RABAT: Moroccan authorities on Sunday prevented dozens of migrants from storming a border fence to reach the Spanish enclave of Ceuta, after calls on social media for a mass migration attempt.
Spain’s two enclaves on Morocco’s Mediterranean coast, Ceuta and Melilla, share the only land borders of the European Union with Africa. The enclaves sporadically experience waves of attempted crossings by migrants trying to reach Europe.
In the most recent attempt, dozens of migrants gathered on top of a hill in Fnideq on the border on Sunday and began throwing stones at Moroccan security forces, a video shared by local news websites showed. Police prevented them from approaching the Ceuta fence.
Moroccan authorities said they arrested at least 60 people last week for using social media to incite migrants to attempt a mass crossing.
Since Friday, Moroccan security forces have been deployed heavily in Fnideq.
“This is the heaviest security deployment ever in Fnideq with authorities acting pre-emptively by setting up multiple checkpoints on roads to northern Morocco,” Mohammed Ben Aissa, a local human rights activist said.
Hundreds of would-be migrants had been bussed away from Fnideq, he said.
Most of the migrants are Moroccan youths, joined by a smaller number of migrants from sub-Saharan Africa. Many of them arrive in Fnideq on foot and hide in nearby forests to evade authorities, said Zakaria Razzouki, a rights activist in Fnideq.
Moroccan security forces try to prevent crossings at the land border and patrol the beach to prevent migrants from swimming to Ceuta, he said.
Morocco’s interior ministry did not respond to a Reuters request for comment.
Morocco and Spain have strengthened their cooperation in addressing illegal migration since they patched up a separate diplomatic feud in 2022.
In the first eight months this year, Morocco stopped 45,015 people from illegally migrating to Europe, according to interior ministry figures.
Last month, hundreds of migrants took advantage of a thick mist to swim to Ceuta, Spanish police said.
Tighter surveillance of Morocco’s northern borders has prompted an increasing number of migrants to try the riskier and longer Atlantic route to the Canary Islands.
Morocco blocks mass migration attempt into Spain’s Ceuta enclave
https://arab.news/43jj4
Morocco blocks mass migration attempt into Spain’s Ceuta enclave
- In the most recent attempt, dozens of migrants gathered on top of a hill in Fnideq on the border on Sunday and began throwing stones at Moroccan security forces
- Police prevented them from approaching the Ceuta fence
Israel army ‘temporarily suspends’ strike on south Lebanon
- The Israeli military issued a warning earlier on Saturday announcing an imminent strike and warning people in the Yanuh area of south Lebanon to evacuate immediately
JERUSALEM: The Israeli military said it would “temporarily” suspend a strike planned for Saturday that was intended to target what it described as Hezbollah military infrastructure in southern Lebanon.
A November 2024 ceasefire sought to end over a year of fighting between Israel and the Hezbollah militant group, which broke out after the start of the Gaza war in October 2023.
But Israel has repeatedly bombed Lebanon despite the truce, usually saying it is targeting Hezbollah members and infrastructure to stop the group from rearming.
The Israeli military issued a warning earlier on Saturday announcing an imminent strike and warning people in the Yanuh area of south Lebanon to evacuate immediately.
But later Arabic-language spokesman Avichay Adraee said “the strike was temporarily suspended,” adding that the military “continues to monitor the target.”
The suspension came after the Lebanese army “requested access again to the specified site... and to address the breach of the agreement,” he said on X.
Adraee added that the military would “not allow” Hezbollah to “redeploy or rearm.”
The year-old ceasefire monitoring mechanism includes the United Nations, the United States and France.
A Lebanese security source said the army had previously tried to search the building that the Israeli military wanted to target but could not because of objections from residents.
But the source told AFP that the Lebanese army was able to enter and search the building after returning a second time, because residents “felt threatened,” adding that they were evacuated over fears of a strike.
