DOHA: Negotiators seeking a Gaza ceasefire were set to meet for a second day in Qatar on Friday, while top European diplomats were expected in Israel to stress the urgency of averting a wider war.
The on-and-off truce talks reconvened in Qatar’s capital on Thursday without Hamas, which has accused Israel of obstructing a deal and insists on the implementation of previously agreed terms.
Months of talks have yet to secure the return of hostages held by militants in Gaza or staunch the spiralling death toll, which authorities in Hamas-ruled Gaza on Thursday said had topped 40,000 in the Palestinian territory after more than 10 months of war.
US National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said the talks had “a promising start” but acknowledged “there remains a lot of work to do.”
Israel’s main military supplier the United States has been mediating the talks with Qatar and Egypt.
The United States and its allies see the proposed Gaza truce as key to de-escalating soaring regional tensions, particularly with Iran.
“This is a dangerous moment for the Middle East. The risk of the situation spiralling out of control is rising,” British Foreign Secretary David Lamy said ahead of his visit with French Foreign Minister Stephane Sejourne.
During meetings with Israel’s Foreign Minister Israel Katz and Minister of Strategic Affairs Ron Dermer, they would “stress there is no time for delays or excuses from all parties on a ceasefire deal” in Gaza, according to Britain’s foreign ministry.
Sejourne said “any miscalculation in the current situation could provoke a generalized conflagration.”
While talks take place in the Gulf emirate, bombs have continued to fall in Gaza.
As they struggled to recover bodies from the ruins of yet another air strike on Thursday, Palestinians in north Gaza questioned why, when Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s team was in Qatar.
“Why did Netanyahu send a delegation to the talks while we are being killed here?” in Jabalia, Mohammed Al-Balwi said as rescuers around him pulled bodies from the concrete wreckage.
They had found “limbs on the ground,” he said.
Fears of a wider Middle East war have soared since the July 31 killing of Hamas political leader and truce negotiator Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran. Iran and its allied groups in the region blamed Israel and vowed revenge.
Haniyeh’s death came hours after an Israeli strike killed Fuad Shukr, the military commander of Lebanon’s Iran-backed Hezbollah movement, which has exchanged near-daily cross border fire with Israeli forces.
The Gaza war has also drawn in Tehran-aligned groups in Iraq, Syria and Yemen.
The US military said its forces had destroyed a “ground control station” operated by Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthi rebels. The Houthis have for months fired missiles and drones at shipping in waterways vital to world trade off Yemen.
The Houthis, like Hezbollah, say they are acting in support of the Palestinians.
Violence has also surged in the Israeli-occupied West Bank.
Israeli President Isaac Herzog on Thursday condemned a Jewish settler attack on a West Bank village that the Palestinian Authority said killed one Palestinian and wounded another.
The Israeli military said dozens of Israeli civilians, some masked, entered Jit on Thursday evening and “set fire to vehicles and structures in the area, hurled rocks and Molotov cocktails.”
It added that it had opened an investigation and was looking into reports of a fatality.
Since the war in Gaza began, hundreds of Palestinians have been killed in the West Bank by the Israeli army or settlers, according to an AFP count based on official Palestinian data.
During the same period in the West Bank, at least 18 Israelis, including soldiers, have been killed in Palestinian attacks, according to official Israeli data.
The Qatari foreign ministry said Gaza truce negotiations would continue on Friday.
Mediators remain committed “in their endeavours to reach a ceasefire in the strip that would facilitate the release of hostages and enable the entry of the largest possible amount of humanitarian aid into Gaza,” a ministry spokesperson said.
They are seeking to finalize details of a three-phase proposal initially outlined by US President Joe Biden in May.
While Hamas is not directly taking part, an official of the Islamist movement, Osama Hamdan, told AFP the group would join if the meeting set a timetable for implementing the agreed terms.
He added that Hamas would not engage in negotiations that “give Netanyahu more time to kill our Palestinian people.”
Netanyahu has called Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar “the only obstacle to a hostage deal.”
Hamas’s unprecedented October 7 attack on Israel that triggered the war resulted in the deaths of 1,198 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally of Israeli official figures.
Militants also seized 251 hostages, 111 of whom are still held in Gaza, including 39 the military says are dead.
Some were freed during a one-week truce in November.
The war has displaced almost the entire population of Gaza and destroyed much of its housing and other infrastructure, leaving widespread shortages of food.
