Peace remains a distant hope as Sudan’s battle lines shift

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The Sudanese regime led by General Abdel Fattah Al-Burhan has operated from Port Sudan since fighting broke out in April 2023. (AFP)
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eople cheer members of Sudan's armed forces taking part in a military parade held on Army Day in Gedaref on August 14, 2024. (AFP)
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Updated 10 February 2025
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Peace remains a distant hope as Sudan’s battle lines shift

  • As Sudanese military advances in Khartoum, civilians fear more bloodshed and reprisals in light of recent experience
  • With the RSF retreating to Darfur and Kordofan, the country may face prolonged fragmentation and suffering

LONDON: When two shells exploded 100 meters from Al-Nau Hospital in the Sudanese city of Omdurman last week, medical staff felt the explosion and feared the worst.

A few days earlier, a blast at a busy market nearby killed 54 people and injured 158. Medics had battled to treat the dozens of bloodied casualties brought through the doors.

This time the explosions killed six people, including a hospital volunteer.

Even within the devastation of Sudan’s war, two such deadly attacks taking place within days of each other shocked those working at the hospital.

The shelling came amid an escalation in fighting across the heavily populated Khartoum state as the Sudanese army (SAF) and its allies attempt to retake full control of the capital from the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) militia.

If successful, it would be a victory that reshapes the conflict but, analysts say, is unlikely to bring it to an end.

Jean-Nicolas Armstrong Dangelser, Sudan emergency coordinator for the charity Doctors Without Borders (MSF), was in Al-Nau Hospital’s emergency room at the time of the two attacks.

 

 

“The map of the conflict is changing literally by the hour,” he told Arab News. “It’s obviously coming with a big increase of violence, because there is fighting now spreading on multiple front lines.

“The hospital staff are seeing the direct impact of the conflict with the war wounded coming in and a lot of civilians being affected.”

The market attack and shelling near Al-Nau Hospital was blamed on the RSF as it rapidly withdraws from greater Khartoum, which includes Omdurman.

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When the war broke out in April 2023 as part of a power struggle between Gen. Abdel Fattah Al-Burhan, SAF’s leader and Sudan’s de-facto ruler, and RSF commander Mohammed Hamdan Dagalo, the militia seized control of much of Khartoum, along with large swaths of the vast country.

The military-led government relocated to Port Sudan as fighting raged, killing tens of thousands of people, displacing almost 12 million and leading to famine in several parts of the country.

Late last year, SAF mounted a comeback after sourcing more weapons, including drones, and carrying out a recruitment drive. After months of fighting, there was a major breakthrough in January when they seized Wad Madani, the capital of Al-Jazirah state.




Sudanese people celebrate with passengers of passing vehicles in Meroe in the country's Northern State on January 11, 2025, after the army announced entering key Al-Jazira state capital Wad Madani, held by the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces. (AFP)

Since then, the army has launched offensives from multiple directions into the outskirts of Khartoum, getting the upper hand in the adjacent cities of Omdurman and Khartoum North, also known as Bahri, which make up greater Khartoum.

On Friday, the army said it had retaken Kafouri district in Khartoum North, an important base for the RSF in what would be one of its most significant defeats so far.

The expulsion of RSF fighters from Wad Madani was followed by allegations of summary executions and reprisals against those accused by SAF soldiers of being RSF informants or collaborators. These reports are a cause for concern for Khartoum residents who have lived through months of RSF control over their neighborhoods.




Caption

Retaking the whole of Khartoum seems inevitable and would undoubtedly be a major symbolic and strategic victory for the army.

But hope that it may usher in an end to the conflict, either militarily through a defeat of the RSF or through a negotiated settlement, remains highly unlikely.

The RSF still holds sway in much of western Sudan, which includes the Darfur region, where Dagalo and many of his fighters come from.




In this November 5, 2017 photo, General Mohammed Dagalo's Rapid Support Forces display sacks of hashish that they captured in the state of South Darfur a week earlier by ambushing a gang of smugglers that was transporting the drugs to Khartoum. (AFP)

Ahmed Soliman, a senior research fellow at international affairs think tank Chatham House, says the RSF’s full retreat from Khartoum would not mean that the militia had been defeated.

