US says latest Rafah deaths won't change Israel policy, military aid

The Biden administration said on Tuesday it was closely monitoring the probe into a deadly Israeli airstrike it called tragic, but that the recent deaths in Rafah didn't constitute a major ground operation there that crosses any U.S. red lines.

"The Israelis have said this is a tragic mistake," National Security Council spokesman John Kirby told reporters at the White House, when asked about whether the events over the weekend qualified as the type of "death and destruction" U.S. officials have warned could result in the withholding of more aid to Israel.

The U.S. doesn't have "a measuring stick here or a quota," Kirby said.

"We've also said we don't want to see a major ground operation in Rafah that would really make it hard for the Israelis to go after Hamas without causing extensive damage and potentially a large number of deaths. We have not seen that yet," he said, noting that Israel's operations were mostly in a corridor on the outskirts of Rafah.

Asked if he was saying the recent ground operations in Rafah would not prompt a U.S. withdrawal of more military aid, Kirby said "I believe that's what I've been saying here."

Recent deaths in Rafah have tested President Joe Biden's promise to withhold weapons from Israel if the U.S. ally made a major invasion of Rafah that put displaced persons there at risk.

Speaking at a ceremonial event in Washington, U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris said, "The word tragic doesn't even begin to describe" an Israeli airstrike on Sunday that triggered a fire in a tent camp in the Gaza city of Rafah, killing 45 Palestinians.

Harris's remark, in response to a reporter's question, also followed what Gaza health authorities described as Israeli tank shelling of a tent camp in an evacuation area west of Rafah that killed at least 21 people on Tuesday.

Israel said that "something unfortunately went tragically wrong" in Sunday's airstrike while its military denied shelling the tent camp on Tuesday. Israel said it had targeted two senior Hamas operatives in Sunday's operation and had not intended to cause civilian casualties.

Hamas issued a statement celebrating the martyrdom of two fighters in the strike on Sunday, Kirby said, an indication that Israel was trying to go after Hamas in a "targeted, precise way."

"The Israelis have said they used 37-pound bombs, precision-guided munitions," Kirby said. "If it is in fact what they used, it is certainly indicative of an effort to be discreet and targeted and precise. Now, obviously this had tragic results, and obviously that needs to be investigated.”

Asked whether Israel's strikes could put Biden in a difficult position, Kirby told reporters Tuesday that instead there was a real danger that Israel could become further isolated from the international community with the manner in which it is conducting operations."So this is of concern, clearly, because it's not in Israel's best interest," Kirby said. "And it's not in our best interest for Israel to become increasingly isolated on the world stage."

The U.S. administration's response was criticized earlier Tuesday by human rights and Arab American groups.

"Sadly, because of Biden's insistence on sending more bombs to enable Netanyahu's war crimes in Rafah, this is now as much an American genocide as it is an Israeli genocide," said Nihad Awad, executive director at the Council on American-Islamic Relations.

Israeli and U.S. officials have denounced the use of the term genocide to describe events on the ground in Gaza.

The State Department said on Tuesday that as soon as it saw reports of Sunday's Rafah incident, Washington expressed deep concern to Israel and urged an investigation, which Israel has promised.

State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller told reporters that Washington will be closely watching Israel's probe but Israel's military operations so far in Rafah have not been as large-scale as those in central or northern Gaza.

Global leaders have expressed horror at the fire in a designated "humanitarian zone" of Rafah where families uprooted by fighting elsewhere had sought shelter.

More than 36,000 Palestinians have been killed in Israel's offensive, Gaza's health ministry says. Israel launched its air and ground war after Hamas-led militants attacked southern Israeli communities on Oct. 7, killing around 1,200 people and seizing more than 250 hostages, according to Israeli tallies.

Reuters

WESTERN PERSPECTIVE

Putin warns West not to let Ukraine use its missiles to hit Russia

Summary

Putin hints at risk of global conflict

Putin warns West over Ukrainian strikes inside Russia

President singles out European NATO members

Russian President Vladimir Putin warned the West on Tuesday that NATO members in Europe were playing with fire by proposing to let Ukraine use Western weapons to strike inside Russia, which he said could trigger a global conflict.

More than two years into the deadliest land war in Europe since World War Two, as the West considers what to do about Russian military advances, Putin is increasingly evoking the risk of a global war, while Western leaders play it down.

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg told the Economist that alliance members should let Ukraine strike deep into Russia with Western weapons, a view supported by some European members of the transatlantic alliance but not the United States.

