BEIRUT: The U.N. children's agency says the European Union has donated 90 million euros ($100.3 million) that will help provide critical services and support to Syrian refugees in Lebanon, Jordan and Turkey.
UNICEF said in a statement Tuesday that the donation on World Refugee Day will help it along with host countries to provide hundreds of thousands of children and young people with access to education, vocational training and psychological support.
It said the latest contribution brings the total funding from the EU Trust Fund for UNICEF's work on the Syria crisis response to nearly €200 million ($223 millions).
The announcement came days after UNICEF appointed its newest Goodwill Ambassador, Syrian Muzoon Almellehan, 19, the first person with official refugee status to become an Ambassador for UNICEF.
It said around 2 million children from Syria live as refugees in Jordan, Lebanon and Turkey, adding pressure on already stretched support systems.
Syrian opposition activists say a truce that went into effect three days ago in the southern city of Daraa has collapsed amid a government offensive near the Jordanian border.
The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said government forces pushed on Tuesday into some rebel-held areas in Daraa, as well as its western outskirts. The 48-hour truce that had started there at noon Saturday was supposed to be extended.
Daraa-based activist Ahmad al-Masalmeh says fighting is now underway in the city. He is blaming the government for the truce's collapse.
Daraa is where Syria's crisis first broke out in March 2011 as an uprising against President Bashar Assad's government. The crisis quickly became a civil war, which has since left at least 400,000 people dead.
The Syrian government forces' march toward the Jordanian border comes two weeks after they reached the border with Iraq for the first time in years.
Iran's Revolutionary Guard says all six ballistic missiles it launched at Islamic State militants in Syria earlier this week hit their targets.
Guard spokesman Gen. Ramazan Sharif told The Associated Press on Tuesday the force's "local sources and drone films say that all the six missiles the Guard launched hit their targets."
The remarks came amid questions whether the strike — Iran's first in the Syrian war — had been effective.
It was not known what exactly was hit and Iran has provided no details. Israeli security officials said Monday they were studying the missile strike to see what they could learn about its accuracy and capabilities.
Sharif says the missile launch reflects Iran's "military power" though Iran has no intention of starting another war.
He says: "We are not the initiator of any conflict and war but we do not tolerate creation of insecurity in our country."
The Guard has described the missile strike as revenge for attacks on Tehran earlier this month that killed at least 18 people and wounded more than 50, the first such IS assault in the country.
Australia has suspended its airstrikes against Islamic State targets in Syria as a precaution after a U.S. fighter jet shot down a Syrian warplane earlier this week.
In Canberra, a Defense Department statement said on Tuesday that "Australian Defense Force protection is regularly reviewed in response to a range of potential threats."
Australia has six fighter jets based in the United Arab Emirates that strike targets in Syria and Iraq.
The development comes as tensions rise in Syria with Russia and Iran sending U.S. warnings.
Russia threatened aircraft from the U.S.-led coalition in Syrian-controlled airspace and suspended a hotline intended to avoid collisions in retaliation for the U.S. military shooting down a Syrian warplane on Sunday. Also, Iran fired several ballistic missiles Sunday night at IS positions in eastern Syria.
EU gives $100M to UNICEF for Syrian children
EU gives $100M to UNICEF for Syrian children
HRW: Israel attack on Lebanon rescuers was ‘unlawful’
- The rights group urged the United States to “immediately suspend arms sales and military assistance to Israel
The Israel-Lebanon border area has witnessed near-daily exchanges between the Israeli army and Hamas ally Hezbollah since the Palestinian militant group attacked southern Israel on October 7 sparking war in Gaza.
“An Israeli strike on an emergency and relief center” in the southern village of Habariyeh on March 27 “killed seven emergency and relief volunteers” and constituted an “unlawful attack on civilians that failed to take all necessary precautions,” HRW said in a statement.
“If the attack on civilians was carried out intentionally or recklessly, it should be investigated as an apparent war crime,” it added.
The Israeli military did not immediately comment when contacted by AFP.
