GCC countries, Russia keen to enhance cooperation

GCC countries, Russia keen to enhance cooperation
The sixth joint ministerial meeting of strategic dialogue between the Gulf countries and Russia. (AFP)
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Updated 12 July 2023
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GCC countries, Russia keen to enhance cooperation

GCC countries, Russia keen to enhance cooperation
  • Secretary-general said cooperation with Russia within OPEC+ group had positive impact on oil market

MOSCOW: Ministers from the Gulf states and Russia have stressed the importance of concerted efforts to achieve peace, security, stability and prosperity across the world, a joint Gulf Cooperation Council-Russian statement said on Monday.

The statement came after the sixth joint ministerial meeting of strategic dialogue between the GCC countries and Russia held in Moscow.

GCC countries are keen to enhance all forms of cooperation with Russia, secretary-general of the GCC, Jassim Al-Budaiwi, said.

Both sides stressed the importance of supporting the global econoy and preserving the stability of the global oil market, the statement said.

The Gulf countries and Russia also praised the successful efforts of the OPEC+ countries in this regard, and said there needed to be continued cooperation of all participating countries to adhere to the OPEC+ agreement in a way that served the interests of the global economy.

The GCC secretary-general said that cooperation with Russia within the OPEC+ group has had a positive impact on the oil market.

The position of the GCC on the Russia-Ukraine war is aligned with established UN conventions and principles, Al-Budaiwi said.

He added that Gulf Arab states back the UN principle of non-interference in the internal affairs of states, as well as any and all mediation efforts to bring an end to the conflict.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov expressed his country's welcoming of the rapprochement between Gulf states and Iran, and the reintroduction of Syria to the Arab League.

“We have a unified position with the Gulf states towards Syria's unity and sovereignty over its lands, and Syria's return to the Arab League has positively affected the region,” he said.

He also stressed the need to find a solution to the Sudanese and Yemeni crises, adding: “We welcome the efforts of the Gulf states to end the crisis in Yemen and launch a comprehensive national dialogue.”


US tells Israel any military operation in Gaza must avoid further civilian displacement

US tells Israel any military operation in Gaza must avoid further civilian displacement
Updated 20 sec ago
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US tells Israel any military operation in Gaza must avoid further civilian displacement

US tells Israel any military operation in Gaza must avoid further civilian displacement
  • The US wants Israel to carefully think its military campaign due to mounting pressure caused by Palestinian death toll
  • Benjamin Netanyahu has already indicated Israeli forces will restart military operation after the conclusion of ceasefire

WASHINGTON: The Biden administration has told Israel that it must work to avoid “significant further displacement” of Palestinian civilians in southern Gaza if it renews its ground campaign aimed at eradicating the Hamas militant group, senior US officials said.
The administration, seeking to avoid more large-scale civilian casualties or mass displacement like that seen before the current temporary pause in the fighting, underscored to the Israelis that they must operate with far greater precision in southern Gaza than they did in the north, the officials said, briefing reporters on condition of anonymity under ground rules set by the White House.
Amid mounting international and domestic pressure about the rising Palestinian death toll, the White House has begun to put greater pressure on Israel that the manner of the coming campaign must be “carefully thought through,” according to one of the officials. The Israelis have been receptive when administration officials have raised these concerns, the official said.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has made clear that Israeli Defense Forces will eventually restart military operations after the conclusion of the current, temporary ceasefire that has allowed for an exchange of hostages taken by Hamas for Palestinian prisoners held by Israel. The two sides agreed Monday to extend the truce for an additional two days and to continue swapping hostages for prisoners.
President Joe Biden has said he would like to see the pause — which has also allowed a surge of much-needed humanitarian aid to get into Gaza — continue as long as feasible. Secretary of State Antony Blinken will return this week to the Middle East as the US hopes to find a way to extend the ceasefire and get more hostages released, the State Department said Monday. It will be his third trip to the region since Israel’s war with Hamas began last month.
Still, Biden and top officials have also been clear-eyed about Israel’s desire to continue operations focused on Hamas that over the last seven weeks have largely focused on the north. They have said they support Israel’s goal of eliminating Hamas’ control over Gaza and the threat it poses to Israeli civilians, but have grown more vocal about the need to protect the lives of Palestinian civilians. Hamas has been known to seek shelter among the territory’s civilian population, and Israeli officials have released videos from northern Gaza of what they said are weapons stockpiles and firing locations placed among civilian infrastructure.
More than 13,300 Palestinians have been killed since the war began on Oct. 7, roughly two-thirds of them women and minors, according to the Hamas-run Health Ministry in Gaza, which does not differentiate between civilians and combatants. More than 1,200 people have been killed on the Israeli side, mostly civilians killed in the initial attack. At least 77 soldiers have been killed in Israel’s ground offensive.
The US believes roughly 2 million Palestinians are now in south and central Gaza. Biden administration officials have made clear to the Israelis that an already stretched humanitarian support network would be unable to cope with the sort of displacement that those from northern Gaza have endured in Israel’s retaliatory strikes and ground operations.
Biden administration officials have also told the Israelis they expect them to conduct operations in a way that will be “maximally deconflicted” with the operation of humanitarian aid facilities, United Nations-supported shelters and core infrastructure, including electricity and water.
The World Health Organization has warned that the war has caused a burgeoning public health crisis that is a recipe for epidemics as displaced Palestinians have been forced to take shelter in cramped homes and camps.
One administration official said vaccines are among the medical goods flowing into Gaza, but there has also been a focus on potable water supplies and sanitation to prevent outbreaks of typhoid and cholera. To that end, the White House has also pushed to get as much fuel into Gaza as possible — something the Israelis resisted, particularly in the first weeks of war, citing concerns that it would be siphoned by Hamas.
The officials said the US on Tuesday would dispatch the first of three US military humanitarian aid flights to northern Egypt carrying medical supplies, food aid and winter items for Gaza’s civilian population.


