DUBAI, United Arab Emirates – Oman said Monday it accepted 10 inmates from the U.S. prison at Guantanamo Bay ahead of President Barack Obama leaving office, part of his efforts to shrink the facility he promised to close. There was no immediate word from the U.S. Defense Department about the transfer.
Category: Middle East
UAE, British in naval exercise amid Gulf tensions with Iran
Naval forces of the United Arab Emirates and Britain have started an exercise amid Gulf Arab countries’ continued tensions with Iran. The UAE sits near the mouth of the Persian Gulf and near the strategic narrow Strait of Hormuz, through which nearly a third of all oil traded by sea passes.
68% of Israelis Support Two-State Solution: J Street Poll
That’s according to a poll conducted by the dovish pro Israel lobby J Street, which found that 68% of Israelis favor an independent Palestinian state alongside Israel, reported by Haaretz . Pundits have been sounding the death knell for the two state solution for years.
Palestinian Envoy warns Trump govt: Don’t move embassy
The chief Palestinian representative to France said moving the US embassy in Israel to Jerusalem from Tel Aviv would violate international law and adds that he does not think Donald Trump’s new administration will make such a decision. Salman Elherfi told The Associated Press that a Mideast peace conference Sunday in Paris sent a “very clear” message calling on everyone not to make any changes that would affect a final solution for the region, especially regarding the status of Jerusalem.
Austria’s far right struggles to win over Jews with charm offensive
Six decades after it was founded by former Nazis, Austria’s Freedom Party is courting Jewish voters, hoping that its anti-Muslim message will resonate with the tiny community and help it overcome lingering accusations of anti-Semitism. Jewish leaders are dismissive but the party, but like others on the European far right, it appears to have its image among the wider electorate in mind as it stages the charm offensive.
Water deal reached between Israel and Palestinians
Israel’s Coordinator of Government Activity in the Territories signed an agreement with the Palestinian Authority’s Minister of Civil Affairs on Sunday to renew the activity of the Joint Water Committee. The Israeli, Maj.
Three big burdens on the Turkish police
I was talking to a ranking official about the escape of Abdulgadir Masharipov, the Tajik-origin Uzbek citizen who is wanted for killing 39 people on Jan. 1 in Istanbul’s Reina nightclub on behalf of the Islamic State of Iraq and Levant , or DEASH in Arabic. “We have problems,” the official said with obvious embarrassment.
The Latest: Envoys urge Israel, Palestinians to back peace
More than 70 countries have called on Israel and the Palestinians to restate their commitment to a peace settlement and to refrain from unilateral actions. The closing statement at a Mideast peace conference in Paris on Sunday was meant to send a powerful message to Israel and the incoming Trump administration to keep hopes alive for a two-state solution between Israel and the Palestinians.
Pope Francis, Abbas call for direct talks with Israel during meeting at Vatican
Pope Francis and Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas called for renewed direct talks between Israel and the Palestinian Authority during a meeting at the Vatican. Abbas warned against moving the U.S. embassy to Jerusalem, telling reporters: “If this is the decision, to transfer the embassy to Jerusalem, it will not help peace and we hope it doesn’t happen.”
Iraqi Forces Retake Mosul University From ISIS, Military Spokesman Says
Iraqi forces have made a crucial step in the bloody quest to retake Mosul from the Islamic State, according to a spokesman for the country’s military. Iraqi Brig.
More talk on Mideast peace
Sending a forceful message to Israel and the incoming Trump administration, more than 70 world diplomats gathered in Paris on Sunday to say they want peace in the Mideast – and that establishing a Palestinian state is the only way to achieve it. French President Francois Hollande said he was sounding an “alert” that peace talks should be revived for “the security of Israel, security of all the region” before violent extremists and Israeli settlements destroy any hope of a two-state solution.
Inside the West Bank Settlement That Trump’s Envoy David Friedman Loves Best
On a weekday night in Beit El, dozens of teenage boys were packed into the study hall at the settlement’s new yeshiva, a tan stone building with a zig zag facade. It was a brisk night on the hilltop, and their coats and backpacks were scattered in the hallway.
Anger on social media as Israeli army spokesman posts tribute to late Egyptian actress
Arabs have responded with disbelief and fury after a spokesman for the Israeli army shared a message of praise for Egyptian actress Karima Mokhtar, who died on Thursday. Avichay Adraee is the official Arabic language spokesperson for the Israeli Defence Forces , and has well over a million likes on Facebook.
