Category Archives: Middle East and North Africa

Hungary and Poland provide model for Israel’s assault on judiciary

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Benjamin Netanyahu’s actions remind many of first steps taken by ‘illiberal’ governments in Budapest and Warsaw

At the height of the protests in Israel over Benjamin Netanyahu’s planned judicial changes early last month, a Polish minister gave a revealing radio interview in Warsaw.

“Of course, we are talking with Israel, and to some extent we shared our experiences in this regard,” said the deputy foreign minister, Paweł Jabłoński, when asked for his views on the proposed Israeli laws.

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Access to Orthodox Easter ceremony in Jerusalem limited over security concerns

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Holy Fire rite has traditionally attracted about 10,000 Christian worshippers but numbers have been limited in recent years

Thousands of Christians in Jerusalem have celebrated the traditional Holy Fire rite ahead of the Orthodox Easter, despite a security clampdown limiting access to their most holy site.

The ancient Church of the Holy Sepulchre, where the thousand-year-old rite takes place, was built over the site where Christian tradition says Jesus Christ was crucified, buried and resurrected.

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Sudanese air force urges people to stay indoors as doctors union says at least 25 dead – as it happened

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Army rejects assertions by RSF that they have seized palace and airports in Khartoum

Sudan’s paramilitary Rapid Support Forces says it has gained control of Khartoum international airport, Merowe airport, al-Obeid airport and the presidential palace, after an attack on its military base in south Khartoum at about 9am local time today.

Khartoum airport has shut down, with clips circulated on social media showing the RSF storming the airport.

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Tunisian footballer dies after setting himself alight in protest

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Nizar Issaoui, 35, died in hospital after protest against ‘police state’ running country, says brother

A professional footballer in Tunisia has died after setting himself alight earlier this week in what he called a protest against the “police state” ruling the country, his brother said.

Nizar Issaoui, 35, suffered third-degree burns from his action in the village of Haffouz in the central region of Kairouan, his brother Ryad said.

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At least 25 killed amid clashes between rival military factions in Sudan

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Paramilitary group reports seizing control of presidential palace, army chief’s home and Khartoum airport

• Fighting in Sudan’s capital – latest updates

Sudan was plunged into a long-feared violent crisis on Saturday as a bitter struggle for power appeared to break out between the two main factions of the ruling military regime.

At least 25 people were reported to have been killed in clashes in the vast and strategic east African country during heavy fighting between the Sudanese armed forces and the paramilitaries of the Rapid Support Force (RSF), according to the Sudan Doctor’s Committee, a local NGO.

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Huthi prisoners flown from Saudi Arabia to Yemen in war exchange

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Second day of exchange involving nearly 900 detainees comes amid peace talks to end eight-year war

A flight carrying rebel prisoners of war has arrived in Yemen from Saudi Arabia, and Saudi prisoners are due to be released later in the day, the International Committee of the Red Cross has said.

The flights are part of a large-scale, multi-day exchange involving nearly 900 detainees and come amid peace talks which have raised hopes of an end to Yemen’s eight-year war between Iran-backed rebels and a Saudi-led coalition.

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Red Cross announces exchange of nearly 900 prisoners in Yemen war

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International Committee of the Red Cross organises swap between Saudi-led coalition and Houthi rebels as ceasefire talks continue

An “emotional and precious” exchange of nearly 900 prisoners involved in Yemen’s long-running war began on Friday, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) has said.

The exchange, the largest since 2020, is likely to be staged over three days, and includes politicians, journalists and soldiers. On Friday, four flights carrying a total of 318 people took place between the rebel-held capital, Sana’a, and government-controlled Aden. A further 500 will be exchanged on Saturday.

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Christians are in danger under Israeli government, says Holy Land patriarch

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Benjamin Netanyahu’s rightwing policies are emboldening attacks on 2,000-year-old community, says Catholic regional leader

The head of the Roman Catholic church in the Holy Land has warned in an interview that Benjamin Netanyahu’s far-right government has made life worse for Christians in the birthplace of Christianity.

The Vatican-appointed Latin Patriarch, Pierbattista Pizzaballa, said that the region’s 2,000-year-old Christian community has come under increasing attack, with the most rightwing government in Israel’s history emboldening extremists who have harassed clergy and vandalised religious property at a quickening pace.

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At least 25 dead after boat carrying people to Europe sinks off Tunisia

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Dozens of mostly sub-Saharan Africans have drowned in region in recent weeks trying to reach Europe

At least 25 people have died after a boat carrying people from sub-Saharan Africa towards Europe sank off the coast of Tunisia.

Fifteen bodies were discovered on Thursday, the Tunisian coastguard said, after 10 were recovered on Wednesday following the shipwreck the day before off the coastal city of Sfax.

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Al Jazeera English announces plans to move from London’s Shard to Qatar

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Move of London’s live broadcast centre to Doha could involve dozens of job losses

Al Jazeera English plans to close its live broadcast centre that operates from London’s Shard skyscraper and move programming to Qatar, with the possible loss of dozens of UK-based jobs.

In an email to staff, the network’s managing director, Giles Trendle, said Al Jazeera was “looking to undertake a restructure involving the move of AJE live programming to Doha. The move would include the news bulletins between 1900GMT and 2300GMT produced from London, and The Stream programme produced from Washington DC.”

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Jerusalem holy site visits restricted after Israeli soldiers shoot two Palestinians

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Al-Aqsa mosque closed to non-Muslims and tourists after gunmen who shot at an army post killed by security forces

Israel has halted visits by non-Muslims and tourists to a flashpoint Jerusalem holy site, as its military said soldiers had shot dead two Palestinian gunmen in the occupied West Bank, as a wave of unrest showed no sign of subsiding.

