
Palestinian Authority forms task force to oversee Gaza's reconstruction
LONDON: The Palestinian Authority announced the formation of a task force on Tuesday to oversee the Gaza Strip's reconstruction and coordinate humanitarian relief efforts with Egypt.
The PA's task force will address urgent issues for the 2 million Palestinians in Gaza following 15 months of Israeli bombardment, which ended in January following a ceasefire.
Its responsibilities will include distributing aid, reopening roads, clearing debris, and providing adequate shelter for families whose homes have been destroyed.
The Israeli conflict in the Gaza Strip, which began in late 2023, has resulted in the deaths of at least 47,000 Palestinians, with the majority being women and children. According to the UN, about 60 percent of buildings in Gaza have been either damaged or destroyed during the military campaign.
Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammad Mustafa said during a Cabinet meeting on Tuesday that a PA-led Government Operations Room for Emergency Interventions is currently working to deliver as many essential services as possible to the people in Gaza, including water, electricity, healthcare, and education.
'This is a national responsibility toward our people, who have endured the horrors of war for the past 15 months,' he said, as reported by the Palestine News and Information Agency.
Mustafa added that Palestinians 'will neither capitulate nor despair in the face of the international community's failure to stop Israel's war machine.'
He added: 'These crimes against our people must end. We will continue our legitimate struggle for all our rights because we are certain that justice will prevail as no right is ever lost when fought for.'
Hashtags

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles


Asharq Al-Awsat
41 minutes ago
- Asharq Al-Awsat
Diplomats Dismiss to Asharq Al-Awsat Claims about UNIFIL Withdrawal from Lebanon
Western and United Nations diplomats dismissed as rumors claims that the UN Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) was pulling out of the country. The Lebanese government is expected to request the extension of the peacekeeping forces' mandate that expires in August. A US State Department spokesperson told Asharq Al-Awsat that the reports about the withdrawal are 'inaccurate'. He did not elaborate further. UNIFIL has been deployed in southern Lebanon since March 1978. Some amendments to its mandate were introduced after the Israeli invasion of Lebanon in 1982 and again after the July 2006 war between Israel and Hezbollah. Debate rages every year over its duties as the deadline for renewing its mission approaches. Some countries have sought to grant the force more powers, which would put it at odds with Hezbollah that holds sway in the areas of its deployment. Hezbollah was severely weakened after last year's war with Israel and the ensuing ceasefire agreement had demanded that the Iran-backed party remove its weapons from the South. UNIFIL forces are deployed south of the Litani River and along the border with Israel. It boasts over 10,000 soldiers from some 50 countries, as well as 800 civilian employees. UNIFIL spokesperson Andrea Tenenti told Asharq Al-Awsat that the forces' greatest challenge is the lack of a long-term political solution between Lebanon and Israel. UNIFIL continues to encourage the parties to renew their commitment to fully implementing UN Security Council resolution 1701 and taking tangible steps to address pending issues related to it, including steps that would lead to a permanent ceasefire, he added. It is too soon to tell what UNIFIL's mandate will be like after next August, he went on to say, stressing that changing its mission is up to the Security Council. Israeli media had reported that the United States wanted to end UNIFIL's mission. Speaking to Asharq Al-Awsat, a diplomat dismissed the report as 'usual fearmongering aimed at influencing Lebanon and other parties interested in extending UNIFIL's mandate and its role in preserving stability in the South and along the Blue Line between Lebanon and Israel.' The Security Council is currently awaiting Lebanon's request to extend the mandate for another year, said western diplomats. The letter will include Lebanon's clear demand for the withdrawal of Israeli forces from all occupied Lebanese territories, including the five hilltops it seized during last year's war. The ceasefire agreement demanded that Israel pull out from those areas within 60 days. Lebanon has been seeking to resolve this issue through the quintet committee tasked with monitoring the ceasefire and through intense contacts with the US. US officials are considering pulling American support from UNIFIL in a bid to cut costs associated with its operations, the Israel Hayom newspaper reported Sunday evening. US sources later confirmed to The Times of Israel that the option was on the table.


