Jordanian king chairs security meeting, affirms national unity amid regional tensions
Jordanian king chairs security meeting, affirms national unity amid regional tensions/node/2605413/middle-east
Jordanian king chairs security meeting, affirms national unity amid regional tensions
King Abdullah II of Jordan chairing a meeting on Sunday with officials and security agencies. (Petra)
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Updated 22 June 2025
Arab News
Jordanian king chairs security meeting, affirms national unity amid regional tensions
King Abdullah II said that Jordan will not permit any party to exploit regional tensions to undermine the country’s firm stance on key Arab issues
The Iran-Israel conflict has escalated following US strikes on Sunday, as Tel Aviv and Tehran exchanged attacks for the 10th day
Updated 22 June 2025
Arab News
LONDON: King Abdullah II of Jordan chaired a meeting on Sunday with officials and security agencies to emphasize national unity in the face of regional developments.
King Abdullah urged government institutions to tackle the economic effects of escalating tensions in the Middle East during the meeting at Al-Husseiniya Palace in Amman.
He said that Jordan will not permit any party to exploit regional tensions to undermine the country’s firm stance on key Arab issues. He said that Amman is committed to achieving a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip and the establishment of a Palestinian state, the Petra news agency reported.
He called for increased international efforts to achieve lasting peace in the region and to de-escalate tensions through diplomatic dialogue and negotiations, Petra added.
The Iran-Israel conflict has escalated following US strikes on three nuclear sites inside Iran on Sunday morning. Tel Aviv and Tehran have exchanged attacks over the past 10 days, risking a full-scale war in the Middle East.
The meeting was attended by several key figures, including Prime Minister Jafar Hassan, Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi, Speaker of the House of Representatives Ahmad Safadi, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Maj. Gen. Yousef Huneiti, General Intelligence Department Director Maj. Gen. Ahmad Husni, and Public Security Directorate Director Maj. Gen. Obaidallah Maaytah.
UN peacekeepers (UNIFIL) vehicles ride along a street in Marjaayoun, Southern Lebanon January 20, 2025. (Reuters)
Updated 46 min 49 sec ago
AFP
Lebanon president urges extension of UN peacekeepers’ mandate
Israel and the United States, which wields a veto on the Security Council, have reportedly opposed the renewal
UN Interim Force in Lebanon has been deployed since 1978 to separate Israel and Lebanon and counts some 10,000 personnel from around 50 countries
Updated 46 min 49 sec ago
AFP
BEIRUT: Lebanese President Joseph Aoun on Tuesday warned against ending the United Nations peacekeepers’ mandate in the country’s south, after the UN Security Council began debating extending their mission.
The annual mandate renewal this year comes after Lebanese authorities, under heavy US pressure, have committed to disarming Hezbollah by year end, following a November ceasefire deal that sought to halt more than a year of hostilities between the Iran-backed group and Israel.
Israel and the United States, which wields a veto on the Security Council, have reportedly opposed the renewal.
“Any timetable for the mandate of UNIFIL that is different from the actual needs will negatively impact the situation in the south, which still suffers from Israeli occupation,” Aoun told force commander Diodato Abagnara, according to a presidency statement.
The UN Interim Force in Lebanon has been deployed since 1978 to separate Israel and Lebanon and counts some 10,000 personnel from around 50 countries.
The Security Council on Monday began debating a resolution drafted by France to extend the force for a year with the ultimate aim of withdrawing it.
Aoun said Beirut “has begun contacts with Security Council member states, and brotherly and friendly countries, to ensure the extension” of UNIFIL’s mandate.
He cited Lebanon’s need for the force to help “maintain security and stability in the south” and to support the army following the government’s decision to increase troop numbers there to 10,000 personnel.
Under the ceasefire, Hezbollah was to withdraw from near the Israeli border, while the Lebanese army was to bolster its deployment there.
Abagnara said on X that UNIFIL’s “close coordination” with the Lebanese army was “key to help restore stability.”
Last week, UNIFIL said that with its support, the army had deployed to more than 120 positions in the country’s south.
Despite the ceasefire, Israel has continued to strike Lebanon, saying it will do so until Hezbollah is disarmed. Israeli forces also occupy five areas of the south that it deems strategic.
The text of the draft resolution would extend UNIFIL’s mandate until August 31, 2026 but “indicates its intention to work on a withdrawal of UNIFIL.”
A vote of the 15-member Security Council is expected on August 25, before the force’s mandate expires at the end of the month.
