Day: July 4, 2024

A White House official said that Amos Hochstein, a senior adviser to US President Joe Biden, met with French officials on Wednesday and discussed with them French and American efforts to restore calm in the Middle East.

“France and the United States share the goal of resolving the current conflict across the Blue Line through diplomatic means, allowing Israeli and Lebanese civilians to return to their homes with long-term guarantees of safety and security,” the official added, referring to the dividing line between Lebanon and Israel.

Source: Maan News Agency

A Lebanese man was martyred on Thursday after an Israeli drone targeted a house in Houla, southern Lebanon.

The Israeli warplanes launched two air strikes targeting the towns of Ramyeh and Houla in southern Lebanon.

It also targeted the outskirts of the town of Adaisseh, while the Israeli army carried out an air strike on Aitaroun.

Israeli warplanes broke the sound barrier over the capital Beirut and the Sidon area.

Source: Maan News Agency

Voters in Britain continue to head to the polls on Thursday to cast their votes in parliamentary elections, and the United Kingdom is preparing for a political earthquake. After a decade and a half of Conservative control, the center-left Labor Party is expected to record its biggest victory in nearly 200 years, with more than 430 seats and an overwhelming majority in Parliament.

By all accounts, the centre-left Labour Party is set to secure its biggest victory in history and return to power after 14 years. The right-wing Conservative Party, led by Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, is facing an unprecedented collapse and is now focused on trying to limit the damage. The Conservatives also acknowledge that Labour leader Keir Strummer will be handed the keys to Downing Street tomorrow and be appointed Prime Minister.

Last night, YouGov published its latest mega-poll, which again predicted a massive and unprecedented victory for Labour: according to the poll, Strummer’s party would win 431 of the 650 seats in Parlia
ment – ??the largest number of seats Labour has ever won, and in fact the largest of any party in modern British history – since 1832.

The massive poll predicts the Conservatives will fall to 102 seats, their lowest ever. In comparison, the Tories won 365 seats in the previous election and Labour just 202. The poll also estimates that a number of senior Tories and 16 of the 26 ministers in the outgoing government will lose their seats in parliament, including Chancellor Jeremy Hunt. Another poll suggests that in an extreme scenario, Labour could win a fictitious 516 seats, leaving the Conservatives with just 53 seats, an unimaginable earthquake.

In recent days, Sunak has tried to convey to voters that a Conservative victory is still possible, and earlier this week he seized on England’s dramatic comeback win at Euro 2024 with a tweet that ‘it’s not over until it’s over.’ But behind the scenes, the Conservatives understand their position, and some say so openly: ‘I am fully aware that according to the polls,
Labour is set to record its biggest ever victory and win Parliament.

Who is Labour leader Keir Starmer?

Keir Starmer is a British politician and lawyer, born in 1962. He is the Shadow Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union and previously served as Director of Public Prosecutions.

He served as attorney general before being elected to parliament nine years ago. He is expected to become prime minister, a post traditionally held by the head of the political party that wins the most seats in legislative elections.

British voters will choose 650 MPs in the parliamentary elections by voting in one of 650 constituencies spread across England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.

Source: Maan News Agency

The Arab League Council’s extraordinary session at the level of permanent delegates kicked off today, Thursday, under the chairmanship of Yemen, at the request of the State of Palestine to discuss the policy of confronting the crimes of genocide and Israeli aggression against the Palestinian people, in addition to colonial expansion.

The delegation of the State of Palestine was headed to the meeting, which was attended by the Assistant Secretary-General of the Arab League, Ambassador Hossam Zaki, the Assistant Secretary-General for Palestine and the Occupied Arab Territories at the League, Saeed Abu Ali, and a number of Assistant Secretaries-General at the Secretariat, the Palestinian Delegate to the Arab League, Ambassador Muhannad Al-Aklouk, First Counsellor Rizq Al-Zaanin, Counsellor Jumana Al-Ghoul, and the two attachés Maher Masoud and Ala Al-Jaab.

The meeting is being held in light of the ongoing genocide committed by the occupying power, Israel, against the Palestinian people, and the recent approval
by the occupation government of a series of measures aimed at preventing the embodiment of the independence of the State of Palestine on the ground, and the persistence of plans to annex the occupied West Bank lands, and the piracy of the funds of the Palestinian government.

