Middle East Monitor

A recent poll found that about 80 per cent of Palestinians want Palestinian Authority (PA) President Mahmoud Abbas to resign, Quds Press reported yesterday. The poll was conducted by Khalil Shikaki, who runs the Palestinian Center for Survey and Policy Research in the West Bank city of Ramallah. According to Shikaki, 1,270 Palestinian adults were interviewed for the survey across the occupied West Bank and besieged Gaza Strip between 15-18 September. "This is the highest number we have seen calling for Abbas' resignation since Abbas' election in 2005," Shikaki told the media. "If presidential and parliamentary elections were held today," Shikaki said, "Hamas will win […]

Sudanese protesters yesterday closed the country's vital Port Sudan on the Red Sea for the fifth day, over the Eastern Sudan Track of the Juba Peace Agreement signed in October 2020 between Khartoum and South Sudan, Anadolu reported. The High Council of Beja Nazirs,  which leads the protest movement, also closed the Bashayer oil terminal, the Suakin port, and the duty-free markets in the Red Sea state and suspended the ports' revenues to the Bank of Sudan. Leader of the High Council of Beja Nazirs, Ahmed Musa Omar, told Anadolu that the reopening of all the Red Sea ports is linked to fulfilling the council's […]

US lawmakers yesterday removed $1 billion in military funding for Israel from legislation to fund the US government after objections from liberals in the House of Representatives, but party leaders pledged to bring the matter up again later this week, Reuters reports. Some House Democrats objected to a provision in a stopgap spending bill to provide the additional funding so Israel can replenish its Iron Dome missile-defense system. The US company Raytheon Technologies Corp (RTX.N) produces many Iron Dome components. The House is debating legislation to fund the federal government through 3 December and raise the nation's borrowing limit. The dispute forced the House Rules Committee […]

Scenes of thousands of Afghans flooding the Kabul international airport to flee the country as Taliban fighters were quickly consolidating their control over the capital, raised many questions, leading amongst them: who are these people and why are they running away? In the US and other Western media, answers were readily available: they were mostly 'translators', Afghans who 'collaborated' with the US and other NATO countries; 'activists' who were escaping from the brutality awaiting them once the Americans and their allies left the country, and so on. Actually, the answer is far more complex than that offered by Western officials and […]

The Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement has called on governments, companies and artists to boycott Dubai Expo 2020, which it says aims to "whitewash and distract attention from" Israel's "grave human rights violations." In a statement posted on its website, the BDS said: "Both the UAE and Israel are shamelessly using the World Expo in presenting a "prettier face" to whitewash and distract attention from their grave human rights violations." The Dubai Expo is set to launch in October and will last for six months, with the participation of more than 191 states from around the world including Israel. "The Israeli Pavilion at […]

US President Joe Biden said yesterday that he backs the two-state solution for the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, stating this is the "best way" to ensure the future of Israel as a Jewish state, news agencies reported. "I continue to believe that a two-state solution is the best way to ensure Israel's future as a Jewish democratic state, living in peace alongside a viable, sovereign and democratic Palestinian state," Biden said in a speech at the 76th General Assembly of the United Nations. "We're a long way from that goal at this moment but we should never allow ourselves to give up on the possibility […]

The Algerian Ministry of Foreign Affairs yesterday refuted the Moroccan ambassador to Geneva's allegations that the Lebanese Hezbollah group supports the Polisario Front. Algeria's Special Envoy in charge of Western Sahara and Maghreb countries, Amar Belani, denounced the "lies" and "gross manipulation" by Morocco's ambassador to Geneva after his remarks about an alleged "presence of Hezbollah instructors in the refugee camps in Tindouf". He said that the allegations "stem from a set of misleading lies … caused by the Moroccan regime's isolation in international institutions over its human rights violations in the Sahrawi region." According to the Algerian diplomat, in 2018, […]

At a time when the voices of American and British officials, and the official media in the West in general, are loudly denouncing the lack of support for Afghan women in the recently formed Taliban government, and the failure to allocate a percentage of political representation to them, in any other position, the absent Iraqi women live like their Afghan counterparts, in the shadow of the silence of the same parties. If the Taliban movement is known for its position on women, and there is a general fear that its position will not change, despite its statements, the plight of Iraqi […]

Turkey is to start talks with the United Arab Emirates over funding its energy sector, the deputy power minister said yesterday. According to Reuters, Alparslan Bayraktar told reporters that Turkey is in talks with the UAE on energy cooperation. "There are such a lot of areas where we will cooperate," he said. Last month, the UAE announced it was looking for deeper commerce and financial ties with Turkey and seven international locations in an effort to defend its standing as a world enterprise hub after the pandemic. The renewed focus on the economy also follows a reset of its assertive foreign policy that has […]

READ: Hollywood's Mark Ruffalo calls out Israel's apartheid Source link

Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi said he supports the resumption of negotiations aimed at reviving the nuclear deal if the "ultimate goal" is to lift all unjust sanctions imposed on the Islamic Republic. "The Islamic Republic considers the useful talks whose ultimate outcome is the lifting of all oppressive [US] sanctions," Raisi said in a recorded address to the annual UN General Assembly. Indirect talks held in Vienna between the Iranians and the Americans mediated by other parties to the 2015 deal made significant progress in the spring. However, the talks stalled since the hard-line conservative president came to power. Former US President Donald […]

Sudanese Prime Minister Abdullah Hamdok yesterday confirmed that the special committee established to dismantle the regime of former President Omar Al-Bashir will speed up its operations. "We will speed up the completion of the transitional authority structures," Hamdok said, adding that "real urgent decisions will be issued to fortify the transition" stressing that "the current partnership must be strengthened." Earlier in the day, Sudanese authorities said they had foiled an attempted coup orchestrated by Al-Bashir loyalists. Hamdok explained that "the coup attempt involved planning to create chaos in cities and closing roads in eastern Sudan." Unrest in Port Sudan in the east of the […]

President Tayyip Erdogan said yesterday that the Paris climate agreement would be presented to the Turkish parliament for approval next month, which would make it the last G20 country to ratify the deal, Reuters reports. Speaking at the United Nations General Assembly, Erdogan said Turkey had not ratified the deal due to injustices regarding responsibilities. "Following the distance covered in this framework, I want to announce the decision we have taken to the world from here," he said. "We plan to present the Paris climate agreement to our parliament's approval next month in line with constructive steps that will be taken," Erdogan said. […]

