Palestinians demand Abbas end security deal with Israel after 4 killed

Palestinians demand Abbas end security deal with Israel after 4 killed
Palestinians clash with Israeli border police, at Beit El, near Ramallah, in the Israeli-occupied West Bank on December 8, 2022. (Reuters)
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Updated 08 December 2022

Palestinians demand Abbas end security deal with Israel after 4 killed

Palestinians demand Abbas end security deal with Israel after 4 killed
  • Public mourning was announced in Jenin for the victims killed at dawn on Thursday
  • Palestinian political analyst Hani Al-Masri said on Facebook that Abbas is “confused and is confusing the world with him”

RAMALLAH: Israeli forces killed four Palestinians in Ramallah and Jenin in a 12-hour period, with 15 Palestinians being arrested in the West Bank, leading to growing calls for President Mahmoud Abbas to end security coordination with Israel.
Public mourning was announced in Jenin for the victims killed at dawn on Thursday as the number of Palestinians killed by Israeli forces in the West Bank since the beginning of the year reached 164.
The bloodshed has pushed senior Fatah leaders to call on Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas to immediately halt security coordination with Israel, especially after the country’s election of a far right-wing government under Benjamin Netanyahu that has vowed to subject Palestinians to unprecedented punitive measures.
Abbas told Al Arabiya that “security coordination is part of the agreements, and we have a theory that combating terrorism should be done wherever it is (needed), and here is an important point that no one may know. We concluded agreements to combat terrorism and violence with 85 countries in the world, led by the US, UK, Canada, Russia and Japan.
“Today we signed an agreement with Cyprus; we are, in principle, against terrorism and violence. Also, with Israel, we are against terrorism and violence, but if Israel continues with its actions, why should I complete and be committed to the security agreement? I will cancel my commitment to the security agreement if Israel continues to strike casually.”
When asked why Palestinian security services fail to confront Israeli troops who storm Palestinian cities, Abbas said that the security services “work as much as they can, but I do not want matters to reach the point of armed confrontation (with the Israeli army).”
The Palestinian Authority has about 35,000 security personnel in the West Bank, including the Presidential Guard, National Security, General Intelligence, Military Intelligence, Preventive Security and Civil Police.
Palestinian political analyst Hani Al-Masri said on Facebook that Abbas is “confused and is confusing the world with him.”
He added: “He can abandon them (the security agreements with Israel) at any moment if the Israeli government continues to not abide by them.”
Abbas said that he would deal with the next government under Netanyahu, maintaining his position that “all Israeli governments are the same. All of them commit massacres.”
A Palestinian youth activist in Ramallah told Arab News: “There is no difference between a left-wing government and a right-wing government in Israel when it comes to killing Palestinians. Israel’s Defense Minister Benny Gantz, a friend of Mahmoud Abbas, has overseen the killing of scores of Palestinians since the beginning of the year.”
Security experts told Arab News that due to Palestinian security coordination with Israel, recruitment in the state’s security forces has slumped over the past year.
Taysir Nasrallah, a member of the Fatah Revolutionary Council in Nablus, told Arab News that it has become “shameful and embarrassing for us as Palestinians and for the PA to continue security coordination in the face of the continuation of crimes and field executions of Palestinians by Israel.
“Security coordination must be stopped immediately, whatever the justifications for its continuation by the PA. It has become a personal demand for the sake of national dignity,” he said.
Nasrallah added that the issue was discussed during the Fatah Revolutionary Council meeting in Ramallah earlier this week.
Jamal Hweil, a member of the council from the Jenin refugee camp, told Arab News: “I advise Abbas to stop the security coordination immediately because the occupation has not and will not change its policy toward the Palestinians, and as (former Israeli premier) Ben-Gurion said, had it not been for the Deir Yassin massacre, there would have been no state called Israel.”
The Deir Yassin massacre took place on April 9, 1948, when about 130 fighters from the Zionist paramilitary groups Irgun and Lehi killed at least 107 Palestinian Arabs, including women and children, in Deir Yassin, a village of about 600 people near Jerusalem.
Hweil said that continuing security coordination with Israel means “giving the Israeli army bullets to shoot and kill the Palestinians.”
Ahmed Ghuneim, a prominent Fatah leader in East Jerusalem, told Arab News that the PA should have stopped security coordination long ago because “there is nothing left of the Oslo Accords but to participate in protecting Israel’s security.”
Ghuneim said that the desire of Palestinian officials to “remain in power” is behind the PA’s continued support for security coordination with Israel, despite the latter committing daily violence against Palestinians.


