التصنيف: estaql

خلال قمة مشتركة في العاصمة السعودية الرياض، ندد قادة الدول العربية والإسلامية السبت بـ” الجرائم” التي ترتكبها إسرائيل بحق الشعب الفلسطيني في غزة.

ويأتي هذا الاجتماع الطارئ للجامعة العربية ومنظمة التعاون الإسلامي في ظل الحرب المتواصلة بين إسرائيل وحماس بقطاع غزة إثر هجوم غير مسبوق نفذته الحركة في السابع من تشرين الأول/أكتوبر الماضي داخل الدولة العبرية.

وشدد ولي العهد السعودي الأمير محمد بن سلمان في كلمته الافتتاحية، على أن بلاده “تؤكد تحميل سلطات الاحتلال مسؤولية الجرائم المرتكبة بحق الشعب الفلسطيني”.

وتابع “نحن على يقين بأن السبيل الوحيد لتأمين الأمن والسلام والاستقرار في المنطقة هو إنهاء الاحتلال والحصار والاستيطان”.

اقرأ أيضاالقمة العربية-الإسلامية في الرياض: الرئيس الفلسطيني يتهم إسرائيل بشن “حرب إبادة” في غزة

أما الرئيس الإيراني إبراهيم رئيسي الذي يقوم بأول زيارة إلى السعودية منذ توصل البلدين إلى اتفاق تقارب في آذار/مارس الماضي، فقد دعا الدول الإسلامية إلى تصنيف الجيش الإسرائيلي “منظمة إرهابية”.

ومن جانبه، قال الرئيس الفلسطيني محمود عباس إن ما يتعرض له الفلسطينيون هو “حرب إبادة”. وأضاف أن “شعبنا يتعرض إلى حرب إبادة على يد آلة الحرب الإسرائيلية التي انتهكت الحرمات وتخطت الخطوط الحمراء في غزة”.

“ممارسات لا إنسانية تعود بنا إلى العصور الوسطى“

ومن جهته، استنكر الرئيس المصري عبد الفتاح السيسي معاناة سكان غزة من “ممارسات لا إنسانية تعود بنا إلى العصور الوسطى”.

كما حذر من توسع نطاق الحرب “مهما كانت محاولات ضبط النفس فإن طول أمد الاعتداءات، وقسوتها غير المسبوقة كفيلان بتغيير المعادلة وحساباتها.. بين ليلة وضحاها”.

وقال أمير قطر الشيخ تميم بن حمد آل ثاني “لا يجوز الاكتفاء ببيانات الشجب والاستنكار بل علينا اتخاذ خطوات رادعة لوقف جريمة الحرب المتواصلة بحيث تظهر أيضا ثقل ووزن الدول الإسلامية”.

أما الرئيس السوري بشار الأسد فدعا إلى وقف أي مسار سياسي مع إسرائيل ” لتكون عودته مشروطة بالتزام الكيان بالوقف الفوري المديد لا المؤقت للإجرام بحق كل الفلسطينيين مع إدخال المساعدات لغزة”.

اقرأ أيضاقادة الدول العربية والإسلامية يرفضون سياسة “العقاب الجماعي” ويدعون لوقف فوري لإطلاق النار في غزة

وتجدر الإشارة إلى أن إسرائيل وحليفتها الرئيسية الولايات المتحدة ترفضان حتى الآن مطالب وقف إطلاق النار، وهو موقف كان موضع انتقادات شديدة خلال قمة السبت.

ومن جانبها، أطلقت منظمات إغاثة دولية مناشدات عاجلة للتوصل لوقف إطلاق نار في غزة مع نفاد إمدادات الماء والغذاء والدواء وتعرض أقسام في المستشفيات التي ما زالت تعمل، للقصف، وفق الهلال الأحمر الفلسطيني وأطباء.

هذا، وكان من المفترض بالأساس أن تعقد الجامعة العربية ومنظمة التعاون الإسلامي قمتين منفصلتين، غير أن وزارة الخارجية السعودية أعلنت باكرا السبت عقد “قمة عربية إسلامية مشتركة غير عادية” بشكل استثنائي السبت.

اختلافات رغم الجهود لـ”توحيد الصف”

وأفادت وزارة الخارجية السعودية في بيان بحسابها على منصة إكس، أن قرار دمج القمتين جاء “استشعارا من قادة جميع الدول لأهمية توحيد الجهود والخروج بموقف جماعي موّحد يُعبّر عن الإرادة العربية الإسلامية المُشتركة”.