“It would be a significant setback for the RSF, but we have to keep that in context also to what the RSF has been able to do during this war, which is to capture very substantial amounts of territory,” he told Arab News.

The RSF controls four of the five states in Darfur and has ramped up its siege of El-Fasher, the capital of North Darfur. It also controls gold mines in other parts of Darfur and holds large parts of the Kordofan region.

“The RSF is very focused also on maintaining supply lines to the border areas with South Sudan, particularly the southwest,” Soliman added.




A picture taken on May 1, 2023 shows an abandoned hospital in El Geneina, the capital of West Darfur, as deadly fighting continued in Sudan between rival generals' forces. (AFP/File)

If the army can consolidate power in Khartoum, it is unsure whether there would be enough incentive for the RSF to enter ceasefire talks given the “substantial amounts of territory and resources” it controls.

Even without a truce, taking the capital would certainly change the dynamics of the conflict along with the calculations of the two sides, Soliman said.

For the military and its supporters, which include the political elites from the regime of deposed President Omar Bashir, reinstating the government in Khartoum may feel like “mission accomplished” in the conflict.

That would still leave the RSF in control of huge areas and effectively lead to a fragmented Sudan with different regions of de-facto governance, Soliman added.

“The preservation of Sudanese unity may be at stake,” he said.




Despite being ousted from the capital, Khartoum, General Mohammed Dagalo's Rapid Support Forces still hold sway in much of western Sudan, which includes the Darfur region, where Dagalo and many of his fighters come from. (AFP)

A clue as to how the military’s retaking of Khartoum might affect Sudan’s future came on Saturday when Burhan announced plans to form a transitional government.

He said the administration’s main objective would be to “accomplish the remaining military tasks … and cleanse all of Sudan” of the RSF, AFP news agency reported. It would also prepare for a broader political transition and eventually elections.

While the uncertainty over the direction of the conflict will do little to reassure Sudanese over their futures, the recapturing of areas near Khartoum has allowed some to return to their homes or gain access to medical help.

 

 

Over the weekend, MSF assisted the health ministry to set up mobile clinics in North Khartoum in areas recently retaken by the army.

Populations there have spent nearly two years struggling to find food, clean water and medicine, Armstrong Dangelser said.

Their condition, however, is evidence of the suffering the conflict has inflicted.

The MSF-supported hospitals are dealing with injuries related to shelling and airstrikes, but there are also the health effects of people living without clean water to wash and drink, no electricity and a lack of food.

INNUMBERS

10,000+ People suffering from famine in Khartoum alone.

12m+ People displaced by Sudan’s conflict since April 2023.

28,700+ Conflict’s death toll as per ACLED records.

They have dealt with cholera outbreaks and other diseases associated with not having access to basic services, and malnutrition is rife.

Disturbingly, Armstrong Dangelser said they had recently seen a surge in stabbing wounds and close-range gunshots, something he associated with outbreaks of looting as the RSF flees the areas they controlled.

There have also been widespread reports of reprisal killings in areas taken over by the army. The violence is in keeping with the level of brutality meted out by the two sides throughout the war.

The US accused the RSF last month of committing genocide and placed sanctions on its leader, Dagalo, who is known as “Hemedti.” Washington also sanctioned Al-Burhan for killing civilians and targeting schools and hospitals.




An image grab taken from a handout video posted on the Sudanese paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) page on X on July 28, 2023 shows its commander Mohamed Hamdan Daglo addressing RSF fighters at an undisclosed location. (AFP/File)

Al-Burhan and Dagalo led a coup together in October 2021 that overthrew a transitional government before the two men fell out spectacularly and led the country into war.

This latest phase has led to a sharp rise in civilian deaths, the UN said on Friday, with 275 civilians killed between Jan. 31 and Feb. 5 by shelling and airstrikes.

For aid workers dealing with the world’s worst humanitarian disaster, a new front has also emerged in recent weeks — President Donald Trump’s decision to suspend foreign aid.

