Mid-East News

Astronaut Jeff Williams ‘fascinated’ by view of Israel from Int’l Space Station

Just before Passover, NASA astronaut on the Int’l Space Station uploads on his social media accounts a breathtaking photo of North Africa and the Middle East.

By Shoshana Miskin

Days before Passover, NASA astronaut Jeff Williams uploaded a breathtaking photo of Israel from the International Space Station, and shared his feelings with the world.

A Sunday with personal time and I have been fascinated with this view. More in my FB note: https://t.co/lXr7mmWXx7 pic.twitter.com/QT4PosjfcM

— Jeff Williams (@Astro_Jeff) April 17, 2016

“We finally have a Sunday (no cargo vehicle this weekend!) with some personal time to take in the view out the window,” Williams wrote on his Facebook page. Continue Reading »

Category: Mid-East News | Tags: NASA

israelandstuffcom | April 20, 2016

US Supreme Court Ruling: Iran to pay terror victims $2.65 billion

Landmark ruling forces frozen Iranian assets to compensate families of American victims of Iranian sanctioned terrorism, including deadly Hezbollah attacks.

By Tova Dvorin

The US Supreme Court ruled in favor of American terror victims on Wednesday, awarding over $2 billion in Iranian assets to the families of victims murdered in Iran-backed attacks.

Iranian flag – Thinkstock

The court doled a heavy blow to Iran’s central bank, Bank Markazi, by a 6-2 ruling, Reuters reports.

Tehran had appealed a 2014 New York Circuit Court of Appeals ruling upholding the legality of a 2012 law, which stated that the frozen funds should go toward the $2.65 billion judgement the families won against Iran in a US federal court in 2007. Continue Reading »

Category: Mid-East News | Tags: Hezbollah terrorism, Iran terrorism, Supreme Court

israelandstuffcom | April 20, 2016

Palestinian Authority Again Announces Intent to Issue State of Palestine Passports

First announced in Dec 2015 by PA President Mahmoud Abbas in Athens, Palestinian Minister of Civil Affairs says he informed Israel that his gov’t was no longer using “Palestinian Authority” on official documents.

By Noga Tarnopolsky | The Media Line

Hussein al-Sheikh, the Palestinian Minister of Civil Affairs, informed Israel on Wednesday that his government intends to issue passports stamped with the name and seal of the State of Palestine.

PA Minister of Civil Affairs Hussein al-Sheikh & Israel's Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories Maj. Gen. Yoav Mordecai - IDF

PA Minister of Civil Affairs Hussein al-Sheikh, right, and Israel’s Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories Maj. Gen. Yoav Mordecai sign a ‘memorandum of understanding’, on November 19, 2015.

Category: Mid-East News | Tags: Passport, State of Palestine

Palestinian media: Hamas Tunnel No.11 Collapses Sunday killing 5

Arab media reports another smuggling tunnel cave-in on Gaza’s southern border with the Sinai, marking the 11th collapse since year began, raising the death toll to 20.

By Ari Yashar

According to Arab reports five diggers were killed on Sunday in a tunnel collapse at the city of Rafiah, located in southern Gaza on the border with the Sinai Peninsula.

The deaths were reported by Palestinian media cited by Walla, and mark the eleventh tunnel cave-in in recent months.

The last collapse, which came in mid-March, saw a Hamas “field commander” die during work on a terror tunnel, two days after the bodies of two Arab workers were found in a tunnel on the southern Gazan border that was flooded by Egypt three days earlier.

Category: Mid-East News | Tags: smuggler tunnels, tunnel collapse

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WATCH Saudi TV personality: Time to admit the truth, terrorists are Muslims

Saudi television journalist rips into ‘hypocritical’ leaders who encourage Jihad, then “have the audacity to declare that they denounce bombings everywhere and that the killing of civilians is an attack on the religion (of Islam).”

By Ari Soffer

A Saudi Arabian TV host has urged Muslims to face up to the fact that Islamic terrorists are indeed Muslims, and do more to combat the phenomenon instead of denying it.

In a rare – and scathing – moment of introspection for an Arab TV host, Nadine Al-Budair insisted no one should be surprised that Islamist terrorists had emerged from “our schools and universities.” Continue Reading »

Category: Mid-East News | Tags: arab terrorism, incitement, MEMRI, Terror, TV

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Top Hamas official places blame on movement for misery in Gaza

Ahmed Yousef, who once served as advisor to former Hamas PM Ismail Haniyeh, published an article over the weekend saying Gaza, under Hamas’ 10 year rule, has “worsened and the poor have become even more poor.”

By KHALED ABU TOAMEH

A top Hamas official has strongly criticized his movement, holding it responsible for the harsh and tragic situation inside the Gaza Strip.

A Palestinian looks out from the remains of his house in Beit Hanun, a town in the northern Gaza Strip. – Photo: REUTERS

Ahmed Yousef, who previously served as advisor to former Hamas Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh, made his criticism in an article he published over the weekend.

Category: Mid-East News | Tags: Hamas corruption, Hamas millionairs, Palestinian corruption

Israel uninformed as to connotation of sovereignty transfer of Tiran Island

The implications as to Israeli shipping is still unclear in Jerusalem after Egypt relinquished control of 2 strategic islands in the Straits of Tiran to Saudi Arabia.

By Eitan Goldstein

According to the Egyptian newspaper Al-Youm Al-Sabaa, the Egyptian cabinet announced an agreement with Saudi Arabia on Saturday, delineating the maritime boundaries between the two countries.

