US ‘troubled’ by Gaza humanitarian crisis: Rubio

US ‘troubled’ by Gaza humanitarian crisis: Rubio
Palestinians ride an animal-pulled cart as they flee Gaza City on May 16, 2025. (File/AFP)
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Updated 16 May 2025
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US ‘troubled’ by Gaza humanitarian crisis: Rubio

US ‘troubled’ by Gaza humanitarian crisis: Rubio
  • Secretary of state reiterates need for Hamas to release hostages, says it cannot continue to exist
  • ‘We’re not immune or in any way insensitive to the suffering of the people of Gaza’

LONDON: The US is “troubled” by the humanitarian crisis in Gaza, Secretary of State Marco Rubio has told the BBC.

The Palestinian enclave has been blocked from receiving food and other supplies by Israeli forces for the past 10 weeks. 

The blockade was imposed after Israel ended a ceasefire agreement that led to an exchange of hostages held by Hamas and prisoners held in Israeli jails.

Since then, Israel has conducted numerous strikes in Gaza, with an expanded second ground offensive expected in the coming weeks.

Rubio, who was in Turkiye at a meeting of NATO foreign ministers, told the BBC: “We’re not immune or in any way insensitive to the suffering of the people of Gaza, and I know that there’s opportunities here to provide aid for them.”

He said Hamas needs to release all remaining hostages, and there is no prospect of peace while the group continues to exist.

Rubio’s words come amid talk of a dispute between US President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and after at least 114 Palestinians were killed in Israeli airstrikes on Thursday, according to Gaza’s health authorities. 


Lebanon says 9 wounded in Israeli strike

Lebanon says 9 wounded in Israeli strike
Updated 21 sec ago
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Lebanon says 9 wounded in Israeli strike

Lebanon says 9 wounded in Israeli strike
  • Nine people were wounded in the attack
  • Israel has continued to launch strikes on its northern neighbor despite the November truce

BEIRUT: Lebanon’s health ministry said an Israeli strike on Tuesday wounded nine people in the country’s south, the latest attack despite a ceasefire between Israel and militant group Hezbollah.
The latest reported strike, which the Israeli military did not immediately comment on, came a day after Israel said it had killed a member of Hezbollah’s elite Radwan force in the border area of Hula.
The Lebanese health ministry on Tuesday said that an “Israeli enemy drone” hit a motorcycle in the coastal Tyre district.
Nine people were wounded in the attack including three in “critical condition,” the ministry said, adding that two children were among the victims.
Israel has continued to launch strikes on its northern neighbor despite the November truce that sought to halt more than a year of hostilities with Iran-backed Hezbollah including two months of full-blown war.
Under the terms of the ceasefire deal, only UN peacekeepers and the Lebanese army should be deployed in southern Lebanon, though Israel has retained its forces in five areas it has declared strategic.
Lebanon has called on the international community to pressure Israel to end its attacks and withdraw all its troops.


UN has permission for 100 more aid trucks to enter Gaza, official says

UN has permission for 100 more aid trucks to enter Gaza, official says
Updated 20 May 2025
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UN has permission for 100 more aid trucks to enter Gaza, official says

UN has permission for 100 more aid trucks to enter Gaza, official says

GENEVA: The United Nations said on Tuesday it has received permission to send “around 100” trucks of aid into the war-shattered Gaza Strip, as humanitarian assistance trickled back in to the territory.
“We have requested and received approval of more trucks to enter today, many more than were approved yesterday,” Jens Laerke, spokesman for UN Office for Coordination for Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), told reporters in Geneva, adding that “we expect, of course, with that approval, many of them, hopefully all of them, to cross today to a point where they can be picked up and get further into the Gaza Strip for distribution.”


Army, paramilitaries clash near Sudan capital

Army, paramilitaries clash near Sudan capital
Updated 45 min 58 sec ago
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Army, paramilitaries clash near Sudan capital

Army, paramilitaries clash near Sudan capital
  • The army said its operation which began on Monday was aimed at driving the paramilitaries from their last positions in Khartoum state

KHARTOUM: Clashes erupted on Tuesday between the Sudanese regular army and rival paramilitaries in Omdurman, Khartoum's twin city, with the army calling the fighting part of a "large-scale" offensive.

An AFP correspondent at the scene said explosions rang out in the area, where the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) had retreated after losing control of the Sudanese capital in March.

The army said its operation which began on Monday was aimed at driving the paramilitaries from their last positions in Khartoum state.

"We are pressing a large-scale operation and we are close to clearing the whole of Khartoum state from dirty thugs," military spokesman Nabil Abdallah said in a statement.

