Iran calls for Islamic countries to sanction Israel

Members of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) should impose an oil embargo and other sanctions on Israel and expel all Israeli ambassadors, Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian said on Wednesday.

An urgent meeting of the OIC is taking place in the Saudi city of Jeddah to discuss the escalating Israeli-Palestinian conflict, after a blast at a Gaza hospital late on Tuesday killed large numbers of Palestinians.

"The foreign minister calls for an immediate and complete embargo on Israel by Islamic countries, including oil sanctions, in addition to expelling Israeli ambassadors if relations with the Zionist regime have been established," the Iranian foreign ministry said in a statement.

Amirabdollahian also called for the formation of a team of Islamic lawyers to document potential war crimes committed by Israel in Gaza.

Prior to the blast at the Gaza hospital on Tuesday, health authorities in Gaza said at least 3,000 people had died during Israel's 11-day bombardment that began after a Hamas October 07 rampage on southern Israeli communities in which 1,300 people were killed and around 200 were taken into Gaza as hostages

 

Syngenta ordered to sell US farmland

Arkansas has ordered Syngenta to sell 160 acres (65 hectares) of farmland in the United States state within two years on Tuesday because the company is Chinese-owned, drawing a sharp rebuke from the global seeds producer.

US farm groups and lawmakers are increasingly scrutinizing foreign land ownership due to concerns about national security.

"This is about where your loyalties lie," Arkansas Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders said at a news conference.

Syngenta said it was disappointed and called the decision a shortsighted action that will hurt Arkansas farmers. The company owns about 1,500 acres (610 hectares) of US agricultural land for research, development and regulatory trials on products used by US farmers, spokesman Saswato Das said.

"Our people in Arkansas are Americans led by Americans who care deeply about serving Arkansas farmers," Das said. The company has owned the site in Craighead County for 35 years, he added.

The order is Arkansas' first enforcement action under a state law passed this year that prohibits certain foreign parties from acquiring or holding land. China is among the prohibited parties because it is subject to US arms export controls known as the International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR), Arkansas Attorney General Tim Griffin said.

A rival of US company Corteva and German firms BASF and Bayer, Swiss agrichemicals and seeds group Syngenta was bought for US$43 billion by ChemChina in 2017 and folded into Sinochem Holdings Corp in 2021. ChemChina is a "state-owned enterprise" in China, Griffin said.

 Syngenta is now pursuing an initial public offering in Shanghai.

If Syngenta fails to sell its land, owned by subsidiary Northrup King Seed Co, Griffin can force them to get out of our state with legal action, Huckabee Sanders said.

The state also fined Syngenta $280,000 for failure to report foreign ownership in a timely manner.

In a form filed with the US Department of Agriculture about the property last year, Syngenta said, "Ultimately, the foreign person that holds indirectly a significant interest in the person owning the land is from China," according to a copy of the document posted by Griffin's office.

But no one from China has ever directed Syngenta executives to buy, lease or otherwise engage in US land acquisitions, Das said.

Since Syngenta had Chinese ownership, the company has purchased an additional 200 agricultural acres (80 hectares), he said.

"All Syngenta land holdings have been examined by the US government, through two administrations, as Syngenta was transitioning to ChemChina ownership," Das said.

Foreign persons held an interest in approximately 40 million acres (16.2 million hectares) of US agricultural land as of December 31, 2021, the USDA said. That was 3.1% of all privately held agricultural land and 1.8% of all land. China had less than 1% of foreign-held land, while Canadian investors had 31%.

 

Saudi Arabia rejects forced displacement of Palestinians

The Cabinet, chaired by Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman in Riyadh on Tuesday, renewed the Kingdom's categorical rejection of calls for the forced displacement of the Palestinian people, and demanded an immediate ceasefire, lifting the siege on Gaza and advancing the peace process in accordance with the UN Security Council resolutions and the Arab Peace Initiative aimed at establishing an independent Palestinian state within the 1967 borders, with East Jerusalem as its capital.

The Cabinet went over the content of the talks between the Kingdom and a number of countries concerning the ongoing escalation in Gaza and other related developments, including the phone calls the Crown Prince and Prime Minister Mohammed Bin Salman received from the presidents of Turkiye, Iran and France, as well as the meeting he held with the US secretary of state.

