Jordan FM discusses Middle East tension with Spanish, Norwegian and British counterparts

Jordanian Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi held telephone calls on Monday with his counterparts from Spain, Norway and the UK. (Petra/FCDO/Wikimedia Commons)
Jordanian Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi held telephone calls on Monday with his counterparts from Spain, Norway and the UK. (Petra/FCDO/Wikimedia Commons)
Short Url
Updated 05 August 2024
Follow

Jordan FM discusses Middle East tension with Spanish, Norwegian and British counterparts

Jordan FM discusses Middle East tension with Spanish, Norwegian and British counterparts

LONDON: Jordanian Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi held telephone calls on Monday with his counterparts from Spain, Norway and the UK, the Jordan News Agency, or Petra, reported.

Safadi discussed with Jose Manuel Albares, Espen Barth Eide and David Lammy the “dangerous” escalation of tensions in the Middle East and the fallout of the assassination of Ismail Haniyeh, head of the Hamas Political Bureau.

Jordan had condemned the assassination in Tehran, Iran, calling it a crime that risked igniting regional tensions.

Safadi said that the first step toward de-escalation would involve Israel immediately halting its aggression on Gaza and its violations of international law, Petra added.

Safadi warned of the danger of continued regional escalation, adding that the security of the region would remain threatened unless Israel stopped its war on Gaza.

He urged practical international action and clear positions that would prevent Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the “extremist and racist ministers” in his government from further escalating tension.

Safadi and Lebanese Foreign Minister Abdullah Bou Habib also discussed regional tension over the phone on Monday.

The Jordanian FM stressed his country’s support for Lebanon’s stability and sovereignty and the safety of its citizens and institutions, adding that the kingdom rejects Israeli aggression against it.

On Sunday, Safadi made a rare visit to Iran for talks with his Iranian counterpart Ali Bagheri-Kani on regional developments.


US Envoy Hochstein says will travel in a few hours to Israel to try to bring truce talks to a close

US Envoy Hochstein says will travel in a few hours to Israel to try to bring truce talks to a close
Updated 13 sec ago
Follow

US Envoy Hochstein says will travel in a few hours to Israel to try to bring truce talks to a close

US Envoy Hochstein says will travel in a few hours to Israel to try to bring truce talks to a close

US Envoy Hochstein says will travel in a few hours to Israel to try to bring truce talks to a close


Lebanese army says soldier killed by Israeli fire

Lebanese army says soldier killed by Israeli fire
Updated 14 min 29 sec ago
Follow

Lebanese army says soldier killed by Israeli fire

Lebanese army says soldier killed by Israeli fire
  • South Lebanon and the capital have seen heavy strikes in recent days

BEIRUT: The Lebanese army said Israeli fire killed a soldier on Wednesday, a day after it said three other personnel died in a strike on their position in south Lebanon.
South Lebanon has seen intense fighting between Israel and Hezbollah militants whose group holds sway in the area.
A soldier “died of his wounds sustained due to the Israel army targeting of an army vehicle” in south Lebanon, a statement on X said, after reporting two personnel wounded in the incident near Qlayaa in south Lebanon.
On Tuesday, the military said three soldiers were killed when “the Israeli enemy targeted an army position in the town of Sarafand,” where the health ministry said eight people were wounded.
AFP images showed destruction at the site in Sarafand on the Mediterranean coast, some 40 kilometers (25 miles) from the southern border, with a concrete structure destroyed and a vehicle among the debris.

