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Israeli delegation arrives in Doha for Gaza ceasefire talks

Israeli delegation arrives in Doha for Gaza ceasefire talks

An Israeli delegation arrived in Doha on Wednesday to negotiate a ceasefire agreement in Gaza, according to Israeli media reports.
Abdel Rahman Shadid, a senior Hamas leader, confirmed that a new round of ceasefire negotiations had begun, emphasizing that the group is approaching the talks 'positively and responsibly.' He expressed hope that this round would lead to tangible progress and pave the way for the second phase of the agreement. He also acknowledged the role of US envoy Steve Witkoff in facilitating the talks.
Meanwhile, violence in Gaza has continued despite ceasefire efforts. The Gaza Ministry of Health reported that 36 people were killed in the past 24 hours—including 32 bodies recovered from rubble—bringing the total death toll to 48,503, with 111,927 wounded since 7 October 2023.
Hamas has also condemned the prolonged power outage in Gaza, describing it as a 'war crime' that threatens a humanitarian catastrophe due to dehydration. The group stated that the severing of the limited power line supplying the Deir al-Balah desalination plant exacerbates the crisis, accusing Israel of using water and food as weapons against civilians.
Salama Maarouf, head of Gaza's government media office, claimed that Israeli forces have repeatedly violated the ceasefire agreement since its inception, leading to dozens of casualties. He reported that Israeli actions over the past week had resulted in the deaths of 20 Palestinians and that, between January 19 and March 11, there were over 1,300 alleged ceasefire violations.
Meanwhile, Yemen's Ansar Allah group (commonly known as the Houthi) announced the resumption of attacks on Israeli-linked ships in the Red Sea, Arabian Sea, Bab al-Mandab, and the Gulf of Aden. The group declared that its operations would continue until crossings into Gaza were reopened and humanitarian aid, including food and medicine, was allowed into the territory.

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28 Injured as Israeli Airstrikes Target Aid Distribution Point Near Nuseirat
28 Injured as Israeli Airstrikes Target Aid Distribution Point Near Nuseirat

See - Sada Elbalad

timean hour ago

  • See - Sada Elbalad

28 Injured as Israeli Airstrikes Target Aid Distribution Point Near Nuseirat

Ahmed Emam At least 28 Palestinians were injured early Monday morning after Israeli warplanes struck areas near a humanitarian aid distribution point close to the Nuseirat checkpoint in central Gaza, according to local media citing Al-Awda Hospital. Eyewitnesses reported that the airstrike and live fire targeted crowds gathering to receive food and essential supplies in a region already devastated by months of conflict and siege. The injured were rushed to nearby medical facilities amid ongoing efforts by local volunteers and emergency workers to assist the wounded. Palestinian civil society leader Rateeba Al-Natsheh, a member of the National Popular Action Committee, condemned the attack, calling it a deliberate tactic by Israeli forces to terrorize civilians and weaponize hunger. 'Israel has adopted a strategy aimed at subduing Gaza's population not through military defeat—because they know they cannot achieve that—but through starvation and manipulation of humanitarian aid,' Al-Natsheh said. 'This is a systematic attempt to force the displacement of over two million Palestinians and consolidate control over more territory.' Monday's attack is one of a series of incidents in which aid convoys or distribution centers have been hit, sparking renewed outcry from humanitarian organizations and calls for international intervention to protect civilians and ensure safe access to food and medical supplies. The humanitarian crisis in Gaza continues to deepen, with shortages of water, food, medicine, and electricity affecting virtually every resident. The United Nations and aid agencies have repeatedly warned of the risk of famine and called for an immediate ceasefire to allow for sustained humanitarian relief. read more Gold prices rise, 21 Karat at EGP 3685 NATO's Role in Israeli-Palestinian Conflict US Expresses 'Strong Opposition' to New Turkish Military Operation in Syria Shoukry Meets Director-General of FAO Lavrov: confrontation bet. nuclear powers must be avoided News Iran Summons French Ambassador over Foreign Minister Remarks News Aboul Gheit Condemns Israeli Escalation in West Bank News Greek PM: Athens Plays Key Role in Improving Energy Security in Region News One Person Injured in Explosion at Ukrainian Embassy in Madrid News China Launches Largest Ever Aircraft Carrier Sports Former Al Zamalek Player Ibrahim Shika Passes away after Long Battle with Cancer Lifestyle Get to Know 2025 Eid Al Adha Prayer Times in Egypt News Prime Minister Moustafa Madbouly Inaugurates Two Indian Companies Business Fear & Greed Index Plummets to Lowest Level Ever Recorded amid Global Trade War Arts & Culture Zahi Hawass: Claims of Columns Beneath the Pyramid of Khafre Are Lies News Flights suspended at Port Sudan Airport after Drone Attacks News Shell Unveils Cost-Cutting, LNG Growth Plan Videos & Features Video: Trending Lifestyle TikToker Valeria Márquez Shot Dead during Live Stream Technology 50-Year Soviet Spacecraft 'Kosmos 482' Crashes into Indian Ocean

