Hossam Zaki: Arab Summit Sends Clear Message on Foreign Meddling

Arab League foreign ministers meet in Cairo, Egypt December 9, 2017. (Reuters)
Arab League foreign ministers meet in Cairo, Egypt December 9, 2017. (Reuters)
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Hossam Zaki: Arab Summit Sends Clear Message on Foreign Meddling

Arab League foreign ministers meet in Cairo, Egypt December 9, 2017. (Reuters)
Arab League foreign ministers meet in Cairo, Egypt December 9, 2017. (Reuters)

Assistant Secretary General of the Arab League Hossam Zaki stressed that the organization’s upcoming emergency summit in Makkah sends a clear message on foreign meddling in the region.

He told Asharq Al-Awsat that protecting national Arab security against violations and threats requires more coordination, consultations and cooperation among Arab countries.

He predicted that the summit, scheduled for Thursday, would make a strong political stance that supports the countries whose security and stability are being threatened by any foreign non-Arab parties, especially Iran.

Commenting in Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammed Javad Zarif’s proposal to Gulf states to sign a non-aggression pact with them, Zaki said that the problem with Iran is that its statements differ from its actions.

It may make positive remarks, but they are not followed up with actions, he added.



Israeli Strikes Kill 12 in Gaza as War Grinds Into the New Year

A Palestinian child wounded during the Israeli bombardment of the Gaza Strip receives treatment at the Al-Aqsa Hospital in Deir al-Balah, Thursday, Dec. 19, 2024. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)
A Palestinian child wounded during the Israeli bombardment of the Gaza Strip receives treatment at the Al-Aqsa Hospital in Deir al-Balah, Thursday, Dec. 19, 2024. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)
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Israeli Strikes Kill 12 in Gaza as War Grinds Into the New Year

A Palestinian child wounded during the Israeli bombardment of the Gaza Strip receives treatment at the Al-Aqsa Hospital in Deir al-Balah, Thursday, Dec. 19, 2024. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)
A Palestinian child wounded during the Israeli bombardment of the Gaza Strip receives treatment at the Al-Aqsa Hospital in Deir al-Balah, Thursday, Dec. 19, 2024. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)

Israeli strikes killed at least 12 Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, mostly women and children, officials said Wednesday, as the nearly 15-month war ground on into the new year with no end in sight.

One strike hit a home in the Jabaliya area of northern Gaza, the most isolated and heavily destroyed part of the territory, where Israel has been waging a major operation since early October, The Associated Press reported.
Gaza’s Health Ministry says seven people were killed, including a woman and four children, and that at least a dozen other people were wounded.
Another strike overnight into Wednesday in the built-up Bureij refugee camp in central Gaza killed a woman and a child, according to the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital, which received the bodies.

A third strike early Wednesday in the southern city of Khan Younis killed three people, according to the nearby Nasser Hospital and the European Hospital, which received the bodies.
Israel’s air and ground offensive has killed over 45,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry.

The war has caused widespread destruction and displaced some 90% of Gaza’s population of 2.3 million, many of them multiple times.
Hundreds of thousands are living in tents on the coast as winter brings frequent rainstorms and temperatures drop below 10 degrees Celsius at night. At least four infants have died of hypothermia.