Omani FM calls for end to Israel’s ‘genocidal policies’ against Palestinians

Oman Minister for Foreign Affairs Badr bin Hamad Al Busaidi speaks during the 79th Session of the United Nations General Assembly at the United Nations headquarters in New York City. (AFP)
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Updated 29 September 2024
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Omani FM calls for end to Israel’s ‘genocidal policies’ against Palestinians

  • Addressing UN General Assembly, Badr Al-Busaidi calls for Palestinian state, full membership
  • There should be ‘immediate’ ceasefires in Gaza, Lebanon, Red Sea region

WASHINGTON: Oman’s foreign minister called on Saturday for an immediate end to Israel’s wars in Gaza and Lebanon, and the establishment of a Palestinian state.

Badr Al-Busaidi told the UN General Assembly in New York that Oman is fully committed to the promotion of international peace as a core mission of the organization.

“Oman calls for an immediate ceasefire and cessation of hostilities in Gaza, Lebanon and the Red Sea region,” he said.

“We emphasize the need to address the root causes of these conflicts by ending the illegal Israeli occupation of Palestinian territories and achieving justice for the Palestinian people based on a two-state solution, leading to the establishment of an independent Palestinian state with East Jerusalem as its capital, along the 1967 borders,” he added.

“Oman stresses the necessity of granting Palestine full membership in the UN and ending the genocidal policies carried out by Israeli occupation forces against the Palestinian people, alleviating the humanitarian suffering they endure.”

Since last October, Israel has killed over 41,000 Palestinians in Gaza, and in the last week it has killed hundreds of Lebanese.

Al-Busaidi said Oman’s foreign policy is founded on dialogue and tolerance as a means to address all challenges and issues, based on mutual respect, cooperation and harmony among nations.

Domestically, he said Oman is working on building a sustainable and diversified economy, and fostering social development, including the empowerment of women and youth.

Al-Busaidi added that the country’s Vision 2040 will bring empowerment and prosperity to the different segments of Omani society.

He expressed Oman’s commitment to promoting “peaceful coexistence” and “respect,” and urging nations worldwide to fight “against all forms of discrimination, racism, hatred and violence.”


Israel army says ‘more than 20’ Hezbollah members killed alongside Nasrallah

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Israel army says ‘more than 20’ Hezbollah members killed alongside Nasrallah

BEIRUT: The Israeli military said on Sunday the strike that killed Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah this week in Beirut also “eliminated” more than 20 other members of the Lebanese armed group.
“More than 20 other terrorists of varying ranks, who were present at the underground headquarters in Beirut located beneath civilian buildings, and were managing Hezbollah’s terrorist operations against the state of Israel, were also eliminated,” the military said in a statement that listed some of them.
According to the statement, Ibrahim Hussein Jazini and Samir Tawfiq Dib who were “among Nasrallah’s closest associates” had been killed.
“Due to their proximity to him, they served a significant role in the day-to-day operations of Hezbollah and Nasrallah in particular,” it said.
Hezbollah on Saturday confirmed Nasrallah’s death, and on Sunday said Ali Karake, the group’s top commander in south Lebanon, were killed in the Friday attack.
Other names listed by the Israeli military include Abed Al-Amir Muhammad Sablini and Ali Naaf Ayoub.
In recent days, Israel has shifted the focus of its military operations from Gaza to Lebanon, after nearly a year of low-level cross-border fire with Hezbollah, killing hundreds in Lebanon.
The group began firing on Israel in what it described as a show of solidarity with ally Hamas a day after the Palestinian militant group’s unprecedented October 7 attack on Israel, which triggered war in the Gaza Strip.

Blasts heard in vicinity of Syria’s Damascus, state news agency says

Updated 56 min 55 sec ago
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Blasts heard in vicinity of Syria’s Damascus, state news agency says

CAIRO: Blasts were heard in the vicinity of Syrian capital Damascus, state news agency SANA reported on Sunday, adding that an investigation was being conducted to establish the cause.


