Today, Wednesday, Israeli occupation forces arrested two young Palestinians from the village of Umm Salmouna, south of Bethlehem.

According to local sources, the occupation forces arrested Shaher Yousef Taqatqa (20 years old) and Shaher Ahmad Taqatqa (19 years old), after they reviewed their intelligence services in the “Gush Etzion” settlement complex, which is located on citizens’ lands, south of Bethlehem.

Israeli occupation bulldozers continue to bulldoze dozens of dunams of citizens’ lands in the town of Bruqin, west of Salfit.

The Governor of Salfit, Major General Abdullah Kamil, said that these practices of bulldozing come within the framework of the accelerating occupation annexation and expansion projects to undermine the Palestinian dream of establishing an independent state and liberation from the occupation.

In turn, Director of the Bruqin Municipality, Amin Sabra, said: “The occupation bulldozers continue to bulldoze approximately 50 dunums of citizens’ lands, to expand the “Bruqin” settlement established on citizens’ lands, and to build new settlement units.”

Sabra pointed out that the occupation has been working to bulldoze the lands adjacent to the settlement for some time, and aims to annex it to the settlement and expand it, noting that these lands belong to the citizens of the town of Burqin.

Sabra explained that the area of the town of Bruqin is approximately 13,000 dunums, and that the structural plan is 1,480 dunums, and the remainder of the area is classified as “C” in which work and construction are prohibited, including lands that were seized for the benefit of the settlements established on their lands, which are “Bruqin, Industrial Ariel, and Burkan.” The new pastoral outpost is on the north-eastern side of the town.

Today, Wednesday, the Israeli authorities demolished the tents of the residents of the village of Al-Araqib, deprived of recognition and threatened with uprooting and displacement in the Negev in the 48 lands, for the 222nd time in a row, since their first demolition on July 27, 2010.

This is the 11th time that the Israeli authorities have demolished the tents and homes of the people of Al-Araqib since the beginning of this year, after demolishing them 15 times in 2022, and 14 times in the year before last.

The people of Al-Araqib insist on staying and clinging to their land, and they re-erect their tents every time, made of wood and a nylon cover, to protect them from the extreme heat in the summer and the extreme cold in the winter, and to confront plans to uproot and displace them from their land.

The Israeli authorities have continued to demolish Al-Araqib since 2010 in their repeated attempts to push the villagers into frustration, despair, and migration from their lands.

Today, Tuesday, the Ambassador of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to the State of Palestine, the Consul General in Jerusalem, Ambassador Nayef bin Bandar Al-Sudairi, laid a wreath on the tomb of the martyr President Yasser Arafat, at the presidential headquarters in the city of Ramallah.

Ambassador Al-Sudairi was received by the President's Advisor for Diplomatic Affairs, Magdi Al-Khalidi.

Ambassador Al-Sudairi, accompanied by Advisor Al-Khalidi, also visited the Martyr Yasser Arafat Museum, toured its corridors and learned about the most important events that the Palestinian issue took place and the historical stations in the life of the late President Yasser Arafat.

The European Union said on Wednesday that it met for the first time with the Ambassador of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to Palestine, Nayef bin Bandar Al-Sudairi.

He added in a brief statement, “We look forward to working together for the Palestinians and building on the Peace Day efforts that were jointly launched last week on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly meeting in New York.”

Yesterday, Tuesday, President Mahmoud Abbas received the Ambassador of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Nayef bin Bandar Al-Sudairi, at the presidential headquarters in the city of Ramallah.

President Abbas accepted the credentials of the Ambassador of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Nayef bin Bandar Al-Sudairi, as Ambassador Extraordinary, Non-Resident Plenipotentiary to the State of Palestine, and Consul General in the city of Jerusalem.

Today, Wednesday, Israeli violent settlers attacked farmers in the village of Umm Safa, northwest of the city of Ramallah.

According to local sources, dozens of settlers, protected by the occupation army, attacked farmers with stones in the lands of the southern region of the village, without causing any casualties.

The sources added that citizens rushed to confront the settlers’ attack and defend their lands.

The Israeli occupation forces are scheduled to close the archaeological area in the town of Sebastia, northwest of Nablus, starting next Sunday, during the Jewish holidays.

According to local sources, the occupation has informed the owners of shops and tourist facilities in the vicinity of the archaeological area in the town, to close them completely, until the end of the Jewish holidays, when they will set up special tents for the settlers at the archaeological site.

Today, Wednesday, the Israeli occupation forces arrested a young Palestinian from the Karkafa area in the center of Bethlehem.

According to local sources, the occupation forces arrested the young Palestinian, Moaz Saad al-Din al-Shweiki (32 years old), after they raided and searched his house.

Today, Wednesday, Israeli occupation forces bulldozed the foundations of a water pond in the village of Artas, south of Bethlehem.

According to local sources, the occupation forces bulldozed the foundations of a water pond to irrigate crops. Under the pretext of not being licensed.

The Al-Atan area has been subjected to continuous violations by the occupation for some time, represented by the demolition of homes, stopping construction in others, and repeated attacks by settlers.

Former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, who currently holds the position of Vice Chairman of the National Security Council, announced on Tuesday that he visited a military training site in eastern Ukraine, noting that the Russian army has recruited 325,000 people since the beginning of the year.

In a video clip posted on the Russian VKontakte social media network, Medvedev said, “I visited the training site near the front line on the territory of the Donetsk People’s Republic by order of President” Vladimir Putin.

He added that his inspection visit showed that the training provided at this site was “adequate” and that the soldiers demonstrated “strong determination” and “firmness,” in addition to their “spirit of victory.”

Since the start of the war, many senior Russian officials have visited Ukraine, most notably Putin, who in March made a surprise visit to Mariupol, the war-ravaged city in southern Ukraine, before heading in April to the Lugansk region in eastern Ukraine.

In the video clip, Medvedev announced that the Russian army has recruited more than 325,000 people since the beginning of the year, 45,000 more than the previous tally announced by Moscow at the beginning of September.

