You are here

  • Home
  • China urges ‘immediate ceasefire’ in call with Palestinian official
War on Gaza

China urges ‘immediate ceasefire’ in call with Palestinian official

China urges ‘immediate ceasefire’ in call with Palestinian official
Rockets are fired toward Israel from the Gaza Strip on Oct. 11, 2023. (AP)
Short Url

https://arab.news/b3jn5

Updated 11 October 2023
AFP
Follow

China urges ‘immediate ceasefire’ in call with Palestinian official

China urges ‘immediate ceasefire’ in call with Palestinian official
  • Zhai spoke Wednesday with Amal Jadou, the Palestinian Authority's deputy foreign minister
  • "The top priorities are an immediate ceasefire and the protection of civilians," Zhai was quoted as saying
Updated 11 October 2023
AFP
Follow

BEIJING: China's envoy to the Middle East Zhai Jun called for "an immediate ceasefire" to the Israel-Hamas conflict during a phone call with a Palestinian official, the Chinese foreign ministry said Wednesday.
Thousands of people have been killed since Hamas's shock assault on Saturday, the deadliest on Israel in its 75-year history.
Zhai spoke Wednesday with Amal Jadou, the Palestinian Authority's deputy foreign minister, and said China was worried by the conflict's intensification and "deeply concerned by the serious deterioration of the security and humanitarian situation in Palestine", a readout on the ministry's website said.
"The top priorities are an immediate ceasefire and the protection of civilians," Zhai was quoted as saying.
Zhai spoke by phone on Tuesday with Egypt's assistant minister for the Palestinian territories, and said China was seeking to work with Cairo to help ease the conflict.
He reiterated Beijing's call for "the implementation of a 'two-state solution'".
Beijing has positioned itself in recent months as a mediator in the Middle East, brokering a restoration of ties in March between Saudi Arabia and Iran.
But it has been criticised for its response to the current conflict, with Israel reportedly saying it had expected "stronger condemnation" of Hamas.
There is currently no record of Zhai speaking to the Israeli side.

Topics: War on Gaza China Israel Palestine Hamas

Related

At least 169 Israel soldiers killed in war with Hamas: army
Middle-East
At least 169 Israel soldiers killed in war with Hamas: army
Update Israel pounds Gaza targets as Netanyahu condemns Hamas ‘savagery’ video
Middle-East
Israel pounds Gaza targets as Netanyahu condemns Hamas ‘savagery’

Borrell asks EU members about possible sanctions on some Israeli ministers

Updated 18 sec ago
Follow

Borrell asks EU members about possible sanctions on some Israeli ministers

Borrell asks EU members about possible sanctions on some Israeli ministers
Updated 18 sec ago
BRUSSELS: European Union foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said on Thursday he has asked the bloc’s members if they want to impose sanctions on some Israeli ministers for “hate messages” against Palestinians that he said broke international law.
He did not name any of the Israeli ministers to whom he was referring or specify which messages he had in mind.
But in recent weeks he has publicly criticized Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir and Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich for statements he has described as “sinister” and “an incitement to war crimes.”
“I initiated the procedure to ask the member states if they consider (it) appropriate to include in our list of sanctions some Israeli ministers (who) have been launching unacceptable hate messages against the Palestinians, and proposing things that clearly go against international law,” he told reporters on arrival at a meeting of EU foreign ministers in Brussels.
Diplomats say it is unlikely the EU would find the necessary unanimous agreement among its 27 members to impose sanctions on Israeli government ministers.
But Borrell’s decision to float such a proposal indicates the level of anger among some European officials about some Israeli ministers.
Ireland, one of the EU’s most pro-Palestinian members, said on Thursday it backed Borrell’s suggestion.
“We will be supporting Josep Borrell’s recommendation for sanctions in respect of settler organizations in the West Bank who are facilitating (the) expansion of settlements, and also to Israeli ministers,” Irish Foreign Minister Micheal Martin told reporters as he arrived at the Brussels meeting.

Harris, Walz to hold first joint network TV interview on CNN

Harris, Walz to hold first joint network TV interview on CNN
Updated 2 min 5 sec ago
Reuters
Follow