As of September, the US had provided nearly $2 billion to the emergency response in Sudan since the conflict started, making it by far the biggest provider of aid to the country.

"What we are seeing now with the US funding cuts is truly devastating for a lot of people," Armstrong Dangelser said.

Whatever direction the conflict takes next, the suffering of the Sudanese is set to continue.
 

 


In Turkiye, a vote of confidence for Istanbul’s embattled ex-mayor

Updated 24 March 2025
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In Turkiye, a vote of confidence for Istanbul’s embattled ex-mayor

  • Of 15 million people who voted for Imamoglu, 13.2 mn were not members of the deposed mayor's opposition CHP party, said Istanbul city hall
  • The vote was a long-planned primary organized by the main opposition CHP to choose Iits challenger to President Erdogan

ISTANBUL: “We won’t give in to despair,” insisted 38-year-old Aslihan, referring to the massive protests sweeping across Turkiye since the arrest of Istanbul’s popular mayor Ekrem Imamoglu.
She was waiting in line to vote in a long-planned primary organized by the main opposition CHP to choose Imamoglu as its presidential candidate.
Following his arrest, the party opened the poll beyond its 1.7 million members to anyone who wanted to vote, turning it into a de facto referendum.
In the end, some 15 million people voted, of whom 13.2 million were not party members, said Istanbul city hall, which organized the vote. It extended voting by three-and-a-half hours because of the turnout.
Widely seen as the only politician capable of challenging President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the 53-year-old’s lightning arrest and jailing has sparked Turkiye’s biggest protests in more than a decade.

 

Polling stations opened at 8 a.m. (0500 GMT) and voters of all ages began flocking to vote at 5,600 ballot boxes installed in 81 cities.
But the party said “millions” had turned out, pushing it to extend the closing time from 5 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. due “overwhelming turnout.”
“Whenever there’s a strong opponent (to Erdogan), they are always jailed,” shrugged a 29-year-old voter called Ferhat, who like many, did not want to give his surname.
“There is a dictatorship in Turkiye right now, nothing else, it’s politics in name only.”

“We’ve come to support our mayor,” said her neighbor Kadriye Sevim inside a tent set up outside City Hall, the epicenter of the massive protests since Imamoglu’s March 19 arrest.
“No power has the right to do this to Turkish youth or the people in Turkiye. We will stand against this until the end,” said Ece Nazoskoc, an 18-year-old student.
Similar crowds were seen waiting to vote in Kadikoy, a trendy district on the Asian side of the city, as well as in Kasimpasa, a working-class neighborhood on the Golden Horn estuary where Erdogan spent his childhood.
The scenes were repeated across the country, from the capital Ankara to Diyarbakir in the mainly-Kurdish southeast, and to Thrace in the far northwest near the Greek and Bulgarian borders.

“We all voted, it was like a party! The CHP people manning the ballot boxes said it was really busy with lots of people from other parties,” grinned Sevil Dogruguven, 51, who works in the private sector in the northwestern city of Edirne.
“In the countryside near Thrace, people even came to the town halls to cast their ballots,” she told AFP.

 

In Ankara, Nurcan Kabacioglu, a retired 57-year-old teacher, was defiant.
“There is no such thing as a hopeless situation, just discouraged people. I never gave up hope,” she said.
Others were feeling a new sense of hope.
“This is the first mass protest since the Gezi protests,” said Aslihan, referring to a small 2013 environmental protest against the destruction of a city park that snowballed into vast nationwide rallies in one of the biggest threats to Erdogan’s rule.
“After Gezi, we got used to the feeling of hopelessness but the injustice we’re seeing now (and the subsequent protests) have given us new hope,” she said.
“I feel much stronger and more hopeful. But I feel this is our last chance,” she told AFP.
 