He explained that between January 1 and September 26, “more than 325,000 people were accepted” into the Russian armed forces.

Since the spring, the Russian army has been carrying out a large-scale voluntary recruitment campaign, accompanied by many advertisements on the streets and on the Internet promising future soldiers lucrative salaries, social benefits, and banking facilities.

This Wednesday morning, settlers closed Route 60, the link between Jerusalem and Ramallah.

According to local sources, settlers burned rubber tires on the aforementioned street and prevented traffic, under the pretext that the occupation was demolishing settlement houses built on the lands of the village of Mikhmas, northeast of Jerusalem.

A heated debate took place in the United Nations General Assembly on Tuesday between the Moroccan and Algerian ambassadors over Western Sahara, which the international organization considers a “non-self-governing region.”

For decades, Rabat and Algeria have been facing off over Western Sahara, the former Spanish colony in which Morocco controls 80% of its territory and proposes to grant it autonomy under its sovereignty, while the Polisario Front, supported by Algeria, demands that a self-determination referendum be organized there.

After Moroccan Ambassador Omar Hilal delivered his country's speech during the general debate of the United Nations General Assembly, Algerian Ambassador Ammar Benjama requested the right of reply, accusing his counterpart of "distorting" the words of Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune, who affirmed in his speech from the same podium last week his country's support. Organizing a referendum for self-determination in the Sahara.

The Algerian ambassador said, "Everyone has his camp. We Algerians have chosen the camp of justice, decolonization, freedom, self-determination and human rights. This commitment applies to the issue of the Sahrawi people, who have been waiting for nearly half a century for the United Nations to achieve justice for them."

He added, "If the Moroccan occupation has truly made Western Sahara a paradise, with or without granting it autonomy, why is it preventing the organization of this referendum?"?

The Algerian ambassador refuted "the accusations of terrorism related to the Polisario," saying, "Let no one deceive you, because all the dominant powers have always tried to demonize the resistance and freedom fighters," offering at the same time his country's condolences to Morocco for the victims of the devastating earthquake that struck the kingdom three weeks ago.

In turn, the Moroccan ambassador requested the right to respond to what his Algerian counterpart made, saying, “One cannot shed crocodile tears and at the same time attack a country that is still experiencing a tragedy.”

He added, "You are expressing your solidarity and support, but at the same time you are spreading your poison, insulting the dead, and insulting Moroccans."
The Moroccan ambassador stressed that "the autonomy initiative within the framework of Morocco's sovereignty and territorial integrity remains the only way to turn the page on this artificial regional conflict."

Hilal stressed that “Morocco exists in its desert and will remain so until the end of time.”
Since the United States recognized at the end of 2020, during the era of former President Donald Trump, Morocco’s sovereignty over this region in exchange for the Kingdom normalizing its relations with Israel, Rabat has been waging a diplomatic campaign to garner support from other countries for its positions.

The UN Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process, Tor Wensland, warned on Wednesday morning of the deterioration of the situation in the Gaza Strip again, and the possibility of a return to mutual military escalation.

Wensland wrote on the “X” platform (formerly Twitter), the situation inside the Gaza Strip is dangerous and another conflict must be avoided that will have dire consequences for everyone.

This tweet came one day after Wensland held meetings with the leadership of the Hamas movement in the Gaza Strip, before he returned to the Green Line again and met with Israeli officials, as sources told Al-Quds.com.

According to the sources, the Wensland meetings did not achieve any breakthrough in trying to restore calm to the borders.

In his tweet, Wensland expressed his concern about the escalation of tensions in and around Gaza, referring to the cover settlements.

He said: People in Gaza have suffered enough, and they deserve more than just a return to calm.

He pointed out that the United Nations is working with all parties concerned to improve the lives of people in Gaza, especially the most vulnerable groups. like he said.

Yesterday, the Hebrew website Ynet reported that Winsland carried a message from “Israel” to “Hamas” that the Beit Hanoun “Erez” checkpoint will not be reopened to the labor movement before the demonstrations stop.

Informed sources told Al-Quds.com that Hamas, for its part, imposed several conditions for agreeing to stop the demonstrations, including increasing the worker quota to 20,000, and approving the work of “operating companies,” a number of which it recently licensed, and “Israel” refuses. Dealing with them, and one of its tasks is to issue work permits for Gazans without the interference of brokers, and to preserve their rights.

Hamas also demanded that solutions be found to restore the Qatari grant for employee salaries as it was, which amounted to 10 million dollars, which Qatar later reduced to 7 million, before it was reduced on its own to 4 million due to the high prices of fuel and gas that are imported from Egypt, which in turn transfers Quantities of it are sent to the Gaza government, which in turn sells it to the private sector and collects its price. However, due to high global prices, the quantity received from Egypt decreased, which reduced the revenues from its sale to the private sector. Sources also revealed to Al-Quds.com.

The sources pointed out that the meeting between Winsland and Israeli officials yesterday evening ended without results and was not approved by Tel Aviv.

The Hebrew channel Reshet Kan reported last night that a plane used by senior Israeli officials landed yesterday in the Qatari capital, Doha, apparently as part of efforts to achieve calm in Gaza.

It appears that the Hamas movement is pressuring Israel through the border marches to achieve its conditions, in light of its inability to pressure Qatar, Egypt and other mediators or those handling the Gaza aid file.

Yesterday witnessed the most violent events on the border, after the “rebel youth” used balloons carrying explosive devices and detonated them in the sky surrounding the Gaza Strip’s settlements. Some of them also opened fire towards the occupation forces, while the latter bombed several resistance observation points along the eastern borders of the Gaza Strip.

The Commission for the Affairs of Ex-Prisoners and Ex-Prisoners reported today, Wednesday, that the health condition of the injured Palestinian prisoner, Salim Saeed, is stable.

After its lawyer was able to visit him in the recovery department of Meir Kfar Saba Hospital, where he is being held, the authority explained that the prisoner underwent an operation to clean the contamination in the abdominal membrane.