Champion of the people or a traitor? A new force emerges in southern Gaza
Champion of the people or a traitor? A new force emerges in southern Gaza

Egypt Independent

time2 hours ago

  • Egypt Independent

Champion of the people or a traitor? A new force emerges in southern Gaza

CNN — The photo shows a lean, tanned man in a dark helmet. He's grasping a rifle and UN vehicles move behind him as he waves through traffic. The man is Yasser Abu Shabab, who says he commands hundreds of armed men known as the Popular Forces to offer protection to international organizations working in southern Gaza. In his early thirties, Abu Shabab is from a prominent Bedouin family in southern Gaza. On October 7, 2023, he was languishing in a Hamas-run jail in Gaza, accused of drug trafficking, before being released after the conflict started. Now he is an emerging presence in southern Gaza, controlling aid routes near the crucial Kerem Shalom crossing and providing men to guard convoys against looting, which has only worsened since limited aid started entering Gaza in mid-May following an Israeli blockade. As Hamas' grip on Gaza has weakened and the territory's police force has been hollowed out, gangs have emerged to steal humanitarian aid from convoys and re-sell it. But many convoys are also stopped and ransacked by desperate civilians. Abu Shabab told CNN that he leads 'a group of citizens from this community who have volunteered to protect humanitarian aid from looting and corruption.' The reality is more complicated. Israeli officials have acknowledged providing weapons to Abu Shabab's militia, as part of an operation to arm local groups to counter Hamas. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu defended the covert enterprise earlier this week, saying the security forces had 'activated clans in Gaza which oppose Hamas.' He did not name Abu Shabab, but Israeli officials told CNN that Abu Shabab is part of the program. Abu Shabab insisted to CNN that his men had not received weapons from the Israelis. 'Our equipment is extremely basic, passed down by volunteers from their forefathers or assembled from limited local resources.' For its part, Hamas says Abu Shabab is a traitor and a gangster. Last week, the group said: 'We pledge before God to continue confronting the dens of that criminal and his gang, no matter the cost of the sacrifices we make.' Hamas killed his brother last year and has tried to kill Abu Shabab at least twice, according to Muhammad Shehada, a Gaza analyst at the European Council on Foreign Relations. In response to written questions from CNN, Abu Shabab repeatedly denied any connection with the Israeli military, saying: 'Our forces do not engage in any form of communication with the Israeli army, neither directly nor indirectly.' Analysts find that difficult to believe, based on evidence of his movements in Israeli-controlled areas of Gaza. One video from late May shows Abu Shabab stopping a Red Cross vehicle and talking with an official. CNN geolocated the encounter to an Israeli-controlled buffer zone close to the crossing point at Kerem Shalom. Other videos show encounters with United Nations' convoys in the same area. Israel – and in particular Netanyahu – has never laid out clear plans for what governance and security in Gaza might look like if or when Hamas is defeated. Israel has been trying to find groups or clans opposed to Hamas who might play a role, but more recently Netanyahu and other ministers endorsed a plan put forward by US President Donald Trump for relocating Gaza's residents and redeveloping the territory. A growing role Abu Shabab has had a presence near the ruins of Gaza's long defunct airport in Rafah since late last year. Shehada at the ECFR said that while the ceasefire held earlier this year, his group appeared to vanish. But his significance has grown in recent weeks, since Israeli authorities began to allow a trickle of aid to reach Gaza through Kerem Shalom in mid-May. Abu Shabab's social media presence, along with slick videos and fluent English commentary, has expanded. 'It's nearly impossible this is being done inside Gaza,' Shehada said. 'It's probably someone outside that is running this entire psy-op.' A diplomatic official told CNN that the UN had to deal with local elements as it tried to distribute aid, whether they are backed by Hamas or not. A truck carrying aid makes its way to Gaza at the Kerem Shalom crossing on May 19. Ronen Zvulun/Reuters Abu Shabab 'has a few square kilometers of an area under his control, and then it's on to the next guy,' the official said. 'The fact that he is not targeted by the Israelis is a clear indication of how they see him.' The official also asserted that the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation – the controversial new US-backed organization tasked with distributing aid in Gaza – had contact with Abu Shabab, whether directly or indirectly. Abu Shabab responded to CNN that 'with regard to the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, we stress the need for its work to operate within a unified national framework and to maintain continuous coordination with all legitimate parties.' GHF told CNN on Sunday that it had no collaboration at all with Abu Shabab's group. 'We do have local Palestinian workers we are very proud of but none is armed and they do not belong to Abu Shabab's organization,' GHF said. Convoys and more Last month, soon after limited aid began entering Gaza, Abu Shabab posted that his group had secured 101 trucks of aid, mostly flour, brought in by the World Food Programme, and praised 'my loyal brothers who sacrificed their lives, and everyone who volunteered their primitive weapons or a drop of sweat to feed the bereaved and displaced.' Truck drivers told CNN that Shabab had provided 200 armed men to protect the convoys. 'Our forces regularly accompany aid convoys, and protecting vulnerable civilians is one of our top priorities,' Abu Shabab told CNN. His group's role has expanded beyond protecting convoys. On May 17, the day before the Kerem Shalom crossing reopened, work started on a tent encampment in eastern Rafah, according to satellite imagery reviewed by CNN. That work appears to have concluded on May 30. The camp is less than 500 meters from where Abu Shabab runs checkpoints. Members of the Popular Forces can be seen in this image posted on the group's Facebook page. From Popular Forces/Facebook Four days later the so-called Popular Forces issued a statement saying that Abu Shabab 'invites the residents of these areas to return, where food, drink, shelter, security and safety have been provided, shelter camps have been set up, and humanitarian relief routes have been opened.' The encampment is in an area known as the Morag Corridor, to which the Israeli military wants Gazans to move as it orders evacuation orders for much of the strip. Early in May, the far-right Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich said the population of Gaza, would be 'concentrated' in a narrow strip of land between the Egyptian border and the corridor. A senior Israeli security official said at the same time that the goal was to separate humanitarian aid from Hamas 'by involving civilian companies and creating a secured zone patrolled by the IDF.' This would include a 'sterile area in the Rafah region beyond the Morag route, where IDF will screen all entrants to prevent Hamas infiltrators.' Palestinian branding Abu Shabab's force uses Palestinian insignia and flags prominently on its uniforms, but he told CNN that his 'grassroots forces are not an official authority, nor are we operating under a direct mandate from the Palestinian Authority.' The office of the spokesperson for the Palestinian Security Forces, Major General Anwar Rajab, told CNN there was no connection between the Palestinian security apparatus and Abu Shabab's group. Nor does his family want anything to do with him. 'Leaders and elders of the Abu Shabab family' said in a statement that they had confronted him about videos showing 'Yasser's groups involved in dangerous security engagements, even working within undercover units and supporting the Zionist occupation forces that brutally kill our people.' The family declared its 'complete disassociation from Yasser Abu Shabab' and urged anyone who had joined his security groups to do the same. 'We have no objection to those around him eliminating him immediately; we state clearly that his blood is wasted,' the family statement said. Abu Shabab told CNN that the statement was 'fabricated and false' and accompanied by 'a media campaign targeting me and my colleagues.' He said his group had endured 'false accusations and systematic smear campaigns, and we have paid a heavy price,' also alleging that Hamas had killed several of the group's volunteers 'and members of my own family while we were guarding aid convoys for international organizations.' Yasser Abu Shabab can be seen in this image posted on the Popular Forces' Facebook page. From Popular Forces/Facebook Muhammad Shehada at ECFR said there is evidence that Abu Shabab's presence is expanding with Israeli support into Khan Younis, to the north of his stronghold. Even so, his reach is still limited. The Popular Forces speaks of 'hundreds of daily requests we receive on our Facebook page from individuals seeking to join us,' but analysts believe Abu Shabab probably has only about 300 men under his command. Most people in Gaza would never think of joining him for fear of being branded collaborators, said Shehada. Even so, he added, Abu Shabab's militia now serve multiple functions for the Israelis, helping control where aid goes, or does not go; trying to entice desperate and hungry people to the so-called 'safe zone' in eastern Rafah; and carrying out high-risk missions to detect the presence of Hamas fighters.