United Arab Emirates Prime Minister and Dubai Ruler Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum approved a 65 billion-dirham ($17.70 billion) housing programme for Emirati citizens to be implemented over the next 20 years, the Dubai Government Media Office said on Twitter today. . @HHShkMohd: We have approved a housing program for Emirati citizens in Dubai with allocations of AED 65 billion for the programme over the next 20 years & number of beneficiaries will increase 4-fold, with land plots allocated to meet demand for the next 20 years. — Dubai Media Office (@DXBMediaOffice) September 22, 2021 "Decent housing is a dignity […]

Algeria's former interim president Abdelkader Bensalah, who ruled the country during an unprecedented political crisis in 2019, died today aged 80, Reuters reported the presidency saying. Bensalah was named interim president after President Abdelaziz Bouteflika stepped down in April 2019 following mass street protests to reject his plan to seek a fifth term, and demand political and economic reforms. Protesters were opposed to figures like Bensalah, a close associate of Bouteflika and his inner circle who dominated Algeria for decades. Bouteflika, who ruled the North African country for two decades, himself died on Friday aged 84. Protests continued after the resignation of Bouteflika despite the imprisonment of several senior […]

The United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights is "deeply concerned" about the human rights situation in Yemen, where all parties to the conflict are "violating" international human rights law. "Civilians across the country are paying a heavy price, while armed groups control territory and exercise power in complete disregard for human rights and international humanitarian law," OHCHR spokeswoman, Marta Hurtado, said in a statement. The statement noted the Houthi rebels' execution of nine Yemenis on September 18, including one who allegedly had been a minor at the time of his arrest. "The defendants had been sentenced to death in a […]

Interim Libyan government, led by Abdul Hamid Dbeibeh, yesterday rejected a recent decision by the country's eastern authority to withdraw confidence from it, claiming that the decision was "illegitimate". A well-informed source told media that the Dbeibeh government would issue a statement in the "next few hours declaring its refusal of parliament's decision, and announcing it will continue to perform its duties until the elections due on 24 December." On Tuesday, Libya's eastern-based parliament passed a no-confidence vote in Dbeibeh's unity government. The decision was backed by 89 out of a total of 113 lawmakers – based in the eastern city […]

Israeli occupation forces today cleared more Palestinian land in the northern Jordan Valley village of Kardala, Wafa news agency has reported. Local human rights activist Aref Daraghmeh said that the troops escorted a bulldozer to the southern part of the village, where it levelled a tract of land in preparation for the construction of a huge cement water reservoir to be operated by Israel's national water company, Mekorot. The company violates international law by destroying and pillaging water resources in occupied Palestine. It then uses stolen water to increase the supply to illegal Israeli settlements, which have a high demand. It […]

Tunisia has never been against any party involved in the issue of the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD), the Foreign Minister, Othman Jerandi, said yesterday. "Tunisia  has been working hard to establish contacts with Ethiopia on this issue," Jerandi said during the Arab League's Annual Consultative meeting. Jerandi's remarks came days after statements by Addis Ababa saying Tunisia was "making a historical mistake by submitting a draft resolution to the UN Security Council to stop the second filling of the dam." He accused Ethiopia of "spreading falsehoods" about the matter. In response, the Ethiopian Foreign Ministry said Tunisia was undermining what […]

Nearly 25 per cent of Israeli families with children are experiencing food insecurity, new data from Israel's largest anti-poverty NGO shows. The annual report by the Leket organisation, which provides various welfare and food aid services, found that of the two million people in need of sufficient nutrition, 774,000 are children -one third of minors in Israel. Moreover, 633,000 families in Israel don't have enough resources to fulfill their daily dietary needs, the study found. The economic crisis that accompanied the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic, led to a significant increase of food insecurity in the country. According to Leket, the […]

Join us for a live conversation with Marc Owen Jones, Assistant Professor of Middle East Studies and Digital Humanities at Hamad Bin Khalifa University, to discuss disinformation wars and the battle for narratives in the digital world. Source link

The former Defence Minister Field Marshal Hussein Tantawi, who died yesterday, is trending on Twitter in Egypt. Whilst the state-run media praise him as a "loyal son", a "military symbol" and a "hero" of the October War, Egyptians say he has blood on his hands. Tantawi became a known face both within Egypt and outside of it around the time of the 2011 Egyptian uprising when he headed the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces after Hosni Mubarak's ouster. But instead of navigating the country through a fair political transition, under his leadership Egypt's security forces cracked down heavily on protesters […]

Natural Gas will play a pivotal role in powering economic growth in the United Arab Emirates over the next 50 years, the Emirati Industry and Advanced Technology Minister, Sultan Ahmed Al-Jaber, announced yesterday. "The UAE is strengthening its position as a regional leader in natural gas and the emerging blue Hydrogen market," Al-Jaber said during the Gastech 2021 event, stressing that natural gas would support the nation's "vision for economic growth as set out by the leadership in the Principles of the Fifty." The chief executive of the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC) described the principles as a "mandate for […]

Majority Leader of the US House of Representatives, Steny Hoyer, told Israel foreign minister, Yair Lapid, that removing military fund for Israel from government spending bill was a "technical delay". Reported by the American news website, Axios, Lapid spoke with Hoyer following the passing of the spending bill without the fund for Israel. Lapid's office said Hoyer stressed the holdup was "technical" due to disagreements in Congress about the deficit, Axios reported. It also reported that Hoyer conveyed the commitment by him, the White House, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader, Chuck Schumer, to pass the Iron Dome funding […]

Lebanon raised gasoline prices by 16 per cent today, the second hike in a week, cutting a subsidy on imported fuel which the new Prime Minister Najib Mikati has said the nation cannot afford, Reuters reports. Lebanon, which had already hiked fuel prices by 37 per cent on Friday, is grappling with a deep economic crisis that has caused a currency collapse and left the cash-strapped government with a rising subsidy bill on a range of imported items, including fuel. An energy ministry source said the new fuel prices were based on an exchange rate of 14,000 Lebanese pounds to the dollar, compared to an […]