Russian forces have advanced into Ukraine's Kharkiv province safe in the knowledge that Ukraine cannot attack missile launchers being fired deep inside Russia because it cannot use the Western missiles that have the required range.

Meanwhile, Western-made air defences cannot attempt to down Russian rockets until they cross the Ukrainian border, only 25 km (15 miles) or so from Ukraine's second city, Kharkiv.

"Constant escalation can lead to serious consequences," Putin told reporters in Tashkent in Uzbekistan.

"If these serious consequences occur in Europe, how will the United States behave, bearing in mind our parity in the field of strategic weapons?"

"It's hard to say - do they want a global conflict?"

Putin said Ukrainian strikes with long-range weapons would need Western satellite, intelligence and military help - so the West would have to be directly involved in such attacks.

He said sending French troops to Ukraine would also be a step towards global conflict and that smaller countries considering deeper involvement "should be aware of what they are playing with" as they had small land areas and dense populations.

"This is a factor that they should keep in mind before talking about striking deep into Russian territory. This is a serious thing, and we are of course watching it very closely," Putin said.

RUSSIAN ADVANCES TRIGGER DEBATE IN WEST

Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022 touched off the worst breakdown in relations with the West for 60 years.

The invasion has caused the deaths of tens of thousands of Ukrainian civilians, driven millions to flee abroad, and reduced neighbourhoods and whole cities to rubble.

Putin casts the war as part of a struggle with the West, which he says is exploiting Ukraine as part of a wider plan to encroach on what he considers Moscow's sphere of influence.

The West and Ukraine cast the attack as a simple land grab: Russia controls 18% of Ukraine, and the crisis is now escalating into what diplomats say is its most dangerous phase.

Russian officials say Moscow's patience is wearing thin after Ukrainian attacks on Russian cities, oil refineries and elements of its nuclear early-warning system.

Putin said Kyiv and its Western backers had provoked Russia's offensive on the Kharkiv region by ignoring repeated warnings not to let Ukraine attack the adjacent Russian region of Belgorod.

RUSSIAN PERSPECTIVE

Ukraine likely inflated own combat successes – Forbes

Ukraine has likely exaggerated the number of reported downings of Russian aircraft, Forbes wrote on Monday. The American business magazine analyzed the statements made by Ukrainian leader Vladimir Zelensky and the country’s Defense Ministry and came to the conclusion that not all of them can be independently verified. 

Kiev claimed that its 110th Mechanized Brigade had shot down seven Russian Su-25 attack aircraft between May 4 and May 25. And yet, only two supposed shootdowns were backed by some sort of visual evidence, Forbes noted, referring to “a grainy photo of something burning on the ground,” and a video that “might depict a missile hitting a low-flying jet,”respectively. 

“The only other visual ‘evidence’ the 110th Mechanized Brigade has offered actually comes from a video game,” the magazine said. It argued that “more likely, the 110th Mechanized Brigade has shot down at most two Russian attack jets in less than a month.”

Forbes cited data from the Oryx monitoring website that said that Russia has lost at least 29 Su-25 since it launched its military operation in Ukraine in February 2022. Both Moscow and Kiev rarely reveal their own casualties and equipment losses. 

The Russian Defense Ministry reported that its Su-25s participated in around a dozen of air raids on Ukrainian positions this month alone. According to the Russian MD, Ukraine has lost 604 military planes and 274 helicopters since the fighting began. 

According to Forbes, the 110th Mechanized Brigade suffered heavy losses during the battle for the strategic Donbass city of Avdeevka and was ultimately forced to retreat in February 2024, “leaving behind potentially hundreds of casualties.” Like many other Ukrainian units, the brigade has been plagued with ammunition shortage prompted by the delays in Western supplies. 

Kiev has consistently asked its Western supporters for the US-made F-16 fighter planes, arguing that they are essential for gaining an upper hand on the battlefield. Belgium pledged on Tuesday to supply Ukraine with 30 F-16s until 2028. Russia, meanwhile, has repeatedly warned that no amount of foreign aid would change the outcome of the conflict. 

Reuters/RT

Mohammed Ladan Tsamiya probably believed he was a commodities trader who happened also to moonlight as a Justice of the Court of Appeal. To him, both vocations seemed to provide mutually reinforcing revenue streams. Sometimes, he transacted business as one, while doing the other. In keeping with this tendency, it was an unsuccessful transaction in the sale of beans that brought his vocation as a judge to an untimely end.

