Day: August 1, 2024

New York, Syria warned that Israel’s continued disregard for international laws and its failure to comply with Security Council and General Assembly resolutions threatens regional and international peace and security.

‘The events over the past few days’ highlight that Israeli war criminals have decided to continue their bloody attacks to plunge the region into a full-scale war, benefiting from unlimited US support at the expense of international peace and security and the lives and blood of innocent people,’ said Syria’s permanent representative to the UN, Qusai Al-Dahhak, during a Security Council session on the situation in the Middle East.

He blamed Israel for the heinous crime that occurred last Saturday in the town of Majdal Shams, resulting in the martyrdom of 12 Syrian children and the injury of a number of Syrian civilians, and denounced that ‘Israel’ used it as a pretext to continue its attacks against countries in the region.

‘No reasonable person can believe the claims of the occupation authori
ties to defend the people of the occupied Arab territories while committing the most atrocious violations against them,’ he clarified.

The Syrian delegate rejected the American statements justifying the aggressions of the Israeli occupier and of keeping the Golan occupied under the pretext of its importance for Israel’s security.

‘Maintaining international peace and security requires that the American administrations abandon their destructive policies and stop preventing the Security Council from fulfilling its mandate in accordance with the Charter,’ said Al-Dahak.

He also condemned Israel’s terrorist attack on the Iranian capital Tehran, which killed the head of the Political Bureau of the Islamic Resistance Movement, Ismail Haniyeh.

‘This criminal act was preceded by the commission of another terrorist attack against a residential building in the southern suburb of the Lebanese capital, Beirut, and caused several deaths, including a woman and two children, and dozens of injuries,’ he said.

Syria conde
mns in the strongest terms the Israeli attacks against its lands and against the sovereignty of Iran, Lebanon and other countries in the region, and expresses its full solidarity with these brother countries in the face of the sinful Israeli attacks to which they are exposed, the delegate said.

He also warned that the continued disregard of the Israeli entity for international laws, its failure to comply with the resolutions of the Security Council and the General Assembly may lead to igniting the entire region and threatening regional and international peace and security.

He clarified that Israeli war criminals would not have continued to commit war crimes and crimes against humanity if it were not for the unlimited support of the US and the hypocrisy and double standards practiced by some Western countries that are involved in’ Israel’ war against the Palestinian people and have remained silent on the matter.

The diplomat demanded that Israeli war criminals be held accountable for their crimes, and not t
o open the doors to receive them with applause and cheers.

Syria calls on the Security Council to assume its basic responsibilities of condemning the repeated Israeli attacks and to act immediately to stop them, prevent their recurrence, and ensure that their perpetrators do not escape punishment, he concluded.

Source: Syrian Arab News Agency

Three Palestinians were martyred today in an Israeli shelling that targeted a group of citizens near Bir Canada west of the city of Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip.

Eyewitnesses said in statements that intensive artillery shelling targeted since the morning hours the west of the city, which has been witnessing an Israeli military ground operation since the first week of last May, while the Palestinian Red Crescent announced that its crews transported a martyr and six wounded after targeting a house in the in Beit Lahia in the northern Gaza Strip.

In Gaza City, a citizen was martyred after the occupation aircraft bombed a house near the bridge in the Sheikh Radwan neighborhood, where the Ministry of Health in the Strip stated that the number of martyrs who rose in the Israeli operations since the dawn hours reached 17.

In a related context, the government media office in Gaza announced the outcome of 300 days of the ongoing Israeli aggression on the Gaza Strip, confirming that the occupation army has commi
tted 3457 massacres since October 7, which resulted in 49,480 martyrs and missing persons, 39,480 of whom arrived at hospitals.

It explained that among the martyrs were 16,314 children, in addition to the martyrdom of 35 due to starvation, and 10,980 female martyrs.

It is worth noting that the occupation army has escalated its operations in various areas of the Strip for two weeks, committing dozens of massacres against civilians, without any signs of reaching a ceasefire agreement, especially after the assassination of Ismail Haniyeh, head of the political bureau of the Hamas movement.

Source: Qatar News Agency

The World Health Organization (WHO) on Thursday warned of the health risks of the significant rise in temperatures in southern Europe, noting that new record levels have been recorded worldwide in the wake of a climate crisis.

Hans Kluge, the WHO’s Regional Director, said in statements that Europe was the fastest among the six regions of the WHO to witness a rise in temperatures, noting that the residents of the 53 member states in the region pay the highest price for this.

He explained that deaths due to heat have increased by 30% over the past twenty years, and the number of deaths due to heat has increased in almost all countries in the region where cases are monitored, calling on societies to become more resilient to heat waves by developing action plans.

He noted that the negative health consequences of high temperatures can be largely avoided by taking the right measures.

