MOSCOW (AA) – Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Palestinian counterpart on Monday discussed the escalation of tensions in the West Bank and East Jerusalem, a Kremlin statement said. In a phone call initiated by Abbas, the statement said, the two leaders expressed hope that the situation will not turn into a large-scale Palestinian...
JERUSALEM (AA) – Hundreds of Jewish settlers on Sunday forced their way into the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound in occupied East Jerusalem as Israeli police restricted the entry of Palestinian worshippers into the flashpoint site. According to Haaretz newspaper, 728 settlers stormed the compound under heavy protection from the Israeli police. The set...
GAZA CITY, Palestine (AA) – Sixteen Palestinian journalists are languishing in Israeli prisons, according to an Arab human rights group on Sunday. In a statement, the Beirut-based Journalists’ Support Committee said eight journalists have already been slapped with jail terms by Israeli authorities. “Four journalists are held under Israel...
JERUSALEM (AA) – The first commercial flight for Israel’s El Al carrier landed in Egypt’s Red Sea resort city of Sharm el-Sheikh from Tel Aviv, the Israeli airline said Sunday. El Al added in a statement that its subsidiary Sundor Airlines held a festive ceremony before the plane kicked off to Sharm el-Sheikh. According to [&...
MOSCOW – The Russian Foreign Ministry has slammed Israel’s actions against Palestine, saying Tel Aviv has turned the Gaza Strip into “a prison under open sky.” Commenting on remarks by the Israeli foreign minister about the vote on the suspension of Russia’s membership on the UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC) which ...
WASHINGTON- The US has voiced ‘concern’ over violence at the al-Aqsa Mosque compound in occupied East Jerusalem and called for “all sides” to lower tensions. “We call on all sides to exercise restraint, avoid provocative actions and rhetoric, and preserve the historic status quo on the Haram al-Sharif/Temple Mount...
TAL ABYAD, Syria – The Assad regime and the YPG/PKK group are mutually easing the blockades they imposed on each other in northeastern Syria’s Al-Hasakah and Aleppo provinces with the mediation of Russia. The Assad regime and YPG/PKK representatives have met in the Qamishli district of Al-Hasakah via Russia. The parties decided to loosen...
ANKARA (AA) – UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has called for respecting and upholding the status quo of the holy sites in Jerusalem amid tensions between Palestinians and Israel. “The Secretary-General is deeply concerned by the deteriorating security situation in Jerusalem,” his spokesman Stephane Dujarric said in a statement. Dujarric ...
GAZA CITY, Palestine (AA) – Palestinian group Hamas has said it is communicating with the UN and regional countries to avoid escalation with Israel amid rising tensions in East Jerusalem. Hamas leader Izzat al-Rishq said his movement had sent messages to mediators that “Jerusalem and Al-Aqsa Mosque are a red line and that any provocation...
AMMAN – Jordan and Palestine have called the ongoing escalation in Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem “dangerous” and urged Israel to stop all its “illegal and provocative” measures. The warning came during a phone call between Jordanian Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi and the Secretary-General of the Central Committee of the Palestine Liberation Organ...