Gaza’s Health Ministry says Israel has struck the largest hospital in the territory’s south

Updated 24 March 2025
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Gaza’s Health Ministry says Israel has struck the largest hospital in the territory’s south

  • Like other medical facilities around Gaza, Nasser Hospital has been damaged by Israeli raids and strikes throughout the war

DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip: Israel’s military struck the largest hospital in southern Gaza on Sunday night, killing one person, wounding others and causing a large fire, the territory’s Health Ministry said.
The strike hit the surgical building of Nasser Hospital in the city of Khan Younis, the ministry said, days after the facility was overwhelmed with dead and wounded when Israel resumed the war in Gaza last week with a surprise wave of airstrikes.
Israel’s military confirmed the strike on the hospital, saying it hit a Hamas militant operating there. Israel blames civilian deaths on Hamas because it operates in densely populated areas.
Like other medical facilities around Gaza, Nasser Hospital has been damaged by Israeli raids and strikes throughout the war.
More than 50,000 Palestinians have now been killed in the war, the Health Ministry said earlier Sunday.
The military claimed to have “eliminated” dozens of militants since Israel ended a ceasefire Tuesday with strikes that killed hundreds of people on one of the deadliest days in the 17-month war.
Israel’s unrest over Gaza and political issues grew Sunday, with anger at Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as his government voted to express no confidence in the attorney general, seen by many as a check on the power of his coalition.
“I’m worried for the future of this country. And I think it has to stop. We have to change direction,” said Avital Halperin, one of hundreds of protesters outside Netanyahu’s office. Police said three were arrested.
‘Displacement under fire’
Israel’s military ordered thousands of Palestinians to leave the heavily destroyed Tel Al-Sultan neighborhood in the southern city of Rafah. They walked to Muwasi, a sprawling area of squalid tent camps. The war has forced most of Gaza’s population of over 2 million to flee within the territory, often multiple times.
“It’s displacement under fire,” said Mustafa Gaber, a journalist who left with his family. He said tank and drone fire echoed nearby.
“The shells are falling among us and the bullets are (flying) above us,” said Amal Nassar, also displaced. “The elderly have been thrown into the streets. An old woman was telling her son, ‘Go and leave me to die.’ Where will we go?”
“Enough is enough. We are exhausted,” said a fleeing Ayda Abu Shaer, as smoke rose in the distance.
The Palestinian Red Crescent emergency service said it lost contact with a 10-member team responding to the strikes in Rafah. Spokesperson Nebal Farsakh said some were wounded.
Israel’s military said it had fired on advancing “suspicious vehicles” and later discovered some were ambulances and fire trucks.
In Gaza City, an explosion hit next to a tent camp where people had been told to evacuate. “My husband is blind and started running barefoot, and my children were running,” said witness Nidaa Hassuna.
Strikes kill Hamas leader
Hamas said Salah Bardawil, a well-known member of its political bureau, was killed in a strike in Muwasi that also killed his wife. Israel’s military confirmed it.
Hospitals in southern Gaza said they received a further 24 bodies from strikes overnight, including several women and children.
Gaza’s Health Ministry said 50,021 Palestinians have been killed in the war, including 673 people since Israel’s bombardment on Tuesday shattered the ceasefire.
Dr. Munir Al-Boursh, the ministry’s general director, said the dead include 15,613 children, with 872 of them under 1 year old.
The ministry does not distinguish between civilians and combatants in its count but says women and children make up over half the dead. Israel says it has killed around 20,000 fighters, without providing evidence.
Ceasefire in tatters
The ceasefire that took hold in January paused more than a year of fighting ignited by Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, attack into Israel, in which militants killed some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and took 251 hostage. Most captives have been released in ceasefire agreements or other deals.
In the latest ceasefire’s first phase, 25 Israeli hostages and the bodies of eight others were released in exchange for nearly 2,000 Palestinian prisoners. Israeli forces allowed hundreds of thousands of people to return home. There was a surge in humanitarian aid until Israel cut off all supplies to Gaza earlier this month to pressure Hamas to change the ceasefire agreement.
The sides were supposed to begin negotiations in early February on the ceasefire’s next phase, in which Hamas was to release the remaining 59 hostages — 35 of them believed to be dead — in exchange for more Palestinian prisoners, a lasting ceasefire and an Israeli withdrawal. Those talks never began.
New settlements in the West Bank
Israel’s Cabinet passed a measure creating 13 new settlements in the occupied West Bank by rezoning existing ones, according to Bezalel Smotrich, Israel’s far-right finance minister, who is in charge of settlement construction.
This brings the number of settlements, considered illegal by the majority of the international community, to 140, said anti-settlement watchdog group Peace Now. They will receive independent budgets from Israel and can elect their own local governments, the group said.