United Nations experts will travel to Cyprus to inspect a plane which is believed to have been used to violate the arms embargo on Libya, Greek Cypriot daily newspaper Philenews reports. UN officials are expected to arrive in November to inspect the plane which is sealed in a warehouse at Paphos Airport. It is thought the plane is carrying weapons intended for east Libya leader renegade General Khalifa Haftar and his militias. For the past month, the plane has had a 24-hour guard in Cyprus, however it had remained unattended since it landed in Cyprus in 2019. It is unknown if its contents […]

The American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) yesterday condemned the removal of $1 billion in military aid intended for Israel from the US government's spending bill. This came after the US House of Representatives removed the article related to the military fund for Israel's Iron Dome missile defence system after a number of progressive Democrats threatened they would not allow the bill to pass. Angered, AIPAC wrote on Twitter: "Extremists in Congress are playing politics with Israeli & Palestinian lives." "Calling to remove funding for a lifesaving defensive system is an affront to our values, risks further conflict, and is counter to the commitment […]

Egyptian President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi yesterday claimed that his country is working to reinforce human rights, citing the launch of the National Strategy for Human Rights earlier this month, Al-Khaleej Online reported. The remarks came as part of his speech to the UN General Assembly being held in New York. Al-Sisi, who has come under constant regional and international criticism over his regime's record of human rights violations, said: "The National Strategy for Human Rights launched on 11 September was the best proof that Egypt is protecting and enforcing human rights." He stressed that the human rights system in Egypt "has recently witnessed […]

The Emir of Qatar, Sheikh Tamim Bin Hamad Al Thani, yesterday urged the international community not to neglect the Syrian issue. Speaking at the 76th session of the United Nations General Assembly in New York, Sheikh Tamim said this year marked a decade since the start of the Syrian civil war while the crisis continues to pose "immense perils", including the increased threat of terrorism in the country, the region and the world at large. "We should not turn a blind eye to the Syrian issue," he said. "And the international community should not turn its back on the suffering of the Syrian […]

The United Arab Emirates' interference in the affairs of Arab countries aimed at "fighting the Muslim Brotherhood," the adviser to the Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi, Abdulkhaleq Abdulla, announced yesterday. "After a decade of difficult confrontations, the UAE won the battle against the futility of the Brotherhood, and was able to halt its advance throughout the Arab world," Abdulla said on Twitter, adding that his country contributed to "strengthening stability and moderation in the face of the terror groups." The political academic added that his country was preparing for "more important national and global projects in the coming decade." Social media […]

The Cairo court of appeal yesterday dropped the charges against four human rights and civil society organisations and lifted travel bans imposed on them. The decision was reported by local media to have included the Andalus Institute for Tolerance and anti-Violence Studies, the New Future House Centre for Human Rights and Legal Studies, the Human Development Association in Mansoura, and the Egyptian Centre for Economic and Social Rights. The case dates back to the January 2011 revolution, under which the rights groups had their assets frozen and their staff barred from travelling. READ: Egypt denies violating human rights laws Under the court […]

The Bennett-Sisi summit would not have received the attention it did in the Israeli media, on the eve of the Jewish Yom Kippur holiday last week, had it not been for the Egyptians. According to the Israeli press corps, the Egyptian officials worked hard to welcome Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett and publicised his visit widely in the state-controlled media. Although Bennett left no doubt before or during his meeting with President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi that a "Palestinian state" is not part of his plan, this did not stop the fanfare and applause for the man, as if he were a […]

The Palestinian flag was raised outside the Danish Parliament building in the capital Copenhagen yesterday, in the first such event to mark Palestinian Flag Day. Organised by the Forum of the Palestinian Community in Denmark and House 48, the event was held in the presence of the Ambassador of the State of Palestine to Denmark, Manuel Hassassian, and Danish Parliament Member, Sikander Siddik. Speakers stressed the right of the Palestinian people to self-determination and the establishment of their own independent state with Jerusalem as its capital. They called on the Danish government to recognise the State of Palestine and act to […]

Qatari Energy Minister Saad Bin Sherida Al-Kaabi announced today that Qatar will not rejoin the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and stressed that Doha will mainly invest in Liquified Natural Gas (LNG), local media reports. Speaking at the Gastech in Dubai, Al-Kaabi stressed that there is a need for more investments in clean energy and there is no concern about excessive investment in this field. The Qatari minister highlighted that his country aims to invest more in local gas infrastructure. He also said that "there is a reality of energy transformation in the global energy arena therefore we need to focus on […]

The Saudi and Emirati militaries have arrived in Greece to begin joint exercises with the Greek and Egyptian militaries, in what they are hailing as further cooperation between allied states. The Royal Saudi Land Forces' paratroopers and special security forces arrived in the Elefsina airbase north-west of the Greek capital Athens yesterday and were welcomed by the Emirati Colonel Khaled Abdullah Al-Olayan. According to the Saudi Ministry of Defence, the joint exercise is being carried out to enhance military cooperation between friendly and brotherly countries, to exchange training and experience, and to increase the level of combat readiness in order to […]

Two months since China's oil imports from Saudi Arabia fell 19 per cent, Riyadh has regained its preeminent position as the main supplier of crude to Beijing. Data from China's ministry which gathers data on customs and excise duties, the General Administration of Customs, showed yesterday a 53 per cent increase to 1.96 million barrels per day (bpd), 8.06 million tonnes. That compares with 1.58 million bpd in July and 1.24 million bpd in August last year. Imports from Russia stood at 6.53 million tonnes in August, or 1.59 million bpd, and 1.56 million bpd in July. The UAE meanwhile has […]

READ: Protesters march against Israel's detention policy Source link

The Turkish state and public are scoring great successes in the education of hundreds of thousands of Syrian refugee children, said the top EU diplomat in Turkey on Tuesday, Anadolu Agency reported. Speaking at a school opening ceremony in the southern Gaziantep province, Ambassador Nikolaus Meyer-Landrut said: "The fact that up to 700,000 Syrian kids are integrated into Turkish education system is a huge and unique success story." Meyer-Landrut, head of the EU Delegation to Turkey, added that the EU can only help as part of its support programs, but that this success belongs to Turkey. Landrut also said that the EU has […]

