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Roundup: Earthquakes kill over 11,000 in Türkiye, Syria

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ANKARA/DAMASCUS, Feb. 8 (Xinhua) — The death toll from Monday’s devastating earthquakes in Türkiye and Syria has surpassed 11,000, according to data released by authorities and rescuers.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said during his visit to the worst-hit region on Wednesday that a total of 8,574 people in the country have died from the massive earthquakes.

Earlier, the country’s disaster management agency said more than 40,000 people have been injured.

In Syria, at least 1,250 were killed and 2,054 injured, said the Syrian Health Ministry. Media reports also cited rescue workers as saying that at least 1,280 were killed and over 2,600 injured in the opposition-held region in Syria.

A magnitude 7.7 earthquake struck Türkiye’s southern province of Kahramanmaras at 4:17 a.m. local time (0117 GMT), followed by a magnitude 6.4 quake a few minutes later in the country’s southern province of Gaziantep and a magnitude 7.6 earthquake at 1:24 p.m. local time (1024 GMT) in the Kahramanmaras Province.

Rescuers were racing against time and a bitter cold to find survivors in Kahramanmaras, the epicenter of two huge and deadly earthquakes that struck Türkiye and Syria on Monday.

Many countries and global aid agencies are offering rescue teams and relief supplies to quake-hit regions.

An 82-member Chinese rescue team arrived at Adana Airport on Wednesday to assist in rescue efforts in the quake-hit areas in Türkiye after flying over 8,000 km on a chartered plane.

“Upon arrival, the team will bring audio and video life detectors, medical equipment and rescue dogs to the disaster area and immediately start the search and rescue work,” said Wang Mo, deputy head of the Chinese rescue team.

While Syria is struggling harder amid the earthquakes, the U.S. sanctions are still blocking humanitarian relief work in the country.

In a statement, the Syrian Foreign Ministry said that Syrians, while dealing with the earthquake catastrophe, are digging among rubbles with bare hands or using the simplest tools, as the equipment for removing the rubbles has been banned by the United States.

Source(s): Xinhua

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Israel truce team leaves Doha, official blames Hamas for ‘dead end’

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Israel has recalled its negotiators from Doha after deeming mediated talks on a Gaza truce “at a dead end” due to demands by Hamas, a senior Israeli official said on Tuesday.

The official, who is close to the Mossad spymaster heading up the talks, accused Hamas’ Gaza leader Yahya Sinwar of sabotaging the diplomacy “as part of a wider effort to inflame this war over Ramadan”.

The warring sides had stepped up negotiations, mediated by Qatar and Egypt, on a six-week suspension of Israel’s offensive in return for the proposed release of 40 of the 130 hostages still held by the Palestinian militant group in Gaza.

Hamas has sought to parlay any deal into an end to the fighting and withdrawal of Israeli forces. Israel has ruled this out, saying it would eventually resume efforts to dismantle the governance and military capabilities of Hamas.

Hamas also wants hundreds of thousands of Palestinians who fled Gaza City and surrounding areas southward during the first stage of the almost six-month-old war to be allowed back north.

The Israeli official said that Israel had agreed to double the number of Palestinians it would release in exchange for the hostages to 700-800 prisoners and allow some displaced Palestinians to return to northern Gaza.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said on Tuesday that Hamas had made “delusional” demands, which it said showed the Palestinians were not interested in a deal.

In Tel Aviv, a crowd of around 300 family members of hostages and their supporters gathered outside the Israeli defense headquarters demanding a deal be done to release the captives. Some locked themselves inside cages in protest, holding placards with photos of their loved ones. “No price is too high,” one of the signs said.

Hamas has accused Israel of stalling at the talks while it carries out its military offensive.

The discussions in Doha are continuing as Palestinians in Gaza face severe shortages of food, medicine and hospital care, and concerns grow that famine will take hold.

On Monday, the United Nations Security Council passed a resolution demanding an immediate ceasefire in Gaza. The vote was abstained by the U.S., prompting Netanyahu to cancel a planned visit by a government delegation to Washington.

Source(s): CGTN

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UN Security Council passes resolution demanding ceasefire in Gaza for Ramadan

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The Security Council on Monday adopted a resolution that demands an immediate cease-fire in Gaza for the holy month of Ramadan.

The resolution, winning 14 votes in favor among the 15 members of the council, was the first Security Council resolution that demands or calls for a ceasefire in Gaza after the flare-up of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict in Gaza on October 7, 2023.

The United States, which had previously vetoed three draft resolutions that would have called for or demanded a ceasefire in Gaza, abstained on Monday, allowing the draft to pass.

Hamas welcomed the adoption of the resolution. In a statement, it called on the Security Council to pressure Israel to commit to a ceasefire and to stop “the war of extermination” against the Palestinian people.

It also highlighted its readiness to engage in a prisoner exchange process immediately, emphasized the need to reach a permanent ceasefire and demanded the withdrawal of all Israeli forces from the Gaza Strip,

After the United States’ abstention, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced the cancellation of a planned visit to Washington by a delegation comprising senior Israeli officials.

Netanyahu accused the U.S. of “retreating” from a “principled position” by allowing the vote to pass without conditioning the ceasefire on the release of hostages held by Hamas.

