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Romania Sets September Date for Presidential Election

The massive blast brought down the building and caused severe damage to neighbouring houses in the western part of the camp…reports Asian Lite News

 At least 17 Palestinians were killed and more than 34 others injured in an Israeli airstrike on a house in the Nuseirat refugee camp in the central Gaza Strip, local medical sources told the media.

The sources added on Wednesday that rescue efforts are still ongoing, and the casualties include women and children, Xinhua news agency reported.

The recovered victims were all transferred to Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in the city of Deir el-Balah, the sources said.

Eyewitnesses told Xinhua news agency that an Israeli warplane fired several missiles at the house sheltering several displaced families.

The massive blast brought down the building and caused severe damage to neighbouring houses in the western part of the camp.

Meanwhile, the Palestinian death toll from Israeli strikes in the Gaza Strip has risen to 29,313, with 69,333 others wounded, as the Israel-Hamas conflict continues, the Hamas-run Health Ministry said in a press statement on Wednesday.

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European Union, Japan plan security accord

European Union flags fly outside the European Commission building in Brussels, Belgium, on June 9, 2021. (Xinhua/Zheng Huansong/IANS)

The EU’s Foreign Affairs Council meeting emphasized the need to enhance cooperation between the EU and Japan to elevate their partnership to a higher level…reports Asian Lite News

The European Union (EU) on Monday decided to engage in negotiations with Japan to establish a security and defence partnership agreement to elevate bilateral relations to a higher level amid China’s maritime assertiveness, Kyodo News reported citing an EU document.

The proposed agreement between the EU and Japan seeks to enhance cooperation in various domains, including maritime security, intelligence sharing, and addressing hybrid attacks – a novel form of warfare blending military and non-military strategies, such as disinformation campaigns, to achieve strategic goals.

According to Kyodo News, the move comes after Japan and the EU vowed to “develop further (their) security partnership” in a joint statement following their summit meeting last July amid concerns about China’s growing clout in the East and South China seas.

Calling Japan a “key partner in the Indo-Pacific” region, the document said the two sides are “longstanding partners in the field of peace, security and defence and have significantly developed their relationship in these areas over the past few years.

The EU’s Foreign Affairs Council meeting emphasized the need to enhance cooperation between the EU and Japan to elevate their partnership to a higher level.

Among the 14 areas identified for potential collaboration with Japan, maritime security features prominently, including joint exercises in the Indo-Pacific region and supporting the maritime security capabilities of Southeast Asian nations, Kyodo News said.

Additionally, the EU aims to collaborate with Japan in responding to cyber threats, safeguarding critical infrastructure, and coordinating efforts in counterterrorism, space security, and defence, it said.

During its summit last year, the EU emphasized the strategic importance of the East and South China Seas for regional and global security and prosperity, expressing concerns over escalating tensions in the Taiwan Strait.

The decision to pursue a security agreement underscores the EU’s commitment to bolstering regional stability and security in collaboration with key partners like Japan amid evolving geopolitical dynamics. (ANI)

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Brazil recalls ambassador to Israel

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu described Lula’s comments as “disgraceful and grave”….reports Asian Lite News

Brazil has recalled its ambassador to Israel, and Israel says Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva is not welcome in the country in a diplomatic rift after Lula compared Israel’s military campaign in Gaza to the Holocaust.

“What’s happening in the Gaza Strip with the Palestinian people hasn’t happened at any other moment in history. Actually, it has happened: when Hitler decided to kill the Jews,” Lula said on Sunday.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu described Lula’s comments as “disgraceful and grave”.

On Monday, Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz announced that Lula is not welcome in the Middle Eastern country until he takes back his comments.

“We will not forget nor forgive. It is a serious anti-Semitic attack. In my name and the name of the citizens of Israel, tell President Lula that he is persona non grata in Israel until he takes it back,” Katz told Brazil’s ambassador, according to a statement from Katz’s office.

