Jordan News UpdatesThe number of Palestinian martyrs who were killed in the Israeli shelling that targeted the Al-Wehda Street in central Gaza City late Saturday, has risen to 26, including 10 women and 8 children, in addition to 50 injured, according to a Palestinian official.
In a statement on Sunday, spokesman of the Health Ministry in the coastal enclave said that the ambulance and civil defense teams are still searching under the rubble for survivors or martyrs.
Source: Jordan News Agency
The death toll from the Israeli aggression on the Gaza Strip has risen to 181, the Ministry of Health in the coastal enclave announced.
The Ministry’s latest update on Sunday said that among the 181 martyrs were 52 children and 31 women, adding that 1,225 others were injured with various wounds.
“The ambulance and civil defense teams are still searching under the rubble for survivors or martyrs,” it noted.
Source: Jordan News Agency
Renewable energy grew at its fastest pace in two decades last year, led by China, and will continue to grow in the next two years, according to a report recently issued by the International Energy Agency (IEA).
The report showed that the new renewable energy capacity last year rose by 45% to 280 gigawatts (GW), the largest year-on-year increase since 1999, even though there were supply chain disruptions and construction delays due to the impact of the coronavirus pandemic.
China accounted for 50% of renewable energy capacity growth last year and will account for 45% this year and 58% in 2022, it said.
Globally, around 270 GW of new capacity is forecast to be added this year and nearly 280 GW in 2022, the IEA said in a renewable energy market outlook.
These forecasts have been increased by more than 25% from the agency’s previous forecasts in November as governments have auctioned record amounts of renewable energy and companies have signed a record number of power purchase agreements.
Governments auctioned 75 GW of offshore and onshore wind, solar photovoltaic and bioenergy capacity last year, up 20% from 2019.
Source: Jordan News Agency
The Palestinian issue has been and will remain the region’s central issue and no comprehensive peace or security or stability can be achieved without ending the occupation of Jerusalem which must be the capital of an independent Palestinian state on pre-June 1967 lines, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates, Ayman Safadi, said on Sunday.
Addressing an extraordinary virtual meeting of the foreign ministers of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, Safadi emphasized that Jerusalem and its holy shrines are a red line, saying: “Protecting the Islamic and Christian holy sites in occupied Jerusalem and preserving its Arab, Islamic and Christian identity will remain the supreme duty for which the Custodian, His Majesty King Abdullah II, devotes all of Jordan’s capabilities.”
He added that the Kingdom will continue to stand with all its capabilities on the side of the Palestinian brothers to end their injustice and fulfill all their legitimate rights to a free and dignified life and to an independent and sovereign state on their national soil.
“The Kingdom will take, as always, all the necessary steps to support the brothers, protect holy sites, protect the rights of the brotherly Palestinian people, and the region’s right to a just and comprehensive peace that meets all the legitimate rights of the Palestinian people, which constitutes a strategic choice whose only way is the two-state solution, according to international legitimacy decisions and the Arab Peace Initiative,” Safadi indicated.
“Our emergency meeting today is a message that the Islamic world stands united against the illegal, immoral and inhumane Israeli attacks and practices in occupied Jerusalem and its sanctities and in the rest of the occupied Palestinian territories, and against the aggression on Gaza,” he said.
“Israel is pushing the entire region towards more tension and conflict, and threatening all chances of achieving a just and comprehensive peace,” Safadi warned.
The deputy premier stressed that stopping the escalation requires an end to all the illegal and provocative Israeli practices that set it off, and an immediate end to the aggression on Gaza.
Safadi emphasized that “attempts to change the legal and historical status quo in Jerusalem and its holy sites are a flagrant violation of international law and risk pushing the region towards more tension and conflict.
He added that “displacing the residents of the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood from their homes would be a war crime that the international community should not allow.”
“Peace and security will be achieved by ending the occupation and fulfilling all the legitimate rights of the Palestinian people, and the launch of a real international effort that creates the political horizon required to reach a just peace according to the two-state solution that ends the occupation. This is a priority that the international community must act immediately to honor.”
Source: Jordan News Agency
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates, on Sunday, said its following up on the detention of two Jordanians in Israel.
In a statement, the ministry assured that the Jordanian embassy in Tel Aviv is in contact with the Israeli authorities to work on their release.
Source: Jordan News Agency
The Senate’s Palestine Committee has called on the international community, the United Nations and the Security Council, to pressure Israel to halt settlements, and embrace the two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
In a press statement on Sunday, the committee’s head, senator Nayef Al-Qadi, said developments in attacks on Palestinian Islamic and Christian sanctities “reflect the racist Zionist policy pursued by Israeli governments with all barbarism and brutality since the establishment of Israel until today.”
Continuing: ” The Israeli aggression constitutes a clear and systematic challenge to international laws, humanity and interests of the brave and steadfast Palestinian people on their land.”
Jordan and its Hashemite leadership have pledged to defend the rights of the Palestinian people, their interests, and inalienable rights that cannot be compromised, said Al-Qadi.
