Archive for Mid-East News

| July 4, 2015
4 comments

Saudi Prince calls on Arabs “to desist their absurd hostility toward Jewish people”

Saudi Arabia’s King Salman sends media tycoon to open direct dialogue with Israel for building amicable ties.

By AWD news

 

The Saudi multi-millionaire media tycoon, prince Talal Bin Waleed, has urged all Arab nations to give up their acrimonious stance toward the Jewish nation and instead continue to strive for a more peaceful , prosperous and homogenous Middle-East.

Saudi Prince Talal

The controversial Saudi prince Talal has openly declared his intention to embark a seven-day pilgrimage to Holy Land and pray in Al-Aqsa Mosque — the third holiest site in Islam located in the Old City of Jerusalem– , reported Okaz , the Arabic Saudi Arabian daily on Thursday. Continue Reading »

Category: Mid-East News | Tags: ,
| July 4, 2015
No comments

UNRWA Schools, Used by Hamas to Indoctrinate Future Terrorists, Goes Bankrupt

UNRWA announces it may have to close 700 schools – that Hamas also used to train & indoctrinate a new generation of Gaza children into terrorism, because of its $101 million deficit.

By Dalit Halevy

 

UNRWA, the UN body tasked with aiding “Palestinian refugees,” has warned that it may have to close its schools as it goes bankrupt after years of falling into debt.

UNRWA school in Gaza damaged from Israeli retaliatory fire after rockets were fired at Israeli civilians. – Photo: REUTERS

Adnan Abu Hasna, UNRWA media adviser, said that the financial deficit may cause the body to close 700 schools in Gaza, Judea and Samaria, Lebanon, Syria and Jordan at the start of the next school year. Continue Reading »

Category: Mid-East News | Tags:
| July 3, 2015
No comments

UNRWA chief in Gaza: A year after war’s end, the Strip’s reconstruction to begin

The process of rebuilding was delayed when restrictions were imposed by Palestinian Authority to prevent Hamas ‘skimming’, however UNRWA boss in Gaza hopeful construction can begin soon.

By Reuters

 

Robert Turner has no quick and easy answer when asked to name the worst of times in his three years running the United Nation’s relief effort in Gaza.

Hundreds of truckloads of goods each day enter Gaza – Photo: Yoav Zitun

“The worst day? It will be hard to rank the worst day,” the Canadian diplomat told Reuters as he prepares to leave Gaza, where two-thirds of the 1.8 million people receive some form of aid.

Continue Reading »
Category: Mid-East News | Tags: , , , ,
| July 2, 2015
No comments

Free Syrian Army: The fight is increasingly against Iran

Interview with Revolutionary Command Council spokesman in Quneitra & Golan, detailing FSA struggle near Israel’s border.

 

“The current military situation in the Quneitra area has resulted in the Syrian regime forces being cut off under blows from the opposition, and we are turning toward an active system of defense and attack instead of hunkering down,” Ayas Ghalib, director of the political bureau of the Revolutionary Command Council in Quneitra and Golan, told The Jerusalem Post in an email interview.

Smoke rises following an explosion on the Syrian side near the Quneitra border crossing between the Golan Heights and Syria, August 29, 2014.

Continue Reading »
Category: Mid-East News | Tags: , , ,
| July 1, 2015
No comments

Palestinian Gays Find Safety From the Same Israelis Accused of Oppression

The removal of the gay rights “rainbow” flag that had been painted on the Israel-West Bank security wall “reflects the absence of tolerance & freedoms in the Palestinian society,” said Jarrar.

By Israel Today Staff

 

It is somewhat ironic that the most vocal supporters of the Palestinian cause are ultra-liberals who also champion issues such as gay rights, given that Palestinian society does not tolerate homosexuals. In other words, they are fighting for the creation of a state that would suppress the very rights they demand elsewhere.

The counter-terror security wall, protecting Israel, before being whitewashed.

This was again demonstrated on Monday when protestors whitewashed a gay rights “rainbow” flag that had been painted on the West Bank security barrier by renowned Palestinian artist Khaled Jarrar. Continue Reading »

Category: Mid-East News | Tags: ,
| June 23, 2015
No comments

REPORT: al-Qaida’s Nusra Front unites 8 Syrian Islamist groups near Israel’s border

Israeli expert estimates that al-Qaida’s Nusra Front is afraid of taking the predominantly Druse village of Hader near Israel’s border, because it fears an IDF response from the Jewish state.

