Latest from Arab News
Arab News
23 minutes ago
- Politics
- Arab News
Israeli ultra-orthodox party leaves Netanyahu's government due to dispute over military conscription bill, statement says
TEL AVIV: Israel's ultra-orthodox party Degel HaTorah said in a statement its Knesset members have resigned from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government due to a dispute over failure to draft a bill to exempt Yeshiva students from military service.
Arab News
39 minutes ago
- Politics
- Arab News
Mediators working to bridge gaps in faltering Gaza truce talks
GAZA CITY, Palestinian Territories: Stuttering Gaza ceasefire talks entered a second week on Monday, with meditators seeking to close the gap between Israel and Hamas, as more than 20 people were killed across the Palestinian territory. The indirect negotiations in Qatar appear deadlocked after both sides blamed the other for blocking a deal for the release of hostages and a 60-day ceasefire after 21 months of fighting. An official with knowledge of the talks said they were 'ongoing' in Doha on Monday, telling AFP: 'Discussions are currently focused on the proposed maps for the deployment of Israeli forces within Gaza.' 'Mediators are actively exploring innovative mechanisms to bridge the remaining gaps and maintain momentum in the negotiations,' the source added on condition of anonymity. Hamas accused Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu — who wants to see the Palestinian militant group destroyed — of being the main obstacle. 'Netanyahu is skilled at sabotaging one round of negotiations after another, and is unwilling to reach any agreement,' the group wrote on Telegram. In Gaza, the civil defense agency said at least 22 people were killed Monday in the latest Israeli strikes in and around Gaza City and in Khan Yunis in the south. An Israeli military statement said troops had destroyed 'buildings and terrorist infrastructure' used by Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad militants in Gaza City's Shujaiya and Zeitun areas. The Al-Quds Brigades — the armed wing of Islamic Jihad, which has fought alongside Hamas — released footage on Monday that it said showed its fighters firing missiles at an Israeli army command and control center near Shujaiya. The military later on Monday said three soldiers — aged 19, 20 and 21 — 'fell during combat in the northern Gaza Strip' and died in hospital on Monday. Another from the same battalion was severely injured. US President Donald Trump said he was still hopeful of securing a truce deal, telling reporters on Sunday night: 'We are talking and hopefully we're going to get that straightened out over the next week.' Hamas's top negotiator, Khalil Al-Hayya, and the leadership of Hamas and Islamic Jihad held a 'consultative meeting' in Doha on Sunday evening to 'coordinate visions and positions,' a Palestinian source with knowledge of the talks told AFP. 'Egyptian, Qatari and American mediators continue their efforts that make Israel present a modified withdrawal map that would be acceptable,' they added. On Saturday, the same source said Hamas rejected Israeli proposals to keep troops in more than 40 percent of Gaza, as well as plans to move Palestinians into an enclave on the border with Egypt. A senior Israeli political official countered by accusing Hamas of inflexibility and trying to deliberately scupper the talks by 'clinging to positions that prevent the mediators from advancing an agreement.' Netanyahu has said he would be ready to enter talks for a more lasting ceasefire once a deal for a temporary truce is agreed, but only when Hamas lays down its arms. He is under pressure to wrap up the war, with military casualties rising and with public frustration mounting at both the continued captivity of the hostages taken on October 7 and a perceived lack of progress in the conflict. Politically, Netanyahu's fragile governing coalition is holding, for now, but he denies being beholden to a minority of far-right ministers in prolonging an increasingly unpopular conflict. He also faces a backlash over the feasibility, cost and ethics of a plan to build a so-called 'humanitarian city' from scratch in southern Gaza to house Palestinians if and when a ceasefire takes hold. Israel's security establishment is reported to be unhappy with the plan, which the UN agency for Palestinian refugees and Israel's former prime minister Ehud Olmert have described as a 'concentration camp.' 'If they (Palestinians) will be deported there into the new 'humanitarian city', then you can say that this is part of an ethnic cleansing,' Olmert was quoted as saying by The Guardian newspaper late on Sunday. Hamas's attack on Israel in 2023 resulted in the deaths of 1,219 people, most of them civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official figures. A total of 251 hostages were taken that day, of whom 49 are still being held, including 27 the Israeli military says are dead. Israel's military reprisals have killed 58,386 Palestinians, mostly civilians, according to the health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza.
