Israeli military: Palestinian man killed after alleged stabbing attempt in West Bank settlement

Israel has expanded near-nightly military raids throughout West Bank in response to an increase in Palestinian attacks. (Reuters)

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Updated 26 May 2023

May 26, 2023 09:12

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Israeli military: Palestinian man killed after alleged stabbing attempt in West Bank settlement

Man tried to stab a resident in the Tene Omarim settlement and was shot by an armed civilian
The settlement is located near Hebron, a flashpoint city in the southern West Bank

Updated 26 May 2023

May 26, 2023 09:12

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JERUSALEM: A Palestinian man was shot and killed on Friday after infiltrating a Jewish settlement in the occupied West Bank, the Israeli army said.
In a statement, the military said the man tried to stab a resident in the Tene Omarim settlement and was shot by an armed civilian. It said the infiltration had set off an alarm and soldiers were scanning the area.
The Palestinian Health ministry confirmed the death but gave no further details.
The settlement is located near Hebron, a flashpoint city in the southern West Bank that is a frequent site of friction between Palestinian residents and Jewish settlers.
The incident occurred as Jews were celebrating Shavuot, a festival marking the day that Jews believe the Torah was given to Moses on Mount Sinai in Egypt.
It was the latest in more than a year-long spate of violence in the West Bank. During that time, Israel has expanded near-nightly military raids throughout the area in response to an increase in Palestinian attacks.
At least 113 Palestinians have been killed in the West Bank and east Jerusalem this year, with nearly half of them members of armed militant groups, according to an Associated Press tally. But stone-throwing youths and people uninvolved in violence have also been killed. The Israeli army said the number of Palestinian militants killed is much higher.
Meanwhile, Palestinian attacks on Israeli targets in those areas have killed 20 people.
Israel captured the West Bank and east Jerusalem, along with the Gaza Strip, in the 1967 Mideast war. Palestinians seek these territories for a future state.

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Miseries pile up for West Bank refugees as UNRWA workers’ strike continues

Updated 33 min 33 sec ago

Mohammed Najib

May 27, 2023 23:21

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Miseries pile up for West Bank refugees as UNRWA workers’ strike continues

Environmental and health disaster feared as piles of garbage accumulate on streets
The UNRWA administration requires urgent intervention to resolve the dispute with the staff and restore life to normal in the camps

Updated 33 min 33 sec ago

Mohammed Najib

May 27, 2023 23:21

RAMALLAH: Palestinian refugee camps in the West Bank face a summer littered with waste due to an ongoing strike, sparking fears about disease outbreaks.

Piles of garbage have accumulated as more than 3,600 UN Relief and Work Agency workers have been on strike since Feb. 20.

Camp residents, who number about 960,000, continue to complain about their dire living conditions, which has also affected healthcare provision and impacted the education of 50,000 students.

The UNRWA claims that it does not have enough funds to raise the salaries of its workers and meet their demands.

The lack of garbage collection, combined with the halting of healthcare services, could lead to an environmental and health disaster with summer approaching, locals fear.

Youssef Baraka, from the Jalazoun refugee camp near Ramallah, told Arab News: “The refugee always pays the bill ... and we live in difficult conditions due to the continuation of the strike.

“Our children are without education, and our patients are without treatment.”

He said that individual efforts were being made to help patients with treatment and provide medical supplies, and that residents were trying to rid camps of garbage themselves where possible.

Taysir Nasrallah, from the Balata refugee camp in Nablus, in the northern West Bank, told Arab News that Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas had set up a committee to meet with the UNRWA Commissioner-General Philippe Lazzarini to find a quick solution to the crisis.

“The UNRWA administration requires urgent intervention to resolve the dispute with the staff and restore life to normal in the camps,” he told Arab News.

The UNRWA was set up in 1949 by the UN General Assembly to assist and protect Palestinian refugees in Jordan, Syria, Lebanon, the West Bank and the Gaza Strip.

Walid Masharqa, from the Jenin camp, said rubbish was piling up and sewage was seeping into the streets, while many basic medicines for chronic diseases are not currently available to residents.

“What is the fault of the Palestinian refugee, in the existence of wars and other humanitarian disasters in the world, for UNRWA to spoof its services to the Palestinian refugees?” Masharqa said to Arab News.

The Palestinian Authority is not allowed to provide services to refugees in the camps, he added.

Adnan Abu Hasna, a spokesman for the UNRWA in the Middle East, told Arab News that talks were continuing with the PA and the Palestine Liberation Organization to solve the strike problem.

Abu Hasna expects all parties to reach a solution soon.

