UN Security Council must reform to ‘reflect realities of modern world’: Kuwait crown prince

UN Security Council must reform to ‘reflect realities of modern world’: Kuwait crown prince
Crown Prince of Kuwait Sheikh Sabah Khaled Al-Hamad Al-Sabah addresses the 79th session of the United Nations General Assembly, UN headquarters, New York, Thursday, Sept. 26, 2024. (AP Photo)
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Updated 26 September 2024
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UN Security Council must reform to ‘reflect realities of modern world’: Kuwait crown prince

UN Security Council must reform to ‘reflect realities of modern world’: Kuwait crown prince
  • Sheikh Sabah reiterates support for Palestinian people, sovereignty of Lebanon and Sudan
  • Praises Saudi Arabia for helping to alleviate humanitarian crises in Syria, Libya, Yemen

NEW YORK CITY: The UN Security Council must reform to “reflect the realities of the modern world” and so it is equipped to deal with current and future challenges, Kuwait’s crown prince told the UN General Assembly on Thursday.

Sheikh Sabah Khaled Al-Hamad Al-Sabah also said it is vital that the international community maintain the UN’s effectiveness, especially amid current escalating global crises.

He stressed that global challenges such as conflicts, inequality and financial instability require “innovative and collective” solutions from key international institutions, including the UN.

Kuwait, he added, believes strongly in the importance of making the UNSC more representative and democratic.

Sheikh Sabah also reiterated Kuwait’s “unwavering” support for the Palestinian people and their struggle to establish an independent state based on the 1967 borders, and for Lebanon’s sovereignty.

“We condemn the illegal and inhumane actions of the Israeli occupation forces, including the destruction of homes and infrastructure, and the forcible displacement of Palestinian citizens, particularly in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank,” he said.

“We call on the international community to assume its responsibilities and put an end to the violations and injustices suffered by the Palestinian people under the ongoing Israeli occupation.

“We also condemn Israel’s continued violations of Lebanon’s sovereignty, including its repeated military incursions and violations of Lebanese airspace, which destabilize the region and disregard international law.”

Sheikh Sabah praised Saudi Arabia for its role in alleviating the humanitarian crises in regional countries such as Syria and Libya, and its support for the UN-recognized government in Yemen.

“We commend Saudi Arabia’s efforts in the political process in Yemen, and their leadership in supporting the legitimate government and promoting peace,” he said.

“We believe that the Saudi-led coalition’s efforts will pave the way for a political solution that ensures Yemen’s security and stability.”

The crown prince said Kuwait remains committed to providing humanitarian aid to the Sudanese people, and it is working closely with international organizations to ensure the delivery of necessary assistance.

He called for urgent international action to address the humanitarian crisis in Sudan, and urged all parties to respect the country’s “sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity.”

He urged Iran to respect international law and the sovereignty of its regional neighbors, adding that peaceful relations between countries in the Middle East are critical for stability.

“Kuwait fully supports the international community’s efforts to address concerns regarding Iran’s nuclear program,” he said.

“We urge Iran to cooperate with the International Atomic Energy Agency and abide by international agreements to ensure the security and stability of the Gulf region.”

Sheikh Sabah congratulated Saudi Arabia on its successful bids to host the World Expo 2030 and the 2034 FIFA World Cup as a victory for the Kingdom and the region as a whole, which would highlight its “significant progress and its role on the international stage.”


British doctors working in Gaza describe region as ‘slaughterhouse’

British doctors working in Gaza describe region as ‘slaughterhouse’
Updated 24 sec ago
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British doctors working in Gaza describe region as ‘slaughterhouse’

British doctors working in Gaza describe region as ‘slaughterhouse’
  • ‘There’s no food getting in so people are starving,’ surgeon Tom Potokar says
  • World leaders urged to ‘stop talking and do something’

LONDON: British doctors working in Gaza have described the territory as a “slaughterhouse,” where the patients they are treating are severely malnourished.

Plastic surgeons and orthopedic specialists from the UK are based at the Amal and Nasser hospitals in Khan Younis in the south of the territory.

Dr. Tom Potokar, a plastic surgeon specializing in burn injuries, has worked in Gaza 16 times but said this mission had revealed a level of destruction far greater than his last visit in 2023, Sky News reported.

“What can you say, it’s horrific, it’s a slaughterhouse,” Potokar said after operating on a badly injured Palestinian woman whose husband and children were killed in an Israeli attack.

He urged world leaders to “stop talking and do something.”

Potokar moved to Amal hospital last week after the nearby European hospital where he had been working was hit by Israeli missiles and forced to close.

Gaza’s health care is in a state of collapse, with hospitals being repeatedly targeted by Israel since the war started in October 2023.

The relentless airstrikes and bombings have killed more than 53,000 people and hospitals are full of Palestinians with blast-related injuries.

