Region

GENEVA — The polio vaccination drive in Gaza is exceeding expectations, the WHO said Tuesday as it warned of the impacts of US funding cuts and pleaded for ramped-up medical evacuations.

Speaking from Gaza, Rik Peeperkorn, the World Health Organization's representative in the Palestinian territories, gave an update on a fresh polio child vaccination campaign, and an overview of the health and funding situation in the Gaza Strip.

Poliovirus, most often spread through sewage and contaminated water, is highly infectious and potentially fatal.

Since the disease resurfaced in Gaza for the first time in over 20 years, paralysing a 10-month-old child last August, two vaccination rounds took place in September and October 2024.

They reached more than 95 per cent of the children targeted with the necessary two doses of the oral vaccine.

But environmental samples from two sites, collected in December 2024 and January 2025, found poliovirus was still circulating.

A new polio vaccination campaign targeting 591,000 children under 10 began on Saturday. Nearly 548,000 have been reached so far, WHO said.

Despite cold and rainy conditions, parents brought their children to vaccination centres.

"That's a remarkable achievement, and personally I didn't think we would reach that," said Peeperkorn, citing high enthusiasm for the first two rounds.

A fourth round of vaccinations is planned in four weeks' time.

Medical evacuations

Between February 1 and 24, some 889 patients, including 335 children, were evacuated via the Rafah crossing into Egypt.

The total number of patients evacuated since October 2023 is 6,295, including 4,640 children.

The WHO estimates that 10,000 to 14,000 critical patients need medical evacuation, including more than 4,000 children.

Peeperkorn hoped medical evacuations to Jordan would begin soon, and pleaded for expanded medical corridors, including the pre-war traditional referral pathway to hospitals in the West Bank and East Jerusalem would resume, "otherwise we will be medevacing for years to come".

Money and US WHO pullout

The Gaza and West Bank Interim Rapid Damage and Needs Assessment, conducted earlier this month jointly by the United Nations, the World Bank and the European Union, estimated that $7 billion will be needed to repair the territory's devastated health system.

That amount was split between reconstruction costs and service delivery needs, with more than $4 billion needed in the first three years, it said.

The WHO's 2025 operational response plan for the Palestinian territories requires $648 million.

Peeperkorn also warned that the US pullout from the WHO meant the agency could no longer allocate some $46 million planned for use in Gaza, mostly this year.

This, he said, would leave particular areas underfunded, namely: procurement of supplies; enabling emergency medical teams; partner coordination including fuel; rehabilitation; medevac, and protection.

"It would have been so incredibly helpful in 2025. We could have used money for these areas," he said.

He said the WHO could go "full steam ahead" for now, as it still had $40-60 million in the pipeline, but warned that needed to stretch "for the whole of 2025, and then 2026 and beyond".

Peeperkorn said 18 of Gaza's 36 hospitals were partly functional, as were 59 of the 144 primary health care centres. Seven smaller field hospitals are also operational.

Gaza had more than 3,500 hospital beds before the war; that number went down to 1,110 and "now it's probably back to 1,500".

WHO hopes to get a pre-fabricated hospital into Gaza by March.

"Maybe there's not a need to rebuild all those 36 hospitals but focus on the ones which are absolutely needed, and make sure that you strengthen primary healthcare and the referral pathway," said Peeperkorn.

Peeperkorn insisted the health service and infrastructure in Gaza "has not collapsed", instead retaining partial or minimal functionality.

"I really credit that to the resilience of the Gaza health workers," he said.

Gaza had around 25,000 health workers before the war. Peeperkorn said many senior medical specialists had fled and he hoped a sustained ceasefire would see numbers return.

He said he had heard reports that 40 to 50 percent of the original health workers were still at their posts.

TEHRAN — Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi on Tuesday dismissed the possibility of direct negotiations with the United States on his country's nuclear programme.

His remarks came a day after Washington announced fresh sanctions on Tehran targeting more than 30 vessels and people, including the head of the national oil company, accused of involvement in brokering the sale and shipment of Iranian oil.

The sanctions were the latest to be imposed since US President Donald Trump reinstated his "maximum pressure" policy towards Iran, reprising his approach during his first term.

"There will be no possibility of direct talks between us and the United States on the nuclear issue as long as the maximum pressure is applied in this way," Araghchi said during a joint press conference with his visiting Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov.

