AMMAN: Jordan said on Friday the kingdom will host a meeting on Saturday between US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and his Saudi, Qatari, Emirati and Egyptian counterparts, along with participation of the Palestinians.
The ministers will stress during the talks the “Arab stance calling for an immediate cease-fire, delivering humanitarian aid and ways of ending the dangerous deterioration that threatens the security of the region,” a foreign ministry statement said.
Israel has struck Gaza from the air, imposed a siege and launched a ground assault, stirring global alarm over humanitarian conditions in the enclave, with food scarce, medical services collapsing and a civilian death toll that has surpassed 9,000.
Blinken, who arrived on Friday after earlier meeting Israeli leaders, said the US was determined that there not be a second or third front in the conflict. He also appealed to Israel to take steps to protect civilians in Gaza.
The Arab ministers will hold a meeting ahead of their discussions with Blinken as part of their diplomatic drive to lobby with major powers to put pressure on Israel to end its military campaign, officials said.
“This coordination meeting is part of their efforts to bring an end to the Israeli war on Gaza that is causing a humanitarian catastrophe,” the statement said.
Jordan says Gulf ministers, Egyptian FM, Palestinians to meet Blinken Saturday
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Jordan says Gulf ministers, Egyptian FM, Palestinians to meet Blinken Saturday
- Blinken, who arrived on Friday after earlier meeting Israeli leaders, said the US was determined that there not be a second or third front in the conflict
Syria imposes night curfew on port city after sectarian violence
- Individuals attacked Alawite-majority neighborhoods on Monday
- The attacks came a day after three people were killed during mass protests
DAMASCUS: Syrian authorities imposed an overnight curfew in the port city of Latakia on Tuesday after attacks in predominantly Alawite neighborhoods a day prior.
The interior ministry announced a “curfew in Latakia city, effective from 5:00 p.m. (1400 GMT) on Tuesday, December 30, 2025, until 6:00 am (0300 GMT) on Wednesday, December 31, 2025.”
Individuals attacked Alawite-majority neighborhoods on Monday, damaging cars and vandalising shops.
The attacks came a day after three people were killed during mass protests by the minority community that followed a bombing in Homs.
One of them was a member of Syria’s security forces, according to a security source.
Syrian authorities said on Monday forces “reinforced their deployment in a number of neighborhoods in the city of Latakia, as part of measures taken to monitor the situation on the ground, enhance security and stability, and ensure the safety of citizens and property.”
Latakia, a mixed city in Syria’s Alawite coastal heartland, also has several Sunni-majority neighborhoods.
Since Syria’s longtime ruler Bashar Assad, himself an Alawite, was ousted in December 2024, the minority group has been the target of attacks.
Hundreds of Alawites were killed in sectarian massacres in the community’s coastal heartland in March.
Despite assurances from Damascus that all of Syria’s communities will be protected, the country’s minorities remain wary of their future under the new authorities.
