LONDON: The Secretary General of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), Dr. Nayef Al-Hajraf has stressed the bloc’s support to international efforts aimed at dealing with the stranded Safer oil tanker and the importance of speeding up these endeavors.

During a meeting with UN Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator for Yemen David Gressly and the US Special Envoy for Yemen Tim Lenderking, he also reaffirmed the continuous support to alleviate the suffering of Yemeni people.

Their discussions covered efforts of the humanitarian organizations in Yemen and the means required to enhance joint coordination to support regional and international efforts in conjunction with the UN-brokered cease-fire, which came into force on April 2.

The meeting also reviewed Gressly’s plan to deal with Safer oil tanker, so as to avoid an imminent environmental and economic catastrophe if the issue is not addressed as quickly as possible.

TEL AVIV: Palestinians set fire to a West Bank shrine revered by Jews as Israeli forces operated in the occupied territory following a spate of recent Palestinian attacks in Israel, the Israeli military said Sunday.
The developments come as tensions between Israelis and Palestinians have escalated during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, which this year converges with major Jewish and Christian holidays. Protests and tensions around the holiday last year boiled over into the 11-day Gaza war.
Military spokesman Brig. Gen. Ran Kochav told Israeli Army Radio that some 100 Palestinians marched toward the site late Saturday, rioted and set it ablaze before they were dispersed by Palestinian security forces. Images on social media showed parts of the tomb inside the shrine smashed and charred.
Joseph’s Tomb in the West Bank city of Nablus is a flashpoint prayer site. Some Jews believe the biblical Joseph is buried in the tomb, while Muslims say a sheikh is buried there. The army escorts Jewish worshippers to the site several times a year, in coordination with Palestinian security forces.
The incident drew condemnation from Israel’s defense minister, Benny Gantz.
“The vandalism of Joseph’s Tomb is a grave event and a serious violation of freedom of worship in one of the holiest places for every Jew,” he tweeted.
The vandalism comes as Israeli forces continue to operate in Jenin and the surrounding area, home to two of the attackers who staged deadly attacks against Israelis in recent weeks.
A raid on the hometown of one of the assailants on Saturday sparked a gunbattle in the occupied West Bank that left at least one Palestinian militant dead.
Military spokesman Kochav said forces in the West Bank were making arrests, gathering intelligence and preparing the homes of the attackers for demolition. “We will reach anyone who dares to harm Israeli citizens,” he told Army Radio.
A military statement said a “violent riot” broke out as forces were operating in the village of Yabad, home to one of the attackers. It said forces “neutralized” one Palestinian who threw an explosive at them. It was unclear what his condition was.
Jenin is considered a stronghold of Palestinian militants. Israeli forces often come under fire when operating in the area. Even the Palestinian Authority, which administers parts of the occupied West Bank and coordinates with Israel on security matters, appears to have little control.
While Israel has eased some restrictions on Palestinians during Ramadan, on Saturday Israel tightened them on Jenin and its residents, imposing a partial lockdown on all residents aside from laborers working in Israel.
Four attacks in recent weeks have killed more than a dozen people in one of the deadliest bursts of violence against Israelis in years.

JENIN, Palestinian Territories: Israeli soldiers on Sunday launched a new raid into the flashpoint West Bank district of Jenin, the home of gunmen who launched recent deadly attacks in the Tel Aviv area.
At least 10 people were wounded in clashes in Jenin as well as in Jericho and Tulkarem, the Palestinian health ministry said Sunday, while the Palestinian Prisoners Club announced 24 arrests in various West Bank cities.
“Troops are currently operating in the city of Jenin,” in the north of the occupied West Bank, the Israeli army said in a brief message.
The military operation came after a gunman from Jenin went on a shooting rampage in a popular Tel Aviv nightlife area on Thursday evening, killing three Israelis and wounding more than a dozen others.
Israel said Friday it had killed the alleged attacker, Raad Hazem, 28.
A total of 14 people have been killed in four attacks in Israel since March 22, including another shooting spree in Bnei Brak, an Orthodox Jewish city near Tel Aviv.
Some have been carried out by assailants linked to or inspired by the Daesh group.
Over the same period, at least 10 Palestinians have been killed, including assailants.
“We will do whatever it takes, whatever is necessary, for however long and wherever needed, until both safety and the sense of security are restored,” army chief Aviv Kochavi told soldiers in a video released by the military.
The Israeli army and border police had previously raided the Jenin refugee camp on Saturday, killing a 25-year-old Palestinian member of Islamic Jihad, the main Palestinian armed Islamist movement besides Hamas, in heavy gunbattles.
Israel has also restricted access to Jenin, closed Israeli crossings and stepped up security checks.
The new operation comes ahead of the funerals of the three Israeli civilians killed in Tel Aviv on Thursday night — childhood friends Tomer Morad and Eytam Magini, and father-of-three Barak Lufan — which are expected later on Sunday in the town of Kfar Saba and at the kibbutz of Ginosar.
Hamas and Islamic Jihad welcomed that attack, which was condemned by Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas.
The recent violence has come amid heightened tensions during Ramadan, after violence flared during the Muslim holy month last year leading to 11 days of devastating conflict between Israel and Palestinian militants in the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip.
Following Thursday’s attack, Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett gave security agencies “full freedom” to end the deadly violence that has surged since March 22 “in order to defeat terror.”
“There are not and will not be limits for this war,” Bennett said.

TUNIS: Tunisian President Kais Saied, facing political and economic crisis and accusations he took power in a coup, announced compensation on Sunday for the families of those killed and wounded in the 2011 revolution that brought democracy to the country.
Saied last month dissolved parliament, imposing one-man rule after governing by decree since the summer. He has said he was trying to save the north African country from collapse.
The Tunisian dinar has fallen to three-year lows and a delegation is to go to Washington this month to seek a deal with the International Monetary Fund
Saied’s decree on Saturday approves compensation for the families of “martyrs” and police and army killed and wounded defending the country from what he called “terrorist attacks” in the years after the revolution that sparked the Arab uprisings around the region.
Dozens of youths were killed and hundreds injured during an uprising against the rule of then-president Zine El Abidine Ben Ali in 2011.
Saied has promised to uphold rights and freedoms won in the revolution, but his critics say his actions, which also include replacing a body that guaranteed judicial independence, show he is determined to cement one-man rule.

BAGHDAD: A dust storm that has swept through much of Iraq has left dozens of people in hospital with respiratory problems, a health ministry spokesman said Saturday.
The storm erupted in the north of the country on Thursday, prompting the cancelation of flights serving Irbil, capital of the autonomous Kurdistan region.
As the storm swept south, it shrouded Baghdad and cities as far south as Nasiriyah in a ghostly orange.
In the capital, buildings and vehicles were covered in ochre-colored dust, AFP journalists reported.
The storm has caused “dozens of hospitalizations across Iraq due to respiratory problems,” health ministry spokesman Saif Al-Badr told AFP.
The director of Iraq’s meteorological office, Amer Al-Jabri, said that while dust storms were not uncommon in Iraq, they are becoming more frequent “due to drought, desertification and declining rainfall.”
Iraq is particularly vulnerable to climate change, having already witnessed record low rainfall and high temperatures in recent years.
Experts have said these factors threaten social and economic disaster in the war-scarred country.
In November, the World Bank warned that Iraq could suffer a 20 percent drop in water resources by 2050 due to climate change.