 

Eight Islamist groups active near Israel’s border in southern Syria have united into one bloc as the country’s Druse come under increasing pressure.

Israeli soldiers stand near the border with Syria in the Golan Heights. – Photo: REUTERS

According to a report on the website Alsouria.net over the weekend, eight Islamist factions announced the formation of Jaish al-Fatah, or the Army of Conquest, in southern Syria in order to face the Syrian regime. Continue Reading »

Category: Mid-East News | Tags: , , ,
| June 19, 2015
No comments

New Washington Report Lists Terror Proxies Funded by Iran That Targets Israel

New State Department report calls Israel a “committed counter-terrorism partner” throughout 2014, detailing operations taken by the Israeli Navy and IDF.

By MICHAEL WILNER

 

WASHINGTON — Despite facing costly obstacles from the Syrian civil war, Iran continued its arming and funding of terror proxies targeting Israel throughout 2014 largely unabated, the US government found in a report released on Friday.

Iranian navy ship. – Photo: REUTERS

The State Department report— an annual accounting of organized terrorism worldwide— asserts that Iran has continued, if not expanded, its operations beyond its historical focus on Hamas in Gaza and Hezbollah in Lebanon, to a limited number of operations in Africa, Asia and Latin America, as well as to “various groups throughout the Middle East.” Continue Reading »

Category: Mid-East News | Tags: , , , ,
| June 17, 2015
No comments

PA President Abbas: Palestinian unity-gov’t to dissolve ‘within 24 hours’

Abbas to announce dissolvement of technocrat unity government just a year after its formation due to continued conflict with Hamas & its inability to work in the Gaza Strip.

By i24news

 

Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas announced Tuesday that the Ramallah-based government would resign within the next 24 hours, several senior Fatah officials told AFP.

AFP

Hamas, Fatah sign unity government agreement – Photo: AFP

“Within 24 hours the Palestinian government will resign,” Abbas told members of the Revolutionary Council of his Fatah movement, according to several officials who attended the meeting.

Amin Maqbul, secretary general of the ruling Fatah movement’s Revolutionary Council, told AFP earlier Tuesday that “the government will resign in the next 24 hours because this one is weak and there is no chance that Hamas will allow it to work in Gaza.” Continue Reading »

Category: Mid-East News | Tags:
| June 17, 2015
No comments

Hamas Exploits Egypt’s Opening Border to Smuggle Cement For Rebuilding Tunnels

Egypt’s opening of Rafah border crossing allows Gaza’s Islamist gov’t to smuggle in some 4,000 tons of cement a day to rebuild terror-tunnels.

By Yossi Yehoshua

 

The Egyptian authorities decided on Tuesday the keep the Rafah border crossing between Gaza and Sinai open until Friday, allowing Hamas to smuggle thousands of tons of cement into the Strip, which could be used for the reconstruction of terror tunnels. 


Terror tunnels being rebuilt

 

Egypt has only recently started opening the Rafah border crossing again after closing it during Operation Protective Edge last summer.

At first, the terminal was to be opened for three days from Saturday in what was considered a rare occurrence, but Egypt has since extended its opening time by two days until Wednesday and now in two additional days until Friday. Continue Reading »

Category: Mid-East News | Tags: , , ,
| June 16, 2015
No comments

Palestine Media Report: Hamas in Qatar Discussing 5-Year Cease-Fire

Senior Hamas officials meet in Qatar to weigh reaching deal with Jewish State that would allow Gaza a seaport in exchange for a 5-year halt in its ‘armed resistance’ against Israel.

By Elior Levy & i24news

 

Leading members of Hamas are meeting in Qatar to discuss a proposal for a long-term ceasefire with Israel, the Palestinian Al-Quds newspaper reported Monday.

IDF soldier at Gaza border (Photo: Yoav Zitun)IDF soldier observes Hamas road construction on Gaza border – Photo: Yoav Zitun

 

The truce proposal, which is backed by both Qatar and Turkey, is based on an outline formulated by UN special envoy to the Middle East Nikolay Mladenov, according to Israel Radio. Continue Reading »

Category: Mid-East News | Tags: , ,
| June 16, 2015
No comments

Analysis: Israel & Hezbollah’s interest in Syrian Druze

The biggest threat to the Druze 700,000 strong community is the advancement of Islamic State in the region known as ‘Mount Druse’, 60 km. from the Jordanian border and 50 km. from Israel’s Golan Heights.