Jordan, Lebanon confirm united stance on Gaza, regional stability during Amman talks
Hassan said the reality on the ground “does not reflect the illusion of a so-called Greater Israel, but rather an outcast, isolated Israel”
Updated 53 min 32 sec ago
Arab News
AMMAN: Jordanian Prime Minister Jafar Hassan and his Lebanese counterpart Nawaf Salam held talks in Amman on Tuesday, with both sides underscoring their rejection of Israel’s policies in Gaza and calling for intensified efforts to end the war in the enclave.
Hassan said the reality on the ground “does not reflect the illusion of a so-called Greater Israel, but rather an outcast, isolated Israel besieged regionally and internationally as a result of its policies of brutality and extremism,” he was quoted as saying by the Jordan News Agency.
He also cautioned against attempts to prolong the conflict under the pretext of such visions, stressing that the massacres taking place in Gaza and the West Bank “will not be forgiven by the peoples of the region and the world.”
He reiterated Jordan’s condemnation of the Israeli occupation of Lebanese territory, urging full implementation of the ceasefire agreement and an immediate halt to attacks on Lebanon.
He also underlined Jordan’s backing of Lebanon’s sovereignty, stability, and institutions, in line with the directives of King Abdullah II.
On Palestine, Hassan called for the opening of all crossings into Gaza to allow humanitarian aid to reach civilians, holding Israel legally and morally responsible for the collapse of relief efforts in the enclave.
He also mentioned Jordan’s commitment to modernization at home while supporting Lebanon and Syria to consolidate sovereignty, strengthen institutions, and reinforce internal resilience.
During a second round of talks at a lunch hosted by Hassan, the two premiers agreed to reconvene the Jordanian-Lebanese Joint Higher Committee this year after nearly a decade of suspension. The body will focus on enhancing cooperation in trade, transportation, and energy.
Salam expressed Lebanon’s appreciation for Jordan’s steadfast support under the leadership of King Abdullah, describing Amman’s positions as “historic and strategic,” the JNA reported.
He emphasized the importance of Jordan’s voice in regional and international forums, and reaffirmed Lebanon’s commitment to the Arab Peace Initiative and a two-state solution as the only viable path to resolving the Palestinian issue.
Earlier on Tuesday, King Abdullah met with Salam, accompanied by Crown Prince Hussein bin Abdullah.
King Abdullah met with Salam, accompanied by Crown Prince Hussein bin Abdullah. (Jordan News Agency)
The king affirmed Jordan’s full support for Lebanon in safeguarding its security and sovereignty, and highlighted the importance of expanding cooperation, particularly in economic sectors.
The meeting also covered developments in Syria, with the king reiterating Jordan’s support for Syria’s efforts to preserve its stability, sovereignty, and the safety of its citizens. On Gaza, King Abdullah once again called for an immediate ceasefire and increased aid to alleviate the humanitarian catastrophe.
He reaffirmed Jordan’s rejection of Israeli attempts to expand control in the West Bank and the wider region.
A picture taken on August 18, 2025, shows tents housing displaced Palestinians in Gaza City. (AFP)
Updated 16 min 14 sec ago
AFP
UN slams Israel’s block on bringing tents to Gaza
“They may have been provided with a tent and then they are displaced again and they have no possibility of taking the tent with them,” Laerke said
Updated 16 min 14 sec ago
AFP
GENEVA: The United Nations took aim Tuesday at Israel’s months-long block on bringing tents into the Gaza Strip, despite continual displacement orders being issued to civilians in the devastated territory.
Jens Laerke, spokesman for the UN humanitarian agency OCHA, said shelter items had been banned from entering Gaza for about five months — a period in which more than 700,000 people had been displaced or re-displaced.
“They may have been provided with a tent, and then they are displaced again and they have no possibility of taking the tent with them,” he told a press briefing in Geneva.
He said Israel had classified tents as “dual use” because they considered tent poles could potentially be used for a military purpose.
He decried “layers of bureaucracy which seem designed not to facilitate fast entry of anything but rather the opposite.”
Israel announced earlier this month that it intended to take over Gaza City and issued another displacement order to residents on Saturday.
Laerke said tents were still not being allowed into the territory.
The UN human rights office meanwhile said the Gaza City takeover plans bore “huge risks for civilians.”
“There are risks of mass displacement and more and more killings and more misery,” said spokesman Thameen Al-Kheetan.
He accused Israel of displacing Palestinians to areas where strikes were continuing.
Kheetan said “hundreds of thousands” were being told to go south to Al-Mawasi, which he said was still under bombardment.
He said Palestinians in Al-Mawasi had “little or no access to essential services and supplies, including food, water, electricity and tents.”