French foreign minister to visit Lebanon on Sunday, foreign ministry says

Updated 29 September 2024
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French foreign minister to visit Lebanon on Sunday, foreign ministry says

PARIS: French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot will travel to Lebanon on Sunday, his office said, as Israel continued to strike multiple targets in the country.
“We confirm that the minister is going to Lebanon this weekend to talk with local authorities and provide French support, particularly humanitarian support,” the foreign ministry said.


Israeli airstrikes kill 11 Palestinians in Gaza

Updated 29 September 2024
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Israeli airstrikes kill 11 Palestinians in Gaza

  • Almost 41,600 Palestinians killed in Gaza since Oct 7
  • Israeli army says it struck a Hamas command center

CAIRO: Israeli military strikes across the Gaza Strip have killed at least 11 Palestinians, health officials in the enclave said on Sunday, as Israeli planes bombarded several northern, central and southern areas.
A school sheltering displaced Palestinians in Beit Lahiya in the northern Gaza Strip was among buildings hit, killing four people and wounded several others, Gaza medics said.
The Israeli military said it struck Hamas militants operating from a command center embedded in a compound that had previously served as Um Al-Fahm School. It accused Hamas of exploiting civilian facilities and its population for military purposes, which Hamas denies.
In another strike, three people were killed in a house in Gaza City, medics said. Four others were killed in three separate airstrikes in Nuseirat and Khan Younis in central and southern parts of the Gaza Strip.
Israeli forces pursued their operations in Rafah, near the border with Egypt, and in Gaza City’s suburb of Zeitoun, where forces blew up several houses, according to residents and Hamas media.
On Sunday the Israeli military said forces continue the fight in a “multi-front war” and are operating in Gaza to bring Israeli and foreign hostages home and to “dismantle” Hamas.
It said troops discovered and dismantled an underground tunnel route that is approximately 1km long near residential buildings and civilian spaces in central Gaza, adding that they found several rooms and equipment used by Hamas for prolonged periods.
Fighting and Israeli military activities in Gaza have declined in the past week as Israel escalated its military offensive against Iranian-backed Hezbollah in Lebanon, killing its leader Hassan Nasrallah in an airstrike on Friday. The group announced Nasrallah’s death on Saturday.
Most of Gaza’s population of 2.3 million have been displaced by the war, in which 41,500 Palestinians have been killed, according to Gaza health authorities.
Israel and Hamas have been fighting since gunmen from the Palestinian militant group stormed into southern Israel on Oct. 7, killing 1,200 people and capturing about 250 hostages, going by Israeli tallies.


US airstrikes on Syria kill 37 militants affiliated with extremist groups

Updated 29 September 2024
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US airstrikes on Syria kill 37 militants affiliated with extremist groups

  • US Central Command said it struck northwestern Syria targeting a senior militant from the Al-Qaeda-linked Hurras Al-Deen group and eight others

BEIRUT: In Syria, 37 militants affiliated to the extremist Daesh group and an Al-Qaeda-linked group were killed in two strikes, the United States military said Sunday.
Two of the dead were senior militants, it said.
US Central Command said it struck northwestern Syria on Tuesday, targeting a senior militant from the Al-Qaeda-linked Hurras Al-Deen group and eight others. They say he was responsible for overseeing military operations.
They also announced a strike from earlier this month on Sept. 16, where they conducted a “large-scale airstrike” on a Daesh training camp in a remote undisclosed location in central Syria. That attack killed 28 militants, including “at least four Syrian leaders.”
“The airstrike will disrupt Daesh’ capability to conduct operations against US interests, as well as our allies and partners,” the statement read.
There are some 900 US forces in Syria, along with an undisclosed number of contractors, mostly trying to prevent any comeback by the extremist Daesh group, which swept through Iraq and Syria in 2014, taking control of large swaths of territory.
US forces advise and assist their key allies in northeastern Syria, the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces, located not far from strategic areas where Iran-backed militant groups are present, including a key border crossing with Iraq.