Arab FMs, EU Foreign Affairs Council Discuss Gaza War

Saudi Minister of Foreign Affairs Prince Faisal bin Farhan bin Abdullah at the Brussels meeting on Monday. (SPA)
Saudi Minister of Foreign Affairs Prince Faisal bin Farhan bin Abdullah at the Brussels meeting on Monday. (SPA)
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Arab FMs, EU Foreign Affairs Council Discuss Gaza War

Saudi Minister of Foreign Affairs Prince Faisal bin Farhan bin Abdullah at the Brussels meeting on Monday. (SPA)
Saudi Minister of Foreign Affairs Prince Faisal bin Farhan bin Abdullah at the Brussels meeting on Monday. (SPA)

The members of the Ministerial Committee assigned by the Joint Arab-Islamic Extraordinary Summit met in Brussels on Monday with European Union Foreign Affairs Council to discuss the war on Gaza.

Chaired by Saudi Minister of Foreign Affairs Prince Faisal bin Farhan bin Abdullah, the committee included Qatari Prime Minister and FM Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani, Jordan's Deputy PM and FM Dr. Ayman Al-Safadi, and Egyptian FM Sameh Shoukry.

They discussed the dangerous developments in Gaza and the Israel’s ongoing military operation that is claiming the lives of innocent civilians, including the recent “appalling targeting of the tents of displaced Palestinians near the headquarters of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA)” in Rafah.

The Ministerial Committee “stressed the need for the international community to fulfill its responsibility to intervene immediately to stop the massacres committed by the Israeli forces and to stop the deepening of the unprecedented humanitarian catastrophe that the Palestinian people are experiencing.”

It reiterated the importance of creating serious political conditions for the establishment of a Palestinian state according to the 1967 border with East Jerusalem as its capital, and in line with the relevant international resolutions.

It expressed its rejection of “discussing the future of the Gaza Strip in isolation from the Palestinian issue.”

It called for “confronting all flagrant violations committed by the Israeli forces against the Palestinian people” and stressed the importance of holding the Israel accountable for the ongoing violations in the Gaza Strip and the occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem.



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.