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Kosovo to Open Monday Embassy in Jerusalem

Part of the preparations in Pristina in February during the establishment of diplomatic ties between Kosovo and Israel (AFP)
Part of the preparations in Pristina in February during the establishment of diplomatic ties between Kosovo and Israel (AFP)
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Kosovo to Open Monday Embassy in Jerusalem

Part of the preparations in Pristina in February during the establishment of diplomatic ties between Kosovo and Israel (AFP)
Part of the preparations in Pristina in February during the establishment of diplomatic ties between Kosovo and Israel (AFP)

A ceremony marking Kosovo’s embassy opening will be held in central Jerusalem on Monday, reported Israel Hayom.

Kosovo, with the Muslim-majority territory, is set to become the third country to open an embassy in Jerusalem. Senior diplomats from both countries will attend the event.

Israel and Kosovo established diplomatic ties in early February, and officials signed joint declarations separately in Jerusalem and Pristina.

Kosovo’s Foreign Minister Meliza Haradinaj-Stublla and its Israeli counterpart Gabi Ashkenazi took part in the virtual event, which was the first diplomatic relationship to be established over Zoom.

Kosovo’s formal request to open an embassy in Jerusalem was also approved then.

In September, former US President Donald Trump announced at a summit originally organized to strike a deal between Kosovo and Serbia that Kosovo and Israel would establish diplomatic ties.

But the most standout part of the summit was an announcement by Kosovo that it would mutually recognize Israel, and Serbia saying it would follow Washington’s lead in moving its embassy to Jerusalem.

In exchange for setting up its mission in Jerusalem, Kosovo gets recognition from Israel, as it seeks to further legitimize its 2008 declaration of independence from its former war foe Serbia.

The new tie between Israel and Kosovo has outraged Serbia, which has refused to recognize Kosovo’s declaration of independence.

The European Union had earlier voiced regret at Kosovo’s decision to open an embassy in Jerusalem, noting that it diverged from the EU position on Jerusalem.

All embassies of the EU countries in Israel, as well as the EU delegation, are located in Tel Aviv, based on the corresponding UN Security Council resolutions and European Council decisions, it explained.

On Thursday, the Czech Republic opened a diplomatic office in Jerusalem. Czech Prime Minister Andrej Babis and Ashkenazi attended the inauguration ceremony.

The Palestinian Foreign Ministry called Prague’s move “a blatant attack on the Palestinian people and their rights, a flagrant violation of international law,” and said it would harm peace prospects.

Meanwhile, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu hailed during a trilateral summit meeting with Babis and Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban the steps taken by both countries to open up official missions in Jerusalem.

“We appreciate the fact that they’ve opened up missions in Jerusalem and also that they assist us on the international level as true friends do,” he said.

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Arab World

MSF Suspends Operations at Key Hospital in Sudan's Capital

FILE - South Sudanese people sit outside a nutrition clinic at a transit center in Renk, South Sudan, on May 16, 2023. (AP Photo/Sam Mednick, File)
FILE - South Sudanese people sit outside a nutrition clinic at a transit center in Renk, South Sudan, on May 16, 2023. (AP Photo/Sam Mednick, File)
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MSF Suspends Operations at Key Hospital in Sudan's Capital

FILE - South Sudanese people sit outside a nutrition clinic at a transit center in Renk, South Sudan, on May 16, 2023. (AP Photo/Sam Mednick, File)
FILE - South Sudanese people sit outside a nutrition clinic at a transit center in Renk, South Sudan, on May 16, 2023. (AP Photo/Sam Mednick, File)

Medical aid agency MSF said on Friday it has been forced to suspend its activities at one of the few remaining hospitals in southern Khartoum due to repeated attacks, cutting off yet another lifeline for those who remain in the Sudanese capital.
War has been raging in Sudan since April 2023, sparked by a power struggle between the Sudanese Armed Forces and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) ahead of a planned transition to civilian rule, triggering the world's largest displacement and hunger crisis.
The hospital, which lies in territory controlled by the RSF, helped treat the victims of frequent airstrikes by the Sudanese Armed Forces, as well as hundreds of malnourished women and children in an area where two neighborhoods have been judged at risk of famine, reported Reuters.
"In the 20 months MSF teams have worked alongside hospital staff and volunteers, Bashair Hospital has experienced repeated incidents of armed fighters entering the hospital with weapons and threatening medical staff, often demanding fighters be treated before other patients," MSF said in a statement.
"Despite extensive engagements with all stakeholders, these attacks have continued in recent months. MSF has now taken the very difficult decision to suspend all medical activities in the hospital."
The fighting in Sudan has cut off up to 80% of hospitals in conflict areas, where millions who cannot afford to escape the violence remain. Civilians face frequent air and artillery fire and hunger as supplies are blocked by both warring parties and prices skyrocket.
Medical facilities, including MSF-supported ones that have suspended operations, have frequently come under attack by RSF soldiers demanding treatment or looting supplies. Bashair Hospital has served more than 25,000 people, MSF said, including 9,000 hurt by blasts, gunshot wounds, and other violence.
"Sometimes dozens of people arrived at the hospital at the same time after shelling or airstrikes on residential areas and markets," MSF said in the statement, citing an incident on Sunday where an airstrike one kilometer away drove 50 people to the emergency room, 12 of them already dead.