WASHINGTON — Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu has hailed US President Donald Trump's widely criticised plan to move Palestinians out of the war-battered Gaza Strip, saying Israel is willing to "do the job".

In a Fox News interview aired late Saturday as the premier was wrapping up a visit to Washington, Netanyahu defended Trump's proposal, which has sparked concern and condemnation across the Middle East and the world.

"I think that President Trump's proposal is the first fresh idea in years, and it has the potential to change everything in Gaza," Netanyahu said, adding that it represents a "correct approach" to the future of the Palestinian territory.

"All Trump is saying, 'I want to open the gate and give them an option to relocate temporarily while we rebuild the place physically'," Netanyahu said.

Trump "never said he wants American troops to do the job. Guess what? We'll do the job," Netanyahu declared.

Israel seized the Gaza Strip in 1967 and maintained a military presence in the territory until 2005, when it pulled out settlers and its troops.

It subsequently imposed a crippling blockade on the Hamas-ruled territory and placed it under siege after the war began in October 2023.

Israel and armed groups in Gaza have fought several wars in recent years, but the latest -- sparked by the unprecedented 2023 Hamas attack on Israel -- has been the deadliest and most destructive.

Netanyahu said Trump's plan was a departure from the "same old, same old, same old -- we leave, Gaza becomes again occupied by these terrorists who use it as a base to attack Israel... It doesn't go anywhere."

"I think we should pursue it," he added, cautioning that "the real issue" was finding a country that would agree to take in displaced Gazans.

The Israeli leader also said that relocated Palestinians would have to "disavow terrorism" to be allowed to return to Gaza.

For Palestinians, any attempts to force them out of Gaza would evoke dark memories of what the Arab world calls the "Nakba", or catastrophe -- the mass displacement of Palestinians during Israel's creation in 1948.

"Everybody describes Gaza as the biggest open-air prison in the world," Netanyahu said.

"Get the population out, allow them to leave. Not forcible eviction, not ethnic cleansing -- getting people out of what all these countries and all these do-gooders say is an open-air prison. Why are you keeping them in prison?"

BEIRUT, Lebanon — Lebanon's presidency announced on Saturday that a new government had been formed, after more than two years in which an interim cabinet had led the crisis-hit country.

President Joseph Aoun signed a decree "to form a government of 24 ministers", the presidency said in a post on X.

It also announced two other decrees, in which the newly appointed president "accepted the resignation of [caretaker] prime minister Najib Mikati's government" and formally appointed "Prime Minister Nawaf Salam to form the government".

After more than two years of political stalemate, the weakening of armed group Hezbollah in war with Israel has allowed former army chief Aoun to be elected president and Salam approved as premier.

The new government faces the daunting task of implementing reforms needed to unlock billions of dollars from international donors after years of economic crisis, overseeing a fragile Israel-Hizbollah ceasefire and rebuilding a war-scarred country.

It will also have to review agreements including with the International Monetary Fund and prepare for parliamentary elections scheduled for next year.

GAZA CITY, Palestinian Territories — The health ministry in the Gaza Strip said on Saturday that at least 48,181 people had been killed in the Palestinian territory in the Israeli war. 

Hamas and Israel have agreed a ceasefire, which came into effect on January 19 and ushered in a fragile calm.

But the confirmed number of dead published by the Gaza health ministry has continued to rise daily as bodies are discovered under the rubble, victims are identified or people die from wounds sustained earlier in the war.

Over the last 48 hours, 26 deaths have been recorded and more than 570 earlier deaths had been confirmed, according to the ministry.

It said a total of 111,638 people have been wounded during the war, which began in October 2023.

Israel has repeatedly cast doubt on the ministry's figures, which the United Nations considers reliable.

A study published in early January in the British medical journal The Lancet estimated the death toll in Gaza due to hostilities during the first nine months of the was about 40-per cent higher than the figures recorded by the Gaza health ministry.

AFP is unable to independently verify the death toll.

RAMALLAH, Palestinian Territories — A bus carrying a group of Palestinian prisoners freed by Israel in exchange for Gaza hostages arrived on Saturday in the occupied West Bank city of Ramallah, an AFP journalist said.

Part of the fifth hostage-prisoner swap under a fragile Gaza truce, the released inmates stepped off the bus one by one to a cheering crowd who had gathered since the morning in Ramallah, seat of the Palestinian Authority.

Hamas handed over three Israeli captives to the Red Cross in Gaza on Saturday as part of the fifth such hostage-prisoner swap under an ongoing ceasefire with Israel, an AFP journalist reported.

Hostages Eli Sharabi, Or Levy and Ohad Ben Ami were released after they were brought onto a stage in the central Gaza city of Deir El Balah by masked Hamas fighters.