Turks set to evacuate from Lebanon by ship, driven by safety fears

Update Turkish passport holders gather near a hotel in the BIEL area of Beirut’s waterfront, ahead of their evacuation from Lebanon on Turkish Navy ships, on October 9, 2024. (AFP)
Turkish passport holders gather near a hotel in the BIEL area of Beirut’s waterfront, ahead of their evacuation from Lebanon on Turkish Navy ships, on October 9, 2024. (AFP)
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Updated 09 October 2024
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Turks set to evacuate from Lebanon by ship, driven by safety fears

Turkish passport holders gather near a hotel in the BIEL area of Beirut’s waterfront, ahead of their evacuation from Lebanon.
  • Those gathering at the port said the deteriorating security situation and economic hardship in Lebanon prompted them to flee on the ships, which left Turkiye on Tuesday

BEIRUT: Nearly 2,000 Turkish citizens and family members prepared to leave Beirut on two Turkish navy landing ships on Wednesday, evacuating from Lebanon over fears for their safety as Israel expanded its operations against Hezbollah militants.
Those gathering at the port said the deteriorating security situation and economic hardship in Lebanon prompted them to flee on the ships, which left Turkiye on Tuesday.
“We cannot take this situation anymore. No one knows where this country is taking us. The siege is becoming bigger,” said Issa Malak, who like many of the evacuees holds Lebanese as well as Turkish citizenship. “There is no bread here. There is no future in Lebanon.”
The ships first unloaded humanitarian aid upon arriving in Beirut. Turkiye’s defense ministry said they were carrying some 300 tons of supplies.
“There are beds, tents, blankets, food parcels, kitchenware and hygiene kits,” Turkish Ambassador Ali Baris Ulusoy told state-owned Anadolu news agency.
Ahead of the ships’ arrival, the passengers registered their papers and waited with their luggage.
“We’re leaving because the rockets and shells started dropping on us,” said Tarek Issa.
Mariam Darwish, who holds Turkish and Lebanese nationality, said she would travel with her 80-year-old Turkish father.
“The situation is becoming scary, and our neighborhood became unsafe,” she said. “This is much safer for us and our children, our grandchildren and our health.”
The ships are expected to arrive in Turkiye’s eastern Mediterranean city of Mersin on Thursday after a voyage of around 12 hours, a Turkish Foreign Ministry source said.
The source said a few of the Turkish evacuees would be joined by foreign relatives. Earlier this week, the source said there were around 14,000 Turkish citizens in Lebanon. Beyond the two ships, Ankara will also charter flights out of Lebanon if there is demand, the source said.
Turkiye has previously said it was working with around 20 countries on preparing for a possible evacuation of foreign nationals via Turkiye. Hundreds of people of various nationalities arrived in Turkiye from Lebanon last week on a commercial ferry. (Reporting by Abdelaziz Boumzar, Heba Fouad in Beirut and Tuvan Gumrukcu in Ankara Writing by Daren Butler Editing by Jonathan Spicer and Peter Graff)


Jordanian and Welsh business delegations discuss trade and investment cooperation

Jordanian and Welsh business delegations discuss trade and investment cooperation
Updated 7 sec ago
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Jordanian and Welsh business delegations discuss trade and investment cooperation

Jordanian and Welsh business delegations discuss trade and investment cooperation
  • Discussions focus on ways to boost commercial exchanges, promote private-sector collaborations, and expand opportunities for joint ventures in key industries
  • A Jordanian-Welsh Business Council was established in 2024 to facilitate cooperation between the nations’ business communities

AMMAN: Representatives of the Jordanian Businessmen Association met a senior government delegation from Wales on Monday to explore ways of strengthening trade and investment ties between the countries.

The delegates included the business association’s secretary-general, Abdul Rahim Baqaei, and officials from the Welsh government’s Middle East and North Africa office, including its deputy director, Phil Taylor, and Sarah Taylor, head of its regional office in Dubai.

The discussions focused on ways to boost commercial exchanges, promote private-sector collaborations, and expand opportunities for joint ventures across key industries, the Jordan News Agency reported, and delegates agreed to identify new areas for economic cooperation.

Baqaei said it was important to maintain regular discussions to help identify sectors with high potential and enhance business engagement. He highlighted in particular the role of the Jordanian-Welsh Business Council, established in 2024 in partnership with the Chamber of Commerce of Wales, in efforts to facilitate cooperation between the nations’ business communities.

