ROME: About 10,000 migrants were rescued off the coast of Libya over the previous four days but at least 54 others died, Libyan and Italian officials said Saturday.
On Saturday, the Tunisian Army also rescued 126 migrants from sub-Saharan Africa hoping to reach Italian shores, officials said. They were aboard a flimsy inflatable boat off the coastal town of Ben Gardane, near the Libyan border.
On Friday, more than 1,200 migrants were rescued by Libyan ships and taken to Tripoli or Zawiya, about 50 km west, while the Italian coast guard and commercial boats rescued 2,200 others and took them to Italy.
At least 10 bodies were also found by the Italian coast guard, officials said.
Migrants were still disembarking in southern Italy on Saturday.
Another 6,400 were picked up between Tuesday and Thursday, but at least 44 people died, including 35 who drowned on Wednesday when a powerful wave struck their vessel, pitching them into the sea as a rescue ship was distributing life jackets. Officials expressed fears that many more people were still missing at sea.
The unloading of passengers in Sicily was halted all week due to the G-7 summit in the eastern hilltop town of Taormina, which lengthened rescue ships’ journey by 24 hours and delayed their return to the seas. In response, they called on commercial boats to help out.
54 dead, 10,000 migrants rescued off Libya
54 dead, 10,000 migrants rescued off Libya
Israeli airstrike kills two in Gaza, Israel says targeted Hamas militant
- Several people were also wounded in the airstrike, which struck a house in Gaza City
CAIRO/JERUSALEM: An Israeli airstrike killed at least two Palestinians in Gaza on Wednesday, local health authorities said, in what the military said was a retaliatory attack on a Hamas militant that was launched after its troops had come under fire.
Medical officials did not immediately identify the people killed. They said several people were also wounded in the airstrike, which struck a house in Gaza City. There was no immediate comment from Hamas.
The Israeli military said that Hamas militants had shot at soldiers earlier on Wednesday and that the airstrike targeted a senior Hamas militant who had directed attacks on its troops. The military did not say whether it had suffered any casualties.
Separately on Wednesday, in the southern Gaza area of Rafah, an Israeli-backed Palestinian militia said that it had killed two Hamas men, marking a renewed challenge to the militant group.
Hamas has been reestablishing its grip in the enclave, where it continues to command thousands of men despite suffering heavy blows during the war.
Israel occupies over half of Gaza — areas where Hamas’ foes operate beyond its reach. With US President Donald Trump’s plan for Gaza moving slowly, there is no immediate prospect of further Israeli withdrawals.
Fighting has greatly abated since Israel and Hamas agreed to a ceasefire in October after two years of war, but it has not stopped entirely. Both sides have accused each other of violations of the ceasefire.
More than 400 Palestinians, most of them civilians according to Gaza health officials, have been killed since the truce began, as well as three Israeli soldiers.
