Israeli defense minister officially steps down

Update Israeli defense minister officially steps down
Israeli protesters block a road in Tel Aviv after the dismissal of the defense minister, on Nov. 5, 2024, amid the ongoing war between Israel and the militant Hamas group. (AFP)
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Updated 08 November 2024
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Israeli defense minister officially steps down

Israeli defense minister officially steps down
  • Israel has been rocked by Gallant’s dismissal, with the news setting off mass protests across the country
  • Israel Katz, his replacement, currently serves as foreign minister and is a longtime Netanyahu loyalist and veteran Cabinet minister

TEL AVIV: Israeli defense minister Yoav Gallant officially stepped down Friday in a ceremony that replaced him with Israel Katz, the former foreign minister, after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu fired Gallant earlier this week.
Israel has been rocked by Gallant’s dismissal, with the news setting off mass protests across the country. Many in Israel view Gallant as the sole moderate voice in a far-right government, and see his removal as a sign that the far-right government of Benjamin Netanyahu has lost interest in returning hostages still held in Gaza.
Israel Katz, his replacement, currently serves as foreign minister and is a longtime Netanyahu loyalist and veteran Cabinet minister.
Also Friday, the Israeli military body handling aid to Gaza, COGAT, said it is preparing to open a new aid crossing into Gaza as the deadline for a US deadline to increase desperately-needed aid into the war-ravaged territory approaches. But the body did not say when the crossing will open nor if aid will be delivered to north of Gaza, where the UN and aid groups say the humanitarian situation is most dire.
The United Nations humanitarian office says Israel’s monthlong offensive in northern Gaza is preventing the estimated 75,000 to 95,000 Palestinians in the north from receiving essential items for their survival.
On Thursday, the Israeli military says it will allow 300 truckloads of humanitarian aid supplied by the United Arab Emirates to enter the Gaza Strip in the coming days. That’s less than the 350 trucks per day that the United States said it wants to see enter the war-ravaged territory.
The Israel-Hamas war began after militants stormed into Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, killing some 1,200 people — mostly civilians — and abducting 250 others. Israel’s military response in Gaza has killed more than 43,000 people, Palestinian health officials say. They do not distinguish between civilians and combatants, but say more than half of those killed were women and children.
Hezbollah began firing into Israel on Oct. 8, 2023, in solidarity with Hamas in the Gaza Strip. Since the conflict erupted, more than 3,100 people have been killed and some 13,800 wounded in Lebanon, the health ministry reported.


Scholz ‘relieved’ at release of German-Israeli hostages

Scholz ‘relieved’ at release of German-Israeli hostages
Updated 7 sec ago
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Scholz ‘relieved’ at release of German-Israeli hostages

Scholz ‘relieved’ at release of German-Israeli hostages
“We are relieved and rejoice with all the hostages who have been released,” Scholz said on X
“All of the hostages must be released and all mortal remains of the deceased returned to the families“

BERLIN: Chancellor Olaf Scholz on Thursday welcomed the release of two German-Israeli hostages captured by Palestinian militants in the October 7, 2023 attack and urged the release of all remaining captives.
Earlier, militants in Gaza freed five Thai and three Israeli hostages, among them two German-Israeli dual nationals, 80-year-old Gadi Moses and 29-year-old Arbel Yehud.
“We are relieved and rejoice with all the hostages who have been released,” Scholz said in a post on the social media platform X.
“All of the hostages must be released and all mortal remains of the deceased returned to the families.”
Thursday’s exchange is the third to take place under the current Gaza ceasefire.
Israel is to release 110 prisoners, including 30 minors, in exchange for the three Israelis, said the Palestinian Prisoners’ Club, an advocacy group.
German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock also hailed the “blessing” of the release of Moses and Yehud, who she said had been “tormented by Hamas until the end.”
“Their strength moves me deeply,” she wrote in an X post in German and Hebrew, but added that “both have lost close relatives through cruel Hamas terror” and that their “worlds... are no longer the same.”
She said a second phase for the ceasefire was essential.
During the current first phase of the deal, the terms of the second phase are to be negotiated, with the aim of freeing the last hostages in Gaza and bringing the war to a definitive end.
German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier said he had written to Moses’s and Yehud’s families to share his “deep joy” at the news of their release.
“We can scarcely imagine what Arbel Yehud and Gabi Moses have been through,” Steinmeier said.