"Regarding the nuclear negotiations, the position of the Islamic Republic of Iran is very clear. We will not negotiate under pressure, threat or sanctions."

Lavrov arrived in Tehran on Tuesday for talks with Araghchi and other senior officials on a range of topics including bilateral relations, regional developments and the 2015 nuclear deal between Iran and major powers.

During Trump's first term, which ended in 2021, Washington withdrew from the landmark deal that had imposed curbs on Iran's nuclear programme in return for sanctions relief.

On Monday, Iran held a new round of talks with Germany, France and Britain about its nuclear programme after reviving engagement with the trio, known as the E3, late last year.

Araghchi said he had briefed Lavrov about the latest discussions.

"On the nuclear issue, we will move forward with the cooperation and coordination of our friends in Russia and China," he added.

'Very close' on Syria

With Russia too facing sanctions over its war in Ukraine, Moscow and Tehran have stepped up their cooperation in recent years.

Ukraine and its Western allies have accused Iran of supplying Russia with weapons for use in the war -- allegations Iran has repeatedly denied.

During a visit to Moscow in January, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian signed a strategic partnership with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin underpinning their economic and military cooperation.

Both Iran and Russia suffered a major setback in Syria in December when Islamist-led rebels toppled their longtime ally Bashar al-Assad after both governments invested heavily to support him over more than a decade of civil war.

Araghchi said Iran and Russia's positions on Syria remain "very close".

"Iran wants peace, stability, preservation of territorial integrity and unity, and the progress of Syria based on the will of the people," he said.

Lavrov, for his part, said "we will do our utmost to ensure that the situation calms down and does not pose a threat either to the Syrian people... or to the people of neighbouring states".

The Russian diplomat's visit comes one week after he met with his US counterpart Marco Rubio in Saudi Arabia to discuss the war in Ukraine.

On Monday, the United States sided with Russia in two votes in New York, refusing to condemn its invasion of Ukraine and signalling a seismic shift as Trump stakes out a drastically new position on the war.

"Yesterday's event at the UN General Assembly and the Security Council showed one very important thing: the understanding that the approach aimed at eliminating the root causes of the crisis has no alternative," Lavrov said in Tehran.

DAMASCUS — The closing statement of Syria's national dialogue conference held Tuesday in Damascus said that any armed groups outside the country's military were considered "outlawed".

The statement said that attendees called for "a monopoly on weapons by the state, building a professional national army and regarding any armed formations outside the official institutions as outlawed groups" -- an implicit reference to Kurdish-led forces and other factions that have refused to lay down their arms since the overthrow of Bashar Al Assad.

Syria's new interim president pledged on Tuesday to ensure the state has a monopoly on weapons at a national dialogue conference on the country's future after Bashar al-Assad's overthrow.

Ahmed Al Sharaa, whose Islamist group Hayat Tahrir Al Sham [HTS] led the rebel alliance that toppled Assad in December, also said he plans to establish a transitional justice committee.

The conference, held at Damascus's presidential palace, marks the beginning of a crucial phase for Syria's future governance after years of devastating civil war.

"The unity of arms and their monopoly by the state is not a luxury but a duty and an obligation," Sharaa told the gathering.

"Syria is indivisible; it is a complete whole, and its strength lies in its unity."

But parties in the autonomous Kurdish administration of northeast Syria slammed what they called the symbolic representation of minorities at the conference.

In a joint statement, the 35 parties said: "Conferences with token representation... are meaningless, worthless, and will not contribute to finding real solutions to the country's ongoing crisis."

Sharaa has previously said Kurdish-led forces should be integrated into Syria's national army.

Swathes of northern and northeastern Syria are controlled by a Kurdish-led administration whose de facto army, the Syrian Democratic Forces [SDF], spearheaded the fight that helped defeat Islamic State group jihadists in Syria in 2019, with US backing.

Hundreds of people attended the conference, including civil society, religious communities, opposition figures and artists.

The autonomous Kurdish administration and the SDF were not invited due to the exclusion of armed groups, according to organisers.

"Over the past two months, we have worked on pursuing those who committed crimes against Syrians," said Sharaa.

"We will work on forming a transitional justice body to restore people's rights, ensure justice and, God willing, bring criminals to justice," the interim president added.