لكنّ دبلوماسيين عربيين أبلغا وكالة الأنباء الفرنسية أن قرار الدمج جاء بعد عجز مندوبي دول الجامعة العربية في التوصل لاتفاق حول بيان ختامي.

إذ اقترحت بعض الدول، من بينها الجزائر ولبنان، مشروع قرار يتضمن تهديدا بقطع إمدادات النفط عن إسرائيل وحلفائها الغربيين وقطع العلاقات الدبلوماسية والاقتصادية التي تقيمها بعض الدول العربية مع إسرائيل، وفق الدبلوماسيين.

لكن ثلاث دول عربية، من بينها الإمارات والبحرين اللتين طبعتا علاقاتهما مع إسرائيل في 2020، رفضت المقترح.

ومن جهتها، قالت حركة الجهاد الإسلامي عشية المؤتمر الجمعة، إنها “لا تتوقع شيئا” من القمة، منتقدة القادة العرب على التأخر في عقد الاجتماع الطارئ.

وقال أمينها العام محمد الهندي في مؤتمر صحفي في بيروت “نحن في فلسطين لا نعلق أي أمل على مثل هذه اللقاءات التي خبرنا نتيجتها سنوات طويلة”.

وتابع “عندما يُعقد هذا المؤتمر بعد 35 يوما، فهذا ينبّهنا بمخرجات هذا المؤتمر. فلا وزن للعرب اليوم في المعادلة الدولية”.

وفي السياق، قالت المحللة المصرية في مركز الأهرام للدراسات السياسية بالقاهرة رابحة سيف علام “هناك حالة من الاصطفاف المبدئي لكن هناك معسكرات مختلفة داخل العالم العربي وهي اختلافات لا يمكن محوها بين يوم وليلة”. وتابعت أن “الهدف الآن هو الاتفاق على حد أدنى يمكن تبنيه لحل الأزمة في غزة خصوصا أن هناك مصالح قومية لدول عربية أخرى مهددة مثل مصر والأردن”.

زيارة أولى منذ 2012 واجتماع مع ولي العهد…

ودعا إبراهيم رئيسي كذلك في كلمته أمام القادة العرب والمسلمين إلى “تسليح الفلسطينيين” في حال “استمرت الهجمات” في القطاع الفلسطيني المحاصر.

وتعتبر هذه الزيارة الأولى لرئيس إيراني للسعودية منذ زيارة الرئيس السابق محمود أحمدي نجاد لحضور قمة لمنظمة التعاون الإسلامي أيضا في آب/أغسطس 2012.

وذكرت وسائل إعلام رسمية سعودية على منصة إكس أنه بالإضافة إلى الكلمة التي ألقاها أمام القمة، فقد عقد رئيسي اجتماعا مع ولي العهد السعودي الأمير محمد بن سلمان.

وقبيل مغادرته طهران نحو الرياض السبت، قال رئيسي إن “الولايات المتحدة منعت وقف إطلاق النار في غزة وتوسع نطاق الحرب”.

ويذكر أن إيران تدعم حركة حماس وكذلك حزب الله اللبناني والحوثيين في اليمن، ما يضعها في قلب المخاوف من احتمال توسع الحرب لتشمل دولا أخرى.

هذا، وأدى الصراع إلى اشتعال مواجهات يومية عبر الحدود بين الجيش الإسرائيلي وحزب الله، كما أعلن الحوثيون مسؤوليتهم عن إطلاق “صواريخ بالستية” على جنوب إسرائيل.

ويقول محللون إن السعودية تخشى التعرض لهجمات، لا سيما وأنها تقيم علاقات وثيقة مع الولايات المتحدة، وكانت تجري محادثات لتطبيع علاقاتها مع إسرائيل قبل اندلاع الحرب.

وأمام حلقة نقاش نظمها معهد دول الخليج العربية في واشنطن الأسبوع الماضي، قالت كيم غطاس، مؤلفة كتاب عن الخصومة الإيرانية السعودية، ، إن “السعوديين يأملون في أن يمنحهم عدم تطبيعهم العلاقات (مع إسرائيل) بعد، ووجود قناة تواصل مع الإيرانيين، بعض الحماية”.

وتابعت “أظن أن الإيرانيين يأملون في أن يوفّر لهم تواصلهم مع السعوديين والحفاظ على تلك القناة، بعض الحماية أيضا”.

يذكر أن الهجوم غير المسبوق الذي نفذته حركة حماس في السابع من تشرين الأول/أكتوبر الماضي داخل الدولة العبرية أدى حسب إسرائيل إلى مقتل 1200 شخص وفق حصيلة جديدة وخطف 239 رهينة.

