Articles by Middle East Monitor

Turkey’s foreign minister on Saturday decried other Muslim countries’ silence on the plight of the Rohingya Muslims. “There are a great many Muslim countries. Where are they? Why are they silent?” Mevlut Cavusoglu asked at an event marking the Muslim Eid-al Adha holiday in the Mediterranean province of Antalya. He said to date Turkey had delivered more than $70 million in humanitarian aid to the Rohingya Muslims, and that no country in the world was showing more concern for the Rohingya than Turkey. But, he added: “It’s not enough to deliver aid. In two weeks we need to hold a meeting in New York with the UN’s secretary-general, leaders of Muslim countries, international organizations, head of the UN Advisory Commission on […]

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Israel detains elderly Palestinian woman for allegedly intending to carry out attack Israeli forces detained a 60-year-old Palestinian woman near the village of Nilin in the central occupied West Bank district of Ramallah on Saturday amid unclear circumstances, as Israeli forces suspected that she was intending to carry out a stabbing attack. According to witness testimonies, Israeli soldiers had opened live ammunition on the woman, injuring her, after suspecting her of intending to carry out a stabbing attack when she walked close to where the soldiers were stationed at an Israeli checkpoint. However, others said that the soldiers had only opened live ammunition in the air, and the woman passed out on the ground before she was detained. The woman […]

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The Israeli government is reportedly set to approve a budget of 55 million shekels (more than $15,300,000) on Sunday for the construction of the illegal Amihai settlement – Israel’s first new official settlement to be established in the occupied West Bank in 25 years – in order to house settlers from the Amona outpost, which was demolished by order of the Israeli Supreme Court in February. According to The Jerusalem Post, the construction of the settlement, which has not yet received full approval and still has legal cases pending against it, would house the 40 families that were evicted from Amona earlier this year. The families have since lived in the Ofra field school in another illegal settlement in the […]

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Israeli police forces on Friday raided a mosque in the central Israeli city of Lod, or Lydda, and attempted to stop the Eid al-Adha prayers and the call to prayer – also known as the adhan – that were being transmitted through the mosque’s speakers, citing noise violations. Yaffa 48 news website reported that Israeli police escorted the Israeli mayor of the city, Yair Revivo, into the mosque, who physically attempted to prevent worshipers from partaking in the holiday prayers. Revivo claimed that he was “hit in his arm” by worshipers while trying to prevent them from praying. Worshipers said that the mayor’s actions were “provocative and racist,” adding that he “searches for ridiculous excuses to prevent prayers.” One worshiper […]

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Israeli forces injured a 14-year-old Palestinian with a rubber-coated steel bullet on Friday while suppressing a weekly march in the village of Kafr Qaddum in the northern occupied West Bank district of Qalqiliya. Coordinator for the village’s popular committee Murad Shteiwi said that Yousif Amer, 14, was injured with a rubber bullet in his stomach while inside his uncle’s house. Palestinians often report that Israeli forces directly aim at Palestinian homes during clashes, causing rubber bullets and tear gas canisters to break through windows into homes. Amer was taken to the Rafadiya Hospital in Nablus to receive treatment, according to Shteiwi. Shteiwi said that locals had participated in the march on the first day of the Muslim holiday Eid al-Adha, […]

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Against all odds, Syria’s footballers have overcome more than six years of civil war and internal political rifts to raise hopes of qualifying for their first ever World Cup. Forced to play their home games away due to security concerns, Ayman Hakeem’s Syria have embarrassed a succession of better-resourced opponents to sit third in Group A of Asian qualifying, behind leaders Iran and South Korea. An unlikely win away to Iran on Tuesday coupled with defeat for South Korea by Uzbekistan in the final round would give Syria second spot and direct entry to the finals in Russia next year. Even if results do not entirely go their way, Syria can still hold onto third spot and have a chance to qualify through two rounds of playoffs. […]

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France’s foreign minister said on Friday he wanted major powers to agree on a transition calendar that would be imposed on Syrians, but ruled out any role for President Bashar al-Assad, who he said had “murdered” part of his population. Jean-Yves Le Drian’s comments come despite what has appeared to be a softening in Paris’ position since the arrival of President Emmanuel Macron. Macron’s election victory gave Paris, which is a key backer of the Syrian opposition and the second-largest contributor to the U.S.-led coalition fighting Islamic State, a chance to re-examine its policy in the country. The change proposed by Macron was to drop demands Assad step down as a pre-condition for talks, although French officials still insist he […]

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Thousands of Palestinians performed prayers at Al-Aqsa Mosque in occupied East Jerusalem on Friday. Palestinian Muslims arrived early on Friday to Al-Aqsa from across occupied East Jerusalem and Israel to perform prayers, while Muslims from other Arab and Islamic countries also came to the holy site to pray during the holiday. Hundreds of family members congregated at Al-Aqsa Mosque compound, the third holiest site in Islam, while several clowns toured the holy site and organized activities with the children. Eid al-Adha is meant to commemorate Ibrahim’s willingness to sacrifice his adult son after being commanded to by God. However, just as he was about to sacrifice his son, an angel appeared and provided him with a ram to sacrifice instead. […]

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Israeli authorities on Thursday decided to ban the Secretary of the Fatah movement in the al-Thawri neighbourhood of occupied East Jerusalem from entering Jerusalem City for four months over alleged accusations of “incitement.” The head of the Jerusalem Committee for Families of Prisoners, Amjad Abu Asab, told Ma’an that Israeli authorities delivered an order to Mahdi Abu Nijmeh on Thursday banning him from the city. According to Asab, the order gave Nijmeh four days to file an appeal before the ban is implemented. He added that the Israeli intelligence and army forces had raided Nijmeh’s house several times before Thursday in attempts to detain him, though Nijmeh was not home. #HandsOffAlAqsa Israeli forces then left Nijmeh interrogation summons, and when […]

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Israeli police confiscated weapons and ammunition during search and detention raids carried out in occupied East Jerusalem on Friday, when at least two Palestinians were also detained by Israeli forces. According to an Israeli police statement, a loaded gun was found inside a sock on a rooftop of a Palestinian’s home that was raided in East Jerusalem. Two rifles and ammunition were also found in a bedroom of another home. The statement did not specify in what neighbourhoods the raids had taken place. The statement added that two Palestinians were detained by Israeli police during the raids, and were transferred for interrogations with Israeli authorities. Israeli raids in Palestinian towns, villages, and refugee camps are a daily occurrence in the […]

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