Egypt, Jordan, Iraq Coordinate Efforts to Confront Regional Crises


Egypt's Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry Iraqi Foreign Minister Fuad Hussein, and Jordan's Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi, during a press conference (Reuters)
Egypt's Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry Iraqi Foreign Minister Fuad Hussein, and Jordan's Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi, during a press conference (Reuters)
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Egypt, Jordan, Iraq Coordinate Efforts to Confront Regional Crises


Egypt's Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry Iraqi Foreign Minister Fuad Hussein, and Jordan's Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi, during a press conference (Reuters)
Egypt's Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry Iraqi Foreign Minister Fuad Hussein, and Jordan's Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi, during a press conference (Reuters)

Egypt, Jordan, and Iraq have agreed to coordinate efforts and continue consultations to resolve regional crises and serve Arab causes and interests.

The three countries' foreign ministers held a meeting Wednesday, in Amman, as part of the Jordanian-Iraqi-Egyptian trilateral cooperation mechanism to generate closer partnerships.

The mechanism is based on the aspirations of the three nations to increase coordination within the political, economic, commercial, industrial, and security fields, among others.

Egypt's Foreign Minister, Sameh Shoukry, reaffirmed in a joint press conference that solidarity between the three countries achieves regional security and stability, stressing the importance of intensifying collective Arab action.

Shoukry added that the trilateral mechanism aims primarily to boost the ties between the three countries based on integration, economic opportunities, and exchanging visions related to regional issues.

He affirmed the continuation of trilateral talks, noting that the next meeting would be held in Iraq ahead of the summit to be hosted by Egypt next year.

Shoukry noted that the three countries face many challenges given the existing geopolitical climate, economic pressures arising from the Ukrainian crisis, and food security and energy security issues. All issues necessitate further cooperation to address them.

The top official noted that solidarity, cooperation, and joint action would increase the possibility of overcoming these obstacles.

Iraqi Foreign Minister Fuad Hussein said the mechanism aims to increase cooperation in trade, industry, economy, land transport, electrical interconnection, and energy.

Hussein stated that the meeting discussed various issues, namely the economy, extremism, and terrorism, and the preparations for the Arab-Chinese summit in Riyadh.

He stressed that regional countries face food and energy security challenges, pointing out that Iraq achieved a historic victory over ISIS and began rebuilding.

The foreign minister revealed that the Iraqi government is in talks with other parties to end the interferences, which must be resolved through dialogue.

Jordan's Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi reaffirmed Amman’s and Cairo's full solidarity with Iraq and support for its security, stability, and sovereignty.

Safadi affirmed that Egyptian water security is part of the security of Arab states more broadly, noting that Jordan is consistent in its support of Egypt.

The ministers discussed several Arab issues, including the Palestinian cause, stressing the importance of ongoing efforts, coordination, and consultation to resolve regional crises and serve Arab interests to achieve regional security and stability.

They agreed to hold further meetings in preparation for the Egypt-hosted fourth trilateral cooperation mechanism summit next year.

The mechanism for coordination and trilateral cooperation between Egypt, Jordan, and Iraq was launched in Cairo in 2019, and the foreign ministers of the three countries held a series of meetings within the framework of the mechanism, the latest of which was on Nov 2.



With Nowhere Else to Hide, Gazans Shelter in Former Prison

24 July 2024, Palestinian Territories, Khan Younis: Displaced Palestinians stay in Asda prison in Khan Younis after the Israeli army ordered them to leave their homes in the towns of Abasan, Bani Suhaila, Ma'an, Al-Zana and a number of other villages, amid Israel-Hamas conflict. (dpa)
24 July 2024, Palestinian Territories, Khan Younis: Displaced Palestinians stay in Asda prison in Khan Younis after the Israeli army ordered them to leave their homes in the towns of Abasan, Bani Suhaila, Ma'an, Al-Zana and a number of other villages, amid Israel-Hamas conflict. (dpa)
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With Nowhere Else to Hide, Gazans Shelter in Former Prison

24 July 2024, Palestinian Territories, Khan Younis: Displaced Palestinians stay in Asda prison in Khan Younis after the Israeli army ordered them to leave their homes in the towns of Abasan, Bani Suhaila, Ma'an, Al-Zana and a number of other villages, amid Israel-Hamas conflict. (dpa)
24 July 2024, Palestinian Territories, Khan Younis: Displaced Palestinians stay in Asda prison in Khan Younis after the Israeli army ordered them to leave their homes in the towns of Abasan, Bani Suhaila, Ma'an, Al-Zana and a number of other villages, amid Israel-Hamas conflict. (dpa)

After weeks of Israeli bombardment left them with nowhere else to go, hundreds of Palestinians have ended up in a former Gaza prison built to hold murderers and thieves.

Yasmeen al-Dardasi said she and her family passed wounded people they were unable to help as they evacuated from a district in the southern city of Khan Younis towards its Central Correction and Rehabilitation Facility.

They spent a day under a tree before moving on to the former prison, where they now live in a prayer room. It offers protection from the blistering sun, but not much else.

Dardasi's husband has a damaged kidney and just one lung, but no mattress or blanket.

"We are not settled here either," said Dardasi, who like many Palestinians fears she will be uprooted once again.

Israel has said it goes out of its way to protect civilians in its war with the Palestinian group Hamas, which runs Gaza and led the attack on Israel on Oct. 7 that sparked the latest conflict.

Palestinians, many of whom have been displaced several times, say nowhere is free of Israeli bombardment, which has reduced much of Gaza to rubble.

An Israeli air strike killed at least 90 Palestinians in a designated humanitarian zone in the Al-Mawasi area on July 13, the territory's health ministry said, in an attack that Israel said targeted Hamas' elusive military chief Mohammed Deif.

On Thursday, Gaza's health ministry said Israeli military strikes on areas in eastern Khan Younis had killed 14 people.

Entire neighborhoods have been flattened in one of the most densely populated places in the world, where poverty and unemployment have long been widespread.

According to the United Nations, nine in ten people across Gaza are now internally displaced.

Israeli soldiers told Saria Abu Mustafa and her family that they should flee for safety as tanks were on their way, she said. The family had no time to change so they left in their prayer clothes.

After sleeping outside on sandy ground, they too found refuge in the prison, among piles of rubble and gaping holes in buildings from the battles which were fought there. Inmates had been released long before Israel attacked.

"We didn't take anything with us. We came here on foot, with children walking with us," she said, adding that many of the women had five or six children with them and that water was hard to find.

She held her niece, who was born during the conflict, which has killed her father and brothers.

When Hamas-led gunmen burst into southern Israel from Gaza on Oct. 7 they killed 1,200 people and took more than 250 people hostage, according to Israeli tallies.

More than 39,000 Palestinians have been killed in the air and ground offensive Israel launched in response, Palestinian health officials say.

Hana Al-Sayed Abu Mustafa arrived at the prison after being displaced six times.

If Egyptian, US and Qatari mediators fail to secure a ceasefire they have long said is close, she and other Palestinians may be on the move once again. "Where should we go? All the places that we go to are dangerous," she said.