Browsing: Region
It only took a matter of minutes after the heavy overnight rain first began to fall for Jamil al-Sharafi’s tent in southern Gaza to flood, drenching his food and leaving his blankets sopping wet.The winter rains have made an already precarious life worse for people like Sharafi, who is among the hundreds of thousands in the Palestinian territory displaced by the war, many of whom now survive on aid provided by humanitarian organisations. A displaced Palestinian woman collects wet clothes at a beach tent camp, after it was flooded by rising seawater during a winter storm in Khan…
The Arab League Council, at the level of permanent representatives, strongly condemned Israel’s recognition on December 26 of the secession of Somalia’s northwestern region, known as “Somaliland”, describing the move as driven by political, security and economic agendas that are categorically rejected.In a statement issued at the conclusion of an extraordinary session held at the Arab League’s headquarters in Cairo, convened at the request of the Federal Republic of Somalia, the Council rejected any measures arising from what it described as an invalid recognition. It warned against attempts to exploit northern Somali ports for military purposes or to facilitate plans aimed at the forced displacement of the Palestinian people.The Council reaffirmed the longstanding Arab position, as enshrined in Arab League resolutions and international charters, that the northwestern region of Somalia is an integral part of the Federal Republic of Somalia. It rejected any attempt to recognise its secession, directly or indirectly.The statement said the Israeli move formed part of broader efforts to undermine international peace and security and violate Arab national security, calling for legal, political, economic and diplomatic measures in response.The Council expressed full support for Somalia’s unity, sovereignty, territorial integrity, and stability, and for the Federal Government’s efforts to safeguard its sovereignty on land, sea and air. It affirmed Somalia’s right to legitimate self-defence under Article 51 of the UN Charter and pledged support for any lawful measures Somalia may take to counter aggression.The Arab League also declared its full solidarity with Somalia’s position that any recognition of the so-called “Somaliland” is null and void, unacceptable, and a blatant violation of international law. Such actions, it said, constitute interference in Somalia’s internal affairs and risk destabilising Somalia, the Red Sea, the Gulf of Aden and the Horn of Africa.The Council warned that these actions represent a dangerous attempt to reshape the geopolitical landscape of the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden, and called on the international community to confront them as a threat to regional and global peace, freedom of navigation and international trade.It also reiterated its categorical rejection of any displacement of the Palestinian people or attempts to alter the demographic composition of Palestinian territory, describing such actions as grave violations of international law. In this context, it rejected the use of Somali territory to advance such plans.The Council further opposed the use of any part of Somali territory by external actors for hostile or intelligence activities targeting other states. It called for cooperation with Somalia, a non-permanent member of the UN Security Council for 2025–2026, to secure international resolutions affirming Somalia’s unity and sovereignty and rejecting the Israeli recognition as null and void.The Arab League requested its ambassadors in major international capitals to convey the statement to relevant governments and organisations, highlighting the serious political and security implications of the move.It also urged all states and international and regional organisations to refrain from any official or semi-official dealings with the authorities of the northwestern region outside the framework of Somali sovereignty, stressing that any violation of Somalia’s territorial integrity constitutes an act of aggression under international law. Related Story Source link
The Israeli occupation forces renewed their incursion into Syrian territory on Sunday, detaining six people.The Syrian Arab News Agency (SANA) said that the Israeli forces detained these young men from the Daraa governorate as they were searching for wild mushrooms in farmlands near the town of Qudna, in the southern Quneitra countryside.SANA added that the occupation forces transferred the detainees to the Tal Al Ahmar Al Gharbi military base, with no information available regarding their fate or the reason behind their detention.The Israeli forces, driving four military vehicles, also carried out an incursion into Saida Al Hanout village in southern Quneitra countryside, where it detained a local young man. Related Story Source link
Israeli occupation forces on Saturday evening detained four Palestinians, including two women, from the Al Maleh area in the northern Jordan Valley, northeast of the occupied West Bank.Local sources said Israeli forces raided the area following an earlier settler attack on local residents and detained four members of one family, including two women.Earlier in the day, a group of Israeli settlers assaulted the family, while Israeli forces accompanying the settlers prevented an ambulance from reaching a child who had been injured after being beaten during the attack. Related Story Source link
The Israeli occupation renewed today its violation of the ceasefire agreement with Gaza as air raids continued on various areas of the strip.WAFA news agency reported today that air raids continue on areas in North and Central Gaza.Since the ceasefire agreement went into effect last Oct. 10, 410 people were martyred, and 1134 others were injured. A total of 649 bodies were recovered. Related Story Source link
Israeli occupation’s forces on Saturday arrested eight Palestinians in different towns and villages in the West Bank.Israeli occupation forces arrested eight Palestinians in the town of Dura and the villages of Abda and Marish in the Hebron Governorate of the West Bank after searching their homes, ransacking their belongings, and assaulting them, reported Palestin’s news agency (WAFA).In a separate incident, Israeli forces erected several military checkpoints at the entrances to Hebron, its towns, villages, and refugee camps, and closed a number of main and secondary roads with iron gates and barriers.The occupation forces also imposed a curfew on the neighborhoods of Jaber, Salaymeh, and Wadi Al-Haseen in Hebron, allegedly to secure access for settlers from the so-called Kiryat Arba settlement, whih is built on Palestinian land and property east of Hebron, to the Ibrahimi Mosque. Source link
