Arab leaders promise to work on reconstruction of Gaza, press for ceasefire

Arab leaders promise to work on reconstruction of Gaza, press for ceasefire
Arab leaders attend the opening session of the 34th Arab League summit, in Baghdad, Iraq, Saturday, May 17, 2025. (AP)
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Updated 17 May 2025
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Arab leaders promise to work on reconstruction of Gaza, press for ceasefire

Arab leaders promise to work on reconstruction of Gaza, press for ceasefire
  • UN chief calls for permanent and immediate Gaza ceasefire
  • Iraq pledges $40 mn for Gaza, Lebanon reconstruction
  • Egypt's Sisi urges Trump to apply pressure for Gaza ceasefire

BAGHDAD: Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez on Saturday called for increased pressure “to halt the massacre in Gaza,” speaking at an Arab League summit hours after Israel announced an intensified operation in the besieged Palestinian territory.

UN chief Antonio Guterres told the Baghdad meeting that “we need a permanent ceasefire, now,” while Egypt’s President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi urged his US counterpart Donald Trump to “apply all necessary efforts... for a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip.”

 

The summit comes straight after a Gulf tour by Trump, who sparked uproar earlier this year by declaring that the United States could take over Gaza and turn it into the “Riviera of the Middle East.”

The scheme that included the proposed displacement of Palestinians prompted Arab leaders to come up with an alternative plan to rebuild the territory at a March summit in Cairo.

Guterres said that “we reject the repeated displacement of the Gaza population, along with any question of forced displacement outside of Gaza.”

The UN secretary-general also said he was “alarmed by reported plans by Israel to expand ground operations and more.”

The Israeli military said it had launched “extensive strikes” on Saturday as part of the “initial stages” of a fresh offensive, more than 19 months into the war sparked by Hamas’s October 7, 2023 attack.

Sanchez, who has sharply criticized the Israeli offensive, said world leaders should “intensify our pressure on Israel to halt the massacre in Gaza, particularly through the channels afforded to us by international law.”

He said his government planned a UN resolution demanding an International Court of Justice ruling on Israel’s war methods.

The “unacceptable number” of war victims in Gaza violates the “principle of humanity,” he said.

Iraq’s Prime Minister Mohammed Shia Al-Sudani told the summit that his country backs the creation of an “Arab fund to support reconstruction efforts” after crises in the region.

He pledged $20 million to the reconstruction of Gaza and a similar amount for Lebanon.

Foreign Minister Fuad Hussein said the Baghdad meeting would endorse previous Arab League decisions on Gaza’s reconstruction countering Trump’s widely condemned proposal.

During his visit to the region this week, Trump reiterated that he wanted the United States to “take” Gaza and turn it into a “freedom zone.”

Iraq pledges $40 mn for Gaza, Lebanon reconstruction

Iraq has only recently regained a semblance of normality after decades of devastating conflict and turmoil, and its leaders view the summit as an opportunity to project an image of stability.

Baghdad last hosted an Arab League summit in 2012, during the early stages of the civil war in neighboring Syria, which in December entered a new chapter with the overthrow of longtime ruler Bashar Assad

In Riyadh, Trump met Syria’s interim President Ahmed Al-Sharaa, a onetime jihadist whose Islamist group spearheaded the offensive that toppled Assad.

Sharaa, who was imprisoned in Iraq for years after the US-led invasion of 2003 on charges of belonging to Al-Qaeda, missed the Baghdad summit after several powerful Iraqi politicians voiced opposition to his visit.

Foreign Minister Asaad Al-Shaibani represented Damascus instead.

The summit also comes amid Iran’s ongoing nuclear talks with the United States.

Trump has pursued diplomacy with Iran as he seeks to avert threatened military action by Israel — a desire shared by many of the region’s leaders.

On Thursday, Trump said a deal was “getting close,” but by Friday, he warned that “something bad is going to happen” if the Iranians do not move fast.


