Middle East & North Africa

26 Oct 2021; MEMO: Israel supports direct negotiations between the parties involved in the Western Sahara conflict, the newly appointed Ambassador to Morocco, David Govrin, said.

He went on to deny knowledge of Morocco's use of drones against the Polisario Front in the Sahara.

Govrin refused to answer journalists' questions about Rabat's alleged purchase of Israeli made Pegasus spyware, saying: "I prefer not to answer this question."

26 Oct 2021; MEMO: A senior Sudanese diplomat said yesterday that the military coup in his country is not expected to dramatically affect the normalisation process with Israel, Israeli media reported.

Speaking to Israeli public broadcaster Kan, the diplomat said that the many of the military leaders support the normalisation of ties with Israel.

He also said that the takeover has strengthened the position of the military as the government was dissolved and a state of emergency was declared in the country.

26 Oct 2021; MEMO: Egyptian President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi yesterday announced the lifting of a nationwide state of emergency which has been in place since 2017.

"I've decided, for the first time in years, to cancel the extension of the state of emergency throughout the country," Al-Sisi said on Facebook.

The president hailed what he described as "Egypt's great people and loyal men," stressing his country had become an "oasis of security and stability in the region."

26 Oct 2021; MEMO: Israeli Foreign Minister Yair Lapid yesterday criticised the government's decision to build 1,300 new settlement units in illegal settlements in the occupied West Bank, local media reported.

According to the Times of Israel, Lapid said the Israeli government had done many good things successfully, but neglected many other things.

"Next time, I will be in the room during decisions on such matters," he added, referring to the construction projects.

26 Oct 2021; MEMO: Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas yesterday announced that an official move is to be taken against Israel's decision to classify six Palestinian NGOs as terrorist organisations.

26 Oct 2021; MEMO: The Israeli demolition of Al-Yusufiya cemetery in the occupied city of Jerusalem is a "heinous crime," Hamas said yesterday.

"What is happening in Al-Yusufiya cemetery is a heinous crime that is part of a series of crimes against Jerusalem's cemeteries," Hamas spokesman Mohammed Hamadeh said in a statement, describing the move as "blatant proof of the brutality of the occupation which has extended its attacks on Palestinians who are alive and dead."

26 Oct 2021; MEMO: Christians living in occupied Palestine are a community with a future more vulnerable than it needs to be, challenged by violence, migration and a lack of investment, a new study has revealed.

University of Birmingham experts worked with counterparts at the International Community of the Holy Sepulchre (ICoHS) and have published their findings in the report "Defeating Minority Exclusion and Unlocking Potential: Christianity in the Holy Land".

BEIRUT (AP) — For eight months, he has quietly investigated one of the world’s worst non-nuclear explosions with only four assistants — and a lot of powerful detractors trying to block him.

In that time, Judge Tarek Bitar has become a household name in Lebanon and a staple on every news bulletin.

CAIRO (AP) — Pro-democracy protesters blocked some roads in Sudan’s capital with makeshift barricades and burning tires Tuesday, a day after the military seized power in a swift coup widely denounced by the international community.

The prime minister and other senior officials in the transitional government who were arrested Monday by the military continued to be held at a military camp outside Khartoum, the capital.

BEIRUT, October 25. /TASS/: An Israeli Air Force fighter jet attacked the positions of the Syrian army and pro-Iranian armed groups in Syria's Quneitra province 40 kilometers south of Damascus on Monday, the Dubai-based Al-Hadath TV channel reported. 

According to the news outlet, the airstrike hit ground targets near the city of Al-Baath and the Al-Kurum settlement, causing property damage. No casualties have been reported.