Hamas senior official invites Elon Musk to visit Gaza

Hamas senior official invites Elon Musk to visit Gaza
Updated 28 November 2023
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Hamas senior official invites Elon Musk to visit Gaza

Hamas senior official invites Elon Musk to visit Gaza
  • “We invite him to visit Gaza to see the extent of the massacres and destruction committed,” Hamas’ senior official Osama Hamdan said

BEIRUT: A Hamas senior official invited US billionaire Elon Musk on Tuesday to visit the Palestinian Gaza strip to see the extent of destruction caused by the Israeli bombardment.
“We invite him to visit Gaza to see the extent of the massacres and destruction committed against the people of Gaza, in compliance with the standards of objectivity and credibility,” Hamas’ senior official Osama Hamdan said in a press conference in Beirut.
On Monday, Elon Musk, the social media mogul assailed for his endorsement of an anti-Jewish post, toured the site of the Hamas assault on Israel and declared his commitment to do whatever was necessary to stop the spread of hatred.


Hezbollah politician hopes truce will continue

Hezbollah politician hopes truce will continue
Updated 28 November 2023
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Hezbollah politician hopes truce will continue

Hezbollah politician hopes truce will continue
  • “God willing, the truce will continue,” senior Hezbollah lawmaker Hassan Fadlallah said
  • Israeli attacks in Lebanon have killed around 100 people — 80 of them Hezbollah fighters

BEIRUT: A senior Hezbollah politician said on Tuesday he hoped a truce would continue and his Iran-backed group had started paying compensation to people who had suffered losses during weeks of Israeli strikes in south Lebanon.
Following the start of the Hamas-Israel war on Oct. 7, Hezbollah and Israel have engaged in their worst hostilities since 2006, with Hezbollah attacking Israeli positions at the border and Israel launching air and artillery strikes.
But the cross-border violence has ceased since Hamas — a Hezbollah ally — and Israel reached a temporary truce on Friday.
“God willing, the truce will continue,” senior Hezbollah lawmaker Hassan Fadlallah said after a meeting with caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati.
The violence at the Israel-Lebanese border has forced tens of thousands of people on both sides of the frontier to flee their homes.
Israeli attacks in Lebanon have killed around 100 people — 80 of them Hezbollah fighters. Hostilities spiralled following the Oct. 7 Hamas raid from the Gaza Strip into Israel, setting off a conflict that spread around the region.
Citing a Hezbollah survey of damage done by Israeli attacks in Lebanon, Fadlallah said 37 residential buildings had been totally destroyed and 11 more completely burned. Another 1,500 homes across the south had suffered varying degrees of damage.
Fadlallah said Mikati had agreed the government would pay compensation, including for destroyed cars and olive groves. This would be separate from compensation to be paid by Hezbollah, he added.
“It is true that we, in Hezbollah, began paying compensation ... but this does not mean at all that the government is not concerned, indeed it is concerned, and (Mikati) was very responsive,” Fadlallah said.
Hezbollah said it spent more than $300 million on compensation and reconstruction following the 2006 war, during which Israeli air strikes laid waste to swathes of the Hezbollah-controlled southern suburbs of Beirut.


