Palestine

13 Aug 2021; MEMO: Hamas yesterday rejected Israel's construction plans around the Ibrahimi Mosque in occupied Hebron, describing it as "aggression" against Palestinian sanctities.

Hamas spokesman, Hazem Qassem, told Anadolu that the Israeli plan to change the Ibrahimi Mosque's features and build an elevator is part of "the Israeli ongoing aggression against the sanctities of our people", adding that "the Israeli occupation is trying to falsify reality, history and facts".

13 Aug 2021; MEMO: Construction companies in Israel have been invited to submit tenders for the construction of the Mughrabi Gate Bridge which takes Israelis from the Al-Buraq courtyard (Western Wall) into Al-Aqsa Mosque compounds.

12 Aug 2021; MEMO: Israeli authorities are planning to approve the construction of 2,223 new housing units for settlers in Jewish-only settlements built in the occupied Palestinian West Bank, media sources revealed yesterday.

The government is also planning to advance construction of 863 housing units in Palestinian villages in 'Area C' of the West Bank for the first time in years, Israeli TV Channel 12 and Haaretz newspaper reported.

12 Aug 2021; MEMO: Palestinian Prime Minister Muhammad Shtayyeh yesterday condemned Israel's plans to expropriate Palestinian lands and expand Jewish settlements around the Ibrahimi Mosque in occupied Hebron, the official Palestinian news agency Wafa reported.

Shtayyeh called on "the international community to take urgent action to stop these violations and stop work at the Ibrahimi Mosque."

11 Aug 2021; MEMO: The Palestinian Authority (PA) has welcomed the visit of CIA Chief William Burns to the region, an official has said, noting it aimed to repair US relations with the PA, the Jerusalem Post reported yesterday.

"The visit shows that the Biden administration is serious about restoring Washington's relations with the Palestinians and strengthening the Palestinian leadership under President Mahmoud Abbas," the official, who was not named by the Israeli newspaper, said.

11 Aug 2021; MEMO: Palestinian Mufti of Jerusalem Sheikh Mohammed Hussein yesterday called for rejecting the Judaisation projects at the Ibrahimi Mosque in the occupied West Bank city of Hebron.

In a statement, the Mufti said that the Israeli occupation is planning to build passages, corridors and install an elevator in order to facilitate settler access to the mosque.

11 Aug 2021; MEMO: Palestinian Authority (PA) Prime Minister Mohammad Shtayyeh stressed yesterday that employees who refuse to be vaccinated against COVID-19 will be put on unpaid leave until the pandemic subsides.

Shtayyeh said that this measure is being taken to protect the community against a new wave of coronavirus.

He said the government would impose tight measures and adopt strict plans to avoid a new lockdown, stressing that everyone should take the vaccine.

09 Aug 2021; MEMO: The Palestinian government is suffering from a stifling financial crisis that will prevent it from paying the salaries of civil servants.

Palestinian officials attributed the new financial crisis to Israel's withholding of tax revenues, the decrease in foreign aid and the rise in loans from local banks.

The Palestinian government recently expected its total expenditure for 2021 to reach $5.6 billion, compared to revenues of about $4.6 billion.

09 Aug 2021; MEMO: Hamas said it was "shocked" by the Saudi sentences against Palestinian and Jordanian detainees it has held since 2019.

In a statement issued yesterday, Hamas said: "We were shocked with the rulings issued by Saudi Judiciary against the Palestinian and Jordanian brothers who are living in the Kingdom."

07 Aug 2021; MEMO: The Palestinian Islamic Resistance Movement Hamas on Friday hailed the Lebanese retaliation to Israeli attacks in the south of the country, a statement announced, a copy of which was obtained by MEMO.

"We congratulate and fully support the response made by the Islamic resistance in Lebanon this morning (Friday), and its bombing of sites belonging to the Zionist enemy in response to the crimes of the occupation and targeting Lebanese territories," the statement expressed.