Summer comes early for Iraq with 49 degrees Celsius in Basra

Summer comes early for Iraq with 49 degrees Celsius in Basra
Updated 8 sec ago
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Summer comes early for Iraq with 49 degrees Celsius in Basra

Summer comes early for Iraq with 49 degrees Celsius in Basra
BAGHDAD: Summer has come early for Iraq this year with temperatures hitting 49 degrees Celsius (topping 120 degrees Fahrenheit) in the southern city of Basra on Thursday, the national weather center said.
“It is the highest temperature recorded in Iraq this year,” weather center spokesperson Amer Al-Jabiri told AFP.
He said the early heat was in contrast to last year, when the temperature was “relatively good” in May and “it only began to rise in June.”
In Iraq, summer temperatures often exceed 50 degrees Celsius, especially in July and August, and sometimes reach these levels earlier.
On Sunday, two cadets died and others were admitted to hospital with heat stroke at a military academy in the southern province of Dhi Qar, authorities said.
The defense ministry said nine cadets “showed signs of fatigue and exhaustion due to sun exposure” while waiting to be assigned to battalions.
Prime Minister Mohammed Shia Al-Sudani ordered an investigation into the deaths of the two cadets.
Iraq is one of the five countries most impacted by some effects of climate change, according to the United Nations. It has also seen a prolonged drought and frequent dust storms.

Israel army issues evacuation warning for 14 areas of north Gaza

Israel army issues evacuation warning for 14 areas of north Gaza
Updated 42 min 58 sec ago
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Israel army issues evacuation warning for 14 areas of north Gaza

Israel army issues evacuation warning for 14 areas of north Gaza
  • The army told residents that it was operating with intense force

JERUSALEM: The Israeli army issued an evacuation warning on Thursday for 14 neighborhoods in the northern Gaza Strip, including parts of Beit Lahia and Jabalia.

The army told residents in an Arabic-language statement that it was “operating with intense force in your areas, as terrorist organizations continue their activities and operations” there.

A similar warning for parts of northern Gaza was issued on Wednesday evening in what the army said was a response to rocket fire.

It said that one “projectile that was identified crossing into Israel from the northern Gaza Strip was intercepted” by the air force.

It later announced three more launches from northern Gaza, but said the projectiles had fallen inside the Palestinian territory.

Israel has ramped up its Gaza operations in recent days in what it says is a renewed push to destroy Hamas.

The territory’s civil defense agency said Israeli attacks had killed at least 19 people on Thursday.


Turkiye’s Erdogan says Damascus must keep focused on Kurdish SDF deal

Turkiye’s Erdogan says Damascus must keep focused on Kurdish SDF deal
Updated 59 min 43 sec ago
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Turkiye’s Erdogan says Damascus must keep focused on Kurdish SDF deal

Turkiye’s Erdogan says Damascus must keep focused on Kurdish SDF deal
  • Ankara views the SDF and its factions as a terrorist group

ANKARA: Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan said Syria’s government must keep focused on its deal with the Kurdish, US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) under which it is to integrate into the Syrian armed forces, pressing Damascus for its implementation.

Speaking to reporters on a flight from Budapest, he said Turkiye, Syria, Iraq and the United States had a committee to discuss the fate of Daesh militants in prison camps in northeast Syria, which have been run by the SDF for years.

Ankara views the SDF and its factions as a terrorist group.

“We are especially following the YPG issue very, very closely. It is important for the Damascus administration not to take its attention away from this issue,” his office on Thursday cited him as saying. The YPG militia spearheads the SDF.

He added that Iraq should focus on the issue of the camps, as most women and children at the Al-Hol camp there were from Iraq and Syria, and that Iraq should repatriate its nationals.