Israeli military says it has recovered body of elusive Hamas leader Mohammed Sinwar
Israeli military says it has recovered body of elusive Hamas leader Mohammed Sinwar

Egypt Independent

time2 hours ago

  • Egypt Independent

Israeli military says it has recovered body of elusive Hamas leader Mohammed Sinwar

CNN — The The Israeli military says it has recovered the body of de facto Hamas leader Mohammed Sinwar in a tunnel underneath the European Hospital in southern Gaza. The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) made the announcement on Sunday after the body went through an identification process. Sinwar is the younger brother of former Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar, who was killed by the Israeli military in southern Gaza in October. His death marks the latest in a string of assassinations that have dealt a serious blow to the group's top brass but are yet to break its grip on power in the besieged enclave. The elusive Sinwar was targeted in a massive airstrike on the hospital in Khan Younis on May 13, a day after Hamas released Israeli-American soldier Edan Alexander. At the time, the IDF claimed it had struck 'Hamas terrorists in a command-and-control center' in underground infrastructure at the hospital. But it took more than two weeks for Israel to say that it had definitively killed Sinwar in the strike. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu made the announcement on the 600th day of the war two weeks ago. 'We changed the face of the Middle East, we pushed the terrorists from our territories, we entered the Gaza Strip with force, we eliminated tens of thousands of terrorists, we eliminated (Mohammad) Deif, (Ismail) Haniyeh, Yahya Sinwar and Mohammed Sinwar,' Netanyahu said in a speech at the Knesset, Israel's parliament. The attack killed 28 Palestinians and wounded more than 50 others, the Palestinian Ministry of Health said after the strike. This is a developing story and will be updated.

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