China calls for implementation of the resolution

A Chinese envoy on Monday called for the implementation of the just-adopted Security Council resolution that demands an immediate ceasefire in Gaza for Ramadan.

“Nearly six months after the outbreak of the conflict, over 32,000 Palestinian civilians have lost their lives. For those, Monday’s resolution comes too late. But for the millions of people in Gaza who remain mired in an unprecedented humanitarian catastrophe, this resolution, if fully and effectively implemented, could still bring long-awaited hope,” said Zhang Jun, China’s permanent representative to the United Nations.

“Security Council resolutions are binding. We call on the parties concerned to fulfill their obligations under the UN Charter and to take due action as required by the resolution,” he said. “We expect the states with significant influence to play a positive role on the parties concerned, including by using all necessary and effective means at their disposal to support the implementation of the resolution.”

A ceasefire for Ramadan is only the first step, it must serve as a basis for a permanent and sustainable cessation of hostilities, said the Chinese ambassador in an explanation of vote.

Differences between two drafts

“We did not agree with everything with the resolution,” the U.S. permanent representative to the United Nations, Linda Thomas-Greenfield, said.

In her explanation of vote, Thomas-Greenfield said the resolution was “nonbinding.” She also said, “It was important for the Council to speak out and make clear that any ceasefire must come with the release of all hostages.”

China, together with Algeria and Russia, voted against a draft resolution tabled by the United States on Friday. “A comparison of the two drafts shows the differences,” said Zhang Jun in an explanation of vote.

Monday’s draft is unequivocal and correct in its direction, demanding an immediate ceasefire, while the U.S. draft was evasive and ambiguous. Monday’s draft demands an unconditional ceasefire, while the U.S. draft set preconditions for a ceasefire. Monday’s draft reflects the general expectations of the international community and enjoys the collective support of the Arab states, while the U.S. draft was rejected by the Arab states, Zhang said.

“The differences between the two drafts boil down to nothing but whether there should be an immediate and unconditional ceasefire and whether the collective punishment of the people in Gaza should be allowed to continue,” Zhang said. “On this issue, China, like most members of the international community, has been very clear from the very outset. Whether we voted against last Friday, or in favor of today, our vote has been based on our consistent position and proposition.”

Before the vote on the draft resolution tabled by the 10 elected members of the Security Council, Russia proposed an oral amendment but failed to obtain enough support in the council.

The Russian proposal would have restored the word “permanent” contained in the original draft to demand a Ramadan ceasefire that would lead to a permanent and sustainable ceasefire.

The United States voted against the Russian amendment. Eleven members abstained. Three voted in favor.

Countries react resolution on ceasefire

In a joint statement, the 10 elected members of the Security Council expressed the hope that Resolution 2728 will be implemented in good faith, by all parties, and will help ease the suffering of the population in Gaza.

Immediately after the adoption of the resolution, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres called for its implementation.

“The Security Council just approved a long-awaited resolution on Gaza, demanding an immediate ceasefire, and the immediate and unconditional release of all hostages. This resolution must be implemented. Failure would be unforgivable,” Guterres said in a post on X, formerly known as Twitter.

In a statement, the Iraqi Foreign Ministry welcomed the UN decision and called on all parties to comply with their obligations under international law and to expand humanitarian aid to civilians in the entire Gaza Strip.

Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati also welcomed the adoption of the resolution, saying the decision “constitutes the first step towards halting Israeli aggression against the Gaza Strip.”

Source(s): CGTN

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Egypt, UN warn against Israeli operation in Gaza’s Rafah

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CAIRO, March 24 (Xinhua) — Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi and visiting United Nations (UN) Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Sunday voiced complete rejection of the displacement of Palestinians from their territories and any Israeli military operation in the southernmost Gazan city of Rafah.

During their talks in Cairo, the two leaders warned against any Israeli operation in Rafah to unleash catastrophic consequences on the already dire situation in the city, said the Egyptian presidency in a statement.

They also discussed the intensified efforts to reach an immediate ceasefire in Gaza and deliver sufficient humanitarian aid to people in the besieged enclave, the statement added.

The president and the UN chief called for favorable conditions for implementing the two-state solution, calling it “the only path to achieve justice, security, and stability in the region.”

Israel has been announcing plans to launch a large-scale ground operation in Rafah, where about 1.5 million internally displaced Palestinians reside, a move widely rejected by the international community.

Later in the day, at a joint press conference with Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry, the UN chief reiterated his call for an immediate humanitarian ceasefire in Gaza, where Israel has imposed a strict siege and launched continued heavy strikes against Hamas for over five months.

“The time for an immediate humanitarian ceasefire is now,” he said.

Israel’s ongoing strikes in Gaza have so far killed 32,226 Palestinians and injured 74,518 others, the Gaza-based Palestinian Health Ministry updated in a statement on Sunday. The Israeli escalation came in retaliation for the attack launched by Gaza-ruling Hamas on Oct. 7, 2023, on adjacent Israeli towns, in which about 1,200 Israelis were killed and more than 200 were taken hostage.

“Nothing justifies the horrific attack by Hamas on Oct. 7, and nothing justifies the collective punishment of the Palestinian people,” Guterres told a press conference on Saturday at the Egyptian side of the Rafah border crossing, where he renewed the peace call.

Source(s): Xinhua

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