ABU DHABI: H.H. Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Minister of Foreign Affairs, met with Ma’ruf Amin, Indonesian Vice President, yesterday on the sidelines of the Zayed Award for Human Fraternity ceremony.
The talks centred around enhancing bilateral relations within the comprehensive economic partnership between the two countries. Key areas of collaboration included economic development, trade, investment, and energy.
Sheikh Abdullah welcomed the Vice President and extended congratulations on the victory of Indonesian Islamic associations Nahdlatul Ulama and Muhammadiyah in the Zayed Award. He underscored the robust UAE-Indonesia ties founded on mutual respect and a shared commitment to fostering cooperation.
His Highness noted that the comprehensive Emirati-Indonesian economic partnership has opened promising horizons for further development in this relationship in support of the developmental goals of both countries.
For his part, Vice President Amin reiterated the strength of the relations and comme
nded the UAE’s global leadership in promoting tolerance and humanitarian values.
The meeting was attended by Suhail bin Mohammed Al Mazrouei, Minister of Energy and Infrastructure, and Ahmed Ali Al Sayegh, Minister of State.
Source: Emirates News Agency
NEW YORK: Any move by Israel to extend its full-scale invasion of Gaza into the massively overcrowded southern city of Rafah could lead to war crimes which must be prevented at all costs, the UN aid coordination office, OCHA, said on Tuesday.
‘We as the UN and Member States of the UN can bear witness,’ OCHA spokesperson Jens Laerke told journalists in Geneva. ‘We can make clear what the law says… under international humanitarian law, indiscriminate bombing of densely populated areas may amount to war crimes.’
The development came as OCHA reported an increase in Israeli strikes in the Rafah governorate on Sunday and Monday. At the same time, thousands of Gazans continue to flood into Rafah, including many who have fled intense fighting in Khan Younis.
The result of this exodus is that Rafah’s population has increased fivefold since the Israeli aggression on the enclave began on 7 October.
‘To be clear, intensified hostilities in Rafah in this situation could lead to large-scale loss of civilian lives and w
e must do everything possible within our power to avoid that,’ Laerke said.
Confirming accounts of ongoing heavy fighting in Khan Younis, Tommaso Della Longa from the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) reported that 8,000 Gazans who had been sheltering at Al Amal hospital had left the facility on Monday, after Israeli authorities guaranteed safe passage.
Despite this positive development, the situation in Gaza is ‘beyond catastrophic…a nightmare’ that continues to get worse, the IFRC spokesperson said, as he mourned the death of aid worker, Hedaya Hamad, from the Palestine Red Crescent Society (PRCS), killed during shelling at Al Amal hospital compound last Friday.
‘In the last more than two weeks the hospital was surrounded by heavy shelling, fighting, no way in, no way out, (it was) hit several times and the last time was last Friday when this colleague was killed,’ Della Longa said, as he described desperate shortages of medicine, food and water and the ‘almost impos
sible’ task of replenishing stocks and of gaining access for ambulances.
Almost 100 people remain inside the ailing health facility including elderly patients and others with disabilities who could not be moved, along with staff and volunteers.
‘I don’t want even to think about the possibility of whether Al Amal will close in the next coming days,’ said the IFRC spokesperson, noting that the same scenario had played out at another hospital, Al Quds, in Gaza City, which the PCRS declared closed on 12 November. ‘The reality is that if the situation does not change, it will be very difficult to continue the activities in the hospital.’
Source: Palestine News and Information Agency – WAFA
Army commander, Major General Joseph Aoun, on Tuesday welcomed at his Yarzeh office, French Foreign Minister Stéphane Séjourné, accompanied by the Director of North Africa and the Middle East at the French Foreign Ministry, Ambassador Anne Grillo, and French Ambassador to Lebanon, Hervé Magro.
Discussions reportedly touched on the general situation in Lebanon and the region.
Séjourné stressed ‘the important army’s role in preserving Lebanon’s security and stability during the current circumstances.”
The Army Commander thanked ‘the French authorities for their continued support for the military institution.’
Source: National News Agency – Lebanon