The authority noted that the wounded detainee, Salim Saeed, was injured in the abdomen and right thigh area, and as a result, he was transferred to the hospital to receive treatment.

In the first half of this year, more than 1,800 settlement units were built, making the current year the most in terms of Judaization and settlement during the past ten years. A report confirmed by the United Nations stated that since last year until today, 1,100 people have been displaced from 28 communities.

On the occasion of the Jewish holidays, about 500 settlers stormed the Holy Mosque and performed Talmudic rituals in its courtyards, amid extensive Israeli measures that led to the conversion of Jerusalem into an Israeli military barracks.

In the Gaza Strip, peaceful demonstrations took place at the border fence, and Israeli forces suppressed this demonstration and bombed two resistance observatories in Bureij and Jabalia.

The Israeli occupation never stops its practices that contradict all international standards and concepts, and the world seems like a spectator of what is happening and sees but does not care about it and hears the cries demanding intervention, but it seems like the deaf who does not hear and the blind who does not see.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates has warned that this international community will coexist with the suffering of our people as long as it continues, despite what it sees as the aggressions of the occupation, to remain silent, neither speaking nor moving to stop these practices that are contrary to all international laws and human rights.
The various Palestinian leaders have shown readiness and cooperation to find a just solution and have signed more than one peace agreement, the most famous of which is known as the Oslo Accords. However, settlement flourished significantly after the signing of this agreement, and instead of Israel’s response to cooperation and understanding after these agreements, settlement flourished greatly after the signing of these agreements, as you confirm. The moderate and fair Israeli organization “Peace Now”.

The Israeli occupation does not want to hear and understand that this arrogance, which relies on military force alone, will be doomed and truth will triumph in the end. There are many clear examples in history, but the blind leaders in Israel do not understand this and do not want to conclude what they must do, and the day will come. It is not far away, when these arrogant and politically blind leaders will wake up and realize that what they are doing at this stage was the biggest and most strategic mistake and that power is just a stage that fades and the truth finally triumphs... and the right is ours and with us..!!

I thought that writing about the “professor” and “journalist” Muhammad Hassanein Heikal, on the centenary of his birth, about his life experience in the fields of journalism and politics, about his role in contemporary Arab life, and about his important role alongside Gamal Abdel Nasser, would be easy and smooth, but I quickly What I discovered as I was the follower and reader of all his famous articles titled “Frankly” throughout the years of the second half of the twentieth century, whether through Al-Ahram newspaper or through Arab and foreign newspapers, which amounted to more than a thousand articles, then the reader of each of his books, page after page, which numbered in the dozens, then The follower, listener, and viewer of most of his radio and television dialogues in the first fifteen years of the twenty-first century, then the follower and reader of most of what was written and said about him in books and articles. I discovered, as I follow all of this enormous intellectual heritage, that writing about him is a thorny issue, even almost difficult.

Perhaps I might add that what is most important after that is that I discovered, and perhaps others may have discovered, that “the Journalist,” as he liked to call himself, was a great Arab journalist, writer, and thinker by all standards, a man in whom many qualities came together. We were faced with a journalist who was the most important and prominent Egyptian of all. In the Arab world, and perhaps globally, in the twentieth century, he learned the profession of journalism from the school of life and advanced to it, and his profession as a journalist enabled him to make Al-Ahram newspaper one of the ten most important newspapers in the world in the sixties of the twentieth century, and we are faced with a political writer par excellence who is the most important of all, Egyptian and Arab, and perhaps We are in front of a great Arab writer who mastered the Arabic language and made it smooth and easy. We are in front of a great Arab intellectual who educated himself by himself. He did not enter a university, meaning he did not obtain a higher university degree. Although he had studied in scientific courses at the American University in Cairo, he mastered and enriched his mother tongue. Arabic and introduce new terms and expressions to it, learn and master more than one foreign language, and we are facing a mind that possesses a large encyclopedia of information and knowledge in all areas of life from history and geography, to politics with its various topics and people, to literature and poetry to culture and art in its various styles, and we are also facing A man who sought to collect and preserve tens of thousands of Egyptian, Arab, and foreign documents related to the issues of Egypt, the Arab nation, and the Arab-Israeli conflict, and made of them a large and enormous store of documents that will be at the service of Arab and foreign scholars and researchers in the future. We are in front of an important man who was in a continuous dialogue with Gamal Abdel Nasser. From the morning of July 23, 1952 until September 28, 1970, and this dialogue may have reached many times to be a partner in Egyptian decision-making at that time, and we are facing a man who was able to become shoulder to shoulder with senior politicians, scholars, writers, journalists, writers, and others in various parts of the world.

Hence, and with all that I have previously said, writing about “the professor” is almost a difficult task, especially since it comes within an article, and I asked myself: What then should I write about the late great man? Should I write about Muhammad Hassanein Heikal, the journalist, or about the writer, or about the politician, or about the writer, or about the strategic thinker, or about his role with Gamal Abdel Nasser? Or about what?
It occurred to me to write about his position on the Arab-Israeli conflict and its developments and wars since the era of the monarchy, through the eras of Gamal Abdel Nasser and Anwar Sadat, and ending with the era of Hosni Mubarak, including Sadat’s visit to Israel, the Camp David Accords, the Arab-Israeli negotiations, the Oslo Accords, and beyond.

