logo
Qatar, UK urge immediate ceasefire in Gaza

Qatar, UK urge immediate ceasefire in Gaza

Arab News9 hours ago
DUBAI: Qatar's Emir Sheikh Tamim Al-Thani and UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer stressed the urgent need for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza during a phone call on Wednesday, according to Qatar News Agency.
They also called for the swift delivery of humanitarian aid to the besieged Strip. Both leaders voiced concern over the worsening situation in the occupied Palestinian territories. They emphasized the importance of protecting civilians and addressing the humanitarian crisis.
The call also touched on bilateral relations. Sheikh Tamim and Starmer discussed ways to strengthen cooperation between Qatar and the United Kingdom across various sectors.
Orange background

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Comments

No comments yet...

Related Articles

Exclusive Senior Hamas official accuses US envoy Witkoff of spoiling Gaza ceasefire efforts
Exclusive Senior Hamas official accuses US envoy Witkoff of spoiling Gaza ceasefire efforts

Al Arabiya

time29 minutes ago

  • Al Arabiya

Exclusive Senior Hamas official accuses US envoy Witkoff of spoiling Gaza ceasefire efforts

A senior Hamas official has accused US envoy Steve Witkoff of repeatedly undermining efforts to reach a ceasefire between the Palestinian group and Israel in the war-torn Gaza Strip. In an exclusive interview on Al Arabiya English's Counterpoints program, Basem Naim claimed that Witkoff 'undermined a serious chance to reach a ceasefire agreement' on multiple occasions. Naim said Hamas had initially hoped that US President Donald Trump's stated desire to end wars globally would translate into concrete action in Gaza, but that such hope had been disappointed. 'Unfortunately, in our case, we have seen repeatedly that [the US is] backing the position of this fascist Israeli government – in all forms,' Naim said. 'Even, sometimes, if the cost or the price is to undermine a serious chance to reach a ceasefire.' He claimed there had been multiple moments when a truce was within reach but was derailed 'by one of those two parties – either the Israelis or the Americans.' Naim insisted that Hamas remains committed to negotiating a ceasefire – even a temporary one – as a step toward 'a permanent ceasefire and a full withdrawal of the Israeli forces from the Gaza Strip.'

Lebanon cabinet meets again on Hezbollah disarmament
Lebanon cabinet meets again on Hezbollah disarmament

Al Arabiya

timean hour ago

  • Al Arabiya

Lebanon cabinet meets again on Hezbollah disarmament

Lebanon's cabinet convened again on Thursday to discuss the thorny task of disarming Hezbollah, a day after the Iran-backed group rejected the government's decision to take away its weapons. With Washington pressing Lebanon to take action on the matter, US envoy Tom Barrack has made several visits to Beirut in recent weeks, presenting officials with a proposal that includes a timetable for Hezbollah's disarmament. Amid the US prodding and fears that Israel could expand its strikes in Lebanon, Prime Minister Nawaf Salam said Tuesday that the government had tasked the military with developing a plan to restrict arms to state forces by the end of 2025. The decision is unprecedented since the end of Lebanon's civil war more than three decades ago, when the country's armed factions - with the exception of Hezbollah - agreed to surrender their weapons. As Thursday's cabinet meeting got underway, Hezbollah's parliamentary bloc called on the government to 'correct the situation it has put itself and Lebanon in by slipping into accepting American demands that inevitably serve the interests of the Zionist enemy.' The government has said the new disarmament push is part of implementing a November ceasefire that sought to end more than a year of hostilities between Israel and Hezbollah. That conflict culminated last year in two months of full-blown war that left the group badly weakened. Hezbollah said on Wednesday that it would treat the government's decision to disarm it 'as if it did not exist,' accusing the cabinet of committing a 'grave sin.' 'Never come to fruition' Iran backs the group militarily and financially, with a member of its Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps expressing skepticism at the 'American-Zionist plan' for Hezbollah's disarmament. 'In my opinion, it will never come to fruition,' said deputy coordinator Iraj Masjedi of the Guards' Quds Force, its foreign operations arm. Citing 'political sources,' pro-Hezbollah newspaper Al Akhbar said the group and its ally the Amal movement could choose to withdraw their four ministers from the government or trigger a no-confidence vote by parliament's Shia bloc, which comprises 27 of Lebanon's 128 lawmakers. Israel - which routinely carries out airstrikes in Lebanon despite the November ceasefire - has already signaled it would not hesitate to launch destructive military operations if Beirut failed to disarm the group. Israeli strikes in south Lebanon killed two people on Wednesday, according to the health ministry. Under the truce, Israel was meant to completely withdraw from Lebanon, though it has kept forces in several areas it deems strategic. Hezbollah, meanwhile, was to pull its fighters north of the Litani River, around 30 kilometers (20 miles) north of the border with Israel, to be replaced by the expanded deployment of the Lebanese army and United Nations Interim Forces in Lebanon (UNIFIL). UNIFIL spokesperson Andrea Tenenti said on Thursday that peacekeepers 'discovered a vast network of fortified tunnels in the vicinity of Tayr Harfa, Zibqin, and Naqura,' including 'several bunkers, artillery pieces, multiple rocket launchers, hundreds of shells and rockets, anti-tank mines, and other explosive devices.' Prime Minister Salam said in June that the Lebanese army had dismantled more than 500 Hezbollah military positions and weapons depots in the south.

Gaza Humanitarian Foundation to ‘scale up' number of sites from 4 to 16
Gaza Humanitarian Foundation to ‘scale up' number of sites from 4 to 16

Arab News

timean hour ago

  • Arab News

Gaza Humanitarian Foundation to ‘scale up' number of sites from 4 to 16

LONDON: The US and Israeli-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation will 'scale up' its sites in Gaza from four to 16, US Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee has said. In an interview with Fox News, Huckabee said: 'The immediate plan is to scale up the number of sites up to 16 and begin to operate them as much as 24 hours a day.' The GHF was conceived by Israelis, is operated by American contractors on the ground, and receives diplomatic and financial support from the US, The New York Times reported. It currently operates four aid distribution sites, mostly in southern Gaza. Huckabee and Steve Witkoff, the US' special envoy to the Middle East, visited a GHF site in the enclave last week. Huckabee's comments are viewed as a response to mounting criticism of Israel's war and humanitarian strategy for Gaza. Aid groups have warned that the enclave is in the grip of a rapidly worsening hunger crisis, with Palestinians confronting famine levels of food insecurity. The World Food Programme, a UN body, has said that the humanitarian crisis in Gaza has reached 'new and astonishing levels of desperation, with one-third of the population not eating for multiple days in a row.' Observers widely viewed the launch of the GHF as an Israeli attempt to supersede Gaza's existing humanitarian network, which was largely run by the UN. The foundation has been severely criticized by the UN and has faced a boycott, after UN officials said its methods violated humanitarian law. Hundreds of Palestinians seeking food have been shot dead near GHF sites since the foundation began operations in May, health workers in the enclave have said. Israeli forces are stationed close to the sites, and the country's military said its troops had fired 'warning shots' toward crowds of desperate Palestinians. Huckabee said: 'The president has been telling us he wants food into the hands of hungry people, but he wants it in a way that it doesn't get into the hands of Hamas. That's exactly what we did when we stood up GHF.' He added that the foundation coordinated with the Israeli military but was not under its control, and that its results were 'pretty phenomenal.'

DOWNLOAD THE APP

Get Started Now: Download the App

Ready to dive into a world of global content with local flavor? Download Daily8 app today from your preferred app store and start exploring.
app-storeplay-store