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D-8 Nations Pledge to Mobilize All Resources to Achieve Ceasefire in Gaza

Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan (C) speaks as he participates in a joint press conference alongside other countries' representatives after an Extraordinary Meeting of the D-8 Council of Foreign Ministers to discuss the situation in Gaza, in Istanbul, Türkiye, 08 June 2024. EPA/ERDEM SAHIN
Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan (C) speaks as he participates in a joint press conference alongside other countries' representatives after an Extraordinary Meeting of the D-8 Council of Foreign Ministers to discuss the situation in Gaza, in Istanbul, Türkiye, 08 June 2024. EPA/ERDEM SAHIN
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D-8 Nations Pledge to Mobilize All Resources to Achieve Ceasefire in Gaza

Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan (C) speaks as he participates in a joint press conference alongside other countries' representatives after an Extraordinary Meeting of the D-8 Council of Foreign Ministers to discuss the situation in Gaza, in Istanbul, Türkiye, 08 June 2024. EPA/ERDEM SAHIN
Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan (C) speaks as he participates in a joint press conference alongside other countries' representatives after an Extraordinary Meeting of the D-8 Council of Foreign Ministers to discuss the situation in Gaza, in Istanbul, Türkiye, 08 June 2024. EPA/ERDEM SAHIN

The Foreign Ministers of the Member States of the D-8 Organization for Economic Cooperation pledged on Saturday to mobilize all resources to achieve an immediate ceasefire in Gaza and deliver humanitarian aid to the Strip.
The ministers of the D-8, an alliance of developing nations of Türkiye, Malaysia, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Egypt, Iran, Nigeria, and Indonesia, discussed means to stop all violations committed by Israel against the Palestinian people in Gaza.
“Those who oppose occupation in Ukraine consider resistance to occupation in Palestine a crime,” Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan said in a press conference held following the meeting.
He added, “We declare together to the whole world that we are not silent in the face of Israeli oppression in Gaza and we cannot remain silent.”
The Turkish FM said the D-8 will work with all their strength to stop the Israeli occupation and achieve a two-state solution.
“The fundamentalist Netanyahu government continues to play with fire. (Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin) Netanyahu does not hesitate to endanger the future of everyone in the region, including his own people,” he said.
Fidan then expressed appreciation of the mediation efforts by Egypt and Qatar, indicating that Türkiye has also contributed to diplomacy.
He said that Israel’s continuous rejection of negotiations and its abstention from approving a ceasefire are costing a heavy price.
He asserted that statehood is a natural right for Palestinians, adding that Palestine is recognized as a state by the majority of countries in the world.
But, Fidan said, “because of the US veto, it cannot become a full member of the UN.”
He then expressed “hope for the future” in the bold stance some European countries and the Western public have taken against Israeli actions.
Fidan said the D-8 ministers held their meeting to demonstrate further support and solidarity for Palestine, adding that the war is not a war of Israel-Palestine anymore but “a challenge to global democracy."
The Minister then noted that a just and lasting peace can only be achieved by diplomacy and compromise.
Fidan affirmed that there is no doubt those who perpetrated the massacre in Gaza will eventually be held accountable.
Prior to the D-8 extraordinary meeting on Gaza, Fidan held talks with Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammad Mustafa to discuss the latest developments in the Strip.

 

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Hezbollah Fires about 250 Rockets, Other Projectiles into Israel in Heaviest Barrage in Weeks

Members of the Israeli forces inspect a site following a rocket fired from Lebanon hit an area in Rinatya, outskirts of Tel Aviv, Israel, Sunday, Nov. 24, 2024. (AP)
Members of the Israeli forces inspect a site following a rocket fired from Lebanon hit an area in Rinatya, outskirts of Tel Aviv, Israel, Sunday, Nov. 24, 2024. (AP)
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Hezbollah Fires about 250 Rockets, Other Projectiles into Israel in Heaviest Barrage in Weeks

Members of the Israeli forces inspect a site following a rocket fired from Lebanon hit an area in Rinatya, outskirts of Tel Aviv, Israel, Sunday, Nov. 24, 2024. (AP)
Members of the Israeli forces inspect a site following a rocket fired from Lebanon hit an area in Rinatya, outskirts of Tel Aviv, Israel, Sunday, Nov. 24, 2024. (AP)

Hezbollah fired about 250 rockets and other projectiles into Israel on Sunday, wounding seven people in one of the group's heaviest barrages in months, in response to deadly Israeli strikes in Beirut while negotiators pressed on with ceasefire efforts to halt the all-out war.

