WHO says staff residence in Gaza was attacked
Two WHO staff and two family members were detained, said Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, the WHO Director-General, adding that three were later released, while one staff member remained in detention.
Israeli tanks pushed into southern and eastern districts of the Gazan city of Deir Al-Balah for the first time on Monday, an area where Israeli sources said the military believes hostages may be held.
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Arab News
an hour ago
- Arab News
Grenade attack kills one, injures three in southwest Pakistan
QUETTA: A man was killed and three others injured in an attack on Wednesday night in southwestern Balochistan province after unknown individuals threw a hand grenade at a group of civilians sitting outside their house, a senior police official said. The attack was reported at 10 PM in the mountainous town of Aab-e-Gum, located in Kachi district, after unidentified men lobbed a hand grenade at four people, Rana Muhammad Dilawar, Superintendent of Police in the area, told Arab News over the phone. 'One man identified as Ahmed was killed in the grenade attack and three others were injured,' he said, adding: 'The injured were shifted to Mach District Headquarter Hospital before two of them were referred to Quetta.' No group has claimed responsibility for the attack, though Pakistan's restive province has been the site of a separatist insurgency for several decades, with militants belonging to groups like the Baloch Liberation Army (BLA) often targeting members of the Pakistani armed forces, state-backed tribal leaders and non-local workers in such attacks. 'Police have been investigating the motives behind targeting civilians with a grenade attack,' Dilawar said. 'Hunt for the attackers is also underway in the area who fled by taking advantage of the dark.' Aab-e-Gum is a small town located some 73 kilometers southeast of Quetta, surrounded by rugged mountains, and has remained a stronghold of ethnic Baloch separatist groups, particularly the BLA. The group has previously targeted Punjab-bound passenger trains in the area that cross the Bolan Pass.
Al Arabiya
2 hours ago
- Al Arabiya
Amnesty accuses Iran of firing cluster munitions at Israel
Amnesty International said on Thursday that Iran fired widely banned cluster munitions at Israel during a war between the two countries in June, in attacks that endangered civilians. 'Last month, the Iranian forces fired ballistic missiles whose warheads contained submunitions into populated residential areas of Israel,' the human rights group said, citing new research. The organization said it analyzed photos and videos showing cluster munitions that, according to media reports, struck inside the Gush Dan metropolitan area around Tel Aviv on June 19. In addition, the southern city of Beersheba on June 20 and Rishon LeZion, south of Tel Aviv, on June 22 were also 'struck with ordnance that left multiple impact craters consistent with the submunitions seen in Gush Dan,' Amnesty said. 'By using such weapons in or near populated residential areas, Iranian forces endangered civilian lives,' said Erika Guevara Rosas, senior director at Amnesty International. 'Iranian forces' deliberate use of such inherently indiscriminate weapons is a blatant violation of international humanitarian law.' Cluster munitions explode in mid-air and scatter bomblets. Some fail to detonate on impact and can cause casualties over time, particularly among children. Neither Iran nor Israel is among the more than 100 countries that are party to the 2008 Convention on Cluster Munitions, which prohibits the use, transfer, production, and storage of cluster bombs. Amnesty said international law 'prohibits the use of inherently indiscriminate weapons, and launching indiscriminate attacks that kill or injure civilians constitutes a war crime.' Israel and Iran fought a 12-day war sparked by an Israeli bombing campaign on June 13. Israel said the strikes were aimed at preventing Iran from developing a nuclear weapon — an ambition Tehran has consistently denied.
Arab News
13 hours ago
- Arab News
Lebanese parliament lifts MP immunity, refers 3 former ministers for corruption probe
BEIRUT: The Lebanese Parliament voted by a majority of 99 out of 128 members on Wednesday to lift the immunity of MP George Bouchikian, paving the way for a civil prosecution on charges of embezzlement, forgery and extortion. The charges are based on complaints filed by several factory owners accusing Bouchikian of committing the offences during his tenure as minister of industry in former Prime Minister Najib Mikati's government. In a separate vote, 88 members approved the referral of former telecommunications ministers Boutros Harb, Nicolas Sehnaoui and Jamal Jarrah to an investigative committee over documented allegations of 'mismanaging tens of millions of dollars in building leases and contracting operations.' Public Prosecutor Jamal Hajjar submitted a formal request to the General Secretariat of Parliament to lift Bouchikian's parliamentary immunity. Hajjar questioned Bouchikian as a witness in late June but the former minister left Lebanon for Canada shortly afterwards, confirmed in a statement given two days ago. He is not expected to return now his parliamentary immunity has been removed. A judicial source told Arab News: 'Bouchikian was questioned following testimony from factory owners who alleged that he, through his office manager and private driver, accepted payments between $50,000 and $70,000 for each work permit application submitted.' According to the source, the investigating judge at the time 'lacked the authority to arrest Bouchikian or confiscate his passport due to his parliamentary immunity. It appears he took advantage of this loophole to leave the country, anticipating that formal charges were imminent.' The source added: 'Four employees have been detained and charged in connection with the case, while Bouchikian's office manager and driver went into hiding.' This is the first time parliamentary immunity has been lifted since 2000, when it was stripped from MP Chahe Barsoumian over a corruption case related to oil storage contracts. The move came during former president Emile Lahoud's high-profile campaign against corruption and waste. This largely targeted officials from the era of his predecessor, Elias Hrawi, and Rafik Hariri, the late prime minister who led most of Hrawi's governments. Barsoumian was eventually acquitted following Hariri's assassination in 2005 and the election of a new parliament dominated by opponents of the previous establishment. In 2004, a parliamentary investigative committee concluded that 'the acts attributed to Barsoumian were not sufficiently proven, and there was no legal basis for indictment or prosecution.' Meanwhile in its legislative session, the Lebanese parliament summoned former telecommunications ministers Harb, Sehnaoui, and Jarrah. The three appeared in order to submit legal defenses against allegations of administrative and financial irregularities raised by the Financial Judiciary, which had formally requested their referral to the Supreme Council for the Trial of Presidents and Ministers. All MPs opposed the treatment of the ministers as a single case. The case of the three ministers is linked to several issues, including that of the Kassabian building, which was leased by MIC 2. Rental fees for the first four years totaled $10 million, but the company did not benefit from it due to its unsuitability. The state is still paying the rent. The second case concerns the squandering of millions of dollars by using the revenues of the two mobile phone companies to fund various social activities. In 2022, a group of MPs filed an indictment against the three ministers in the telecommunications case, referring them to the Supreme Council for the Trial of Presidents and Ministers. Harb, a prominent figure in Lebanon's sovereign bloc, told the parliament his conscience was clear 'because I did not breach the law, but rather preserved public funds and stopped waste, and I am fully prepared to cooperate with any investigative committee formed.' Sehnaoui told MPs: 'My conscience is clear, and I was the one who negotiated with the owner of the building that was being rented to unify the workplace of Touch Mobile employees at the lowest price.' He also claimed Zain International inspected the building and stated it was suitable. 'It was later discovered that it could not support the very heavy equipment on its roof and needed modifications. How could I know that it was not if the international company stated otherwise?' he said. Jarrah stated: 'The Financial Public Prosecutor did not request any documents or papers to prove our statements regarding the funding of social activities. When we left his office, we heard about our accusations in the media.'
