Wednesday, June 10, 2015
Palestinian poll shows discontent with Hamas
Gaza Strip residents are unhappy with Hamas and the results of the war with Israel last summer, a new Palestinian poll released Tuesday shows.Int'l Legal Experts Slam IDF - For Over-Warning Gazans
The poll, by the Palestinian Center for Policy and Survey Research, shows that half of Gaza's residents want to emigrate, compared to 25% of the West Bank's residents.
The center's director, Khalil Shikaki, said the 50% emigration figure in Gaza is the highest ever, and is even higher among young people, about 80%.
"Gaza is definitely showing tremendous frustration," Shikaki said.
A majority, 63%, expressed dissatisfaction with "achievements compared to human and material losses" during Operation Protective Edge last summer. More than 2,100 Palestinians died in Gaza, while 67 Israeli soldiers and six Israeli civilians were killed.
The fighting devastated parts of Gaza, and reconstruction has been slow, causing many there to ask if it was worth it.
Of those polled, 63% said they support launching rockets at Israel while a blockade is in place. The same number said they favor indirect talks between Hamas and Israel to negotiate a long-term truce in exchange for lifting the blockade. (h/t djcelts)
The IDF went to extraordinary lengths last summer to prevent civilian casualties while fighting Hamas terrorists in Gaza, achieving a remarkable 1:1 civilian to combatant ratio, but according to international legal experts it went too far in avoiding casualties among the enemy population.JPost Editorial: Jerusalem, Israel
Willy Stern of Vanderbilt Law School, in an article to be published next Monday in the Weekly Standard, details what he found while spending two weeks with attorneys in the IDF's international law department dubbed "Dabla" as well as front-line commanders, and documents the IDF's "legal zeal" which as he notes has not stemmed the deluge of international criticism against it.
Stern listed how the IDF bombarded Gaza residents with thousands of telephone calls, leaflet drops, TV and radio messages, as well as calls to influential citizens urging them to evacuate residents, and in doing so gave the terrorist enemy detailed information about its troop movements.
"It was abundantly clear that IDF commanders had gone beyond any mandates that international law requires to avoid civilian casualties," writes Stern. He reported how Dabla attorneys have to sign off on a "target card" for each airstrike on terror targets, with the cards enumerating all of the relevant data about the planned strike.
In contrast, the Hamas "doctrine manual" captured by the IDF in the Shejaiya neighborhood early last August documents how the terror group urges its fighters to embed themselves among civilians in hopes that the IDF will kill civilians.
"Hamas’s playbook calls for helping to kill its own civilians, while the IDF’s playbook goes to extreme - some say inappropriate - lengths to protect innocent life in war," reads the article.
Ostensibly, the State Department’s position on Jerusalem – as presented to the US federal appeals court – is that the “reversal of US policy” could “provoke uproar throughout the Arab and Muslim world and seriously damage our relations.”
But kowtowing to extremists in the Arab and Muslim world only encourages more extremist behavior, because it proves that intimidation works.
Setting policy because of fear of violence also strengthens the Palestinian “Nakba” narrative that views Israel as the aggressor in the 1948 War of Independence. In reality, it was a radicalized Palestinian leadership – backed by bellicose Arab nations – that rejected the 1947 UN Partition Plan: the original two states for two peoples. The Palestinians made the historic mistake of attempting to annihilate out the fledgling Jewish state at birth. Thankfully, they failed. But they refuse to face the consequences of their own acts of violence. By refusing to recognize Jerusalem as part of Israel, the US is essentially strengthening this distorted narrative.
Just walking around Jerusalem, a city that has flourished and grown beyond recognition for the betterment of both Jews and Arabs during the years it has been under Israel’s control, one is struck by the sheer absurdity of the US’s position.
The time has come for the Obama administration to amend America’s policy.
Through direct negotiations, Israelis and Palestinians will decide the final borders of Israel and a future Palestinian state. No matter what the outcome, however, parts of Jerusalem always have been and will always remain Israel’s capital. US policy should reflect this simple fact.
