Parts of Sudan are in famine, extent unclear, US envoy says
Parts of Sudan are in famine, extent unclear, US envoy says/node/2528631/middle-east
Parts of Sudan are in famine, extent unclear, US envoy says
A boy carries a child as he stands next to other children sitting outside a tent at a camp for people displaced by conflict in Sudan’s eastern Gedaref province on May 15, 2024. (AFP/File)
Parts of Sudan are in famine, extent unclear, US envoy says
Updated 11 June 2024
Reuters
NAIROBI: Parts of Sudan are in famine, a top US diplomat said on Tuesday, adding that the extent of extreme hunger remained unclear nearly 14 months into a war between the army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces.
“I think we know we are in famine,” Tom Perriello, the US special envoy to Sudan, said in an interview. “I think the question is how much famine, how much of the country, and for how long.”
No formal declaration of famine has been made in Sudan.
Famines are determined using a complex set of technical criteria, known as the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification, an initiative of UN agencies, regional bodies and aid groups. They include extreme levels of malnutrition and mortality.
UN agencies warned at the end of May that Sudan was at “imminent risk of famine,” with about 18 million people acutely hungry, including 3.6 million children who were severely malnourished.
In an assessment in March, the IPC said nearly 5 million people in Sudan were one step away from famine.
Reuters has reported on how the war has driven some people to eat soil and leaves to survive.
Hezbollah chief says Israel must fully withdraw from Lebanon by February 18
Updated 15 sec ago
BEIRUT: The head of Lebanese armed group Hezbollah said on Sunday that Israeli troops must withdraw from Lebanese territory in full by a February 18 deadline, saying it had “no pretext” to maintain a military presence in any post in southern Lebanon. Under a truce brokered by Washington in November, Israeli troops were granted 60 days to withdraw from southern Lebanon where they had waged a ground offensive against fighters from Iran-backed Hezbollah since early October. That deadline was later extended to February 18, but Israel’s military requested that it keep troops in five posts in southern Lebanon, sources told Reuters last week. In a recorded televised speech, Hezbollah secretary general Naim Qassem said: “Israel must withdraw completely on Feb. 18, it has no pretext, no five points or other details... this is the agreement.” Qassem said any Israeli military presence on Lebanese soil after February 18 would be considered an occupying force. “Everyone knows how an occupation is dealt with,” Qassem said, without explicitly threatening that his group would resume attacks against Israel. Israel’s public broadcaster said on Wednesday the US had authorized a “long term” Israeli troop presence in southern Lebanon. During the broadcast of Qassem’s speech, at least three Israeli air strikes hit Lebanon’s eastern Bekaa Valley. Israel’s military said it conducted strikes after identifying Hezbollah activity at sites containing rocket launchers and other weapons.
US Mideast envoy says phase two Gaza talks to continue this week
Witkoff said he had “very productive and constructive” calls on Sunday with Netanyahu, Qatar’s prime minister and Egypt’s director of intelligence
Updated 10 min 13 sec ago
Reuters
NEW YORK: US Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff said on Sunday that talks on phase two of a ceasefire deal between Israel and Palestinian militants Hamas would continue this week “at a location to be determined” to figure out how to reach a successful conclusion.
He told Fox News that he had “very productive and constructive” calls on Sunday with Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Qatar’s Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani and Egypt’s director of intelligence.
Witkoff said they spoke about “the sequencing of phase two, setting forth positions on both sides, so we can understand ... where we are today, and then continuing talks this week at a location to be determined so that we can figure out how we get to the end of phase two successfully.”
Frankly Speaking: Is a Palestinian state more remote than ever?
Riyad Mansour rejects forced displacement of Palestinians from Gaza, wants Israeli PM Netanyahu to face justice at ICC for war crimes
The permanent observer of Palestine to the UN says the PA appreciates “Saudi Arabia’s principled position on statehood”
Updated 18 min 54 sec ago
Arab News
DUBAI: Riyad Mansour, permanent observer of Palestine to the UN, has strongly rejected any proposal to eject the Palestinian population from Gaza to Jordan and Egypt, reaffirming the Palestinian people’s right to rebuild their homeland and establish a state of their own.
