https://arab.news/rqs4x
BAGHDAD: The Iraqi cabinet has set November 11 as the date for a parliamentary election, it said on Wednesday.
DAMASCUS: A Syrian and an Israeli official met face to face in Baku Saturday on the sidelines of a visit to Azerbaijan by President Ahmed Al-Sharaa, a diplomatic source in Damascus said.
The meeting marked a major step for the two countries which have been foes for decades, and comes after Israel initially cold-shouldered Al-Sharaaâs administration as jihadist because of his past links to Al-Qaeda.
âA meeting took place between a Syrian official and an Israeli official on the sidelines of Al-Sharaaâs visit to Baku,â the source said, requesting anonymity because of the sensitivity of the issue.
Israel is a major arms supplier to Azerbaijan and has a significant diplomatic presence in the Caucasus nation which neighbors its arch foe Iran.
Al-Sharaa himself did not take part in the meeting, which focused on âthe recent Israeli military presence in Syria,â the source added.
After the overthrow of longtime ruler Bashar Assad in December, Israel carried out hundreds of air strikes in Syria to prevent key military assets falling into the hands of the Islamist-led interim administration headed by Al-Sharaa.
It also sent troops into the UN-patrolled buffer zone that used to separate the opposing forces in the strategic Golan Heights, from which it has conducted forays deeper into southern Syria.
Al-Sharaa has said repeatedly that Syria does not seek conflict with its neighbors, and has instead asked the international community to put pressure on Israel to halt its attacks.
His government recently confirmed that it had held indirect contacts with Israel seeking a return to the 1974 disengagement agreement which created the buffer zone.
Late last month, Foreign Minister Gideon Saar said Israel was interested in striking a peace and normalization agreement with Syria.
A Syria government source quoted by state media responded that such talk was âpremature.â
But during a visit to Lebanon this week, US special envoy to Syria Tom Barrack said: âThe dialogue has started between Syria and Israel.â
After meeting Al-Sharaa in Riyadh in May, US President Donald Trump told reporters he had expressed hope that Syria would join other Arab states which normalized their relations with Israel.
â(Al-Sharaa) said yes. But they have a lot of work to do,â Trump said.
During his visit to Baku, Al-Sharaa held talks with his counterpart Ilham Aliyev, the two governments said.
Azerbaijan announced it would begin exporting gas to Syria via Turkiye, a key ally of both governments, a statement from the Azerbaijani presidency said.
ADEN: Five children in southwestern Yemen died after an explosive device detonated in a residential area where they were playing soccer, rights groups and eyewitnesses said on Saturday.
The circumstances surrounding their deaths on Friday night in Al-Hashmah subdistrict of Taiz province remain unclear.
A spokesperson for the United Nations childrenâs agency UNICEF said that they are aware of reports about the incident but canât verify the facts at the moment.
Two local residents who were eyewitnesses, Ahmed Al-Sharee and Khaled Al-Areki, said that the children were playing soccer when the explosion happened.
At least three people with minor to moderate injuries were also taken to the hospital.
Mahmoud Al-Mansi, another eyewitness, said the explosive was directed from an area where forces allied with the Islah party were present.
The Yemen Center for Human Rights condemned the incident in a report that included graphic photos of the childrenâs torn bodies. Citing health care sources at Al-Rafai Hospital, where the victims arrived unresponsive, the group said they died from shrapnel injuries.
Two of the children were 12 years old, while two others were 14 years old, according to the group. The age of the fifth child is unknown.
LONDON: US Special Envoy Tom Barrack has sought to clarify remarks made during his recent visit to the region, saying that his comments praising Syriaâs progress were not intended as a threat to neighboring Lebanon.
âMy comments yesterday praised Syriaâs impressive strides, not a threat to Lebanon,â Barrack posted on X on Saturday.
âI observed the reality that Syria is moving at light speed to seize the historic opportunity presented by @POTUSâ lifting of sanctions: Investment from Turkiye and the Gulf, diplomatic outreach to neighboring countries and a clear vision for the future. I can assure that Syriaâs leaders only want coexistence and mutual prosperity with Lebanon, and the US is committed to supporting that relationship between two equal and sovereign neighbors enjoying peace and prosperity,â he added.
The clarification comes after reports in Lebanese media, including from , cited Barrack as warning that Lebanon risked âgoing back to Bilad Al-Shamâ if it failed to act quickly on regional realignment.
The term Bilad Al-Sham, historically referring to Greater Syria, encompasses present-day Syria, Lebanon, Jordan and Palestine under the Ottoman Empire; a sensitive concept in Lebanon given fears over sovereignty and outside interference.
Barrackâs comments were widely interpreted by some local outlets as a warning that Lebanon could fall under renewed Syrian influence if it failed to align with shifting regional dynamics.
Meanwhile on Saturday, the Syrian government also moved to quash speculation that it was planning escalatory steps against Lebanon over the issue of Syrian detainees held in Lebanese prisons.
