KUWAIT: The Secretary-General of the League of Arabic States, Ahmed Aboul Gheit, has renewed his call on the international community to provide protection for the Palestinian people, especially the people of the Gaza Strip, who are subjected to continuous massacres at the hands of Zionist occupation forces. This came in a statement by the office after a session of talks with Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan, who is currently visiting Egypt at the invitation of his Egyptian counterpart Badr Abdel Aty. Aboul Gheit stressed the need to achieve an immediate ceasefire and the launch of a credible path to the implementation of the two-state solution.

The Secretary-General of the League of Arabic warned of the consequences of the region’s sliding into chaos, expressing his appreciation for Turkey’s principled and decisive positions in supporting the Palestinian cause in international forums. The statement added that the meeting witnessed an in-depth discussion on the regional situation with the severe risks involved in the escalation in the region, as well as ways to upgrade relations between the Arab League and Turkey in the political, economic, and other fields.

GAZA: People burry bodies during a mass funeral at a cemetery in Khan Yunis in the southern Gaza Strip on August 5, 2024.- AFP

The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Volker Turk, on Monday called for an urgent de-escalation in the Middle East over fears that the Gaza war could spread. “I am deeply worried about the rising risk of a wider conflict in the Middle East and plead with all parties, along with those states with influence, to act urgently to de-escalate what has become a very precarious situation,” said Turk in a statement.

Iran on Monday said it had the “legal right to punish” Zionists over last week’s killing of Palestinian armed group Hamas’ political leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran. Zionist entity, which has not commented on the killing but did admit to carrying out a strike on Beirut that left Hezbollah military chief Fuad Shukr dead, has been fighting a war in Gaza since the October 7 attacks by Hamas. It is now exchanging daily cross-border fire with Hezbollah in Lebanon.

The international community fears Iran, a backer of Hezbollah and Hamas, could join the conflict. “Already, over the past 10 months, civilians — mostly women and children — have endured unbearable pain and suffering as a result of the bombs and guns,” said Turk. “Everything, and I mean everything, must be done to avoid this situation spiraling further into an abyss that will only have even more terrible consequences for civilians.” — Agencies