An estimated 489,000 heat-related deaths occurred worldwide annually between 2000 and 2019, including an average of 176,000 death
s in Europe annually.

Source: Qatar News Agency

Turkish intelligence announced Thursday that it had coordinated the largest prisoner exchange operation in recent times between seven countries, including the United States and Russia, which included 26 prisoners.

Security sources told the Turkish Anadolu Agency that the operation included the release of Wall Street Journal correspondent Ivan Gershkovich and former US Marine Paul Whelan, noting that 10 hostages were transferred within the scope of the operation, including two children to Russia, 13 hostages to Germany, and 3 hostages to the United States.

The same sources added that the prisoners also came from prisons in Germany, Poland, Slovenia, Norway, and Belarus, while the Turkish presidency confirmed that the operation included the release of Russian citizen Vadim Krasikov, who was imprisoned in Germany, German Rico Krieger, who was imprisoned in Belarus, and Russian oppositionist Ilya Yashin.

This is the first prisoner swap between Russia and the West since the exchange of American basketball star
Brittney Griner for convicted Russian arms dealer Viktor Bout in December 2022, and is also the largest since 2010, when 14 alleged spies were exchanged between Russia and the West.

Source: Qatar News Agency

At least 30 people have been killed by heavy rains from Typhoon Gaemi in central China.

Local authorities said that the Zixing area, about 1,500 kilometers southwest of the capital Beijing, witnessed record rainfall over the weekend, killing 30 people and leaving 35 others missing, adding that the area has been temporarily cut off from the world, without access to communications or road networks.

It explained that it had urgently dispatched more than 5,000 rescuers, while 11,000 homes had been evacuated, adding that relief operations were still ongoing.

Heavy rains introduced by Typhoon Gaemi last week caused severe flooding in the Philippine capital, Manila, and some parts of the city of Kaohsiung in Taiwan. This typhoon, the strongest to hit Taiwan in eight years, left five dead and hundreds injured, and claimed the lives of at least 30 people in the Philippines.

Source: Qatar News Agency

Moldova announced today that it has expelled a diplomat from the Russian embassy after a new espionage case was uncovered involving two Moldovan officials who were arrested yesterday on charges of “treason and conspiracy”.

The Moldovan Foreign Ministry said in a statement that the diplomat had been declared “persona non grata” for “activities incompatible with his status,” and summoned Russian Ambassador Oleg Vasnetsov to inform him of the decision, noting that the officials were accused of “collecting and transmitting sensitive information” to the diplomat since 2023 and “maintaining contact with him.” Moldova, located between Ukraine and Romania, has taken a pro-European stance under President Maia Sandu, who often asserts that she is the victim of Russian attempts to destabilize it, especially as the presidential election, scheduled for October 20, approaches, coinciding with a referendum on EU membership.

Since the start of the Russian military operation in Ukraine, Moldova has significantly reduced Rus
sian diplomatic activity on its territory, and last summer expelled 45 people working in Russian diplomatic missions.

Source: Qatar News Agency

Doha: Police Academy celebrated on Thursday the graduation of students from the fifth and sixth groups of the Police Officers of Tomorrow program in its fifth edition (Summer 2024), a total of a thousand graduates, in the presence of officers from the Ministry of Interior and parents.

The ceremony included sports and skill performances by the graduates, reflecting the qualitative level of training within the framework of the Police Officers of Tomorrow program, in addition to showing a documentary film about the activities of the program in its 5th edition, and another film about the importance of awareness of the dangers of cybercrimes and cybersecurity. A live presentation was also given on the role of security personnel in combating drugs and other segments.

The Police Officers of Tomorrow program includes various military and sports exercises and training, including infantry, shooting, swimming, and self-defense, in addition to several educational lectures and field visits, in partnership with cooperati
ng parties.

The program, which this year targeted those born in (2012 – 2013 – 2014 – 2015), aims to develop self-confidence among the youth, deepen national identity and authentic Arab and Islamic values, and enhance the spirit of loyalty and belonging, according to an integrated training and educational program.

The 5th edition of the Police Officers of Tomorrow program was launched on June 22, with the participation of around 2,500 students, who were divided into six groups. The graduation of the first four batches was celebrated over the past three weeks.

Source: Qatar News Agency

Omani Foreign Minister Badr bin Hamad Al Busaidi discussed the developments in the Middle East in a telephone conversation with his Iranian counterpart Ali Bagheri Kani.

During the call, the two ministers discussed the dangerous escalation in the region due to the Israeli entity’s intransigence and continued genocide against the defenseless Palestinian people, and its political assassinations to abort efforts to calm the situation, ceasefire, and achieve peace.

The two sides also stressed the importance of the international community playing its role in taking all measures to deter the Israeli genocide, which violates all international norms and laws, and to hold the occupation accountable for its practices.

Source: Qatar News Agency