Hundreds flee fighting in Yemen’s Marib province

Hundreds flee fighting in Yemen’s Marib province
Updated 39 sec ago

Hundreds flee fighting in Yemen’s Marib province

Hundreds flee fighting in Yemen’s Marib province
  • Fighting has raged between Yemeni forces and the Houthis over the last 10 days in the Harib district, south of Marib, and Merkhah Al-Ulya area, in the southern province of Shabwa
  • The government’s Shabwa Defense Forces said on Tuesday that they had repulsed a Houthi assault in Merkhah Al-Ulya and shot down a militia drone

AL-MUKALLA: Hundreds of Yemenis have been forced from their homes in the central province of Marib as the Houthis continued to attack government troops, according to the UN International Organization for Migration.

Fighting has raged between Yemeni forces and the Houthis over the last 10 days in the Harib district, south of Marib, and Merkhah Al-Ulya area, in the southern province of Shabwa, leaving scores of fighters dead or injured.

Between March 19 and 25, the IOM reported that 235 families (1,410 people) had been displaced in Marib, Hodeidah, and Taiz, while 2,030 families (12,180 people) had been relocated to different Yemeni provinces since January.

A UN-brokered truce that came into force in April last year resulted in a major decrease in hostilities in battlefields around the country, particularly in Marib, as well as a significant fall in internal displacements and civilian deaths.

But recent Houthi strikes against government troops in Harib, and for the first time in a year attacks on loyalists, in Merkhah Al-Ulya, have shattered hopes of a peace pact to end the conflict.

The government’s Shabwa Defense Forces said on Tuesday that they had repulsed a Houthi assault in Merkhah Al-Ulya and shot down a militia drone.

Meanwhile, Yemeni government officials and the Houthis have said that they would begin exchanging hundreds of captives on April 11 in a three-day operation that would be carried out by the UN and the International Committee of the Red Cross.

Both sides agreed during the last round of prisoner-swap talks, that ended on March 20 in Switzerland, to exchange 887 detainees during the holy month of Ramadan.

Under the deal, the Yemeni government would hand over 706 Houthi prisoners for 181 government ones, including a former defense minister and four journalists condemned to death by the Houthis, and 19 coalition prisoners.

Majed Fadhail, deputy minister of human rights and a member of the government’s delegation, told Arab News that on the first day, an ICRC aircraft would transport Yemeni government prisoners, including Defense Minister Mahmoud Al-Subaihi and the former president’s brother Nasser Mansour Hadi, from the Houthi-held Sanaa airport to Aden, before returning to Sanaa with Houthi prisoners.

On the second day, a plane would take captives of the Arab coalition from Sanaa to Saudi Arabia.

And on the final day, an aircraft would transport further government captives, including the four journalists, to Marib city before returning to Sanaa with Houthi inmates.

Abdulkader Al-Murtada, head of the Houthis’ prisoner exchange committee, said this week that they and the Yemeni government delegation had agreed to create committees that would visit prisons in Sanaa and Marib and that a fresh round of prisoner-swap talks would begin in May.

Al-Murtada added that the process would last three days, and that the ICRC would charter prisoners from Sanaa airport to airports in Aden, Riyadh, and Marib.

Separately, Yemeni officials and rights groups said the Houthis had increased their assault on inhabitants of the old city of Ibb who had participated in a rare anti-militia rally.

Activists on social media shared images of at least seven individuals recently kidnapped by the Houthis for attending the burial of a famous internet activist in Ibb and said that the Houthis were continuing to deploy military personnel and search properties in and around Ibb.

On Thursday, the burial of Hamdi Abdel-Razzaq, popularly known as Al-Mukahal, an influencer kidnapped by the Houthis in October for denouncing corruption, turned into a protest against Yemeni militia in Ibb.


