Israeli forces kill 3 Palestinians in West Bank

RAMALLAH: Israeli forces killed three Palestinians across the occupied West Bank on Sunday, the Palestinian Health Ministry said, as violence surges across the territory during the ongoing war in Gaza. 

More than 110 Palestinians and one Israeli have been killed in the West Bank since the war between Israel and Hamas erupted on Oct. 7. 




Arab-Israeli actor charged over pro-Hamas social media posts

JERUSALEM: A leading Arab-Israeli actor faces charges including “incitement to terrorism” over her social media posts that expressed support for Hamas’s Oct. 7 attack on Israel, justice officials said Sunday. 

Maisa Abdel Hadi, 37, who has played in several series, films and plays, was briefly arrested earlier this month after posting a picture of an elderly Israeli woman being abducted to Gaza by the militant group. 




Erdogan opts for a low-key celebration of Turkiye’s 100th anniversary as secular republic

ISTANBUL: Turkiye marked its centenary as a post-Ottoman republic on Sunday with somewhat muted celebrations held in the shadow of Israel’s escalating war with Hamas militants in Gaza. 

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan was front and center of day-long events that both honor the secular republic’s founder and play up the achievement of the Islamic-rooted party that has run Turkiye since 2002. 

“Our country is in safe hands, you may rest in peace,” Erdogan said after laying a wreath at the mausoleum of Mustafa Kemal Ataturk. 




Egypt’s high-speed train network to connect more than 80 cities

CAIRO: Egypt was looking to establish a high-speed train network that would transform the country’s connectivity, experts have revealed.

Four lines covering 2,250 km would link more than 80 Egyptian cities and extend to neighboring countries such as Libya and Sudan.

Transport specialist Ahmed Al-Sanhouri told Arab News: “Egypt recently received the first regional express train, the Desiro HC. Manufactured by Siemens, this double-decker train has a capacity of 849 passengers and will operate at speeds of up to 160 kilometers per hour.




WFP warns of growing hunger and desperation in Gaza  

LONDON: Civilians in Gaza are becoming more desperate by the hour as food shortages and hunger grow in the enclave amid an Israeli bombing campaign against Hamas, the UN World Food Programme warned on Sunday.

Thousands of civilians stormed a UN-run warehouse in Gaza, where the WFP is storing food commodities.

Sunday morning’s events followed a 24-hour communication blackout and persistent access challenges that brought all WFP operations to a halt, leaving staff and partners incommunicado.