A number of citizens suffered from suffocation, Thursday evening, during the Israeli occupation forces’ suppression of peaceful marches in the eastern Gaza Strip.

According to local sources, the occupation soldiers stationed inside their positions and military vehicles deployed along the separation fence opened fire and fired a barrage of toxic tear gas bombs at dozens of boys and young men demonstrating in several areas near the separation fence east of Gaza City and east of Khan Yunis and Rafah. In the south of the Gaza Strip and Jabalia in its north, a number of them suffered gas suffocation.

Peaceful marches continue for the sixth day in a row near the separation fence in several areas east of the Gaza Strip, in protest against the siege imposed on the Gaza Strip and the continuing crimes of the occupation against our people in all governorates of the country and against our sanctities and our prisoners.

More than 43,000 people were displaced, according to the United Nations, as a result of the massive floods that swept eastern Libya, especially the city of Derna, where communications were restored on Thursday after a 24-hour interruption.

While search operations continue for thousands of missing people who are believed to have died as a result of the floods, the International Organization for Migration on Thursday published new estimates indicating an increase in the number of displaced people after the passage of Storm Daniel on the night of September 10-11.

The International Organization for Migration said that the tragedy caused the displacement of 43,059 people.
She added that "the lack of water supplies may have prompted many" of the displaced inside Derna to leave it to go to other cities in the east and west of the country.

The International Organization for Migration noted that the urgent needs of the displaced include “food, fresh water, mental health, and psychosocial support.”

The floods led to the death of 3,351 people, according to the latest official provisional toll announced by the Minister of Health in the Libyan East, Othman Abdel Jalil, on Tuesday evening.

However, humanitarian organizations and Libyan authorities fear that the number of victims is much higher due to the number of missing persons estimated in the thousands.

The communications networks and the Internet witnessed a blackout on Tuesday evening, and journalists were asked to leave the stricken city the day after a demonstration by Derna residents to demand that the authorities in the east of the country be held accountable, considering them responsible for the disaster.

The authorities spoke of a “cut in optical fiber,” but according to analysts and Internet users, the cut was deliberate and aimed at imposing a “blackout” after the extensive media coverage of the demonstration the day before.

The Libyan Supreme Committee for Emergency and Rapid Response, which was formed by the eastern authorities to supervise relief efforts, announced “the return of communications and Internet services throughout the city of Derna.”

The head of the Libyan government recognized by the United Nations, Abdul Hamid Al-Dabaiba, announced on his account on the “X” website (formerly Twitter) that “the efforts of the field crisis team for the communications sector were crowned with success in restoring communications and Internet services to the city of Derna and the eastern region, after re-implementing new paths for fiber cables.” Optical communications infrastructure.

A strong storm struck eastern Libya on the night of Sunday, Monday, September 11, and the rain falling in huge quantities led to the collapse of two dams in the city of Derna. Water flowed forcefully and several meters high into a riverbed that is usually dry, sweeping away parts of the city along with its buildings and infrastructure.

The United Nations announced earlier this week that its agencies, especially the World Health Organization, are working to "prevent the spread of diseases and avoid a second devastating crisis in the region," warning of risks linked to "water and the lack of sanitary supplies."

On Thursday, rescue crews continued their efforts to find the bodies of the missing, especially at sea, after the floods swept away entire neighborhoods.

Libya has been mired in chaos since the fall of Muammar Gaddafi’s regime in 2011, and two governments are competing for power. The first is based in Tripoli in the west and is headed by Abdul Hamid Al-Dabaiba and is recognized by the United Nations, and the other is in the east of the country, which was struck by the storm, headed by Osama Hammad and is appointed by the House of Representatives. It is supported by the strongman in the East, Field Marshal Khalifa Haftar.

In 2018, Haftar's forces took control of Derna, which was a stronghold of extremist Islamists and the only city outside their control in eastern Libya. But the eastern authorities consider Derna an opposition stronghold since the Gaddafi era.

After opening an investigation into the circumstances of the disaster, Libyan Attorney General Al-Siddiq Al-Sur confirmed that the two dams that collapsed had developed cracks since 1998 and had not been repaired.

The friend in charge of investigating the disaster, Al-Sour, promised in a television interview on Wednesday evening that the results would appear “soon.”
He stressed that the Derna investigations "will affect officials."

Like many of my readers, and unlike my wife and children, I am an Israeli by choice. I immigrated to Israel nearly 46 years ago. My wife and children were born in Israel. Nearly six years ago,one of my children left Israel with her husband and daughter.   They decided they didn’t want to raise their young child in Israel. They did not want to live in a country which was becoming increasingly religious, right-wing, racist, lacking tolerance of diversity, and apartheid-like. My two grown-up sons have so far remained in Jerusalem. They participate in the anti-government protests, but not regularly, and unlike my wife and I, they don’t always participate in the “Gush neged haKibush” – the bloc against the occupation part of the protests. I don’t know if my two sons and their partners will stay in Israel, they are here with us for the time being. We are seeing some of our friends leave Israel and some others seriously thinking about leaving. I don’t think about leaving, for me the struggle has not yet been lost and I am not willing to give up fighting for a just and democratic Israel in which all citizens live with equality and an Israel that no longer occupies the Palestinian people. For me Israel has always been home in thedeepest sense of the word and it is not easy to leave home. 