Eugene Kontorovich: Zivotofsky’s implications, from Israel to immigration
I wrote an amicus brief in support of the petitioner in the Zivotosfksy case with Alan Gura, and blogged about it extensively here. While I obviously disagree with the decision, it was not so terrible on the law, though I think the application to the facts was way off.Rivlin Tells Dempsey 'I Was Born in Jerusalem, Israel'
Today I have a piece commenting on the decision and its implications over at ScotusBlog’s instal-symposium on the case. Some extracts:
[T]he opinion may actually be broader than it seems, because applying even an exclusive recognition power to the facts of the case would not obviously result in a win for the president. The case goes beyond recognition in two ways. First, it does not involve the traditional forms of recognition – countries and governments. Rather, it relates to the geographic scope of countries. Second, the challenged action – the passport law – was not an act of recognition, as the Court concedes.
Say Congress passes a set of tariffs, or immigration quotas, for India, and specifies that by this they mean Kashmir also. Can the president refuse to apply them to Kashmir? Or to turn it around, could the president apply Pakistani tariffs and immigration quotas to Kashmir when Congress says to apply Indian ones, on the grounds that it interferes with his power of recognition?
President Reuven Rivlin on Wednesday morning hosted Chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Martin Dempsey to the Presidential Residence in Jerusalem, where he referenced the US Supreme Court ruling this week backing the American president in not recognizing Jerusalem as part of Israel.PM: Palestinian state must be demilitarized, recognize Israel
Rivlin began by saying "we are proud to have you as a friend. We salute and appreciate you, and your friendship will be well remembered."
"I am a seventh generation Jerusalemite, and even though I was born nine years before the State of Israel was established, I was born in Jerusalem, and I am Israeli," he said, in a not so subtle reference to the ruling overturning a Congressional law that would have US President Barack Obama recognize the Israeli capital as such.
In an address at the prestigious annual Herzliya Conference on Tuesday, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reiterated his support for a two-state solution to the conflict with the Palestinians, but noted that a Palestinian state must be demilitarized and recognize Israel as a Jewish state.Netanyahu calls on Palestinians to return to talks
Netanyahu's vision of a peace agreement with the Palestinians includes continued Israeli security control in Judea and Samaria.
"These are not whims, these are not pretexts, excuses, arguments," Netanyahu said. "This is real. How do you prevent tunnels from being dug from Qalqilya to Kfar Saba? ... Who will go into Qalqilya and stop it? Who will prevent the smuggling of weapons?"
Netanyahu noted that no one has provided him with an answer as to how to guarantee that territory ceded to the Palestinians in Judea and Samaria would not end up being seized by Hamas or the Islamic State group.
"Today, the problem in Gaza is not the smuggling of weapons," Netanyahu said. "There isn't much of that. The problem is self-production [of weapons] in Gaza. ... This doesn't happen in Ramallah, because, ultimately, Israeli security forces are the main avenue of defense. The ... demilitarization of Judea and Samaria does not go without saying. We must ensure there is a lasting security regime that provides answers to these problems, based on the premise that the region remains stable."
Netanyahu, speaking at the Herzliya policy conference, added that although he supports a two-state solution, a future Palestinian state would be demilitarized and Israel would maintain security control of West Bank area.France, Iran and the "Peace Process"
“I call on [Palestinian Authority] President [Mahmoud] Abbas to return to talks without preconditions,” he declared during a speech at the annual Herzliya Conference.
He added that though Palestinian recognition of a Jewish state was not a precondition for talks, it would form the basis of a lasting agreement.
“The Palestinians expect us to recognize a Palestinian state. But they won’t recognize a Jewish state for the Jewish people. That’s what we want. Mutual recognition,” he said.
He complained that Israel had put out it’s hand to the Palestinians, “time after time after time,” but Abbas had been unwilling to engage in talks.
“I’ve tried for six and a half years to have talks,” he said, pointing to the fact that a 10-month settlement freeze in 2009-2010 only led to six total hours of direct negotiations between him and Abbas, during which the Palestinian leader only demanded a longer moratorium on settlement building.
