Saudi Arabia affirms the only solution for Syria is a political one

Agencies

May 2, 2018

Jeddah, May 2: Saudi Arabia on Tuesday renewed its support for the Syrian crisis, saying the only solution is through a political route, during a meeting of the Council of Ministers chaired by King Salman.

The Cabinet stressed its support for alleviating the suffering of the Syrian people who are subjected to horrific war crimes.The Kingdom has sought international efforts to find peaceful solutions since the beginning of the conflict to spare the Syrian people the human tragedy they are experiencing today.

At the beginning of the Cabinet meeting, King Salman briefed the Council on the outcomes of a telephone conversation held with the President of Colombia, Juan Manuel Santos, and the results of his meeting with US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Director General of the World Health Organization Dr. Tidros Adhanom.

The Council was then briefed on a number of reports on regional and international developments and on the statement made by the Kingdom’s delegation at the High-Level Meeting on Peacebuilding and Sustaining Peace in the United Nations General Assembly. The delegation stressed that the basic pillars are building and maintaining peace and achieving justice. The statement also shed light on the Kingdom’s initiatives as part of its continuous efforts to resolve disputes peacefully, and to emphasized the necessity for the UN to play a more effective role in building and maintaining peace.

The Minister of Culture and Information, Dr. Awad Al-Awad, said that the Council of Ministers also discussed the outcomes of the Supporting the Future of Syria and the Region Conference in Brussels and announced the Kingdom’s donation of $100 million through the King Salman Center for Relief and Humanitarian Action.

The Cabinet expressed the Kingdom’s strong condemnation of the twin suicide bombings in the Afghan capital, Kabul, on Monday, reiterating the Kingdom’s solidarity with Afghanistan in its fight against terrorism and extremism. The ministers also extended condolences to the families of the victims, the government and the people, wishing them a speedy recovery.

Dr. Al-Awad said that the Council of Ministers has agreed to establish diplomatic relations between Saudi Arabia and the Principality of Monaco at the level of a non-resident ambassador and to authorize the Minister of Foreign Affairs or his deputy to sign a protocol.

The government also approved the flour mill production system, the food security strategy and the implementation plan.

Finally, the Cabinet decided to approve the Independent Schools initiative by transferring 25 public schools to the private sector. The supervisory committee for the education sector will implement this initiative in accordance with the provisions of the supervisory committees’ work rules for the target sectors.

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UN condemns Israeli regime’s ‘organized torture’ against Palestinians

News Network

November 30,2025

The United Nations Committee against Torture (CAT) has condemned the Israeli regime for enforcing a policy of “organized torture” against Palestinians.

In a report published on Friday, CAT stated that the occupying regime enforces a deliberate policy of “organized and widespread torture and ill-treatment” against Palestinian abductees, particularly since October 7, 2023, when Israel launched its genocidal war on Gaza.

The committee expressed “deep concern over repeated severe beatings, dog attacks, electrocution, water-boarding, use of prolonged stress positions [and] sexual violence” inflicted on Palestinians.

Palestinian prisoners were degraded by “being made to act like animals or being urinated on,” systematically denied medical care, and subjected to excessive restraints, “in some cases resulting in amputation,” the report added.

CAT also condemned the routine application of “unlawful combatants law” to justify the prolonged detention without trial of thousands of Palestinian men, women, and children.

More than 10,000 Palestinians, including women and children, are currently held in Israeli prisons, according to Palestinian and international human rights groups, with 3,474 Palestinians in “administrative detention,” meaning they are imprisoned without trial for indefinite periods.

The report highlighted the “high proportion of children who are currently detained without charge or on remand,” noting that while Israel sets the age of criminal responsibility at 12, even younger children have been abducted.

Children designated as security prisoners face severe restrictions on family contact, may be subjected to solitary confinement, and are denied access to education, in clear violation of international law.

The committee further suggested that Israel’s policies across the Occupied Territories constitute collective torture against the Palestinian population.

“A range of policies adopted by Israel in the course of its continued unlawful presence in the Occupied Palestinian Territory amounts to cruel, inhuman or degrading living conditions for the Palestinian population,” the report said.

On Thursday, the Palestinian resistance movement Hamas condemned the systematic killing and torture of Palestinian abductees in Israeli prisons, urging international action to halt these abuses.

Citing human rights data, Hamas stated that 94 Palestinians have been killed in Israeli prisons since the start of Tel Aviv’s genocidal war on Gaza.

“This reflects an organized criminal approach that has turned these prisons into direct killing grounds to eliminate our people,” the resistance movement said.

Hamas called on the international community, the UN, and human rights organizations to immediately pressure Israel to end crimes against prisoners and uphold their rights as guaranteed by all international conventions and norms.

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