Saudi Foreign Minister Arrives in Damascus
Saudi Minister of Foreign Affairs Prince Faisal bin Farhan bin Abdullah arrived in Damascus on an official visit to Syria, accompanied by a high-level economic delegation.
The economic delegation comprises Royal Court Advisor Mohammed bin Mazyad Al-Tuwaijri, Vice Minister of Finance Abdulmuhsen bin Saad Alkhalaf, Assistant Minister of Investment Dr. Abdullah Aldubaikhi, Deputy Foreign Minister for Economic and Development Affairs Abdullah bin Zarah, as well as several officials from various sectors, SPA reported.
The foreign minister is scheduled to meet with Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa. The high-level economic delegation will hold a consultation session with their Syrian counterparts to discuss avenues for joint action aimed at supporting the Syrian economy, strengthening government institutions, and achieving the aspirations of the Syrian people.
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Arab News
3 hours ago
- Arab News
Medical NGO blames new US aid group for deadly Gaza chaos
RAFAH, Palestinian Territories: Medical charity Doctors Without Borders said Sunday that people it treated at a Gaza aid site run by a new US-backed organization reported being 'shot from all sides' by Israeli forces. The NGO, known by its French name MSF, blamed the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation's aid distribution system for chaos at the scene in the southern Gaza town of Rafah. Gaza's civil defense agency said Israeli fire killed 31 Palestinians at the site. Witnesses told AFP the Israeli military had opened fire. The GHF and Israeli authorities denied any such incident took place but MSF and other medics reported treating crowds of locals with gunshot wounds at the Nasser hospital in the nearby town of Khan Younis. 'Patients told MSF they were shot from all sides by drones, helicopters, boats, tanks and Israeli soldiers on the ground,' MSF said in a statement. MSF emergency coordinator Claire Manera in the statement called the GHF's system of aid delivery 'dehumanizing, dangerous and severely ineffective.' 'It has resulted in deaths and injuries of civilians that could have been prevented. Humanitarian aid must be provided only by humanitarian organizations who have the competence and determination to do it safely and effectively.' MSF communications officer Nour Alsaqa in the statement reported hospital corridors filled with patients, mostly men, with 'visible gunshot wounds in their limbs.' MSF quoted one injured man, Mansour Sami Abdi, as describing people fighting over just five pallets of aid. 'They told us to take food — then they fired from every direction,' he said. 'This isn't aid. It's a lie.' The Israeli military said an initial inquiry found its troops 'did not fire at civilians while they were near or within the humanitarian aid distribution site.' A GHF spokesperson said: 'These fake reports have been actively fomented by Hamas,' the Islamic militant group that Israel has vowed to destroy in Gaza.
Asharq Al-Awsat
3 hours ago
- Asharq Al-Awsat
Over 30 Killed Near Aid Site in Gaza, Palestinian Health Authorities Say
More than 30 Palestinians were killed and dozens more injured on Sunday in southern Gaza near a humanitarian aid distribution site run by a US company, according to local health officials. Witnesses said the Israeli military had opened fire as Palestinians gathered to collect food. The military denied it had fired towards civilians and the US company running the facility said it had distributed aid without incident. Reuters could not independently verify what took place. The head of the UN Palestinian refugee agency (UNRWA), Philippe Lazzarini, wrote on X that international medics in Gaza had reported there were "mass casualties including scores of injured & killed among starving civilians due to gunshots". A series of incidents have underscored the insecurity around aid delivery to Gaza, following the easing of an almost three-month Israeli blockade last month. "There are martyrs and injuries. Many injuries. It is a tragic situation in this place. I advise them that nobody goes to aid delivery points. Enough,' paramedic Abu Tareq said at Nasser Hospital in nearby Khan Younis city. The Palestinian Red Crescent Society said paramedics had recovered the bodies of 23 Palestinians and evacuated another 23 injured people from the aid collection site area in Rafah. Local health authorities said at least 31 bodies had so far arrived at Nasser Hospital. The US-based Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, which operates the aid distribution site in Rafah, denied anyone was killed or injured near its site and said that all of its distribution had taken place without incident. It accused Palestinian group Hamas of fabricating "fake reports". The entity released undated footage, which it said showed that aid was distributed at one site without incident. Reuters could not independently verify the footage, which appeared to show dozens of people gathering around piles of boxes. INITIAL INQUIRY Israel's military said in a statement that findings from an initial inquiry indicated soldiers had not fired on civilians while they were near or within the aid distribution site. GHF is a US-based entity backed by the US and Israeli governments that began providing aid in Gaza last month, bypassing traditional aid groups. The group has been widely criticized by the international community, with UN officials saying its aid plans would only foment forced relocation of Palestinians in Gaza and more violence. Residents and medics said Israeli soldiers fired from the ground at a crane nearby that overlooks the area, and a tank had opened fire at thousands of people who were en route to get aid from the site in Rafah. Reuters footage showed ambulance vehicles carrying injured people to Nasser Hospital. The Hamas-run Gaza government media office accused Israel of using aid as a weapon, "employed to exploit starving civilians and forcibly gather them at exposed killing zones, which are managed and monitored by the Israeli military". Israel denies that people in Gaza are starving because of its actions, saying it is facilitating aid deliveries and pointing to its endorsement of the new GHF distribution centers and its consent for other aid trucks to enter Gaza. US President Donald Trump said last month that a lot of people in Gaza were "starving". Israel accuses Hamas of stealing supplies