ISTANBUL: A Turkish woman employee was seriously wounded in an armed attack on Tuesday at Sweden’s honorary consulate in the western province of Izmir, officials and media reports said.
Tensions have flared between Sweden and Muslim countries following several protests involving public desecrations of the Qur'an — including setting pages alight.
Two men set a copy of the holy book alight outside the Swedish parliament in Stockholm on Monday in an act similar to others in recent weeks that have drawn condemnation.
The local governor’s office said the attack was carried out by a “mentally disabled” person with a gun in the Konak district of Izmir at 0945 GMT.
The attack took place outside Sweden’s honorary consulate, the private NTV broadcaster reported. The wounded woman, who was working as a secretary at the diplomatic mission, was in critical condition, it added.
Turkish authorities detained the assailant with the gun and launched an investigation into the incident, the governor’s office said.
The Swedish foreign ministry’s press service in Stockholm confirmed the attack and said in an email to AFP that it was “in close contact” with the general consulate in Istanbul which was in turn in contact with the honorary consulate in Izmir.
“Sweden’s general consul will travel to Izmir tomorrow to be informed of the situation and express her condolences.”
The ministry said it would “not comment on threat scenarios against the foreign mission or which security measures are being taken, as that could counter the purpose of the measures.”
Honorary consulates represent their nationals’ interests abroad but are not run by professional diplomats.
Turkish woman wounded in attack at Sweden’s consulate: official
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Turkish woman wounded in attack at Sweden’s consulate: official
- The wounded woman, who was working as a secretary at the diplomatic mission, was in critical condition
- Turkish authorities detained the assailant with the gun and launched an investigation into the incident
Trump to meet Syria’s president before heading to Qatar on his Middle East tour
- Al-Sharaa was named president of Syria in January, a month after a stunning offensive by insurgent groups
- Trump said he agreed to meet with Al-Sharaa after being encouraged to do so by Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan
The White House said Trump has agreed to “say hello” to Al-Sharaa before the US leader wraps up his stay in Saudi Arabia and heads to Qatar, where Trump is to be honored with a state visit. His Mideast tour also will take him to the United Arab Emirates.
Al-Sharaa was named president of Syria in January, a month after a stunning offensive by insurgent groups led by Al-Sharaa’s Hayat Tahrir Al-Sham, or HTS, stormed Damascus and ended the 54-year rule of the Assad family.
Trump said he agreed to meet with Al-Sharaa after being encouraged to do so by Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. The president also pledged to lift yearslong sanctions on Syria.
“There is a new government that will hopefully succeed in stabilizing the country and keeping peace,” Trump said in a wide-ranging foreign policy address Tuesday in which he announced he was lifting the sanctions that have been in place in Syria since 2011. “That’s what we want to see in Syria.”
Formerly known by the nom de guerre Abu Mohammed Al-Golani, Al-Sharaa joined the ranks of Al-Qaeda insurgents battling US forces in Iraq after the US-led invasion and still faces a warrant for his arrest on terrorism charges in Iraq. The US once offered $10 million for information about his whereabouts because of his links to Al-Qaeda.
Al-Sharaa came back to his home country of Syria after the conflict began in 2011 and led Al-Qaeda’s branch that used to be known as the Nusra Front. He later changed the name of his group to Hayat Tahrir Al-Sham and cut links with Al-Qaeda.
The sanctions go back to the rule of Bashar Assad, who was ousted in December, and were intended to inflict major pain on his economy.
Both the Biden and Trump administrations had left the sanctions in place after Assad’s fall as they sought to take the measure of Al-Sharaa, who has renounced his past affiliation with Al-Qaeda.
Trump is also set to attend a meeting Wednesday of the Gulf Cooperation Council, made up of Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, before setting off for Qatar, the second stop in his Mideast tour.
Qatar served as host of the negotiations between the United States and the Taliban that led to America’s 2021 withdrawal from Afghanistan.
Qatar is home to Al-Udeid Air Base, a sprawling facility that hosts the forward headquarters of the US military’s Central Command.
