UN Security Council condemns attacks on peacekeeping forces in Lebanon

UN Security Council condemns attacks on peacekeeping forces in Lebanon
Members of the UNIFIL peacekeeping force sit on the side of a road at the site of an Israeli strike at the northern entrance of the southern city of Sidon, on November 7, 2024. (AFP)
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Updated 14 November 2024
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UN Security Council condemns attacks on peacekeeping forces in Lebanon

UN Security Council condemns attacks on peacekeeping forces in Lebanon
  • Several UN peacekeepers have been injured in southern Lebanon since a year of skirmishes between Israel and Hezbollah escalated into fierce clashes in the past month
  • Council members say peacekeepers must never be the target of attacks and urge all involved in the conflict to respect their safety and security

NEW YORK CITY: The UN Security Council on Wednesday condemned attacks in southern Lebanon in recent weeks in which several UN peacekeeping troops have been injured.

The UN Interim Force in Lebanon continues to monitor hostilities in the south of the country along the demarcation line separating it from Israel. A year of skirmishes between Israeli soldiers and Hezbollah fighters in border areas have escalated into fierce clashes in the past month.

Israel accuses the UN peacekeeping forces of providing cover for Hezbollah and has told UNIFIL to withdraw its troops from southern Lebanon for their own safety. The international force has refused to comply, instead vowing to remain and carry out its mandate along the Blue Line of demarcation between the two countries, which was established by the UN in June 2000. It has issued several warnings that the Israeli army’s “deliberate and direct destruction of clearly identifiable UNIFIL property is a flagrant violation of international law” and UN resolutions.

Without mentioning Israel by name, the 15 members of the UN Security Council on Wednesday urged all parties involved in the conflict to take all possible steps to respect the safety and security of UNIFIL personnel and facilities, and said peacekeepers must never be the target of attacks.

The council reiterated its “full support” for UNIFIL, underscored “its role in supporting regional stability,” and expressed “deep appreciation” to the countries that contribute troops to the force.

Council members also expressed “deep concern for civilian casualties and suffering, the destruction of civilian infrastructure, the damage to cultural heritage sites in Lebanon, and endangerment of the UNESCO World Heritage Sites in Baalbeck and Tyre, and the rising number of internally displaced people.”

They called on “all parties” to abide by international humanitarian law and fully implement Security Council resolutions.


Turkish diplomat named OSCE head after tense Malta talks

Turkish diplomat named OSCE head after tense Malta talks
Updated 39 min 55 sec ago
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Turkish diplomat named OSCE head after tense Malta talks

Turkish diplomat named OSCE head after tense Malta talks
  • Ian Borg, Malta’s foreign minister, told reporters the OSCE faced “fundamental geopolitical divisions and institutional paralysis“
  • Sinirlioglu said he hoped to act as “a bridge and a facilitator” between participating states

TA’QALI, Malta: The OSCE, the world’s largest regional security organization, agreed Friday on Turkish diplomat Feridun Sinirlioglu as its next leader, after a meeting marred by outrage over Russia’s participation.
The 57-nation Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) has been paralyzed since Moscow’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine, and has been without a secretary general since September.
Ian Borg, Malta’s foreign minister, told reporters the OSCE faced “fundamental geopolitical divisions and institutional paralysis.”
He said the agreement on a new secretary general and three other top posts had been “no easy feat” but hailed it as proof members could come together.
Borg did not rule out a deal on the budget — which has not been agreed since 2021 — by the end of the year.
Sinirlioglu, who has served as foreign minister and as Turkiye’s ambassador to Israel and the United Nations, said he hoped to act as “a bridge and a facilitator” between participating states.
Sinirlioglu, who takes over from Germany’s Helga Maria Schmid, also called on Russia to release three OSCE officials held in Russian-controlled Ukraine since 2022.
The Malta meeting was dominated by criticism of Russia, represented by Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, on his first trip to a European Union country since the invasion.
Ukraine boycotted last year’s OSCE meeting in North Macedonia over Lavrov’s presence.
Foreign Minister Andriy Sybiga was present in Malta, but he and several allies walked out during Lavrov’s address.
Poland has led calls for Russia to be excluded from the OSCE, but Borg said it was vital to keep talking.
“I’d rather have the other... (members) telling Russia on the same table to stop this war,” he said.
“It’s easy to discuss and agree among friends,” he added, but it was important also, “especially with the backdrop of raging wars, to engage with those who started and can stop the war immediately.”
Malta took the 2025 chairmanship at the last minute after Russia blocked NATO member Estonia.
Finland, which joined NATO last year, is chair for 2025.
The OSCE was founded in 1975 to ease East-West tensions during the Cold War, and now counts members from the United States to Mongolia.
It helps coordinate issues such as human rights and arms control, but Moscow has accused the group of being politicized by the EU and NATO.


