Israeli and Palestinian officials meet in Egypt in pre-Ramadan push for calm

Palestinian protesters burn tyres during a small protest called for by Hamas east of Gaza City by the border with Israel on March 19, 2021. (AFP)
Palestinian protesters burn tyres during a small protest called for by Hamas east of Gaza City by the border with Israel on March 19, 2021. (AFP)
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Updated 19 March 2023
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Israeli and Palestinian officials meet in Egypt in pre-Ramadan push for calm

Palestinian protesters burn tyres during a small protest called for by Hamas east of Gaza City by the border with Israel.
  • The five-way meeting follows a Feb. 26 US-brokered summit in Jordan

RAMALLAH/CAIRO: Israeli and Palestinian officials met on Sunday in Egypt for talks to calm tensions ahead of the holy month of Ramadan, which begins later this week.

The meeting, attended by the US and Jordan, follows a Feb. 26 US-brokered conference in Aqaba, the first of its kind in years, that secured Israeli and Palestinian pledges to de-escalate, but was challenged by factions on both sides and failed to halt violence on the ground.

Palestinian militant group Hamas, which governs the Gaza Strip, condemned the West Bank-based Palestinian Authority for taking part in the meeting, as it was being attended by the Israeli government “which is escalating its aggression against our people.”

But Hussein Al-Sheikh of the umbrella Palestine Liberation Organization said a Palestinian delegation attended the meeting in Sharm El-Sheikh “to defend the rights of our Palestinian people to freedom and independence, and to demand an end to this continuous Israeli aggression against us.”

Political analyst Ghassan Al-Khatib told Arab News that the parties at the meeting had no influence on the events in the West Bank — the PA had no control over those involved in the events in the West Bank and East Jerusalem, just like Israel had no control over the extremist settlers who attacked the Palestinians in Huwara town.

Al-Khatib said the US wanted to appear as if it was doing something, but the Israel Defense Forces “can’t stop its military operations in the West Bank because the extreme right-wing government wants to deliver a message to the Israeli public and the opposition that it is doing its best and using a big stick against the Palestinians.”

Al-Khatib said even if the participants reached an agreement in Sharm El-Sheikh, “Israel will not implement them, as happened in the Aqaba (meeting) on Feb. 26.”

However, Ahmed Majdalani of the PLO disagreed with Al-Khatib and told Arab News that the Palestinian participation in Sharm El-Sheikh stemmed from the national responsibility of the PA toward its people.

“What is the alternative to not participating in the meeting? Will the killing, aggression, invasions, home demolitions, and arrests stop, or will they continue?” Majdalani told Arab News.

He said the PA sought to use international and regional political influence to pressure Israel to stop all unilateral measures against Palestinians.

Regarding the opposition of several factions to the participation in the Sharm El-Sheikh meeting, Majdalani said: “It is not possible to address issues related to people’s lives with political slogans.”

The PA and the Israeli government had affirmed in Aqaba their joint readiness and commitment to immediately stop unilateral measures for three to six months, and this included an Israeli commitment to stop discussing the establishment of any new settlement units for four months and to stop approving any new settlement outposts for four months.

Mustafa Barghouti, secretary-general of the Palestinian National Initiative Movement, told Arab News that he was against Palestinian participation in the Sharm El-Sheikh summit because it was a security meeting “that seeks to impose a truce without stopping settlements and occupation invasions.”

With the Israeli government facing international isolation, the PA, instead of demanding the imposition of international sanctions on Israel, is seeking to save it from its predicament, Barghouti added.

Israel did not respect any agreement reached with it and would use the Sharm El-Sheikh summit to cover up its recent massacres against the Palestinians, he said.

“The Sharm El-Sheikh summit seeks to drag the Palestinians into an internal clash while they are suffering from the daily crimes of the occupation and its settlers” Barghouti said.

Sources say that Egypt will try to pressure Israel during the summit to stop its military operations in the West Bank, but observers believe the possibility of preventing the escalation after the Sharm El-Sheikh meeting will be limited.