US President Joe Biden mapped out a new era of vigorous competition without a new Cold War despite China's ascendance during his first United Nations address on Tuesday, promising military restraint and a robust fight against climate change, Reuters reported. The United States will help resolve crises from Iran to the Korean Peninsula to Ethiopia, Biden told the annual UN General Assembly gathering. The world faces a "decisive decade," Biden said, one in which leaders must work together to combat a raging coronavirus pandemic, global climate change and cyber threats. He said the United States will double its financial commitment on climate aid […]

Lebanese pro-Iranian TV channel Al Mayadeen said on Tuesday that a convoy of diesel tankers brought by Hezbollah from Iran crossed the Syrian border towards Lebanon, Reuters reported. The Iran-aligned group says the shipments should ease a crippling energy crisis in Lebanon, while Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati said Iranian fuel shipments constitute a breach of Lebanon's sovereignty. Both Syria and Iran are under US sanctions. READ: Iran will supply Lebanon with more fuel, if requested Source link

Iran wants a resumption of nuclear talks with world powers to lead to the removal of US sanctions, Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi told the annual UN General Assembly on Tuesday in a pre-recorded address, Reuters reported. Hardline cleric Raisi, who is under personal US sanctions over allegations of human rights abuses in his past as a judge, said the U.S. sanctions, imposed by former US President Donald Trump in 2018, "were crimes against humanity during the coronavirus pandemic". Indirect talks between Iran and the United States to revive the 2015 nuclear pact stopped two days after Raisi was elected as Iran's president in June. READ: Iran […]

Drone strikes by the United States-led international coalition have killed a commander reportedly belonging to Al-Qaeda in the north-west Syrian province of Idlib. After initially telling the AFP news agency that it had not conducted any strikes on Idlib, the US Central Command (CENTCOM) then acknowledged that it had killed an Al-Qaeda official in the province. In a statement yesterday, CENTCOM spokeswoman Lieutenant Josie Lynne Lenny said: "US forces conducted a kinetic counter-terrorism strike near Idlib, Syria, today, on a senior al-Qaeda leader." "Initial indications are that we struck the individual we were aiming for, and there are no indications of civilian casualties […]

Saudi Arabia has not abandoned its plan to purchase a top-flight football club despite its recent set-back with Newcastle United and is now said to be eyeing a move for one of the giants of Italian football. Italian media are reporting that Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund (PIF) – among the largest sovereign wealth funds in the world with total estimated assets of at least $500 billion – is ready to call time on its attempts to buy the English Premier League Club and instead focus on a takeover of Inter Milan. Desperate in securing a prominent position in the European football market, […]

A few weeks after Israeli Defence Minister Benny Gantz dangled the promise of a few concessions to strengthen the Palestinian Authority's illegitimate rule, Prime Minister Mohammad Shtayyeh has articulated – belatedly as usual – that Israel's plan is to continue its colonisation of Palestinian territory. As if Palestinians don't know that already, having lived through ongoing, systematic dispossession for decades. The PA's official news agency, Wafa, quoted Shtayyeh as saying that, "The Israeli government's programme is only to expand settlements, seize more land, deprive our people of their natural resources and abolish the geographical base of the State of Palestine." Shtayyeh […]

Tunisia's President Kais Saied said on Monday that he is going to introduce a new election law and that he has drawn up transitional laws while emergency measures remain in place. "Transitional provisions have been put in place, and a prime minister will be appointed, and they will be transitional provisions that respond to your will," he explained in an address to the people of Tunisia. "A new draft electoral law will be drawn up." Saied insisted that what he proposes is "at the heart of the constitution" and his critics "cannot say" that it is a coup. "How can it […]

Following complaints from prominent rights groups, US State Department spokesman Ned Price announced last Tuesday that the Biden administration is expected to withhold $130 million in military aid to Egypt over human rights concerns. President Joe Biden is thus departing from the policy of his predecessor, Donald Trump, who ignored congressional checks on military aid to Egypt, whose ties with the US improved when it mediated a ceasefire between Israel and the Palestinian resistance groups in May. However, Biden has made it clear that he intends to put pressure on Egyptian President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi over his regime's human rights violations. […]

The UK's Liberal Democrats party voted overwhelmingly in favour of a ban on UK trade with illegal Israeli settlements in the occupied Palestinian territories. The motion passed by the party at its annual conference yesterday included its "commitment to immediate recognition of Palestine as a sovereign independent state by the UK government based on the 1967 lines." The motion also called on the UK government to prohibit companies from operating in the illegal settlements in the occupied territories and to ensure that Palestinians receive the same treatment as Israelis regarding visa-free travel to the UK. Ambassador Husam Zomlot, head of the […]

Relations between Turkey and Bahrain are at an advanced level and cooperation is developing, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said yesterday. During a meeting with his Bahraini counterpart on the sidelines of the Assembly UN General Meeting in New York, Cavusoglu highlighted the improvement of relations between Turkey and Bahrain. "We will build on the positive momentum we have recently reached in our relations," Cavusoglu announced on Twitter. Relations between the two countries were negatively impacted by Bahrain's decision to join Saudi Arabia, the UAE, and Egypt in imposing a blockade on neighbouring Qatar in 2017. Turkey stood with Qatar and provided […]

The head of the Popular International Committee to Support Palestine has said that lifting the siege on Gaza, reconstruction across the coastal territory and improving the living conditions of its residents are non-negotiable human rights. Dr Essam Yousef was responding to a plan announced recently by Israeli Foreign Minister Yair Lapid, in which he called for an "economy in exchange for security". According to Yousef, the occupation state is blackmailing the Palestinians by withholding sustenance and medical supplies for Gaza's children, women and men in exchange for the people to give up their legitimate rights, including the right to resist the […]

Activists from Morocco have launched an online campaign to adopt English instead of French in education, describing the latter as "outdated". This comes days before the start of the new school year in early October. Researcher, Abdelilah Al-Mansouri, said: "Yes to English as a first foreign language in Morocco, instead of an obsolete language called French." In a post on Facebook, he added: "This is a circulating campaign demanding the removal of the French language as a first foreign language from academic curricula and to replace it with English, as it is the language of the future." For her part, activist […]

Tunisian President Kais Saied yesterday confirmed that the exceptional measures he enacted in July will continue and announced that "transitional provisions have been put in place", describing protests against his decisions as "theatrical". Addressing his supporters in the governorate of Sidi Bouzid, Saied said he considered "the protesters rejecting the exceptional measures as a poorly directed play with bad actors." On 25 July, Tunisian President Kais Saied cited Article 80 of the constitution to dismiss Prime Minister Hicham Mechichi, freeze the work of parliament for 30 days, lift the immunity of ministers, and appoint himself as head of the executive authority until the formation […]