Part of my struggle is that I no longer define myself as a Zionist. It took me a long time to come out and say this publicly. My difficulty was mainly because I became an Israeli based on the Zionist Law of Return. Had I been born in Israel; I would have declared that I am no longer a Zionist a long time ago. I came out in support of the establishment of a Palestinian state next to Israeli in 1975. For me, in those days it was the Zionist solution which would enable Israel to be the democratic nation-state of the Jewish people and all of its citizens. I thought that if there was a national home for the Palestinians on part of historic Palestine, then not only would Israel end its occupation of the Palestinian people, but also the Palestinian citizens of Israel could be treated equally as full Israeli citizens, as they would no longer be suspect of identifying with the enemies of their state. As long as there was a viable peace process with the Palestinians, I thought that was a chance that true equality could exist within the State of Israel and that the occupation could end. That has not happened. The occupation has become harsher than ever. Discrimination against Israel’s Palestinian citizens has deepened with increasing racism and hatred between the Jewish and Palestinian citizens of Israel and growing alienation of the Palestinian citizens towards the State of Israel. As Israel has become more right-wing and much more religious and the agenda of genuine equality is not within the platform or any of the religious right-wing political parties and civil society organizations it seems impossible to imagine the reality that I dream of and work for. 

What is done in the name of Zionism now and for many years are actions that are diametrically opposed to everything that I value. Zionist responses are actions of building more settlements on Palestinian land, erasing Palestinian villages, pogroms against innocent Palestinians, passing the Nation-State law, and a lot of other legislative initiatives on the way as well as daily encroaching annexation. I do no longer believe in the idea of a Jewish democratic state, it is no longer possible – perhaps it never really was. Jewish supremacy in the State of Israel has taken on proportions that make it impossible to imagine Israel as a state where all of its citizens can be genuinely equal. With no solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict on the horizon and the daily encroachment of annexation of the West Bank without granting millions of Palestinians even the most basic human rights, Israel has truly become a new form of apartheid. The International Convention on the Suppression and Punishment of the Crime of Apartheid defines “the crime of apartheid” as “inhuman acts committed for the purpose of establishing and maintaining domination by one racial group of persons over any other racial group of persons and systematically oppressing them”. The term racial group is a broad term, as we use it in Israel, not limited to skin color or other race-based definitions, but rather related to ethnicity, religion, national identification, etc. Israel is not apartheid South Africa, there are many differences, but Israel does fit the international definition of apartheid. 

My struggle for what I want my home- Israel to be, comes from two sentences in Israel’s Declaration of Independence (and not from the whole Declaration). “it(the State of Israel)will ensure complete equality of social and political rights to all its citizens irrespective of religion, race or sex; it will guarantee freedom of religion, conscience, language, education and culture; it will safeguard the Holy Places of all religions; and it will be faithful to the principles of the Charter of the United Nations.”

And of course: “We extend our hand to all neighbouring states and their peoples in an offer of peace and good neighbourliness, and appeal to them to establish bonds of cooperation and mutual help with the sovereign Jewish people settled in its own land. The State of Israel is prepared to do its share in a common effort for the advancement of the entire Middle East.” 

Israel has not lived up to those declarations of intent -particularly with regard to Israel’s closest neighbors – the Palestinian people. Israel is further away from them than ever before. The current Israeli government will do nothing to bring us even one millimeter closer to ending the occupation. In fact, it will continue to implement the plans of the most right-wing elements of this government – building more settlements and doing everything possible to encourage Palestinians to leave. The present and the future look quite gloomy and it is easy to sink into despair. I understand people who are relocating or seeking to relocate. If my children were small perhaps, I too would consider it. But for me, with grown up children, and no other place in the world which feels like home to me, I am here to fight for what I believe in. Here I need to draw on the ability to imagine a better tomorrow and use strategic thinking to develop the road map to reach that better place. 

When reality is so bleak it is very difficult to draw on imagination which is not naïve fantasy. We must remain connected to reality and seek to define the ways in which it would be possible to change public opinion. I am 100% convinced that if Israelis believed that there was a sincere partner for peace in Palestine, public opinion in Israel could rapidly change. The same is true for Palestinian public opinion – if there were leaders in Israel that spoke sincerely about living in peace with the Palestinian people, public opinion in Palestine would change. It is difficult to see that happening with the current leaders in Israel and in Palestine. But our leaders will change – they are not here forever. 

We need great people on both sides with vision and abilities to stand up and enter the political arena. We are suffering badly from the lack of leaders with vision who can reignite hope and who understand that the future of the Israeli people and the Palestinian people is intertwined. I have little hope that the US or Europe will provide the help and support that we need. We must find every point of leverage that we can identify to create the future that we want. We must impress upon Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman not to give away the greatest leverage existing today to move Israeli public opinion towards understanding the urgent need to end the occupation. Saudi normalization with Israel in the absence of iron-clad agreements to move towards ending the occupation will leave us frozen in the unbearable continuation of the great injustice of occupation and the inevitable escalation of violence. 

The anti-normalization movement in Palestine, while understandable makes it difficult for us to build bridges for mutual support and solidarity – but we must do it anyway. It is more difficult today to create possibilities for Israelis and Palestinians to meet and get to know each other. From 1989-2011, I organized and ran, with Palestinian colleagues, more than 2000 working groups of professionals from Israel and Palestine. Today that is very very difficult – but not impossible. It must be done and this kind of serious work must be undertaken by young Israelis and Palestinians and the international community needs to renew its efforts to enable this. 

We must always keep in mind that some of the more important, significant and earth-shattering events in history were not predicted or imagined, such as the Sadat visit to Jerusalem, the fall of the Soviet Union and the Berlin Wall, the emergence of Nelson Mandela from prison and being elected President of a post-apartheid democratic South Africa. We have no real ability to know what tomorrow will bring, but it is our responsibility to help to create a much better future. We cannot give up hope, the struggle is ongoing and we have not yet lost. 

