Saudi Arabia and Arab countries condemn burning of Gaza hospital by Israeli forces

Update Victims of Israel's military operation being treated inside Kamal Adwan Hospital in northern Gaza earlier this month. (AFP)
Victims of Israel's military operation being treated inside Kamal Adwan Hospital in northern Gaza earlier this month. (AFP)
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Updated 27 December 2024
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Saudi Arabia and Arab countries condemn burning of Gaza hospital by Israeli forces

Saudi Arabia and Arab countries condemn burning of Gaza hospital by Israeli forces
  • Actions of troops are a ‘heinous war crime’ and ‘blatant violation of international law and humanitarian law,’ Jordanian Foreign Ministry says
  • Qatar calls it a ‘dangerous escalation’ with potentially ‘dire consequences for the security and stability of the region’

LONDON: Saudi Arabia has condemned “in the strongest possible terms” Israel’s burning and clearing of one of the last hospitals that was still operating in northern Gaza.

Troops stormed the Kamal Adwan Hospital in Beit Lahia on Friday, forcing staff and patients from the building and setting fire to it.

The Saudi Ministry of Foreign Affairs said the attack and forced evacuation of patients and medical staff was in violation of international law and basic humanitarian and ethical standards.

Other Arab nations added their condemnation of Israel's actions, which come more than 14 months into a military operation in Gaza that has killed at least 45,000 Palestinians.

Jordan described Israel's raid on the hospital as a “heinous war crime.”

Sufian Al-Qudah, a spokesperson for Jordan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said the attack was a “blatant violation of international law and humanitarian law. Israel is also held accountable for the safety of the hospital’s patients and medical staff.”

Jordan categorically rejects the “systematic targeting of medical personnel and facilities,” he added, and this was an attempt to destroy facilities “essential to the survival of the people in the northern Gaza Strip.”

Al-Qudah urged the international community to put pressure on Israel to halt its attacks on civilians in Gaza.

The UAE Foreign Ministry also said the destruction of the hospital was “deplorable.”

The ministry statement “condemned and denounced in the strongest terms the Israeli occupation forces' burning of Kamal Adwan Hospital … and the forced evacuation of patients and medical personnel.”

Qatar denounced “in the strongest terms” the attack on the hospital as a flagrant violation of international humanitarian law.

The country’s Foreign Ministry said it represented a “dangerous escalation of the ongoing confrontations, which threatens dire consequences for the security and stability of the region,” and called for the protection of the “hundreds of patients, wounded individuals and medical staff” from the hospital.


Jordan-Syria coordination council will strengthen ties, King Abdullah says

Jordan-Syria coordination council will strengthen ties, King Abdullah says
Updated 3 sec ago
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Jordan-Syria coordination council will strengthen ties, King Abdullah says

Jordan-Syria coordination council will strengthen ties, King Abdullah says
  • Nations’ leaders speak after deal signed to establish new body
  • Ahmed Al-Sharaa praises Jordan’s support for Syria

LONDON: King Abdullah II of Jordan and Syrian Arab Republic interim President Ahmed Al-Sharaa spoke on Thursday about bilateral relations and regional developments.

The telephone conversation came after the two countries this week signed an agreement to establish the Higher Coordination Council, which aims to strengthen collaboration in key sectors such as water, energy and trade.

The king said the new body would institutionalize cooperation and maximize opportunities for both nations. He also reiterated his support for Syrians and the country’s security, stability and territorial integrity, the Jordan News Agency reported.

Al-Sharaa praised Jordan’s support for enhancing Syria’s international presence after both the EU and US this month announced the lifting of Assad-era sanctions on the country.

The two leaders also emphasized the need to increase efforts to stabilize southern Syria and improve border security.


Sweden to charge militant over Jordanian pilot burnt to death in Syria: prosecutor

Sweden to charge militant over Jordanian pilot burnt to death in Syria: prosecutor
Updated 22 May 2025
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Sweden to charge militant over Jordanian pilot burnt to death in Syria: prosecutor

Sweden to charge militant over Jordanian pilot burnt to death in Syria: prosecutor
  • Prosecutors plan to charge the Swedish citizen with “serious war crimes and terrorist crimes in Syria“

STOCKHOLM: Prosecutors said Thursday they plan to indict a convicted Swedish militant for his suspected involvement in the 2014 capture of a Jordanian pilot in Syria and burning him to death in a cage.

