SANAA: Retired Danish general Michael Lollesgaard arrived Tuesday in Sanaa to head the UN observer mission in war-wracked Yemen and replace his predecessor whose ties with the rebels were reportedly strained.
Lollesgaard replaces Patrick Cammaert, the Dutch general who had been tapped a little over a month ago to lead the mission deployed in the lifeline Red Sea port city of Hodeida.
The new mission head made no comments upon his arrival in Sanaa, an AFP correspondent said, and it was not clear when exactly he would begin his mission in Hodeida.
He will oversee a team of 75 unarmed observers to monitor a fragile ceasefire deal for Hodeida agreed in December between the Huthis and the Yemeni government at UN-brokered talks in Sweden.
Diplomats say relations have been strained between Cammaert and the Iran-linked Huthi rebels battling the Saudi-backed government, and with the UN envoy to Yemen, Martin Griffiths.
Some Huthis have accused him of running his own agenda, a claim disputed by the United Nations which said his only mission was to improve the lives of the embattled Yemeni people.
On January 17, his convoy came under fire in the flashpoint city of Hodeida but he and his team escaped unhurt and the UN said the source of the shooting was unknown.
Hodeida port is the entry point for the bulk of Yemen's supplies of imported goods and humanitarian aid, providing a lifeline to millions on the brink of starvation.
Lollesgaard, born in 1960, commanded the UN peacekeeping force in Mali (MINUSMA) from 2015 to 2016, and he then became Denmark's military representative to NATO and the European Union in 2017.
He was also military adviser to Denmark's UN mission in New York and served in peace support operations in Iraq and Bosnia
His new appointment was endorsed at the end of January by the UN Security Council.
Yemen's rebels have been mired in a war with government forces backed since 2015 by a Saudi-led military coalition.
The conflict has triggered what the UN calls the world's worst humanitarian crisis, with millions of people at risk of starvation.
The World Health Organization has put the death toll since 2015 at about 10,000 people but rights groups say that figure could be five times higher.
New head of UN observer mission lands in Yemen
New head of UN observer mission lands in Yemen
- Lollesgaard replaces his predecessor whose ties with the rebels were reportedly strained
UAE FM discusses Gaza with Israel’s opposition leader
- Sheikh Abdullah stressed the need to restart talks on the two-state solution in Palestine
ABU DHABI: The UAE’s Foreign Minister Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al-Nahyan held discussions on developments in Gaza with Israel’s opposition leader Yair Lapid in Abu Dhabi recently, Emirates News Agency reported on Thursday.
During the meeting, Sheikh Abdullah stressed the need to restart talks on the two-state solution in Palestine, which he said would ensure permanent regional peace and security.
He called for additional efforts to reach an immediate ceasefire in Gaza, which would prevent the conflict spreading to the rest of the region.
Sheikh Abdullah added that it was important for aid to reach Gaza, and that the lives of civilians should be protected.
Palestinian security force kills Islamic Jihad gunman in rare internal clash
- Al-Foul was “treacherously ... targeted in his car” without provocation, the brigades said in a statement. “This crime is just like any assassination by Israeli special forces.”
RAMALLAH: Palestinian security officers killed a gunman in the occupied West Bank on Thursday, a rare intra-Palestinian clash whose circumstances were disputed and which the fighter’s faction described as an Israeli-style “assassination”.
Palestinian Authority security services spokesperson Talak Dweikat said a force sent to patrol Tulkarm overnight came under fire and shot back, hitting the gunman. He died from his wounds in hospital.
Videos circulated online, and which Reuters was not immediately able to confirm, showed a car being hit by gunfire.
A local armed group, the Tulkarm and Nour Shams Camp Brigades, claimed the dead man, Ahmed Abu Al-Foul, as its member with affiliation to the largely militant group Islamic Jihad.
Al-Foul was “treacherously ... targeted in his car” without provocation, the brigades said in a statement. “This crime is just like any assassination by Israeli special forces.”
President Mahmoud Abbas’ PA wields limited self-rule in the West Bank, and sometimes coordinates security with Israel.
Parts of the territory have drifted into chaos and poverty, with the PA and Israel trading blame, especially since ties have been further strained by Israel’s offensive in Gaza.
Hamas, an Islamic Jihad ally which rules the Gaza Strip and has chafed at Abbas’ strategy of seeking diplomatic accommodation with Israel, denounced “the attacks by the PA’s security forces on our people and our resistance fighters”.
