Heavy fighting rocks Gaza as thousands on the move again/node/2542766/middle-east
Heavy fighting rocks Gaza as thousands on the move again
Palestinians react, following an Israeli strike near a UN-run school sheltering displaced people in Khan Younis, in the southern Gaza Strip on July 3, 2024. (Reuters)
Heavy fighting rocks Gaza as thousands on the move again
Apache helicopters and Israeli quadcopter drones flew above Gaza City’s Shujaiya district as heavy gunfire echoed through the streets
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu rejected a US media report saying his generals were urging a Gaza truce even with Hamas undefeated
Updated 03 July 2024
AFP
GAZA STRIP, Palestinian Territories: Israeli forces bombed and battled Hamas in Gaza City on Wednesday as tens of thousands of Palestinians scrambled for a safe haven after the army issued an evacuation order for a vast swathe in the territory’s south.
Apache helicopters and Israeli quadcopter drones flew above Gaza City’s Shujaiya district as heavy gunfire echoed through the streets, said AFP reporters.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu rejected a US media report saying his generals were urging a Gaza truce even with Hamas undefeated, stressing on Tuesday that “this will not happen.”
Military chief Herzi Halevi meanwhile said Israel is engaged in “a long campaign” to destroy Hamas over the October 7 attack and to bring home the hostages held by Palestinian militants.
The United Nations warned that the almost nine-months-old war had “unleashed a maelstrom of human misery” and that the latest evacuation order had plunged yet more Palestinians into “an abyss of suffering.”
Ten days after Netanyahu said the war’s “intense phase” was winding down, the Israeli military again rained down air strikes and artillery fire on militants in the Shujaiya district.
The air force struck “over 50 terror infrastructure sites” across Gaza in 24 hours while ground troops “eliminated terrorists,” located tunnels and found weapons including AK-47 assault rifles, the military said.
The Israeli army — which issued an evacuation order for Shujaiya a week ago — on Sunday did the same for a larger area near Khan Yunis and Rafah in the south, raising fears of renewed heavy battles there.
Tens of thousands of Palestinians have again taken to the road there, many bundling their scant belongings on top of cars or donkey carts as they sought safety elsewhere in the bombed-out wasteland.
The UN agency supporting Palestinian refugees, UNRWA, said 250,000 people had been impacted by the latest evacuation order that covers southern areas bordering Israel and Egypt.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres’s spokesman Stephane Dujarric said the order covers 117 square kilometers (45 square miles), or “about a third of the Gaza Strip, making it the largest such order since October.”
The UN humanitarian coordinator for Gaza, Sigrid Kaag, told the UN Security Council in New York on Tuesday that the war had now displaced 80 percent of Gaza’s population.
She also said not enough aid was reaching the besieged territory and that crossings must be reopened, particularly to southern Gaza, to avert a humanitarian disaster.
“Palestinian civilians in Gaza have been plunged into an abyss of suffering, their home lives shattered, their lives upended,” she said. “The war has not merely created the most profound of humanitarian crises. It has unleashed a maelstrom of human misery.”
Amid the war, siege and mass displacement, more than 150,000 people have contracted skin diseases in the squalid conditions, said the World Health Organization.
Wafaa Elwan, a Palestinian mother of seven who now lives in a tent city by the sea, said: “We sleep on the ground, on sand where worms come out underneath us.”
She said her five-year-old son, much of whose body was covered in rashes and welts, “can’t sleep through the night because he can’t stop scratching his body.”
The bloodiest ever Gaza war broke out after Hamas’s October 7 attack on southern Israel resulted in the deaths of 1,195 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on Israeli figures.
The militants also seized 251 hostages, 116 of whom remain in Gaza including 42 the army says are dead.
Israel’s retaliatory offensive since then has killed at least 37,925 people, also mostly civilians, according to data from the health ministry in the Hamas-run territory.
The Israeli military said Wednesday that “operational activities continue throughout the Gaza Strip.”
The Gaza civil defense agency said seven people were killed when a strike hit a family house north of Gaza City.
Another strike killed three people in a car at Al-Maghazi refugee camp in the central Deir Al-Balah area, said an AFP reporter.
