middle-east
Palestinians say Israeli troops kill 1 in West Bank raids
Israeli forces shot and killed a Palestinian in the West Bank on Thursday, the Palestinian Health Ministry said, as troops elsewhere demolished the home of a Palestinian who gunned down Israelis in an attack earlier this year.
The Ministry identified the man as Ayman Mheisen, 29. The Israeli military said forces operating in the Dheisheh refugee camp in the West Bank city of Bethlehem were pelted with rocks and explosive devices, but didn't elaborate on the kind of explosives. The troops responded with live fire, according to the military.
Also read:Israeli nationalists chant racist slogans in Jerusalem march
Meanwhile, a blast from the home demolition in the West Bank village of Yaabed lit up the night sky early Thursday. Video released by the Israeli military showed soldiers preparing the house for demolition and an explosion ripping through the three-floor building. The military said forces exchanged fire with Palestinian gunmen at the scene.
The Palestinian whose home was demolished methodically gunned down five people in the Israeli city of Bnei Brak in March. Israel uses home demolitions as a deterrent to prevent further attacks. Critics see the tactic as a form of collective punishment.
On Wednesday, Israeli forces killed two Palestinians, including a woman who was said to have been carrying a knife.
Also read:Israel busts Hamas group for terrorist attack schemes
The events come during a wave of Israeli-Palestinian violence, where a spate of Palestinian attacks set off near-daily arrest raids by Israel in the West Bank.
The tensions were further fueled by clashes at a key Jerusalem mosque and the killing of a well-known Palestinian-American journalist. The Palestinians and witness say she was killed by Israeli fire, while Israel says it’s not clear if soldiers or Palestinian gunmen fired the deadly bullet.
At least 19 people have been killed in Palestinian attacks in recent months. At least 35 Palestinians have been killed by Israel. Some were gunmen killed in fighting with Israel, while others were shot while allegedly throwing stones or firebombs at Israeli troops in the West Bank. But an unarmed woman and at least two people who appear to have been bystanders were also among those killed.
Experts: Iran disrupts internet; tower collapse deaths at 34
Iran disrupted internet access to the outside world as angry demonstrators rallied over the collapse of a tower in Iran that has killed at least 34 people, experts said Tuesday as outrage and grief continued to grow in the country.
The disruption has plunged the southwestern province into digital isolation, making it difficult for journalists to authenticate events on the ground and for activists to share footage and organize protests.
It's a tactic the Iranian government has repeatedly employed during times of unrest, rights activists say, in a country where radio and television stations already are state-controlled and journalists face the threat of arrest.
The internet interference in the oil-rich Khuzestan province started in early May, weeks before the fatal collapse, said Amir Rashidi, director of internet security and digital rights at Miaan Group, which focuses on digital security in the Middle East. The province, home to an ethnic Arab population that long has alleged discrimination, was a flashpoint in protests over the sinking economy and skyrocketing prices of food staples.
Disruptions then intensified in the area after the Metropol Building collapse last week, according to data shared by the Miaan Group.
The disaster ignited widespread anger in Abadan, where residents alleging government negligence gathered nightly at the site of the collapse to shout slogans against the Islamic Republic. Videos of the protests have circulated widely online, with some showing officers clubbing and firing tear gas at demonstrators.
The footage analyzed by The Associated Press corresponded to known features of Abadan, some 660 kilometers (410 miles) southwest of the capital, Tehran. The number of casualties and arrests remains unclear.
In response to the protests, Iranian authorities at times completely shut down the internet and other times allowed only tightly controlled use of a domestic Intranet, reported the Miaan Group.
During the day, authorities also appear to have restricted bandwidths to make it very difficult for people to share large files, such as video, without leaving Abadan altogether, said Mahsa Alimardani, a senior researcher at Article 19, an international organization that fights censorship.
Last Friday, as massive crowds took to the streets to chant against top officials, a digital barricade of sorts went up between Iran and the world, data showed. Only certain government-approved national websites could stream content but not websites based abroad.
READ: Iran building collapse kills 11 as mayor and others detained
“There has been a pattern that we’ve seen when it gets dark where Google isn’t working but the website of the Supreme Leader is working well,” Rashidi said.
