BEERSHEBA, Israel: An Israeli court on Wednesday found the former Gaza head of a major US-based NGO guilty of embezzling millions of dollars to radical group Hamas, six years after his arrest.

Israel had accused Palestinian Mohammed Halabi, who headed Gaza operations for World Vision, of siphoning-off millions of dollars to Hamas, which rules the Palestinian enclave.

He was arrested in June 2016 and indicted in August that year. Israel had refused to release him on bail.

Both Halabi and the charity have staunchly denied any irregularities.

LONDON: Tunisia was already contending with widespread disaffection when it announced its third fuel price rise (5 percent) of the year. But in the wake of a Ramadan characterized by images of empty shelves, ordinary people are concerned less with the state of public finances and more with day-to-day survival.

Eleven years after the first of the Arab Spring revolts toppled a dictatorship and enabled Tunisians to build a democracy, vote in elections and exercise the right to free speech, the dream of bread, jobs and dignity continues to be just that.

BAGHDAD: Moqtada Al-Sadr has raised the stakes in the struggle for Iraq with a major political escalation that could lead to conflict with his Iran-backed rivals or force a compromise in their tussle over government.

Frustrated at being unable to form an administration eight months after his party won the biggest share of seats in parliament, the leader steered Iraqi politics into uncharted territory on Sunday when his lawmakers quit.

BEIRUT: UNRWA Advisory Commission meetings commenced in Beirut on Tuesday, with Arab countries hosting Palestinian refugees insisting that the agency remain in control of its mandate under Resolution 302 (1949).

The agency provides services to over 5.8 million Palestinian refugees in Arab host countries, namely Lebanon, Syria, Jordan, Egypt, as well as the West Bank, which believe these services provide “a stability factor in the region.”

AL-MUKALLA: The Iran-backed Houthi militia in Yemen have launched coordinated attacks on the besieged city of Taiz, threatening to undermine a fragile UN-brokered truce.

The Houthis bombarded government troops with artillery fire, heavy weapons and explosive drones on the northwestern, northeastern and northern sides of the city before launching three simultaneous ground attacks in a bid to seize control of new areas. “The Houthi attacks sparked heavy clashes with the national army troops that ended early on Tuesday,” Col. Abdul Basit Al-Baher told Arab News.