Israeli cabinet to vote on ceasefire, as US ‘confident’ deal will go ahead

Palestinians walk past the rubble of buildings destroyed in previous Israeli strikes, ahead of a ceasefire set to take effect on Sunday, in the southern Gaza Strip January 16, 2025. (Reuters)
Palestinians walk past the rubble of buildings destroyed in previous Israeli strikes, ahead of a ceasefire set to take effect on Sunday, in the southern Gaza Strip January 16, 2025. (Reuters)
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Updated 16 January 2025
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Israeli cabinet to vote on ceasefire, as US ‘confident’ deal will go ahead

Palestinians walk past the rubble of buildings destroyed in previous Israeli strikes, ahead of a ceasefire.
  • Saeed Alloush, who lives in north Gaza, said he and his loved ones were “waiting for the truce and were happy,” until overnight strikes killed many of his relatives

JERUSALEM: Israel’s cabinet was set to vote Friday on a Gaza ceasefire and hostage release deal, an official said, with mediator the United States “confident” the accord would take effect as planned.
As ministers weighed whether to approve the fragile agreement, new Israeli strikes killed dozens of people, Gaza rescuers said Thursday, and Israel’s military reported hitting about 50 targets across the territory over the past day.
At least two cabinet members have voiced opposition to the ceasefire, with far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir saying Thursday that he and his party colleagues would quit the government — but not the ruling coalition — if it approved the “irresponsible” deal.
The truce, announced by mediators Qatar and the United States on Wednesday, would begin on Sunday and involve the exchange of Israeli hostages for Palestinian prisoners, after which the terms of a permanent end to the war would be finalized.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office accused Hamas on Thursday of reneging “on parts of the agreement... to extort last-minute concessions,” and vowed to postpone the cabinet vote until the issues were addressed.
But an Israeli official later told AFP the cabinet would meet Friday to decide on the deal.
Hamas political bureau member Sami Abu Zuhri said there was “no basis” for Israel’s accusations.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, who has been involved in months of mediation efforts, said he believed the ceasefire would go ahead on schedule.
“I am confident, and I fully expect that implementation will begin, as we said, on Sunday,” he said.
The foreign ministry of fellow mediator Egypt said in a statement the ceasefire must “start without delay.”
Gaza’s civil defense agency said Israel pounded several areas of the territory after the deal was announced, killing at least 80 people and wounding hundreds.
Hamas’s armed wing, the Ezzedine Al-Qassam Brigades, warned that Israeli strikes were risking the lives of hostages due to be freed under the deal, and could turn their “freedom... into a tragedy.”
The war was triggered by the October 7, 2023 Hamas attack on Israel, which resulted in the deaths of 1,210 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally of official Israeli figures.
During the attack, the deadliest in Israeli history, Palestinian militants also took 251 people hostage, 94 of whom are still being held in Gaza, including 34 the Israeli military says are dead.
Israel’s ensuing campaign has destroyed much of Gaza, killing 46,788 people, most of them civilians, according to figures from the Hamas-run territory’s health ministry that the UN considers reliable.
The ceasefire agreement followed intensified efforts from mediators Qatar, Egypt and the United States, after months of fruitless negotiations to end the deadliest war in Gaza’s history.
If finalized, it would pause hostilities one day before the inauguration of US President-elect Donald Trump.
Envoys from both the Trump team and the outgoing administration of President Joe Biden were present at the latest negotiations, with a senior Biden official saying the unlikely pairing had been a decisive factor in reaching the deal.
In Israel and Gaza, there were celebrations welcoming the truce deal, but also anguish.
Saeed Alloush, who lives in north Gaza, said he and his loved ones were “waiting for the truce and were happy,” until overnight strikes killed many of his relatives.
“It was the happiest night since October 7” until “we received the news of the martyrdom of 40 people from the Alloush family,” he said.
In Tel Aviv, pensioner Simon Patya said he felt “great joy” that some hostages would return alive, but also “great sorrow for those who are returning in bags, and that will be a very strong blow, morally.”
In addition to Ben Gvir, far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich has also opposed the truce, calling it a “dangerous deal.”
Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al-Thani, announcing the agreement on Wednesday, said an initial 42-day ceasefire would see 33 hostages released, including women, “children, elderly people, as well as civilian ill people and wounded.”
Also in the first phase, Israeli forces would withdraw from Gaza’s densely populated areas and allow displaced Palestinians to return “to their residences,” he said.
Announcing the deal from the White House, Biden said the second phase of the agreement could bring a “permanent end to the war.”
He added the deal would “surge much needed humanitarian assistance to Palestinian civilians, and reunite the hostages with their families.”
Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi also underscored the “importance of accelerating the entry of urgent humanitarian aid” into Gaza.
Cairo said it was ready to host an international conference on reconstruction in Gaza, where the United Nations has said it would take more than a decade to rebuild civilian infrastructure.
The World Health Organization’s representative in the Palestinian territories, Rik Peeperkorn, said Thursday that at least $10 billion would probably be needed over the next five to seven years to rebuild Gaza’s devastated health system alone.
The UN Palestinian refugee agency UNRWA, facing an Israeli ban on its activities set to start later this month, welcomed the ceasefire deal.
“What’s needed is rapid, unhindered and uninterrupted humanitarian access and supplies to respond to the tremendous suffering caused by this war,” UNRWA head Philippe Lazzarini wrote on X.