The writer is a political and social entrepreneur who has dedicated his life to peace between Israel and her neighbors. He is a founding member of “Kol Ezraheiha - Kol Muwanteneiha” (All of the Citizens) political party in Israel. He is now directing The Holy Land Bond and is the Middle East Director for ICO - International Communities Organization.

Japan provided three financial grants, to the municipality of Kobar, northwest of Ramallah, and the village councils of Majdal Bani Fadel, southeast of the city of Nablus, and Jalboun, east of Jenin, within the Grant Aid Program for Community and Human Security Projects (GGP).

The agreements were signed by the Ambassador of Palestinian Affairs and Representative of Japan to Palestine, Nakashima Yoichi, with representatives of the local councils separately, at the headquarters of the Japanese representation in the city of Ramallah, today, Thursday, with a total value amounting to $250,009.

Japan provided the municipality of Koper with a grant amounting to $77,940 to expand the town’s water network, deliver water to an additional 50 families, and improve its quality by extending 1,560 meters of underground pipes in several locations in the town that are not currently connected to the water network.

It also provided the Majdal Bani Fadel Village Council with a grant worth $90,810 to expand its electricity network to serve about 120 families by supplying a 400kVA power transformer and constructing 910-meter-long high-voltage lines and 80-meter-long low-voltage lines.

The Jalboun Village Council received a grant worth $81,259 to expand the health center there, by adding new rooms in the center, to serve the people and facilitate the work of the staff working in the center.

Ambassador Yoichi stressed Japan's firm commitment to supporting the Palestinian people, from a human security perspective, and the importance of implementing social and economic development projects necessary for Palestinian communities.

Since 1993, the Government of Japan has provided official development assistance worth approximately $2.3 billion to the Palestinians, and GGP projects have been formulated in cooperation with the National Authority, through the Ministry of Finance and Planning since 2010.

Today, Thursday, a group of Israeli settlers set up tents in the natural reserve area east of Bethlehem.

According to local sources, the settlers set up a number of tents and raised Israeli flags above them in the area.

The sources indicated that this aggression aims to seize the reserve’s lands and achieve settlement goals.

Two people were killed today, Thursday, after they were targeted by an Israeli drone in the town of Beit Jinn, southwest of Damascus.

The Israeli Public Broadcasting Corporation (“Kan 11”) reported that “an explosion occurred in the town of Beit Jinn, as a result of an Israeli drone shooting at two people, who were riding a motorcycle.”

Kan 11 noted that "as a result of the attack, two people were killed in the town located 11 kilometers from the border with Israel."

The Prisoner’s Club said, “The military court of the occupation in (Salem) sentenced the wounded prisoner, Muhammad Abu Sabra (50 years old) from Nablus, to actual imprisonment for a period of 9 and a half years, a fine of 5,000 shekels, and a suspension of execution for a period of one year to three years, and that ( On charges of attempting to carry out a stabbing attack.

The Prisoner's Club explained that the occupation arrested Abu Sabra on May 17, 2022, after he was shot in front of the Huwwara military checkpoint. At that time, he suffered several injuries in his abdomen and left leg. At the beginning of his arrest, he underwent a series of surgical operations, during which parts of his limbs were removed. His intestines and pancreas, and he suffered several fractures in his pelvis, and today, as he is in Megiddo prison, he still suffers from a difficult and tragic health condition, and faces the crime of medical negligence, and he needs diligent health follow-up.

The Prisoners' Club indicated that Abu Sabra had been detained for a period in the so-called (Ramla Prison Clinic), and at that time he was subjected to solitary confinement, despite his difficult health condition, before he was transferred to (Megiddo) Prison.

It is worth noting that the occupation authorities, over the past year and the current year, have remarkably escalated the shooting of citizens during their arrest operations, and have arrested dozens of wounded people, some of whom are still suffering from difficult health conditions.

Today, Thursday, the Israeli court in Beersheba sentenced the young man, Karam Al-Qadi (20 years old), to five and a half years in prison, from the town of Shaqib Al-Salam in the Negev region in the occupied interior.

The Israeli court issued a ruling against the young man due to his participation in the Gift of Dignity events in 2021.

The young man, Karam Al-Qadi, was arrested on January 13, 2022, during the demonstration that was organized to reject the razing of the lands of the village of Sawa. The court prevented the young man from meeting with the defense lawyer and the family during the first days of his arrest, and he underwent dozens of trial and investigation sessions in the basements of Israeli intelligence.

The Prisoner's Club said, "Administrative detainee Thaer Halahleh (47 years old) from the town of Kharas/Hebron has continued his boycott of the occupation courts since his administrative arrest in June 2022."

The Prisoners' Club explained that Halahla spent a total of (15) years in the occupation prisons, including (11) years in administrative detention, noting that the occupation re-arrested him a year after his release, after he spent (14) months in administrative detention.

Detainee Halahla is today in Nafha Prison, and the current administrative order against him expires next December. He is married and the father of four children, the youngest of whom was a week old when he was arrested, and he was able to see him for the first time after his arrest during the visit.

Detainee Halahla is one of the detainees who went on hunger strikes to reject administrative detention. In 2012, he went on a strike that lasted for (78) days.

It is noteworthy that he holds a bachelor's degree in history and a diploma in the Hebrew language.

A young man was shot by Israeli occupation forces, today, Thursday, after allegedly trying to carry out a run-over attack at the Qalandiya military checkpoint, north of the occupied city of Jerusalem.

