Middle East & North Africa

JERUSALEM (AP) — Israel said Saturday that it would close its crossing to thousands of Gaza workers after a series of rockets were fired from the territory ruled by the militant Hamas group in recent days.

The rocket fire came amid near-daily clashes at a flashpoint Jerusalem holy site over the past week, with Palestinians hurling stones and fireworks and Israeli police entering the compound and firing rubber-coated bullets and stun grenades.

JERUSALEM (AP) — Christians were celebrating the “Holy Fire” ceremony at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem on Saturday against a backdrop of rising tensions with Israel, which imposed new restrictions on attendance this year that it said were needed for safety.

Israel says it wants to prevent another disaster after a crowd stampede at a packed Jewish holy site last year left 45 people dead. Christian leaders say there’s no need to alter a ceremony that has been held for centuries.

22 April 2022; MEMO: Russia's Ambassador to Israel, Anatoly Viktorov, yesterday warned that Moscow will respond "accordingly" if Tel Aviv supplies Kyiv with defensive gear amid his country's invasion of Ukraine, Israeli media outlets reported.

"We are carefully checking this information and will respond accordingly if it is confirmed," Viktorov told Russian state television.

22 April 2022; MEMO: Iran has reportedly signed a deal with Russia to import 20 million tons of basic goods, including vegetable oil, wheat, barley and corn, Iranian NourNews reports.

According to the report, Iran's Agriculture Minister, Javad Sadatinejad, signed the food agreement with Russia during a visit to Russia last week.

The deal is to address concerns about shortages of basic goods and livestock feed in the next Iranian year, starting on 21 March.

22 April 2022; MEMO: Iranian hackers, known as Al-Tahira, claim to have succeeded in bringing down Israel Airports Authority (IAA) website Wednesday night.

Based in Iraq, the group said that it is to avenge the assassination of Iran's Revolutionary Guards' Commander Qassem Soleimani.

23 April 2022; MEMO: Israeli settlers, yesterday, attacked a number of Palestinian shepherds in Bethlehem's eastern occupied village of Kisan.

Ahmed Ghazal, a member of the village's local council, told Safa that a group of settlers had "assaulted Palestinian shepherds near the Ebi Hanahel settlement, built on the village lands."

23 April 2022; MEMO: The Sudanese authorities on Friday released 25 political detainees from a prison in the capital, Khartoum, as part of a measure to create a climate for dialogue between Sudanese parties.

This came according to a statement by Sudanese legal initiative, Emergency Lawyers. The initiative was formed following the exceptional measures taken by army chief Abdel Fattah Al-Burhan on 25 October, most notably the imposition of a state of emergency and the dissolution of the Sovereignty Council and the Council of Ministers.

23 April 2022; MEMO: More than 150,000 Palestinian worshippers, mostly from Jerusalem, the occupied West Bank and Israel, attended Friday prayer at Al-Aqsa Mosque, the third holiest site in Islam, reported the Islamic Waqf Authority.

This came despite Israeli occupation police restrictions, including the closure of many roads leading to the Old City of Jerusalem, forcing worshippers to use longer routes to reach the holy site.

23 April 2022; MEMO: Iraq plans to sign a deal next month to import liquefied natural gas from Qatar.

According to Bloomberg's report, Iraq will buy Qatari LNG to secure enough of the fuel used for power generation and to diversify its sources of supply.

Qatari LNG will help replace some of the gas currently piped from Iran, Iraqi Electricity Minister, Adel Kareem, said in an interview.

Iran has had trouble meeting Iraq's gas needs due to its own domestic demand, Kareem added.

23 April 2022; MEMO: The Islamic Palestinian Resistance Movement Hamas on Friday condemned Israel for limiting the number of Christians allowed to visit the Church of the Holy Sepulchre for the Holy Fire ceremony.