Lebanon airport expansion sparks transparency concerns

Lebanon airport expansion sparks transparency concerns
Updated 37 min 40 sec ago

Lebanon airport expansion sparks transparency concerns

Lebanon airport expansion sparks transparency concerns
  • Public Works and Transportation Minister Ali Hamieh said the private sector would fund the $122 million project, which would "create around 2,500 jobs"
  • Civil society groups and some lawmakers have decried opacity in the tender process and a lack of involvement of the Public Procurement Authority

BEIRUT: Civil society organizations and lawmakers in crisis-hit Lebanon have raised concerns over the awarding of a multi-million dollar contract to build and operate a second terminal at Beirut’s international airport.
Cash-strapped Lebanon announced last week that private company Lebanese Air Transport and Irish firm daa International would partner for the revamp.
Public Works and Transportation Minister Ali Hamieh said the private sector would fund the $122 million project, which would “create around 2,500 jobs.”
The firms would operate the terminal for a 25-year period, he added.
But civil society groups and some lawmakers have decried opacity in the tender process and a lack of involvement of the Public Procurement Authority.
“Marginalizing or disregarding” the role of the authority undermines the effectiveness of Lebanon’s 2021 public procurement law, 10 civil society groups said in a statement Tuesday.
Last week the groups, including Transparency International Lebanon, warned in a statement of “serious abuses” in the procurement law’s application which “open the door to corruption and nepotism.”
Jean Ellieh, head of the authority, confirmed to AFP on Wednesday that “the contract did not pass through” the regulatory body as it should have according to the 2021 law.
Some have also questioned how a caretaker government with limited powers could announce such a major infrastructure project, in a country where entrenched political barons are accused of systemic corruption.
Lawmaker Mark Daou argued on Twitter that awarding the contract went beyond the caretaker government’s prerogatives. Other MPs have also raised concerns.
The Court of Audit is expected to rule on the contract’s legality following the outcry.
In late 2019, Lebanon plunged into an economic crisis that the World Bank has dubbed one of the planet’s worst in modern times.
Amid persistent political deadlock, the country has been without a president for almost five months, while the government has operated in a caretaker capacity since May last year.
The economic meltdown has pushed most of the population into poverty while the political elite, widely blamed for the country’s financial collapse, has failed to take action.
A visiting International Monetary Fund delegation said last week that Lebanon was “at a very dangerous moment,” criticizing slow progress on reforms needed to unlock billions in emergency loans.
In a statement, the IMF noted that Lebanon’s 2021 procurement law “should be implemented promptly.”
The new airport terminal, set to cater to low-cost carriers and charter flights, is expected to be able to receive around 3.5 million passengers a year, according to public works minister Hamieh.
Work is expected to start next year, with the terminal set to become operational by March 2027, according to daa International.


King of Jordan assures Lebanon’s FM of nation’s support for country and its people

Jordan’s King Abdullah II receives Lebanon’s Foreign Minister Abdallah Bou Habib at Al-Husseiniya Palace in Amman.
Jordan’s King Abdullah II receives Lebanon’s Foreign Minister Abdallah Bou Habib at Al-Husseiniya Palace in Amman.
Updated 29 March 2023

King of Jordan assures Lebanon’s FM of nation’s support for country and its people

Jordan’s King Abdullah II receives Lebanon’s Foreign Minister Abdallah Bou Habib at Al-Husseiniya Palace in Amman.
  • They also discussed bilateral ties, and the plight of Syrian refugees and the burdens shouldered by the countries that host them

AMMAN: Jordan’s King Abdullah II met Lebanese Foreign Minister Abdallah Bou Habib at Al-Husseiniya Palace on Wednesday.
The king assured his guest of his country’s continuing support for Lebanon and its people, as they discussed the deep-rooted bilateral ties between their nations and ways in which cooperation might be expanded across all fields, the Jordan News Agency reported.
In addition, they talked about the plight of Syrian refugees and the burdens shouldered the countries that host large numbers of them, as well as the need for the international community to step up its support for this. According to UN estimates, more than 852,000 Syrian refugees are living in Lebanon and more than 663,000 in Jordan.
Jordan’s deputy prime minister and foreign minister, Ayman Safadi, and Jafar Hassan, director of the king’s office, were also present at the meeting.


