Saudi Arabia and Egypt discuss situation in Gaza, Sudan
RIYADH—The Saudi-Egyptian political consultations committee is holding a meeting at the level of foreign ministers in Riyadh on Monday.
The meeting will discuss bilateral relations, issues of common interest, the situation in the Gaza Strip, and Sudan.
Earlier, Saudi Arabia and Egypt held consultations in Cairo at the foreign ministers' level, where they discussed the situation in the region and emphasized the priority of halting the fighting in the Gaza Strip and allowing aid into the Strip.
They stressed the importance of coordination between the two countries on current developments, particularly the Palestinian issue.
Meanwhile, Saudi Arabia and Egypt affirmed their continued coordination and consultation to achieve regional and international security and stability.
The Political Consultation Committee was established approximately 18 years ago, in 2007, with its inauguration witnessed by Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Saud Al-Faisal and his Egyptian counterpart, Ahmed Aboul Gheit.
The committee holds annual meetings to strengthen Arab solidarity in the face of current challenges. These periodic meetings reflect the two sides' commitment to ongoing coordination and consultation on various issues on the regional and international scene.
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Arab News
an hour ago
- Arab News
Italian funeral for Palestinian woman evacuated from Gaza becomes call to ‘make noise'
PONTASSERCHIO, Italy: Funeral services were held Wednesday for a young Palestinian woman who died in Italy shortly after being evacuated from Gaza last week, exposing Italians to the desperate plight of Palestinians in the besieged territory. The funeral of Marah Abu Zuhri, attended by several hundred people, was interrupted repeatedly by chants of 'Free Palestine' and featured speeches by local authorities denouncing Israel's policy in Gaza and expressing solidarity with the Palestinian people. As Palestinian flags fluttered, mourners stood in prayer before Zuhri's coffin, which was was draped in a Palestinian flag and a keffiyeh scarf in the town of Pontasserchio, near Pisa. Zuhri, 19, had been evacuated to Italy with what Israel had called leukemia, but Italian doctors said they found no initial evidence of that and instead found 'profound wasting' and an undiagnosed or misdiagnosed condition. The United Nations and partners have said 22 months of war have devastated Gaza's health system, and food security experts have said the 'worst-case scenario of famine is currently playing out.' Israel is moving ahead with a new military offensive on some of the territory's most populated areas, Mayor Matteo Cecchelli said he wanted to honor Zuhri's life with a public service in the town's Park of Peace, to 'make noise' about what he called a political and humanitarian 'catastrophe' in Gaza. 'The reality is that every day in the Gaza Strip, people are dying in the deafening silence of world governments,' he said to applause. 'We cannot remain silent today in this field of peace. There are those who have decided to make noise and have decided to be here to express their dissent toward this genocide.' Israel asserts that it abides by international law and is fighting an existential war in Gaza after Hamas' deadly Oct. 7, 2023, attack that killed some 1,200 people and took more than 250 others hostage. Israel has rejected genocide allegations related to its war in Gaza and called them antisemitic. Zuhri arrived in Italy overnight on Aug. 13-14 as one of 31 sick or injured Palestinians evacuated on an Italian humanitarian airlift that has brought nearly 1,000 ill Palestinians and their families to the country since the war began. Israel said she had leukemia and had been offered an evacuation earlier but claimed that Hamas had exploited her case, without offering evidence. The UN World Health Organization, which coordinates patients' evacuations, didn't respond to a request for comment. Gaza's Health Ministry has asserted that evacuations are often delayed or canceled by Israeli authorities. It says over 18,000 patients and wounded require treatment outside Gaza. Zuhri was admitted to the hematology ward of Pisa University's Santa Chiara Hospital, a known oncological hospital in Tuscany, but died there on Aug. 15. The hospital said she arrived with a 'very complex/compromised clinical picture and in a state of profound wasting.' She suffered a sudden respiratory crisis and subsequent cardiac arrest, which killed her, it said. The head of the hematology department at the Pisa hospital, Dr. Sara Galimberti, said Zuhri arrived with a diagnosis of suspected acute leukemia, but tests the hospital conducted came back negative, with no signs of the 'bad cells' that would indicate leukemia. Galimberti told reporters that Zuhri likely had been misdiagnosed, and that her condition was nevertheless seriously compromised and had been for a while. 