Sweden’s Prosecution Authority said in a statement it planned to charge a 32-year-old Swedish citizen on May 27 with “serious war crimes and terrorist crimes in Syria.”

The man, Osama Krayem, has already been sentenced for his involvement in the 2015 attacks in Paris and the attacks in Brussels a year later.


Summer comes early for Iraq with 49 degrees Celsius in Basra

Summer comes early for Iraq with 49 degrees Celsius in Basra
Updated 22 May 2025
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Summer comes early for Iraq with 49 degrees Celsius in Basra

Summer comes early for Iraq with 49 degrees Celsius in Basra
  • In Iraq, summer temperatures often exceed 50 degrees Celsius, especially in July and August

BAGHDAD: Summer has come early for Iraq this year with temperatures hitting 49 degrees Celsius (topping 120 degrees Fahrenheit) in the southern city of Basra on Thursday, the national weather center said.

“It is the highest temperature recorded in Iraq this year,” weather center spokesperson Amer Al-Jabiri told AFP.

He said the early heat was in contrast to last year, when the temperature was “relatively good” in May and “it only began to rise in June.”

In Iraq, summer temperatures often exceed 50 degrees Celsius, especially in July and August, and sometimes reach these levels earlier.

On Sunday, two cadets died and others were admitted to hospital with heat stroke at a military academy in the southern province of Dhi Qar, authorities said.

The defense ministry said nine cadets “showed signs of fatigue and exhaustion due to sun exposure” while waiting to be assigned to battalions.

Prime Minister Mohammed Shia Al-Sudani ordered an investigation into the deaths of the two cadets.

Iraq is one of the five countries most impacted by some effects of climate change, according to the United Nations. It has also seen a prolonged drought and frequent dust storms.


Israel army issues evacuation warning for 14 areas of north Gaza

Israel army issues evacuation warning for 14 areas of north Gaza
Updated 22 May 2025
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Israel army issues evacuation warning for 14 areas of north Gaza

Israel army issues evacuation warning for 14 areas of north Gaza
  • The army told residents that it was operating with intense force

JERUSALEM: The Israeli army issued an evacuation warning on Thursday for 14 neighborhoods in the northern Gaza Strip, including parts of Beit Lahia and Jabalia.

The army told residents in an Arabic-language statement that it was “operating with intense force in your areas, as terrorist organizations continue their activities and operations” there.

A similar warning for parts of northern Gaza was issued on Wednesday evening in what the army said was a response to rocket fire.

It said that one “projectile that was identified crossing into Israel from the northern Gaza Strip was intercepted” by the air force.

It later announced three more launches from northern Gaza, but said the projectiles had fallen inside the Palestinian territory.

Israel has ramped up its Gaza operations in recent days in what it says is a renewed push to destroy Hamas.

The territory’s civil defense agency said Israeli attacks had killed at least 19 people on Thursday.


Turkiye’s Erdogan says Damascus must keep focused on Kurdish SDF deal

Turkiye’s Erdogan says Damascus must keep focused on Kurdish SDF deal
Updated 22 May 2025
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Turkiye’s Erdogan says Damascus must keep focused on Kurdish SDF deal

Turkiye’s Erdogan says Damascus must keep focused on Kurdish SDF deal
  • Ankara views the SDF and its factions as a terrorist group

ANKARA: Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan said Syria’s government must keep focused on its deal with the Kurdish, US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) under which it is to integrate into the Syrian armed forces, pressing Damascus for its implementation.

Speaking to reporters on a flight from Budapest, he said Turkiye, Syria, Iraq and the United States had a committee to discuss the fate of Daesh militants in prison camps in northeast Syria, which have been run by the SDF for years.

Ankara views the SDF and its factions as a terrorist group.

“We are especially following the YPG issue very, very closely. It is important for the Damascus administration not to take its attention away from this issue,” his office on Thursday cited him as saying. The YPG militia spearheads the SDF.

He added that Iraq should focus on the issue of the camps, as most women and children at the Al-Hol camp there were from Iraq and Syria, and that Iraq should repatriate its nationals.