Raisi’s visit to Saudi Arabia was his first since assuming the office of the presidency – which is subordinate to “supreme leader” Ayatollah Ali Khamenei – and included an in-person meeting with the de-facto leader of the country, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. It was his first such engagement since Saudi Arabia and Iran restored diplomatic ties in March as a result of talks between the two countries in Beijing, China. China welcomed both countries to its BRICS coalition – which also includes Brazil, Russia, India, and South Africa – shortly after they formally mended the bilateral relationship.

Continue reading HERE

Source: https://www.breitbart.com/middle-east/2023/11/13/saudi-arabia-welcomes-irans-president-anti-israel-islamic-cooperation-summit/

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Continue reading HERE

Source: https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-65625742

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Palestinian Foreign Minister Riyad al-Maliki.   (photo credit: REUTERS/MOHAMED ABD EL GHANY)

The Palestinian Authority leadership on Friday strongly condemned and rejected Bahrain’s decision to establish relations with Israel, calling it a “betrayal of Jerusalem, al-Aqsa Mosque and the Palestinian issue.”

The PA Foreign Ministry announced it has decided to immediately recall its ambassador to Bahrain for consultations in protest of the normalization agreement.

Last month, the Palestinian leadership issued a similar response to the normalization agreement between Israel and the United Arab Emirates (UAE). It also decided to recall its ambassador to Abu Dhabi.

The PA leadership said the Bahraini decision would “support the legalization of the cruel crimes of the Israeli occupation against our Palestinian people at a time when the occupation [sic] state is continuing to control the Palestinian lands and annex them by military force; is working toward Judaizing Jerusalem and controlling the Islamic and Christian holy sites; and is committing crimes against the Palestinian people.”

The Palestinian leadership said in a statement that it views the Bahraini decision “with utmost seriousness because it destroys the Arab Peace Initiative, resolutions of Arab and Islamic summits and international legitimacy.”

It said the Palestinians reject the decision and call on Bahrain to immediately retract it because it causes huge damage to the national rights of the Palestinian people and to joint Arab action.

“The Palestinian leadership reaffirms its call for the Arab countries to adhere to the 2002 Arab Peace Initiative and urges the international community to adhere to international law and the resolutions of international legitimacy,” the statement read.

“The Palestinian leadership reaffirms that it has not and will not authorize anyone to speak on its behalf. It also affirms that peace and stability in the region won’t be achieved unless the Israeli occupation of the Palestinian territories is ended and Palestinians achieve an independent Palestinian state on the 1967 borders, with east Jerusalem as its capital – and that the issue of the refugees is solved on the basis of United Nations Resolution 194. Those who believe that concessions that come at the expense of the rights of the Palestinian people will serve peace, security and stability in the region are deluding themselves.”

Several Palestinian officials expressed outrage over the “disgraceful and treacherous” Israel-Bahrain agreement and accused Bahrain of betraying the Palestinian people.

PLO Secretary-General Saeb Erekat accused the UAE and Bahrain of “contributing to [US President Donald] Trump’s presidential campaign at the expense of the inalienable rights of the Palestinian people.”

Ahmed Majdalani, member of the PLO Executive Committee, denounced the Israel-Bahrain agreement as a “stab to the national rights of the Palestinian people and their national cause. He said that the US administration’s “delusion that it can make peace between the occupying state and the Arab countries without the Palestinians and without an Israeli withdrawal from the occupied Palestinian territories is political stupidity.”

Hamas, Palestinian Islamic Jihad and other extremist groups also condemned the Israel-Bahrain accord and said it was “the fruit of the failure of the Arab League.”

Last week, Arab League foreign ministers refused to endorse a Palestinian draft resolution that condemned the UAE for its agreement to establish relations with Israel.

“What the Kingdom of Bahrain did is disgraceful and constitutes a political setback and a major downfall for the rulers of Bahrain,” Hamas said in a statement. “This series of steps, initiated by the Emiratis, and then the rulers of Bahrain, constitutes political crimes, contributes to the implementation of the Deal of the Century and undermines the foundations of Arab solidarity. Hamas rejects this announcement and considers it a stab in the back of the Palestinian people, a betrayal of Palestine and Jerusalem and a step against the interests of the Arabs and Muslims.”