Israeli army says intercepts missile from Yemen
- A missile fired by the group struck the airport in early May, gouging a hole near its main terminal building and wounding several people
- The Israeli military issued a warning on Sunday for Yemenis to leave three Houthi-controlled ports,
JERUSALEM : Israel’s army said it intercepted a missile fired from Yemen Wednesday, where Iran-backed Houthi militants have kept up attacks on Israel since soon after the Gaza war began in 2023.
“Following the sirens that sounded a short while ago in several areas in Israel, a missile launched from Yemen was intercepted,” the Israeli army said in a statement.
AFP correspondents in Jerusalem heard explosions, probably from the interception of the missile.
It was the second time in less than 24 hours that Israeli air defenses had intercepted a missile fired from Yemen.
On Tuesday, the military said it intercepted a missile launched that the Houthis said targeted Israel’s Ben Gurion airport.
A missile fired by the group struck the airport in early May, gouging a hole near its main terminal building and wounding several people, in a rare penetration of Israeli air defenses.
Israel retaliated against the Houthis by striking the airport in Yemen’s rebel-controlled capital Sanaa and three nearby power stations.
The Israeli military issued a warning on Sunday for Yemenis to leave three Houthi-controlled ports, but no strikes have been reported since.
The United States, which launched a bombing campaign in response to Houthi threats to renew their attacks on shipping, last week reached a ceasefire agreement with the rebels ending weeks of intense US strikes on Yemen.
UK and European allies urge Israel to lift Gaza aid blockade, warn against annexation
- In joint statement delivered at UN Security Council, group said Israeli government’s ongoing obstruction of aid deliveries was “unacceptable”
NEW YORK CITY: The UK and four European allies on Tuesday issued a joint appeal to Israel to immediately lift its blockade on humanitarian aid to Gaza, warning that continued restrictions are placing millions of Palestinian civilians at risk of starvation and undermining prospects for peace
In a joint statement delivered at the United Nations, Britain, France, Denmark, Greece and Slovenia said the Israeli government’s ongoing obstruction of aid deliveries, now entering its third month, was “unacceptable” and risked compounding what UN agencies have described as a looming famine.
“Blocking aid as a ‘pressure lever’ is unacceptable,” the five nations said.
“Palestinian civilians, including children, face starvation… Without an urgent lifting of the aid block, more Palestinians are at risk of dying. Deaths that could easily be avoided.”
The group, which called the emergency Security Council meeting on Gaza, also warned that any Israeli move to annex parts of the territory would breach international law and deepen instability in the region.
“Any attempt by Israel to annex land in Gaza would be unacceptable and violate international law,” the statement read. “Palestinian territory must not be reduced nor subjected to any demographic change.”
The intervention follows the Israeli Security Cabinet’s recent approval of plans to expand its military operations in Gaza, a move the European countries said would only add to Palestinian suffering while doing little to secure the return of hostages still held by Hamas.
“We strongly oppose both these actions,” the statement said, referring to the blockade and the expansion of military activity. “They do nothing to serve the long-term interests of peace and security in the region — nor to secure the safe return of the hostages.”
The five governments welcomed the recent release of Edan Alexander, an Israeli-American hostage held by Hamas since October 7, but reiterated demands for the immediate and unconditional release of all remaining captives.
“Their suffering must end,” they said. “Hamas must have no future role in Gaza or be in a position to threaten Israel.”
The joint statement also expressed concern over proposals to create a new aid delivery mechanism in Gaza that, according to the UN, would fail to meet established humanitarian principles.
“Humanitarian aid must never be used as a political tool or military tactic,” the countries warned. “Any model for distributing humanitarian aid must be independent, impartial and neutral, and in line with international law.”
They emphasized that international humanitarian law obliged Israel to allow “safe, rapid and unimpeded” access for humanitarian assistance, adding: “Gaza is not an exception.”
The group condemned recent attacks on humanitarian personnel, including the killing of Palestinian Red Crescent workers and a strike on a UN compound on March 19, which they called “outrageous.”
“At least 418 aid workers have been killed in Gaza since the conflict began,” the statement noted. “That is at least 418 too many.”
The countries urged Israel to complete and publish the findings of its investigation into the UN compound incident and to “take concrete action to ensure this can never happen again.”