The story began with the 2015 elections. In Abia State, South-East Nigeria, the parliamentary elections in 2015 were not without controversy. Nnamdi Iro Oji, a losing candidate in those elections, filed a petition with the National Judicial Council (NJC) in January 2016, levying serious allegations of misconduct against Tsamiya. What follows is from the 19-page report of the NJC Investigation Committee into these allegations. Sunday Akintan, a retired Supreme Court justice, chaired the NJC’s investigation committee into Oji’s complaint. The other members of the Committee were Hakila Yalla Hemman, then chief judge of Gombe State; and Aloy Nweke Nwankwo, chief judge of Ebonyi State.

Oji complained that around 12 October 2015, after the conclusion of first instance proceedings in his case at the Abia State Election Petition Tribunal in Umuahia, the capital of Abia State, he got introduced to someone “who was in the system”, who took him to a house in Sokoto, North-West Nigeria, where they met with Tsamiya. After condemning the election petition tribunal as having been “influenced”, Tsamiya advised Oji to write a petition to the President of the Court of Appeal requesting a change in the composition of the Court of Appeal panel in Owerri. His application was granted but he was “shocked when he saw that Tsamiya was one of those sent to Owerri Judicial Division to handle the appeal.”

Over a sequence of encounters which occurred in Sokoto, Gwarimpa (Abuja), and Owerri in Imo State, according to Oji, Tsamiya requested him to provide N200 million “to enable him discuss with the three (3) Justices who were to handle the appeal to influence the court’s decision in his favour.” When he seemed reluctant, the Justice of Appeal warned Oji that failure to deliver the requisitioned sum or a substantial part thereof “may bring a shocking outcome to the appeal.” Specifically, Tsamiya advised Oji that “the funds which should be in foreign currency should be brought to him in his private residence in Owerri, Imo State, which was where they met.” Despite having a strong case on the facts, the decision in Oji’s appeal went the way that Tsamiya had predicted after he failed to deliver the funds demanded.

These allegations may have been staggering in their substance, but Tsamiya’s response was not lacking in invention or audacity. According to him, this was a tale of a sale of beans gone awry. Sometime in November 2015, he said, three persons “one Hausa and his two Igbo friends met him in Sokoto and the Hausa man introduced himself as a buyer of beans and ginger which His Lordship said he had in commercial quantities.” He reportedly “assumed that the two Igbos were also interested in buying the commodities.” It was in the course of these conversations, according to Tsamiya, that “one of them” reportedly asked for his assistance in connection with a pending case at the Court of Appeal. He claimed he declined, telling them that he could not help because he was not their lawyer. The discussions over the sale of beans – according to Tsamiya – subsequently broke down and could not be consummated.

Unsurprisingly, Tsamiya’s story of mixing commodity trading with judging proved to be unconvincing. In their report delivered on 22 September 2016, the committee of investigation found the case against Tsamiya to be “credible” and recommended sanctions against him. Eight days later, on 30 September 2016, the NJC announced its decision to compulsorily retire him from judicial service.

12 years earlier, it was arguably their inclination to do what Nigerians call “chopping alone” that ultimately ended the careers of two other senior Justices of the Court of Appeal, Okwuchukwu Opene and David Adeniji. In 2004, the NJC recommended the dismissal of both Justices of Appeal, after they collected sundry items of bribery, including N15 million and N12 million respectively, to award the contest for the Anambra South senatorial constituency in the 2003 general election to Ugochukwu Uba, who was not a candidate in the contest. James Ogebe, the senior Justice of Appeal then who headed the Court of Appeal panel drafted to Enugu to replace them after the scandal broke recalls in his memoirs that “there was clear evidence of bribery…. They brought a bag containing the money that was not properly closed. A cook who was cooking for them inside the official house even saw it. He was the one who carried the bag inside. They just gave him N10,000 from it.”

Eight years after the end of Tsamiya’s experiment in occupational cross-dressing ended his career, in May 2024, the NJC announced that they “cautioned” Amina Shehu, a judge of the High Court of Yobe State “for issuing Writ of Possession Conferring Title on the Defendant in Suit No YBS/HC/NNR/1cv/2020 when there was no subsisting judgement (sic) of any Court to enable His Lordship issue the Writ.” In ordinary parlance, the issuing of a writ of possession in the absence of an underlying judgment would be a felony crime of burglary, theft, conversion, or stealing. If committed by an ordinary citizen, such a crime would almost certainly have an additional element of fraud. Any person who can commit such an act surely should have no place in any judicial service worth its name. By concluding that the appropriate sanction in such a case is a mere “caution”, the NJC makes it difficult to distinguish a judge from the criminals whom they are supposed to hold to account.

