Middle East & North Africa

TEHRAN, Aug. 9 (Xinhua) -- Iran has placed its first import order using cryptocurrency, a senior Iranian trade official announced on Tuesday.

"This week, the first official import order was successfully placed with cryptocurrency worth 10 million (U.S.) dollars," tweeted Iranian Deputy Minister of Industry, Mine and Trade Alireza Peymanpak, who is also president of the Iran Trade Promotion Organization (ITPO).

"By mid-September, the use of cryptocurrencies and smart contracts will be widespread in Iran's foreign trade with the target countries," he said.

IDNA, West Bank (AP) — A Palestinian hunger striker who his family says has refused food for the past 160 days and is wasting away in an Israeli jailhouse infirmary has suddenly been thrust into the center of efforts to firm up a Gaza cease-fire.

Khalil Awawdeh is in the spotlight because the Islamic Jihad group sought his release as part of Egyptian-brokered talks that ended three days of fighting between the Gaza-based militants and Israel over the weekend.

TEL AVIV, Israel (AP) — Palestinians from the occupied West Bank will soon be allowed to travel on flights to Turkey out of an Israeli airport, the Israel Airports Authority said Tuesday.

The move is part of a series of gestures Israel says it is making to improve the living conditions of Palestinians in both the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. Critics say the measures do not address the daily humiliations of the decades-long occupation or pave the road for Palestinian statehood.

08 August 2022; MEMO: Emirati academic and professor of political science, Dr. Abdul Khaliq Abdullah, has criticised Emirati tourists who visit Israel, saying they expose themselves to undignified situations.

08 August 2022; MEMO: Deputy Chairman of Police and General Security in Dubai, Dhahi Khalfan Tamim, yesterday called on Arab countries that have relations with Israel to re-evaluate their ties, noting that Israel must be "serious about peace and respect" and not deny Palestinians their right to establish an independent state.

09 August 2022; MEMO: Israeli Defence Minister Benny Gantz has ordered all Israeli army brigades positioned near the Gaza envelope to remain on alert, Arab48 reported today.

During a security assessment meeting held with army commanders, Gantz said: "I issued orders for all army sectors to continue being ready."

09 August 2022; MEMO: Retired Palestinian Patriarch Michel Sabbah said on Monday that peace starts with the Palestinians, then extends to neighbours and the rest of the region. Sabbah was the first Palestinian to serve as the Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem.

09 August 2022; MEMO: Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has slammed Israel for targeting and killing Palestinian children and infants during Tel Aviv's latest aggression on the besieged Gaza Strip during which 44 Palestinians were killed including 15 children.

09 August 2022; MEMO: Russia blames Israel for the latest three-day military offensive against the Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, the Foreign Ministry in Moscow has announced.

"The new escalation was caused by the Israeli army firing into the Gaza Strip on 5 August," said ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova. She pointed out that the Palestinian factions responded to this escalation by firing rockets indiscriminately towards Israeli territory.

08 August 2022; MEMO: The European Union on Monday said it put forward a "final" text to revive the 2015 Iran nuclear deal as four days of indirect talks between US and Iranian officials wrapped up in Vienna, reports Reuters.

"What can be negotiated has been negotiated, and it's now in a final text. However, behind every technical issue and every paragraph lies a political decision that needs to be taken in the capitals," EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell tweeted.