Looking ahead, the five nations reiterated calls for an immediate ceasefire, the release of all hostages, and renewed efforts toward a two-state solution, backing France and Saudi Arabia’s plans to host an international conference on the issue in New York next month.
“This is the only way to achieve long-term peace and security for both Palestinians and Israelis,” the statement concluded.
WHO warns of permanent impact of hunger on a generation of Gazans
GENEVA: Malnutrition rates are rising in Gaza, emergency treatments to counter it are running out and hunger could have a lasting impact on “an entire generation,” a World Health Organization official said on Tuesday.
Israel has blockaded supplies into the enclave since early March, when it resumed its devastating military campaign against Hamas, and a global hunger monitor on Monday warned that half a million people there faced starvation.
WHO representative for the Occupied Palestinian Territory Rik Peeperkorn said he had seen children who looked years younger than their age and visited a north Gaza hospital where over 20 percent of children screened suffered from acute malnutrition.
“What we see is an increasing trend in generalized acute malnutrition,” Peeperkorn told a press briefing by video link from Deir Al-Balah. “I’ve seen a child that’s five years old, and you would say it was two-and-a-half.”
“Without enough nutritious food, clean water and access to health care, an entire generation will be permanently affected,” he said, warning of stunting and impaired cognitive development.
The head of the UN Palestinian refugee agency Philippe Lazzarini told the BBC that he thought Israel was denying food and aid to civilians as a weapon of war.
The WHO criticized it in a statement late on Monday as “grossly inadequate” to meet the population’s immediate needs.
Due to the blockade, WHO only has enough stocks to treat 500 children with acute malnutrition, which is only a fraction of what is needed, Peeperkorn said.
Already, 55 children have died of acute malnutrition, he said.
UN aid chief slams Israel’s Gaza aid plan as ‘cynical sideshow’
- “We have rigorous mechanisms to ensure our aid gets to civilians and not to Hamas, but Israel denies us access,” said Fletcher
- No aid has been delivered to Gaza since March 2
UNITED NATIONS: United Nations aid chief Tom Fletcher on Tuesday said an Israeli plan aid distribution in the Gaza Strip was a “cynical sideshow, a deliberate distraction, a fig leaf for further violence and displacement” of Palestinians in the enclave.
He told the UN Security Council that no food, medicine, water or tents have entered the war-torn Palestinian enclave for more than 10 weeks.
“We can save hundreds of thousands of survivors. We have rigorous mechanisms to ensure our aid gets to civilians and not to Hamas, but Israel denies us access, placing the objective of depopulating Gaza before the lives of civilians,” said Fletcher.
No aid has been delivered to Gaza since March 2. Israel has said it would not allow the entry of goods and supplies into Gaza until Palestinian militant group Hamas releases all remaining hostages.
At the end of last month the UN World Food Programme said it had run out of food stocks in Gaza, and US President Donald Trump said that he pushed Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to allow the delivery of food and medicine.
Fletcher said the UN has met more than a dozen times with Israeli authorities to discuss their proposed aid distribution model “to find a way to make it possible,” stressing the minimum conditions needed for UN involvement. Those included the ability to deliver aid to all those in need wherever they are.
“The Israeli-designed distribution modality is not the answer,” he told the 15-member council.
“It forces further displacement. It exposes thousands of people to harm ... It restricts aid to only one part of Gaza while leaving other dire needs unmet. It makes aid conditional on political and military aims. It makes starvation a bargaining chip,” Fletcher said.
COGAT, the Israeli military agency that coordinates aid, met with UN agencies and international aid groups in early April and proposed “a structured monitoring and aid entry mechanism.”
“The mechanism is designed to support aid organizations, enhance oversight and accountability, and ensure that assistance reaches the civilian population in need, rather than being diverted and stolen by Hamas,” COGAT posted on X on April 3.
The war in Gaza was triggered on October 7, 2023, when Hamas killed 1,200 people in southern Israel, and took some 250 hostages, according to Israeli tallies. Since then, more than 52,700 Palestinians have been killed, according to Gaza health authorities.
