World
Jordan’s King condemns global silence on Israel’s ‘war crimes’ in Gaza
Jordan’s King Abdullah this weekend denounced what he termed global silence about Israel’s attacks on Gaza, which have killed thousands of people in the enclave, and left over a million people homeless.
Speaking at a hastily convened meeting dubbed the Cairo Peace Summit, King Abdullah said: “The message the Arab world is hearing is that Palestinian lives matter less than Israeli ones.”
He told Arab leaders present he was outraged and grieved by acts of violence waged against innocent civilians in Gaza, the Israeli-occupied West Bank, and Israel.
“The Israeli leadership must realize once and for all that a state can never thrive if it is built on a foundation of injustice… Our message to the Israelis should be that we want a future of peace and security for you and the Palestinians.”
King Abdullah said that the forced or internal displacement of Palestinians would be a war crime.
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, who also attended the summit, said Palestinians would not be displaced or driven off their land.
“We won’t leave, we won’t leave,” he told the summit.
Egypt, which called the meeting and hosted it, said it had hoped participants would call for peace and resume efforts to resolve the decades-long Palestinian quest for statehood.
But the meeting ended without leaders and foreign ministers agreeing on a joint statement.
This comes two weeks into a conflict that has killed thousands and had a catastrophic impact on the humanitarian situation in Gaza, which is home to 2.3 million people.
Diplomats attending the Cairo talks had not been optimistic of a breakthrough, especially as Israel was not present.
In addition, Israel continues to prepare for a ground invasion of Gaza aimed at wiping out Hamas that rampaged through its towns on October 7, killing 1,400 people.
The Cairo meeting however was meant to explore how to head off a wider regional war but diplomats knew public agreement would be hard because of sensitivities around calls for a ceasefire.
Arab states fear the offensive could drive Gaza residents permanently from their homes and even into neighboring countries – as happened when Palestinians fled or were forced from their homes in the 1948 war following Israel’s creation.
Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi said his country opposed what he called the displacement of Palestinians into Egypt’s largely desert Sinai region, adding the only solution was an independent Palestinian state.
Egypt fears insecurity near the border with Gaza in northeastern Sinai, where it faced an insurgency that peaked after 2013 and has now largely been suppressed.
Jordan, home to many Palestinian refugees and their descendants, fears a wider conflagration would give Israel the chance to expel Palestinians en masse from the West Bank.
Saudi Crown Prince calls for establishment of ‘1967 borders’
As concerns grow in the region over Israel’s actions, Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman also spoke out his past week about the conflict and rejected the targeting of civilians under any pretext.
Prince Mohammed said during his opening speech at the GCC-ASEAN summit in Riyadh on Friday that there is a need to create conditions that lead to the establishment of a “Palestinian state within the 1967 borders.”
“As we are holding this meeting, we are pained by the escalation of the ongoing violence in Gaza, the price of which is being paid by innocent civilians,” he said.
“In this regard we affirm our rejection of targeting civilians in any way, and the importance of sticking to the international law and the necessity of stopping military operations against civilians and infrastructure that affect their daily lives and creating conditions to restore stability and achieve peace that ensures reaching a solution to establish a Palestinian state according to the pre-1967 borders in a way that achieves security and prosperity for all.
The 1967 borders refer to those that existed before the war in which Israel occupied East Jerusalem, the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. It includes a two-state solution that has long been proposed as the best hope for peace in the Palestine-Israel conflict.
It would see an independent Palestinian state established alongside the existing one of Israel – giving both people their own territory.
This conflict however has deep roots and the creation of Israel and subsequent Arab-Israeli war of 1948 saw many Palestinians forced from their homes, in what is known as the Nakba, or “catastrophe”.
Humanitarian aid
On Sunday, a second convoy of aid trucks entered the Egyptian side of the Rafah border crossing heading towards Gaza, Reuters cited Egyptian security and humanitarian sources at Rafah as saying.