Yes, his positions on the issue of Palestine and his follow-up of the issue of the Arab-Israeli conflict deserve to be narrated on his centenary, especially since he was the most prominent Egyptian journalist whose name was associated with the events of Palestine in 1948. In the spring of 1948, before the first Arab-Israeli war in 1948, he came as a journalist to Palestine and moved. Between Amman, Jerusalem, Gaza, Bethlehem and Hebron, he met with King Abdullah and his army commanders in Amman. Heikal headed from Jerusalem to Bethlehem and from there to Hebron and met with the Egyptian leader Al-Bakbashi Ahmed Abdel Aziz, commander of the Egyptian volunteer forces, at his headquarters on the outskirts of southern Jerusalem near Bethlehem. He toured with these forces - and they were semi-regular forces that entered Palestine before the Egyptian army entered it - and after that he visited the positions of the Egyptian army stationed in southern Palestine in Al-Majdal, Iraq Al-Manshiya, Iraq Suwaidan, Gaza, and Al-Falujah. At that time, he wrote from Palestine his famous series of articles in the Egyptian Akher Sa’a magazine under Title: "Fire Over the Holy Land"
On the land of Palestine, Heikal met for the first time with the jeweler Gamal Abdel Nasser. He narrated the circumstances of this meeting, saying: One day in June 1948, I was heading from Jerusalem to Al-Majdal in a jeep belonging to Ahmed Abdel Aziz’s forces, and the car stopped near (Iraq Suwaydan) because of a battle. There was a circle there, so I got out of the car and walked towards (Iraq al-Manshiya) and learned that the Sixth Battalion of the Egyptian forces had won thanks to its commander, who was able to repel a direct Jewish attack that aimed to control (Iraq al-Manshiya) and (Iraq Suwaydan). I learned from the officers and soldiers who were Very happy that the one who led the operation was the jeweler Gamal Abdel Nasser, Staff of War of the Sixth Battalion..

Heikal went to see this leader, and found in front of him a tall young man, spread out on a blanket, with traces of fatigue visible on his face, and was preparing to sleep... Their session lasted a third of an hour, and Heikal did not produce a result that would benefit him as a journalist, because (Al-Sagh) refused to speak, not because he was tired or He had been sleeping for five days, but because he was angry at what the Egyptian press was publishing and the way it was treating the Palestine War.. Abdel Nasser was very critical of the press. From the perspective of dealing with the news and developments of the war, from his point of view, journalists were exaggerating and writing incorrect statements. Heikal asked Abdel Nasser: Have you read what I write about the war?! Heikal was referring to his series of articles on Palestine entitled Fire Over the Holy Land. Abdel Nasser told him: No. Then he continued: I do not mean you, I am speaking in general terms, and we know things from newspapers, and what is published in them is neither appropriate nor correct. The meeting was not happy at all, as Heikal himself described.

After the July 1952 revolution, Heikal continued to follow the issue of the Arab-Israeli conflict, firstly in his journalistic capacity and secondly because of his closeness to the decision-maker in Egypt, the late President Gamal Abdel Nasser. Through his reading of the roots of this conflict, which began with the issuance of the Balfour Declaration in 1917, Heikal formulated Abdel Nasser’s concept and his conception of the Balfour Declaration and Instrument. The famous phrase about this promise: “The one who does not have, made a promise to the one who does not deserve, then the two of them, “the one who does not have” and “the one who does not deserve,” were able, by force and deception, to rob the legitimate right holder of his right to what he owns and what he deserves. That is the true picture. The Balfour Declaration, which Britain made to itself, in which it gave - from a land that it did not own, but rather owned by the Palestinian Arab people - a pledge to establish a Jewish homeland in Palestine.” This phrase was included in the letter drafted by Heikal and sent by Gamal Abdel Nasser to the late President John Canadian in August 1961. Since then, this phrase has been repeated in Arab forums whenever there is a reference to the Balfour Declaration
Heikal continued his follow-up and monitoring of the Israeli-Arab wars later, starting from the Suez War of 1956, passing through the June 1967 War, continuing with the War of Attrition 1969-1970, and ending with the October 1973 War, some of which he witnessed. He even wrote the strategic guidance for that war at the request of President Anwar Sadat, and issued three volumes of supported books. With documents about those wars under the title “The Thirty Years’ War.”

Perhaps his most prominent role in the Palestinian cause after the setback of June 1967 was his position on the Palestinian resistance, especially with the leadership of the historic Fatah movement. He was the one who inaugurated the first meeting between Gamal Abdel Nasser and the first Palestinian guerrilla, weeks after the setback of June 1967, Major Khaled Abdel Majeed. “Name.” The activist or pioneer Fayez Mahmoud Hamdan, son of Jabal Al-Mukaber, in Jerusalem, who met him in Cairo and took him in his car to meet the late leader at his home, and wrote about the martyr Khaled Abdel Majeed in his article frankly entitled “On Hope and Death” published in Al-Ahram newspaper on August 16, 1968, and it is an article worth reading. This meeting took place before Heikal himself once again accompanied the leaders of Fatah at that time, namely Yasser Arafat, Farouk al-Qaddoumi, Salah Khalaf, Khaled al-Hassan, and Hail Abdel Hamid, to meet with Gamal Abdel Nasser. In this regard, Heikal said: It was my luck that I introduced the Palestinian revolution to the Egyptian revolution, and accompanied Yasser Arafat and some of his companions from the Fatah leadership took my car to Gamal Abdel Nasser’s house for the first time he saw them and them, and this meeting was a far-reaching turning point in the strength of the Palestinian resistance, in the value of its work, and in the space it occupied in the Arab arena. I attended every meeting without exception, and participated in every conversation on a variety of topics that were discussed. I asked President Abdel Nasser for permission to accompany Yasser Arafat secretly with him to Moscow in July 1968 to meet with the Soviet leaders, where great cooperation was later established between the PLO and the PLO. Palestine and the Soviet Union.
Heikal remained a follower of the Palestinian resistance movement and an advisor to the leadership of the Palestine Liberation Organization during its continuing journey later on. In 1988, the leaders of the Palestine Liberation Organization asked him for advice when pressure was on the organization to accept recognition of Israel and to accept UN Security Council Resolution No. 242. Indeed, he offered his opinion and advice during a meeting. In Tunisia, leaders from the Liberation Organization were included, including Yasser Arafat, George Habash, Abu Iyad, Nayef Hawatmeh, Farouk al-Qaddoumi, and others. He stated clearly: If the Palestine Liberation Organization is required to deal directly and openly with Israel on the basis of its recognition, then the basis that can be adopted is the partition resolution issued by The United Nations General Assembly, and he added that the Palestine Liberation Organization can now submit to the United Nations and to the United States its recognition of the partition resolution, Resolution No. 181 issued by the United Nations General Assembly of 1947, which is the resolution regarding the establishment of two Arab and Jewish states. Then the organization can declare the establishment of an independent Palestinian state in Exile demands and negotiates to achieve the sovereignty of the Palestinian people in their homeland. This resolution addresses Palestine as a whole. As for the demand for recognition of Resolution 242, which relates only to the territories occupied in 1967, it is not required. He stressed that the recognition required of the organization of Israel now would preferably take place under the umbrella of the partition resolution before any Another international principle. Heikal later followed the course of the Palestinian issue, deploring the signing of the Oslo Accords in 1993, and remained a close follower of the development of the Palestinian issue, which for him was a central issue for Egyptian national security and Arab national security.

