PA President, Qatar's Emir Discuss Region's Political Process

Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas meets with Emir of Qatar Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani on Monday, December 15, 2020 (WAFA)
Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas meets with Emir of Qatar Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani on Monday, December 15, 2020 (WAFA)
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PA President, Qatar's Emir Discuss Region's Political Process

Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas meets with Emir of Qatar Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani on Monday, December 15, 2020 (WAFA)
Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas meets with Emir of Qatar Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani on Monday, December 15, 2020 (WAFA)

Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas met with Emir of Qatar Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani in Doha on Monday to discuss the political process in the region.

Abbas briefed Sheikh Tamim on the latest developments related to the Palestinian cause and the two discussed topics of mutual interest as well as means to bolster bilateral ties.

“The president praised Qatar’s position in support of the Palestinian people’s right to regain their undiminished and full rights,” Abbas’s office said in a statement.

For his part, Tamim affirmed “his country’s position in support of the Palestinian issue and the Palestinian people’s right to regain their rights and establish their independent state, with Jerusalem as its capital,” in accordance with the two-state solution and the Arab Peace Initiative.

The two sides also discussed ways to consolidate bilateral ties in various fields.

The meeting was attended by PA Minister of Civil Affairs Hussein al-Sheikh, intelligence chief Majed Faraj, PA Foreign Minister Riyad al-Maliki, and ambassador of the State of Palestine to Qatar Munir Abdullah Ghannam.

Abbas arrived in Doha Sunday evening, as part of his first tour during 2020. This visit comes in the wake of Israel announcing normalizing ties with a sixth Arab country, Morocco.

Abbas is now seeking an Arab dialogue on a unified vision for the Palestinian cause, in preparation for launching a new political process in the region after the change of the US administration.

Last month, Abbas visited Jordan and Egypt, where he met with Jordan's King Abdullah II and Egypt's President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi and discussed with them his plan to hold an international conference for peace in the Middle East.



Houthis Report US Strikes on Yemen's Sanaa, Hodeidah

 A plume of smoke billows above buildings in Yemen's Houthi-held capital Sanaa late on April 19, 2025. (AFP)
A plume of smoke billows above buildings in Yemen's Houthi-held capital Sanaa late on April 19, 2025. (AFP)
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Houthis Report US Strikes on Yemen's Sanaa, Hodeidah

 A plume of smoke billows above buildings in Yemen's Houthi-held capital Sanaa late on April 19, 2025. (AFP)
A plume of smoke billows above buildings in Yemen's Houthi-held capital Sanaa late on April 19, 2025. (AFP)

Yemen's Houthi militias said Saturday that the US military launched a series of airstrikes on the capital, Sanaa, and the Houthi-held coastal city of Hodeidah, less than two days after a US strike wrecked a Red Sea port and killed more than 70 people.

The Houthis’ media office said 13 US airstrikes hit an airport and a port in Hodeidah, on the Red Sea. The office also reported US strikes in the capital, Sanaa.

There were no immediate reports of casualties.

The US. military’s Central Command, which oversees American military operations in the Middle East, said it continues to conduct strikes against the Houthis in Yemen.

Thursday’s strike hit the port of Ras Isa, also in Hodeidah province, killing 74 people and wounding 171 others, according to the Houthi-run health ministry. It was the deadliest strike in the US ongoing bombing campaign on the Iranian-backed militants.

United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres on Saturday said he was “gravely concerned” about the attack on Ras Isa, as well as the Houthi missile and drone attacks on Israel and the shipping routes, his spokesman Stéphane Dujarric said Saturday.

“The secretary-general recalls that international law, including international humanitarian law as applicable, must be respected at all times, and he appeals to all to respect and protect civilians as well as civilian infrastructure,” Dujarric said.

US Central Command declined to answer any questions about possible civilian casualties. It referred to a statement in which it said “this strike was not intended to harm the people of Yemen.”

The strikes on Hodeidah have been part of a month-long US bombing campaign, which the Trump administration said came about because of the Houthi attacks on shipping in the Red Sea, a crucial global trade route, and on its close ally, Israel.

About 200 people have been killed in the US campaign since March 16, according to the Houthis' health ministry.