Author: Steven Sahiounie

Saudi efforts to de-escalate the Gaza conflict are “in line” with Japanese policy, UEMURA Tsukasa, Japan’s special envoy for Middle East peace, said on Tuesday. “Aside from providing humanitarian assistance to Gaza, Saudi Arabia is doing a fairly good job politically, in line with (Japan’s) policy as well. In terms of humanitarian assistance, Saudi Arabia is doing the most efforts,” the former ambassador to the Kingdom, who visited the region to discuss the war, told Arab News Japan. Since March 27, Uemura has visited Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the UAE in efforts to de-escalate the conflict by closely communicating…

An emergency meeting of the Arab League kicked off in the Egyptian capital Cairo on Wednesday to discuss Israel’s ongoing offensive in the Gaza Strip. Addressing the emergency meeting, Palestinian delegate Mahend al-Aklouk warned against launching an Israeli ground attack on Rafah city, where more than 1.4 million people have taken refuge from Israel’s war, in the southern tip of the Gaza Strip. “The Israeli attack will have grave repercussions on more than one million displaced people in the city,” he said. Despite international opposition, Israel has announced plans to invade Rafah, one of the last significant communities spared from…

The United Nations has suspended movements at night in Gaza for at least 48 hours to evaluate security issues following the killing of staff working for the World Central Kitchen food charity, UN spokesperson Stephane Dujarric said on Wednesday.He said the suspension started on Tuesday. The World Food Programme is continuing operations during the day, including daily efforts to send convoys to the north of Gaza “where people are dying,” Dujarric said.“As famine closes in we need humanitarian staff and supplies to be able to move freely and safely across the Gaza Strip,” he told reporters.Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu…

Celebrity chef Jose Andres told Reuters in an interview on Wednesday that an Israeli attack that killed seven of his food aid workers in Gaza had targeted them “systematically, car by car.”Speaking in a video interview, Andres said the World Central Kitchen (WCK) charity group he founded had clear communication with the Israeli military, which he said knew his aid workers’ movements.This was not a “bad luck situation where, ‘oops,’ we dropped the bomb in the wrong place,” Andres said. “Even if we were not in coordination with the (Israel Defense Forces), no democratic country and no military can be…

White House National Security Communications Advisor John Kirby denies any evidence of Israeli crimes and violations of International Humanitarian Law. Speaking to the press on April 2, a White House spokesperson said that the United States had looked into several actions by Israeli occupation forces in Gaza “in the past” and had not found “any incidents where the Israelis have violated international humanitarian law.” This response came to a question asked by an Irish-born columnist for The Hill, Niall Stanage, to the White House National Security Communications Advisor John Kirby about how the US continues to send military aid to the Israeli occupation…

Russia strongly condemns Israeli airstrikes inside Syria and regards them as a gross violation of the country’s sovereignty, said Russia’s envoy to the UN, Vasily Nebenzya. “The Russian Federation strongly condemns the ongoing airstrikes on the sovereign territory of Syria, viewing them as a gross violation of the sovereignty and territorial integrity of that country,” he said at a meeting of the Security Council. “We believe such aggressive actions by Israel, which are designed to further inflame the conflict, are unacceptable and must be stopped.” The diplomat said Russia calls on West Jerusalem to abandon “the practice of provocative forceful…

The United States warned the Russian authorities two weeks before the terrorist attack at Crocus City Hall that the music venue could be a potential target of the attack, The Washington Post reported citing American officials familiar with the matter. “More than two weeks before terrorists staged a bloody attack in the suburbs of Moscow, the U.S. government told Russian officials that Crocus City Hall, a popular concert venue, was a potential target,” the daily said. According to The Washington Post, this information was passed on to Russia a day before the US Embassy in Moscow issued on March 7 a warning…

US President Joe Biden could be a bigger danger to US democracy than former president and presumptive 2024 election rival Donald Trump, said another presidential candidate, Robert F Kennedy Jr. Speaking on CNN on Monday, Kennedy Jr pointed to his being blocked on various social media platforms during Biden’s term in office and branded this as an effort to “censor political speech” that violated the First Amendment of America’s constitution. He also attributed the ‘censorship’ to pressure from the White House, RT reported. Pressed by CNN’s Erin Burnett on who he believes poses a bigger threat to democracy, Kennedy stated…

Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan discussed on Wednesday various issues including conflicts in Gaza and Ukraine with his British counterpart David Cameron, diplomatic sources said. Fidan met Cameron on the sidelines of NATO foreign ministers meeting in Brussels. According to the sources, both ministers discussed recent developments in Gaza, including ways for humanitarian aid delivery to the besieged enclave where Israel has continued its onslaught for nearly six months now. Fidan conveyed Türkiye’s views on the importance of recognizing the state of Palestine, and also discussed the current situation regarding the war in Ukraine and bilateral cooperation in the defense…

The United States has vowed to block a new attempt by the Palestinians for full membership in the United Nations. Supporters of the Palestinian move asked the UN Security Council on Tuesday to revive an application for admission submitted in 2011. But Robert Wood, the US deputy ambassador to the UN, was again almost certain to block the request. “Our position has not changed,” Wood told several reporters. Wood said the issue of a full Palestinian membership is one of the final status issues to be decided in bilateral talks between the Palestinians and Israel. At least 140 countries have…