Motasem A Dalloul, Middle East Monitor

Earlier this month, the Palestinians factions agreed that Palestinian Authority, PLO and Fatah President Mahmoud Abbas must issue a decree to order the easing of public freedoms in the occupied territories and stop political detentions and prosecutions. The decree was issued on Saturday. According to Wafa, the PA's official news agency, Abbas's decree ensures the freedom to take political and national action, while banning the detention […]

In 1993, the Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO) signed a peace agreement with Israel, ending a six-year uprising against the Zionist state's occupation of the West Bank, Gaza Strip and Jerusalem. The peace endeavour, backed by the international community, aimed to crack down on the Palestinian resistance, mainly that of the Islamic Resistance Movement, Hamas, which was formed in 1987 at the start of the First Intifada. […]

At the Libyan Political Dialogue Forum in Geneva on Friday, 75 members, including former statesmen and tribal leaders, elected a small Presidential Council and a prime minister to prepare the ground for fair and transparent presidential and parliamentary elections scheduled for 24 December. Those so chosen signed pledges that they will not stand in the elections for which they have been asked to prepare. The team […]

On 6 December 2017, the then US President Donald Trump formally recognised the Palestinian city of Jerusalem as the capital of the occupation state of Israel: "Today, we finally acknowledge the obvious: that Jerusalem is Israel's capital:" He then relocated the US Embassy from Tel Aviv to the Holy City. Following Trump's decision, Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas suspended contacts with Washington. The relationship soured, and […]

On 16 January Tunisian Prime Minister Hichem Michichi announced his plan to reshuffle his government despite strong rejection from President Kais Saied. He then proposed 11 new ministers and obtained a vote of confidence in them in parliament. The Speaker of the Parliament Rachid Ghannouchi, head of Ennahda Movement, sent letters to Saied asking him to invite the new ministers to be sworn in, but the […]

On 22 December, the Knesset — Israel's parliament — dissolved itself after failing pass a state budget, triggering yet another General Election. The country has been in political chaos for years, and now faces its fourth election in less than two years on 23 March. The current government was formed after months of political uncertainty and bitter toing and froing to put together a viable coalition. […]

Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas issued a presidential decree on Friday to hold parliamentary, presidential and Palestinian National Council elections on 22 May, 31 July and 31 August respectively. This was the first such decree in fifteen years for the Palestinians in the occupied territories including the Gaza Strip, West Bank and East Jerusalem. The announcement followed a few major amendments to the election law. "Amending […]

It is ten years since the people of Tunisia took to the streets and started what became known as the Jasmine Revolution which led to the ouster of dictator Zine El Abidine Ben Ali in January 2011. The revolution triggered a range of similar uprisings across the Arab world, with some regimes changing as a result, as well as further oppression, mass displacement and external interference. […]

In violation of all religious norms as well as international laws and conventions, Israel is weaponising the Covid-19 vaccine against the Palestinians, whose land, homes and rights are under constant threat from the occupation state. The Israeli Health Ministry began its vaccination programme on 20 December. Officials including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that millions of doses had been bought, enough for everyone in Israel. This […]

On Tuesday and Wednesday, the military wings of Palestinian factions in the Gaza Strip carried out the first-ever joint military drill simulating threats of various scenarios of possible Israeli attacks on the coastal enclave, which has been under a strict Israeli siege since mid-2007. A masked spokesman of the Joint Command Room, which constitutes the armed wings of Palestinian factions, including the Palestinian Islamic Resistance Movement […]

Last Friday, Israeli occupation forces shot dead 13-year-old Palestinian boy Ali Abu Alia during a protest against the construction of an Israeli settlement in the village of Al-Mughayyir, north of the West Bank city of Ramallah. The Palestinian Ministry of Health confirmed that Ali was "shot with live rounds in the stomach." The Palestinian Red Crescent reported that Ali was admitted to hospital in critical condition […]

Last week, Israel's parliament, the Knesset, passed a bill to dissolve itself. While the ruling Likud was allegedly not in favour and so did not support it, the bill was passed anyway, by a vote of 61 to 54. Now it must go through the Knesset Committee and three more readings before another General Election is called. It will be the fourth in two years. According […]

Last week, Saudi Arabia's Council of Senior Scholars issued a defamatory statement against the Muslim Brotherhood, claiming that the movement is one of the worst organisations and a threat to Islamic orthodoxy. The Brotherhood, claimed the Saudi scholars, "…is a terrorist group that does not represent the approach of Islam… It is a perverted organisation that disobeys legitimate rulers, stirs up discord, conceals foul doings under […]

While the world was busy with the American elections, it is not paying attention to what is going on in the besieged Gaza Strip and its surroundings. Early this week, the Palestinian Health Ministry in Gaza called on the World Health Organisation (WHO) to urgently help by sending testing kits for COVID-19 as the number of new cases has been increasing steadily since the first four […]

The growing rift between Muslim nations and France over President Emmanuel Macron’s offensive attack on Islam last month, which was followed by an attack on Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him), has led to him appearing on Al Jazeera to tell the Muslim world that he was misunderstood. From where I sit, it seems that Macron himself misunderstood Islam and Muslims and what the Prophet means […]

Giving up its decades-old position against Israel’s occupation of Palestine, Sudan has agreed to normalise relations with the Zionist state. Tellingly, this was announced by US President Donald Trump on Friday at the White House. He is, of course, seeking a second term in office in next week’s presidential election. “HUGE win today for the United States and for peace in the world,” Trump tweeted. “Sudan […]

As the war gets fiercer between Azerbaijan and Armenia over Nagorno-Karabakh, the mountainous region of just 150,000 people in the South Caucasus, Armenia has lost control of territories it regarded as the buffer zone between the land in question and Azerbaijan. The decades-long conflict re-erupted on 27 September and has so far killed more than 700 people, including 13 civilians in an Armenian attack on the […]

