Archive for Mid-East News

| July 20, 2013
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Saudi Airlines Openly Defends its Discrimination Against Israelis

Saudi Arabian Airlines’ director general has defended the company’s decision not to fly Israelis on their carrier from U.S. airports.

By Elad Benari, Canada

 

 

The director general of Saudi Arabian Airlines on Friday defended his company’s decision to discriminate against Israeli citizens by refusing to fly them from U.S. airports even when passengers are simply looking to transfer in Saudi Arabia to another country, Al Arabiya reports.

File:Saudi Arbaian Airlines Boeing 747-300, HZ-AIT, SIN 3.jpg

Saudi Arabian Airlines – Photo courtesy: Wikimedia Commons

Earlier this week, the New York Post reported that the airline’s website asks for citizenship when booking a ticket but has no option on a drop-down menu for anyone holding an Israeli passport. Continue Reading »

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| July 18, 2013
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Temple Mount’s Imam Threatens Europe & the US

At the Temple Mount last Friday during the sermon the imam threatens Obama: “The Caliphate shall return… We desire to cleanse it of the impure.”

By Chana Ya’ar

 

An Islamic cleric warned the United States government last Friday in a sermon at the Temple Mount’s Al Aqsa Mosque to “take its hands off Muslims.”

The service was led by Imam Al Hammouri, a member of the Jerusalem-based pan-Islamic Hizb ut-Tahrir (party of Liberation) organization, founded in 1953. The group, which boasts a worldwide membership of approximately one million across 40 countries, is dedicated to establishing a worldwide Islamic Caliphate (Muslim Empire) that will force Islamic law upon all of its subjects. Continue Reading »

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| July 17, 2013
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Egyptian Helicopter Flies Over Gaza for 1st Time Since 6-Day War

An Egyptian army officer died & 5 other soldiers were wounded Wednesday morning in ongoing battles with Islamist terrorists in Sinai.

By Chana Ya’ar

 

One Egyptian army officer died and five soldiers were wounded Wednesday in ongoing battles with Arab terrorists in the Sinai Peninsula.

Apache helicopter – Israel news photo: IDF

With the agreement of Israel, Egypt has increased its military presence in Sinai in order to fight the terrorist presence in the region, including an AH-64-D Apache helicopter to be deployed in the eastern Sinai Peninsula.

 

Egyptian helicopter over Gaza

An Egyptian military helicopter that flew over Gaza on July 12  for the first time since the 1967 Six Day War. Continue Reading »

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| July 16, 2013
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Jerusalem grants additional Egyptian infantry units’ entry into Sinai

Special authorization granted due to recent terrorist attacks in Sinai.

 

Main Morsi opposition group calls to suspend Camp David accords.

 

Senior US diplomat Burns urges ‘inclusive’ transition to democracy.

By Yoav Zitun

Israel authorized the Egyptian army on Monday to deploy two infantry battalions in the Sinai Peninsula, despite the fact that an appendix to the peace treaty between the two countries forbids Egyptian military presence in the area.

בקשת הצבא המצרי התקבלה על רקע ההחרפה בסיני (צילום: רויטרס)

Egyptian tank in Sinai – Photo: Reuters

The battalions are expected to deploy in the El-Arish and Rafah sectors as part of the effort to quell the increased Islamist terrorist activity, which included an attempt on the life of a senior military official. Continue Reading »

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| July 16, 2013
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Israel official: Britain & US pressuring EU to blacklist Hezbollah’s military wing

Officials say UK & U.S. are pressing several reluctant EU countries to back such a move, ahead of the July 22 meeting of EU foreign ministers.

 

The foreign ministers of the European Union are most likely to add Hezbollah’s military wing to the body’s list of designated terror organizations when they meet on July 22, according to high-ranking Foreign Ministry officials in Jerusalem.

The officials said Britain and the United States are pressing several EU countries that are reluctant to back such a move.

A truck carrying the bus that was damaged in Wednesday’s terrorist attack on July 19, 2012.

A truck carrying the bus that was damaged in terrorist attack, outside Burgas Airport, Bulgaria on July 19, 2012.

