BERLIN (AP) — The Swiss federal intelligence service on Thursday published a 200-page dossier on the notorious Nazi war criminal Josef Mengele, the German doctor known as the “Angel of Death” for conducting horrific medical experiments on prisoners at Auschwitz.
During World War II, Mengele served at the Auschwitz extermination camp in Nazi-occupied Poland, where about 1.1 million people were killed, approximately 1 million of them Jews. He became infamous for carrying out brutal medical experiments on inmates, including children, under the guise of scientific research.
After the war, Mengele obtained a Red Cross travel document under a false identity, allowing him to leave Europe. Like many former Nazi officials, he spent years in hiding in Latin America while being pursued internationally for his crimes. He drowned in 1979 while swimming on the coast of Brazil.
The documents released by Swiss authorities include material provided to police suggesting that Mengele may have returned to Switzerland after initially fleeing Germany, or may have been planning to enter the country under a false name, according to the German news agency dpa.
Historians seeking to establish whether Mengele spent time in Switzerland while being pursued as a war criminal, without Swiss authorities catching him, had long sought access to the files.
Swiss authorities had maintained that the documents should remain sealed until 2071 on security grounds and to protect individuals named in them.
Historian Gérard Wettstein successfully challenged those restrictions before the Federal Administrative Court, leading to the online publication. Some sections have been redacted to protect sources and the personal data of third parties, authorities said.
The dossier was compiled by the police service of the federal prosecutor’s office, a predecessor of Switzerland’s federal intelligence services, and transferred to the Federal Archives in 2001.
FILE - In this Saturday, Dec. 7, 2016 photo, forensic doctor Daniel Munoz shows the skull of Nazi war criminal Josef Mengele, at the school of medicine of Sao Paulo University in Sao Paulo, Brazil. (AP Photo/Andre Penner, File)
An Israeli strike killed at least four people in northern Gaza, including two children, hospital officials said Thursday. The Israeli military said the attack killed a militant.
Separately, Iranian-backed Houthi rebels entered Yemen's strategic Red Sea port city of Mokha, according to several residents, which could bring the rebels closer to controlling a critical waterway to the Red Sea.
Here’s a look at the latest news in the Middle East. Full coverage can be found here.
Two children were among the dead after Israel carried out a new strike in the northern Gaza community of Beit Lahiya, according to Shifa Hospital, where the bodies were taken.
The strike killed a husband and wife, alongside their two daughters, aged 8 and 12.
“There is nothing that can justify Israel attacking this home,” said Zuheir al-Heisami, a neighbor of the family, at the hospital. He said the strike happened at around 2 a.m. “These were two children and their parents that were killed while they were asleep.”
The Israeli military in a statement said the strike in Beit Lahiya “eliminated” a militant who had taken part in attacks against its forces. It did not give details.
Israel’s military in the past has said it carries out strikes in response to threats against its forces under the fragile ceasefire that has been in place since October.
Houthi rebels have entered Yemen's strategic Red Sea port city of Mokha, two residents and three local doctors told The Associated Press on Thursday.
If confirmed, the development is significant because taking the city would put the Houthis closer to their goal of controlling the Bab el-Mandeb strait, a crucial waterway and shipping route that links the Red Sea to the Gulf of Aden and the Indian Ocean. Mokha is about 50 miles (80 kilometers) from the strait.
Mokha long had been held by forces aligned with Yemen’s internationally recognized government.
A resident, Amin al-Mohammdi, said the Houthis entered Mokha and fanned out across intersections. All roads from the west coast leading to Mokha have been closed, and shops were shut, he said. Another resident, Mohamed Salem, reported seeing vehicles belonging to Houthi forces in the streets.
Three doctors told the AP they fled a hospital in Mokha after it was seized by the Houthis. The doctors spoke on condition of anonymity, citing fears for their safety.
The AP could not independently verify the claims.
— By Ahmed Haj in Aden, Yemen
Algeria's government announced on Thursday that it’s severing diplomatic ties with the United Arab Emirates.
An Algerian Foreign Ministry statement read on state television gave no specific reason for the decision, but cited alleged “provocative and hostile actions” by the Gulf Arab state and “regrettable and unjustified behavior.”
Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz warned Iran of a “powerful response” if Israel is attacked, saying it would “inflict severe damage on Iran of a kind it has not yet suffered, including on its central energy facilities.”
Katz' video statement came after Iran launched missiles at U.S. targets in Israel’s eastern neighbor of Jordan earlier this week in response to U.S. strikes on Iranian oil tankers.
Palestinians gather around the bodies of members of the Ahmed family, including the parents and their two children, who were killed in an Israeli army strike, at Shifa Hospital in Gaza City, Thursday, Sept. 10, 2026. (AP Photo/Jehad Alshrafi)
Palestinians sit beside the bodies of members of the Ahmed family, including the parents and their two children, who were killed in an Israeli army strike, at Shifa Hospital in Gaza City, Thursday, Sept. 10, 2026. (AP Photo/Jehad Alshrafi)
A Yemen's Houthi rebel chews Qat as he marches during a mobilization campaign in Sanaa, Yemen, Thursday, Sept. 10, 2026. (AP Photo)
Yemen's Houthi rebels gather during a mobilization campaign in Sanaa, Yemen, Thursday, Sept. 10, 2026. (AP Photo)
Yemen's Houthi rebels march during a mobilization campaign in Sanaa, Yemen, Thursday, Sept. 10, 2026. (AP Photo)
Yemen's Houthi rebels walk carrying weapons during a mobilization campaign in Sanaa, Yemen, Thursday, Sept. 10, 2026.(AP Photo)
A fighter with Yemen’s Houthi rebels carries a rocket-propelled grenade launcher as they march during a mobilization campaign in Sanaa, Yemen, Thursday, Sept. 10, 2026. (AP Photo)
A worker prepares gas cylinders for refilling at a gas station in Mahra, Yemen, Wednesday, Sept. 9, 2026. (AP Photo/Abdulnasser Alseddik)
