Region

GAZA STRIP, Palestinian Territories — Israelis on Sunday cheered the rescue of four hostages from war-torn Gaza while Palestinians counted the cost, with Palestinian officials saying 274 people were killed and hundreds wounded during the daytime raid.

Special forces fought heavy gun battles with Palestinian fighters on Saturday in central Gaza's crowded Nuseirat refugee camp area as they swooped in to free the captives from two buildings and then flew them out by helicopters.

The Israeli military said the extraction team and captives came under heavy gun and grenade fire, which killed one police officer, while Israel's air force launched strikes that reduced nearby buildings to rubble.

The Gaza Strip's health ministry said 274 people were killed in what it labelled the "Nuseirat massacre", updating an earlier toll of 210 from the government media office which said the fatalities included many women and children, figures that could not be independently verified.

The health ministry said 698 people were wounded.

"My child was crying, afraid of the sound of the plane firing at us," said one Gaza woman, Hadeel Radwan, 32, recounting how they fled the intense combat as she carried her seven-month-old daughter.

"We all felt that we wouldn't survive," she told AFP, condemning "this brutal occupation that will not let us live".

Many Israelis shed tears of joy when they heard of the release of the four captives, all reported in good health — Noa Argamani, 26, Almog Meir Jan, 22, Andrey Kozlov, 27 and Shlomi Ziv, 41.

Hamas’s Ezzedine Al Qassam Brigades claimed that other hostages were killed during the rescue operation, without providing details or proof, and warned that conditions would worsen for the remaining captives.

“The operation will pose a great danger [for] the enemy’s prisoners and will have a negative impact on their conditions,” spokesman Abu Obaida wrote on the Telegram channel.

Israel’s top diplomat rejected unspecified accusations “of war crimes” in the operation.

“We will continue to act with determination and strength, in accordance with our right to self-defence, until all of the hostages are freed and Hamas is defeated,” Foreign Minister Israel Katz said.

Latest fighting saw four members of one family killed when an air strike hit their house in Gaza City’s Al Daraj area, according to Al-Ahli hospital medics.

Israel helicopters were also firing east of the Bureij camp, witnesses told AFP.

And heavy artillery shelling from Israeli army tanks hit central and northern areas of Rafah, said officials in the southern city.

The four freed hostages are among only seven that Israeli forces have managed to rescue alive since Palestinian militants seized 251 in their October 7 attack.

Dozens were exchanged in a November truce for Palestinian prisoners. After Saturday’s rescue operation, 116 hostages remain in Gaza, although the army says 41 of them are dead.

BEIRUT — Israeli strikes on Saturday killed two people and sparked wildfires in southern Lebanon, state media said, with Iran-backed armed group Hizbollah announcing the death of one fighter.

Hizbollah, a Hamas ally, has traded near-daily fire with Israeli forces in the eight months since the Gaza war began, triggered by the Palestinian fighter group's October 7 surprise attack.

The deadly clashes have intensified in recent weeks, causing multiple brush fires on both sides of the Israel-Lebanon border.

Lebanon's official National News Agency (NNA) said on Saturday that "an Israeli drone carried out an air attack with two guided missiles, targeting a cafe in Aitarun and killing the cafe's owner, Ali Khalil Hamad, 37, and a young man named Mustafa A. Issa".

The agency also reported a "violent airstrike" on the border village of Khiam.

Shortly after, Hizbollah said it launched Katyusha rockets on a town across the border "in response to the Israeli enemy's attacks against southern villages and safe houses, and the targeting of civilians, notably in Aitarun where two people were killed".

The Shiite Muslim movement later announced that one of its fighters was killed by Israeli fire. It identified him as Radwan A. Issa, without providing further details.

The Israeli forces said in a statement that "one of its planes struck a HIzbollah terrorist in the Aitarun region", adding that they also struck targets in the area of Khiam.

More than eight months of border violence, which began on October 8, has killed 458 people in Lebanon, mostly fighters but including about 90 civilians, according to an AFP tally.

On the Israeli side of the border, at least 15 soldiers and 11 civilians have been killed, according to the army.

 ‘Phosphorus shells’ 

“Israeli artillery bombarded today the outskirts of the town of Alma Al Shaab with incendiary phosphorus shells, causing fires in the forests that spread to the vicinity of some homes,” NNA reported earlier on Saturday.

It added that the fire had reached “large areas of olive trees”.

