Sheikh Hamdan promoted to Lieutenant General of UAE Armed Forces
Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Defence, has now been promoted to the rank of Lieutenant General.
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The National
7 hours ago
- The National
Witkoff visits Gaza aid site as US draws up new plan
US envoy Steve Witkoff hinted at a new plan to feed Gaza on Friday, after visiting one of the food banks where starving Palestinians have allegedly been killed by Israel. Mr Witkoff said he and US ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee spent more than five hours inside Gaza "assessing conditions" and speaking to staff from the Israeli and US-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation. The purpose of the visit was to give US President Donald Trump"a clear understanding of the humanitarian situation and help craft a plan to deliver food and medical aid to the people of Gaza", Mr Witkoff said. According to the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, at least 1,373 Palestinians have been killed while seeking food. It said in a report that 859 were killed in the vicinity of GHF sites, and 514 along the routes of food convoys. "Most of these killings were committed by the Israeli military," it added. The US diplomats visited one of the GHF aid sites in the southern city of Rafah. "This morning I joined Steve Witkoff for a visit to Gaza to learn the truth about GHF aid sites," Mr Huckabee wrote on X. GHF wrote on the platform that it had delivered its 100 millionth meal on Friday. On Thursday, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters the pair would 'secure a plan to deliver more food and meet local Gazans to hear first-hand about this dire situation '. Their visit came after Mr Trump lamented the aid situation in Gaza. He described it as 'terrible', despite Israeli claims that there is 'no starvation policy' in the enclave. 'It's terrible what's occurring there. It's a terrible thing. People are very hungry,' Mr Trump told reporters. 'You know, the United States gave $60 million for food, and it's a shame, because I don't see the results of it. And we gave it to people that, in theory, are watching over it fairly closely. We wanted Israel to watch over it.' Mr Witkoff would brief President Trump after the visit to 'approve a final plan for food and aid distribution into the region', said Ms Leavitt. Mr Trump himself echoed this in a phone call with US news site Axios on Friday touting a plan to "get people fed". "We want to help people. We want to help them live. We want to get people fed. It is something that should have happened long time ago," Mr Trump said, according to Axios. US-backed Israeli forces and private contractors have put in place a flawed, militarised aid distribution system that has turned aid distributions into regular bloodbaths, said Human Rights Watch on Friday. The UN report said that the Human Rights Office in the occupied Palestinian Territory has no information that the Palestinians killed while seeking aid were directly participating in hostilities or posed any threat to Israeli security forces or other individuals. "Each person killed or injured had been desperately struggling for survival, not only for themselves, but also for their families and dependents," it said. Meanwhile, increasing numbers of Palestinians are dying from malnutrition and starvation, including children, older people, people with disabilities and the sick or injured. "They often have little or no support and cannot access the locations where extremely limited aid may be available. This humanitarian catastrophe is human-made. It is a direct result of policies imposed by Israel that have severely reduced the amount of life-saving assistance in the Gaza Strip." Political theatre Many Palestinians described the US envoy's visit as little more than political theatre. 'Maybe he should come every day, at least then we'd be assured that people won't be killed or humiliated,' said Khaled Foad, 40, who was displaced to Mawasi in Khan Younis after his home in the Al Zahraa neighbourhood was destroyed. 'Let the people benefit from this 'show'. Even women haven't been safe from the violence, and now they're pretending to treat people with kindness,' he added, referring to deaths near GHF aid sites. Awoni Salah, a 50-year-old Gazan, echoed Mr Foad's sentiments. 'The visit of Trump's envoy, Steve Witkoff, to the American aid distribution centres is a show,' he said. 'Today, there is no repression, no pepper spray, no gunfire, no casualties. 'If you want to know the truth, just let international journalists into Gaza. It's as simple as that. Let him visit one of Gaza's hospitals, then he'll see the reality for himself.' Mr Witkoff arrived in Israel on Thursday, before he and Mr Huckabee had a 'very productive meeting' with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and other officials about delivering food and aid to Gaza, Ms Leavitt said. The death toll from Israel's military campaign in Gaza has passed 60,100, and images of starving children have fuelled anger and concern in many western countries, including the US. This week, for the first time, President Trump admitted that 'real starvation' was taking place across Gaza. Germany's Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul also arrived in Israel on Thursday on a trip to try to convince Israeli counterparts to allow in more aid. On Friday, Mr Wadephul met the families of seven German-Israeli hostages being held by Hamas in Gaza, according to the German Embassy in Tel Aviv. Mr Wadephul signalled on Thursday that Germany may be reconsidering its position on Israel and Gaza, amid UN reports of famine spreading in the strip. Israel is increasingly finding itself in a 'minority position', Mr Wadephul warned in a statement issued before his visit. French President Emmanuel Macron announced last week that his country, a heavyweight in the EU, plans to recognise a Palestinian state, becoming the first major western nation to do so. Britain and Canada have since said they could also do so. Israel's refusal to end the war in Gaza and its aid policy in the Palestinian territory have made it more isolated than ever. Mr Witkoff's visit follows the imposition of US sanctions on members of the Palestinian Authority and the Palestine Liberation Organisation. Washington accused the PA and PLO of 'continuing to support terrorism', supporting international legal cases against Israel and 'undermining prospects for peace', the US State Department said on Thursday. Palestinian officials told The National the sanctions were punishment for seeking an end to Israel's occupation and the establishment of a Palestinian state.
