Jordan FM says Israel killing all prospects for regional peace
His statement followed Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz authorising plans to capture Gaza City, a densely populated urban area housing hundreds of thousands of Palestinians in the northern part of the territory.
The United Nations confirms that most of Gaza's population has been displaced since the conflict began, with many families forced to relocate multiple times.
Jordanian Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi addressed Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov during their Moscow meeting by expressing hope to discuss efforts to end the aggression on Gaza, and the massacres and starvation that it is creating.
He further emphasised the destructive impact of illegal measures that continue to undermine the two-state solution and kill all prospects for peace in the region.
Safadi acknowledged Russia's diplomatic stance by telling Lavrov we value your clear position against the war and your demand for reaching a permanent ceasefire.
Israel maintains that its military does not target civilians and denies implementing any policy of starvation within Gaza.
The Israeli government's expansion of military operations has provoked widespread international condemnation and sparked significant domestic protests.
Hamas's October 2023 attack on Israel resulted in the deaths of 1,219 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official figures.
Israel's offensive has killed at least 62,064 Palestinians, most of them civilians, according to figures from the health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza, which the United Nations considers reliable. – AFP
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
New Straits Times
an hour ago
- New Straits Times
Former CIA director Burns calls Trump firings of US workers "a war on...expertise"
WASHINGTON: William Burns, former CIA director and veteran US diplomat, on Wednesday issued a scathing rebuke of the Trump administration's mass firings of federal workers, saying they are aimed at stifling dissenting views and will harm US security. "Under the guise of reform, you all got caught in the crossfire of a retribution campaign - of a war on public service and expertise," Burns wrote in a "Letter to America's Discarded Public Servants" published in The Atlantic magazine. The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Burns was CIA director under Democratic former President Joe Biden, and a foreign service officer. He served three Democratic and three Republican presidents. His career included stints as US ambassador to Russia and deputy secretary of State. Taking aim at US President Donald Trump's sweeping purge of federal workers, including State Department staff and US intelligence officers, Burns said that civil servants recognize the need for serious government reforms. "But there is a smart way and a dumb way to tackle reform, a humane way and an intentionally traumatizing way," he said. "This is not about reform. It's about retribution. It's about breaking people and breaking institutions by sowing fear and mistrust throughout our government." "That's what autocrats do," Burns said. "They cow public servants into submission, and in doing so, they create a closed system that is free of opposing views and inconvenient concerns." Burns cited Russian President Vladimir Putin's "foolish decision" to launch his February 2022 full-scale invasion of Ukraine as an example of how an absence of dissenting policy views led to "catastrophic" results for the Kremlin. The threat to the US "is not from an imaginary 'deep state' bent on" undermining Trump, he wrote, but "a weak longer able to uphold the guardrails of our democracy or help the United States compete in an unforgiving world."— REUTERS
The Star
2 hours ago
- The Star
UNIFIL, Lebanese army discover Hezbollah tunnels in S. Lebanon
BEIRUT, Aug. 20 (Xinhua) -- The UN Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) and the Lebanese army discovered two Hezbollah military tunnels in separate areas of southern Lebanon on Wednesday, according to Lebanese sources. UNIFIL peacekeepers found a 50-meter-long tunnel and unexploded munitions near the town of Al-Qusayr during a field operation coordinated with the Lebanese army, UNIFIL said in a statement, adding that all findings were handed to the Lebanese army in accordance with UN Security Council Resolution 1701. In a separate incident, a source from the Lebanese army told Xinhua that the army discovered another Hezbollah tunnel on Litani River banks, west of the village of Deir Mimas, and that army engineering units are clearing the tunnel in preparation for its detonation at a later time. Meanwhile, Lebanon's official National News Agency reported that Israeli forces on Wednesday fired four illumination shells into the Hermon area opposite the villages of Yaroun and Rmeish in the Bint Jbeil district, aiming to ignite fires in the area. Since Nov. 27, 2024, a U.S.- and French-brokered ceasefire between Hezbollah and Israel has formally been in effect, ending more than a year of cross-border clashes. The agreement stipulated Israel's withdrawal from southern Lebanon, but the Israeli army has maintained several posts along the border and continues to launch attacks, citing "threats" from Hezbollah. On Monday, the Israeli army reportedly established a new military post in the border region of southern Lebanon.
The Star
5 hours ago
- The Star
Russia bars entry to 21 people it says spread disinformation against it in UK media
MOSCOW (Reuters) -Russia said on Wednesday it was barring entry to 21 individuals it accused of working with "the destructive British media" to promote anti-Russian narratives. The list includes journalists, experts and members of NGOs. Their names were added to those of many hundreds of other Western nationals whom Russia has placed on its "stop list" since the start of the war in Ukraine. Britain on Wednesday said it was imposing new sanctions on cryptocurrency networks it said were exploited by Russia. (Reporting by Reuters; Writing by Anastasia Teterevleva; Editing by Mark Trevelyan)