Libya's eastern-based parliament said today it had withdrawn confidence from the unity government, though it would continue to operate as a caretaker administration, Reuters reports. The vote in the House of Representatives exemplifies the wrangling between rival factions and state bodies that have plagued UN-backed efforts to resolve Libya's decade-long crisis by establishing a unity government and holding national elections. In 2014, eastern and western factions split Libya in two in a civil war, with an internationally recognised government in Tripoli and a rival administration backed by the House of Representatives in the east. Prime Minister Abdulhamid Dbeibah's unity government was selected through a UN-sponsored […]

Sudan's army said in a statement that 21 officers and a number of soldiers were arrested in connection to a coup attempt this morning, and a search is ongoing to capture the remainder of those involved, Reuters reports. The army has regained control of all locations taken during the attempt, said a statement from the army commander's media advisor Brigadier-General Altahir Abu Haja. Earlier this morning, state television said that a coup attempt was taking place in the country, calling on the citizens to confront it. This came in urgent news broadcast by the state TV, without giving further details about the group behind […]

Government heads of southern European Union countries yesterday called for "preserving democracy, constitutional procedures and adherence to the law in Tunisia." "The efficiency of the Tunisian government and its proper functioning is crucial in the face of the current economic crisis that requires an urgent solution," the countries said in a joint statement during the 8th South EU Summit. The statement added that the European countries would continue "to provide full support to Tunisia to overcome the economic and social crisis exacerbated by the pandemic," stressing the "need to preserve the country's stability." They also called addressing the "structural causes of […]

France will host an international conference on Libya in November as the country prepares for elections at the end of December, Reuters reported Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian said yesterday. Co-hosted with Germany and Italy, Le Drian said the conference would take place on 12 November and was aimed at ensuring the electoral calendar would remain in place and to discuss the departure of foreign fighters from the North African oil producer. Libya has remained beset by turmoil since 2011 when a bloody NATO-backed uprising led to the ouster and death of strongman Muammar Gaddafi after four decades in power. Since then, the country's stark […]

Lebanon's new Prime Minister, Najib Mikati, has warned Israel against carrying out any attack on his country, local media reported on Monday. Mikati stressed Lebanon's right to respond to any aggression. Parliament convened to confirm his government. He told MPs that the Lebanese people are looking for a stable and prosperous country. Ironically, the parliamentary session was delayed slightly due to a power cut, the likes of which have been affecting Lebanon for months. After a marathon session to examine the government's action plan, 85 MPs voted in favour of the new ministerial line-up, while 15 voted against, reported AFP. "Lebanese […]

The Palestinian Islamic Resistance Movement has presented a "clear roadmap" for a prisoner swap with the Israeli occupation authorities, Hamas Political Bureau member Zaher Jabareen said on Monday. He stressed that the "ball is now in the Israeli court." The Hamas leadership and the movement's military wing, said Jabareen, pay special attention to the prisoners' file, especially those who are serving long sentences. He noted that Israel has been trying to link the reconstruction of Gaza with the Israeli soldiers held in the besieged enclave. "Hamas and the resistance leadership reject such a link. The movement has told all of the […]

French President Emmanuel Macron yesterday asked for "forgiveness" from abandoned Algerians who fought for France during Algeria's War of Independence. "In the name of France, I say to the Harkis and their children in a loud and solemn voice, that the Republic has contracted a debt towards them. To the combatants, I wish to express our gratitude. We will not forget. To the abandoned combatants, to their families who suffered the camps, the prison, the denial, I ask forgiveness, we will not forget," Macron said during a ceremony held at the Elysee Palace to honour the abandoned Algerian fighters. During the […]

The Joint List of Arab members of the Knesset, Israel's parliament, has urged Washington to reopen the US Consulate in occupied East Jerusalem, despite the objections of the Israeli government. The Joint List sent its request in a letter to US Secretary of State Antony Blinken. "We are respectfully addressing you concerning the reopening of the US General Consulate in Jerusalem," the MKs said. Despite opposition from Israel, they added, it is important to stake such a step "to create the right conditions for a meaningful peace process." Moreover, reopening the consulate will be in line with Washington's "stated position that […]

A senior legal expert in Kuwait has commented on the Biden administration's imposition of sanctions on two Kuwaiti citizens for their involvement in support for Hezbollah and Iran. The US Treasury announced the sanctions on Friday against a new network which is alleged to support, finance, and launder money for Lebanon's Hezbollah movement and Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. The unnamed expert told Al-Rai that the Kuwaiti Interior Ministry is in communication with the relevant US authorities through established channels, to track the offences attributed to Kuwaiti citizens. It will decide whether to prosecute them or not. The sanctions affect two […]

The authorities in Egypt yesterday denied recent reports that the government is going to impose a tariff to receive phone calls. Such claims are "incorrect", insisted the Egyptian cabinet's media centre, which added that it has been in touch with the ministry of communications on the matter. "The fees for the cost of any telephone calls are borne by the caller alone, without charging any cost to the recipient of the call," said officials. "Any new telecom fee runs through a process of approvals by the country's National Telecommunications Regulatory Authority." Citizens should not "believe malicious and baseless rumours" which, they […]

The World Bank said 6% of the North Africa population could be displaced by climate change, in its damning Groundswell II report. The report laid bare the extent of climate migrants if world leaders do not clean up their act. In three scenarios tested, it was estimated that a total of 13 million climate migrants would exist by 2050 in a worst-case scenario, and climate migrants could outnumber other migrants. It was projected that 'out-migrants' (those leaving the area) were projected to be from places of water scarcity, and the threat of rising sea levels. Campaigners from Transnational Institute (TNI) have […]

Tunisian parliamentarian Mabrouk Korchid said yesterday that the government's ban on travel was "still in effect," despite a recent presidential announcement lifting the measure. "A friend of mine was travelling yesterday but he was suspended for not possessing a written decision about his travel purpose," Korchid said on Facebook. "The ban is still in effect at the Tunis-Carthage airport, despite the recent presidential declaration," he reiterated. On Friday, the Tunsian presidency said it would allow international travel for all citizens "unless they are subject to summons, imprisonment, or search," noting that the decision was made following discussions between President Kais Saied […]