Zawya
9 hours ago
- Zawya
Namibia: Ambassador appointed to Windhoek
At its session on 1 August, the Government promoted Counsellor Katja Kalamäki to the public office of Counsellor for Foreign Affairs, starting on 1 September 2025. The President of the Republic appointed Counsellor for Foreign Affairs Kalamäki to serve as Head of Mission at Finland's Embassy in Windhoek from 1 September 2025. Kalamäki will transfer to Windhoek from the Unit for Northern Europe and Regional Cooperation, where she has served as Director since 2021. Before that, she worked as Diplomatic Adviser to the Foreign Minister in the Office of the Minister for Foreign Affairs in 2013–2021. Kalamäki has prior experience on Finnish missions abroad from Islamabad, where she served as Deputy Head of Mission in 2010–2011, and from the Permanent Mission of Finland to the UN in New York, where she worked in 2011–2013 specialising in human rights and equality issues. Kalamäki joined the Ministry for Foreign Affairs in 2005. She holds two Master's degrees of Master of Social Sciences. Distributed by APO Group on behalf of Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Finland.
The National
10 hours ago
- The National
Lebanese cabinet expected to pass executive order asserting sole state control over weapons
Lebanon's Cabinet is expected to pass an executive order next week that enshrines the state's commitment to maintaining exclusive control of weapons nationwide, political sources told The National on Friday. An executive order would formalise into policy what Lebanese leaders have been trying to achieve since a November ceasefire officially put an end to fighting between Israel and Lebanon's Hezbollah party and paramilitary organisation. The expected move follows reports that the US has ramped up pressure on Lebanon's leaders to issue a formal cabinet decision committing to disarm Hezbollah – a position also taken by the US-backed Lebanese Forces party, a rival of Hezbollah. The LF has accused the state's top leadership – the President, Prime Minister and Parliament Speaker – of negotiating on behalf of Lebanon without the collective input of the government. 'Our position has been very clear since the beginning,' said Ghassan Hasbani, an LF member of parliament. 'We're demanding from the government, which we're part of, to take a collective decision to put a timeline for the implementation of removal of arms, and the dismantling of militant armed groups by the end of this year.' But a Lebanese political source, speaking on condition of anonymity, expressed scepticism that the executive order would amount to a major political decision. 'The order will probably condition disarmament on Israel's withdrawal,' said the source. Another political source close to the LF told The National that they were lobbying for a majority vote at the cabinet meeting. 'We're not observers or spectators. We are part of this government and we're going to push for a decision.' The November ceasefire, which ended 14 months of war, required Israel's withdrawal from south Lebanon, Hezbollah's disarmament starting with the area south of Lebanon's Litani river, and the eventual deployment of the Lebanese army throughout the entirety of the state. But Israel has refused to withdraw from five Lebanese points of territory it occupied during the war and continues to attack Lebanon almost daily, while Hezbollah has conditioned its disarmament on Israel's withdrawal – putting Lebanon's leaders in a difficult position. Next week's cabinet meeting to enshrine the state's monopoly on arms follows a forceful speech from President Joseph Aoun, the former army chief, in which he made explicit mention of Hezbollah's arsenal for the first time. Mr Aoun reiterated Lebanon's commitment to reclaiming weapons from all paramilitary groups, 'including those of Hezbollah'. The President's speech was also an indirect response to Hezbollah chief Naim Qassem, who earlier this week accused the US and Israel of employing 'intimidation and threats', and said the November ceasefire was meant 'exclusively for the south Litani area' and not the whole of Lebanon. 'Anyone calling today for the surrender of weapons, whether internally or externally, on the Arab or the international stage, is serving the Israeli project,' Mr Qassem said on Wednesday. Hezbollah is believed to still have a superior military capability to the Lebanese army, despite suffering major losses in its leadership and arsenal during its war with Israel, which began on October 8, 2023, in support of its ally Hamas in the Gaza strip. The group – along with its allies – also form a political bloc that wields the power to paralyse parliamentary endeavours. 'We're hoping that after what we heard from the President, this can be translated into a government decision to give clear orders to the Lebanese Armed Forces to put out a plan with a timeline to start its execution,' Mr Hasbani told The National. 'There will be some kind of executive order coming out on Tuesday, but it's one thing to say we want it to happen as a prerequisite, and another for it to actually be implemented. 'This way it becomes an official government position rather than the political views of the political leaders.' Hezbollah has publicly remained staunch in its demand that Israel withdraw from Lebanese territory and cease its attacks before it will disarm, but it has thus far refrained from responding to Israeli attacks. Another political source close to the Lebanese Forces said that passing executive order would be 'just another attempt to move forward on paper'. 'Israel's presence in Lebanon suits both Hezbollah and Israel. Israel won't leave unless Hezbollah disarms and Hezbollah won't disarm unless Israel withdraws. They're both buying and selling time.'