Lebanese authorities and several international rights groups have accused Israel of using white phosphorus rounds in its strikes on its northern neighbour.

White phosphorus, a substance that ignites on contact with oxygen, can be used as an incendiary weapon.

Its use as a chemical weapon is prohibited under international law, but it is allowed for illuminating battlefields and can be used as a smokescreen.

Rescuer Ali Abbas of the Risala Scout association, affiliated with Hizbollah ally the Amal movement, told AFP that “Israel deliberately bombs forested areas with phosphorus with the aim of starting fires”.

According to him, rescuers on the grounds have been struggling to extinguish the flames, while the Lebanese military avoids sending helicopters to assist for fear of more Israeli attacks.

Further east, the NNA reported that “a large fire broke out at positions belonging to the Lebanese army and UNIFIL”, the UN peacekeeping mission, in the area of the border village of Mais Al Jabal.

It is located near the UN-demarcated Blue Line between Lebanon and Israel.

A security source told AFP on condition of anonymity that fires broke out near military positions but have not reached them or caused any casualties.

The UN peacekeepers in a statement reported a “bushfire near one of their positions in Hula”, which was put out with help from Lebanese troops and civil defence forces.

“The fire didn’t cause any damage to UNIFIL assets or personnel,” it said.

The NNA said “several landmines exploded, and firefighting operations are still continuing” in the area.

WASHINGTON — American forces destroyed four drones and two anti-ship ballistic missiles in areas of Yemen controlled by Iran-backed Houthi rebels, the US military said on Friday.

The Houthis have been targeting vessels in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden since November 2023 in attacks they say are in solidarity with Palestinians in Gaza.

The attacks pose a significant security threat to a key international shipping lane, and the United States and Britain have since January carried out strikes aimed at degrading the Houthis' ability to target shipping.

"US Central Command [USCENTCOM] forces successfully destroyed four UASs and two ASBMs in Houthi-controlled areas of Yemen," the military command said in a social media post, using abbreviations for unmanned aircraft systems and anti-ship ballistic missiles.

"USCENTCOM forces also successfully destroyed one UAS launched from a Houthi-controlled area of Yemen into the Bab Al Mandab Strait," CENTCOM said, adding that American forces also destroyed a Houthi patrol boat.

The Houthis launched four anti-ship ballistic missiles over the Red Sea within the past 24 hours, but “there were no injuries or damage reported by US, coalition, or commercial ships”, the military command said.

Houthi attacks have sent insurance costs spiraling for vessels transiting the Red Sea and prompted many shipping firms to take the far longer passage around the southern tip of Africa instead.

Houthi television channel Al Massirah meanwhile said there were air strikes in the Yemeni capital Sanaa and elsewhere in the country on Friday, but the reports could not be independently confirmed, and it was unclear if they were related to the incidents described by CENTCOM.

PORT SUDAN, Sudan — Pro-democracy activists in Sudan reported Friday about 40 dead in "violent artillery fire" the previous day when paramilitary forces targeted Omdurman, Khartoum's twin city.

Sudan has been ravaged by war since April 2023, when fighting broke out between the army, led by military chief Abdel Fattah Al Burhan, and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), commanded by Burhan's former deputy Mohamed Hamdan Daglo.

The Karari Resistance Committee, one of hundreds of grassroots pro-democracy groups that coordinate aid across Sudan, said the RSF was behind Thursday's deadly attack on Omdurman.

"So far, the death toll is estimated at 40 civilians and there are more than 50 injured, some seriously," the organisation posted on social media.

"There is still no precise count of the number of victims," it said, adding that bodies were received by Al Nao university hospital and other private health facilities or were buried by relatives.

The shelling came a day after the RSF was accused of killing more than 104 people, including 35 children, when they attacked the village of Wad Al Noura in Al-Jazira state, south of Khartoum.

In just over a year, the war in Sudan has claimed thousands of lives, with some estimates putting the death toll as high as 150,000, according to the United States envoy to Sudan, Tom Perriello.

War crimes 

accusations 

Since the war began, more than seven million people have fled their homes for other parts of Sudan, adding to 2.8 million already displaced from previous conflicts in the country of 48 million.

Fighting continues daily, including in the capital, with both sides accused of war crimes including deliberately targeting civilians, indiscriminate shelling of residential areas and blocking humanitarian aid.

