live U.S. and Iran trade threats as World focus' on reopening Strait of Hormuz - Middle East conflict on 3 April
Iran has rejected claims it has been weakened, vowing instead “more crushing” attacks against the United States and ...
Türkiye is prepared to contribute troops to a proposed international stabilisation force for Gaza, Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan said on Thursday.
Fidan made the remarks at the inaugural meeting of the Board of Peace, which convened in Washington under the chairmanship of U.S. President Donald Trump.
The Board of Peace is an international body designed to oversee stabilisation and reconstruction efforts in war-torn Gaza within the framework of a broader peace plan initiated by Trump last year.
Fidan also voiced Türkiye’s readiness to assist in the rehabilitation of Gaza’s health and education sectors and help train police forces in the embattled Palestinian territory.
Speaking to reporters, Fidan said Türkiye would continue to support U.S.-led efforts aimed at achieving “a just and lasting peace.”
He added, however, that Ankara “remains convinced that the foundation of such a peace is a two-state solution” to the decades-long dispute between Israel and the Palestinians.
“Let us work towards that objective for the benefit of all peoples of the region,” he said.
Fidan also warned that Gaza’s humanitarian situation remained dire and that ceasefire violations were continuing, calling for a “prompt, coordinated and effective response” to the crisis.
While he said Türkiye was ready to contribute troops to the proposed Gaza stabilization force, he did not provide specific figures.
Need for stability
Meanwhile, a handful of other countries - including Albania, Indonesia, Kazakhstan, and Morocco - have also pledged to contribute troops.
The proposed force is intended to promote stability and reconstruction in Gaza, where tens of thousands of Palestinians have been killed and much of the territory’s infrastructure reduced to rubble since the conflict began in late 2023.
While in Washington, Fidan also expressed Ankara’s hope that the United States would continue what he described as “genuine negotiations” with Iran.
According to Ankara’s top diplomat, negotiations could serve to avert “the need for a military operation or war” in the already volatile Middle East.
Fears of wider escalation grow despite President Donald Trump saying U.S. strikes on Iran could end within weeks. Meanwhile missile attacks, tanker incidents and rising casualties across Israel, Lebanon and the Gulf heighten risks to regional stability and energy routes.
There are fears of an oil spill after a drone strike hit a Kuwaiti oil tanker near Dubai on Tuesday, while U.S.-Israeli strikes in Iran reportedly killed at least two people. A loud explosion was heard in Beirut in southern Lebanon early Wednesday, as oil prices climbed above $100 a barrel.
Four astronauts blasted off from Florida on Wednesday on NASA's Artemis II mission, a high-stakes voyage around the moon that marks the United States' boldest step yet toward returning humans to the lunar surface later this decade in a race with China.
An earthquake of magnitude 7.6 struck in Indonesia's Northern Molucca Sea on Thursday, killing one person, damaging some buildings and triggering tsunami waves, authorities and witnesses said.
President Donald Trump staunchly defended his handling of the month-old U.S.-Israeli war on Iran in a prime-time address on Wednesday, saying the U.S. military was nearing completion of its mission while also reinforcing his threats to bomb the Islamic Republic back to the Stone Age.
Former Kyrgyz MP Shairbek Tashiev has been detained in a corruption investigation linked to state oil firm Kyrgyzneftegaz, as the case expands to include members of a powerful political family.
Afghanistan remains the third most affected country globally for unexploded ordnance casualties, with more than 50 people killed or injured each month, a United Nations official has said.
Leading Turkish official Fuat Oktay this week called for the dismantling of Israel’s alleged nuclear weapons stockpile. The head of parliament’s Foreign Affairs Committee said Israel’s nuclear capability should be “eliminated as soon as possible”.
Fresh Houthi missile and drone strikes on Israel mark a significant widening of the Iran-centred conflict, raising fears the Yemen-based group could open a new front. Their position near the Bab el-Mandeb strait also threatens global shipping and energy flows.
Pakistan is holding talks with Afghanistan to end the worst conflict between the South Asian neighbours since the Taliban returned to power in 2021, Pakistan's Foreign Ministry spokesperson said on Thursday.
You can download the AnewZ application from Play Store and the App Store.
What is your opinion on this topic?
Leave the first comment