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.
Blinken urges against ‘escalatory actions’ in Mideast
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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
Norway warns Israel’s actions in Gaza risk setting dangerous global precedent
- Norway’s international development minister Asmund Aukrust said Gaza crisis was eroding principles that protect civilians everywhere
LONDON: Israel’s conduct in Gaza is undermining international law and fueling a wider global threat, Norway’s international development minister has said, warning that the use of tactics such as blocking aid and targeting humanitarian groups could become a grim new norm in future conflicts.
“For the last one and a half years we have seen very low respect for international law in the war in Gaza and in recent months it is worse than ever before,” Asmund Aukrust said.
“So for the Norwegian government it is very important to protest against this, to condemn this very clear violation,” he added.
Aukrust said that the crisis was not only deepening suffering in Gaza but eroding principles that protect civilians everywhere, The Guardian newspaper reported on Saturday.
“We are very concerned that there will be a new international standard where food is used as a weapon, where the UN is denied entrance to the war and conflict zone, and other NGOs are denied entrance,” he said.
“And Israel is building up something they call Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), which is to militarise humanitarian aid.”
The GHF, supported by Israel and the US, began food distribution in Gaza this week. Israeli forces said that they fired “warning shots” at a center during chaotic scenes, while local health authorities reported one civilian killed and dozens injured.
A UN-led review earlier this month found all 2.1 million residents of Gaza at critical risk of famine, with 500,000 already in catastrophic conditions.
“We are afraid and very concerned that this might be a new standard in international law and this will make the world a lot more dangerous to all of us,” Aukrust said.
Asked whether Israel’s actions amounted to genocide, Aukrust said that was a matter for international courts, not politicians.
“Genocide is the worst crime a country can do and the worst crime that politicians can do and this should not be polarized,” he said.
He insisted that dialogue must remain open, even with groups such as Hamas, and stressed Norway’s long-term commitment to Gaza’s recovery.
“We have no limitation of who we are talking to. I would say the opposite. We would be happy to, and we want to, talk with those who are responsible, whether it is Israel, Hamas or others,” he said.
“Dialogue is the most important word when it comes to peacemaking and we want to have an open line with all countries, all groups that might have an influence here,” he added.
Norway, which recognized the Palestinian state in May, has long played a mediating role in the region, including hosting the 1993 Oslo Accords. Aukrust said that recognition was meant “to send out a message of hope.”
The country’s sovereign wealth fund, which is the world’s largest, has already blacklisted 11 companies for aiding Israel’s occupation, though Aukrust stressed decisions on investments are made by the bank, not politicians.
“The bank decides where they want to invest. What the politicians do is to decide the rules,” he said. The rules, he added, were “very clear” that the fund should not invest in anything that contributed to a violation of international law.
The Norwegian parliament is expected to vote next week against a proposal to block the fund from investing in firms operating in the occupied Palestinian territories.
Aukrust urged people across Europe to keep up pressure and stay engaged, adding: “As long as the war is going on, from the Norwegian government side we will all the time look into what more can we do. What new initiative can we take. How can we send an even clearer message to those who are responsible for this.”
Moroccan women embroider ‘art with purpose’
- Several hunch over large canvasses, embroidering their latest piece at the women-only workshop, in the village of 400 people
- Some of their works have been shown internationally
SIDI RBAT, Morocco: In a small village on the coast of southern Morocco, women gather in a house to create collaborative works of textile art, and also earn a living.
Several hunch over large canvasses, embroidering their latest piece at the women-only workshop, in the village of 400 people. Some of their works have been shown internationally.
“This project has changed my life,” said Hanane Ichbikili, a 28-year-old former nursing student turned project creative director.
“And yet I had never held an embroidery needle before,” she told AFP.
Just 19 percent of Moroccan women hold steady jobs, according to official figures, and in rural areas they are particularly affected by poverty, unpaid labor and a lack of opportunity.
An artist with roots in both Morocco and France has tried to make a difference.
Margaux Derhy founded the workshop in 2022 in her father’s native village of Sidi R’bat, around 70 kilometers (45 miles) south of Agadir, to fulfil her “dream to make art with purpose.”
The project uses textiles and old photographs to explore her family heritage before they left the country in the 1960s, turning sepia-toned portraits and scenes into large silk-and-linen canvases.
The North African country was a protectorate of France before gaining its independence in 1956.
The project is more than just personal for Derhy — it also provides local women in the small fishing village employment.
