World

UN chief calls for Israel-Hamas accord, int’l probe of mass graves in Gaza

Published

3 weeks ago

01/05/2024

UNITED NATIONS, April 30 (Xinhua) — UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Tuesday called for a cease-fire agreement between Israel and Hamas, and for an international investigation of the newly found mass graves in Gaza.

“I have called consistently for a humanitarian cease-fire, the immediate and unconditional release of all hostages, and a massive surge in humanitarian aid. Unfortunately, that has not happened — yet. But negotiations are once again under way,” said Guterres.

“For the sake of the people of Gaza, for the sake of the hostages and their families in Israel, and for the sake of the region and the wider world, I strongly encourage the government of Israel and the Hamas leadership to reach now an agreement,” he told reporters.

Without such an agreement, the war, with all its consequences both in Gaza and across the region, will worsen exponentially, he warned.

He raised the alarm at a possible Israeli offensive on Rafah.

Recent weeks have seen airstrikes in the Rafah area. A military assault on Rafah would be an unbearable escalation, killing thousands more civilians and forcing hundreds of thousands to flee. It would have a devastating impact on Palestinians in Gaza, with serious repercussions on the occupied West Bank, and across the wider region, warned Guterres.

“All members of the Security Council, and many other governments, have clearly expressed their opposition to such an operation. I appeal for all those with influence over Israel to do everything in their power to prevent it,” he said.

More than 1.2 million people are now seeking shelter in Rafah governorate, most of them fleeing the Israeli bombardment that has reportedly killed over 34,000 people. They have very little to eat, hardly any access to medical care, little shelter, and nowhere safe to go, he noted.

Guterres called for an international investigation of the newly found mass graves in Gaza.

“I am deeply alarmed by reports that mass graves have been discovered in several locations in Gaza, including Al Shifa Medical Complex and Nasser Medical Complex. In Nasser alone, over 390 bodies have reportedly been exhumed,” he said.

There are competing narratives around several of these mass graves, including serious allegations that some of those buried had been unlawfully killed, he told reporters. “It is imperative that independent international investigators, with forensic expertise, are allowed immediate access to the sites of these mass graves, to establish the precise circumstances under which hundreds of Palestinians lost their lives and were buried, or reburied.”

The families of the dead and missing have a right to know what happened. And the world has a right to accountability for any violations of international law that may have taken place, he said.

Hospitals, health workers, patients and all civilians must be protected. The human rights of all must be respected, said Guterres.

Guterres also called for more humanitarian assistance in Gaza.

“In northern Gaza, the most vulnerable — from sick children to people with disabilities — are already dying of hunger and disease. We must do everything possible to avert an entirely preventable, human-made famine,” he said. “We have seen incremental progress recently. But much more is urgently needed, including the promised opening of two crossing points between Israel and northern Gaza, so that aid can be brought into Gaza from Ashdod port and Jordan.”

Under international humanitarian law, civilians must be protected and they must be able to receive the essentials they need to survive, including food, shelter, and health care, he noted.

A major obstacle to distributing aid across Gaza is the lack of security for humanitarians and the people in need. Humanitarian convoys, facilities and personnel, and people in need, must not be targets, he said.

Guterres called on the Israeli authorities to allow and facilitate safe, rapid and unimpeded access for humanitarian aid and humanitarian workers throughout Gaza.

He called for support for the UN relief agency for Palestine refugees, UNRWA, saying the agency has an irreplaceable and indispensable role in supporting millions of people in Gaza, the occupied West Bank, Jordan, Syria and Lebanon.

Most countries that had suspended contributions to UNRWA following Israel’s allegations that a dozen UNRWA staff members participated in the Oct. 7 attack on Israel, have resumed their aid. The United Nations is optimistic that other countries will follow suit. But a funding gap remains, he said. “I call on member states, both traditional and new donors, to pledge funds generously to ensure the continuity of the agency’s operations.”

Guterres reaffirmed the world body’s commitment to a two-state solution — the only sustainable path to peace and security for Israelis, Palestinians, and the wider region.

