ADDIS ABABA: The “extermination” of the Palestinian people must end, the chairman of the African Union Commission Mahmoud Ali Youssouf said on Saturday as he launched the organization’s 39th summit.
“In the Middle East, Palestine and the suffering of its people also challenge our consciences. The extermination of this people must stop,” said Youssouf, who was elected to head the institution a year ago.
The Gaza Strip, a small territory surrounded by Israel, Egypt, and the Mediterranean Sea, has been under a very strict Israeli siege since the start of the war triggered by Hamas’s deadly attack on October 7, 2023.
That attack resulted in the deaths of 1,221 people on the Israeli side, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official data.
Since then, at least 71,667 Palestinians have been killed in the small coastal territory by Israel’s retaliatory military campaign, according to Gaza’s health ministry.
He also touched on the multiple conflicts raging in Africa.
“From Sudan to the Sahel, to eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, in Somalia and elsewhere, our people continue to pay the heavy price of instability,” Youssouf said.
The summit brings together heads of state from the 55 member states of the African Union over two days.
This year’s theme is water sanitation.
Extermination of Palestinians must stop: African Union chair
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Extermination of Palestinians must stop: African Union chair
One killed, 13 injured in Marib shopping mall fire
- Civil defense teams, supported by police forces, were able to extinguish the fire and prevent it from spreading to other shops in the area
MARIB: One person was killed and 13 others were injured after a fire broke out at a shopping mall and neighboring shops on Aden Street in Marib Governorate, Yemen, on Sunday morning, local authorities said.
According to a security source cited by SABA News Agency, the blaze erupted after midnight, engulfing Ibn Al-Hajj Mall and adjacent commercial premises.
Civil defense teams, supported by police forces, were able to extinguish the fire and prevent it from spreading to other shops in the area.
The source said the fire completely destroyed the Ibn al-Hajj Mall, including its second-floor warehouses, as well as a neighboring shoe store. A nearby furniture store sustained partial damage, but its contents were swiftly removed, helping to limit losses and stop the fire from spreading further.
All casualties were reported to have suffered from smoke inhalation, the source added.
Investigations are ongoing to determine the cause of the fire. Authorities urged merchants and residents to adhere to occupational safety procedures and preventive measures to protect lives and property.
