Category World News

While Israeli bombardment has largely stopped, Palestinians in Gaza are careful to not feel overly optimistic as they see the challenges that still lie ahead.

Khallet al-Daba, occupied West Bank – At nine o’clock on a Monday morning in May, the quiet of Khallet al-Daba was shattered by the sound of bulldozers and other demolition vehicles approaching. Accompanying them were Israeli soldiers pouring into the village, forcing families out of their homes and driving livestock into the open.

By the end of May 5, the small community in the heart of Masafer Yatta had been reduced to rubble. It was just one of at least four mass demolitions conducted by Israeli forces this year. For residents, the repeated demolitions are nothing less than a “new Nakba” – an echo of the mass displacement and ethnic cleansing Palestinians suffered in 1948.

Dozens of military vehicles, armoured carriers and jeeps sealed off the village as the demolitions took place in May, according to locals. Women carrying infants, men still dazed from being forced suddenly from their homes, and children screaming in fear stood under the burning sun for six hours. Behind them, the walls of their houses were turned into rubble.

Families have since been attempting to adapt to a life uprooted. Some have sheltered in underground caves dug years ago as makeshift refuges. Others have crowded into fragile tents that cannot withstand either the scorching summer or the freezing winter.

“This demolition destroyed the lifelines of Khallet al-Daba: water, electricity, solar energy, drinking wells, sewage tanks, and even street lighting,” said Mohammed Rabia, who is the head of the nearby at-Tuwani village council, and deals with Bedouin issues throughout Masafer Yatta. “We’ve returned to the Stone Age, living in caves and tents without the necessities of life… but no one has left the village.”

Military training zones

Khallet al-Daba lies at the heart of Masafer Yatta, a cluster of 12 Palestinian villages spread across rolling hills south of Hebron, in the southern West Bank.

The United Nations has previously reported that 1,150 people live in Masafer Yatta, but Rabia says the true number is about 4,500 people. They mostly herd sheep and farm wheat and barley, which produces the majority of the income for the Palestinian population in this region.

But, as with approximately 20 percent of land in the West Bank, Israel declared part of the area a military training zone – ‘Firing Zone 918’ – in the 1980s and has been trying to empty it of Palestinians ever since.

The Israeli military has previously justified the May 5 demolition as necessary because of the location of the village in the military training zone.

The practice of declaring areas of the West Bank military training zones was revealed by an Israeli-Palestinian research group, Akevot, as a tactic to expel Palestinian villagers proposed in 1981 by then-Agriculture Minister Ariel Sharon, who later became Israel’s prime minister in the early 2000s.

Homes here are repeatedly demolished under military orders. Residents say the justifications vary – construction without permits, proximity to military training areas, or land claimed for settlement outposts – but the goal is the same: displacement.

A press release last week from Frederieke van Dongen, the humanitarian affairs manager of the aid organisation Doctors Without Borders (MSF), agreed with that conclusion, calling Israel’s actions in Masafer Yatta “part of a broader policy of ethnic cleansing, aimed at forcibly transferring Palestinians from the area”.

‘If I leave, I will die’

Among those who were forced to watch their homes collapse this spring was 65-year-old Samiha Muhammad al-Dababseh, a mother of eight who has lived in the village her whole life. Her weathered face carries the strain of decades of hardship.

“I screamed, ‘The army is here!’” she recalled. “Within minutes, soldiers were storming the houses, forcibly removing us without allowing us to take anything – not food or clothes. They pushed me violently and told me, ‘This is not your land. You will not have a home or shelter left.’”

Samiha’s family had already endured three demolitions prior to May. After their stone house was destroyed in May, they were forced to return to a cave that Samiha had dug out by hand and turned into a shelter with her late husband. The women and children slept inside the cave, while the men spread out on the ground outside its entrance.

But then, on September 17, even the cave was destroyed in yet another Israeli attack, which also targeted residential tents, water tanks, and mobile bathrooms, according to the villagers.

“If one tree remains in Khallet al-Daba, I will stay in its shade,” Samiha said. The land is my soul. If I leave, I will die.”

Samiha said that she was now living under a tree. “We live in fear of settler attacks, ” she explained. “Despite everything, we will not leave.

Living in fear

Samiha’s youngest son, 31-year-old Mujahid al-Dababseh, shares a cave with his wife and three children – as well as 11 other relatives. The farmer says that nights in the cave can be long and frightening.

“The children suffer from nightmares of bulldozers and settler attacks,” he said. “I fear [they will be attacked by] snakes, insects, or from thirst due to the lack of water. Our lives are very difficult; there is no electricity, no food, no safety.”

Mujahid remembers placing stones with his father when they built their home. Watching it collapse was like losing “a piece of my life”, he said.