Qatari emir becomes 1st Arab leader to visit Syria since fall of Assad

Qatari emir becomes 1st Arab leader to visit Syria since fall of Assad
Updated 45 min 30 sec ago
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Qatari emir becomes 1st Arab leader to visit Syria since fall of Assad

Qatari emir becomes 1st Arab leader to visit Syria since fall of Assad
  • Interim Syrian President Ahmed Al-Sharaa greets Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani at Damascus airport
  • Visit signals a significant resumption of Qatari-Syrian relations, with Qatar to play major role in reconstruction

LONDON: The Emir of Qatar, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani arrived in Damascus on Thursday, becoming the first Arab leader to visit Syria since the collapse of Bashar Assad’s regime.

Ahmed Al-Sharaa, declared interim president of Syria during a conference on Wednesday evening, welcomed Sheikh Tamim at Damascus International Airport on his arrival.

Syrian Prime Minister Mohammed Al-Bashir, Foreign Minister Asaad Al-Shaibani, and Defense Minister Murhaf Abu Qasra were also present.

Qatar supported Syrian opposition factions during the country’s 13-year civil war before Assad fled Damascus for Moscow in early December.

Sheikh Tamim’s visit marks a significant resumption of Qatari-Syrian relations, with Qatar expected to play a major role in reconstruction, according to the Qatar News Agency.

Political analyst and author Khaled Walid Mahmoud told QNA that Shiekh Tamim’s visit is “highly symbolic and historically significant, being the first by an Arab leader since the fall of the former regime.”

The visit could reopen diplomatic channels and support a sustainable political resolution in Damascus, highlighting Qatar’s strong ties with the US and Turkiye, as well as its role as a trusted mediator in Syria and the Middle East, he added.

Qatar will play a crucial role in the reconstruction of Syria, especially in key sectors such as energy, transportation, and housing, which were devasted by the civil war.

Ahmed Qassim Hussein, a researcher at the Arab Center for Research and Policy Studies, told QNA that the emir’s visit signals an evolving Qatari role in Syria’s political, economic, and security spheres.

Qatar’s support for the new Syrian leadership led by the insurgent-turned-president Al-Sharaa was evident in its decision to reopen the embassy in Damascus following its closure in 2011.

He said that “(the visit) reflects Qatar’s commitment to restoring diplomatic relations and fostering cooperation with Syria,” adding that Doha is guiding the Syrian leadership in navigating Syria’s transitional phase and fostering long-term stability.


UN rights chief seeks $500m in 2025, warning lives are at risk

UN rights chief seeks $500m in 2025, warning lives are at risk
Updated 56 min 43 sec ago
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UN rights chief seeks $500m in 2025, warning lives are at risk

UN rights chief seeks $500m in 2025, warning lives are at risk
  • The annual appeal is for donations beyond the allocated UN funds from member states’ fees
  • “In 2025, we expect no let-up in major challenges to human rights,” High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Turk told member states in a speech at the UN in Geneva

GENEVA: The UN human rights chief appealed on Thursday for $500 million in funding for 2025 to support its work investigating human rights abuses around the world, from Syria to Sudan, warning that lives hang in the balance.
The UN human rights office (OHCHR) has been grappling with chronic funding shortages that many expect will be exacerbated by cuts to US foreign aid by President Donald Trump.
US funding for OHCHR has gone to monitoring human rights violations in northern Ethiopia after the 2020-2022 civil war and peace-building programs in Colombia, the US Agency for International Development website showed.
The annual appeal is for donations beyond the allocated UN funds from member states’ fees, which make up just a fraction of the office’s needs.
“In 2025, we expect no let-up in major challenges to human rights,” High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Turk told member states in a speech at the UN in Geneva.
“I am very concerned that if we do not reach our funding targets in 2025, we will leave people ... to struggle and possibly fail, without adequate support,” he said.
He said any shortfall would mean more people remain in illegal detention; governments could continue with discriminatory policies; violations may go undocumented; and human rights defenders could lose protection.
“In short, lives are at stake,” he said, adding that his office last year helped release over 3,000 people in arbitrary detention and supported more than 10,000 survivors of modern slavery and over 49,000 survivors of torture and their families.
A number of countries including the European Union voiced support for OHCHR’s work in the meeting, with China saying it was willing to continue voluntary funding, which in previous years has amounted to about $4 million.
The human rights office gets about 5 percent of the regular UN budget, but the majority of its funding comes voluntarily in response to its annual appeal.
Western states typically give the most, with the United States donating $35 million last year, or about 15 percent of the total received in 2024, followed by the European Commission, UN data from end-November showed. Still, the office received only about half of the $500 million it sought last year.