He said that the UNRWA had approved an allowance of $268 for 300 of its employees in East Jerusalem due to its high prices, and employees in the West Bank were demanding the same.

But he said the UNRWA budget was unable bear the additional cost, as its funds have an annual deficit of $70 million.

Abu Hasna referred to the tremendous Saudi support for UNRWA, as it funded it for over 10 years with $1 billion, built entire cities and neighbourhoods and dozens of schools in the Gaza Strip, and saved UNRWA several times from collapse.

“King Salman personally established support for UNRWA since he was the governor of the Riyadh region and president of the Association for the Support of the Palestinian People, and the position of Saudi Arabia in strong support for UNRWA is considered a motivating factor for other countries to support UNRWA,” Abu Hasna told Arab News.

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Topics: Palestine West Bank UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA)

Iraq unveils $17bn transport project linking Europe and Mideast

Iraqi Prime Minister Mohamed Shia Al-Sudani attends a meeting with Transport Ministry representatives in Baghdad on Saturday.

Updated 27 May 2023

AFP

May 27, 2023 22:22

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Iraq unveils $17bn transport project linking Europe and Mideast

Once completed, the $17 billion project known as the ‘Route of Development’ would span the length of the country, stretching 1,200 km from the northern border with Turkiye to the Gulf in the south

Updated 27 May 2023

AFP

May 27, 2023 22:22

BAGHDAD: Iraq on Saturday presented an ambitious plan to turn itself into a regional transportation hub by developing its road and rail infrastructure, linking Europe with the Middle East.
Once completed, the $17 billion project known as the “Route of Development” would span the length of the country, stretching 1,200 km from the northern border with Turkiye to the Gulf in the south.
Prime Minister Mohamed Shia Al-Sudani announced the project during a conference with Transport Ministry representatives from Iran, Jordan, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Turkiye and the United Arab Emirates.
“We see this project as a pillar of a sustainable non-oil economy, a link that serves Iraq’s neighbors and the region, and a contribution to economic integration efforts,” Al-Sudani said. While further discussions are required, any country that wishes “will be able to carry out part of the project,” the Iraqi parliament’s transport committee said, adding the project could be completed in “three to five years.”
“The Route of Development will boost interdependence between the countries of the region,” Turkiye’s ambassador to Baghdad Ali Riza Guney said, without elaborating on what role his country would play in the project.
War-ravaged and beset by rampant corruption, oil-rich Iraq suffers from dilapidated infrastructure.
Its roads, riddled with potholes and poorly maintained, are in terrible condition.
Those connecting Baghdad to the north cross areas where sporadic attacks are still carried out by remnants of the Daesh group.
Al-Sudani has prioritized the reconstruction of the country’s road network, along with upgrading its failing electricity infrastructure.
Developing the road and rail corridor would allow Iraq to capitalize on its geographical position, with the aim of making the country a transportation hub for goods and people moving between the Gulf, Turkiye and Europe.
Work has already started to increase capacity at the commercial Port of Al-Faw, on the shores of the Gulf, where cargo is to be unloaded before it embarks on the new road and rail links.
The project also includes the construction of around 15 train stations along the route, including in the major cities of Basra, Baghdad and Mosul, and up to the Turkish border. The Gulf, largely bordered by Iran and Saudi Arabia, is a major shipping zone, especially for the transportation of hydrocarbons extracted by countries of the region.
Zyad Al-Hashemi, an Iraqi consultant on international transport, cast doubt on the plan to develop the country into a transportation hub, saying it lacks “fluidity.”
“Customers prefer to transport their goods directly from Asia to Europe, without going through a loading and unloading process,” that would see containers moved between ships and road or rail, he said.
Transport is a key sector in the global economy and Iraq’s announcement is the latest in other planned international megaprojects, including China’s “Belt and Road Initiative” announced in 2013 by its President Xi Jinping.
The planned works in that project would see 130 countries across Asia, Europe and Africa connected through land and sea infrastructure providing greater access to China.

