Middle East & North Africa

05 August 2022; MEMO: Israeli occupation army has carried out several air strikes in the besieged Gaza Strip, killing ten people, including a five-year-old boy, and wounding 55 others, the Palestinian Ministry of Health in Gaza said.

One of the dead was identified as Tayseer Al-Jaabari, commander of of the military wing of Islamic Jihad the Al-Quds Brigades.

Al-Jaabari was targeted while on the seventh floor of Palestine Building, a residential block, in the centre of Gaza City.

05 August 2022; MEMO: Palestinian officials in the besieged Gaza Strip warned Thursday that the enclave's only power plant will have to shut down within 48 hours if Israel's blockade is not lifted, amid rising tension on the border area following the Israeli army arrest of an Islamic Jihad leader, Bassam Al-Saadi, on Monday.

05 August 2022; MEMO: Senior Israeli officials warned, Thursday, that the chances of a confrontation with the Lebanese Hezbollah group will increase, if Tel Aviv did not reach an agreement with Lebanon regarding the maritime borders.

This came during a cabinet security meeting attended by Chief of Staff, Aviv Kohavi, Military Intelligence Chief, Aharon Haliva and Head of Intelligence Research, Amit Saar, Mossad Director, David Barnea, Shin Bet Director, Ronen Bar, and National Security Advisor, Eyal Hulata.

05 August 2022; MEMO: Three more ships loaded with grain sailed from Ukraine on Friday under an UN-backed deal lifting Russia's blockade of the Black Sea, Turkiye's Defence Ministry said, Anadolu News Agency reports.

According to the report, the departure of grain ships came as Turkish President, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, and Russian President, Vladimir Putin, are set to meet in Sochi for talks on ending the war in Ukraine and starting a new one in Syria.

06 August 2022; MEMO: Islamic Jihad leader Ziyad Al-Nakhalah announced on Friday: "The enemy [Israel] started the battle [aggression on Gaza] and does not know how to stop it. Therefore, it should expect a strong retaliation."

06 August 2022; MEMO: The Palestinian Islamic Resistance Movement Hamas on Friday mourned Tayseer Al-Jaabari, the senior military commander of the Islamic Jihad's military wing, Al-Quds Brigades.

RAMALLAH, Aug 5 (NNN-WAFA) – Palestine yesterday, called for international intervention to stop the expansion of Israeli settlements in the West Bank, and protect the two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

The international community has to intervene to stop Israel from confiscating land, demolishing homes, burning trees, and destroying infrastructure in the Palestinian territories, the Palestinian Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

ISTANBUL, Aug 5 (Reuters) - Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan said he would discuss developments in Syria with Russian leader Vladimir Putin during his visit to Russia on Friday.

Sitting opposite Putin ahead of their talks in the Black Sea city of Sochi, Erdogan said earlier meetings between Turkish and Russian delegations on politics, economic and trade issues had been fruitful.

Their meeting, less than three weeks since they held talks in Tehran, comes after Turkey helped broker a deal to resume Ukraine's Black Sea grain exports which were blocked by Russia's invasion. 

ANKARA, Aug 5 (Reuters) - A top aide to Turkey's president said on Friday the international community cannot end the war in Ukraine by ignoring Moscow, as Tayyip Erdogan headed to Russia to meet his counterpart Vladimir Putin.

The meeting, less than three weeks since they held talks in Tehran, comes after Turkey helped broker a deal to resume Ukraine's Black Sea grain exports which were blocked by Russia's invasion. 

BEIRUT, Aug. 5 (Xinhua) -- Lebanon called Friday on the European Union (EU) to cooperate on a roadmap aimed at securing a safe return for Syrian refugees to their homeland.

The country's Foreign Ministry said in a statement that "Lebanon and the EU have a common interest in finding a sustainable solution to the Syrian displacement issue, which protects Lebanon socially, economically and on a security level, in addition to preemptively protecting European countries from the consequences of any possible deterioration."