JERUSALEM: Top US diplomat Mike Pompeo and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed Wednesday to counter Iranian “aggression” as the two met in Jerusalem just weeks ahead of Israel’s elections.
Pompeo was on a regional tour focused largely on Iran, but the meeting and his warm words on Netanyahu’s leadership will likely be seen as support from US President Donald Trump’s administration amid the Israeli premier’s re-election fight.
Netanyahu, facing a stiff challenge from a centrist alliance in April 9 polls whilst under threat of indictment for corruption, will next week visit Washington, where he will meet twice with Trump.
Pompeo’s visit offered the right-wing premier an opportunity to burnish his security and diplomatic credentials — both key planks of his re-election campaign.
In comments after Pompeo’s arrival, Netanyahu said Trump’s pressure on Israel’s main enemy Iran was already having an effect, referring to his withdrawal from the nuclear deal between Tehran and world powers and Washington’s reimposition of sanctions.
“We need to increase it, we need to expand it, and together the United States and Israel are working in close coordination to roll back Iranian aggression in the region and around the world,” he said.
Pompeo noted a Middle East conference in Warsaw last month that included Arab nations as well as Israel, saying the discussions involved efforts “to stop Iran’s regional rampage” among other issues.
The US secretary of state also spoke of Iranian calls for Israel’s destruction.
“With such threats a daily reality of Israeli life, we maintain our unparallelled commitment to Israel’s security and firmly support your right to defend yourself,” he said.
Netanyahu reiterated his pledge to keep Iran from entrenching itself militarily in neighboring Syria, where the Islamic republic backs President Bashar Assad’s regime.
Israel has carried out hundreds of air strikes there against what it says are Iranian and Hezbollah targets.
“There is no limitation to our freedom of action, and we appreciate very much the fact that the United States backs up our actions as we do them,” Netanyahu said.
Pompeo’s stay in Jerusalem also included a four-way meeting with Netanyahu, Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras and Cypriot President Nicos Anastasiades on Wednesday night.
The discussions were to include plans to build a natural gas pipeline from the eastern Mediterranean to Europe.
Pompeo, who later travels to Lebanon, kicked off his regional tour in Kuwait where he met Emir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah.
He is pushing for a greater role for the Middle East Strategic Alliance (MESA), a US-sponsored Arab NATO-style bloc aimed at uniting Washington’s Arab allies against Tehran.
Pompeo said before his arrival that his trip to Israel had nothing to do with politics, saying the “relationship matters, no matter who the leaders are.”
No meetings with Netanyahu’s opponents are scheduled, and the secretary of state will not meet with representatives of the Palestinian Authority.
Trump’s administration has taken a series of steps that the Palestinian Authority has deemed so hostile that it now refuses any contact with the US administration.
They included cutting most US aid to the UN agency for Palestinian refugees.
President Donald Trump’s decision in December 2017 to recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israeli delighted Netanyahu’s government.
But it enraged Palestinians, who want to make the eastern, mainly Palestinian part of the city the capital of their future state.
Pompeo’s two-day visit to Jerusalem also includes a stop at the new US embassy, which was transferred from Tel Aviv on Trump’s orders last year.
A shift in semantics and policy has also marked the Trump term.
The US has ceased to refer to the Golan Heights as “Israeli-occupied” and instead calls the territory seized from Syria “controlled” by Israel — a change seen by some as a prelude to US recognition of Israeli sovereignty over the strategic plateau.
Netanyahu and Pompeo vow to counter Iranian aggression
Netanyahu and Pompeo vow to counter Iranian aggression
- Netanyahu said Trump’s pressure on Israel’s main enemy Iran was already having an effect
- Netanyahu reiterated his pledge to keep Iran from entrenching itself militarily in Syria
Israel prepares for hostages’ return with scant knowledge of their condition
- The war that followed the attack has killed more than 46,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza health officials, who do not distinguish between civilians and militants but say women and children make up more than half of those killed
TEL AVIV, Israel: Israel is preparing for the return of the hostages from Gaza with the expectation that many are likely to have severe, life-threatening complications after more than a year in captivity in Gaza.
While it’s impossible to know the exact conditions in which hostages have been held, the Health Ministry and the Hostages Family Forum, which represents families of the hostages, are preparing for several different scenarios based on information gathered from hostages previously released or rescued.
Hamas militants kidnapped about 250 people during a cross-border attack on Oct. 7, 2023, that also left 1,200 people dead. About 100 hostages are still being held, though Israel believes a third of them are no longer alive.
The war that followed the attack has killed more than 46,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza health officials, who do not distinguish between civilians and militants but say women and children make up more than half of those killed.
Hagai Levine, who heads the health team at the Hostages Families Forum, said he expects the hostages to return with cardiovascular and respiratory issues due to lack of ventilation in the tunnels. Among multiple other afflictions Levine expects are vitamin deficiencies, starvation, dramatic weight loss, vision problems due to a lack of sunlight, broken bones, cognitive impairment and mental health trauma.
