Gaza's Hamas rulers warned on Saturday that Israel's planned army operation in overcrowded Rafah could cause "tens of thousands" of casualties in the city, the last refuge for displaced Palestinians.

  Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has ordered the army to set its sights on Rafah. He told military and security officials late Friday to "submit to the cabinet a combined plan for evacuating the population and destroying the battalions" of Hamas in the southern city.

  Hamas said in a statement that any military action would have catastrophic repercussion that "may lead to tens of thousands of martyrs and injured if Rafah... is invaded".

  Netanyahu's announcement, coming after US President Joe Biden had issued his strongest criticism of Israel's response to the October 7 attack, sparked concern among world leaders and the United Nations.

  "The Israeli occupation's move threatens security and peace in the region and the world. This is a blatant violation of all red lines," said the office of Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas.

  The EU's foreign policy chief Josep Borell posted on X, formerly Twitter, Saturday: "I echo the warning by several EU member states that an Israeli offensive on Rafah would lead to an unspeakable humanitarian catastrophe and grave tensions with Egypt.

  "Resuming negotiations to free hostages and suspend hostilities is the only way to avert a bloodshed."

  Jordan's Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi warned "another bloodbath in Gaza cannot be allowed", in a post on X.

  British Foreign Secretary David Cameron said he was "deeply concerned about the prospect of a military offensive in Rafah.

  "The priority must be an immediate pause in the fighting to get aid in and hostages out," he posted.

  - Biden frustration -

  The war in Gaza was sparked by Palestinian Islamist group Hamas's unprecedented October 7 attack on Israel, which resulted in the deaths of about 1,160 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official figures.

  Vowing to eliminate Hamas, Israel launched a massive military offensive in Gaza that the territory's health ministry says has killed at least 28,064 people, mostly women and children.

  Hamas seized 250 hostages, 132 of whom are still in Gaza although 29 are presumed dead, Israel has said.

  The United States is Israel's main international backer, providing it with billions of dollars in military aid.

  The US State Department has said it does not support a ground offensive in Rafah, warning that, if not properly planned, such an operation risks "disaster".

  In a sign of growing frustration, Biden issued his strongest criticism of Israel yet on Thursday, describing the retaliation for Hamas's October 7 attack as "over the top".

  Biden said there are "a lot of innocent people who are starving... in trouble and dying, and it's got to stop."

  But Netanyahu's office said it would be "impossible" to achieve the war's objective of eliminating Hamas while leaving four of its battalions in Rafah.

  - Pressure on UNRWA chief -

  The Israeli military said it had killed two "senior Hamas operatives" in an air strike on Rafah Saturday.

  It was part of a wider bombardment that killed at least 25 people in the city, according to the health ministry.

  Israel's military claimed that troops had uncovered a Hamas tunnel under the evacuated Gaza City headquarters of the UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA).

  Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz called for its head, Philippe Lazzarini, to quit.

  Lazzarini said the agency had not operated from the compound since October 12 when staff evacuated it under instruction from Israeli forces.

  Already under pressure after Israel claimed 12 UNRWA staff were involved in the October 7 Hamas attack, he called for an independent investigation into the latest Israeli accusations.

  An AFP photographer was among a number of journalists taken to the compound and tunnel by the Israeli military on Thursday.

  UN premises are considered "inviolable" in international law and immune from "search, requisition, confiscation, expropriation and any other form of interference".

  Hamas has repeatedly denied Israeli accusations that it has dug a network of tunnels under schools, hospitals and other civilian infrastructure as cover for its activities.

  - 'Between life and death' -

  Fears are mounting over the fate of more than one million displaced Palestinians who have taken shelter in Rafah, many of them in plastic tents pushed up against the border with Egypt.

  "We are between life and death," said one of them, Bassel Matar. "We don't know if there will be hope tomorrow for a truce or there will be changes on the ground."

  Rafah is the last major population centre in the Gaza Strip that Israeli troops have yet to enter and also the main point of entry for desperately needed relief supplies.

  Humanitarian organisations have expressed alarm at the prospect of a ground incursion.

  The UN children's fund, UNICEF, warned this week that "thousands more could die in the violence or lack of essential services".

  Netanyahu announced the plan for a ground operation in Rafah only days after US Secretary of State Antony Blinken visited Israel seeking a ceasefire and hostage-prisoner exchange.