وبدورها، أدت حملة القصف العنيف والهجوم البري الإسرائيلي منذ ذلك التاريخ على قطاع غزة، إلى مقتل أكثر من 11078 شخصا بينهم أكثر من 4506 أطفال، حسب آخر حصيلة أعلنتها وزارة الصحة التابعة لحكومة حماس الجمعة.

فرانس24/ أ ف ب

President Zelenskyy has denied Ukraine was behind blasts that cut off a major route for Russian gas exports to Europe.

A Ukrainian special forces commander played a key role in sabotaging the Nord Stream gas pipelines in September last year, according to an investigation by two international newspapers.

Mystery has surrounded who was behind the blasts that damaged the pipelines – which run from Russia to Germany under the Baltic Sea – cutting off a major route for Russian gas exports to Europe and heightening already high tensions over Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine.

Different theories have emerged pointing the finger at Ukraine, Russia or the United States. All have denied involvement.

A joint investigation by The Washington Post newspaper and German outlet Der Spiegel, published on Saturday, singled out Roman Chervinsky, a 48-year-old who served in Ukraine’s Special Operations Forces.

The officer’s alleged role provides the most direct evidence to date tying Ukraine’s military and security leadership to the sabotage that spawned multiple criminal investigations.

Chervinsky was the “coordinator”, the reports claimed, citing officials in Ukraine and elsewhere in Europe, as well as other people with knowledge of the operation, who spoke anonymously.

He oversaw logistics and support for a six-person team, which rented a sailing boat using false identities and diving equipment to place explosive charges on the pipelines, according to the Post.

The blasts ruptured three of the four pipelines that make up Nord Stream 1 and Nord Stream 2, spewing gas into the Baltic Sea, near Bornholm, Denmark.

Russian energy giant Gazprom halted flows through Nord Stream 1, the main conduit for Russian natural gas to Germany, amid disputes over the war in Ukraine a month earlier.

The newly completed Nord Stream 2 twin pipelines never opened as Berlin pulled the plug on the project days before Russian troops entered Ukraine on February 24, 2022.

The Nord Stream attack hit civilian infrastructure built to provide energy to millions of people in Europe.

Ukraine had long complained that Nord Stream would allow Russia to bypass Ukrainian pipes, depriving Kyiv of transit revenue.

According to the report, Chervinsky did not act alone nor did he plan the operation. Instead, he took orders from more senior Ukrainian officials, who ultimately reported to General Valerii Zaluzhny, Ukraine’s highest-ranking military officer, it said.

He denied any role in the sabotage through his lawyer.

“All speculations about my involvement in the attack on Nord Stream are being spread by Russian propaganda without any basis,” he said in a statement to the Post and Der Spiegel.

Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has repeatedly denied his country was behind the sabotage.

“I would never do that,” he told Germany’s Bild newspaper in June, adding that he would “like to see proof”.

But the Nord Stream operation was designed to keep Zelenskyy in the dark, the Post reported.

The two media outlets said the Ukrainian government did not respond to requests for comment on their investigation.

US and Western officials have called the act a dangerous attack on Europe’s energy infrastructure.

Chervinsky is currently in jail in Kyiv on charges of allegedly abusing his power during an attempt to persuade a Russian pilot to defect in July 2022.

He says his prosecution is political retribution for having criticised Zelenskyy, according to the reports.

Russia alleged that Washington was behind the attack, with President Vladimir Putin dismissing the argument that Ukraine was behind the explosions.

A smaller group of anti-government protesters defied a crackdown on anti-war voices and demanded a ceasefire.

Thousands of people have rallied in Tel Aviv, asking for the release of Israeli and foreign captives being held by Hamas in the Gaza Strip and criticising the Israeli government for the way it is dealing with the crisis.

Many of the protesters on Saturday were friends and family members of the captives and demanded their immediate return.

“Mr Prime Minister, cabinet members, do not talk to me about conquering, do not talk to me about flattening [Gaza]. Do not talk at all. Just take action … bring them home now,” Noam Perry, whose father was abducted from the town of Nir Oz, told the crowd at the protest, the Israeli newspaper Haaretz reported.

“They ask us who our rage is directed at and it is all of humanity … but mainly, those who are responsible for us, those who have a contract with us,” said Jack Levy, another protester.

More than 240 people, including Israeli soldiers and civilians as well as foreigners, were abducted during an attack on southern Israel on October 7 that authorities say killed about 1,200 people, mostly civilians.

A few hundred Israeli left-wing activists, both Arab and Jewish, held a separate demonstration near the Ministry of Defence in Tel Aviv, calling for a ceasefire despite an ongoing crackdown on anti-war voices and protests.

