LONDON: US President Joe Biden held talks with his Egyptian counterpart Abdel Fattah El-Sisi on Monday to discuss urgent aid and reconstruction in Gaza.
Egypt brokered a truce that brought to an end days of Israeli bombardment of the territory that killed 252 Palestinians including 66 children. Twelve people were killed in Israel by rockets fired from Gaza.
Biden and El-Sisi discussed ways to consolidate the cease-fire that was backed by the US and ways to revive the peace process, an Egyptian presidential spokesman said.
During the call, Biden said Washington was determined to work to restore calm and coordinate efforts with all international partners to support the Palestinian Authority.
The US president said Washington appreciated Egyptian efforts to reach the cease-fire, and that he would continue consulting with El-Sisi.
The two leaders also discussed the political process in Libya with the aim of holding elections at the end of the year.
Biden and El-Sisi also agreed to strengthen joint efforts to reintegrate Iraq into the region.
The spokesman said the leaders exchanged views on a giant dam project underway in Ethiopia, which Egypt and Sudan say threatens their water security.
El-Sisi said Egypt sought a fair and binding legal agreement over the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam that includes clear rules for the process of filling and operating the dam.
Biden said Washington intended to make efforts to ensure Egypt’s water security, and they agreed to strengthen diplomatic efforts to reach an agreement that preserves water and development rights for all parties.
US and Egyptian presidents hold talks on Gaza, Libya
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US and Egyptian presidents hold talks on Gaza, Libya
- Biden and El-Sisi discussed ways to consolidate the Gaza cease-fire
- They also agreed to strengthen joint efforts to reintegrate Iraq into the region
UNESCO fears for fate of historical sites during Iran war
- “UNESCO is deeply concerned by the first impact that the hostilities are already having on many world heritage sites,” Assomo said
- Tehran’s Golestan palace, damaged in US–Israeli strikes, is testimony to the grandeur of Iran’s civilization in the 19th century
PARIS: UNESCO said it is deeply concerned about the fate of world heritage sites in Iran and across the region, after Tehran’s Golestan palace, often compared to Versailles, and a historic mosque and palace in Isfahan were damaged in the war.
The United Nations’ cultural agency on Wednesday urged all parties to protect the region’s outstanding cultural sites, saying four of Iran’s 29 world heritage sites had been damaged since the start of the US and Israeli war with Iran.
“UNESCO is deeply concerned by the first impact that the hostilities are already having on many world heritage sites,” Lazare Eloundou Assomo, director of the World Heritage Center, told Reuters, adding he was also concerned for sites in Israel, Lebanon and across the Middle East.
Tehran’s Golestan palace, damaged in US–Israeli strikes, is testimony to the grandeur of Iran’s civilization in the 19th century, he said.
The palace was chosen as the Persian royal residence and seat of power by the Qajar family and shows the introduction of European styles in Persian arts, according to the UNESCO website. The last Shah of Iran, Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, held a coronation ceremony there in 1969.
“We sometimes even compare it with the Versailles Palace in France, for instance, and it has suffered, unfortunately, some damage. We don’t know the extent for the moment. But clearly, with the images that we have been able to receive, we can confirm ... it has been affected,” Eloundou Assomo said.
Photos of the interior of the palace have shown piles of smashed glass and shards of wood on the floor, and shattered woodwork.
Isfahan was one of Central Asia’s most important cities and a key point on the Silk Road trading route. Its Masjed-e Jame (Jameh Mosque) is more than 1,000 years old and shows the development of Islamic art through 12 centuries.
Buildings close to the buffer zone of the prehistoric sites of the Khorramabad Valley have also been damaged, UNESCO said.
UNESCO has shared coordinates of key cultural sites to all parties, Eloundou Assomo said, and was monitoring damage.
“We are calling for the protection of all sites of cultural significance ... everything that tells the history of all the civilizations of the 18 countries in the region,” he said.
