Jordanian PM Announces National Relief Campaign for Syrians

Jordanian PM Razzaz visits the border with Syria. (Twitter)
Jordanian PM Razzaz visits the border with Syria. (Twitter)
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Jordanian PM Announces National Relief Campaign for Syrians

Jordanian PM Razzaz visits the border with Syria. (Twitter)
Jordanian PM Razzaz visits the border with Syria. (Twitter)

Jordan's Prime Minister Omar Razzaz announced Sunday the launch of a nationwide campaign to provide aid to the displaced Syrians inside Syrian territories.

The announcement was made in a post on his official Twitter account following a visit to the Jordanian-Syrian border aimed at inspecting the conditions of refugees there.

Razzaz said the campaign, which will be carried out through the Jordan Hashemite Charity Organization, seeks to reduce pressure on the Syrians and deliver aid to those in need.

In this context, Chairman of Jordan's Senate Faisal al-Fayez called on the international community to shoulder its moral and humanitarian responsibilities towards ending the suffering of the Syrian people as a result of the crisis they been enduring since 2011.

"The time has come for the conscience of humanity to wake up after the greatest crime in history is being committed against the Syrian people," he said in a statement on Sunday.

He urged international parliamentary action groups to push governments to take swift and serious steps to end the crisis, which has taken a heavy and bloody toll on innocent civilians, including women and children, without any justification, adding that "this tragedy cannot continue."

In a related development, 17 Jordanian relief trucks entered Syrian territories to deliver aid to the displaced at the border after they fled the violence in southern Syria.

The Jordan Armed Forces supervised the process after making necessary calls and arrangements with the warring sides in Syria to reach a ceasefire to allow the aid delivery to take place unimpeded

Moreover, Jordanians on Sunday started collecting donations, including foodstuff, water, medical supplies and other products, to provide aid and relief to the displaced Syrians.



Israeli Forces Surround Lebanon’s Khiam Ahead of Storming it

Smoke rises as a result of an Israeli airstrike on the village of al-Khiam in southern Lebanon, as seen from the Israeli side of the border, northern Israel, 22 November 2024, amid cross-border hostilities between Hezbollah and Israel. (EPA)
Smoke rises as a result of an Israeli airstrike on the village of al-Khiam in southern Lebanon, as seen from the Israeli side of the border, northern Israel, 22 November 2024, amid cross-border hostilities between Hezbollah and Israel. (EPA)
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Israeli Forces Surround Lebanon’s Khiam Ahead of Storming it

Smoke rises as a result of an Israeli airstrike on the village of al-Khiam in southern Lebanon, as seen from the Israeli side of the border, northern Israel, 22 November 2024, amid cross-border hostilities between Hezbollah and Israel. (EPA)
Smoke rises as a result of an Israeli airstrike on the village of al-Khiam in southern Lebanon, as seen from the Israeli side of the border, northern Israel, 22 November 2024, amid cross-border hostilities between Hezbollah and Israel. (EPA)

Israeli forces have blocked supply routes to the southern Lebanese border city of al-Khiam ahead of storming it.

They have also surrounded the strategic city with Hezbollah fighters still inside, launching artillery and air attacks against them.

Hezbollah fighters have been holding out in Khiam for 25 days. The capture of the city would be significant and allow Israeli forces easier passage into southern Lebanon.

Field sources said Israeli forces have already entered some neighborhoods of Khiam from its eastern and southern outskirts, expanding their incursion into its northern and eastern sectors to fully capture the city.

They cast doubt on claims that the city has been fully captured, saying fighting is still taking place deeper inside its streets and alleys, citing the ongoing artillery fire and drone and air raids.

Israel has already cut off Hezbollah’s supply routes by seizing control of Bourj al-Mamlouk, Tall al-Nahas and olive groves in al-Qlaa in the Marayoun region. Its forces have also fanned out to the west towards the Litani River.

The troops have set up a “line of fire” spanning at least seven kms around Khiam to deter anti-tank attacks from Hezbollah and to launch artillery, drone and aerial attacks, said the sources.

The intense pressure has forced Hezbollah to resort to suicide drone attacks against Israeli forces.

Hezbollah’s al-Manar television said Israeli forces tried to carry out a new incursion towards Khiam’s northern neighborhoods.

Lebanon’s National News Agency reported that since Friday night, Israeli forces have been using “all forms of weapons in their attempt to capture Khiam, which Israel views as a strategic gateway through which it can make rapid ground advances.”

It reported an increase in air and artillery attacks in the past two days as the forces try to storm the city.

The troops are trying to advance on Khiam by first surrounding it from all sides under air cover, it continued.

They are also booby-trapping some homes and buildings and then destroying them, similar to what they have done in other southern towns, such as Adeisseh, Yaround, Aitaroun and Mais al-Jabal.

Khiam holds symbolic significance to the Lebanese people because it was the first city liberated following Israel’s implementation of United Nations Security Council 425 on May 25, 2000, that led to its withdrawal from the South in a day that Hezbollah has since declared Liberation Day.