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AsiaOne
3 days ago
- Politics
- AsiaOne
Saudi Arabia says Israel shows 'extremism' by blocking West Bank visit, Asia News
AMMAN - Saudi Arabia's Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al-Saud said the Israeli government's refusal to allow a delegation of Arab ministers into the occupied West Bank showed its "extremism and rejection of peace". His statement came during a joint press conference in Amman with counterparts from Jordan, Egypt and Bahrain, after they met as part of an Arab contact group that was going to meet Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in Ramallah. "Israel's refusal of the committee's visit to the West Bank embodies and confirms its extremism and refusal of any serious attempts for (a) peaceful pathway .. It strengthens our will to double our diplomatic efforts within the international community to face this arrogance," the Saudi minister said. On Saturday (May 31), Israel said it would not allow a planned meeting on Sunday that would have included ministers from Jordan, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates, Palestinian Authority officials said. Bin Farhan's visit to the West Bank would have marked the first such visit by a top Saudi official in recent memory. An Israeli official said the ministers intended to take part in a "provocative meeting" to discuss promoting the establishment of a Palestinian state. Jordan's Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi said blocking the trip was another example of how Israel was "killing any chance of a just and comprehensive" Arab-Israeli settlement. An international conference, co-chaired by France and Saudi Arabia, is due to be held in New York on June 17-20 to discuss the issue of Palestinian statehood. Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty said the conference would cover security arrangements after a ceasefire in Gaza and reconstruction plans to ensure Palestinians would remain on their land and foil any Israeli plans to evict them. Commenting on blocking the visit, Israeli Arab lawmaker Ayman Odeh said the Arab foreign ministers' delegation aimed to end the Gaza war, enhance the Palestinian Authority's role, and support a Saudi-French UN initiative to set up a roadmap for a Palestinian state Odeh told Saudi state-owned Al Arabiya Television that the Saudi-French initiative could lead to broader international recognition of a Palestinian state, a move he said contradicts Israeli government policy. According to Odeh, the Israeli government seeks to undermine the Palestinian Authority because it views it as the "nucleus of the Palestinian state." He said Israel blocked the Arab foreign ministers' visit because it could have helped strengthen the Palestinian Authority. Israel has come under increasing pressure from the United Nations and European countries that favour a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, under which an independent Palestinian state would exist alongside Israel. [[nid:717970]]
Arab News
10-03-2025
- Politics
- Arab News
EU official cites reports accusing Assad regime of mass killings in Syria
DUBAI: A top EU official on Monday claimed that remnants of the regime of ousted leader Bashar Assad were responsible for the recent mass killings in two of the Syrian Arab Republic's coastal cities. Speaking to Al Arabiya Television, Anita Heber, the EU's foreign affairs and security policy spokesperson, said the body has reports confirming this charge. Heber said the transitional authorities in Syria have moved to contain the situation, and she called for those responsible to be held accountable. She also stressed that Europe was working toward a comprehensive political transition in Syria. Syria's interim president, Ahmad Al-Sharaa, has vowed he would find those who killed the Alawite civilians this past week. In its latest report, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights war monitor said 973 Alawite civilians were killed execution-style by either security personnel or pro-government fighters in the coastal provinces of Latakia and Tartus since March 6. The UN's rights chief Volker Turk said the killings 'must cease immediately,' while the Arab League, US, Britain and several governments have condemned the violence.
