Jordanian FM hosts EU observers ahead of parliamentary elections

Jordanian FM hosts EU observers ahead of parliamentary elections
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Updated 09 September 2024
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Jordanian FM hosts EU observers ahead of parliamentary elections

Jordanian FM hosts EU observers ahead of parliamentary elections
  • Ayman Safadi hosted the Vice President of the European Parliament and head of the European Election Observer Mission Zeljana Zovko

LONDON: The Jordanian foreign minister on Monday welcomed to Amman EU observers who will monitor the kingdom’s parliamentary elections due to be held on Tuesday.

Ayman Safadi hosted the Vice President of the European Parliament and head of the European Election Observer Mission Zeljana Zovko, and members of her delegation.

Safadi and the EU team discussed ways of enhancing relations between Jordan and the EU, and the importance of the partnership and cooperation between the country and the bloc, Jordan Press Agency reported.

The minister praised the aid that EU member states will provide to Jordan’s economic and development programs in order to help the country deal with the repercussions of regional crises, especially the burden of hosting Syrian refugees.

The meeting also touched on developments in the Gaza Strip and Israeli escalation in the West Bank. Officials discussed efforts to reach a ceasefire in Gaza, as well as ways to ensure the delivery of humanitarian aid to the enclave.

Safadi underlined the importance of the EU’s role in these efforts.


Israeli airstrikes kill 12 in Gaza, but ground fighting less intense

Updated 9 sec ago
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Israeli airstrikes kill 12 in Gaza, but ground fighting less intense

Israeli airstrikes kill 12 in Gaza, but ground fighting less intense
  • Airstrike kills journalist and her family, medics say
  • At least 12 killed so far on Monday, health officials say
CAIRO: Israeli airstrikes pounded areas across the Gaza Strip on Monday killing 12, including a journalist and her family, medics said, although the intensity of the ground offensive has subsided as Israel steps up its fight with Hezbollah in Lebanon.
Palestinian health officials said Wafa Al-Udaini, who wrote articles about the war in English advocating the Palestinian viewpoint, was killed when a missile struck her house in the central city of Deir Al-Balah, also killing her husband and their two children.
There has been no immediate comment from the Israeli military.
Udaini’s death raised the number of Palestinian journalists killed in the Israeli offensive since Oct. 7 to 174, the Hamas-run Gaza government media office said.
In another strike, a Palestinian was killed and several were wounded in Rafah, near the border with Egypt, while in the northern town of Beit Hanoun an airstrike killed one man and injured others, medics said.
While later on Monday, an Israeli air strike on a house in Nuseirat, one of Gaza Strip’s eight historic refugee camps, killed six people, health officials said.
Some residents said fighting and Israeli military activities in Gaza have declined slightly in the past week as Israel has escalated its military offensive against Iranian-backed Hezbollah in Lebanon, killing its leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah in an airstrike on Friday. The group announced Nasrallah’s death on Saturday.
While the intensity of the ground offensive has been lower, Israel has kept up its airstrikes in the enclave, they added.
Hezbollah has been firing rockets into Israel for almost a year, in support of its ally Hamas in Gaza.
In the southern Gaza Strip, Israeli authorities released 12 Palestinians, including Khaled Al-Ser, head of the surgery unit at Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis, medics and Hamas media said. Palestinians freed by Israel have complained of torture and ill-treatment in Israeli jails, charges Israel denies.
Israel and Hamas have been fighting since gunmen from the Palestinian militant group stormed into southern Israel on Oct. 7, killing 1,200 people and capturing about 250 hostages, going by Israeli tallies.
Most of Gaza’s population of 2.3 million has been displaced by the war, in which more than 41,500 Palestinians have been killed, according to Gaza health authorities.

