Middle East MonitorLatest news from the Middle East and North Africa2024-03-29T13:54:06Zhttps://www.middleeastmonitor.com/feed/atom/WordPresshttps://i0.wp.com/www.middleeastmonitor.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/favicon.png?fit=32%2C32&ssl=1MIhttps://www.middleeastmonitor.com/?p=7245262024-03-29T13:54:06Z2024-03-29T14:10:41ZIsrael reportedly carried out an airstrike early Friday on an airport and defense factories in northwestern Aleppo province, Anadolu reports. Social media accounts close to the Syrian government said Israeli warplanes carried out the strikes in the town of Sefire. It was reported that air defense systems belonging to the Syrian army responded. Neither Israel nor the Syrian government have issued statements on the attack. According to the Syrian state news agency SANA, the early morning attack resulted in casualties among both civilians and military personnel. A Syrian military official informed SANA that around 1.45 a.m. on Friday (2245GMT Thursday), Israel conducted an airstrike from the direction of Athriya, southeast of Aleppo, adding that “civilians and military personnel” had been […]]]>0Freelancershttps://www.middleeastmonitor.com/?p=7245272024-03-29T13:51:20Z2024-03-29T13:51:20ZIn a chilling testimony, a woman from Gaza details her traumatic encounter with Israeli soldiers, describing the mistreatment and abuse she and a group of other men, including her husband and family members, endured while they were kidnapped by the soldiers. She recounts how the soldiers drugged young men for interrogation, subjected them to psychological manipulation, and inflicted physical harm. She recounts the soldiers pulling off her headscarf and filming her, mocking her and making fun of her when she broke down after the soldiers told her they shot and killed her husband.]]>0MIhttps://www.middleeastmonitor.com/?p=7245242024-03-29T13:27:39Z2024-03-29T13:27:39ZHamas’s military wing the Al-Qassam Brigades said Thursday that its fighters targeted several Israeli military vehicles across the Gaza Strip, Anadolu reports. In separate statements, it said it targeted three tanks and a bulldozer with rocket-propelled grenades in Gaza City as well as in Khan Younis in southern Gaza. The armed wing said its fighters also ambushed Israeli forces inside a home in the Al-Qarara area of Khan Younis, resulting in fatalities and injuries. The Israeli army is yet to comment on the statements, but earlier Thursday, it said eight soldiers were injured in Gaza in the past 24 hours. The death toll among Israeli troops since Oct. 7 stands at 597, including 253 killed since the start of an […]]]>0MIhttps://www.middleeastmonitor.com/?p=7245222024-03-29T13:19:06Z2024-03-29T13:19:06ZIsrael’s High Court of Justice issued an interim ruling Thursday ordering the government to halt subsidies to Orthodox Jewish private schools known as yeshivas whose students defy the country’s mandatory military service, Anadolu reports. The legal framework for deferring military service for these students will no longer exist under the new court order after April 1. According to the Ynet news website, the Israeli army’s spokesperson issued a statement following the court’s decision saying that the army will act “according to the law” when it comes to drafting yeshiva students after April 1. While Benny Gantz, a member of the war cabinet and chairman of the National Unity party, welcomed the court’s order, the leader of the United Torah Judaism […]]]>0MIhttps://www.middleeastmonitor.com/?p=7245192024-03-29T13:44:19Z2024-03-29T13:05:23ZKuwait on Thursday handed its annual contribution of $2 million to the UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA), Anadolu reports. According to the state-run Kuwaiti news agency (KUNA), Hamad Al-Marri, the Gulf country’s ambassador to Jordan, said the contribution reflects “the Kuwaiti leadership’s keenness and its principled and permanent position to support the Palestinian cause.” Following the unproven Israeli accusation that some UNRWA staffers were involved in the Oct. 7 attacks, many countries suspended payments to the aid agency in late January, pending an investigation. Several countries, including Canada, Sweden, Finland, and France as well as the European Commission, however, as of the beginning of March, announced resuming funding to UNRWA. UNRWA was established by the UN General Assembly more […]]]>0Freelancershttps://www.middleeastmonitor.com/?p=7245172024-03-29T13:00:51Z2024-03-29T13:00:51ZA video captures the final moments of Sameh Zaytoun, also