intended for civilians and using them to entrench its hold on Gaza. Hamas denies looting supplies and has executed a number of suspected looters. Reda Abu Jazar said her brother was killed as he waited to collect food near the Rafah aid distribution center. "Let them stop these massacres, stop this genocide. They are killing us," she said, as Palestinian men gathered for funeral prayers. UNRWA's Lazzarini, condemned the deaths, saying in a statement on X that "aid distribution has become a death trap". He said aid distribution should be "only through the United Nations, including UNRWA". The Red Crescent also reported that 14 Palestinians were injured on Sunday near a separate site in central Gaza, also operated by GHF. CEASEFIRE TALKS FALTER Israel and Hamas meanwhile traded blame for the faltering of a new Arab and US mediation bid to secure a temporary ceasefire and the release of Israeli hostages held in Gaza by Hamas, in exchange for Palestinians in Israeli jails. Hamas said on Saturday it was seeking amendments to a US-backed ceasefire proposal, but President Donald Trump's envoy Steve Witkoff rejected the group's response as "totally unacceptable". Egypt and Qatar said they are continuing efforts to converge views and overcome disagreements to reach a ceasefire. Dozens of Palestinians marched on Sunday at the funeral of a Gaza doctor, Hamdi Al-Najjar, who was critically injured in late May in an airstrike that killed all but one of his 10 children. Najjar died late on Saturday. The Israeli military has confirmed it conducted an air strike on Khan Younis that day, but said it was targeting suspects in a structure that was close to Israeli soldiers. The military is looking into claims that "uninvolved civilians" were killed, it said, adding that the military had evacuated civilians from the area before the operation began. Israel began its offensive in Gaza in response to the Hamas-led attack on southern Israel on October 7, 2023, which killed 1,200 people, mostly civilians, according to Israeli tallies, and saw 251 taken as hostages into Gaza. Israel's campaign has devastated much of Gaza, killing more than 54,000 Palestinians and destroying most buildings. Much of the population now lives in shelters in makeshift camps.
Saudi Gazette
4 hours ago
- Saudi Gazette
Pledge of support for tripartite mediation efforts for lasting ceasefire in Gaza
Saudi Gazette report AMMAN — The Ministerial Committee assigned by the Joint Arab-Islamic Extraordinary Summit on Gaza, chaired by Saudi Minister of Foreign Affairs Prince Faisal bin Farhan, held a virtual meeting with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas on Sunday. The meeting included the participation of Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates of Jordan Ayman Safadi, Bahraini Minister of Foreign Affairs Dr. Abdullatif bin Rashid Al-Zayani, Egyptian Minister of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates Dr. Badr Abdelatty, and the Secretary General of the Arab League Ahmed Aboul Gheit. From the Palestinian side, the meeting was attended by Vice President Hussein Al-Sheikh and Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Dr. Mohammad Mustafa. The Committee briefed President Abbas on its international efforts aimed at securing an immediate end to the Israeli aggression against the Gaza Strip, lifting the blockade, and ending the humanitarian catastrophe. The Committee also updated the President on ongoing preparations to ensure the success of the upcoming High-Level International Conference for the Peaceful Settlement of the Question of Palestine and the Implementation of the Two-State Solution, scheduled to be held in New York this June under the joint chairmanship of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the French Republic. The Conference seeks to advance the realization of an independent Palestinian state based on the June 4, 1967 lines, with East Jerusalem as its capital. The Committee reaffirmed its support for the mediation efforts of Egypt, Qatar, and the United States to achieve an immediate and lasting ceasefire in Gaza. It called on Israel to permit the immediate, adequate, and sustained entry of humanitarian and medical aid, and to grant access to United Nations agencies—particularly the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA)—to deliver assistance across the Strip. The Committee also called for an end to the dangerous escalation by Israel in the West Bank. The Committee emphasized the importance of convening the International Conference on Early Recovery and Reconstruction in Gaza, to be held in Cairo immediately after a ceasefire is reached. The conference will implement the reconstruction plan adopted by the Arab Emergency Summit held in Cairo on March 4, 2025. The Committee reiterated the importance of supporting the Palestinian National Authority and praised the reform measures initiated by President Mahmoud Abbas. It strongly condemned Israel's obstruction of the Committee's planned visit to Ramallah earlier today, describing it as a violation of diplomatic norms and a reflection of a dangerous policy aimed at hindering the Committee's efforts to achieve a just and comprehensive peace, as well as to support the Palestinian government's reform agenda. The Committee stated that this action was, regrettably, consistent with the Israeli government's extremist policies, which continue to block humanitarian aid from entering Gaza and obstruct broader peace efforts. For his part, President Abbas expressed his appreciation for the Committee's efforts to mobilize international support for ending the war in Gaza, alleviating the humanitarian crisis, and advancing the implementation of the two-state solution. He reiterated hope for the success of the upcoming High-Level International Conference and for expanding international recognition of the State of Palestine. President Abbas affirmed the government's commitment to its reform program and called for coordinated international support across the political, economic, and security dimensions to reinforce these efforts. He also called on Israel to release the Palestinian funds it is unlawfully withholding. The President reaffirmed his commitment to rejecting violence and the targeting of civilians, and to working toward peace and security in cooperation with Arab states and international partners. He expressed hope that the Ministerial Committee would soon be welcomed in person on Palestinian soil.
