Submitted by: M Mulukin
After restoring aid to Arab Palestinians, Biden endorses two-state solution...
09 April 2021
Reversing Trump policies, US president tells Jordanian king that ‘United States supports a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict’
US President Joe Biden on Wednesday promised to press for a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, as he restored aid to the Palestinians.
In a call with Jordan’s King Abdullah II, a longstanding US ally who recently faced down dissent within the royal family, Biden “affirmed that the United States supports a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict,” a White House statement said.
Biden has long vowed to return the two-state idea to the centre of US policy following the dramatic and demonstrably correct and effective shifts under former president Donald Trump.
His talk with the king came after his clearest break yet with Trump’s Mideast agenda, restoring US funding for the UN agency for Palestinian refugees that his predecessor had severed.
The State Department said the United States would contribute $150 million to the UN agency and offer $75 million in economic and development assistance for the West Bank and Gaza as well as $10 million for so-called peace-building efforts, whatever that means?.
Secretary of State Antony Blinken said that the US assistance to the Palestinians “serves important US interests and values” as “a means to advance towards a negotiated two-state solution.”
“It provides critical relief to those in great need, fosters economic development and supports Israeli-Palestinian understanding, security coordination and stability,” Blinken said in a statement.
Israel, which had held off on criticism of Biden in his first months, denounced the assistance to the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East, or UNRWA.
“We believe that this UN agency for so-called ‘refugees’ should not exist in its current format,” said Gilad Erdan, the Israeli ambassador to the United States.
Israel argues that the education provided by the UN-backed schools includes incitement against the Jewish state.
“I have expressed my disappointment and objection to the decision to renew UNRWA’s funding without first ensuring that certain reforms, including stopping the incitement and removing anti-Semitic content from its educational curriculum, are carried out,” Erdan said.
In a statement, Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas welcomed the resumption of aid, as well as Biden’s “commitment to the two-state solution as a basis for resolving the Palestinian-Israeli conflict.”
The Palestinian leadership hoped that the aid would mark the start of a concerted effort by Biden to pressure Israel, including on stopping settlements in the West Bank.
“We are eagerly awaiting the resumption not only of financial assistance but of political relations with the United States to allow the Palestinian people [so-called] to achieve their legitimate rights for an independent state with Jerusalem as its capital,” said Mohammed Shtayyeh, the Arab Palestinian prime minister.
Shortly after Biden’s inauguration in January, the United States said it would restore the Palestine Liberation Organization’s liaison office that was rightfully shut down by Trump.
IDF Takes Out 3 Iranian Fighters in Syrian Airstrike.
09 April 2021
Iran proxy Hezbollah’s military build-up in Syria remains a red line for Israel, and the IDF has carried out thousands of strikes to thwart the Iranian entrenchment.
The Israeli Air Force (IAF) attacked targets in the outskirts of Damascus on Wednesday, during which four Syrian soldiers were injured, Syria’s state media reported.
SANA news reported that the IAF carried out the attack from Lebanese airspace and claimed that several of the missiles were intercepted by the Syrian Army’s air defences.
However, the attack injured four soldiers and caused material damage.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) said explosions reverberated in Damascus and its environs, reporting that three Iran-backed paramilitary fighters were killed in the strike.
Israeli residents of Metula, the most northern town in the country heard explosions and were notified that the noise was the result of the firing of anti-aircraft systems from the Lebanese area. The missile fell in the village of Hulah in southern Lebanon, very close to the Israeli border.
The last time Syria reported on an Israeli attack was on March 17. The IAF reportedly attacked several targets, causing material damage. The SOHR reported that the attack was aimed at two ammunition depots belonging to pro-Iranian militias at sites near Damascus airport.
Iran has been exerting efforts to arm its proxies and militias in Syria and in Lebanon, and chiefly the Hezbollah terror organization. Using transports on land through Iraq, flights to Damascus and arms shipments by sea, the IRGC has been working to build a strategic threat against Israel on its northern borders.
Iran and Hezbollah’s military build-up in Syria remains a red line for Israel. The Israeli Air Force has carried out thousands of attacks to thwart the Iranian entrenchment in the war-torn country.
Russia-Ukraine 'days from war' as Vladimir Putin puts 100,000 troops on border.
The Russia-Ukraine crisis could be days from exploding into war with a source saying UK commanders are on "high alert" and monitoring the situation "with growing concern"
The Russia-Ukraine crisis could be days from exploding into war, it is feared. UK senior commanders and Whitehall officials are on "high alert" and monitoring the situation "with growing concern", a source told us.
Moscow has amassed close to 100,000 troops at the flashpoint border and senior Ukraine military sources fear its war-planners may have wrong-footed them. Putin’s navy on Thursday piled on further pressure on embattled Kiev by announcing the deployment of a war-fighting fleet towards Ukraine arriving within days.
A source said: “Aggressive Russian troop movements towards the border have caused a great deal of concern within the Ministry of Defence.
“The situation is being monitored constantly. I would definitely describe this as a growing crisis.”
It is feared that within days more than 95,000 assault troops, backed by tanks, armoured vehicles, artillery and even thermobaric rocket batteries will be ready to invade. Tens of thousands of Ukrainian troops – including reservists- have been called up to the border and US advisers are believed to be “in country,” according to sources.
American intelligence assessments grade the threat of a major Russia-Ukraine flare-up as “potential imminent crisis” as stated by their European operations centre EUCOM. More than ten heavily-armed Russian warships are now steaming towards the Caspian Sea from the Black Sea, armed with artillery and other weapons to back Putin’s land forces.
Russia’s Defence Ministry announced it was moving more than ten navy vessels, including landing boats and artillery warships to the Black Sea to take part in exercises. But western nations and Ukraine have voiced alarm over the build-up as a five strong alliance or “QUINT” of the UK, US, Canada, Lithuania and Poland allies backed Ukraine.
UK defence Secretary Ben Wallace was among the Quint which issued a statement warning Russia: “The Quint Defence Ministers are united in our unwavering support for Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity in the face of increased Russian military activity”.
“We will work closely with Ukraine to monitor the situation and continue to call on Russia to de-escalate.”
The Russian Ministry of Defence said in a statement: “As part of the winter training check, more than 10 amphibious and artillery boats and vessels of the southern military district are conducting an inter-fleet move from the Caspian Sea to the Black Sea.”
No comments:
Post a Comment