A coalition led by Hayat Tahrir Al Sham seized power in Syria on December 8 after a lightning offensive. Sharaa, the Islamist group's leader, was named interim president in January.

An interim government has been charged with managing affairs until March 1, when a new government is set to be formed, reflecting "the diversity" of the population, according to the new authorities.

PORT SUDAN, SUDAN — Human Rights Watch accused a Sudanese army-aligned force on Tuesday of an attack on a village in the centre of the war-torn country that left at least 26 people dead.

In a statement, the rights monitor said the Sudan Shield Forces "intentionally targeted civilians in a January 10 attack" on the village of Tayba in Al-Jazira state, where fighting between the army and its rival the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces [RSF] has intensified in recent weeks.

Tayba is located 30 kilometres east of state capital Wad Madani, which the army recaptured from the RSF last month after more than a year of paramilitary control.

The attack, Human Rights Watch [HRW] said, left at least 26 civilians dead, one of them a child, and saw the systematic looting of property, including food supplies, as well as the burning of houses.

"These acts constitute war crimes and some, such as the deliberate killings of civilians, may also constitute potential crimes against humanity," it added.

The Sudan Shield Forces are led by Abu Aqla Kaykal, who defected from the RSF last year and has been accused of atrocities against civilians both during his tenure with the paramilitaries and now on the army's side.

Since April 2023, the conflict in Sudan has pitted army chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan against his former deputy, RSF leader Mohamed Hamdan Daglo.

The war has claimed tens of thousands of lives, uprooted more than 12 million people and triggered the world's largest displacement and hunger crisis.

 'You slave'

Both the army and the RSF have been accused of grave atrocities against civilians, with their leaders sanctioned by the United States.

HRW's investigation, based on survivor testimonies, satellite imagery, and verified videos and photos, documented widespread destruction and extrajudicial killings.

It said that the communities in Tayba were targeted twice on January 10.

Tayba, whose residents identified Kaykal's fighters as members of Sudan's ethnic Arab majority, is home to communities of non-Arab ethnic groups originally from western Sudan called Kanabi.

Some survivors reported hearing racial slurs shouted during the attack, such as "You slave!".

"'Do you not know who Kaykal's troops are? Do you not know who we are?'" one woman recalled the fighters saying.

"The Sudanese authorities should urgently investigate all reported abuses and hold to account those responsible, including the commanders of the Sudan Shield Forces," said Jean-Baptiste Gallopin, senior crisis, conflict and arms researcher at HRW.

In a statement after the attack, the army denied any involvement, attributing it to "individual violations" and pledged to hold perpetrators accountable.

Though the RSF has become notorious for alleged ethnicity-based violence, leading the US last month to accuse it of genocide, reports have also emerged of civilians being targeted on the basis of ethnicity in army-controlled areas.

DAMASCUS — Syria's interim president Ahmed Al Sharaa received an invitation on Sunday to attend an Egyptian-hosted Arab League meeting on Gaza, the Syrian presidency said.

"The president of the Syrian Arab Republic, Mr Ahmed Al Sharaa, received an official invitation from the president of the Arab Republic of Egypt... to participate in the extraordinary Arab League summit" on March 4 in Cairo, the presidency statement said.

The meeting was called in response to a widely criticised plan by US President Donald Trump, who has said his government should take over the war-battered Gaza Strip and redevelop it into the "Riviera of the Middle East".

Its Palestinian inhabitants, according to Trump's plan, would move elsewhere, including to Egypt and Jordan.

Trump's plan sparked an outcry from Arab governments as well as other world leaders, and the United Nations warned against "ethnic cleansing" in the Palestinian territory.

Sharaa has called Trump's plan "a very huge crime that cannot happen".

Syria under former president Bashar al-Assad was suspended from the Arab League in 2011 over his brutal crackdown on pro-democracy protests which spiralled into a devastating war.

Damascus was allowed to return to the regional bloc in 2023.

Late last year, a coalition spearheaded by Sharaa's Islamist group Hayat Tahrir Al Sham toppled Assad in a lightning offensive. He was named interim president soon after.

Egypt backed Assad until the end, even as Sharaa's Hayat Tahrir Al Sham closed in on Damascus, though it has engaged carefully with Syria since his fall.