In response, Brazil’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said it would summon Israel’s ambassador to Brazil, Daniel Zonshine, for a meeting in Rio de Janeiro.

“He [Brazilian Foreign Minister Mauro Vieira] also recalled the Brazilian ambassador in Tel Aviv, Frederico Meyer, for consultations. He will depart for Brazil tomorrow,” the Foreign Ministry added on Monday.

Meanwhile, Lula, 78, also faced backlash at home over his statements on Sunday, which came during a press conference on the sidelines of an African Union summit in Addis Ababa.

The Brazil-Israel Institute called his comments “vulgar” and warned they risk “fuelling anti-Semitism”.

Lula condemned the Hamas-led October 7 attacks on southern Israel as a “terrorist” act the day it happened, and he has since grown vocally critical of Israel’s retaliatory military campaign in Gaza.

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EU launches naval mission in Red Sea, Gulf regions

The United States is already spearheading its own naval coalition in the area and has conducted retaliatory strikes on Houthi targets in Yemen, as has Britain….reports Asian Lite News

The EU formally launched a naval mission on Monday to protect Red Sea shipping from Yemen’s Houthi rebels as attacks by the group forced the crew of one vessel to abandon ship and damaged another.

The Iran-backed Houthis, who control much of war-torn Yemen, have been harassing the vital shipping lane since November in a campaign they say is in solidarity with Palestinians in Gaza during the Israel-Hamas war.

The European Union aims to have the mission — called Aspides, Greek for “shield” — up and running in a “few weeks” with at least four vessels, an official said on Friday.

“Europe will ensure freedom of navigation in the Red Sea, working alongside our international partners,” European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen wrote on X.

The United States is already spearheading its own naval coalition in the area and has conducted retaliatory strikes on Houthi targets in Yemen, as has Britain.

The dozens of Houthi attacks have roiled shipping in the Red Sea, forcing some companies to take alternative routes including a two-week detour around the tip of southern Africa.

On Monday evening, the Houthis said they had targeted three vessels in the last 24 hours, including the British-registered Rubymar, the US-owned Sea Champion and the Navis Fortuna which they described as “American.”

Earlier, the maritime security firm Ambrey had reported that a Greek-flagged, US-owned bulk carrier was attacked twice in two hours in the gulf, which adjoins the Red Sea.

The bulk carrier reported a “missile attack” before another projectile hit the water just meters (yards) from the ship, Ambrey said.

The ship’s master reported “evidence of shrapnel and damage to paintwork” in the second incident, the Royal Navy’s UK Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) said.

The Sea Champion is a Greek-flagged bulk carrier that was traveling from Argentina to Yemen, multiple tracking sites show.

Meanwhile, the crew of the British-registered, Belize-flagged Rubymar were forced to abandon ship following a Houthi strike.

A UK government spokesperson condemned what they called a “reckless attack” on the bulk carrier and said coalition vessels were already on the scene, Britain’s Press Association reported.

The UKMTO reported that the incident took place 35 nautical miles (65 kilometers) south of Mokha on Yemen’s Red Sea coast. The location would be toward the Bab Al-Mandeb Strait, which connects the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden.

Citing “military authorities,” it said the crew had safely “abandoned the vessel” which was left at anchor with military authorities at the site and providing assistance.

The Navis Fortuna was approaching the Bab Al-Mandeb Strait on Monday afternoon, Marine Traffic, a ship tracking service, showed.

Late on Monday the UKMTO said it had received a report of an incident 60 nautical miles (110 kilometers) north of Djibouti, also near the Bab Al-Mandeb Strait.

As the attacks continued, Qatar’s energy minister called for a ceasefire in Gaza to end the insecurity in the Red Sea, which has disrupted oil deliveries along with other trade.

Saad Al-Kaabi, who is also the chief executive of state-owned QatarEnergy, said the “root of the problem” in the Red Sea “is the Israeli invasion of Gaza.”

“Hopefully there is a ceasefire soon that will stop that so that the economic impact on the entire world stops,” he said.