“The United Nations is totally committed to supporting a pathway to peace, based on an end to the (Israeli) occupation and the establishment of a fully independent, democratic, viable, contiguous, and sovereign Palestinian state, with Gaza as an integral part,” he said.

Source(s): Xinhua

World

Mideast countries offer condolences over deaths of Iranian president, FM

Published

17 hours ago

21/05/2024

CAIRO, May 20 (Xinhua) — Leaders across Middle Eastern countries on Monday offered their condolences to Iran over the deaths of President Ebrahim Raisi, Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian, and members of the accompanying team in a helicopter crash a day earlier.

Arab League Secretary-General Ahmed Aboul-Gheit said on his X account that “I offer my condolences to the Iranian people on the death of Raisi, Amir-Abdollahian, and other officials following the tragic plane accident.”

Secretary General of the Gulf Cooperation Council Jasem Mohamed Albudaiwi expressed condolences, emphasizing the council’s solidarity with the Iranian government and people in the hard times, reported the official Saudi Press Agency (SPA).

Saudi King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud and Saudi Crown Prince and Prime Minister Mohammed bin Salman Al Saud sent condolences to Iran’s First Vice President Mohammad Mokhber on the deaths of Raisi and some members of his accompanying delegation, said a statement carried by SPA.

Türkiye “stands by Iran in these painful days” and “shares grief of Iranian people,” Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan told Mokhber in a phone call on Monday, Erdogan’s office said in a statement.

Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi extended his sincere condolences to the people of Iran, expressing the solidarity of Egypt with the leadership and people of Iran during this tragic time, the Egyptian Presidency said in a statement.

President of the United Arab Emirates Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan expressed in a message “sincere condolences and deep sympathy to Iran, its leadership and people over the painful accident,” saying his country “stands in solidarity with Iran at this difficult time.”

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, in a message, highlighted Syria’s solidarity with Iran and the families of the deceased, expressing his commitment to continuing the work initiated by Raisi to benefit both nations.

Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune expressed his “deep sorrow and solidarity” with the Iranian people during “this difficult time,” lamenting “the loss of my brother and partner Ebrahim Raisi, with whom I was united in serving the bonds of brotherhood, cooperation, and solidarity between our two countries and peoples, and in supporting just causes.”

Chairman of Sudan’s Transitional Sovereign Council Abdel Fattah Al-Burhan on Monday eulogized Raisi, Amir-Abdollahian, and those who died in a helicopter crash, the sovereign council said in a statement.

In addition, King Abdullah II of Jordan, Iraqi President Abdul Latif Rashid, Tunisia’s Presidency, the Libyan Foreign Ministry as well as Lebanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Emigrants also extended condolences to the Iranian government and people.

The crash occurred on Sunday in Iran’s Varzaqan County as Raisi, along with his accompanying team on board three helicopters, was on his way from Khoda Afarin County, where he attended the inauguration ceremony of a storage dam with his Azerbaijani counterpart Ilham Aliyev earlier in the day, to the provincial capital Tabriz for the inauguration of a petrochemical complex.

The other members onboard Raisi’s helicopter, including East Azerbaijan’s Governor Malek Rahmati, Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei’s Representative to East Azerbaijan Mohammad Ali Ale-Hashem, Raisi’s bodyguard, as well as the flight crew, also lost their lives.

Source(s): Xinhua

World

Israel, Hamas reject ICC bid to arrest leaders for ‘war crimes’

Published

17 hours ago

21/05/2024

Israel and Hamas, engaged in heavy fighting in the Gaza Strip, both angrily rejected on Monday moves to arrest their leaders for “war crimes.”

The International Criminal Court (ICC)’s prosecutor Karim Khan said he had applied for arrest warrants for top Israeli and Hamas leaders over the conflict.

Israel slammed as a “historical disgrace” the demand targeting Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, while the Palestinian militant group Hamas said it “strongly condemns” the move.

