Middle East & North Africa

27 October 2023; MEMO: Israeli security forces restricted young Palestinians from entering Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem for prayers on Friday and deployed in strength across the Old City and beyond to quell any unrest spilling over from the conflict in Gaza, Reuters reports.

In the Occupied West Bank, Israeli troops killed four Palestinians during raids, the official Palestinian news agency, WAFA, said.

28 October 2023; MEMO: The leader of the Sadr Movement in Iraq, Muqtada Al-Sadr, on Friday called on the Iraqi federal government and Parliament to vote on a decision to close the US Embassy in Iraq in “support” of the Palestinians.

28 October 2023; MEMO: Communications and internet services in the Gaza Strip were completely cut off on Friday evening amid heavy Israeli bombing of feeder lines, towers and networks, a service provider said, Anadolu Agency reports.

The Palestine Telecommunications Company said in a statement that

"Landline, wireless and internet communications services were completely cut off amid intense Israeli bombing on the lines with the West Bank, and on the towers and networks"

DAMASCUS, Oct 27 (NNN-SANA) – Syrian President, Bashar al-Assad, yesterday slammed long-standing American and European policies, for fostering military escalation and chaos across the globe.

In a meeting at the Syrian Foreign Ministry, Assad said, the core of the American policy has been the “relentless pursuit of military escalation and the deliberate creation of disorder,” a strategy that Europe has mirrored.

TRIPOLI, Oct 27 (NNN-AGENCIES) — The Libyan parliament demanded the departure of ambassadors from countries that “support” Israel as it fights Hamas in Gaza, taking specific aim at the United States, Britain, France and Italy.

Israel has been bombarding the Gaza Strip since Oct 7, when Hamas militants launched an attack that Israeli officials say has killed 1,400 people, mostly civilians.

The Palestinian health ministry in Gaza says that Israel’s strikes have killed more than 6,500 Palestinians, also mainly civilians.

ADDIS ABABA, Oct 27 (NNN-AFRICANEWS) — Ethiopia has no intention of invading another country and “will never assert its interests through war”, assured its Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed on Thursday, a few days after a speech that raised concerns about Addis Ababa’s possible claims to the Red Sea.

In a televised speech on Oct 13, Abiy said that “Ethiopia’s existence as a nation is linked to the Red Sea”, that his country needed a port, and that “peace” in the region depended on “balanced mutual sharing” between landlocked Ethiopia and its neighbors.

JERUSALEM/RAMALLAH Oct 27 (Reuters) - Israeli security forces restricted young Palestinians from entering Al-Aqsa mosque in Jerusalem for prayers on Friday and deployed in strength across the Old City and beyond to quell any unrest spilling over from the conflict in Gaza.

In the occupied West Bank, Israeli troops killed four Palestinians during raids, the official Palestinian news agency WAFA said. Two of the dead were identified by militant factions as their members.

JERUSALEM/LONDON, Oct 26 (Reuters) - What lies in wait for Israeli ground troops in Gaza, security sources say, is a Hamas tunnel network hundreds of kilometres long and up to 80 metres deep, described by one freed hostage as "a spider's web" and by one expert as the "Viet Cong times 10".

The Palestinian Islamist group has different kinds of tunnels running beneath the sandy 360 sq km coastal strip and its borders - including attack, smuggling, storage and operational burrows, Western and Middle East sources familiar with the matter said.

BAGHDAD, Oct. 27 (Xinhua) -- Iraqi prominent Shiite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr Friday called on the government to shut down the U.S. embassy in Baghdad in response to Washington's support for Israeli attacks in Gaza.

"We are waiting for the government's reply to this request," al-Sadr said in a statement, adding "if the government and parliament do not (positively) respond, we will have another position to announce later."

TEHRAN, Oct. 27 (Xinhua) -- The Iranian army's Ground Force started a two-day military drill in central Isfahan Province on Friday, the official news agency IRNA reported.

The drill involves the Ground Force's infantry, armored vehicle, missile, artillery, drone, engineering, cyber security, communication and information technology units, etc., as well as the transport and support aircraft of the army's Air Force, IRNA quoted the exercise's spokesman Karim Cheshak as saying.