But at the time the military said the target was “a military compound” and that the strike killed a “significant terrorist operative” from Jamaa Islamiya, a Lebanese group close to Hamas, and other “terrorists.”
HRW said in the statement that it found “no evidence of a military target at the site,” and said the Israeli strike “targeted a residential structure that housed the Emergency and Relief Corps of the Lebanese Succour Association, a non-governmental humanitarian organization.”
Jamaa Islamiya later denied it was connected to the emergency responders, and the association told AFP it had no affiliation with any Lebanese political organization.
HRW said “the Israeli military’s admission” it had targeted the center in Habariyeh indicated a “failure to take all feasible precautions to verify that the target was military and avoid loss of civilian life... making the strike unlawful.”
The rights group said those killed were volunteers, adding that 18-year-old twin brothers were among the dead.
“Family members... the Lebanese Succour Association, and the civil defense all said that the seven men were civilians and not affiliated with any armed group,” it added.
However, it noted that social media content suggested at least two of those killed “may have been supporters” of Jamaa Islamiya.
HRW said images of weapons parts found at the site included the remains of an Israeli bomb and remnants of a “guidance kit produced by the US-based Boeing Company.”
“Israeli forces used a US weapon to conduct a strike that killed seven civilian relief workers in Lebanon who were merely doing their jobs,” HRW’s Lebanon researcher, Ramzi Kaiss, said.
The rights group urged the United States to “immediately suspend arms sales and military assistance to Israel given evidence that the Israeli military is using US weapons unlawfully.”
Israeli forces take control of Palestinian side of Rafah crossing, Israel’s Army Radio reports
- Spokesperson of the Gaza border authority confirmed the closure of the crossing between Gaza and Egypt because of the presence of Israeli tanks
JERUSALEM: Israel’s Army Radio reported on Tuesday that Israeli forces have taken control of the Palestinian side of the Rafah crossing, which borders Egypt in southern Gaza.
Asked for confirmation, the Israeli military said it will be “publishing a statement shortly.”
On Tuesday morning, the spokesperson of the Gaza border authority confirmed the closure of the crossing between the Gaza Strip and Egypt because of the presence of Israeli tanks.
Three humanitarian sources told Reuters that the flow of aid through the crossing is halted.
UKMTO receives report two explosions south of Yemen’s Aden
- The Houthi militia that controls the most populous parts of Yemen and is aligned with Iran have staged attacks on ships in the waters off the country for months
CAIRO: The United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) said on Tuesday two explosions were reported in the proximity of a merchant vessel 82 nautical miles south of Yemen’s Aden.
UKMTO reported that the vessel and all crew are safe and that authorities are investigating.
The Houthi militia that controls the most populous parts of Yemen and is aligned with Iran have staged attacks on ships in the waters off the country for months in solidarity with Palestinians fighting Israel in Gaza.
Authorities were investigating the incident, UKMTO said in an advisory note sent by email.
The Houthi militants have launched repeated drone and missile strikes in the Red Sea, Bab Al-Mandab Strait and Gulf of Aden since November.
That has forced shippers to re-route cargo on longer and more expensive journeys around southern Africa and stoking fears the Israel-Hamas war could spread and destabilize the Middle East.
Palestinians seek UN General Assembly backing for full membership
- Diplomats say 193-member General Assembly likely to back Palestinian bid
- Others say move could set precedent for others, citing Kosovo and Taiwan as examples
UNITED NATIONS: The United Nations General Assembly could vote on Friday on a draft resolution that would recognize the Palestinians as qualified to become a full UN member and recommend that the UN Security Council “reconsider the matter favorably.”
It would effectively act as a global survey of how much support the Palestinians have for their bid, which was vetoed in the UN Security Council last month by the United States. An application to become a full UN member needs to be approved by the 15-member Security Council and then the General Assembly.
Diplomats say the 193-member General Assembly is likely to back the Palestinian bid. But changes could still be made to the draft after some diplomats raised concerns with the current text, seen by Reuters, that also grants additional rights and privileges — short of full membership — to the Palestinians.