His own expressed skepticism about the achievability of an Israeli-Palestinian agreement appears to have given way to the French notion that "all other ways have been explored," and that it is time to let the UN determine parameters for a "big overarching deal." And, as it happens, the French draft corresponds with the President Obama's own -- strongly held -- belief that Israel has to ascribe to the President's view, despite having just elected a Prime Minister who disagrees:Egypt said working to reconcile divided Fatah, Hamas
The most important thing, I think, that we can do right now in strengthening Israel's position is to describe very clearly why I have believed that a two-state solution is the best security plan for Israel over the long term... but also, at the end of the day, to say to any Israeli prime minister that it will require some risks in order to achieve peace.
The "risks" sound ominously like Secretary of State Kerry's 2013 "warning" that Israel might face a "third intifada" if it didn't toe the then-American, now-French line. "I mean does Israel want a third Intifada?" he asked. "I've got news for you. Today's status quo will not be tomorrow's."
In Washington this week, Ambassador Araud used extraordinarily tough language against Israel in a series of Twitter exchanges with American supporters of Israel, culminating in the "blocking" of one of them. Silly kids' stuff, but the air is poisoned. The CEO of the French cell phone company Orange declared his desire to boycott Israel, while Orange rakes in money from its operation in the Democratic Republic of Congo, a major human rights violator.
Smash the two stories together, you get an American president supporting France in its efforts to be a major player in the Middle East in exchange for French support of the P5+1 deal with Iran.
In both cases, guess who pays the price: Israel.
An Egyptian official revealed on Wednesday that Cairo has been working to renew talks toward reconciliation between the rival Palestinian groups Hamas and Fatah, which remain deeply divided despite being partners in a nominal unity government.Greece officially starts using term ‘Palestine’
“Our efforts are ongoing and continuous despite events in the region,” Foreign Ministry spokesman Badr Abdel Atty said in an interview with the Palestinian news site Donia Al-Watan. “As far as we are concerned Palestine is the main issue in the area, and we need to do everything to establish an independent Palestinian state with its capital in East Jerusalem.
“Egypt is interested in Palestinian reconciliation and is prepared to invest many efforts to achieve that,” he said, according to the Israeli news site NRG. “Without reconciliation, Palestinian society is divided and the Palestinian principles are not united. We need to apply pressure and to have meetings so that the Palestinian front will be united and strong on the way to talks with the Israelis.”
The official said Egypt has also been working to renew negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians. Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shukri is acting to rally the foreign ministers of the Arab League to bring about a renewal of the negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians, he said, and noted that Saudi Arabia was also involved in the efforts.
Although they haven’t affirmed full, official recognition of a Palestinian state, Greek officials recently started referring to “Palestine.” The country’s prime minister actually used the term “State of Palestine” in a tweet Monday that was later deleted.PMW: PA school message: "Palestine" will replace Israel
“At the Greek Foreign Ministry, we decided to issue instructions throughout the Greek public administration for the uniform use of the term ‘Palestine’ when we refer to our friendly country,” Foreign Minister Nikos Kotzias said Monday during a meeting with his Palestinian counterpart Riyad al-Maliki.
“Palestine is a country that is in our hearts, in our minds,” Kotzias said at the Foreign Ministry in Athens. “It has followed us since the years of our adolescence and youth as a dream of freedom, democracy and rights.”
During a press conference with al-Maliki, Kotzias referred to his guest as “His Excellency, the foreign minister of Palestine,” and promised to create a “Friends of Palestine” group in the European Union.
Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras on Monday mentioned the “State of Palestine” in a tweet about his meeting with al-Maliki. The tweet was deleted a few hours after it was posted and replaced with a similar tweet that merely referred to “Palestine.” Tsipras’s diplomatic adviser also called the Israeli embassy in Athens and apologized for the use of the term “State of Palestine.”
Israel has fought international recognition of a Palestinian state, insisting that such recognition only come as part of a comprehensive peace deal.