According to the Israeli police statement, an Israeli security guard was injured at the checkpoint, and his injury was described as minor.

The Israeli police confirmed that the perpetrator was immediately arrested, indicating that the circumstances of the event are being investigated.

Today, Thursday, the Israeli police arrested an elderly Palestinian man from the Gaza Strip, after allegedly finding two knives in his possession while he was at the central bus station in Tel Aviv.

The police said in a statement, “A short time ago, a 60-year-old suspected resident of Gaza was arrested, and two knives were found in his bag during a search at the entrance to the central station in Tel Aviv.”

It added, "The suspect was arrested and taken to Sharat police station for questioning."

The police also indicated in its statement that “the background of the man is being checked.”

The Ministry of Education denounced the Israeli occupation forces’ storming, today, Thursday, of the Al-Eizariya Girls Basic School in the suburbs of Jerusalem, after blowing up its doors.

The Ministry of Education confirmed in a press statement that these actions are a flagrant violation of human rights and the right of children to obtain a good and safe education, and they reflect the difficult conditions that students and teachers are experiencing in Jerusalem and its suburbs, as a result of the war waged by the occupation forces on everything that is Jerusalem, especially the education system. And education.

The Ministry called on the international community to intervene immediately to stop these violations and protect children’s right to education, stressing the importance of continuing to provide support to schools and students in Jerusalem, to confront these difficult challenges.

Administrative detainee Kayed Al-Fafsous (34 years old) from the city of Dura/Hebron continues his open hunger strike for the 50th day in a row in rejection of the crime of his arbitrary administrative detention, amid escalating risks to his fate in the cells of the Negev Desert Prison, where the prison administration has held him since he began his imprisonment. Strike.

The Prisoners' Club said, "The occupation forces are carrying out systematic abuse and harassment against him, in addition to pressure operations that continue to this day in an attempt to dissuade him from continuing his strike. The prison administration also insists on detaining him in the cells of the Negev, despite the passage of this period since the strike." In previous individual strikes, the prison administration would transfer the striking detainee after a certain period to a civilian hospital.”

The Israeli occupation authorities continue to close the Beit Hanoun “Erez” checkpoint in the northern Gaza Strip, designated for the movement of individuals.

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

Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki announced on Wednesday that his country had stopped arming Ukraine in order to focus on strengthening its own defense forces, a few hours after Warsaw summoned the Ukrainian ambassador amid a dispute between the two countries over grain exports.

In response to a journalist's question about whether Warsaw would continue to support Kiev militarily despite the dispute over grain exports, Morawiecki said, "We have stopped transferring weapons to Ukraine because we are now arming Poland with more modern weapons."

Poland has been at the forefront of countries supporting Ukraine and one of its most prominent arms suppliers since the Russian invasion began in February 2022.
Poland also hosts about one million Ukrainian refugees who have benefited from various types of government aid.

But the intensity of the dispute between Warsaw and Kiev has escalated in recent days due to the ban imposed by Poland on Ukrainian grain imports to protect its farmers.

In May, the European Union agreed to restrict grain imports from Ukraine to Bulgaria, Hungary, Poland, Romania and Slovakia to protect farmers in these countries who attributed the decline in prices in local markets to Ukrainian imports.

The measure allowed grain products to continue transiting through the five countries, but stopped their sale in local markets.
On Friday, the European Commission announced that it was ending the import ban, considering that “imbalances in the markets of the five member states of the bloc that border Ukraine have disappeared.”

But Poland, Hungary and Slovakia quickly declared their refusal to comply with this step.

The situation in Poland, which is preparing to hold elections next month, is extremely sensitive, especially since the current right-wing government relies on strong support in agricultural areas.

Ukraine responded to the positions of Poland, Hungary, and Slovakia by threatening to file a complaint against these countries before the World Trade Organization.
Morawiecki warned earlier Wednesday that he would expand the list of Ukrainian products prohibited for import if Kiev escalates the dispute over grains.

The Polish Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement, "Pressuring Poland in multilateral forums or sending complaints to international courts are not appropriate methods for resolving the differences between our two countries."

Kiev responded by calling for “leaving emotions aside” and urging Warsaw to pursue a “constructive” policy in this dispute.

Today, Thursday, Bashar Al-Masry, Chairman of the Board of Directors of PADICO Holding Company, announced the launch of the “Energy of Hope” project to generate electricity with solar energy along Salah El-Din Street in Gaza.

The project will launch “Energy of Hope” with a capacity of 50 megawatts, with an estimated value of $60 million.

Dozens of citizens suffered from suffocation, today, Thursday, during confrontations with the Israeli occupation forces, in the town of Anabta, east of Tulkarm.

According to local sources, confrontations broke out between young men and the occupation forces on the main street of the town of Anabta, during which bullets and toxic tear gas bombs were fired at citizens and shops, causing dozens of them to suffer from suffocation.

The State of Palestine participated in the 18th meeting of foreign ministers of member states of the Asian Cooperation Dialogue, which was held in New York on the sidelines of the 78th session of the United Nations General Assembly, entitled: “Sustainable recovery after the pandemic.”

In his speech, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates Riyad Al-Maliki affirmed the commitment of the State of Palestine to achieving the goals and vision of the Asian Cooperation Dialogue, by enhancing dialogue and mutual understanding between Asian countries and nations, based on its belief in the strength of regional cooperation and its importance in confronting serious challenges and seizing opportunities for growth and development.

