Region

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

AFP is unable to independently verify the death toll.

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

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

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

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

PORT SUDAN, Sudan — Sudan's military said Saturday that it had regained control of a key district in greater Khartoum as it presses its advance against the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF).

The district of Kafouri in Khartoum North, or Bahri, had been under RSF control since war between the army and the paramilitaries began in April 2023.

In a statement, military spokesman Nabil Abdullah said that army forces, alongside allied units, had "completed on Friday the clearing of" Kafouri and other areas in Sharq El Nil, 15 kilometres to the east, of what he described as "remnants of the Daglo terrorist militias".

The army has in recent weeks surged through Bahri, an RSF stronghold since the start of the war -- pushing the paramilitaries to the outskirts.

The Kafouri district, one of Khartoum's wealthiest neighbourhoods, had served as a key base for RSF leaders.

Among the properties in the area was the residence of Abdel Rahim Daglo, the brother of RSF leader Mohamed Hamdan Daglo and his deputy in the paramilitary group.

The recapture of Kafouri further weakens the RSF's hold in the capital and signals the army's continued advance to retake full control of Khartoum North, which is home to one million people.

Khartoum North, Omdurman across the Nile River, and the city centre to the south make up greater Khartoum.

On Thursday, a military source told AFP that the army was advancing towards the centre of Khartoum, nearly two years after the city fell to the RSF at the start of the war.

Eyewitnesses in southern Khartoum reported hearing explosions and clashes coming from central Khartoum Saturday morning.

The developments mark one of the army's most significant offensives since the war broke out between army chief Abdel Fattah Al Burhan and his erstwhile ally Daglo's RSF, which quickly seized much of Khartoum and other strategic areas.

The conflict has devastated the country, displacing more than 12 million and plunging Sudan into the "biggest humanitarian crisis ever recorded" according to the International Rescue Committee.

DAMASCUS — The head of the world's chemical weapons watchdog will meet Syria's new leader Saturday, in a first visit since the ouster of Bashar Al Assad, who was repeatedly accused of using such weapons during Syria's 13-year civil war.

"We will broadcast the President of the Syrian Arab Republic Ahmad Al Sharaa and the Minister of Foreign Affairs Asaad Al Shaibani receiving a delegation from the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW)", an official Syrian Telegram channel said in a statement.

The statement said the delegation was headed by OPCW chief Fernanado Arias.

In 2013, Syria agreed to join the OPCW shortly after a suspected chemical gas attack killed more than 1,000 people near Damascus.

It handed over its declared stockpile for destruction, but the OPCW has always been concerned that the declaration made by Damascus was incomplete and that more weapons remained.

Assad's government denied using chemical weapons.

But in 2014, the OPCW set up what it called a "fact-finding mission" to investigate chemical weapons use in Syria, subsequently issuing 21 reports covering 74 instances of alleged chemical weapons use.

Investigators concluded that chemical weapons were used or likely used in 20 instances.

Antakya, Turkey — Thousands of survivors held torchlit vigils across southern Turkey at 4:17 am Thursday, expressing pain and anger as they marked the exact moment two years ago when a devastating earthquake struck that led to the deaths of over 53,000 people in Turkey and some 6,000 in Syria. 

The 7.8 magnitude quake struck before dawn when people were sleeping, destroying almost 40,000 buildings and severely damaging about 200,000 others in Turkey, leaving huge numbers trapped under the rubble. 

"Although two years have passed, we are still hurting. It still feels like it did on that first day. That hasn't changed," survivor Emine Albayrak, 25 told AFP in Antakya, site of the ancient city of Antioch, which lost 90 percent of its buildings.

More than 20,000 people died in Antakya and the surrounding province.

"Can anybody hear me?" the crowd chanted, echoing the calls of those trapped under the wreckage in freezing temperatures for hours or days before help came. 

Crossing a bridge, many threw red carnations into the Orontes River to remember the victims. 

But alongside the grief, there was also anger with mourners carrying a huge banner reading: "We will not forget, we will not forgive. We will hold them accountable!" 

The collapse of so many structures in one of the world's most earthquake-prone areas pointed to the greed of unscrupulous developers and corrupt bureaucrats who rubber-stamped unsafe projects on unsuitable land.