His positions were clear regarding the issue of Palestine and the Arab-Israeli conflict and its repercussions. Perhaps the most important thing that expresses his positions and summarizes them is what he said in describing his feelings on the day of Sadat’s visit to Jerusalem: “I confess timidly, while I was on the seashore in Alexandria, that I could not control myself when I heard Cairo Radio talking about Arrangements for President Sadat's arrival in Jerusalem on the evening of November 19, 1977. Among other things, it says: An Israeli Air Force squadron will go out to meet President Sadat's plane. I could not control myself and did not know at that moment why? So, I covered my eyes with my palms and burst into tears that I had not known since that terrible moment. I stood next to Gamal Abdel Nasser's bed while he was taking his last breath, and I could not control my feelings and surrendered myself to a sad silence that overwhelmed me for long days. And he said once when Menachem Begin visited Egypt in 1980, describing his feelings, "His convoy was in front of the window of my office, crossing the Nile Bridge. At that moment - and for a few minutes - I had an overwhelming feeling that I had no choice but to pack my bags and leave, but after hours I asked myself: Should I leave the Nile Bridge to him? And the answer came from deep within me: Neither the Jordan Bridge, nor the bridge of a small spring of water on the soil of any Arab land.

He remained until the last day of his life saying that defending Palestine is defending Egyptian national security and Arab national security, regardless of the organic connection between Egypt and Palestine, the two countries that belong to one Arab nation.

I say on the centenary of his birth, we were faced with a first-class Arab strategic thinker in the field of Arab and Egyptian national security who possessed a vision of the Arab reality and future that was unparalleled.

In today's world, there are no longer isolated islands that do not influence or are affected by developments occurring at the global level.

In a previous time, there were attempts at something like this, and they had names, frameworks, and policies such as “non-alignment,” “neutral entities,” and “positive neutrality.” Although many countries adopted these terms, from which institutions and frameworks emerged, they all dissolved in the midst of the conflicts and rivalries of the great powers that were produced and perpetuated by the conclusions of World War II. Countries fleeing the polarizations imposed by the Cold War and heirs to the hot war were merely projects for use, also under the labels Different.

Our era, in which we now live, embodies an inevitable state of vulnerability and influence, which includes all existing entities, regardless of their sizes, capabilities, and locations on the map of the planet.

The idea of the New Middle East... emerged from the need to transform this vast region, rich in potential, and with a dangerous geographical location, from an active breeding ground for producing disturbances, wars and permanent threats to the international interests gathered in it, into a safer and more stable place for its residents first, and for everyone who has interests in it, and Prince Mohammed bin Salman had the merit of proposing the idea and working to implement it.

What makes it a viable idea and not just a desire or a dream is that its material capabilities are available, and shifting the compass from indicators of fighting and rivalry to indicators of cooperation, integration and development is something that countries have no choice but to acknowledge and compete to serve their interests through.

The beginning was sound and effective, with the title “Start with yourself, your state, and your people first.” The changes that were close to being radical began within the Kingdom, and then there was the diligent move toward a “zero problems” policy with the immediate and distant surroundings, and protecting this “radical” newness with a space of independence in Drawing policies and building relationships, without clashing with the interests of countries, but by modifying their paths from an old one that was based on the intense struggle over influence and its exclusivity, to a new one in which the leaders of the old conflicts see their interests; And even less expensive.

In terms of material capabilities, the idea of a new Middle East, close even to neighboring Europe, seems possible as a realistic goal provided that the policies are implemented in an efficient manner, and in such a way that no party with interests in the region feels that it needs to spend on protecting and expanding its influence, many times more than the advantages it gains from it. What cooperation is available to him with others.

This will not be an easy, mechanical work guaranteed by desires and positive trends. Rather, it requires a lot of persistent work, and the policies that Saudi Arabia is implementing towards the hotbeds of tension in the region and the world have become an indispensable necessity for progress towards the final goal, and because Europe is the geographical and historical twin of the Middle East, a solution The dilemma at its heart is similar to the radical solution to the most productive generator of unrest in the heart of the Middle East, which is the “Palestinian issue.” If the Saudi initiative, which turned into an Arab and Islamic one to resolve the dispute over it, was put forward early, then those who did not enable it to act must regret the time they wasted and the potential they wasted as a result of ignoring it.

Although there is no place in politics for the letter “if,” it does no harm in using it to indicate a mistake. If Israel had accepted it as a basis for a solution, we and the region would have been in a better condition.

Just as Europe is the twin of the Middle East, the Ukrainian-Russian war is the twin of the Arab-Israeli conflict, and in a time of direct contact between issues, any progress on either of them carries objective progress on the other, and I am not exaggerating if I say that the older Middle Eastern twin has the elements. More than in Ukraine, this is not the result of a theoretical approach; Rather, it is due to the size of the forces directly involved in Ukraine, which is... the entire world.