He reviewed the political and economic challenges that faced the Palestinian government in the stage of containing the epidemic and the stage after it, as it is a country that has been under Israeli military occupation for decades, and how it was able to mobilize all the required efforts to contain it and respond to its effects even though it is still suffering from its effects at all levels, including Development, economy, education, health, etc.

Al-Maliki presented the audience with a picture of the latest political and field developments in Palestine, and what the Palestinian people are facing in terms of a fierce, systematic, and unprecedented campaign targeting their land and the lives of their youth, women, and children, led by the most extreme right-wing government, which eliminates any hope for holding peace negotiations between the two parties.

He stressed that this coercive reality imposed on the State of Palestine will not be an obstacle to its efforts to achieve its rights to freedom, prosperity and self-determination, with the firm and principled support of member states and the support of the entire international community.

He stressed the fundamental and important role of the Asian Cooperation Dialogue in serving the interests and goals of countries and achieving them at the economic and political levels. He reaffirmed the State of Palestine’s commitment to this dialogue and its values, and continued cooperation with all member states to continue achieving the goal of the dialogue based on forming an Asian unity capable of facing future challenges and obstacles. Despite the occupation’s control over all aspects of life, wealth and resources.

Al-Maliki expressed his sincere gratitude to the Kingdom of Bahrain for arranging to hold this meeting and for its appreciated efforts made during its presidency of the Asian Cooperation Dialogue, congratulating the Republic of Iran on assuming the presidency of the dialogue.

At the conclusion of the meeting, the “Bahrain Declaration” document was adopted to promote the concept of sustainable recovery in healthcare after the Coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic, exchange experiences and consolidate relations between member states.

Today, Thursday, the Israeli occupation forces arrested a Palestinian Jerusalemite attending set-in  from the occupied city of Jerusalem.

According to local sources, these forces arrested the Jerusalemite women , Nafisa Khwais, while she was in Omar bin Al-Khattab Square in the Old City, days after issuing a decision to deport her from the holy Al-Aqsa Mosque for six months.

At dawn on Thursday, gunmen opened fire on several departments and buildings belonging to the Hebron Municipality, and on the homes and shops of a number of members of the city’s municipal council.

According to local sources, the gunmen opened fire on shops in the Ain Sarah area in the city of Hebron and on the Tahrir Roundabout area in the city. Unidentified persons also opened fire on the Al-Hamouri Clinic in the Health Roundabout area in the city.

The sources indicated that a headquarters belonging to the Hebron municipality in the Wadi al-Hariya area was also subjected to gunfire.

These shooting incidents come hours after shooting at the vehicle of the Deputy Mayor of Hebron, Dr. Asma Al-Sharbati, as it was parked in front of her house in the Al-Mahwar neighborhood in the city of Hebron, causing material damage to the vehicle.

A surveillance camera of Al-Sharbati's house showed the unknown person shooting at the vehicle and then fleeing the scene using a motorcycle.

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad arrived in China on Thursday in his first official visit in nearly two decades to the allied country, and at a time when he is struggling to obtain support for the reconstruction of his war-ravaged country.

China is the third non-Arab country that Assad has visited during the years of ongoing conflict in his country since 2011, after Russia and Iran, Damascus's most prominent allies, which provide it with economic and military support that has changed the balance of the war in its favor. This visit falls within the framework of Assad's gradual return to the international arena over a year ago after the isolation imposed on him by the West, especially due to his suppression of the protest movement in his country, which developed into a devastating conflict.

The official CCTV television broadcast a live broadcast of Al-Assad's arrival in the city of Hangzhou, where he will participate in the opening of the Asian Games on Saturday with his Chinese counterpart, Xi Jinping.

Thus, Al-Assad became the last head of state, widely considered isolated, to be hosted by China this year after Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi. It also hosted a number of Russian officials, and invited President Vladimir Putin to visit it next month, according to what the New China News Agency (Xinhua) reported on Thursday.
Al-Assad is accompanied by his wife, Asma, and a political and economic delegation.

The visit includes meetings and events in the cities of Hangzhou and Beijing.

The Syrian newspaper Al-Watan, which is close to the government, reported that Al-Assad will attend the opening of the Asian Games in Hangzhou on the 23rd of this month.

The Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs did not comment on the content of the visit.

This is the first visit by the Syrian President to China since 2004, while Chinese officials visited Damascus during the period of the bloody conflict.

China supported Damascus in international forums and the UN Security Council, repeatedly abstaining from voting for resolutions condemning it during the conflict, and used its veto alongside Russia to stop these resolutions.

Syrian political analyst Osama Dannoura from Damascus said, "This visit represents a break from an important level of diplomatic isolation and political blockade imposed on Syria, given that China is a major country with weight on the international economic and strategic levels."

He added to Agence France-Presse, "China is breaking the Western taboo that is trying to prevent a number of countries from dealing with what Washington considers isolated countries."

Western countries impose economic sanctions, which Damascus has long considered a fundamental reason for the continued deterioration of its economy.

Dannoura believed that for Damascus, China is a “reliable partner,” especially in the economic and reconstruction fields.

Regarding potential Chinese investments, he said, “China has the ability to complete infrastructure reconstruction in residential and civilian areas at an exceptional speed.”

After 12 years of a devastating conflict that claimed the lives of more than half a million people, left millions displaced and refugees, and destroyed the country's infrastructure, Syria is today seeking the support of allied countries for the reconstruction phase.

In previous statements, the Syrian President expressed his hope that Chinese institutions would invest in Syria.

Researcher Lina Al-Khatib, director of the Middle East Institute at the School of Oriental and African Studies at the University of London, believed that Al-Assad is trying, through his visit to China, to convey a message about the beginning of “international legitimization” of his regime and the expected Chinese support in the reconstruction phase.