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Topics: Iraq

Officials: UN chief ‘shocked’ by letter from Sudan’s military ruler demanding removal of UN envoy

Updated 27 May 2023

May 27, 2023 17:22

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Officials: UN chief ‘shocked’ by letter from Sudan’s military ruler demanding removal of UN envoy

“The Secretary-General is shocked by the letter he received this (Friday) morning,” UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric said
According to the official, Burhan accused Perthes of “being partisan,” and that his approach in pre-war talks between the generals and the pro-democracy movement helped inflame the conflict

Updated 27 May 2023

May 27, 2023 17:22

CAIRO: The United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres was “shocked” by a letter from Sudan’s military ruler, demanding the removal of the UN envoy to the country, Sudanese and UN officials said Saturday.
The letter by Gen. Abdel-Fattah Burhan, Sudan’s top military official and head of the ruling Sovereign Council, comes as Sudan plunged into further chaos after worsening tensions between military rivals exploded into an open fighting last month.
“The Secretary-General is shocked by the letter he received this (Friday) morning,” UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric said. “The Secretary-General is proud of the work done by (UN envoy) Volker Perthes and reaffirms his full confidence in his Special Representative.”
Dujarric didn’t reveal the contents of the letter. However, a senior military official said Burhan’s letter asked Guterres to replace Perthes who was appointed to the post in 2021.
According to the official, Burhan accused Perthes of “being partisan,” and that his approach in pre-war talks between the generals and the pro-democracy movement helped inflame the conflict. The talks had aimed at restoring the country’s democratic transition which was derailed by a military coup in Oct. 2021.
The official spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to brief media.
Perthes declined to comment neither on the letter.
Burhan accused Perthes last year of “exceeding the UN mission’s mandate and of blatant interference in Sudanese affairs.” He threatened to expel him from the country.
The ongoing fighting broke out in mid-April between the military and the powerful Rapid Support Forces, commanded by Gen. Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo. Both Burhan and Dagalo led the 2021 coup that removed the western-backed government of Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok.
The fighting centered in the capital of Khartoum, which was turned into a battleground along with its sister city of Omdurman. The clashes also spread elsewhere in the country, including the war-wracked Darfur region.
The conflict has killed hundreds of people, and wounded thousands of others, and pushed the country to near collapse. It forced more than 1.3 million out of their homes to safer areas inside Sudan, or to neighboring nations.
Sexual violence including rape of women and girls, a common practice in Sudan’s wars and political upheavals, were reported in Khartoum and Darfur since the fighting began.
The Combating Violence Against Women Unit, a government-run group, said on Friday it received reports of at least 24 cases of sexual attacks in Khartoum, and 25 other cases in Darfur.
The unit, which tracks violence against women across the country, said most of survivors reported that the attackers were in RSF uniform and in areas in Khartoum controlled by RSF checkpoints.
The RSF didn’t respond to a request for comment.
Both warring parties have agreed on a weeklong cease-fire, brokered by the US and Saudi Arabia. However, the truce, which is scheduled to expire Monday night, did not stop the fighting in parts of Khartoum and elsewhere in the county.
Residents reported sporadic clashes Saturday in parts of Omdurman, where the army’s aircrafts were seen flying over the city. There was also fighting reported in Al-Fasher, the provincial capital of North Darfur.
Burhan’s letter came after the UN envoy accused the warring parties of disregarding the laws of war by attacking homes, shops, places of worship and water and electricity installations.
In his briefing to the UN Security Council earlier this week, Perthes blamed the leaders of the military and the RSF for the war, saying that they have chosen to “settle their unresolved conflict on the battlefield rather than at the table.”

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Topics: Sudan Unrest UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres Gen. Abdel-Fattah Burhan

Yemeni government resumes airlifts from Sudan

Updated 27 May 2023

Saeed Al-Batati

May 27, 2023 20:13

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Yemeni government resumes airlifts from Sudan

Crackdown on Bahai community condemned by human rights organization
Thousands of Yemenis, including students, have been stuck in Sudan since April 15, when violence erupted between the Sudanese army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces.

