Archive for Mid-East News

| August 29, 2018
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Palestinian intransigence has Trump anointing Jordan as ‘partner’

Since Mahmoud Abbas has steered the PLO into refusing to negotiate with Israel on President Trump’s still to be revealed peace ‘deal of the century’, Jordan has resurrected its claims over ‘West Bank’ sovereignty and the U.S. is prepared to have the Kingdom step in to replace the Palestinian Authority as a negotiating partner.

By David Singer

 

The three day visit to Israel last week by President Trump’s National Security Advisor – John Bolton – indicates Jordan will replace the Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO)  in concluding negotiations with Israel to resolve territorial sovereignty in Judea and Samaria (‘West Bank’), East Jerusalem and Gaza (”the disputed territories”) under Trump’s peace plan. Continue Reading »

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| August 28, 2018
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PA autocrat Abbas, “outraged” at being ignored over Gaza ceasefire

PA autocrat Mahmoud Abbas is reportedly furious that Egypt is facilitating a Hamas-Israel ceasefire arrangement without him, saying, “Over my dead body will there be a ceasefire and agreement for calm between the sides.”

By Tal Polon

 

Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas reportedly expressed outrage that a ceasefire agreement between Hamas and Israel was being formulated without his participation.

[Israeli TV news] Channel 10 reported that it had been informed today, Tuesday, by a senior Fatah official in Ramallah that Abbas had said, “Over my dead body will there be a ceasefire and agreement for calm between the sides.”

Palestinian kleptocrates: Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh (left) and his second-in-comand, Gaza leader, Yahya Sinwar (center) ignore their nemesis, Fatah leader Mahmoud Abbas (right).

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| August 25, 2018
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Trump strips $200m in aid to the Palestinian Authority

Failing a review directed by President Trump “to ensure these funds are spent in accordance with U.S. national interests and provide value to the U.S. taxpayer,” the State Department cut  $200+ million in aid to the Palestinians.

By MICHAEL WILNER

 

WASHINGTON — The State Department has cut more than $200 million in aid to the Palestinian Authority “at the direction of the president,” the administration announced on Friday.

Mahmoud Abbas ultimately rejected President Trump’s message to the Palestinian Authority in Bethlehem, May 23, 2017. – Screenshot: White House:IsraelandStuff.

The aid cut is the result of a review of US assistance to the Palestinian Authority ” to ensure these funds are spent in accordance with US national interests and provide value to the US taxpayer,” said a State Department spokesman. Continue Reading »

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| August 21, 2018
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Iran unveils its domestically-built fighter jet

Iranian state television debuted Iran’s new domestically made fighter jet called Kowsar, capable of carrying limited weaponry, and could be used for short aerial support missions.
– Iranian President Hassan Rouhani: “Why does the United States not attack us? … because it knows the consequences.”

By Reuters and Ynet

 

Iran unveiled a new fighter jet on Tuesday, state media reported, as tensions rise between Tehran and regional rivals over conflicts in the Middle East.

The fighter jet called Kowsar was fully domestic made, capable of carrying various weapons, and will be used for short aerial support missions, Tasnim news agency said. Continue Reading »

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| August 20, 2018
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Abbas gets no respect as Hamas willing to work with Israel

Mahmoud Abbas & Co. conspire to torpedo any ceasefire deal the UN & Egypt negotiate with Israel, if Hamas maintains their refusal to disarm and transfer control of Gaza to the Palestinian Authority.

By i24NEW

 

Hamas will not disarm or “pay any political price” as part of a ceasefire agreement with Israel, an official from the Gaza ruler said on Monday.

“We benefit from the truce. Our weapons will remain in our hands and there are no conditions regarding Hamas’s right to (continue) the resistance. The truce does not require a political price (from Hamas) and it is not part of the deal of the century,” senior Hamas official Mahmoud Zahar reportedly told online newspaper Al-Khaleej. Continue Reading »

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| August 10, 2018
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Erdoğan’s war with Netanyahu and now Trump is crashing Turkey’s lira

Ignoring US suggestions to end support of Hamas, stop attacks on Netanyahu & Israel, stop attacking Kurds who’ve allied with the U.S., respect US sanctions on Iran, and now refusing to release Pastor Brunson from incarceration have led the Turkish lira to lose over 40% of its value so far this year.