Some of the rockets reached the Tel Aviv area in the heart of Israel.

Meanwhile, an Israeli strike on an army center killed a Lebanese soldier and wounded 18 others in the southwest between Tyre and Naqoura, Lebanon's military said.  

The Israeli military expressed regret, saying that the strike occurred in an area of combat against Hezbollah and that the military's operations are directed solely against the fighters.

Israeli strikes have killed over 40 Lebanese troops since the start of the war between Israel and Hezbollah, even as Lebanon's military has largely kept to the sidelines.

Lebanon's caretaker prime minister, Najib Mikati, condemned the latest strike as an assault on US-led ceasefire efforts, calling it a “direct, bloody message rejecting all efforts and ongoing contacts” to end the war.

Hezbollah fires rockets after strikes on Beirut  

Hezbollah began firing rockets, missiles and drones into Israel after Hamas' Oct. 7, 2023, attack out of the Gaza Strip ignited the war there. Hezbollah has portrayed the attacks as an act of solidarity with the Palestinians and Hamas. Iran supports both armed groups.

Israel launched retaliatory airstrikes at Hezbollah, and in September the low-level conflict erupted into all-out war as Israel launched waves of airstrikes across large parts of Lebanon and killed Hezbollah's top leader, Hassan Nasrallah, and several top commanders.

The Israeli military said about 250 projectiles were fired Sunday, with some intercepted.

Israel’s Magen David Adom rescue service said it treated seven people, including a 60-year old man in severe condition from rocket fire on northern Israel, a 23-year-old man who was lightly wounded by a blast in the central city of Petah Tikva, near Tel Aviv, and a 70-year-old woman who suffered smoke inhalation from a car that caught fire there.  

In Haifa, a rocket hit a residential building that police said was in danger of collapsing.

The Palestine Red Crescent reported 13 injuries it said were caused by an interceptor missile that struck several homes in Tulkarem in the West Bank. It was unclear whether the injuries and damage elsewhere were caused by rockets or interceptors.

Sirens wailed again in central and northern Israel hours later.

Israeli airstrikes without warning on Saturday pounded central Beirut, killing at least 29 people and wounding 67, according to Lebanon's Health Ministry.

Smoke billowed above Beirut again Sunday with new strikes. Israel's military said it targeted Hezbollah command centers in the southern suburbs, known as Dahiyeh, where the group has a strong presence.

Israeli attacks have killed more than 3,700 people in Lebanon, according to the Health Ministry. The fighting has displaced about 1.2 million people, or a quarter of Lebanon’s population.

On the Israeli side, about 90 soldiers and nearly 50 civilians have been killed by bombardment in northern Israel and in battle following Israel's ground invasion in early October. Around 60,000 Israelis have been displaced from the country's north.

EU envoy calls for pressure to reach a truce  

The Biden administration has spent months trying to broker a ceasefire, and US envoy Amos Hochstein was in the region last week.

The European Union’s top diplomat called Sunday for more pressure on Israel and Hezbollah to reach a deal, saying one was "pending with a final agreement from the Israeli government.”

Josep Borrell spoke after meeting with Mikati and Lebanese Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri, a Hezbollah ally who has been mediating with the group.

Borrell said the EU is ready to allocate 200 million euros ($208 million) to assist the Lebanese military, which would deploy additional forces to the south.

The emerging agreement would pave the way for the withdrawal of Hezbollah and Israeli troops from southern Lebanon below the Litani River in accordance with the UN Security Council resolution that ended the monthlong 2006 war. Lebanese troops would patrol with the presence of UN peacekeepers.