Last week, an Israeli police raid at the al-Aqsa mosque compound, a tinder box in the decades-old Israeli-Palestinian conflict, triggered rocket attacks from Gaza, south Lebanon and Syria that drew Israeli air and artillery strikes.

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Thousands gather for West Bank funeral of British-Israeli shooting victim

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Lucy Dee, 48, died on Monday after gun attack that also killed two of her daughters

Thousands of mourners have gathered at an Israeli settlement in the occupied West Bank for the funeral of a British-Israeli woman who died after a shooting attack days earlier.

Israelis holding national flags lined the roads in the rain leading to the funeral for Lucy Dee in Kfar Etzion on Tuesday.

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Netanyahu reverses decision to fire Israel defence minister after protests

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Dismissal of Yoav Gallant triggered unprecedented surge of protest against plan to disempower judiciary

As Israel faces a surge in violence on almost every front, the prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, has reversed his decision to fire the defence minister, Yoav Gallant, for warning that his judicial overhaul was harming the military.

In a televised speech late on Monday, Netanyahu said Gallant would stay in his position, two weeks after he dismissed the minister.

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Mother of British-Israeli sisters killed in West Bank shooting dies

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Lucy Dee sustained critical injuries in attack on Friday that killed her daughters Maia and Rina

The mother of two British-Israeli sisters killed in a shooting in the occupied West Bank has died from injuries sustained in the incident.

Maia and Rina Dee, 20 and 15, were killed on Friday when their car was shot at by a suspected Palestinian gunman. Their mother, Lucy (also known as Leah), 45, who was in the car with them, sustained critical injuries and was left in a coma.

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Saudi Arabia makes peace proposal for Yemen after Houthi talks

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Key players in Yemeni coalition government ready to go along with minimum eight-month ceasefire

Saudi Arabia has persuaded the key players in the Yemeni coalition government to go along with a minimum eight-month ceasefire with Houthi rebels in parallel with talks on the future of the country that may take as long as two years, as it rushes to capitalise on its new relationship with Iran.

Saudi and Houthi leaders met on Sunday for the first time in public in the Houthi-held capital, Sana’a, with the Saudis keen to cut their losses after a disastrous eight-year-long intervention that started with airstrikes in 2015. Mediators from Oman were also present.

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Palestinian boy shot dead by Israeli troops in West Bank refugee camp

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Teenager killed and two others wounded during Israeli arrest operation amid escalating tensions

Israeli troops have fatally shot a 15-year-old Palestinian boy and wounded two other people during an arrest operation in a West Bank refugee camp, as tensions continued to escalate in the occupied territories.

Mohammed Balhan was shot in the head, chest and abdomen in the Aqabat Jabr camp near Jericho, according to local Palestinian official Hani Obeidat, who called it an “unjustifiable crime”. A video showed him lying dead on a stretcher in the hospital, his head bandaged and his mother wailing as she leaned over his body.

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Women not wearing hijab to be banned from Tehran metro – reports

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Iranian state TV shows metro staff stopping women at ticket barriers, in effect barring many from work

Hijab enforcement groups are to be set up on the Tehran metro and women not wearing the hijab will be refused entry, in effect banning some women from work, Iranian state TV has reported.

The move appears to be part of a pattern of government efforts to force Iranian public bodies to take greater responsibility for enforcing the hijab. Many Iranian women, especially in urban centres, have refused to comply with the hijab rules, in a sign that the “women, life, freedom” protests that began in September continue in a more individualised form.

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Crises on multiple fronts threaten Benjamin Netanyahu’s grip on power

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Support for prime minister wanes as his ‘plot to overturn Israel’s democracy’ is seen as threat to national security

On Friday afternoon, Israel’s prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, found himself standing at the side of a remote road in the vast desert valley that runs the length of the occupied West Bank’s frontier with Jordan.

Along with his defence minister, Yoav Galant, Netanyahu was inspecting the scene of a shooting attack earlier in the day that killed British-Israeli sisters Maia and Rina Dee, 20 and 15, and left their 45-year-old mother Lucy fighting for her life. An Israel Defence Forces (IDF) search for the perpetrator is still under way.

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Holiday rites without clashes in Jerusalem but region braces for further violence

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Al-Aqsa mosque compound tensions have triggered cross-border fighting in Gaza and drawn in Lebanon and Syria

Simultaneous Muslim and Jewish holiday rites at Jerusalem’s flashpoint Temple Mount or al-Aqsa mosque compound have passed without major clashes after rare cross-border airstrikes and rocket fire between Israel and Syria overnight, and fears of wider conflict in the Middle East after escalations on multiple fronts.

About 15,000 Jewish worshippers gathered at the Western Wall in occupied East Jerusalem, the holiest site at which Jews can pray, on Sunday morning for a benediction prayer marking Passover. At the same time, thousands of Palestinians performed dawn and midday Muslim prayers at al-Aqsa, an esplanade on the other side of the wall, as part of observances during the holy month of Ramadan. Christian pilgrims also flooded the Old City to mark Easter Sunday, in a rare convergence of celebrations in the three different faiths.

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Israel launches strikes on Syria after rocket fire as violence flares

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Attacks come amid sharply increased Israel-Palestinian tensions following Israeli raids this week on al-Aqsa mosque in Jerusalem

Israeli jets hit Syrian military targets in response to rockets launched towards Israeli-controlled territory overnight, Israel’s military said, as violence flared again after cross-border exchanges of fire during the week.

State media in Syria reported explosions in the vicinity of the capital Damascus as Israel said its forces continued to hit Syrian territory after six rockets were fired overnight towards the Golan Heights.

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