known as David ben Avraham, a 63-year-old man who was shot and killed by Israeli forces. In the recent video, an Israeli soldier questioned the man about his religion and whether he was Jewish and had a Jewish name, asking him to raise his hands before fatally shooting him after they suspected him of carrying a knife in his bag. On 19 March, the man was shot and killed at a junction near an occupied West Bank settlement. Days later, the Military Police launched an investigation into what they described as a 'serious incident.' According to reports by Times of Israel, the man, identified as Sameh Muhammad Abd al-Rai Zaytoun, was a Palestinian from Hebron. He was shot and killed by a reservist soldier after exiting a Palestinian taxi at a bus station near the settlement of Elazar, south of Jerusalem.]]>0Freelancershttps://www.middleeastmonitor.com/?p=7245142024-03-29T12:39:13Z2024-03-29T12:39:13ZAn Israeli soldier post a video imitating the video game, Grand Theft Auto, in Gaza, amid Israel’s brutal and relentless ongoing war on the besieged strip that has killed more than 32,000 Palestinians, the majority being women and children.]]>0MIhttps://www.middleeastmonitor.com/?p=7245062024-03-29T12:15:22Z2024-03-29T12:15:22ZWestern civilisation is in decline judging from the dystopian way in which we are entering a dark and dangerous world where it is becoming well-nigh impossible to distinguish between truth, lies and deception. This is, without doubt, a by-product of Israel’s genocidal war against the Palestinians in Gaza, and the British government’s decision to embrace Zionism unconditionally. The political ideology led to the creation of the terrorist state of Israel, which is currently under investigation for genocide by the International Court of Justice in The Hague. “Terrorist” state? That’s right. Israel was founded on the terrorism of the Jewish terrorist groups Lohamei Herut Israel (Fighters for the Freedom of Israel), aka Lehi, or the Stern Gang; and Irgun. They campaigned […]]]>0Freelancershttps://www.middleeastmonitor.com/?p=7245072024-03-29T12:05:57Z2024-03-29T12:05:57ZHundreds of pro-Palestinian protesters, including Jewish activisits, disrupted a high-profile fundraiser for US President Joe Biden at Radio City Music Hall in New York on Thursday night. The fundraiser was attended by former US presidents Barack Obama and Bill Clinton. The protestors criticised Biden for his funding of Israel’s genocide in Gaza. Security personnel removed the protesters from the venue.]]>0MIhttps://www.middleeastmonitor.com/?p=7245032024-03-29T11:43:44Z2024-03-29T11:43:44ZIsrael is currently implementing a large-scale project in Gaza, which includes the establishment of a one-kilometre-wide security buffer zone near the border with Israel, Maan news agency reported. The Israeli army is establishing a buffer zone that covers 16 per cent of Gaza’s area, and a passageway to regulate the movement of Palestinians towards the north, the West Bank-based agency added, citing satellite images. Most of the buildings destroyed by the Israeli army are located within one kilometre of the buffer zone being established. READ: Gaza media office: Israel committing war crimes in and around Al Shifa Hospital]]>0Freelancershttps://www.middleeastmonitor.com/?p=7245002024-03-29T11:39:21Z2024-03-29T11:39:21ZAn Israeli woman, speaking from in front of the Dome of the Rock mosque (Qubbat aṣ-Ṣakhra) in Old City, Occupied East Jerusalem, claims that the war is over the Temple Mount. She insists, 'I am certain we need to offer sacrifices here, and because they don't offer sacrifices on the Temple Mount, we're sacrificing our finest sons,' referring to the war and the soldiers. She believes that these sacrifices are necessary to win the war for the third temple, sacrificing their best sons to please God, who will reward them with the Temple.]]>0MIhttps://www.middleeastmonitor.com/?p=7244992024-03-29T11:38:33Z2024-03-29T11:38:33ZThe government media office in Gaza said that the available information indicates that the Israeli occupation soldiers have executed more than 200 Palestinians from the displaced people inside the medical complex in Gaza City and have arrested around 1,000 others. In a statement received by Quds Press on Thursday, they confirmed that the occupation soldiers are threatening the medical staff and displaced people inside the complex with bombing and destroying the buildings over their heads if they don’t come for interrogation and torture. They added that the Israeli occupation army transferred 200 