Israel says it is conducting strikes in southern Syria
(LONDON) — Israel confirmed it is conducting strikes in southern Syria, as the new Syrian government calls for the full withdrawal of Israeli forces from Syrian territory.
“We will not allow southern Syria to become southern Lebanon,” Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said regarding the strikes. “Any attempt by the Syrian regime forces and the country’s terrorist organizations to establish themselves in the security zone in southern Syria will be met with fire.”
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
(LONDON) — World leaders have offered their condolences after the death of former President Jimmy Carter at the age of 100.
Carter died in Plains, Georgia, on Sunday afternoon, the Carter Center wrote in a post to X. President Joe Biden led the tributes, saying that “America and the world lost an extraordinary leader, statesman and humanitarian.”
Leaders abroad were quick to offer their own tributes.
In Canada, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Carter’s legacy “is one of compassion, kindness, empathy and hard work. He served others both at home and around the world his entire life — and he loved doing it. He was always thoughtful and generous with his advice to me.”
“My deepest condolences to the Carter family, his many loved ones and the American people who are mourning a former president and a lifelong humanitarian,” Trudeau added. “May his selfless service continue to inspire us all for years to come.”
Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva said in a post to X that, above all, Carter “was a lover of democracy and a defender of peace.”
Lula recalled Carter’s pressure on the military dictatorship in Brazil in the 1970s to release political prisoners. “Later, as a former president, he continued to campaign for the promotion of human rights, peace and the eradication of diseases in Africa and Latin America,” the president added.
“Carter achieved the feat of having a job as a former president, over the decades, that was as important or even more important than his term in the White House,” Lula wrote.
A slew of tributes also came from leaders in Europe. Several alluded to one of Carter’s landmark foreign policy achievements in brokering the Camp David Accords in 1978, which led to the Egypt-Israel Peace Treaty the following year.
“Throughout his life, Jimmy Carter has been a steadfast advocate for the rights of the most vulnerable and has tirelessly fought for peace,” French President Emmanuel Macron said. “France sends its heartfelt thoughts to his family and to the American people.”
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said he was “very sorry to hear of President Carter’s passing. I pay tribute to his decades of selfless public service. My thoughts are with his family and friends at this time.”
King Charles III expressed “great sadness” at the news. “His dedication and humility served as an inspiration to many, and I remember with great fondness his visit to the United Kingdom in 1977.”
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz wrote, “We join our American friends in mourning the loss of their former President Jimmy Carter. The U.S. has lost a committed fighter for democracy. The world has lost a great mediator for peace in the Middle East and for human rights.”
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy noted Carter’s continued advocacy for democracy and human rights even towards the end of his life.
“He was a leader who served during a time when Ukraine was not yet independent, yet his heart stood firmly with us in our ongoing fight for freedom,” Zelenskyy wrote.
“We deeply appreciate his steadfast commitment to Christian faith and democratic values, as well as his unwavering support for Ukraine in the face of Russia’s unprovoked aggression,” he added.
“He devoted his life to promoting peace in the world and defending human rights. Today, let us remember: peace matters, and the world must remain united in standing against those who threaten these values.”
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said Carter “served his country with honor — and humanity, with compassion. His work advanced peace, health and democracy worldwide.”
“He will be remembered for his moral leadership,” she added. “May his noble legacy live on.”
(GAZA CITY) — Alma Ja’arour is not like most children her age. Instead of talking about school and friends, her days are filled with memories of the family she lost and the uncertainty of her future after Israel and Hamas reached a ceasefire agreement on Jan. 15.
Alma, who is 12 years old, is the sole survivor of her family after her home was bombed in December 2023 in Gaza City.
Soon, she will return — not to the home she once knew, but to a graveyard where her parents and siblings rest.
“My mother, father, and brothers are all buried in one grave in our home in Gaza City,” she told ABC News. “I want to see them, say goodbye. But what will I do after that? There is no home to return to, no one waiting for me.”
After 15 months of living in displacement camps because of the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas, Alma and others like her will be allowed to return to northern Gaza on Saturday.
But for Alma, returning without her family is difficult, she told ABC News.
Alma’s story is one of countless others unfolding across Gaza, where children like her face unimaginable challenges. The ongoing conflict has left over 17,000 children separated from their parents, according to UNICEF.
Amid the challenges Alma has faced, she has one wish.
“I want to make my parents proud of me in heaven,” Alma told ABC News.
Her hope is to become a doctor, fulfilling a desire that her late father always encouraged, she said.
“Through education, I can achieve my goals. I will work hard to make my father proud,” Alma added.
Alma has been living in a tent at the Al-Barakah Orphanage Camp in Khan Younis.
Mahmoud Kalakh, the camp’s director, said the children in the orphanage display resilience, despite the tragedy around them.
“These children carry the weight of tragedy, yet they still dream of a better future,” he said. “Our role is to provide them with the support they need to heal and rebuild their lives.”
UNICEF and other humanitarian organizations have called for urgent support for children like Alma. The loss of family, education and basic necessities has created a crisis that requires immediate global attention, global aid organizations say.
“Children are the most vulnerable in conflicts,” a UNICEF spokesperson said. “We must ensure they have the resources and care they need to survive and thrive.”
(ITALY) — An 11-year-old girl was miraculously rescued after three days of being stranded at sea when a shipwreck off Italy’s Lampedusa island is believed to have killed the remaining passengers on the vessel.
Germany’s CompassCollective, the charitable organization that rescued the girl at 3 a.m. on Wednesday, said its boat was en route on a different rescue operation when they heard her shouting from the water.
“It was an incredible coincidence that we heard the child’s voice despite the engine running,” Skipper Matthias Wiedenlübbert said in a press release detailing the rescue.
The shipwrecked metal boat, which had initially set off from Sfax, Tunisia, was caught in a storm that lasted several days in the central Mediterranean, according to the release.
There were an estimated 45 passengers onboard the ship before it sank, the organization said.
The 11-year-old girl said she drifted in the water for three days with two improvised life rings made from air-filled inner tubes and a simple life jacket.
She survived without any drinking water or food and despite suffering from hypothermia, she was “responsive and oriented,” according to the release.
The girl told the organization she had been in contact with two other passengers in the water two days after the shipwreck, but that the contact had broken off.
After receiving medical attention, the girl was moved to a migrant holding center in Lampedusa where Italian Red Cross staff were looking after her, according to the organization.
CompassCollective’s Katja Tempel said the rescue signals an ongoing crisis for migrants embarking on dangerous journeys by boat in attempts to get to Europe.
“Even in storms, people are forced to use risky escape routes across the Mediterranean. We need safe passages for refugees and an open Europe that welcomes people and gives them easy access to the asylum system. Drowning in the Mediterranean is not an option,” Tempel said in the release.
According to data from the International Organization for Migration (IOM), the migration route between Tunisia, Libya, Italy and Malta is one of the most dangerous passages in the world with over 24,300 people disappearing or dying since 2014.
“The persisting humanitarian crisis in the central Mediterranean is intolerable,” IOM Director General António Vitorino said in 2023. “With more than 20,000 deaths recorded on this route since 2014, I fear that these deaths have been normalized,” he added.