Air strikes also hit homes in Rafah, according to Gaza’s government media office.
The New York Times has quoted Israeli security officials as saying top generals see a truce as the best way to secure the release of the remaining hostages, even if that meant not achieving all of the war goals.
Netanyahu, who heads a government including hard-line right-wing parties, strongly rejected this on Tuesday and vowed Israel would not give in to the “winds of defeatism.”
“The war will end once Israel achieves all of its objectives, including the destruction of Hamas and the release of all of our hostages,” he said.
Sharaa in February received an invitation from French President Emmanuel Macron to visit France in the ‘coming weeks’
Updated 06 May 2025
Reuters
Syria’s President Ahmed Al-Sharaa is expected to visit France soon, a statement by the Syrian president’s office said, without specifying a date.
Sharaa in February received an invitation from French President Emmanuel Macron to visit France in the “coming weeks.”
Trump, asked about Israel’s Gaza plans, says US will help on food
UN and aid organizations have warned of the humanitarian catastrophe on the ground, with famine again looming after two months of Israeli blockade
Updated 05 May 2025
Reuters
WASHINGTON: President Donald Trump repeated a US pledge to help get food to Palestinians in Gaza when he was asked at the White House on Monday about Israeli plans for an expanded offensive in the territory.
Trump did not offer his views on Israel’s operations. He made the comments to reporters in the Oval Office.
Israel’s security cabinet approved the expansion of military operations in Gaza including the “conquest” of the Palestinian territory, an official said Monday, after the army called up tens of thousands of reservists for the offensive.
It comes as the United Nations and aid organizations have repeatedly warned of the humanitarian catastrophe on the ground, with famine again looming after more than two months of a total Israeli blockade.
The Israeli official said the expanded operations “will include, among other things, the conquest of the Gaza Strip and the holding of the territories, moving the Gaza population south for their protection.”
A different senior security official said “a central component of the plan is a large-scale evacuation of the entire Gazan population from the fighting zones... to areas in southern Gaza.”
The plan, approved by the cabinet overnight, comes amid a push by Israel for Palestinians to leave the territory.
A “voluntary transfer program for Gaza residents... will be part of the operation’s goals,” the senior security official added.
The European Union voiced concern and urged restraint from Israel, saying the plan “will result in further casualties and suffering for the Palestinian people.”
Israel resumed major operations across Gaza on March 18 amid deadlock over how to proceed with a two-month ceasefire that had largely halted the war with Hamas, which was sparked by the militants’ October 2023 attack.
Israel has since carried out intensive aerial bombardments and expanded ground operations across the Palestinian territory.
Gaza rescuers on Monday said Israeli air strikes killed at least 19 people.
How Syria can overcome sectarian unrest to rebuild trust and national unity
A mosaic of faiths and ethnicities, Syria is grappling with violence that is putting transitional government to the test
Syrian observers and experts urge the authorities to engage meaningfully with minorities to promote national healing
Updated 05 May 2025
ANAN TELLO
LONDON: In the Damascus suburb of Ashrafiyat Sahnaya, the sounds of prayer bells and muezzins used to blend peacefully into the rhythm of daily life. Here, families from Syria’s diverse communities — Sunni, Druze, Christian, and Alawite — shared neighbors’ bread and exchanged Eid and Christmas greetings with equal sincerity. But that culture of mutual respect, already strained by more than a decade of civil war, is now on the brink of disappearing altogether.
A small audio clip uploaded online in late April was all it took to set off a chain of disruptive events. Within days, Syria’s fragile social compact broke down in places thought to be stable. Violent clashes erupted between armed groups and civilians. Security forces, once seen as protectors in these moments of tension, were either absent or accused of collusion. Entire neighborhoods were transformed into battlefields.
For observers of Syria’s long and bloodied path since 2011, the resurgence of sectarian strife in recent months is a warning less about the past than about the road ahead. With a transitional government led by President Ahmad Al-Sharaa trying to navigate a volatile political landscape, and with major world powers distracted by other crises, some of Syria’s minorities are wondering where they belong in the nation’s future.