Separately, Egypt’s President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi said that revenues from the Suez Canal, which links the Red Sea with the Mediterranean, had fallen “40 to 50 percent” so far this year.

The canal, which brought in $8.6 billion in the 2022-23 fiscal year, is a vital source of foreign currency for Cairo, which is suffering from a severe financial crisis.

Italian top diplomat Antonio Tajani confirmed the EU mission’s launch during a meeting of foreign ministers in Brussels, calling it “an important step toward common European defense.”

The overall commander of the EU mission will be Greek, while the lead officer in operational control at sea will be Italian.

So far France, Germany, Italy and Belgium have said they plan to contribute ships.

The EU says the mission’s mandate — set initially for one year — is limited to protecting civilian shipping in the Red Sea and that no attacks will be carried out “on Yemeni soil.”

An EU official said there would be “continuous military to military contact” to coordinate actions with the United States and other forces in the region.

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UK govt nears pact on cooperation with EU border force

European Union flags fly outside the European Commission building in Brussels, Belgium, on June 9, 2021. (Xinhua/Zheng Huansong/IANS)

A Frontex agreement, albeit limited in scope, would be the third move by Sunak as prime minister to repair day-to-day practical relations between the EU and the UK…reports Asian Lite News

Rishi Sunak is on the verge of securing an agreement for cooperation between the UK and the EU’s border protection agency, Frontex in a further sign of thawing post-Brexit relations.

The deal is expected to mirror other agreements Frontex has with “third country” states, including one with Albania, which agreed to renew its 2019 accord.

It would lead to the sharing of intelligence of migration trends but would not address the small boats crisis involving people crossing the Channel by irregular means.

Sources say the pact will be discussed next week by the Frontex management board, which meets about six times a year. The deal could be signed this month.

A spokesperson for Sunak said negotiations were taking place and the text of a deal had not been agreed. “Obviously we hope to achieve a deal that works for us and our European neighbours,” the spokesperson said.

A Frontex agreement, albeit limited in scope, would be the third move by Sunak as prime minister to repair day-to-day practical relations between the EU and the UK.

In February he and the European Commission president, Ursula von der Leyen, came to an agreement to resolve the row over the post-Brexit trading arrangements in Northern Ireland, with significant compromises by Brussels.

The Windsor agreement cleared the way for the UK’s return to the €85bn (£73bn) Horizon science research programme which was agreed last week to a jubilant response from the science and academic communities.

Relations between Sunak and Von der Leyen are said to be flourishing and sources said the Horizon deal underlined a welcome pragmatism from Downing Street.

Government sources said they believed the normalisation of relations would “unlock” the Frontex deal but emphasised there was nothing in the agreement that would address the small boats crisis or Suella Braverman’s desire to return irregular migrants to mainland Europe.

There are also reservations at the EU about Braverman’s wish to leave the European convention on human rights, which could put at risk the chapter on policing in the 2020 trade and cooperation agreement.

If the UK left the ECHR, the EU could pull the plug on the policing chapter, ending the sharing of DNA data, criminal records and fingerprint databases.

The justice and home affairs committee in the House of Lords has already written to Braverman to express concern that the new illegal migration legislation could lead to the “termination and/or suspension” of the security cooperation elements of the trade deal.

ALSO READ-Jaishankar Meets EU Envoys, Discusses Regional Issues

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Jaishankar Meets EU Envoys, Discusses Regional Issues

Jaishankar thanked them for their contribution to enhancing India’s relationship with their nations…reports Asian Lite News

External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Monday discussed India-European Union ties and regional and global issues with the EU ambassadors.

EAM Jaishankar also thanked them for their contribution to enhancing India’s relationship with their nations.

He expressed pleasure to host the EU Ambassadors in New Delhi today, adding that he also shared impressions from the Munich Security Conference with them.