Iraq PM says keeping up diplomacy to ‘contain crisis’ in Syria

Syrian Foreign Minister Bassam Sabbagh, left, arrives to meet his Iraqi counterpart Fouad Hussein during his visit to Baghdad on
Syrian Foreign Minister Bassam Sabbagh, left, arrives to meet his Iraqi counterpart Fouad Hussein during his visit to Baghdad on
Updated 06 December 2024
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Iraq PM says keeping up diplomacy to ‘contain crisis’ in Syria

Syrian Foreign Minister Bassam Sabbagh, left, arrives to meet his Iraqi counterpart Fouad Hussein during his visit to Baghdad on

BAGHDAD: Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia Al-Sudani on Friday said his country was pressing diplomatic efforts aimed at “containing the crisis in Syria due to its clear impact on Iraqi security.”
His remarks came ahead of a meeting between the top diplomats of Baghdad, Damascus and Tehran to discuss developments in Syria, which has been in the throes of a shock offensive that has seen militants capture key cities from the government.
Islamist-led fighters in Syria were about five kilometers outside of the western city of Homs, the country’s third largest and a former bastion of anti-government protests.
In a meeting with Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, Sudani on Friday affirmed that “Iraq is continuing intensive diplomatic efforts with the aim of containing the crisis in Syria due to its clear impact on iraqi security.”
“Iraq’s official, fixed stance is in support of Syria’s unity, security and stability,” Sudani added, according to a statement from his office.
Iraq’s Foreign Minister Fuad Hussein, during a meeting with his Syrian counterpart Bassam Al-Sabbagh, meanwhile expressed “deep concerns” over developments in the neighboring country.
The two ministers stressed “the importance of continuing consultation and coordination between the two countries to avoid the repetition of previous experiences and to work to protect regional security.”
Sabbagh pointed to “the necessity of mobilizing Arab and regional efforts to counter this terrorist threat... and prevent it from moving to other countries,” according to the official Syrian news agency SANA.
Both Iraq and Syria have scarcely recovered from the Daesh group’s takeover of large swathes of territory in both countries, as well as the subsequent wars waged to eject them.
Iraq’s defense ministry on Monday said it was sending armored vehicles to enhance security along the country’s 600-kilometers porous border with Syria.
On Thursday, Syrian rebel leader known by his nom de guerre Abu Mohammed Al-Jolani urged Sudani to keep his country distant from Syria’s war and prevent armed groups from backing Bashar Assad’s forces.
Faleh Al-Fayyad, the head of the Hashed Al-Shaabi former paramilitaries now integrated into Iraq’s regular army, on Friday said that “the crisis in Syria is an internal event... and Iraq has no business with it.”


Jordan closes border crossing into Syria, ministry says

Jordan closes border crossing into Syria, ministry says
Updated 06 December 2024
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Jordan closes border crossing into Syria, ministry says

Jordan closes border crossing into Syria, ministry says
  • Armed groups had been firing at Syria’s Nassib border crossing into Jordan
  • dozens of trailers and passengers were now stranded near the area

AMMAN: Jordan has closed its only passenger and commercial border crossing into Syria, the interior ministry said on Friday.
A Syrian army source told Reuters that armed groups had been firing at Syria’s Nassib border crossing into Jordan.
“Armed groups who infiltrated the crossing attacked Syrian army posts stationed there,” the source added.
He said dozens of trailers and passengers were now stranded near the area.
Jordan’s interior minister said Jordanians and Jordanian trucks would be allowed to return via the crossing, known as the Jaber crossing on the Jordanian side, while no one would be allowed to cross into Syria.


