BRUSSELS: NATO Secretary- General Jens Stoltenberg said that member state Turkey had a right to act in self-defense as Ankara presses a military operation against Kurdish-held positions in northern Syria.
“All nations have the right to defend themselves, but this has to be done in a proportionate and measured way,” Stoltenberg said in a statement issued by his office.
Turkey launched an offensive against the Kurdish YPG (people’s protection units) militia on Saturday in their enclave of Afrin, supporting Syrian opposition with airstrikes and ground troops.
The assault has raised fears among NATO member states that the fight against extremists in Syria might be impacted by Turkey’s push.
“Turkey has also briefed allies at NATO this week on their operation in northern Syria,” Stoltenberg said.
“Turkey is one of the NATO nations that suffers the most from terrorism.”
The NATO chief added that the alliance was providing air defense support for Turkey “against missiles fired from Syria” but stressed it had no forces on the ground in the nation.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Friday threatened to expand the offensive and vowed to “clean up” the Syrian city of Manbij.
Erdogan vowed in a speech in Ankara that Turkey would “continue our fight until there is no terrorist on our border.”
He said the operation would last until “we reach our goals,” adding: “Afterwards we will, as promised, clean up Manbij of terrorists.”
But Erdogan and Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu on Friday insisted Turkey was not intending to occupy Afrin and would return the region to its “real” owners.
According to Anthony Skinner, director of MENA at global risk consultancy Verisk Maplecroft, “direct military conflict” between Turkish and US forces is possible because of Erdogan’s threats to expand the campaign to Manbij.
“Turkish-US relations are teetering on the brink of a precipice,” Skinner added.
The EU has also expressed concern over the Turkish intervention in Syria, which is further complicating the war that has claimed more than 340,000 lives since 2011.
Ankara has right to defend itself, says NATO chief
Ankara has right to defend itself, says NATO chief
Moroccan activists tried over earthquake response criticism: lawyer
- The earthquake razed tens of thousands of homes in central Morocco, including in the High Atlas mountain range, forcing families to sleep out in the open through the winter
RABAT: Four activists advocating for victims of the 2023 earthquake in Morocco appeared in court on Monday to face charges including defamation, their lawyer told AFP.
Said Ait Mahdi, the head of Al Haouz Earthquake Victims Coordination, was brought before a Marrakech court “on allegations of defamation, insult and spreading false claims intended to harm individuals privacy,” said his lawyer Mohamed Nouini.
While Ait Mahdi has been in custody for a week, the other three defendants others, who face charges of “insulting public officials,” remain free said Nouini.
The lawyer said charges came after local officials filed complaints against the activists over social media posts they deemed offensive.
Ait Mahdi’s defense filed a request for his release pending trial on January 6, said Nouini.
Al Haouz province, south of Marrakech, was the worst affected area when a 6.8-magnitude earthquake hit in September 2023, killing nearly 3,000 people and injuring thousands more.
The earthquake razed tens of thousands of homes in central Morocco, including in the High Atlas mountain range, forcing families to sleep out in the open through the winter.
Ait Mahdi’s group has called for the acceleration of reconstruction efforts and greater support for the families affected by the earthquake.
As of early December, Moroccan authorities had issued some 57,000 reconstruction permits.
Over 35,000 houses have been completed or were underway, the government said in a statement on December 2.
Following the earthquake, the Moroccan authorities announced a five-year reconstruction plan with an estimated budget of $11.7 billion.
About $740 million of the funding was allocated to help affected families rebuild their homes, with the money to be distributed in instalments.
French ministers in Lebanon for talks month into Israel-Hezbollah truce
- Aoun has been tasked with deploying troops in the south of the country since the Israel-Hezbollah ceasefire came into effect
BEIRUT: France’s top diplomat and defense chief arrived on Monday in Lebanon, where a fragile truce since late November ended intense fighting between Israel and militant group Hezbollah.
Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot and Defense Minister Sebastien Lecornu met with Lebanon’s army chief Joseph Aoun, and on Tuesday are due to visit UN peacekeepers near the Israeli border.
A Lebanese army statement on social media said that Aoun and the visiting ministers discussed “ways to strengthen cooperation relations between the armies of the two countries and to continue support for the army in light of current circumstances.”
Aoun, who is being touted as a possible candidate for Lebanon’s president, has been tasked with deploying troops in the south of the country since the Israel-Hezbollah ceasefire came into effect on November 27.
Lecornu said on X that he is also due to meet with a French general representing Paris “within the ceasefire monitoring mechanism.”
“Our armies are, and will remain, committed to the stability of Lebanon and the region,” he said.
The monitoring body brings together Lebanon, Israel, the United States, France and the United Nations’ UNIFIL peacekeeping mission. It is meant to support the implementation of the ceasefire and assess violations.
On Thursday, UNIFIL said it was “concerned” by “the continued destruction” carried out by the Israeli army in southern Lebanon, despite the truce.
Lecornu and Barrot are scheduled to meet on Tuesday with French soldiers deployed with UNIFIL in south Lebanon.
Israel must face consequences over Gaza campaign: UN experts
- “Israel continues to face no real consequences, largely due to protection offered by its allies”
- Israel has killed more than 45,500 people in Gaza, a majority of them civilians, according to figures from the Hamas-run territory’s health ministry that the UN considers reliable
- The experts highlighted alleged crimes against humanity committed by Israel “including murder, torture, sexual violence, and repeated forced displacement amounting to forcible transfer”
GENEVA: United Nations rights experts on Monday said Israel must face the consequences of “inflicting maximum suffering” on Palestinian civilians in Gaza, alleging Israel was defying international law and being sheltered by its allies.