Palestinian patients in Gaza dying due to lack of medical supplies, equipment: American surgeon

Palestinian patients in Gaza dying due to lack of medical supplies, equipment: American surgeon
Updated 16 sec ago
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Palestinian patients in Gaza dying due to lack of medical supplies, equipment: American surgeon

Palestinian patients in Gaza dying due to lack of medical supplies, equipment: American surgeon

LONDON: An American surgeon working in Gaza has described the dire conditions in hospitals, saying Palestinian patients have died due to a lack of medical supplies and equipment.

Dr. Mark Perlmutter, who spent three weeks treating patients in Al-Aqsa and Nasser hospitals, told the BBC that doctors are operating without soap, antibiotics or X-ray facilities.

“The small community hospital, Al-Aqsa, is a tenth the size of any of the facilities in my home state — maybe smaller — and it did well to manage those horrible injuries,” he told the broadcaster following his second trip to the Palestinian enclave.

“Nevertheless, because of lack of equipment, many, many of those patients died, who would certainly not have died at a better-equipped hospital.”

He described treating severely wounded children, including a 15-year-old girl hit by Israeli machinegun fire while riding her bicycle and a boy, the same age, who was in a car with his grandmother after receiving warnings to evacuate from the north.

“They were both macerated and shredded by Apache gunships,” Perlmutter said. “The girl will be lucky if she keeps three of her limbs.”

Perlmutter was inside Nasser Hospital when an Israeli airstrike targeted Hamas finance chief Ismail Barhoum.

He said Barhoum was receiving medical treatment and had a right to protection under the Geneva Convention. The Israeli military said he was in the hospital “in order to commit acts of terrorism.”

With most hospitals in Gaza barely functioning, Perlmutter praised the commitment and dedication of the Palestinian medical staff, which he said go above and beyond the efforts of foreign doctors like himself.

“They all abandon their families, they volunteer and often work without pay. We get to go home in a month, which they don’t,” he said.

The UN’s humanitarian chief, Tom Fletcher, has called the situation in Gaza “dire,” noting that humanitarian aid remains blocked at border crossings.

Israel’s onslaught has killed more than 15,000 Palestinian children in Gaza, the Hamas-run Health Ministry has said, adding that since Israel broke a ceasefire and resumed its strikes on March 18, 921 Palestinians have been killed.

Perlmutter warned that if the Israeli attacks continue, hospitals operating without urgent medical supplies will see more wounded Palestinians die from treatable injuries.


Lebanon makes arrests over rockets fired at Israel

Smoke rises from the site of an Israeli strike in southern Beirut on March 28, 2025.
Smoke rises from the site of an Israeli strike in southern Beirut on March 28, 2025.
Updated 13 min 34 sec ago
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Lebanon makes arrests over rockets fired at Israel

Smoke rises from the site of an Israeli strike in southern Beirut on March 28, 2025.
  • Lebanon’s General Security agency said it had “arrested a number of suspects, and the relevant authorities have begun investigations with them”

BEIRUT: Lebanese authorities said Sunday several suspects had been arrested after rockets were fired at neighboring Israel earlier this month, testing a fragile November ceasefire.
Lebanon’s General Security agency said it had “arrested a number of suspects, and the relevant authorities have begun investigations with them to determine responsibility and take the appropriate legal measures.”
Militant group Hezbollah, which fought a devastating war with Israel last year, has denied involvement in the rocket fire that took place on March 22 and 28.
It however prompted an Israeli strike on Hezbollah’s Beirut stronghold for the first time since the truce went into effect in November.