Emphasizing its refusal to co-exist with Israel or even recognize Israel, the Palestinian Authority continues to present all of Israel as "occupied Palestine." The PA National Security Forces, for example, repeatedly greets its Facebook followers with pictures of Israel and statements like:PA TV for kids: All of Israel is "occupied" and "will return to us"
"Good morning, this photo is from: occupied Jaffa" or "occupied Acre" or "occupied Palestine."
Palestinian Media Watch has documented that the PA and Fatah - both headed by Mahmoud Abbas - use all the means of communications they control to send the message that there is only room for one "Palestine" extending "from the river to the sea" and that all of Israel is "occupied" and will eventually "return" to the Palestinians.
Puppet Marwan: "How beautiful is the sea and the view. Director, take a shot of it. This is Tel Aviv. Take a look. It was named Tel Aviv after Jaffa was occupied. Can you believe it? Jaffa was here and it became Tel Aviv..."
PA TV host: "Good for you, Marwan, you went to see Jaffa and had fun there... My friends, I am telling you that for sure Jaffa, and not only Jaffa but also Haifa, Acre, Nazareth and all the Palestinian cities occupied in 1948 will return to us one day."
United Nations Condemns All Past, Present, Future Israeli Actions (satire)
The United Nations Security Council (UNSC) passed a resolution earlier today stating that any and all Israeli military action constitutes war crimes. What separates this resolution from the overwhelming number of resolutions already condemning the Jewish State is that it appears to be all encompassing. “In case anyone hasn’t noticed, we just waste so much of our time singling out Israel for every little thing,” a UNSC representative told The Israeli Daily. “This new ‘all encompassing resolution’ is simply a much more efficient way to handle things. We’re the UN, we don’t like to waste time or resources.”UN Report: Iranian Sanctions Violations Are Routinely Ignored by West
According to the representative, rather than throat-punch Israel for every alleged infraction, the new resolution just assumes that Israel is guilty, and always has been. The representative went on to clarify, “it used to be that Israel would do something, didn’t really matter what, then we’d all have to schlep to New York to talk about how Israel is guilty, and then announce the ‘guilty verdict’, even though we always use the previous resolution’s language since it’s identical – kind of like a ‘copy/paste’. But now, everyone just knows. And this applies to everything Israel has done and will ever do. It’s a pretty ingenious system. We may not have much to be proud of but we’re really proud of this beauty. The only downside is that many of us will miss our paid-for-trips to New York City.”
A United Nations panel found that Western nations have systematically ignored Iranian violations of international sanctions so as not to jeopardize the talks over Iran’s illicit nuclear program, Bloomberg News reported today. The sanctions were put in place because of the country’s nuclear proliferation and support for terror.US finds pulling back Iran sanctions is no easy task
“The current situation with reporting could reflect a general reduction of procurement activities by the Iranian side or a political decision by some member states to refrain from reporting to avoid a possible negative impact on ongoing negotiations” between Iran and six world powers, said a panel of experts for the UN committee on Iran sanctions in its latest report, dated June 1 and made public Tuesday.
While the panel found that Iran “implemented its commitments” under an interim framework easing economic sanctions in return for curbs on its nuclear activities, the report raised questions about whether countries, including the U.S. and its European allies, have looked the other way on some sanctions violations.
The report prompted Mark Dubowitz, executive director of the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, to charge the Obama administration with ignoring the violations out of political expediency. “This is a clear political decision not to publicize these examples of sanctions evasion in order to ensure that public reporting on this doesn’t in any way jeopardize the talks or harden congressional resolve,” Dubowitz told Bloomberg. “The Obama administration has bent over backwards to try and whitewash Iranian violations both on the nuclear side and also on the sanction-busting side.”
The problem derives from what was once a strong point of the broad US sanctions effort that many credit with bringing Iran to the negotiating table in the first place.Iran deal won't keep it from obtaining bomb: Israel PM
Administration officials vehemently reject that any backtracking is taking place, but they are lumping sanctions together differently from the way members of Congress and critics of the negotiations separate them.