Source: https://www.jpost.com/middle-east/palestinians-strongly-condemn-israel-bahrain-deal-withdraw-ambassador-641976

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Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu points at a map of the Jordan Valley as he gives a statement, promising to extend Israeli sovereignty to the Jordan Valley and the northern Dead Sea area, in Ramat Gan on September 10, 2019. (Menahem Kahana/AFP)

Eleven European ambassadors to Israel on Thursday warned Jerusalem of severe consequences if it moves ahead with plans to annex parts of the West Bank as part of a government coalition deal.

The envoys from the UK, Germany, France, Ireland, the Netherlands, Italy, Spain, Sweden, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, and the EU issued a formal objection to the Foreign Ministry against the move, Channel 13 reported.

The ambassadors made the protest during a video conference with the Foreign Ministry’s Europe deputy, Anna Azari.

“We are very concerned about the clause in the coalition agreement that paves the way for annexing parts of the West Bank. The annexation of any part of the West Bank constitutes a clear violation of international law,” the ambassadors said. “Such unilateral steps will harm efforts to renew the peace process and will have grave consequences for regional stability and for Israel’s standing in the international arena.”

The envoys also demanded a freeze on government plans to allow construction in the Givat Hamatos neighborhood in East Jerusalem.

Also on Thursday, the Arab League said that the planned annexation constituted a “new war crime” against the Palestinians during a virtual conference chaired in Cairo.

“The implementation of plans to annex any part of the Palestinian territories occupied in 1967, including the Jordan Valley… and the lands on which Israeli settlements are standing represents a new war crime… against the Palestinian people,” Arab foreign ministers said in a joint statement.

The Arab League also urged the United States to “withdraw its support in enabling the plans of the occupying Israeli government.”

In this February 18, 2020 photo, a view of the West Bank settlement of Ma’ale Efraim on the hills of the Jordan Valley (AP/Ariel Schalit)

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On Monday, the United States said it was ready to recognize Israel’s annexation of key parts of the West Bank, but said the offer was contingent on an offer of statehood to the Palestinians.

“As we have made consistently clear, we are prepared to recognize Israeli actions to extend Israeli sovereignty and the application of Israeli law to areas of the West Bank that the vision foresees as being part of the State of Israel,” a US State Department spokesperson said when asked if the US would allow Israel’s new government to move forward with the process.

“The annexation would be in the context of an offer to the Palestinians to achieve statehood based upon specific terms, conditions, territorial dimensions, and generous economic support.  This is an unprecedented and highly beneficial opportunity for the Palestinians,” the State Department spokesperson said.

The Palestinians have refused to negotiate with the Trump administration, considering it biased. Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas threatened last week to cancel all agreements with Israel and the US if Israel moved forward with annexation plans.

US President Donald Trump in January unveiled a peace plan to resolve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Rejected by the Palestinians and condemned by much of the international community, the plan gives Israel the green-light to annex Jewish settlements and other strategic territories in the West Bank.

An Israeli coalition government agreement reached last week includes a framework for implementing the annexations outlined in the plan, starting in July.

Blue and White leader Benny Gantz (left) and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu sign their unity government agreement on April 20, 2020. (GPO)

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Under the US proposal, the Palestinians would be granted a sovereign but demilitarized state in the remaining parts of the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, along with promises of major investment.

The Palestinian state’s capital would be on the outskirts of Jerusalem, which would remain fully under Israeli sovereignty.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Sunday that he was “confident” Trump would let him fulfill his election promise to apply Israeli sovereignty over parts of the West Bank “a couple of months from now.”

According to the wording of the “emergency government” deal between Netanyahu’s Likud party and Benny Gantz’s Blue and White faction, starting July 1, 2020, Netanyahu “will be able to bring the agreement reached with the US on the application of sovereignty [in the West Bank] for the approval of the cabinet and or the Knesset.”