In the new Middle East, Saudi Arabia has more serious influence than others, and the new map that is hoped for is not the one that Benjamin Netanyahu presented to the United Nations General Assembly. The difference is fundamental. This is because the Saudi map that Prince Mohammed bin Salman proposes without haste to announce in colours, is placed in its geographical, political and entity terrain, “Palestine”, which was completely absent from Netanyahu’s map, and there is a difference between propaganda work needed by the public relations game, and real serious work needed by the region, its peoples and the world. .

This is what is embodied by the Saudi map that is about to be drawn on the ground, and not in the space of propaganda and analysis.

Settlers formed an independent volunteer military patrol, made up of former soldiers and security men, under the pretext of working to combat stone throwing at settlers’ vehicles and provide security for them as they passed on the 55 settlement road near Qalqilya.

According to Israeli Army Radio, this step was taken without coordination with the army.

Residents of settlements surrounding that street claimed that they took the initiative after the increase in stone-throwing incidents in the area, and because the Israeli army does not provide the feeling of security they require.

They indicated that if the Israeli army made a change in the area, they would stop guarding.

The Israeli army responded to this as an individual initiative that was not coordinated with it.

A tripartite agreement is expected to be signed at the COP28 conference in Dubai in November. Under the proposed agreement, Jordan will supply solar energy from a UAE-funded plant to Israel and receive desalinated water from Israel in return.

Israel’s energy minister and the chief executive of UAE’s renewable energy firm Masdar have met to advance a water-for-energy deal with Jordan, according to the Israeli energy ministry.

The aim of the meeting on Tuesday was to advance the projects before an expected signing at the annual UN climate conference COP28 to be held in Dubai in November, the ministry said in a statement.

The statement did not specify where the meeting was held, but said it came on the heels of the “successful ministerial meeting” that took place in Abu Dhabi last month in the presence of Israel’s energy minister, as well as a visit by Masdar’s representatives to Israel earlier this month.

Under the proposed agreement, Jordan will supply solar energy from a UAE-funded plant to Israel and receive desalinated water from Israel in return.

The Times of Israel reported that political and commercial agreements will have to be signed after the agreement is sealed.

In June, Israeli Energy Minister Israel Katz discussed the projects with the US Special Presidential Envoy for Climate Affairs John Kerry.

He presented a plan to build a 600MW capacity solar plant with storage in Jordan, and for Israel to export 200 million cubic meters of desalinated water per year to its neighbor, the energy ministry said at the time.

The projects are known respectively as Prosperity Green and Prosperity Blue.

The agreement aims to address Jordan’s need for water and Israel’s aim to grow its clean energy mix. Jordan is the country’s second-most water-scarce country in the world, according to UNICEF.

The UAE became only the third Arab nation, after Egypt (1979) and Jordan (1994), to establish diplomatic relations with Israel, ending a 25-year period without such ties.

Israeli Knesset member Almog Cohen of the "Jewish Power" party, led by extremist Itamar Ben Gvir, bragged that the current government, of which his party is one of the pillars, has killed the largest number of Palestinians.

Cohen was responding to a question directed to him by Israeli Army Radio, this Wednesday morning, about the security performance of the current government compared to the previous government.

Cohen said: “In the test result, we killed more terrorists. I am proud of that. Killing terrorists is the most moral thing to do.”

He called for strengthening security in the Negev and dealing with its residents in a manner no less than the treatment of residents of Tel Aviv or others, in response to a question about what they face in light of the return of marches on the Gaza border.

He said: "The residents of the Negev are not second-class, and their value does not decrease. In fact, their value may increase slightly because of what happened in the past."

The Arab American Organization Against Discrimination filed a federal lawsuit against the US Departments of Homeland Security and State to prevent the implementation of the US Visa Waiver Program for Israeli citizens.

The organization attached the invitation with reliable reports and investigations confirming that Israel failed to meet all the legal requirements to be accepted into the visa exemption program, proving that it practices discrimination against Palestinian citizens and Arab Americans when they visit Palestine.

The lawsuit confirmed the failure of the Departments of Interior and State to adhere to the law when it comes to the principles of the Visa Waiver Program by allowing Israel to discriminate against Americans entering Israel and occupied Palestine, by agreeing to discriminatory rules and procedures established by the Israeli government against US citizens when traveling to Israel that violate the treatment rule. By the same token and constitutional guarantees of equality.

“Signing this agreement allows the government of Israel to create different categories of American citizens and treat them in a way that is inconsistent with the way the United States treats Israeli citizens,” the lawsuit said.

She added that based on reliable reports and investigations, Israel is currently on the verge of being accepted into the Visa Waiver Program, despite its failure to meet the legal requirements necessary for entry.

Today, the Permanent Representative of the State of Palestine to the United Nations, Minister Riyad Mansour, sent three identical letters to the Secretary-General of the United Nations, the President of the Security Council for this month (Albania), and the President of the United Nations General Assembly, regarding Israel’s impunity in the absence of accountability. .

Mansour began his messages by referring to the speech of the Israeli Prime Minister, on September 22, before the General Assembly, and the map that he waved before the international community, and he is completely confident that there will be no protest against his complete erasure of the Palestinian people and the Palestinian state, which is considered clear evidence of Israel’s colonial plans. Illegal policies of ethnic cleansing and annexation in the Palestinian territory that it has illegally occupied for more than 56 years.

In this context, Mansour expressed the State of Palestine’s condemnation of this provocative and hateful speech, calling on the international community to condemn Israel’s racist distortion of the Palestinian people and deprive them of their original existence for centuries.

He stressed that the time has come for all countries committed to the rule of law and human rights to take the necessary measures to ensure that Israel, the occupying power, is held accountable for all its grave violations in the occupied Palestinian territory, including East Jerusalem, and to impose sanctions for the war crimes and crimes against humanity that it commits against the people. Palestinian.