Druze clerics and relatives carry coffins of members of the Syrian minority who were killed in recent sectarian clashes. (AFP)
The message of these regional analysts can be summed up thus: The Syrian government must be willing to listen to its citizens and open the door to political change — not military solutions or rule by militias. It must embrace and engage the country’s diverse ethnic and religious communities and commit to political inclusion.
The latest wave of unrest began on April 26 when the audio clip — whose authenticity remains unverified — circulated across messaging platforms. The man accused of criticizing Prophet Muhammad in the voice recording was Marwan Kiwan, a respected Druze scholar known for his initiatives in interfaith dialogue. Kiwan quickly issued a video denial, saying: “Whoever made this is evil and wants to incite strife between components of the Syrian people.” His words did little to contain the rage.
The Druze, a small religious community that makes up about 3 percent of Syria’s population, have long walked a delicate line between asserting autonomy and pledging loyalty to the state. But by April 28, fighting had broken out in Jaramana and Ashrafiyat Sahnaya — suburbs once considered models of coexistence — between militants and local Druze groups.
INNUMBER
• 50% Minorities (Alawites, Kurds, Druze and others) as a fraction of Syria’s population.
• 60% Fraction of the population who were food insecure in 2021.
• $100bn Real GDP (purchasing power parity) of Syria in 2022.
Source: CIA’s The World Factbook
The violence quickly spread south, to villages in Suweida — Syria’s Druze heartland — such as Ira, Rasas and Al-Soura Al-Kubra. At least 100 people were killed over the course of a week. Mortar shelling and heavy machine-gun fire struck residential areas. On Thursday, Druze spiritual leader Sheikh Hikmat Al-Hajari condemned the violence as an “unjustifiable genocidal campaign” against his community. He called for international intervention to help restore peace. By Friday, May 2, at least 100 people, including civilians, were reportedly dead.
Other Druze religious figures took a more conciliatory tone. In a joint statement, they affirmed the community’s “commitment to a country that includes all Syrians, a nation that is free of strife,” the Associated Press news agency reported. They also urged the government to secure the vital Suweida-Damascus highway, a critical lifeline increasingly targeted by militants.
Christian and Muslim clerics attend the funeral of members of Syria’s Druze community who were killed in recent sectarian clashes. (AFP)
The authorities issued statements blaming the violence on “outlaw groups,” while local activists and human rights monitors accused pro-government militias of targeting Druze neighborhoods.
Amid the chaos, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu claimed that his government had carried out airstrikes near the presidential palace in Damascus on May 2 to “send a message” following the attacks on Syria’s Druze population. For many Syrians, this only added to the confusion — and to the perception that sectarian politics had become a tool for foreign manipulation.
Joshua Landis, director of the Center for Middle East Studies at the University of Oklahoma, dismissed Israel’s posturing. “Israel has threatened the regime of Al-Sharaa by landing a few warning bombs, but it cannot protect the Druze,” he told Arab News. Worse, he added, the overtures could backfire. “Israel’s intervention on behalf of the Druze compromises them in the minds of many Syrians, who now accuse them of treason.”
Ghassan Ibrahim, founder of the Global Arab Network, went further in his criticism of Israel’s role. “Israel doesn’t care about the Syrian Druze,” he said. “It focuses on the Druze within its borders and projects a false message that it wants to help the community in Syria, rather than offering meaningful support.”
In a statement on Friday, the UN Independent International Commission of Inquiry on Syria said continued Israeli airstrikes could cause greater civilian harm and fragmentation.
Members of Syria’s security deploy at the entrance of Jaramana near Damascus. (AFP)
While the situation “remains fluid,” it noted that a tentative agreement had reportedly been reached between leaders in Suweida and authorities in Damascus. Still, it stressed the government’s obligation to protect all civilians within its jurisdiction.
The commission also pointed to earlier violence in Syria’s coastal areas in March as evidence of the country’s fragile security and the urgent need for de-escalation.
Regional analysts echoed the commission’s concerns, warning that foreign interference and deepening internal divisions jeopardize chances of long-term peace. Many urged the government to double down on reconciliation and called on the international community to support inclusive, Syrian-led solutions.