The U.S., Israel’s top ally, also rejected the ICC bid, with President Joe Biden denouncing it as “outrageous” and Secretary of State Antony Blinken warning the move “could jeopardize” efforts for a ceasefire in Gaza.

UN Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process Tor Wennesland called for the resumption of negotiations between Israel and Hamas at the UN Security Council on Monday.

“If talks do not resume, I fear for the worst for the beleaguered and terrified civilians in Rafah, for the hostages held in unimaginable conditions for more than 225 days, and for an overstretched humanitarian operation that remains on the brink inside the (Gaza) Strip,” Wennesland said.

Also on Monday, Greek Foreign Minister George Gerapetritis urged enhanced joint efforts to halt the hostilities in Gaza and called on the international community to promote the two-state solution to end the Israeli-Palestinian conflict during his meeting with his Egyptian counterpart Sameh Shoukry.

The Israel-Hamas conflict continues to grind on unabated, with Israeli forces battling Hamas in Gaza’s far-southern city of Rafah, as well as in other flashpoints in central and northern areas.

Israel’s retaliatory offensive against Hamas has killed at least 35,562 people in Gaza, mostly civilians, according to the Hamas-run territory’s Health Ministry.

The UN said more than 812,000 Palestinians had fled Rafah, near the Egyptian border. Meanwhile, the European Union warned that 31 of Gaza’s 36 hospitals are no longer functioning while the rest are on the verge of collapse with more than 9,000 severely injured people at risk of dying.

The humanitarian suffering in Gaza has been eased only by sporadic aid shipments by land, air and sea, but truck arrivals have slowed to a trickle amid the Rafah operation.

The UN did not receive any aid from the pier on Sunday or Monday. “We need to make sure that the necessary security and logistical arrangements are in place before we proceed,” Reuters cited a UN official, who asked not to be named, as saying.

Another senior UN aid official, Edem Wosornu, told the UN Security Council that the closure of the Rafah crossing from Egypt had stopped the delivery of at least 82,000 tonnes of supplies, while access at Israel’s Kerem Shalom crossing was limited due to “hostilities, challenging logistical conditions, and complex coordination procedures.”

Source(s): CGTN

World

One-China principle anchor of peace across Taiwan Straits: Chinese FM

Published

1 day ago

20/05/2024

The one-China principle is the solid anchor for peace across the Taiwan Straits, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi stressed on Monday.

Wang, also a member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee, made the remarks on the sidelines of the meeting of the SCO Council of Ministers of Foreign Affairs in Astana, capital of Kazakhstan.

No matter how the situation on the Taiwan island changes, it will not change the historical and legal facts that Taiwan is part of China, or the historical trend that China will inevitably be reunified, Wang added.

Recently, political leaders and people from all walks of life in many countries, including the SCO member states, have voiced their support for China’s just cause of opposing “Taiwan independence” and promoting reunification, which once again shows that the international community’s adherence to the one-China principle is unshakable, Wang said.

Any attempt to dispute or deny the one-China principle will only end in failure, he stressed.

Wang noted that the 1943 Cairo Declaration and the 1945 Potsdam Proclamation clearly stipulate that Taiwan, a Chinese territory stolen by Japan, shall be restored to China. These documents with international legal effect formed an integral part of the post-WWII international order and are also the collective memory of the international community, he added.

The separatist activities of “Taiwan independence” forces are the most serious challenge to the international order and the greatest threat to peace and stability across the Taiwan Straits, Wang said.

The one-China principle is the political premise on which China establishes and develops diplomatic relations with other countries, and also the solid anchor for peace and stability across the Taiwan Straits, Wang said.

The Chinese nation always holds the common belief that the homeland cannot be divided, the country cannot be destabilized, its ethnic groups cannot be separated, and its civilization cannot be disrupted, Wang said.

Emphasizing that the Taiwan question is China’s internal affair, Wang said that realizing China’s complete reunification is a shared aspiration of all the sons and daughters of the Chinese nation and also a historical trend that no force can stop.

Source(s): CGTN