NEW YORK: Israel has agreed to delay an expected invasion of Gaza for now so that the United States can rush missile defenses to the region to protect its troops there, the Wall Street Journal reported on Wednesday, citing US and Israeli officials.
Israel is also taking into account in its planning the effort to supply humanitarian aid to civilians inside Gaza, as well as diplomatic efforts to free hostages held by Hamas militants, the report said.
Threats to US troops were of paramount concern, it said.
The US military and other officials believe their forces will be targeted by militant groups once the invasion of the Hamas-ruled Palestinian territory starts.
The United States is hurrying to deploy nearly a dozen air-defense systems to the region, according to the Journal.
Reuters reported on Monday that Washington advised Israel to hold off on a ground assault in the Gaza Strip and is keeping Qatar — a broker with the Palestinian militants — apprised of those talks as its tries to free more hostages and prepare for a possible wider regional war.
Israel agrees to US request to delay Gaza invasion- WSJ
Israel agrees to US request to delay Gaza invasion- WSJ
Saudi Polo Federation names six participants for Desert Polo Championship in AlUla
- The teams are AlUla, Richard Mille, Dadan, Budget, Bentley, and Ikmah
- Pierro Dillier, president of the International Polo Federation, will attend the event
RIYADH: The Saudi Polo Federation on Saturday announced the six teams to participate in the 2025 Richard Mille Desert Polo Championship, which will take place on Jan. 17-18 in AlUla.
The teams are AlUla, Richard Mille, Dadan, Budget, Bentley, and Ikmah. They will compete in the fourth edition of the championship, which is being organized in coordination with the Royal Commission for AlUla.
A media statement said Pierro Dillier, president of the International Polo Federation, will attend the competition.
The matches will be held at the Village of Knights, featuring top international players, led by Adolfo Cambiaso, widely regarded as the greatest player in the history of polo.
Saudi rider Prince Sultan bin Khaled Al-Faisal, alongside Prince Abbas bin Ali and Prince Hamza bin Abbas from Jordan will participate in the tournament.
The contenders will be divided into two groups; AlUla, Dadan and Ikmah in Group 1, while Group 2 comprises Bentley, Budget and Richard Mille.
Chairman of the Saudi Polo Federation, Amr Zidan, confirmed the readiness of the Village of Knights to host the event, promising strong competition and highlighting the continued development and growing popularity of the sport in Saudi Arabia.
“This fourth edition of the championship has witnessed significant improvements, alongside accompanying events and entertainment activities for spectators,” Zidan said.
Closing Bell: Saudi main index rises to close at 12,126
- Parallel market Nomu gained 12.14 points, or 0.04%, to close at 31,039.53
- MSCI Tadawul Index gained 1.87 points, or 0.12%, to close at 1,512.01
RIYADH: Saudi Arabia’s Tadawul All Share Index rose on Sunday, gaining 29.22 points, or 0.24 percent, to close at 12,126.97.
The total trading turnover of the benchmark index was SR4.26 billion ($1.13 billion), as 140 of the stocks advanced and 91 retreated.
The Kingdom’s parallel market Nomu gained 12.14 points, or 0.04 percent, to close at 31,039.53. This comes as 47 of the listed stocks advanced, while 34 retreated.
The MSCI Tadawul Index gained 1.87 points, or 0.12 percent, to close at 1,512.01.
The best-performing stock of the day was Fitaihi Holding Group, which debuted on the main market on Sunday, with its share price surging 6.15 percent to SR4.66.
Other top performers included Saudi Industrial Investment Group, which saw its share price rise 5.59 percent to SR17.00, and Fawaz Abdulaziz Alhokair Co., whose share price surged 4.88 percent to SR15.46.
Arabian Pipes Co. recorded the biggest decline, with its share price falling 3.62 percent to SR12.24.
Maharah Human Resources Co. followed, with its stock price decreasing 2.75 percent to SR6.73.
Takween Advanced Industries Co. also experienced a drop, with its share price slipping 2.39 percent to SR10.62.
On the announcements front, Banan Real Estate Co. completed the acquisition of a 45 percent stake in Qimam Noshz Real Estate Development Co., with a total capital of SR71 million.
According to a Tadawul statement, the stake is to be divided with Banan Real Estate Co. holding 23 percent, while its subsidiary, Al-Aziziah Investment and Real Estate Development Co., holding 22 percent.
Banan Real Estate Co. closed the session at SR6.80, down 0.88 percent.
Al-Etihad Cooperative Insurance Co. has signed an agreement with AlRajhi Bank to provide bancassurance services and quotations for leased vehicle comprehensive insurance.
A bourse filing revealed that this partnership is part of the “Lease with a Promise to Own” program. The one-year contract’s revenues are projected to exceed 5 percent of the company’s gross written premiums reported in its 2023 annual financial statements. The financial impact of this agreement is expected to reflect in the firm’s performance starting from the first quarter of 2025.
Al-Etihad Cooperative Insurance Co. closed the session at SR17.86, up 0.57 percent.
Scientific and Medical Equipment House Co. announced it has been awarded a project tender by the General Directorate of Health Affairs in Najran Region valued at SR99 million.
According to a Tadawul statement, the project covers the maintenance and repair of medical devices and equipment for several hospitals in the area. The financial impact of the project is anticipated to begin in the second quarter of 2025.
The firm ended the session at SR51.60, marking a 51.60 percent increase.