detainees from the medical complex to Israel to continue investigations with them, as well as cutting off the electricity from the complex, leading to the death of several […]]]>0MIhttps://www.middleeastmonitor.com/?p=7244962024-03-29T11:24:50Z2024-03-29T11:24:50ZThe Elbit Systems company has been forced to sell its factory in Staffordshire because of “sustained direct action,” a UK-based pro-Palestine group said Thursday, Anadolu reports. “Relentless direct action has secured another victory in the fight against Israel’s arms trade, as Elbit Systems are forced to sell their ‘Elite KL’ factory in Tamworth,” Palestine Action said in a statement. Elbit Systems, a weapons manufacturing company, has long been accused of being complicit in the Israeli onslaught against the Gaza Strip. It is the largest Israeli military manufacturer and produces 85% of the country’s land-based equipment as well as 85% of drones used by the Israeli Air Force. The company had previously manufactured cooling and power management systems for military vehicles, […]]]>0Freelancershttps://www.middleeastmonitor.com/?p=7244932024-03-29T11:15:49Z2024-03-29T11:15:49ZThe nightly protests continue in the vicinity of the Israeli Embassy in Amman, Jordan, for the fourth consecutive day, with clashes occurring between security forces and protesters. During the past few days, the protests have witnessed some clashes with security forces and arrests of some participants. The protesters chanted slogans in support of Gaza and others calling on the Egyptian people to act to open the Rafah crossing. On 2 November 2023, Amman decided to withdraw its ambassador from Tel Aviv and refused the return of the Israeli ambassador to Amman.]]>0MIhttps://www.middleeastmonitor.com/?p=7244922024-03-29T11:11:15Z2024-03-29T11:11:15ZThe Egyptian population grew 1.4% in the past year, its lowest in 50 years, the Egyptian Ministry of Planning said Thursday, Anadolu Agency reports. The ministry, which cited a report by the National Project for Egyptian Family Development, said Egypt achieved success in reducing the growth rate by 46% from 2017 to 2023. It noted that the birth rate hit 2 million in 2023, a decline of 15% compared to 2018. Egypt’s population as of Jan. 1 stood at 105.8 million up from 104.4 million in 2022, according to the Central Agency for Public Mobilization and Statistics. The agency estimates that 12 million Egyptians live abroad. READ: ‘O rulers of disgrace, tomorrow the Egyptian people will crush you’]]>0MIhttps://www.middleeastmonitor.com/?p=7244892024-03-29T10:45:05Z2024-03-29T10:45:05ZIsraeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed on Thursday to bring back all hostages in the Gaza Strip, as he met families of captive soldiers, Anadolu Agency reports. “Just as we have returned 123 of our hostages, I am committed to returning everyone, all of them,” Netanyahu said, according to a statement released by his office. “I will not leave anyone behind. I am personally dealing with this around the clock.” Addressing the families, he said: “I know that every passing day is hell for you,” adding that “only continuation of the forceful military pressure that we have applied, and will yet apply, will return our hostages, will return everyone.” Israel has continued with its military onslaught on the Gaza Strip […]]]>0MIhttps://www.middleeastmonitor.com/?p=7244852024-03-29T10:17:19Z2024-03-29T10:15:49ZThe UN said Thursday that there is “no place is safe for civilians in Gaza” after footage showed Israeli forces shooting two apparently unarmed Palestinians and burying them with a wheel loader, Anadolu Agency reports. The video, aired by Al Jazeera Arabic, shows the victims walking in an open area along the Gazan coast waving a white fabric — the international sign for surrender. UN spokesperson Stephane Dujarric described the “shocking” video at a news conference. Israeli soldiers shoot civilians waving white flag and bury bodies with bulldozer Shocking documentation obtained by Al Jazeera shows Israeli soldiers murdering civilians attempting to return to their homes in northern Gaza and burying their corpses with a bulldozer to hide the… pic.twitter.com/OjCvJXYsQI — […]]]>0MIhttps://www.middleeastmonitor.com/?p=7244782024-03-29T09:57:27Z2024-03-29T09:57:27ZIn his 2023 State of the Union address, US President Joe Biden, now 81, made lofty promises about tackling inflation, fighting climate change, reforming immigration policies and working for “more freedom, more dignity and more peace”. The implicit, but always obvious, message