A Syrian Ministry of Information official said that the detainee issue remains âa top priorityâ and that Damascus is committed to resolving it âswiftly through official channels between the two countries.â
Earlier reports had cited unnamed sources close to the Syrian government suggesting that diplomatic and economic retaliation was under consideration in response to what Damascus saw as Lebanonâs neglect of the detaineesâ plight.
However, the Information Ministry source denied this, saying there were no such plans and reaffirming Syriaâs commitment to bilateral resolution.
In an interview with Arab News on Friday, Barrack had made remarks reflecting growing US concern over Lebanonâs political inertia and the evolving role of Hezbollah.
âIf Lebanon doesnât hurry up and get in line, everyone around them will,â Barrack warned, pointing to a broader regional shift sparked by the lifting of US sanctions on Syria.
He framed the moment as pivotal for Lebanon, with pressure mounting for a new political order.
Addressing questions about Hezbollahâs future, Barrack said the group consists of âtwo parts,â an Iran-backed militant faction designated as a terrorist organization, and a political wing operating in Lebanonâs parliament.
He added that any disarmament process âmust be led by the Lebanese government, with the full agreement of Hezbollah itself.â
Barrack said: âThat process has to start with the Council of Ministers. They have to authorize the mandate. And Hezbollah, the political party, has to agree to that. But what Hezbollah is saying is, âOK, we understand one Lebanon has to happen.â Why? Because one Syria is starting to happen.â
On Syria, Barrack described the lifting of sanctions on May 13 as a âstrategic fresh startâ for the war-ravaged nation and said that the US was not intending to pursue ânation-building or federalism.â
He called the Middle East a âdifficult zip code at an amazingly historic time,â and told Arab News that the Trump administrationâs new approach was designed to offer âa new slice of hopeâ to the Syrian people.
âPresident (Trump)âs message is peace and prosperity,â he said. âSanctions gave the people hope. Thatâs really all that happened at that moment.â
GENEVA: The United Nations warned Saturday that dire fuel shortages in the Gaza Strip had reached âcritical levels,â threatening to further increase the suffering in the war-ravaged Palestinian territory.
Seven UN agencies said in a joint statement that âfuel is the backbone of survival in Gaza.â
Fuel was needed to âpower hospitals, water systems, sanitation networks, ambulances, and every aspect of humanitarian operations,â they said, highlighting that bakeries also needed fuel to operate.
The besieged Palestinian territory has been facing dire fuel shortages since the beginning of the devastating war that erupted after Hamasâs deadly attack inside Israel on October 7, 2023.
But now âfuel shortage in Gaza has reached critical levels,â warned the agencies, including the World Health Organization, the World Food Programme and the humanitarian agency OCHA.
âAfter almost two years of war, people in Gaza are facing extreme hardships, including widespread food insecurity,â they pointed out.
âWhen fuel runs out, it places an unbearable new burden on a population teetering on the edge of starvation.â
The UN said that without adequate fuel, the agencies that have been responding to the deep humanitarian crisis in a territory swathes of which have been flattened by Israeli bombing and facing famine warnings, âwill likely be forced to stop their operations entirely.â
âThis means no health services, no clean water, and no capacity to deliver aid,â the statement said.
âWithout adequate fuel, Gaza faces a collapse of humanitarian efforts,â it warned.
âWithout fuel, bakeries and community kitchens cannot operate. Water production and sanitation systems will shut down, leaving families without safe drinking water, while solid waste and sewage pile up in the streets,â it added.
âThese conditions expose families to deadly disease outbreaks and push Gazaâs most vulnerable even closer to death.â
The warning comes days after the UN managed to bring fuel into Gaza for the first time in 130 days.
While a âwelcome development,â the UN agencies said the 75,000 liters of fuel they were able to bring in was just âa small fraction of what is needed each day to keep daily life and critical aid operations running.â
âThe United Nations agencies and humanitarian partners cannot overstate the urgency of this moment,â they said.
âFuel must be allowed into Gaza in sufficient quantities and consistently to sustain life-saving operations.â
DUBAI, July 12 : Iran plans to cooperate with the UN nuclear watchdog despite restrictions imposed by its parliament, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said on Saturday, but stressed that access to its bombed nuclear sites posed security and safety issues.
The new law stipulates that any future inspection of Iranâs nuclear sites by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) needs approval by the Supreme National Security Council, Iranâs top security body.
âThe risk of spreading radioactive materials and the risk of exploding leftover munitions ... are serious,â state media cited Araghchi as saying. âFor us, IAEA inspectors approaching nuclear sites has both a security aspect ... and the safety of the inspectors themselves is a matter that must be examined.â
While Iranâs cooperation with the nuclear watchdog has not stopped, it will take a new form and will be guided and managed through the Supreme National Security Council, Araghchi told Tehran-based diplomats.