In a remarkable political conversion, Yaakov Sharett, the heir to an iconic Zionist family and son of Israel's second Prime Minister, Moshe Sharett, has turned his back on the founding ideology of the occupation state. "The State of Israel and the Zionist enterprise were born in sin," said Sharett in an interview with Haaretz. The 95-year-old spoke at length about his journey from a faithful servant of Zionism in the state of Israel to one of its harshest critics. Sharett was born in 1927 and is said to belong to a well-connected family from the cream of the Yishuv, the Jewish community […]

Sudan accepted Turkey's offer to mediate between Khartoum and Ethiopia, Anadolu reported. Sudanese Foreign Minister Mariam Al-Sadiq Al-Mahdi announced that Sudan accepted the Turkish government's offer to solve the border dispute. "During the visit of Sudan's head of Sovereign Council Abdel Fattah al-Burhan to Turkey last month, he accepted an initiative from the Turkish leadership to solve the border disputes with Ethiopia," the minister said. Sudan and Ethiopia have been at odds over border issues, energy sources, and the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) project. READ: Turkey, South Sudan agreed to strengthen relations Al-Mahdi also praised the United Nations Security Council's statement calling on […]

United Nations Secretary-General has warned of a potential new cold war between China and the United States, AP reports. During an exclusive interview AP, the UN head Antonio Guterres said that the world's two major economic powers should avoid a cold war. Guterres said both countries should be cooperating on climate and negotiating more robustly on trade and technology even given persisting political fissures about human rights, economics, online security, and sovereignty in the South China Sea. "Two rival geopolitical and military strategies would pose dangers and divide the world," he said, adding that a new cold war could be more perilous for […]

Israel assassinated Iran's top nuclear scientist Mohsen Fakhrizadeh last November using a remote-controlled machine gun and artificial intelligence, according to a report by the New York Times. The Israelis have killed several Iranian scientists over the years. It's said that they had wanted to assassinate Fakhrizadeh for years, but for various reasons, this wasn't possible. However, once it was clear that former US President Donald Trump was going to be replaced by Joe Biden, the Israelis decided to go ahead and kill the 63-year-old. Trump's unilateral withdrawal from the Iran nuclear deal in 2018 reassured the Israelis, but this did not […]

The European Union (EU) has not contributed any funds to Palestine this year, in a move that has delayed donations to poor Palestinian families, announced the Palestinian Authority's Social Development Minister, Ahmad Majdalani. In a statement, Majdalani said that the EU informed the PA that it is not going to pay any of this year's funds until it completes special procedures for technical and administrative reviews related to the funds provided by the EU to a number of countries. The EU has been the largest single donor to the PA, providing €150 million ($175.7 million) for social allowances, including salaries for […]

The terrorist group Daesh has taken credit for Sunday's back-to-back bombings in eastern Afghanistan that claimed at least three lives, Anadolu Agency reported. The group's Amaaq propaganda news agency posted a statement on Monday about the incident in Jalalabad, the capital of Afghanistan's eastern Nangarhar province bordering Pakistan, claiming that "more than 35 Taliban militia members were killed or wounded" in the attack on a Taliban patrol vehicle. Eyewitnesses told Anadolu Agency the blasts near Jalalabad's Kabul Station and Angurbagh claimed at least three lives and left 21 others wounded. A number of children were among the victims, the eyewitnesses said. Last […]

Israeli media suggested that former Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had mocked US President Joe Biden while meeting current Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett in August in the White House, Anadolu Agency reported. The Israeli Walla news website late on Sunday said that Netanyahu mocked Biden when he imitated him in a video by letting his head swiftly fall down in reference to, what he suggested, Biden falling asleep while meeting Bennett. When asked about the Biden-Bennett meeting, Netanyahu replied in a sarcastic way, letting his head fall down in a swift motion and saying "I heard that Biden was very attentive" in […]

Lebanon's parliament began a session on Monday to discuss the new cabinet's policy programme and hold a vote of confidence, but proceedings were delayed by almost an hour due to a power cut resulting from the country's desperate fuel shortages, Reuters reported. The country is stuck in a deep depression, with worsening shortages of fuel leading to few or any hours of state-backed power a day and most Lebanese relying on private generators for electricity. The session had been scheduled to start at 11 a.m. local time (0800 GMT) but the lights went out in the building now housing the parliament. When it […]

A Jerusalemite taxi driver survived a murder attempt by an Israeli man in Occupied Jerusalem this morning, the Palestinian Information Center reported. Sources in the occupied city said that the Israeli man tried to strangle Palestinian driver Samir Mujahid with his seatbelt. The driver managed to free himself and survived with minor bruises, they added. A group of Israeli settlers stabbed a Palestinian bus driver in Jerusalem three days ago. The driver Mohammed Abu Nab survived with moderate wounds. According to human rights groups, incidents of violence by extremist Jewish settlers against Palestinians and their properties are a daily occurrence in the occupied territories. Little […]

United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres yesterday condemned the execution of nine Yemenis by the Houthis over their alleged involvement in the killing of a senior Houthi official in an airstrike by the Saudi-led coalition in April 2018. "The Secretary-General deeply regrets that the Houthi movement yesterday carried out executions of nine individuals, one of whom was reportedly a minor at the time of detention," Guterres' spokesperson, Stephane Dujarric, said in a statement. The statement quoted Guterres as saying that the trial in which the nine Yemenis were convicted and sentenced to death "do not appear to have met the requirements of […]

An Orthodox Jewish young man, who fears for his life after refusing to take part in the Israeli army, is seeking asylum in the UK, Anadolu Agency reported. The man, whose name was not revealed at the instructions of the court, got his asylum application rejected in December 2020 in the UK. The court will decide on his appeal on Monday. The 21-year-old man, who is pursuing formal training to become a rabbi, talked to Anadolu Agency about his views on Zionism and the legitimacy of the state of Israel, as well as his stance against the compulsory military service and the […]

About 200 girl students and dancers made a daring escape from Afghanistan with the help of the Toronto, Canada Prince Charles charity, Canadian media reported Monday, Anadolu Agency reported. The girls and their families will resettle in the Canadian province of Saskatchewan within the next few weeks, said the Canadian immigration minister. "(We will) exhaust all the options to help Afghan refugees get to safety in our country," Marco Mendicino told the Canadian Press news service. "Offering refuge to women, girls and persecuted minorities is at the heart of Canada's humanitarian response to the crisis in Afghanistan." The refugees fled Afghanistan to escape […]