"This was not an earthquake, this was a massacre!" they chanted, their voices echoing eerily through the night.

Security forces set up barricades and prevented marchers from reaching a certain area, prompting scuffles with police who detained three people, prompting the crowd to call for "the government's resignation, Antakya's local newspaper reported.

Later in the morning, Christians gathered under a gazebo outside the ruins of Antakya's 14th-century Greek Orthodox church, a mournful chant for the dead cutting through the air, live footage showed.

- 'Feels like yesterday' -

"Two years have passed, but it still feels like yesterday for me," admitted Humeysa Bagriyanik, who was 16 when the earthquake hit.

"I feel like a stranger in my hometown now. Our city was razed to the ground and now I don't recognise anything," she said of Antakya which has been transformed into a massive construction site. 

Dubbed the "disaster of the century" by Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the earthquake left nearly two million people homeless. Two years on, some 670,000 survivors are still living in containers.

"We will continue our rebuilding and restoration efforts with hard work, sweat, patience and an iron will until our cities are back on their feet," said Erdogan in a statement. 

He will attend an afternoon remembrance ceremony in Adiyaman, a province that lost over 8,000 people. 

So far, nearly 201,500 homes have been given to survivors in the quake zone, with the government saying the keys to 220,000 more will be handed over by the year's end. 

"Whenever I enter a room, the first place I look is the ceiling: would it hold up in an earthquake, or would I be trapped under the rubble?" said Sema Genc, 34, whose home collapsed on top of her, killing her entire family.

"That fear is always with you."

- New earthquake fears -

Two years on, 189 people have been jailed over the disaster, many for negligence, justice ministry figures show. And 1,342 trials involving 1,850 defendants are ongoing. 

Over the past week, repeated earthquakes in the Aegean Sea near the Greek island of Santorini, have raised fears of a major tremor that could affect southwestern Turkey.

Urban planning minister Murat Kurum warned this week of a "big one" hitting Istanbul, which lies just 15 kilometres (nine miles) from the North Anatolian faultline.

In 1999, a rupture on this fault caused a 7.4-magnitude earthquake, killing 17,000, including 1,000 in Istanbul.

"Istanbul does not have the strength to withstand another earthquake" of such magnitude, he said, warning the city had "600,000 homes that could collapse".

OCCUPIED JERUSALEM — Israel's defence minister ordered the army on Thursday to prepare for "voluntary" departures from the Gaza Strip, after US President Donald Trump proposed moving Palestinians out of the territory.

The idea sparked uproar from leaders in the Middle East and beyond. On Wednesday, the Trump administration appeared to walk back some of the suggestions.

Hours later, Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz said he had instructed the military to formulate a plan for Palestinians to leave Gaza, which has been ravaged by more than a year of war.

"The plan will include exit options through land crossings, as well as special arrangements for departure by sea and air," he added, branding Trump's plan as "bold".

Trump announced his proposal to audible gasps on Tuesday at a joint press conference with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, the first foreign leader to visit him since his inauguration.

The United Nations warned that any forced displacement of Palestinians would be "tantamount to ethnic cleansing".

Trump insisted "everybody loves" the plan, saying it would involve the United States taking over Gaza, though he offered few details on how more than two million Palestinians would be removed.

"The US will take over the Gaza Strip and we will do a job with it, too. We'll own it," he said.

His administration later appeared to backtrack, with Secretary of State Marco Rubio saying any transfer of Gazans would be temporary, while the White House denied any commitment to sending US troops.

'Greatest friend' 

Netanyahu hailed Trump as Israel's "greatest friend" and, speaking to Fox News on Wednesday, called the proposal "remarkable".

"I think it should be really pursued, examined, pursued and done, because I think it will create a different future for everyone."

He suggested Palestinians would not necessarily leave permanently.

"They can leave, they can then come back, they can relocate and come back, but you have to rebuild Gaza."

Katz said Trump's plan "could create broad opportunities for Gaza residents who wish to leave, help them integrate optimally in host countries, and also facilitate the advancement of reconstruction programs for a demilitarised, threat-free Gaza".