  The impact of the war has been felt widely, with violence involving Iran-backed allies of Hamas surging across the Middle East.

  A senior Hamas officer survived an Israeli assassination attempt in Lebanon, Palestinian and Lebanese security sources told AFP, but two other people including a Hezbollah member were killed in the attack.

  And in Syria, Israeli strikes near Damascus killed three people, a war monitor said, adding the targeted neighbourhood hosted villas for top military and civilian officials.

-BSS

Foreign Minister Dr Hasan Mahmud today said Bangladesh has sought support from India to become a member of BRICS, a group of emerging-market nations - the acronym stands for Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa.
 
"If BRICS decides to take a new member or partner, we want to be a part of the BRICS. We have sought support from India to this end (during the delegation level talks),"he said.
 
He briefed media about Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's engagements on her two-day state visit to India at the invitation of her Indian counterpart Narendra Modi.
 
The foreign minister said the delegation level talks featured many issues of bilateral interests that include joint management of 54 common rivers and their water sharing, connectivity, trade, security, border management, introduce of quota for Bangladesh to import essential commodities from India, quick medical visas for Bangladeshis and development of partnership.
 
During the meeting, both sides have expressed their satisfaction as the bilateral relations between Bangladesh and India has been strengthening and continuing to reach new height under the dynamic leadership of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina for the last 15 years and Indian premier Narendra Modi in last 10 years.
 
"Both sides have expressed their willingness to elevate further the relations," Dr Hasan said.
 
Replying to a question, he said that Bangladesh and India have shared 54 common rivers.
 
The matter of forming joint river management for the rivers has prominently come to the delegation-level talks, the foreign minister said.
 
"Joint river management is important as it can help us to fight together the adverse impact of the climate change," he said.
 
Replying to a query, Dr Hasan said Bangladesh is set to import electricity from Bhutan and Nepal and Bangladesh has already signed an agreement with Bhutan to this end.
 
He said Bangladesh has talked about the matter with India and "India gave a very positive response".
 
It is not enough to only produce electricity and it also requires a transmission line to distribute the power, the minister said.
 
Hasan said India has been currently working to set up a transmission line for 3000mw power.
 
"India will facilitate Bangladesh from the transmission line to this end," he said.
 
About killings at boarder, the foreign minister said both Bangladesh and India are politically committed to bring down the boarder killings to zero level.
 
Both the countries have been working to decrease the killings in borders, he said.
 
He continued they have sought to introduce a quota for Bangladesh to import essential commodities such as onion, oil, wheat, and sugar.
 
"We have sought a specific quota for this purpose as they don't stop exporting essential items to Bangladesh," he said.
 
Replying to a query, the foreign minister said Teesta project was also discussed during the bilateral meeting with India.
 
India has expressed its desire to assist Bangladesh in the implementation of the Teesta project, he said, adding that other countries have also expressed their willingness to this matter.
 
Technical committees of both the countries will sit together to pursue the matter, he continued.
 
Dr Hasan also said India has expressed no objection to China to this end.
 
The foreign minister said Bangladesh had sought help from India to send back 12 lakh forcibly displaced Rohingyas to their motherland Myanmar.
 
Indian side said China has a role to play to this end, he said.
 
In reply, Bangladesh Prime Minister said she will bring the matter to Chinese government as she will visit China soon, he said.
 
In replying to a question, Mahmud said he himself brought the issue of resolving the existing problem over Indian medical visa for Bangladeshis by cutting the duration of issuing medical visas.
 
Bangladeshis are currently facing problem in getting medical visas as it takes a long time, he said.
 
The Indian Prime Minister already asked the authorities concerned to resolve the problem.
 
India has been working to update their software and issue e-visas to resolve the problem, he said.
 
Bangladesh High Commissioner to India M Mustafizur Rahman and PM's Press Secretary M Nayeemul Islam Khan were present during the briefing.

(Source: BSS)

The flood situation in Assam persisted, affecting over 6 lakh people across 10 districts, officials said on Sunday. 

Heavy rainfall across the state caused rivers such as Kopili, Barak, and Kushiyara to surpass their danger levels, which forcing prompte evacuations to affected people in many areas for safety, they said. 

