Category: 2. Middle East

Thousands of Palestinians rushed into a new aid distribution centre run by a US-backed group in southern Gaza on Tuesday, AFP journalists reported, leading to chaotic scenes as Israel implemented a new distribution system.

The incident in Rafah came days after the partial easing of a total aid blockade on the territory that Israel imposed since March 2, leading to severe shortages of food and medicine.

According to the US-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) normal operations resumed…

Israel has received 940 aircraft and vessels loaded with US weapons and military equipment since the start of the Gaza war in October 2023, the Defense Ministry said on Tuesday, Anadolu reports.

“The 800th aircraft in the comprehensive military equipment and weapons airlift operation that commenced immediately following the (Gaza) war has landed in Israel this morning,” the ministry said in a statement.

During the airlift, the ministry said, over 90,000 tons…

Several Palestinians were injured by Israeli army fire when starving Gazans stormed a US-backed aid distribution facility in the southern city of Rafah on Tuesday, local authorities said, Anadolu Agency reports.

“The Israeli occupation’s plan for aid distribution in the so-called buffer zone has failed disastrously,” Gaza’s government media office said in a statement.

It said Israeli forces opened fire after thousands of starving Palestinians rushed into…

A paramilitary drone strike hit a fuel depot and a military base in war-torn Sudan’s south Tuesday, a military source said, as the capital Khartoum battles a deadly cholera outbreak.

The paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), targeted the city of Kosti in the White Nile State, after weeks of a long-range drone campaign that has hit vital infrastructure across the country.

The RSF and regular army have been locked in a devastating war since April 2023.

“The drone strike caused the depot to…

An alleged former Syrian prison guard has been arrested in Germany on suspicion of committing crimes against humanity under former president Bashar al-Assad, prosecutors said Tuesday.

The man, identified only as Fahad A., is accused of “acts of killing, torture and deprivation of liberty” while he worked in a Damascus facility run by Syrian intelligence in 2011 and 2012, during the Arab Spring protests.

German authorities have pursued several suspects for crimes committed in Syria’s civil war…

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Israel and Syria are in direct contact and have in recent weeks held face-to-face meetings aimed at calming tensions and preventing conflict in the border region between the two longtime foes, Reuters reported five people familiar with the matter saying.

The contacts mark a significant development in ties between states that have been on opposite sides of conflict in the Middle East for decades, as the US encourages the new rulers in Damascus to establish…

OPEC+ is likely to agree to a further accelerated oil output hike for July this week, three delegates from the group told Reuters, in the latest stage of a plan to meet rising demand and increase market share.

When the 22-member group meets tomorrow to review the market, it is not expected to change policy, the sources said.

But they said they expected an output hike to be agreed for July when the eight OPEC+ members meet on Saturday.

OPEC+, which includes the…