Saudi FM says working on list of Qatar ‘grievances’

Arab News
June 17, 2017

London, Jun 17: A list of grievances involving Qatar is being drawn up and will be made public soon, Saudi Foreign Minister Adel Al-Jubeir said Friday.

Saudi

Al-Jubeir said Qatar should respond to demands to halt its support for “extremism and terrorism” which, he said, were being made by the whole world and not just Gulf states.

Speaking to journalists in London, Al-Jubeir said: “I would not call them demands. I would say it is a list of grievances that need to be addressed and that the Qataris need to fix.

“We are working on those with our Bahraini, Emirati and Egyptian partners in order to compile this list and present it to the Qataris, and I think it will be done fairly soon.”

Meanwhile, the permanent missions of Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Bahrain at the UN in Geneva have issued a statement in response to the UN human rights commissioner’s comment on the measures taken by the three Gulf countries and Egypt against Doha, the Saudi Press Agency (SPA) reported.

“The decision to cut ties with Qatar is a sovereign right of the states concerned and it aims to protect their national security from the dangers of terrorism and extremism,” said the statement.

The statement added that the action was taken after all possible means were exhausted as a result of Qatar’s failure to comply with the Riyadh Agreement for the return of ambassadors, and its continued support, funding, and hosting of terrorist, extremist and sectarian organizations.

These decisions, the statement said, were taken in full conformity with the fundamental principles of international law.

For the sake of “our brotherly Qatari people... it was decided to take several measures aimed at addressing humanitarian and health cases, establish hot lines in each country so that cases can be reported and appropriate action be taken in a manner consistent with international obligations under international human rights law and our long humanitarian traditions,” the statement said.

It also said that the Saudi, Emirati and Bahraini missions “reaffirm their willingness to continue working with the parties concerned in order to achieve the desired results of this break-up, namely to maintain security, to combat terrorism and to safeguard the stability and well-being of the people of the region, including the brotherly Qatari people, in full respect for their human rights and international humanitarian law’s commitments.”

In another development, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu arrived in Saudi Arabia on Friday for talks with King Salman, continuing efforts to resolve the diplomatic crisis.

After meeting his Kuwaiti counterpart on Thursday, Cavusoglu was to travel from Jeddah to the holy city of Makkah where King Salman is based for the last days of Ramadan.

Turkey's chief diplomat was in Doha on Wednesday where he called for dialogue after meeting Qatar's emir and foreign minister ahead of his Saudi stop.

"Although the Kingdom is a party in this crisis, we know that King Salman is a party in resolving it," Cavusoglu said earlier.

"We want to hear the views of Saudi Arabia regarding possible solutions and will share with them our views in a transparent way... We pay great attention to our relations with them," he said.

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News Network
May 12,2024

gazaground.jpg

Israeli military tanks have started to go deeper into the Jabalia refugee camp in northern Gaza as part of a ground offensive months after claiming Hamas had been “dismantled” in the area.

Israeli forces are “carpet-bombing” the eastern areas of Jabalia refugee camp in the northern Gaza Strip, killing and wounding several Palestinians, Al-Jazeara reported citing local sources on Sunday.

Israeli military tanks have advanced further into the Jabalia refugee camp, crossing Salah al-Din Street amidst ongoing battles with Hamas fighters, reports added.

Media quoted eyewitnesses as saying that the tanks are surrounding evacuation centers and residential buildings in the densely populated area, leading to mass evacuations and displacement towards the western part of Gaza City.

Also, Israeli drones targeted ambulances near the clinic run by the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) in Jabalia, according to Mahmoud Basal, the spokesperson for the civil defense directorate in Gaza.

Basal stated that emergency crews in Rafah, al-Zaytounm, al-Sabra, and Jabalia have been inundated with distress calls, confirming that these areas were subjected to overnight bombardment.

Shortage of oxygen for patients

Imad Abu Zayda, an emergency doctor in Jabalia, warned of the critical conditions prevailing there due to the recent Israeli aggression in the area.  

“No light due to the lack of fuel and there’s no medical supplement available as Israel has expanded their operation in the area. We have no oxygen to give to patients,” he said.

He added that the majority of those injured are children and women, and the medical team is grappling with limited resources to provide essential care.

All hospitals in the northern Gaza Strip are now out of service, following a warning from the UN about the risk of running out of fuel in hospitals across the region.

Israel’s closure of the Rafah crossing has also prevented aid trucks from entering the area since May 5.

The Jabalia refugee camp, established in 1948 to accommodate Palestinians who were displaced after the Nakba, or catastrophe, which refers to the ethnic cleansing of Palestine in 1948, has become the most densely populated refugee camp in the Gaza Strip.

With over 750,000 Palestinians forcefully displaced, this camp stands as a testament to the birth of Israel in 1948.

Since the start of the Israeli war on the Gaza Strip on October 7, Israeli forces carried out several attacks on Jabilia camp, leaving it in ruins by intense bombardment.

In early February, Israeli forces withdrew from the camp claiming it had destroyed Hamas as a fighting force in the northern areas.

On Saturday, the Israeli military ordered residents of the Jabalia Refugee Camp to evacuate “immediately”, as it prepares to launch military operations against Hamas.

However, the displaced residents have no place to seek refuge, as the UN reports a severe famine in the region.

Since the start of the offensive, the Tel Aviv regime has killed more than 34,971 Palestinians and injured more than 78,641 others, mostly women and children.

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