The meeting in the resort city “aims to support dialogue between the Palestinian and Israeli sides to work to stop unilateral actions and escalation, and break the existing cycle of violence and achieve calm,” a statement from Egypt’s Foreign Ministry said.

This could “facilitate the creation of a climate suitable for the resumption of the peace process,” it added.

It said the aim of the meeting was to support dialogue between the Palestinian and Israeli sides to work to stop unilateral measures and escalation, break the existing cycle of violence, and achieve calm in a way that paved the way for creating an appropriate climate that contributed to the resumption of the peace process.

In addition to achieving calm during the month of Ramadan, the Sharm El-Sheikh security meeting aimed to push Israel to abide by the conclusions of the Aqaba meeting, the statement said.

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UN says ‘not possible’ to create ‘safe zones’ in Gaza

UN says ‘not possible’ to create ‘safe zones’ in Gaza
Updated 05 December 2023
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UN says ‘not possible’ to create ‘safe zones’ in Gaza

UN says ‘not possible’ to create ‘safe zones’ in Gaza
  • ‘The so-called safe zones... are not scientific, they are not rational, they are not possible, and I think the authorities are aware of this’

GENEVA: The United Nations warned Tuesday that it was impossible to create so-called safe zones for civilians to flee to inside the Gaza Strip amid Israel’s bombing campaign.
Israel had initially focused its offensive on the north of the territory, but the army has now also dropped leaflets on parts of the south, telling Palestinian civilians there to flee to other areas.
“The so-called safe zones... are not scientific, they are not rational, they are not possible, and I think the authorities are aware of this,” James Elder, spokesman for the UN children’s agency UNICEF, told reporters in Geneva via video-link from Cairo.
His comments came as Israeli troops battled Hamas militants in the southern Gaza Strip after expanding their offensive deeper into the besieged area.
Israel said it was at war with Hamas after the militant group’s October 7 attacks that killed 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and which saw around 240 hostages taken, according to Israeli authorities.
In retaliation for the worst attack in its history, Israel has vowed to eradicate Hamas and secure the release of all the hostages held in Gaza.
The Hamas-run health ministry in Gaza says the war has killed nearly 15,900 people in the territory, around 70 percent of them women and children.
As Israel’s offensive pushes deeper into Gaza, international aid organizations have warned that civilians in the densely-populated territory are running out of places to flee to.
Elder insisted that the safe zones declared by Israel “cannot be safe nor humanitarian when unilaterally declared.”
The pretense that there is somewhere safe for people to flee to is “callous,” he said.
He stressed that in a proper safe zone, “you can guarantee the conditions of food, water, medicine and shelter.”
Elder, who spent the past week or so in Gaza, stressed that none of that is assured in the areas designated as safe zones.
“These are entirely, entirely absent. You cannot overstate this. These are tiny patches of barren land, or they are street corners, they are sidewalks,” he said.
“There is no water, no facilities, no shelter from the cold and the rain (and) there’s no sanitation.”
Elder pointed out that in the overcrowded shelters that most of the displaced in Gaza have flocked to there had been around one toilet for every 400 people.
“Now remove those people and put them in... the so called safe places. It’s tens of thousands of people without a single toilet — not one — no clean water, nothing to drink,” he said.
“Without water, without sanitation, without shelter the so called safe zones risks becoming zones of disease.”


WHO: Situation in Gaza ‘getting worse by the hour’

WHO: Situation in Gaza ‘getting worse by the hour’
Updated 05 December 2023
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WHO: Situation in Gaza ‘getting worse by the hour’

WHO: Situation in Gaza ‘getting worse by the hour’
  • WHO representative in Gaza: Humanitarian aid reaching Gaza ‘way too little’
  • WHO deeply concerned about the vulnerability of the health system in the enclave