that Biden wanted to convey is that only a Democratic administration, under his leadership, should be able to help Washington navigate out of its many and growing problems and challenges. However, newspeak and false claims aside, any reasonable analyst must conclude that the Biden Administration has failed the tasks at hand, and that four, or 40 more years of the same policies would hardly reverse the unpromising trajectory faced by his country. It is easy to claim that […]]]>0Freelancershttps://www.middleeastmonitor.com/?p=7244802024-03-29T09:55:32Z2024-03-29T09:55:32ZAuthor Ahmed Paul Keeler talks about how Israel’s ‘deranged’ actions are an indication that it is going through the ‘final phase of the settler colonial project’. In a conversation with The Thinking Muslim earlier this month, he said what is happening in Gaza is ‘horrifying’ and ‘beyond anything that we have experienced’.]]>0Freelancershttps://www.middleeastmonitor.com/?p=7244742024-03-29T09:32:11Z2024-03-29T09:32:11ZA video is circulating online from November 2023, when Francesca Albanese, UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the occupied Palestinian territories, addressed the National Press Club of Australia on why previous approaches in Israel and Palestine have failed, and answered a question about Israel claiming not to have been targeting civilians after telling them to evacuate.]]>0MIhttps://www.middleeastmonitor.com/?p=7244732024-03-29T09:27:12Z2024-03-29T09:27:12ZAt least 71 more Palestinians were killed and 112 others injured over the last 24 hours, as Israel continues its onslaught on the besieged Gaza Strip, the territory’s Health Ministry said on Friday, Anadolu Agency reports. “The Israeli occupation (forces) committed seven massacres against families in the Gaza Strip, leaving 71 martyrs and 112 injured during the past 24 hours,” a ministry statement said. “Many people are still trapped under rubble and on the roads as rescuers are unable to reach them,” it added. Flouting the International Court of Justice’s provisional ruling, Israel continues its onslaught on the Gaza Strip where at least 32,623 Palestinians have been killed, mostly women and children, and 75,092 injured since Oct. 7, according to […]]]>0Freelancershttps://www.middleeastmonitor.com/?p=7244692024-03-29T08:40:29Z2024-03-29T08:40:29ZThe fate of a Palestinian family in northern Gaza is unknown after Israeli soldiers pointed guns and tanks at the family that included elderly, women and children.]]>0MIhttps://www.middleeastmonitor.com/?p=7244302024-03-28T20:04:11Z2024-03-28T20:03:54ZJudges at the International Court of Justice, on Thursday, unanimously ordered Israel to take all the necessary and effective action to ensure basic food supplies arrive without delay to the Palestinian population in Gaza, Reuters reports. The ICJ said the Palestinians in Gaza face worsening conditions of life, and famine and starvation are spreading. The Court observes that Palestinians in Gaza are no longer facing only a risk of famine (…) but that famine is setting in the judges said in their order. The new measures were requested by South Africa as part of its ongoing case that accuses Israel of state-led genocide in Gaza. In January the ICJ, also known as the World Court, ordered Israel to refrain from any acts that could fall under the Genocide Convention and […]]]>0Freelancershttps://www.middleeastmonitor.com/?p=7244272024-03-28T19:53:56Z2024-03-28T19:53:56ZIsraeli forces demolished five buildings in the Judean Foothills (Wadi Khalil) neighbourhood near Umm Batin. A video shows an attack dog being deployed after a local resident stepped two meters in the direction of the demolition. According to Jaber Abu Essa, who was born there, the residents of the neighbourhood—more than 80 households and 320 residents—agreed to the Bedouin Authority's proposal to move to the new El Mithali neighbourhood, which is being built near Tel as-Sabi. They gave up their farm animals and decades-old olive groves, as the proposed lots are much smaller and not suitable for farming. However, building permits have not been issued for four years now.]]