Archive for Mid-East News

Syrian healthcare workers receive Israeli bought COVID vaccine

In order to secure the release of an Israeli woman who had been held by its longtime enemy, Syria, Israel agreed to purchase the Russian “Sputnik V” vaccine for Syrian healthcare workers, in an exchange deal brokered in Moscow.

By REUTERS

 

Syria’s health minister said on Thursday it had received COVID-19 vaccination doses from a “friendly country” and healthcare workers would start receiving inoculations next week.

Hassan Ghabash’s comments, carried by state news agency SANA, did not specify which country provided the vaccines or how many doses had arrived.

Medical worker in Moscow holds the Sputnik V vaccine. – Photo: Mos.ru

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Israeli vehicle carrying cargo ship hit by explosion in Gulf of Oman

— BREAKING NEWS —

An Israeli-owned vehicle carrier ship, the MV Helios Ray, exploded after sailing out of a Saudi port. The blast has increased the already antagonistic relationship between Israel and Iran. No injuries were reported as the vessel safely sailed to port.
– The area of the blast hosted a series of explosions in 2019 that the U.S. Navy attributed to Iran.

i24NEWS – Breaking news

 

An explosion struck an Israeli-owned cargo ship sailing through the Gulf of Oman on Friday, an incident renewing concerns about ship security amid escalating tensions between the US and Iran.

“Investigations are ongoing. Continue Reading »

Fatah officials demand London return Big Ben to ‘Palestine’

Hey…. when your entire history was concocted in the mid 1960’s, you can say almost anything… and the anti-Zionists will believe it ….most of the time!

 

 

“The Jerusalem Clock is hidden in London today,” Fatah, the political movement behind the PLO and the Palestinian Authority, asserts in a post titled “Jerusalem Stolen Clock.”

It goes on to claim that the British military ordered the clock tower dismantled. Then the “British moved the clock first to a new tower across from the municipality of Jerusalem, and transferred it to the British Museum in London, to become the famous British icon, ‘Big Ben.’ Continue Reading »

With Trump gone, ICC now ready for war crime probe against Israel

The ICC has declared their jurisdiction extends over the West Bank, Gaza and East Jerusalem, thus prepared to now open a war crimes probe into Israeli’s military actions.
– Netanyahu slams UN court, saying, “the court has violated the rights of democracies to defend themselves against terrorism.”

By the Associated Press, Ynet

 

The International Criminal Court said Friday that its jurisdiction extends to territories occupied by Israel in the 1967 Six-Day War, appearing to clear the way for its chief prosecutor to open a war crimes probe into Israeli military actions.

The ICC’s chief prosecutor, Fatou Bensouda, said in 2019 that there was a “reasonable basis” to open a war crimes probe into Israeli military actions in the Gaza Strip as well as Israeli settlement activity in the West Bank. Continue Reading »

Biden puts hold on F-35 sale to UAE that’s intended to counter Iranian threat

Although Israel agreed with sale, Biden’s State Dept. calls decision to freeze the $23 billion UAE deal a ‘routine action’ that new administrations can take on large-scale foreign arms sales, but declined to say if halt is permanent.
– Was this Biden’s payoff to entice Ayatollah Khamenei’s good favor?

By the Associated Press

 

The Biden administration has put a temporary hold on several major foreign arms sales initiated by former president Donald Trump, with officials saying that includes a massive $23 billion transfer of stealth F-35 fighter jets to the United Arab Emirates.

That sale and several other massive purchases of U.S. Continue Reading »

F-35 photographed by Hezbollah TV flying over Lebanon

‘Caught’ during a rare operational flight, a photographer for a Hezbollah-owned TV station posted photos on Twitter of the advanced 5th-generation aircraft flying over Lebanon….but identified them as F-15 fighter jets.

By JERUSALEM POST STAFF

 

Israeli F-35s are never seen in combat, but on Monday they seemed to have been captured by a Lebanese photographer patrolling the skies over Lebanon.

Translated from Arabic by Google: 6 F-15s. A hostile Israeli woman was flying over Lebanon for hours.
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WOW! Israelis enter Saudi Arabia for Dakar Rally using their Israel Passports

Despite Saudi Arabia hosting the two Israelis for the Dakar Rally, the race’s website lists them as American & Belgian, a ‘not too subtle’ sign of Riyadh’s reluctance to publicize an official Israeli presence, but still, a historic move forward.

By Reuters

 

Among the teams dashing around the dunes in their cars at the Dakar Rally in Saudi Arabia this month, there were two whose presence would have been unthinkable a year ago.

The participation of Israelis in the rally’s lightweight vehicle and truck categories comes after a rapprochement between Israel and Arab states that has been in high gear, fueled by Riyadh’s quiet assent. Continue Reading »

Iran places ‘suicide drones’ in Yemen, capable of hitting Israel

In a report published by Newsweek, Iran positioned ‘suicide’ UAVs with an effective range of 2,000 – 2,200 kms in northern Yemen  to hit Saudi Arabia, Gulf states, or Israeli targets, so that from there, it will give the ruling Ayatollahs “plausible deniability,” having been fired from Yemen.

By Arutz Sheva Staff

 

Iran has apparently sent deadly “suicide drones” to Yemen capable of hitting Israeli targets, Newsweek reported.