Gaza’s health ministry, which does not provide a breakdown of civilian and militant casualties, on Thursday said the war has killed at least 40,005 people.
The United Nations human rights chief, Volker Turk, called it a “grim milestone for the world.”
Gaza ceasefire talks to resume for 2nd day in Qatar
https://arab.news/zyzb2
Gaza ceasefire talks to resume for 2nd day in Qatar
- The on-and-off truce talks reconvened in Qatar’s capital on Thursday without Hamas
- United States and its allies see the proposed Gaza truce as key to de-escalating soaring regional tensions, particularly with Iran
Saudi artworks attract crowds in Cairo
- Nahed Turkistani, a professor of ceramic art at Jeddah University and one of the exhibition’s organizers, said the event featured around 20 Saudi works
- She highlighted the distinctiveness of the Saudi pieces which showcased works representing innovative artistic ideas
CAIRO: Saudi artworks at the second edition of the Beyond the Frame art exhibition — currently at the Cairo Opera House — have attracted visitors of various nationalities and ages, who have praised the diversity and uniqueness of the works.
Nahed Turkistani, a professor of ceramic art at Jeddah University and one of the exhibition’s organizers, said the event featured around 20 Saudi works in photography, sculpture, Arabic calligraphy, and painting.
She highlighted the distinctiveness of the Saudi pieces which showcased works representing innovative artistic ideas reflecting intellectualism, diversity and creativity.
Turkistani said the event emphasized the spirit of cooperation and cultural and artistic exchange between the participating Arab countries, with the focus on the traditions of the societies involved.
She also noted the support provided by the Saudi Embassy in Egypt during the event.
‘Art Here’ exhibition at Louvre Abu Dhabi begins in collaboration with Swiss watchmaker
- The fourth annual event includes a prize worth $60,000
- 5 artists selected to showcase their work under theme ‘Awakenings’
ABU DHABI: In collaboration with Swiss watchmakers Richard Mille, Louvre Abu Dhabi is hosting the fourth edition of the annual exhibition and competition “Art Here” from Sept. 20 to Dec. 15.
With more than 200 applicants from all over the Arab world, the Art Here award is offering a $60 thousand prize for its winner.
This year, five artists were selected to showcase their work under the theme “Awakenings,” with the winning artist to be selected by a jury and announced in December.
The artists are Sarah Almehairi, Lamya Gargash, Ferielle Doulain-Zouari, Moataz Nasr and Nicene Kossentini.
Emirati artist Gargash interpreted the theme with a giant beach ball sculpture made entirely of sand from the UAE.
Gargash explained that her piece “Debutante Ball” was inspired by a derogatory comment someone made toward her when she was younger, saying the UAE was just a “giant sandbox.”
“I consider it (the art) a response to something that I experienced years ago. A negative comment, a provocative comment that was pointed at me. And I took it to heart,” she said.
“The theme ‘Awakenings’ speaks volumes about transience and finding your way. So for me, it is a rebirth. It’s a renaissance,” she said.
Egyptian artist Nasr decided to give up the field of economics to pursue his passion.
“My mother was an artist. I used to sit with her, watching her where she’s painting. And that was the best thing in my life. Just sitting behind her. Seeing how colors keep mixing until something comes out all of the sudden over there in front of me,” he said.
Nasr describes himself as a history buff and said his work is inspired by Arab history. His piece “Brides of the Sky” tells the story of women during the Mongolian invasion of Egypt.
“What I’m trying to do as an artist is bring a big loop, a magnified loop and put it on things that people can pass by without seeing and tell them: Look, this is your heritage.
“Maybe this is going to awaken something in them and make them understand something about themselves, about the history, the heritage,” he said.
UN to add nutrients to second round of Gaza polio vaccinations
- The first round of the polio vaccination campaign, which began on Sept. 1, reached its target of 90 percent of children under 10 years of age
UNITED NATIONS: The second round of a vaccination campaign to protect 640,000 children in Gaza against polio will also deliver micronutrients — essential vitamins and minerals — and conduct nutritional screening, a senior UN Children’s Fund official said.
Discussions are also underway about the feasibility of adding further vaccinations to the campaign, including a measles immunization, said Ted Chaiban, UNICEF’s deputy executive director for humanitarian action and supply operations.
“There are over 44,000 children born in the last year and who haven’t received their basic immunization,” he said on Thursday.