Hostage-prisoner swap brings Israeli practice of detaining Palestinian children out of the shadows

Hostage-prisoner swap brings Israeli practice of detaining Palestinian children out of the shadows
Updated 28 November 2023
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Hostage-prisoner swap brings Israeli practice of detaining Palestinian children out of the shadows

Hostage-prisoner swap brings Israeli practice of detaining Palestinian children out of the shadows

Ongoing hostage-for-prisoners exchange opens the world’s eyes to arrests, interrogations, and even abuse of Palestinian children by Israeli authorities


Turkiye’s growing military exports to Russia prompt US scrutiny, urgent diplomatic visit

Turkiye’s growing military exports to Russia prompt US scrutiny, urgent diplomatic visit
Updated 28 November 2023
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Turkiye’s growing military exports to Russia prompt US scrutiny, urgent diplomatic visit

Turkiye’s growing military exports to Russia prompt US scrutiny, urgent diplomatic visit
  • US Treasury officials have been concerned that Turkiye’s export of products to Russia could serve both commercial and military purposes
  • US has imposed sanctions on Turkish electronics supplier Azint Elektronik over its alleged shipping of high-priority goods, such as electronic integrated circuits, to Russia

ANKARA: Turkiye has found itself under heightened US scrutiny over a rise in the export of potentially sanctions-busting goods to Russia.

US Undersecretary of the Treasury for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence Brian Nelson was this week due in Ankara and Istanbul to follow up on American fears that Turkiye could inadvertently be fueling Moscow’s military campaign in Ukraine.

Nelson, making his second visit to Turkiye this year, will investigate trade activities that may unintentionally be aiding Russia’s war efforts through third-party exports.

He was expected to hold talks with Turkish officials on preventive measures to curb the flow of dual-use goods that could indirectly benefit Russia’s military pursuits.

In a statement on its website, the US Department of the Treasury said: “In Turkiye, a NATO ally, undersecretary Nelson will also discuss efforts to prevent, disrupt, and investigate trade and financial activity that benefit the Russian effort in its war against Ukraine.”

During the first nine months of this year, Turkiye has seen record exports of 45 goods, valued at 158 million euros ($173 million), to Moscow and five ex-Soviet nations — Azerbaijan, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, and Uzbekistan. The figure represents a threefold increase on the same period at the start of the Ukraine conflict.

Among the exported items were microchips classified as “high priority” by Washington.

US officials revealed instances where dual-use parts ostensibly bound for intermediary nations were, in fact, reaching Russia directly. For example, while Kazakhstan reported imports of high-priority goods from Turkiye valued at $6.1 million, Turkish official data revealed exports to Kazakhstan reaching a record $66 million during the same period.

Western assessments have indicated that some high-priority goods from Turkiye have been applied to the production of drones, helicopters, and cruise missiles.

Turkiye has strong trade and diplomatic ties with Moscow, but US Treasury officials have been recently concerned about the country’s export of products to Russia that could serve both commercial and military purposes.

Ankara has not formally joined Western sanctions against Russia for fear of damaging the Turkish economy. However, the US recently imposed sanctions on Turkish electronics supplier, Azint Elektronik, over its alleged shipping of high-priority goods, such as electronic integrated circuits, to Russia.

Rich Outzen, a senior fellow at the Atlantic Council, told Arab News: “Maintaining non-military trade with Russia remains an integral part of Turkish economic diplomacy.”

Five Turkish companies were among firms faced with American sanctions in September for dispatching sensors and measuring tools to Russia, providing repair services to vessels linked to the Russian Defense Ministry, and shipping electronic components of US and European origin to Russian firms.

Outzen noted that private Turkish companies could well fall foul of US sanctions over their exports to Russia while government entities may escape them unless there was clear evidence of a coordinating role.

Sinan Ulgen, a former Turkish diplomat and chairman of the Istanbul-based think tank EDAM, told Arab News: “The visit of Nelson will also be an opportunity for the US to iterate its concerns about the ongoing trade.

“There are a number of product groups that are under the radar of US and EU authorities where Turkiye is expected to do more in terms of curtailing trade with Russia.

“Turkish authorities will indeed take on board these concerns and examine more closely trade with Russia on these products in concern.

“Also, given that ultimately the total affected exports are around $158 million, while some of them are re-exported products, there is little value-added that remains in Turkiye, which is not a reason why Turkish authorities should actually heed the concerns of its partners in the West,” Ulgen said.

Nelson’s visit to Turkiye comes as the country continued its long-standing efforts to procure F-16 fighter jets from the US, or alternatively, source Eurofighters.

“Especially at this moment, when Turkiye tries to normalize its ties, Ankara would not want to be affected by additional sanctions from the West, even though they essentially target companies and individuals that are party to this trade.

“This visit would be an opportunity for both parties to essentially seek a convergence on trade policies with Russia,” Ulgen added.

The trade volume between Turkiye and Russia was this year expected to exceed $65 billion. It surged in 2022 following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and the heightened sanctions regime of the West against Moscow.

Last year, Russia was Turkiye’s main import partner with goods valued at $58.85 billion, a threefold increase on the same period in 2021.