These three cases discussed here hardly differed in terms of gravity. Instead of accountability, the judiciary, especially under the outgoing Chief Justice, Olukayode Ariwoola, has converted the myth of judicial independence into a charter for judicial impunity. In the case of Tsamiya, the Independent Corrupt Practices Commission (ICPC) did launch an investigation after the conclusion of the disciplinary process by the NJC, leading to his arrest. He was later arraigned for trial before the High Court of Imo State in Owerri in July 2019. Five months before the trial, however, in February 2019, the National Industrial Court of Nigeria (NICN) in Abuja, presided over by the recently deceased Noelita Agbakoba as judge, set aside the decision of the NJC for having been reached in violation of relevant provisions of the Judicial Discipline Regulations. Under Olukayode Ariwoola – as a discerning tweep has pointed out – “Someone who sprayed Naira got 6 months. Someone who issued a warrant of possession without a preceding judgement got a warning.”

Over the 20-year period that separates the disciplinary cases concerning Okwuchukwu Opene and David Adeniji in 2004; Tsamiya in 2016; and Amina Shehu in 2024, the sanction issued by the NJC for judicial misconduct of a criminal nature became attenuated from dismissal through compulsory retirement to a mere love letter, signalling the collapse of judicial discipline and accountability in the country under Ariwoola as Chief Justice of Nigeria.

Over that time horizon, judicial process in the public perception became somewhat tarnished to a mere transaction in which outcomes are more likely than not to be determined by a quid pro quo between litigants and the presiding officers, and not by the strength of the evidence or a fair and dispassionate application of the norms. At the special session of the Supreme Court to usher in the new legal year, organised on 27 November 2023, Ebun Sofunde, who addressed the court on behalf of the Body of Senior Advocates of Nigeria (BOSAN), captured this well when he warnedthat judicial reputation “is at an all-time low… to a point where it may no longer be redeemable.” This sums up the state of Nigeria’s judiciary 25 years into elective government.

** Chidi Anselm Odinkalu, a professor of law, teaches at the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy and can be reached through This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

Some people subscribe to the idea that work-life balance is critical for achieving success. Wharton organizational psychologist Adam Grant has a different take. He once called work-life balance "mostly a myth" and stressed something else as the key to success. We can boil Grant's advice down to three words:

Work. More. Hours.  

Let's put that in the right context. In a previous video posted on the Mic Facebook page, Grant tells viewers, "It's not to say you have to be a workaholic in order to be successful, although the evidence is strong that one of the ways that people become successful is they just work more hours. Or they work with more intense focus than their peers."

Grant adds, "But I don't think that means you can't have a life. The idea that work-life balance means 'I show up at 10:00 a.m. and I'm done by 3:00 p.m.' is ridiculous. The successful people I know don't tend to have very balanced days. They will have a whole day where all they do is work. But then the next day, all they do is spend time with their families."

Work with More Intense Focus

Grant has a good point, and I have seen a big difference in my own productivity when I work with intense focus, but definitely short of crossing the line into workaholism.

That's not healthy and leads to burnout. So, what's the key? How do you get that same intense focus to maximize your day and get a ton of stuff done? The best way to do it is to achieve a state of flow.

Flow is a state of mind where time flies by and productivity increases. It's like hitting that sweet spot where everything just clicks.

This mental state was developed by psychologist Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, where we benefit from peak experience and performance, enjoying what we're doing and performing at our best. It's being "in the zone" where we are entirely focused, free from distractions, and able to learn, grow, and improve.

Here's how you can tap into it:

Clear Goals: Start by setting clear, achievable goals for what you want to accomplish. When you know what you're aiming for, it's easier to stay focused and engaged.

Challenge Yourself: Find tasks that are just challenging enough to keep you engaged but not so difficult that they overwhelm you. Flow happens when you're stretched just the right amount.

Eliminate Distractions: Minimize interruptions and distractions as much as possible. Turn off notifications, close unnecessary tabs, and create a quiet workspace where you can concentrate.

Focus on the Task at Hand: Dive deep into what you're doing. Forget about everything else for a while and immerse yourself completely in the task.

Stay Present: Don't worry about the past or the future. Focus on the present moment and give your full attention to what you're doing right now.

Take Breaks: Even though you're in the zone, remember to take short breaks to rest and recharge. This can help prevent burnout and keep your energy levels up.

Once you find your flow, you'll be amazed at how much more productive and fulfilled you feel.

And to Grant's point, the next day, you'll feel like you can take the afternoon off to take the kids to the park or enjoy a bike ride on the beach.