Hamas source says Israeli strike kills Hamas official Ismail Barhoum in Gaza hospital

Updated 24 March 2025
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Hamas source says Israeli strike kills Hamas official Ismail Barhoum in Gaza hospital

  • Ismail Barhoum was undergoing medical treatment in Gaza hospital
  • Earlier Sunday, Hamas said an Israeli air strike the previous day near Khan Yunis killed Salah Al-Bardawil, another senior member of its political bureau

GAZA CITY: An Israeli air strike on Sunday killed a member of Hamas’s political bureau as he underwent treatment in hospital, a source in the Islamist movement said, after Israel confirmed it targeted “a key terrorist.”
“The Israeli army assassinated Hamas political bureau member Ismail Barhoum,” the Hamas source said, requesting anonymity to speak more freely.
“Warplanes bombed the operating room at Nasser Hospital in Khan Yunis, where Barhoum was receiving treatment after sustaining critical injuries in an air strike targeting his home in Khan Yunis at dawn last Tuesday.”
AFP photos showed the building of about four-storys largely undamaged except for fire blazing in one section off a stairwell.
Barhoum is the fourth member of Hamas’s political bureau killed since last Tuesday when Israel resumed air strikes in the territory after an impasse over continuing a ceasefire.
Israel’s Defense Minister Israel Katz confirmed in a statement that Barhoum had been targeted in the strike.
The Israeli military said it hit the hospital with “precise munitions” following extensive intelligence-gathering.
It said the target was a key member of “the Hamas terrorist organization who was operating inside the Nasser Hospital compound.”
The Ministry of Health in Hamas-run Gaza said Israeli forces “have just targeted the surgery building inside the Nasser Medical Complex, which houses many patients and wounded individuals, and a large fire has erupted at the site.”
The ministry later confirmed that one person had been killed and said many others were injured, including some medical staff. The entire department was evacuated, the ministry said in a statement.
Gaza’s civil defense rescue agency said the hospital’s emergency department had been targeted.
Earlier Sunday, Hamas said an Israeli air strike the previous day near Khan Yunis killed Salah Al-Bardawil, a senior member of its political bureau.
Bardawil, 65, was killed along with his wife in a camp in Al-Mawasi, the group said.
The Israeli military confirmed that it had targeted Bardawil, saying that “as part of his role, (he) directed the strategic and military planning” of Hamas in Gaza.
His “elimination further degrades Hamas’ military and government capabilities,” it added.


Emir of Kuwait urges nation to adhere to national unity, democratic approach

Updated 24 March 2025
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Emir of Kuwait urges nation to adhere to national unity, democratic approach

  • Sheikh Meshal said 'national identity is at the top of our priorities'
  • He commended the citizens of Kuwait for their loyal response to recent government reform decisions

LONDON: Sheikh Meshal Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah, the Emir of Kuwait, addressed the nation in a televised speech, urging Kuwaiti citizens to embrace the democratic approach and adhere to constitutional references, the Kuwait News Agency (KUNA) reported.

His speech to the Kuwaitis was on Sunday evening during the last 10 days of Ramadan.

He emphasized that "national identity is at the top of our priorities. It belongs to every genuine Kuwaiti keen on his country's progress and the elevation of its status."

He commended the citizens of Kuwait for their loyal response to recent government reform decisions, which included the suspension of some constitutional articles.

Sheikh Meshal said that Kuwait was managing national unity and citizenship issues in accordance with the law while avoiding political bidding and external pressures.

"I affirm commitment to reforming, strengthening stability, and upholding the country's supreme interests, continuing to combat corruption and confronting anyone who attempts to tamper with the nation's security and stability," he said.

He warned that "advocates of division and the instigators of sedition are trying to confuse matters, spread rumors, and distort statements, to divide the ranks and cause discontent."

