Israel Appoints Dorit Avidani as Consul in Morocco

This combination of file pictures created on December 10, 2020 shows a Moroccan flag off the coasts of the city of Cayenne on March 21, 2012 and an Israeli national flag on September 23, 2020. (AFP)
This combination of file pictures created on December 10, 2020 shows a Moroccan flag off the coasts of the city of Cayenne on March 21, 2012 and an Israeli national flag on September 23, 2020. (AFP)
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Israel Appoints Dorit Avidani as Consul in Morocco

This combination of file pictures created on December 10, 2020 shows a Moroccan flag off the coasts of the city of Cayenne on March 21, 2012 and an Israeli national flag on September 23, 2020. (AFP)
This combination of file pictures created on December 10, 2020 shows a Moroccan flag off the coasts of the city of Cayenne on March 21, 2012 and an Israeli national flag on September 23, 2020. (AFP)

Israel's Foreign Ministry has announced the appointment of Dorit Avidani as the country's consul in Morocco.

Deputy Chief of Israel’s Mission in the Kingdom Eyal David congratulated Avidani for assuming her new post as Consul and Head of Administration at the Israeli Liaison Office in Morocco.

In a tweet on Saturday, David hailed Avidani’s 30 years of experience in the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs. There were no immediate comments from Moroccan authorities in this regard.

On Dec. 10, 2020, Rabat and Tel Aviv announced resuming diplomatic ties after they were suspended in 2000.

Morocco was one of four Arab countries - along with the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Sudan - to normalize ties with Israel last year under US-brokered Abraham Accords.

Liaison offices between Israel and Morocco were established in 1994 after the Israeli-Palestinian peace agreements known as the Oslo Accords, but they closed after the outbreak of the second Palestinian intifada, or uprising, in 2000.

The offices were reopened in January 2021 after Morocco joined the US-engineered accords and the two countries agreed to form diplomatic missions.

Israel later appointed Ambassador Govrin as Head of its liaison office in Rabat.



UN Rights Chief ‘Gravely Concerned’ by Lebanon Escalation

Smoke billows above Beirut’s southern suburbs following an Israeli airstrike on November 26, 2024, amid the ongoing war between Israel and Hezbollah. (AFP)
Smoke billows above Beirut’s southern suburbs following an Israeli airstrike on November 26, 2024, amid the ongoing war between Israel and Hezbollah. (AFP)
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UN Rights Chief ‘Gravely Concerned’ by Lebanon Escalation

Smoke billows above Beirut’s southern suburbs following an Israeli airstrike on November 26, 2024, amid the ongoing war between Israel and Hezbollah. (AFP)
Smoke billows above Beirut’s southern suburbs following an Israeli airstrike on November 26, 2024, amid the ongoing war between Israel and Hezbollah. (AFP)

The UN rights chief on Tuesday voiced concern about the escalation of hostilities in Lebanon, where his office said nearly 100 people had been reported killed by Israeli airstrikes in recent days, including women, children and medics.

Israel has been locked in fighting with Lebanese armed group Hezbollah since Oct. 2023, and fighting has escalated dramatically since late September of this year.

"UN Human Rights Chief Volker Turk is gravely concerned by the escalation in Lebanon with at least 97 people reportedly killed in Israeli airstrikes between the 22nd and 24th of November," Jeremy Laurence, a spokesperson for the Office of the High Commissioner of Human Rights, told a Geneva press briefing.

He said that at least seven paramedics had been reported killed in three Israeli strikes in the south of Lebanon on Nov. 22-23, adding to 226 healthcare worker deaths since Oct. 7, 2023. He did not specify how many of the recent deaths had been verified by UN human rights monitors.

Israel says it targets military capabilities in Lebanon and Gaza and takes steps to mitigate the risk of harm to civilians. It accuses Hezbollah, like Hamas, of hiding among civilians, which they deny.