As a result, doctors are expecting the hostages will require longer and more complex medical and mental health interventions than did those who returned after the last ceasefire in November 2023, said Dr. Einat Yehene, a psychologist at the Hostages Families Forum who oversees the captives’ rehabilitation.
Complex medical challenges
Doctors are keenly aware of the challenges they face in treating the surviving hostages. One of them is “refeeding syndrome,” when exposure to certain foods or too much food can lead to profound health complications and even death in those with prolonged vitamin and nutritional deficiencies, said Dr. Hagar Mizrahi, head of the Ministry of Health’s medical directorate.
The Red Cross team that will transfer the hostages from Gaza to Egypt and the small Israeli military medical team that will meet the hostages at the border as they cross into Israel have strict guidelines for what the hostages can eat in their first few hours, Mizrahi said.
Six hospitals are preparing to receive hostages, including two in the south, closer to Gaza, that will treat those with acute medical issues, health ministry officials said.
Yehene said the public should not expect joyful reunions like those seen following the last ceasefire, when released hostages ran through hospital halls into the ecstatic embraces of their loved ones.
“Given the physical and emotional conditions, we expect emotional withdrawal symptoms, such as maybe exhaustion, fatigue — and some will probably need assistance with their mobility,” she said.
Medical officials are also prepared for the possibility that returning hostages will need speech therapy, especially if they have been kept in isolation, Yehene noted. She said some might be so traumatized or in shock from the transfer to Israel that they will be unable to speak at all.
To minimize the hostages’ trauma and allow them to acclimate to their new reality, officials will try to limit the number of people who interact with them and have made accommodations to lessen their sensory stimulation, such as stripping down the hospital rooms and changing the lighting.
Israel’s Ministry of Social Welfare has also planned temporary housing solutions if hostages feel unable to return directly from the hospital to their home.
“The hostages don’t owe you anything”
Experts are pleading with the news media and the public to give the hostages and their families privacy, despite intense interest in their plight.
“The first days back are really holy, when a person finally gets to meet with their family, and everyone else needs to take a step back,” said Ofrit Shapira, a psychoanalyst who heads a group of health professionals treating freed hostages, their families, and survivors of the Oct. 7 attack. Hospital wings housing the hostages are expected to be “sterilized,” closed to all but direct family and doctors, to keep the public and news outlets away, medical officials have said.
“It doesn’t matter how much we care about them; they’re their own people, they’re not ‘ours,’” Shapira added. She noted that asking the hostages direct questions about their experiences can force them to relive their trauma. She said it’s best to allow them to release information at their own pace.
“Our curiosity is really not important compared with what the hostages need,” she said. “It doesn’t matter how much you volunteered or were active in this fight; they don’t owe you anything.”
Support for the families
Some of the previously freed hostages and their families have volunteered to help counsel those now going through the same process, Levine said. He noted the strength of the bonds created between the relatives of the hostages, and between the released hostages, who have become like “psychological families” helping each other adapt and heal, he said.
Many released hostages are neglecting their own rehabilitation because they are so wrapped up in the fight to bring the others home, Levine said.
A big priority is also to provide support for the families of hostages who did not survive.
Israel has confirmed the deaths of at least a third of the approximately 90 remaining captives. But Hamas has not confirmed the status of the 33 who are expected to be freed in the first stage of the ceasefire. Some might no longer be alive.
“This moment of the releases is an emotional and psychological trigger for something they were supposed to experience, and they never will experience, because this deal took too long,” Yehene said.
Morocco denies links to alleged spy arrested in Germany
- German prosecutors said he had acted along with another Moroccan identified as Mohamed A, who was found guilty of espionage in 2023 and handed a suspended sentence of one year and nine months
RABAT: Moroccan authorities denied on Friday that they had any connection with a national detained in Germany on suspicion of spying on supporters of a protest group, an official told AFP.
The man, identified as Youssef El A., was arrested at Frankfurt airport on Wednesday and faces charges of “having worked for a Moroccan secret service” by spying on members of Al-Hirak Al-Shaabi (the Popular Movement) in Germany.
A Moroccan security source speaking on condition of anonymity told AFP he was a “radical activist” with a “hostile stance against the kingdom.”
The man “has no ties to Moroccan intelligence services and has never collected information for them,” the source said.
Instead, the source described him as “one of the most radical Hirak activists operating in Europe,” with links to a separatist group in the Rif region of northern Morocco.
German prosecutors said he had acted along with another Moroccan identified as Mohamed A, who was found guilty of espionage in 2023 and handed a suspended sentence of one year and nine months.
Mohamed A. reportedly received airline tickets for personal travel in exchange for information collected for Moroccan intelligence on supporters of the protest movement.
Youssef El A. had been detained in Spain on December 1, 2024 in response to an EU arrest warrant and was later extradited to Germany.