He called Kuwaitis to adhere to national unity and "work with a spirit of responsibility to preserve the security and stability of the homeland," KUNA reported.

He said he was closely monitoring the work of state agencies, ensuring accountability and urging the government to speed up development projects in health, education, and housing.

"I am certain, with a reassured soul, an optimistic spirit and great confidence in the authentic Kuwaiti people's ability to overcome challenges," he said.

On an international level, Sheikh Meshal emphasized that Kuwait will maintain its diplomatic approach with friendly nations in favor of justice.

He said that the Palestinian cause will remain a top priority in Kuwait's foreign policy, as the country supports the Palestinian people in achieving all their legitimate rights.


Palestinians, watchdog group denounce Israeli recognition of new West Bank settlements

Updated 24 March 2025
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Palestinians, watchdog group denounce Israeli recognition of new West Bank settlements

  • Peace Now says that aside from creating new settlements, the Israeli Security Cabinet made a decision that would lead to the expulsion of Palestinians from Gaza
  • The decision brings the number of settlements, considered illegal by the majority of the international community, to 140, said the watchdog group

JERUSALEM/RAMALLAH: The Palestinian foreign ministry and an anti-settlement watchdog group on Sunday condemned an Israeli decision to recognize more than a dozen new settlements in the occupied West Bank, upgrading existing neighborhoods to independent settlement status.

Israel’s Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich earlier announced that the security cabinet approved a plan to separate 13 Jewish settlements from their neighboring communities.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (R) and Minister of Finance Bezalel Smotrich. (AFP file photo)

Smotrich, a far-right leader and settler who was behind the cabinet’s decision, hailed it as an “important step” for Israeli settlements in the West Bank. 

Smotrich is a leading voice calling for Israel to formally annex the West Bank — as it did in 1967 after capturing east Jerusalem in a move not recognized by most of the international community.

The settlements will ultimately be recognized as independent, he posted on X about the move, which follows the approval of tens of thousands of housing units across the West Bank.

“We continue to lead a revolution of normalization and regulation in the settlements. Instead of hiding and apologizing – we raise the flag, build and settle. This is another important step on the path to actual sovereignty in Judea and Samaria,” Smotrich said, using Israel’s term for the West Bank.

Israel’s opposition to ceding control of the West Bank has been deepened by its fears of a repeat of the October 7, 2023, attack by Hamas-led militants. Its military says it is conducting counter-terrorism operations in the West Bank and targeting suspected militants.

A statement from the Palestinian Authority’s foreign ministry condemned the decision by Israel’s security cabinet as a show of “disregard for international legitimacy and its resolutions.” 

The West Bank, occupied by Israel since 1967, is home to about three million Palestinians as well as nearly 500,000 Israelis living in settlements that are illegal under international law.

 

 

In its statement, the Palestinian foreign ministry also mentioned an ongoing major Israeli military operation in the northern West Bank, saying it was accompanied by “an unprecedented escalation in the confiscation of Palestinian lands.”

Peace Now, an anti-settlement watchdog group, said that aside from creating new settlements, the Security Cabinet made a decision that would lead to the expulsion of Palestinians from Gaza.

 

 

“The second decision, to recognize 13 settlements in the West Bank as independent settlements, exposes Israel’s long-standing lie that it does not establish new settlements, but only ’neighborhoods,’ of existing settlements,“ Peace Now wrote on the X platform.

This brings the number of settlements, considered illegal by the majority of the international community, to 140, said the watchdog group. They will now receive independent budgets from Israel and can elect their own local governments, it added.

The 13 settlement neighborhoods approved for development by the Israeli cabinet are located across the West Bank. Some of them are effectively part of the bigger settlements they belong to while others are practically separate.
Their recognition as separate communities under Israeli law is not yet final.
Hailing the “normalization” of settlement expansion, the Yesha Council, an umbrella organization for the municipal councils of West Bank settlements, thanked Smotrich for pushing for the cabinet decision.
According to EU figures, 2023 saw a 30-year record in settlement building permits issued by Israel.

(With AFP, AP & Reuters)