Appearing on the Arab News current affairs program “Frankly Speaking,” Mansour also praised Saudi Arabia’s support for Palestinian sovereignty, accused Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of war crimes, and outlined the role of the Palestinian Authority in Gaza’s future.
The controversial proposal floated by US President Donald Trump to take control of Gaza and relocate Palestinians to Jordan and Egypt has been met with outright rejection by regional leaders.
King Abdullah II of Jordan, the first Arab leader to meet Trump in Washington since he began his second term, made it clear that Amman would not accept any forced transfer of Palestinians. Instead, Jordan agreed to take in 2,000 critically ill Palestinian children for medical treatment.
Mansour highlighted the unified Arab stance against any forced displacement of Palestinians. “The King (Abdullah II) put on his X account that the Kingdom (of Jordan) is against the transfer of the Palestinians outside of the Gaza Strip,” he told “Frankly Speaking” host Katie Jensen.
“Their position is very firm in order to see the ceasefire holding and the implementation of the agreement. He said that there is no solution except the two-state solution and readiness of Jordan and the Arabs to work with the Trump administration for accomplishing these objectives.”
Following Trump’s remarks earlier this month in which he announced his intention to take over Gaza and remove its Palestinian population, Saudi Arabia issued a strong statement reaffirming Palestinian sovereignty.
“The Kingdom affirms that the Palestinian people have a right to their land, and they are not intruders or immigrants to it who can be expelled whenever the brutal Israeli occupation wishes,” Saudi Arabia’s Foreign Ministry posted on X. Similar strong statements on the issue have been issued by the Kingdom since then.
Riyad Mansour, permanent observer of Palestine to the UN, during his appearance on the “Frankly Speaking” current affairs show. (AN Photo)
Mansour praised Saudi Arabia’s swift and firm stance. “I was not surprised,” he said. “We work very closely with our brothers in Saudi Arabia at all kinds of levels. We are on the same page, that the question of Palestine and the rights of the Palestinian people should be recognized.”
He also highlighted the role of the Arab Peace Initiative, first proposed by Saudi Arabia in 2002, in shaping the international response to Palestinian statehood. “We appreciate all these principled, very powerful, and strong positions of Saudi Arabia,” he said.
“And I believe all of the Arab countries are on the same page with Saudi Arabia in order to push back against those who want... to finish the national aspirations of the Palestinian people.”
Netanyahu, currently facing corruption charges that could lead to a 10-year prison sentence, has come under further scrutiny for his handling of the war in Gaza. Many critics believe his political survival hinges on prolonging the conflict.
Mansour was unequivocal about Netanyahu’s legal and moral accountability. “At the global (level), he is also an international wanted criminal by the ICC. There is a warrant for his arrest as a war criminal and he has to face justice in that International Criminal Court.”
The ICC issued an arrest warrant for Netanyahu on Nov. 24, accusing him of using starvation as a method of warfare and of intentionally directing an attack against the civilian population, and of murder, persecution, and other inhumane acts — accusations he has rejected.
Similar warrants were issued for Yoav Gallant, Israel’s former minister of defense, and for Hamas military commander Mohammed Deif, who was reportedly killed in an Israeli airstrike on July 13, 2024.
While leaving Israeli domestic matters to their citizens, Mansour stressed that the international community must pursue justice for the atrocities committed in Gaza. “The international community will deal with him as a wanted international criminal in The Hague and the ICC.”
Asked whether the conflict in Gaza and the threatened exile of the Palestinian people would have happened had Hamas not committed the Oct. 7, 2023, attack on southern Israel, or if it had agreed to hand over the hostages taken in that attack much sooner, Mansour said nothing justified the “genocidal war” Israel had mounted against civilians.
“The history of the Palestine question did not start on Oct. 7,” he said. “And regardless of what happened on Oct. 7, there is no justification whatsoever for the genocidal war committed against the Palestinian civilians.”
Since the war began, some 64,000 Palestinians have been killed, according to some estimates, while at least 110,000 have been injured, thousands of children orphaned, and countless more having lost limbs in Israel’s bombardment of the enclave.