>0MIhttps://www.middleeastmonitor.com/?p=7244242024-03-28T19:44:22Z2024-03-28T19:44:22ZSpanish military aircraft delivered 26 tonnes of humanitarian aid yesterday to Palestinians in the blockaded Gaza Strip, with Madrid urging Israel to open land border crossings to prevent famine, according to the Foreign Ministry. The operation, conducted in collaboration with Jordan and supported financially by the European Union, involved the airdrop of over 11,000 food rations to address the “catastrophic levels of food insecurity” impacting up to 1.1 million Palestinians in Gaza, the Ministry said in a statement. “Spain insists on the opening of the land crossings as an indispensable measure to avoid a famine situation,” it added. Western nations such as the United States, France and Germany have also resorted to employing air drops as a means to deliver […]]]>0MIhttps://www.middleeastmonitor.com/?p=7244222024-03-28T19:35:53Z2024-03-28T19:35:53ZFollowing the UN Security Council resolution that called for a ceasefire in Gaza for the remaining days of Ramadan, which the US failed to veto, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu cancelled a meeting in Washington for his top aides, allegedly as a warning to Hamas that no pressure would make him renege on his war plans. There was no need for such a diplomatic spectacle, especially considering that mere hours later, US officials confirmed that Netanyahu was asking to reschedule the meeting. “My decision not to send the delegation to Washington in the wake of that resolution was a message to Hamas: Don’t bet on this pressure, it’s not going to work. I hope they got the message,” Axios quoted […]]]>0MIhttps://www.middleeastmonitor.com/?p=7244192024-03-28T19:24:51Z2024-03-28T19:24:51ZThe UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) emphasised, Thursday, the importance of large-scale land deliveries of humanitarian aid for the Gaza Strip, Anadolu Agency reports. OCHA warned that “There’s no alternative to large-scale deliveries of aid by land in Gaza”, on X. Stressing that “swift, safe and unimpeded humanitarian passage through all crossings is paramount,” said OCHA. “Time is of the essence.” The UN agency noted that “security challenges, access constraints and other limitations persist” while showing a map of the Gaza Strip that displayed restrictions for aid access. Israel has waged a deadly military offensive on the Palestinian enclave since a 7 October cross-border attack by Hamas, in which some 1,200 Israelis were killed. However, since […]]]>0Freelancershttps://www.middleeastmonitor.com/?p=7244112024-03-28T19:19:53Z2024-03-28T19:19:53ZA video recorded by an Israeli soldier shows Palestinian hostages stripped naked and seated in a refugee school, as Palestinian activists say. They believe that they have been taken to undisclosed locations. The footage depicts dozens of Palestinians stripped naked, with their clothes piled behind them. The person speaking in the video mentions that they lack food and water.]]>0MIhttps://www.middleeastmonitor.com/?p=7244162024-03-28T19:13:37Z2024-03-28T19:13:37ZAt least 13 people, including nine pro-Tehran fighters, were killed in a series of airstrikes on eastern Syria Tuesday, a war monitor, Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, reports. “Nine pro-Iranian fighters, including a Revolutionary Guards Commander, were killed in airstrikes targeting the villa they were staying in, which served as a communications centre,” the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said. It said four people were killed in a separate strike in the town of Albu Kamal on the Iraqi border. The Britain-based monitor said it had no word on who carried out the strikes and there was no immediate claim of responsibility. Israel has carried out hundreds of strikes targeting pro-Iranian groups fighting alongside the forces of Bashar Assad in the […]]]>0MIhttps://www.middleeastmonitor.com/?p=7244142024-03-28T19:02:40Z2024-03-28T19:02:40ZA mass grave with at least 65 bodies has been discovered in south-west Libya this week, the UN Migration Agency (IOM) said, Reuters reports. According to the report, a spokesperson for the International Organisation for Migration (IOM) said the mass grave was uncovered by Libyan security forces. The IOM said, in a statement, it was “profoundly shocked and alarmed”. The IOM also said it appreciated that Libyan authorities had launched an investigation into the deaths. “Without regular pathways that provide opportunities for legal migration, such tragedies will continue to be a feature along this route,” it said. OPINION: The Mediterranean: A sea of blood]]>0Freelancershttps://www.middleeastmonitor.com/?p=7244032024-03-28T18:48:45Z2024-03-28T18:48:45ZHundreds of protesters gathered around the Israeli embassy in Amman, Jordan, objecting to Jordan’s ties with Israel and calling for an end to the war on Gaza.]]