“The [Israeli] occupation has turned Khallet al-Daba into a second Gaza – they wiped out everything above ground, leaving only rubble,” Mujahid said. “But they failed. No Palestinian child will ever emigrate from here.”

The village is home to just 120 people, a third of them children, all members of the extended Dababseh clan. Its name recalls the hyenas (daba in Arabic) that once roamed the valleys. Today, residents say, it is settlers and soldiers who stalk their land.

For many here, the repeated demolitions are not just about homes, but about erasing life itself – water wells, solar panels, sewage systems, even street lighting. Each time, residents rebuild what they can. Each time, they vow not to leave.

Khallet al-Daba is now a patchwork of caves, rubble and tents. Yet it remains a symbol of Palestinian steadfastness, residents say, rooted in a struggle that has lasted more than seven decades.

“This is an ongoing Nakba,” said Rabia. “But the people have chosen to resist with their presence. Four times, the houses fell. Four times, the people stayed.”

Israel’s World Cup qualifier against Italy in Udine was played under heavy security and protests just days after a Gaza ceasefire took effect. A pro-Palestinian march in the city center was expected to attract more people than the match itself.

Grammy-winning R&B singer D’Angelo has passed away at age 51 following a “prolonged and courageous battle with cancer”, according to a statement from his family.

On Tuesday, his loved ones released a statement announcing his death. “The shining star of our family has dimmed his light for us in this life,” it read.

“We are saddened that he can only leave dear memories with his family, but we are eternally grateful for the legacy of extraordinarily moving music he leaves behind.”

D’Angelo, whose real name was Michael Eugene Archer, was best known for his silky vocals during the 1990s and 2000s, with his record Voodoo earning him the 2001 Grammy for Best R&B album.

His hit single from that album, Untitled (How Does It Feel), not only won him another Grammy for Best Male R&B Vocal Performance, but it also catapulted him into the mainstream spotlight with its steamy music video, featuring a shirtless D’Angelo singing directly to the camera.

The music publication Rolling Stone has ranked Voodoo as one of its best albums of all time.

News of his passing prompted an outpouring of remembrances from fans, including fellow musicians.

“I never met D’Angelo but I love him, respect him, admire his gift. This loss HURTS!!” singer-songwriter Jill Scott wrote on the social media platform X, adding: “R.I.P. GENIUS.”

Another musician, rapper Doja Cat, offered condolences to D’Angelo’s loved ones. She called him “a true voice of soul and inspiration to many brilliant artists of our generation and generations to come”.

In his music, D’Angelo blended hip-hop grit, emphatic soul and gospel-rooted emotion into a sound that helped spearhead the neo-soul movement of the 1990s.

Earlier this year, the Virginia native celebrated the 30th anniversary of his debut studio album Brown Sugar, a platinum-selling offering that produced signature hits like Lady.

That 1995 album earned him multiple Grammy nominations and cemented him as one of R&B’s most original new voices.

D’Angelo’s sultry vocal style — a mix of raspy texture and church-bred fluidity — set him apart from his peers. That voice became inseparable from the striking visuals of the Untitled (How Does It Feel) music video.

Its minimalist aesthetic became a cultural touchstone, igniting conversations around artistry, sexuality and vulnerability in Black male representation.

Beyond his own catalogue, D’Angelo’s artistry shone in collaborations. He memorably duetted with Lauryn Hill on the soulful ballad Nothing Even Matters, a highlight of her landmark 1998 album, The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill.

He also contributed to The Roots’ 1996 album Illadelph Halflife and was part of the supergroup Black Men United, which yielded one song, U Will Know, for the film Jason’s Lyric in 1994. D’Angelo wrote and co-produced the single.

D’Angelo was in a four-year relationship with Grammy-nominated R&B singer Angie Stone in the 1990s.

The pair met while he was finishing the album Brown Sugar and bonded over their similar backgrounds: Both are from the South and both grew up in the church. Stone worked on the album with D’Angelo, and the pair co-wrote the song Everyday for her 1999 debut album, Black Diamond.

Stone described D’Angelo as her “musical soul mate” in an interview with The Associated Press in 1999, adding that their working relationship was “like milk and cereal”.

“Musically, it was magic,” Stone said. “It’s something that I have not been able to do with any other producer or musician.”

They had a son together, the artist Swayvo Twain, born Michael Archer Jr. Stone died earlier this year in a car crash. She was 63.

D’Angelo also has a daughter, Imani Archer.

Among the tributes to D’Angelo’s artistry on Tuesday was a social media post from Tyler, the Creator, who reminisced about combing his local music store on his ninth birthday.

“I had $20 in birthday money and my eyes set on leaving with one thing. VOODOO by D’Angelo,” Tyler, the Creator, wrote on Instagram. “I had no idea that would help shape my musical dna.”