By i24NEWS – AFP

 

Turkey’s embattled lira on Thursday hit a new record low against the dollar as high-level talks seeking to slacken tensions between Ankara and Washington produced no apparent breakthrough between the two NATO allies.

The lira lost 2.0 percent to trade at 5.4 to the dollar and lost 2.2 percent against the euro to trade at 6.3, also a record low. Continue Reading »

Category: Mid-East News | Tags: ,
| July 28, 2018
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REPORT: UN and Egypt working hard to secure Hamas-Israel ceasefire

‘Top Guns’, Abbas Kamel, director of the Egyptian General Intelligence Service and UN Special Coordinator for the Mid-East Peace Process Nickolay Mladenov, are in discussions with Nadav Argaman, Israel’s Shin Bet chief to put an end to the current chain of violence on the Gaza-Israel border.

By i24NEWS

 

The United Nations and Egypt are close to presenting an initiative to dramatically cool tensions between Israel and Hamas, Israel’s Channel 10 reported Friday.

Months of weekly protests and clashes along the Gaza-Israel border have also given rise to an uptick on rocket attacks from the enclave and retaliatory Israeli air strikes. Continue Reading »

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| July 25, 2018
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Palestinians in a frenzy, protesting as UNRWA cuts lead to lay-offs

Several Palestinians fainted when notified of their dismissals from UNRWA, while another in Gaza drenched himself with gasoline, trying to set himself aflame before being stopped by his co-workers.

By KHALED ABU TOAMEH

 

Palestinians in the Gaza Strip on Wednesday expressed outrage over a decision by the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestinian Refugees (UNRWA) to lay off hundreds dozens of its its employees.

Several employees fainted when they heard they had lost their jobs. One worker poured gasoline over his body and tried to set himself on fire before he was stopped by his co-workers.

UNRWA students [Palestinians] admit to being taught to hate Jews and kill them.

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| July 18, 2018
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Obama administration report identified only 20,000 Palestinian refugees

Joining U.S. lawmakers to pressure the State Department to declassify an Obama-era report, Republican Senator Ted Cruz asserts,  ‘Access to report will help Americans have a transparent debate on U.S. funding of UNRWA.’

By Ariel Kahana

 

Members of the U.S. Congress are demanding the State Department make public a key report that includes precise figures on the number of people who became refugees in the 1948 War of Independence.

The existence of the State Department assessment, compiled and classified under the Obama administration, was first disclosed by the Washington Free Beacon six months ago.

Lawmakers say the report could impact how the U.S. Continue Reading »

Category: Mid-East News | Tags: , , ,
| July 9, 2018
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Arab Media Report: IDF jets strike Iranian forces in Syria, again

Syria’s state-controlled SANA news agency reported that Israeli jets once again hit the T-4 military airbase in Syria, where Iranian forces are known to be stationed, despite Syria’s use of S-200 missile batteries to hinder their mission.

By David Rosenberg

 

A Syrian airbase used by Iran’s Revolutionary Guard was targeted in a series of airstrikes Sunday night, Arab media outlets have claimed.

According to a report by Syria’s state-controlled SANA news agency, the T-4 airbase in Syria was attacked by fighter planes which approached from the south.

F15 I,’Ra’am’ (‘Thunder’) A multi-purpose long-range fighter jet, mainly used for attack and interception strikes.

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| July 8, 2018
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With Abbas’ entrenchment, US to focus on Gaza without PA involvement

The U.S. is focusing their efforts to improve the humanitarian conditions in Gaza with a major infusion to the strip’s crippled infrastructure, but without the involvement of PA’s autocrat Abbas, since the peace plan has remained stalled due to the entrenchment of the Palestinian leadership.