The Cabinet was briefed on the content of the message the Crown Prince received from the UAE vice president, prime minister and ruler of Dubai concerning ties between the two countries and their peoples, and ways to strengthen them.

In a statement to the Saudi Press Agency (SPA) following the session, Minister of Media Salman Bin Yousef Al-Dosari said that the Cabinet discussed the overall foreign policy of the Kingdom, including strengthening ties with various countries.

The Cabinet reviewed the outcome of the eighth Saudi-Russian Joint Committee meetings, which aim to boost cooperation in vital areas, to achieve desired future goals.

The Cabinet highlighted the Kingdom's stand during the Council of Ministers meeting of the Indian Ocean Rim Association (IORA), when it renewed its support for efforts to confront the challenges facing maritime safety and global trade, and to secure the freedom of global navigation.

Concerning the UN's selection of Riyadh to host the 19th edition of the Internet Governance Forum (IGF) in 2024, the Cabinet said it is testimony to the Kingdom’s global leadership in this field, and to its efforts to create an infrastructure capable of nurturing sustainable development goals and serving communities and the business sector.

Biden to visit Israel to show support for its war on Hamas

US President Joe Biden will make high stakes visit to Israel on Wednesday to show support for its war on Hamas, after Washington said Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had agreed to let humanitarian aid reach besieged Gazans.

Trucks carrying vital supplies for Gaza headed towards the Rafah crossing in Egypt, the only access point to the enclave outside of Israel's control, though it was not certain whether they would be able to cross.

Some 160 trucks had set off towards the border from the nearby Egyptian town of Al-Arish, where they have been backed up waiting while diplomats tried for days to open the route.

Israel has vowed to annihilate the Hamas movement that controls Gaza after Hamas gunmen killed 1,300 people, mainly civilians, during a rampage through southern Israeli towns on October 07, the deadliest single day in Israel's 75-year history.

Israel has bombarded the Gaza Strip with air strikes that have killed more than 2,800 Palestinians, a quarter of them children, and driven around half of the 2.3 million Gazans from their homes. It has imposed a total blockade on the enclave, blocking food, fuel and medical supplies, which are rapidly running out.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken announced Biden's planned visit at the end of hours of talks with Netanyahu, in which he said Netanyahu had agreed to develop a plan to get humanitarian aid to Gaza civilians. He gave no details.

"The president will hear from Israel what it needs to defend its people as we continue to work with Congress to meet those needs," Blinken said.

Biden would also hear from Israel how it will conduct its operations in a way that minimizes civilian casualties and enables humanitarian assistance to flow to civilians in Gaza in a way that does not benefit Hamas", he added.

Washington is also trying to rally Arab states to help head off a wider regional war, after Iran pledged pre-emptive action from the resistance front of its allies which include the Hezbollah movement in Lebanon.

After visiting Israel, Biden is expected to travel to Jordan to meet King Abdullah, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi and Mahmoud Abbas, president of the Palestinian Authority which is a rival of Hamas and has limited self rule in the Israeli-occupied West Bank.

US commanders assume command of operations in Gaza

According to reports, the US commanders have taken over the command of Israeli operations against the Gaza Strip given the deep-running confusion among Israeli military echelons. 

Citing sources in the occupied territories of Palestine who are familiar with the matter, Tasnim News said, “Considering the mental and psychological disorder of most of the Israeli military commanders, some US commanders have taken over the leadership of ‘some of their operations’ since the beginning of the Zionist attacks against the Palestinian citizens in Gaza.”

The American commanders, Tasnim said, are working hand in glove with their Israeli peers. 

“The extreme psychological pressure caused by the extraordinary operations of the Palestinian resistance (the Al-Aqsa Storm) and the unprecedented losses inflicted on the Israelis have caused this psychological and mental confusion in such a way that many Israeli commanders are unable to make decisions,” the sources said. 

According to the Tasnim report, operations leading to the massacre of Gaza citizens are also carried out jointly by United States and Israel.

Some of these US commanders participating in the attacks are advising their Israeli comrades to refrain from entering Gaza by land because the possibility of a heavier blow is very high and this battle is not considered a right risk.