A blockade of humanitarian aid since March has further strained hospitals, leaving doctors with limited supplies to treat the injured.

“The difference this time I think is the intensity,” Potokar said. “Back in October to December 2023 was the last time I was here, there was a lot of wounded and it was very intense as well.

“I think the difference this time is, because of the blockade there’s so little stuff getting in, there’s no food getting in so people are starving. There’s very little medical supplies coming in but also the other very noticeable thing is the massive extent of destruction. I mean, Khan Younis looks like Stalingrad.”

The report showed the chaos of the hospital’s emergency rooms, with badly injured children being brought in for initial treatment before being sent for surgery with the British medics.

Most of the injuries are blast wounds and the patients are malnourished.

In Nasser hospital, a baby arrived with chest and back burns, while another lay silent having suffered shrapnel wounds and was unable to see from one eye.

Dr. Victoria Rose, a British plastic surgeon working at the hospital, showed the inside of the burns unit, which was shut down after being hit by Israeli missiles.

Israel this week ordered residents to evacuate Khan Younis, leading to several of the hospital’s staff being unable to get to work, Rose said.

“My anesthetic nurse and Graeme’s orthopedic colleague had to leave us mid-case to go and evacuate their families to an area of safety,” she said.

Dr. Graeme Groom, a surgeon working alongside Rose, praised his Palestinian colleagues.

“These are people just like you and me, they have their homes, their families, they live normal lives. Many are very impressive people and without notice they have to pick up a grab bag and leave, look for food, look for water, look for shelter, but turn up at work each day,” he said.

The surgeons fear that the hospitals may have to be evacuated as Israel expands its military operation in the area as part of a plan to take complete control of the territory.


Israel strikes south Lebanon, army says Hezbollah fighter killed

Israel strikes south Lebanon, army says Hezbollah fighter killed
Updated 22 May 2025
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Israel strikes south Lebanon, army says Hezbollah fighter killed

Israel strikes south Lebanon, army says Hezbollah fighter killed
  • The Israeli military said its forces had carried out several strikes targeting Hezbollah sites and killed one militant
  • The “urgent warning” was accompanied by a map showing a structure and the 500-meter radius around it marked in red

BEIRUT: Lebanese state media said an Israeli air strike hit a building in southern Lebanon on Thursday after Israel’s military issued an evacuation call warning of imminent action against Hezbollah militants.

Israel has kept up its air strikes in neighboring Lebanon despite a November truce aimed at halting more than a year of hostilities with Hezbollah that included two months of full-blown war.

Without confirming the reported attack on the southern town of Toul, the Israeli military said its forces had carried out several strikes targeting Hezbollah sites and killed one militant.

Lebanon’s official National News Agency (NNA) said that “the Israeli enemy” struck a building in Toul, where the army had warned residents to evacuate the area around a building it said was used by Hezbollah militants.

The “urgent warning” was accompanied by a map showing a structure and the 500-meter (0.3-mile) radius around it marked in red.

“You are located near facilities belonging to the terrorist (group) Hezbollah,” the statement said in Arabic, urging people “to evacuate these buildings immediately and move away from them.”

There were no immediate reports of casualties in Toul.

In a separate statement, the military said it had “struck and eliminated a Hezbollah Radwan Force terrorist in the area of Rab El Thalathine,” about 17 kilometers (10 miles) to the southeast.

The NNA reported a “martyr” in an air strike in the same area, without identifying them.

The Israeli military said its forces also “struck a Hezbollah military site containing rocket launchers and weapons” in the Bekaa Valley as well as “terrorist infrastructure sites and rocket launchers belonging to the Hezbollah terrorist organization... in southern Lebanon.”

A military statement said that “the presence of weapons in the area and Hezbollah activities at the site constitute blatant violations of the understandings between Israel and Lebanon” under the November ceasefire agreement.

Israel will “continue to operate to remove any threat... and will prevent any attempt by Hezbollah to re-establish its terror capabilities,” it said.

Under the ceasefire, Hezbollah fighters were to pull back north of the Litani River and dismantle military infrastructure south of it.

Israel was to withdraw all forces from Lebanon, but it has kept troops in five areas that it deems “strategic.”

The Lebanese army has deployed in the south and has been dismantling Hezbollah infrastructure.

The truce was based on a UN Security Council resolution that says Lebanese troops and UN peacekeepers should be the only people to bear arms in south Lebanon, and calls for the disarmament of all non-state groups.


