Middle East & North Africa

04 Sep 2021; MEMO: Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett announced on Friday that he would not meet with Palestinian Authority (PA) President Mahmoud Abbas because he took Israel to the International Criminal Court (ICC) on charges of war crimes, Israeli media reported.

Speaking on Zoom to leaders of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organisations, Bennett stated: "As someone who comes from the business world, when someone sues me, I am not really that nice to him."

03 Sep 2021; MEMO: Tunisian President Kais Saied yesterday directed the heads of the security apparatus to handle demonstrations "according to the law", and commit to respecting the rights of citizens to peaceful protests and freedom of expression.

This came during a meeting between Saied, Acting Interior Minister, Ridha Gharslawi, Sami Al-Hichri, Director General of National Security, and Mourad Hussein, Director General of Public Security, according to a statement issued by the Tunisian Presidency.

03 Sep 2021; MEMO: The Iraqi water resources minister has expressed the desire to reach an understanding with Turkey over their shared waters.

According to a statement by the Water Resources Ministry, Mahdi Rashid Al-Hamdani met the Turkish ambassador to Baghdad Ali Riza Guney late yesterday.

Both the officials reviewed the issue of their shared waters. Al-Hamdani stressed on the importance of cooperation to administer the water flow in the Tigris River.

03 Sep 2021; MEMO: Saudi forces have handed over the camps they have evacuated in Yemen to tribal leaders who are loyal to the kingdom but have close ties with southern separatists backed by the UAE, the head of the media department of the peaceful sit-in committee in Al-Mahra said yesterday.

Salem Al-Mahri added that the Saudi soldiers withdrew and transported heavy weapons from the camps to Al-Ghaydah Airport, which Riyadh turned into a military base years ago.

03 Sep 2021; MEMO: The Assistant Secretary-General of the Tunisian General Labor Union, Sami Tahiri, called for the speedy formation of a government and warned against heading towards a "no state or dismantle state" scenario.

03 Sep 2021; MEMO: Lebanon has requested the United States provide it with an exemption from the ban on imports and exports through Syria, citing the economic and fuel crises currently ravaging Lebanon.

According to the Syrian news outlet Athr Press, the speaker of Lebanon's parliament Nabih Berri made the request to the US on Wednesday, in an effort to allow the exports to and imports from neighbouring Syria to help ease Lebanon's hardships.

04 Sep 2021; MEMO: Israeli and Palestinian sides have agreed that they are not ready for resuming peace talks as the Palestinian Authority (PA) is suffering serious internal crises and Israel has a fragile coalition government.

Therefore, Al Khaleej Online reported that the US administration had ordered both to deescalate the tension dominating their relationship over the past few years.

04 Sep 2021; MEMO: Israeli authorities have opened an investigation into a senior official in the court system accused of severe allegations that risk a lengthy prison sentence, Channel 12 news reported.

A gag order has been issued regarding the ongoing criminal investigation conducted by the Lahav 433 unit of the Israeli police service.

The case is also being handled by Israeli Attorney General Avichai Mandelblit, State Attorney Amit Aisman and Israel Police chief Kobi Shabtai.

03 Sep 2021; MEMO: Six Syrian refugees arrested and detained by the Lebanese authorities must be released "unless they are charged with a recognisable offence," Amnesty International has urged. The six were arrested last week as they went to the Syrian Embassy in Beirut to collect their passports.

The Lebanese army confirmed on 28 August that its intelligence officers apprehended the six men and handed them over to the General Security Directorate.

TEHRAN, September 3. /TASS/: The Taliban (outlawed in Russia) and resistance forces based in Afghanistan’s northern Panjshir province need to resolve issues through dialogue, former Afghan President Hamid Karzai wrote on Twitter on Friday.

"I hope that the parties will resolve the current issue through dialogue so that our long-suffering people can enjoy peace and be happy," the tweet reads. Karzai added that war was not a solution because it only brought suffering to the country.