When it was launched on 1 January 1965, the Palestine National Liberation Movement, Fatah, declared that it intended to fight the Israeli occupation until the liberation of the last piece of Palestine’s soil. According to a study by Dr Mohsen Saleh, most of the movement’s founders were members of the Muslim Brotherhood, but they decided to identify Fatah as a secular movement in order to avoid […]

Prior to the meeting of the Arab League on Wednesday, the Palestinian Authority (PA) Foreign Minister Riyad Al-Maliki called on his Arab counterparts to reject the United Arab Emirates (UAE)-Israel normalisation deal. The deal was declared by the US, the UAE and Israel on 13 August, surprising the Palestinians and the Arab population, while creating joy among the Israeli officials and population. Addressing his counterparts, Al-Maliki […]

After extensive exploration, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan cheerfully announced on Friday that his country had made the biggest natural gas discovery in its history. The gas discovered in the Black Sea was estimated by 320 billion cubic metres. Erdogan said that production for commercial use could begin in 2023. “Turkey has realised the greatest natural gas discovery in its history,” Erdogan was reported by Turkish […]

With less than ten days for designate Tunisian Prime Minister Hichem Mechichi to acquire parliament’s approval for his government, Tunisians are wary that his government could be the prescription for instability in the country, or at least bait used by President Kaïs Saïed to dissolve parliament. On 25 July, Saïed shocked parliament and the Tunisian people when he neglected candidates proposed by the major political parties […]

US President Donald Trump announced on Thursday that his administration had achieved a “historic breakthrough” deal that would witness the United Arab Emirates (UAE) exchange official and overt diplomatic relations with the Israeli occupation state, in return for Israel delaying its plans to annex large swathes of the occupied Palestinian West Bank. Trump posted a copy of the joint statement of the US, Israel and the […]

Massive demonstrations across Israel are calling for the unseating of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu over corruption cases and his alleged mishandling of the coronavirus crisis. Worryingly for Netanyahu, the protests are growing, and look set to get even bigger, fuelled by hate speech and violence from his supporters and police. According to Israeli media, thousands of demonstrators have gathered in Tel Aviv and other cities. The […]

External interference in Tunisian affairs and acute ideological disagreements among the political components have been the main factors that have seemingly undermined the Tunisian Revolution, triggering the Arab Spring in 2011. The external interference represented is the persistence of certain international and regional powers to keep the Tunisian Islamists, the Ennahda party, away from authority. The ideological disagreement leads certain parties and politicians to seek the […]

The skulls of 24 Algerian freedom fighters, who resisted French colonialism in the middle of the 19th century, arrived in Algiers on Sunday. An emotional official and popular reception was organised for their arrival, which coincided with the 58th anniversary of Algeria’s independence. They were laid to rest at El Alia cemetery. These skulls belong to fighters who were martyred during battles fought against the French occupation. Some […]

Despite the opposition of many Israeli officials and world leaders, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu appeared to be determined to push ahead with his annexation of large parts of the occupied Palestinian West Bank on 1 July. However, the date set for the annexation process to begin came and went, and nothing happened. Commenting on Netanyahu’s failure to start the annexation, former Knesset member Aryeh Eldad […]

Concluding an official visit to Paris on Monday, Tunisia’s President Kais Saied and his French counterpart Emmanuel Macron held a press conference and spoke about their discussions. Among other issues, they tended to concentrate on political and economic matters of mutual interest. Saied looked like someone begging for French support as he did his best not to make a mistake while speaking alongside Macron. He even […]

Turkish diplomat Volkan Bozkir was elected 75th President of the UN General Assembly on Wednesday, reported the UN News. Bozkir was the sole candidate in the secret ballot. Needing a simple majority to be appointed, he received 178 votes; 11 countries abstained. Born in 1950, Bozkir studied law and has been a diplomat and politician for over 45 years. Among his diplomatic roles, he has been […]

On Saturday, it was revealed that Israeli media are reporting fake news in order to market Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s annexation plan to the Palestinians. Such reports have been published by leading media outlets, including Yedioth Ahronoth, one of Israel’s bestselling newspapers. According to Israeli affairs specialist Abdul Aziz Salha, the Israeli media have been trying to shape public opinion in the occupied Palestinian territories about […]

With less than a month to go until the date set by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for the annexation of large parts of the occupied Palestinian West Bank to begin, politicians and diplomats are stirring. While Netanyahu insists on going ahead with his plan, his partner in government, Defence Minister Benny Gantz, leftist Israelis and even settlers’ leaders and right-wing officials insist that it will […]

After a long and complicated process that lasted 18 months, the largest Israeli political factions, the Likud and Blue and White, agreed to form a coalition government that was scheduled to be sworn in yesterday in an effort to end the period of acrimonious political instability in the country. While the Israelis, who are suffering one of the worst economic crises in modern history due to […]

The Palestinian Liberation Organisation (PLO) has been threatening to cancel all the agreements with Israel over the latter’s intention to annex large parts of the occupied Palestinian West Bank, including most of the illegal Israeli Jewish settlements and the Jordan Valley. The PLO threatened to sever previous agreements on numerous occasions, however it has never followed through with it, even when Israel has carried out violations against Palestinian […]

As US President, Donald Trump has been doing his best to empower the Israeli occupation of Palestine. His recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s “united” and “eternal” capital fulfilled even the most ardent Zionists’ dreams. In doing so, he also fulfilled a 25-year-old pledge of previous US administrations to relocate the US Embassy from Tel Aviv to the holy city of Jerusalem, despite this being against international […]