Middle East & North Africa

ISTANBUL, Feb 1 (NNN-ANADOLU) – Turkish President, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, said, Turkey might consider launching a military operation, if the bombardments in Syria’s province of Idlib continue.

“We sincerely want stability in Syria and will not hesitate to do whatever it takes, including using military force,” Erdogan said in Ankara.

The Syrian government forces, backed by Russia, have been carrying out airstrikes in Idlib, the last stronghold of rebels in Syria, forcing civilians to leave their homes.

BEIRUT (Reuters) - Turkish-backed Syrian rebels attacked government-held positions northeast of Aleppo on Saturday, rebel sources and a war monitor said, opening a new front against Syrian army forces that have made significant advances in nearby Idlib over the last week.

The attack was focused on territory near the city of al-Bab, which has been controlled by Turkey and its Syrian opposition allies since 2017. Syrian state media made no mention of a new attack. Turkish forces were not taking part, rebel sources said.

GAZA, Feb 1 (NNN-WAFA) – A senior Hamas official, called on the Palestinian Authority, to withdraw its recognition of Israel, in response to the U.S. Middle East peace plan.

Palestinians “should upgrade the stage of all types of comprehensive resistance, to topple the U.S. deal,” Khalil al-Hayyah, deputy chief of Hamas, told worshippers at a mosque in Gaza city.

“Everyone should know that there are strong men in Palestine, who know how to defend their land with all their powers,” said al-Hayyah.

CAIRO, Feb 1 (NNN-MENA) – Palestinian President, Mahmoud Abbas and Arab League (AL) Secretary General, Ahmed Aboul-Gheit, discussed the developments on the Palestinian issue, especially the recent U.S. peace plan.

During their meeting in Cairo, Aboul-Gheit affirmed that “the Arabs represent a supportive backup to the Palestinians,” according to a statement by AL.

AMMAN, Jan. 31 (Xinhua) -- Thousands of Jordanians gathered in several parts of the capital Amman to protest the new Middle East peace plan announced by U.S. President Donald Trump.

During a rally in downtown Amman on Friday, thousands of Jordanian activists and members of political parties came together to slam the U.S. plan.

Chanting slogans against the U.S. and Israel, they called on the government to take action and urged Arab states to take a unified stance in the face of the deal.

BAGHDAD, Jan. 31 (Xinhua) -- A total of five shells struck Friday a military base housing U.S. forces in Iraq's northern province of Nineveh, the Iraqi military said.

The attack took place in the night when the shells landed on al-Qayyara air base in south of the provincial capital city of Mosul, the media office affiliated with the Iraqi Joint Operations Command said in a statement.

The were no human or material casualties by the attack, the statement said.

31 Jan 2020; MEMO: The Algerian foreign ministry has issued a statement affirming its commitment to the establishment of an independent Palestinian state with East Jerusalem as its capital.

The ministry has reiterated Algeria’s “strong and permanent support for the Palestinian cause and the inalienable rights of the Palestinian people to establish an independent and sovereign Palestinian state with East Jerusalem as its capital.”

31 Jan 2020; MEMO: Palestine on Thursday cancelled the 1995 Oslo Accords signed with Israel, Anadolu reports.

“Israel has been informed that the Palestinian administration will not adhere to the agreements between them,” the Palestinian Authority’s Minister of Civil Affairs Hussein al-Sheikh said in a televised interview with Al-Jazeera.

Sheikh also expressed hope that Arab and Islamic countries will be a force that supports the Palestinian attitude.

31 Jan 2020; MEMO: Legal rights centre Adalah has slammed the Trump administration’s “peace plan” for its endorsement of the “forced transfer” of 260,000 Palestinian citizens of Israel.

ISTANBUL (Reuters) - Turkey may launch a military operation into Syria’s northwestern Idlib province if the situation is not resolved immediately, President Tayyip Erdogan said Friday as attacks by Russia-backed Syrian government forces risked a new wave of refugees.

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s forces, backed by Russian air power, have since last week rapidly advanced on Idlib. They have taken dozens of towns, including the key city of Maarat al-Numan, upending the last major rebel-held stronghold in Syria’s nearly nine-year war.