Saudi Arabia leads condemnation of Israeli attacks on Rafah 

Israeli airstrikes killed at least 45 people Sunday and hit tents for displaced people in the southern Gaza city of Rafah. Above, Palestinians search for food among burnt debris from the strike on May 27, 2024. (Reuters)
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Updated 27 May 2024
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Saudi Arabia leads condemnation of Israeli attacks on Rafah 

  • Jordan, Kuwait, and the UAE also condemn ‘ongoing war crimes committed by Israeli occupation forces in Gaza’

RIYADH: Saudi Arabia on Monday condemned the Israeli attacks on Rafah, the latest of which was the targeting of tents of displaced Palestinians near the warehouses of UNRWA that killed at least 45 people, mostly children and women. 

The foreign ministry, in a statement on social media X, also affirmed the Kingdom’s rejection of the blatant violations by the Israeli occupation forces of all international and humanitarian laws. 

It also called on the international community to intervene immediately.

Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan said Monday that the humanitarian situation in Gaza is completely unacceptable.

Prince Faisal stressed that the two-state solution to the Palestinian-Israeli conflict remains the foundation for permanent peace and security in the region.

He also noted that there are several European countries planning to officially recognize the State of Palestine to follow Spain, Ireland and Norway, in an attempt to implement the two-state solution.

Jordan also strongly condemned the “ongoing war crimes committed by Israeli occupation forces in Gaza,” particularly the ‘latest incident involved the bombing of a refugee camp near the UNRWA headquarters in western Rafah.

“This act defies the rulings of the International Court of Justice and constitutes a severe violation of international law and international humanitarian law,” a statement from the Jordanian foreign ministry said.

Jordan reiterates its ‘unequivocal condemnation of these actions’, embassy spokesperson Sufian Qudah said.

Qudah described them as blatant violations of international law and international humanitarian law, contravening all human and moral values.

These actions were war crimes that the international community must confront, ensuring accountability for those responsible, he said, calling for an immediate and effective international action to hold Israel accountable for its practices and violations.

Qudah urged the international community to “stop Israel’s continuous breaches of international law and international humanitarian law, to ensure the protection of unarmed civilians in Gaza, and to safeguard aid organizations and their staff, particularly UNRWA.”

Turkiye will ‘do everything possible’ to hold ‘barbaric’ Israel to account over Rafah strikes, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Monday.

“We will do everything possible to hold these barbarians and murderers accountable who have nothing to do with humanity,” he said.

French President Emmanuel Macron on Monday said he was “outraged” over Israel’s latest strikes on Rafah that killed dozens of displaced persons.

“These operations must stop. There are no safe areas in Rafah for Palestinian civilians,” Macron said on social network X.

Kuwait similarly condemned the “Israeli occupation’s aggression on Rafah’s displaced people’s tents, killing tens including women and children.”

In a statement, the foreign ministry asserted that the Israeli occupation’s actions against

Palestinians “exposes its blatant war crimes and unprecedented genocide to the whole world.”

Kuwait called for an “immediate and firm intervention by the international community to compel these forces into adhering to international legitimacy resolutions, including International Justice Court resolution on immediately ceasing aggression against Rafah, and protecting the Palestinian people.”

The United Arab Emirates also condemned what it said was Israel targeting tents of displaced people in Rafah.

The UAE stressed the importance of implementing the ICJ's ruling that demanded Israel immediately halt its military operations in Rafah, the foreign ministry said in a statement.

The Arab League and the Organization of Islamic Cooperation also issued separate statements condemning the continuous Israeli aggression’ on the UN Relief Works Agency refugee camps in Rafah.”

 “We present this new crime to the international courts to reinforce the evidences to pin these war crimes and indict them,” the Arab League’s Secretary General Ahmad Abul-Gheit said.

OIC Secretary General Hussein Taha meanwhile said the organization was holding the Israeli occupation responsible for its atrocious crimes against Palestinians, and its practices that go against humanitarian principles and violate international law.

The Arab Parliament also strongly condemned the brutal massacre committed by Israeli occupation forces on Palestinian civilians, state news agency SPA reported.

The parliament expressed concern over the actions of the Israeli occupation forces, emphasizing that they have violated laws, norms, international resolutions, and legitimate principles that demand an immediate end to aggression, the statement said.

The attacks came two days after the International Court of Justice ordered Israel to end its military offensive in Rafah, where more than half of Gaza’s population had sought shelter before Israel’s incursion earlier this month.

Tens of thousands of people remain in the area while many others have fled. Footage from the scene of the largest airstrike showed heavy destruction. Israel’s army confirmed the strike and said it hit a Hamas installation and killed two senior Hamas militants. It said it was investigating reports that civilians were harmed.

