After releasing 26 Palestinian prisoners as part of the agreement to return to negotiations, the Israeli occupation forces have detained 15 others from cities across the West Bank. Palestinian sources said that Israeli forces stormed several homes in Ramallah and detained Haytham Redwan, Waheeb Saad, Osama al-Barghouti, Solaiman Hamayel,...

EXCLUSIVE PICTURES Palestinian activists took to the streets of Gaza on Wednesday evening in support of the Egyptian people after the bloody crackdown on peaceful pro-Morsi protesters in Cairo. They responded to calls on Facebook to gather in Gaza Square in central Gaza City, from where they marched to...

Yemeni activist and Noble Peace laureate, Tawakkol Karman, has said that dispersing the Egyptian protests forcibly would lead to a new, full revolution against the military rule. Writing on her Facebook page, Karman said, “30 martyrs in the first half hour of the operation and hundreds of wounded inevitably...

A spokesman for the Palestinian government in the Gaza Strip, Ihab Al-Ghossin, has confirmed that the Egyptian authorities have closed the Rafah border crossing. Al-Ghossin said that the Egyptians had told the Gaza government that the closure was in place due to the on-going state of uncertainty in Egypt....

Qatar’s Foreign Minister has expressed his surprise at the accusations that President Mohammed Morsi collaborated with the Palestinian Islamic Resistance Movement, Hamas. Speaking to Al-Jazeera, Khalid Al-Ateyya said, “This has made us cautious about the future vision for Palestine in the eyes of the new Egyptian rulers.”    ...

The senior member of Fatah’s Central Committee in charge of the national reconciliation portfolio has noted that the August 14 deadline for Hamas to fulfil certain obligations has passed and warned that the secular movement may have to make “painful” decisions. Azzam Al-Ahmed insisted that Fatah would not “remain...

The humanitarian NGO Action Group for the Palestinians of Syria has reported that Palestinian refugee camps have been bombed. No casualties were reported although Syrian forces arrested three young men from Al-Rimal refugee camp in Lattakia. In a press statement released on Thursday, the group said that the Yarmouk...

Senior Hamas official Salah Al-Bardawil has condemned the threat made by Fatah’s Azzam Al-Ahmed that the Palestinian Authority could make “painful” decisions regarding Palestinian reconciliation. Dr Al-Bardawil said that the Fatah official’s latest criticism of the Islamic movement implies that the organisation will seek Israel’s help against Hamas as...

A Palestinian academic has claimed to have seen evidence of Israeli involvement in creating the right sort of international environment in which Egypt’s security forces could carry out its massacres with relative impunity. Saleh Al-Naami said that the Israeli government has been working hard to convince Western governments not...

Palestine’s Islamic Resistance Movement has denounced the explosion in the southern suburbs of Beirut which claimed the lives of 20 Lebanese and wounded dozens more. “We condemn this aggression against our Lebanese brothers and send our condolences to the victims and their families,” said Hamas in a statement. “Our...

The Palestinian Authority cracked down on Palestinians who took to the streets in the occupied West Bank, in solidarity with the Egyptian people. Activist and writer, Lama Khater, wrote on her Facebook page, that PA security officers had cracked down on the protest and shouted obscenities at the protester....

Several media outlets affiliated to the Palestinian Authority (PA) and Fatah praised the Egyptian army’s killing of pro-Morsi protesters in Cairo on Wednesday. Prominent PA and Fatah leaders expressed their delight at the massacres carried out in Egypt at the hands of the army. Some of them hoped that...

Israeli media reports have revealed that Yemeni Jews have been smuggled to Israel recently in a covert operation. The news site Wala said that the Jewish Agency carried out the operation with the assistance of the Ministry of the Interior and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs At least 17...

Israeli writer, Yossi Melman, has said that Israel’s main concern is the possible downfall of the military regime in Egypt. He has also said that Israel is fearful that chaos could lead the country into civil war. Melman made clear that Israel was not concerned that this would undermine...

Essam al-Da’ales, personal adviser to the prime minister in Gaza, Ismail Haniyeh, considered that the return of the Palestinian Authority (PA) president’s guard to administer the Rafah crossing and the holding of legislative and presidential elections without Hamas, were measures aimed at increasing the tightening of the siege on...

The BBC has reported that thousands of Syrian refugees, from the Aleppo region, are fleeing to Iraqi Kurdistan. According to the report, the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) confirmed that thousands of Syrian refugees are still pouring into Iraqi Kurdistan across the pontoon bridge at Peshkhabour over the...