Among the affected districts are Hailakandi, Hojai, Morigaon, Karimganj, Nagaon, Cachar, Dibrugarh, Golaghat, Karbi Anglong West, and Dima Hasao, with a total of 6,01,642 people impacted by the floods.

The death toll from floods and storms since May 28 stands at 15. Nagaon remains the most severely affected district, with over 2.79 lakh people affected, followed by Hojai with 1,26,813 and Cachar with 1,12,265. Over 40,000 displaced individuals are seeking refuge in relief camps across various districts. Multiple agencies, including NDRF, SDRF, local administration, and volunteers, are conducting rescue and relief operations.

Furthermore, road and rail communications are disrupted in several parts of the state. Due to track damage and waterlogging, ten trains scheduled to depart from Saturday to Monday have been canceled, according to a spokesperson from Northeast Frontier Railway's Lumding division.

American and British forces carried out a fresh wave of strikes Saturday against 18 Huthi targets in Yemen, following weeks of unrelenting attacks on Red Sea shipping by the Iran-backed rebels.

The strikes "specifically targeted 18 Huthi targets across eight locations in Yemen" including weapons storage facilities, attack drones, air defense systems, radars, and a helicopter, a joint statement said.

It was co-signed by Australia, Bahrain, Denmark, Canada, the Netherlands and New Zealand, who gave unspecified "support" to the new round of strikes, the second this month and fourth since the rebels began their attacks on ships in the region.

"The Huthis' now more than 45 attacks on commercial and naval vessels since mid-November constitute a threat to the global economy, as well as regional security and stability, and demand an international response," the statement said.

Huthi-run Al-Masirah television reported "a series of raids on the capital Sanaa," while AFP correspondents in the rebel-controlled city in western Yemen said they heard several loud bangs.

"The United States will not hesitate to take action, as needed, to defend lives and the free flow of commerce in one of the world's most critical waterways," Pentagon chief Lloyd Austin said in a separate statement after the strikes.

"We will continue to make clear to the Huthis that they will bear the consequences if they do not stop their illegal attacks, which harm Middle Eastern economies, cause environmental damage, and disrupt the delivery of humanitarian aid to Yemen and other countries."

Huthi military spokesman Yahya Saree was defiant, vowing in a social media statement that the rebels would "confront the American-British escalation with more qualitative military operations against all hostile targets in the Red and Arab Seas."

The UK Ministry of Defence said four Royal Air Force Typhoon FGR4s targeted "several very long-range drones, used by the Houthis for both reconnaissance and attack missions," on Saturday, at a site north-east of Sanaa.

Saturday's operation comes after several merchant vessels were struck this week in the region, including the fertilizer-filled Rubymar, whose crew had to abandon ship after it was hit Sunday and began taking on water.

Apart from the joint operations with Britain, the United States has also carried out unilateral strikes against Huthi positions and weaponry in Yemen, and downed dozens of missiles and drones in the Red Sea.

- Anti-ship missile downed -

Earlier on Saturday, US Central Command (CENTCOM) announced that an American Navy ship had shot down an anti-ship ballistic missile "launched into the Gulf of Aden from Iranian-backed Huthi controlled areas of Yemen."

The missile "was likely targeting MV Torm Thor, a US-Flagged, owned, and operated chemical/oil tanker," CENTCOM said on X, formerly Twitter.

US forces on Friday also shot down three attack drones near commercial ships in the Red Sea and destroyed seven anti-ship cruise missiles on land, CENTCOM said.

The Huthis say they are targeting Israel-linked vessels in support of Palestinians in Gaza, which has been ravaged by the Israel-Hamas war.

Following previous US and UK strikes, the Huthis declared American and British interests to be legitimate targets as well.

The Huthis will "persist in upholding their religious, moral and humanitarian duties towards the Palestinian people, and their military operations will not stop unless the aggression stops and the siege on the Palestinian people in the Gaza Strip is lifted," military spokesman Saree said.

Anger over Israel's devastating campaign in Gaza -- which began after an unprecedented Hamas attack on October 7 -- has grown across the Middle East, stoking violence involving Iran-backed groups in Lebanon, Iraq, Syria and Yemen.

Israel launched air strikes Thursday on southern Gaza's Rafah after threatening to send troops into the city, where around 1.4 million Palestinians have sought shelter from around the territory.

Global powers trying to navigate a way to end the Israel-Hamas war have so far come up short, but a US envoy was expected in Israel on Thursday to try to secure a truce deal.