Al-Assad's visit comes at a time when Beijing is playing a growing role in the Middle East and is trying to promote its "New Silk Roads" plan, officially known as the "Belt and Road Initiative", which is a huge project of investments and loans that aims to establish infrastructure linking China to its traditional markets in Asia, Europe and Africa.

In January 2022, Syria joined the Belt and Road Initiative.

In parallel, China is strengthening its diplomatic activity, and over the past months it has hosted state leaders and officials facing international isolation, including Belarusian Alexander Lukashenko and representatives of the Taliban movement in Afghanistan. She also received the Venezuelan president, whose oil-rich country is facing a stifling economic crisis.

The Kremlin announced on Wednesday that Russian President Vladimir Putin will also visit China in October, at a time when Moscow faces Western anger over its war in Ukraine.

This year witnessed changes in the Syrian diplomatic arena, represented by Damascus resuming its relationship with several Arab countries, led by the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, regaining its seat in the League of Arab States, and then the Syrian President’s participation in the Arab Summit in Jeddah in May for the first time in more than 12 years.

Diplomatic transformations accelerated on the Arab scene after a surprising Chinese-brokered agreement announced in March, which resulted in the resumption of relations that had been severed between Saudi Arabia and Iran.

At dawn today, Thursday, a group of settlers attacked Palestinian citizens’ homes in the Al-Masoudiyah area of the Burqa lands, northwest of Nablus.

According to local sources, settlers attacked the house of citizen Musa Deis and targeted him with stones, damaging his windows, breaking the windows of two vehicles and damaging their tires.

Settlers also tried to attack him and target him with poison gas while he was returning home.

The sources indicated that the settlers threw pointed iron bars on the main road, which damaged the tires of some vehicles.

Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman announced on Wednesday that his country is "close" to normalizing its relations with Israel, warning on the other hand that if Iran possesses nuclear weapons, the Kingdom will do so as well.

The Saudi Crown Prince said in an interview with the American Fox News network in Saudi Arabia, “We are getting closer and closer every day” to normalizing relations with Israel.

This statement came at a time when US President Joe Biden was discussing with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in New York specifically the issue of relations between the Kingdom and the Hebrew state.

But Prince Mohammed bin Salman, the de facto ruler of Saudi Arabia, stressed “the importance of the Palestinian issue” for the kingdom.
He said, "For us, the Palestinian issue is very important. We have to solve it."

Prince Mohammed bin Salman denied the validity of press reports that spoke of the “suspension” of talks between the Kingdom and Israel.

He said that "these negotiations are going well so far" and "we hope that they will lead to a result that makes life easier for the Palestinians and allows Israel to play a role in the Middle East."

Experts are likely that the United States will provide Saudi Arabia with security guarantees if the oil kingdom concludes an agreement with Israel.

In response to a question about this issue, the Crown Prince said that relations between Riyadh and Washington go back eight decades and that a possible security agreement between the two countries would “strengthen” their military and economic cooperation, without further details.

To date, the Hebrew state has normalized its relations with five Arab countries: Egypt, Jordan, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, and Morocco.

However, what the Saudi prince said did not bring peace or relief to Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi, who warned that any normalization with Israel constitutes a “stab in the back” for the Palestinians.

During a press conference held in New York on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly meetings, Raisi was asked about the rapprochement taking place between the Kingdom and the Hebrew state. He began his answer by welcoming the recent rapprochement between Tehran and Riyadh, stressing that Iran’s relationship “with Saudi Arabia is developing.”

Last spring, the two competing regional powers, Sunni Saudi Arabia and Shiite Iran, began normalizing relations between them, in a surprising step that took place under the auspices of China.

In response to a question about the current Saudi-Israeli rapprochement, the Iranian president said, “We have not heard anything like this.”

He added, "Despite that, starting a relationship between the Zionist regime and any country in the region, if its goal is to achieve security for the Zionist regime, will certainly not achieve that."

Raisi continued, "We believe that a relationship between countries in the region and the Zionist entity would be a stab in the back for the Palestinian people and the Palestinian resistance."

In his interview with the American news network, Prince Mohammed bin Salman was asked about the possibility of Iran obtaining nuclear weapons.
In response to this question, the Saudi Crown Prince warned that if the Islamic Republic acquired atomic weapons, the Kingdom would find itself forced to do the same.

"We are concerned about the possibility of a country obtaining a nuclear weapon. This is bad," he said.

He added that the Iranians "do not need to obtain a nuclear weapon because they cannot use it," stressing that such a thing would mean "igniting a war with the rest of the world."

But the Crown Prince stressed, in return, that “if they get this weapon, we should get it too.”

Iran denies that it is seeking to acquire a nuclear weapon, even though its stock of enriched uranium exceeds the levels permitted under the nuclear agreement it concluded in 2015 during the era of former US President Barack Obama, from which former President Donald Trump withdrew.

During his meeting with Netanyahu, the American President also discussed the relationship between Israel and Saudi Arabia.

Addressing Biden, Netanyahu said, “I believe that under your leadership we can conclude a historic peace agreement between Israel and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.”

In turn, US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken told ABC that achieving rapprochement between Saudi Arabia and Israel will have a profound impact in the Middle East.

He added that normalizing relations between these two countries will have a "strong impact on the stability of the region, on the integration of the region, and on bringing people together."

Today, Thursday, Israeli occupation forces stormed the Al-Eizariya Girls Basic School in occupied Jerusalem after blowing up its doors.

According to local sources, these forces raided the school, searched it, seized surveillance camera recordings, destroyed part of its contents, and caused major material damage.