Mansour also pointed out that the past weeks have witnessed continuous attacks by the Israeli occupation forces and settlers against the Palestinian people, noting that in one week, eight Palestinians, including children, were martyred during military attacks in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, in addition to the injury of dozens of civilians, including 30 Palestinians were injured on September 19 in another Israeli attack on the Jenin refugee camp. In this regard, Mansour referred to the martyrdom of Milad Munther Wajih Al-Rai (15 years old), at the entrance to the Arroub refugee camp, near Hebron on September 10, and the martyrdom of a 25-year-old young man on September 19, near the Israeli border fence around the Gaza Strip, to In addition, at least 33 Palestinians were injured in the demonstrations that broke out 11 days ago throughout the Gaza Strip against the illegal siege imposed by Israel.

He also noted that on the same day, four Palestinians were also martyred in a military raid on the Jenin refugee camp; The martyrs are: Mahmoud Ali Nafi’ al-Saadi (23 years old), Mahmoud Khaled Arawi (24 years old), Atta Yasser Atta Musa (29 years old), and Raafat Omar Ahmed Khamaysa (15 years old).

Mansour also referred to the martyrdom of Dirgham al-Akhras (19 years old), in another raid on the Aqabat Jabr refugee camp in Jericho, on September 20, and to the martyrdom of Abd al-Rahman Suleiman Abu Daghash (32 years old) and Usaid Abu Ali (21 years old). During a large-scale pre-dawn military attack on Nour al-Shams refugees, east of Tulkarm, on September 23.

Mansour also pointed out that education in Palestine is still subject to attacks by occupation soldiers and settlers in the campaign of intimidation and harassment against students, noting that the recent period has witnessed obstruction of students’ access to schools, attacks on educational facilities, and the continued demolition of schools, which violates the right. In education and other human rights, noting that on September 21, the occupation forces raided Al-Eizariya Primary School for Girls in occupied East Jerusalem, and stormed the Birzeit University campus on September 24.

Mansour called on the international community to condemn such attacks and work to protect the right of Palestinian children and youth to education.

He also noted that settlers continued to attack Palestinian civilians, their property, and holy places, which led to the injury of a young man with disabilities, a woman, and a four-year-old child, noting that settler terrorism led to the forced displacement of the civilian population in the occupied Palestinian territory, in addition to their continued incursions. to Al-Aqsa Mosque and Al-Haram Al-Sharif, the latest of which was yesterday, September 26, in a serious violation of the current historical and legal status of this sacred site.

At the conclusion of his messages, Mansour stressed the need to make immediate efforts to demand that Israel, the occupying power, stop these dangerous provocations and fully respect the historical and legal status quo in the holy sites in occupied East Jerusalem, including what is stipulated in countless resolutions. United Nations, including Resolution 2334.

He once again called on the international community to take urgent measures to demand accountability for all these crimes, to put an end to this illegal and inhumane situation, and for the Palestinian people to realize their inalienable human rights.

The Israeli occupation authorities continue to close the Beit Hanoun “Erez” crossing  in the northern Gaza Strip, in front of the movement of workers to leave for the Green Line.

The office of the so-called Israeli Coordinator of Government Activities announced the extension of the closure of the crossing for 24 hours, under the pretext of continuing marches on the Gaza Strip borders.

The occupation authorities allow emergency cases of patients to leave through the crossing, in addition to allowing delegations and foreigners to move through it.

At dawn and Wednesday morning, the Israeli occupation forces launched a massive arrest campaign, targeting many citizens in various areas of the West Bank and occupied Jerusalem.

The city of Tubas witnessed a large military operation, including armed clashes between the occupation forces and resistance groups.

These forces arrested the two young men, Majd Abu Siyaj, Abdul Karim Abu Siyaj, and Amid Daraghmeh, from their homes in the city, while many homes were raided and searched.

In Hebron, Rizq Halayqa, editor Qassam Halayqa, and Ahmed Halayqa were arrested from the town of Shuyoukh after their homes were raided, while Muhammad al-Rajabi was arrested from the southern region.

In Qalqilya, the young man Qutaiba Ramadan Owaisi was arrested after storming his family’s home in the Qaraan neighborhood.

Meanwhile, from the town of Beit Daqu, northwest of occupied Jerusalem, a student at Birzeit University, Abdul Muti Qutaiba Rayan, editor Saeed Mustafa Daoud, editor Musa Muhammad Hassan, and editor Asim Habis Rayan - Beit Daqu, were arrested.

On Wednesday morning, an Israeli force evacuated a large part of a settlement outpost near Ramallah.

According to the Hebrew Kan radio, the Sde Yonatan outpost, which was established several months ago on a high hill near the Maale Mikhmas settlement, southeast of Ramallah, was evacuated.

According to the radio, a building and a sheep barn were destroyed, and equipment inside the outpost was confiscated.

According to Hebrew Haaretz,  the current coalition would win between 52 and 54 seats, compared to the 64 seats they hold now, and would not have the Knesset majority needed to build a government according to polls conducted by three different Israeli news channels.

In a recent diplomatic confrontation, Russia has accused Israel of aiding Ukraine in safeguarding its nuclear power plants, while simultaneously evoking the Holocaust. 

Russia Foreign Ministry's spokesperson, Maria Zakharova, took to Telegram to express outrage, suggesting that Israel, with its substantial Jewish population, is indirectly supporting a regime that pays homage to Holocaust perpetrators.

"If only the ancestors of Israel’s current political elite knew that their direct descendants would sponsor a regime that glorified their executioners and Holocaust ideologists!” the Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman said on her Telegram account Tuesday.

The controversy arose after Israel's Atomic Energy Commission Director-General, Moshe Edri, disclosed at the 67th International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) General Conference in Vienna that Israel had provided Ukraine with assistance to enhance the safety of its nuclear facilities. Edri clarified that this support aligns with Israel's commitment to the 'Convention on Assistance in Case of a Nuclear Accident'.

During his address at the IAEA conference, Edri underscored the global urgency surrounding nuclear safety and security, particularly in light of the ongoing conflict in Ukraine. 

He emphasized that nuclear safety concerns are borderless, necessitating a worldwide dialogue on fortifying safety measures.

