Israeli strikes kill dozens of Palestinians seeking aid
Israel-Hamas war: 'Every day has been a deadly day in Gaza'
Middle East
12/07/2025
Israeli airstrikes kill dozens in Gaza as ceasefire talks stall
Middle East
12/07/2025
Hundreds killed in recent weeks while seeking aid in Gaza, UN says
Middle East
12/07/2025
UN aid system in Gaza 'crippled and undermined intentionally' by Israel, expert says
Middle East
11/07/2025
'Hamas is an ideology: Impossible to achieve complete elimination' of Palestinian militant group
Middle East
11/07/2025
The European Union strikes deal with Israel for more food and fuel in Gaza
Middle East
11/07/2025
Syria: Kurdish fighters destroy weapons in historic step for peace
Middle East
11/07/2025
Israel's war on Gaza: 'International laws are not being respected' says MacManus
Middle East
11/07/2025
Syria: PKK fighters lay down their arms marking a 'irreversible turning point'
Middle East
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France 24
3 hours ago
- France 24
Iraqis face difficult return from Syria camp for IS families
"All I wanted was to return to Iraq," the 64-year-old said of his time in the Kurdish-controlled al-Hol camp, where family members of suspected Islamic State group fighters are held in prison-like conditions alongside refugees and displaced people. But back home in Iraq, "I had to disown my sons. My house is gone," he said. "I am back to square one." Thousands of Iraqi returnees from the camp have faced major obstacles reintegrating into their communities, their perceived affiliation with IS casting a dark shadow over their prospects. AFP spoke to more than 15 returnees, humanitarian workers and a lawyer, most of whom requested anonymity for fear of reprisals. They described armed groups and local authorities in some areas pressuring returnees to cut ties with relatives suspected of IS links as a precondition for going home or obtaining essential documents. A lawyer for many returnees equated the pledges of disownment to denunciations, "essentially complaints by one family member against another". He also warned of a widespread misconception among returnees that they must comply in order to obtain identity cards and other government papers. But a senior Iraqi official insisted that the authorities supported reintegration, including when it came to the issuance of documents. Requesting "disownment statements has become illegal, and anyone who asks for it should be reported", the official told AFP. 'Moral error' Darwish said he was allowed to leave al-Hol after receiving Iraqi security clearance and support from his tribal leader. Back in Iraq, he spent the first several months at al-Jadaa camp, presented by the authorities as a "rehabilitation" centre where returnees wait for further permission to return home. There, "we felt the most welcome", Darwish said. But when it was time to go home to Salaheddin province, Darwish said local authorities told him he first had to disown his sons, who are locked away on suspicion of joining IS -- a charge he denies. Reluctantly, he complied. Otherwise, "how was I going to farm my land and make ends meet?" he said. In the northern city of Mosul, one woman in her thirties told AFP she was afraid to return to her hometown in Salaheddin, where her father was arrested upon his arrival and later passed away in prison. She is currently squatting with her sister and children in a dilapidated house, living in fear of eviction. When the family first returned to Iraq, she said, people "looked at us differently, just because we came from al-Hol". Now her concern is obtaining new identity cards, which are essential for accessing healthcare, education and employment, and she fears she will have to disown her husband to do so. The authorities, she said, "did well" by bringing them back from al-Hol, where many speak of increased violence, but they must now solve the issue of reintegration. "We need them to support us so we can stand on our feet," she added. Thanassis Cambanis, director of New York-based Century International, said the returnees "face a murky future", especially since some of those tarred as IS families are denied documentation. "At a minimum, collective punishment of the ISIS families is an injustice and a moral error," Cambanis warned. "At a maximum, Iraq's policy creates a ripe pool of potential recruits for violent sectarian extremists." 'Expanded support' While many countries refuse to repatriate their nationals from al-Hol, Baghdad has so far brought back around 17,000 people, mostly women and children. Local and international organisations facilitated reintegration, but their operations have been affected by US President Donald Trump's decision to cut foreign aid. The Global Community Engagement and Resilience Fund (GCERF), a Geneva-registered organisation that focuses on preventing extremism, supports several centres that have so far assisted around 6,000 returnees. According to GCERF's Kevin Osborne, the centres provide services such as psychosocial support and vocational training. But the growing number of returnees requires "expanded support to adequately prepare communities and enable smooth, sustainable reintegration", Osborne said. Noran Mahmood, of the GCREF-supported Iraqi Institution for Development, said many returnees fear "society's refusal" to welcome them, as if having spent time in al-Hol is a "disgrace". Her organisation in Mosul provides counselling for the many returnees who suffer from depression, insomnia and anxiety. Rahaf, 24, is one of the many women receiving help after years of accumulated trauma. With the organisation's assistance, she achieved her long-held dream of furthering her education, enrolling in middle school.