Arab News
an hour ago
- Politics
- Arab News
Paramilitary attack kills 48 in central Sudan village: war monitor
PORT SUDAN: Sudan's paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) killed 48 civilians in an attack on a village in the center of the war-torn country, a monitoring group reported Monday. The Emergency Lawyers, a group that has documented atrocities throughout the two-year conflict between the regular army and the RSF, reported civilians were killed en masse Sunday when paramilitary fighters stormed the village of Um Garfa in North Kordofan state, razing houses and looting property.
Arab News
an hour ago
- Arab News
Two drones fell in Khurmala oilfield in Iraqi Kurdistan, counter-terrorism service says
BAGHDAD: Two drones fell in the Khurmala oilfield in Iraqi Kurdistan, the Iraqi Kurdistan's counter-terrorism service said in a statement on Monday. Khurmala oilfield is located near the Iraqi Kurdish city of Irbil. The Iraqi Security Media Cell, an official body responsible for disseminating security information, said in a statement that no casualties were reported and only material damage was recorded. An investigation into the incident was launched in coordination with security forces in Kurdistan, it added.
Arab News
2 hours ago
- Politics
- Arab News
How protracted conflicts from Gaza to DRC are leaving deep scars on children's lives
LONDON: For children trapped in the world's conflict zones, 2024 was a year of unprecedented suffering. The UN verified 41,370 grave violations against children — a record-shattering 25 percent increase over the previous year — devastating countless young lives. From Gaza to the Democratic Republic of the Congo, children are among the most vulnerable victims of war. The consequences go far beyond immediate physical danger, shaping the course of their lives for years to come. According to the UN Security Council's June 17 report on children and armed conflict, at least 22,495 were maimed, killed, recruited, or denied life-saving aid — robbed of the safety and innocence that should define childhood. 'The cries of 22,495 innocent children who should be learning to read or play ball, but instead have been forced to learn how to survive gunfire and bombings, should keep all of us awake at night,' Virginia Gamba, special representative of the UN secretary-general for children and armed conflict, said in the report. 'This must serve as a wake-up call. We are at the point of no return.' The report, the most damning since the UN began collecting data in 1996, also noted a surge in children suffering multiple violations. In 2024, some 3,137 children were subjected to overlapping abuses such as abduction, forced recruitment, and sexual violence — up from 2,684 the year before. Months before the report's release, the UN children's fund, UNICEF, warned of a crisis beyond precedent. In December, the agency declared 2024 the worst year in its history for children caught in war. 'By almost every measure, 2024 has been one of the worst years on record for children in conflict in UNICEF's history — both in terms of the number of children affected and the level of impact on their lives,' Catherine Russell, the agency's executive director, said in a statement. These children are more likely to be malnourished, displaced, or out of school than those in peaceful regions — a reality she insisted 'must not be the new normal.' 'We cannot allow a generation of children to become collateral damage to the world's unchecked wars,' Russell added. Beyond the physical toll of conflict, psychological wounds are also profound and enduring, often outlasting conflicts themselves. 'What the recent UN report shows is that children caught in conflict zones are facing unimaginable levels of harm,' Dr. Jeeda Alhakim, a specialist counseling psychologist at City St George's, University of London, told Arab News. 'This kind of violence doesn't end when the event is over. It stays with them.' Alhakim explained that prolonged exposure to danger alters a child's perception of safety and can even reshape their biology. 'When the body is constantly in survival mode, it becomes harder to sleep, concentrate, or feel calm,' she said. Over time, this toxic stress can disrupt brain development, especially in neural regions responsible for memory, decision making, and emotional regulation. 'Trauma doesn't just live in the mind,' Alhakim said. 