The Iranian mission at the United Nations did not immediately respond to request for comment.
Meanwhile, rescue workers pulled another body from the rubble on Tuesday, bringing the death toll to 34 amid fears more people could be trapped in the ruins. Five of the victims were school-age children, the official IRNA news agency reported. Another 37 people were injured in the collapse, with two still hospitalized.
Officials have blamed the building’s structural failure on shoddy construction practices, lax regulation and entrenched corruption, raising questions about the safety of similar towers in the earthquake-prone country. Authorities reported they evacuated residents from buildings near the disaster site, fearing structural damage.
The rising political and economic pressures come as talks to restore Tehran's tattered nuclear deal with world powers have hit a deadlock. Hostilities have simmered as Iran accelerates its nuclear program far beyond the limits of the nuclear deal and last week seized two Greek tankers on a key oil route through the Persian Gulf.
In a sign of those rising tensions, Iran's Foreign Ministry sharply criticized the International Atomic Energy Agency on Tuesday over its quarterly report released the day before on Iran's nuclear program.
Foreign Ministry spokesman Saeed Khatibzadeh rebuked the report's findings that Iran's highly enriched uranium stockpile had increased by 18 times since the 2015 nuclear deal as “not fair and balanced.”
The U.N. nuclear watchdog also said that Iran has still failed to explain traces of uranium particles that IAEA inspectors found at former undeclared sites in the country — long a sore point between Iran and the agency despite a recent push for a resolution by June.
Khatibzadeh said the agency's statements “did not reflect the reality of talks between Iran and the agency."
“The agency should be watchful and not destroy the path we walked down, with difficulty," he told reporters in Tehran.
Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian also on Tuesday addressed indirect negotiations with the United States over the collapsed nuclear deal, telling reporters he communicated Iranian concerns to Vice President Kamala Harris through a third party when they were in Munich earlier this year.
Iran has repeatedly demanded guarantees that no future president could unilaterally abandon the agreement, as former President Donald Trump did in 2018. The White House has said it cannot make such a commitment.
Amirabdollahian said he had asked the mediator to "tell Ms. Kamala Harris if a group of rebels are going to take over the White House, could you please let us know."
“Even if rebels take over, they must be committed to international agreements,” Amirabdollahian said.
The White House has not acknowledged any such message.
In a recent interview with France’s Le Figaro newspaper, Omani Foreign Minister Sayyid Badr Albusaidi said his country was “always glad to help” when asked if Muscat was hosting new secret talks between Iran and the U.S. Oman hosted the secret talks that led to the 2015 nuclear deal.
“I am hopeful that we can achieve a new dynamic to reach an agreement,” he said. “It is in the interest of our region and the world.”
Israeli nationalists chant racist slogans in Jerusalem march
Thousands of Israeli nationalists, some of them chanting “Death to Arabs,” paraded through the heart of the main Palestinian thoroughfare in Jerusalem’s Old City on Sunday, in a show of force that risked setting off a new wave of violence in the tense city.
The crowds, who were overwhelmingly young Orthodox Jewish men, were celebrating Jerusalem Day -- an Israeli holiday that marks the capture of the Old City in the 1967 Mideast war. Palestinians see the event, which passes through the heart of the Muslim Quarter, as a provocation. Last year, the parade helped trigger an 11-day war with Gaza militants, and this year's march drew condemnations from the Palestinians and neighboring Jordan.
Also read: Palestinians: Israel deliberately killed Al Jazeera reporter
Israel said it deployed thousands of police and security forces for the event, and violent scuffles between Jewish and Palestinian groups erupted inside the Old City before the parade began.
As the march got underway, groups of Orthodox Jewish youths gathered outside Damascus Gate, waving flags, singing religious and nationalistic songs, and shouting “the Jewish nation lives” before entering the Muslim Quarter. One large group chanted “Death to Arabs,” and “Let your village burn down” before descending into the Old City.
Police cleared Palestinians out of the area, which is normally a bustling Palestinian thoroughfare. At one point, a drone flying a Palestinian flag flew overhead before police intercepted it.