Under the sanctions developed over decades, hundreds of companies and individuals have been penalized not only for their role in the country’s nuclear program but also for ballistic missile research, terrorism, human rights violations and money laundering.
Now the administration is wending its way through that briar patch of interwoven economic sanctions.
The penalties are significant. Sanctioned foreign governments, companies or individuals are generally barred from doing business with US citizens and businesses, or with foreign entities operating in the American financial system. The restrictions are usually accompanied by asset and property freezes as well as visa bans.
An emerging deal between Iran and world powers won't prevent the Islamic republic from reaching nuclear weapon capacity, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Tuesday, noting Arab states shared his concern.'WISHFUL THINKING': Obama's ex-military intel chief blasts Iran talks
"I know I'm often portrayed as the nuclear party pooper, and that would be okay if I was the only voice against the impending deal with Iran," he said at a security conference at Herzliya near Tel Aviv.
"But I speak with quite a few with our neighbours, more than you think. And I want to tell you that nobody in this region believes this deal will block Iran's path to the bomb.”
A former top military intelligence official under President Obama on Wednesday blasted the administration's pursuit of a nuclear deal with Iran, calling it a "placeholder" based on "wishful thinking."Report: Despite Sanctions, Iran Still Spending Billions To Support Assad
Retired Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn, former head of the Defense Intelligence Agency, delivered pointed and detailed criticism of the Iran deal framework -- as well as the U.S. response to the violence in Iraq and Syria.
"It is clear that the nuclear deal is not a permanent fix but merely a placeholder," he told a House Foreign Affairs subcommittee.
In written and delivered testimony, he said the 10-year timeframe on parts of the deal "only [makes] sense" if the U.S. thinks a "wider reconciliation" with Iran is possible. He called this "wishful thinking," adding that "regime change" is the best way to stop Iran's nuclear weapons program.
Flynn also asserted that Iran has "every intention" of building a nuclear weapon, and their desire to destroy Israel is "very real."
The United Nations’ special envoy to Syria has estimated that Iran is spending billions to prop up the regime of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, Eli Lake reported today for Bloomberg View.Two Weeks Into Iranian Espionage Trial, Washington Post Reporter Finally Allowed To Speak
On Monday, a spokeswoman for the U.N. special envoy for Syria, Staffan de Mistura, told me that the envoy estimates Iran spends $6 billion annually on Assad’s government. Other experts I spoke to put the number even higher. Nadim Shehadi, the director of the Fares Center for Eastern Mediterranean Studies at Tufts University, said his research shows that Iran spent between $14 and $15 billion in military and economic aid to the Damascus regime in 2012 and 2013, even though Iran’s banks and businesses were cut off from the international financial system.
Such figures undermine recent claims from Obama and his top officials suggesting that Iran spends a relative pittance to challenge U.S. interests and allies in the region. While the administration has never disclosed its own estimates on how much Iran spends to back Syria and other allies in the Middle East, Obama himself has played down the financial dimension of the regime’s support.
The second hearing in the espionage trial of Washington Post reporter Jason Rezaian was held behind closed doors in Tehran on Monday, the Post reported. The first hearing occurred two weeks ago.US military chief: Iran will increase funds to proxies after nuclear deal
Iran’s semi-official Tasnim News Agency said Rezaian, a California native who has dual U.S. and Iranian citizenship because his father was born in Iran, presented part of his defense in English during the hearing in Tehran’s Revolutionary Court. His statements were translated for the judge.
No reporters were in court, and the media accounts from Tehran provided no details of Rezaian’s statements in court. His attorney, Leila Ahsan, said she cannot publicly discuss the court proceedings. Under Iranian law, it is illegal to reveal details about a closed-door hearing.
“The second hearing in the trial of Jason Rezaian was held today examining the charges against him. Jason was in good spirits,” Ahsan told the Rezaian family, according to the reporter’s brother, Ali Rezaian.