In addition, “the law will be passed as quickly as possible… and will not be disrupted or delayed by the chairmen of either the House or the Foreign Affairs and Defense committees.”

The Netanyahu-Gantz deal stipulates that any Israeli action would need US backing, and must take into account Israel’s peace treaties with neighboring Jordan and Egypt, the only two Arab states that have formal peace treaties and diplomatic relations with Israel.

Netanyahu’s right-wing base is eager to move forward with annexation while the friendly Trump administration is in office.

Israel captured the West Bank and East Jerusalem from Jordan during the 1967 Six-Day War. The Palestinians seek those territories as part of a future independent state. The annexation of West Bank settlements would infuriate the Palestinians and Israel’s Arab neighbors.

Source: https://www.timesofisrael.com/11-european-ambassadors-warn-israel-against-west-bank-annexation/

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Emirati Ambassador to the US Yousef al-Otaiba at an event with then-US House Speaker Paul Ryan, at the Emirates Diplomatic Academy, in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, Jan. 25, 2018. (AP Photo/Jon Gambrell)

The White House in December hosted a secret meeting last December with officials from Israel, the US, and the United Arab Emirates to discuss countering Iranian influence in the Middle East.

The officials discussed better coordinating their positions against Iran, and the possibility of advancing a non-aggression pact between Israel and the UAE, which could mark a possible step toward normalizing relations between the countries.

Attending the December 17 meeting were Israeli National Security Adviser Meir Ben-Shabbat, US National Security Adviser Robert O’Brien, and the Emirati ambassador to the US Yousef al-Otaiba, who is considered close to the UAE Crown Prince Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahayan.

The US special envoy for Iran, Brian Hook, and Deputy National Security Adviser Victoria Coates also attended.

Israel’s Channel 13 and the US news site Axios first reported the meeting on Tuesday, citing senior Israeli and American officials as sources.

Meir Ben-Shabbat, the head of the National Security Council, speaks at a trilateral meeting in Jerusalem of the Israeli, US and Russian national security advisers on June 25, 2019. (Noam Revkin Fenton/Flash90)

The reports said that the meeting spurred a tweet several days later by the Emirati foreign minister Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan apparently in support of warming Israel-UAE ties.

Al Nahyan, the UAE’s top diplomat, tweeted a link to an article titled “Islam’s reformation: an Arab-Israeli alliance is taking shape in the Middle East.”

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu responded, writing “I welcome the closer relations between Israel and many Arab states. The time has come for normalization and peace.”

Jerusalem is said to have developed clandestine ties with numerous Arab countries in recent years over the countries’ shared antipathy toward Iran and the need to counter jihadism.

Israeli officials have also openly visited several such countries recently. In October 2018, Netanyahu was welcomed to Oman by the country’s then-ruler Sultan Qaboos bin Said. That same month Culture and Sports Minister Miri Regev traveled to Abu Dhabi for the Abu Dhabi Grand Slam judo tournament, where Israel’s national anthem was played for the first time in the Arabian peninsula following Israeli judoka Sagi Muki’s first-place win.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (left) with Sultan Qaboos bin Said of Oman in the Gulf state on October 26, 2018. (Courtesy)

Israel has also been invited to participate at the Expo 2020 in the UAE city of Dubai.

In June, Bahrain’s foreign minister told the Times of Israel his country wished for peace with the Jewish state.

In October, Foreign Minister Israel Katz said he was advancing non-aggression treaties with several Arab nations in the Gulf, a “historic” démarche he said that could end the conflict between Jerusalem and those states.

Arab leaders, however, have also indicated that true normalization can not take place so long as the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is not resolved.

The UAE ambassador to Washington, along with envoys from Bahrain and Oman, attended the January 28 unveiling of the Trump administration’s Israeli-Palestinian peace proposal in a tacit sign of support for the US initiative.

The UAE issued the most complimentary statement on the plan of any Arab state, calling it “a serious initiative” and stating that it “offers an important starting point for a return to negotiations within a US-led international framework.”

The UAE also signed on to an Arab League rejection of the plan, however.