Imagery seen by Newsweek and confirmed by an expert on Iranian activities showed the existence of Iranian Shahed-136 loitering munitions in the northern Yemeni Houthi-controlled province of Al-Jawf.

Shahed-136 – Screenshot: Newsweek

According to the expert, “The Iranians have delivered to their Houthi proxies in Yemen advanced UAVs.” Continue Reading »

Dozens of Iranian targets destroyed; Dozens of Iranian proxy fighters dead

According to foreign reports, at least 30 people killed, many more wounded and dozens of targets belonging to Iranian forces and Iranian-backed militias were completely destroyed.

By TZVI JOFFRE

 

Alleged Israeli airstrikes targeted dozens of sites in the Deir Ezzor region of eastern Syria and in Albukamal near the Syria-Iraq border on Tuesday night.

The strikes targeted dozens of warehouses and sites belonging to pro-Iranian militias and the Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) throughout the area, according to local news source Deir Ezzor 24.

Rampage missile fired from IAF fighter jet. – Photo courtesy: IAI

While Syrian state media and Iranian media have refrained from reporting on casualties, large numbers of ambulances were reported in the area soon after the strike. Continue Reading »

Silent in closing Khamenei’s Twitter account, but Twitter suspends Trump

Although the leading Iranian dissident urged Twitter to suspend Khamenei’s accounts based on his repeated violations of Twitter rules in Persian, English, Spanish & in Arabic tweets, Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey ignores pleas, but supported Democrats’ call to make US President Trump’s account permanently closed.

By BENJAMIN WEINTHAL

 

Iranian journalist and dissident Masih Alinejad urged Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey on Friday to permanently ban all accounts associated with the Islamic Republic of Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei.

Alinejad, a women’s rights activist and founder of the My Stealthy Freedom/White Wednesday campaign, told The Jerusalem Post in a statement that “a close review of these accounts in multiple languages which include Persian, English, Spanish, and Arabic, shows that Khamenei has repeatedly violated Twitter rules. Continue Reading »

Sudan signs on to Abraham Accords, normalized ties with Israel

The signing ceremony in Khartoum makes Sudan the 3rd of four countries to officially normalize diplomatic, economic & cultural ties with the Jewish State, following the UAE, Bahrain and preceding Morocco, which has yet to formally sign the Abraham Accords.

By i24NEWS

 

Sudan officially joined the Abraham Accords on Wednesday, opening the door to normalizing its ties with the Jewish state, the Associated Press reports.

The agreement was signed as US Secretary Treasury Steven Mnuchin was visiting Sudanese capital Khartoum.

YouTube clip is in English

From the Sudanese side, the agreement was signed by Justice Minister Nasreldin Abdelbari, according to a statement from Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok’s office. Continue Reading »

Unknown Arab group hacks Hezbollah’s bank, exposes clients

A Lebanese newspaper says the group known as ‘SpiderZ’ leaked lists of bank customers with details of over 100,000 depositors, 200,000 borrowers and named the banks that cooperate with Hezbollah’s illicit businesses.

By Tal Shahaf

 

A mysterious hacker group said Tuesday that it had executed a successful cyberattack against Lebanese terror group Hezbollah’s financial wing, Al-Qard al-Hassan, which includes a functioning banking system.

According to the Lebanese newspaper The Daily Star, the group known as “SpiderZ”, already leaked passport photos, details on customers and senior executives, as well as security camera footage from inside the bank, all allegedly gathered during the attack. Continue Reading »

Trump White House plans yet another Abraham Accords deal in January

According to sources in Jerusalem and in Washington, Indonesia, Mauritania or Oman could be the next country to enter the Abraham Accords, normalizing open diplomatic, economic & cultural relations with Israel as early as January.

By

 

The US is pushing for another Arab or Muslim state to normalize relations with Israel in the three weeks before US President Donald Trump leaves office, a Trump administration source said on Wednesday.

The Abraham Accords logo …Bridging nations, “toward a future in which people of all faiths and backgrounds live together in peace and prosperity.” Donald J. Trump, POTUS – Photo: US State Department website

“We’re working very hard on making it happen,” said the source, who has been involved in negotiations for the Abraham Accords, as the agreements are called. Continue Reading »

At least 6 non-Syrians dead in airstrike on Iranian missile factories in Syria

Airstrikes on Iranian militia bases & missile facilities in Syria leave 6 dead so far, all non-Syrian nationals though unclear whether they were Iranian Revolutionary Guardsmen, Lebanese Hezbollah, or Iraqi combatants.
– Fatalities predicted to rise as many more were very seriously injured.

By David Rosenberg

 

At least six Iranian-aligned combatants were killed and more injured in a series of airstrikes on militia bases in Syria overnight, according to a report by an observer group.

The London-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said Friday morning that airstrikes attributed to Israel in northwestern Syria struck missile assembly facilities maintained by pro-Iranian forces. Continue Reading »

Road sign with ‘Thank You Mossad’ displayed on Iranian overpass

Israeli flag and banner thanking the Mossad seen attached to an overpass in Tehran, following the apparent assassination of Iran’s leading nuclear scientist.

By Arutz Sheva Staff

 

An Israeli flag and a banner praising the Jewish state’s intelligence agency were spotted above a busy street in Tehran on Monday.

Video footage and photographs of the flag and banner started circulating on social media, following reports that unknown individuals had hung the flag and banner across a bridge over a boulevard in Tehran’s Pars neighborhood.

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