The sources indicated that the teachers and students were surprised by the extent of the destruction caused by the occupation during its storming of the school.

The head of the Wall and Settlement Resistance Commission, Muayyad Shaaban, said today, Thursday, “The Israeli occupation authorities renewed the order to seize 350 dunums of citizens’ lands in the villages of Qatna, Al-Qubayba, and Beit Anan, northwest of Jerusalem, and the town of Beit Liqya, west of Ramallah.”

Shaaban added in a press statement, “The occupation seized this land in 2004, under the pretext of using it for military purposes, while preventing citizens from accessing or using it, within the framework of strengthening apartheid policies and expanding the settlement project.”

He stressed that the occupation's control over citizens' lands violates the most basic rules of international law and international resolutions, which criminalize settlement and control over citizens' lands.

He continued: “Since 2014, the occupying state has issued a total of 85 military orders requiring the seizure of 1,822 dunums of citizens’ land for military purposes, most of which required the establishment or expansion of military points and sites, or for the purpose of constructing roads for the occupying army to follow, while it was issued during the period There are a total of 226 orders requiring the renewal of previous orders, issued a decade or two ago, whose specific expiration had expired according to the military decision, but the occupying state, instead of returning them to their owners, renewed these orders in reference to a clear desire by the occupying state to continue to control the earth".

Shaaban warned of the danger of the occupying state bending the system of laws in effect in the Palestinian territories prior to the Israeli occupation in 1967 to its advantage, and to the benefit of its settlement project supported by the far-right forces ruling the occupying state, calling on citizens to follow up on this type of issues through the Wall and Settlement Resistance Commission, in order to nullify them. Exposing the true face of the occupation.

Today, Thursday, dozens of settlers stormed the blessed Al-Aqsa Mosque, amid heavy protection from the occupation police.

The settlers made provocative tours inside the courtyards of Al-Aqsa Mosque, and performed Talmudic rituals.

Groups of settlers storm Al-Aqsa on a daily basis except Friday and Saturday.

Today, Thursday, Israeli occupation bulldozers demolished a facility selling building materials in the town of Beita, south of Nablus.

According to local sources, these bulldozers demolished a building materials store belonging to citizen Mahdi Dwikat and his partner Thaer Dwikat, under the pretext that it violates and is close to the new settlement road, which the occupation is working to build in the lands of Beita, Hawara and Odla.

The sources indicated that the total area of the project was estimated at four dunams, which were completely razed without warning, on top of the goods contained therein, without allowing us to move them, and their value was estimated at 3 million shekels.

In his speech before the United Nations General Assembly two days ago, King Abdullah II affirmed that suffering will continue in our region until the world takes action and helps resolve the Palestinian issue and end the conflict. He explained that five million Palestinians live under occupation with no rights, no freedom, and no decision to manage their lives. The Jordanian King added that the two-state solution is the essence of resolving disagreement and conflict and the only path towards comprehensive and lasting peace.

In Riyadh, Saudi officials familiar with the negotiations between the United States of America and Saudi Arabia, including the normalization of Saudi-Israeli relations, confirmed that Saudi Arabia is not interested in conducting negotiations with an extremist Israeli government, and is upset with the Israeli Prime Minister, Netanyahu, for his lack of seriousness in dealing with these Saudi conditions and commitment regarding the Palestinian issue.

These positions come after leaked news claimed that Saudi Arabia was about to establish diplomatic relations with Israel, and the clear Saudi response was largely positive.

Unfortunately, there is news leaking about normalization processes in various forms between Israel and some Arab countries, and we do not wish to mention names in this context until the positions become clear officially and publicly, and then the talk will be in its time and place.

It should be noted that any normalization with the occupying state means a national denial of our rights and our efforts to establish our state and achieve justice for our people and our future in general, and it supports the occupation that occupies the land and kills young people daily.

Normalization in its various forms has no value or necessity at all, because Israel constitutes a very small part when looking at the Arab world, and any potential of it to provide aid or services to any Arab country is nothing but talk in the air and has no value or truth to it, because the potential, energies and capabilities of our Arab world exceed thousands of times. Everything owned by the Jews in the world or by Israel, which occupies our land.

We hope that these positions, especially from Saudi Arabia, will be final, strong and unchangeable, unless Israel withdraws from the West Bank and Jerusalem and we establish our independent Palestinian state with our holy city as its capital, the land of the Night Journey and the Mi’raj, the first of the two qiblahs and the third of the Two Holy Mosques.

O you who are running after normalization, stop, and you who dream of normalization, drown in your dreams..!!

The monopoly on the role of target and persecutor practiced by Zionist propaganda has effectively turned into a bogeyman that frightens most people, intellectuals and academics, as well as politicians. Thus, Zionist propaganda succeeds twice through the use of this weapon: the first time in preventing criticism or accountability, and the second time in Practicing what it wants against the Palestinian people under a thick veil of smoke of terror and intimidation. Zionist propaganda, supported by enormous forces, known and unknown, was able to turn its statements and claims into historical facts in what is considered a precedent that occurs for the first time in history. The Zionist desire to... The monopoly on the image and narrative of Jewish history - which is disputed and numerous - has reached its peak in the persistent and also successful attempts to Judaize social media by fighting Palestinian content first and by remaining silent about the racism and hatred that oozes from some Zionist content and not banning it or objecting to it or punish him at all.

The meeting between Netanyahu and Elon Musk was an expressive meeting of the successful and ongoing Zionist attempt to use this global platform to monopolize image, content, narrative, and vision as well.