The first round of the polio vaccination campaign, which began on Sept. 1, reached its target of 90 percent of children under 10 years of age, the head of the United Nations Palestinian refugee agency (UNRWA) said on Monday.
It was carried out in phases over two weeks during humanitarian pauses in the fighting between Israel and Palestinian militants Hamas. A second round of the polio vaccinations has to be carried out within four weeks.
The World Health Organization (WHO) confirmed last month that a baby was partially paralyzed by the type 2 polio virus, the first such case in the territory in 25 years.
A high risk of famine persists across Gaza as long as the war continues and humanitarian access is restricted, according to an assessment by a global hunger monitor published in June.
“In the same way that we’ve been able to reach all children with polio vaccines, we need to move and use the same modality to reach children with their basic vaccines, with some of the nutrition and hygiene interventions that are essential to save their lives,” Chaiban told reporters after visiting Gaza, the West Bank and Israel.
“Those are lifesaving interventions and the parties have shown that they can line up when necessary. It needs to happen again,” he said.
Pakistan, US agree to schedule key talks on trade and investment ‘soon’
- Trade and Investment Framework Agreement serves as platform for both countries to resolve issues related to bilateral trade
- Commerce minister says US remains Pakistan’s” top” trading destination, calls for strengthening bilateral trade relations
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s Commerce Minister Jam Kamal and US Trade Representative Katherine Tae on Thursday held talks focused on enhancing bilateral trade relations between the once close allies, with both sides agreeing to schedule the key Trade and Investment Framework Agreement (TIFA) talks “soon.”
TIFA serves as a platform for Pakistan and the US to improve market access, promote bilateral trade and investment, resolve disputes, and work on trade-related issues between the two countries.
Pakistan and the US took part in high-level trade talks in Feb. 2023 when both countries participated in the 9th Pakistan-United States Trade and Investment Framework Agreement (TIFA) Council meeting. That meeting took place after seven years.
Khan held a virtual meeting with Tai during which he said America remains Pakistan’s “top trading destination, expressing his country’s desire to further expand this partnership.
“During the meeting, it was confirmed that the next Trade and Investment Framework Agreement (TIFA) meeting would be scheduled soon, along with discussions on agriculture, textiles, women’s empowerment, IT and E-commerce,” the commerce ministry said in a statement.
Khan highlighted Pakistan’s “strong performance” in the agriculture sector, particularly in mangoes and dates, the ministry said, adding that he also spoke about the potential for growth in value-added agro-services.
Tai acknowledged Pakistan’s contributions, particularly its agricultural exports, and praised the quality of Pakistani mangoes, the statement said.
“Minister Jam Kamal invited Tai to attend Pakistan’s TEXPO in October,” the commerce ministry said. It said Tai was grateful for the invitation and expressed interest in attending the event.
In return, Tai invited Kamal to visit Washington to further explore trade opportunities between the two countries.
Blinken urges against ‘escalatory actions’ in Mideast
- France, US are united in calling for restraint and urging de-escalation when it comes to Middle East in general and when it comes to Lebanon in particular: Blinken
PARIS: US Secretary of State Antony Blinken Thursday urged against “escalatory actions by any party” in the Middle East, following the explosions of devices of Lebanese group Hezbollah blamed on Israel.
“France and the United States are united in calling for restraint and urging de-escalation when it comes to the Middle East in general and when it comes to Lebanon in particular,” Blinken said after talks in Paris with his French counterpart Stephane Sejourne.
Blinken said this was especially important at a time when the international community was continuing work to agree a ceasefire in Gaza to end the conflict between Israel and Palestinian militant group Hamas.
“We continue to work to get a ceasefire for Gaza over the finish line... We believe that remains both possible and necessary. But meanwhile we don’t want to see any escalatory actions by any party that makes that more difficult,” Blinken said.
Sejourne, making one of his final public appearances ahead of a cabinet reshuffle that will see him sent to Brussels as France’s new EU commissioner, said both France and the United States were “very worried about the situation” in the Middle East.
He said both the United States and France were coordinating to “send messages of de-escalation” to the parties.
“Lebanon would not recover from a total war,” he said.
Fears of a major war on Israel’s northern border have increased after thousands of Hezbollah operatives’ communication devices exploded across Lebanon, killing 37 people and wounding nearly 3,000 more across two days.
