TEL AVIV: Israel established diplomatic relations on Saturday with Bhutan, a majority-Buddhist nation neighboring India, the Israeli foreign ministry said.
Israel’s new relations with the relatively-isolated Himalayan nation did not appear to be related to its budding ties under US-sponsored accords with Arab and Muslim countries in the Middle East and Africa.
The agreement follows several years of secret contacts between Israel and Bhutan with the aim of establishing relations, the foreign ministry said in a statement.
“Israel’s circle of recognition is growing and expanding. The establishment of relations between us and the Kingdom of Bhutan will serve as another milestone in deepening Israel’s ties in Asia,” Israeli Foreign Minister Gabi Ashkenazi said.
Bhutan has full diplomatic ties with only 53 countries, Israel’s foreign ministry said.
A signing ceremony was held between the Israeli and Bhutanese ambassadors to India on Saturday, the foreign ministry said. The countries agreed to formulate a joint work plan in the areas of water management, agriculture, health care and other areas, it added.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu welcomed the agreement, adding: “We are in contact with other countries that want to join and establish relations with us.”
The move comes two days after Israel and Morocco agreed to normalize ties in a deal brokered with US help, making it the fourth Arab country — after the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Sudan — to set aside hostilities with Israel in the past four months.
Israel says it has established diplomatic ties with Bhutan
https://arab.news/yzsxb
Israel says it has established diplomatic ties with Bhutan
- Bhutan has full diplomatic ties with only 53 countries, Israel’s foreign ministry said
- The agreement follows several years of secret contacts between Israel and Bhutan with the aim of establishing relations
Syria accuses Hezbollah of firing shells into its territory
- “The Syrian Arab Army will not tolerate any aggression targeting Syria,” the army said in a statement to SANA
DAMASCUS: Syria said Iran-backed Hezbollah had fired artillery shells into its territory from Lebanon overnight, state media reported on Tuesday, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and the Lebanese Shia movement.
Syrian army officials said artillery shells fired from Lebanon landed near the town of Serghaya, west of Damascus, the state news agency SANA reported on Tuesday.
The army accused Hezbollah of targeting Syrian army positions, telling the news agency it observed Hezbollah reinforcements at the Syrian-Lebanese border.
“The Syrian Arab Army will not tolerate any aggression targeting Syria,” the army said in a statement to SANA.
Lebanon was drawn into the Middle East war last week when Hezbollah attacked Israel in response to the killing of Iranian supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei during US-Israeli strikes.
Hezbollah and Israeli forces have clashed in eastern Lebanon in recent days, and Israel has carried out strikes across Lebanon, including on the capital Beirut.
Lebanese President Joseph Aoun accused Hezbollah of working to “collapse” the state, while the head of the group’s parliamentary bloc said it had “no other option... than the option of resistance.”
Hezbollah provided military support to former Syrian president Bashar Assad, who was overthrown in December 2024 by an Islamist coalition hostile to the pro-Iranian Shia movement.
Since then, its supply routes from Syria have been cut off, and Lebanese and Syrian authorities are trying to combat smuggling across the porous border between the two countries.
