KHUMS, Libya: The bodies of more than a dozen migrants who drowned trying to cross the Mediterranean to Europe washed up on Libya’s coastline late on Saturday, its interior ministry and the local Red Crescent said.
Libya is a major transit point for migrants, many from African countries, who are seeking better opportunities in Europe.
The Red Crescent in Khums, a port in western Libya, said 17 bodies including that of an infant had been recovered from the shore at nearby Alous on Saturday and that another 10 bodies had been found on a different beach.
The Interior Ministry later said 14 bodies had been recovered from a group of 60 people believed missing at sea.
It was not clear from the statements if they were all referring to the same group and interior ministry officials were not immediately available for comment.
“They were at sea for approximately one day,” said Osama Al-Saket, head of the Khums hospital that received the bodies following calls from the International Organization for Migration (IOM) and police authorities.
“The bodies were still intact ... there were 14 of them, along with one small baby,” added Al-Saket.
Larger numbers of people have been trying to cross the Mediterranean this year after several years of reduced numbers since 2015. About 1,500 have drowned in 2021, the United Nations migration agency IOM said last week.
The agency’s Missing Migrants Project has designated the Central Mediterranean route as the deadliest known migration route in the world, with more than 17,000 recorded deaths and disappearances since 2014.
Photographs released by the Khums Red Crescent showed a line of bodies laid out along a beach as workers put them into bags.
Bodies of drowned migrants wash up on Libyan shore
https://arab.news/gft6u
Bodies of drowned migrants wash up on Libyan shore
- Libya is a major transit point for migrants who are seeking better opportunities in Europe
- 14 bodies had been recovered from a group of 60 people believed missing at sea
Israeli fire kills three in Gaza, as US seeks to advance Gaza deal
- Talks were held on Saturday
CAIRO: Israeli fire killed three Palestinians in two separate incidents in the Gaza Strip on Sunday, while an Israeli drone wounded four others in Gaza City, local health authorities said on Sunday.
Medics said Israeli fire killed at least two people east of Tuffah neighborhood in the northern Gaza Strip, while a 41-year-old man was killed by Israeli forces in Khan Younis, in the south of the enclave.
Earlier medical workers said an Israeli drone exploded on the rooftop of a multi-floor building in Gaza City, wounding four civilians in the street nearby.
There was no comment by the Israeli military on any of the incidents.
US ENVOYS MEET WITH ISRAEL PM NETANYAHU
US envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner met in Israel on Saturday with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, mainly to discuss Gaza, Witkoff said on Sunday.
“The discussion was constructive and positive, with both sides aligned on next steps and the importance of continued cooperation on all matters critical to the region,” Witkoff said in a post on X.
Gaza has been reduced to rubble in the war that was triggered by an attack by the Palestinian militant group Hamas on southern Israel on October 7, 2023 in which 1,200 people were killed, according to Israeli tallies.
The Gaza health ministry says more than 71,000 people, mostly civilians, have been killed by Israeli fire since then. It also says that at least 480 people have been killed by Israeli fire since a ceasefire agreement came into effect last October.
BOTH SIDES TRADE BLAME FOR VIOLATIONS
Israel has said four soldiers had been killed by militants in Gaza since the ceasefire began. Both sides have traded blame for violations of the truce.
Earlier this month, Washington said the plan had moved into a second phase, in which Israel is expected to withdraw troops further from Gaza, and Hamas is due to yield control of the territory’s administration.
Meanwhile, in Khan Younis, more than 100 people attended the funeral of a person killed by Israeli drone fire on Saturday, after holding special prayers in front of his white-shrouded body at the morgue in Nasser Hospital.
“They are liars, there is no ceasefire,” said Fares Erheimat, a relative of the dead man, during the funeral.
