DUBAI: New Zealand is considering additional security checks on flights from some countries in the Middle East, its transport minister said.
The new rules would follow similar measures introduced last month by the US, Britain and Australia.
New Zealand’s civil aviation authority “is assessing the evidence to determine what is appropriate,” Transport Minister Simon Bridges said in an interview in Dubai.
Additional security measures would affect passengers flying from Dubai in the UAE and Doha, Qatar, where carriers Emirates and Qatar Airways, respectively, fly direct to New Zealand.
Bridges said a decision to add new checks would be made independent of the government by the aviation authority .
He declined to say when a decision could be made. He did not say what measures were being considered.
On March 25, the US banned electronic devices larger than a mobile phone from passenger cabins of direct flights from eight countries in the Middle East, North Africa and Turkey, including Qatar and the UAE.
Britain followed the same day with similar measures, including banning larger electronics on flights from some Middle East countries but not Qatar and the UAE where it instead requested additional security checks.
Australia’s additional checks on passengers and baggage apply to Qatar and the UAE as they are the only Middle East countries with which it has direct air links.
The additional security measures were made based on intelligence suggesting flights could be targeted for attack.
“What we have seen from them is a less than uniform way of doing things,” Bridges said of the different measures introduced by the United States, Britain and Australia, all close allies of New Zealand.
Last week, Emirates said it was cutting flights to the United States after new restrictions weakened demand.
Bridges said he is scheduled to meet with Emirates Chairman Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al-Maktoum this week where he would make clear that New Zealand is open to additional services.
Emirates flies to New Zealand cities Auckland and Christchurch, mostly via Australia, although it operates a direct daily flight to Auckland. Qatar Airways only flies direct to Auckland.
Bridges, who is also minister for economic development, is in the UAE to formally announce New Zealand’s participation in the 2020 World Expo in Dubai.
New Zealand has committed NZ$53.3 million ($37.5 million) to build its country’s pavilion to host its companies at the trade fair, Wellington announced on Sunday.
Bridges’ visit is one of several senior ministerial trips to the region so far this year as New Zealand pushes to conclude a free trade agreement (FTA) with the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC).
“We are hopeful over the next year or so we will get somewhere with that,” he said.
The UAE has said finalizing the trade deal with New Zealand is a priority.
New Zealand considering extra security on Middle East flights
New Zealand considering extra security on Middle East flights
Airstrikes in northwestern Syria kill 25 people, says Syria’s White Helmets
DAMASCUS: The Syrian rescue service known as the White Helmets said early on Monday on X that at least 25 people have been killed in northwestern Syria in airstrikes carried out by the Syrian government and Russia on Sunday.
In Blinken call, Turkiye backs moves to ease Syria tension
- The flareup has also seen pro-Turkish militants groups attacking both government forces and Kurdish YPG fighters in and around the northern Aleppo province over the weekend, a Syrian war monitor said
ISTANBUL: Turkiye’s top diplomat and US Secretary of State Antony Blinken spoke Sunday about the “rapidly developing” conflict in Syria where militants have made gains.
Blinken and Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan discussed by telephone “the need for de-escalation and the protection of civilian lives and infrastructure in Aleppo and elsewhere,” State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said in a statement.
The call came after Syrian militants and their Turkish-backed allies launched their biggest offensive in years, seizing control of Syria’s second-largest city Aleppo from forces loyal to President Bashar Assad.
According to a Turkish foreign ministry source, Fidan told Blinken Ankara was “against any development that would increase instability in the region” and said Turkiye would “support moves to reduce the tension in Syria.”
He also said “the political process between the regime and the opposition should be finalized” to ensure peace in Syria while insisting that Ankara would “never allow terrorist activities against Turkiye nor against Syrian civilians.”
The flareup has also seen pro-Turkish militant groups attacking government forces and Kurdish People’s Defense Units (YPG) fighters in and around Aleppo, a Syrian war monitor said.
Turkiye sees the YPG as an offshoot of the banned Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), which has led a decades-long insurgency against Ankara.
The Syria offensive began Wednesday, the same day a truce between Israel and Lebanon’s Hezbollah came into effect.
More than 400 people have so far been killed in the offensive, most of them combatants, a Syrian war monitor said.
The State Department said the two also discussed “humanitarian efforts in Gaza and the need to bring the war to an end” as well as efforts to secure the release of Israeli hostages held by Hamas.
Fidan said Israel “should keep its promises in order for the Lebanon ceasefire to become permanent” and called for a ceasefire in Gaza “as soon as possible.”
The pair also discussed Ukraine and South Caucasus, the source said.
Russia says helping Syrian army ‘repel’ insurgents in three northern provinces
- Russia launched airstrikes on militant targets in Aleppo for the first time since 2016
MOSCOW: Russia on Sunday said it was helping the Syrian army “repel” armed insurgents in three northern provinces, as Moscow seeks to support the government led by its ally Bashar al-Assad.
An Islamist-dominated militant alliance launched an offensive against the Syrian government on Wednesday, with Syrian forces losing control of the city of Aleppo on Sunday, according to a war monitor.