This is what having a healthy, productive life looks like. You work your butt off first, then take time to reward yourself later.

It's what Grant meant when he said, "They will have a whole day where all they do is work. But then the next day, all they do is spend time with their families."

Inc

In 2023, digital banking channels brought in roughly N438bn for 10 financial institutions, an analysis of their annual reports has shown.

Compared to the preceding year, the banking groups’ earnings from electronic transactions rose by 37.54 per cent from N318.64bn.

E-business income includes revenue from electronic channels, card products, and related services.

These channels include mobile applications, USSD channels, automated teller machines, agency banking, internet banking, point of sales payments, as well as credit and debit card transactions.

The growth in the electronic business income was driven by the increasing popularity of mobile and online banking in Nigeria.

Some of the banks’ annual reports that The PUNCH analysed were FBN Holdings, Access Holdings, Guaranty Trust Holding Company, United Bank for Africa, Zenith Bank, Wema Bank, Fidelity Bank, FCMB Group, Stanbic IBTC Holdings and Sterling Financial Holdings Company.

Leading other banks in terms of revenue from electronic banking was UBA, which raked in N125.58bn compared to N78.94bn in 2022.

Conversely, the banking group’s IT support and related expenses jumped by 148 per cent to N23.19bn from N9.32bn in the preceding year.

Access Holdings recorded N101.62bn income from its electronic business, including transactions on electronic channels, card products and related services.

That was about 70.34 per cent higher than the 2022 electronic business income.

The group’s IT and e-business expenses also rose during the period under review to N78.05bn from N44.63bn in 2022.

In its just-released audited statements, FBN Holdings reported N66.34bn as earnings from its electronic business higher than N55.09bn in the previous year.

In a statement accompanying the annual report, the bank said that electronic banking fees were a major driver of the growth of its fees and commission income.

“The underlying drivers of fees and commission were led by electronic banking fees (20.4 per cent) to N66.3bn billion, Letters of credit commission and fees (278.4 per cent) to N60.6bn, Account maintenance fees (12.3 per cent) to N22.3bn and funds transfer and intermediation fees (204.9 per cent) to N20.6bn.

“Customer acquisition drive has also been enhanced through a growing adoption across digital platforms and greater penetration of the unbanked segments through the agency banking network, further boosting financial inclusion drive.”

Also, Zenith Bank recorded N51.82bn as earnings from electronic banking fees in 2023, 13.29 per cent higher than N45.74bn in the previous year.

The bank’s spending on information and technology during this time also rose by 8.48 per cent to N33.59bn from N30.97bn in 2022.

For GTCO, the income from electronic business went up to N40.83bn from N37.74bn in the prior year, and its communications, administrative and technological-related expenses increased to N50.24bn from N42.39bn.

FCMB in 2023 recorded N17.69bn as revenue from electronic fees and commission, higher than N13.99bn in the previous year.

The bank’s spending on IT almost doubled to N16.57bn from N9.99bn.

Fidelity Bank saw its earnings from e-business rise by about 20.30 per cent to N14.03bn from N11.66bn in 2022.

The bank also increased its spending on IT significantly in 2023 as it surged by 274.73 per cent to N16.57bn from N4.42bn in the previous year.

Sterling HoldCo reported N8.588bn from e-business commissions and fees last year, higher than N7.16bn in 2022.

Wema Bank, which prides itself as the pioneer of Africa’s first fully digital bank, ALAT, saw its fees from electronic products rise to N7.35bn from N6.13bn.

Its spending on technology and alternative channels, however, declined by 1.84 per cent to N1.42bn

Of the banking groups reviewed, Stanbic IBTC Holdings’ N4.42bn income from electronic business was the least.

It was higher than N2.51bn in 2022.

In contrast, its expenditure on information technology rose to N19.34bn, indicating a 42.93 per cent increase over the previous year’s figure.

Meanwhile, the newly released Gross Domestic Product indicated that the financial services (finance and Insurance) continued to increase their contribution to the GDP over the quarters.

Speaking with The PUNCH, analysts identified technology adoption as one of the drivers of the growth in the sector.

The Managing Director/Chief Economist at ADSR, Afolabi Olowookere, told our correspondent: “The sector is growing, hence its contribution to the GDP will also grow. After Covid-19, the financial sector and ICT have been growing because people do a lot of transactions online.”

Punch

The naira depreciated in the parallel segment of the foreign exchange (FX) market on Monday. At the Lagos street market, currency traders, known as bureau de change (BDC) operators, quoted the naira at N1,520 to the dollar. The traders set the buying price at N1,490 and the selling price at N1,520, resulting in a profit margin of N30. This marks a decline of N10 or 0.66 percent from the N1,510/$ traded on May 24.