Saudi Gazette
2 hours ago
- Saudi Gazette
Palestinians say local gunmen and Israeli forces opened fire near Gaza aid site
GAZA — Palestinians in Gaza say they were fired on once again as they headed to one of the aid distribution centres run by the Israeli- and US-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation on Monday. Witnesses said that for the first time they were fired on by Palestinian gunmen near the GHF site in the Tal al-Sultan area of Rafah, in the south. They also said Israeli troops fired on them. Gaza's Hamas-run health ministry said six people were killed and 99 injured from areas designated for aid collection. The Israeli military said it was looking into the reports. The GHF said the Tal al-Sultan site did not open on Monday and that there were no incidents at two other sites which did hand out aid. It comes days after Israel's prime minister acknowledged that it was arming Palestinian clans in Gaza who were opposed to Hamas. Almost every day since the GHF began distributing aid on 26 May, there have been deadly incidents near one or other of the four centres it has so far opened. Dozens of Palestinians have been killed while approaching one site in the Tal al-Sultan area of Rafah on a route that runs through an Israeli military zone. In the previous incidents, witnesses have said that Israeli forces opened fire at crowds. The Israeli military has denied that troops fired at civilians within the site, but it has said that troops fired at "suspects" who ignored warning shots and approached them. In Monday's incident, people at the scene said that Palestinian gunmen shot at them, as well as Israeli forces. They said the gunmen appeared to be allied with the Israeli forces, as they were operating near them and moved back into an Israeli military zone. One witness told BBC Arabic's Middle East daily programme that he saw a group of young men dressed in civilian clothes and with their faces completely covered when he arrived in the area to get a box of food aid from the GHF site. "At first, we thought they might be Palestinian youths helping with the process, but suddenly, they began shooting at us," Hisham Saeed Salem said. "Even those who managed to get a box of aid were targeted and shot. We still don't know who these attackers are. They took everything from us - some even stole from us during the chaos," he added. Another man, Mohammed Sakout, said: "Several young men were shot and killed right behind me. I narrowly escaped death - some bullets passed just inches from my head." "At first, it was the Israeli army that was shooting at civilians. But today, we were shocked to discover the presence of gangs and militias," he added. At Nasser hospital in the nearby city of Khan Younis, a seriously injured man being treated for a gunshot wound to his neck, Mohammed Kabaga, told the Associated Press: "A group of masked armed men who were organising us starting firing towards us directly." "We went to get aid. They said to stand in line. We stood in line and suddenly they started shooting at us. While I was standing, I was surprised when a bullet hit me, I got dizzy and fell down," he said. The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) told the BBC that it was looking into the reports. The GHF said in a statement that it opened two sites on Monday in the Saudi neighbourhood of Rafah and Wadi Gaza, in the centre of the Strip, and that "aid distribution at both sites proceeded without incident". When asked by the BBC about the reports from Tal al-Sultan, a GHF spokesperson said there was "nothing around our sites". However, a post on the group's Facebook account did say on Monday afternoon that the Tal al-Sultan centre was closed due to the "chaos of the crowds". The GHF's interim executive director, John Acree, said it had delivered more than 11 million meals over the past two weeks "without an injury or major incident at our distribution sites". Gaza's health ministry said hospitals had received a total of 127 dead and 1,287 injured people from "areas designated for aid distribution" during the same period. The GHF, which uses US private security contractors, aims to bypass the UN as the main supplier of aid to Palestinians. The UN and other aid groups refuse to co-operate with the new system, saying it contravenes the humanitarian principles of neutrality, impartiality, and independence. They also warn that Gaza's 2.1 million population faces catastrophic levels of hunger after an almost three-month total Israeli blockade that was partially eased three weeks ago. The US and Israel say the GHF's system will prevent aid being stolen by Hamas, which the group denies doing. The Israeli military launched a campaign in Gaza in response to the Hamas-led attack on southern Israel on 7 October 2023, in which about 1,200 people were killed and 251 others were taken hostage. At least 54,927 people have been killed in Gaza since then, according to the territory's health ministry. — BBC


Arab News
14 hours ago
- Arab News
King Abdullah II urges global ocean action at UN conference, holds key talks on Middle East stability
LONDON: King Abdullah II delivered Jordan's national address at the third United Nations Ocean Conference in Nice on Monday, underlining the urgent need for global action to protect oceans and marine life, the Jordan News Agency reported. The week-long conference, co-hosted by France and Costa Rica, has brought together hundreds of international leaders, officials, and experts to address the pressing environmental challenges facing the world's seas. In his remarks, King Abdullah described oceans as 'a vital shared resource, sustaining billions of lives,' but warned that they are increasingly threatened by climate change, pollution, overexploitation, and biodiversity loss. 'This is a critical moment in time for action,' the king added, stressing the need for international collaboration to preserve marine ecosystems. King Abdullah highlighted Jordan's embrace of science as a tool for transformation, noting that the Gulf of Aqaba's coral reefs show exceptional resilience to extreme temperatures. This unique feature, he said, positions Jordan as a global hub for marine research that could help save coral reefs worldwide. To advance this vision, he announced the launch of two key initiatives: Aqaba Blue Ventures and the Global Center for Ocean Regeneration. These projects will provide platforms to test new technologies that can be scaled up for global application, he added. On the sidelines of the conference, King Abdullah held a bilateral meeting with French President Emmanuel Macron, during which he affirmed Jordan's readiness to strengthen cooperation with France across various sectors, JNA reported. The leaders stressed the importance of maintaining coordination on regional issues and called for immediate international efforts to reinstate a ceasefire in Gaza and facilitate the entry of humanitarian aid. The king warned of the dangerous consequences of continued escalation in the West Bank and Jerusalem, reiterating that granting Palestinians their full legitimate rights remained the only path to lasting regional stability. He also commended France's role in promoting peace in the Middle East, particularly through its upcoming international conference in New York from June 17-20, organized in partnership with Saudi Arabia. The meeting was attended by Jordanian Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi and Jordan's ambassador to France Lina Al-Hadid. Also on Monday, King Abdullah held additional high-level meetings with Cyprus President Nikos Christodoulides, Prince Albert II of Monaco, and UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres. The talks were part of the king's broader diplomatic efforts to mobilize international support for the rights of the Palestinian people. During the discussions, King Abdullah again stressed that a two-state solution was the only viable route to regional peace and highlighted the importance of the forthcoming New York conference. He also reiterated the need to restore the ceasefire in Gaza, guarantee unimpeded delivery of aid, and put an end to unilateral measures in the West Bank and Jerusalem.