Ahead of the march, Prime Minister Naftali Bennett said that “flying the flag of Israel in the capital of Israel is an obvious thing,” but also urged participants to celebrate in a “responsible and respectful manner.”
Bennett later issued a statement instructing police to show “no tolerance” toward the racist groups. He described them as a “minority that came to set the area on fire” and vowed to prosecute violent extremists — a step that few Israeli governments have taken in the past. Foreign Minister Yair Lapid called the racist groups “a disgrace.”
Thousands of people normally take part in the march through the Muslim Quarter, including some who shout out nationalistic or racist slogans toward the Palestinians, before making their way to the Western Wall in the Jewish Quarter on the other side of the Old City.
Last year, after weeks of Israeli-Palestinian unrest in Jerusalem, authorities changed the route of the march at the last minute to avoid the Muslim Quarter. But it was too late by then, and Hamas militants in Gaza fired a barrage of rockets toward Jerusalem as the procession was getting underway. That set off 11 days of heavy fighting.
Sunday’s march came at a time of heightened tensions. Israeli police have repeatedly confronted stone-throwing Palestinian demonstrators in the disputed compound in recent months, often firing rubber bullets and stun grenades.
At the same time, some 19 Israelis have been killed by Palestinian attackers in Israel and the occupied West Bank in recent weeks, while over 35 Palestinians have been killed in Israeli military operations in the occupied West Bank. Some were armed, while others were shot while allegedly throwing stones or firebombs at troops. But several appear appear to have been uninvolved in any violence, including Shireen Abu Akleh, a well-known correspondent for the Al Jazeera satellite channel.
Jerusalem police were criticized internationally for beating mourners at Abu Akleh’s funeral two weeks ago.
Despite the recent unrest, Israeli leaders decided to allow this year's parade to take place along its traditional route through the Muslim Quarter. Ahead the march, there were small scuffles between Israeli nationalists and Palestinians, who threw chairs and bottles and shouted “God is great” at the marchers. Some marchers sprayed pepper spray at Palestinians and journalists. In one video shared on social media, a young Jewish man kicked and sprayed an older Palestinian woman in the face, sending her crumbling to the ground.
Police also fired rubber-tipped bullets and used clubs and pepper spray to disperse Palestinian protesters from the area.
The Palestinian Red Crescent rescue service said 62 people were injured, including 23 who needed hospitalization.
Israeli police said they arrested over 50 suspects suspected of disorderly conduct or assaulting police officers. It said five officers were injured.
Also read: Israel busts Hamas group for terrorist attack schemes
Ahead of the march, over 2,500 Jews visited Jerusalem’s most sensitive holy site inside the Old City, as Palestinians barricaded inside the Al Aqsa Mosque threw rocks and fireworks.
Al Aqsa is situated on a hilltop compound revered by Muslims and Jews. The mosque is the third-holiest site in Islam, and the Palestinians are fiercely protective over what they consider to be a potent symbol of their national aspirations.
The compound also is the holiest site for Jews, who call it the Temple Mount and revere it as the home of the biblical Temples. The competing claims to the site lie at the heart of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and have triggered numerous rounds of violence.
Police also said one of the Jewish groups “violated visitation rules” and was removed. Israeli media said the group had unfurled Israeli flags in the compound.
Under longstanding arrangements known as the “status quo,” Jews are allowed to visit the compound but not pray. In recent years, however, the number of Jewish visitors has grown significantly, including some who have been spotted quietly praying.
Such scenes have sparked Palestinian fears that Israel is plotting to take over or divide the area. Israel denies such claims, saying it remains committed to the status quo.
Among the visitors was Itamar Ben-Gvir, leader of a small ultranationalist opposition party and a follower of the late racist rabbi, Meir Kahane, who entered with dozens of supporters under heavy police guard.
Palestinians shouted “God is great” as Ben-Gvir, accompanied by Israeli police, shouted “the Jewish people live.” Police said they locked the gates of the mosque and said they made 18 arrests.
Nabil Abu Rdeneh, spokesman for Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, accused Israel of “playing with fire irresponsibily and recklessly.”