Updated 27 May 2023

Saeed Al-Batati

May 27, 2023 20:13

AL-MUKALLA: A Yemenia Airways plane carrying 192 Yemeni evacuees landed at Sanaa airport on Saturday as the Yemeni government resumed emergency flights to evacuate more than 1,200 Yemenis stuck in war-torn Sudan.
The Yemen embassy in Sudan said that the plane carrying 192 people, including 14 newborns, departed Port Sudan at 8:38 a.m., bound for Houthi-held Sanaa. Another plane carrying roughly the same number of people was scheduled to travel to government-controlled Aden later on Saturday.
Thousands of Yemenis, including students, have been stuck in Sudan since April 15, when violence erupted between the Sudanese army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces.
The first set of stranded Yemenis were evacuated by the Saudi navy and transferred to Jeddah, where they were provided with free lodging for two nights before being transported to Yemen by bus.
Yemen’s Foreign Ministry said that seven Yemenia planes would transport 1,250 stranded Yemenis from Sudan to Yemen between Friday and Monday, adding that 750 Yemenis had already been airlifted from Sudan, while 800 were transported from Port Sudan to Saudi Arabia on Saudi ships. The Yemeni government said it would cover all flight costs and assist citizens in extending their passports, obtaining birth certificates for their children, and having their university and high-school certificates authorized.
Thrilled Yemenis published photos on social media as they exited Port Sudan airport.
“After one month and one day of exhaustion in Port Sudan, we are eventually evacuated from Sudan to Sanaa airport,” Fawzy Jamoom wrote on his Facebook page while boarding the plane to Sanaa on Saturday.
Separately, Yemeni government officials and human rights activists criticized a Houthi attack on a gathering of Bahais — a Yemeni religious minority — in Sanaa on Friday and urged the militia to immediately release them and end their persecution of religious minorities and opponents.
Yemen’s Information Minister Muammar Al-Eryani said in a tweet that the Houthis attacked a Bahai sect’s annual gathering in Sanaa, arresting 17 people, including five women, and raiding Bahai homes.
“This heinous crime verifies that the Houthi militia, under Iranian direction, continues its escalation, targeting, and systematic terrorism of religious minorities, particularly the Bahai community, and persecution of its adherents on the basis of their faith,” the minister said.
Since late 2014, he added, the Houthis have arbitrarily abducted Bahais, tortured them, ransacked their homes, seized their offices and other properties, and incited the public against them.
A video that circulated online showed armed and masked Houthis storming a gathering. Women’s screams can be heard in the video.
The Geneva-based SAM Organization for Human Rights and Liberties also condemned the Houthis’ “barbaric and brutal” assault on a group of Bahais, as well as the militia’s other violations of human rights in Sanaa and other areas of Yemen under their control.
“The Houthi group’s daily violations, the most recent of which was the assault on the Bahai community meeting, are merely a microcosm of the deteriorating human rights situation in the areas it controls,” the organization said.

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Topics: Sudan Unrest Yemen Yemeni evacuees

Likely outcomes of Turkish presidential runoff explained

Updated 27 May 2023

MENEKSE TOKYAY

May 27, 2023 16:36

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Likely outcomes of Turkish presidential runoff explained

The new parliament composition is predominantly right-wing, with Islamist and nationalist tendencies
Around 6 million people cast votes for the first time on May 14, while about 50,000 new voters will go to the polls in the second round as they turned 18 after May 14