Demands for a ceasefire have been growing from citizens around the world as well as world leaders.

Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has rejected the idea of any ceasefire “without the return of our hostages”. The United States has advocated instead for “humanitarian pauses” to allow civilians to flee and for aid delivery.

More than 11,000 Palestinians, including more than 4,500 children, have been killed in Gaza since Israel launched a campaign of air strikes on October 7, followed by a devastating ground offensive that has brought the fighting to some of Gaza City’s main hospitals.

In remarks on Saturday, Netanyahu ruled out a role for the Palestinian Authority (PA) government in Gaza once the war against Hamas is over.

“There will have to be something else there,” he said when asked whether the PA, which has partial administrative control in the occupied West Bank, may govern Gaza after the war.

“There won’t be a civilian authority that educates their children to hate Israel, to kill Israelis, to wipe out the state of Israel,” Netanyahu said.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said last month that the PA should retake control of the Gaza Strip from Hamas, with international players potentially filling a role in the interim.

Operational security is always tight when the most powerful political and military faction in Lebanon organises an event. 

The details for Hezbollah’s annual Martyrs’ Day commemoration were provided an hour or so in advance and we found ourselves driving through a section of south Beirut that forms the Iran-backed organisation’s stronghold.

We arrived at a local school, had our bags checked by guards clothed in black and were led into a cavernous basement that had been converted into a great assembly hall.

Follow latest updates: Tensions remain on London streets after march

Men and women, wrapped in yellow scarves, sat down on opposite sides of the hall and we were told they were the family members of the martyrs – the Hezbollah fighters who have died fighting in Lebanon and further afield.

The first Hezbollah martyr was a man called Ahmad Kassir. A suicide bomber – or ‘self-sacrifice operative’ in the words of the Iran-backed Shiite group – he blew up his vehicle in front the Israeli military’s headquarters in southern Lebanon in 1982.

Hezbollah is fuelled by its opposition to Israel and Western influence in the Middle East. It has been designated a terrorist organisation by the UK, the US and many other countries.

Its members have been deployed throughout the region, defending Bashar al Assad’s regime in Syria and training members of Hamas. Well over 70 of its fighters have died since the conflict in Gaza began on 7 October.

Hezbollah and Israel have been engaged in a tit-for-tat war of increasing intensity – and severity – and when the women in the hall hoisted pictures of loved ones killed on the battlefield, we knew there would be images of new martyrs among them.

Zeinab Rmoyti lost her son 7 days ago after he was killed by an Israeli airstrike. Ali Ibrahim Rmoyti was only 28 years old yet there was no trace of sorrow in his mother’s face.

I asked her what was going through her mind.

“We are not worried. My son died on the road to Jerusalem while defending the children and women of Gaza. Their homes are being destroyed and no one’s looking after them.”

“How will this end,” I asked her. “How will the cycle of violence we are witnessing ever stop?”

“Israel does not want peace, this violence ends if Israel stops the violence. Are the children of Gaza fighting Israel? Are the women of Gaza fighting Israel? They are not fighting. When Israel ends this war, the violence will stop.”

Some came to honour their loved ones – but others packed the basement to hear the leader of this powerful Shiite faction speak.

Read more:
What is Hezbollah and how powerful is its military?
Analysis: War between Israel and Hezbollah would be far more dangerous than current conflict

Hassan Nasrallah has not appeared in public for many years and when the Hezbollah chief did appear, his image was projected from a giant video screen.

Nasrallah said there had been “an upgrade” in Hezbollah’s operations along its front with Israel.

“There has been a quantitative improvement in the number of operations, the size and the number of targets, as well as an increase in the type of weapons,” he told the assembled crowd.

It is clear that the war on the Israeli border is intensifying. Nasrallah stated that new drones packed with explosives and powerful missiles have now been deployed.

Yet his threat to escalate could spiral out of control.

In response to Mr Nasrallah’s comments, Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu later issued a warning.

He said: “I warned Hezbollah, don’t make the mistake of entering the war because it will be the mistake of your life. Your entry into the war will change the fate of Lebanon.”

Read more:
Israel’s PM Netanyahu vows to press on with ‘full force’

Lahore, Pakistan – For Eman Khosa, a 14-year-old schoolgirl who lives in Pakistan’s second largest city, the start of the last two months of the year marks the onset of familiar irritants – toxic air, allergies, a sore throat and a great reluctance to step outdoors.

“Every year, the beginning of winter is the same,” Eman, who is in ninth grade, told Al Jazeera. “Every year around this time, smog comes. The government takes some measures, and when the smog season ends, we go back to normal.”