Jordan condemned Ben-Gvir’s visit to the site and warned that the “provocative and escalating march” could make things deteriorate further. Jordan controlled east Jerusalem until Israel captured it in 1967 and it remains the custodian over Muslim holy sites.
Israel captured east Jerusalem, including the Old City, in the 1967 Mideast war. Israel has annexed east Jerusalem in a move that isn’t internationally recognized and claims all of the city as its capital. The Palestinians seek east Jerusalem as the capital of a future state.
Gaza’s Hamas rulers praised what they called “the great heroism” shown by Palestinians at Al Aqsa earlier Sunday. “The Islamic Palestinian Arab identity of the Al Aqsa Mosque will be protected by our people and their valiant resistance with all their might,” said Hazem Qassem, a spokesman for the group.
The group, however, may be wary of getting involved in another round of fighting. Gaza was hard hit in last year’s war, and the territory is still struggling to repair the damage. In addition, some 12,000 Gazan laborers are now permitted to work inside Israel as part of efforts to maintain calm between the enemies. Renewed fighting could risk losing those jobs, which have given a small boost to Gaza’s devastated economy.
Sudan's top general lifts state of emergency from coup
Sudan’s leading general lifted a state of emergency Sunday that was imposed in the country following the October coup he led.
The decision by Gen. Abdel-Fattah Burhan, head of Sudan’s ruling sovereign council, came hours after the Security and Defense Council, Sudan’s highest body that decides on security matters, recommended an end to the state of emergency and the release of all detainees.
Also read: Aid group says tribal violence kills 8 in Sudan’s Darfur
The recommendations are meant to facilitate dialogue between the military and the pro-democracy movement, the defense minister, Maj. Gen. Yassin Ibrahim Yassin, said in a video statement. They come as the country faces protests against military rule and an unknown number of activists and former officials remain in detention.
Earlier Sunday, the U.N. envoy for Sudan, Volker Perthes, called for the country’s leaders to lift the state of emergency. He decried the killing of two people in a crackdown on pro-democracy protesters who once again took to the streets of the capital to denounce the Oct. 25 coup.
“Once again: It is time for the violence to stop,” said Perthes on Twitter.
Hundreds of people marched Saturday in Khartoum, where security forces violently dispersed the crowds and chased them in the streets, according to activists. The two were killed during protests in Khartoum’s Kalakla neighborhood. One was shot by security forces and the other suffocated after inhaling tear gas, said the Sudan Doctors Committee, which is part of the pro-democracy movement.
Sudan has been plunged into turmoil since the military takeover upended its short-lived transition to democracy after three decades of repressive rule by former strongman Omar al-Bashir. Al-Bashir and his Islamist-backed government were removed by the military in a popular uprising in April 2019.
Saturday’s protests were part of relentless demonstrations in the past seven months calling for the military to hand over power to civilians. At least 98 people have been killed and over 4,300 wounded in the government crackdown on anti-coup protests since October, according to the medical group. Hundreds of activists and officials in the disposed government were also detained following the coup, many were later released under pressure from the U.N. and other western governments.
The protesters demand the removal of the military from power. The generals, however, have said they will only hand over power to an elected administration. They say elections will take place in July 2023 as planned in a constitutional document governing the transition period.
Also read:UN envoy: Sudan could face economic and security collapse
The U.N., the African Union and the eight-nation east African regional group called the Intergovernmental Authority in Development have been leading concerted efforts to bridge the gap between the two sides and find a way out of the impasse.
Meanwhile, the trial of four activists accused of killing a senior police officer during a protest earlier this year began Sunday amid tight security outside the Judicial and Legal Science Institute in Khartoum. Dozens of protesters gathered in the area in a show of support for the defendants.
The four were detained in raids after police Col. Ali Hamad was stabbed to death as security forces dispersed protesters on Jan. 13. Their defense lawyers deny the allegations.
The court’s judges in Sunday’s proceedings ordered the defendants be medically examined after their lawyers claimed they were tortured and mistreated in police detention. The trial resumes June 12.
