LONDON: Jordan’s Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi held talks with the UN Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process, Tor Wennesland on Sunday over violent clashes in Jerusalem.
Anti-Arab Israeli extremists, emboldened by the election of their allies to parliament, began a march over the weekend calling for violence against Arabs.
The move raised tensions, prompting cross-border attacks from Gaza and clashes between Palestinians and Israeli police.
The talks focused on “targeted actions, stopping the provocative Israeli measures and attacks by extremist groups on Palestinians living in the Old City of occupied Jerusalem, and restoring calm to the city,” state-run Petra news agency reported.
Safadi urged every possible effort to stop these provocations, and condemned attacks by extremist groups on Palestinians, which have escalated since the beginning of Ramadan.
Safadi and Wennesland agreed to continue coordinating efforts to stop the situation from deteriorating.
Earlier Sunday, Safadi warned of the “grave” developments in the occupied city during a phone call with Palestinian Foreign Minister Riyad Al-Maliki.
They called on the “international community to intervene and pressure the Israeli authorities into tackling the issue of extremist and racist organizations in Jerusalem’s Old City,” Petra said.
They also said that Israel must respect the sanctity of Ramadan by lifting all measures restricting Palestinian Muslims.
Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry condemned the acts of violence and incitement carried out by extremist groups during a call with Safadi.
The two ministers said they would continue efforts with the international community to pressure Israel to shoulder its responsibilities in accordance with international law and to provide protection to the Palestinians.
The Palestinian Ministry of Foreign Affairs said that the UN Security Council should take practical measures to put an end to the Israeli occupation and settlement and stop the violations and crimes against the Palestinian people, and those living in Jerusalem, in particular.
Officials from Jordan, Egypt, UN condemn anti-Arab extremist rampage in Jerusalem
https://arab.news/g5bsg
Officials from Jordan, Egypt, UN condemn anti-Arab extremist rampage in Jerusalem
- Jordan and UN agree to continue coordinating efforts to stop the situation from deteriorating
- Egyptian FM condemns acts of violence and incitement carried out by extremist group in Jerusalem
US military launches strikes in Syria against Daesh fighters after American deaths
- “This is not the beginning of a war — it is a declaration of vengeance,” Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth says
- President Trump earlier pledged “very serious retaliation” but stressed that Syria was fighting alongside US troops
WASHINGTON: The Trump administration launched military strikes Friday in Syria to “eliminate” Daesh group fighters and weapons sites in retaliation for an ambush attack that killed two US troops and an American interpreter almost a week ago.
A US official described it as “a large-scale” strike that hit 70 targets in areas across central Syria that had Daesh (also known as Islamic State or IS) infrastructure and weapons. Another US official, who also spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive operations, said more strikes should be expected.
The attack was conducted using F-15 Eagle jets, A-10 Thunderbolt ground attack aircraft and AH-64 Apache helicopters, the officials said. F-16 fighter jets from Jordan and HIMARS rocket artillery also were used, one official said.
“This is not the beginning of a war — it is a declaration of vengeance. The United States of America, under President Trump’s leadership, will never hesitate and never relent to defend our people,” Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said on social media.
President Donald Trump had pledged “very serious retaliation” after the shooting in the Syrian desert, for which he blamed Daesh. The troops were among hundreds of US troops deployed in eastern Syria as part of a coalition fighting the terrorist group.
Trump in a social media post said the strikes were targeting Daesh “strongholds.” He reiterated his support for Syrian President Ahmad Al-Sharaa, who he said was “fully in support” of the US effort to target the militant group.
Trump also offered an all-caps threat, warning the group against attacking US personnel again.
“All terrorists who are evil enough to attack Americans are hereby warned — YOU WILL BE HIT HARDER THAN YOU HAVE EVER BEEN HIT BEFORE IF YOU, IN ANY WAY, ATTACK OR THREATEN THE USA.,” the president added.
The attack was a major test for the warming ties between the United States and Syria since the ouster of autocratic leader Bashar Assad a year ago. Trump has stressed that Syria was fighting alongside US troops and said Al-Sharaa was “extremely angry and disturbed by this attack,” which came as the US military is expanding its cooperation with Syrian security forces.
Syria’s foreign ministry in a statement on X following the launch of US strikes said that last week’s attack “underscores the urgent necessity of strengthening international cooperation to combat terrorism in all its forms” and that Syria is committed “to fighting Daesh and ensuring that it has no safe havens on Syrian territory and will continue to intensify military operations against it wherever it poses a threat.”
Daesh has not claimed responsibility for the attack on the US service members, but the group has claimed responsibility for two attacks on Syrian security forces since, one of which killed four Syrian soldiers in Idlib province. The group in its statements described Al-Sharaa’s government and army as “apostates.” While Al-Sharaa once led a group affiliated with Al-Qaeda, he has had a long-running enmity with Daesh.
Syrian state television reported that the US strikes hit targets in rural areas of Deir ez-Zor and Raqqa provinces and in the Jabal Al-Amour area near Palmyra. It said they targeted “weapons storage sites and headquarters used by Daesh as launching points for its operations in the region.”
Trump this week met privately with the families of the slain Americans at Dover Air Force Base in Delaware before he joined top military officials and other dignitaries on the tarmac for the dignified transfer, a solemn and largely silent ritual honoring US service members killed in action.
The guardsmen killed in Syria last Saturday were Sgt. Edgar Brian Torres-Tovar, 25, of Des Moines, and Sgt. William Nathaniel Howard, 29, of Marshalltown, according to the US Army. Ayad Mansoor Sakat, of Macomb, Michigan, a US civilian working as an interpreter, was also killed.
The shooting nearly a week ago near the historic city of Palmyra also wounded three other US troops as well as members of Syria’s security forces, and the gunman was killed. The assailant had joined Syria’s internal security forces as a base security guard two months ago and recently was reassigned because of suspicions that he might be affiliated with Daesh, Interior Ministry spokesperson Nour Al-Din Al-Baba has said.
The man stormed a meeting between US and Syrian security officials who were having lunch together and opened fire after clashing with Syrian guards.
When asked for further information, the Pentagon referred AP to Hegseth’s social media post.
