Region

OCUPPIED JERUSALEM — The head of the UN agency for Palestinian refugees [UNRWA] said Thursday there were fears "the worst is yet to come" in Gaza, denouncing "endless" suffering after Israel renewed deadly air and ground operations.

"Israeli Forces bombardment continues from air & sea for the third day," Philippe Lazzarini wrote on X.

"We fear that the worst is yet to come given the ongoing ground invasion separating the north from the south".

Israel announced renewed ground operations in Gaza on Wednesday and issued what it called a "last warning" to residents of the territory to return hostages and remove Hamas from power.

Heavy air strikes began pounding Gaza early on Tuesday, killing at least 504 people including more than 190 children, according to the civil defence agency in the Hamas-run territory.

Gaza rescuers said at least 10 more people were killed in a pre-dawn bombing near Khan Yunis on Thursday.

"Under our daily watch, people in Gaza are again & again going through their worst nightmare," Lazzarini wrote, condemning an "endless unleashing of the most inhumane ordeals."

The Israeli army said on Thursday it had banned traffic on the Palestinian territory's main north-to-south artery.

"Evacuation orders forcing people to flee were issued impacting tens of thousands of people," Lazzarini said, adding that "the vast majority have been already displaced, treated like 'pinballs' since the war began nearly 1.5 years ago."

Israel's renewed offensive shattered a relative calm in Gaza that had pervaded since a fragile truce took hold in mid-January.

The UNRWA chief also decried Israel's blockade on humanitarian aid entering Gaza which has been in place since early March.

"No time left, we need now: a renewal of the ceasefire, a dignified release of all the hostages in Gaza, an unimpeded flow of humanitarian aid & commercial supplies," he said.

The first stage of the Gaza ceasefire, which largely halted more than 15 months of fighting, expired early this month amid deadlock over next steps.

Israel rejected negotiations for a promised second stage, calling instead for the return of all of its remaining hostages under an extended first stage.

That would have meant delaying talks on a lasting ceasefire, and was rejected by Hamas as an attempt to renegotiate the original deal.

JUBA — Clashes between rival forces in South Sudan have displaced at least 50,000 people since February, a UN agency said Tuesday, while the most senior UN official in the country warned it was on the "brink of relapse into civil war".

Tensions have been mounting over clashes in the north-eastern Upper Nile State between forces allied to President Salva Kiir and First Vice President Riek Machar, threatening to undermine their fragile peace-sharing agreement.

"The violence is putting already vulnerable communities at greater risk and forcing the suspension of life-saving services," Anita Kiki Gbeho, an official with the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs [OCHA] in South Sudan said in a statement.

On Monday, an air strike by the South Sudanese government in Nasir County killed at least 20 people, including children, area commissioner James Gatluak told AFP.

OCHA said 10,000 of the displaced had crossed into Ethiopia.

It added that 23 humanitarian workers had also been forced to leave the region and a cholera treatment unit in Nasir closed.

The head of the UN Mission in South Sudan [UNMISS], Nicholas Haysom, said Tuesday the country was "poised on the brink of relapse into civil war" which threatened to undo years of peace efforts.

Neighbouring Sudan is a grave example of how quickly a nation can descend into "catastrophic war", he said, urging all parties to deescalate tensions "before it is too late".

"This region cannot afford another conflict," he said.

 'No hope'

Last week, Doctors without Borders [MSF] reported 1,300 cholera cases in South Sudan's Akobo County, located in the Upper Nile region.

Relief International staff based in the region warned they were already struggling due to massive cuts in USAID funding by the administration of President Donald Trump.

"With the supplies that we had here... it is not enough," said one member, who requested anonymity given the security situation.

The team — two doctors, six clinical officers, eight nurses and seven midwives, currently treat more than 200 patients daily at Renk Transit Centre in Upper Nile.

"So now we are very worried," said one doctor, who also asked to remain anonymous, describing staffing and medicine shortages.

"There is no hope for refugees and returnees," he told AFP.

"When I'm seeing patients coming and there is nothing in my hand to help that patient, it is too painful."

Threatened peace

The fighting threatens a 2018 peace deal between Kiir and Machar, who fought a five-year civil war that killed some 400,000 people.