Her mother, Suraya Saleem Khosa, a visual artist, said that while weather conditions last year meant that the smog was not quite as bad as usual, this year, it is “far more intense”.

“AQI [Air Quality Index] readings are once again sky-high. There is no respite, no wind. Lots of ill-thought government road projects which are only adding to the pollution,” Khosa said.

Air quality rated ‘hazardous’

Lahore, the capital of the eastern province of Punjab, which borders India, is home to nearly 15 million people. This year, it is back in the headlines due to its toxic air.

Hundreds of people have reported illnesses from allergies to respiratory issues triggered by the worsening air quality in the city.

Lahore ranked as the city with the world’s worst air quality for three consecutive days this week, according to AirVisual, an international air quality monitoring service.

The index, which measures air pollution, uses calculations from the United States Environmental Protection Agency.

The city scored 406, 372 and 422 on its AQI from Tuesday through Thursday, and only after a spell of rain on Friday did the AQI drop down to 108. Later on Friday, it sat at 152.

This compares with Friday’s reading of 25 for London, 61 for Istanbul and 88 for Mexico City.

According to AirVisual, the concentration of tiny particulate matter in the air of Lahore approached 450 this week, which is 30 times higher than the World Health Organisation’s recommended maximum average daily exposure and is considered hazardous.

AQI exceeding 100 is considered “unhealthy” while higher than 300 is considered “hazardous”. Pakistan’s own classification system is more lenient – considering an AQI over 200 as “unhealthy” and a reading beyond 400 “hazardous”.

‘Stubble burning’ to blame

Regardless of whether the air was “hazardous” or merely “unhealthy”, the Punjab government declared a public holiday on Friday, allowing a four-day holiday in the province, which included the existing Thursday off.

Public spaces, restaurants and markets were all shut down, and the government announced a “lockdown” to improve the environmental situation, requiring people to remain indoors.

The interim health minister for Punjab, Dr Javed Akram, said the extra holiday was a one-off to reduce the traffic in the city, which could help to reduce the pollution.

But he blamed farmers in Pakistan and India who are burning crop stubble after harvesting rice to clear out space for wheat crops. “The stubble burning remains a key challenge, most of which takes place in India, and we cannot do much about that,” he told Al Jazeera.

Mohammad Farooq Alam, deputy director of the Punjab government’s Environmental Protection Agency, added: “Crop stubble burning in India is at least five times more than what Pakistani farmers burn. When wind direction is on our side, there is little that we can do to control that.”

He said the provincial government had taken steps where it could, such as imposing fines on local farmers and examining other means of getting rid of agricultural waste.

However, he also acknowledged: “Vehicular pollution is a major reason behind the degradation of our environment.”

Atmospheric conditions from October and late November in the region have also caused pollutants to be trapped closer to the ground, worsening the smog intensity, Alam added.

Sara Hayat, a lawyer specialising in climate change law, policy and advocacy in Pakistan, said that while she agreed with the government decision to announce a lockdown right now, “institutional policies” make it impossible to enforce.

“The government wants to clamp down but is never successful because they do not spread the requisite awareness beforehand. This is merely a temporary measure, without warning, and it won’t be useful without long-term policies in place,” the Lahore-based lawyer told Al Jazeera.

‘Mentally draining’

For citizens of Lahore, the shutdown only means further disruption to their daily routines on top of the toxic air they have no choice but to breathe in.

Moazzam Maqsood, a business owner based in Gawalmandi, one of the more densely populated areas of Lahore, said the government’s decision to close the markets had caused his printing business losses in the “hundreds of thousands” of rupees (100,000 rupees is equivalent to $353).

“We cannot go to market, we cannot have our staff come to the office either, which causes us loss of business. But then sitting at home breathing this foul air is not helping my health either,” he said.

Back at home with her 14-year-old daughter, Khosa said she is lucky enough to own an air purifier – a machine that lessens the physical, but not the mental, impact of the smog season.

“We stock up on face masks, keep checking if all the windows are shut, but mentally, it is draining,” she told Al Jazeera. “It is dreary and depressing and pulls us all down. We don’t look forward to spending autumn in Lahore any more.”

Eman said that after living through the COVID-19 pandemic for two years, during which she did online schooling, it is very important to her to go physically to school. Smog season means her daily routine is disturbed.

“We have exams coming up, and we need to go to school for preparation, but with school closed, we cannot. I love to play tennis in the evening, but I cannot do that either as that is when the smog is at its worst.

“Some of my classmates have allergies and have developed asthma. We barely have any opportunity to go out now.”