Human Rights

05 August 2022; MEMO: A United Nations panel yesterday ruled that France had violated an "international human rights treaty" by preventing a Muslim woman from wearing her headscarf in school.

The UN Human Rights Committee (UNHRC) said in a statement that the French move had violated "rights guaranteed under the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR)."

The Committee's decision had come after a complaint that was filed by a French Muslim woman in 2016.

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.

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."

04 August 2022; MEMO: Police in Israel arrested two tourists from the UAE yesterday following a shooting in central Tel Aviv. The incident took place on Dizengoff Street and was reportedly carried out by two assailants riding a motorcycle who shot at a known criminal standing by his car before fleeing the scene.

04 August 2022; MEMO: The Board of the Jewish National Fund (JNF) in Israel is scheduled to vote on the approval of the $18 million allocated for the purchase of Palestinian-owned land, based in the Jordan Valley in the occupied West Bank.

It comes after the Israeli Defence Ministry and the JNF attempted to buy the portion of land last year, which was halted after receiving international criticism due to the Palestinian who owns it, demanding legal rights to the balance of the land.

02 August 2022; MEMO: The Arab League stressed on Sunday the need to boycott Israel as a means to end its occupation of Palestine and save the two-state solution, Safa news agency has reported.

02 August 2022; MEMO: US Secretary of State Antony Blinken has urged Israeli Defence Minister Benny Gantz to expedite the investigation into the killing of Palestinian American journalist Shireen Abu Akleh so that the results can be made public.

02 August 2022; MEMO: Google is providing advanced artificial intelligence (AI) and machine-learning capabilities to the Israeli government, through its controversial "Project Nimbus" contract, reported The Intercept.

"The project is intended to provide the government, the defence establishment and others with an all-encompassing cloud solution," the Ministry said in its announcement.

02 August 2022; MEMO: An Israeli military court sentenced Palestinian journalist Amer Abu Arafa of Quds Press to four months in prison on Monday with neither charge nor trial, his outlet has reported. Abu Arafa is being held under the so-called administrative detention rules, which date back to the British Mandate period.