He also called for greater collaboration with British universities and companies, stressing the role strategic partnerships can play in accelerating Jordan’s economic development and technological progress. He highlighted recent government incentives designed to attract foreign investment, particularly in the services sector, including tax breaks and streamlined business procedures.

Sarah Taylor reaffirmed the commitment of Welsh authorities to the development of strengthened ties with the private sector in Jordan and increased British investment in the country.

She noted the untapped potential of sectors in which Jordan holds a competitive edge, particularly in the services sector, and said the Welsh government’s regional office stands ready to support bilateral engagement.

Her office will assist the work of the Jordanian Businessmen Association, she added, through the facilitation of direct business-to-business meetings and the provision of market intelligence to help Jordanian companies access opportunities in Wales.


Lebanese and Egyptian presidents discuss regional challenges

Lebanese and Egyptian presidents discuss regional challenges
Updated 54 min 7 sec ago
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Lebanese and Egyptian presidents discuss regional challenges

Lebanese and Egyptian presidents discuss regional challenges
  • Abdel Fattah El-Sisi underlines Egypt’s support for Lebanon’s sovereignty and stability
  • Joseph Aoun says Lebanon is dedicated to maintaining peaceful relations with Syria

LONDON: Lebanese President Joseph Aoun discussed regional challenges and the strengthening of ties with his Egyptian counterpart Abdel Fattah El-Sisi at Al-Ittihadiya Palace in Cairo on Monday.

El-Sisi reaffirmed Egypt’s strong support for Lebanon's sovereignty and stability, condemning ongoing Israeli incursions into southern Lebanon, according to the official National News Agency.

Aoun confirmed Lebanon’s full commitment to UN Security Council Resolution 1701, which ended the 2006 war between Israel and Hezbollah. He urged the international community to pressure Israel to withdraw entirely from Lebanese territory it has controlled since September 2024.

The Lebanese president said that Lebanon is dedicated to maintaining peaceful relations with Syria and supporting the establishment of an independent Palestinian state.

El-Sisi emphasized the urgent need for a ceasefire in Gaza, the release of hostages, and the delivery of humanitarian aid, while reaffirming Cairo’s opposition to the displacement of Palestinians.

He called for the recognition of a Palestinian state with East Jerusalem as its capital and condemned ongoing Israeli breaches of Syrian sovereignty.

Both presidents agreed to enhance bilateral cooperation in various sectors. El-Sisi concluded by affirming Egypt’s commitment to assist Lebanon in its reconstruction and economic revitalization, the NNA added.


Five Palestinians killed in Israeli airstrike on school shelter in central Gaza

Five Palestinians killed in Israeli airstrike on school shelter in central Gaza
Updated 19 May 2025
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Five Palestinians killed in Israeli airstrike on school shelter in central Gaza

Five Palestinians killed in Israeli airstrike on school shelter in central Gaza
  • 28 Palestinians have been killed due to Israeli airstrikes on the Gaza Strip since dawn on Monday
  • The school west of the Nuseirat refugee camp in central Gaza has stopped offering full-time education

LONDON: Five Palestinians were killed in an Israeli air strike overnight in a school-turned-humanitarian shelter in the central Gaza Strip after Israel launched an extensive military operation to occupy the coastal enclave.

Medical sources reported that at least five people were killed and several others injured, mostly children, in an Israeli airstrike on Al-Hasayna School, which had been converted into a shelter for displaced families.

The school west of the Nuseirat refugee camp in central Gaza has stopped offering full-time education, and it belongs to the UN relief agency for Palestinian refugees, UNRWA, which was spared from extensive destruction or damage from the war.

According to Wafa news agency, 28 Palestinians have been killed due to Israeli airstrikes on the Gaza Strip since dawn on Monday, including 16 in Khan Yunis.

Since late 2023, the war in Gaza has displaced around 1.9 million Palestinians — about 90 percent of the population — with many facing multiple displacements. According to a UN report, schools have suffered severe damage due to Israeli actions, with 501 out of 564 schools requiring either full reconstruction or significant rehabilitation to be functional again.

In early May, an Israeli airstrike targeted a UN-run school in Al-Bureij, central Gaza, killing at least 30 people who were sheltering there. The facility had accommodated 2,000 displaced individuals.


