Arab League Starts Preparations for Algeria Summit

Arab League foreign ministers meeting in Cairo, Egypt (File photo: Reuters)
Arab League foreign ministers meeting in Cairo, Egypt (File photo: Reuters)
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Arab League Starts Preparations for Algeria Summit

Arab League foreign ministers meeting in Cairo, Egypt (File photo: Reuters)
Arab League foreign ministers meeting in Cairo, Egypt (File photo: Reuters)

Algeria sent an official invitation to the Secretary-General of the Arab League, Ahmed Aboul Gheit, to visit and consult on arrangements for holding the thirty-first regular session of the Arab Summit, which Algeria offered to host this year.

Assistant Secretary-General Ambassador Hossam Zaki received the Algerian ambassador to Cairo, Mohand Ladjouzi, who carried a message from Algerian Foreign Minister Sabri Boukadoum in which he offered to prepare for the upcoming Arab summit in light of current challenges facing the Arab world.

Ambassador Zaki said that the Secretary-General's visit to Algeria is expected to take place as soon as possible.

Media reports indicated that Algeria will host the summit at the end of March as the Secretary-General previously confirmed that it will be held as scheduled.

Meanwhile, the 105th ministerial session of the Arab Economic and Social Council kicks off Thursday at the headquarters of the General-Secretariat of the Arab League in Cairo, with the participation of Arab economy and trade ministers.

The Council will discuss preparing economic and social topics for the upcoming Arab summit, in addition to all issues of joint Arab economic and social action.

Assistant Secretary-General and Head of Social Affairs sector at the Arab League, Haifa Abu Ghazaleh, stated that the agenda of the 105th session of the Council includes several important items, namely the economic and social issues of the League’s Council, and follow-up on the implementation of the Arab-African summit decisions issued at its fourth session at Malabo – Equatorial Guinea 2016.

Officials will also prepare the economic aspects for the fifth summit, to be held in Riyadh next March 16 and its theme: “Greater Arab Free Trade Area (GAFTA) and the developments of the Arab customs union”, along with other economic and social items.



Israeli Strikes Kill 14 Palestinians in Gaza, Medical Officials Say

Displaced Palestinians walk near their tents, set up along the beach in the west of Al-Nuseirat refugee camp, central Gaza Strip, 11 November 2024. (EPA)
Displaced Palestinians walk near their tents, set up along the beach in the west of Al-Nuseirat refugee camp, central Gaza Strip, 11 November 2024. (EPA)
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Israeli Strikes Kill 14 Palestinians in Gaza, Medical Officials Say

Displaced Palestinians walk near their tents, set up along the beach in the west of Al-Nuseirat refugee camp, central Gaza Strip, 11 November 2024. (EPA)
Displaced Palestinians walk near their tents, set up along the beach in the west of Al-Nuseirat refugee camp, central Gaza Strip, 11 November 2024. (EPA)

Palestinian medical officials say two Israeli strikes in Gaza killed at least 14 people, including two children and a woman, most in an Israeli-declared humanitarian zone.

One strike late Monday hit a makeshift cafeteria used by displaced people in Muwasi, the center of the so-called humanitarian zone. At least 11 people were killed, including two children, according to officials at Nasser Hospital, where the casualties were taken. Video from the scene showed men pulling bloodied wounded from among tables and chairs set up in the sand in an enclosure made of corrugated metal sheets.

The strike came hours after the Israeli military announced an expansion of the zone, where it has told Palestinians evacuating from other parts of Gaza to take refuge. Hundreds of thousands of displaced Palestinians are sheltering in sprawling tent camps in and around Muwasi, a largely desolate area of dunes and agricultural fields with few facilities or services along the Mediterranean coast of southern Gaza.

Israel faces a deadline this week for the Biden administration’s ultimatum for it to allow more aid into Gaza or risk possible restrictions on US military funding.

Another strike early Tuesday hit a house in the urban Al-Nuseirat refugee camp in central Gaza, killing three people including a woman, according to al-Awda Hospital, which received the casualties. The strike also wounded 11 others, it said.

The Israeli military had no immediate comment on either strike.

Israel’s 19-month-old campaign in Gaza has killed more than 43,000 Palestinians, according to local health authorities who don’t distinguish between civilians and fighters in their count, but say more than half the dead were women and children.

Israel says it targets Hamas fighters and blames the armed group for civilian deaths, saying it operates in residential areas and infrastructure and among displaced people.

The war in Gaza began when Hamas-led gunmen stormed into southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023 and killed around 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and abducted about 250. Around 100 hostages are still inside Gaza, about a third believed to be dead.