Kiir's allies have accused Machar's forces of fomenting unrest in Nasir County in league with the White Army, a loose band of armed youths from the vice-president's Nuer ethnic community.

Tensions spiked earlier this month when an estimated 6,000 White Army combatants overran a military encampment in Nasir.

An attempted rescue by the United Nations led to the deaths of a UN helicopter pilot and senior South Sudanese general, among others.

WASHINGTON — The health ministry in Gaza said that Israeli strikes on the war-torn Strip, by far the deadliest since a truce took effect in January, have killed than 400 people. 

The United States said Tuesday that Hamas bore full blame for Israel's massive deadly airstrikes, saying the group could have accepted a ceasefire extension proposal by US special envoy Steve Witkoff.

"Hamas bears total responsibility for the war, and for the resumption of hostilities," a State Department spokesperson said.

"Every death would have and could have been avoided had Hamas accepted the 'bridge' proposal that SE Witkoff offered last Wednesday."

It was a reference to ideas from Witkoff, a friend of President Donald Trump, to ease Israel and Hamas toward extending a ceasefire.

Israel said it had no choice but to resume fighting to free remaining hostages seized on October 7, 2023. The health ministry in Gaza said that more than 400 people died. 

"Hamas is delaying the compelling deal in front of us and forcing Palestinians to suffer the consequences," the State Department spokesperson said.

National Security Council spokesman Brian Hughes said earlier: "Hamas could have released hostages to extend the ceasefire but instead chose refusal and war."

The Trump administration has staunchly backed Israel, whose resumed military operations drew condemnation from most world capitals which reacted.

Israel's deadly strikes on Gaza drew global condemnation on Tuesday, as it said it had "no alternative" other than to resume military operations in order to bring home hostages.

The strikes, by far the deadliest since a truce took effect in January, killed more than 400 people, according to the health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza.

Israel vowed to continue fighting until all the hostages seized by Palestinian fighters were returned, while Hamas, which has not responded militarily so far, accused it of attempting to force it to "surrender".

Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned Hamas this month of consequences it "cannot imagine" if it did not free the hostages still in Gaza, and Israeli media has reported on a scheme aimed at ramping up pressure on Hamas dubbed the "Hell Plan".

"Without the release of our hostages, Israel has no alternative but resuming military operations," foreign minister Gideon Saar said.

The White House said Israel consulted Trump's administration before launching the strikes, while Israel said the return to fighting was "fully coordinated" with Washington.

The United Nations and countries around the world condemned the strikes, while the families of Israeli hostages pleaded with Netanyahu to halt the violence.

Netanyahu's office said the operation was ordered after "Hamas's repeated refusal to release our hostages, as well as its rejection of all of the proposals it has received from US Presidential Envoy Steve Witkoff and from the mediators".

"Israel will, from now on, act against Hamas with increasing military strength," the statement said.

US National Security Council spokesman Brian Hughes blamed Hamas, saying it "could have released hostages to extend the ceasefire but instead chose refusal and war".

Hamas said Israel had "decided to overturn the ceasefire agreement", calling it "a decision to sacrifice the occupation's prisoners and impose a death sentence on them".

Hamas said the head of its government in Gaza, Essam Al Dalis, was among several officials killed.

The group's leader, Sami Abu Zuhri, told AFP the aim of the strikes was "to undermine the ceasefire agreement and attempt to impose a surrender agreement, writing it in the blood of Gaza".

 'Fire of hell' 

In the southern Gaza Strip, AFP footage showed people rushing stretchers with wounded people, including young children, to hospital. Bodies covered with white sheets were also taken to the hospital's mortuary.

Mohammed Jarghoun, 36, was sleeping in a tent near his destroyed house in Khan Yunis when he was awakened by huge blasts.

"I thought they were dreams and nightmares, but I saw a fire in my relatives' house. More than 20 martyrs and wounded, most of them children and women."

Ramez Al Amarin, 25, described carrying children to hospital southeast of Gaza City.

"They unleashed the fire of hell again on Gaza," he said of Israel.