>0MIhttps://www.middleeastmonitor.com/?p=7244082024-03-28T18:46:37Z2024-03-28T18:46:37ZJordan said an electricity grid inter-connection with Iraq will go into operation on Saturday, Anadolu Agency reports. The electric line between Jordan’s Risha power station and Iraq’s Rutba station will have a capacity of 13 megawatts, Amjad Rawashdeh, head of the Jordanian National Electric Power Company, told the state news agency, Petra. The Iraqi Ministry of Electricity also confirmed that the power supply line is fully ready for operation. Last year, Amman and Baghdad signed an agreement to supply Iraq with a capacity of 40 megawatts of electricity. In October 2022, Iraq and Jordan laid the foundation stone for an electrical inter-connection project between the two neighbouring countries. Iraq generates some 19,000-21,000 megawatts, but the country’s actual need tops 30,000 […]]]>0MIhttps://www.middleeastmonitor.com/?p=7244062024-03-28T18:39:39Z2024-03-28T18:39:39ZEgyptian Foreign Minister, Sameh Shoukry, held talks in Cairo on Thursday with British Minister of State for Middle East and North African Affairs, Tariq Ahmad, to discuss Israel’s war on the Gaza Strip and the recognition of a Palestinian State, Anadolu Agency reports. Shoukry underlined the importance of reaching a ceasefire in Gaza to preserve the lives of Palestinian civilians, the Egyptian Foreign Ministry said in a statement. The top diplomat called for ensuring a swift implementation of a UN Security Council demanding a ceasefire in the Palestinian enclave. The UN Security Council passed a resolution on Monday demanding an immediate ceasefire in Gaza during the Islamic fasting month of Ramadan. While Hamas welcomed the resolution, Israel vowed to continue […]]]>0Freelancershttps://www.middleeastmonitor.com/?p=7243942024-03-28T18:24:38Z2024-03-28T18:24:38ZA protest took place in front of the professional unions complex in Amman, Jordan, organised by a group of women rejecting the arrest of some protesters from the demonstrations near the Israeli embassy in Amman in recent days. They also criticised the policies of the United States and Western governments. Human rights organisations report the arrest of several participants and supporters of the protests in front of the Israeli embassy in Amman, where protests have been recurring over the past four days condemning the Israeli war. Clashes also occurred between police forces and protesters.]]>0MIhttps://www.middleeastmonitor.com/?p=7243992024-03-29T12:07:32Z2024-03-28T18:22:44ZIt is truly astonishing that Washington abstained in voting on the resolution adopted by the UN Security Council on Monday, although the resolution is consistent with the US position that rejects the call for a permanent ceasefire, as it only calls for “an immediate ceasefire for the month of Ramadan” (of which one half has already passed), adding as a good wish that this would be “leading to a lasting sustainable ceasefire” (the resolution did not use the term “permanent”, but “lasting”, which refers to a duration instead of a final cessation). Indeed, the parties that drafted the resolution made a special effort to use expressions and concepts that would satisfy Washington so that the text reconciles the US position […]]]>0MIhttps://www.middleeastmonitor.com/?p=7243972024-03-28T18:06:39Z2024-03-28T18:06:39ZPalestinian Prime Minister, Mohammad Mustafa, formed a new cabinet on Thursday, in which he will also serve as Foreign Minister, making an immediate ceasefire and Israeli withdrawal from Gaza a top priority, Palestinian news agency, WAFA, reported. Mustafa, an ally to President Mahmoud Abbas and a leading business figure, was appointed Premier this month with a mandate to help reform the Palestinian Authority (PA), which exercises limited self-rule in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, Reuters reports. He was also assigned to lead the relief and rebuilding of Gaza, which has been shattered by more than five months of war, while he performs double-duty as Foreign Minister, replacing Riyad Al-Maliki, who had served in the position since 2009. Abbas, who as President remains, […]]]>0Freelancershttps://www.middleeastmonitor.com/?p=7243912024-03-28T17:50:32Z2024-03-28T17:50:32ZShocking documentation obtained by Al Jazeera shows Israeli soldiers murdering civilians attempting to return to their homes in northern Gaza and burying their corpses with a bulldozer to hide the war crime. One of the civilians was repeatedly waving a piece of white cloth in a sign of surrender.]]