Euronews
6 hours ago
- Euronews
EU member states wary on Kallas' 10 options for action against Israel
The EU's top diplomat Kaja Kallas is set to offer an exhaustive list of 10 possibilities for the EU to respond to Israel's action in Gaza during a meeting of the Foreign Affairs Council in Brussels this week, but EU diplomats told Euronews there's little appetite across the EU to take any action against Tel Aviv. Kallas' 10 options include suspending visa free travel and blocking imports from the Jewish settlements in response to Israel's breach of the EU-Israel Association Agreement, according to a document issued by Kallas's office seen by Euronews. The proposals, which are listed with their legal basis and the procedure required to adopt them, include suspending the entire EU-Israel Association Agreement, halting political dialogue with Israel, or barring Tel Aviv access to EU programs, all of which require unanimous support from the EU's 27 member states. But the document also lists other options including 'suspension of trade preferences' with Israel and a halt of the EU-Israel Aviation agreement, which would require a qualified majority vote, meaning 55% of member states representing at least 65% of the total EU population. The document is the result of Kallas's efforts to follow up on a review of the human rights clause of the EU-Israel Association Agreement, which found that Israel is in breach of the agreement due to violations in Gaza and the West Bank. Kallas was originally preparing to offer ministers with five options, but the EU's top diplomat has decided to double down on the list and 'include measures that member states can opt for unilaterally without needing a Commission proposal', according to one EU diplomat. Diplomats told Euronews that member states are unlikely to choose to back any of the options for action for a number of reasons. First, some countries insist the EU should it should wait to see the result of an agreement brokered by Kallas last week attempting to imrpove the flow of aid to Gaza. The EU announced on Thursday that it had negotiated a "significant" improvement of humanitarian aid access into Gaza, including an increase of food trucks, and an agreement to "protect the lives of aid workers'. A Kallas spokesperson told reporters on Friday that as a result of the agreement, Israel had opened the Zikim border crossing, allowed entry of fuel and repair water pipes, 'together with the reopening of the Jordanian route'. Countries waiting to see results of new humanitarian agreement Secondly, the EU is still far too divided on the issue, and many countries - including the Czech Republic, Germany, Hungary and Italy - are unwilling to sanction Israel if the situation on the ground improves, opposing the idea of suspending the EU-Israel Association Agreement in part or full. Ireland and Spain remain eager to take action against Israel, with the former already moving to vet imports from Israeli settlements in the West Bank, becoming the first EU country to do so. For many diplomats, any further steps will depend on Israel's implementation of the humanitarian agreement brokered last week. 'Kallas insisted to the Israelis that it cannot just be an agreement on paper it needs to be implemented on the ground,' one diplomat said. 'It depends if Israel puts the Kallas plan into action on the ground,' said another EU diplomat. 'If we can see some results by Tuesday, I think that will be an important sign from the side of Israel that they have agreed to do this and are willing to implement it," said a third. Meanwhile Israeli airstrikes are ongoing as is the blockade, despite the announcement, the third diplomat pointed out. The Israeli military launched its Gaza campaign in response to the Hamas attack on 7 October 2023, in which about 1,200 people were killed and 251 others were taken hostage. At least 57,823 people have been killed in Gaza since then, according to the Hamas-run health ministry.
Euronews
6 hours ago
- Euronews
Israeli strikes kill dozen as Palestinian war deaths top 58,000
Israeli strikes killed at least 32 people in Gaza on Sunday as the Palestinian death toll surpassed 58,000 after 21 months of war, according to local health officials. Officials at the Al-Awda Hospital in central Gaza said it received ten bodies following an Israeli strike on a water collection point in nearby Nuseirat. Six children were reportedly amongst the dead. The Israeli Defence Forces said it was targeting a militant but a technical error made its munitions fall 'dozens of metres from the target.' Separately, health officials said an Israeli strike hit a group of citizens walking in the street on Sunday afternoon in central Gaza City, killing 11 people and injuring around 30 others. In the central town of Zawaida, an Israeli strike on a home killed nine, including two women and three children, officials at Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital said. Later, Al-Awda Hospital said a strike on a group of people in Zawaida killed two. Israel's military said it was unaware of the strike on the home, but said it hit more than 150 targets over the past 24 hours, including what it called weapons storage facilities, missile launchers and sniping posts. Israel blames Hamas for civilian casualties because the militant group operates out of populated areas. Despite months of talks aimed at securing a ceasefire, freeing Israeli hostages and getting humanitarian aid into Gaza, Israel and Hamas remain deadlocked. A key sticking point centres on whether Israeli troops should remain deployed during any pause in fighting. Israel says it will end the war once Hamas surrenders, disarms and goes into exile – something Hamas refuses to do. Hamas says it is willing to free the remaining 50 hostages, about 20 of whom are said to be alive, in exchange for the war's end and the full withdrawal of Israeli forces. The war began when Hamas militants attacked southern Israel on 7 October 2023, killing around 1,200 people, most of them civilians. Hamas took 251 people as hostages. A subsequent Israeli offensive has to date killed more than 58,000 Palestinians, mostly women and children, according to the Hamas-run Gaza Health Ministry, whose figures do not distinguish between fighters and civilians. The Israeli military says 890 of its soldiers have died since the start of the war.