Pakistani forces kill nine militants in separate operations in restive northwest
- Pakistan has struggled to contain militancy in its northwest since a truce with Pakistani Taliban broke down in 2022
- In 2024 alone, the military reported that 383 Pakistani soldiers and 925 militants were killed in various clashes
ISLAMABAD: Pakistani security forces have killed nine militants in two separate engagements in the northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) province, the military said on Sunday.
Six militants were killed and two others apprehended in an intelligence-based operation in Dosalli area of the North Waziristan district, according to the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR).
Another three militants were killed and two of their accomplices were injured during an exchange of fire in Esham area of the same district, which borders Afghanistan.
“Weapons and ammunition were also recovered from killed khwarij [militants], who remained actively involved in numerous terrorist activities against the security forces as well as target killing of innocent civilians,” the ISPR said in a statement.
“Sanitization operations are being conducted to eliminate any other kharji [militant] found in the area.”
Pakistan has struggled to contain surging militancy in KP since November 2022, when a fragile truce between the Pakistani Taliban and the state broke down.
In 2024 alone, the military reported that 383 soldiers and 925 militants were killed in various clashes.
Islamabad has frequently accused neighboring Afghanistan of sheltering and supporting militant groups that launch cross-border attacks. Afghan officials deny involvement, insisting Pakistan’s security issues are an internal matter of Islamabad.
King of Jordan meets Vatican secretary of state in Amman
- Cardinal Pietro Parolin was in Jordan for the inauguration of the Church of John the Baptist
- King Abdullah praises Pope Francis’s support for Palestinians in the Gaza Strip
LONDON: King Abdullah of Jordan welcomed Cardinal Pietro Parolin, the Vatican secretary of state, at Al-Husseiniya Palace in Amman on Sunday.
King Abdullah sent his greetings to Pope Francis during a meeting attended by several senior royal advisers and aides. Cardinal Parolin thanked King Abdullah for his support and patronage of the Christian communities in Jordan.
The Jordanian king praised the pope’s support for Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, who since late 2023 have suffered the effects of an Israeli military campaign.
They agreed on the need to stop Israel’s war on the Gaza Strip, and increase the flow of humanitarian aid. They also warned of aggressive Israeli policies in occupied East Jerusalem and its effect on the Islamic and Christian holy sites, the Petra news agency reported.
Parolin on Friday attended the inauguration of the Church of John the Baptist on the east bank of the Jordan River.
Sri Lankans rally to stop deportation of Rohingya refugees to Myanmar
- Activists stage protests in northeastern Mullaitivu district and capital Colombo
- Rohingya risk deadly sea crossings as fighting intensifies in Myanmar
COLOMBO: Sri Lankan civil society groups and activists are mobilizing to save more than 100 Rohingya refugees rescued off the Indian Ocean island nation last month following a government announcement that they will be deported.
A group of about 100 Rohingya refugees, which reportedly included over two dozen children, was rescued off the coast of the northeastern Mullaitivu district on Dec. 19.
Several protests were recently organized in Mullaitivu and the capital Colombo after Sri Lanka’s Minister of Public Security and Parliamentary Affairs Ananda Wijepala announced on Jan. 3 that the government was in talks with Myanmar authorities over the deportation of the Rohingya refugees.
“These are stateless people, they don’t have a home to go to,” social activist Thasneema Dahlan, who took part in a protest in Colombo on Friday, told Arab News.
“The Rohingya are massacred and chased and terrorized in their own home, and that is why they fled their own country looking for greener pastures elsewhere.”
The mostly Muslim Rohingya — the “world’s most persecuted minority,” according to the UN — have faced decades of oppression in Myanmar.
In 2017, more than 730,000 Rohingya from Rakhine State were forced to flee to neighboring Bangladesh to escape a brutal military crackdown that UN experts have referred to as a “genocidal campaign,” amid evidence of ethnic cleansing, mass rape, and killings.
As Rakhine became a focal point in Myanmar’s intensifying nationwide civil war, hundreds of Rohingya have been fleeing the country in recent weeks through dangerous sea crossings, often on rickety boats. Last year, more than 7,800 people made such attempts, according to the UN refugee agency — an 80 percent increase compared with 2023.
“Their objective wasn’t to get to Sri Lanka. Their objective was to get somewhere, anywhere where they could survive,” Dahlan said. “We are urging the government to … please not send them back, not repatriate them, not deport them, because that is just sending them back to death.”
Sri Lanka, which is not a signatory to the 1951 UN Refugee Convention and its 1967 protocol, is a transit point for refugees until the UNHCR helps them resettle in another country.
In 2022, its navy also rescued about 100 Rohingya refugees, who have been under the care of local NGOs as they await resettlement.
Sri Lankan activists have also filed petitions with the government, urging authorities to relocate the new group of refugees from the Keppapulavu Air Force base in Mullaitivu, where they have stayed since Dec. 23. According to protesters, aid agencies, including the UN, have been stopped from meeting the Rohingya.
“Sheltering the refugees under a militarized environment is incompatible with international humanitarian norms and basic human values,” the North-East Coordinating Committee, which organized the Mullaitivu protest on Thursday, said in a letter.
Ruki Fernando, a human rights activist based in Colombo, said the Rohingya refugees should be “kept in a place under civil administration,” not military.
“Many Sri Lankans have been refugees. We need to help others. It’s our legal obligation … under customary international law, non-refoulement is prohibited. It means no one fleeing a well-founded fear of persecution should be sent back,” Fernando told Arab News, referring to the hundreds of thousands of Sri Lankan Tamils who fled the country’s civil war between 1983 and 2009.
“We also have moral, ethical obligations to welcome, care and support those in distress. Our religious and spiritual values teach us this.”
