Arab League Seeks Int’l Alliance against Israel’s Annexation of the West Bank

The Secretary-General of the Arab League, Ahmed Aboul Gheit (File photo: Reuters)
The Secretary-General of the Arab League, Ahmed Aboul Gheit (File photo: Reuters)
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Arab League Seeks Int’l Alliance against Israel’s Annexation of the West Bank

The Secretary-General of the Arab League, Ahmed Aboul Gheit (File photo: Reuters)
The Secretary-General of the Arab League, Ahmed Aboul Gheit (File photo: Reuters)

Secretary-General of the Arab League Ahmed Aboul Gheit is seeking to form an international alliance that confronts Israel’s annexation plans in the West Bank and Jordan Valley.

Israel’s plans did not receive any international support, according to the Sec-Gen, who said that most countries and international blocs oppose it, hoping this will help in the formation of the alliance.

Aboul Gheit said in a statement on Wednesday that it is necessary at this stage to form the widest possible international alliance which will expose Israel’s isolation and those who support it in this reckless and dangerous policy that threatens the stability of the region.

Assistant Secretary-General of the League of Arab States Hossam Zaki indicated that Aboul Gheit will participate in a session on the situation in the Middle East, which will be held at the ministerial level on June 24th and will be entirely devoted to discussing the annexation plans.

Zaki said that holding this meeting at this time is an opportunity for the Security Council and its members to publicly and collectively reject Israel’s plans and warn Tel Aviv against moving forward with it.

He pointed out that the meeting came as a result of successive conferences held by the Arab League delegation in New York with members of the Security Council led by France, the current president of the council, as well as Germany, as the upcoming president.

These diplomatic moves aim to implement the decision of the League calling to harness international efforts at the United Nations and its organs to address the implementation of the Israeli annexation plans.

Zaki stressed that Aboul Gheit continues his international calls to build an alliance against the Israeli move and demonstrate its grave threat to international peace and security.

Aboul Gheit recently sent a number of messages to Japan, India, Australia, and Russia warning against the annexation of parts of the Palestinian territories.



Over 100 Patients to Be Evacuated from Gaza, WHO Says

 A youth salvages items from the rubble of a building destroyed in Israeli strikes in Deir el-Balah in the central Gaza Strip on November 5, 2024, amid the ongoing war between Israel and the Palestinian Hamas movement. (AFP)
A youth salvages items from the rubble of a building destroyed in Israeli strikes in Deir el-Balah in the central Gaza Strip on November 5, 2024, amid the ongoing war between Israel and the Palestinian Hamas movement. (AFP)
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Over 100 Patients to Be Evacuated from Gaza, WHO Says

 A youth salvages items from the rubble of a building destroyed in Israeli strikes in Deir el-Balah in the central Gaza Strip on November 5, 2024, amid the ongoing war between Israel and the Palestinian Hamas movement. (AFP)
A youth salvages items from the rubble of a building destroyed in Israeli strikes in Deir el-Balah in the central Gaza Strip on November 5, 2024, amid the ongoing war between Israel and the Palestinian Hamas movement. (AFP)

More than 100 patients including children will be transferred out of the Gaza Strip on Wednesday in a rare medical evacuation from the Palestinian enclave during the Israel-Hamas war, a World Health Organization official said on Tuesday.

The WHO says fewer than 300 patients have been evacuated from Gaza since early May, when Israel expanded its military offensive southwards and took over the southern Rafah Crossing with Egypt, which had been used for medical transfers.

Rik Peeperkorn, WHO representative for the Occupied Palestinian Territory, said the patients, including children with trauma injuries and chronic diseases, would depart in a large convoy via the Kerem Shalom crossing with Israel.

Under arrangements made by the WHO, the patients will then fly to the United Arab Emirates from Ramon Airport in southern Israel, and some will travel on to Romania, he said.

"These are ad hoc measures. What we have requested repeatedly is a sustained medevac (medical evacuation) outside of Gaza," Peeperkorn told a press conference.

Asked whether Israel had approved the transfer, he said he was hopeful it would be facilitated by Israeli authorities.

He said more than 12,000 people were awaiting transfer, adding: "We cannot continue the way we do now."

COGAT, the Israeli military agency responsible for Palestinian affairs, says it actively facilitates the departure of seriously ill or injured patients, adding that the scope of such evacuations was determined by the capacity of organizations and countries to receive them.

As of last week, it said 10 groups of patients had been evacuated through Israel and it was willing to coordinate more.

Peeperkorn was part of a WHO convoy that on Nov. 3 provided some relief for the busy al-Awda and Kamal Adwan hospitals in northern Gaza which he said were barely operational because of medical and staff shortages.

"For al-Awda we are very concerned because the hospital needs urgent fuel and medical supplies, otherwise it might become non-functional over the coming week," he said of the hospital in Jabalia, just north of Gaza City.

Israel accuses Hamas fighters of hiding among civilians, including in hospitals, in the war that began after the deadly Hamas attack on southern Israeli communities on Oct. 7, 2023.

In a night-time raid on the Kamal Adwan Hospital last month, an Israeli military official said around 100 Hamas fighters were captured, some posing as medical staff, along with weapons. Hamas rejected the accusations.