'It becomes embedded in the nervous system.' (Source: UN, 2024) There are 'disruptions in the brain's stress regulation systems,' she added, 'especially in areas like the amygdala, hippocampus, and prefrontal cortex, which are central to managing emotions, remembering things, and making sense of what's happening around them.' She emphasized that trauma is not always visible. 'Some children appear fine on the outside but are struggling internally. Others show signs of distress more openly. It depends on their experiences, the support they have, and what they've lost. 'When children struggle with focus, learning, or emotional outbursts, it's not simply behavioral — it's a sign that their brains are adapting to survive.' Regardless of how it manifests, the consequences are deeply human. 'Many children carry a profound sense of loss — of a parent, a home, or a future they once believed in,' she added. Among the hardest-hit regions, the Palestinian territories ranked highest in the UN's report, with 8,554 verified violations. More than 4,856 occurred in the Gaza Strip alone. The UN confirmed the deaths of 1,259 Palestinian children in Gaza, while it continues to verify reports of another 4,470 killed in 2024. The report also documented 22 cases of Palestinian boys used as human shields in Gaza and five more in the West Bank. Since Israel's military operation in Gaza began in retaliation for the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas-led attack on southern Israel, children in the Palestinian enclave have faced bombardment, deprivation, and the collapse of essential services. Conditions further deteriorated in March when Israeli forces resumed bombing raids and tightened their blockade, triggering catastrophic levels of displacement and the near-total breakdown of healthcare and education. 'Under our watch, Gaza has become the graveyard of children (and) starving people,' Philippe Lazzarini, commissioner-general of the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East, posted on X on July 11. 'Their choice is between two deaths: starvation or being shot at. The most cruel (and) machiavellian scheme to kill, in total impunity.' His remarks followed the killing of 15 people, including nine children and four women, who were waiting in line for nutritional supplements in Deir Al-Balah on July 10. The Israel Defense Forces have consistently denied targeting civilians. The UN has nevertheless kept Israel on its blacklist of parties committing grave violations against children for a second consecutive year. Gaza's ruling Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad also remain on the list. Outside the Palestinian territories, other regions also witnessed surging violence. In 2024, the UN recorded more than 4,000 violations in the DRC, some 2,500 in Somalia, nearly 2,500 in Nigeria, and more than 2,200 in Haiti. Among the most alarming trends was a sharp rise in sexual violence. The UN documented a 35 percent increase in such cases last year, with a notable spike in gang rapes, underscoring the systematic use of sexual violence as a weapon of war. 'Sexual violence is especially devastating,' Alhakim said. 'It harms children physically, but also emotionally and socially. It can leave them feeling ashamed, isolated, and deeply confused, especially when used deliberately as a weapon of war.' While the UN verified more than 2,000 cases in 2024, the real number is likely far higher. The report stressed that sexual violence remains vastly underreported due to stigma, fear of retaliation, social norms, lack of access to services, and impunity. 'Children are often too afraid or unable to speak out,' said Alhakim. 'In some communities, the stigma surrounding sexual violence adds an extra layer of suffering and silence.' Save the Children revealed in a June report that at least 1,938 children were subjected to catastrophic sexual violence in 2024 — the highest number of verified cases since records began. The figure marks a staggering 50 percent increase since 2020. 'To normalize this level of violence against children is to accept the dismantling of our collective humanity,' Helen Pattinson, CEO of War Child UK, said in a statement. 'The level of alarm is unprecedented. Governments must act immediately to turn the tide of grief, trauma and loss borne by children.' For millions of children growing up under siege, survival alone is no longer enough. What they need is safety, justice, and a chance to dream again. 'No child should have to carry the weight of mass violence,' said Alhakim. 'And yet far too many are.'
