Omani FM Warns Against Military Confrontation in Strait of Hormuz

Omani Foreign Minister Yusuf bin Alawi (File photo: Reuters)
Omani Foreign Minister Yusuf bin Alawi (File photo: Reuters)
TT

Omani FM Warns Against Military Confrontation in Strait of Hormuz

Omani Foreign Minister Yusuf bin Alawi (File photo: Reuters)
Omani Foreign Minister Yusuf bin Alawi (File photo: Reuters)

Oman works for easing of tension in the Arab Gulf region, however, a military confrontation in the region is not likely to happen now, announced Omani Foreign Minister Yusuf bin Alawi.

The Minister warned that a military confrontation is more likely to happen in the Strait of Hormuz than any other region in the Gulf, partially due to the increased number of military vessels.

In a dialogue session dedicated to addressing tension in the region on the sidelines of Munich Security Conference (MSC), Alawi said, “We keep contacts with the United States and Iran as part of our relations with the two countries. We feel that it is possible for the two to engage in dialogue. We work to ease tension in the region and we do not expect the occurrence of any military confrontation in the region at present.”

The Ministry’s official twitter account quoted Bin Alawi as saying: “Some have a right to feel anxious about the escalation of tension in the region,” adding that Iran is a “great country and a neighbour, and if we regulate our interests, that would give us a feeling of peace.”

Alawi pointed out that the massive presence of military vessels in the Strait might lead to the occurrence of any mistakes and increase tension. He called upon friends to consider the present risks to the security of navigation.

“There are a lot of military ships in the Hormuz (area) and our concern is there could be a mistake,” bin Alawi was quoted by Reuters.

The Strait of Hormuz is between Iran and Oman, with 33 km width at its narrowest point, and is the conduit for some 30 percent of all crude and other oil liquids traded by sea.

Friction between Iran and the West had led several nations to send task forces to guard shipping there, and Washington has blamed Tehran for attacks on international merchant vessels in or near the area, something Tehran denies.



Fears for Gaza Hospitals as Fuel and Aid Run Low

The Palestinian health ministry in Gaza said Friday that hospitals have only two days' fuel left before they must restrict services, after the UN warned aid delivery to the war-devastated territory is being crippled. - AFP
The Palestinian health ministry in Gaza said Friday that hospitals have only two days' fuel left before they must restrict services, after the UN warned aid delivery to the war-devastated territory is being crippled. - AFP
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Fears for Gaza Hospitals as Fuel and Aid Run Low

The Palestinian health ministry in Gaza said Friday that hospitals have only two days' fuel left before they must restrict services, after the UN warned aid delivery to the war-devastated territory is being crippled. - AFP
The Palestinian health ministry in Gaza said Friday that hospitals have only two days' fuel left before they must restrict services, after the UN warned aid delivery to the war-devastated territory is being crippled. - AFP

The Palestinian health ministry in Gaza said Friday that hospitals have only two days' fuel left before they must restrict services, after the UN warned aid delivery to the war-devastated territory is being crippled.

The warning came a day after the International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former defence minister Yoav Gallant more than a year into the Gaza war.

The United Nations and others have repeatedly decried humanitarian conditions, particularly in northern Gaza, where Israel said Friday it had killed two commanders involved in Hamas's October 7, 2023 attack that triggered the war.

Gaza medics said an overnight Israeli raid on the cities of Beit Lahia and nearby Jabalia resulted in dozens killed or missing.

Marwan al-Hams, director of Gaza's field hospitals, told reporters all hospitals in the Palestinian territory "will stop working or reduce their services within 48 hours due to the occupation's (Israel's) obstruction of fuel entry".

World Health Organization chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said he was "deeply concerned about the safety and well-being of 80 patients, including 8 in the intensive care unit" at Kamal Adwan hospital, one of just two partly operating in northern Gaza.

Kamal Adwan director Hossam Abu Safia told AFP it was "deliberately hit by Israeli shelling for the second day" Friday and that "one doctor and some patients were injured".

Late Thursday, the UN's humanitarian coordinator for the Palestinian territories, Muhannad Hadi, said: "The delivery of critical aid across Gaza, including food, water, fuel and medical supplies, is grinding to a halt."

He said that for more than six weeks, Israeli authorities "have been banning commercial imports" while "a surge in armed looting" has hit aid convoys.

Issuing the warrants for Netanyahu and Gallant, the Hague-based ICC said there were "reasonable grounds" to believe they bore "criminal responsibility" for the war crime of starvation as a method of warfare, and crimes against humanity including over "the lack of food, water, electricity and fuel, and specific medical supplies".

At least 44,056 people have been killed in Gaza during more than 13 months of war, most of them civilians, according to figures from Gaza's health ministry which the United Nations considers reliable.