Nine Arab States Condemn the Targeting of Civilians in Gaza

Black smoke raise from Eastern Gaza City, Thursday, Oct. 26, 2023 following Israeli airstrikes. (AP Photo/Abed Khaled)
Black smoke raise from Eastern Gaza City, Thursday, Oct. 26, 2023 following Israeli airstrikes. (AP Photo/Abed Khaled)
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Nine Arab States Condemn the Targeting of Civilians in Gaza

Black smoke raise from Eastern Gaza City, Thursday, Oct. 26, 2023 following Israeli airstrikes. (AP Photo/Abed Khaled)
Black smoke raise from Eastern Gaza City, Thursday, Oct. 26, 2023 following Israeli airstrikes. (AP Photo/Abed Khaled)

Nine Arab countries called on Thursday for an immediate ceasefire in the Gaza Strip and an end to the targeting and death of civilians.

“The right to self-defense by the United Nations Charter does not justify blatant violations of humanitarian and international law,” said the statement, signed by the Foreign Ministers of Egypt, Jordan, Bahrain, The United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Oman, Qatar, Kuwait and Morocco.

They rejected “any attempts to liquidate the Palestinian issue at the expense of the Palestinian people and the peoples of the region, or to displace the Palestinian people from their land in any way, considering it a serious violation of international humanitarian law and tantamount to a war crime.”

They called on the UN Security Council to mandate the parties for an immediate and sustainable ceasefire, and affirmed that the failure to describe flagrant violations of international humanitarian law effectively constitutes a green light for the continuation of these practices and complicity in committing them.



US Defers Removal of Some Lebanese, Citing Israel-Hezbollah Tensions

Smoke billows from a site targeted by Lebanon's Hezbollah, along the northern Israeli border with Lebanon on July 25, 2024, amid ongoing cross-border clashes between Israeli troops and Hezbollah fighters. (AFP)
Smoke billows from a site targeted by Lebanon's Hezbollah, along the northern Israeli border with Lebanon on July 25, 2024, amid ongoing cross-border clashes between Israeli troops and Hezbollah fighters. (AFP)
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US Defers Removal of Some Lebanese, Citing Israel-Hezbollah Tensions

Smoke billows from a site targeted by Lebanon's Hezbollah, along the northern Israeli border with Lebanon on July 25, 2024, amid ongoing cross-border clashes between Israeli troops and Hezbollah fighters. (AFP)
Smoke billows from a site targeted by Lebanon's Hezbollah, along the northern Israeli border with Lebanon on July 25, 2024, amid ongoing cross-border clashes between Israeli troops and Hezbollah fighters. (AFP)

The United States is deferring the removal of certain Lebanese citizens from the country, President Joe Biden said on Friday, citing humanitarian conditions in southern Lebanon amid tensions between Israel and Hezbollah.

The deferred designation, which lasts 18 months, allows Lebanese citizens to remain in the country with the right to work, according to a memorandum Biden sent to the Department of Homeland Security.

"Humanitarian conditions in southern Lebanon have significantly deteriorated due to tensions between Hezbollah and Israel," Biden said in the memo.

"While I remain focused on de-escalating the situation and improving humanitarian conditions, many civilians remain in danger; therefore, I am directing the deferral of removal of certain Lebanese nationals who are present in the United States."

Israel and Iran-backed Hezbollah have been trading fire since Hezbollah announced a "support front" with Palestinians shortly after its ally Hamas attacked southern Israeli border communities on Oct. 7, triggering Israel's military assault in Gaza.

The fighting in Lebanon has killed more than 100 civilians and more than 300 Hezbollah fighters, according to a Reuters tally, and led to levels of destruction in Lebanese border towns and villages not seen since the 2006 Israel-Lebanon war.

On the Israeli side, 10 Israeli civilians, a foreign agricultural worker and 20 Israeli soldiers have been killed. Tens of thousands have been evacuated from both sides of the border.