>0MIhttps://www.middleeastmonitor.com/?p=7243862024-03-28T17:39:38Z2024-03-28T17:39:38ZAmid the ongoing onslaught by Israel against Palestinians in Gaza, a petition was moved in the New Zealand Parliament seeking support for the people in the besieged coastal enclave, Anadolu Agency reports. “We call for the New Zealand government to fulfil its international legal obligations, and to demonstrate moral leadership to the rest of the world by supporting Palestinian human rights and denouncing Israeli war crimes,” read the petition which was handed over to Labour Party lawmaker, Phil Twyford, outside the Parliament in Wellington. More than 16,000 people have signed the petition. Recalling Wellington’s support for war-hit Ukrainians, Twyford said: “We created a special visa for the families of Ukrainian Kiwis so they could sponsor their families to escape the […]]]>0MIhttps://www.middleeastmonitor.com/?p=7243842024-03-28T17:20:47Z2024-03-28T17:20:19ZThe US Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI) published its annual intelligence assessment report on 11 March, highlighting that despite losses in their leadership ranks, the ISIS/Daesh and Al-Qaeda terrorist organisations are expanding their sphere of influence. According to the report, “global jihad” is shifting towards Africa, targeting citizens and Western interests, particularly American. Moreover, the report notes that potential attacks could stem not only from African branches of the aforementioned organisations, but also from small local cells or radicalised individuals. The ODNI report suggests that the African continent, with its sensitive and fragile security dynamics, is on the verge of greater destabilisation this year. The Armed Conflict Location and Event Data Project (ACLED) supports this view, and […]]]>0MIhttps://www.middleeastmonitor.com/?p=7243812024-03-28T17:01:16Z2024-03-28T17:01:16ZThe majority of Americans disapprove of Israel’s military actions in the Gaza Strip, according to a recent Gallup survey, published yesterday. The poll found that 55 per cent of US adults disapprove of the Israeli government’s actions in Gaza, while only 36 per cent approve. This marks a significant shift from November, when 50 per cent approved of Israel’s actions in Gaza, while 45 per cent disapproved. The survey comes amid deteriorating relations between the Biden administration and Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, as the humanitarian toll of Israel’s war has mounted, Axios reported. Plans for the Israel Defence Forces to carry out operations in the densely populated southern Gaza city of Rafah have further strained relations. READ: Israel asks US […]]]>0MIhttps://www.middleeastmonitor.com/?p=7243782024-03-28T16:43:19Z2024-03-28T16:43:19ZThe feasts and festivities of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan have been muted in Sudan this year, with millions of people displaced from their homes and struggling with hunger as a war between the army and paramilitaries nears the one-year mark, Reuters reports. “All what we were accustomed to, how we eat, drink, meet people in Ramadan, … all of that is no longer available,” said Mohamed Ali, who broke his fast in a displacement centre in Port Sudan on the Red Sea, to which many have fled from the capital, Khartoum, and other active war zones. In the past, Ramadan in Sudan was marked by large communal night-time gatherings. Now, Ali and millions of others rely on community kitchens […]]]>0Freelancershttps://www.middleeastmonitor.com/?p=7243762024-03-28T16:36:21Z2024-03-28T16:36:21ZIsraeli soldiers fire shots, killing at least one Palestinian for entertainment in Khan Yunis.]]>0Freelancershttps://www.middleeastmonitor.com/?p=7243682024-03-28T15:58:07Z2024-03-28T15:58:07ZSocial media users circulated a video showing Israeli soldiers pointing their rifles at a family, including a child, women, and elderly people. The video reportedly originates from northern Gaza, although the exact location within the area remains unspecified. As of now, the fate of the family depicted in the video remains unknown.]]