A man who escaped the last functioning hospital in the Sudanese city of el-Fasher before a reported massacre by paramilitary troops says he has lost all hope and happiness.

“I have lost my colleagues,” Abdu-Rabbu Ahmed, a laboratory technician at the Saudi Maternity Hospital, told the BBC.

“I have lost the people whose faces I used to see smiling… It feels as if you lost a big part of your body or your soul.”

He was speaking to us from a displaced persons camp in Tawila some 70km (43 miles) to the west of el-Fasher, the regional hub which was taken over by paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) in the last week of October after an 18-month siege.

The RSF has been fighting the Sudanese army since April 2023, when a power struggle between their leaders erupted into a civil war.

The alleged killings of at least 460 patients and their companions at the Saudi Hospital were one of the most shocking among widespread accounts of atrocities – some of them filmed by RSF fighters and posted to social media.

In a statement of condemnation, the World Health Organization (WHO) said it was “appalled and deeply shocked” by the reported shootings, and by the abductions of six health workers – four doctors, a nurse and a pharmacist.

The RSF has dismissed the accusations as disinformation, declaring that all of el-Fasher’s hospitals had been abandoned. It disputed the claims by filming a video inside the hospital grounds showing female volunteers tending to patients.

A freelancer based in Tawila gathered interviews for the BBC.

Mr Ahmed told him he had carried on working at Saudi Hospital since the beginning of the war, despite regular shelling by artillery, tanks and drones – which destroyed parts of the buildings and injured doctors and nurses as well as patients.

Medical staff used to share what little food was available as the RSF blockade tightened, he said, sometimes working without breakfast or lunch.

Most of them fled when the paramilitary fighters launched their final assault.

“The shelling started around six in the morning,” Mr Ahmed said.

“All civilians and soldiers headed out towards the southern side. There was a state of terror, and as we walked, drones were bombing us. And heavy artillery too – I saw many people die on the spot, there was no-one who could save them.”

Mr Ahmed said some of the fleeing medical workers arrived with him in Tawila, but many were detained in locations north-west of the city, naming the Garni area, the villages of Turra and Hilla al-Sheikh and the town of Korma.

Some were transferred to Nyala, he said, the RSF’s de facto capital in South Darfur.

“This is the information I received from colleagues we know,” he told the BBC, saying that he later heard medical staff who remained at the hospital were executed.

Mr Ahmed also lost much of his family: a sister and two brothers were killed that day, and his parents are missing.

“I am very worried about the fate of the people inside el-Fasher,” he added.

“They may be killed. And they may be used as human shields against the [Sudanese air force] airstrikes.”

Like many other men suspected of being soldiers, Mr Abdu-Teia was stopped at the Garni checkpoint and interrogated, he says. The two men with him were taken, but the RSF let him go.

“They didn’t beat me, but they questioned me a lot, because of my injury, I think. They said: ‘We know you are a soldier, but you’re finished – you will die on the road. So just go.”

Mr Abdu-Teia says the RSF brought some medicine to Garni but “the injuries were too many – two or three people died every hour.

“The same day we arrived, vehicles came and took people to unknown places. Any young man who looked physically OK was taken.”

He managed to get a lift to Tawila from “people who had cars”. They charged passengers 500,000 Sudanese pounds ($830, £630) and turned on wi-fi hotspots so they could call their families to transfer money, he said. “We left with them – we had nothing, not even plans.”

Many children arrived at the Tawila camps without parents. Fifteen-year-old Eman was one of them.

Her father was killed in a drone strike in el-Fasher, she told the BBC, and her mother and brother were detained by the RSF as they fled.

“Whoever did not die, [the RSF] ran them over with vehicles,” she said. “They took our belongings and told us all of you are soldiers. They beat my brother and choked him with a chain.

“They wanted to beat my mother. She told us: ‘Go, I will come to you.’ We got into a vehicle and left. They did not allow my brother to get into the vehicle. We left them behind.”

Eman escaped but saw other girls and women who did not.

“They took some women. They took them in their vehicles and stabbed some of them with knives. Some were taken while their mothers couldn’t do anything.”

Female survivors have told horrific stories of gang rapes and the abduction of young girls.

Another teenager on her own, 14-year-old Samar, said she had lost her mother in the chaos at the Garni checkpoint, and her father was arrested.

She was told he was taken to the Children’s Hospital in el-Fasher.

That building had reportedly been serving as an RSF detention centre, and it is where the Yale researchers also said satellite images showed evidence of killings: apparent clusters of bodies as well as earth excavations that could have been a mass grave.

The RSF has issued videos to counter these allegations, declaring that the Children’s Hospital in el-Fasher is ready to receive patients.