Sudan’s army chief names former UN official Idris as new premier

Sudan’s army chief names former UN official Idris as new premier
Updated 19 May 2025
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Sudan’s army chief names former UN official Idris as new premier

Sudan’s army chief names former UN official Idris as new premier
  • Idris, a career diplomat and past presidential candidate, was the director general of the United Nations’ World Intellectual Property Organization

KHARTOUM: Sudan’s army chief Abdel Fattah Al-Burhan appointed on Monday former UN official Kamil Idris as the country’s new prime minister, more than two years into a brutal war.

Idris, a career diplomat and past presidential candidate, was the director general of the United Nations’ World Intellectual Property Organization and has also served in Sudan’s permanent mission to the UN.

“The chairman of the sovereignty council issued a constitutional decree appointing Kamil El-Tayeb Idris Abdelhafiz as prime minister,” a statement from Sudan’s ruling Transitional Sovereignty Council read.

In 2010, Idris ran in the presidential elections against longtime Islamist-military ruler Omar Al-Bashir.

Since April 2023, the war in Sudan has pitted Burhan’s army forces against the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces, commanded by his former deputy Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo.

The conflict has killed tens of thousands, displaced 13 million and created what the United Nations describes as the world’s worst humanitarian crisis.

Idris replaces veteran diplomat Dafallah Al-Hajj Ali, who was appointed by Burhan at the end of April and served less than three weeks as acting prime minister.

Burhan had earlier said that he would form a technocratic wartime government to help “complete what remains of our military objectives, which is liberating Sudan from these rebels.”

In April, the RSF announced it would form a rival government, a few weeks after signing a charter in Kenya with a coalition of military and political allies.

The move has raised international fears that Sudan would be permanently divided between the two sides, both of which have been accused of war atrocities.

The conflict has already carved up Sudan, with the army holding the north, east and center while the RSF dominates nearly all of Darfur and, with its allies, parts of the south.


Amnesty: US strike on Yemen migrant center may constitute humanitarian ‘violation’

Amnesty: US strike on Yemen migrant center may constitute humanitarian ‘violation’
Updated 19 May 2025
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Amnesty: US strike on Yemen migrant center may constitute humanitarian ‘violation’

Amnesty: US strike on Yemen migrant center may constitute humanitarian ‘violation’
  • Amnesty International called on the U.S. to investigate a deadly airstrike on a migrant detention center in Yemen that killed 68 African migrants, citing potential violations of international humanitarian law
  • The strike, part of the U.S. campaign against the Houthis, targeted a known detention site, prompting Amnesty to demand a transparent and independent inquiry into the civilian deaths

DUBAI: Rights group Amnesty International urged the United States on Monday to investigate possible violations of international law in a deadly strike on a migrant detention facility in Yemen.
Last month’s attack, which prompted international alarm and was part of the US bombardment campaign against the Houthis, killed 68 people held at a center for irregular migrants in Saada, the rebel authorities said at the time.
Agnes Callamard, Amnesty’s secretary-general, said that “the US attacked a well-known detention facility where the Houthis have been detaining migrants.”
The dead were all migrants from African countries, the Houthis had said.
To Callamard, “the major loss of civilian life in this attack raises serious concerns about whether the US complied with its obligations under international humanitarian law.”
“The US must conduct a prompt, independent and transparent investigation into this air strike,” she added.
A US defense official had told AFP in the aftermath of the strike that the military launched “battle-damage assessment and inquiry” into “claims of civilian casualties related to the US strikes in Yemen.”
Amnesty cited people who work with migrants and refugees in Yemen and visited two hospitals that treated the victims, saying that they had seen “more than two dozen Ethiopian migrants” with severe injuries including amputations.
The morgues at both hospitals had run out of space, the witnesses told Amnesty.
In mid-March, the United States began an intense, near-daily military campaign against the Houthis after they had renewed threats to attack vessels in the vital Red Sea and Gulf of Aden shipping lanes.
The campaign ended with a US-Houthi ceasefire agreement earlier this month.
The Houthis, who control large swathes of Yemen, began firing on Israel and Israeli-linked shipping in November 2023, weeks into the Gaza war triggered by an attack by the Yemeni rebels’ Palestinian ally Hamas.
Amnesty said it had analyzed satellite imagery and footage from the site of last month’s strike on Saada, in Yemen’s north.
The group said it was “unable to conclusively identify a legitimate military target” within the targeted prison compound, citing Houthi restrictions on independent investigations.
“Any attack that fails to distinguish between civilians and civilian objects on the one hand, and legitimate military targets on the other, even within the same compound, constitutes an indiscriminate attack and a violation of international humanitarian law,” Amnesty said.