Middle East & North Africa

20 Nov 2022; MEMO: Over 4,000 of Yemen's historical artefacts have been looted and smuggled out of the country where they have been auctioned off in six countries, including the US a recent report has revealed.

On Thursday, the Sanaa-based Al-Hudhud Center for Archaeological Studies published a report alleging that 4,265 of Yemen's artefacts had been stolen and sold in several countries, namely the US, Britain France, Germany, Israel and the Netherlands.

21 Nov 2022; MEMO: Israel has refused to sign an agreement that prevents carrying attacks that lead to civilian casualties in residential areas, Al Watan Voice reported yesterday.

Al Watan Voice reported Israeli newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth saying that it was expected that Israel will not have sign the agreement as it has been targeting Palestinian, Lebanese and Syrian civilian areas.

20 Nov 2022; MEMO: Outgoing Israeli Prime Minister Yair Lapid has condemned settler assaults on Palestinians in the West Bank city of Hebron, Anadolu reports.

Dozens of Palestinians were hurt on Saturday as thousands of Israeli settlers escorted by Israeli extremist leader Itamar Ben-Gvir gathered in Hebron's Old City to celebrate the Jewish Sabbath holiday.

Israeli media also reported that settlers had attacked Israeli soldiers during their celebrations.

20 Nov 2022; MEMO: A senior Israeli defense official will soon visit Athens to discuss arms sales, Greek media reported on Saturday, Anadolu reports.

The visit by Amir Eshel, director general of the Israeli Defense Ministry, who has the authority to discuss in depth the sales of Israeli weapons to Greece, signals Tel Aviv's long-term commitment to bilateral relations with Athens, said daily Kathimerini.

21 Nov 2022; MEMO: Some 30 Palestinian families face the threat of expulsion from their homes in occupied East Jerusalem as they received eviction notices from Israel's Land Administration, Israeli newspaper Haaretz revealed yesterday.

Israel's Lands Administration sent the eviction notices despite having a document from the 1980s proving that the land is owned by Palestinians.

ANKARA, November 20. /TASS/: Terrorist headquarters, covers, depots and bases were destroyed in an air operation of the Turkish army in northern Iraq and Syria overnight to Sunday, Turkish Defense Minister Hulusi Akar reported.

"Terrorists’ covers, caves, tunnels and warehouses were successfully destroyed. Surgical strikes were carried out against the so-called headquarters of the terrorist organization," Akar said in a video address aired by the TRT TV channel.

SHARM EL SHEIKH (Egypt), Nov 20 (NNN-AGENCIES) — The European Union expressed disappointment Sunday with a lack of ambition on reducing emissions in the climate deal agreed at the UN’s COP27 summit in Egypt.

The 27-nation bloc and other developed countries had pushed for stronger commitments to bring down emissions in order to achieve the aspirational goal of limiting global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius from pre-industrial levels.

ISTANBUL, Nov 20 (Reuters) - Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan shook hands with his Egyptian counterpart Abdel Fattah el-Sisi on the sidelines of the World Cup in Qatar on Sunday, a photo from Turkey's presidency showed.

Turkey's state-owned Anadolu Agency said Erdogan briefly met, shook hands and talked to Sisi and other leaders, including Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and King Abdullah of Jordan.

There was no immediate comment from Egypt's presidency.

RAMALLAH, Nov. 20 (Xinhua) -- A senior Palestinian official on Sunday stated that Palestine is committed to achieving peace in the Middle East by implementing relevant international resolutions.

Nabil Abu Rudeineh, the spokesman of the Palestinian Presidency, made the remarks in response to Israeli Prime Minister-designate Benjamin Netanyahu, who said earlier that Palestinians "are not interested in making peace with Israel."

In a press statement, the spokesman accused Netanyahu of "trying to deceive and mislead the world's public opinion."

ISTANBUL (AP) — Turkey launched deadly airstrikes over northern regions of Syria and Iraq, the Turkish Defense Ministry said Sunday, targeting Kurdish groups that Ankara holds responsible for last week’s bomb attack in Istanbul.

Warplanes attacked bases of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party, or PKK, and the Syrian People’s Protection Units, or YPG, the ministry said in a statement, which was accompanied by images of F-16 jets taking off and footage of a strike from an aerial drone.