At least 35 children were killed in the attack on Wad Al Noura, with activists from the Madani Resistance Committee sharing images on social media of a row of white shrouds on the ground.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres strongly condemned the attack, while the UN resident coordinator for Sudan, Clementine Nkweta-Salami, said she was “shocked by reports of violent attacks and a high number of casualties” in the village, and called for an investigation.

“Human tragedy has become a hallmark of life in Sudan. We cannot allow impunity to become another one,” she added.

The European Union was “appalled by credible reports of yet another senseless massacre of over 100 defenceless villagers”, its foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said in a statement Friday.

He stressed the importance of “monitoring and documentation of human rights violations” in Sudan’s war “to ensure that the perpetrators of these crimes are held fully accountable”.

UNICEF chief ‘horrified’ 

African Union Commission chief Moussa Faki Mahamat said he was “alarmed” that the situation in Sudan continued to deteriorate, and called in a statement on the warring sides “to end the fighting unconditionally”.

The United States condemned the “horrific attacks... on unarmed civilians” in Wad Al Noura, State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said, urging accountability and a resumption of ceasefire talks.

“Attacks on civilians throughout Sudan must stop now. There can be no military victory in this war,” Miller’s statement said.

The RSF is accused of looting as well as sexual and ethnic violence, and has attacked entire villages across Sudan on multiple occasions.

In a statement, the paramilitaries said they had attacked three army camps in the region of Wad Al Noura and clashed with them “outside” the inhabited area.

On Thursday, army chief Burhan visited the injured. In a statement he promised to “respond harshly” to the “crimes” of the RSF.

The head of the UN’s children’s agency, Catherine Russell, said she was “horrified by the reports that at least 35 children were killed and more than 20 children injured” in the attack.

“Attacks on civilians and civilian infrastructure are unacceptable and must cease immediately,” the UNICEF chief said.

Both Russell and Borrell called on those fighting to abide by international law and for an end to the war.

On Thursday, the International Organization for Migration said the number of internally displaced persons could “exceed 10 million” in the coming days.

Starvation is also a growing threat in Sudan, with about 18 million people suffering from hunger and 3.8 million children acutely malnourished, according to UN agencies.

PORT SUDAN, Sudan — A Sudanese pro-democracy activists' committee Thursday reported "more than 104" dead in a single day when paramilitary forces attacked a village, as the UN warned of mass displacement and starvation.

The Rapid Support Forces (RSF), which have been at war with the regular army since April 2023, on Wednesday attacked the central village of Wad Al Noura in Al Jazira state "in two waves" with heavy artillery, the Madani Resistance Committee said.

It reported on Wednesday that the feared paramilitaries had "invaded the village", causing dozens of casualties and widespread displacement.

The attack "claimed the lives of more than 104 martyrs" and "injured hundreds" said the committee, one of hundreds of similar grassroots groups across Sudan, adding that it reached the toll via "initial communication with village residents".

On social media, the committee shared footage of what it said was a "mass grave" in the public square, showing rows of white shrouds laid out in a courtyard.

In a little over a year, the war has killed tens of thousands of people, including up to 15,000 in a single West Darfur town.

However, the war’s overall death toll remains unclear, with some estimates of up to 150,000, according to US special envoy for Sudan Tom Perriello.

The RSF has repeatedly besieged and attacked entire villages across the country, and has been notorious for widespread looting as well as sexual and ethnic violence.

In a statement late Wednesday, the RSF said it had attacked three army camps in the Wad al-Noura area, and clashed with its enemy “outside the city”.

The resistance committee called the RSF’s statement an “expected” attempt to “criminalise the people of Wad al-Noura and label them a legitimate target”.

It also said the villagers had “called for help from the armed forces, which did not respond”.

The military has not issued an official comment, but Sudan’s ruling sovereignty council, under army chief Abdel Fattah Al Burhan, called Wednesday’s attack a “heinous massacre of defenceless civilians”.

The army has come under repeated criticism from Sudanese civilians for “abandoning” them and retreating in the face of RSF offensives, particularly in Al Jazira and the western Darfur region.

Both the army and the RSF — commanded by Burhan’s former deputy Mohamed Hamdan Daglo — have been accused of war crimes, including targeting civilians, indiscriminately shelling residential areas and looting or obstructing humanitarian aid.

The Emergency Lawyers, a pro-democracy group of volunteers who document the war’s atrocities, said on Thursday the attack on Wad al-Noura was a “war crime” and called on the international community to “exert pressure” on both sides to abide by international law.