Conversely, in the official market, the naira appreciated by 9.6 percent or N143, reaching N1,339.33/$ on Monday from N1,482.81/$ on May 24. According to FMDQ Exchange, which oversees official FX trading in Nigeria, the highest exchange rate during trading hours was N1,501/$, and the lowest was N1,310/$. A daily turnover of $180.80 million was recorded at the official window.

The Association of Bureau De Change Operators of Nigeria (ABCON) stated on May 23 that the naira's weakening is driven by unearned income chasing the local currency, rather than a surge in demand for the dollar. Aminu Gwadabe, president of ABCON, attributed the naira's depreciation to corruption, not the activities of BDCs.

On Monday morning, armed Okada riders attacked the Ipaja Police Station in Lagos State, resulting in a gun battle with the police officers on duty. The confrontation caused panic among local residents and prompted the reinforcement of police personnel.

Benjamin Hundeyin, the spokesperson for the Lagos State Police Command, confirmed the incident and stated that the situation had been brought under control.

"Officers of Ipaja Police Division have successfully repelled an early morning attack on their division by motorcycle operators. The attack came after police officers commenced the day’s enforcement of the existing ban on motorcycles in Lagos State," Hundeyin said.

"The attackers, who numbered in the hundreds, stormed the station with dangerous weapons, shooting at the officers and attempting to overrun the station. The officers held their ground until reinforcement arrived from the Area Command and the Rapid Response Squad (RRS).

"During the attack, two of the assailants were fatally injured. Despite this, the officers managed to impound over two hundred motorcycles, arrest some of the attackers, and retrieve one locally made firearm," he continued.

Hundeyin emphasized that the Lagos State Police Command remains committed to enforcing all laws and maintaining order within the society, asserting that they will not be intimidated into neglecting their duties.

Hundreds of people have fled their villages in a rural community in Niger State after weekend attacks by armed groups left 10 dead and at least 160 missing, a local government chairman and two residents said on Monday.

A year after President Bola Tinubu came to power promising to end widespread insecurity, kidnappings in the northwest by armed gangs demanding ransoms have become almost routine, with authorities seemingly powerless to stop them.

Gunmen on motorbikes first attacked Kuchi community in Niger state's Munya local government area on Friday evening, killing five residents and five hunters who tried to fight back, before kidnapping dozens of people, said local chairman Aminu Ajume.

The gunmen returned on Sunday night and seized livestock and food and burned shops, forcing at least 700 villagers to flee to nearby communities, Ajume added.

"As I am speaking to you, Munya is (a) no go area. They moved from house to house abducting people ... they abducted 160 villagers, including women," he told Reuters by phone.

Kidnapping gangs, known locally as bandits, and members from a faction of insurgent group Boko Haram joined forces to launch the attacks, Ajume said without providing evidence.

Boko Haram has been fighting an insurgency in the northeast since 2009 but Niger authorities have previously said its smaller faction had cells in the state and carried out some attacks.

The police and army spokespersons in Niger state did not respond to several requests for comment.

Maryam Abubakar, a resident, said she hid in the toilet when she heard sporadic gunfire around 1900 GMT on Friday and gunmen burst into her home shortly after.

"It was raining at that time. The bandits entered the house, searched the rooms and kitchen and they took my aunt and her two children," Abubakar said, adding the three were still missing.

Musa Auwal was in his shop when gunmen attacked on Friday but he hid in a nearby bush, he said. When he returned the next day, his shop had been looted, so he fled to stay with relatives 60 km away.

Reuters

Netanyahu says deadly Israeli strike in Rafah was the result of a 'tragic mistake'

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Monday that a “tragic mistake” was made in an Israeli strike in the southern Gaza city of Rafah that set fire to a camp housing displaced Palestinians and, according to local officials, killed at least 45 people.

The strike only added to the surging international criticism Israel has faced over its war with Hamas, with even its closest allies expressing outrage at civilian deaths. Israel insists it adheres to international law even as it faces scrutiny in the world’s top courts, one of which last week demanded that it halt the offensive in Rafah.

Netanyahu did not elaborate on the error. Israel’s military initially said it had carried out a precise airstrike on a Hamas compound, killing two senior militants. As details of the strike and fire emerged, the military said it had opened an investigation into the deaths of civilians.