Arab countries in the Gulf, especially Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Bahrain, view Iran as a major regional foe and strongly oppose its support for armed groups throughout the Middle East.

Source: https://www.timesofisrael.com/israeli-uae-officials-reportedly-met-in-secret-in-us-to-discuss-countering-iran/

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TUNIS – Arab leaders, long divided by regional rivalries, condemned on Sunday a US decision to recognize Israel’s sovereignty over the Golan Heights and said Middle East stability depended on creating an Palestinian state.

Arab leaders, gathering at summit in Tunis, have been under popular pressure to reject Washington’s action, while they also grapple with regional differences, including a bitter Gulf Arab dispute, splits over Iran’s regional influence, the war in Yemen and unrest in Algeria and Sudan.

The abrupt departure from the summit of Qatari Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani, who is locked in a row with Saudi Arabia and other Arab allies, suggested regional differences were not easily buried. No reason was given for his departure.

Saudi Arabia’s King Salman bin Abdulaziz told Arab monarchs, presidents and prime ministers at the meeting that his country “absolutely rejects” any measures affecting Syria’s sovereignty over the Golan Heights.

President Donald Trump’s signed a proclamation last week recognizing the Golan Heights as part of Israel, which annexed the area in 1981 after capturing it from Syria in 1967.

The Saudi king’s condemnation echoed those of Arab officials before Sunday’s summit of the Arab League, which usually ends with a final declaration agreed by the 22 member states.

Trump’s Golan decision followed a US move less than four months ago to recognize Jerusalem as Israel’s capital, a decision that also drew Arab condemnation. Palestinians want East Jerusalem as the capital of a future state.

Tunisian President Beji Caid Essebsi said Arab leaders also needed to ensure the international community understood the importance of the Palestinian cause to Arab nations.

Regional and international stability should come through “a just and comprehensive settlement that includes the rights of the Palestinian people and leads to the establishment of a Palestinian state with Jerusalem as its capital,” Essebsi said.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, who addressed the meeting in Tunis, said any resolution to the Syrian conflict must guarantee the territorial integrity of Syria “including the occupied Golan Heights.”
The Tunis summit brought together the rulers of Saudi Arabia and Qatar for the first time at the same gathering since 2017 when Riyadh and its allies imposed a political and economic boycott on Doha.

But Qatar’s emir left the summit hall shortly after Arab League Secretary-General Ahmed Aboul Gheit praised the way Saudi Arabia handled its rotating Arab League presidency last year, live television footage showed.

Qatar’s state news agency did not say why Tamim left, but Tunisia’s state news agency TAP said the rest of Qatar’s delegation stayed.

Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Egypt accuse Qatar of supporting terrorism and say it has been cozying up to Iran, a charge Doha denies.

The row has defied mediation efforts by Kuwait and the United States, which called Gulf Arab states to unite in opposition to Iranian influence in the region.

King Salman, whose country has long vied with Iran for influence, called for confronting what he called the “aggressive policies of the Iranian regime.” He said Iran was interfering in Arab affairs, a charge Tehran dismisses.

Arab states remain divided over other issues, including how to deal with pro-democracy protests that have erupted in the region since 2011.

The leaders of Sudan and Algeria were not at Sunday’s meeting as both nations have been roiled by anti-government protests.

Syria’s seat at the summit was vacant. Damascus as been suspended from the League since 2011 over its crackdown on protesters at the start of its civil war. The League has said no consensus has yet been reached to allow Syria’s reinstatement.

Source: https://www.jpost.com/Arab-Israeli-Conflict/Arab-leaders-condemn-US-recognition-of-Israeli-Golan-585358

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The Arab League on Tuesday adopted a resolution calling on Australia and Brazil to “abide by international law” concerning the status of Jerusalem.

It comes after Brazil’s president-elect Jair Bolsonaro announced in November his intention to move his country’s embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Monday that he will “discuss the issue of Jerusalem” with Bolsonaro on his upcoming trip to Brazil.