'The patient was in a complete condition of wasting, and completely bedridden despite being 19 years old,' she said. The hospital conducted a nutritional consultation and began a hypercaloric therapy and transfusional support, but Zuhri died before a full diagnosis was possible, Galimberti said. The doctor said the woman's mother, Nabeela Abu Zuhri, declined an autopsy on religious and personal grounds. The mother, who accompanied her daughter on the flight, spoke briefly at the funeral, thanking Italy for trying to save her daughter and asking for prayers for Palestinians. She said she was 'leaving a part of my heart, a part of me, with you' before returning to Gaza. The imam of Pisa, Mohammad Khalil, who translated for her, tried to calm the crowd and focus on Zuhri, but he also spoke of food shortages and hunger in Gaza. The United Nations has said starvation and malnutrition in Gaza are at their highest levels since the war began. The UN says nearly 12,000 children under 5 were found with acute malnutrition in July — including more than 2,500 with severe malnutrition, the most dangerous level. The World Health Organization says the numbers are likely an undercount. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has repeatedly asserted that no one in Gaza is starving, with 'no policy of starvation in Gaza.' AP reporting has found that malnourished children were arriving daily at a Gaza hospital, with some dying from hunger, including ones with no preexisting conditions.
Saudi Gazette
3 hours ago
- Saudi Gazette
Israel calls up 60,000 reservists ahead of planned Gaza City offensive
JERUSALEM — The Israeli military says it is calling up about 60,000 reservists ahead of a planned ground offensive to capture and occupy all of Gaza City. A military official said the reservists would report for duty in September and that most of the troops mobilised for the offensive would be active-duty personnel. They added that troops were already operating in the Zeitoun and Jabalia areas as part of the preparations for the plan, which Defence Minister Israel Katz approved on Tuesday and will be put to the security cabinet later this week. Hundreds of thousands of Palestinians in Gaza City are expected to be ordered to evacuate and head to shelters in southern Gaza. Many of Israel's allies have condemned the plan, while the UN and non-governmental organisations have warned that another offensive and further mass displacement will have a "horrific humanitarian impact" after 22 months of war. Israel's government announced its intention to conquer the entire Gaza Strip after indirect talks with Hamas on a ceasefire and hostage release deal broke down last month. Regional mediators are trying to secure an agreement before the offensive begins and have presented a new proposal for a 60-day truce and the release of around half of the 50 hostages still held in Gaza, which Hamas said it had accepted on Monday. Israel has not yet submitted a formal response, but Israeli officials insisted on Tuesday that they would no longer accept a partial deal and demanded a comprehensive one that would see all the hostages released. Only 20 of the hostages are believed to be alive. The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said in a statement that orders calling up 60,000 reservists were issued on Wednesday as part of the preparations for "the next phase of Operation Gideon's Chariots" - the offensive that it launched in May. In addition, 20,000 reservists who had already been called up would receive a notice extending their current orders, it added. The Israeli military official said senior commanders had approved the plan for a "gradual" and "precise" operation in and around Gaza City, and that the chief of staff, Lt Gen Eyal Zamir, was expected to finalise them in the coming days. Five divisions are expected to take part in the offensive, according to the official. The Haaretz newspaper quoted Defence Minister Katz as saying on Tuesday: "Once the operation is completed, Gaza will change its face and will no longer look as it did in the past." He also reportedly approved a plan to "accommodate" Gaza City residents in the south of the territory, including the coastal al-Mawasi area, where the military has begun establishing additional food distribution points and field hospitals. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said the military's objectives are to secure the release of all the hostages held by Hamas and "complete the defeat" of the Palestinian armed group. The IDF also announced on Wednesday that the Givati Brigade had resumed operations in the northern town of Jabalia and on the outskirts of Gaza City, where it said they were "are dismantling military infrastructures above and below ground, eliminating terrorists, and consolidating operational control". It said civilians were being told to move south for their safety "to mitigate the risk of harm". A spokesman for Gaza's Hamas-run Civil Defence agency, Mahmoud Bassal, told AFP news agency on Tuesday that the situation was "very dangerous and unbearable" in the city's Zeitoun and Sabra neighbourhoods, where he said "shelling continues intermittently". The agency said Israeli strikes