The war since April 2023 has pitted the army headed by Sudan's de facto leader Abdel Fattah al-Burhan against the RSF under his former deputy Mohamed Hamdan Daglo.

The fighting comes as both the army and the RSF are attempting to establish their own governments.

On Monday, army chief Burhan has tapped a former United Nations official, Kamil Idris, as a new prime minister -- a move seen by analysts as an attempt to gain international recognition and present a functioning civilian-led government amid the ongoing war.

The African Union on Tuesday welcomed the appointment, calling it "a step toward inclusive governance" and expressing hope that the move will "restore constitutional order and democratic governance in Sudan".

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

In recent weeks, the RSF has staged multiple drone attacks on areas around the country, including Port Sudan on the Red Sea coast, the seat of the army-aligned government since the war began.

Omdurman, which is situated just across the River Nile from Khartoum, has been a focal point of fighting in recent days.

This week, a days-long electricity blackout hit the whole Khartoum state, following drone strikes blamed on the RSF on three power stations in Omdurman.

Medical charity Doctors without Borders (MSF) said on Sunday that the power outages had disrupted health services at the city's major hospitals.

"The magnitude of these drone attacks represents a major escalation in the conflict, with alarming implications for civilian protection," the UN's human rights expert on Sudan, Radhouane Nouicer, said in a statement on Monday.

"The recurrent attacks on critical infrastructure place civilian lives at risk, worsen the humanitarian crisis, and undermine basic human rights."

The army has meanwhile launched attacks in areas controlled by the RSF in the country's south, trying to claim territory and cut off rival supply lines.

The Emergency Lawyers, a monitoring group which has documented atrocities on both sides, on Sunday accused the army of killing 18 civilians, including four children, in an attack on Al-Hamadi village in South Kordofan state last week.

The war has killed tens of thousands, displaced 13 million and sparked what the United Nations describes as the world's worst humanitarian crisis.

The conflict has carved up Sudan, with the army controlling the north, east, and centre, while the RSF dominates nearly all of Darfur and parts of the south.


EU agrees to lift all economic sanctions on Syria: diplomats

EU agrees to lift all economic sanctions on Syria: diplomats
Updated 1 min 39 sec ago
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EU agrees to lift all economic sanctions on Syria: diplomats

EU agrees to lift all economic sanctions on Syria: diplomats

BRUSSELS: EU countries on Tuesday gave a green light to lifting all economic sanctions on Syria in a bid to help the war-torn country recover after the ouster of Bashar Assad, diplomats said.
Ambassadors from the EU’s 27 member states struck a preliminary agreement for the move, which should be formally unveiled by foreign ministers meeting in Brussels later in the day, diplomats said.
The decision from the European Union comes after US President Donald Trump announced last week that Washington was lifting its sanctions against Syria.
The country’s new rulers have been clamouring for relief from the crushing international punishment imposed after Assad’s crackdown on opponents spiralled into civil war.
EU diplomats said the agreement should see sanctions cutting Syrian banks off from the global system and freezing central bank assets lifted.
But diplomats said the bloc was intending to impose new individual sanctions on those responsible for stirring ethnic tensions, following deadly attacks targeting the Alawite minority.
Other measures targeting the Assad regime and prohibiting the sale of weapons or equipment that could be used to repress civilians were set to remain in place.
The latest move from the EU comes after it took a first step in February of suspending some sanctions on key Syrian economic sectors.
Officials said those measures could be reimposed if Syria’s new leaders break promises to respect the rights of minorities and move toward democracy.


Malnutrition in Gaza could rise exponentially, UNRWA official says

Malnutrition in Gaza could rise exponentially, UNRWA official says
Updated 20 May 2025
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Malnutrition in Gaza could rise exponentially, UNRWA official says

Malnutrition in Gaza could rise exponentially, UNRWA official says
  • Malnutrition rates in Gaza have risen during a more than 11-week Israeli blockade
  • Israel cleared nine trucks of aid on Monday to enter Gaza

GENEVA: Malnutrition rates in Gaza have risen during a more than 11-week Israeli blockade and could rise exponentially if food shortages continue, a health official at the UN Palestinian refugee agency UNRWA said on Tuesday.

“I have data until end of April and it shows malnutrition on the rise,” Akihiro Seita, UNRWA Director of Health, told a Geneva press briefing.

“And then the worry is that if the current food shortage continues, it will exponentially increase, and then get beyond our control.”

Israel cleared nine trucks of aid on Monday to enter Gaza through the Kerem Shalom crossing although aid workers said just five entered.