ROME: More than 20 African migrants were missing and feared drowned Tuesday after scores of people seeking to reach Italy were rescued from unseaworthy boats off the Libyan coast, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) said Tuesday.
A Cypriot merchant ship picked up 72 migrants in international waters on Saturday, 30 of whom had left Libya on a wooden boat and 42 others from a rubber dinghy.
They were then handed over to the Aquarius humanitarian ship chartered by SOS Mediterranee and Doctors Without Borders (MSF).
The IOM said that after arriving at the port of Pozzallo in Sicily on Tuesday, the survivors from the first group told them that 21 people traveling with them had been lost at sea.
“People fell in the water when people panicked overnight and the boat almost capsized,” a young Gambian migrant told SOS Mediterranee.
“There were five women on board, four drowned, one of whom was a pregnant woman. My brother died.”
Those in the second group said that 90 people were rescued by the Libyan coast guard and taken back to Libya.
“We do not know exactly how it happened but families have been separated and we are trying to see how to bring them back together,” Flavio Di Giacomo, spokesman for IOM in Italy, told AFP.
Italy’s interior ministry said 5,300 migrants have arrived in the country this year, 66 percent fewer than over the same period of 2017.
That follows a sharp decline since last summer after a controversial agreement was struck with Libya that has drawn fierce criticism due to the often dire conditions migrants face when returned to the north African country.
At least 337 migrants have died or disappeared off the coast of Libya since the beginning of the year, the IOM said.
Over 20 migrants feared drowned off Libyan coast: International Organization for Migration
Over 20 migrants feared drowned off Libyan coast: International Organization for Migration
Israeli military kills Palestinian teenager in occupied West Bank
- Israeli settlers in the West Bank also serve in the army, and sometimes carry their weapons with them when off duty
AL-MUGHAYYIR: Israeli forces killed a 14-year-old Palestinian in the occupied West Bank village of Al-Mughayyir on Friday, the Palestinian Health Ministry said, while the military said soldiers had responded to stone throwing.
The Ramallah-based Health Ministry announced the death of 14-year-old Mohammed Al-Nassan by Israeli fire in Al-Mughayyir in a statement on Friday.
Shortly after, Israel’s military said its forces had come to the village after Palestinians “hurled stones toward Israelis, set tires on fire and blocked access routes to the area.”
The military said dozens of Palestinians were throwing stones upon their arrival, including one who posed “an imminent threat.”
“The soldiers responded by firing warning shots into the air, followed by fire to eliminate the terrorist,” the military said, adding it had set up roadblocks in the area to search for another suspect.
Amin Abu Aliya, mayor of Al-Mughayyir, said that the army raided the village when people began to exit mosques after Friday prayers.
“This young man (Nassan) was exiting the mosque where he was praying with the people, the military vehicle stopped in front of the mosque, they opened the back door and started shooting at him directly,” Abu Aliya said.
Abu Aliya added that following the incident, the army introduced a curfew for the village, closing all shops and setting up a new checkpoint at the village’s entrance.
He pointed to the heavy military presence in his village in recent months, which he said often protected Israeli settlers who recently set up nearby outposts and took land from Al-Mughayyir farmers.
In September, a settler who the military said was an off-duty soldier shot and killed a 20-year-old who the army said had thrown stones in Al-Mughayyir.
Israeli settlers in the West Bank also serve in the army, and sometimes carry their weapons with them when off duty.
Israel has occupied the West Bank since 1967.
Violence there has soared since the Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israel that triggered the Gaza war and has not subsided despite the truce that came into effect in October.
Since October 2023, Israeli troops and settlers have killed more than 1,000 Palestinians in the West Bank, according to Health Ministry figures.