“Pleased to host EU Ambassadors in New Delhi today afternoon. Shared impressions from @MunSecConf. Thanked them for their contribution in enhancing India’s relationship with their nations. Good discussion on India-EU ties as well as regional and global issues,” Jaishankar posted on social media ‘X’.

Earlier in Munich, Jaishankar met with EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell, on the sidelines of the security conference.

In a post on X, Jaishankar wrote, “Delighted to catch-up with EU HRVP @JosepBorrellF in Munich. Exchanged perspectives on the current global situation. Looking forward to welcoming him to India.”

The 60th Munich Security Conference (MSC) got underway an in-person event from February 16-18, 2024, at its traditional venue, the Hotel Bayerischer Hof in Munich, according to an official statement.

Moreover, New Delhi will be hosting a roundtable to discuss the European Union (EU) and India’s collaboration in security and policy aspects of online disinformation and information manipulation on February 21.

Over 35 experts from the EU and India will join forces in New Delhi on Wednesday (February 21). The roundtable will take place on the sidelines of the Raisina Dialogue 2024.

They will further “unpack the security and policy aspects of online disinformation and information manipulation while identifying possible areas of EU-India collaboration,” the European External Action Service said in a statement.

Moreover, the EU and India have on multiple occasions reaffirmed their commitment to an open, free, secure, stable, peaceful and accessible cyberspace that enables economic growth and innovation. (ANI)

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Russia captures Avdiivka after Ukraine withdraws

“The President congratulated our military and fighters on such an important victory, on such a success,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said…reports Asian Lite News

Following Ukraine’s withdrawal of troops from the key eastern town of Avdiivka, Russian President Vladimir Putin has hailed his army’s capture of the Ukrainian town of Avdiivka as an “important victory”, as reported by Al Jazeera.

Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu informed Putin about the seizure of the front-line town in a meeting at the Kremlin on Saturday, his ministry said in a statement.

Avdiivka was a “powerful defensive hub” for Ukraine’s armed forces and its capture would “move the front line away from Donetsk (city),” reducing Ukraine’s ability to shell the Russian stronghold, the defence ministry said.

“The President congratulated our military and fighters on such an important victory, on such a success,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said.

The new army chief announced that Ukrainian troops have been withdrawn from Avdiivka after months of heavy fighting and little progress in repelling Russian forces on the country’s eastern front, Al Jazeera reported.

“I decided to withdraw our units from the town and move to defence from more favourable lines in order to avoid encirclement and preserve the lives and health of servicemen,” Oleksandr Syrskii said on Saturday.

The town, which had become one of the most fiercely contested battlegrounds on the eastern front, witnessed an escalation of Moscow’s attacks, including airstrikes, artillery bombardment, and ground assaults by armoured vehicles and soldiers, CNN reported on Saturday.

In this two-year war, the battle for the industrial hub, less than 10 km (six miles) north of the Russian-controlled city of Donetsk has been one of the bloodiest, according to Al Jazeera.

Meanwhile, many compare it with the battle for Bakhmut, in which tens of thousands of soldiers were killed.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that pulling out troops “was a professional decision that will save many Ukrainian lives.”

“Our actions are limited only by the sufficiency and length of range of our strength,” he added, highlighting the situation in Avdiivka.

However, Russia had been trying to capture the city since October and had surrounded it on three sides, and has left limited resupply routes for Ukrainian forces before they withdrew, as reported by Al Jazeera.

Reportedly, Avdiivka had about 34,000 inhabitants before the Russian invasion.

According to the local authorities, most of the city has been destroyed but an estimated 1000 residents still remain there.

Before issuing orders to pull out of Avdiivka, Oleksandr Tarnavsky, Ukraine’s army’s commander in the area, said on Friday that several Ukrainian soldiers had been captured by Russian forces, Al Jazeera reported.

Avdiivka lies in the Donetsk region of Ukraine, which the Kremlin has claimed to be part of Russia since a 2022 annexation that remains unrecognised by nearly all United Nations members.

