Middle East & North Africa

02 Jan 2023; MEMO: The new Israeli government is preparing a package of sanctions against Palestinians, including the withdrawal of VIP cards granted to Palestinian Authority (PA) officials, Quds Press reported on Sunday.

The planned Israel sanctions are a response the UN approval on Friday of a resolution requesting the International Court of Justice evaluate Israel's "annexation" policies and the "legal status of the occupation."

02 Jan 2023; MEMO: The National Coalition of Syrian Revolution and Opposition Forces will hold a meeting with Turkish officials on Monday to discuss the recent rapprochement between Ankara and the Syrian regime of President Bashar Al-Assad, media sources reported.

The meeting comes at a time as political rapprochement between Turkiye and the Syrian regime is accelerating at a fast pace, which has caused concern within the Istanbul-based body.

02 Jan 2023; MEMO: A former official of Ennahda Movement, Samir Dilou, expressed on Sunday his astonishment at President Kais Saied's claim of a plot to assassinate him.

Dilou said the claim about the existence of a person plotting to assassinate the president is dubious after all efforts to establish the identity of this person have failed.

JERUSALEM, Jan 2 (NNN-INA) – The new Israeli government will soon abolish taxation on disposable plastic utensils, the Finance Ministry said yesterday, despite public health concerns.

This is one of the first two decisions taken by Finance Minister, Bezalel Smotrich, leader of the Religious Zionist Party, after the new Israeli government was sworn in on Thursday. His other decision was to cancel the tax on high-sugar drinks.

ISTANBUL, Jan 2 (Reuters) - The Turkish trade deficit widened 138.4% from the previous year to $110.19 billion in 2022, the Trade Ministry said on Monday, with exports rising 12.9% to $254.2 billion and imports jumping 34.3% to $364.4 billion.

In December, the trade deficit widened 52% from a year earlier to $10.381 billion, with exports up 3.1% to $22.92 billion and imports rising 14.6% to $33.30 billion.

ISTANBUL, Jan 2 (Reuters) - Turkey's exports rose 12.9% to $254.2 billion last year, the country's highest level ever, President Tayyip Erdogan said on Monday.

Speaking at an event, Erdogan said exports to the European Union increased by 12% in 2022, while some 10,000 companies completed their first exports in the same period.

BAGHDAD, Jan. 2 (Xinhua) -- Iraq exported about 103 million barrels of crude oil in December, generating 7.6 billion U.S. dollars in revenue, the country's oil ministry announced Monday.

The average price for Iraqi crude oil in December was 73.64 dollars per barrel, the ministry said in a statement, citing statistics from the State Organization for Marketing of Oil.

TRIPOLI, Jan. 1 (Xinhua) -- The Libyan authorities said on Sunday that 18 unidentified bodies were discovered in the northern coastal city of Sirte.

The 18 bodies were found in the Sabaa area of Sirte last week and transferred to a hospital in the city, the General Authority for Research and Identification of Missing Persons said in a statement.

Samples were collected from the bodies and taken to laboratories for analysis, the statement added.

JERUSALEM (AP) — The tourism minister of Israel’s new hardline government on Sunday promised to invest in developing the West Bank, calling the occupied area “our local Tuscany.”

Haim Katz made the comments days after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s new government took office, promising in its coalition guidelines to make West Bank settlement construction a top priority. His coalition includes far-right settler leaders in top posts.

Israel captured the West Bank in the 1967 Mideast war and has built dozens of settlements that are now home to roughly 500,000 Israelis.

RAMALLAH, West Bank (AP) — Israeli forces killed two Palestinians, including a man claimed by an armed group as a member, during a confrontation that erupted early Monday when troops entered a Palestinian village in the occupied West Bank, Palestinian health officials said.