Gaza

Erdogan heads to UAE, Ethiopia as Turkey presses Gaza cease-fire and backs Somalia’s unity Turkey sharpens Gulf trade push while asserting influence in the Horn of Africa amid tensions over North Western State of Somalia recognition Monday, Feb. 16, 2026 MOGADISHU — Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is set to visit the United Arab Emirates on Monday before traveling to Ethiopia on Tuesday, with Gaza and Somalia’s territorial integrity expected to anchor a two-stop tour aimed at entwining economic outreach with…

Leaked Liberal immigration plan aimed to ban migrants from conflict-held regions across 13 countries and sharply tighten visa rules, but the party’s former shadow immigration minister says he never proposed or agreed to the measures and has “serious concerns.” The draft was prepared under ousted Liberal leader Sussan Ley and slated for release on Feb. 16 after an earlier delay following the Bondi terror attack. It was not taken to shadow cabinet before last week’s leadership change, and new Opposition Leader Angus Taylor had…

Trump says nations to pledge $5B for Gaza as strikes shatter fragile ceasefire President Donald Trump said member states of what he called the Board of Peace will announce more than $5 billion in pledges for reconstruction and humanitarian relief in Gaza at a meeting Thursday, alongside commitments of personnel for a United Nations–authorized stabilization force and local policing in the enclave. In a post on Truth Social, Trump said the gathering — described as the group’s first official meeting — will be held at the…

Four months after a ceasefire in Gaza was hailed from Washington as a breakthrough, the ground reality tells a different story: violence persists, the humanitarian crisis deepens, and the political architecture meant to secure the truce looks unsteady. US President Donald Trump declared on Oct. 13 that “at long last we have peace in the Middle East” and that “the war in Gaza is over.” Since then, hundreds have been killed and injured in the enclave, while the West Bank has edged toward a new flashpoint. United Nations…

Israeli airstrikes and gunfire killed five Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, health officials said, the latest violence to strain a four-month-old, U.S.-brokered cease-fire between Israel and Hamas. Two people riding an electric bike were killed in an airstrike in Deir al-Balah in central Gaza, medics said. Later, Israeli drone fire killed a woman in the same area and troops shot dead a man in Khan Younis in the south, according to the medics. Another man was killed by Israeli gunfire in Jabaliya in northern Gaza. The…

DOHA, Qatar — Somali President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud on Sunday condemned Israel’s recognition of the breakaway region of North Western State of Somalia, calling it a “clear violation of international law” that threatens African unity and regional stability and further fuels tensions from Gaza to the Horn of Africa. Speaking at the Al Jazeera Forum in Doha, Mohamud said Israel’s move — announced in late December, making it the first U.N. member state to formally recognize North Western State of Somalia — amounted to…

Egypt and Turkey seal strategic reset in Cairo, set $15B trade target and align on Gaza cease-fire CAIRO — Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan held talks in Cairo on Wednesday, co-chairing a high-level council that produced new cooperation agreements and a shared call to advance a Gaza cease-fire and reconstruction effort. Following their meeting, the leaders convened the second session of the Egypt–Türkiye High-Level Strategic Cooperation Council and oversaw the signing of…

Israeli tank shelling and airstrikes killed 24 Palestinians, including seven children, across the Gaza Strip on Tuesday, health officials said, in a surge of violence that threatens to further unravel a nearly four-month-old ceasefire. Among the dead was a medic who had rushed to treat casualties in the southern city of Khan Younis and was killed by a subsequent strike on the same location, according to the Gaza Health Ministry, which operates under Hamas authorities. In Gaza City, health officials said a five-month-old boy…

Israel rules out Palestinian Authority role in post-war Gaza; Denmark jails two over embassy attack; IDF to replace Arabic-language spokesman Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told visiting U.S. envoy Steve Witkoff in Jerusalem that the Ramallah-based Palestinian Authority will not play any role in governing post-war Gaza, sharpening Israel’s position as international diplomatic tracks remain fluid. “The Prime Minister clarified that the Palestinian Authority will not be involved in administering the Strip in any…

Israel reopened the Rafah border crossing between Gaza and Egypt on foot only, allowing Palestinians to leave the enclave and enabling some to return after fleeing the war, authorities said. The movement will be limited and subject to Israeli security checks for those entering and exiting, with Israel and Egypt expected to cap the number of travelers. An Israeli security official said European monitoring teams have arrived at Rafah, which “has now opened to the movement of residents, for both entry and exit.” Israel seized…