Saudi Arabia joins global calls for de-escalation of conflict between Palestinians, Israelis

Smoke is seen in the Rehovot area in Israel as rockets are launched from the Gaza Strip on Oct. 7, 2023. (Reuters)
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Updated 07 October 2023
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Saudi Arabia joins global calls for de-escalation of conflict between Palestinians, Israelis

  • Countries urge utmost restraint to avoid exposing civilians to further danger
  • ‘Unequivocal’ condemnation of ‘terrorist attack by Hamas on Israel’

RIYADH: Saudi Arabia has called for an “immediate halt to the escalation of conflict between Palestinians and Israel” after Hamas militants carried out an unprecedented attack on daybreak Saturday.

Saudi Arabia’s foreign affairs ministry said in a statement that it “is closely following developments in the unprecedented situation between a number of Palestinian factions and the Israeli occupation forces, which has resulted in a high level of violence taking place on a number of fronts there.”

“We recall our repeated warnings of the dangers of the situation exploding as a result of the continued occupation,” the statement said. It also called on the international community to activate a credible peace process that would lead to a two-state solution.

Foreign minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan spoke with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken to discuss the escalation of the violence in Gaza, the foreign ministry said.

Secretary-General of the Gulf Cooperation Council Jassem Albudaiwi called for an immediate cease-fire between the two sides to protect innocent civilians.

He “held the Israeli occupation forces responsible for the current situation resulting from the continuous and flagrant Israeli attacks against the Palestinian people and holy sites,” the GCC said in a statement.

Albudaiwi added that the ongoing Israeli attacks represent a blatant violation of international conventions and laws, hindering the peace process for resolving the Palestinian issue. 

The UAE foreign affairs ministry, in a statement on social media, also called for an ‘end to the escalation between the Israelis and the Palestinians.’

The UAE has called for exercising the utmost restraint and an immediate ceasefire in order to avoid serious repercussions, and “urged the international community to immediately reactivate the international Quartet to revive the path process of Arab-Israeli peace, and increase all efforts to achieve a just and comprehensive peace, and prevent the region from experiencing further violence, tension, and instability.”

Kuwait expressed its “grave concern” over the developments, blaming Israel for what it called its “blatant attacks.”

The foreign ministry in a statement called on the international community to “stop the provocative practices by the occupation” and the “policy of expanding settlements.”

Oman also called on both parties to “exercise utmost levels of restraint, stressing the importance of protecting civilians.”

“Oman is following with concern the ongoing escalation between the Palestinian and Israeli sides as a result of continued illegal Israeli occupation of the Palestinian territories, constant Israeli aggressions, which portend serious repercussions,” Oman’s state media said.

Egypt urged the Palestinians and Israel to “exercise restraint” and warned of the “dire danger of ongoing escalation.”

Egypt also called on the international community to “urge Israel to stop the attacks and provocative actions against the Palestinian people and to adhere to the principles of international humanitarian law with regard to the responsibilities of an occupying state.”

Military operations undertaken by the Palestinian people on Saturday are a natural result of decades of “systemic oppression” by the “Zionist Occupation authority,” a statement by the Iraqi government’s official spokesperson said.

The statement also warned of a continued escalation in the Palestinian territories, which it said could affect the stability of the region.

The Palestinian people have the right to defend themselves against the “terror of settlers and occupation troops,” the official news agency WAFA quoted President Mahmoud Abbas as saying.

Jordanian Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi warned of the “volatility” of the situation, “particularly in light of what cities and areas of the West Bank are witnessing of Israeli attacks and violations against the Palestinian people.”

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan meanwhile has called “on Israelis, Palestinians to act with restraint, refrain from aggressive acts that will exacerbate situation.”

“We invite all parties to act reasonably and to stay away from impulsive steps that raise tensions,” Erdogan said.

Qatar’s foreign ministry issued a statement saying that Israel alone was responsible for the ongoing escalation of violence with the Palestinian people.

It said Qatar calls on both sides to exercise utmost restraint and calls on the international community to prevent Israel from using these events as an excuse to launch a disproportionate war against Palestinian civilians in Gaza.