US Chairman of the Joint Chiefs Martin Dempsey visited Israel on Tuesday, when he said that sanction relief in the wake of a nuclear deal with Iran will lead to increased funding for the Islamic Republic's proxies in the Middle East. "I think they will invest in their surrogates; I think they will invest in additional military capability."Dempsey: I Couldn't Imagine a World Without US-Israel Alliance
The General said he understands why Israelis believe a nuclear deal will give Iran room to accelerate its funding of surrogate Shiite groups like Hezbollah and to put more resources into its own military.
"I share their concern," he said. "If the deal is reached and results in sanctions relief, which results in more economic power and more purchasing power for the Iranian regime, it's my expectation that it's not all going to flow into the economy to improve the lot of the average Iranian citizen." Dempsey said
However, the military chief also sought to sooth concerns, saying that the US will ensure that Israel maintains a military edge over potential adversaries, including Gulf Arab states, regardless of whether Washington completes a nuclear deal with Iran.
Dempsey told reporters in an interview Tuesday that it's too early to know whether Israel's security will be enhanced by a US nuclear deal with Iran.
General Dempsey responded by thanking Yaalon and the IDF for the honorary badge of appreciation he was awarded earlier Tuesday, saying he was accepting in on behalf of the entire US armed forces.Israel tests ‘dirty bombs,’ finds they pose no substantial danger
"Today I received a medal from the IDF. This medal I accepted in the name of hundreds of thousands of American servicemen and women, who feel the partnership, the friendship and the commitment which exists between the United States and Israel," he said.
"The Israeli Chief of Staff [Lt.-Gen. Gadi Eizenkot] and myself speak almost every month. I have been here five times."
"The (mutual) issues and challenges require relations like these. I could not imagine a world in which we did not have a relationship like this," Dempsey continued.
"I am proud to be a part of it, and I am completely certain that my successor will continue them, and even strengthen them further."
Radiological bombs, or “dirty bombs,” which use conventional explosives together with radioactive material, have been a matter of concern since the terrorist attacks against the United States on September 11, 2001.Jenin terrorist posts online day before being killed: 'I have decided to meet God'
Yet a four-year project conducted by researchers at the Dimona nuclear facility has found that the danger posed by dirty bombs is minimal, Haaretz reported on Monday.
Officials at the Negev Nuclear Research Facility in Dimona began working on the Green Field project — a series of tests whose purpose was to determine the outcome of a dirty bomb explosion — in 2010.
The findings of the project, which ended in 2014, have been presented at scientific conferences and on nuclear science databases, the report said.
The Green Field project involved 20 detonations involving between 250 grams and 25 kilograms of conventional explosives, together with a familiar radioactive substance used for medical imaging known as 99mTc (known also by its trade name, Cardiolite).
The researchers used sensors to measure the force of the explosion and tiny drones to detect radiation levels.
A special operations force of the Border Police shot a man after he approached them with an explosive device at the Jenin refugee camp, Israel Police reported Wednesday.Hamas: Senior PA officials behind recent spate of bombings in Gaza
Shortly after midnight on Tuesday, one day before the incident, the man publicly alluded to an upcoming suicide mission. The man, whose name on Facebook is Al-deen Ezz, wrote a post saying, "It is now possible to do what I want, to do everything, and I have decided to meet God."
The incident occurred overnight as the group was leaving the area following an operation against suspected terrorists. One of the officers noticed a person holding what appeared to be a pipe bomb and fired at the suspect, injuring him. As a result, the explosive fell from the suspect's hand and detonated nearby.
According to Reuters, Jenin residents and hospital officials claimed that the 23-year-old man was killed in the early morning and that there had been no wider confrontations with the Israeli troops, who left the city.
The Border Police spokesperson said the Jenin raid was not coordinated in advance with Palestinian security forces.