This warning has come from the highest political echelons of Washington. In an interview with CBS news program 60 Minutes, US President Joe Biden warned that occupying the Gaza Strip would be a big mistake.

60 Minutes journalist Scott Pelley also asked Biden if he could foresee US troops joining the war.

"I don't think that's necessary," Biden, replied. 

Israel has come under global fire for its aggression against the besieged Gaza Strip that resulted in the killing of a child every 15 minutes. Civilians in the enclave continue to be killed as Israel prepares to launch a ground operation in the Gaza Strip. 

As the war rages on, huge diplomatic efforts are underway in the West Asia region. Iranian high-level officials have taken part in these efforts. 

Iran has also warned of a broader regional escalation if Israel launched a ground offensive. In his recent phone call with French President Emmanuel Macron, Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi said Israel is committing war crimes by cutting off water, electricity, fuel, food, and medicine to the people of Gaza, as well as blindly and extensively bombarding non-military targets by even using phosphorus bombs.

Iranian president emphasized the urgent need to end the bombing of residential areas and said that forced displacement of Gaza residents from their homeland is neither practical nor compatible with international principles and laws.

Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir Abdollahian also warned that a broader escalation in the region is possible if Israel pressed ahead with its genocidal operation against the Gaza Strip. 

Amir Abdollahian issued the warning in an interview with the Arabic section of the Al Jazeera network.

“If the Zionist entity decides to enter Gaza, the resistance leaders will turn it into a cemetery for its soldiers,” Amir Abdollahian said, adding that the continuation of Israeli aggression against Gaza would expand the war fronts across the whole region.

The senior Iranian diplomat expressed hope for diplomatic initiatives to resolve the situation but issued a warning that Tehran would not remain silent if the Israeli regime continued its cruelty against Gazans.

 

Ceasefire in southern Gaza agreed

Egypt, Israel and the United States have agreed to a ceasefire in southern Gaza beginning at 0600 GMT coinciding with the re-opening of the Rafah border crossing on Monday.

The sources said the ceasefire would last for several hours but they were not clear on the exact duration. They also said the three countries had agreed that Rafah would be open until 1400 GMT on Monday as a one-day initial re-opening.

Rafah, which is on the border between Egypt's Sinai Peninsula and Hamas-governed Gaza, is the only crossing into the territory not controlled by Israel.

Reuters images showed aid trucks from Egyptian NGOs in the Sinai town of Al-Arish on Monday morning, waiting for permission to make the hours-long trip to Rafah.

Assistance that had come from several countries and organizations has been stalled in al-Arish awaiting an agreement on the delivery of aid and evacuation of foreign nationals from Gaza, which US Secretary of State Blinken said had been achieved after a visit to Cairo.

Asked for confirmation, the Israeli military and the US Embassy in Israel had no immediate comment.

Salama Marouf, head of the Hamas government media office, said they have received no confirmation from the Egyptian side about intentions to open the crossing.

 

Netanyahu Trapped in Gaza Occupation Crisis

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu finds himself in a precarious situation as the ongoing Gaza occupation crisis takes a dangerous turn.

The situation has escalated to the point where Israel’s strikes on Gaza may cause severe repercussions and strain international relations.

Tensions in the region have been simmering for months, but recent developments have thrust the conflict into the global spotlight.

Israel’s military operations in the Gaza Strip have met with increasing international condemnation.

The United States, traditionally one of Israel’s staunchest allies, appears to be distancing itself from the Gaza occupation after Biden warns that the Gaza occupation would be a mistake by Israel.

The international community calling for an immediate ceasefire and a peaceful resolution to the conflict. This significant shift in policy has left Prime Minister Netanyahu facing mounting pressure from both international allies and domestic critics.

Netanyahu’s predicament has raised questions about the effectiveness of Israel’s military operations and the broader strategy for handling the Gaza conflict.

There is growing concern that these actions may be backfiring, leading to increased regional instability and undermining Israel’s international standing.

As diplomatic efforts to de-escalate the situation intensify, world leaders are calling for an immediate ceasefire and negotiations to end the Gaza occupation.

The United Nations and various international organizations are working tirelessly to facilitate talks between Israel and the Palestinian authorities.