“I wanted to be engaged on the ground,” said Derhy, adding that she hired 10 local women to work full-time for a monthly salary exceeding Morocco’s private-sector minimum wage of 3,045 dirhams ($330).
The women’s hands glide over frames that were once used by Paris’s prestigious Maison Lesage, the world-famous embroidery house that has worked with some of the greatest names in fashion.
The creative process is collaborative, with Derhy drawing an outline and the team then gathering to choose the threads and color palette for each section.
A canvas can take up to five months to complete.
The finished works, priced at up to $5,620, have been shown in exhibitions in Marrakech, Paris and Brussels. Future exhibits are planned for Casablanca’s L’Atelier 21 and Tabari Artspace Gallery in Dubai.
The workshop has also helped to challenge perceived ideas about women in the village.
“At first, some of the women had to hide to come because it was frowned upon,” said Khadija Ahuilat, 26, who oversees operations.
She said some people thought the project “was nonsense, and a woman should stay at home.”
“But we managed to change that. I’m very proud to have contributed to this change, even if on a small scale.”
Her mother, Aicha Jout, 50, a widow who once gathered mussels and raised livestock to support her family, is now one of the embroiderers.
“It changes a lot for me to be here,” she said.
“I love the idea of embroidering on pictures, but also of passing on the craft to other women.”
Jout learned to embroider at the age of 12, and has trained the rest of her mostly single or widowed colleagues.
“There aren’t really a lot of job opportunities here, so when the chance came I didn’t hesitate for a second,” said Haddia Nachit, 59, one of the workshop’s most efficient embroiders.
Her nickname among the women is “TGV” — after France’s high-speed train.
Seated next to Nachit, Fadma Lachgar, also 59, said the work allowed her to help her family.
“Resuming embroidery at my age, after 20 years of stopping, is a blessing,” she said.
Hungry Palestinians in Gaza block and offload dozens of UN food trucks
- The WFP said the fear of starvation in Gaza is high despite the food aid that’s entering now
- “We need to flood communities with food for the next few days to calm anxieties and rebuild the trust with communities that more food is coming”
TEL AVIV: Palestinians in the Gaza Strip blocked and offloaded dozens of food trucks, the UN World Food Program said Saturday, as desperation mounts following Israel’s monthslong blockade and airstrikes while talks of a ceasefire inch forward.
The WFP said that 77 trucks carrying aid, mostly flour, were stopped by hungry people who took the food before the trucks were able to reach their destination.
A nearly three-month Israeli blockade on Gaza has pushed the population to the brink of famine. While the pressure slightly eased in recent days as Israel allowed some aid to enter, organizations say there still isn’t nearly enough food getting in.
Hamas on Friday said it was reviewing a US proposal for a temporary ceasefire. US President Donald Trump said that negotiators were nearing a deal.
A ceasefire would pause the fighting for 60 days, release some of the 58 hostages still held in Gaza in exchange for Palestinian prisoners and much needed food aid and other assistance, according to Hamas and Egyptian officials who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to talk to the media.
The WFP said the fear of starvation in Gaza is high despite the food aid that’s entering now. “We need to flood communities with food for the next few days to calm anxieties and rebuild the trust with communities that more food is coming,” said agency said in a statement.
A witness in the southern city of Khan Younis told The Associated Press the UN convoy was stopped at a makeshift roadblock and offloaded by desperate civilians in their thousands. Most people carried bags of flour on their backs or heads. He said at one point a forklift was used to offload pallets from the stranded trucks. The witness spoke on condition of anonymity because of fear of reprisal.
The United Nations said earlier this month that Israeli authorities have forced them to use unsecured routes within areas controlled by the Israeli military in the eastern areas of Rafah and Khan Younis, where armed gangs are active and trucks were stopped.
Israel’s military didn’t immediately respond to comment.
Attacks, gangs, lack of protection hamper UN distribution
An internal document shared with aid groups about security incidents, seen by the AP, said there were four incidents of facilities being looted in three days at the end of May, not including the convoy on Saturday.
The UN says it’s been unable to get enough aid in because of fighting. On Friday, UN spokesperson Stephane Dujarric said it only picked up five truckloads of cargo from the Palestinian side of the Kareem Shalom crossing, and the other 60 trucks had to return due to intense hostilities in the area.
An Israeli official said his country has offered the UN logistical and operational support but “the UN is not doing their job.” Instead, a new U.S- and Israeli-backed foundation started operations in Gaza this week, distributing food at several sites in a chaotic rollout. Israel says the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation will replace the massive aid operation that the UN and others have carried out throughout the war.