The development has come in advance of Russian presidential elections scheduled for March this year, in which Putin is set to in a fifth term allowing him to continue the invasion of Ukraine.

Yesterday at the Munich Security Conference, Ukrainian president Zelenskyy pushed for countries to give Ukraine longer-range weapons and more air defence systems, according to Al Jazeera.

“Unfortunately, keeping Ukraine in the artificial deficit of weapons, particularly in the deficit of artillery and long-range capabilities, allows Putin to adapt to the current intensity of the war,” Zelenskyy said in Germany.

“The self-weakening of democracy over time undermines our joint results,” he added.

Moreover, he promised to “surprise Russia” later this year with new drone systems and electronic warfare.

Meanwhile, US President Joe Biden on Thursday said that Avdiivka risked falling to Russian forces because of ammunition shortages following months of Republican congressional opposition to a new US military aid package for Kyiv. (ANI)

ALSO READ-Biden assures Zelensky of renewed military aid

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West Bank tensions ‘obstacle’ to peace, says Borrell

Josep Borrell, the EU's high representative for foreign affairs and security policy, speaks at a press conference with Czech Foreign Minister Jan Lipavsky (not in the picture) after a two-day informal meeting of European Union (EU) foreign ministers in Prague, the Czech Republic, on Aug. 31, 2022. (Xinhua/Deng Yaomin/IANS)

Borrell said the EU needed to “support the Arab initiative” to establish a Palestinian state, including both the West Bank and the Gaza Strip…reports Asian Lite News

EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell on Sunday said the situation in the Israel-occupied West Bank posed a major obstacle to finding a long-term solution for peace between Israel and the Palestinians.

“The West Bank is the real obstacle for the two-state solution,” Borrell said at the Munich Security Conference.

“The West Bank is at boiling… we could be on the eve of a greater explosion,” he said.

Around 490,000 Israelis live in the West Bank, which Israel has occupied since 1967, in dozens of settlements that are deemed illegal under international law.

The settlers live alongside around three million Palestinians in the territory.

Palestinians view the Israeli settlements as a war crime and a major obstacle to peace, but many national-religious hard-liners see living there as fulfilling a divine promise.

Since the start of the Israel-Hamas war on October 7, the number of clashes between Israeli forces and Palestinians in the West Bank has increased.

Borrell said the EU needed to “support the Arab initiative” to establish a Palestinian state, including both the West Bank and the Gaza Strip.

Borrell’s comments come after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu rejected a plan for international recognition of such a state, following reports of such an initiative in The Washington Post.

The US newspaper reported that US President Joe Biden’s administration and a small group of Arab nations were working out a comprehensive plan for long-term peace between Israel and the Palestinians.

It included a firm timeline for the establishment of a Palestinian state, the report said.

A question mark remained over who would lead a post-war Palestinian state. The US has pinned its hopes on a reformed Palestinian Authority to be a better partner for Israel.

The Palestinian Authority, which holds limited authority in the West Bank, is led by Mahmud Abbas and his party Fatah.

Gaza has had its own separate administration run by Hamas since 2007 when Abbas loyalists were ousted from the territory.

Speaking at the Munich conference, the Palestinian prime minister Mohammad Shtayyeh said the Palestinian Authority “(does) not have a partner in Israel.”

“We need to move from talking about two states to implementation of two states,” Shtayyeh said.

The Gaza war began with Hamas’s October 7 attack which resulted in the deaths of about 1,160 people in Israel, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally of Israeli official figures.

Militants also took about 250 people hostage, 130 of whom are still in Gaza, including 30 who are presumed dead, according to Israeli figures.

Israel’s retaliatory assault on Gaza has killed at least 28,985 people, mostly women and children, according to the Hamas-run territory’s health ministry.