Egyptian president, UK prime minister discuss Gaza ceasefire, humanitarian aid

Egyptian president, UK prime minister discuss Gaza ceasefire, humanitarian aid
Updated 22 May 2025
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Egyptian president, UK prime minister discuss Gaza ceasefire, humanitarian aid

Egyptian president, UK prime minister discuss Gaza ceasefire, humanitarian aid
  • Leaders discussed Egyptian, Qatari, and US efforts to enforce ceasefire in the Palestinian coastal enclave
  • Abdul Fatah El-Sisi praised ‘positive’ UK position on Gaza, agreed with Sir Keir Starmer on continuing coordination

LONDON: Egyptian President Abdul Fatah El-Sisi praised the UK’s “positive position” on developments in Gaza during a phone call with Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer on Thursday.

The Egyptian Presidency said El-Sisi and Sir Keir discussed strengthening cooperation in the economic, trade, and investment sectors while continuing political consultations on various topics.

Ambassador Mohamed El-Shennawy, the presidential spokesman, said the two leaders discussed the situation in the Gaza Strip and Egyptian, Qatari, and US efforts to enforce a ceasefire in the Palestinian coastal enclave and ensure the flow of humanitarian aid.

The Egyptian president emphasized Cairo’s rejection of displacing Palestinians and expressed support for the Arab-Islamic plan to rebuild Gaza following a ceasefire.

El-Sisi praised the “positive” UK position regarding the situation in Gaza and agreed with the prime minister on continuing coordination to address regional and international developments.

The UK announced on Tuesday that it will stop free-trade negotiations with Israel and has summoned the Israeli ambassador to the Foreign Office in response to Tel Aviv’s expansion of military operations in Gaza.


Settler attacks push Palestinians to abandon West Bank village, residents say

Settler attacks push Palestinians to abandon West Bank village, residents say
Updated 22 May 2025
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Settler attacks push Palestinians to abandon West Bank village, residents say

Settler attacks push Palestinians to abandon West Bank village, residents say
  • The West Bank is home to about three million Palestinians
  • The Israeli military said it was “looking into” the legality of the outpost at Maghayer Al-Deir

MAGHAYER AL-DEIR, Palestinian Territories: Palestinian residents of Maghayer Al-Deir in the occupied West Bank told AFP on Thursday that they had begun packing their belonging and preparing to leave the village following repeated attacks by Israeli settlers.

Yusef Malihat, a resident of the tiny village east of Ramallah, told AFP his community had decided to leave because its members felt powerless in the face of the settler violence.

“No one provides us with protection at all,” he said, a keffiyeh scarf protecting his head from the sun as he loaded a pickup truck with chain-link fencing previously used to pen up sheep and goats.

“They demolished the houses and threatened us with expulsion and killing,” he said, as a group of settlers looked on from a new outpost a few hundred meters away.

The West Bank is home to about three million Palestinians, but also some 500,000 Israelis living in settlements that are considered illegal under international law.

Settlement outposts, built informally and sometimes overnight, are considered illegal under Israeli law too, although enforcement is relatively rare.

The Israeli military told AFP it was “looking into” the legality of the outpost at Maghayer Al-Deir.

“It’s very sad, what’s happening now... even for an outpost,” said Itamar Greenberg, an Israeli peace activist present at Maghayer Al-Deir on Thursday.

“It’s a new outpost 60 meters from the last house of the community, and on Sunday one settler told me that in one month, the Bedouins will not be here, but it (happened much) more quickly,” he told AFP.

The Palestinian Authority’s Colonization and Wall Resistance Commission denounced Maghayer Al-Deir’s displacement, describing it as being the result of the “terrorism of the settler militias.”

It said in a statement that a similar fate had befallen 29 other Bedouin communities, whose small size and isolation in rural areas make them more vulnerable.

In the area east of Ramallah, where hills slope down toward the Jordan Valley, Maghayer Al-Deir was one of the last remaining communities after the residents of several others were recently displaced.

Its 124 residents will now be dispersed to other nearby areas.

Malihat told AFP some would go to the Christian village of Taybeh just over 10 kilometers (six miles) away, and others to Ramallah.

Uncertain they would be able to return, the families loaded all they could fit in their trucks, including furniture, irrigation pipes and bales of hay.


WFP says ‘handful of bakeries’ making bread again in Gaza

WFP says ‘handful of bakeries’ making bread again in Gaza
Updated 22 May 2025
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WFP says ‘handful of bakeries’ making bread again in Gaza

WFP says ‘handful of bakeries’ making bread again in Gaza
  • “A handful of bakeries in south and central Gaza have resumed bread production,” WFP said

ROME: The UN’s World Food Programme said Thursday a “handful of bakeries” in Gaza had begun making and distributing bread again after Israel allowed aid trucks into the Strip.


“A handful of bakeries in south and central Gaza... have resumed bread production after dozens of trucks were finally able to collect cargo from the Kerem Shalom border crossing and deliver it overnight,” the WFP said in a statement.

“These bakeries are now operational distributing bread via hot meal kitchens,” it said.