By YOSSI MELMAN

 

If the 50-month-long civil war in Syria – with its 200,000 fatalities and with unexplained rivalries and alliances – has created a big mess, a more convoluted threat is emerging, a threat to the Druse community, which may drag Israel unwittingly into the killing fields.

Israeli soldiers stand near the border with Syria in the Golan Heights. – Photo: REUTERS

On the surface, Israel is closely monitoring the situation. Continue Reading »

Category: Mid-East News | Tags:
| June 12, 2015
No comments

Hamas Refusing PA Unity Government Any Authority in Gaza

Fatah spokesperson thanks Egypt for opening of Rafah Crossing to the Sinai, but objects that Hamas has ‘refused’ to hand crossings responsibilities over to ‘unity’ government.

By Dalit Halevy

 

Fatah, the leading faction in the Palestinian Authority (PA), welcomed the opening of Rafah Crossing between Gaza and the Sinai, while emphasizing that PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas and the PA’s embassy in Egypt are working to improve conditions in the terror stronghold of Gaza.

Fatah spokesperson Ahmed Assaf said the PA appreciates the security difficulties Egypt faces dealing with Salafist terror in the Sinai Peninsula, in a likely reference to past Egyptian claims that Hamas provided Sinai terrorists with weapons via the Gaza smuggling tunnels Egypt has been cracking down on.

Continue Reading »
Category: Mid-East News | Tags: , , , ,
| June 11, 2015
No comments

Qatar Promoting Rajoub to Replace the Moderate Abbas

Using soccer as a weapon would cause a deterioration in Arab-Jewish relations & make the soccer teams under Qatar’s sponsorship a hub of friction & provocation.

By Ari Yashar

 

A new research article citing Arabic media sources reveals that Qatar is backing Jibril Rajoub, who was behind the recent failed Palestinian Authority (PA) effort to ban Israel at FIFA, as a replacement for Mahmoud Abbas as PA chairman when – and if – he steps down.

Pinhas Inbar made the revelation on Tuesday in an in-depth article on the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs website. The Center is a research institute headed by Dr. Continue Reading »

Category: Mid-East News | Tags: , ,
| June 11, 2015
No comments

Saving the Jordan River Unites Israelis, Palestinians and Jordanians in Common Project

Jordan hosts tri-national initiative with Israeli, Palestinian & Jordanian representatives to save the Jordan River & upgrade the Jordan River Valley on both sides of the river.

By TOVAH LAZAROFF

 

The polluted and trickling Jordan River might once again be “deep and wide” as well as clean by 2025, if the joint efforts of Israelis, Palestinians, and Jordanians bear fruit.

Swimming at the mouth of the Jordon River last week. – Photo: SARAH LEVIN

On the diplomatic stage, Palestinians and Israelis have not held direct peace talks since April 2014. But on Tuesday and Wednesday, activists and officials from both governments as well as from Jordan met at the Crowne Plaza Hotel on the Jordanian side of the Dead Sea for the second time this year about water. Continue Reading »

Category: Mid-East News | Tags: , ,
| June 11, 2015
No comments

Hamas Accuses PA President of Treachery, Responsible for Gaza’s Recent Bombing Attacks

After allegedly securing confessions, the ruling Islamist group of Gaza reverses its claim that Salafis have been committing bombings, saying orders came from President Abbas’ PA.

By Elior Levy

 

Hamas claimed on Wednesday that the Palestinian Authority is responsible for a series of bombings in recent weeks, after previously accusing local Salafis who support the Islamic State.

Naim Abu Ful in his alleged confession
Naim Abu Ful in his alleged confession

The Interior Ministry of Hamas in Gaza said at a midday press conference that the PA tried to exploit the regional security situation in order to destabilize the Gaza Strip.

Hamas claimed it arrested a number of people involved in the alleged conspiracy, which it said was led by senior political and security officials in Ramallah.

Continue Reading »
Category: Mid-East News | Tags: , ,
« Older Entries   Recent Entries »