“I will meet there with the president-elect of Brazil, who said that he will carry out a revolution in Brazil’s relations with Israel,” Netanyahu said.

“It’s not just another country, even though every country is important, it’s a country with nearly a quarter of a billion people, a superpower. And they’re changing their relations with Israel from one extreme to the other, including on the issue of Jerusalem,” he added.

On Saturday, Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison said it now recognizes west Jerusalem as Israel’s capital but that an embassy shift from Tel Aviv will not occur until a peace settlement is achieved.

Brazilian President-elect Jair Bolsonaro, who campaigned as an anti-corruption crusader, takes office January 1   EVARISTO SA (AFP)

Canberra became one of just a few governments around the world to follow US President Donald Trump’s lead and recognize the contested city as Israel’s capital, but Morrison also committed to recognizing a future state of Palestine with east Jerusalem as its capital when the city’s status is determined in a peace deal.

Both Israel and the Palestinians claim Jerusalem as their capital.

The Arab League decided Tuesday to dispatch a “high-ranking delegation” to Brazil and Australia to inform officials there on the need to “abide by international law” concerning Jerusalem.

The decision was taken at an extraordinary meeting at the League’s Cairo headquarters attended by delegates from member countries.

The pan-Arab body also called on the UN Security Council to “assume its responsibilities by putting pressure on Israel… and stop its aggression against the Palestinian people”.

Israel seized east Jerusalem in the 1967 Six Day war and later annexed it, declaring the entire city its “eternal and indivisible capital”, in a move not recognized by most of the international community.

A picture taken on May 16, 2018 shows a meeting of the Arab League during extraordinary emergency session in Cairo to discuss what it has called Washington’s “illegal” relocation of its embassy to the disputed city of Jerusalem  MOHAMED EL-SHAHED (AFP)

The Palestinian leadership has slammed Australia and Brazil over their plans.

In a supportive move, Bahrain’s Foreign Minister later downplayed Australia’s decision to recognize west Jerusalem as Israel’s capital after the Palestinian Authority (PA) described the move as “irresponsible”.

“Australia’s position in no way affects the legitimate claims of the Palestinians, the first of which is to demand East Jerusalem as the capital of Palestine,” Foreign Minister Khalid bin Ahmed Al Khalifa tweeted.

“The Australian decision is also not at odds with the Arab Peace Initiative,” he added.

In December the US administration of President Donald Trump decided to move the American embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem and declared the city Israel’s capital.

The embassy was transferred in May in a move that sparked outrage in across the Arab and Muslim world.

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Source: https://www.i24news.tv/en/news/international/middle-east/191236-181218-arab-league-urges-australia-brazil-to-shift-stance-on-jerusalem

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Iran faces grave consequences if it continues to indulge in proxy wars with neighboring Arab countries, threatening the peace and stability in the Middle East, representatives of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) have warned.

In statements issued on the 37th anniversary of the GCC’s establishment, delegates criticized Iran’s role in the Yemen conflict and Tehran’s continued support to the Houthi militia, who have so far fired more than 100 ballistic missiles at Saudi Arabia.

“Maintaining security and stability in the region is the first priority of the Gulf states,” said GCC Secretary-General Abdullateef Al-Zayani.

Al-Zayani said he appreciated “the pivotal role of the Saudi leadership in backing the GCC General Secretariat to achieve the collective goals and implement the resolutions of the Supreme Council.”

He called on Iran “to refrain from meddling in the affairs of Arab nations, and stop supplying arms and ammunition to Houthi militants to save Yemen from the world’s worst humanitarian crisis.”

The “All Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on Yemen” in the British Parliament last Wednesday released its annual report on the situation in the war-stricken country, warning, for the first time, of “Iran’s hand in the civil war and its attempt to project power on the Arabian peninsula.”

The APPG observed that “cooperation with non-state actors is an integral part of Iran’s foreign policy through which it seeks to consolidate power across the region.” As examples of this strategy, the group named Iran’s support for the Lebanon-based militant organization Hezbollah, as well as Iranian militias in Syria and Iraq.