International concern has spiralled over the high civilian death toll and dire humanitarian crisis in the war sparked by Hamas's October 7 attack against Israel.

More than four months of relentless fighting and air strikes have flattened much of the Hamas-run coastal territory, pushing its population of around 2.4 million to the brink of famine, according to the UN.

International concern has in recent weeks centred on Gaza's southernmost city of Rafah, where more than 1.4 million people forced to flee their homes elsewhere in the territory are now living in crowded shelters and makeshift tents.

The last city untouched by Israeli ground troops, Rafah also serves as the main entry point via neighbouring Egypt for desperately needed relief supplies.

Israel has warned it will expand its ground operations into Rafah if Hamas does not free the remaining hostages held in Gaza by next month's start of the Muslim holy month Ramadan.

- 'My daughter' -

The war started when Hamas launched its attack on October 7, which resulted in the deaths of about 1,160 people in Israel, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally of official Israeli figures.

Hamas militants also took about 250 hostages -- 130 of whom remain in Gaza, including 30 presumed dead, according to Israel.

Israel's retaliatory campaign has killed at least 29,313 people, mostly women and children, according to the latest count by the Hamas-run health ministry in the territory.

War cabinet member Benny Gantz said Israel's operation in Rafah would begin "after the evacuation of the population", although his government has not offered any details on where civilians would be evacuated to.

In the early hours of Thursday, AFP reporters heard multiple air strikes on Rafah, particularly in the Al-Shaboura neighbourhood.

The Hamas-run health ministry in Gaza said early Thursday that 99 people had been killed around Gaza during the night, most of them women, children and elderly people.

Abdel Rahman Mohamed Jumaa said he lost his family in recent strikes on Rafah.

"I found my wife lying in the street," he told AFP. "Then I saw a man carrying a girl and I ran towards him and.... picked her up, realising she was really my daughter."

He was holding a small shrouded corpse in his arms.

- 'Possibility of progress' -

Brett McGurk, the White House coordinator for the Middle East and North Africa, was expected to arrive in Israel Thursday -- his second stop in the region after Egypt as part of US efforts to advance a hostage deal and broker a truce.

Hamas's chief Ismail Haniyeh was in Cairo for talks as well, according to the group.

Israel's Gantz said there were efforts to "promote a new plan for the return of the hostages".

"We are seeing the first signs that indicate the possibility of progress in this direction."

Matthew Miller, US State Department spokesman, said Washington was hoping for an "agreement that secures a temporary ceasefire where we can get the hostages out and get humanitarian assistance", but declined to give details on ongoing negotiations.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has insisted the army will keep fighting until it has destroyed Hamas and freed the remaining hostages.

Israel's parliament on Wednesday overwhelmingly backed a proposal by Netanyahu to oppose any unilateral recognition of a Palestinian state.

The vote came days after the Washington Post reported that US President Joe Biden's administration and a small group of Arab nations were working out a comprehensive plan for long-term peace between Israel and the Palestinians.

It included a firm timeline for the establishment of a Palestinian state, the report said.

Separately, a report by an Israeli group that fights sexual violence said Hamas's October 7 attack also involved systematic sexual assaults on civilians, based on witness testimonies, public and classified information, and interviews.

The report came the same week UN rights experts called for an independent probe into alleged Israeli abuses against Palestinian women and girls -- which Israel rejected as "despicable and unfounded claims".

Israeli officials have repeatedly alleged the militants committed violent sexual assaults during the attack -- something Hamas has denied.

- 'Waiting for death' -

Combat and chaos have stalled sporadic aid deliveries for civilians in Gaza, while in Khan Yunis -- a city just north of Rafah -- medical charity Doctors Without Borders (MSF) said an Israeli tank had fired on a house sheltering their employees and families.

Two relatives of MSF staff were killed and six others injured, it said, condemning the strike in the "strongest possible terms".

When contacted by AFP about the incident, the Israeli army said its forces had "fired at a building that was identified as a building where terror activity is occurring", adding that it "regrets" harm to civilians.

In the same town, the Palestinian Red Crescent said another hospital was also hit by "artillery shelling".

Israel has repeatedly said Hamas militants use civilian infrastructure including hospitals as operational bases -- claims that Hamas has denied.