“I couldn’t understand how someone could write something so simple but personal but broad but genius,” he continued. “Thats how special he was.”

The actor and musician Jamie Foxx, meanwhile, offered his memories of seeing D’Angelo perform live at the concert venue House of Blues.

“Your voice was silky and flawless,” Foxx wrote on Instagram, addressing the late D’Angelo directly. “I was also in pure awe of your talents…. roaming around on each instrument, displaying your expertise in every note and every song.”

Recent battlefield gains by the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) may turn the tide in Kordofan, analysts have told Al Jazeera.

Sudan’s devastating war between the SAF and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) has raged for two and a half years, resulting in massive displacement and the world’s worst humanitarian crisis, according to the United Nations.

Yet SAF’s capture in September of the strategic city of Bara, which the RSF was using for logistics, supplies, and as a muster point for reinforcements, is seen as a sign that SAF may have swung the pendulum in its favour.

Why is Bara important?

Bara lies about 350km (217 miles) southwest of the capital Khartoum along the “Export Road” used to truck goods from Khartoum to el-Obeid, capital of North Kordofan State.

It also exports its own agricultural products and livestock to the rest of Sudan.

The Khartoum-el-Obeid connection is vital because from el-Obeid, roads lead outwards to South Sudan and Sudan’s east and Darfur in the west.

From Khartoum, roads lead northeast to Port Sudan on the Red Sea, where the wartime government was until recently. Roads also lead north to Egypt and east to Eritrea and Ethiopia.

SAF took el-Obeid in February, after a two-year RSF siege, and took Khartoum in March, so taking Bara gave it solid control over the Export Road to use as a supply route, independent Sudanese military and political analyst Akram Ali told Al Jazeera.

Bara and el-Obeid lie near the westernmost reaches of SAF control, well to the east of el-Fasher, the capital of North Darfur and the last city SAF holds in the vast western region. Between the two is a stretch of RSF control – and siege on el-Fasher – that SAF has to breach.

For the RSF, keeping Bara and a foothold in Kordofan was important because it allowed it to put pressure on SAF, which holds territory to the north, and to link the areas it controls in Kordofan and Darfur to South Sudan, links it uses to move weapons and fighters.

How did SAF take Bara?

The army launched an offensive on Bara from the south on September 11, while RSF defences were concentrated on the eastern side, analyst Abdul Majeed Abdul Hamid said.

SAF sent continuous drone strikes against RSF targets, then launched the Darfur Track Armed Struggle Movement, an assault force known for mobility and speed, from el-Obeid.

The force successfully engaged and defeated the RSF unit defending Bara, then entered the city with heavy firepower, according to a military officer who spoke on condition of anonymity.

The officer said the operation relied on speed and keeping the RSF occupied on several fronts to prevent it from sending reinforcements.

Most of Bara’s civilians supported SAF, according to Abdul Hamid, and the RSF quickly retreated.

The operation cut off RSF supply and military support lines, he added, isolating their remaining positions in areas such as al-Khuwei to the west and al-Nahud to the east.

For the RSF, keeping Bara and a foothold in Kordofan was important because it allowed it to put pressure on SAF, which holds territory to the north, and to link the areas it controls in Kordofan and Darfur to South Sudan, links it uses to move weapons and fighters.

Losing Bara also meant that the RSF could no longer keep the city of el-Obeid under siege.

Will the RSF lose the Kordofans?

The RSF announced in February this year that it had entered an alliance with the Southern People’s Liberation Movement-North (SPLM-N). South Kordofan includes the Abyei region, disputed between Sudan and South Sudan. The SPLM-N controls the vast, isolated Nuba Mountains region in South Kordofan, right up against the border with South Sudan.

However, despite that new stronghold, analysts told Al Jazeera that losing control over the Export Road spells a serious deterioration in the RSF’s power in the Kordofans.

“The army’s entry into el-Obeid marked the beginning of their actual collapse,” said Ali.

An army unit called “Al-Sayyad” – named after a commander killed in the early days of the war – had moved from Rabak, capital of White Nile State, in a campaign that eventually reached el-Obeid.

Political analyst Ahmed Shomokh said liberating Bara opens the door to reactivating the SAF air base in el-Obeid, the largest in Kordofan, after two years of inactivity, “significantly [enhancing] the logistical and combat capabilities of the Sudanese army” and helping SAF’s campaign to expel RSF from the Kordofans.

Taking back all of Kordofan would allow SAF to work towards liberating Darfur, Abdul Hamid said.

“The army has combat experience and personnel capable of liberating Kordofan with the same capabilities it used to retake the cities of central Sudan and the capital,” Abdul Hamid continued.

The war has killed tens of thousands of people and displaced more than 10 million in what has become the world’s largest humanitarian crisis.