Israel army says hit over 100 ‘terror targets’ in past day

The Israeli military on Wednesday said it struck more than 100 “terror targets” in Lebanon over the past day and had “eliminated” two Hezbollah commanders at the weekend.
The targets included “launchers, weapons storage facilities, command centers, and military structures,” the army said in a statement.
The announcement came as US envoy Amos Hochstein was in Lebanon, seeking to hammer out a truce between Israel and Hezbollah.
The military also said “on Sunday, the (air force) eliminated the commanders of Hezbollah’s anti-tank missile and operations unit in the coastal sector” who were “responsible for terror attacks against Israeli civilians.”
The army added that its troops continued to conduct “limited, localized, targeted raids” in southern Lebanon.
Since September 23, Israel has ramped up its bombing campaign in Lebanon, later sending in ground troops, after almost a year of cross-border exchanges begun by Hezbollah in support of its Palestinian ally Hamas.
South Lebanon and the capital have seen heavy strikes in recent days, though the situation was calmer in Beirut on Tuesday and Wednesday, with US envoy Amos Hochstein visiting for truce talks.
Lebanon’s official National News Agency reported Israeli shelling and air strikes in south Lebanon overnight and on Wednesday, saying Israeli troops were seeking to advance further near the town of Khiam.
Hezbollah on Tuesday said it had attacked Israeli troops near the flashpoint border town.
The NNA also said that Israel forces were “attempting to advance from the Kfarshuba hills... to open up a new front under the cover of fire and artillery shells and air strikes.”
“Violent clashes are taking place” between Hezbollah and Israeli forces, it added.
Hezbollah said it carried out several attacks on Israeli troops near the border Wednesday.
 


Syria war monitor says 4 fighters dead in Israeli attack on Palmyra

Syria war monitor says 4 fighters dead in Israeli attack on Palmyra
Updated 9 min 47 sec ago
Follow

Syria war monitor says 4 fighters dead in Israeli attack on Palmyra

Syria war monitor says 4 fighters dead in Israeli attack on Palmyra
  • State news agency SANA said an “Israeli attack... targeted residential buildings and the industrial area”

Beirut: A war monitor said Israeli strikes on central Syria’s Palmyra on Wednesday killed four pro-Iran fighters, while Syrian state media reported an unspecified number of wounded in the attack.
“Four non-Syrian fighters from pro-Iran groups were killed and six others including civilians were wounded in a provisional toll of the Israeli strikes” on Palmyra, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.
The strikes targeted “a warehouse in the industrial area and a restaurant and buildings near the ancient city of Palmyra,” the Britain-based Observatory added.
State news agency SANA said an “Israeli attack... targeted residential buildings and the industrial area” of the city, renowned for its ancient ruins.
State television reported unspecified “wounded due to the Israeli attack that targeted the city of Palmyra.”
Since the civil war erupted in 2011, Israel has carried out hundreds of strikes in Syria, mainly targeting the army and Iran-backed armed groups, including Hezbollah.
The Israeli military has intensified its strikes since almost a year of hostilities with Hezbollah in neighboring Lebanon escalated into all-out war in late September.
Israel rarely comments on individual strikes in Syria, but has repeatedly said it will not allow Iran to expand its presence there.


Erdogan says Turkiye prepared if US withdraws from Syria

Erdogan says Turkiye prepared if US withdraws from Syria
Updated 20 November 2024
Follow

Erdogan says Turkiye prepared if US withdraws from Syria

Erdogan says Turkiye prepared if US withdraws from Syria

ISTANBUL: President Tayyip Erdogan said Turkiye is prepared if the United States decides to withdraw troops from northern Syria, broadcaster CNN Turk and other media cited him as saying on Wednesday.
In an interview with reporters on his way back from the G20 summit in Brazil, Erdogan said Turkiye’s security is paramount and it is holding talks with Russia on the issue of Syria.


40 killed in central Sudan paramilitary attack on village

40 killed in central Sudan paramilitary attack on village
Updated 20 November 2024
Follow

40 killed in central Sudan paramilitary attack on village

40 killed in central Sudan paramilitary attack on village

PORT SUDAN: A medic on Wednesday said 40 people were killed “by gunshot wounds” during a paramilitary attack on the Sudanese village of Wad Oshaib in the central state of Al-Jazira.
Eyewitnesses in the village told AFP the Rapid Support Forces, at war with the army since April 2023, attacked the village on Tuesday evening. “The attack resumed this morning,” one eyewitness said by phone Wednesday, adding that paramilitary fighters were “looting property.”