“The Syrian Arab Army, with the assistance of the Russian Aerospace Forces, is continuing its operation to repel terrorist aggression in the provinces of Idlib, Hama and Aleppo,” the Russian military said in a briefing on its website.
“Over the past day, missile and bombing strikes were carried out on places where militants and equipment were gathered,” it said in the same briefing, without saying where or by whom.
It said at least “320 militants were destroyed.”
Russia announced earlier this week that it was bombing militant targets in the war-torn country, with Russian warplanes striking parts of Aleppo — Syria’s second city — for the first time since 2016, according to the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.
Moscow is Syrian leader Assad’s most important military backer, having turned the tide of the civil war in his favor when it intervened in 2015.
Jordanian, Iraqi FMs discuss Gaza, Syria conflicts
- The ministers urged the international community to take “effective and immediate” measures to address Palestinian crisis
AMMAN: Jordan’s Minister of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates Ayman Safadi spoke on the phone with Iraqi Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Fuad Hussein on Sunday to discuss strengthening bilateral ties and addressing pressing regional issues, Jordan News Agency reported.
According to a statement from Jordan’s Foreign Ministry, they stressed the urgency of halting Israel’s aggression in Gaza and ensuring the swift and comprehensive delivery of humanitarian aid to the Palestinian territory.
The ministers urged the international community to take “effective and immediate” measures to address the crisis, Jordan News Agency reported.
They also expressed concern over the conflict in Syria, emphasizing the importance of a political resolution that ensures the country’s stability, territorial integrity and sovereignty while safeguarding its citizens and eliminating terrorism.
Safadi and Hussein reaffirmed their commitment to ongoing communication and coordination to address regional challenges.
Bleak Christmas in Bethlehem as families quit West Bank
- Tourists usually pour in, but Gaza war keeps them away; locals look to emigrate as situation worsens
WEST BANK: For a second year running, there is no Christmas cheer in Bethlehem, with tourists shunning the Palestinian city and many residents seeking a way out as the Gaza war grinds on.
Bethlehem’s Manger Square in front of the Church of the Nativity is largely deserted and souvenir shops are shuttered.
Once again, there are no plans to put up the traditional light-festooned Christmas Tree in the ancient settlement that is venerated by Christians as the birthplace of Jesus and now sits in the Israeli-occupied West Bank.
“During these difficult times that our Palestinian cities are going through, especially in the Gaza Strip, it is difficult to show any signs of joy and happiness,” said Issa Thaljieh, an Orthodox priest who ministers at the Nativity Church.
Adding to the gloom, many local Christian families are also looking to escape, demoralized by both the tourist slump that has ravaged their economy, and the constant threat of violence hovering over the territory northeast of Gaza.
HIGHLIGHTS
• Once again, there are no plans to put up the traditional light-festooned Christmas Tree in the ancient settlement.
• Adding to the gloom, many local Christian families are also looking to escape, demoralized by both the tourist slump that has ravaged their economy.
“The emigration out of Bethlehem is increasing daily and monthly, and ... this has a negative impact on the city,” Thaljieh said.
Christian communities have been in decline across the Middle East for generations, and the West Bank is no exception.
In the last year of British rule over the region in 1947, some 85 percent of Bethlehem’s population were Christian. As of a 2017 census, the overall population of Bethlehem was 215,514 with only 23,000 Christians among them. That puts the percentage of Christians in Bethlehem in 2017 at around 10 percent.
Locals say the rate of departure has been gathering steam in recent months in the cradle of Christianity, with the economic lifeblood of the city no longer flowing and the Israeli occupation preventing freedom of movement around the territory.
Bethlehem resident Alaa Afteem, who runs a falafel restaurant, said one of his cousins had recently moved to Australia.
“Due to the bad living conditions and bad financial conditions, people have started looking for better opportunities for their children, for better education, for a better future,” he said.
Israel has built Jewish settlements, deemed illegal by most countries, across the territory. Israel disputes this, citing historical ties to the land. Several of its ministers live in settlements and favor their expansion.
Violence has surged across the hilly land since the start of the Hamas-Israel war in Gaza in October last year.
Hundreds of Palestinians — including armed fighters, stone-throwing youths and civilian bystanders — have died in clashes with Israeli security forces, while dozens of Israelis have been killed in Palestinian attacks, Israeli authorities say.
Difficult at the best of times, travel between West Bank cities has become increasingly fraught.
“There is no security if you are commuting between districts within the West Bank like between Bethlehem, Ramallah, Jericho, Hebron,” Afteem said.
Munther Isaac, a pastor at Bethlehem’s Lutheran Church, says local Muslim families have also been emigrating, squeezed by both financial problems and broader worries about the future.
“There is the fear that this war might extend to areas in the West Bank, especially after the arming of the settlers and the announcement of the possible annexation of the West Bank,” he said.
The West Bank has been transformed by the rapid growth of Jewish settlements over the past two years, with strident settlers pushing to impose Israeli sovereignty on the area.
Far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir said on X in October that since the start of the Gaza conflict more than 120,000 firearms had been distributed to Israeli settlers to protect themselves.
In Isaac’s church, the nativity scene has a figure of the baby Jesus lying in a pile of rubble. “We feel that this war will never end,” he said.