Severe water shortages strain wheat harvest in Iraq
Salah Chelab crushed a husk of wheat plucked from his sprawling farmland south of Baghdad and inspected its seeds in the palm of one hand. They were several grams lighter than he hoped.
“It’s because of the water shortages,” he said, the farm machine roaring behind him, cutting and gathering his year’s wheat harvest.
Chelab had planted most of his 10 acres (4 hectares) of land, but he was only able to irrigate a quarter of it after the Agriculture Ministry introduced strict water quotas during the growing season, he said. The produce he was growing on the rest of it, he fears, “will die without water.”
At a time when worldwide prices for wheat have soared due to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Iraqi farmers say they are paying the price for a government decision to cut irrigation for agricultural areas by 50%.
The government took the step in the face of severe water shortages arising from high temperatures and drought — believed to be fueled by climate change — and ongoing water extraction by neighboring countries from the Tigris and Euphrates rivers. All those factors have heavily strained wheat production.
Wrestling with the water shortage, Iraq’s government has been unable to tackle other long-neglected issues.
Desertification has been blamed as a factor behind this year’s relentless spate of sandstorms. At least 10 have hit the country in the past few months, covering cities with a thick blanket of orange dust, grounding flights and sending thousands to hospitals.
“We need water to solve the problem of desertification, but we also need water to secure our food supplies,” said Essa Fayadh, a senior official at the Environment Ministry. “We don’t have enough for both.”
Iraq relies on the Tigris and Euphrates rivers for nearly all of its water needs. Both flow into Iraq from Turkey and Iran. Those countries have constructed dams that have either blocked or diverted water, creating major shortages in Iraq.
Water Resources Minister Mahdi Rasheed told The Associated Press that river levels were down 60% compared to last year.
For Chelab, less water has meant a smaller grain size and lower crop yields.
In 2021, Chelab produced 30,000 tons of wheat, the year before that 32,000, receipts from Trade Ministry silos show. This year, he expects no more than 10,000.
READ: India's Chennai rapid growth threatened by water shortages
His crops are both rain-fed and irrigated via a channel from the Euphrates. Due to low precipitation levels, he has had to rely on the river water during the growing season, he said.
Government officials say change is necessary.
The current system has been inefficient and unsustainable for decades. Water scarcity is leaving them no choice but to push to modernize antiquated and wasteful farming techniques.
“We have a strategic plan to face drought considering the lack of rain, global warming, and the lack of irrigation coming from neighboring countries as we did not get our share of water entitlements,” said Hamid al-Naif, spokesman at the Agriculture Ministry.
The ministry took measures to devise new types of drought-resistant wheat and introduce methods to increase crop yields.
“We are still dealing with irrigation systems of the 1950s. It has nothing to do with the farmers,” he said. “The state must make it efficient, we must force the farmer to accept it.”
Iraqi farmers have historically been heavily dependent on the state in the production of food, a reliance that policymakers and experts said drains government funds.
The Agriculture Ministry supports farmers by providing everything from harvesting tools, seeds, fertilizers and pesticides at a subsidized rate or for free. Water diverted from rivers for irrigation is given at no cost. The Trade Ministry then stores or buys produce from farmers and distributes it to markets.
Wheat is a key strategic crop, accounting for 70% of total cereal production in the country.
Planting starts in October and harvest typically begins in April and extends to June in some areas. Last year, the Agriculture Ministry slashed subsidies for fertilizers, seeds and pesticides, a move that has angered farmers.
Local demand for the staple is between 5-6 million tons a year. But local production is shrinking with each passing year. In 2021, Iraq produced 4.2 million tons of wheat, according to the Agriculture Ministry. In 2020, it was 6.2 million tons.
“Today we might get 2.5 million tons at best,” said al-Naif. That would require Iraq to drive up imports.
Most of the wheat harvest is usually sold to the Trade Ministry. In a sign of the low harvest, so far there are currently only 373,000 tons of wheat available in Trade Ministry storehouses, al-Naif said.
To meet demands amid the recent global crisis in the grain market, the government recently changed a policy to allow all Iraqi farmers to sell their produce to the Trade Ministry silos. Previously, this was limited to farmers who operated within the government plan.