Defense Minister Yoav Gallant was in Rafah on Sunday and was briefed on the “deepening of operations” there, his office said.


Saudi Arabia’s NEOM gigaproject a ‘generational investment,’ minister says

Updated 26 November 2024
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Saudi Arabia’s NEOM gigaproject a ‘generational investment,’ minister says

  • The world’s top oil exporter has poured hundreds of billions of dollars into development projects through the kingdom’s $925 billion sovereign fund

RIYADH: Saudi Arabia’s NEOM gigaproject, a futuristic region being built in the desert, is a “generational investment” with a long timeline, the country’s investment minister told Reuters on Monday, adding that foreign investment will pick up pace.
“NEOM was not meant to be a two-year investable opportunity. If anybody expected NEOM to be foreign investment in two, three or five years, then they have gotten (it) wrong — it’s a generational investment,” Minister Khalid Al-Falih said on the sidelines of the World Investment Conference in Riyadh.
“The flywheel is starting and it will gain speed as we go forward, as some of the foundational assets come to the market,” he said.
The world’s top oil exporter has poured hundreds of billions of dollars into development projects through the kingdom’s $925 billion sovereign fund, the Public Investment Fund (PIF), as it undergoes an economic agenda dubbed Vision 2030 to cut dependence on fossil fuels.
NEOM, a Red Sea urban and industrial development nearly the size of Belgium that is meant to eventually house 9 million people, is central to Vision 2030. Saudi Arabia has scaled back some lofty ambitions to prioritize completing elements essential to hosting global sporting events over the next decade as rising costs weigh, sources told Reuters earlier this month. NEOM announced this month its long-time chief executive, Nadhmi Al-Nasr, had stepped down, without giving further details.
Asked what effect the departure would have on investors, the minister said the executive had done “a respectable job” but that “there is a time for everybody to pass on the baton.”
Asked if PIF will continue to do much of the spending on NEOM until more foreign funds come in, Al-Falih said it was not binary.
“I think foreign investors are starting to come to NEOM, they’re starting to channel capital. Some of the projects that the PIF will be doing will be financed through global capital pools, through some alternative and private capital. That’s taking place as we speak,” he said.
“So I urge you not to look at NEOM as being 100 percent PIF and then suddenly there will be a cliff and it will go private.”
Saudi Arabia, which is racing to attract $100 billion in annual foreign direct investment by the turn of the decade — reaching about a quarter of that in 2023 — has recently seen more co-investment deals between state entities and foreign investors.
“It’s always been the intent,” Al-Falih said of foreign inflows alongside state funds.
He noted that foreign investors were at times “still looking, still examining, still sometimes questioning,” but that now there was confidence in the profitability of investment opportunities and that “the risk-return trade-offs are very, very fair and positive to them.”


Saudi crown prince extends condolences to Kuwaiti counterpart on death of Sheikh Mohammed Abdulaziz Al-Jarrah Al-Sabah

Updated 26 November 2024
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Saudi crown prince extends condolences to Kuwaiti counterpart on death of Sheikh Mohammed Abdulaziz Al-Jarrah Al-Sabah

RIYADH: Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman sent a cable of condolences to Kuwaiti Crown Prince Sheikh Sabah Khaled Al-Hamad Al-Sabah on the passing of Sheikh Mohammed Abdulaziz Hamoud Al-Jarrah Al-Sabah.
In the cable, the crown prince extended his deepest sympathy to Sheikh Sabah and the family of the deceased.


Saudi tech diplomat meets Iraqi PM to discuss digital cooperation

Updated 25 November 2024
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Saudi tech diplomat meets Iraqi PM to discuss digital cooperation

  • Deemah Al-Yahya, head of the multilateral Digital Cooperation Organization, commended Iraq’s investment in human capital as driver for growth and expansion of digital economy
  • Iraq has been working in recent years to develop a strategy for digital transformation to help support the private and public sectors and grow the economy

RIYADH: Saudi senior tech diplomat Deemah AlYahya, the secretary-general of the multilateral Digital Cooperation Organization, held talks on Monday with Iraq’s prime minister, Mohammed Shia Al-Sudani, about support for Baghdad’s plans to develop its digital business and artificial intelligence sectors.

They discussed Iraq’s strategy for digital transformation, and the need to create and develop a workforce with the tech skills required to help grow the Iraqi economy effectively, the Saudi Press Agency reported.

Though Iraq is not a member of the DCO, an international body that focuses on the digital economy, Al-Sudani said his country is keen to work with the organization to meet the nation’s needs for a skilled workforce in the business sector.

AlYahya commended Iraq for the progress it has already made in terms of investment in the human capital needed to develop the digital skills that are essential to drive growth in a digitized economy.