Gaza rescuers say recovered 15 bodies after Israel fire on ambulances

Paramedics transport out of an ambulance some of the bodies of Palestinian first responders, who were killed a week before.
Paramedics transport out of an ambulance some of the bodies of Palestinian first responders, who were killed a week before.
Updated 30 March 2025
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Gaza rescuers say recovered 15 bodies after Israel fire on ambulances

Paramedics transport out of an ambulance some of the bodies of Palestinian first responders, who were killed a week before.
  • Bodies of eight medics from the Red Crescent, six members of Gaza’s civil defense agency and one employee of a UN agency were retrieved
  • One medic from the Red Crescent remains missing

GAZA CITY: The Palestinian Red Crescent said on Sunday it had recovered the bodies of 15 rescuers killed a week ago when Israeli forces targeted ambulances in the Gaza Strip.
Bodies of eight medics from the Red Crescent, six members of Gaza’s civil defense agency and one employee of a UN agency were retrieved, the Red Crescent said in a statement.
It said one medic from the Red Crescent remained missing.
The group said the those killed “were targeted by the Israeli occupation forces while performing their humanitarian duties as they were heading to the Hashashin area of Rafah to provide first aid to a number of people injured by Israeli shelling in the area.”
“The occupation’s targeting of Red Crescent medics ... can only be considered a war crime punishable under international humanitarian law, which the occupation continues to violate before the eyes of the entire world.”
In an earlier statement the Red Crescent said the bodies “were recovered with difficulty as they were buried in the sand, with some showing signs of decomposition.”
Gaza’s civil defense agency also confirmed that 15 bodies had been recovered, adding that the deceased UN employee was from the UN agency for Palestinian refugees, also known as UNRWA.
The incident occurred on March 23 in Rafah city’s Tal Al-Sultan neighborhood, close to the Egyptian border, just days after the military resumed its bombardments of Gaza following an almost two-month-long truce.
On Saturday, the Red Crescent had accused Israeli authorities of refusing to allow search operations to locate its crew.
The Israeli military acknowledged its troops had opened fire on ambulances.
It told AFP in a statement this week that its forces had “opened fire toward Hamas vehicles and eliminated several Hamas terrorists.”
“A few minutes afterwards, additional vehicles advanced suspiciously toward the troops” who “responded by firing toward the suspicious vehicles,” it said, adding that several “terrorists” were killed.
“Some of the suspicious vehicles... were ambulances and fire trucks,” the military statement said, citing “an initial inquiry” into the incident.
It condemned “the repeated use” by “terrorist organizations in the Gaza Strip of ambulances for terrorist purposes.”
Tom Fletcher, head of the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, said that since resumption of hostilities on March 18, Israeli air strikes have hit “densely populated areas,” with “patients killed in their hospital beds. Ambulances shot at. First responders killed.”
The health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza said on Saturday that at least 921 people have been killed in the Palestinian territory since Israel resumed its large-scale strikes.


Jordanian authorities arrest 10 drug traffickers in major anti-narcotics operations

Jordanian authorities arrest 10 drug traffickers in major anti-narcotics operations
Updated 30 March 2025
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Jordanian authorities arrest 10 drug traffickers in major anti-narcotics operations

Jordanian authorities arrest 10 drug traffickers in major anti-narcotics operations
  • Among most significant arrests was that of notorious suspected synthetic cannabis dealer in Irbid Governorate

AMMAN: Jordan’s Anti-Narcotics Department arrested 10 alleged drug traffickers and smugglers in five high-profile cases as part of an ongoing crackdown on drug-related crimes across the country, a spokesperson for the Public Security Directorate announced on Sunday.

Among the most significant arrests was that of a notorious suspected synthetic cannabis dealer in Irbid Governorate.

Authorities also detained three individuals said to be involved in the production and distribution of the potent “Joker” drug, which is a synthetic cannabinoid, also known as a neocannabinoid, which are designer drugs that mimic the effects of cannabis.

A raid on the main suspect’s apartment led to the seizure of 6 kg of the substance, along with hazardous chemicals used in its manufacture. Three additional suspects were arrested in Ramtha District on suspicion of assisting in the operation.