Continue Reading »
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| July 14, 2013
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When Egypt Punishes the Palestinians it’s not News Worthy

After Palestinians were caught meddling in the internal affairs of Egypt,  triggering acts of violence & instability, the int’l media & even public opinion tend to look the other way.

by Khaled Abu Toameh

 

 

Egypt is allowed to strangle the entire Gaza Strip and deny its people food and fuel, especially on the eve of the holy fasting month of Ramadan, but one hardly hears about these anti-Palestinian measures: they are being carried out by an Arab country, not by Israel.

Egyptian Army soldiers guard gates of Sinai Gaza closed border crossing, May 20, 2012.

Egyptian Army soldiers guard gates of Sinai Gaza closed border crossing, May 20, 2012. – Photo: Reuters

The Palestinians often complain that Israel, the US and other countries keep intervening in their internal affairs. Continue Reading »

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| July 14, 2013
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Egyptians Arrest Palestinian Returning to Gaza for Pipeline Explosion in Sinai

Egyptian security officials arrested a Palestinian in connection to the 15th bomb blast that destroyed a Sinai gas pipeline that supplies Jordan.

By Elad Benari

 

Egyptian security officials arrested a Palestinian Authority Arab man on Friday in connection to a bomb blast which targeted a gas pipeline in Sinai last week, security officials told the Bethlehem-based Ma’an news agency.

Mohamed Abu Hashem, 30, was detained in the Sinai Peninsula while trying to return to Gaza, Egyptian officials told Ma’an, and faces charges of blowing up a gas pipeline in north Sinai last Sunday.

Saboteurs blew up the pipeline, which supplied natural gas to Jordan, in two places. Continue Reading »

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| July 14, 2013
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Report: Israeli Submarine Fired on Syria From Mediterranean

According to Mid-East intelligence sources, an Israeli submarine attacked Syria’s advanced missile weapon depot in Latakia last week.

By Elad Benari

 

The recent strike on an arms depot in Latakia was a naval intervention and not an airstrike, Middle East intelligence sources told the Sunday Times newspaper.

According to the report, the attack was carried out using a Dolphin class submarine and was well-coordinated with the United States administration. If the report is correct, it would be Israel’s first naval intervention in Syria.

The officials also told the Sunday Times that the attack targeted 50 Russian-made Yakhont anti-ship missiles.

Israel has purchased five Dolphin class submarines from Germany. Continue Reading »

Category: Mid-East News | Tags: ,
| July 13, 2013
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Saudi citizen sentenced to 15 years jail for attempting to aid Israel

The defendant was convicted of telling security personnel at the Israeli Embassy in Jordan about his willingness to cooperate with them including passing information they want to know about Saudi Arabia.

By: David Ross

A man was arrested, charged and convicted of attempting to aid Israel, according to court proceedings in Saudi Arabia. Now, the man was sentenced to 15 years jail. The judge rejected the prosecutor’s demand to sentence the man to execution.

A Special Criminal Court in Jeddah sentenced 21 defendants, who were accused of terrorism-related charges, to different terms of imprisonment over the past two weeks.

One defendant, who was convicted of attempted spying for Israel, was given 15 years in prison and a travel ban for a similar period after serving the jail time.

Continue Reading »
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| July 13, 2013
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UK Report: EU governments held secret talks with Hamas dispite terror blacklist

According to a report published in The Guardian, the Islamist terrorist group spoke with France, the UK, Spain & others despite EU’s official policy of isolating it.

By JPOST.COM STAFF

 

 

 

Hamas has been in closer contact with European governments despite Brussels’ official policy of isolating the Palestinian Islamist organization, according to a report which appeared in the British daily The Guardian on Friday.

Hamas supporters rally in Hebron

Hamas supporters rally in Hebron – Photo: REUTERS

The newspaper quoted senior Hamas officials as saying that the organization which today rules the Gaza Strip has over recent months held back-channel discussions with numerous EU governments, including the United Kingdom.

Continue Reading »
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| July 11, 2013
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Egyptian soldiers kills dozens of Hamas terrorists in Sinai

Hamas officials renounce involvement in activities in Sinai yet, scores captured & killed by Egyptian army.

