European Diplomats Visit Gaza to Assess Reconstruction Needs

A Palestinian man is seen at his destroyed house after an Israeli raid on Gaza. (Reuters)
A Palestinian man is seen at his destroyed house after an Israeli raid on Gaza. (Reuters)
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European Diplomats Visit Gaza to Assess Reconstruction Needs

A Palestinian man is seen at his destroyed house after an Israeli raid on Gaza. (Reuters)
A Palestinian man is seen at his destroyed house after an Israeli raid on Gaza. (Reuters)

A high-ranking European delegation of 20 ambassadors visited Gaza to assess the humanitarian situation and construction needs.

It is the first visit by a European diplomatic delegation to the coastal enclave since the last wave of tensions between Palestinian factions and Israel in May.

The delegation toured destroyed houses and listened to testimonies of families. They included the Nabaheen family, consisting of more than 100 people, nine of whom have special needs.

EU Representative in Palestine Sven Kuhn von Burgsdorff said the visit aims to express solidarity with the victims of the recent war in Gaza.

"The European missions' representatives expressed their condolences to the victims of the tension, and it became clear from our information that the victims were mainly civilians," he added.

The European delegation "looks forward to completing a report explaining what happened."

Von Burgsdorff renewed the EU position that calls for consolidating ceasefire understandings in Gaza and implementing the two-state solution to resolve the Palestinian-Israeli conflict.

Meanwhile, representatives of families whose homes were destroyed in the recent round of tension with Israel called on the European diplomats to actively contribute to accelerating the reconstruction of their homes.

The recent Israeli attacks killed 33 Palestinians, including five children, three women, and 11 members of the Islamic Jihad group.

According to Palestinian officials, the raids displaced 200 families, or around 1,000 people. The attacks destroyed 103 housing units and over 2,800 were partially demolished, while 150 were uninhabitable.



Syria's Foreign Minister Calls for Lifting of Sanctions

Syria's Foreign Minister Asaad Hassan al-Shibani attends a meeting on Syria, following the recent ousting of president Bashar al-Assad, in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, January 12, 2025. REUTERS/Hamad I Mohammed
Syria's Foreign Minister Asaad Hassan al-Shibani attends a meeting on Syria, following the recent ousting of president Bashar al-Assad, in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, January 12, 2025. REUTERS/Hamad I Mohammed
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Syria's Foreign Minister Calls for Lifting of Sanctions

Syria's Foreign Minister Asaad Hassan al-Shibani attends a meeting on Syria, following the recent ousting of president Bashar al-Assad, in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, January 12, 2025. REUTERS/Hamad I Mohammed
Syria's Foreign Minister Asaad Hassan al-Shibani attends a meeting on Syria, following the recent ousting of president Bashar al-Assad, in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, January 12, 2025. REUTERS/Hamad I Mohammed

Syria’s new foreign minister has called for a lifting of sanctions that were imposed on his country during former President Bashar Assad’s rule.
In an interview with Turkish state broadcaster TRT that aired Thursday, Asaad al-Shibani also said Syria’s new leadership wanted to “open a new page” in its diplomatic relations with countries that had cut diplomatic ties with Damascus during the Syrian civil war.
“The economic sanctions are one of the problems that the old regime left us,” al-Shibani said in the interview, which aired a day after he met Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and other Turkish officials in Ankara. “We are saying that there is no longer any need for them. The old regime is gone.”
“These sanctions must be lifted in order for people to live in better economic conditions and for security and economic stability to be achieved,” he added.