Middle East & North Africa

GAZA, June 6 (Xinhua) -- Former Palestinian Islamic Jihad Secretary General Ramadan Shalah was declared dead by his group on Saturday.

Shalah, a key figure in the political scene, died at 62 after suffering from an incurable disease, said his group in a statement.

Shalah, born in 1958 in Gaza, was one of the founders of the Islamic Jihad group. He lived in Lebanon and had strong ties with Syria.

He was the leader of the group between 1995 and 2018.

RAMALLAH, June 6 (Xinhua) -- Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) on Saturday warned Israel against taking steps towards the practical annexation of West Bank lands.

The PLO's department of defending lands and resisting Israeli settlement unveiled in a report that extremist groups of Israeli settlers joined a chamber of operations that prepares for the annexation plan of West Bank lands on the ground.

06 June 2020; MEMO: Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Thursday that his country will never leave the people of Libya to the mercy of mercenaries and a coup. He told a press conference with Libyan Prime Minister Fayez Al-Sarraj in Ankara that, “History will hold accountable all those who drowned Libya in blood and tears by providing support for the coup leader Khalifa Haftar.”

06 June 2020; MEMO: Libyan army seized on Friday weapons, ammunition, and vehicles purchased by the UAE for warlord Khalifa Haftar, Anadolu Agency reports.

This was revealed after the Libyan Army announced the complete liberation of the capital Tripoli along with the strategic city of Tarhuna from Haftar militias over the last 72 hours.

The UAE is one of the several countries — along with Egypt and Russia — that have supported Haftar’s militias against Libya’s legitimate government.

06 June 2020; MEMO: Turkey on Friday distributed food packages to 120 families in northern Syria, Anadolu Agency reports.

The Disaster and Emergency Management Authority (AFAD) distributed the aid in six villages of Tal Abyad, cleared of terrorists during Turkey’s Operation Peace Spring, the provincial governorate in Turkey’s border province of Sanliurfa said in a statement.

Along with the food aid, face masks and toys were also distributed.

06 June 2020; MEMO: A total of 106 bodies, including children and women, were found in a hospital in freshly liberated Tarhuna city of Libya, Anadolu Agency reports.

The strategically important city, regarded as the last stronghold of warlord Khalifa Haftar, was liberated by the Libyan army on Friday,

Libya’s internationally recognised government has been under attack by Haftar’s forces since April 2019, with more than 1,000 killed in the violence.

ANKARA, June 6 (NNN-ANADOLU) – A Turkish special force boat came under harassment fire, from the Greek side, on the Maritsa River between Turkey and Greece, the governor’s office, of the north-western province of Edirne said, Friday.

The special forces were patrolling the river, when they were targeted by a group of 10 to 12 men, in military camouflage, from the Greek side, said the statement.

The Turkish forces fired warning shots into the air, and the fire ended, it added.

6 June 2020; AFP: Seventeen years after US troops invaded their country and eight months since protests engulfed their cities, Iraqis are sending solidarity, warnings and advice to demonstrators across America.

Whether in Baghdad's Tahrir Square or on Twitter, Iraqis are closely watching the unprecedented street protests sparked by the killing of George Floyd, an unarmed black man who died in Minneapolis as a police officer knelt on his neck.

RAMALLAH, June 6 (NNN-WAFA) – A senior Palestinian official said, the abolition of agreements reached with Israel will not affect investigation of the International Criminal Court (ICC) in the Palestinian territories.

Palestine has explained this to the judges of the ICC Pretrial Chamber, in reply to a letter they wrote to the Palestinian side 10 days ago, noted Palestinian Minister of Foreign Affairs, Riyad al-Maliki, in a statement.

DUBAI (Reuters)- - A wedding party contributed to a new surge in coronavirus infections in Iran, President Hassan Rouhani said on Saturday but insisted the country had no option but to keep its economy open despite warnings of a second wave of the epidemic.

Iran, which has been gradually relaxing its lockdown since mid-April, has reported a sharp rise of new daily infections in recent days. Thursday’s toll of 3,574 new cases was the highest since February, when the outbreak was first reported.