Updated 27 May 2023

MENEKSE TOKYAY

May 27, 2023 16:36

ANKARA: Turkiye’s hotly contested presidential runoff vote between incumbent President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and the joint opposition candidate Kemal Kilicdaroglu will take place on Sunday, with Turks deciding if they want continuity or change.
Polls will open at 8 a.m. local time and close at 5 p.m., with the results to be announced within an hour.
In the initial round of presidential voting on May 14, Erdogan fell just 0.6 percent short of an outright victory, receiving 49.5 percent of votes, while his rival Kilicdaroglu claimed 44.88 percent and a third candidate, ultranationalist politician Sinan Ogan, bagged 5.17 percent.
Following parliamentary elections on May 14, Erdogan retained a majority of 323 in the 600-seat parliament through his People’s Alliance.
The new parliament composition is predominantly right-wing, with Islamist and nationalist tendencies. The Free Cause Party, or HUDA-PAR, directly affiliated with the Islamist paramilitary organization Hezbollah, managed to win three seats on Erdogan’s list.
During the two-week-long campaign for the second round, secular, pro-Western Kilicdaroglu tried to galvanize his supporters around the devastating economic situation and current nationalist fears. At the same time, he also attempted to win over undecided nationalist voters.
“This is no longer an election, but a referendum on Erdogan,” he repeatedly said. He also pledged to repatriate 3.6 million Syrian refugees in Turkiye. “The border is our honor,” he added.
Around 6 million people cast votes for the first time on May 14, while about 50,000 new voters will go to the polls in the second round as they turned 18 after May 14.
Turkiye saw a high voter turnout of 86.2 percent on May 14, with more than 55 million heading to the ballot box. A similar trend is expected on Sunday.
State media coverage mostly favored Erdogan’s campaign, as about 90 percent of the country’s media is under government control.
On Friday, the government blocked the dissemination of Kilicdaroglu’s cellphone text message campaign.
The same day, Interior Minister Soylu harshly criticized the opposition and said “whoever conducts an American-oriented policy will be considered a traitor.”
Ogan, the third contender of the first round, on Monday announced his support for Erdogan in the runoff vote. Whether his endorsement will tilt the election in Erdogan’s favor is yet to be seen, but not all of his supporters are expected to vote for the incumbent and some might opt to not vote.
Kilicdaroglu is still backed by a broad church of six opposition parties, as well as some fringe opposition parties, from left-wing to ultranationalist groups.
Turnout rates in Kurdish-majority provinces in the east and southeast, as well as in the main heartlands where Erdogan is leading, will determine the outcome. The country’s pro-Kurdish People’s Democratic Party, or HDP, said it will back Kilicdaroglu in the runoff.
The voting pattern of about 8.5 million Turks who abstained from voting in the first round will also influence the result.
Soner Cagaptay, senior fellow at Washington Institute who has written several books on Erdogan’s rule, tipped three likely outcomes of Sunday’s runoff.
“As the least plausible outcome, we can see a fragile Erdogan if he wins by a very narrow margin of around 1 percent. The result will be contested by the opposition. In that case, he would emerge with vulnerability. He may tilt further to Vladimir Putin to secure more foreign currency inflow ahead of next year’s local elections. On the economic side, a fragile Erdogan will continue with his unorthodox model,” he told Arab News.
Cagaptay believes that a fragile Erdogan will result in a more authoritarian rule and more crackdowns domestically, while the country will lean more on Russia and Gulf countries for much-needed inflows.
Turkiye’s official annual inflation rate stands at 43 percent, while the country’s foreign currency reserves fell by $7.6 billion to $60.8 billion in one week, the biggest decrease since 2002.
For Cagaptay, the second outcome could be an “emboldened Erdogan” if he won by a landslide, especially by taking more than 55 percent of the votes.
“In this scenario, he will have more space to validate his policies, including those about foreign policy. He will also use his parliamentary majority to pass controversial legislation demanded by his far-right allies because he will feel vindicated with the vote results,” he said.
The most plausible outcome, according to Cagaptay, is Erdogan winning comfortably, but not by a landslide.
“In that case, business will continue to be as usual. Erdogan won’t feel the need to change his economic and domestic policies, and he will continue pursuing a transactionalist foreign policy. But he will more likely rebalance relations with Europe and the US by being less authoritarian at home.”
If the opposition challenger Kilicdaroglu wins, it is likely to be a narrow victory, and the lack of a parliamentary majority will pose problems in the short term, Cagaptay said.
“Although the parliament has turned largely into a rubber stamp under Erdogan’s new system, with little de facto power, it will still create some complications for a Kilicdaroglu win, for instance with parliamentary commissions and committees which will be largely under Erdogan coalition’s control.
“The parliament is the biggest minefield, but Erdogan will also have a hold over the bureaucracy. Kilicdaroglu’s presidency won’t have a solid legislative mandate. He will not really be able to return Turkiye formally to the old parliamentary democratic system. And because Erdogan will have many loyal appointments in the security and foreign policy bureaucracies, these allies can slow down the reform process,” he said.
“The opposition coalition, having seen that it can win only if it is united, will stay together at least through the 2024 local elections,” he added.
Cagaptay expects economic prosperity, emphasis on the rule of law and institutions, and a return to democratic freedoms and short-term political stability if Kilicdaroglu wins.
“Return to rule of law and institutional autonomy for the central bank will improve the investment environment, triggering large cash flows. Markets will rally and the lira will stabilize eventually,” he said.
Meanwhile, Erdogan told CNN Turk on Thursday that he would show “gratitude” to Arab Gulf states for financial support after the elections.
In February, the president paid his first official visit to the UAE in nine years. This trip was followed by another to Saudi Arabia in April. The two countries deposited billions of dollars in Turkiye’s central bank and made key investments in the country.

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Topics: Turkiye President Recep Tayyip Erdogan Kemal Kilicdaroglu Turkish elections

Israeli military: Palestinian man killed after alleged stabbing attempt in West Bank settlement

Israeli military: Palestinian man killed after alleged stabbing attempt in West Bank settlement

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Miseries pile up for West Bank refugees as UNRWA workers’ strike continues

Israeli military: Palestinian man killed after alleged stabbing attempt in West Bank settlement

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Iraq unveils $17bn transport project linking Europe and Mideast

Iraq unveils $17bn transport project linking Europe and Mideast

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Officials: UN chief ‘shocked’ by letter from Sudan’s military ruler demanding removal of UN envoy

Officials: UN chief ‘shocked’ by letter from Sudan’s military ruler demanding removal of UN envoy

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Yemeni government resumes airlifts from Sudan

Yemeni government resumes airlifts from Sudan

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Israeli military: Palestinian man killed after alleged stabbing attempt in West Bank settlement

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