Back in Chelab’s farm, the wheat is ready to be transported to the silo.
“It’s true we need to develop ourselves,” he said. “But the change should be gradual, not immediate.”
Palestinians: Israel deliberately killed Al Jazeera reporter
The Palestinian Authority on Thursday announced the results of its investigation into the shooting death of Al Jazeera journalist Shireen Abu Akleh, saying it had proven she was deliberately killed by Israeli forces as she tried to flee.
The conclusion echoed the results of a preliminary investigation announced nearly two weeks ago and were widely expected. Israel rejected the findings, with Defense Minister Benny Gantz calling them, “a blatant lie.”
Abu Akleh, a veteran Palestinian-American reporter for Al Jazeera’s Arabic service, was shot in the head on May 11 during an Israeli military raid in the city of Jenin in the occupied West Bank.
Witnesses and Palestinian officials have said she was hit by Israeli fire. Israel says she was shot during a battle between Israeli soldiers and Palestinian militants. It says that only a ballistic analysis of the bullet — which is held by the Palestinian Authority — and the soldiers’ guns can determine who fired the fatal shot.
Also read: Independent probe points to Israeli fire in journalist death
Announcing the results of his probe at a news conference in the West Bank city of Ramallah,, Palestinian Attorney General Akram Al Khateeb said he had determined there were no militants in the immediate area where Abu Akleh was located.
“The only shooting was by the occupation forces, with the aim of killing,” he said.
Abu Akleh was in a group of journalists wearing helmets and protective vests marked “press.” Al Khateeb said the army saw the journalists and knew they were journalists.
He accused Israel of shooting Abu Akleh “directly and deliberately” as she tried to escape. He also repeated the Palestinian position that the bullet will not be handed over to the Israelis for study. He said they decided not even to show images of the bullet “to deprive (Israel) of a new lie.”
Al Khateeb said his investigation was based on interviews with witnesses, an inspection of the scene and a forensic medical report.
In a speech later Thursday, Lt. Gen. Aviv Kohavi said it was impossible to know who fired the bullet and once again called on the Palestinians to cooperate to “get to the bottom” of what happened.
Also read: Israeli police beat pallbearers at journalist's funeral
“But there is one thing that can be determined with certainty," the military chief said. "No soldier fired intentionally at a journalist. We investigated that. We checked it. That is the conclusion. There is no other.”
Israel denies targeting journalists and has offered two possible scenarios, saying Abu Akleh was either shot by Palestinian militants who were firing recklessly at an Israeli army convoy or that she was hit by Israeli gunfire aimed at a nearby militant. The military has identified the rifle that may have been used in that scenario, but says it needs to test the bullet to make any final determination.
An AP reconstruction of events has lent support to eyewitnesses who say she was shot by Israeli troops. But a weapons expert interviewed by the AP as part of the reconstruction said that it was impossible to reach a conclusive finding without further forensic analysis.
Palestinian witnesses say there were no militants or clashes anywhere near Abu Akleh. The only known militants in the area were on the other side of the convoy, some 300 meters (yards) from her position. They did not have a direct line of sight, unlike the convoy itself, which was some 200 (meters) away on a long straight road.
Israel has publicly called for a joint investigation with the PA, with U.S. participation, and has asked the PA to hand over the bullet for testing. But the State Department said Wednesday that it had received no formal request for assistance from either side two weeks after her death.
The PA has refused to hand over the bullet to Israel or cooperate with it in any way, saying Israel cannot be trusted to investigate its own conduct. Rights groups say Israel has a poor record of investigating when security forces shoot Palestinians, with cases often languishing for months or years before being quietly closed.
The PA administers parts of the Israeli-occupied West Bank. Hussein Al Sheikh, a top Palestinian official, said Thursday's report would be shared with the U.S. administration. Copies will also be delivered to Abu Akleh's family and to Al Jazeera, he said.
The Palestinians say they will also share their results with international parties, including the International Criminal Court, which launched an investigation into possible Israeli war crimes last year. Israel has rejected that probe as being biased against it and is not cooperating with it.