Bahrain called for self-restraint in the Gaza Strip, saying that continued fighting had negative consequences on the region’s peace and stability.

It stressed “the need for de-escalation among all parties to preserve the lives of people” in a statement from the foreign ministry.

“The continuation of violence will impede efforts aiming at achieving a just and lasting peace in the Middle East,” it said, adding that it called upon the international community to help end the armed conflict and to protect civilians.

Morocco expressed “its deep concern at the deterioration of the situation and the outbreak of military action in the Gaza Strip, and condemns attacks against civilians wherever they may be,” a foreign ministry statement said.

“The kingdom calls for an immediate halt to the escalation between the two sides, protection of civilians, and self-control,” it added.

Arab League chief Ahmed Aboul Gheit urged “an immediate halt to military operations in Gaza” and “the cycle of armed confrontation between the two sides.”

He said: “Israel’s continued implementation of violent and extremist policies is a time bomb depriving the region of any serious opportunity for stability in the foreseeable future.”

The Jeddah-based Organization for Islamic Cooperation — that the attack was “a result of the continued occupation and deprivation of the Palestinian people of their legitimate rights.”

The Muslim World League and the Arab Parliament echoed similar statements.

A White House National Security Council spokesperson said the US “unequivocally condemns” attacks by the Palestinian group Hamas against Israeli civilians and firmly stands with the government and people of Israel, CNN reported on Saturday.

Citing a statement from the spokesperson, CNN reported that White House National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan had spoken with his Israeli counterpart, Tzachi Hanegbi, and would remain in close contact.

US President Joe Biden on Saturday warned “against any other party hostile to Israel seeking advantage in this situation” after Palestinian militant group Hamas launched a large-scale surprise attack.

 

 

Biden said in his statement that he had spoken to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and underlined that the United States stood “ready to offer all appropriate means of support.”

“I made clear to Prime Minister Netanyahu that we stand ready to offer all appropriate means of support to the Government and people of Israel,” Biden said in a statement issued after their call.

“Israel has a right to defend itself and its people. The United States warns against any other party hostile to Israel seeking advantage in this situation,” Biden added.

Russia has also urged for ‘restraint’ after the attacks on Israel.

“We are now in contact with everyone. With the Israelis, Palestinians, Arabs,” Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Bogdanov told Russian private news agency Interfax, adding: “Of course, we always call for restraint.”

EU chief Ursula von der Leyen said that she ‘unequivocally’ condemned the ‘terrorist attack by Hamas on Israel’, adding that it was ‘terrorism in its most contemptible form’.

“This horrific violence must stop immediately. Terrorism and violence solve nothing. The EU expresses its solidarity with Israel in these difficult moments,” EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell meanwhile said.

Dutch prime minister Mark Rutte meanwhile said: “Appalling images from Israel. Terror organization Hamas is waging an unprecedented attack on Israel... This violence must stop; Israel has every right to defend itself.”

“The UK unequivocally condemns the horrific attacks by Hamas on Israeli civilians. The UK will always support Israel’s right to defend itself,” Britain’s Foreign Secretary James Cleverly said in a post on social media.

Italy meanwhile said it backed “Israel’s right to defend itself” against the “brutal attack” underway after hundreds of rockets were fired on its territory from Gaza.

The Italian government said it “condemns in the strongest terms the terror and the violence underway against innocent civilians”, adding: “We back the right of Israel to defend itself”.

Spain’s acting Foreign Minister Jose Manuel Albares on social media platform X on Saturday condemned attacks from Gaza against Israel.

“We strongly condemn the very serious terrorist attacks from Gaza against Israel.

“Overwhelmed by this indiscriminate violence. All our solidarity (is) with the victims.”

German top envoy Annalena Baerbock said that Germany “firmly condemns the terrorist attacks from Gaza against Israel” and it “has our full solidarity” and “the right, guaranteed by international law, to defend itself against terrorism.”

The French foreign ministry also condemned “in the strongest possible terms the ongoing terrorist attacks against Israel and its population” after the firing of hundreds of rockets into Israel from the Gaza Strip.