Democrat representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez last week presented an amendment to the US defence budget bill. If agreed, the amendment will block the transfer of $735 million worth of Boeing Joint Direct Attack Munitions (JDAM) to Israel. The Biden administration approved the controversial sale less than a week before Israel launched its recent bombing campaign against Gaza, which killed more than 250 people including women and children. The amendment related to Israel was, tweeted Ocasio-Cortez, linked to the "bombing of Palestinian civilians and media centres" in May. This was a reference to the bombing of a building in Gaza City that housed […]

The re-arrest of the two escaped Palestinian prisoners, Iham Kahamji and Munadil Nafayat is not the end of this event. There is no need to feel overly disappointed to the point of it overcoming us, regardless of what the coming days will reveal in terms of the details and circumstances of their re-arrest inside territories that are supposedly under the authority of the Oslo Accords authority, i.e. the PA. This event was not a police chase between the police of an ordinary state and criminals, but rather it is part of a continuous struggle waged by a people subjected to invasion, […]

As deceivers in world politics go, the offspring of Zionist capitalism takes some beating. As soon as Emmanuel Macron appeared on the scene as president of France, he dared to insult Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him, and defended the criminals who republished the infamous Charlie Hebdo cartoons as "freedom of expression". Ruin and God's curses have since fallen on his country. Macron exposed his Zionist credentials by pushing through a law conflating anti-Zionism with anti-Semitism. This remains a dangerous step which flies in the face of established concepts in political science. Anti-Semitism is anti-Jewish racism, and is thus criminalised in […]

Daesh has claimed responsibility for the attack on a natural gas pipeline located in southern Syria on Friday night, which resulted in a power cut across the capital Damascus and many other surrounding areas. According to a statement by the terror group on Saturday, Daesh claimed that its fighters "were able to plant and detonate explosives on the gas pipeline feeding the Tishreen and Deir Ali plants." The power outage lasted for only around 30 minutes before electricity was partially restored, but Electricity Minister Ghassan Al-Zamel said that same day that the power would be limited and rationed until the pipeline […]

Sixty-eight per cent of Jordanians do not trust the recently-formed Royal Committee to Modernise the Political System and its expected outcomes, an official study revealed yesterday. The poll, carried out by the University of Jordan's Center of Strategic Studies, showed that "only 32 percent of the Jordanian citizens believe that the committee will be able to formulate a fair election law that represents all segments of society." "Forty-seven percent of Jordanians do not follow the committee's news and statements, and only 8% of those who heard about the committee follow all the committee's news and statements," the study said. The Gallup […]

Jordan's chief of staff met with the Syrian defence minister in Amman yesterday to discuss border security, Hala Akhbar has reported. The meeting between Jordan's General Yousef Huneiti and General Ali Ayoub looked at ways to "increase coordination in border security" in the interests of both countries. The agenda included the recent fighting in southern Syria as well as drug smuggling across the border. Syrian state-run media said that it focused on "fighting terrorism" and border control. Ayoub's visit accompanied by senior Syrian military officers came barely two weeks after regime forces in Syria entered districts in the southern province of […]

A leaked audio recording of the Prime Minister of Libya's interim Government of National Unity, Abdul Hamid Dbeibeh, in which he questioned the Egyptian judiciary's integrity could ignite a diplomatic crisis with Cairo. In the leaked audio recording, possibly recorded during an official meeting with the Egyptian prime minister, Dbeibeh is heard asking the Egyptian government to intervene in a case involving the Libyan State and a Kuwaiti company before the Egyptian judiciary. "Do not allow injustice against us or our people. This is the Libyan people's money, and we cannot, in any way, be silent about it and let it […]

Following a video broadcast on Facebook by former Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, the Likud party found itself forced to issue a clarification to avoid annoying US President Joe Biden. Netanyahu appeared in a video on Facebook on Saturday speaking about the meeting between Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett and Biden that took place last month. Repeating reported news that Biden was sleeping during the meeting, Netanyahu said in the video: "I heard that Biden was very attentive, very, very attentive during the meeting", then chuckled before dropping his head and closing his eyes. In FB Live, Netanyahu mocked Biden's physical […]

Iran will provide Lebanon with additional fuel whenever the Lebanese government requests it, Foreign Ministry spokesman, Saeed Khatibzadeh, said yesterday. "Iran is determined to cooperate with and assist friendly governments. In this case, there was a request from Lebanese businessmen. The buying and selling process took place normally and the shipment had been sent," Khatibzadeh said. "If the Lebanese government wants to buy fuel from us to solve the problems of this country's people, we will supply it," he added. The Iranian official's remarks came a few days after four convoys carrying Iranian fuel arrived in Lebanon via Syria under an initiative […]

Secretary-General of Islamic Jihad in Palestine, Ziyad Al-Nakhala, hailed the six Palestinian prisoners who escaped from Israel's high-security Gilboa Prison three weeks ago. In a message released by Islamic Jihad on Saturday, Al-Nakhala said the men were "Heroes of the Jenin Brigade … who triggered a strong Palestinian intifada." Al-Nakhala said that Palestinians, as well as all the free people across the world, were worried about them. "You have summarised the will of the whole people of Palestine in a very short period between your escape from prison and your return to it," he said, according to Sama news agency. "Six men have united all […]

Amid growing opposition to the measures taken by President Kais Saied, five political parties, on Friday, issued a joint statement calling on the army and judiciary to respect the country's constitution and uphold the rule of law. The signatories said that recent events have confirmed the fears they had expressed immediately after the President announced the state of emergency on 25 July. These exceptional measures assumed under Article 80 of the constitution were "nothing but a pretext to obstruct state institutions, including the elected ones, and an attempt to break pledges and monopolise power." The statement read: "The actions of the […]

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Israeli forces have recaptured the last two escaped Palestinian prisoners following last week's jailbreak from a high-security prison, Israeli police said on Saturday, reports Anadolu Agency. In a statement, the police said that the two Palestinians Iham Kamamji and Monadel Infiat were captured in the city of Jenin. "The house where the two fugitives were staying was detected by the intelligence given by Israel's internal security service, Shin-Bet, and they were arrested by the Israeli forces without showing any resistance," the statement added. Six Palestinian inmates tunneled out of the high-security Gilboa Prison in northern Israel on September 6. Israeli forces […]