A Palestinian man stands amidst the rubble of buildings destroyed during the Israeli offensive, amid a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas, in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip on February 16, 2025. (Reuters)
“These crimes cannot be justified for any reason whatsoever under international law, under morality, under humanity,” said Mansour.
“So therefore, those who are trying to justify this massive amount of killing, because of what happened on Oct. 7, there is no justification for what they did, and those criminals who gave the order to commit these crimes against the Palestinian people, especially the children and women, should face justice and they should receive the punishment that they deserve.”
With ongoing speculation over who will govern Gaza after the war, which has been paused since the ceasefire deal of Jan. 19, Mansour insisted that the Palestinian Authority remains the legitimate government of the State of Palestine.
“We have a legitimate government and we have the recognition of the international community and the Arab official systems of the government of the State of Palestine and the Palestine Liberation Organization as the representative of the Palestinian people,” he said.
He outlined the PA’s responsibility in ensuring governance in Gaza after the war. “Now, those who have this legitimacy, they have also the responsibility to shoulder their responsibilities in terms of doing what needs to be done in the Gaza Strip.”
Mansour pointed to a detailed plan presented by Egypt and shared with the UN, which supports PA governance as a key component of regional peace efforts.
“The legitimate government, which is acceptable by the international community, is the party that’s supposed to be dealing with its full power in terms of its responsibilities in the Gaza Strip,” he said.
Ahmed Aboul Gheit, secretary-general of the Arab League, suggested in a recent interview with Al Arabiya that Hamas should step aside if it serves Palestinian interests.
Asked whether the group should relinquish power, Mansour emphasized the need for Palestinian self-determination.
“We have a lot of issues to deal with internally in the Palestinian house,” he said. “And I believe that we should be left to deal with these issues internally.”
He added that once a permanent ceasefire is in place, internal Palestinian matters can be addressed. “Once we succeed in putting an end to this war and make the ceasefire permanent, there are a lot of things that we need to deal with internally,” he added.
Trump’s suggestion that many Palestinians would rather leave Gaza permanently has been widely condemned by Arab leaders. Mansour dismissed the claim, pointing to the recent return of hundreds of thousands of displaced Palestinians to their war-ravaged homes in the north of Gaza.
During the interview with Katie Jensen (L), Mansour praised Saudi Arabia’s swift and firm stance on the Palestinian issue. (AN Photo)
“The answer was given by our people who marched in two days, in the span of a few hours, by marching from the south to the north in more than 450,000 people,” he said.
“They knew that they were going back to destroyed homes and properties, but loving the land and the place where you were born and where you have memories and you have dreams, it is so valuable to us. It is in our DNA as Palestinians.”
Mansour reaffirmed that the Palestinian people will never accept forced displacement.
“The answer came from those who marched on their feet, not even by vehicle, from the south to the north, old, young, all of them going back to these places. So that is the answer of those of our people whom some say that they have no choice but to leave. No, they have a choice.
“They are returning to the place that they cherish and love. This is the meaning of why do people fight for their national homelands? Why do they defend it with all of their might? Because they love it and they’re attached to it and they want to be in it.
“That is so applicable to us, the Palestinian people, and for those who do not know us, this is a very important component of our being as Palestinians, of how much we love our homeland, how much we love our land and our country, whether it has palaces on it or whether it has destroyed homes.
“It is our land and we don’t have any other country except the country that we love, which is Palestine.”
Bahrain successfully administers first CRISPR-based sickle cell treatment outside the US
Bahrain approved Casgevy for use on Dec. 2, 2023, becoming the second country globally and the first in the Middle East to do so
Updated 16 February 2025
Arab News
MANAMA: The Bahrain Oncology Centre announced on Sunday it had successfully treated a sickle cell disease patient using CRISPR-based gene-editing therapy Casgevy (exagamglogene autotemcel), marking the first time the treatment had been administered outside the US.
Casgevy, developed by Vertex Pharmaceuticals and CRISPR Therapeutics, is the first licensed therapy to utilize CRISPR/Cas9 gene-editing technology.
It is designed as a potential treatment for SCD and transfusion-dependent beta-thalassemia, two inherited blood disorders that affect patients’ health and life expectancy.