Egyptian President and Saudi King meet in Cairo – Photo: Reuters

The Saudi boundary now includes the islands of Tiran and Sanafir, which rest at the mouth of the Gulf of Eilat.

The agreement comes as Saudi King Salman visits Cairo, where he and his counterpart Abdel Fatah Al-Sisi announced another agreement to build a bridge between Sharm El-Sheikh and Saudi Arabia. Continue Reading »

Category: Mid-East News | Tags: Egypt Saudi Arabia, Gulf of Eilat, Straits of Tiran

israelandstuffcom | April 7, 2016

Watch Bahrani FM admit Iran is bigger threat to Gulf states than Israel

Before Bahrain listed the Shi’ite militia group Hezbollah a “terrorist organization,” they broke off formal relations with Iran at the beginning of 2016.

By JPOST.COM STAFF

Iran presents a greater danger to Gulf States and the stability of the Middle East than Israel, a high ranking official in the Bahrain government told Arab Media in recent comments.

During an interview with Saudi Arabia’s Al-Arabiya TV last Tuesday, Foreign Minister Khalid bin Ahmed Al Khalifa said that Iran is currently the coastal kingdom’s “biggest problem” and added that his country will not “hesitate to defend” itself if necessary, according to a report by the Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI). Continue Reading »

Category: Mid-East News | Tags: Bahrain, Iran, MEMRI

Israeli Humanitarian Group Aids Refugees Europe’s Returning to Turkey

The Israeli humanitarian aid agency IsraAID, continues its work helping Muslim refugees as they are forcibly deported from Greece back to Turkey.

By Israel Today Staff, IsraAID in Greece

In accordance with the European Union’s decision and its agreement with the Turkish government, the deportation of refugees from Greece to Turkey began this week.

This decision determines that every refugee arriving after March 20th 2016 will be immediately deported back to Turkey. In return, Turkey will receive a financial compensation from the EU.

IsraAID, an international humanitarian aid agency, has been working since last year in Greece and other parts of Europe, including Serbia, Croatia and the refugees’ final destination countries. Continue Reading »

Category: Mid-East News | Tags: Europe, IsraAid, migrants

First Jericho, now Bethlehem suffers electric shortages over massive debt

Israel Electrical Corporation reduced power flow to the large West Bank city because the Palestinian Authority refuses to pay its electrical bills, amounting to the serious sum of $460 million.
• Meanwhile, Israel expands Gaza’s fishing zone.

By The Associated Press

Israel’s state electric company on Monday reduced power to a major West Bank city, saying it would take similar steps in other Palestinian areas over the next two weeks because of unpaid debt.

The Israel Electric Corporation said it had reduced its supply to Bethlehem by 50 percent, days after doing so in the city of Jericho. The company said the internationally-backed Palestinian Authority owes it nearly $460 million. Continue Reading »

Category: Mid-East News | Tags: Bethlehem, fishermen, Gaza, IEC, Israel Electric Corporation, Jericho, PA electricity debt, Palestinain Authority

Report: Russian withdrawal from Syria due to exasperation with Iran & Hezbollah

Saudi source reports Russian forces did not receive the ground support they expected from Hezbollah, and the leadership had substantial strategic differences with the Iranians on their view of the conflict.

By YASSER OKBI/ MAARIV HASHAVUA

Russia decided to partially withdrawal its troop from Syria due to Moscow’s disappointment over failures by pro-regime Iranian and Hezbollah forces to achieve victories against opposition forces fighting to topple the Assad government, the Saudi news-site Elaph reported Monday night.

MiG-29 jet fighters of the Russian aerobatic team Strizhi outside Moscow, Russia, August 30, 2015. – Photo: REUTERS

According to the report, Russia had been concerned about air support and bombed regions where Iranian and Hezbollah troops were located to face off Syrian opposition elements and Islamic State militants. Continue Reading »

Category: Mid-East News | Tags: Hezbollah - Iran, Russia Syria, Syrian unrest

Israel stops private cement deliveries to Gaza

UN envoy Nikolay Mladenov, agreeing with Israelis, makes rare public criticism of Gaza’s diverting cement for terrorism instead of home repairs, without specifying the terror aspect in attempt to resolve the issue.

By Arutz Sheva Staff

Israel has told the United Nations that it will suspend private imports of cement in Gaza after some of the supplies were diverted, a UN spokesman said Monday.

UN envoy Nickolay Mladenov is working with Israeli and Palestinian authorities to try to resolve the issue.

“Anyone who seeks to gain by deviating construction material in Gaza is stealing from its own people and adding to the suffering of the people of Gaza,” Mladenov said. Continue Reading »

Category: Mid-East News | Tags: cement, Gaza aid, UN

israelandstuffcom | April 3, 2016

Egypt in uproar over Star of David engravings found on ancient Temple

The head of the Egyptian Antiquities accuses a Jewish member of the German archaeological team of vandalizing the Temple with two Star of David engravings.

By i24news

The discovery of two Star of David engravings on an ancient Roman Temple in Egypt’s southern city of Aswan has caused an uproar.

The Sign of David engraving found in the Aswan shrine. – Photo: ARAB MEDIA

Dr. Mohmoud Afifi, head of the Egyptian Antiquities branch in the Antiquities Ministry, has accused a delegation of German archaeologists working on the site’s reconstruction of defaming the site by engraving the Stars of David into a stone in the Shrine, the Jerusalem Post reports.

Category: Mid-East News | Tags: antisemitism, archaeology, Egypt

israelandstuffcom | March 31, 2016