Jordan, under the leadership of His Majesty King Abdullah II, has repeatedly stressed impossibility of continuing the deadlock, he said, adding that peace and stability must be achieved and “despicable” Israeli occupation must end, according to Al-Qadi.
Israel and its supporters bear the responsibility for the escalation in Jerusalem, Al-Aqsa Mosque and Sheikh Jarrah area, and the flagrant aggression against the population in Gaza Strip, Al-Qadi said.
The lawmaker stressed the need to launch “urgent and effective” moves at the Arab and international levels to end the Israeli occupation, as it undermines peace and stability.
On future action to support their cause, Jordan will stand with the Palestinian people in demanding their inalienable rights, foremost is ending the occupation, and putting East Jerusalem under Palestinian sovereignty as the capital of the Palestinian state, he noted.
Source: Jordan News Agency
The Innovative Startups and Small and Medium Enterprises Fund (ISSF) has provided financial support worth $150,000 to the Tarteeb Company, a tech startup connecting traditional garments tailors to customers.
In a press statement on Sunday, the Fund said that this investment, delivered as of January 2021, is part of a strategy to support 150 to 200 innovative startup projects through direct and indirect investment (investment funds), in addition to training and upgrading the capacities of 825 entrepreneurs and SMEs to qualify them for investment.
Tarteeb, based in Jordan and Saudi Arabia, utilizes technology to provide a platform specialized in tailoring and knitting traditional Arab garments by connecting customers to tailors, which contributes to revitalizing the market and positively influencing all parties involved.
The platform offers customers the possibility to choose fabrics for ready-made models, or enjoy a tailoring experience of a dress to suit their tastes, in addition to providing easy and comfortable measurement methods to ensure their comfort and satisfaction, the statement added.
ISSF CEO Laith Al Qasem said that since the fund’s launch in 2017, the focus has been on innovative and promising startups that exploit technology to support various local markets.
Co-founder of Tarteeb Sultan Bassiouni indicated that the company was committed to interacting with the Fund, noting that the fund’s team greatly responded to startup companies and the challenges they face, and provided consultation and guidance to them.
The ISSF is registered as a Jordanian private shareholding company with the aim of supporting and elevating Jordan’s entrepreneurial and innovation landscape by facilitating the establishment of new investment funds that serve the ecosystem; making direct investments in innovative, export-oriented and scalable local startups; as well as implementing initiatives that improve the capabilities of Jordanian entrepreneurs and startup teams through training, capacity building and targeted incubation and acceleration programs.
Source: Jordan News Agency
Israeli forces Sunday morning launched a large-scale arrest campaign in the Old City of occupied Jerusalem and Silwan town.
A joint force of intelligence and the occupation forces raided neighborhoods in the Old Jerusalem and Silwan, stormed Palestinians’ homes and detained a number of youths.
In a statement, the Wadi Hilweh Information Center said that the occupation forces arrested 17 Palestinians in the two cities, and transferred them for investigation at the detention centers.
Source: Jordan News Agency
The Salt Government Hospital had twice requested oxygen supply three days prior to the deadly outage which claimed the lives of seven people, according to a public prosecution witness.
In a public session on Sunday morning, the Amman Magistrates Court, chaired by Judge Odai Freihat, heard a new prosecution witness, who is the chairman of the oxygen supply company. The unnamed witness stated that the company supplied the hospital punctually, pointing out that the hospital is usually supplied with oxygen once a week, but during the few weeks leading up to the incident, the hospital’s consumption increased to twice a week. The company, he added, was allowed to deliver anytime during the partial and full lockdown.
The witness denied knowing any of the 13 defendants on trial for the oxygen outage when asked by the court, noting that his company supplies 31 public and private hospitals in the Kingdom.
He testified that the Salt hospital made two requests to deliver oxygen supply; the first on Wednesday March 10, scheduled for delivery on Thursday March 11, while the second request was made on Friday March 12, scheduled for delivery on Saturday March 13, the day the incident occurred. On that day, the hospital contacted the oxygen supply company to move up the time of delivery from 9 a.m. to 7 a.m..
He also attested that a number of the defendants, who are officials at the Ministry of Health, are only concerned with the financial claim for gas prices, but not the oxygen supply procedures.
He also stated that prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, the company had a surplus of oxygen supply, but the pandemic caused an uptick in consumption. The hospitals that the company supplies require 100 tonnes of oxygen on a daily basis, while the company only produces 33 tonnes and imports the remaining amount (70 tonnes) from neighboring countries.
The alarm system on the oxygen tanks at the hospitals is not connected to the company itself, he pointed out, indicating that the system sends an early alarm when the tank reaches 30 percent of its total capacity, which is sufficient for two days.
The court also heard another witness in the case, raising the total number of prosecution witnesses to 24. Some 25 people will testify in the case over the next few months, and then the defense witnesses will be heard by the court.
The defense attorneys cross-examined the witnesses in the presence of some defendants whom the court had released earlier after the 30-day custody period ended.
In March, the Public Prosecution opened an investigation into the incident and ordered the arrest of a number of officials at the Ministry of Health.
Source: Jordan News Agency