>0MIhttps://www.middleeastmonitor.com/?p=7243662024-03-28T15:58:29Z2024-03-28T15:56:26ZFaced with a failing date palm business due to scarce resources, Iraqi farmer, Ismail Ibrahim, has planted “sidr”, or jujube, trees which require far less water during an irrigation crisis, Reuters reports. Iraq is part of the “Fertile Crescent”, arable land sweeping from the Mediterranean to the Gulf, which has been farmed for thousands of years. Today, the landscape has been devastated by upstream damming of the main two rivers, the Tigris and the Euphrates, lower rainfall trends and decades of armed conflict, leaving farmers, such as Ibrahim, facing the loss of their livelihoods. As Ibrahim tended the soil, he explained that the medium-sized evergreen sidr trees native to the Middle East consume little water and are able to rely […]]]>0Freelancershttps://www.middleeastmonitor.com/?p=7243622024-03-28T15:28:33Z2024-03-28T15:28:33ZA protest outside Egypt's Journalists Syndicate in Cairo, in solidarity with Gaza. Participants voice criticism against Egyptian and Arab leaders for not supporting Palestine and Gaza during the ongoing six-month Israeli war.]]>0MIhttps://www.middleeastmonitor.com/?p=7243572024-03-28T15:59:41Z2024-03-28T14:57:26ZTurkiye’s spectacular breakthrough as an exporter of durum wheat has spared pasta fans another year of price pain and the country is poised to remain a crucial source of the ingredient prized in Mediterranean cuisine, Reuters reports. On track to be the world’s second-largest durum exporter in 2023/24, Turkiye has helped fill a supply gap caused by a second drought in three years in top supplier, Canada, and stifled a price surge seen at the season’s start. Global stocks of durum are still forecast to hit a three-decade low this season, according to the International Grains Council, an inter-governmental body. But Turkish shipments have averted an immediate shortfall and kept durum in line with easing world prices of staple grains. Previously a net importer […]]]>0MIhttps://www.middleeastmonitor.com/?p=7243332024-03-28T20:35:11Z2024-03-28T14:30:13ZIsrael and some Arab states have regarded Hamas consistently as being in the same league as ISIS/Daesh, despite major differences in their make-up. The Palestinian Islamic Resistance Movement’s position on ISIS/Daesh is clear, just as it is in relation to followers of other nominally Islamic organisations. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is a cheerleader for the claim that Hamas and ISIS/Daesh are “two sides of the same coin”, as was evident in his most recent speeches at the UN, the US Congress and the conference of AIPAC, the pro-Israel lobby group in America. While Israel’s attempt to associate legitimate Palestinian resistance with global terrorism is not new, what is remarkable is the expansion of Israeli propaganda from both government and […]]]>0Freelancershttps://www.middleeastmonitor.com/?p=7243532024-03-28T14:19:56Z2024-03-28T14:19:56ZActivists protest an Iftar event with Olivia Chow, Mayor of Toronto, Canada, for not calling for a ceasefire. They urge her to advocate for the demands of Palestinian Canadians and for the boycott of Israel by the City of Toronto. Activists refuse to participate in Ramadan's Iftar, saying they won't have it with 'politicians complicit in the genocide of Palestinians and Gaza,' with many to leave the hall.]]>0MIhttps://www.middleeastmonitor.com/?p=7243512024-03-28T14:00:11Z2024-03-28T14:00:11ZExtremist Jewish temple groups are protesting at the home of Israel’s far-right minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, in the Kiryat Arba settlement in Hebron and demanding raids on Al-Aqsa Mosque following a decision to close the mosque compound to settler groups for 16 days starting today. The decision was apparently made by the security services. Ben-Gvir is the National Security Minister. The occupation police justified the decision because of “fears for the security situation in light of the current war [in Gaza] and trying to avoid fuelling popular tension and anger in Jerusalem and the West Bank,” especially after Palestinians were forcibly prevented from going into seclusion in Al-Aqsa during the days of the Jewish holiday of Purim. Israeli media reported that […]]]>0MIhttps://www.middleeastmonitor.com/?p=7243472024-03-28T13:50:07Z2024-03-28T13:50:07ZSaudi Arabia will take part in this year’s Miss Universe pageant for the first time. Twenty-seven-year-old Rumy Alqahtani is due to represent the kingdom. “I am honoured to participate in the Miss Universe 2024 competition. This marks the first participation of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia in the Miss Universe pageant,” Alqahtani posted on her Instagram account earlier this week. This year’s contest will take place in Mexico and will also include Iran, in the first entry for the Islamic Republic. Alqahtani, a model who holds a Bachelor’s degree in dentistry, has been crowned Miss Saudi Arabia and represented the kingdom in a number of pageants. READ: Saudi Arabia to invest $40bn in Artificial Intelligence]]>0