Across the Gaza Strip, Kheetan said the risk of starvation was “everywhere.”
“This is a direct result of the Israeli government’s policy of blocking humanitarian aid. In the past few weeks, Israeli authorities have only allowed aid to enter in quantities that remain far below what would be required to avert widespread starvation,” he said.
The Israel- and US-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, a private organization, began distributing food in the Gaza Strip in late May as Israel began easing a more than two-month aid blockade on the Palestinian territory that had exacerbated existing shortages.
“Reaching the meagre supplies available can be a deadly pursuit,” said Kheetan.
“Since May 27 and up until August 17, we have documented that 1,857 Palestinians were killed while seeking food, including 1,021 killed in the vicinity of the GHF sites, and 836 killed on the routes of supply trucks.
“Most of these killings appear to have been committed by the Israeli military.”
More than two million people live in the Gaza Strip.
GHF says it has distributed more than 2.1 million boxes of foodstuffs to date.
“GHF has demonstrated that aid can be delivered safely and at scale,” its executive director John Acree said Monday.
Iraq says its tip to Lebanon leads to the destruction of an amphetamine factory
Iraq says one of Lebanon’s largest factories making the highly addictive amphetamine Captagon has been discovered and destroyed
It’s part of rare security cooperation between intelligence agencies in Iraq and Lebanon
Updated 19 August 2025
AP
BEIRUT: One of Lebanon’s largest factories making the highly addictive amphetamine Captagon has been discovered and destroyed as part of rare security cooperation between intelligence agencies in Iraq and Lebanon, Iraq’s Interior Ministry said.
The announcement late Monday came a month after the Lebanese army issued a statement about the discovery of a drug factory in Yammoune village in the eastern Bekaa Valley with large amounts of drugs inside.
Iraq’s Interior Ministry said the Lebanese operation in Yammoune in mid-July came after Iraqi authorities gave Beirut information about the factory.
A senior Lebanese security official on Tuesday said it was not clear why Iraqi authorities made the announcement Monday, adding that Lebanon’s security agencies are always in contact with Arab and international security agencies. He spoke on condition of anonymity in line with regulations.
Regional states are intensifying efforts to fight the drug trade.
The vast majority of the world’s Captagon is produced in neighboring Syria, with some production in Lebanon. Western governments estimate that Captagon has generated billions of dollars in revenue for former Syrian President Bashar Assad, his associates and allies. The former government in Damascus denied the accusations.
After Assad was removed from power in December when Islamist fighters took over Damascus, the fight against drug production intensified in Lebanon and Syria.
In February, the interior ministers of Lebanon, Syria, Jordan and Iraq held talks in the Jordanian capital on ways to combat the illegal drug trade and agreed to set up a joint telecommunications cell to exchange information. Smugglers have used Jordan as a corridor to smuggle Captagon pills out of Syria, mainly to oil-rich Arab Gulf states.
Sudan’s army is fighting a more than two-year civil war with the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces
General Abdel Fattah Al-Burhan makes new appointments to the Joint Chiefs of Staff
Updated 19 August 2025
Reuters
CAIRO: Sudan’s army chief appointed a raft of new senior officers on Monday in a reshuffle that strengthened his hold on the military as he consolidates control of central and eastern regions and fights fierce battles in the west.
Sudan’s army, which controls the government, is fighting a more than two-year civil war with the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces, its former partners in power, that has created the world’s largest humanitarian crisis.
General Abdel Fattah Al-Burhan made new appointments to the Joint Chiefs of Staff a day after announcing the retirement of several long-serving officers, some of whom have gained a measure of fame over the past two years.
Burhan, who serves as Sudan’s internationally recognized head of state, kept the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Mohamed Othman Al-Hussein, but appointed a new inspector general and a new head of the air force.
Another decree from Burhan on Sunday brought all the other armed groups fighting alongside the army – including former Darfur rebels, Islamist brigades, civilians who joined the war effort and tribal militias – under his control.
Sudanese politicians praised the decision, saying it would prevent the development of other centers of power in the military, and potentially the future formation of other parallel forces like the RSF.
The RSF has its roots in Arab militias armed by the military in the early 2000s to fight in Darfur. It was allowed to develop parallel structures and supply lines.
The reshuffle comes a week after Burhan met US senior Africa adviser Massad Boulos in Switzerland, where issues including a transition to civilian rule were discussed, government sources said.
The war erupted in April 2023 when the army and the RSF clashed over plans to integrate their forces.
The RSF made quick gains in central Sudan, including the capital Khartoum, but the army pushed them westward this year, leading to an intensification in fighting in Al-Fashir in Darfur.