Harris, Walz to hold first joint network TV interview on CNN

Harris, Walz to hold first joint network TV interview on CNN
  • Kamala Harris has taken questions from journalists on the campaign trail and been interviewed on TikTok in recent days
  • But she has yet to do a one-on-one interview with a major network or print journalist or hold a formal press conference
Updated 2 min 5 sec ago
Reuters
SAVANNAH, Georgia: Kamala Harris and Tim Walz will sit on Thursday for their first joint television interview since they accepted their nominations as the Democratic presidential and vice presidential candidates.
Harris has taken questions from journalists on the campaign trail and been interviewed on TikTok in recent days.
But she has yet to do a one-on-one interview with a major network or print journalist or hold a formal press conference since she ascended to the top of the Democratic ticket, after President Joe Biden was forced to end his re-election campaign on July 21.
CNN’s Dana Bash, who co-anchored Biden’s June 27 debate against Republican candidate Donald Trump, will conduct the interview in Savannah, Georgia, as Harris continues her bus tour of the battleground state. The interview will air at 9 p.m. EDT (0100 GMT Friday), with CNN set to release short excerpts before it airs. Before Harris picked him as her running mate for the Nov. 5 election, Walz did a string of interviews with major television networks. Harris and Walz on Tuesday kicked off a bus tour of Georgia, piling into a big blue bus emblazoned with the words “A New Way Forward” as they worked to woo voters in a state Biden narrowly won in 2020, and which could play a decisive role in this year’s election.
Harris, joined by representative Nikema Williams, will make two stops at small businesses and thank volunteers in Chatham County, Georgia, where Democrats have chalked up steady gains in recent years.
At around 5:15 p.m. EDT, she is due to speak at a campaign rally in Savannah’s Enmarket Arena, making her the first presidential candidate to campaign in Savannah since the 1990s.
She will be introduced by Katelyn Green, president of student government at Savannah State University, the oldest historically Black college and university in the state.
The campaign is reaching out to students across battleground states which could be decisive in November to help boost turnout, but it also faces possible protests by pro-Palestinian voices angered by US arms sales to Israel. One protest by the group Savannah for Palestine is scheduled to begin at 2 p.m., organizers said.
OFF-SCRIPT MOMENTS
Harris’ lack of interviews has sparked criticism from opponents, and some concern among supporters, that she is less sharp at off-script moments than she is at rallies or speeches where a prepared speech and a TelePrompter are at her disposal.
Trump frequently holds press conferences and offers interviews to conservative news outlets. Often he uses them to criticize Harris and Biden rather than discuss his own policy aims in detail.
The CNN interview will be watched both for how Harris handles a less scripted environment and for any new details about her policies and goals for a presidency, should she win.
Early in her vice presidential tenure, Harris was criticized for her response in an interview with NBC anchor Lester Holt, who asked why she had not yet visited the US border with Mexico. She said she had not yet been to Europe, either. The Harris-Walz campaign held traditional journalists at arms length during the Democratic National Convention last week in Chicago while granting hundreds of social media influencers more access to officials.
Last week, Harris was interviewed by Track Star Show, a TikTok account with over 380,000 followers, about her love of musicians Stevie Wonder and Miles Davis.
A video on the campaign’s YouTube channel of Harris and Walz discussing his taco preferences, division in America, social programs they both support and their mutual appreciation for musician Prince — a Minnesota native — has been watched more than 1.8 million times.

China to continue with low-carbon reforms, energy regulator says

China to continue with low-carbon reforms, energy regulator says
Updated 19 min 10 sec ago
Reuters
Follow

China to continue with low-carbon reforms, energy regulator says

China to continue with low-carbon reforms, energy regulator says
  • The world’s second-biggest economy has emerged as a global leader in the transition to renewable energy
  • China targeted installing 1,200 gigawatts of wind, solar power by 2030, but achieved the goal last month
Updated 19 min 10 sec ago
Reuters

BEIJING: China will keep phasing out fossil fuels and reforming its electricity system, the energy regulator said on Thursday, issuing a white paper long on listing accomplishments but short on new plans for China’s energy transition.
National Energy Administration head Zhang Jianhua said China would continue to reform its electricity system, expand the spot market, promote green electricity trading and replace fossil fuels with renewable energy. He also called for market-oriented reforms.
Speaking at a press conference held by the State Council, China’s cabinet, Zhang said China invested $676 billion in its energy transition last year, citing a figure from research organization BloombergNEF, which estimated China’s energy transition investment made up 38 percent of the global total.
The world’s second-biggest economy has emerged as a global leader in the transition to renewable energy, though its power system still relies significantly on coal.
Asked whether China’s carbon emissions could peak before its 2030 target, as many experts say it is on track to do, agency planning department deputy director Song Wen said, “The dual carbon target will not be changed and the major targets we have committed to will not be moved.”
China had targeted installing 1,200 gigawatts of wind and solar power by 2030, but soaring renewable installations helped it meet that goal in July, six years early.
Asked whether China could set an even more ambitious renewables goal for 2030, new-energy department director Li Changjun said only that China would put forward new goals and measures based on its national conditions.
Analysts say China is lagging behind on some other goals, including one to reduce its carbon intensity — CO2 emissions per unit of economic output — by 18 percent over the five years to 2030. It would need to cut absolute emissions by 7 percent annually this year and in 2025 to meet it, according to an analysis by the non-profit organization Carbon Brief.
The white paper laid out a raft of previously announced measures, from advancing energy storage technology to promoting energy conservation.
A chapter dedicated to promoting a “global community of shared future” said China is advancing green energy cooperation under its massive Belt and Road Initiative infrastructure program. It highlighted Pakistan’s Karot hydropower station, part of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor, that has been threatened by separatist militant attacks in recent days.