GENEVA: A World Health Organization official in Gaza said on Tuesday the situation was deteriorating by the hour as Israeli bombing has intensified in the south of the Palestinian enclave around the cities of Khan Younis and Rafah.
“The situation is getting worse by the hour,” Richard Peeperkorn, WHO representative in Gaza, told reporters via video link. “There’s intensified bombing going on all around, including here in the southern areas, Khan Younis and even in Rafah.”
Peeperkorn said the humanitarian aid reaching Gaza was “way too little” and said the WHO was deeply concerned about the vulnerability of the health system in the densely populated enclave as more people move further south to escape the bombing.
“I want to make this point very clear that we are looking at an increasing humanitarian disaster,” he said.
Peeperkorn said WHO had complied with an Israeli order to remove supplies from warehouses in Khan Younis. He said WHO had been told the area would “most likely become an area of active combat in the coming days.”
“We want to make sure that we can actually deliver essential medical supplies,” he said.
WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus on Monday appealed to Israel to withdraw the order. Israel denied asking for the evacuation of warehouses.


France imposes sanctions on Hamas Gaza chief Yahya Sinwar

France imposes sanctions on Hamas Gaza chief Yahya Sinwar
Updated 05 December 2023
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France imposes sanctions on Hamas Gaza chief Yahya Sinwar

France imposes sanctions on Hamas Gaza chief Yahya Sinwar
  • France is working with partners to impose sanctions on Hamas individuals

PARIS: France on Tuesday imposed asset freezes on Hamas Gaza chief Yahya Sinwar, the latest leader from the Islamist group to be added to its national sanctions list, according to a decree published in the country’s official journal.
France on Nov. 13 imposed sanctions at a national level on Hamas military commander Mohammed Deif and his deputy, Marwan Issa.
It is working with partners to impose sanctions on Hamas individuals and its financing network at European Union level, diplomats have said.


Jordan army say three killed in drug bust at Syria border

Jordan army say three killed in drug bust at Syria border
Updated 05 December 2023
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Jordan army say three killed in drug bust at Syria border

Jordan army say three killed in drug bust at Syria border
  • About 233,000 Captagon pills – a mix of amphetamines – and quantities of hashish were found during the operation

AMMAN: The Jordanian army said on Tuesday it killed three drug dealers during an operation that foiled the smuggling of large quantities of drugs across the border from Syria.
About 233,000 Captagon pills — a mix of amphetamines — and quantities of hashish were found during the bust, it said.
The army said it had monitored a group of smugglers who had sought to cross the border and applied strict rules of engagement to shoot at first sight.
“We continue to deal with resolve and force any threat to our borders and any attempt to undermine and destabilize the country’s security,” the army said in a statement.
War-torn Syria has become the region’s main site for a multi-billion-dollar drug trade, with Jordan being a main transit route to the oil-rich Gulf states for a Syrian-made amphetamine known as Captagon, Western anti-narcotics officials and Washington say.
Jordan has blamed pro-Iranian militias, who it says are protected by units within the Syrian army, for smuggling drugs across its borders toward Gulf markets.
Damascus says it is doing its best to curb smuggling and continues to bust smuggler rings in the south. It denies complicity with Iranian-backed militias linked to its army and security forces.


Iran says it is not involved in any actions against US military forces -Tasnim

Iran says it is not involved in any actions against US military forces -Tasnim
Updated 05 December 2023
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Iran says it is not involved in any actions against US military forces -Tasnim

Iran says it is not involved in any actions against US military forces -Tasnim

DUBAI: Iran’s UN envoy, Amir Saeid Iravani, said his country has not been involved in any actions or attacks against US military forces, the semi-official Tasnim news agency reported on Tuesday.
The United States has blamed Yemen’s Iran-allied Houthi group for a series of attacks in Middle Eastern waters since war broke out between Israel and the Palestinian militant group Hamas on Oct. 7.
In a briefing with reporters on Monday, US national security adviser Jake Sullivan
said
Washington has “every reason to believe that these attacks, while they were launched by the Houthis in Yemen, are fully enabled by Iran.”
In the latest incidents, three commercial vessels came under attack in international waters in the southern Red Sea on Sunday. The Houthis acknowledged launching drone and missile attacks against what they said were two Israeli vessels in the area.
The Carney, a US Navy destroyer, shot down three drones on Sunday as it answered distress calls from the commercial vessels. The US military says the three vessels were connected to 14 separate nations.