Hossam Zaki: Arab Summit Sends Clear Message on Foreign Meddling

Arab League foreign ministers meet in Cairo, Egypt December 9, 2017. (Reuters)
Arab League foreign ministers meet in Cairo, Egypt December 9, 2017. (Reuters)
TT

Hossam Zaki: Arab Summit Sends Clear Message on Foreign Meddling

Arab League foreign ministers meet in Cairo, Egypt December 9, 2017. (Reuters)
Arab League foreign ministers meet in Cairo, Egypt December 9, 2017. (Reuters)

Assistant Secretary General of the Arab League Hossam Zaki stressed that the organization’s upcoming emergency summit in Makkah sends a clear message on foreign meddling in the region.

He told Asharq Al-Awsat that protecting national Arab security against violations and threats requires more coordination, consultations and cooperation among Arab countries.

He predicted that the summit, scheduled for Thursday, would make a strong political stance that supports the countries whose security and stability are being threatened by any foreign non-Arab parties, especially Iran.

Commenting in Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammed Javad Zarif’s proposal to Gulf states to sign a non-aggression pact with them, Zaki said that the problem with Iran is that its statements differ from its actions.

It may make positive remarks, but they are not followed up with actions, he added.



Gaza Rescuers Say Israeli Strike on Hospital Kills 7

Damage at the Al-Wafaa Hospital in central Gaza, pictured on December 29 - AFP
Damage at the Al-Wafaa Hospital in central Gaza, pictured on December 29 - AFP
TT

Gaza Rescuers Say Israeli Strike on Hospital Kills 7

Damage at the Al-Wafaa Hospital in central Gaza, pictured on December 29 - AFP
Damage at the Al-Wafaa Hospital in central Gaza, pictured on December 29 - AFP

Gaza's civil defense agency said an airstrike hit a hospital Sunday, killing at least seven people, while Israel said it had targeted militants at the no longer functioning facility.

"Seven martyrs and several injured people, including critical cases, have been recovered following the Israeli strike on the upper floor of Al-Wafaa Hospital in central Gaza City," a civil defense agency statement said.

Israel's military said it had carried out a "precise strike" targeting members of Hamas's aerial defense unit operating from a "command and control center in a building that served in the past as the Al-Wafaa hospital".

The health ministry in Gaza said the hospital was still in use.

"The Al-Wafaa Hospital is partially operational, providing care to patients with physical disabilities," the ministry's director general, Munir al-Barsh, told AFP.

"The hospital had been rehabilitated and was getting ready to receive patients. Had it not been targeted by Israeli shelling today, it would have been ready to fully reopen in the next few days," he said.

The strike on Al-Wafaa Hospital came a day after the military ended a raid on Kamal Adwan Hospital in northern Gaza, an assault the World Health Organization reported left the facility empty of patients and staff.

The military also detained the hospital's chief, Hossam Abu Safiyeh, saying he was suspected of being a Hamas militant.

Since October 6, Israel's operations in the Palestinian territory have focused on northern Gaza, where it says its land and air offensive aims to prevent Hamas from regrouping.

However, the military has also carried out airstrikes and shelling in other areas of Gaza as it presses on with its campaign against the militants.