France “expresses its full solidarity with Israel and the victims of these attacks. It reaffirms its absolute rejection of terrorism and its commitment to Israel’s security”, the ministry added.

French President Emmanuel Macron has also strongly condemned attacks in a post on social media.

Roberta Metsola, the president of the European Parliament meanwhile said: We condemn the attacks launched by Hamas on Israel.”

Stephanie Hallett, the US Chargé d’Affaires to Israel said on social media: “I condemn the indiscriminate rocket fire by Hamas terrorists against Israeli civilians. I am in contact with Israeli officials, and fully support Israel’s right to defend itself from such terrorist acts.

“Sickened by the images coming out of southern Israel of dead and wounded civilians at the hands of terrorists from Gaza. The United States stands with Israel.”

Ukraine’s foreign ministry also condemned what it described as “ongoing terrorist attacks” on Israel.

“Ukraine strongly condemns the ongoing terrorist attacks against Israel, including rocket attacks against the civilian population in Jerusalem and Tel Aviv,” the ministry said on the social media platform X.

(With Agencies)


Hezbollah says launched drone attack on Israel military HQ

Updated 25 sec ago
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Hezbollah says launched drone attack on Israel military HQ

Hezbollah said it conducted an “aerial attack with a squadron of exploding drones“

BEIRUT: Hezbollah said it launched a drone attack targeting Israel’s military headquarters and ministry of defense in the city of Tel Aviv on Wednesday.
In a statement, the Lebanese militant group said it conducted an “aerial attack with a squadron of exploding drones” on the site housing Israel’s main defense institutions in the commercial hub.
The Israeli military said in two statements that it intercepted two drones and 40 projectiles launched from Lebanon, and that the attack had caused no injuries.
The statements did not specify what sites had been targeted.

No end in sight to Sudan war as both sides seek ‘decisive’ win

Updated 56 min 31 sec ago
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No end in sight to Sudan war as both sides seek ‘decisive’ win

  • Rosemary DiCarlo, UN Under-Secretary-General for Political and Peacebuilding Affairs said: “Let me stress that both warring parties bear responsibility for this violence“
  • “All indicators so far show that both sides are committed to military solutions, with no genuine interest in political resolutions,” said Mohamed Osman of HRW

CAIRO: Sudan has seen a surge in extreme violence in recent weeks as the warring military and paramilitary push for a decisive victory, with no political solution in sight.
Fighting between the Sudanese army and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) has intensified since late October, with reports of attacks on civilians including sexual violence against women and girls raising alarm.
The war that erupted in April 2023 has created what the UN calls the world’s worst displacement crises, with more than 11 million people forced from their homes.
It has put the country on the brink of famine, and sparked warnings of intensifying violence in a war that has already killed tens of thousands.
“Over the last two weeks, the situation in the country has been marked by some of the most extreme violence since the start of the conflict,” according to Rosemary DiCarlo, UN Under-Secretary-General for Political and Peacebuilding Affairs.
“Let me stress that both warring parties bear responsibility for this violence,” she said, adding that both sides “seem convinced they can prevail on the battlefield.”
Since October 20, at least 124 civilians have been killed in central Al-Jazira state and another 135,000 have fled to other states, according to the UN.
With global attention focused on other wars, chiefly in Ukraine and the Middle East, civilians in Sudan are paying a steep price for the escalation.
“All indicators so far show that both sides are committed to military solutions, with no genuine interest in political resolutions or even easing the suffering of civilians,” according to Mohamed Osman of Human Rights Watch.
Amani Al-Taweel, director of the Africa program at the Al-Ahram Center for Political and Strategic Studies in Cairo, agreed.
“There is no political solution on the horizon,” she told AFP, adding that both sides were seeking a “decisive military solution.”
The war in Sudan has pitted army chief Abdel Fattah Al-Burhan against his erstwhile ally Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, leader of the RSF.
The country is split into zones of control, with the army holding the north and east, and the government based in Port Sudan on the Red Sea coast.
The RSF controls much of the capital Khartoum, the Darfur region in the west and parts of Kordofan in the south, while the center is split.
With no mandatory military conscription, the Sudanese army includes Islamist-leaning forces as well as other factions.
The RSF is primarily made up of tribal militias from Darfur’s Arab communities.
According to local reports, the army has about 120,000 troops while the RSF has 100,000.
On the battlefield, Sudan’s air force gives the military an advantage.
Rights groups have accused both sides of committing atrocities.
The UN population agency published on Tuesday horrific accounts of women and girls fleeing the violence, including one who said she was urged to kill herself with a knife rather than be raped.
Successive rounds of talks have been held in Saudi Arabia, but the negotiations have yet to produce a ceasefire.
In August, the Sudanese military opted out of US-brokered negotiations in Switzerland and an African Union-led mediation has also stalled.
“The deadlock in peaceful channels, whether regionally or internationally, is exacerbating the violence,” said Mahmud Zakaria, a professor of political science at Cairo University’s Faculty of African Postgraduate Studies.
Since October, the RSF escalated its attacks in Al-Jazira state, south of Khartoum, following what the military said was the defection of one of its commanders to the army.
Before the war, Al-Jazira was known as Sudan’s breadbasket, hosting Africa’s largest agricultural project, yielding 65 percent of the country’s cotton, according to Zakaria.
Some areas have been scarred by conflict before.
Darfur saw a major war two decades ago, during which the then-government’s allies in the Janjaweed militia faced accusations of ethnic cleansing and genocide.
With roots in the Janjaweed, the RSF became a force in its own right in 2013.
Sudan’s conflict has increasingly drawn in regional powers, prompting the United States to urge all countries to stop arming rival generals.
Former Egyptian deputy foreign minister for African affairs Ali el-Hefny said progress will require global willpower.