Al-Aklouk called for freezing Israel’s participation in the UN General Assembly due to its failure to abide by the purposes and principles of the UN Charter, its threat to international peace and security, and its failure to fulfill its obligations that were a condition for accepting its membership in the UN, pointing out that international law has proven that it alone is unable to stop the greatest crime that can be committed, which is the crime of genocide, especially when it is committed by Israel, which enjoys immunity, and is not held accountable for its crimes or has effective pressure and enforcement mechanisms applied to it.

He called for the formation of Arab relief delegations to lead the flow of humanitarian, relief and medic
al aid to the entire Gaza Strip in coordination and cooperation with international organizations, by land, sea and air, in implementation of the temporary measures ordered by the International Court of Justice on 1/26/2024, and in implementation of the decision to break the Israeli siege on the Gaza Strip, which was adopted by the Arab-Islamic Summit held in Riyadh on 11/11/2023.

He stressed that the League of Arab States reflects the consensus of 22 Arab countries to support the Palestinian cause with firm political positions that support the cause, whether in the League’s decisions or in international forums, especially the Arab Summit’s decisions regarding the cause, which we find formulated in solid and even strong political and legal language and contain measures that can actually be implemented at the political, legal and economic levels, but the League’s decisions remain a commitment that awaits further effectiveness and implementation.

Al-Aklouk pointed out that during the past eight months of the g
enocide, the League held two summits, four councils of foreign ministers, and six councils at the level of delegates. An interim committee of permanent delegates was tasked, last January, with formulating practical measures that could be taken to force Israel to stop the genocide.

He stressed the need to submit Arab referrals and complaints to the International Criminal Court regarding Israeli crimes committed against the Palestinian people, and to direct Arab civil society organizations, unions and human rights syndicates to initiate lawsuits against Israeli officials in national and international courts.

The Palestinian delegate said that Israel killed 16,000 children and injured 34,000 children, 3,600 children are still under the rubble, 1,500 children lost limbs and eyes, and Israel orphaned 17,000 children, noting that the number of Palestinian children killed over the past nine months exceeds the number of children killed in all the world’s conflicts over the past four years.

He pointed out that Isra
el starved 34 children to death, and the remaining children in Gaza suffer from food insecurity, and many of them are at risk of dying of hunger, thirst or disease, due to the crime of starvation and siege that Israel uses as a tool of the crime of genocide, and all children in Gaza are outside the education process, and all newborns in Gaza have not received the necessary vaccinations.

He explained that Israel killed 10,600 women, left 60,000 pregnant women at risk of death before, during or after childbirth, and destroyed all healthy and safe methods of reproduction. Thus, Israel prevented safe reproductive operations as a tool of crime.

Source: Maan News Agency

The Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) said that it exchanged some ideas with mediators with the aim of stopping the aggression against the Palestinian people.

Channel 12 Israel quoted officials in Tel Aviv as saying that for the first time, Hamas’ response allows progress, and there is a basis for launching negotiations.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said Mossad received Hamas’s response from mediators regarding the hostage deal.

“We will study Hamas’ response and respond to the mediators,” he added.

Source: Maan News Agency

Head of Hezbollah’s Executive Council, Sayyed Hashem Safieddine, stressed that “the enemy should not think that after targeting these heroes, the south will be open to him.”

Safi al-Din added during the ceremony honoring the martyr Muhammad Nimah Nasser al-Hajj ‘Abu Nimah’ that ‘in our resistance, no flag falls, no front is disturbed, and no confrontation weakens. When a martyred leader ascends, another takes over the flag and moves on with new determination,’ noting that ‘the leaders on our front are on the front lines, while on the enemy’s front, hundreds of officers shamelessly announce that they will withdraw from the battle.’

He said: “This Israeli ‘army’ will never be able, after the successive strikes, to achieve victories in any battle or confrontation, and it is on the verge of a resounding defeat in the face of the steadfastness of the people of Gaza and in the face of the resistance that will remain in Gaza.”