One shows a man dressed in a blazer standing outside its gate with a group of what appear to be doctors in hospital scrubs.

“These medical personnel and cadres, they are not hostages,” the man in the blazer says. “We are not taking them as war hostages. They are free. They are free to practise medicine.”

Another man in the video, who introduces himself as Dr Ishaq Abdul Mahmoud, associate professor of paediatrics and child health at el-Fasher University, says: “We are here to help any person in need of medical service.

“We are out of politics. Whether soldiers or [civilians] we are ready to help them.”

Dr Elsheikh of the Sudan Doctors Network dismisses the RSF videos as propaganda.

And Mr Ahmed, the Saudi Hospital laboratory technician in Tawila, knows what he has seen, and he has seen too much.

“I do not have any hope of returning to el-Fasher,” he says.

“After everything that happened and everything I saw. Even if there was a small hope, I remember what happened in front of me.”

Mohamed Zakaria is a freelance journalist from Darfur based in Kampala

Additional reporting by BBC Verify’s Peter Mwai

The former top lawyer in the Israeli military has been arrested, as a political showdown deepens over the leaking of a video that allegedly shows severe abuse of a Palestinian detainee by Israeli soldiers.

Maj Gen Yifat Tomer-Yerushalmi resigned as the Military Advocate General of the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) last week, saying that she took full responsibility for the leak.

On Sunday, the story took a darker turn when she was reported as missing, with police mounting an hours-long search for her on a beach north of Tel Aviv.

She was subsequently found alive and well, police said, but was then taken into custody.

The fallout from the leaked video is intensifying by the day.

Broadcast in August 2024 on an Israeli news channel, the footage shows reserve soldiers at the Sde Teiman military base in southern Israel taking aside a detainee, then surrounding him with riot shields to block visibility while he was allegedly beaten and stabbed in the rectum with a sharp object.

The detainee was treated for severe injuries.

Five reservists were charged with aggravated abuse and causing serious bodily harm to the detainee. They have denied the charges and have not been named.

On Sunday, four of the reservists wore black balaclavas to hide their faces as they appeared at a news conference outside the Supreme Court in Jerusalem along with their lawyers, who demanded the dismissal of their trial.

Adi Keidar, a lawyer from the right-wing legal aid organisation Honenu, claimed his clients were subject to “to a faulty, biased and completely cooked-up legal process”.

On Monday, it emerged the detainee at the centre of the case was released to Gaza in October as part of an exchange with Hamas of convicted prisoners and detainees held without charge by Israel for hostages held by Hamas since 7 October 2023.

Last week, a criminal investigation was launched into the leaking of the video.

Gen Tomer-Yerushalmi was put on leave while the inquiry took place.

On Friday, Defence Minister Israel Katz said she would not be allowed to return to her post.

Shortly after that, Gen Tomer-Yerushalmi resigned.

In her resignation letter, she said she took full responsibility for any material that was released to the media from the unit.

“I approved the release of material to the media in an attempt to counter false propaganda against the army’s law enforcement authorities,” she said.

That is a reference to efforts by some right-wing political figures in Israel to claim that the allegations of severe abuse of the Palestinian detainee had been fabricated.

She added: “It is our duty to investigate whenever there is reasonable suspicion of acts of violence against a detainee.”