Erdogan still hopes to meet Assad to repair Turkiye-Syria ties, CNN Turk reports

Updated 13 November 2024
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Erdogan still hopes to meet Assad to repair Turkiye-Syria ties, CNN Turk reports

  • “Restoring ties with Bashar Assad will soothe regional tensions, hopefully,” Erdogan was quoted as saying

ANKARA: Türkiye’s President Tayyip Erdogan said he still hopes to meet with Syrian President Bashar Assad to repair ties with the neighboring country, broadcaster CNN Turk reported on Wednesday.
“Restoring ties with Bashar Assad will soothe regional tensions, hopefully,” Erdogan was quoted as telling reporters on his flight back from Azerbaijan.


Israeli forces kill 22 people in Gaza, force new displacement in the north

Updated 13 November 2024
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Israeli forces kill 22 people in Gaza, force new displacement in the north

  • Men were held for questioning, while women and children were allowed to continue toward Gaza City, residents and Palestinian medics said
  • “The scenes of the 1948 catastrophe are being repeated. Israel is repeating its massacres, displacement and destruction,” said Saed, 48, a resident of Beit Lahiya

CAIRO: Israeli military strikes killed at least 22 Palestinians across the Gaza Strip on Wednesday, as Israeli forces deepened their incursion into Beit Hanoun town in the north, forcing most remaining residents to leave.
Residents said Israeli forces besieged shelters housing displaced families and the remaining population, which some estimated at a few thousand, ordering them to head south through a checkpoint separating two towns and a refugee camp in the north from Gaza City.
Men were held for questioning, while women and children were allowed to continue toward Gaza City, residents and Palestinian medics said.
Israel’s campaign in the north of Gaza, and the evacuation of tens of thousands of Palestinians from the area, has fueled claims from Palestinians that it is clearing the area for use as a buffer zone and potentially for a return of Jewish settlers.
“The scenes of the 1948 catastrophe are being repeated. Israel is repeating its massacres, displacement and destruction,” said Saed, 48, a resident of Beit Lahiya, who arrived in Gaza City on Wednesday.
“North Gaza is being turned into a large buffer zone, Israel is carrying out ethnic cleansing under the sight and hearing of the impotent world,” he told Reuters via a chat app.
Saed was referring to the 1948 Middle East Arab-Israeli war which gave birth to the state of Israel and saw the displacement of hundreds of thousands of Palestinians from their home towns and villages in what is now Israel.