Morocco stops German feed grain imports over foot-and-mouth disease

Morocco stops German feed grain imports over foot-and-mouth disease
Updated 30 January 2025
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Morocco stops German feed grain imports over foot-and-mouth disease

Morocco stops German feed grain imports over foot-and-mouth disease
  • A source at Morocco’s food safety agency ONSSA confirmed that plant-based imports from Germany for animal feed had been “suspended“
  • The outbreak has led to trade restrictions from some countries including Britain

RABAT: Morocco has halted imports of feed grains from Germany following an outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease, the head of Morocco’s grain trade federation (FNCL) said on Thursday.
The import suspension affected “all untreated plant-based feed intended for animal consumption from Germany due to the foot-and-mouth disease outbreak there,” Omar Yacoubi told Reuters.
A source at Morocco’s food safety agency ONSSA confirmed that plant-based imports from Germany for animal feed had been “suspended” until Germany is declared free of foot and mouth again or certifies local regions that are free of the disease.
Germany announced its first outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease in nearly 40 years on Jan. 10 in a herd of water buffalo near Berlin in the Brandenburg region. That remains the only reported case so far.
The outbreak has led to trade restrictions from some countries including Britain on livestock-related goods from Germany.
Germany’s agriculture ministry said on Jan. 13 that the loss of Germany’s status as a country free of foot-and-mouth disease meant exporting a wide range of farm products outside the European Union would no longer be possible.
Traders have reported that exporters have sourced some feed barley cargoes for Morocco in France instead of Germany in response to the trade restriction.
However, other importing countries were still accepting German feed grain and one cargo of German barley initially sold for Morocco would be shipped to Tunisia, traders said.
Foot-and-mouth disease is a highly infectious virus that causes fever and mouth blisters in cloven-hoofed ruminants, such as cattle, swine, sheep and goats, but poses no danger to humans.
The disease occurs regularly in parts of the world including in Africa but Morocco has not recorded an outbreak since 2019.


Missing Moroccan drivers’ lorries found in Sahel conflict area

Missing Moroccan drivers’ lorries found in Sahel conflict area
Updated 30 January 2025
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Missing Moroccan drivers’ lorries found in Sahel conflict area

Missing Moroccan drivers’ lorries found in Sahel conflict area
  • Four Moroccan truckers were reported missing in mid-January and have not been found.
  • The army said in its latest bulletin that the drivers “were abducted by unidentified individuals on January 18“

NIAMEY, Niger: Niger’s army said on Thursday it had recovered four lorries used by Moroccan drivers who went missing near the border with Burkina Faso, in an area where militants operate.
Four Moroccan truckers were reported missing in mid-January and have not been found.
The army said in its latest bulletin that the drivers “were abducted by unidentified individuals on January 18” on the road linking Tera in western Niger to Dori in northeastern Burkina.
It said that during a reconnaissance operation in the Tera area last week, soldiers had recovered the lorries and taken them back to the capital Niamey as part of the probe into the incident.
The vehicles were carrying equipment destined for Niger’s state power company NIGELEC and had been traveling “without a security escort.”
The army said it would intensify search and reconnaissance missions in the region and monitor sensitive border areas in collaboration with neighboring Mali and Burkina.
The leaders of the three west African nations formed a defense pact known as the Alliance of Sahel States (AES) after seizing power in coups between 2020 and 2023 and leaving the region’s main political and trade group ECOWAS.