By i24NEWS

 

With the United States’ highly-anticipated Mideast peace plan stalled amid an ongoing diplomatic freeze-out by the Palestinians, the Trump administration is shifting its focus towards efforts to improve humanitarian conditions in the impoverished Gaza Strip, The Washington Post reported Saturday.

The indignant Palestinian Authority autocrat, Mahmoud Abbas. – Photo: Reuters

A senior US official told The Post that Washington is considering a major infusion of development aid into the blockaded Palestinian enclave, demonstrating a commitment to Palestinian well-being that would make it more difficult for Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas to continue to snub peace talks. Continue Reading »

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| July 6, 2018
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West Bank Arabs see Abbas’ 50 new police jeeps from U.S. as ‘Hypocrisy’

Outraged Palestinian admits general feelings among West Bank population, “We don’t trust them [PA leadership] anymore. Their stated positions are different from their real ones…even Hamas, I don’t trust them; they are all corrupt.”

By DIMA ABUMARIA/ THE MEDIA LINE

 

Angry Palestinians have accused their own government of “hypocrisy” over a new batch of American-made jeeps recently delivered to the Palestinian Authority’s Police Department in Ramallah.

The jeeps came from the United States Consulate in Jerusalem despite the diplomatic boycott that Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas imposed on American officials. The PA has been protesting the American move to recognize Jerusalem as Israel’s capital since last December—a move many Palestinians regard as “unfair” toward their cause. Continue Reading »

Category: Mid-East News | Tags: , , ,
| July 4, 2018
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The Arab world speaks out on Palestinian violence and rejectionism

Arab leaders and media are openly exposing the painful truths about the exploitation & oppression of the Palestinian people by their own leaders, both in Fatah and Hamas, as they also totally disregard the slaughter of Palestinians in Syria while praising Assad.

By Barry Shaw

 

I read an amazing news item bearing the headline ‘Hamas Double Standard on Syria.’

This piece of journalism reported on the Palestinian community suffering massive destruction with over ten thousand displaced and many hundreds killed in artillery bombing and aerial bombardments.

The journalist, Kheir Allah, called it “one of the biggest tragedies in Palestinian history, one that calls for widespread condemnation and denunciation.” Continue Reading »

Category: Mid-East News | Tags: ,
| June 29, 2018
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IDF trucks in tons of humanitarian aid in overnight operation to Syria

Last night Israel quietly delivered 13 tons of food, 15 tons of baby food, 3 pallets of medical equipment & medicines, 30 tons of clothes and 300 tents across its northern border as 120,000 Syrian refugees flee their homes in Syria’s Deraa area, where Assad’s army is bombarding rebels, killing dozens of civilians in the process.
– IDF officer stresses Israel will not allow the Syrians to enter Israel.
– WATCH IDF Video

By Daniel Salami, Yoav Zitun|

 

The IDF sent humanitarian aid to the Syrian Golan Heights on Thursday night after some 120,000 fled the southwestern part of the country in the wake of the Syrian army’s onslaught in the area. Continue Reading »

Category: Israel News, Mid-East News, Video's worth Viewing | Tags: , , , , ,
| June 28, 2018
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Saudi Arabia, Jordan, PA warn Israel: Beware of Erdogan’s Jerusalem agenda

According to an Israel newspaper, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, and the PA have all voiced their trepidation to Israel over Turkey’s President Erdogan, and his maneuvering to “claim ownership over the Jerusalem issue.” 

By i24NEWS

 

Israel has been warned the past year by Jordan, Saudi Arabia and the Palestinian Authority over Turkey’s growing influence in Jerusalem, particularly President Erdogan’s attempt to “claim ownership over the Jerusalem issue,” Haaretz reported on Thursday.

Israeli defense officials confirmed the warnings to Haaretz, adding that Turkey’s activities in Jerusalem have been monitored closely by Israel.

Dome of the Rock, on the Temple Mount – IsraelandStuff/PP

Such activities included donations by Turkey to Islamic organizations in Arab neighborhoods in Jerusalem, organizing of arranged tours by Erdogan’s AKP party as well as demonstrations by Turkish citizens in front of the Al-Aqsa Mosque.

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