Far-right Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich -- who has repeatedly expressed support for Trump's proposal to relocate Gazans, and who vowed Wednesday to "definitively bury" the idea of a Palestinian state -- said he welcomed Katz's move.

Much of the Gaza Strip has been levelled by the war sparked by Hamas's October 7, 2023 attack on Israel, the deadliest in the country's history, but Palestinians residing in the coastal territory have vowed not to leave.

For them, any attempt to push them out of Gaza recalls the "Nakba", or "catastrophe" -- the mass displacement of Palestinians during Israel's creation in 1948.

"They can do whatever they want, but we will remain steadfast in our homeland," said 41-year-old Gazan Ahmed Halasa.

Israelis in Jerusalem largely welcomed Trump's proposal, though some doubted it could be carried out.

"I really like what he said, but in my wildest dreams... it's hard for me to believe it will happen, but who knows," said 65-year-old Refael.

White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said Trump wanted Palestinians to only be "temporarily relocated" out of Gaza.

"It's not a liveable place for any human being," she said.

Trump, who also suggested he might visit Gaza, appeared to imply it would not be rebuilt for Palestinians.

 'Serious violation' 

Even before Tuesday's announcements, Trump had suggested residents of Gaza should move to Egypt and Jordan, both of which have flatly rejected any resettlement of Palestinians on their territory.

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas rejected the proposal, calling it a "serious violation" of international law and insisting that "legitimate Palestinian rights are not negotiable".

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres emphasised "the inalienable rights of the Palestinian people... to simply live as human beings in their own land".

His spokesman Stephane Dujarric, when asked about Trump's plan, said: "Any forced displacement of people is tantamount to ethnic cleansing."

Hamas, which took sole control of Gaza in 2007, rejected the proposal, branding it "racist" and "aggressive".

Israel's military offensive in response to Hamas's attack has left much of Gaza in ruins, including schools, hospitals and most civil infrastructure. 

Human Rights Watch said the destruction of Gaza "reflects a calculated Israeli policy to make parts of the strip unliveable". 

Trump's plan "would move the US from being complicit in war crimes to direct perpetration of atrocities", said Lama Fakih, an HRW regional director.

In a bid to address the dire humanitarian situation, aid has been rushed into the territory since a fragile ceasefire took hold on January 19.

UN humanitarian chief Tom Fletcher said Thursday that more than 10,000 aid trucks had crossed into Gaza since the truce went into effect, calling it "a massive surge".

TEHRAN — Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said on Wednesday that US President Donald Trump's reimposition of a policy of "maximum pressure" against Iran will end in "failure" as it did during his first term.

"I believe that maximum pressure is a failed experiment and trying it again will turn into another failure," Araghchi told reporters following a cabinet meeting, adding that Tehran was not pursuing nuclear weapons.

During his first term that ended in 2021, Trump pursued a policy of "maximum pressure" against Iran, withdrawing the United States from a landmark nuclear deal between Iran and major powers, and reimposing biting sanctions.

The deal — known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA)-- imposed curbs on Iran's nuclear programme in return for sanctions relief.

Tehran adhered to the deal until a year after Washington pulled out, but then began rolling back its commitments. Efforts to revive the 2015 deal have since faltered.

On Tuesday, Trump signed an order reinstating the "maximum pressure" policy against Iran over allegations that the country is seeking a nuclear weapons capability.

Iran denies any such ambition, insisting its nuclear programme is solely for peaceful purposes.

"If the main issue is that Iran does not pursue nuclear weapons, it is achievable and is not much of a problem," Araghchi said.

A longstanding religious decree, or fatwa, issued by supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who has the final say in all matters of state, prohibits Iran from possessing a nuclear arsenal.

On Wednesday, Iran's nuclear agency chief Mohammad Eslami insisted that his country remains committed to the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, saying "Iran does not have, and will not have a nuclear weapons programme".

In January, before Trump returned to the White House, Iranian officials held nuclear talks with counterparts from Britain, France and Germany.

Both sides described the talks as "frank and constructive".

Earlier this month, Iranian diplomat Majid Takht-Ravanchi said a new round of talks was expected to be held "within a month" but the "date has not been confirmed yet".