Middle East & North Africa

24 May 2021; MEMO: Director-General of the Palestinian Police in the Gaza Strip, Mahmoud Salah, said police forces had neutralised nearly 300 unexploded shells and missiles that had fallen on the Palestinians' homes during the recent Israeli aggression on the besieged enclave, Anadolu reported.

Speaking to reporters on Saturday, Salah said the bomb disposal technicians are still working to neutralise other unexploded ordnance despite their limited technical capabilities.

24 May 2021; MEMO: The US military commander in the Middle East, Marine General Frank McKenzie, on Saturday warned of the increased use of drones by pro-Iran militias to attack US forces in Iraq, AP reported.

McKenzie told reporters on Saturday that the US is struggling to deal with attacks launched using drones and said: "We're working very hard to find technical fixes that would allow us to be more effective against drones."

24 May 2021; MEMO: The Palestinian Ministry of Agriculture today warned of a "catastrophe" in the Gaza Strip due to a shortage of animal feed as a result of the Israeli blockade on the territory.

"A major disaster will hit the animal production sector in Gaza due to the lack of fodder needed to feed the animals," the ministry said in a statement.

It said that the shortage of feed has caused the death of thousands of poultry and livestock in the Palestinian territory.

24 May 2021; MEMO: Israeli Army Chief of Staff, Aviv Kochavi, has recommended that funding being sent to rebuilt Gaza after Israel's 11-day bombing campaign be sent to the Palestinian Authority (PA), Israel's Yedioth Ahronoth newspaper reported.

24 May 2021; MEMO: Former Grand Mufti of Jerusalem and Palestine, Sheikh Ekrima Sabri, said yesterday that the Israeli occupation allowed Jewish settlers to raid Al-Aqsa Mosque in an attempt to prove Israel was not defeated in Gaza.

Speaking to the media, Sabri said: "Settlers' raids are being carried out under heavy Israeli military and police protection."

24 May 2021; MEMO: Chief of Hamas' Political Bureau Ismail Haniyeh yesterday thanked Qatari Emir Tamim Bin Hamad Al Thani for his continuous support for Palestine and the Palestinian people, a statement issued by the movement said.

(Reuters) --- Iran has informed the U.N. nuclear watchdog that it has decided to extend a monitoring deal with the agency for a month, Tehran's envoy to the International Atomic Energy Agency said on Monday.

IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi confirmed that the deal had been extended to June 24, avoiding a collapse that could have thrown wider negotiations on reviving Iran's 2015 nuclear agreement with world powers into crisis.

BAGHDAD, May 23 (Xinhua) -- Iraq on Sunday reaffirmed its support for the Palestinian cause, while calling for fostering unity among Palestinian parties via dialogue.

Iraqi leaders made the pledges during their meetings with visiting Palestinian Foreign Minister Riyad al-Maliki in Baghdad on Sunday, after a ceasefire ended the 11-day fighting between Israel and Palestinian militants in the Gaza Strip.

CAIRO, May 23 (Xinhua) -- Egypt has received the first batch of the raw materials to manufacture China's Sinovac vaccine, said the Chinese embassy in Egypt on Sunday.

Along with the Sinovac raw materials, a new shipment of China's Sinopharm COVID-19 vaccines also arrived at the Cairo International Airport on Friday, according to a Chinese embassy's statement.

CAIRO (AP) — An Egyptian appeals court said Sunday it lacks jurisdiction to look into the Suez Canal Authority’s demands to uphold financial claims that led to the seizure of the cargo ship that blocked the waterway in March.

The authority and the ship’s owner dispute who was at fault when the Ever Given ran aground in the canal linking the Mediterranean Sea and the Red Sea and how much compensation should be paid.