News websites reported that the daughter of Dubai’s ruler resented the United Arab Emirates continued support of the Egyptian army’s suppression of supporters of the deposed President Mohamed Morsi. According to social media websites, the daughter of the ruler and Prime Minister of Dubai, Sheikha Mahra bint Mohammed bin...

Delegations from the Palestinian Islamic Movement, Hamas, and Palestinian Liberation Movement, Fatah, met in the Gaza Strip on Sunday and discussed several issues regarding internal reconciliation. The Fatah delegation suggested the holding of presidential and parliamentary elections, as well as elections for the Palestinian National Council. Hamas refuted this...

Ofer Shelah, member of the Yesh Atid party in Israel, estimates that a peaceful settlement with the Palestinians is only possible with East Jerusalem as the future capital of a Palestinian state. Shelah said that, “I do not see any possible settlement that does not grant the Palestinians proclamation...

The Jordanian Prime Minister, Abdullah al-Nusour, announced on Monday that his country has decided to proceed with the first phase of constructing a canal linking the Dead Sea, where the waters are expected to dry out by 2050, with the Red Sea. Jordan is ranked among the top ten...

Security sources said that Egyptian security forces killed a senior editor in state Al-Ahram newspaper Tamer abdul-Ra’ouf at a military checkpoint near the city of Damanhour on Monday night. The sources said that the security forces shot fire at Abdul-Ra’ouf and Hamid al-Barbari, the correspondent of Al-Jomhoriyya newspaper; state...

The Emirati Journalist Hamad Al Mazroui announced his intention to offer a financial reward of one million Egyptian pounds ($143 thousand) for any information that helps arrest three of the most important leaders of the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt. Al Mazroui told the German Press Agency D.B.A on Tuesday,...

Reports on Israeli radio Tuesday afternoon suggested that a secret envoy for the Israeli government visited Cairo on Tuesday, and that he stayed there for several hours to hold talks with the military leaders in Egypt. The Arab affairs analyst at Yediot Ahronot newspaper, Smadar Perry, said in an...

Palestinian Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh confirmed that there is no room for Palestinian resistance in Egypt and denied any Palestinian interference in the Egyptian crisis. In a meeting with the newly released Palestinian prisoners on Monday morning, Haniyeh said: “The security of Egypt is partially linked with the security...

George Sabra, leader of National Commission for Syria has accused Syrian government forces of carrying out a chemical weapons attack on civilians, killing 1,300 people in the eastern Ghoutah area, on the outskirts of Damascus. The Commission announced today that the regime’s forces also attacked the areas of Maliha...

An Israeli Major General who was the governor of the Gaza Strip between 1971-1972 recently said that killing 500 Palestinians in Gaza would bring calm. Speaking about the rockets that are fired from Gaza into Israel, the retired officer Yitzhak Pundak suggested that, “For every missile they fire, we...

Israeli Defence Minister Moshe Yaalon stated on Thursday that the Israeli border with Egypt is Israel’s most dangerous border at the present time. Israeli media reported Yaalon saying that the Israeli border with the Sinai Peninsula is the most dangerous threat against Israel right now, and “therefore, the Israeli...

On Wednesday the Israeli Occupation expelled the Palestinian prisoner Ayman Abu-Daud to the Gaza Strip after he spent 40 days on hunger strike. Abu-Daud was released by the prisoner swap held between Israel and the Palestinian fighters in 2011, when Israel released more than 1,000 Palestinian prisoners in exchange...

Gaza: Ismail Haniyeh, the head of the Palestinian government in Gaza, warned against the Palestinian Authority’s resumption of negotiations with the Occupation, describing it as a “catastrophic choice” urging them to abandon this option. During his speech at the special session of the Palestinian Legislative Council held on Tuesday...

Israeli forces launched an air strike on the Al-Nama neighbourhood between Sidon and Beirut in Lebanon on Friday. The spokesman of the Israeli forces said that the intended target was precisely attacked. The spokesman affirmed that the Israeli strike came as a response to the launch of four rockets...

The Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that the Egyptian army should be allowed to restore stability to Egypt to prevent the deterioration of Egypt’s situation into something similar to what is happening in Syria. His security advisor, Yaakov Amidror, will be visiting Washington soon to hold talks on...

The Israeli human rights organization B’Tselem issued a report on Thursday stating that “Palestinian citizens, mostly minors, have been subjected to harassment and torture at the hands of Israeli interrogators in an attempt to force them to confess to private security offenses related to throwing stones.” The organization added...

EXCLUSIVE PICTURES The Popular Committee against the Israeli Siege on Gaza commemorated on Thursday the fifth anniversary of the first ship that visited Gaza in 2008. During the processions of this occasion independent member of the Palestinian Legislative Council Jamal al-Khodari called for opening a water passage for the...