Lebanon asks those who lost relatives in recent airstrikes for DNA samples to match with unidentified remains

Lebanon asks those who lost relatives in recent airstrikes for DNA samples to match with unidentified remains
Updated 6 min 26 sec ago
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Lebanon asks those who lost relatives in recent airstrikes for DNA samples to match with unidentified remains

Lebanon asks those who lost relatives in recent airstrikes for DNA samples to match with unidentified remains
  • A wave of Israeli airstrikes across large parts of Lebanon have killed more than 1,030 people

BEIRUT — Lebanese officials have asked people who lost relatives in recent Israeli airstrikes to provide DNA samples to match with unidentified remains.
Lebanon’s Internal Security Forces on Monday called on residents across the country to visit police stations with an identity card to give their samples. It said more than one person from each family should provide a sample, if possible.
A wave of Israeli airstrikes across large parts of Lebanon have killed more than 1,030 people — including 156 women and 87 children — in less than two weeks, according to Lebanon’s Health Ministry.
Satellite images show site of Israeli airstrike that killed Hezbollah leader
Satellite images analyzed by The Associated Press show the site of the Israeli airstrike that killed Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah.
The images, taken Sunday by Planet Labs PBC, show the site just some 2 kilometers (1.25 miles) northeast of Beirut’s Rafik Hariri International Airport.
The images show multi-story buildings at the site now cratered in the densely populated predominantly Shiite southern Beirut suburb known as Dahiyeh.
Israel said the Friday night strike targeted a meeting at an underground Hezbollah compound located beneath the towers and at least one empty lot at the site.


Lebanon to hold session to elect president after a ceasefire, caretaker PM says

Lebanon to hold session to elect president after a ceasefire, caretaker PM says
Updated 9 min 30 sec ago
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Lebanon to hold session to elect president after a ceasefire, caretaker PM says

Lebanon to hold session to elect president after a ceasefire, caretaker PM says

BEIRUT: Lebanon will hold a parliamentary session to elect a new president as soon as a ceasefire in the conflict between Hezbollah and Israel takes hold, caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati said on Monday after talks with the house speaker.


France delivers 12 tons of medical aid to Lebanon

France delivers 12 tons of medical aid to Lebanon
Updated 13 min 54 sec ago
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France delivers 12 tons of medical aid to Lebanon

France delivers 12 tons of medical aid to Lebanon
  • French Foreign Minister Barrot is scheduled to meet with Lebanese leaders on Monday


PARIS — France has delivered 12 tons of medical aid to Lebanon, including two mobile clinics that will be able to treat 1,000 seriously injured people currently in hospitals’ emergency wards across the country, according to a statement from the French Foreign Ministry on Monday.
French military aircraft also delivered critical supplies of medicine to Lebanese emergency, pediatric and general hospitals and clinics, which have been overwhelmed with thousands of injured people since Israel’s bombardment of the country began over a week ago.
During his visit to Beirut on Monday, France’s Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot said that Paris is also releasing 10 million euros ($11.1 million) in emergency humanitarian aid to support the work of local humanitarian organizations, particularly the Lebanese Red Cross.
“In the face of the escalating conflict between Israel and Hezbollah, France stands by Lebanon and remains committed to protecting civilians,” the statement said.
Barrot is scheduled to meet with Lebanese leaders on Monday, including with Prime Minister Najib Mikati, Army chief Joseph Aoun and Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri.


Yemen’s Houthi rebels claim shooting down another US-made MQ-9 Reaper drone

Yemen’s Houthi rebels claim shooting down another US-made MQ-9 Reaper drone
Updated 20 min 1 sec ago
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Yemen’s Houthi rebels claim shooting down another US-made MQ-9 Reaper drone

Yemen’s Houthi rebels claim shooting down another US-made MQ-9 Reaper drone
  • The Houthis also continue to launch missiles targeting Israel

DUBAI: Yemen’s Houthi rebels claim they shot down another American-made MQ-9 Reaper drone over the country, with videos purportedly showing a surface-to-air missile striking it. The U.S. military did not immediately acknowledge losing any aircraft.
The claimed attack comes as the one-year anniversary of the Israel-Hamas war in the Gaza Strip approaches. The Houthis have targeted ships traveling through the Red Sea over the war as U.S.-led airstrikes pound their positions in Yemen. That’s imperiled a waterway that typically sees $1 trillion of trade pass through it, as well as crucial shipments of aid to war-torn Sudan and Yemen.
The Houthis also continue to launch missiles targeting Israel, drawing retaliatory airstrikes from the Israelis this weekend on the port city of Hodeida.
The Houthi-run broadcaster Al-Masirah claimed shooting down the MQ-9, hours after video footage circulated online showing the purported missile striking the aircraft over Yemen’s Saada province. A single image online also appeared to show wreckage of the drone, with pieces resembling that of an MQ-9.