Topics: CEFC China Energy

Germany expels head of banned Muslim association

Germany expels head of banned Muslim association
Updated 29 August 2024
Reuters
Follow

Germany expels head of banned Muslim association

Germany expels head of banned Muslim association
  • Mohammad Hadi Mofatteh given until September 11 to leave or else be deported
  • Intelligence findings say he is the official deputy of Iran’s supreme leader in Germany
Updated 29 August 2024
Reuters

FRANKFURT: Germany has told the Iranian head of the recently banned Islamic Center Hamburg (IZH) that he is being expelled from the country and has two weeks to leave, authorities in Hamburg said on Thursday.
The interior ministry of the German city state of Hamburg said in a statement that it had informed Mohammad Hadi Mofatteh that he has until Sept. 11 to leave or else be deported.
Mofatteh had been head of the IZH since summer 2018, the statement continued.
He did immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment sent via social media.
According to findings by Hamburg’s domestic intelligence agency, he was the official deputy of Iran’s Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, in Germany as head of the IZH until recently.
Bild newspaper and broadcaster NDR first reported on the expulsion orders.
Social media accounts associated with the IZH and its website have been taken down in Germany after the country banned the IZH and subsidiary organizations in July for “pursuing radical Islamist goals,” according to the federal interior ministry.
The ministry said the IZH, which includes one of the oldest mosques in Germany known for its turquoise exterior, had acted as a direct representative of Khamenei and sought to bring about an Islamic revolution in Germany.
Following the closure of the IZH, Iran summoned the German ambassador in Tehran.

Topics: Germany Iran

Related

Germany bans ‘Hezbollah, Iran-linked’ Islamist group
World
Germany bans ‘Hezbollah, Iran-linked’ Islamist group
German authorities raid suspected pro-Hezbollah properties
World
German authorities raid suspected pro-Hezbollah properties

One killed, two injured in strikes on Russia’s Belgorod

One killed, two injured in strikes on Russia’s Belgorod
Updated 29 August 2024
AFP
Follow

One killed, two injured in strikes on Russia’s Belgorod

One killed, two injured in strikes on Russia’s Belgorod
  • Russia’s defense ministry said Thursday it had shot down a drone over the Belgorod region overnight
Updated 29 August 2024
AFP

Moscow: One person has been killed and two injured in strikes on Russia’s Belgorod region, which borders Ukraine, the regional governor said Thursday.
Vyacheslav Gladkov said on Telegram that “the town of Shebekino was targeted by Ukrainian forces” and “unfortunately, one person was killed.”
Two other people were hospitalized with shrapnel wounds, he said, while the airstrikes also damaged an administrative building.
Russia’s defense ministry said Thursday it had shot down a drone over the Belgorod region overnight.
Two more drones were shot down over the Bryansk region, which also borders Ukraine, and three others were neutralized over annexed Crimea, the ministry said in a Telegram statement.
The Belgorod region has come under heavy fire, and earlier this month residents were evacuated from several border villages.
On Monday authorities in Belgorod said six civilians had been killed in attacks.
Earlier this month, Kyiv’s troops launched a major counter-offensive into the neighboring Kursk region, two and a half years after the start of the conflict.

Topics: Russia-Ukraine Conflict

Related

Update Kremlin, dismissing Zelensky’s talk of a peace plan, says Russia will keep fighting in Ukraine
World
Kremlin, dismissing Zelensky’s talk of a peace plan, says Russia will keep fighting in Ukraine
Zelensky says Kyiv test fired first Ukraine-made ballistic missile
World
Zelensky says Kyiv test fired first Ukraine-made ballistic missile

Latest updates

Middle East carriers witness 14.7% air cargo demand growth in July: IATA 
Middle East carriers witness 14.7% air cargo demand growth in July: IATA 
Turkiye announces agricultural support payments for 2025-2027 
Turkiye announces agricultural support payments for 2025-2027 
The delights of small-town cricket in southwest France
The delights of small-town cricket in southwest France
Saudi Arabia’s real estate transactions surge 38% in H1, reaching $34bn: Knight Frank
Saudi Arabia’s real estate transactions surge 38% in H1, reaching $34bn: Knight Frank
24 people missing after floods tore through a northern Yemen village
24 people missing after floods tore through a northern Yemen village

Search form

Print Edition
Read pdf version Subscribe now
© 2024 SAUDI RESEARCH & PUBLISHING COMPANY, All Rights Reserved And subject to Terms of Use Agreement.