On Friday afternoon Palestinian security services and Israeli occupation forces cracked down on two separate solidarity marches with Egyptians in the occupied West Bank. Palestinians in the occupied West Bank decided to take to the streets after Friday Prayer in solidarity with the Egyptians and to condemn the bloody...

On Thursday Palestinian Authority (PA) President Mahmoud Abbas pledged to Israeli leaders that Palestinians would never file legal cases demanding their return to cities such as Jaffa, Acre and Safad. During a meeting with leaders of the Israeli party Mertz, Abbas said that he had sent a “reassurance message”...

A recent Israeli study accused the deposed Egyptian president, Mohammed Morsi, of planning to annul the Camp David peace Accords signed in 1978 between Egypt and Israel. The study said that the Muslim Brotherhood adopted certain tactics, which were considered the basis for revoking the accords. They accused Israel...

The government in Tehran has warned the United States that an attack on Syria would have “dire” consequences. Analysts expect the US to make some sort of attack on Syria in response to the regime’s use of chemical weapons last week. However, according to Iran’s Deputy Chief of Staff,...

Israel’s Minister of the Economy, and head of the Jewish Home Party, has claimed that the Oslo Accords and idea of a Palestinian State are both “dead”. Writing on his Facebook page, Naftali Bennett said that he does not believe that negotiations with the Palestinian Authority will achieve anything....

Media reports in Israel claim that the current tension and developments across the region have led to a big demand for gas masks in the country. According to Maariv newspaper, the centres at which masks are distributed to Israelis have witnessed a larger than usual flow of people, up...

Israeli occupation forces killed three Palestinians and injured 15 others during a pre-dawn raid on Monday in Qalandiya refugee camp north of occupied Jerusalem. Local medical sources said that Roubine Fares, aged 35, and Younis Jahjouh, 22, were killed immediately, while Jehad Aslan, 20, was pronounced dead on arrival...

A senior Palestinian official has said that he expects President Mahmoud Abbas to announce a date for legislative and presidential elections soon. The announcement will be made even though there has been no real progress in reconciliation between Fatah and Hamas; the “peace talks” with Israel are going very...

Leaked records of the interrogation of the General Guide of the Muslim Brotherhood, Mohamed Badie, reveal that he has been insulted and assaulted by police since his arrest on August 20th. According to the written records, Badie said that he was “beaten by the police” until his dentures fell...

Officials in Jordan have expressed their concerns about Iran’s response to any attack on Syria which might be launched from the kingdom’s territory. They believe that if Jordan is used as the base for such an attack, Iran will target Israel and its eastern neighbour in retaliatory moves. The...

EXCLUSIVE PICTURES The ongoing political crisis in Egypt has had a major influence on the people of the besieged Gaza Strip. The Rafah border crossing has been the Palestinians’ only route into and out of the territory since Israel imposed its siege in 2006. Restrictions put in place by...

Qatar is preparing to launch its first communications satellite before the end of August. Es’hail 1 has been built using advanced anti-interference technology and will give priority to Qatari TV and Al Jazeera broadcast signals. Es’hailSat Chief Executive Ali Ahmed Al-Kuwari said that the new satellite will be launched...

Rumours are rife about the possible actions that may be taken by the Palestinian Authority leadership against Hamas and the Gaza Strip within the context of the stalled reconciliation agreement which states that a national consensus government, headed by President Mahmoud Abbas, should be formed. Talk of an election...

Fatah has rejected an offer from Hamas to participate in the government of the Gaza Strip. The offer was made by Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh. In response, Fatah said that it is considering “painful decisions” against Hamas rule. Speaking to journalists in Ramallah, Fatah official Azzam al-Ahmad said, “Haniyeh’s...

The Latakia Rebels’ military council is reporting that the first ship has departed from the Russian fleet located in the Tartus port. In a brief statement issue today, the military council said, “We just received word of the departure of the first Russian ship from the Russian fleet in...

According to Maariv newspaper, the Palestinian-Israeli peace negotiations resumed yesterday evening despite the killing of three Palestinians in the Qalandiya refugee camp, north of Jerusalem. The paper confirmed that the Palestinian chief negotiator, Saeb Erekat, met his counterpart Tzipi Livni as scheduled. Reports of the talks resuming contradict statements...

Egyptian Foreign Minister Nabil Fahmy told a press conference yesterday that support for the Palestinian cause remains a priority for his country. He condemned the latest killing of Palestinians by Israel soldiers. Sitting next to his Ramallah-based Palestinian counterpart Riyad Al-Malki after a meeting with President Mahmoud Abbas, Fahmi...