Middle East & North Africa

26 Nov 2021; MEMO: Egypt and Israel have signed a memorandum of understanding to increase natural gas supplies from Israel to Egypt, with the aim of re-exporting, the Egyptian Ministry of Petroleum announced yesterday.

In an official statement, the ministry said that the agreement was signed by the Petroleum Minister, Tarek El-Molla, and his Israeli counterpart, Karine Elharrar, on the sidelines of the Sixth Ministerial Meeting of the East Mediterranean Gas Forum held in Cairo

26 Nov 2021; MEMO: The European Parliament has today approved a further funding program for Syrian refugees in Turkey, as the country continues to host around 4 million of them.

EU lawmakers approved the amendment to its budget for this year, allocating an extra €149.6 million ($170 million) in funding for Syrian refugees staying in Turkey. It was passed with 588 votes in favour and 87 against it, as well as 14 abstentions.

25 Nov 2021; MEMO: The head of the National Association of the Moroccan Press, Abdullah Al-Bakali, announced his rejection of the visit by a delegation of Moroccan journalists to Israel, considering that "paying the Zionist entity for the travel and accommodation expenses is an insult and humiliation."

Al-Baqali said, in a statement reported on Wednesday by Moroccan media, that "only concealing the visit and announcing it at the last moment reveals its nature."

26 Nov 2021; MEMO: Moroccan authorities yesterday suspended all commercial flights with France to curb an increasing number of coronavirus cases.

The Moroccan Monitoring Committee of COVID-19 said in a statement that the decision was taken "to preserve Morocco's achievements in terms of management of the COVID-19 pandemic and to deal with the deterioration of the health situation in some European countries," adding that the suspension will start "on Friday until further notice."

Jewish settlers today placed a big menorah on the roof of the Palestinian Nabi Samuel village mosque in occupied northern-western Jerusalem, the Palestinian Information Centre reported.

One of the local residents said settlers, escorted by members of a Jewish temple group, put the candelabrum on the mosque's roof. This comes as part of Jewish preparations to mark Hanukkah, the festival of lights.

The illegal Israeli Separation Wall has isolated the Palestinian village of Nabi Samuel from surrounding Palestinian villages.

22 Nov 2021; MEMO: The Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) said, Monday, that nine soldiers were killed in direct clashes with the US Navy in the Persian Gulf waters, local media reported.

The Mehr News Agency quoted Navy commander, Alireza Tangsiri, as saying that the clashes took place in the Persian Gulf, without specifying the time, Anadolu News Agency reports.

Tangsiri said the clashes resulted in the killing of nine IRGC soldiers, without providing any further details.

RAMALLAH, Nov 24 (NNN-WAFA) – Heads of missions and representatives from the European Union (EU) and like-minded countries, affirmed strong opposition to Israeli settlement expansion in the West Bank.

The diplomats visited several areas in the West Bank and near East Jerusalem, following a recent announcement by the Israeli government to advance major settlement plans in the area.

GAZA, Nov 25 (NNN-PNN) – The politburo chief of the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas), Ismail Haniyeh, yesterday ordered immediate action against the British move to ban the movement and list it as a terror group.

Taher al-Nouno, Haniyeh’s aide, told reporters in Gaza that, since the British Home Secretary, Priti Patel, decided to consider Hamas as a terror group, the movement’s chief has ordered to take immediate action to confront the decision.

ADDIS ABABA, Nov 25 (Reuters) - Ethiopia's government has asked the United States to stop spreading falsehoods against the country, the state minister of communication Kebede Dessisa said on Thursday, after the State Department issued an alert about potential "terrorist attacks".

Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed's government and rebellious forces from the Tigray region in the north have been fighting for more than a year, in a conflict that has killed thousands and displaced millions in Africa's second most populous nation.

KHARTOUM, Nov 25 (Reuters) - Tens of thousands of Sudanese protested in the streets of Khartoum and other cities on Thursday, keeping up the pressure on military leaders after they struck a deal to bring back a civilian prime minister deposed in a coup one month ago.

Prominent political parties and Sudan's powerful protest movement have opposed Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok's decision on Sunday to sign the accord with the military, with some calling it a betrayal or saying it provides political cover for the takeover.