Skip next section China’s Xi calls for end to suffering ‘in Palestine and Lebanon’
10/24/2024October 24, 2024
China’s Xi calls for end to suffering ‘in Palestine and Lebanon’
Chinese President has told a Russia-hosted conference of BRICS emerging economies that the grouping should be a “stabilizing force” amid the “serious challenges” currently facing the world.
Among other things, Xi called for a cease-fire in Gaza, where against the militant Hamas group in response to its terror attack in southern Israel on October 7 last year.
He also said further conflict should be prevented in Lebanon as Israel and the Iran-backed militia exchange escalating hostilities.
“We need to continue to push for a cease-fire in Gaza, relaunch the two-state solution and stop the spread of war in Lebanon,” Xi said.
“There should be no more suffering and destruction in Palestine and Lebanon,” he added.
China has long supported Palestinian causes, a tradition going back to the era of Mao Zedong, who sent weapons to Palestinians in line with his backing of “national liberation” movements worldwide.
In more recent times, China has upped its efforts to rival the US as a global mediator, among other things brokering a reconciliation deal last year between Middle East rivals Iran and Saudi Arabia.
https://p.dw.com/p/4mB82
Skip next section France’s Macron pledges €100 million to Lebanon at Paris conference
10/24/2024October 24, 2024
France’s Macron pledges €100 million to Lebanon at Paris conference
French President has promised to provide Lebanon with a €100-million ($108-million) aid package as he opened an .
Macron said that “in the immediate term, massive aid is needed for the Lebanese population, both for the hundreds of thousands of people displaced by the war and for the communities hosting them.”
‘s already existing economic crisis has been exacerbated by the current war between Iran-backed militants and Israel, which has displaced more than a million people and killed more than 2,500.
The French Foreign Ministry has said it hopes pledges from the around 50 delegations at Thursday’s conference will raise €500 million, meeting the $426 million target set by the UN to cover Lebanon’s urgent needs.
Lebanon’s caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati has said international support was needed to help rebuild the country’s infrastructure and bolster its army.
https://p.dw.com/p/4mAly
Skip next section Lebanon’s acting PM Mikati calls for international support at conference
10/24/2024October 24, 2024
Lebanon’s acting PM Mikati calls for international support at conference
Lebanon’s caretaker prime minister, Najib Mikati, has said his government plans to recruit more troops as part of a scheme to implement a cease-fire but that international support will be needed to bolster the army.
Mikati’s remarks came at a Paris aid conference aimed at raising money for Lebanon amid Israel’s attacks on the Iran-backed Hezbollah militia that forms a state within a state in the country.
He said Lebanon could deploy 8,000 soldiers to southern Lebanon to help maintain the cease-fire, in line with a calling for such a deployment.
Mikati said Lebanon’s government still supported an initiative by France and the US to put in place a 21-day cease-fire.
https://p.dw.com/p/4mAvS
Skip next section Israel says Beirut strikes targeted Hezbollah arms facilities
10/24/2024October 24, 2024
Israel says Beirut strikes targeted Hezbollah arms facilities
The Israeli military says its strikes overnight in the south of the Lebanese capital, Beirut, hit several weapons production facilities.
“Overnight, the IAF [Israeli Air Force] conducted intelligence-based strikes on several weapons storage and manufacturing facilities belonging to the Hezbollah terrorist organization in the area of Dahiyeh,” it said in a statement.
Lebanese state media reported that six buildings were destroyed in at least 17 Israeli strikes during the night.
The Israeli military said the targeted sites were “located by Hezbollah under and inside civilian buildings in the heart of populated areas.”
https://p.dw.com/p/4mAXq
Skip next section Germany pledges further €96 million in aid to Lebanon
10/24/2024October 24, 2024
Germany pledges further €96 million in aid to Lebanon
Germany has said it will give a further €96 million ($103.57 million) in humanitarian and development aid.
Speaking ahead of an aid conference for Lebanon in the French capital, Paris, Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock said Germany wanted to show it was responding actively to the .
“We are making it clear that we not only see the suffering in Lebanon these days, we are taking action; we are supporting the people on the ground who, for the most part, want only one thing: to live in safety and peace in the future, just like so many people in Israel,” Baerbock said.
The German foreign minister added that “everything must be done” to prevent a new war breaking out between Israel and Lebanon.
“That is exactly what we are continuing to work on, even if it has become much more difficult,” she said.
The French Foreign Ministry says it is hoping that the meeting of some 50 delegations will raise about €500 million in humanitarian aid.
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz already announced the support late on Wednesday during a phone call with Lebanese caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati, according to government spokesman Steffen Hebestreit.
https://p.dw.com/p/4mAPi
Skip next section Israeli fire kills 3 Lebanese soldiers: Lebanese army
10/24/2024October 24, 2024
Israeli fire kills 3 Lebanese soldiers: Lebanese army
Three Lebanese soldiers, including one officer, were killed by while helping evacuate wounded people in southern , the Lebanese army said in a statement on Thursday.
“The Israeli enemy targeted Lebanese army personnel in the vicinity of Yater village, in the Bint Jbeil area of the south, while carrying out an operation to evacuate wounded, which led to the deaths of three martyrs, including an officer,” the statement said.
Israel has been carrying out strikes on Lebanon, particularly in the south, in response to cross-border attacks by the Iran-backed militia. It is not technically at war with Lebanon itself.
https://p.dw.com/p/4mAJX
Skip next section Israeli airstrikes hit Damascus, Homs
10/24/2024October 24, 2024
Israeli airstrikes hit Damascus, Homs
A residential area of Damascus and a in Homs have been hit by , with Syrian state media reporting the death of a soldier.
The Israeli army “launched an attack from the occupied Syrian Golan and from north Lebanon targeting two sites” in the Kafr Sousa district of Damascus and a military site near Homs, the official SANA news agency reported, citing a military source.
SANA said a soldier was killed and seven others wounded in the strike in Homs, while there are unconfirmed reports by the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights of “human losses” in the Damascus strike.
Israel has stepped up its yearslong campaign of strikes against Iranian-linked targets in Syria since the Palestinian militant group Hamas attacked Israel on October 7 last year, sparking the war.
tj/wmr (AFP, AP, dpa, Reuters)
https://p.dw.com/p/4mAJi
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