NO PLANS FOR SETTLERS’ RETURN
The Israeli military has denied any such intention, and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said he does not want to reverse the 2005 withdrawal of settlers from Gaza. Hard-liners in his government have talked openly about going back.
It said forces have killed hundreds of Hamas militants in Jabalia, Beit Lahiya and Beit Hanoun during its new military offensive, which began more than a month ago. Hamas and the Islamic Jihad armed wing claimed killing several Israeli soldiers during ambushes and anti-tank rocket fire.
Efforts by Arab mediators, Qatar and Egypt, backed by the United States, have so far failed to end the war in Gaza, with Hamas and Israel trading the blame for the lack of progress.
Speaking on Wednesday, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Israel “has accomplished the goals that it set for itself” by taking out Hamas’ leadership and ensuring the group is unable to launch another massive attack. “This should be a time to end the war,” he said.
“We also need to make sure we have a plan for what follows,” he said, “so that if Israel decides to end the war and we find a way to get the hostages out, we also have a clear plan so that Israel can get out of Gaza and we make sure that Hamas is not going back in.”
Senior Hamas official Sami Abu Zuhri said Blinken’s comments showed: “We are facing one enemy and that the US enmity against the Palestinian people is no less than that of the occupation.”
On Tuesday, the United States stressed at the United Nations that “there must be no forcible displacement, nor policy of starvation in Gaza” by Israel, warning such policies would have grave implications under US and international law.
Medics said five people were killed in an Israeli strike that hit a group of people outside Kamal Adwan Hospital near Beit Lahiya, while five others were killed in two separate strikes in Nuseirat in central Gaza Strip where the army began a limited raid two days ago.
In Rafah, near the border with Egypt, one man was killed and several others were wounded in an Israeli airstrike, while three Palestinians were killed in two separate Israeli airstrikes in Shejaia suburb of Gaza City, medics added.
Later on Wednesday, an Israeli strike on a house in western Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip killed eight people, medics said.
Hamas-led gunmen attacked Israel last October, killing 1,200 people and taking more than 250 hostages, according to Israeli tallies.
More than 43,500 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza over the past year, Palestinian health officials say, and Gaza has been reduced to a wasteland of wrecked buildings and piles of rubble, where more than 2 million Gazans are seeking shelter in makeshift tents and facing shortages of food and medicines.


Sudan extends opening of Adre crossing for aid delivery

Updated 13 November 2024
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Sudan extends opening of Adre crossing for aid delivery

DUBAI: Sudan’s sovereign council said on Wednesday it would extend the use of the Adre border crossing with Chad, seen as essential by aid agencies for the delivery of food and other supplies to areas at risk of famine in the Darfur and Kordofan regions.
Experts determined earlier this year that while more than 25 million people across the country face acute hunger, several parts of the country are at increased risk of famine, and that one camp in the Darfur region was already in its throes, the consequence of war between Sudan’s army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces.
Adre, which was closed by an order from the army-controlled government in February, was re-opened for
three months
in August until November 15, and it had not been clear whether that period would be extended.
Members of the government have protested against the opening, saying it allows for the RSF to deliver weapons.
However, the Sudanese army is not in physical control of the border crossing which lies within territory seized last year by the RSF, which controls most of Darfur.
Aid agencies decided against ignoring directives from the internationally recognized government, and had been bracing themselves for closure of the corridor, seen as a more efficient route than cross-line deliveries from army-controlled Port Sudan or the more remote Al-Tina border crossing.
The re-opening of Adre in August coincided with the rainy season and the destruction of several roads and bridges, meaning that
aid trickled in
at the start.
More than 300 aid trucks with supplies for more than 1.3 million people have since crossed into Sudan through Adre, according to UN humanitarian coordination official Ramesh Rajasingham in a briefing to the Security Council on Tuesday.
The World Food Programme on Saturday moved a convoy of 15 trucks across Adre with food and nutrition for 12,500 people in famine-stricken Zamzam camp, said spokeswoman Leni Kinzli to reporters on Tuesday.