Middle East & North Africa

6 February 2020; AFP: Three people have died and 179 were injured when a plane skidded off the runway at an Istanbul airport, caught fire and split into three after landing in rough weather.

Live images broadcast on Turkish television showed several people climbing through a large crack in the severed aircraft and escaping onto one of the wings at the rear.

RAMALLAH, Feb 6 (NNN-WAFA) – Palestinian President, Mahmoud Abbas, is to address the UN Security Council (UNSC) next week, over the U.S. Middle East peace plan, known as the Deal of the Century.

Riyad Mansour, permanent representative of Palestine in the United Nations, told the official Voice of Palestine radio that, Abbas will arrive in New York on Monday and address the UNSC on Tuesday.

The senior Palestinian diplomat revealed that Palestine will submit a draft resolution to the UNSC.

TUNIS, Feb 6 (NNN-TAP) – Hundreds of Tunisians, on Wednesday, marched in the centre of the capital Tunis, in protest of the newly unveiled U.S. Middle East peace plan.

The protesters include members of civil society, professional organisations and political parties, as well as, independent activists.

“Palestine is not and will never be for sale,” said Noureddine Taboubi, secretary-general of the Tunisian General Labour Union, organiser of the march.

“Al-Quds (Jerusalem) is the eternal capital of the Palestinian people,” he added.

GAZA, Feb 6 (NNN-WAFA) – The Israeli army decided, on Wednesday, to reduce the allowed fishing zone off the Gaza Strip coast from 15 to 10 nautical miles, said Israeli and Palestinian sources.

The office of the Israeli coordinator of the government’s activities in the occupied West Bank and Gaza Strip said, the permitted area will be reduced to 10 nautical miles.

According to the office, the decision was taken “after security consultations,” following “continued rocket firing and explosive balloons from the Gaza Strip into Israel.”

BEIRUT, Feb 6 (NNN-NNA) – General Confederation of Lebanese Workers (CGTL), said that, 10,000 workers have lost their jobs, while 60,000 employees suffered a 50-percent cut in their salaries, as nationwide protests continue, a local media outlet reported.

Some businesses are taking advantage of the current crisis, to fire employees and make more profits by reducing their costs, CGTL’s Vice President, Hassan Fakih was quoted by Elnashra, an independent online newspaper, as saying.

JERUSALEM (Reuters) - A car ran down a group of Israeli soldiers in Jerusalem early on Thursday in a suspected Palestinian attack and, in a separate incident, Israeli troops shot dead a Palestinian during clashes in the occupied West Bank, authorities said.

Long-simmering Palestinian unrest has been stoked anew by anger at U.S. President Donald Trump’s Middle East peace plan, which was embraced by Israel and rejected by the Palestinians when it was announced last week.

KHARTOUM, Feb. 5 (Xinhua) -- Chairman of Sudan's Sovereign Council Abdel Fattah al-Burhan said his meeting with the Israeli prime minister was in the interests of the country.

"Al-Burhan said his meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was in Sudan's supreme interests and that it was with the knowledge of Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok," Sudanese army spokesman Brig. Amer Mohamed al-Hassan said during a press conference in Khartoum on Wednesday.

RAMALLAH, Feb. 5 (Xinhua) -- Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas is to address the UN Security Council (UNSC) next week over the U.S. Middle East peace plan, better known as the Deal of the Century, a senior Palestinian official announced Wednesday.

Riyad Mansour, permanent representative of Palestine in the United Nations, told the official Voice of Palestine radio that Abbas will arrive in New York on Monday and address the UNSC on Tuesday.

The senior Palestinian diplomat revealed that Palestine will submit a draft resolution to the UNSC.

DAMASCUS, Feb. 6 (Xinhua) -- Syria's air defense was triggered early Thursday by a fresh Israeli missile attack over the capital Damascus, Syrian state TV reported.

The missiles, launched from the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights, targeted areas west of Damascus, as people there heard powerful explosions, said the report.

The air defense intercepted several missiles, and the exact targets are not clear, it said.

BAGHDAD (AP) — The Iraqi government has told its military not to seek assistance from the U.S.-led coalition in operations against the Islamic State group, two senior Iraqi military officials said, amid a crisis of mistrust between Washington and Baghdad after an American strike killed a top Iranian general and an Iraqi militia commander.

The step shows that while the Iraqí leadership’s demands for an immediate removal of American forces have cooled, they are serious about rethinking the strategic relationship, and this is directly affecting military cooperation.