A major Gaza hospital said yesterday it had suspended several services because of critical fuel shortages in the devastated Palestinian territory, which faces a severe humanitarian crisis.Ravaged by more than two years of war, the Al-Awda Hospital in central Gaza’s Nuseirat district cares for around 60 in-patients and receives nearly 1,000 people seeking medical treatment each day.“Most services have been temporarily stopped due to a shortage of the fuel needed for the generators,” said Ahmed Mehanna, a senior official involved in managing the hospital. “Only essential departments remain operational: the emergency unit, maternity ward and paediatrics.”To keep these services running, the hospital has been forced to rent a small generator, he added. Under normal conditions, Al-Awda Hospital consumes between 1,000 and 1,200 litres of diesel per day. At present, however, it has only 800 litres available.“We stress that this shutdown is temporary and linked to the availability of fuel,” Mehanna said, warning that a prolonged fuel shortage “would pose a direct threat to the hospital’s ability to deliver basic services”.Khitam Ayada, 30, who has taken refuge in Nuseirat, said she had gone to the facility after days of kidney pain. But “they told me they didn’t have electricity to perform an X-ray… and that they couldn’t treat me,” the displaced woman said.“They gave me a painkiller and told me that if my condition didn’t improve I should go” to another hospital, she said.“We lack everything in our lives, even the most basic medical services,” she added. Hospital official Mehanna urged local and international organisations to intervene swiftly to ensure a steady fuel supply.Despite a fragile truce observed since October 10, the Gaza Strip remains engulfed in a severe humanitarian crisis. While the ceasefire agreement stipulated the entry of 600 aid trucks per day, only 100- 300 carrying humanitarian assistance can currently enter, according to the United Nations and non-governmental organisations.The remaining convoys largely transport commercial goods that remain inaccessible to most of Gaza’s 2.2mn people. The vast majority of Gaza’s residents rely on aid from UN agencies and international NGOs for daily survival.Gaza’s health sector has been among the hardest hit by the war. During the fighting, the Israeli miliary repeatedly struck hospitals and medical centres across Gaza, accusing Hamas of operating command centres there, an allegation the group denied.International medical charity Doctors Without Borders now manages roughly one-third of Gaza’s 2,300 hospital beds, while all five stabilisation centres for children suffering from severe malnutrition are supported by international NGOs. The war in Gaza was sparked by an unprecedented Hamas storming of Israel in October 2023.In Israel’s ensuing military campaign in Gaza, at least 70,942 people – also mostly civilians – have been killed, according to the health ministry in the Hamas-run territory.These figures are considered reliable by the United Nations. Source link
A photograph released by the Lebanese Government Press Office yesterday, shows Lebanon’s Prime Minister Nawaf Salam speaking during a press conference after a cabinet session in…
German Foreign Minister Johannes Wadephul has affirmed that Berlin strongly supports the transition to the second phase of the ceasefire plan and post-war arrangements in Gaza, warning that prolonging the current situation would exacerbate human suffering and undermine the prospects for stability.Wadephul added, in a statement to German media, that improving humanitarian access to the Gaza Strip is a top priority for Berlin, emphasising that the German government has intensified its contacts with international partners to facilitate the delivery of aid through all available channels.Wadephul noted that Germany is among the largest international supporters of humanitarian organisations operating in the Palestinian territories, explaining that these organisations need safe, sustained, and unimpeded access to expand their operations and meet the growing needs of the civilian population.The German foreign minister affirmed Berlin’s readiness to play a pivotal role in international efforts to rebuild the Gaza Strip, emphasising that this process requires substantial financial participation from the international community.He cautioned that reconstruction must proceed in parallel with a clear political track that guarantees the prevention of a recurrence of cycles of violence.He explained that Berlin supports the idea of holding an international conference for Gaza’s reconstruction in the near future, with the participation of international and regional stakeholders, to co-ordinate efforts, define priorities, and ensure that aid is directed effectively and sustainably.The German foreign minister ruled out his country’s participation in any potential international force to stabilise the Gaza Strip, asserting that the German government does not see a realistic possibility at present of deploying German troops for such a mission.He added that talk of an international force is not merely symbolic or political, but rather entails intervention to impose security in a highly complex environment.He further stated that this type of mission is currently inconceivable for German forces. He clarified that Germany is instead focusing on contributing politically and diplomatically to international efforts aimed at reaching a sustainable settlement, noting that any future security arrangements in Gaza must be part of a comprehensive political process that enjoys clear international legitimacy and regional acceptance. Source link
Iran has seized a foreign oil tanker near the Iranian island of Qeshm in the Gulf, saying it was carrying 4mn litres of smuggled fuel, state media reported yesterday. Authorities did not name the vessel or disclose its nationality. They said 16 foreign crew members had been detained on criminal charges. State TV said the tanker was seized on Wednesday.Iranian news websites published video footage and photographs of what they said was the seized tanker. Iran said last week it had seized another foreign tanker carrying 6mn litres of what it described as smuggled diesel in the Gulf of Oman without identifying the vessel or its nationality. Iran, which has some of the world’s lowest fuel prices due to heavy subsidies and a sharp fall in the value of its national currency, has been seeking to curb widespread fuel smuggling by land to neighbouring countries and by sea to other states. Source link