Middle East & North Africa

RAMALLAH, Aug 5 (NNN-WAFA) – A senior Palestinian official said, Israel is accelerating its move to implement the annexation of the West Bank.

Walid Assaf, head of the National Commission to Resist the Wall and Settlements in the West Bank, told reporters that, the West Bank witnesses unprecedented Israeli escalation, mainly the confiscation of lands and settlement expansion.

“The Israeli government officially postponed the implementation of its annexation plan, but what is happening on the ground is, a large preparation for implementing the plan,” he said.

BEIRUT (Reuters) - Initial investigations indicate years of inaction and negligence over the storage of highly explosive material in Beirut port caused the blast that killed over 100 people on Tuesday, an official source familiar with the findings said.

The prime minister and presidency said on Tuesday that 2,750 tonnes of ammonium nitrate, used in fertilisers and bombs, had been stored for six years at the port without safety measures.

BEIRUT (AP) — Residents of Beirut awoke to a scene of utter devastation on Wednesday, a day after a massive explosion at the port sent shock waves across the Lebanese capital, killing at least 100 people and wounding thousands.

Smoke was still rising from the port, where a towering grain silos had been shattered. Major downtown streets were littered with debris and damaged vehicles, and building facades were blown out.

04 Aug 2020; MEMO: The Turkish Foreign Ministry yesterday condemned an oil agreement concluded between an US-based company and the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) on the development of oil fields in northeastern Syria, Anadolu reported.

The Turkish Foreign Ministry said in a statement that the deal “ignores international law”, adding that Kurds have clearly demonstrated their ambition to secede from Syria by seizing the natural resources of its people.

04 Aug 2020; MEMO: As the African Union mediated a new round of Renaissance Dam negotiations at the beginning of this week, Egyptians on social media blamed President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi for the crisis.

Egypt, Ethiopia and Sudan have disagreed for years, primarily on how Ethiopia will fill the dam in order to maintain enough water for the upstream countries.

Egypt and Sudan are worried that if Ethiopia fills the dam too quickly, they will not have enough water.

04 Aug 2020; MEMO: The spokesperson for Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), Brigadier General Ramadan Sharif, said the Islamic Republic’s military capabilities and level of deterrence have evolved despite the arms embargo and economic sanctions imposed on the country, local media reported.

04 Aug 2020; MEMO: The world’s largest plane landed in Tel Aviv airport yesterday, carrying a cargo of US military trucks to be loaded with an Israeli air defence system.

The massive Antonov An-225 carrying ‘OshKosh’ trucks were fitted with Iron Dome missile defence system batteries before leaving Israel.

The Unit for International Transport of the Directorate of Production and Procurement in the Israeli Ministry of Defence was involved in bringing the Antonov plane to Israel, the ministry announced.

04 Aug 2020; MEMO: Egypt was forced to deny that its iconic pyramids were built by aliens after claims made on Twitter by US billionaire Elon Musk went viral this weekend.

In a tweet, the eccentric billionaire claimed that the pyramids in Egypt were “obv” built by aliens, to which the Egyptian government extended an invitation to Musk to visit the famous landmark himself to see that it was in fact ancient Egyptians who built them with their own hands.

04 Aug 2020; MEMO: Egyptian churches yesterday reopened and held the first mass after a four-month hiatus that aimed to prevent the spread of the novel coronavirus among churchgoers, the Coptic Orthodox Church said in a statement.

The churches’ reopening is accompanied by strict health and safety protocol and comes as an implementation of the Cabinet Council’s decision, which was followed by instructions by Pope Tawadros of the Coptic Orthodox Church.

Israel launched air strikes on Syrian military targets in southern Syria late yesterday, after thwarting an attack near the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights, Reuters reported.

04 Aug 2020; MEMO: According to the state-run news agency Sana, Israeli helicopters fired rockets at Syrian army positions near Quneitra in the south but caused only material damage.

It also said air defences had gone into action near the Syrian capital.