While the Israel-Ukraine-Russia dispute unfolded on the international stage, Edri dedicated a significant portion of his remarks to the imminent threat of a nuclear Iran. 

He called on the international community to condemn Iran's explicit threats, as well as those from its proxies, against Israel's nuclear facilities, reaffirming Israel's unwavering commitment to safeguarding its nuclear assets in the face of such dangers.

Israel's delicate diplomatic balancing act is evident in its approach to aiding Ukraine while maintaining relations with Russia, whose military presence looms large along Israel's northern border.

During a visit to parliament by Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky last week, Anthony Rota hailed an elderly Ukrainian immigrant from his district as a hero, prompting a standing ovation.

But Rota has faced growing pressure to resign after it was revealed that the veteran had served in a Nazi-linked military unit.

"It is with a heavy heart that I rise to inform members of my resignation as Speaker of the House of Commons," Rota told lawmakers from the parliamentary floor.

He expressed his "profound regret for my error" and the pain he caused to Jewish communities in Canada and around the world.

Russia has accused the government in Kyiv of espousing Nazi ideals, despite Zelensky being Jewish and losing family members in the Holocaust, and the controversy was likely to add fodder to that narrative.

On Friday, Rota paid homage to Yaroslav Hunka, a 98-year-old Ukrainian immigrant who was visiting parliament and who is from Rota's electoral district.

He hailed Hunka as "a Ukrainian-Canadian war veteran from the Second World War who fought for Ukrainian independence against the Russians" and "a Ukrainian hero and a Canadian hero."

But Hunka actually served in the 14th Waffen Grenadier Division of the SS, "a Nazi military unit whose crimes against humanity during the Holocaust are well-documented," according to the Friends of Simon Wiesenthal Center.

The Jewish advocacy group called the incident "shocking" and "incredibly disturbing."

"This incident has compromised all 338 Members of Parliament," the organization said, adding it had "handed a propaganda victory to Russia, distracting from what was a momentously significant display of unity between Canada and Ukraine."

'Deepest apologies'

Several political parties in Canada had urged Rota, a Liberal lawmaker, to step down.

Rota, who was first elected in 2004 and became speaker in 2019, apologized on Sunday, saying that he had "subsequently become aware of more information" which caused him to regret his remarks about Hunka.

"This initiative was entirely my own... I particularly want to extend my deepest apologies to Jewish communities in Canada and around the world," he said.

On Monday Prime Minister Justin Trudeau called Rota's remarks shameful.

The main opposition Conservatives slammed the Trudeau administration for failing to properly vet Hunka, despite claims it had no advance notice he'd been invited to the event.

Zelensky's visit to Canada was the third leg in a tour aimed at bolstering international support, after addressing the United Nations and visiting US President Joe Biden in Washington.

During the visit, Trudeau pledged additional aid to Zelensky's war-torn country.

Canada is home to the world's second-largest Ukrainian diaspora and Zelensky, in his speech to parliament, expressed thanks for the backing given to Kyiv since Russian troops poured over the Ukrainian borders in February 2022.

Russia has accused Ukrainian leaders of being "neo-Nazis" and has sought to justify the war with the need to "denazify" its neighbor.

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Commenting on the issue of the Ukrainian veteran, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said "such sloppiness of memory is outrageous," Russian media reported.

In Poland, Education Minister Przemysław Czarnek raised the possibility of seeking Hunka's extradition.

Writing on X, formerly known as Twitter, Czarnek said he had tasked the national historical research institute to see if Hunka is wanted for crimes against Poles or Polish Jews.

"I have taken steps towards a possible extradition of this man to Poland," Czarnek wrote

On Tuesday evening, Israeli occupation forces stormed the town of Al-Auja, north of Jericho.

Eyewitnesses reported that the occupation forces stormed the town of Al-Auja, and deployed in its streets and at intersections, without any arrests being reported.

Riyadh and the United Nations on Tuesday condemned the attack that led to the killing of two Bahraini soldiers on the Saudi border with Yemen.

Manama announced on Monday that a Bahraini officer and soldier were killed in an attack launched by Houthi drones.
The Kingdom of Bahrain, which neighbors Saudi Arabia, has been a member of the military coalition led by Riyadh since 2015 in support of the Yemeni government against the Houthi rebels supported by Iran.

The Saudi Ministry of Foreign Affairs expressed “the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia’s condemnation and denunciation of the treacherous attack on the defense force of the sister Kingdom of Bahrain,” the official Saudi Press Agency reported on Tuesday.

In a statement on Tuesday, the US Embassy in Riyadh accused the Houthis of being behind the attack, describing it as "unacceptable" and "threatening the longest period of calm since the start of the war in Yemen."

Yemen, which is the poorest country in the Arabian Peninsula and which was devastated by years of war, has witnessed relative calm since the truce entered into force in April 2022 under the auspices of the United Nations, although it was not officially extended when its term expired in October of the year. the past.

The United Nations Special Envoy to Yemen, Hans Grundberg, condemned the attack, saying on Tuesday, "The continued outbreak of fighting demonstrates the fragility of the situation in Yemen."

He added, "Any renewed offensive military escalation could drag Yemen back into a cycle of violence and undermine ongoing peace efforts."

He continued, "We communicated with everyone to urge them to exercise the utmost restraint at this critical time, and to use dialogue to resolve differences and reduce military tensions."

The Saudi authorities did not identify the perpetrators of this attack, which came a few days after discussions in Riyadh with Houthi officials, which both parties described as “positive.”

Likewise, the General Secretariat of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, headquartered in Jeddah, condemned the “Houthi drone attack.”

The organization's Secretary-General, Hussein Ibrahim Taha, stressed that "such provocative actions are not consistent with the positive efforts being made to end the crisis in Yemen."

The Houthis did not comment on the attack.

The conflict in Yemen has caused the death and injury of hundreds of thousands and the worst humanitarian crisis in the world, according to the United Nations.