A judge ordered him remanded in custody on Thursday.
The Hirak movement emerged in the Rif region in 2016 following anger over the death of a fishmonger crushed by a bin lorry as he tried to recover swordfish seized by police.
It sparked protests demanding development projects for the long-marginalized region, which led to dozens of arrests.
Lebanese boy chokes to death at school attempting viral TikTok ‘one-bite challenge’
- 12-year old dies trying to eat croissant in a single bite, inspired by online videos of people eating various types of food in one go
- He attempted the challenge at Jannat Al-Atfal School
BEIRUT: A Lebanese schoolboy choked to death at school while attempting a food challenge that has gone viral on video-hosting platform TikTok.
Lebanese media reported on Friday that 12-year-old Joe Skaff died as he tried to eat a croissant in a single bite. He was said to have been inspired by the online “one-bite challenge” in which people post videos of themselves cramming various foods into their mouths to eat them in one go.
He attempted the challenge at Jannat Al-Atfal School in Keserwan, north of Beirut but began to choke on the pastry and was unable to breathe.
The school said: “With hearts filled with grief and sorrow, we mourn the death of our dear son and sixth-grader Joe Skaff. Today, during the first break, Joe was exposed to a sudden tragic accident where he suffocated while eating.”
Teachers and a licensed school nurse tried to help the youngster and clear the blockage before an ambulance arrived to take him to hospital but “attempts to save him were unsuccessful.”
The school added: “Joe was a special child with a bright personality and great kindness, and he was loved by his peers and all members of our school community.”
Aid agencies: Will take $80bn and 40 years to rebuild Gaza Strip
Rebuilding homes and infrastructure after Israel’s 15-month war on Gaza could take 40 years and cost more than $80 billion, aid agencies said on Friday.
The war has transformed the enclave into a rubble-strewn wasteland with blackened shells of buildings and mounds of debris. Major roads have been plowed up. Critical water and electricity infrastructure is in ruins. Most hospitals no longer function.
The full extent of the damage will be known only when the fighting ends on Sunday and inspectors have full access. The most heavily destroyed part of Gaza, in the north, has been sealed off and largely depopulated by Israeli forces in an operation that began last October.
Using satellite data, the UN estimates that 70 percent of structures in Gaza have been damaged or destroyed, including over 245,000 homes.
Before anything can be rebuilt, the rubble must be removed — a staggering task in itself.
The war has littered Gaza with over 50 million tonnes of rubble, about 12 times the size of the Great Pyramid of Giza. With over 100 trucks working full time, it would take 15 years to clear.
“I can’t think of any parallel, in terms of the severity of damage, for an enclave or a country or a people,” said Corey Scher of the Shelter Cluster, an international coalition of aid providers led by the Norwegian Refugee Council.
The first target for aid is the health sector, with more than 80 percent of Gaza’s health facilities damaged or destroyed.
The World Health Organization said on Friday it would start by bringing prefabricated hospitals into the enclave and medically evacuating over 12,000 patients, a third of them children.
South Sudan declares nighttime curfew after looting in capital
- The riots followed the alleged killing of South Sudanese people by members of Sudan’s military and allied groups in the city of Wad Madani in Sudan’s Al-Jazira region
JUBA: South Sudan’s police imposed a nationwide curfew from 6 p.m. (1600 GMT) on Friday after a night of deadly rioting in the capital over the alleged killing of South Sudanese people by the army and allied groups in Sudan.
In a broadcast on state television, police chief Abraham Peter Manyuat said the curfew would continue until further notice from 6 p.m. to 6 a.m. daily to try to restore security and prevent the destruction of property.
“The police will not tolerate any violations,” he said.
The police said in a statement that at least three people had been killed and seven wounded on Thursday night in South Sudan’s capital, Juba, some by bullets and machetes, when youths in several suburbs looted and vandalized shops of Sudanese people.
BACKGROUND
Police said at least three people had been killed and seven wounded on Thursday night in South Sudan’s capital, Juba, some by bullets and machetes, when youths in several suburbs looted and vandalized shops.
In Aweil, near the border with Sudan, three houses belonging to Sudanese people were burned, the police added.
On Friday, shops in many Juba suburbs were closed as police and other security forces tried to relocate Sudanese people to safer areas due to fears rioters could attack them.
The riots followed the alleged killing of South Sudanese people by members of Sudan’s military and allied groups in the city of Wad Madani in Sudan’s Al-Jazira region.
On Tuesday, the Sudanese army condemned what it called “individual violations” in Al-Jazira after human rights groups blamed it and its allies for ethnically targeted attacks against civilians accused of supporting the Rapid Support Forces.
South Sudan’s Foreign Ministry summoned Sudan’s ambassador over the alleged killings earlier this week, and President Salva Kiir Mayardit called for calm.
“We mustn’t allow anger to cloud our judgment or turn against Sudanese traders and refugees currently residing in our country,” his office said in a statement.