In Aqaba Governorate, an alleged drug dealer was apprehended in possession of 60 hashish pills, while another suspected trafficker in Madaba Governorate was caught with 10 palm-sized sheets of hashish, a quantity of crystal meth, and a weapon after resisting arrest.

Meanwhile, authorities in Mafraq Governorate arrested an individual found with half a kilogram of crystal meth.

Additionally, security forces intercepted a suspicious package arriving in Amman from an unamed neighboring country. Upon inspection, they discovered 10,000 narcotic pills. Further investigations led to the arrest of three individuals connected to the case.

The Public Security Directorate reaffirmed its commitment to combating drug trafficking and bringing perpetrators to justice, emphasizing that efforts to dismantle criminal networks will continue nationwide, Jordan News Agency reported.


Morocco’s $728m ‘water highway’ faces sustainability concerns

Morocco’s $728m ‘water highway’ faces sustainability concerns
Updated 30 March 2025
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Morocco’s $728m ‘water highway’ faces sustainability concerns

Morocco’s $728m ‘water highway’ faces sustainability concerns
  • The project succeeds in heading off immediate threat to the water supply of the country’s most populous region

KENITRA: Morocco is spending hundreds of millions of dollars on tapping northern rivers to supply water to parched cities farther south but experts question the sustainability of the project in the face of climate change.
The North African kingdom has spent $728 million so far on what it dubs a “water highway” to redirect the surplus flow of the Sebou River to meet the drinking water needs of capital Rabat and economic hub Casablanca, according to official figures.
In the future, it plans to tap other northern rivers to extend the project to the southern city of Marrakech.

FASTFACT

Morocco has long suffered from extreme disparities in rainfall between the Atlas mountain ranges and the semi-arid and desert regions farther south.

Officials say the project has been a success in heading off the immediate threat to the water supply of the country’s most populous region.
“Transferring surplus water from the Sebou basin in the north allowed us to prevent about 12 million people from running out of water,” said senior agriculture ministry official Mahjoub Lahrache.
In late 2023, the capital Rabat and its surrounding region came perilously close to running out of water when the main reservoir supplying the city ran dry.
Morocco has long suffered from extreme disparities in rainfall between the Atlas mountain ranges and the semi-arid and desert regions farther south.
“Fifty-three percent of rainfall occurs in just seven percent of the national territory,” Water Minister Nizar Baraka told AFP.
In the past, rainfall in the Atlas ranges has created sufficient surplus flow on most northern rivers for them to reach the ocean even in the driest months of the year.
It is those surpluses that the “water highway” project seeks to tap.
A diversion dam has been built in the city of Kenitra, just inland from the Atlantic coast, to hold back the flow of the Sebou River before it enters the ocean.
The water is then treated and transported along a 67-kilometer (42-mile) underground canal to supply residents of Rabat and Casablanca.
Inaugurated last August, the “water highway” had supplied more than 700 million cubic meters (24.7 billion cubic feet) of drinking water to the two urban areas by early March, according to official figures.
But experts question how long the Sebou and other northern rivers will continue to generate water surpluses that can be tapped.
The kingdom already suffers from significant water stress after six straight years of drought.
Annual water supply has dropped from an average of 18 billion cubic meters in the 1980s to just five billion today, according to official figures.
Despite heavy rains in the northwest in early March, Morocco remains in the grip of drought with rainfall 75 percent below historical averages.
The dry spell has been “the longest in the country’s history,” the water minister said, noting that previous dry cycles typically lasted three years at most.
Rising temperatures — up 1.8 degrees Celsius last year alone — have intensified evaporation.
Experts say that climate change is likely to see further reductions in rainfall, concentrated in the very areas from which the “water highway” is designed to tap surplus flows.
“Future scenarios indicate that northern water basins will be significantly more affected by climate change than those in the south over the next 60 years,” said water and climate researcher Nabil El Mocayd.
“What is considered surplus today may no longer exist in the future due to this growing deficit,” he added, referencing a 2020 study in which he recommended scaling back the “water highway.”
Demand for water for irrigation also remains high in Morocco, where the farm sector employs nearly a third of the workforce.
Researcher Abderrahim Handouf said more needed to be done to help farmers adopt water-efficient irrigation techniques.
Handouf said the “water highway” was “an effective solution in the absence of alternatives” but warned that climate challenges will inevitably “create problems even in the north.”
“We must remain cautious,” he said, calling for greater investment in desalination plants to provide drinking water to the big cities.