Our website use cookies to improve and personalize your experience and to display advertisements (if any). Our website may also include cookies from third parties like Google Adsense, Google Analytics, and Youtube. By using the website, you consent to the use of cookies.

Hamas hands over two female hostages, others expected after truce extended

Hamas hands over two female hostages, others expected after truce extended

HAMAS handed two female hostages to the Red Cross in Gaza City's central Palestine Square and further hostages are expected to be released later in the evening following a last-minute deal struck with Israel to extend a truce. Israel identified the freed hostages as 21-year-old Mia Schem, who was seized at a dance party along with many of the other hostages abducted into Gaza and 40-year-old Amit Soussana. Schem also holds French nationality. Footage aired on Aljazeera showed the women being taken out of a white vehicle surrounded by armed Hamas militants in Gaza City and met by Red Cross officials, amid…
Read More
Evacuations from Gaza Strip resume through Egypt’s Rafah crossing

Evacuations from Gaza Strip resume through Egypt’s Rafah crossing

EVACUATIONS from the Gaza Strip into Egypt for foreign passport holders and Palestinians needing medical treatment resumed through the Rafah crossing after being suspended for a day, Egyptian security and medical sources said. Departures from Rafah, the only crossing to the besieged enclave that does not border Israel, had been paused on Wednesday for a second time following bombardments on the route within Gaza leading to the border. The Red Cross said its convoy escorting medical evacuees on Tuesday had been targeted, prompting it to pause the escorts. On Thursday, two sources said that 695 foreign passport holders and dependents, including Egyptians, were able to cross.…
Read More
Israel links Gaza aid to hostages’ release as humanitarian disaster looms

Israel links Gaza aid to hostages’ release as humanitarian disaster looms

ISRAEL said there would be no pause in its siege of the Gaza Strip for aid or evacuations until all its hostages were freed, as Washington urged it to protect civilians and the Red Cross warned of a humanitarian catastrophe in the enclave. U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, arriving in Tel Aviv on a trip to show solidarity, told Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that America would always be by Israel's side and give security assistance, but he urged Israel to show restraint "even when it's difficult". Israel has vowed to annihilate the Hamas movement that rules the Gaza Strip, in…
Read More
Red Cross: Hospitals in Ethiopia’s Tigray region struggle to deliver care

Red Cross: Hospitals in Ethiopia’s Tigray region struggle to deliver care

IMPROVED security in Ethiopia's Tigray region since a November ceasefire has allowed aid to reach some previously inaccessible areas, but humanitarian needs remain urgent, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) said. A two-year war that broke out in November 2020 between the federal government and forces led by the Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF), the party that dominates the region, killed tens of thousands of people, created famine-like conditions for hundreds of thousands, and displaced millions. The government and Tigray forces agreed to end the hostilities in November, which has allowed additional aid to reach the region and for some…
Read More
Red Cross chief urges Israel, Palestinians to end cycle of violence

Red Cross chief urges Israel, Palestinians to end cycle of violence

NIDAL AL-MUGHRABI THE head of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) has urged Israel and the Palestinians to find a political solution so violence like last month's hostilities over the Gaza Strip border might be prevented. On his first visit to Gaza in four years, Robert Mardini toured areas devasted by Israeli bombardments during the 11 days of fighting, including a road where 42 people were killed. "It is really heart-breaking to see and to hear about the people who paid the ultimate cost of this escalation - women, children, civilians who were living safely in their apartments…
Read More
Death toll from attack in western Ethiopia reaches 222, Red Cross says

Death toll from attack in western Ethiopia reaches 222, Red Cross says

THE death toll from a Wednesday attack in the western Benishangul-Gumuz region of Ethiopia has risen to 222 people, a volunteer from the country's Red Cross told Reuters. "Yesterday we buried 207 people who are the victims and 15 more from the attackers," said the volunteer, Melese Mesfin. The attack occurred in the village of Bekoji in Bulen county in the Metekel zone, and the state-appointed Ethiopian Human Rights Commission initially estimated more than 100 people had been killed. More than 40,000 people fled their homes due to the fighting, Bulen county spokesman Kassahun Addisu said. He said the county…
Read More
After frantic search, Moroccan woman finds brother stranded on Canary Islands

After frantic search, Moroccan woman finds brother stranded on Canary Islands

ON November 7, Sarah Bettache received an unexpected phone call from her brother Ahmed, who told her he was on the Spanish island of Gran Canaria. Two days earlier, the 19-year-old had left his native Morocco on a rickety boat and embarked on a dangerous journey to reach the Canary Islands archipelago, around 100 km (60 miles) away. Like a record number of other migrants this year, he was seeking a better future in Europe. Bettache, who is 27 and lives in France where she has citizenship, had no warning of her brother's drastic action, and nor did the rest…
Read More