TRIPOLI: The migrant rescue ship Ocean Viking saved 46 people in distress off the coast of Libya on Friday who were trying to reach Europe in a fiberglass boat, the humanitarian NGO said on Twitter.
Those rescued include four single women, a four-year-old girl traveling with her father and around ten unaccompanied minors, according to SOS Mediterranee.
The survivors are “now being cared for,” the group said, adding they were mostly from Eritrea, Ethiopia and Sudan.
The central Mediterranean is the most dangerous migration route in the world, according to the International Organization for Migration.
The UN agency has estimated that since the beginning of 2023, 1,728 migrants have disappeared there, compared to 1,417 for the whole of 2022.
Frontex, the EU’s border patrol agency, says boat crossings across the central Mediterranean constitute the principal route for irregular migrant entries to Europe.
Crossings leaving North African countries including Tunisia and going to EU nations Italy and Malta “more than doubled” between January and May this year, compared with the same period in 2022, it says.
In June an overcrowded fishing trawler carrying hundreds of migrants sank off the coast of Greece, in one of the worst such tragedies in years.
Some 104 people were rescued and 82 bodies were recovered, but as many as 560 others on board may have perished, by some estimates.
Rescue ship saves 47 migrants in Mediterranean off coast of Libya
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Rescue ship saves 47 migrants in Mediterranean off coast of Libya
- Central Mediterranean most dangerous migration route in the world, experts say
Spain highlights importance of Gaza reconstruction
- Spain officially recognized Palestine as a state in May 2024, in a coordinated move alongside Ireland and Norway
RAMALLAH: The Palestinian prime minister, Mohammed Mustafa, and the Spanish foreign minister, Jose Manuel Albares, on Friday discussed the latest developments in the West Bank and Gaza Strip.
During their telephone conversation they emphasized the need to intensify international efforts to end the Israeli occupation and halt attacks and settler violence, and to secure the release of Palestinian funds held by Israeli authorities.
They affirmed the importance of ongoing efforts relating to plans for the reconstruction of Gaza, and Europe’s significant role in this process. Mustafa and Albares highlighted the need to unify Palestinian institutions in Gaza with those in the West Bank, with the aim of establishing a Palestinian state in line with international resolutions, including last year’s New York Declaration.
They also discussed coordination between their countries, and the strengthening of Spain’s political, diplomatic and financial support for Palestine, and Mustafa thanked Spain for its ongoing support.
Spain officially recognized Palestine as a state in May 2024, in a coordinated move alongside Ireland and Norway. Estephan Salameh, the Palestinian finance and planning minister, is set to visit Spain this month to discuss enhanced cooperation, particularly in the areas of development and reconstruction. Meanwhile, Israel continues operating in the occupied West Bank.
The Palestinian Prisoners media office said on Friday that Israel carried out numerous raids across the territory, including the major cities of Ramallah and Hebron, according to The Associated Press.
Nearly 50 people were detained, following the arrest of at least 50 other Palestinians on Thursday, most of those in the Ramallah area.
As 2026 begins, the shaky 12-week-old ceasefire between Israel and Hamas has largely ended large-scale Israeli bombardment of Gaza.
But Palestinians are still being killed by Israeli fire, especially along the so-called Yellow Line that delineates areas under Israeli control, and the humanitarian crisis is compounded by frequent winter rains and colder temperatures.
On Friday, American actor and film producer Angelina Jolie visited the Rafah border crossing between Egypt and the Gaza Strip.
The only crossing between the territory and a country other than Israel, it remains closed despite Palestinian requests to reopen it to people and aid.
Jolie met with members of the Red Crescent on the Egyptian side of the Rafah border crossing and then visited a hospital in the nearby city of Arish to speak with Palestinian patients on Friday, according to Egyptian officials.
Aid groups say not enough shelter materials are getting into Gaza during the truce.
