Middle East & North Africa

19 June 2023; MEMO: International donors, on Monday, pledged close to $1.5 billion in humanitarian aid to Sudan and the broader region, responding to a call by the United Nations to boost aid amid a conflict that has forced some 2.2 million people from their homes, Reuters reports.

The United Nations said $3 billion was needed this year for humanitarian relief inside Sudan and for refugees fleeing the country, only a fraction of which had been funded.

19 June 2023; MEMO: Kuwait formed a new government on Sunday, naming Saad Al Barrak as Oil Minister to replace Bader Al-Mulla and re-appointing Finance Minister, Manaf Abdulaziz Al Hajri, AFP reports.

According to the report, Sheikh Ahmad Nawaf Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah, who was re-appointed as Prime Minister last week, formed the new cabinet announced in a decree carried by the state news agency, KUNA.

20 June 2023; MEMO: Israel's opposition is dragging the country into chaos, Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich warned yesterday.

"Last week, we witnessed the ferment of the opposition," Smotrich was quoted by Maariv as saying during his far-right party's meeting.

Smotrich accused the latter of lacking "responsibility and restraint" and "dragging us toward chaos."

20 June 2023; MEMO: Unilateral judicial reform in Israel will end in failure, former army Chief of Staff, Benny Gantz, said yesterday, warning of an escalation of protests and anger on the streets, the Israeli newspaper Maariv reported.

ADDIS ABABA, June 19 (Xinhua) -- Chairperson of the African Union (AU) Commission Moussa Faki Mahamat has issued a statement condemning a terror attack in western Uganda that has killed dozens of students.

In a press statement released late Saturday, Faki said he strongly condemns the heinous and shocking terrorist attack by suspected Allied Democratic Force (ADF) militia that targeted a secondary school in western Uganda, near the border with the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC).

CAIRO (AP) — The United Nations called on countries in the Middle East and Europe on Monday to ramp up aid efforts in Sudan to address the deepening humanitarian crisis.

Sudan has been rocked by fighting for more than two months as the military and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces battle for control of the country. Sudan’s Health Ministry said Saturday that more than 3,000 have been killed in the conflict, which has decimated the country’s fragile infrastructure and sparked ethnic violence in the western Darfur region.

JENIN REFUGEE CAMP, West Bank (AP) — Israeli military forces raided a refugee camp in the northern West Bank on Monday, igniting the fiercest day of fighting in years as Palestinian militants detonated roadside bombs and Israeli helicopter gunships struck Palestinian gunmen to rescue troops trapped in the hourslong firefight.

At least five Palestinians were killed, including a 15-year-old boy, and over 90 others were wounded, Palestinian health officials said. Seven Israeli soldiers were also wounded, the army said.

18 June 2023; MEMO: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Sunday his government will move ahead with its plans for a judicial overhaul this week, according to local media, reports Anadolu Agency.

Speaking at a weekly cabinet meeting, Netanyahu said his government will convene later this week to start "practical steps" towards implementing the judicial reform plans.

18 June 2023; MEMO: Israel gave preliminary approval for the development of a gas field off the Gaza Strip on Sunday while saying it would require security coordination with the Palestinian Authority and neighbouring Egypt, reports Reuters.

If concluded, the agreement would be a boost for the cash-strapped Palestinian economy.

18 June 2023; MEMO: Egypt's President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi is to embark on an official visit to Turkiye following an invitation by his Turkish counterpart and recently re-elected President, Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

News of Sisi's visit was disclosed by Ambassador Salih Mutlu Sen, who currently serves as Ankara's charge d'affaires in Cairo, Daily Sabah reported on Friday.