Middle East & North Africa

26 Mar 2023; MEMO: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu today fired his Defence Minister Yoav Gallant after the latter criticised the planned judicial reforms, Netanyahu's office announced.

Agriculture Minister Avi Dichter is expected, Israeli media said, to replace Gallant, who is still a Knesset member.

Netanyahu said that he lost trust in Gallant after he "went behind the government's back," referring to his call to freeze the planned judicial overhaul.

27 Mar 2023; MEMO: The Kuwaiti Ministry of Education will lay off more than 2,000 expatriate teachers and department heads in 14 specialisations by the end of the current academic year 2022-2023, Kuwait's Al-Qabas newspaper reported.

27 Mar 2023; MEMO: The UAE strongly condemned on Sunday Israel's decision to allow Jewish settlers to go back to illegal settlements in the occupied West Bank from which they had been removed under the 2005 "disengagement law". Amendments to the law have been passed by the Israeli parliament, the Knesset.

27 Mar 2023; MEMO: Israeli occupation forces have enforced a complete siege on the city of Nablus in the northern occupied West Bank, after an attack on soldiers stationed at a checkpoint in the town of Huwara, south of the city.

On Saturday evening, Israeli occupation forces closed all entrances to Nablus and prevented entry and exit from the city under the pretext of searching for the perpetrators of the attack.

27 Mar 2023; MEMO: The foreign ministers of Iran and Saudi Arabia are to meet during the holy month of Ramadan, according to an announcement today by the official Saudi Press Agency (SPA).

27 Mar 2023; MEMO: A senior Israeli security official said on Sunday evening that the police have lost control of the demonstrations taking place in various parts of the country in protest against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's dismissal of Defence Minister Yoav Gallant, local media have reported. Netanyahu sacked Gallant at the weekend following the latter's demand for the government to halt the controversial judicial reform law.

27 Mar 2023; MEMO: Israeli President Isaac Herzog has demanded that the government's judicial reform plan should be stopped immediately. Herzog's demand came in a written statement, a copy of which was obtained by Anadolu, after more huge protests across the country against the government's plans.

27 Mar 2023; MEMO: Israeli technology company CNG Labs was warned by the US on Friday when it was added to Washington's "red-flag" list. The list includes companies, organisations and individuals in foreign countries whose equipment cannot be entirely verified as being destined for legitimate customers to be used for legitimate purposes.

27 Mar 2023; MEMO: Israeli police have warned of the threat of violent clashes between protestors demonstrating against the judicial overhaul and supporters of the far-right government. Senior police sources told Haaretz that they fear "immediate escalation" after extreme right-wing activists announced that they will protest today at the Israeli Knesset (parliament).

27 Mar 2023; MEMO: Iraq's Parliament approved, on Monday, amendments to the elections law, a move that has angered independent lawmakers and small parties who say the new legislation could weaken their chances, Reuters reports.

The amendments abandon an election law under which the last parliamentary election was held in 2021, in response to pressure from anti-government protests demanding fairer election law and the departure of Iraq's ruling elite.