The health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza said the bodies of 413 people had been received by Gaza hospitals, adding "a number of victims are still under the rubble".

A spokesman for the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies said at a briefing in Geneva "that many medical facilities are literally overwhelmed across Gaza".

UN chief 'shocked' 

Families of Israeli hostages in Gaza called for a protest in front of Netanyahu's residence, with a campaign group accusing him and other officials of dodging meetings with them "because they were planning the explosion of the ceasefire, which could sacrifice their family members".

UN chief Antonio Guterres was "shocked" by the renewed strikes, a spokesperson said, while UN rights chief Volker Turk said he was "horrified".

Britain and France both called for the renewed hostilities to end.

Hamas backer Iran denounced the wave of attacks as a "continuation of the genocide and ethnic cleansing" in the Palestinian territories.

Jordan, Russia and China warned against an escalation, while Egypt, Qatar, and Turkey condemned the violence.

Egyptian President Abdel Fattah Al Sisi said in a statement that the strikes were part of "deliberate efforts to make the Gaza Strip uninhabitable and force the Palestinians into displacement".

Trump has floated a proposal to move Palestinians out of Gaza, suggesting that Egypt or Jordan could take them in.

Both countries have rejected the notion, but some right-wing politicians in Israel have embraced it.

Netanyahu's Likud movement said Tuesday that the far-right Otzma Yehudit party would rejoin the government, having withdrawn in January in protest of the truce.

Deadlock 

Brokered by Qatar, Egypt and the United States, the ceasefire took effect on January 19, largely halting the war triggered by Hamas's October 7, 2023 attack on Israel.

That first phase of the deal ended in early March, and the two sides have been unable to agree on the next steps.

US envoy Witkoff told CNN on Sunday he had offered a "bridge proposal" that would see five living hostages, including Israeli-American Edan Alexander, released in return for freeing a "substantial amount of Palestinian prisoners" from Israeli jails.

Hamas had said it was ready to free Alexander and the remains of four others.

Witkoff said Hamas had provided "an unacceptable response".

During the truce's first phase, Hamas released 33 hostages, including eight deceased, in exchange for Israel freeing around 1,800 Palestinian detainees.

Hamas has consistently demanded negotiations for the second phase, which should lead to a lasting ceasefire.

Israel had sought to extend the first phase until mid-April, cutting off aid and electricity to Gaza over the deadlock.

Hamas's October 7 attack resulted in 1,218 deaths, while Israel's retaliation in Gaza has killed at least 48,577 people, mostly civilians, according to figures from the two sides.

Of the 251 hostages seized during the attack, 58 are still in Gaza, including 34 the Israeli military says are dead.

GENEVA — Israel must evacuate all settlers from the West Bank and make reparations for decades of illegal settlement, the UN rights chief said Tuesday, describing the policy as "a war crime".

"The transfer by Israel of parts of its own civilian population into the territory it occupies amounts to a war crime," Volker Turk said in a statement.

"Israel must immediately and completely cease all settlement activities and evacuate all settlers, stop the forcible transfer of the Palestinian population, and prevent and punish attacks by its security forces and settlers."

Violence in the West Bank, which has been occupied by Israel since 1967, has escalated since the start of the war in Gaza, triggered by Hamas's unprecedented October 7, 2023, attack on southern Israel.

"Israel's settlement policy, its acts of annexation, and related discriminatory legislation and measures are in breach of international law, as the International Court of Justice has confirmed, and violate Palestinians' right to self-determination," Turk said.

His comments came as his office released a new report on the situation in the West Bank between October 2023 and last November.

 'Climate of revenge' 

That timeline concludes before the Israeli military began conducting a sweeping offensive across multiple areas of the West Bank on January 21, two days after a fragile ceasefire took effect in the Gaza Strip, largely halting 15 months of war there.

The operation, dubbed "Iron Wall", has resulted in dozens of deaths, including Palestinian children and Israeli soldiers, according to the UN.

Before that operation began, the UN rights office found that a total of 612 Palestinians were killed by Israeli security forces and settlers in the West Bank during the period covered by its report, amid "a climate of revenge".

During the same period, 24 Israelis were also killed in alleged attacks or clashes with Palestinians, it found. 