GCC secretary-general condemns Israeli settlers’ storming of Al-Aqsa Mosque

GCC secretary-general condemns Israeli settlers’ storming of Al-Aqsa Mosque
Updated 29 March 2023

GCC secretary-general condemns Israeli settlers’ storming of Al-Aqsa Mosque

GCC secretary-general condemns Israeli settlers’ storming of Al-Aqsa Mosque

RIYADH: Secretary-General of the Gulf Cooperation Council Jassem Mohamed Albudaiwi has condemned in the strongest terms Israeli settlers’ storming of Al-Aqsa Mosque, under the protection of the Israel Defense Forces.

Albudaiwi underlined that the Israeli aggression during Ramadan constitutes a dangerous escalation, flagrant violation of international law and relevant resolutions, and the historical and legal status quo in Jerusalem and its holy sites, as well as a provocation to Muslims worldwide.

The GCC secretary-general called on the international community to immediately intervene to stop the violations and intensify efforts to push the peace process forward, stressing the GCC’s unaltered position, which places the Palestinian cause on top of its priorities and calls for the establishment of an independent Palestinian state along the June 4, 1967 border lines, with East Jerusalem as its capital.

Saudi Arabia also condemned the storming of Al-Aqsa Mosque by Israeli settlers.

The Kingdom’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs issued a statement, saying: “The Ministry of Foreign Affairs expresses Saudi Arabia’s condemnation and rejection of the blatant storming carried out by Israeli settlers into the courtyards of Al-Aqsa Mosque, amid the protection of the Israeli occupation forces, stressing that these practices undermine peace efforts and violate international principles and norms regarding respect for religious sanctities.

“The ministry reiterates the Kingdom’s firm stance in supporting all efforts aimed at ending the occupation and reaching a just and comprehensive solution to the Palestinian cause, that enables the Palestinian people to establish their independent Palestinian state on the 1967 borders with East Al-Quds (East Jerusalem) as its capital,” it added.


Netanyahu, Biden exchange frosty words over Israel legal overhaul

Netanyahu, Biden exchange frosty words over Israel legal overhaul
Updated 29 March 2023

Netanyahu, Biden exchange frosty words over Israel legal overhaul

Netanyahu, Biden exchange frosty words over Israel legal overhaul
  • Exchange a rare bout of public disagreement between the two close allies and signals building friction between Israel and the US

JERUSALEM: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Wednesday rebuffed President Joe Biden’s suggestion that the premier “walks away” from a contentious plan to overhaul the legal system, saying the country makes its own decisions.
The exchange was a rare bout of public disagreement between the two close allies and signals building friction between Israel and the US over Netanyahu’s judicial changes, which he postponed after massive protests.
Asked by reporters late Tuesday what he hopes the premier does with the legislation, Biden replied, “I hope he walks away from it.” The president added that Netanyahu’s government “cannot continue down this road” and urged compromise on the plan roiling Israel. The president also stepped around US Ambassador Thomas Nides’ suggestion that Netanyahu would soon be invited to the White House, saying, “No, not in the near term.”
Netanyahu replied that Israel is sovereign and “makes its decisions by the will of its people and not based on pressures from abroad, including from the best of friends.”
The frosty exchange came a day after Netanyahu called for a halt to his government’s contentious legislation “to avoid civil war” in the wake of two consecutive days of mass protests that drew tens of thousands of people to Israel’s streets.
“Hopefully the prime minister will act in a way that he can try to work out some genuine compromise. But that remains to be seen,” Biden said to reporters as he left North Carolina to return to Washington.
Netanyahu and his religious and ultranationalist allies announced the judicial overhaul in January just days after forming their government, the most right-wing in Israel’s history.
The proposal has plunged Israel into its worst domestic crisis in decades. Business leaders, top economists and former security chiefs have all come out against the plan, saying it is pushing the country toward dictatorship.
The plan would give Netanyahu, who is on trial on corruption charges, and his allies the final say in appointing the nation’s judges. It would also give parliament, which is controlled by his allies, authority to overturn Supreme Court decisions and limit the court’s ability to review laws.
Critics say the legislation would concentrate power in the hands of the coalition in parliament and upset the balance of checks and balances between branches of government.
Netanyahu said he was “striving to achieve via a broad consensus” in talks with opposition leaders that began Tuesday.
Yair Lapid, the opposition leader in Israel’s parliament, wrote on Twitter that Israel was the US’s closest allies for decades but “the most radical government in the country’s history ruined that in three months.”