It further noted that “Iran’s stance against the war must be judged in the context of its desire to undermine the Western and Saudi influence in Yemen.”

The British group has warned that Tehran’s arming of the Houthi rebels has led to a “major escalation” in the conflict.

Commenting on these reports, Mohammed Al-Khunaizi, a Saudi Shoura Council member, said: “Iran has had complicity in most of the regional conflicts, and the involvement of Tehran has been hampering all efforts to restore peace and security in the Middle East.”

He said: “Iran is in non-compliance with paragraph 14 of UNSC resolution 2216, as a UN panel has already identified missile remnants, related military equipment that are of Iranian origin and were/are being used in Yemen.”

“The growing involvement of Iran in the affairs of the Arab nations has led many of its Arab neighbors to distance itself from Tehran,” said Dr. Ibrahim Al-Qayid, the founding member of the National Society of Human Rights (NSHR).

In fact, the Arab League has recently supported Morocco’s decision to sever ties with Iran over its support for the Polisario Front, he said.

Source: https://www.albawaba.com/news/gcc-warns-iran-grave-consequences-because-proxy-wars-region-1137936

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Palestinians appeal for UN help to save them from ‘massacre’

Israeli soldiers and snipers at the border east of Gaza City on May 15. Photographer: Thomas Coex/AFP via Getty Images

Skunk water, sticky foam, sponge grenades and tear gas-spraying drones are among the non-lethal methods Israel has pioneered to quell Palestinian protests.

Given this extensive toolkit, Israel is struggling to explain why its snipers fired enough bullets into Gaza Monday to kill 60 Palestinians and wound about 1,200. As with previous conflicts there, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government may face investigations and censure from international legal bodies.

“It’s simply unacceptable and outrageous to use live fire, not as the last resort but as the basic modus operandi for dealing with these demonstrations,” said Amir Gilutz, spokesman for Israeli human rights group B’tselem.

Some 40,000 of Gaza’s 2 million residents converged on Israel’s border on May 14 to protest against the transfer of the U.S. embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, a move they say sets back peace efforts and undermines their bid for statehood. Juxtaposed with the festive mood at the opening of the U.S. embassy, footage from Gaza, showing scores of Palestinians shot by Israeli soldiers, alarmed viewers around the world.

Some youths hurled rocks and petrol bombs at Israeli troops. Others used wire-cutters to try to breach the border fence. Though witnesses say most protesters were unarmed, army footage aired on Israel’s Hadashot News showed a group with with guns, bombs, grenades and wire-cutters trying to cross the fence; all eight were shot dead.

Ambulances and hospitals were overwhelmed, said Ayman Sahabani, chief of surgery at Shifa Hospital in Gaza City. “We’re at 25 times our capacity and our drug inventory is exhausted,” he said.

Israeli army spokesman Lieutenant-Colonel Jonathan Conricus said troops tried using non-lethal weapons like tear gas and rubber bullets when possible and had tried dousing burning tires with water cannons, but those methods had not proved sufficiently effective.

“We are defending ourselves against terrorists and rioters,” he said. “We shoot in order to stop them so that they cannot harm the security infrastructure and infiltrate into Israel.”

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Ranked as the world’s seventh-largest arms exporter, Israel has developed expertise in making non-lethal weapons to subdue protests in Gaza and the West Bank. Among them are putrid-smelling fluids and immobilizing foam. In preparation for this week’s demonstrations, it equipped drones to drop tear gas.

Given the availability of those methods, UN special coordinator for the Middle East peace process Nickolay Mladenov told the Security Council Tuesday there was no justification for the killings.

“Israel has a responsibility to calibrate its use of force, to not use lethal force, except as a last resort, under imminent threat of death or serious injury,” he said. “It must protect its borders, but it must do so proportionally and investigate every incident that has led to a loss of human life.”

Israel faced criticism from countries including Saudi Arabia, France, Belgium and the U.K. Turkey expelled Israel’s ambassador and recalled its own from Israel and the U.S. The Palestinian Authority appealed to the Arab League and UN for international protection and urged the International Criminal Court to investigate Israeli officials.

