Pedersen Informed in Cairo of Arab Interest in Expanding Scope of Syria Settlement

Arab League Secretary General Ahmed Aboul Gheit meets with UN Special Envoy for Syria Geir Pedersen. Asharq Al-Awsat
Arab League Secretary General Ahmed Aboul Gheit meets with UN Special Envoy for Syria Geir Pedersen. Asharq Al-Awsat
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Pedersen Informed in Cairo of Arab Interest in Expanding Scope of Syria Settlement

Arab League Secretary General Ahmed Aboul Gheit meets with UN Special Envoy for Syria Geir Pedersen. Asharq Al-Awsat
Arab League Secretary General Ahmed Aboul Gheit meets with UN Special Envoy for Syria Geir Pedersen. Asharq Al-Awsat

Arab League Secretary General Ahmed Aboul Gheit has pointed out that outstanding issues in Syria could not be resolved by its Constitutional Committee, despite being a first step in confidence-building.

His comment highlighted the importance of expanding the scope of political solutions in Syria.

Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry stressed the need to take all the steps needed to resolve the Syrian crisis in line with a decisive and effective response against terrorist organizations.

The remarks of Aboul Gheit and the Egyptian FM were made during UN Special Envoy for Syria Geir Pedersen’s three-day visit to Cairo on Wednesday.

Discussions have focused on advancing the peaceful settlement of the Syrian crisis.

According to Aboul Gheit, the Arab League attaches great importance to ending the stalemate in Syria after ten years of conflict.

Syrians, represented by both the government and the opposition, should be aware of the threat posed by the status quo, a senior official in the organization’s General Secretariat quoted Aboul Gheit as saying.

He pointed to the need to reach compromises and end the suffering of Syrians in Syria and abroad.

Abou Gheit called for creative means for a settlement to the Syrian war, which has been overwhelmed by political differences.

A foreign ministry statement stressed Egypt’s rejection to any forced demographic change in Syria.

Commenting on Pedersen’s visit, Professor of Political Science at the American University of Cairo Dr. Noha Bakr said it comes as part of the international community’s acknowledgment of Egypt’s vision on the crisis in Syria.

Bakr told Asharq Al-Awsat that Cairo has always been calling for a political solution in Syria.



Red Cross Urges Unhindered Aid Access to Flood-hit and Freezing Gaza

Paramedics from the Palestine Red Crescent Society protest over the deaths of their colleagues in the war between Israel and Hamas on February 11, 2024. Hazem Bader/AFP/Getty Images
Paramedics from the Palestine Red Crescent Society protest over the deaths of their colleagues in the war between Israel and Hamas on February 11, 2024. Hazem Bader/AFP/Getty Images
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Red Cross Urges Unhindered Aid Access to Flood-hit and Freezing Gaza

Paramedics from the Palestine Red Crescent Society protest over the deaths of their colleagues in the war between Israel and Hamas on February 11, 2024. Hazem Bader/AFP/Getty Images
Paramedics from the Palestine Red Crescent Society protest over the deaths of their colleagues in the war between Israel and Hamas on February 11, 2024. Hazem Bader/AFP/Getty Images

The Red Cross called Wednesday for safe and unhindered access to Gaza to bring desperately needed aid into the war-torn Palestinian territory wracked by hunger and where babies are freezing to death.

Heavy rain and flooding have ravaged the makeshift shelters in Gaza, leaving thousands with up to 30 centimetres (one foot) of water inside their damaged tents, the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies said.

The dire weather conditions were "exacerbating the unbearable conditions" in Gaza, it said, pointing out that many families were left "clinging on to survival in makeshift camps, without even the most basic necessities, such as blankets".

Citing the United Nations, the IFRC highlighted the deaths of eight newborn babies who had been living in tents without warmth or protection from the rain and falling temperatures, AFP reported.

Those deaths "underscore the critical severity of the humanitarian crisis there", IFRC Secretary-General Jagan Chapagain said in a statement.

"I urgently reiterate my call to grant safe and unhindered access to humanitarians to let them provide life-saving assistance," he said.

"Without safe access -- children will freeze to death. Without safe access -- families will starve. Without safe access -- humanitarian workers can't save lives."

According to a UN count, more than 330 humanitarian workers have been killed in Gaza since Israel unleashed its war there.

Chapagain issued an "urgent plea to all the parties... to put an end to this human suffering. Now".

The IFRC said the Palestine Red Crescent Society (PRCS) was striving to provide emergency health services and supplies to people in Gaza, with an extra sense of urgency during the cold winter months.

But it warned that "the lack of aid deliveries and access is making providing adequate support all but impossible".

The IFRC stressed that the closure of the main Rafah border crossing last May had had a dramatic impact on the humanitarian situation.

"Only a trickle of aid is currently entering Gaza," it warned.

It also lamented the "continuing attacks on health facilities across the Gaza Strip", which it said meant people were unable to access the treatment they need.

"In the north of Gaza, there are now no functioning hospitals," it said.

The Doctors Without Borders (MSF) charity warned that access to healthcare had also become "seriously compromised" in parts of the West Bank. It was seeing "a dramatic decline in children's mental health", it added.

It pointed in a statement to the drastic increase in restrictions imposed by Israeli forces since the start of the war in Gaza. In particular, it highlighted the situation in the Jaber neighbourhood inside the H2 area of Hebron City, which is under full Israeli military control.

MSF, which said it had been forced to suspend its operations for five months from December 2023, urged Israeli forces to "stop implementing restrictive measures that impede the ability of Palestinians to access basic services, including medical care".

MSF project coordinator Chloe Janssen warned that "although we are now able to provide care in the MSF clinic in Jaber neighbourhood, access remains challenging as our staff can be searched and delayed at the checkpoints to enter the H2 area.

"Access to medical care should never be arbitrarily denied, impeded or blocked."