Yemenis staged a protest in the southern city of Taiz on Saturday to express their frustration after a plunge in the local currency which led to a surge in prices and shops close. The angry protesters chanted slogans calling for urgent government intervention to stop the currency's collapse and to provide oil derivatives and basic materials. Through their chants, they held the Yemeni government, the "Southern Transitional Council", the Arab coalition, and the "Houthis" group responsible for the deterioration of the currency. The Taiz City Traders' Confederation (a union entity), said in a brief statement: "They will carry out a 4-hour […]

Yemen's Iran-aligned Houthi movement said on Saturday that authorities had executed nine men who were convicted of involvement in the 2018 killing of Saleh al-Samad, then the armed group's top civilian leader, reports Reuters. Samad, who held the post of president in the Houthi-controlled administration which runs most of northern Yemen, was killed in April 2018 by a Saudi-led coalition airstrike in the port city of Hudaydah on Yemen's west coast. He was the most senior official to be killed by the coalition in the years-long war in which the Houthis are fighting forces loyal to the internationally-recognised government based in […]

Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati said Iranian fuel shipments imported by the Hezbollah movement constitute a breach of Lebanon's sovereignty, according to comments published by his office, reports Reuters. "The violation of Lebanon's sovereignty makes me sad," Mikati told CNN in an interview, his office said in a posting on Twitter. He added: "But I'm not concerned that sanctions can be imposed" on Lebanon "because the operation was carried out without the involvement of the Lebanese government." The Tehran-aligned group on Thursday began bringing tanker trucks carrying fuel from Iran, a move it says should ease a crippling energy crisis in […]

The grandfather of a six-year-old boy who is the only survivor of an Italian cable car disaster said he was looking out for his grandson's wellbeing by bringing him to Israel against the will of the boy's family in Italy, reports Reuters. Eitan Biran's parents, younger brother, and 11 other people all died when a gondola plunged to the ground in northern Italy in May. He is now at the centre of a custody battle. The boy moved in with his paternal aunt, Aya Biran, in northern Italy after the accident. A week ago his maternal grandfather, Shmuel Peleg, picked him […]

The United Arab Emirates central bank sees increased risks of illicit financial flows emerging from the COVID-19 pandemic, including money-laundering and terrorism financing, it said in a report published on Sunday, reports Reuters. The use of unlicensed money service providers for money laundering has increased during the coronavirus crisis last year, the report said, as well as the use of e-commerce to launder money. "Widespread lockdowns have resulted in a significant surge in e-commerce. Due to limited ability to move funds and goods during the pandemic, illicit actors are turning to e-commerce as a money-laundering tool", it said. The number of […]

The Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) will resolutely continue following its path in the Eastern Mediterranean without any separation from Turkey, said the country's prime minister on Sunday, reports Anadolu Agency. Ersan Saner told reporters in southern Turkey that the whole world has turned its eyes to the region, which is believed to hold major gas reserves. Emphasising that they are in very good harmony with their homeland Turkey, Saner said they are working in full synchronisation to protect the lands and solutions for two equal sovereign states on the island. He reiterated that they will mobilise all means to […]

Former Algerian president Abdelaziz Bouteflika, ousted in 2019 after mass protests, was given a state funeral on Sunday that was attended by senior officials but received little of the attention given to such occasions in the past, reports Reuters. Bouteflika died on Friday, aged 84. An armoured vehicle decked with flowers pulled his coffin, covered with the national flag, on a gun carriage from his home in Zeralda, west of the capital, to the el-Alia cemetery in Algiers where five of his predecessors are buried. Bouteflika was first elected in 1999 and is widely credited with a national reconciliation policy that […]

A fourth chartered flight carrying civilians from Afghanistan to Qatar since US forces withdrew last month left Kabul on Sunday with more than 230 passengers, including Afghans, Americans, and Europeans, a Qatari official said, reports Reuters. The Qatar Airways operated flight was also carrying citizens from Germany, Belgium, Ireland, Canada, France, Italy, Britain, Finland, and the Netherlands, Qatari assistant foreign minister Lolwah Rashid Al Khater wrote on Twitter. A second Qatari official said there were 236 passengers, making it the largest evacuation flight since the withdrawal of U.S. and allied forces ended on August 31. OPINION: Qatar positioned itself as the […]

Thousands of Palestinians gathered on Sunday in protest of the Israeli policy of administrative detentions, says Anadolu Agency. The protesters in Gaza carried banners and chanted slogans calling for the freedom of prisoners held in Israeli jails. Some protesters also burned the flags of the USA and Israel. The policy of administrative detention allows the Israeli authorities to extend the arrest of a prisoner without charge after the expiry of a sentence for a period of six months. READ: Cost of escaped Palestine prisoners manhunt hits $30m Six Palestinian inmates tunneled out of the high-security Gilboa Prison in northern Israel on […]

Six Palestinian prisoners in Israel continued their hunger strike in protest of the Israeli policy of administrative detention, according to a Palestinian NGO on Sunday, reports Anadolu Agency. The Palestinian Prisoners Society (PPS) said in a statement that the longest striking prisoner, Kayed al-Fasfous, began his hunger strike 67 days ago. The policy of administrative detention allows the Israeli authorities to extend the arrest of a prisoner without charge after the expiry of a sentence for a period of six months. There are around 4,850 Palestinian detainees in Israeli prisons, including 40 women, 225 children, and 40 administrative detainees, according to […]

An Israeli court in the northern city of Nazareth on Sunday extended the detention of four recaptured Palestinian prisoners for further 10 days, according to Israeli media, reports Anadolu Agency. The detention of Zakaria Zubeidi, Mahmoud al-Arida, Yakub Qaderi, and Mohammad Al-Arida was extended for 10 days for investigation, Yedioth Ahronoth newspaper reported. Zubeidi's lawyer Avigdor Feldman said the court decided to extend their detention due to the continuing investigation over their escape from prison on September 6. Six Palestinian inmates had tunneled out of the high-security Gilboa Prison in northern Israel on September 6. Israeli forces, however, managed to recapture […]