Iraq has been working in recent years to develop a strategy for digital transformation to help support the private and public sectors and grow the economy. Authorities this month organized the first Digital Space Iraq Forum, which focused on the use of advanced technologies, including AI, to help build a comprehensive digital economy.

The DCO says that since it was founded in November 2020, it has been at the forefront of efforts to curate policies and initiatives to support the digital economy in several countries. Currently, 16 nations are members, including Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Pakistan, Bahrain, Bangladesh and Oman. It also has 39 observer partner organizations.

DCO member states have a collective gross domestic product of $3.5 trillion and serve a combined market of nearly 800 million people, more than 70 percent of whom are under the age of 35.


Saudi FM pushes for regional stability at G7-Arab foreign ministers meeting

Updated 25 November 2024
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Saudi FM pushes for regional stability at G7-Arab foreign ministers meeting

  • In his address, Prince Faisal highlighted the ongoing crises in Gaza and Lebanon

RIYADH: Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan took part in an expanded session of the second meeting between G7 foreign ministers and their counterparts from Arab nations on Monday, the Saudi Press Agency reported.

The meeting was hosted in Italy under the theme “Together for the Stability of the Middle East.”

The session, which addressed pressing regional and international challenges, was held with the participation of Saudi, Jordanian, Emirati, Qatari and Egyptian officials, as well as the secretary-general of the Arab League.

In his address, Prince Faisal emphasized the importance of strengthening partnerships to address these challenges effectively.

He highlighted the ongoing crises in Gaza and Lebanon, urging the international community to act immediately to secure a ceasefire, facilitate unrestricted humanitarian aid, and progress toward establishing an independent Palestinian state.

He also called for respect for Lebanon’s sovereignty, and renewed international efforts to resolve the crisis in Sudan and alleviate the resulting human suffering.

The meeting was also attended by Prince Faisal bin Sattam bin Abdul Aziz, Saudi ambassador to Italy, the SPA reported.


Scientists awarded for sustainable water innovation at Saudi conference

Updated 25 November 2024
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Scientists awarded for sustainable water innovation at Saudi conference

  • Research aims to improve desalination efficiency
  • Makkah’s deputy emir in attendance

JEDDAH: Scientists were awarded prizes for their work in researching desalination and wastewater treatment technologies during an event in Jeddah on Monday.

The third edition of the Innovation-Driven Water Sustainability Conference was attended by 480 experts, scientists, researchers, specialists and 40 leading organizations in the water sector, from 20 countries.

The grand prize — the Global Prize for Innovation in Desalination 2024 — went to Lee Nuang Sim from Singapore’s Nanyang Technological University for his project “uncovering the power of centrifugal reverse osmosis,” and Sue Mecham, CEO of NALA Membranes, for her project “chlorine stable new membranes for sustainable desalination and wastewater treatment/reuse.”

Visitors attend the third Innovation-Driven Water Sustainability Conference in Jeddah on Nov. 25, 2024. (Supplied)

Mecham, from North Carolina, US, spoke to Arab News after receiving her award, saying: “We are honored to be selected for the Global Prize for Innovation in Desalination 2024. Our mission is to bring new membranes to market and reduce the cost and complexity of water purification.”

Meanwhile, Saudi Ghadeer Al-Balawi from the University of Tabuk was another one of this year’s prizewinners with her project “novel heterogeneous catalysts for improving wastewater treatment plants in Saudi Arabia.”

Al-Balawi told Arab News: “I am incredibly honored to be one of the recipients of the Global Prize for Innovation in Desalination 2024. This recognition means so much to me. This project has been conducted at the University of Sheffield with hard work and dedication with the assistance of my supervisor, Dr. Marco Conte.”

The event’s opening ceremony was attended by Makkah Deputy Emir Prince Saud bin Mishal and Minister of Environment, Water and Agriculture Abdulrahman Abdulmohsen Al-Fadley, as well as other senior officials.

Following the opening, Abdullah Al-Abdulkarim, chairman of the Saudi Water Authority, said that the event reflects the Kingdom’s commitment to promoting scientific and research innovation as a pillar for achieving water sustainability and security.

Through the conference, the SWA aims to share the impact of innovation in promoting the sustainable supply of water, according to SWA spokesperson Sultan Al-Rajhi.

“This conference discusses the latest global practices and innovative solutions in the water industry, with the participation of experts, scientists and specialists, who emphasize the pivotal role of innovation in accelerating the future prosperity of water and achieving the Sustainable Development Goals for water and the environment,” he said.

The two-day conference will continue to feature discussions on more than 180 research papers, as well as a water hackathon organized by the Saudi Water Innovation Center.