and fire had killed 21 people across Gaza on Wednesday. Palestinian news agency Wafa reported that three children and their parents were killed when a house in the Shati refugee camp, west of Gaza City, was bombed. UN agencies and NGOs have warned of the humanitarian impact of a new offensive. "The Israeli plan to intensify military operations in Gaza City will have a horrific humanitarian impact on people already exhausted, malnourished, bereaved, displaced, and deprived of basics needed for survival," they said in a joint statement on Monday. "Forcing hundreds of thousands to move south is a recipe for further disaster and could amount to forcible transfer." They also said the areas of the south where displaced residents were expected to move were "overcrowded and ill-equipped to sustain human survival at scale". "Southern hospitals are operating at several times their capacity, and taking on patients from the north would have life-threatening consequences." 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 62,122 people have been killed in Gaza since then, according to the territory's Hamas-run health ministry. Most of Gaza's population has also been displaced multiple times; more than 90% of homes are estimated to be damaged or destroyed; the healthcare, water, sanitation and hygiene systems have collapsed; and UN-backed global food security experts have warned that the "worst-case scenario of famine is currently playing out" due to food shortages. - BBC
Leaders
5 hours ago
- Leaders
Tensions Rise Between Israel and France Over Palestinian State Recognition
A diplomatic crisis erupted between Israel and France on Tuesday over Paris's plan to recognize a Palestinian state next month after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu accused French President Emmanuel Macron of fostering 'antisemitism.' In response, the Elysee Palace labeled Netanyahu's claims as 'abject' and 'erroneous.' 'This is a time for seriousness and responsibility, not for conflation and manipulation,' the French presidency stated. Netanyahu's accusations appeared in a letter addressed to Macron, in which Netanyahu claimed that antisemitism had 'surged' in France since Macron announced last month that he would recognize Palestinian statehood. Macron plans to make this formal recognition during a UN meeting in September, a decision that drew immediate backlash from Israel. Netanyahu wrote, 'Your call for a Palestinian state pours fuel on this antisemitic fire. It is not diplomacy; it is appeasement.' He argued that this move rewards Hamas terror, hardens Hamas's refusal to release hostages, and emboldens those who threaten French Jews. France Joins Growing List of Nations By announcing its intention to recognize Palestinian statehood, France joins a growing list of nations that have taken similar steps since the Gaza war began nearly two years ago as at least 145 of the 193 UN member states now recognize or plan to recognize a Palestinian state. France has long supported the 'two-state solution,' as the French government asserts that recognizing a Palestinian state counters Hamas, which governs Gaza and opposes a two-state solution. Additionally, the Palestinian Authority's foreign ministry condemned Netanyahu's remarks as 'unjustified and hostile to peace.' The ministry stated, 'The old record of confusing criticism of the Israeli occupation and its crimes with antisemitism has become cracked and exposed, and no one is fooled.' In response to Netanyahu's allegations, the French presidency emphasized that France 'protects and will always protect its Jewish citizens,' condemning violence against the French Jewish community as 'intolerable.' The presidency noted that since 2017, President Macron has consistently demanded strong actions against perpetrators of antisemitic acts, especially following the attack of 7 October, 2023. Macron's office indicated that Netanyahu's allegations 'will not go unanswered.' Benjamin Haddad, Macron's minister for Europe, stated that France has 'no lessons to learn in the fight against antisemitism,' adding that the issue, which 'poisons our European societies,' must not be 'exploited.' Rising Antisemitism in France France is home to Europe's largest Jewish community. Reported antisemitic acts in France surged from 436 in 2022 to 1,676 in 2023, before decreasing to 1,570 last year, according to the interior ministry. On Tuesday, Netanyahu also criticized Australia, which plans to recognize Palestinian statehood next month. He labeled Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese a 'weak politician who betrayed Israel and abandoned Australia's Jews.' This personal attack occurred amid a diplomatic spat after Australia canceled the visa of far-right Israeli politician Simcha Rothman. Shortly after, Israel's Foreign Minister Gideon Saar announced the revocation of visas for Australia's representatives to the Palestinian Authority. As tensions escalate, the international community watches closely, hoping for a resolution that promotes peace and stability in the region. Short link : Post Views: 14