The Palestinian health ministry in Ramallah has put the number of Palestinians killed in the West Bank between October 7, 2023 and March 14 at 911.

Meanwhile, at least 32 Israelis, including soldiers, have been killed in that period in Palestinian attacks or during military operations, according to official Israeli figures.

Tuesday's report detailed "significant expansion of Israeli settlements" in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, during the first year of the war in neighbouring Gaza.

 'Reparations' 

"Steps have been taken towards implementing plans to construct over 20,000 housing units in new or existing Israeli settlements in East Jerusalem alone," the rights office said, citing Israeli non-governmental organisations.

"Over 10,300 units within existing Israeli settlements in the rest of the West Bank are in the pipeline and an unprecedented 49 new Israeli outposts have been established," it said.

"Dozens of unauthorised roads have been paved by settlers and the army around settlements and outposts, helping to connect them while blocking Palestinians' movement and enabling further seizure of their land," the report said.

"The line between settler and state violence [has] blurred to a vanishing point, further enabling an increase in violence and impunity."

The report denounced steps taken by Israel to further militarise the settler movement, pointing among other things to the enlistment of thousands of settlers into Israeli security forces operating in the West Bank.

During the period covered by the report, the rights office found that a full 1,779 Palestinian structures were demolished in the West Bank due to a "lack of building permits", which are almost impossible for Palestinians to obtain.

This led to the forcible displacement of 4,527 people, the report said.

"Israel must abide by the International Court of Justice's ruling and cease immediately all new settlement activities," Turk said, demanding that the country "evacuate all settlers from the Occupied Palestinian Territory and make reparations for the damage caused by decades of illegal settlement".

GENEVA - The United Nations rights chief voiced horror Tuesday at the most intense Israeli airstrikes in Gaza since a fragile ceasefire took effect in January, killing hundreds.

"I am horrified by last night's Israeli airstrikes and shelling in Gaza," Volker Turk said in a statement, adding that "This will add tragedy onto tragedy."

Israel on Tuesday vowed to continue fighting in Gaza until the return of all hostages as it unleashed its most intense strikes since a truce took effect on January 19.

The health ministry in the Hamas-run territory reported more than 330 people killed in the latest strikes.

Hamas, which has not responded to the strikes so far, accused Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu of deciding to "resume war" after an impasse in truce negotiations, and warned that the return to fighting could be a "death sentence" for hostages still alive in Gaza.

"This nightmare must end immediately," Turk said, adding that "the last 18 months of violence have made abundantly clear that there is no military path out of this crisis".

"The only way forward is a political settlement, in line with international law. Israel's resort to yet more military force will only heap further misery upon a Palestinian population already suffering catastrophic conditions," he said.

"The hostages must be released immediately and unconditionally. All those arbitrarily detained must be released immediately and unconditionally. The war must end permanently," Turk said.

"We urge all parties with influence to do all in their power to achieve peace and avoid further suffering of civilians."

LONDON — Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney on Monday said his country was seeking to reinforce ties with “reliable” European allies as he met Britain’s King Charles III and France’s Emmanuel Macron on his first foreign trip since taking office.

Carney’s transatlantic visits came after his country’s southern neighbour the United States made threats towards Canada’s economy and even sovereignty, with US President Donald Trump ramping up the rhetoric.

After succeeding Justin Trudeau last week, Carney conspicuously chose key European powers France and the United Kingdom, rather than the United States, for the visits. Britain’s King Charles -- who is also head of state in Canada -- was pictured smiling as he welcomed Carney for talks at Buckingham Palace, and the Canadian leader is expected to meet his UK counterpart Keir Starmer later on Monday.

Earlier, the former Bank of England governor met President Macron at the Elysee Palace in Paris. Describing Canada as the “most European of non-European countries”, Carney said his nation needed to boost ties with European allies like France while trying to retain positive relations with Washington. “It is more important than ever for Canada to reinforce its ties with reliable allies like France,” Carney said during a press conference with Macron.