Some diplomats say this could set a precedent for other situations, citing Kosovo and Taiwan as examples.
Israel’s UN Ambassador Gilad Erdan on Monday denounced the current draft General Assembly resolution, saying it would give the Palestinians the de facto status and rights of a state and goes against the founding UN Charter.
“If it is approved, I expect the United States to completely stop funding the UN and its institutions, in accordance with American law,” said Erdan, adding that adoption by the General Assembly would not change anything on the ground.
US CONCERNS
Under US law, Washington cannot fund any UN organization that grants full membership to any group that does not have the “internationally recognized attributes” of statehood. The US halted funding in 2011 for the UN cultural agency (UNESCO)after the Palestinians became a full member.
“It remains the US view that the path toward statehood for the Palestinian people is through direct negotiations,” said Nate Evans, spokesperson for the US mission to the UN
“We are aware of the resolution and reiterate our concerns with any effort to extend certain benefits to entities when there are unresolved questions as to whether the Palestinians currently meet the criteria under the Charter,” he said.
The Palestinians are currently a non-member observer state, a de facto recognition of statehood that was granted by the UN General Assembly in 2012. The Palestinian mission to the UN in New York did not immediately respond to a request for comment on its push for action in the General Assembly.
The Palestinian push for full UN membership comes seven months into a war between Israel and Palestinian militants Hamas in the Gaza Strip, and as Israel is expanding settlements in the occupied West Bank, which the UN considers to be illegal. The United Nations has long endorsed a vision of two states living side by side within secure and recognized borders.
Palestinians want a state in the West Bank, east Jerusalem and Gaza Strip, all territory captured by Israel in 1967.
Palestinians seek UN General Assembly backing for full membership
- Diplomats say the 193-member General Assembly is likely to back the Palestinian bid
UNITED NATIONS: The United Nations General Assembly could vote on Friday on a draft resolution that would recognize the Palestinians as qualified to become a full UN member and recommend that the UN Security Council “reconsider the matter favorably.”
It would effectively act as a global survey of how much support the Palestinians have for their bid, which was vetoed in the UN Security Council last month by the United States. An application to become a full UN member needs to be approved by the 15-member Security Council and then the General Assembly.
Diplomats say the 193-member General Assembly is likely to back the Palestinian bid. But changes could still be made to the draft after some diplomats raised concerns with the current text, seen by Reuters, that also grants additional rights and privileges — short of full membership — to the Palestinians.
Some diplomats say this could set a precedent for other situations, citing Kosovo and Taiwan as examples.
Israel’s UN Ambassador Gilad Erdan on Monday denounced the current draft General Assembly resolution, saying it would give the Palestinians the de facto status and rights of a state and goes against the founding UN Charter.
“If it is approved, I expect the United States to completely stop funding the UN and its institutions, in accordance with American law,” said Erdan, adding that adoption by the General Assembly would not change anything on the ground.
US CONCERNS
Under US law, Washington cannot fund any UN organization that grants full membership to any group that does not have the “internationally recognized attributes” of statehood. The US halted funding in 2011 for the UN cultural agency (UNESCO)after the Palestinians became a full member.
“It remains the US view that the path toward statehood for the Palestinian people is through direct negotiations,” said Nate Evans, spokesperson for the US mission to the UN
“We are aware of the resolution and reiterate our concerns with any effort to extend certain benefits to entities when there are unresolved questions as to whether the Palestinians currently meet the criteria under the Charter,” he said.
The Palestinians are currently a non-member observer state, a de facto recognition of statehood that was granted by the UN General Assembly in 2012. The Palestinian mission to the UN in New York did not immediately respond to a request for comment on its push for action in the General Assembly.
The Palestinian push for full UN membership comes seven months into a war between Israel and Palestinian militants Hamas in the Gaza Strip, and as Israel is expanding settlements in the occupied West Bank, which the UN considers to be illegal. The United Nations has long endorsed a vision of two states living side by side within secure and recognized borders. Palestinians want a state in the West Bank, east Jerusalem and Gaza Strip, all territory captured by Israel in 1967.