A total of around 19 trucks carrying medical and food supplies had been inspected by UNRWA, the UN’s Palestinian refugee agency, the sources said.
The first convoy of 20 trucks of badly needed supplies entered Gaza on Saturday.
This comes after Israel imposed a total blockade and launched air strikes on Gaza in response to the October 7 attack by Hamas. The Rafah crossing had been out of operation since shortly afterwards, and bombardments on the Gaza side had damaged roads and buildings.
UN officials said however a higher continuous pace of at least 100 trucks a day would be required in Gaza to cover urgent needs. Before the outbreak of the most recent conflict, several hundred trucks had been arriving in the enclave daily.
UN humanitarian chief Martin Griffiths told Reuters on Saturday that work was underway to develop a “light” inspection system, whereby Israel could check the shipments but ensure a sustained flow.
World
Saudi Aramco helicopter crash kills 14 nationals, state news agency says
A helicopter belonging to Saudi oil giant Aramco crashed on Sunday in Ras Tanura on Saudi Arabia’s eastern coast on the Gulf, west of the Strait of Hormuz, killing 14 nationals, the state news agency reported, adding that the cause was unknown.
Aramco had resumed crude oil loadings on Friday at its Ras Tanura terminal in the Gulf after they were halted for nearly four months, Reuters reported.
“The relevant authorities have launched a full investigation to determine the cause of the crash,” the state news agency added.
Aramco did not respond immediately to an emailed request for comment.
The incident took place at 6 a.m. local time (0300 GMT), the state agency said, without providing further details.
Saudi Arabia, the world’s biggest oil exporter, has joined a rush to move cargoes after Middle East producers ramped up oil and gas output and exports ahead of an interim deal to halt the war between the United States and Iran.
World
Israel, Lebanon sign initial agreement after US-mediated talks
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the agreement allows Israeli forces to continue to occupy southern Lebanon if Hezbollah does not disarm.
Israel and Lebanon signed a framework agreement in Washington on Friday following several days of talks to secure an end to fighting between Israel and Iran-backed Hezbollahmilitants, though both sides framed the deal as an initial step, Reuters reported.
Lebanese Ambassador Nada Moawad and her Israeli counterpart Yechiel Leiter signed the trilateral document with the U.S. at the State Department in Washington, providing few details.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the agreement allows Israeli forces to continue to occupy southern Lebanon if Hezbollah does not disarm.
“Today we’ve taken the first step in what will be a difficult journey, without a doubt, but an important and an essential and a necessary one,” U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said before the agreement was inked.
In a later statement he said that the U.S. would facilitate the implementation of the deal through a trilateral “Military Coordination Group for Lebanon” and that Washington would commit significant resources, including an immediate $100 million in humanitarian assistance in coordination with the U.N.
Rubio added that the U.S. reaffirmed its intent to improve the capabilities of the Lebanese Armed Forces “to more effectively establish sovereignty throughout Lebanese territory” with more than $30 million in funds under existing U.S. authorities and appropriations.
The conflict between Israel and Hezbollah broke out when the armed group fired at Israel on March 2, days after the U.S. and Israel attacked Iran. The Hezbollah attacks triggered Israeli air and ground attacks that have killed more than 4,000 people in Lebanon and displaced more than a million.
Lebanon’s Moawad also called it a “first step” on the road to restoring Lebanese sovereignty.
“Iran is out, Hezbollah is out, and the road to peace between Israel and Lebanon is in,” Leiter said.
Netanyahu said in a statement that the deal would also allow the Lebanese army “to begin organizing to take control of territory,” starting with what he described as two “pilot zones” from which Israeli troops would withdraw from land they occupied during the war.
Israel describes that territory as a “security zone” or “buffer zone” where its troops can thwart Hezbollah attacks on northern Israel.
Lebanese President Joseph Aoun said the agreement should allow Lebanese to return to “fully liberated” land and rebuilt homes with “no partner” in its sovereignty.