“International humanitarian law comprises a set of universal and binding rules to protect civilian objects and persons who are not, or are no longer, directly participating in hostilities and limits permissible means and methods of warfare,” the 11 experts said in a joint statement.
“Rather than abide by these rules, Israel has openly defied international law time and again, inflicting maximum suffering on civilians in the occupied Palestinian territory and beyond.
“Israel continues to face no real consequences, largely due to protection offered by its allies.”
The Gaza war was triggered by the Hamas-led October 7, 2023, attack on Israel.
That resulted in 1,208 deaths, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally of Israeli official figures.
Israel’s retaliatory military campaign has killed more than 45,500 people in Gaza, a majority of them civilians, according to figures from the Hamas-run territory’s health ministry that the UN considers reliable.
The experts highlighted alleged crimes against humanity committed by Israel “including murder, torture, sexual violence, and repeated forced displacement amounting to forcible transfer.”
They also noted alleged war crimes including “indiscriminate attacks on civilians and civilian objects... the use of starvation as a weapon of war” and “collective punishment.”
They said civilians were protected persons and did not constitute military objectives under international law.
“Acts aimed at their destruction in whole or in part are genocidal,” they added.
The experts called for urgent, independent and thorough investigations into alleged serious violations of international law.
“Israel’s continued impunity sends a dangerous message... Israel and its leaders must be held accountable,” they said.
The experts said they were particularly alarmed by Israel’s operations in the northern Gaza Strip.
Since October 6 this year, Israeli operations in Gaza have focused on the north, with officials saying their land and air offensive aims to prevent Hamas from regrouping.
“This siege, coupled with expanding evacuation orders, appears intended to permanently displace the local population as a precursor to Gaza’s annexation,” the experts said.
UN rights experts are independent figures mandated by the Human Rights Council. They do not therefore speak for the United Nations itself.
The 11 experts included the special rapporteurs on internally displaced persons; cultural rights; education; physical and mental health; arbitrary executions; the right to food; and protecting rights while countering terrorism.
Francesca Albanese, the special rapporteur on the rights situation in the occupied Palestinian territories, was also among the experts.
Israel has demanded her removal, branding her a “political activist” abusing her mandate “to hide her hatred for Israel.”
Two killed in Gaza as aid convoy looted: WFP
- WFP said “coordinated movement to bring in 40 trucks on behalf of humanitarian partners” Sunday “was faced with violent, armed looting, resulting in the deaths of two”
GAZA STRIP: Two people have been killed in northern Gaza as gunmen attacked an aid convoy, the World Food Programme said Monday, prompting Hamas to accuse to UN agency of having failed to coordinate security.
Gazans face dire conditions after nearly 15 months of war, triggered by Hamas’s October 7, 2023 attack on Israel, with humanitarian agencies repeatedly warning not enough aid was reaching Palestinians in need due in part to looting as well as Israeli restrictions.
The World Food Programme (WFP) said in a statement that “a coordinated movement to bring in 40 trucks on behalf of humanitarian partners” on Sunday “was faced with violent, armed looting, resulting in the deaths of two.”
“Amidst the armed looting, five trucks of commodities were lost,” it added.
Hamas, the Palestinian group that runs the Gaza Strip, said in a statement that “a catastrophic mistake” by the WFP “claimed the lives of two citizens and injured dozens with bullets.”
“We hold it fully responsible and demand that it not violate the protocol followed regarding coordination to secure aid trucks,” the statement said.
The WFP said in its statement that for the past two weeks, “nearly every movement of aid through crossings in south and central Gaza has resulted in violence, looting and tragic deaths due to attacks and the absence of law and order along convoy routes inside Gaza.”
The organization said that it was still following “procedures of coordination set in place in previous months” and that it had “repeatedly warned of the dangers of movement in the absence of law and order” in the Palestinian territory.
For months, both Israel and aid agencies including the WFP have noted widespread looting by armed gangs, as well as civilians desperate for supplies.
Humanitarian agencies also say the delivery routes they take through Gaza are sometimes blocked by Israeli military activity.
Aid organizations have repeatedly warned of the deteriorating conditions in Gaza, saying civilians are starving and that aid shipments in recent months have been lower than at any time during the war.
East Africa’s IGAD envoy to visit Sudan
- Visit comes a year after the government in Sudan froze relations with the regional bloc and suspended its membership of the body
NAIROBI: The East African bloc bloc’s Intergovernmental Authority on Development envoy to Sudan said Monday he planned a visit to the war-torn country next month where he is trying to act as a mediator. It comes a year after the government in Sudan froze relations with the regional bloc and suspended its membership of the body.
Sudan has been mired in a brutal conflict since April last year, with the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces under Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo — commonly known as Hemeti — fighting the Sudanese Armed Forces, led by Abdel Fattah Al-Burhan.
IGAD had repeatedly attempted to mediate between the two warring generals, but to no avail.
In January, the bloc invited Dagalo to a summit in Uganda, prompting a furious response from the Foreign Ministry in the army-aligned government.
It accused IGAD of “violating Sudan’s sovereignty” and setting a “dangerous precedent,” saying it would suspend its membership of the bloc.
IGAD special envoy to Sudan Lawrence Korbandy confirmed on Monday that a visit to Port Sudan was planned in the new year. “I’m visiting them to talk to them about issues related to peace in that country,” he said from Nairobi, declining to give details over who he might meet.
Korbandy said the visit had been scheduled for December before being postponed to January. He labeled the suspension a “minor problem” — noting that Sudan was a founding member of the regional body — and said the proposed visit was “absolutely” a positive step.
“I’m looking for constructive dialogue regarding the peace in Sudan, and most importantly is the return of Sudan’s activities in IGAD,” he added.
“My mandate is to bring peace to the Sudanese people, and there is no other way, only to talk to all the parties in this conflict.”
