PARIS — France has delivered 12 tons of medical aid to Lebanon, including two mobile clinics that will be able to treat 1,000 seriously injured people currently in hospitals’ emergency wards across the country, according to a statement from the French Foreign Ministry on Monday.
French military aircraft also delivered critical supplies of medicine to Lebanese emergency, pediatric and general hospitals and clinics, which have been overwhelmed with thousands of injured people since Israel’s bombardment of the country began over a week ago.
During his visit to Beirut on Monday, France’s Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot said that Paris is also releasing 10 million euros ($11.1 million) in emergency humanitarian aid to support the work of local humanitarian organizations, particularly the Lebanese Red Cross.
“In the face of the escalating conflict between Israel and Hezbollah, France stands by Lebanon and remains committed to protecting civilians,” the statement said.
Barrot is scheduled to meet with Lebanese leaders on Monday, including with Prime Minister Najib Mikati, Army chief Joseph Aoun and Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri.
France delivers 12 tons of medical aid to Lebanon
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France delivers 12 tons of medical aid to Lebanon
- French Foreign Minister Barrot is scheduled to meet with Lebanese leaders on Monday
UAE foreign minister holds talks with US counterpart in Washington
- Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al-Nahyan and Marco Rubio discussed enhancing strategic ties to support shared interests
- Sheikh Abdullah said that the US is a key strategic ally of the UAE, and the UAE will work with the US to promote peace and stability
LONDON: UAE Minister of Foreign Affairs Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al-Nahyan held talks on Wednesday with his US counterpart Marco Rubio at the US Department of State headquarters in Washington, D.C.
The meeting focused on enhancing strategic ties to support shared interests, according to the Emirates News Agency.
They assessed collaboration in the economic, commercial, scientific, advanced technology, and artificial intelligence sectors, along with the results of US President Donald Trump’s recent visit to the UAE in May.
Sheikh Abdullah said that the US is a key strategic ally of the UAE, and the UAE will work with the US to promote peace and stability both in the region and globally.
During the meeting, Sheikh Abdullah and Rubio also discussed regional developments.
The meeting was attended by Yousef Al-Otaiba, UAE ambassador to the US; Lana Zaki Nusseibeh, assistant minister for political affairs; Saeed Mubarak Al-Hajeri, assistant minister for economic and trade affairs; and Dr. Maha Taysir Barakat, assistant minister for medical affairs and life sciences at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
More than 55,000 Palestinians killed in Gaza war
- Gaza Health Ministry says more than half the victims are women and children
- More than 127,000 Palestinians have been wounded
DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip: The Palestinian death toll from the 20-month Israel-Hamas war has climbed past 55,000, the Gaza Health Ministry said Wednesday.
The ministry doesn’t distinguish between civilians and combatants, but has said that women and children make up more than half the dead.
It’s a grim milestone in the war that began with Hamas’ attack into southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, and shows no sign of ending. Israel says it only targets militants and blames civilian deaths on Hamas, accusing the militants of hiding among civilians, because they operate in populated areas.
The ministry says 55,104 people have been killed since the start of the war and 127,394 wounded. Many more are believed to be buried under the rubble or in areas that are inaccessible to local medics.
Israeli forces have destroyed vast areas of Gaza, displaced about 90 percent of its population and in recent weeks have transformed more than half of the coastal territory into a military buffer zone that includes the now mostly uninhabited southern city of Rafah.
A 2½-month blockade imposed by Israel when it ended a ceasefire with Hamas raised fears of famine and was slightly eased in May. The launch of a new Israeli- and US-backed aid system has been marred by chaos and violence, and the UN says it has struggled to bring in food because of Israeli restrictions, a breakdown of law and order, and widespread looting.
Israel accuses Hamas of siphoning off aid, but the UN and aid groups deny there is any systematic diversion of aid to militants.
Hamas has suffered major setbacks militarily, and Israel says it has killed more than 20,000 militants, without providing evidence. The militants still hold 55 hostages — less than half of them believed to be alive — and control areas outside of military zones despite facing rare protests earlier this year.
The war began when Hamas-led militants killed around 1,200 people, mostly civilians, in the Oct. 7 attack and abducted 251 hostages. More than half the captives have been released in ceasefires or other deals. Israeli forces have rescued eight and recovered the remains of dozens more.