For Ibrahim, the true path to peace lies not in foreign intervention but in inclusive, homegrown governance. “The less negative external involvement we have, the better it is for Syrians to sit down and talk,” he said. “That process still requires support, including engagement with the UN and other organizations, to help Syrians find a path toward political compromise.”
He emphasized that stabilizing the country requires sidelining armed groups and initiating a credible national dialogue. “This needs support from Arab states, neighboring countries, the international community — and even Israel, which must halt its involvement in the conflict,” he told Arab News.
Ibrahim urged the new government to break with extremist allies and pursue political reform. “The Syrian government must be willing to listen to its citizens and open the door to political change — not military solutions or rule by militias,” he said. “It must reach out to minorities and embrace Syria’s diverse ethnic and religious fabric.”
Members of Syria’s security forces deploy in an area near the Syrian capital Damascus. (AFP)
He also called on the government to engage with Syria’s diverse ethnic and religious communities and commit to political inclusion. “Syria has always been home to different communities, and it must remain that way,” he said, stressing that a more inclusive approach could “unlock reconstruction aid, ease sanctions, and rebuild trust in state institutions.”
Such measures, according to Ibrahim, would not only incentivize reform but also reassure minorities that the international community remains committed to their protection.
“Western governments would prefer a Syria that aligns with the West rather than fall under extremist influence again,” he said. “At the moment, it doesn’t appear that global powers are paying much attention to Syria — there is no real road map, guidance or incentives being offered. Syria today is being treated like Afghanistan after the withdrawal from Kabul — largely abandoned.”
Landis, the US academic, believes Western leverage over Syria remains limited. “The only leverage that the West has is sanctions, which are a double-edged sword; they hurt the people even more than the government,” he said.
Though many sanctions were eased in 2025, the US State Department reiterated in April that any further relief would require a verifiable crackdown on terrorism, disarmament of chemical weapons, and the protection of minorities.
Members of Syria’s Druze community chant slogans in Damascus during the funeral of people killed during clashes with Syrian security forces. (AFP)
Landis blamed the government for not hesitating “to call for a general mobilization to send irresponsible militias to go kill Alawites on the coast, where some 1,700, mostly unarmed civilians, were murdered,” adding: “Now, the Defense (Ministry) Forces have attacked the Druze, with no serious effort to stop the mobilization against them.”
Within Syria’s civil society, some analysts believe small, symbolic actions could yet help ensure accountability and rebuild trust. Karam Shaar, a senior fellow at the Newlines Institute for Strategy and Policy, pointed to one viral video in which an armed fighter is seen forcibly shaving a Druze man’s moustache — an act widely viewed as a cultural insult.
“A gesture as simple as identifying that individual, ensuring they apologize publicly, and bringing them before a court could send a powerful message,” he said. “These symbolic steps matter.”
He noted that various actors had committed abuses, including attacks on government security personnel. “That’s completely unacceptable,” he told Arab News.
According to Shaar, the broader goal should be to foster a sense of equal protection under the law for all Syrians. “That feeling has not been consistently present,” he said, emphasizing that the state “sets the tone for justice and accountability.”
The Druze have long walked a delicate line between asserting autonomy and pledging loyalty to the state. (AFP)
Camille Otrakji, a Syrian analyst and longtime observer of the regime’s internal dynamics, believes the government is caught between contradictory pressures. “A significant gap — in values, priorities, and trust — persists between the government’s conservative base and a broader segment of Syrians, including ethnic and religious minorities as well as many Arabs, who favor a more inclusive and less ideological vision for the country,” he said.
Otrakji said while the government had acted to contain sectarian tensions, “the recurring unrest has deepened doubts — both inside Syria and abroad — about the government’s ability to maintain a stable and inclusive order.”
According to him, both sides of the political divide — government and opposition — are lobbying Western powers, with the regime portraying itself as a stabilizing force and its critics warning of ideological extremism within the ruling bloc.
“For Western policymakers, the path forward remains deeply uncertain,” he told Arab News. “Some argue that, however imperfect, the Al-Sharaa government represents the only viable vehicle for preserving a measure of stability in post-Assad Syria.
“Others see in the current leadership signs of deeper fragmentation and are preparing for the possibility of yet another period of disruptive — and potentially violent — transition.”