World diplomats in Paris to urge renewed Mideast peace talks
Fearing a new eruption of violence in the Middle East, more than 70 world diplomats gathered in Paris on Sunday to push for renewed peace talks that would lead to a Palestinian state. The conference is meant to be a forceful message to U.S. President-elect Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that much of the world wants peace and sees a two-state solution as the best way to achieve it in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
Israel responds to shooting attack with strike on Hamas post
The Israeli military struck a Hamas post in the southern Gaza Strip Sunday in response to a Palestinian attack on an Israeli military vehicle, the military said. No one was wounded in the exchange but it marked a rare flare-up along the tense border that has remained largely quiet since a bloody 50-day war between Israel and Gaza militants in the summer of 2014.
Yedioth editor: We would have walked if publisher made deal with PM
Editor-in-Chief of Israeli newspaper, Yediot Ahronot, Ron Yaron, speaks at the opening of a conference at the Jerusalem Convention Center, March 28, 2016. Amid a growing scandal surrounding recordings that appear to show Yedioth Ahronoth publisher Arnon Mozes negotiating a series of firings and reforms to push coverage more friendly to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, the editor of the popular daily said his staff would have quit en masse had the plan gone through.
Palestinian embassy opens in Vatican City
“We are very grateful about the role that the Holy See has played for a just and lasting peace in the Holy Land, and for having opened an embassy of Palestine in the Vatican for first time,” Abbas said, according to the official Palestinian news agency WAFA. “We are proud to be the birthplace of Christianity and about having one of the oldest Christian communities in the world.”
World diplomats in Paris to urge renewed Mideast peace talks
The French organizers hope Sunday’s conference will send a strong message to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and U.S. President-elect Donald Trump that much of the world wants a two-state solution to the protracted Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Netanyahu says the conference is “rigged” against Israel, and the incoming Trump administration isn’t taking part.
The BDS Movement- A Hateful, Misguided and Anti-Semitic Undertaking
The Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement is a pro-Palestinian undertaking that took root following the second Palestinian Intifada in 2000 and the Durban Conference of 2001. The BDS campaign calls on the international community “to impose broad boycotts and implement divestment initiatives against Israel similar to those applied to South Africa in the apartheid era.”
Huntington Beach mother, daughter want to go beyond horror to show ‘real Syria’
Maria Khani, left in mirror, and her daughter, Dania Alkhouli, have collected items of all sorts from Syria through their nonprofit, A Country Called Syria, in an effort to preserve the war-torn nation’s rich culture. They purchased the mirror in the Damascus.
PA to assist Gaza with power crisis
The Palestinian Authority government in Ramallah is expected to grant the Hamas government in the Gaza Strip full exemption from paying taxes on diesel fuel purchased from Israel and supplied to Gaza. The tax exemption will be for a period of three months and the PA will supply the Gaza Strip with enough fuel to allow the power plant to operate.
Iraqi forces battle on in Mosul university complex
Iraqi special forces drove back Islamic State militants in the Mosul University campus on Saturday, while elite police units took over large areas along the east bank of the Tigris river, military officials said. The head of Iraq’s Counter Terrorism Service said security forces were close to seizing the entire east bank of the Tigris, which bisects Mosul north to south.
At Paris meeting, major powers to warn Trump over Middle East peace
Major powers will send a message to U.S. President-elect Donald Trump on Sunday that a two-state solution between Israelis and Palestinians is the only way forward, and warn that his plan to move the U.S. Embassy to Jerusalem could derail peace efforts. Some 70 countries, including key European and Arab states as well as the permanent members of the U.N. Security Council, are due in Paris for a meeting that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has rejected as “futile” and “rigged”.
ISIS battle sees rebels injured near Syrian town of al-Bab
‘Liberal snowflake’ stars come under fire for ‘pathetic’ video that shows them singing ‘I Will Survive’ about Trump’s inauguration as the president-elect’s war with Hollywood’s A-list wages on ‘Car thief’, 22, is charged with murdering loner IT worker, 49, and burying her body under her vast collection of romance novels so she wasn’t found for ten days Trump’s national security adviser ‘made FIVE CALLS’ to Russian ambassador on the same day Obama imposed sanctions on Moscow – as White House says it did not approve contact Trump starts MLK weekend with Twitter attack on civil rights hero Senator John Lewis, who said The Donald was not a legitimate President BREAKING NEWS: Europe’s ‘jihadi capital’ is in lockdown as police launch huge anti-terror operation in Molenbeek in Brussels SpaceX launch satellites in orbit for first time since September accident that destroyed a rocket and a … (more)
IS launches new assault on besieged eastern city in Syria
Islamic State militants launched their biggest assault in a year on government-held areas of the contested city of Deir el-Zour Saturday, attacking from several fronts and triggering intense fighting in the eastern region bordering Iraq, the Syrian government and opposition activists said. Syrian state TV said three people were killed and nine were wounded in IS rocket attacks on several neighbourhoods of the city.