Bahrain approved Casgevy for use on Dec. 2, 2023, becoming the second country globally and the first in the Middle East to do so. The approval followed an assessment of the therapy’s safety, quality, and effectiveness.
The treatment involves a multi-step process. Firstly, stem cells are collected from the patient’s bone marrow. Then, they are genetically edited to enable the production of functional hemoglobin. Lastly, the modified cells are reinfused into the patient after thorough safety testing.
Bahrain’s Minister of Health Dr. Jaleela bint Al-Sayed Jawad Hasan said the successful administration of the treatment highlighted the kingdom’s commitment to integrating advanced medical innovations.
“We are delivering on our mandate to provide access to life-changing therapies for all beneficiaries and positioning Bahrain as a hub for innovative medical care, in line with the directives of King Hamad bin Isa Al-Khalifa and Crown Prince Salman bin Hamad Al-Khalifa,” she said.
Dr. Shaikh Fahad bin Khalifa bin Salman Al-Khalifa, commander of the Royal Medical Services, added: “Bahrain is proud to be at the forefront of cutting-edge healthcare advancements in the region. This achievement provides new hope for patients with complex blood disorders and underscores Bahrain’s growing role in medical innovation.”
Dr. Edward Rowland, CEO of the Bahrain Oncology Centre, described the development as a reflection of the institution’s focus on advanced technology and global partnerships.
The initiative is part of Bahrain’s national healthcare strategy, which prioritizes medical innovation and collaboration, and has been supported by the Ministry of Health, the Royal Medical Services, government hospitals, and the National Health Regulatory Authority.
Lebanon official media say Israeli gunfire kills woman in border town
Lebanon’s army shortly later urged residents against heading to border areas where its forces had not completed deployment
NNA said Israeli “occupation forces shot in the direction of Hula neighborhoods after residents entered, leading to the death of a woman and the wounding of other people”
Updated 16 February 2025
AFP
BEIRUT: Lebanese official media said Israeli forces killed a woman in a southern border town on Sunday as residents sought to return home, two days ahead of an Israel-Hezbollah ceasefire deadline.
Lebanon’s army shortly later urged residents against heading to border areas where its forces had not completed deployment.
The official National News Agency (NNA) said that Israeli “occupation forces shot in the direction of Hula neighborhoods after residents entered, leading to the death of a woman and the wounding of other people.”
“Three citizens were kidnapped by Israeli forces in the town,” the NNA added, after earlier reporting that residents had entered by passing a Lebanese army checkpoint and “dirt barriers set up by the Israeli army.”
A fragile ceasefire between Israel and Lebanon’s Iran-backed militant group Hezbollah came into effect on November 27 after more than a year of hostilities including two months of all-out war.
Under the deal, Lebanon’s military was to deploy in the south alongside United Nations peacekeepers as the Israeli army withdrew over a 60-day period.
Hezbollah was also to pull back north of the Litani River — about 30 kilometers (20 miles) from the border — and dismantle any remaining military infrastructure in the south.
The withdrawal period was extended to February 18, after Israel missed the initial deadline.
Both sides have accused each other of violations.
When the initial ceasefire deadline expired in late January, Lebanese authorities said Israeli fire killed 26 people in two days as residents tried to return to border villages.
Lebanon’s army on X emphasized “the need for citizens not to head toward southern areas where the (Lebanese military) deployment has not been completed... in order to preserve their safety and avoid the death of innocent people.”
It pointed to “the danger of unexploded ordnance left by the Israeli enemy, as well as the possibility of the presence of enemy forces in those areas.”
This week, Israeli military spokesman Avichay Adraee on X again warned people against heading south, noting that the Israeli army “is still deployed on the ground.”
On Saturday, the NNA said an Israeli strike on a vehicle in the south’s Lebanon’s Iqlim Al-Tuffah area killed two people. The Israeli army said it targeted a senior militant from Hezbollah’s aerial unit.
On Thursday, a senior Israeli security official said the military was prepared to withdraw from Lebanese territory “within the timeline” set by the US-French-mediated ceasefire agreement.
The same day, Lebanon’s parliamentary speaker Nabih Berri said the United States had informed him that, while Israel would withdraw on February 18, “it will remain in five locations.”
Lebanese officials have rejected the demand.