‘Looming famine’

The UN migration agency warned on Thursday that internal displacement figures in Sudan could “top 10 million” within days.

Since the war began, more than 7 million people have fled their homes for other parts of Sudan, adding to 2.8 million already displaced from previous conflicts in the war-torn country of 48 million inhabitants.

“The world’s worst internal displacement crisis continues to escalate, with looming famine and disease adding to the havoc wrought by conflict,” the International Organisation for Migration said in a statement.

Across Sudan, 70 per cent of those displaced “are now trying to survive in places that are at risk of famine”, it added.

The UN says 18 million people in Sudan are acutely hungry, with 3.6 million children acutely malnourished.

Widespread hunger has haunted the country for months, while aid agencies say a lack of data has prevented the official declaration of a famine.

If the current humanitarian situation continues, 2.5 million people could die of hunger by the end of September, according to recent estimates by the Clingendael Institute, a Dutch think tank.

That figure is “about 15 per cent of the population in Darfur and Kordofan”, the country’s vast western and southern regions which have seen some of the worst fighting, the institute said.

CAIRO — Egypt has received encouraging signals from Hamas over a potential Gaza truce and hostage-prisoner swap with Israel, state-linked Al Qahera News said on Thursday, citing a high-level source.

Cairo has been engaged along with fellow mediators Doha and Washington in months of negotiations for a ceasefire aimed at ending the Hamas-Israel war in the Gaza Strip.

"Hamas leaders have informed us that they are studying the truce proposal seriously and positively," Al Qahera quoted the source as saying.

The source, who was not named, said the Palestinian group was expected to respond to the proposal in the coming days.

Egypt, which invited Hamas leaders to negotiations in Cairo, had “received positive signs from the Palestinian movement signalling its aspiration for a ceasefire”, the source added.

The comments came a day after Hamas representatives met in Doha with Qatari Prime Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani and Egypt’s intelligence chief Abbas Kamel.

Apart from a seven-day ceasefire in November, during which more than 100 hostages were released in exchange for 240 Palestinian prisoners held in Israeli jails, mediation efforts have failed to stop the conflict.

Last week US President Joe Biden unveiled a “roadmap to an enduring ceasefire” that would see Israel withdraw from Gaza’s population centres and Hamas release hostages.

On Thursday, Biden and 16 other world leaders urged Hamas to accept the proposal.

Israel’s military offensive on Gaza has killed at least 36,654 people since October 7, mostly civilians, according to the Hamas-run territory’s health ministry.

BEIRUT — A Syrian was arrested after a shooting near the US embassy in Beirut on Wednesday, the Lebanese army said, with the embassy saying its staff were safe.

The embassy, in the northern suburb of Awkar, "was subjected to gunfire by a person holding Syrian nationality", the army said in a statement on X, formerly Twitter.

"Army personnel deployed in the area responded to the sources of fire, wounding the shooter," the statement said, adding that "he was arrested and transported to hospital".

The army said it was investigating the shooting.

The US embassy said "at 8:34am [05:34 GMT]... small arms fire was reported in the vicinity of the entrance".

"Thanks to the quick reaction" of the Lebanese army, security forces "and our embassy security team, our facility and our team are safe", it said on X.

It added that "investigations are underway and we are in close contact with host country law enforcement".

An AFP photographer said access to the area around the embassy was blocked off, with a heavy army deployment in the area.

In images posted on social media, a man can be heard saying in Arabic "there's an attack on the embassy", as gunshots ring out in the background.

A judicial source told AFP that security forces were combing wooded areas near the embassy for any accomplices, adding that the shooter's wounds were "serious".

Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati spoke with army and security service official who assured him "the situation is under control", a statement from his office said.

"An investigation is underway to determine the circumstances of the incident and arrest all those involved," the statement said, adding that US Ambassador Lisa Johnson was currently outside Lebanon.

In September last year, a gunman opened fire at the US embassy, without causing casualties.

Lebanese police alleged the shooter was a delivery driver seeking revenge for his perceived humiliation by security personnel.

That shooting coincided with the anniversary of a deadly 1984 car bombing outside the US embassy annexe in Beirut, which the United States blamed on Iran-backed militant group Hezbollah.

US diplomatic and military missions in Lebanon were attacked on a number of occasions during the 1975-1990 civil war, when hardline Islamists also took several US hostages.

The embassy relocated to Awkar after