It says the new mechanism is necessary, accusing Hamas of siphoning off large amounts of aid. The UN denies that significant diversion takes place.
The GHF works with armed contractors, which is says is needed to distribute food safely. Aid groups have accused the foundation of militarizing aid.
Istanbul mayor’s staff targeted by dozens of arrest warrants
- The warrants were based on “four separate corruption investigations centered on Istanbul,” Anadolu said
- Police had already detained nearly 70 people in subsequent raids
ISTANBUL: Turkish authorities have issued 47 arrest warrants for municipal officials and staff across Istanbul, whose mayor — the main political rival to President Recep Tayyip Erdogan — has been jailed since March, the state news agency Anadolu reported on Saturday.
The warrants were based on “four separate corruption investigations centered on Istanbul,” Anadolu said, without revealing how many people were actually taken into custody.
The March 19 arrest and jailing of Istanbul mayor Ekrem Imamoglu sparked the biggest street protests Turkiye had seen in decades.
Police had already detained nearly 70 people in subsequent raids linked to alleged corruption at Istanbul City Hall, including Imamoglu’s private secretary and his private protection officer.
The latest warrants targeted a former opposition lawmaker and five mayors of Istanbul districts, according to Anadolu.
The private television station Halk, seen as close to the opposition CHP party that Imamoglu belongs to, said that nine district mayors — out of a total of 39 — had now been arrested and were being kept in custody.
The CHP, which has nominated Imamoglu as its candidate in presidential elections due in 2028, did not immediately comment on the latest warrants.
Divided UN extends arms embargo on South Sudan as fears of renewed civil war grow
- The arms embargo, and travel bans and asset freezes on South Sudanese on the UN sanctions blacklist, were extended for a year until May 31, 2026
- There were high hopes for peace and stability after oil-rich South Sudan gained independence
UNITED NATIONS: A divided UN Security Council voted Friday to extend an arms embargo on South Sudan, where escalating political tensions have led the UN to warn that the country could again plunge into civil war.
A US-sponsored resolution to extend the embargo and other sanctions was approved by the narrowest margin — the minimum nine “yes” votes required. Six countries abstained – Russia, China, Algeria, Sierra Leone, Somalia and Pakistan.
The arms embargo, and travel bans and asset freezes on South Sudanese on the UN sanctions blacklist, were extended for a year until May 31, 2026.
There were high hopes for peace and stability after oil-rich South Sudan gained independence from Sudan in 2011, becoming the world’s newest nation.
But the country slid into civil war in December 2013 when forces loyal to President Salva Kiir, who is from the largest ethnic group in the country, the Dinka, started battling those loyal to Riek Machar, who is from the second-largest ethnic group, the Nuer.
A 2018 peace deal that brought Machar into the government as first vice president has been fragile, and implementation has been slow. A presidential election has been postponed until 2026.
Last month, the UN envoy to South Sudan, Nicholas Haysom, warned that the escalating rivalry between Kiir and Machar had degenerated into direct military confrontation between their parties and led to Machar’s arrest.
A campaign of misinformation, disinformation and hate speech is “fueling political and ethnic tensions — particularly on social media,” he warned. And “these conditions are darkly reminiscent of the 2013 and 2016 conflicts, which took over 400,000 lives.”
US Minister Counselor John Kelley thanked the council after the vote, saying the arms embargo “remains necessary to stem the unfettered flow of weapons into a region that remains awash with guns.”
“Escalating violence in recent months has brought South Sudan to the brink of civil war,” he said, urging the country’s leaders to restore peace.
Russia’s deputy UN ambassador Anna Evstigneeva countered by saying the easing of Security Council sanctions on South Sudan is long overdue. She said the arms embargo and other sanctions are restricting implementation of the 2018 peace agreement.
She accused the resolution’s supporters of “putting a brake on a successful political process unfolding in Sudan, as well as complicating the deployment and proper equipping of the national armed forces.”
South Sudan’s UN ambassador, Cecilia Adeng, expressed “deep disappointment” at the extension of the arms embargo and other sanctions.
“The lifting of the sanctions and the arms embargo is not only a matter of national security or sovereignty, but also a matter of economic opportunity and dignity,” she said. “These measures create barriers to growth, delay development, discourage foreign investment, and leave the state vulnerable to non-state actors and outlaws.”