The severe distrust means the Israeli and Palestinian investigations into Abu Akleh’s death are unfolding separately, with neither likely to accept any conclusions reached by the other.
Each side is in sole possession of potentially crucial evidence. Ballistic analysis could match the bullet to a specific firearm based on a microscopic signature, but only if investigators have access to both. Lt. Col. Amnon Shefler, a military spokesman, told the AP the military has additional footage from that day, but declined to say what it shows or when it would be released, citing the ongoing investigation.
Palestinians are still mourning Abu Akleh, a widely known and respected on-air correspondent who rose to fame two decades ago, during the second Palestinian intifada, or uprising, against Israeli rule. The 51-year-old documented the harsh realities of life under Israeli military rule — now well into its sixth decade with no end in sight — for viewers across the Arab world.
Jenin has long been a bastion of Palestinian militants, and several recent attacks inside Israel have been carried out by young men from in and around the town. Israel has continued to carry out near-daily raids in Jenin since Abu Akleh’s death, which it says are aimed at preventing more.
Israel captured the West Bank in the 1967 war and has built settlements where nearly 500,000 Israelis live alongside nearly 3 million Palestinians. The Palestinians want the territory to form the main part of their future state, but peace talks broke down more than a decade ago, and Israel’s dominant right-wing parties are opposed to Palestinian statehood.
The PA itself is seen by many Palestinians as a corrupt and authoritarian body that aids the occupation by coordinating with Israel on security matters. Any cooperation with Israel on the Abu Akleh investigation would likely spark a popular backlash among Palestinians, who view her as a martyr to both journalism and their national cause.
UN Mideast envoy calls for coordinated, strategic approach to Israeli-Palestinian issue
UN Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process Tor Wennesland on Thursday called for a better coordinated and strategic approach to the Israeli-Palestinian issue.
"We must push beyond the paradigm of managing the conflict and move toward resolving it," he told the Security Council in a briefing.
The persistence of conflict drivers and the absence of real political will to change course have empowered extremists and are eroding the perception among Palestinians and Israelis that a resolution of the conflict is achievable. These dynamics, combined with the financial crisis, are dangerously converging and intensifying, he warned.
While immediate steps to reverse negative trends and support the Palestinian people are essential, a better coordinated and strategic approach by the parties and the international community is needed, he said.
"Economic relief must be expanded and made more sustainable. An agreed and updated regulatory framework for the Israeli-Palestinian economic relationship is not only vital to bringing about meaningful economic dividends for the Palestinians but would add a tangible political perspective to these economic steps," he said. "This approach, however, must be combined with political and security steps that address core conflict drivers and ultimately lead us toward an end to the occupation and the achievement of a negotiated two-state solution."
Also Read: Israel-Palestine conflict: China calls for UN council action, slams US
Recent weeks have been filled with the familiar pattern of daily violence, including armed clashes, settlement expansion, evictions, demolitions and seizures of Palestinian structures, as well as a deadly terrorist attack in Israel, said Wennesland.
Meanwhile, the Palestinian Authority's financial situation, compounded by the constraints of the occupation, the absence of serious Palestinian reforms and unclear prospects for donor support, is dire and requires urgent attention, he said.
In Gaza, efforts by the United Nations and international partners to improve Palestinian lives, and measures by Israel to ease pressure and facilitate more economic activities have enabled the fragile cease-fire to continue. Keeping the calm, however, is neither enough nor sustainable. More needs to be done to alleviate the humanitarian crisis and lift Israeli closures, he said.
Wennesland expressed particular concern over a possible escalation in the West Bank.
"As Jerusalem Day approaches on May 29, with the planned provocative flag march through the Muslim quarter in the Old City, I again urge authorities to take wise decisions to minimize confrontations and the risk of more violent escalation. I reiterate that the status quo at Jerusalem's holy sites must be upheld and respected," he said.
"More broadly, I am extremely concerned that current dynamics, particularly in the occupied West Bank, could spiral out of control at any time. I encourage leaders on both sides to make difficult but critical decisions that will take us back from the brink and help stabilize the situation. The irresponsible and provocative language and incitement to violence must stop," he added.
