BARCELONA: The Spanish NGO Open Arms, which with World Central Kitchen chartered the first boat that arrived in Gaza on a special sea corridor from Cyprus, suspended its operation after the deaths of seven aid workers in an Israeli air strike.
Open Arms, whose ship returned to the Cypriot port of Larnaca on Wednesday, condemned the deaths of the World Central Kitchen workers as “an incomprehensible act of violence.”
The workers were moving food and supplies sent in a second shipload from Cyprus when their convoy was attacked on Monday.
“With the arrival yesterday of the Open Arms boat in Larnaca, Cyprus, the mission in the humanitarian corridor to the Gaza Strip with World Central Kitchen is suspended following the devastating attack suffered by the convoy,” Open Arms said in a statement.
The NGO, which said 200 tons of food and supplies were delivered in the first shipment in March, expressed sorrow over the deaths.
“We demand answers and accountability for this unacceptable attack,” Open Arms director Oscar Camps said in the statement.
World Central Kitchen, founded by Spanish-American celebrity chef Jose Andres, has suspended its work in Gaza because of the attacks. These have increased pressure on Israel over its treatement of Gaza’s civilian population.
Israel has expressed regret over the attack and promised a transparent inquiry.
But major international aid groups have said it is now nearly impossible to work in Gaza, where Israel launched its military operation in response to the Hamas attacks on October 7.
The attacks resulted in the deaths of about 1,170 Israelis and foreigners, most of them civilians, according to an AFP tally of official Israeli figures.
Israel’s retaliatory campaign to destroy Hamas has killed at least 33,037 people, mostly women and children, according to the Hamas-run health ministry in the Palestinian territory.
Spanish NGO halts Gaza aid work over deadly attack
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Spanish NGO halts Gaza aid work over deadly attack
Germany pledges 125m euros for Sudan on eve of aid meet
- Funds will go toward helping international and local aid organizations to “bring urgently needed food and medicine to people in need” in Sudan, Baerbock said
BERLIN: Germany will provide 125 million euros ($142 million) in humanitarian aid for Sudan, Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock said on Monday, on the eve of an international conference on the situation in the war-torn country.
The funds will go toward helping international and local aid organizations to “bring urgently needed food and medicine to people in need” in Sudan and the wider region, Baerbock said in a statement.
Paramilitaries in Sudan known as the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) have been at war with the army since April 2023.
The conflict has essentially divided Sudan in two, with the army holding sway in the north and east, while the RSF controls most of Darfur and parts of the south.
The war has killed tens of thousands, uprooted more than 13 million and created what the International Rescue Committee has described as “the biggest humanitarian crisis ever recorded.”
An international conference on the situation in Sudan will take place in London on Tuesday, co-hosted by Britain, Germany, France, the EU and the African Union, the German foreign ministry said.
The Sudanese army and the RSF militia were both unwilling to come to the table, according to the ministry.
“Death is an ever-present reality in large parts of Sudan,” Baerbock said, calling the conflict “the greatest humanitarian catastrophe of our time.”
“Entire regions have been destroyed, hundreds of thousands of families have been forced to flee, millions of people are starving, and women and children are being subjected to the most horrific sexual violence,” she said.
“The focus in London will therefore be on working with our African partners to identify options for unrestricted humanitarian access, protection of the civilian population and a political solution to this bloody conflict.”
Baerbock said the Gulf states would be among those represented at the meeting, calling on them to “use their influence... to establish humanitarian corridors.”
“Only joint international pressure will finally persuade the parties to the conflict to come to the negotiating table,” she added.
Turkiye to begin restoration work on dome of Hagia Sophia
- The dome will first be covered to protect it during the repair process
- Existing lead cover will then be removed for the restoration and reinforcement project to continue
ISTANBUL: Turkiye is set to begin restoration and reinforcement work on the dome of the Hagia Sophia, in one of the biggest repair projects carried out on the 1,486-year-old structure, experts said on Monday.
Hagia Sophia was the largest cathedral in the world for 900 years until its capture by Ottoman Sultan Mehmet the Conqueror in 1453, after which it was one of Islam’s most exalted mosques for nearly 500 years.
The building was converted to a museum by Turkiye’s secular republic more than 70 years ago but turned back into a mosque by President Tayyip Erdogan in 2020.
The process will be difficult and will “open an important page in the book of Hagia Sophia,” said Asnu Bilban Yalcin, a Byzantine art historian, adding that restoration of other parts of the structure has been under way for 10 years.
“It is truly a structure full of surprises because sometimes things develop in a way we do not expect. That is, you design and plan it, but when you open it, things may develop differently,” she told Reuters outside the Hagia Sophia.