Safi al-Din continued: “The response to the assassination of Commander Hajj Abu Nimah b
egan quickly yesterday, and the series of responses is still ongoing and will continue, targeting new locations that the enemy did not think would be hit. It is certain that there are many casualties, both dead and wounded.”

He stressed that “this front will remain ignited and strong and will become stronger. This is what we learned from our long battle with the enemy and our confidence in our mujahideen. The assassination of leaders does not stop our enthusiasm for fighting, but rather this blood will create a new victory for us.”

Source: Maan News Agency

The United Nations Special Rapporteur on the independence of judges and lawyers, Margaret Satterthwaite, and the Special Rapporteur on human rights in the occupied Palestinian territory, Francesca Albanese, condemned the absence of fair trials in the occupied West Bank, where the rights of Palestinians have been violated for 57 years.

A joint press release issued by them today indicated that the Israeli military commander issued three declarations related to military authority in the executive, security, public order and judicial fields in the occupied West Bank, adding that “those provisions were later amended to become a military order to establish military courts.”

They added: “In the occupied West Bank, the duties of police, investigator, prosecutor and judge are assigned to the same hierarchical institution – the Israeli army.”

They explained that the military order sets out vague procedural instructions and broad powers for military forces to manage procedures, noting that the military regime has wor
ked to control many aspects of daily life for Palestinians, including public health, education, and land and property law, and criminalizes many forms of political expression, culture, association, movement, peaceful protest, traffic violations, and other acts that can be seen as a means of opposing the occupation and its policies.

According to the experts, ‘this translates into a situation in which military judges in military courts continually provide legal and judicial cover for acts of torture and cruel and degrading treatment carried out by their colleagues in the armed forces and intelligence services against Palestinian detainees.

‘This also makes defence impossible,’ the UN rapporteurs said in their statement. ‘Guarantees of a fair and public trial, under international standards, include the independence and impartiality of courts, and require that the judicial system not be dependent on the discretionary power of any branch of government, particularly the executive and armed forces,’ the statement
said. ‘The dual court system established in the occupied West Bank, in violation of international law, has reinforced the legitimacy of the occupation and illegal settlements in the occupied Palestinian territory through a draconian military-imposed sanctions regime that is applied only to Palestinians without due process guarantees.’

Source: Maan News Agency

The US State Department said that Secretary of State Blinken discussed with his Jordanian counterpart efforts to reach an agreement that would secure the release of the hostages and provide a roadmap to end the war in Gaza.

She added that Blinken discussed with Safadi diplomatic efforts to achieve an end to the crisis in Gaza that provides lasting peace and security for Israelis and Palestinians.

She said that Blinken discussed with his Jordanian counterpart ways to deliver humanitarian aid in a large and sustainable manner to all parts of Gaza.

Source: Maan News Agency

Istanbul: Minister of Defense Prince Khalid bin Salman bin Abdulaziz, as part of his official visit to the Republic of Trkiye, met on Wednesday with Defence Industry Agency President Haluk Gorgun and executives of large Turkish industrial companies.

Participants reviewed cooperation opportunities in the defense field according to Saudi Vision 2030.

Prince Khalid and Gorgun witnessed the signing of memoranda of understanding (MoUs) between Saudi and Turkish companies.

The signing ceremony was attended by high-ranking officials from the two countries.

Source: Saudi Press Agency

Riyadh: Marking a new national achievement, the Saudi Accreditation Center (SAC) obtained international recognition from the International Accreditation Forum (IAF) in the field of quality management systems certifications in each of the following areas: ISO 22000 Food Safety Management System (FSMS), ISO 14001 Environmental Management System (EMS), ISO 13485 Medical Device Management System (MDMS), ISO 50001 Energy Management System (EnMS), and ISO 45001 Occupational Health and Safety Management System (OHandSMS).

The accreditations are international recognition of all conformity certificates issued by institutes accredited by SAC.

SAC obtaining international recognition is also an achievement that supports the quality infrastructure in the Kingdom, enhances the center’s position at the regional and international levels, and would contribute to making a significant economic impact by increasing intra-trade and the flow of goods to and from global markets.

Source: Saudi Press Agency