Hamas on Wednesday accused senior Palestinian Authority officials of bring behind a recent spate of bombings in the Gaza Strip.Gazans Upset with UNRWA Aid to Brethren in Syria
Hamas Interior Ministry spokeman Iyad al-Bezem said at a press conference in Gaza that PA intelligence officials, as well as Mahmoud al-Habash, an adviser to PA President Mahmoud Abbas are behind the efforts to send the Strip into a "spiral of chaos."
Bezem said that Habash and his associates had paid operatives in Gaza to carry out the sabotage. He said the goal of the sabotage was to sew strife between Palestinian factions in the Strip.
Bezem claimed that a man arrested while trying to place a car bomb in Shejaiya admitted to working under the direction of Habash and Maj. Sami Nasman of the PA security services, and they subsequently caught a number of suspects involved in acts of sabotage at the direction of PA security agencies.
The Hamas spokesman said that Abbas and his security forces bear the responsiblity for the attempts to disrupt Palestinian untiy and he urged PA Prime Minister Rami Hamdallah to punish those involved based on the Hamas investigation.
Israel has often complained that UNRWA, the UN body dealing with "Palestinian refugees," merely exists to continue the conflict without resettling the people it treats as the UN does with all other refugees, but apparently the Palestinian Arabs are unhappy with the organization too - for not giving them enough, and for giving too much to their brethern in Syria's Yarmouk neighborhood.IS claims responsibility for firing mortars at Sinai airport
Residents of Gaza defined as "refugees," namely the descendants of Arab residents who left Israel in the 1948 War of Independence, are protesting against UNRWA after the latter transferred resources to displaced Palestinian Arab residents of the Yarmouk "refugee camp," a neighborhood in southern Damascus that has been under Islamic State (ISIS) attack.
The popular committee of refugees held a demonstration on Monday in front of UNRWA's aid distribution center in the western Al-Muaskar camp, demanding that UNRWA cease the budget cuts planned for them, and calling on donating nations to prop up the UN body.
Palestine, the Hamas-affiliated paper, reports that the protesters bore signs reading "UNRWA cuts - why now?," "where is the international community?," "save Gaza from a slow death," "UNRWA has the supreme legal authority on the camps and the refugees," "we demand the donating nations take responsibility for covering the financial loss of UNRWA," and "I'm a Palestinian refugee, is it not my right to live freely?"
The Islamic State’s Egyptian affiliate, Sinai Province, claimed responsibility late Tuesday for firing a round of mortar shells at an airport used by multinational peacekeeping forces in the Sinai Peninsula.Suicide bomber in Egypt detonates outside tourist site
Details of the incident were not immediately clear, with some Egyptian security sources saying the shells fell inside the airport, while others said they landed outside it. There were no immediate reports of casualties.
The Multinational Force and Observers (MFO) is an international peacekeeping force that oversees the terms of the peace treaty between Egypt and Israel.
A suicide bomber blew himself up near Egypt's ancient Karnak temple in the southern city of Luxor on Wednesday, security sources and witnesses said, the second attack in just over one week targeting Egypt's vital tourism industry.Is the US Empowering Hezbollah in Lebanon to Appease Iran?
No group immediately claimed responsibility for the attack in which four Egyptians were wounded, the health ministry said.
Islamist militants have killed hundreds of police and soldiers over the past two years in a campaign to topple the Egyptian government, but there have recently been attacks on softer tourist and economic targets.
Gunmen on a motorcycle shot dead two members of Egypt's tourism and antiquities police force on a road near the Giza pyramids last week.
A prominent Lebanese activist has claimed the US government is cutting funding to independent, moderate Shia groups opposed to Hezbollah, as a direct result of the White House's policy of appeasement.Turkish PM Resigns After Election Disappointment
Loqman Slim, who runs the Hayya Bina (Let’s Go!) NGO in Beirut, shared a letter he received from a US State Department agency with Lebanon's NOW news. In the letter, he is informed with astonishing openness that
"[D]ue to a recent shift in Department of State priorities in Lebanon […] all activities intended [to] foster an independent moderate Shia voice [must] be ceased immediately and indefinitely."
Slim and his colleagues accuse the Obama administration of throwing its former allies under a bus and consciously empowering Hezbollah to appease the group's Iranian patrons.