There are tangible, ongoing arrangements that can be regularized and expanded immediately -- if there is political will, said Wennesland. "I urge, and remain actively engaged with, Israelis, Palestinians, regional states and the broader international community to take action that will lead us back to the path of negotiations, which will end the occupation and establish two states, in line with UN resolutions, international law and bilateral agreements."
Indian, Pakistani killed in UAE gas blast that injured 120
A gas cylinder explosion in Abu Dhabi earlier this week that injured 120 people killed an Indian and a Pakistani national, authorities in those two countries said Thursday.
India's External Affairs Ministry said one Indian died and around 100 were injured in the blast Monday in Abu Dhabi’s Khalidiya neighborhood, just a few blocks from the Emirati capital’s beachfront corniche.
Also read:UAE's long-ailing leader Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed dies at 73
Pakistan's Foreign Ministry said the explosion killed one Pakistani and wounded others. Pakistani diplomats also visited a police station in the capital and said Emirati authorities promised to share more on their investigation.
The United Arab Emirates, a federation of seven desert sheikhdoms on the Arabian Peninsula, faces seasonal fires brought on by the intense heat that bakes this nation each summer. Temperatures hit 34 degrees Celsius (93 degrees Fahrenheit) on Monday.
Also read: UAE authorities order arrests over rare riot at soccer match
In February, authorities say a similar gas cylinder explosion struck the capital at the height of concerns over attacks by Yemen's Houthi rebels.
Indians and Pakistani make up much of the foreign workforce that powers the Emirates.
United Arab Emirates detects first case of monkeypox
Health authorities in the United Arab Emirates detected on Tuesday the country’s first case of the monkeypox virus in a young woman who traveled from West Africa.
The government said little about the patient, but stressed that authorities were investigating her contacts and “taking all necessary measures” to limit the spread of monkeypox.
The statement did not say where the case had been discovered in the federation of seven sheikhdoms, which includes the capital of Abu Dhabi and tourist hub of Dubai.
Read: No Monkeypox cases detected in Bangladesh: BSMMU VC
Throughout the coronavirus pandemic, authorities in the autocratic country similarly had declined to offer a geographic breakdown for COVID-19 cases.
The diagnosis in the UAE marks the first reported case on the Arabian Peninsula. Israel recorded the first reported case in the Middle East earlier this week. The World Health Organization has identified over 100 cases globally.
Read: New Monkeypox Outbreak: What We Know So Far
Cases of the smallpox-related disease have previously been seen only among people with links to central and West Africa. But Britain, Spain, Portugal, Italy, the U.S., Sweden and Canada all reported infections, mostly in young men who hadn’t previously traveled to Africa. France, Germany, Belgium and Australia have also identified cases.
The virus originates in primates and other wild animals and causes fever, body aches, chills and fatigue in most patients. People with severe cases can develop a rash and lesions on the face, hands and other parts of the body.
Israel busts Hamas group for terrorist attack schemes
The Israeli Security Agency said Tuesday it has arrested members of a Hamas group in East Jerusalem over terrorist schemes, including attempts to murder Israeli politicians in early April.
"The suspects planned, among other things, to shoot at Israeli targets and public figures, including lawmaker Itamar Ben-Gvir, manufacture IEDs (improvised explosive devices) and abduct soldiers," the agency, or Shin Bet, said in a statement.
The suspects were also accused of acquiring a drone in order to install explosives on it and use it to attack the Jerusalem light rail, according to the agency.
READ: Hamas, Fatah reject Israeli threats to storm Palestinian cities in northern West Bank
The Israeli State Attorney accused Rashid Rashak, a Hamas militant in East Jerusalem's Old City, and Mansur Tzafadi, a Hamas militant from the neighborhood of Abu Tor, of leading the cell.
Shin Bet said Israeli security forces "will continue to take determined action in order to deal with those involved in terrorism, especially in Jerusalem, to the fullest extent of the law."
Israel captured East Jerusalem and the rest of the West Bank in the 1967 Middle East war and annexed it shortly later, in a move not recognized by most of the international community. The Palestinians wish to build the capital of their state in East Jerusalem.