Middle East & North Africa

Israel: Smotrich ‘will vote against’ freeing hostages in exchange for ending Gaza war

26 February 2024; MEMO: Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich said on Sunday that he will oppose any agreement that leads to freeing all Israeli captives held by Palestinian resistance factions in Gaza in exchange for ending the ongoing Israeli war against Palestinians in the besieged territory.

Yemen Houthis keep up pressure with near miss on US-flagged tanker

26 February 2024; MEMO: Yemen’s Houthis fired a missile that likely targeted the “Torm Thor” in the Gulf of Aden on 24 February, but missed the US-flagged oil tanker, the US Central Command (CENTCOM) said on Monday, as the group steps up attacks on ships, Reuters reports.

Trade between Turkiye, South Africa booming: Envoy

26 February 2024; MEMO: Trade and investments between Turkiye and South Africa are booming, with an increase reported annually, Turkey’s Ambassador to Pretoria said Monday, Anadolu Agency reports.

“The total volume of Turkish investments in South Africa is $32 million. In 2022, it was $ 31 million, which is an increase,” Aysegul Kandas told Anadolu in an interview at her office in the capital, Pretoria.

World Court public hearings on Israel’s Occupation of Palestine concludes after dozens of countries testify

26 February 2024; MEMO: Public hearings at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) on Israel’s Occupation of Palestine concluded on Monday after a week of oral statements by dozens of countries, including Turkiye, and three international organisations, Anadolu Agency reports.

President Sisi says Egypt will not allow any threat to Somalia or its security

CAIRO, Jan 21 (Reuters) - Egypt will not allow any threat to Somalia, President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi said on Sunday after Ethiopia said it would consider recognising an independence claim by Somaliland in a deal that would give it access to a sea port.

The remarks were the strongest yet made on the issue by Egypt, which already has frosty relations with Ethiopia, and were a sign that Cairo may get involved in a dispute that has raised fresh tensions in the volatile Horn of Africa.

Netanyahu rejects Hamas conditions for Israeli hostage deal

JERUSALEM, Jan 21 (Reuters) - Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday rejected conditions presented by Hamas to end the war and release hostages that would include Israel's complete withdrawal and leaving Hamas in power in Gaza.

As Israeli planes resumed bombing Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip, senior Hamas official Sami Abu Zuhri told Reuters the Israeli leader's refusal to end the military offensive in Gaza "means there is no chance for the return of the (Israeli) captives."

Egypt: Int'l medics recall tough time working in war-torn Gaza

CAIRO, Jan. 20 (Xinhua) -- A medic from Doctors Without Borders, or Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF), has given first-hand perspective about the challenges and experiences he had while working in a Gaza hospital during the Israel-Hamas conflict.

During a press conference held here Friday, Enrico Vallaperta, an Italian intensive care nurse with the MSF who left Gaza on Thursday, said he had worked in central Gaza's Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital for several weeks amid very tough and dangerous conditions.

Palestinian death toll in Gaza surpasses 25,000 with no end in sight to Israel-Hamas war

RAFAH, Gaza Strip (AP) — The Palestinian death toll from the war between Israel and Hamas has soared past 25,000, the Health Ministry in the Gaza Strip said Sunday, while the Israeli government appeared far from achieving its goals of crushing the militant group and freeing more than 100 hostages.

The level of death, destruction and displacement from the war already is without precedent in the decades-old Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Yet Israeli officials say the fighting is likely to continue for several more months.

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