Israel is “conducting a massacre against our people,” said Mahmoud al-Aloul, deputy chairman of Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas’s ruling Fatah party.

In the 2008 Gaza conflict that left about 1,400 Palestinians and five Israelis dead, a UN fact-finding commission found both Israel and Hamas, the group which rules Gaza, committed war crimes. The panel’s chief, Richard Goldstone, later said the report erroneously accused Israel of intentionally killing civilians.

Hamas said 50 of the dead were members of the armed Islamist group, which is designated a terrorist organization by the U.S. and European Union.

Trump’s ambassador to the UN, Nikki Haley, blamed Hamas and said Israel acted with restraint.

Following investigations in the aftermath of three Gaza wars, the army has assigned lawyers, senior officers and video photographers to its regional commands to document military actions and try to ensure no war crimes are committed. The army says soldiers adhere to open-fire regulations and officers were prepared to defend their actions.

“Every bullet that’s fired is ordered by a commander and every bullet has a target,” said Conricus. Still, he said, smoke, sand, wind and tear gas created a chaotic environment in Gaza, and “unfortunately we do not always hit where we are trying to hit.”

The death toll appeared to deter a second day of protests that had been expected Tuesday to mark 70 years since Palestinians fled or were forced from their homes with Israel’s establishment. Instead, Gazans were burying their dead.

Israeli gunfire “will never make us lose hope to get back our land,” said Mohamed Abu el-Majd, 23, whose left leg was fractured. “They can shoot me in the right leg now and I swear to God I’ll come crawling back.”

— With assistance by Fadwa Hodali

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Source: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-05-17/in-gaza-israel-counts-on-army-snipers-over-non-lethal-arsenal

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The post Israel Struggles to Explain Why Snipers Used to Quell Palestinian Protest first appeared on Garner Ted Armstrong Evangelistic Association.

The conference will seek to maintain international engagement in delivering assistance to the Syrian people and host communities, in addition to providing an opportunity to discuss the political situation in the war-torn nation on a global level, it added.

The first day of the conference ( April 24) will bring together around 200 NGOs from Syria and the region for dialogue with UN agencies, ministers of refugee-hosting countries and international donors, it pointed out.

In light of the latest developments in Syria, the EU reaffirms that only a political solution will ensure lasting stability in the country, through the efforts of the UN Special Envoy for Syria as well as the UN-led process to achieve an intra-Syrian political solution.

Meanwhile, the ministerial sessions on Wednesday will cover all key aspects of the conflict, which include political and humanitarian factors, in addition to economic recovery for the region.

According to EU sources, the foreign ministers of Kuwait, Bahrain, UAE, Qatar, Jordan and the Prime Minister of Lebanon are due to attend the conference, while it remains to be seen if Iran and Russia will participate in any capacity.

The Gulf Cooperation Council, Islamic Development Bank, Arab League and the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation, along with the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) are also expected to be present.

The first Brussels Conference last year produced a sum USD 6 billion in humanitarian and development aid to Syria and the region, while donors pledged a sum of USD 3.7 billion for the years 2018-20, in addition to USD 30 billion in loans.

According to the EU, USD 7.5 billion in grants was contributed by donors for Syria and neighboring countries (Jordan, Lebanon, Turkey, Iraq and Egypt) in 2017, exceeding by 26% the original pledge of USD 6 billion, while a total of USD 2.4 billion was contributed as of March 2018. Out of the USD 30 billion worth of loans pledged for the period 2016-2020, more than half (57% or USD 17.2 billion) have been contributed so far. The Brussels conferences on Syria and the region follows similar initiatives such as the London Conference of February 2016, which was held under the leadership of the United Kingdom, Germany, Kuwait, Norway and the UN. International donors pledged significant financial aid for Syria, as well as civilian stabilization measures to strengthen resilience in host communities, building on the commitments made at the three previous pledging conferences in Kuwait from 2013-15, the EU information added.

Source: https://www.kuna.net.kw/ArticleDetails.aspx?id=2722476&Language=en

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