MUSCAT/GAZA: Sayyid Badr bin Hamad al Busaidy, Foreign Minister, and Dr Abdullatif Rashid al Zayani, Minister of Foreign Affairs in the Kingdom of Bahrain, underscored the historical ties binding Oman and Bahrain. They also touched on agenda of the joint committee’s upcoming session, due to be held in Oman this year.
The two countries seek to sign new agreements and memoranda of understanding with the prime aim of boosting cooperation and pushing them towards wider horizons.
In the light of the forthcoming 33rd Arab Summit, scheduled to be held Bahrain, on May 16, Sayyid Badr expressed Oman’s confidence in the success of the summit and in producing constructive results that serve the general regional interest and reflect the directives of the Arab leaders and the aspirations of the peoples of the region for security and peace for all. Oman is also confident that the summit would achieve more accomplishments that bring benefits and prosperity and boost joint and constructive Arab action, affirmed Sayyid Badr.
The two sides also reviewed the regional developments and stressed the importance of de-escalation. In this context, the two ministers affirmed that emphasis should be laid on ceasefire efforts in Gaza to reach a just and lasting solution to the Palestinian cause on the basis of the two-state solution in accordance with international resolutions and the Arab Peace Initiative.
RAFAH ASSAULT
Meanwhile, a senior Israeli defence official said on Wednesday that Israel's military is poised to evacuate Palestinian civilians from Rafah and assault the hold-outs in the southern Gaza Strip city, despite international warnings of humanitarian catastrophe.
A spokesperson for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government said Israel was "moving ahead" with a ground operation, but gave no timeline.
The defence official said Israel's Defence Ministry had bought 40,000 tents, each with the capacity for 10 to 12 people, to house Palestinians relocated from Rafah in advance of an assault.
Video circulating online appeared to show rows of square white tents going up in Khan Younis, a city some 5 km from Rafah. Reuters could not verify the video but reviewed images from satellite company Maxar Technologies which showed tent camps on Khan Younis land that had been vacant weeks ago.
An Israeli government source said Netanyahu's war cabinet planned to meet in the coming two weeks to authorise civilian evacuations, expected to take around a month.
The defence official, who requested anonymity, said that the military could go into action immediately but was awaiting a green light from Netanyahu.
Rafah, which abuts the Egyptian border, is sheltering more than a million Palestinians who fled the half-year-old Israeli offensive through the rest of Gaza, and say the prospect of fleeing yet again is terrifying.
"I have to make a decision whether to leave Rafah because my mother and I are afraid an invasion could happen suddenly and we won't get time to escape," said Aya, 30, who has been living temporarily in the city with her family in a school. She said that some families recently moved to a refugee camp in coastal Al Mawasi, but their tents caught fire when tank shells landed nearby. "Where do we go?"
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