Sunday night’s attack, which appeared to be one of the war’s deadliest, helped push the overall Palestinian death toll in the war above 36,000, according to the Gaza Health Ministry, which does not distinguish between fighters and noncombatants in its tally.

“Despite our utmost efforts not to harm innocent civilians, last night there was a tragic mistake,” Netanyahu said Monday in an address to Israel’s parliament. “We are investigating the incident and will obtain a conclusion because this is our policy.”

Mohammed Abuassa, who rushed to the scene in the northwestern neighborhood of Tel al-Sultan, said rescuers “pulled out people who were in an unbearable state.”

“We pulled out children who were in pieces. We pulled out young and elderly people. The fire in the camp was unreal,” he said.

At least 45 people were killed, according to the Gaza Health Ministry and the Palestinian Red Crescent rescue service. The ministry said the dead included at least 12 women, eight children and three older adults, with another three bodies burned beyond recognition.

In a separate development, Egypt’s military said one of its soldiers was shot dead during an exchange of fire in the Rafah area, without providing further details. Israel said it was in contact with Egyptian authorities, and both sides said they were investigating.

An initial investigation found that the soldier had responded to an exchange of fire between Israeli forces and Palestinian militants, Egypt’s state-owned Qahera TV reported. Egypt has warned that Israel’s incursion in Rafah could threaten the two countries’ decades-old peace treaty.

The U.N. Security Council scheduled an emergency closed meeting for Tuesday afternoon on the situation in Rafah at the request of Algeria, the Arab representative on the council, two council diplomats told The Associated Press.

Rafah, the southernmost Gaza city on the border with Egypt, had housed more than a million people — about half of Gaza’s population — displaced from other parts of the territory. Most have fled once again since Israel launched what it called a limited incursion there earlier this month. Hundreds of thousands are packed into squalid tent camps in and around the city.

Elsewhere in Rafah, the director of the Kuwait Hospital, one of the city’s last functioning medical centers, said it was shutting down and that staff members were relocating to a field hospital. Dr. Suhaib al-Hamas said the decision was made after a strike killed two health workers Monday at the entrance to the hospital.

Netanyahu says Israel must destroy what he says are Hamas’ last remaining battalions in Rafah. The militant group launched a barrage of rockets Sunday from the city toward heavily populated central Israel, setting off air raid sirens but causing no injuries.

The strike on Rafah brought a new wave of condemnation, even from Israel’s strongest supporters.

The U.S. National Security Council said in a statement that the “devastating images” from the strike on Rafah were “heartbreaking.” It said the U.S. was working with the Israeli military and others to assess what happened.

French President Emmanuel Macron was more blunt, saying “these operations must stop” in a post on X. “There are no safe areas in Rafah for Palestinian civilians. I call for full respect for international law and an immediate ceasefire,” he wrote.

The Foreign Office of Germany, which has been a staunch supporter of Israel for decades, said “the images of charred bodies, including children, from the airstrike in Rafah are unbearable.”

“The exact circumstances must be clarified, and the investigation announced by the Israeli army must now come quickly,” the ministry added. ”The civilian population must finally be better protected.”

Qatar, a key mediator in attempts to secure a cease-fire and the release of hostages held by Hamas, said the Rafah strike could “complicate” talks. Negotiations, which appear to be restarting, have faltered repeatedly over Hamas’ demand for a lasting truce and the withdrawal of Israeli forces, terms Israeli leaders have publicly rejected.

The Israeli military’s top legal official, Yifat Tomer-Yerushalmi, said authorities were examining the strike in Rafah and that the military regrets the loss of civilian life.

Speaking to an Israeli lawyers’ conference, Tomer-Yerushalmi said Israel has launched 70 criminal investigations into possible violations of international law, including the deaths of civilians, the conditions at a detention facility holding suspected militants and the deaths of some inmates in Israeli custody. She said incidents of property crimes and looting were also being examined.

Israel has long maintained it has an independent judiciary capable of investigating and prosecuting abuses. But rights groups say Israeli authorities routinely fail to fully investigate violence against Palestinians and that even when soldiers are held accountable, the punishment is usually light.

Israel has denied allegations of genocide brought against it by South Africa at the International Court of Justice. Last week, the court ordered Israelto halt its Rafah offensive, a ruling it has no power to enforce.

Separately, the chief prosecutor at the International Criminal Court is seeking arrest warrants against Netanyahu and Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, as well as three Hamas leaders, over alleged crimes linked to the war. The ICC only intervenes when it concludes that the state in question is unable or unwilling to properly prosecute such crimes.