In long-shot Mideast peace bid, France sees nothing to lose
In this March 17, 2003 file photo, an Israeli border policemen guards the U.S. Embassy in Tel Aviv as Israelis line up for U.S. visas. The Palestinians are ringing alarm bells over Donald Trump’s stated intention to relocate the U.S. Embassy in Israel to contested Jerusalem, fearing quick action once he takes office as U.S. president next week.
Iraq makes swift territorial gains against IS in Mosul
Iraqi forces have won a string of swift territorial gains in Mosul in the fight against the Islamic State group after months of slow progress. Government troops retook the eastern edge of a third bridge in Mosul Saturday and a cluster of buildings inside Mosul university, according to a senior Iraqi officer overseeing the operation.
ISIS, Iraqi forces battle for control of Mosul University
A member of Iraqi Special Operations Forces carries a rocket launcher at Mosul University during a battle with ISIS militants on Saturday. Iraqi forces have won a string of swift territorial gains in Mosul in the fight against ISIS after four months of slow progress, but resistance from the militant group persists at various locations, including the city’s university complex.
In long-shot Mideast peace bid, France sees nothing to lose
It sounds far-fetched at best: holding a Mideast peace conference without Israelis, Palestinians or the incoming U.S. government.
Palestinian leader: Peace could suffer if US embassy moves
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has warned that peace could suffer if the incoming Trump administration goes ahead with plans to move the U.S. embassy to Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. Abbas made the comments Saturday as he inaugurated the Palestinian embassy to the Holy See following an audience with Pope Francis.
17:36 Air raid targeting IS militant kills up to 30 in Iraq’s Mosul: residents
Residents of the Iraqi city of Mosul said up to 30 civilians died in an air strike on a district held by Islamic State this week, Reuters reported. Locals said they saw at least three missiles hit the western Mosul al-Jadida area on Thursday, in a raid that appeared to target the house of senior militant Harbi Abdel Qader.
Iraqi forces reach Mosul bridge, enter university complex
Friday 13th, January 2017 / 22:28 Written by Oman Observer MOSUL/BAGHDAD: Iraqi special forces stormed the Mosul University complex in the city’s northeast on Friday and pushed IS further back to reach another bridge across the Tigris river, the military said.
Former ambassador and diplomat from Israel visits Lake Charles
On Jan. 20, Donald Trump becomes the 45th president of the United States. And like every president since 1948, he will deal with the ongoing struggle between Israel and its Arab neighbors.
Cyprus Talks Moving Toward Endgame
United Nations officials say negotiations aimed at wrapping up a reunification deal for the divided Mediterranean island of Cyprus will resume next week. The adviser to the U.N. secretary general on Cyprus, Espen Barth Eide, described Thursday’s international conference on the island as a turning point for negotiations.
Maintenance stems clashes over Syrian capital water source
Maintenance workers arrived in Syria’s rebel-held valley near Damascus Friday to fix the water facility there, signalling an end to the violent standoff that has dried out the capital for weeks and threatened a fragile cease-fire, activists and the government said. For days, negotiations stalled, failing to restore the water flow to the capital restricted since Dec. 22 and to end a government offensive there to uproot rebels in control of the area for years.
Syria says Israeli missiles struck near military airport
Syria accused Israel of firing missiles early on Friday that struck near a major military airport west of Damascus, sparking a fire, and warned Israel of repercussions without specifying whether it would retaliate for the attack. In a statement carried on the official news agency SANA, the Syrian military said several missiles were launched just after midnight from an area near Lake Tiberias.
Syrian troops capture rebel-held village near Damascus
The Syrian army and an opposition activist group say government forces have captured a village near the capital Damascus that has witnessed intense clashes for weeks. The Syrian army’s Military Media says troops are now in full control of Basima after gunmen fled to two nearby villages in the Barada Valley region.
Iran: Halt imminent executions of 12 alleged drug offenders
Iran should immediately halt the execution of 12 men convicted of drug offences, scheduled for 14 January in Karaj Central Prison, Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International said today. The human rights organizations expressed concern that, despite repeated government promises, Iran has not made any tangible progress in reducing its alarming execution rate.
Iraqi forces enter Mosul University in battling ISIS for city23 min ago
Irbil , Jan 13: Two Iraqi officers say Iraqi special forces have entered the Mosul University, a tactical achievement in battling Islamic State militants for control of the city. The officers say the troops entered the university grounds today morning and secured parts of the compound, located in eastern half of Mosul.
Netanyahu’s top advisor: World will not boycott tech products for Palestinians
The international community’s desire for Israeli technology trumps its concern over the stalling peace process, the director-general of the Prime Minister’s Office said this week, arguing that the recent UN Security Council resolution condemning the settlements was merely a “blip” on the radar. “Countries are going to have to decide what’s in their best interest: to be with Israel, or without Israel,” Eli Groner told The Times of Israel in his Jerusalem office.