Palestinian security forces and gunmen have exchanged gunfire several times in the last year, but deaths are rare.
EU offers 1 bln euros in economic, security support to Lebanon
- The funds would be available from this year until 2027
BEIRUT: The European Union has offered Lebanon a financial package of 1 billion euros ($1.07 billion) to support its faltering economy and its security forces, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said on Thursday during a visit to Beirut.
Von der Leyen said the support package would help bolster basic services in Lebanon, including health and education, though she added that it was crucial for Beirut to “take forward economic, financial and banking reforms” to revitalize the business environment and banking sector.
Speaking alongside Lebanon’s Prime Minister Najib Mikati and Cypriot President Nikos Christodoulides, she said security support to the Lebanese army, the internal security forces and General Security would be focused on providing training, equipment and infrastructure to improve border management.
Lebanon’s economy began to unravel in 2019 after decades of profligate spending and corruption. However, vested interests in the ruling elite have stalled financial reforms that would grant Lebanon access to a $3 billion aid package from the International Monetary Fund.
As the crisis has been allowed to fester, most Lebanese have been locked out of their bank savings, the local currency has collapsed and public institutions — from schools to the army — have struggled to keep functioning.
In parallel, Lebanon has seen a rise in migrant boats taking off from its shores and heading to Europe – with nearby Cyprus and increasingly Italy, too, as the main destinations, researchers say.
Iran slaps sanctions on US, UK over Israel support
- Sanctions targeted seven Americans
- British officials and entities targeted include Secretary of State for Defense Grant Shapps
TEHRAN: Iran announced on Thursday sanctions on several American and British individuals and entities for supporting Israel in its war against the Palestinian militant group Hamas.
The Islamic republic, the regional arch-foe of Israel, unveiled the punitive measures in a statement from its foreign ministry.
It said the sanctions targeted seven Americans, including General Bryan P. Fenton, commander of the US special operations command, and Vice Admiral Brad Cooper, a former commander of the US Navy’s Fifth Fleet.
British officials and entities targeted include Secretary of State for Defense Grant Shapps, commander of the British army strategic command James Hockenhull and the UK Royal Navy in the Red Sea.
Penalties were also announced against US firms Lockheed Martin and Chevron and British counterparts Elbit Systems, Parker Meggitt and Rafael UK.
The ministry said the sanctions include “blocking of accounts and transactions in the Iranian financial and banking systems, blocking of assets within the jurisdiction of the Islamic Republic of Iran as well as prohibition of visa issuance and entry to the Iranian territory.”
The impact of these measures on the individuals or entities, as well as their assets or dealings with Iran, remains unclear.
The war in the Gaza Strip erupted after the October 7 attack by Palestinian militants on Israel which killed 1,170 people, mostly civilians, according an AFP tally based on official Israeli figures.
Iran backs Hamas but has denied any direct involvement in the attack.
Israel’s retaliatory offensive against Hamas has since killed at least 34,568 people in Gaza, mostly women and children, according to the Hamas-run territory’s health ministry.
12-truck UAE aid convoy enters Gaza Strip
- UAE has also sent Palestinians food, water via sea, air
- Emirates has provided medical treatment for thousands
Al-ARISH: A UAE aid convoy entered the Gaza Strip on Wednesday via Egypt’s Rafah Crossing Point as a part of the country’s “Operation Chivalrous Knight 3” project to support the Palestinian people, UAE state news agency WAM reported on Thursday.
The 12-truck convoy is transporting over 264 tonnes of humanitarian aid including food, water and dates.
The latest convoy now brings to 440 the number of trucks that have been used for support efforts.
As of May 1, 2024, the UAE has now provided the Palestinians 22,436 tonnes of aid, which has included the deployment of 220 cargo planes and three cargo ships. The goods pass through Al-Arish Port and the Rafah crossing into Gaza.
These efforts are a part of the “Birds of Goodness” operation, which involves aerial drops of humanitarian supplies. By Wednesday, 43 drops have been conducted, delivering a total of 3,000 tonnes of food and relief materials to inaccessible and isolated areas in Gaza.
Since its establishment, medical staffers at the UAE’s field hospital in Gaza have treated more than 18,970 patients. An additional 152 patients were evacuated to the UAE’s Floating Hospital in Al-Arish Port, and 166 to the UAE for treatment.
The UAE has set up six desalination plants with a production capacity of 1.2 million gallons per day to support the people in Gaza.