Paris (Imran Y. CHOUDHRY) :- Former Press Secretary to the President, Former Press Minister to the Embassy of Pakistan to France, Former MD, SRBC Mr. Qamar Bashir analysis : The world watched in shock as Israeli missiles struck the heart of Damascus on July 16, targeting the Ministry of Defense and other critical infrastructure. The timing, scale, and intent of the attack raised urgent questions. Officially, Israeli leaders claimed the strikes were a protective measure for the Druze community in southern Syria amid intensifying clashes with Bedouin tribes. But the broader picture tells a story not just of protection, but of preemptive aggression, regional dominance, and a disturbing disregard for international sovereignty.
This attack came on the heels of quiet diplomatic efforts between Israel and Syria—efforts that had sparked cautious optimism for a historic nonaggression pact. Yet, the Israeli strikes shattered that momentum. According to Israeli historian Itamar Rabinovich, who once led peace talks with Syria, the move reflects a bizarre blend of post-October 7 paranoia and newfound confidence following Israel’s military actions in Lebanon and against Iran.
Indeed, Israel’s military doctrine seems to have shifted dramatically since Hamas’s 2023 surprise assault. Instead of pursuing diplomacy, Israel has shown a clear preference for force—even at the cost of sabotaging peace overtures. Rabinovich aptly described it as “a very strange mixture of trauma and triumph.”
The immediate spark for the latest strikes was Syria’s deployment of troops to Suwayda, a southern province home to a large Druze population. Fighting had erupted there between Druze militias and Bedouin tribes, with Syria’s military intervening to restore order. For Israel, this raised two concerns: a potential threat near its border, and unrest among its own Druze citizens—an influential minority with deep ties to the Israeli state.
The Druze, an offshoot Islamic sect with a population of about one million, are spread across Syria, Israel, and Lebanon. In Israel, nearly 150,000 Druze live under its governance, including 20,000 in the Golan Heights, annexed by Israel in 1981. Unlike other Arab groups in Israel, the Druze serve in the Israeli military, often reaching high ranks. Their loyalty has forged a unique bond with the Jewish majority—one that Prime Minister Netanyahu could not afford to alienate.
This week, when disturbing footage of Druze men being humiliated by Islamist fighters circulated online, Israeli Druze reacted with fury. Protests erupted, roads were blocked, and around 1,000 Druze men reportedly crossed into Syria to defend their kin. Netanyahu, aware of the domestic political pressure, invoked a dual doctrine: “Demilitarization of the region south of Damascus” and “protection of the brothers of our brothers, the Druze.”
But while the justification was rooted in the protection of a minority, the execution was far from localized. Israel did not limit its action to Suwayda or the tribal conflict zone. Instead, it struck deep into Damascus—far from the scene of the clashes—leveling key government buildings including the Ministry of Defense. Footage aired live showed Syrian news anchors diving for cover as missiles hit the capital. At least three people were killed in these strikes.
Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa, who rose to power after the fall of Bashar al-Assad in an Islamist-led insurgency, faced a fateful choice: escalate into full-blown war or prioritize national unity and civilian protection. He chose the latter, declaring a ceasefire and ordering the military’s withdrawal from Suwayda. In a national address, he condemned Israel’s actions as a bid to “sow chaos” and “divide the Syrian people.”
A temporary truce was brokered with U.S. involvement. Secretary of State Marco Rubio described the Syria-Israel tensions as a “misunderstanding” and said Washington had mediated an agreement among all parties. The ceasefire terms included a halt to all military operations and the creation of a monitoring committee led by Druze leaders. Yet, the truce remains fragile. One prominent Druze cleric, Hikmat al-Hijri, rejected it outright and called for continued resistance.
From a regional perspective, Israel’s strike is not isolated. It mirrors a pattern: attacks on Iran, Lebanon, and Syria—often justified on national security grounds, yet executed with overwhelming force and scant regard for sovereignty. All of these assaults, while publicly condemned by the U.S. and its allies, are often carried out with tacit approval or coordination with American security and political leadership. Netanyahu’s close ties with Washington remain unshaken, bolstered by shared intelligence, joint military exercises, and mutual rhetoric.
During a recent meeting between Netanyahu and Rubio and Hegseth, both sides praised the strength of Israeli-American military cooperation. This alliance was vividly demonstrated during the joint Israeli-American strikes on Iran’s Fordow nuclear site earlier this year and the subsequent neutralization of Iranian missile defenses. These attacks, though illegal under international law, were framed as preemptive defense.
Syria, like Iran and Lebanon before it, opted not to retaliate militarily. Instead, it chose diplomacy, prioritizing civilian safety and national integrity. The restraint shown by Damascus highlights a troubling contrast: while Israel behaves with unchecked aggression, often shielded by U.S. support, its neighbors—no matter how bruised—seek de-escalation over escalation.
But this asymmetry cannot last forever. Israeli belligerence, once tolerated, is now under increasing global scrutiny. Countries that had normalized relations with Israel are beginning to reconsider. The international community, long silent, is finding its voice. From European capitals to U.N. chambers, criticism of Israel’s policies is mounting. Human rights organizations, media outlets, and civic movements have begun imposing informal sanctions—boycotts, divestments, and calls to isolate Israel diplomatically and economically.
Public opinion in the West, especially in the U.S. and Europe, has shifted dramatically. No longer is support for Israel unconditional. The atrocities in Gaza, the disregard for Syrian sovereignty, and the documented humiliation of civilians have eroded Israel’s moral standing. As these trends accelerate, it is increasingly ordinary Jewish citizens—not the political architects of war—who face the backlash.
That, perhaps, is the greatest tragedy of Netanyahu’s militaristic adventurism. In seeking to project power and assert dominance, his government has isolated Israel and endangered its people. A state that once sought peace and legitimacy is now seen by many as a pariah—a state that tears down rather than builds up.
Whether this path changes depends not only on Israel’s leadership but also on whether Washington continues to provide political and military cover. Until then, the region remains caught in a cycle of provocation, restraint, and unhealed wounds—each new strike a blow not just to buildings, but to the fragile hope of peace.