Israel’s death toll from this round of hostilities with Hezbollah includes at least 32 soldiers and four Israeli civilians. Hezbollah does not release figures on its war dead. Reuters reported on May 4 that several thousand Hezbollah fighters had been killed in the war.
A State Department official told Reuters on Thursday that Israel had agreed to pull back from some of the territory it has occupied, something Israeli and Lebanese officials denied.
Before the talks resumed this week, Israel and Hezbollah agreed to halt fire even as Israel kept troops in southern Lebanon.
Violence has persisted since the ceasefire, with Israel saying on Friday its troops had struck and killed what the military described as seven Hezbollah members who were operating near the territory it is occupying. Reuters could not confirm this.
“To the degree that the Lebanese army performs in dismantling and disarming Hezbollah, we will proceed with additional pilot zones and the ultimate determination of an internationally recognized, secure, and agreed upon border,” Leiter told reporters after the signing.
Hezbollah lawmaker Hassan Fadlallah said Lebanese authorities would not be able to enforce the agreement unless, with U.S. support, “they go to civil war,” pro-Iranian broadcaster Al Mayadeen reported, read the report.
Hezbollah would confront any measure taken by Lebanese authorities and would hold on to its weapons even more, adding that the group’s opposition was “serious” and would not allow authorities to implement their commitments on the ground, Fadlallah said.
Israeli forces dropped leaflets over the southern Lebanese town of Mansouri on Friday ordering residents to leave, Lebanese state media reported, the first such order issued since the latest ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah took effect.
A senior Lebanese military official said Israel had recently added Mansouri to its occupation zone. The official said Lebanese farmers had continued to enter and leave the town, but had not been living there.
An Israeli military spokesperson said the military issued what it described as a “reminder” to the civilian population that “the area is within the security zone in which (Israeli) soldiers operate. It’s a reminder not to be in the area so they won’t be harmed.”
World
Venezuela earthquake death toll rises to 188 as rescue efforts continue
According to officials, 138 aftershocks have been recorded since the twin 7.2- and 7.5-magnitude earthquakes struck late Wednesday, causing widespread destruction.
The death toll from the powerful earthquakes that struck Venezuela’s northern Caribbean coast has risen to 188, authorities confirmed on Thursday, as emergency crews continue search and rescue operations.
Jorge Rodriguez, President of Venezuela’s National Assembly, said 1,520 people have been hospitalized with injuries, while 157 people remain missing. Rescue teams are still searching for more than 200 people believed to be trapped beneath collapsed buildings.
According to officials, 138 aftershocks have been recorded since the twin 7.2- and 7.5-magnitude earthquakes struck late Wednesday, causing widespread destruction.
Rodriguez said 346 infrastructure sites sustained damage, including 250 buildings, 20 shopping centers, and eight hospitals, forcing authorities to transfer patients to other medical facilities.
The Venezuelan government has announced the establishment of a $200 million emergency reconstruction fund to support the rebuilding of damaged homes, hospitals, and other critical infrastructure.
Following the disaster, Acting President Delcy Rodriguez declared a national state of emergency, while tsunami warnings were issued across parts of the Caribbean region after the powerful earthquakes.
-
Latest News3 days agoTAPI project sees rapid progress in Afghanistan
-
International Sports5 days agoKnockout picture begins to take shape at FIFA World Cup 2026
-
International Sports2 days agoFIFA World Cup: Iran held by Egypt after controversial late goal Is disallowed
-
Latest News5 days agoAfghanistan’s SCO participation blocked over one member’s objection, Kabulov says
-
International Sports4 days agoFIFA World Cup: Messi turns 39, shows no signs of stopping
-
Latest News5 days agoEU allocates 20 million euros to support returnees in Afghanistan
-
Regional5 days agoIran’s Pezeshkian says without missiles his country would be ‘just like Gaza’
-
Latest News2 days agoDelawar says Afghanistan has achieved security and unity after 47 years