The dome will first be covered to protect it during the repair process, said Ahmet Gulec, a cultural property conservation and repair expert, adding that the existing lead cover will then be removed for the restoration and reinforcement project to continue.
The reinforcement project will focus on weak structural points determined during simulations of a large earthquake, in a country criss-crossed by fault lines.
The real structural problems will become more apparent when the lead cover is lifted, said Hasan Firat Diker, a professor of architecture at the Fatih Sultan Mehmet Vakif University.
The Hagia Sophia is expected remain open to worshippers and visitors during the restoration process, which makes the repair process more difficult, said Gulec, the cultural property conservation and repair expert.
The experts did not specify a date for the completion of the restoration of the dome, given potential setbacks due to weather conditions and unforeseen additional works.
Thousands remain displaced in Jenin as Israeli military campaign continues for 84th day
- 6,000 people remain displaced within Jenin city, while 3,200 have sought refuge in the dormitories of the Arab American University
- Discussions with the Palestinian Authority are ongoing to provide mobile homes for displaced residents
LONDON: Israeli forces have continued operations in Jenin and its refugee camp for the 84th day, with homes being bulldozed and burned while some have been converted into military positions.
On Monday morning, Israeli forces detained two Palestinians from the village of Yamoun, located west of Jenin, after storming the town and conducting raids on homes, WAFA news agency reported.
Israeli forces deployed infantry units around Al-Amal Hospital and Al-Rabi Building on Al-Mahta Street, near the Jenin refugee camp, conducting raids in the area, WAFA added.
Jenin Governor Kamal Abu Al-Rub said 21,000 people remain displaced as a result of the Israeli military campaign, with 6,000 residents sheltering within Jenin city. At the same time, 3,200 people sought refuge in the dormitories of the Arab American University, and 4,181 individuals found shelter in Burqin village. Abu Al-Rub said discussions with the Palestinian Authority are ongoing to provide mobile homes for the displaced residents in Jenin.
Over the weekend, Israeli forces sent reinforcements and armored vehicles into Jenin and its refugee camp, including D10 bulldozers and infantry. Israeli forces conduct military training near the Jalameh checkpoint, north of Jenin, and occasionally fire live ammunition toward the deserted Jenin camp, WAFA reported.
Macron urges ‘reform’ of Palestinian Authority to run Gaza without Hamas
- France is among European nations to have backed a plan for Gaza to return to the control of the Ramallah-based authority after nearly two decades of Hamas rule
PARIS: French President Emmanuel Macron called Monday for “reform” of the Palestinian Authority as part of a plan that would see the West Bank-based body govern a post-war Gaza without Hamas.
France is among European nations to have backed a plan for Gaza to return to the control of the Ramallah-based authority after nearly two decades of Hamas rule.
“It is essential to set a framework for the day after: disarm and sideline Hamas, define credible governance and reform the Palestinian Authority,” Macron said on X after a phone call with his Palestinian counterpart Mahmud Abbas.
“This should allow progress toward a two-state political solution, with a view to the peace conference in June, in the service of peace and security for all.”
Macron said last week that France could take the unprecedented step of recognizing a Palestinian state during a United Nations conference in New York in June, sparking condemnation from Israel.
Hamas has governed the Gaza Strip since 2007, when it seized control from the Palestinian Authority after being blocked from exercising real power despite winning a parliamentary election the previous year.
Both France and the United States under Joe Biden have pressed for the Palestinian Authority, which has limited autonomy in parts of the West Bank, to root out corruption and bring in new faces in the hope it could take charge of Gaza.
The Ramallah-based administration, led by 89-year-old Abbas, has been hamstrung by Israel’s decades-old occupation of the West Bank and the Palestinian president’s own unpopularity.
Egyptian, Qatari leaders discuss Gaza, economic partnerships
- Countries agreed to package of direct investments worth up to $7.5bn
- El-Sisi, Sheikh Tamim said Palestinian reconciliation essential to achieving national unity
LONDON: Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi discussed the reconstruction plan for the Gaza Strip and economic partnerships with Qatari Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani.
El-Sisi is on a two-day state visit to Qatar and is scheduled to visit Kuwait as part of a Gulf tour, the Middle East News Agency reported.
Qatar and Egypt agreed to a package of direct investments worth up to $7.5 billion, aiming to strengthen and support sustainable economic development for both countries, MENA agency added.
During their meeting in Doha on Monday, El-Sisi and Sheikh Tamim discussed the ceasefire in the Gaza Strip. They expressed strong support for the Palestinian people’s right to establish an independent state based on pre-1967 borders, with East Jerusalem as its capital.
They discussed the reconstruction of the Gaza Strip, which lies in ruins after a year and a half of Israeli bombardment. The two leaders said that Palestinian reconciliation is essential to achieving national unity among factions to lead state institutions, MENA agency added.