Israel says it does its best to adhere to the laws of war. Israeli leaders also say they face an enemy that makes no such commitment, embeds itself in civilian areas and refuses to release Israeli hostages unconditionally.

Hamas triggered the war with its Oct. 7 attack into Israel, in which Palestinian militants killed some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and seized some 250 hostages. Hamas still holds about 100 hostages and the remains of around 30 others after most of the rest were released during a cease-fire last year.

Around 80% of Gaza’s 2.3 million people have fled their homes. Severe hunger is widespread, and U.N. officials say parts of the territory are experiencing famine.

AP

WESTERN PERSPECTIVE

Russian-held Luhansk in eastern Ukraine attacked twice in one night

The Russian-held city of Luhansk in eastern Ukraine came under attack twice within three hours early on Tuesday, officials said, the latest in a series of strikes near the city.

Fires appeared to have broken out in both strikes. Ukraine made no official comment on either incident.

Leonid Pasechnik, Russia-installed governor of Luhansk region, said the first attack at about 9 p.m. (1800 GMT) was made with cluster munitions.

"A fire has broken out as a result of the attack," Pasechnik said, noting that information on casualties was being clarified.

Russia's Tass news agency, quoting emergency services, cited injuries.

Ukrainian media and war bloggers posted a picture of what they described as a large fire in the city.

A second strike hit the city at midnight, a Russian Foreign Ministry official said, apparently in the same general area.

Rodion Miroshnik, a special ambassador for the ministry, said city residents had heard two explosions in the same district as the site of the first attack.

"It cannot be ruled out that the repeat strike occurred at the site where rescue teams are dealing with the aftermath of the previous missile attack," Miroshnik wrote on Telegram.

Ukrainian news outlets said the target of the second strike was an airfield and posted a video of a fire spreading over a wide area.

Reuters could not independently confirm battlefield accounts or what weapon might have been used.

Ukraine's military has launched at least three attacks on Luhansk and nearby areas in recent weeks, targeting mainly fuel storage depots.

Russia annexed the Luhansk region several months after its February 2022 invasion, along with three other regions, though it does not fully control any of them.

Much of Luhansk has been occupied since 2014, when Russian-financed separatists took over swathes of territory in eastern Ukraine after large protests prompted Russia-friendly President Viktor Yanukovych to flee the country and Moscow's forces seized the Crimea peninsula.

RUSSIAN PERSPECTIVE

Russian troops liberate two communities in Ukraine operation over past day — top brass

Russian troops liberated the settlement of Ivanovka in the Kharkov Region and the settlement of Netailovo in the Donetsk People’s Republic over the past day in the special military operation in Ukraine, Russia’s Defense Ministry reported on Monday.

"Battlegroup West units liberated the settlement of Ivanovka in the Kharkov Region and gained more advantageous positions… Battlegroup Center units liberated the settlement of Netailovo in the Donetsk People’s Republic and improved their tactical position," the ministry said in a statement.

Russian troops inflict over 300 casualties on Ukrainian army in Kharkov area over past day

Russian troops inflicted more than 300 casualties on the Ukrainian army in the Kharkov area over the past day, the ministry reported.

"Battlegroup North units continue advancing deep into the enemy defenses. They inflicted casualties on manpower and equipment of the Ukrainian army’s 125th mechanized and 112th territorial defense brigades in areas near the settlements of Konstantinovka and Granov in the Kharkov Region. They repulsed two counterattacks by enemy assault groups in areas near the settlements of Glubokoye and Volchansk in the Kharkov Region," the ministry said.

The Ukrainian army’s losses in the Kharkov direction over the past 24 hours amounted to 318 personnel, a tank and two armored combat vehicles, it specified.

In counterbattery fire, Russian troops destroyed a US-made 155mm M777 howitzer, a UK-made 155mm FH70 howitzer, a 152mm D-20 howitzer, three 122mm D-30 howitzers, a US-manufactured 105mm M119 artillery gun and a 122mm Grad multiple rocket launcher of the Ukrainian army, the ministry said.

Ukrainian army loses 130 troops in south Donetsk area over past day

The Ukrainian army lost roughly 130 troops in battles with Russian forces in the south Donetsk area over the past day, the ministry reported.

"Battlegroup East units took more advantageous positions and inflicted casualties on manpower and equipment of the Ukrainian army’s 128th territorial defense brigade near the settlement of Makarovka in the Donetsk People’s Republic. The Ukrainian army lost as many as 130 personnel, five motor vehicles, a 155mm M777 howitzer and a 155mm M198 howitzer of US manufacture," the ministry said.

Reuters/Tass