The resurgence of sectarian strife in recent months is a warning less about the past than about the road ahead. (AFP)
History has shown that sectarian wounds, once opened, do not heal easily. Iraq and Lebanon offer cautionary tales of what happens when multi-ethnic societies are left to drift without strong civic foundations. Syria’s challenge is arguably greater: It must not only contain current unrest but also address the grievances of millions of citizens displaced, detained or bereaved over five decades of Assad dynasty rule.
Syria has historically been a place where multiple religions and cultures coexisted — not always perfectly, but with dignity. That memory is still alive in millions of Syrian hearts. Unsurprisingly, many voices are emerging, calling for a tolerant vision that goes beyond sect or party. It is a vision rooted in Syria’s pluralistic past and projected into an as yet unknown future.
Israel strikes Yemen after Houthi attack on Ben Gurion airport
Houthi-run Al-Masirah television said that “US-Israeli aggression targets with six strikes the port of Hodeida” on Yemen’s western coast
Updated 05 May 2025
AFP
SANAA: Israel struck Yemen on Monday in what the Houthis said was a joint raid with the United States, a day after the militia claimed missile fire at Israel’s main airport.
The Houthi-run Al-Masirah television said six air strikes hit the port of Hodeida, on Yemen’s western coast, and reported an attack on Bajil district in the same province, blaming “US-Israeli aggression” for both.
Israel confirmed it had carried out the strikes, while a US official denied any part in the raid.
The Israeli military said its “fighter jets struck terror targets belonging to the Houthi terrorist regime along Yemen’s coastline and further inland.”
In a statement, it said the Houthi-held Hodeida port “is used for the transfer of Iranian weapons, military equipment, and other equipment intended for terrorist purposes.”
In Bajil, the military said it hit a “concrete plant... which functions as a significant economic resource for the Houthis.”
A US defense official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said that “US forces did not participate in the Israeli strikes on Yemen today.”
Anees Al-Asbahi, spokesman for the Houthi-run health ministry, said in a post on X that 21 people were wounded in the attack on Bajil.
Earlier the Houthis’ Saba news agency said US strikes hit the capital Sanaa and the airport road, wounding 16 people according to the rebels’ health ministry.
Al-Masirah reported another four strikes in Sanaa and seven in the northern governorate of Al-Jawf.
The reported strikes come after Israel said a missile fired from Yemen on Sunday struck inside the perimeter of Ben Gurion International Airport near Tel Aviv for the first time.
The Houthis claimed responsibility, saying they fired a “hypersonic ballistic missile” at Ben Gurion airport, Israel’s main international gateway.
The militia said it “will work to impose a comprehensive air blockade on the Israeli enemy by repeatedly targeting airports, most notably... Ben Gurion airport.”
The missile gouged a wide crater in the ground near an airport parking lot, injuring six people and forcing airlines to suspend flights.
The Houthis, who control swathes of Yemen including Sanaa, have launched missiles and drones targeting Israel and Red Sea shipping throughout the Gaza war that began in October 2023, saying they are acting in solidarity with Palestinians.
US strikes against the Houthis began under former president Joe Biden but have intensified under his successor Donald Trump.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday vowed a tough response against the Houthis, as well as its main backer Iran, over the airport attack.
In a video published on Telegram, Netanyahu said Israel had “acted against” the Houthis in the past and “will act in the future.”
“It will not happen in one bang, but there will be many bangs,” he added.
On social media platform X, Netanyahu said Israel would also respond to Iran at “a time and place of our choosing.”
Iran on Monday denied supporting the attack, calling it an “independent decision” by the Houthis taken in solidarity with the Palestinian people.
Reacting to Netanyahu’s threats, the Islamic republic warned it would retaliate against any attack on its territory.
“Iran underlines (its) firm determination... to defend itself,” the Iranian foreign ministry said, warning Israel and the United States of “consequences.”
An Israeli military spokesperson told AFP that Sunday’s attack was “the first time” that a missile has directly struck inside the airport perimeter.
An AFP journalist inside the airport during the attack said he heard a “loud bang” at around 9:35 am (0635 GMT), adding that the “reverberation was very strong.”