The Cairo meeting next month would be the first time Sharaa represents Syria in the Arab League.

The European Union on Monday eased sanctions on Syria's energy, transport and banking sectors in a bid to help the country's reconstruction after the fall of Bashar al-Assad.

Syria's new leaders have been clamouring for the West to ease sanctions imposed to target Assad's regime during the civil war. 

But Europe and other powers have been reluctant to move before clear signals from the new Islamist-led rulers in Damascus that they are serious on having an inclusive transition. 

The step approved at a meeting of EU foreign ministers in Brussels includes suspending sanctions on the energy and transport sectors, as well as allowing transfers to five banks and making funds available to Syria's central bank. 

"The EU aims to facilitate engagement with Syria, its people, and businesses, in key areas of energy and transport, as well as to facilitate financial and banking transactions associated with such sectors and those needed for humanitarian and reconstruction," the bloc said.

NAIROBI - Sudan's paramilitary Rapid Support Forces and its allies have agreed to set up a parallel government, sources said Sunday, despite warnings such a move could further fragment the war-ravaged country.

"It's done," a source close to the organisers of the signing ceremony in Nairobi told AFP.

The signatories said the charter paves the way for a "government of peace and unity" in rebel-controlled areas of the northeast African country.

The move comes nearly two years into a devastating war with the regular army that has uprooted more than 12 million people and caused what the United Nations calls the world's worst hunger and displacement crises.

The signing, delayed multiple times, took place behind closed doors in the Kenyan capital.

Among those who agreed to it was a faction of the Sudan People's Liberation Movement-North (SPLM-N), led by Abdelaziz Al Hilu, which controls parts of the southern Kordofan and Blue Nile states.

Abdel Rahim Daglo, deputy and brother of RSF commander Mohamed Hamdan Daglo -- who was notably absent -- also signed.

The charter, seen by AFP, calls for "a secular, democratic, decentralised state based on freedom, equality, and justice, without bias toward any cultural, ethnic, religious, or regional identity".

It also outlines plans for a "new, unified, professional, national army" with a new military doctrine that "reflects the diversity and plurality characterising the Sudanese state".

The proposed government aims to end the war, ensure unhindered humanitarian aid and integrate armed groups into a single, national force.

Divided 

The signing follows a rift within Sudan's largest civilian coalition, Taqadum, over the formation of the new government. 

Taqadum, a bloc of political parties and professional unions, has split into two factions: the Sudan Founding Alliance (TASIS), aligned with the RSF and spearheading the new government, and the Civilian Democratic Alliance for Revolution Powers (Sumud), led by former prime minister Abdallah Hamdok. 

Alaa El Din Nuqd, a former Taqadum spokesperson and signatory of the charter representing professional unions, said the proposed government aims to address service gaps in RSF-held territories.

"Citizens in these regions have been cut off from essential services like the new banknotes issued by the army, passport processing, and document renewals," Nuqd told AFP.

In December, the army introduced new banknotes in areas under its control. Analysts said the move aimed at weakening the RSF economically would entrench divisions. 

Nuqd said the charter was a step toward "protecting the dignity" of civilians affected by the conflict. 

The United Civil Forces -- a coalition of political parties and armed groups that previously signed peace deals with Khartoum -- was another signatory. 

Najm Al Din Drisa, the group's spokesperson, said the newly proposed administration "may be formed within a month".

Army backlash 

Sudan's army chief Abdel Fattah Al Burhan had earlier vowed to form a "war cabinet" after making gains against the RSF in Khartoum and central Sudan. 

Kenya's hosting of the signing has drawn sharp criticism from Sudan's army-aligned government which recalled its ambassador from Nairobi on Thursday in protest.

A spokesman for UN chief Antonio Guterres warned the move could "increase the fragmentation of the country and risk making this crisis even worse".

On Thursday, the Arab League condemned "any steps that would undermine the unity of Sudan or expose it to division or fragmentation".

Ali Magouk, an RSF adviser, said earlier this month that the RSF does not seek the division of Sudan, adding "it will not allow this under any circumstances".

The war, sparked by disputes over integrating the RSF into the military, has killed tens of thousands, with both sides accused of atrocities.

The conflict has divided the country, with the army controlling the north and east and the RSF holding much of the western region of Darfur and swathes of the south.