Israel and Syria agree ceasefire as Israel allows Syrian troops limited access to Sweida
19/07/2025
Syria and Israel agree to a ceasefire
Middle East
17/07/2025
Church attack will weigh 'terribly' on Gaza's Catholic community
Middle East
17/07/2025
Death toll from south Syria violence rises to 594: monitor
Middle East
17/07/2025
Syrian Bedouin fighters mount new offensive in Sweida against Druze fighters despite truce
Middle East
17/07/2025
Israeli strike hits Gaza church, killing 3 and wounding priest who was close to Pope Francis
Middle East
17/07/2025
Who are the Middle East's Druze minority?
Middle East
17/07/2025
New ceasefire holds in Syria's Sweida
Middle East
17/07/2025
Lebanese Abdallah held since 1984 for US, Israeli diplomat murders
Middle East
17/07/2025
New ceasefire agreement holds in Syria's Sweida
Middle East
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France 24
19 minutes ago
- France 24
More than 100 NGOs warn 'mass starvation' spreading across Gaza
Israel is facing mounting international pressure over the catastrophic humanitarian situation in the Palestinian territory, where more than two million people face severe shortages of food and other essentials after 21 months of conflict, triggered by Hamas's attack on Israel. The UN said on Tuesday that Israeli forces had killed more than 1,000 Palestinians trying to get food aid since the US- and Israel-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation started operations in late May -- effectively sidelining the existing UN-led system. A statement with 111 signatories, including Doctors Without Borders (MSF), Save the Children and Oxfam, warned that "our colleagues and those we serve are wasting away". The groups called for an immediate negotiated ceasefire, the opening of all land crossings and the free flow of aid through UN-led mechanisms. It came a day after the United States said its envoy Steve Witkoff will head to Europe this week for talks on Gaza and may then visit the Middle East. Witkoff comes with "a strong hope that we will come forward with another ceasefire as well as a humanitarian corridor for aid to flow, that both sides have in fact agreed to," State Department spokeswoman Tammy Bruce told reporters. Even after Israel began easing a more than two-month aid blockade in late May, Gaza's population is still suffering extreme scarcities. Israel says humanitarian aid is being allowed into Gaza and accuses Hamas of exploiting civilian suffering, including by stealing food handouts to sell at inflated prices or shooting at those awaiting aid. 'Hope and heartbreak' In their statement, the humanitarian organisations said that warehouses with tonnes of supplies were sitting untouched just outside the territory, and even inside, as they were blocked from accessing or delivering the goods. "Palestinians are trapped in a cycle of hope and heartbreak, waiting for assistance and ceasefires, only to wake up to worsening conditions," the signatories said. "It is not just physical torment, but psychological. Survival is dangled like a mirage," they added. "The humanitarian system cannot run on false promises. Humanitarians cannot operate on shifting timelines or wait for political commitments that fail to deliver access." UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said Tuesday that the "horror" facing Palestinians in Gaza under Israeli military attack was unprecedented in recent years. The head of Gaza's largest hospital said Tuesday 21 children had died due to malnutrition and starvation in the Palestinian territory in the past three days. Standstill Israel and Hamas have been engaging in drawn-out negotiations in Doha since July 6 as mediators scramble to end nearly two years of war. But after more than two weeks of back and forth, efforts by mediators Qatar, Egypt and the United States are at a standstill. More than two dozen Western countries recently urged an immediate end to the war, saying suffering in Gaza had "reached new depths". Israel's military campaign in Gaza has killed 59,106 Palestinians, mostly civilians, according to the health ministry in the Hamas-run territory. Hamas's October 7, 2023 attack on Israel, which sparked the war, resulted in the deaths of 1,219 people, most of them civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official figures.
LeMonde
10 hours ago
- LeMonde
Clashes in Syria: Who are the Druze and why does Israel defend them?
The Druze, a Middle Eastern religious minority population, whose communities are at the center of the clashes that broke out in southern Syria from July 13 to 20, represent a unique and distinct community due to their beliefs, geographic distribution and political allegiances. The clashes, involving Druze militia groups, whose faith stems from a branch of Shia Islam, and Sunni tribes, began after a vegetable merchant was kidnapped in the governorate of Sweida, where Syrian government forces intervened to restore order. The Syrian army was accused of having committed abuses, and, under military pressure from Israel, which has claimed to want to ensure the protection of the Druze, it withdrew on July 16, leaving the local militia groups the responsibility for maintaining order. On Friday, July 18, the United States special envoy for Syria, Tom Barrack, announced that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Syrian President Ahmad al-Sharaa had agreed to a ceasefire, two days after Israeli airstrikes on Damascus. On Saturday, al-Sharaa's government and Druze notables in Sweida announced that they had concluded a ceasefire agreement, which was only truly respected from Sunday onward.
LeMonde
12 hours ago
- LeMonde
US announces leaving UN cultural body UNESCO
The United States on Tuesday, July 22, announced it has left UNESCO, saying the UN cultural and education agency, best known for establishing world heritage sites, is biased against Israel and promotes "divisive" causes. "Continued involvement in UNESCO is not in the national interest of the United States," the State Department spokeswoman said. The US exit was expected under President Donald Trump, who also ordered withdrawal from the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization in 2017 during his first term. President Joe Biden then reestablished US membership. State Department spokeswoman Tammy Bruce described UNESCO as working "to advance divisive social and cultural causes" and being overly focused on UN sustainability goals, which she described as a "globalist, ideological agenda." Bruce also highlighted what she said was the body's anti-Israeli position in admitting Palestine as a state. "UNESCO's decision to admit the 'State of Palestine' as a member state is highly problematic, contrary to US policy, and contributed to the proliferation of anti-Israel rhetoric within the organization," Bruce said. UNESCO Director General Audrey Azoulay said on Tuesday, "I deeply regret President Donald Trump's decision to once again withdraw the United States of America from UNESCO. However regrettable, this announcement was expected, and UNESCO has prepared for it." The UN organization describes its mission as promoting education, scientific cooperation and cultural understanding. It oversees a list of heritage sites aimed at preserving unique environmental and architectural gems, ranging from the Great Barrier Reef off Australia and the Serengeti in Tanzania to the Athens Acropolis and Pyramids of Egypt. Trump was not the first to pull the US out of UNESCO. President Ronald Reagan ended US membership in the 1980s, saying the agency was corrupt and pro-Soviet. The US reentered under the presidency of George W. Bush.
