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Switzerland has cancelled a scheduled international conference to discuss the protection of Palestinian civilians in the occupied territories due to a lack of participants, the Swiss Foreign Ministry said on Thursday.
The conference, which was to convene on Friday, would have brought together representatives from the 196 signatories of the Geneva Conventions to discuss the plight of civilians in the West Bank, Gaza and East Jerusalem. But a “lack of consensus” among the contracting parties during talks led to the decision to call off the event.
It was set to focus on the Fourth Geneva Conventions, an international treaty established in 1949 that outlines humanitarian protection for civilians in areas affected by armed conflict or those under occupation.
“Profound differences between the high contracting parties to the Geneva Conventions emerged during an extensive consultation process,” the ministry stated. “Switzerland, as the depository state, therefore concluded that a significant number of the high contracting parties did not support such a conference and has decided against holding one."
Several other countries felt unable to fully endorse a proposed declaration as a prerequisite for attending the conference.
The cancellation comes amid escalating tension in Gaza that has sparked concern over the stability of the fragile ceasefire.
After a resolution was passed by the UN General Assembly in September last year, Switzerland was given the responsibility of organising the conference.
The neutral country engaged in detailed consultations with the parties to outline the conference's framework and draft a final declaration. The Swiss Foreign Ministry confirmed invitations had been extended to all parties, including Israel and Palestine.
But the proposed conference was met with controversy. Israel has criticised the event, calling it “part of the legal warfare against Israel” and condemning what it perceives as “a one-sided narrative” driving the conference's agenda.
"The Swiss decision to convene the High Contracting Parties at this sensitive juncture demonstrates that this conference serves merely as another platform to attack Israel, a democratic country, and embolden terrorist organisations that have shown utter disregard for humanity and the law," said Israel Foreign Ministry in a statement on social media.
The conference has been convened by Switzerland three times, in 1999, 2001 and 2014. But it was the first time a delay of six months had been fixed by the UN National Assembly to Switzerland, said Franz Perrez, head of the directorate of international law at the Swiss Federal Office of Foreign Affairs.
"We sent out invitations for the conference but then realised that there was not the critical mass nor the necessary consensus for it to make sense to organise a conference," Mr Perrez told a press conference in Geneva on Friday.
He declined to say how many countries were willing to participate, nor to comment on the position of individual countries. But he hinted that fewer than half of the 193 invitees had registered. "If we are not even at half, then it's not a critical mass," he said.
"Nobody questioned the relevance, the importance nor the applicability of the Fourth Geneva Convention in occupied territories and East Jerusalem," Mr Perrez added. "But when we discussed certain concrete measures about how to enforce its respect, then differences were too important to find the necessary consensus."
Timeline
2012-2015
The company offers payments/bribes to win key contracts in the Middle East
May 2017
The UK SFO officially opens investigation into Petrofac’s use of agents, corruption, and potential bribery to secure contracts
September 2021
Petrofac pleads guilty to seven counts of failing to prevent bribery under the UK Bribery Act
October 2021
Court fines Petrofac £77 million for bribery. Former executive receives a two-year suspended sentence
December 2024
Petrofac enters into comprehensive restructuring to strengthen the financial position of the group
May 2025
The High Court of England and Wales approves the company’s restructuring plan
July 2025
The Court of Appeal issues a judgment challenging parts of the restructuring plan
August 2025
Petrofac issues a business update to execute the restructuring and confirms it will appeal the Court of Appeal decision
October 2025
Petrofac loses a major TenneT offshore wind contract worth €13 billion. Holding company files for administration in the UK. Petrofac delisted from the London Stock Exchange
November 2025
180 Petrofac employees laid off in the UAE
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The years Ramadan fell in May
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In 2018, the ICRC received 27,756 trace requests in the Middle East alone. The global total was 45,507.
There are 139,018 global trace requests that have not been resolved yet, 55,672 of these are in the Middle East region.
More than 540,000 individuals approached the ICRC in the Middle East asking to be reunited with missing loved ones in 2018.
The total figure for the entire world was 654,000 in 2018.
SPEC SHEET
Display: 10.4-inch IPS LCD, 400 nits, toughened glass
CPU: Unisoc T610; Mali G52 GPU
Memory: 4GB
Storage: 64GB, up to 512GB microSD
Camera: 8MP rear, 5MP front
Connectivity: Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 5.0, USB-C, 3.5mm audio
Battery: 8200mAh, up to 10 hours video
Platform: Android 11
Audio: Stereo speakers, 2 mics
Durability: IP52
Biometrics: Face unlock
Price: Dh849
Disclaimer
Director: Alfonso Cuaron
Stars: Cate Blanchett, Kevin Kline, Lesley Manville
Rating: 4/5
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French business
France has organised a delegation of leading businesses to travel to Syria. The group was led by French shipping giant CMA CGM, which struck a 30-year contract in May with the Syrian government to develop and run Latakia port. Also present were water and waste management company Suez, defence multinational Thales, and Ellipse Group, which is currently looking into rehabilitating Syrian hospitals.
TOURNAMENT INFO
Fixtures
Sunday January 5 - Oman v UAE
Monday January 6 - UAE v Namibia
Wednesday January 8 - Oman v Namibia
Thursday January 9 - Oman v UAE
Saturday January 11 - UAE v Namibia
Sunday January 12 – Oman v Namibia
UAE squad
Ahmed Raza (captain), Rohan Mustafa, Mohammed Usman, CP Rizwan, Waheed Ahmed, Zawar Farid, Darius D’Silva, Karthik Meiyappan, Jonathan Figy, Vriitya Aravind, Zahoor Khan, Junaid Siddique, Basil Hameed, Chirag Suri
MATCH INFO
Uefa Champions League semi-final, first leg
Tottenham v Ajax, Tuesday, 11pm (UAE).
Second leg
Ajax v Tottenham, Wednesday, May 8, 11pm
Games on BeIN Sports
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
At a glance - Zayed Sustainability Prize 2020
Launched: 2008
Categories: Health, energy, water, food, global high schools
Prize: Dh2.2 million (Dh360,000 for global high schools category)
Winners’ announcement: Monday, January 13
Impact in numbers
335 million people positively impacted by projects
430,000 jobs created
10 million people given access to clean and affordable drinking water
50 million homes powered by renewable energy
6.5 billion litres of water saved
26 million school children given solar lighting
Mica
Director: Ismael Ferroukhi
Stars: Zakaria Inan, Sabrina Ouazani
3 stars
The specs
Engine: 2.5-litre, turbocharged 5-cylinder
Transmission: seven-speed auto
Power: 400hp
Torque: 500Nm
Price: Dh300,000 (estimate)
On sale: 2022
Dubai World Cup Carnival card
6.30pm: UAE 1000 Guineas Trial Conditions (TB) US$100,000 (Dirt) 1,400m
7.05pm: Handicap (TB) $135,000 (Turf) 1,000m
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The National selections
6.30pm: Final Song
7.05pm: Pocket Dynamo
7.40pm: Dubai Icon
8.15pm: Dubai Legacy
8.50pm: Drafted
9.25pm: Lucius Tiberius
Premier League results
Saturday
Tottenham Hotspur 1 Arsenal 1
Bournemouth 0 Manchester City 1
Brighton & Hove Albion 1 Huddersfield Town 0
Burnley 1 Crystal Palace 3
Manchester United 3 Southampton 2
Wolverhampton Wanderers 2 Cardiff City 0
West Ham United 2 Newcastle United 0
Sunday
Watford 2 Leicester City 1
Fulham 1 Chelsea 2
Everton 0 Liverpool 0