By and Reuters

 

Egyptian security forces have killed dozens of armed men and arrested hundreds more as part of a crackdown on extremist cells operating in the Sinai Peninsula, pan-Arab daily Al-Hayat reported on Thursday.

Egyptian army soldiers stand guard on the border with Egypt in Rafah

Egyptian army soldiers stand guard on the border with Egypt in Rafah, southern Gaza Strip, Friday, July 5, 2013. – Photo:AP

At least 32 Hamas fighters that entered Sinai through underground smuggling tunnels and joined the cells were among those arrested, according to the report.

Tensions flared between the Egyptian army and Hamas about a year ago, when armed men ambushed an Egyptian military base in Sinai, killing 16 officers. Continue Reading »

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| July 11, 2013
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Israel fortifies its Syrian border to answer Hezbollah threat

 

Israel worried Nasrallah is making initial preparations for future confrontation on new Golan front.

 

Source:  Jihadi rebels busy now but once civil war ends they will turn their guns on Jewish State

By Reuters

 

Israel is bolstering its forces on the once-quiet frontier with Syria where it believes Lebanese Hezbollah militants are preparing for the day when they could fight Israel.

פיצוץ מכונית התופת בביירות אתמול. המורדים הסורים חשודים (צילום: EPA)

Car bomb explosion in Beirut, Tuesday – Photo: EPA

Syria’s civil war has brought an end to decades of calm on the Golan Heights, a strip of land which Israel captured in the 1967 Middle East war. Continue Reading »

Category: Mid-East News | Tags: , ,
| July 10, 2013
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Like Gaza & Iran, the Egyptian Islamists abused their power

 

Analysis: Israeli media expert reports on how Western-style democracy does not always work in an Arab Muslim state.

By Uri Dromi

 

 

Once again, the American administration finds itself in the situation where it doesn’t really know exactly how to deal with an enigmatic Middle East. This time, it’s Egypt that is teaching Americans how complex this turbulent region is.

Islamists in Egypt abused their power

Islamists in Egypt abused their power – Israel Today

 

From the standpoint of Washington, something good must have happened in Egypt in the last two years. After decades of dictatorship, it seemed that democracy had eventually prevailed. The many Egyptians who took to Tahrir Square in January 2011 chanting, “Enough is enough,” finally got , in the eternal words of President Lincoln, “a government of the people, by the people, for the people.” Continue Reading »

Category: Mid-East News | Tags: ,
| July 10, 2013
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FOUND: Remains of rocket fired from Egypt last week

The rocket attack last Thursday had been the 1st to hit near Israel’s southern tourist city since a similar attack back in April.

By Reuters

 

 

Israeli troops found the remains on Tuesday of the first rocket to be fired from Egypt since the July 3 overthrow of the Islamist government there, a military official said.

A rockets fired at Eilat in April.

A rockets fired at Eilat in April. – Photo courtesy: Eilat Police

 

Both Israelis and Egyptians reported hearing several explosions in the southern city of Eilat on Thursday, the day after President Mohammed Morsi was toppled from power in Egypt.

Israel detected no signs of any cross-border shooting, but found the remains of a rocket on Tuesday, an official said, speaking on condition of anonymity. Continue Reading »

Category: Mid-East News | Tags: , , ,
| July 9, 2013
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Syrian rebels claim Israel Air Force took out Assad’s S-300 battery

Free Syrian Army reported an IAF air strike destroyed the regime’s warehouse storing Russian anti-aircraft missiles and launchers.

Syria’s al-Haqiqa website says explosion at the Latakia arms depot was also executed by Israel, destroying Syrian Army’s Yakhont anti-ship cruise missiles.

By Daniel Siryoti, News Agencies & Israel Hayom Staff

 

The Free Syrian Army claimed Monday that the Israel Air Force had destroyed a warehouse holding Russian S-300 anti-aircraft missiles east of the city of Homs in western Syria. The rebels’ claim has not been corroborated by any other independent source.

S-300 anti-air missile system mounted on a trailer [Archive] – Photo: Reuters

In a Facebook post titled “The new Israeli strike,” the rebels alleged that “the brave Syrian regime has conceded that a new Israeli strike targeted a warehouse containing Russian S-300 missiles and launchers.

Continue Reading »
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