Middle East & North Africa

Algeria: Morocco, Israel working together to destablise us

15 Dec 2021; MEMO: Morocco's ruling party is conspiring with Israel against Algeria's security and stability, the secretary-general of the Algerian National Liberation Front warned yesterday.

Abu Al-Fadl Baadji told reporters that the Makhzen alliance and the Zionist entity aim to "influence Algeria's principled stances in support of just global causes, especially the Palestinian and Saharan issues."

Israel allows police to storm Palestinian homes without warrants

15 Dec 2021; MEMO: Israel's Knesset yesterday passed a bill that would allow the occupation police to storm and search Palesinian homes and confiscate cameras without court orders.

Haaretz reported that the law's objective was "to combat crimes in the Arab community," explaining that the bill would allow the police "to search Arab buildings without a warrant."

Egypt: FM for global efforts to address corruption for better future

SHARM EL SHEIKH (Egypt), Dec 14 (APP): Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi on Tuesday urged the international community to effectively address challenges of corruption to ensure a better future for people across the globe.

In his video message screened at the ninth Session of the Conference of the States Parties (CoSP) to the United Nations Convention against Corruption (UNCAC) in Sharm el Sheikh, Egypt, the foreign minister said corruption hampered efforts to eradicate poverty.

U.S. Forces Kill Three Civilians In Eastern Syria

DAMASCUS, Dec 14 (NNN-SANA) – Three civilians from the same family were killed yesterday, by U.S. forces in the eastern Syrian province of Deir al-Zour, the state news agency reported.

The U.S. forces conducted a large-scale airdrop in the town of Al-Busayrah and surrounding areas, in the countryside of Deir al-Zour, with the help of the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces, killing the three victims in Al-Busayrah, the report said.

The U.S. forces also conducted house raids in the countryside of Deir al-Zour and abducted people to unknown locations, the report added.

Iran Reports 2,706 Daily COVID-19 Cases, 6,157,519 In Total

TEHRAN, Dec 14 (NNN-IRNA) – Iran’s health ministry, yesterday reported 2,706 new COVID-19 cases, taking the country’s total infection to 6,157,519.

The pandemic also claimed 42 lives in the past 24 hours, taking the overall tally, since its outbreak in Feb, 2020, to 130,764, said the update by Iran’s Ministry of Health and Medical Education.

A total of 5,975,404 people have recovered from the disease, or been discharged from hospitals across the country, while 3,069 remain in intensive care units, according to the ministry.

Israel Impedes Reconstruction In Gaza: Palestinian Official

GAZA, Dec 13 (NNN-WAFA) – A senior Palestinian official, yesterday accused Israel, of impeding the process of reconstruction in the besieged Gaza Strip, which is ruled by the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas).

Naji Sarhan, undersecretary of the Hamas-run ministry of housing and public works, told a news conference in Gaza city that, the reconstruction plan “is going very slowly,” and Israel is “fully responsible.”

The Palestinian side has earlier accused Israel of not showing any commitment to reconstructing what had been destroyed in an offensive by Israel in May.

Rockets hit US base in Syria's Deir Ez-Zor countryside

14 Dec 2021; MEMO: An American military base in Al-Omar Oil Field in eastern Syria came under rocket attack yesterday, Rai Al-Youm reported, no party claimed responsibility for the incident.

The military base is located in the countryside of Syria's Deir Ez-Zor region, local sources said. Al-Omar is the largest oil field in Syria.

Sources reported the sound of four explosions and smoke around the oil field which US forces and international troops use as a base.

Sheikh Raed Salah: Israel tried to silence me in prison

14 Dec 2021; MEMO: Leader of the northern branch of the Islamic Movement in Israel, Sheikh Raed Salah, said he spent the entirety of his detention in solitary confinement and was repeatedly moved from cell to cell.

Speaking following his release yesterday, Salah said the Israeli occupation imposed "harsh" prison conditions on him in order to prevent him from being in touch with any other detainee. "They held me in the solitary cell of the solitary department," he said.

Israel helping PA crack down on Palestinian factions in West Bank

14 Dec 2021; MEMO: The Israeli occupation is helping Palestinian Authority (PA) security forces crackdown on Palestinian factions in the occupied West Bank, an Israeli journalist revealed yesterday.

Speaking to public broadcaster Kan, Israeli journalist and specialist in Palestinian affairs Gal Berger said: "Israel hurried to help the PA because it is unable to deal with Hamas."

Berger pointed out that Hamas "has recently raised its head in the West Bank."

UAE, Israel agree to establish research and development fund

14 Dec 2021; MEMO: The UAE and Israel have agreed to establish a joint research and development fund to help reinforce common interests, including trade, technology, energy and climate challenges, the official WAM news agency reported yesterday.

According to WAM, the agreement was announced following the meeting between Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett and Crown Prince of the UAE, Sheikh Mohamed Bin Zayed Al-Nahyan, in Abu Dhabi.

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