Israel intercepts two missiles launched from Yemen, military says

Israel intercepts two missiles launched from Yemen, military says
Updated 22 May 2025
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Israel intercepts two missiles launched from Yemen, military says

Israel intercepts two missiles launched from Yemen, military says
  • Houthi Military Spokesperson Yahya Saree said the group launched a ballistic missile toward Israel’s Ben Gurion Airport and two drones toward the Tel Aviv area

Israel’s military said it intercepted two missiles launched from Yemen and that sirens had sounded twice across the country including in Jerusalem and the occupied West Bank on Thursday, as the Houthis stepped up attacks.
Houthi Military Spokesperson Yahya Saree said the group launched a ballistic missile toward Israel’s Ben Gurion Airport and two drones toward the Tel Aviv area.
Undeterred by Israeli strikes on Yemen, the Houthis said they would continue to fire at Israel even though they have agreed to a ceasefire with the United States to halt attacks on US ships in the Red Sea.
Israel has carried out retaliatory strikes including one on May 6 that damaged Yemen’s main airport in Sanaa, and another last week targeting the Red Sea ports of Hodeidah and Salif.
Since the start of the war between Israel and Hamas in Gaza in October 2023, the Houthis have launched dozens of missile and drone attacks targeting Israel, most of which have been intercepted or have fallen short.
The group says it is acting in support of Gaza’s Palestinians. 


ICC prosecutor says Netanyahu arrest warrant should remain as Israel jurisdiction challenge is heard

ICC prosecutor says Netanyahu arrest warrant should remain as Israel jurisdiction challenge is heard
Updated 22 May 2025
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ICC prosecutor says Netanyahu arrest warrant should remain as Israel jurisdiction challenge is heard

ICC prosecutor says Netanyahu arrest warrant should remain as Israel jurisdiction challenge is heard
  • Prosecutors argue there is ‘no basis to withdraw or vacate’ the pending warrants for Netanyahu and Yoav Gallant
  • Israel is not a member of the court and contends the ICC has no authority to prosecute Israeli nationals

THE HAGUE, Netherlands: International Criminal Court prosecutors have urged judges to reject a request by Israel to scrap arrest warrants for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his former defense minister while the court reconsiders its jurisdiction over Gaza and the West Bank.
In a 10-page written submission posted on the ICC website late Wednesday, prosecutors argue there is “no basis to withdraw or vacate” the pending warrants for Netanyahu and Yoav Gallant.
The warrants were issued in November, when judges found there was “reason to believe” Netanyahu and Gallant used “starvation as a method of warfare” by restricting humanitarian aid and intentionally targeted civilians in Israel’s campaign against Hamas in Gaza. Israeli officials strongly deny the accusations.
The prosecution document was signed on behalf of prosecutor Karim Khan, who temporarily stepped down on Friday pending the outcome of an investigation into allegations of sexual misconduct.
The filing argues it is important for the underlying investigation to continue in the “current situation where crimes are ongoing and escalating.”
Last month, appeals judges ordered a pretrial panel to reconsider an Israeli challenge to the court’s jurisdiction.
Israel argued in its application for the warrants to be withdrawn that the court “doesn’t have, and never had” jurisdiction to issue warrants for Netanyahu and Gallant.
Israel is not a member of the court and contends the ICC has no authority to prosecute Israeli nations. The Hague-based institution, however, has accepted “The State of Palestine” as one of its 126 member nations.
ICC chief prosecutor Khan is currently on leave until the conclusion of an external probe into accusations that he tried for more than a year to coerce a female aide into a sexual relationship and groped her against her will.
An investigation by The Associated Press last year found that two court employees, in whom the alleged victim confided, reported the alleged misconduct in May 2024 to the court’s independent watchdog.
Along with the warrants for the Israeli officials, the court also issued a warrant for Mohammed Deif, head of Hamas’ armed wing, over the Oct. 7, 2023, attacks that triggered Israel’s offensive in Gaza. The warrant was withdrawn in February, after his death in an Israeli airstrike was confirmed.