Middle East & North Africa

29 June 2021; MEMO: Dozens of Palestinian families on Tuesday rallied in front of the Knesset (Israel's parliament) against government plans to vote on extending the family reunification law, Anadolu Agency reported.

Protesters held banners calling to save Palestinian families under the controversial law.

"Since the legislation of this racist law in 2003, we were backing this just cause for these families," Arab MK Osama Saadi said.

30 June 2021; MEMO: Chief of Hamas' Political Bureau Ismail Haniyeh has stressed that what the Palestinian resistance has taken from Israel by force will not be given it up during the "Gaza reconstruction talks".

"What we took by force will not give up during the Gaza reconstruction talks," he told a popular gathering of Palestinian refugees and representatives of Palestinian factions in Lebanon.

29 June 2021; MEMO: Iran reported on Tuesday that the highly contagious Delta variant of the coronavirus, first discovered in India, was detected in more than 10 people, Anadolu Agency reported.

"Unfortunately, more than 10 cases of Delta variant were detected in Mashhad yesterday evening," Mehdi Kelyan, deputy rector of Mashhad University of Medical Sciences, told the semi-official Iranian Students News Agency (ISNA).

29 June 2021; MEMO: Israeli forces on Tuesday demolished a shop and an apartment in the Silwan neighborhood in occupied East Jerusalem, according to local residents, Anadolu Agency reported.

Israeli authorities cited lack of building permits for razing the two structures in al-Bustan and Al-Suwayeh quarters in the neighborhood, the residents said.

30 June 2021; MEMO: Leader of the pro-Iran Asa'ib Ahl Al-Haq militia group Qais Al-Khazali yesterday vowed to attack US troops in Iraq in response to the US air strikes that killed at least five pro- Iran Iraqi militants near the Iraqi-Syrian borders earlier this week.

30 June 2021; MEMO: The Palestinian Authority (PA) has recently asked Israel for permission to restock its supply of anti-riot equipment, including teargas and stun grenades, in anticipation of protests across the West Bank over the Palestinian security services' extrajudicial murder of political opponent Nizar Banat in Hebron last week, Israel' Ynet News reported

BEIRUT (AP) — Ibrahim Arab waits in line several hours a day in the hot summer sun to buy gas for his taxi.

When he’s not working, the 37-year-old father of two drives from one Beirut pharmacy to another, looking for baby formula for his 7-month-old son — any he can find — even though the infant got severe diarrhea and vomiting from an unfamiliar brand.

29 June 2021; MEMO: A missile attack targeted a base housing American forces in Syria on Monday, a spokesman for the US-led anti-Daesh coalition has revealed.

Coalition Spokesman Colonel Wayne Marotto said that the US troops were attacked by multiple rockets but suffered no casualties. He added that "counter-battery artillery fire" was aimed at "rocket launching positions".

29 June 2021; MEMO: Turkey will work with Italy to achieve a stable peace and a political process that will yield results in Libya, Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said yesterday during his visit to Rome to participate in the anti-Daesh coalition meeting.

29 June 2021; MEMO: A number of Palestinians have been wounded as Israeli occupation forces started to demolish homes and shops on Tuesday morning, Safa news agency has reported. The demolition of the Palestinian-owned properties is taking place in Al Bustan, part of the Silwan neighbourhood in occupied Jerusalem.