Israeli FM Addresses Rapprochement with Europe to Confront Iran

Israeli Foreign Minister Eli Cohen with the High Representative of the EU for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Josep Borrell (Josep Borrell Twitter account)
Israeli Foreign Minister Eli Cohen with the High Representative of the EU for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Josep Borrell (Josep Borrell Twitter account)
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Israeli FM Addresses Rapprochement with Europe to Confront Iran

Israeli Foreign Minister Eli Cohen with the High Representative of the EU for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Josep Borrell (Josep Borrell Twitter account)
Israeli Foreign Minister Eli Cohen with the High Representative of the EU for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Josep Borrell (Josep Borrell Twitter account)

Israeli Foreign Minister Eli Cohen has said that Europe is finally coming to Israel's side on Iran.

Cohen held consultations with senior European officials in Brussels as part of Tel Aviv's efforts to push the EU to take a more assertive policy with Iran, according to the Times of Israel website.

Cohen said that he discussed with the President of the European Parliament, Roberta Metsola, the importance of the EU designating the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) as a terrorist organization.

Cohen said on his Twitter account that he discussed with Metsola ways to promote a determined fight against Iranian nuclear plans.

He said Europe "understands the danger of the Iranian reign of terror now more than ever," adding that economic and political sanctions should be expanded to include other entities.

On Monday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that Israel's top priority was preventing Iran from acquiring a nuclear weapon and confronting Tehran's "proxies" in the region.

Meanwhile, 25 members of the Knesset withdrew their signatures from a letter recommending the Foreign Ministry supports the independence of "South Azerbaijan" in northwestern Iran.

Initially, a group of 32 lawmakers from parties supporting Netanyahu supported the demands of some Azeri parties opposing Iran to establish the "South Azerbaijan" state.

Israeli Intelligence Minister Gila Gamliel tweeted that she had persuaded the deputies who signed the recommendation to retract the letter.

She said that she was informed of the so-called proposal to support the movement for autonomy, and the members of the Knesset were convinced to back down."

The minister asserted that fighting the regime of religious extremism is a common desire of many countries.

The recommendation angered the Iranian media, but the authorities did not comment.

It also prompted angry reactions among the nationalist parties in Iran, including supporters of the Shah's son, Reza Pahlavi, who visited Israel last month at the invitation of Gamliel.

In a tweet, Reza Pahlavi described the Israeli lawmakers' statement as a "verbal assault on Iran's territorial integrity," saying it was "unacceptable and a service to the interests of the anti-Iranian Islamic Republic regime."

He added that the letter was "in total conflict with the positions communicated to me by Israeli leaders and senior government officials during my recent meetings with them."



Nepalis Fear More Floods as Climate Change Melts Glaciers

Residents told AFP they are afraid to return to their home in the Himalayan foothills as there are 'still lakes above'. Migma NURU SHERPA / AFP
Residents told AFP they are afraid to return to their home in the Himalayan foothills as there are 'still lakes above'. Migma NURU SHERPA / AFP
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Nepalis Fear More Floods as Climate Change Melts Glaciers

Residents told AFP they are afraid to return to their home in the Himalayan foothills as there are 'still lakes above'. Migma NURU SHERPA / AFP
Residents told AFP they are afraid to return to their home in the Himalayan foothills as there are 'still lakes above'. Migma NURU SHERPA / AFP

Mingma Rita Sherpa was not home when the muddy torrent roared into his village in Nepal without warning, but when he returned, he did not recognize his once beautiful settlement.
It took just moments for freezing floodwaters to engulf Thame in the foothills of Mount Everest, a disaster that climate change scientists say is an ominous sign of things to come in the Himalayan nation, AFP reported.
"There is no trace of our house... nothing is left," Sherpa said. "It took everything we owned."
Nepal is reeling from its worst flooding in decades after ferocious monsoon rains swelled rivers and inundated entire neighborhoods in the capital Kathmandu, killing at least 236 people.
Last weekend's disaster was the latest of several disastrous floods to hit the country this year.
Thame was submerged in August by a glacial lake that burst high in the mountains above the small village, famous for its mountaineering residents.
It was once home to Tenzing Norgay Sherpa, the first person to climb the world's highest mountain Everest, along with New Zealander Edmund Hillary.
"We are afraid to return, there are still lakes above," Sherpa said.
"The fertile land is gone. It is hard to see a future there," he added, speaking from the capital Kathmandu, where he has moved.
A glacial lake outburst flood (GLOF) is the sudden release of water collected in former glacier beds.
These lakes are formed by the retreat of glaciers, with the warmer temperatures of human-caused climate change turbocharging the melting of the icy reservoirs.
Glacial lakes are often unstable because they are dammed by ice or loose debris.
'Rebuild or relocate'
Thame was a popular stop during the trekking season, perched at an altitude of 3,800 meters (12,470 feet) beneath soaring snow-capped peaks.
But in August, during the monsoon rains, the village was largely empty.
No one was killed, but the flood destroyed half of the village's 54 homes, a clinic and a hostel. It also wiped out a school started by Hillary.
Sherpa, like many in the village, ran a lodge for foreign trekkers. He also worked as a technician at a hydropower plant, a key source of electricity in the region. That too was damaged.
"Some are trying to rebuild, but the land is not stable," he said. "Parts continue to erode."
Thame's residents are scattered, some staying in neighboring villages, others in Kathmandu.
Local official Mingma Chiri Sherpa said the authorities were surveying the area to assess the risks.
"Our focus right now is to aid the survivors," he said. "We are working to help the residents rebuild or relocate".
'Predict and prepare'
Experts say that the flood in Thame was part of a frightening pattern. Glaciers are receding at an alarming rate.
Hundreds of glacial lakes formed from glacial melt have appeared in recent decades.
In 2020, more than 2,000 were mapped across Nepal by experts from the Kathmandu-based International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD), with 21 identified as potentially dangerous.
Nepal has drained lakes in the past, and is planning to drain at least four more.
ICIMOD geologist Sudan Bikash Maharjan examined satellite images of the Thame flood, concluding it was a glacial lake outburst.
"We need to strengthen our monitoring... so that we can, at least to some extent, predict and prepare," he said.
"The risks are there... so our mountain communities must be made aware so they can be prepared".
Scientists warn of a two-stage impact.
Initially, melting glaciers trigger destructive floods. Eventually, the glaciers will dry up, bringing even greater threats.
Glaciers in the wider Himalayan and Hindu Kush ranges provide crucial water for around 240 million people in the mountainous regions.
Another 1.65 billion people depend on them in the South Asian and Southeast Asian river valleys below.
- 'Himalayas have changed' -
Former residents of Thame are raising funds, including Kami Rita Sherpa, who climbed Everest for a record 30th time this year.
Kami Rita Sherpa said the locale had long been a source of pride as a "village of mountaineers", but times had changed.
"The place has no future now", he said. "We are living at risk -- not just Thame, other villages downhill also need to be alert."
The veteran mountaineer said his beloved mountains were under threat.
"The Himalayas have changed," he said. "We have now not only seen the impact of climate change, but experienced its dangerous consequences too."