“I want to ensure that France and the whole of Europe works enthusiastically with Canada, the most European of non-European countries, determined like you to maintain the most positive possible relations with the United States,” Carney said. Carney faces threats on three fronts: a trade war with Washington, Trump’s threats to annex his country and looming elections at home. Trump’s imposition of an escalating raft of import tariffs on Canadian goods has threatened to trigger a recession, and his scorn for Canadian sovereignty sent jitters through the former ally. Opinion polls show a large majority of Canadian voters reject Trump’s argument that their country would be better off as the “51st state of the United States”.

But the trade war is a threat to the economy of the vast country of 41 million people, which has long enjoyed a close US partnership. Canada, France and Britain are among the NATO members that have maintained strong support for Ukraine’s beleaguered government and military since Russia’s all-out invasion in February 2022, even as Trump’s US administration has pushed Kyiv to make concessions to Moscow.

London and Paris are putting together plans for a coalition security force in Ukraine and looking for allies. Canada and France want a “solid and lasting peace, accompanied by robust guarantees that will protect Ukraine against any further Russian aggression and ensure the security of the whole of Europe,” Macron said alongside Carney.
“It is in this spirit that we will maintain our support for Ukraine and continue to demand clear commitments from Russia,” he added. Carney told Macron both nations stood for “sovereignty”.

“We both stand for sovereignty and security demonstrated by our unwavering support for Ukraine under your leadership,” the Canadian premier said, two days after both leaders took part in a Saturday morning video conference of countries backing Ukraine organised by UK Prime Minister Starmer. France is Canada’s 11th-largest trading partner and Britain its third at a time when Trump’s tariffs and Canadian retaliatory measures are threatening trade with its huge southern neighbour -- destination of threequarters of Canada’s exports.

But Canada also has a “Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement” with the European Union, which includes France It is also a member of the Comprehensive and Progressive TransPacific Partnership (CPTPP), which now likewise includes Britain. In his first speech as prime minister, Carney said: “Security is a priority for this government... as is diversifying our trading and commercial relationships, of course, with both Europe and the United Kingdom.” On his return leg, Carney will touch down in Iqaluit in Nunavut, the Canadian territory closest to the Danish autonomous country of Greenland -- another Trump target for annexation -- to “reaffirm Canada’s Arctic security and sovereignty”.

BRUSSELS, Belgium - International donors pledged 5.8 billion euros ($6.3 billion) in aid for Syria Monday at a Brussels conference seeking to help set the war-torn country on the road to stability after Bashar Al Assad's ouster.

"Together we have pledged a total of 5.8 billion euros in grants and loans," said EU Commissioner for the Mediterranean Dubravka Suica, adding that grants accounted for 4.2 billion euros and loans 1.6 billion.

Of the 5.8 billion euros, the EU vowed around 2.5 billion euros ($2.7 billion) in aid for Syria as. "Syrians need greater support, whether they are still abroad, or they decide to go home. And this is why today, the European Union is increasing its pledge for Syrians in the country and in the region to almost 2.5 billion euros for 2025 and 2026," European Commission head Ursula von der Leyen told a donor conference in Brussels.

Failure to help Syria "get back on its feet" will result in a fresh wave of outward migration, the head of the International Committee of the Red Cross warned Monday, as the EU hosted a donor drive for the war-torn country.

More than 300,000 refugees have returned to Syria hoping to start over following the ouster of Bashar al-Assad, according to the United Nations.

But the situation in the country is fragile, with outbursts of violence and the conflict's legacy of destruction making aid all the more indispensable, said ICRC president Mirjana Spoljaric.

"When you don't have schools for your children, when you don't have functioning hospitals, when you don't have access to water and energy, when your house is still collapsed and you don't have the means to rebuild (it), you will be forced to leave," she told AFP in an interview.

Western and regional powers are hoping to help put Damascus on the road to stability after 14 years of civil war that have sent millions of refugees over its borders.

But this month the worst outbreak of deadly violence since Assad was toppled in December rocked confidence in the new Islamist-led authorities.

"Syria is at the crossroads," Spoljaric said, adding that peace and stability were "possible" but required "a lot of attention" from the international community.

The country's needs are massive as swathes lie in ruins and the economy has been ravaged by years of international isolation after Assad's 2011 crackdown on opposition sparked the civil war.