Middle East & North Africa

RAMALLAH, Aug 25 (NNN-WAFA) – A senior Palestinian official, said that, the visits of U.S. officials to the Middle East, aim at using the Arab division to boost the role of Israel in the region.

The United States and Israel are trying to “implement their plans and deals at this particular time, to re-position Israel in the region as a major player and consolidate the dangerous polarisation in the region,” said Hanan Ashrawi, a member of the Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO) Executive Committee, in an emailed press statement.

25 Aug 2020; MEMO: Iraq’s c on Sunday called on the government to take “urgent measures” following Iran’s decision to cut off the waters of Sirwan and Lower Zab that flow into the country.

The head of the Parliament’s Committee on Agriculture, Water and Marshlands, Salam Al-Shammari, declared in a statement: “Cutting off the waters of the two rivers by Iran will cause serious damage to Iraq.”

25 Aug 2020; MEMO: The United Arab Emirates and Israel on Monday agreed to enhance bilateral cooperation in the health sector following an accord between the countries to normalise relations 10 days ago, UAE state news agency WAM said.

The health ministers of the two countries discussed cooperation on pharmaceuticals, medical research, and COVID-19 in a telephone call. A statement from Israel’s Health Ministry added that they agreed on “initial and immediate cooperation” in the health sector.

DUBAI (Reuters) - Talks with the U.N. nuclear watchdog’s chief were constructive, Iran’s top nuclear official Ali Akbar Salehi was quoted as saying on Tuesday, after meeting Rafael Grossi during a visit to seek access for inspectors to two suspected former atomic sites.

Grossi’s trip comes after Washington last week pressed the U.N. Security Council to reimpose sanctions on Tehran that were lifted under Iran’s 2015 nuclear deal with world powers, from which the United States has withdrawn.

25 Aug 2020; MEMO: Two senior Houthi leaders have been pronounced dead during clashes with the Yemeni army in Al Jawf Governorate near Saudi Arabia, Arabi21 reported yesterday.

Deputy Foreign Minister of the Houthi government, Hussein Al-Izzi, announced their death in a tweet, naming them as Major General Ezzi Salah Dahawa and Major General Ruhollah Zaid Ali Musleh.

25 Aug 2020; MEMO: The number of Oman’s expatriate public sector workers have “declined remarkably” over the past year, the Sultanate’s National Centre for Statistics and Information (NCSI) announced yesterday.

25 Aug 2020; MEMO: President Tayyip Erdogan said on Monday Turkey’s navy will not back down as Greece “sows chaos” in the eastern Mediterranean Sea, where the countries have deployed frigates in an escalating rhetorical confrontation over overlapping resource claims.

25 Aug 2020; MEMO: Prominent Muslim American activist Aisha Al-Adawiya has resigned from the UAE-based Forum for Promoting Peace in Muslim Societies (FPPMS) following its support for the Emirates’ normalisation deal with Israel, Anadolu reported yesterday.

JERUSALEM, Aug. 25 (Xinhua) -- Israel struck on Tuesday Hamas' tunnels in Gaza, saying the attack was a response to the earlier launch of explosive balloons from the Palestinian enclave.

In the overnight attack, Tanks, warplanes and others targeted military posts and an underground infrastructure belonging to Hamas in the southern Gaza Strip, a military spokesperson said in a statement.

DAMASCUS, Aug 24 (NNN-SANA) – The Syrian Airlines, on Sunday brought back home 150 Syrians, who were stranded in Qatar, as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The 150 Syrians arrived in the capital Damascus, where they were checked for high temperatures, before being transported to a hotel near the airport, for the COVID-19 testing.

The Syrian interior ministry urged Syrians abroad, who want to return home, to contact the Syrian embassies in their areas and register their names.