Israel’s military campaign, one of the deadliest and most destructive since World War II, has transformed large parts of cities into mounds of rubble. Hundreds of thousands of people are living in squalid tent camps and unused schools, and the health system has been gutted, even as it copes with waves of wounded from Israeli strikes.
Syria requires women to wear burkinis on public beaches
- Tourism ministry decision issued this week marks the first time the Damascus authorities have issued guidelines related to what women can wear since Bashar Assad was toppled
DAMASCUS: Syria’s Islamist-led government has decreed that women should wear burkinis or other swimwear that covers the body at public beaches and swimming pools, while permitting Western-style beachwear at private clubs and luxury hotels.
The tourism ministry decision issued this week marks the first time the Damascus authorities have issued guidelines related to what women can wear since Bashar Assad was toppled in December.
During the Assad family’s iron-fisted rule of Syria, which was shaped by a secular Arab nationalist ideology, the state imposed no such restrictions, though people often dressed modestly at public beaches, reflecting conservative norms.
The new requirements were set out in a wider decree dated June 9 and which included public safety guidelines for beaches and swimming pools ahead of the summer, such as not spending too long in the sun and avoiding jellyfish.
It said that beachgoers and visitors to public pools should wear “appropriate swimwear that respects public decency and the feelings of different segments of society,” requiring “more modest swimsuits” and specifying “the burkini or swimming clothes that cover the body more.”
Women should wear a cover or a loose robe over their swimwear when moving between the beach and other areas, it said.
Men should wear a shirt when not swimming, and are not allowed to appear bare-chested “in the public areas outside the swimming areas – hotel lobbies or ... restaurants,” it said.
The decree added that “in public areas outside the beaches and swimming pools,” it was preferable to wear loose clothing that covers the shoulders and knees and to avoid transparent or very tight clothing.
It offered an exception for hotels classed as four stars or above, and for private beaches, pools and clubs, saying “normal Western swimwear” was generally permitted, “with adherence to public morals and within the limits of public taste.”
Since Sunni Islamist-led rebels overthrew Assad, fliers have appeared urging women to cover up, but the government has issued no directives ordering them to observe conservative dress codes.
A temporary constitution passed earlier this year strengthened the language on the role of sharia (Islamic law) in Syria.
Interim President Ahmed Al-Sharaa, who led an Al-Qaeda group before cutting ties with the jihadist network, has sidestepped interviewers’ questions on whether he thought Syria should apply sharia, saying this was for experts to decide.
Israel opposition submits bill to dissolve parliament: statement
JERUSALEM: Israel’s opposition leaders said Wednesday they submitted a bill to dissolve parliament, which if successful could start paving the way to a snap election.
Ultra-Orthodox parties that are propping up Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government are threatening to vote for the motion.
“The opposition faction leaders have decided to bring the bill to dissolve the Knesset to a vote in the Knesset plenum today. The decision was made unanimously and is binding on all factions,” the leaders said in a statement, adding that all their parties would freeze their ongoing legislation to focus on “the overthrow of the government.”
Gaza rescuers say 31 killed by Israel fire near aid center
- Israeli troops fired on people waiting to enter a food distribution center
GAZA: The Gaza civil defense agency said Israeli forces opened fire on people waiting to enter a US-backed food distribution center on Wednesday, killing 31 and wounding “about 200.”
“We transported at least 31 martyrs and about 200 wounded as a result of Israeli tank and drone fire on thousands of citizens... on their way to receive food from the American aid center,” civil defense spokesman Mahmud Bassal told AFP.
The Israeli army did not immediately respond to an AFP request for comment.
Restrictions imposed on media in the Gaza Strip and the difficulties of access on the ground mean AFP is not able to independently verify the death tolls announced by the civil defense agency.
Bassal said thousands of Palestinians had been gathering since 2 am (2300 GMT Tuesday) in the hope of reaching the US and Israeli-backed food distribution center.
“Israeli tanks fired several times, then at around 5:30 am intensified their fire, coinciding with heavy fire from drones targeting civilians,” he said.
Mohammad Abu Salima, head of Gaza City’s Al-Shifa hospital, told AFP it had received the bodies of 24 people killed while waiting to enter the aid center and was treating 96 who had been wounded.
Al-Awda hospital, in Nuseirat camp in central Gaza, said in a statement that it had received seven bodies and was treating 112 people who had been wounded in the same incident.
There have been a series of deadly shootings since the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) first opened aid distribution points in the Palestinian territory on May 27, as Israel faced mounting international condemnation over the humanitarian conditions.