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France to deliver arms, train Ukraine soldiers

France vows to deliver more arms, train soldiers in Ukraine and send up to three billion euros (USD 3.23 billion) in military aid…reports Asian Lite News

Amid the ongoing war with Russia, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy signed a new long-term security pact with France, hours after securing a similar deal and aid from Germany, Al Jazeera reported on Saturday.

According to the report, under the new agreement, France vows to deliver more arms, train soldiers in Ukraine and send up to three billion euros (USD 3.23 billion) in military aid.

The pact is set to run for 10 years and will not only strengthen cooperation in the area of artillery but also help pave the way towards Ukraine’s future integration into the European Union and NATO, stated Macron and Zelenskyy.

“Our cooperation yields results in the protection of life in Ukraine and our entire Europe,” Zelenskyy said on his social media platforms, shortly before meeting Macron.

Earlier on Friday, the German Ministry of Defence announced that a deal had been signed between Zelenskyy and Chancellor Olaf Scholz, Al Jazeera reported.

Al Jazeera reported that the German security pact, which will last for 10 years, commits Germany to supporting Ukraine with military assistance and hitting Russia with sanctions and export controls, and ensuring that Russian assets remain frozen.

Berlin also prepared another immediate support package worth 1.13 billion euros (USD 1.22bn) that is focused on air defence and artillery.

“The document’s importance cannot be overestimated. It makes clear that Germany will continue to support an independent Ukraine in its defence against the Russian invasion,” Scholz said.

“And if in the future there is another Russian aggression, we have agreed on detailed diplomatic, economic and military support,” he added.

In January, UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak also signed a security accord with Ukraine.

Meanwhile, US President Joe Biden has repeatedly been stressing the importance of sending more aid to Ukraine, Al Jazeera reported.

On Tuesday, the US Senate passed a USD 61 billion aid bill for Ukraine. But the bill still faces an uncertain fate with several right-wing US Republicans in the House already saying they will block it as the money should be spent on domestic issues, Al Jazeera reported.

On Friday, Biden highlighted that the reported death of Russian anticorruption activist Alexey Navalny brings new urgency to the need for Congress to approve funds for Ukraine to stave off Moscow’s invasion.

“The failure to support Ukraine at this critical moment will never be forgotten,” Biden said. “And the clock is ticking. This has to happen. We have to help now.” (ANI)

‘Ammunition shortage hurting Ukraine’

A lack of long-range missiles and artillery shells is limiting Ukraine’s fightback against Russia, President Volodymyr Zelensky told a defense conference on Saturday, making a fresh appeal for more weapons.

Later in the day, delegates at the conference also discussed the situation in Gaza, with some holding out slim hopes of a lasting solution to end the Israel-Hamas war.

Zelensky’s call at the gathering of 180 leaders and defense chiefs at the Munich Security Conference comes at a critical juncture, with Ukraine’s troops forced to withdraw from the frontline city of Avdiivka to avoid being encircled.

“Ukrainians have proven that we can force Russia to retreat,” he said, adding that “our actions are limited only by the sufficiency and length of the range of our strength… (the) Avdiivka situation proves this.

“Keeping Ukraine in artificial deficits of weapons, particularly in deficits of artillery and long-range capabilities, allows Putin to adapt to the current intensity of the war.”

With the war about to enter its third year, Ukraine is under mounting pressure over the ammunition shortfall.

The long-term future of Western aid is also in doubt, with a possible $60-billion package of military aid held up in Washington since last year because of wrangling in Congress.

Seeking to allay fears over US stamina in helping Ukraine, Vice President Kamala Harris said after talks with Zelensky that her country would not allow political brinksmanship to stand in the way of support to Kyiv.

“As it relates to our support for Ukraine, we must be unwavering and we cannot play political games,” she said.

Zelensky said he believed in the “wise decision” of the US Congress and expressed gratitude for Joe Biden’s “full support” following a telephone call with the US president.

In a White House statement, Biden blamed congressional inaction for Ukrainian soldiers having to ration ammunition and contend with dwindling supplies before their withdrawal from Avdiivka

On top of the war in Ukraine, the conflict between Israel and Hamas has added to the concerns for the delegates gathered in Munich.