"So we don’t support Shia democratic activists anymore?" asked Hayya Bina’s Program Director Inga Schei herself a US citizen.
"This is an alarming shift, and it sends a message not just to us but to all the Shia who are receiving funds from the [US] embassy, who are cooperating with [Hezbollah’s political opponents] March 14, or outspoken in their own capacity, or expressing an alternative vision for the future of this country. It sends a horrible message to all of these people," she warned.
Slim himself says he sees it as part of a wider policy of appeasement.
Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu resigned on Tuesday, in a procedural move after his AK Party lost its majority in parliamentary elections earlier this week.Swedish Foreign Minister Blasts 'Medieval' Saudi Arabia
According to the BBC, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan accepted Davutoglu's gesture but asked him to stay in the post until a new government was formed.
Erdogan is expected to give Davutoglu the difficult task of forming a new coalition government, the report added.
The two men met on Tuesday in the capital, Ankara, to discuss the future of the government after the ruling Justice and Development (AK) Party lost its majority in parliament for the first time in 13 years.
It secured 41%, a sharp drop from 2011, and is now likely to try to form a coalition, although no party has yet indicated it is willing to join forces with the AKP.
Swedish Foreign Minister Margot Wallstrom on Tuesday accused Saudi Arabia of handing a "medieval" punishment to Raif Badawi, the blogger sentenced to 1,000 lashes for insulting Islam, AFP reported.Suicide bombers 'blow themselves up' after row turns into fight
Last week, Saudi Arabia's supreme court upheld the sentence against Badawi, who ran a site called Free Saudi Liberals and has been in custody since 2012.
"My opinion is that it's a medieval sentence. It's a medieval method that does not have its place in a society that allows a free media and allows people to express their point of view," Wallstrom was quoted by AFP as having told Swedish Radio.
The minister was reiterating comments that led to a diplomatic row between Stockholm and Riyadh in March.
In January, Wallstrom also accused Riyadh of using "medieval methods" after it sentenced blogger Badawi to 10 years in jail and 1,000 lashes.
In March, Saudi Arabia recalled its ambassador to Stockholm, accusing Sweden of "flagrant interference" in its affairs after Wallstrom told parliament the oil-rich state was a "dictatorship" that violated women's rights and whipped bloggers.
The incident, which took place in Sargodha, Pakistan, happened when two men, later identified as Ghulam Rasul and Muhammad Sultan, were sitting on street benches.Mers outbreak: Don't drink potentially fatal camel urine, WHO warns
The pair were having a conversation which quickly turned into an argument and then a fight.
It was during the fight that a bomb one of the men was carrying exploded.
No one else was hurt during the incident on Saturday.
Police later raided the houses of the men, and arrested several suspects.
Sargodha police's Saqib Manan said that, while it was too early to make any further comments about the incident, which took place near the Khayam Chowk roundabout in the city, 'the Almighty has saved the city from a big loss'.
The World Health Organisation has warned against drinking camel urine as it attempts to limit the latest outbreak of Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (Mers).
Seven people in South Korea have died as a result of Mers in the latest outbreak, the largest since the syndrome was first detected in the Saudi Arabia in 2012.
Authorities in Seoul confirmed the seventh death, of a 68-year-old woman who had a pre-existing heart condition, on Tuesday. There have been 95 infections and 2,500 people are currently in quarantine in South Korea.
The WHO guidance was issued in response to the infection of a 75-year-old man thousands of miles to the west, in Oman, last week. Mers, caused by a new strain of coronavirus, can affect people and animals, and one theory is that the syndrome started in animals before making the jump to humans.
Mers has been detected in camels, and humans have contracted Mers after coming into contact with camels. However, doctors are still not sure how how humans become infected.
The man, who was said to be in a stable condition on a hospital isolation ward after testing positive for Mers on 29 May, was reported by WHO to own "a barn with camels and young calves, and [have] frequent contact with them". (h/t Elder of Lobby)