Flights resumed after being halted briefly, with the aviation authority saying on Sunday that Ben Gurion was “open and operational.”
Some international airlines have canceled flights, including SWISS which extended its suspension until Sunday.
Palestinians struggling to survive as Israel plans for Gaza's ‘conquest’
For many of the Gaza Strip's residents, the most immediate threat to their lives remains the spectre of famine amid a months-long Israeli blockade
Israel’s new military roadmap changes little as it already controls most of Gaza, a resident says
Updated 05 May 2025
AFP
GAZA CITY, Palestinian Territories: Israel’s plan for the “conquest” of Gaza has sparked renewed fears, but for many of the Palestinian territory’s residents, the most immediate threat to their lives remains the spectre of famine amid a months-long Israeli blockade.
The plan to expand military operations, approved by Israel’s security cabinet overnight, includes holding territories in the besieged Gaza Strip and moving the population south “for their protection,” an Israeli official said.
But Gaza residents told AFP that they did not expect the new offensive would make any significant changes to the already dire humanitarian situation in the small coastal territory.
“Israel has not stopped the war, the killing, the bombing, the destruction, the siege, and the starvation — every day — so how can they talk about expanding military operations?” Awni Awad, 39, told AFP.
Awad, who lives in a tent in the southern Gaza city of Khan Yunis after being displaced by Israeli evacuation orders, said that his situation was already “catastrophic and tragic.”
“I call on the world to witness the famine that grows and spreads every day,” he said.
The UN’s World Food Programme (WFP) in late April said it had depleted all its foods stocks in Gaza due to Israel’s blockade on all supplies since March 2.
There is no food, no medicine, and no nutritional supplements. The markets are empty of food, and the government clinics and pharmacies have nothing
Umm Hashem Al-Saqqa, Gaza City resident
Aya Al-Skafy, a resident of Gaza City, told AFP her baby died because of malnutrition and medicine shortages last week.
“She was four months old and weighed 2.8 kilograms (6.2 pounds), which is very little. Medicine was not available,” she said.
“Due to severe malnutrition, she suffered from blood acidity, liver and kidney failure, and many other complications. Her hair and nails also fell out due to malnutrition.”
Umm Hashem Al-Saqqa, another Gaza City resident, fears her five-year-old son might face a similar fate, but is powerless to do anything about it.
“Hashem suffers from iron deficiency anaemia. He is constantly pale and lacks balance, and is unable to walk due to malnutrition,” she told AFP.
“There is no food, no medicine, and no nutritional supplements. The markets are empty of food, and the government clinics and pharmacies have nothing.” New military roadmap
Gaza City resident Mohammed Al-Shawa, 65, said that Israel’s new military roadmap changes little as it already controls most of Gaza.
“The Israeli announcement about expanding military operations in Gaza is just talk for the media, because the entire Gaza Strip is occupied, and there is no safe area in Gaza,” he said.
The UN’s Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) estimates that 69 percent of Gaza has now been either incorporated into one of Israel’s buffer zones, or is subject to evacuation orders.
The reality is that Israel is killing Palestinians in Gaza by bombing, shooting, or through starvation and denial of medical treatment
Mohammed Al-Shawa, Gaza City resident
That number rises to 100 percent in the southern governorate of Rafah, where over 230,000 people lived before the war but which has now been entirely declared a no-go zone.
“There is no food, no medicine, and the announcement of an aid distribution plan is just to distract the world and mislead global public opinion,” Shawa said, referring to reports of a new Israeli plan for humanitarian aid delivery that has yet to be implemented.
“The reality is that Israel is killing Palestinians in Gaza by bombing, shooting, or through starvation and denial of medical treatment,” he said.
Israel says that its renewed bombardments and the blockade of Gaza are aimed at forcing Hamas to release hostages held in the territory.
Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich praised the new plan for Gaza on Monday and evoked a proposal previously floated by US President Donald Trump to displace the territory’s residents elsewhere.
The far-right firebrand said he would push for the plan’s completion, until “Hamas is defeated, Gaza is fully occupied, and Trump’s historical plan is implemented, with Gaza refugees resettled in other countries.”