North Gaza hospital director says Israeli strikes hit facility

North Gaza hospital director says Israeli strikes hit facility
Updated 06 December 2024
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North Gaza hospital director says Israeli strikes hit facility

North Gaza hospital director says Israeli strikes hit facility
  • Beit Lahia has been the site of an intense Israeli military operation for the past two months
  • The Israeli army has stormed Kamal Adwan on several occasions since the start of their offensive nearly 14 months ago

BEIT LAHIA, Palestinian Territories: The director of north Gaza’s Kamal Adwan hospital and the territory’s civil defense agency said Israel conducted several strikes on Friday that hit the facility, one of the last functioning health centers in the area.

“There was a series of air strikes on the northern and western sides of the hospital, accompanied by intense and direct fire,” Hossam Abu Safieh said, adding that four staff were killed and no surgeons were left at the site.

The Israeli army has not yet responded to AFP requests for comment on the strikes.

Mahmud Bassal, Gaza’s civil defense spokesman, said on Friday morning that the Israeli army entered Kamal Adwan hospital, evacuated patients and arrested several Palestinians.

The city of Beit Lahia has been the site of an intense Israeli military operation for the past two months that has intensified in recent days, forcing thousands to flee amid bombing, the civil defense agency said.

The Israeli army has stormed Kamal Adwan on several occasions since the start of the war nearly 14 months ago, while the hospital said that its intensive care unit director Ahmad Al-Kahlut was killed in an air strike late last month.

The army’s storming of Kamal Adwan comes just days after the UN’s World Health Organization said an emergency medical team had reached it for the first time in 60 days.

With little to no aid reaching Kamal Adwan since the start of the Israeli operation in Gaza’s far north in early October, the hospital had run out of most supplies, including fuel.

The Israeli army says its operation in the north aims to keep Hamas militants from regrouping there.

Rights groups have accused it of pursuing a plan to evacuate or starve all those remaining there, which it denies.

Israeli government spokesman David Mencer said on Thursday that residents of the north would not be allowed to move back there as long as the military operations are ongoing.

The war in Gaza was sparked by Hamas’s surprise October 7, 2023 attack which resulted in the deaths of 1,208 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official data.

Israel’s retaliatory military campaign in Gaza has resulted in at least 44,580 deaths, mostly civilians, according to data from the territory’s Hamas-run health ministry, which the UN considers reliable.


UN says Syria fighting has displaced 280,000 so far

UN says Syria fighting has displaced 280,000 so far
Updated 06 December 2024
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UN says Syria fighting has displaced 280,000 so far

UN says Syria fighting has displaced 280,000 so far
  • UN’s Samer AbdelJaber warns that numbers could swell to 1.5 million
  • ‘That does not include the figure of people who fled from Lebanon during the recent escalations’

GENEVA: The escalation in fighting in Syria has displaced around 280,000 people in just over a week, the United Nations said on Friday, warning that numbers could swell to 1.5 million.
“The figure we have in front of us is 280,000 people since November 27,” Samer AbdelJaber, head of emergency coordination at the UN’s World Food Programme (WFP), told reporters in Geneva.
“That does not include the figure of people who fled from Lebanon during the recent escalations” in fighting there, he added.
The mass displacement has happened since militants led by Islamist group Hayat Tahrir Al-Sham (HTS) launched their lightning offensive a little more than a week ago.
That occurred just as a tenuous ceasefire in neighboring Lebanon took hold between Israel and Syrian President Bashar Assad’s ally Hezbollah, following two months of full-blown war that drove hundreds of thousands to flee into Syria.
WFP warned that the fresh mass-displacement inside Syria, more than 13 years after the country’s civil war erupted, was “adding to years of suffering.”
AbdelJaber said the WFP and other humanitarian agencies were “trying to reach the communities wherever their needs are,” and that they were working “to secure safe routes so that we can be able to move the aid and the assistance to the communities that are in need.”
He also stressed the urgent need for more funding to ensure humanitarians are “ready for any scenario basically in terms of displacements that could evolve in the coming days or months.”
AbdelJaber cautioned that “if the situation continues evolving (at the current) pace, we’re expecting collectively around 1.5 million people that will be displaced and will be requiring our support.”