VATICAN CITY: A top Vatican official on Thursday rejected US President Donald Trump’s proposal to move Palestinians from Gaza, saying “the Palestinian population must remain on its land.”
“This is one of the fundamental points of the Holy See: no deportations,” Secretary of State Pietro Parolin said on the sidelines of an Italy-Vatican meeting, according to the ANSA news agency.
Moving Palestinians out would cause regional tensions and “makes no sense” as neighboring countries such as Jordan are opposed, he continued.
“The solution in our opinion is that of two states because this also means giving hope to the population,” he said.
Trump has proposed taking over the war-ravaged Gaza Strip and moving its more than two million residents to Jordan or Egypt. Experts say the idea would violate international law but Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has called it “revolutionary.”
Pope Francis this week criticized Trump’s plans for mass deportations of undocumented migrants in the United States — drawing a sharp response.
In a letter to US bishops, the head of the Catholic Church called the deportations a “major crisis” and said sending back people who had fled their own countries in distress “damages the dignity” of the migrants.
Trump’s border czar, Tom Homan, responded: “I wish he’d stick to the Catholic Church and fix that and leave border enforcement to us.”
Vatican says Palestinians must ‘stay on their land’
https://arab.news/vt3fn
Vatican says Palestinians must ‘stay on their land’
- Secretary of State Pietro Parolin: ‘This is one of the fundamental points of the Holy See: no deportations’
- Parolin: ‘The solution in our opinion is that of two states because this also means giving hope to the population’
Syrian authorities find Assad-era mass grave near Damascus
- Authorities are identifying the victims and investigating a suspected mass grave linked to the former Assad regime
- Nearly 177,000 people have been forcibly disappeared in Syria since March 2011
LONDON: The Syrian Civil Defense reported that the remains of 14 individuals were found in the Adra industrial area, northeast of Damascus, during excavation for mill foundations in the area.
Search teams coordinated recovery operations at the site with the National Commission for the Missing, the public prosecutor, and security authorities, according to the Syrian Arab News Agency.
The National Mine Action Center surveyed the area to ensure that it was clear of land mines and found the bones of four individuals scattered by prior digging. They later recovered the remains of 10 more individuals.
The remains were documented and collected in accordance with forensic procedures. Authorities are identifying the victims and investigating a suspected mass grave linked to the former Assad regime.
According to the Syrian Network for Human Rights, nearly 177,000 people have been forcibly disappeared in Syria since March 2011.