Speaking at the conference, Qatar’s Prime Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani provided a gloomy assessment of talks to seek a ceasefire in the more than four-month-old Gaza conflict.

“The pattern in the last few days is not really very promising,” said Al-Thani, whose country has played a key mediation role.

“Time is not in our favor,” he warned, with the Muslim holy month of Ramadan set to begin on March 10.

Failure to reach a deal could lead to a wider escalation in the region, he warned, as hundreds of thousands of Gazans faced a dire humanitarian situation.

Some 1.4 million are squeezed into the southern city of Rafah, close to the border with Egypt, as Israel prepares a new incursion in the area.

The Gaza war began with Hamas’s unprecedented October 7 attack which resulted in the deaths of about 1,160 people in Israel, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally of Israeli official figures.

Militants also took about 250 people hostage, 130 of whom are still in Gaza, including 30 who are presumed dead, according to Israeli figures.

Israel’s retaliatory assault on Gaza has killed at least 28,858 people, mostly women and children, according to the territory’s Hamas-run health ministry.

The foreign ministers of Egypt and Saudi Arabia also underlined in Munich the catastrophic situation facing civilians in Gaza.

Diplomats seeking an end to the conflict said however that there may be a unique chance to end the cycle of violence in the next months.

Earlier in the day, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Israel had an “extraordinary opportunity” to normalize relations with almost every Arab nation, if the Gaza conflict came to an end.

Blinken, who has traveled several times to the Middle East since the war erupted, had been in talks with key figures in the region to seek a truce deal and “an enduring end” to the Israel-Hamas war.

There was however an “imperative to proceed to a Palestinian state — one that also ensures the security of Israel,” Blinken said in Munich.

Israeli President Isaac Herzog, who held talks with Blinken, urged Saudi Arabia to normalize ties with his country, saying that would be a win against Hamas.

Stopping efforts at normalization that had been progressing before the war was among Hamas’s aims when it launched its October 7 attack, he said.

“That is why moving on with Saudi Arabia will clearly be a victory over what Hamas did,” he added.

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SLP passes motion calling for Gaza ceasefire

Starmer has repeatedly shifted his position on the issue, at first calling for a “humanitarian pause” and then a “sustainable ceasefire.”…reports Asian Lite News

The Scottish Labour Party has passed a motion calling for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza, BBC News reported.

Party leader Anas Sarwar has been calling for a ceasefire for several months, in a split with the head of the national party, Keir Starmer, who said he wanted a “sustainable end” to the Israel-Hamas war.

Starmer has faced significant pressure from the party ranks over his stance.

Now, Scottish Labour’s two members of parliament in Westminster — Michael Shanks and Ian Murray — will face pressure to back Sarwar in next week’s vote in the House of Commons calling for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza.

In a similar vote in November, the two MPs abstained.

Starmer has repeatedly shifted his position on the issue, at first calling for a “humanitarian pause” and then a “sustainable ceasefire.”

At the Munich Security Conference, he said that the fighting in Gaza “has to stop,” adding: “The question is how do we get there?”

Scottish Labour’s passing of the ceasefire motion was unopposed. It calls for an end to strikes into and out of Gaza, Hamas’ release of hostages and a pathway to peace.

In his appeal for support for the motion, Neil Bibby, Scottish Labour’s constitution spokesperson, said: “It is simply heartbreaking that countless children in Gaza are currently dying and there are heartbroken parents in Israel too.

“That is why we have a moral obligation to be unequivocal. There must be an end to the fighting now and a sustainable ceasefire. An end to the terror and end to the violence.”

Sarwar has attempted to play down his party’s split with the national Labour Party.

“I don’t think there’s as much distance in this as people now believe,” he said.

“Keir Starmer has said he wants the fighting to stop right now and for that to be a sustainable ceasefire. I think we ultimately have the same position.”

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