This is consistent with the attempts of international Zionist propaganda to monopolize the historical narrative by Judaizing all of history, that is, making the Jew a central person in making the global event, and this is the trend expressed by hundreds of historians, theorists, and archaeologists who spoke of trees and stones and twisted the neck of the facts to agree. With feverish and sick whims and imaginations, and for this reason we are not surprised by Israel’s denunciation of UNESCO’s position on the Sultan Hill in Jericho, as well as the naïve and laughable attempts to seize some Palestinian foods or clothing, considering that the strong inherit the weak.

The Judaization of history means that some group, other than the groups of people, was the one who started human civilization and was the first to write, worship God, or present an aesthetic proposal to the world. This is a slander against the truth and may have killed him or her as well, and all of this is accompanied and integrated with attempts. The ongoing process that is taking place in front of all the eyes of the world to Judaize the Palestinian spatial space, especially Al-Aqsa Mosque, in which attempts to change the reality began from the first day of its occupation until this day, by abusing it, digging under it, building around it, disturbing its stones and walls, and controlling access and Exiting it, arresting those in seclusion, preventing worshipers, pushing settlers into it, and trying to possess it physically and not symbolically through the multiplying biblical practices, from blowing the trumpet to preparing for the sacred cow and ending with preparing teams of priests ready to implement a feverish and sick plan, in addition to spreading settlement in different ways. Geometric, demographic, and tensional, trying to build another awareness of the place and therefore of history itself, and fighting the Palestinian approach and preventing the birth of a nationalist feeling sufficient to build a state and society, and fighting every Palestinian initiative that could stand in the face of this fossilized trend.

The policy of Judaization is a policy of banishment and absence of everything that is non-Jewish. The policy of Judaization is, in some way, a reflection of the mentality of seclusion and isolation at the same time, because Judaization is a process of isolation and monopoly on the one hand, and a process of expulsion and deportation on the other hand, and it is practiced at the level of consciousness from By monopolizing the role of the unique target and persecutor of the prophecy, and also practicing it at the level of spatial space by transforming it into a divine entity that cannot tolerate any other human control, the policy of Judaization is a dangerous process of subjectification in which the world is centralized into only one group that claims to be the most deserving and the most capable.

In my humble opinion, the majority of the Jewish public in Israel is rushing into dangerous areas of destructive awareness. Panic on the one hand, possession of power on the other hand, and speaking in the name of God on the other hand, all of this leads to undesirable consequences.

This week I chair a ministerial meeting of the Donor Group in New York following my trip to Israel and Palestine last week. Although the situation seems dark now, I believe that the two-state solution is still the path to peace between Israelis and Palestinians. Time is running out, but we will not give up working for a Palestinian state and a just, peaceful solution. The rapprochement between Middle Eastern countries provides new opportunities for dialogue. Israel wants normalization with many Arab countries, but most of all what will improve Israel's relations with its neighbors and the rest of the world is a political solution with the Palestinians.

Just over ten years ago, in 2011, the World Bank announced that the Palestinian Authority had taken the necessary measures to establish a Palestinian state. This was nearly twenty years after the signing of the Oslo Accords. The agreement, which was negotiated with the help of Norwegian diplomats, was an important historical turning point. However, no agreement has yet been reached on the status of Jerusalem, Israeli settlements, final borders, security and Palestinian refugees. Despite the presence of the necessary Palestinian institutions for statehood, the violence has undermined a great deal of trust between the two parties. Without a negotiated political solution to the final status issues from the Oslo process, and with the occupation continuing, institutions alone were not sufficient to establish a Palestinian state.

Far from the two-state solution
Today, thirty years after the signing of the first Oslo Accord, we are further from a two-state solution than we were in 2011. There have been no peace negotiations for almost a decade. Israeli settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem are eating up more Palestinian land. The level of violence has increased in the past year. Since the beginning of the new year, 40 Palestinian children and six Israeli children have been killed as a result of the conflict. The situation in Gaza is unsustainable. New generations are growing up without hope for the future. Many have lost confidence in the two-state solution.

One thing is beyond doubt: a viable Palestinian state must consist of continuous territories and have clearly defined borders. The legitimate security needs of both peoples must be met. The Israeli settlements mean that the development of the situation is moving in the direction of what can be called the “one-state reality,” but without equal rights between Israelis and Palestinians.

What does Norway say and do?
In this case, it is first of all important for the Norwegian government to clearly state that it is unacceptable that Israel does not agree to the establishment of a Palestinian state nor to grant the Palestinians equal rights in one state. As long as the Palestinians want their own state, I will continue to work for a two-state solution. I also believe that the only acceptable alternative to two states is one state with absolutely equal rights for all.

Secondly, Norway reinforced the message of respect for international law and human rights. We must stand against violations of international law in the Middle East, regardless of who commits them. The International Court of Justice in The Hague is issuing a fatwa on the Israeli occupation of Palestinian territories. Norway participates in this process.

Third, the government intensified its criticism of Israeli settlement policy. The Israeli settlements established on the occupied territories are considered the most important obstacle to the two-state solution and a violation of international law. Therefore, the government decided that food produced in Israeli settlements must be labeled.

Fourth: We do not believe that it is right to abandon support for the project of building a Palestinian state, even if its development is limited due to the continued occupation, the decline of legitimacy, and the internal Palestinian division. There is broad agreement internationally, but also among Palestinian factions and many Israelis, on the need to strengthen Palestinian institutions of self-government. Continued support for a separate education system, health care, culture and identity is important to preserve the dignity and self-determination of the Palestinian people. Norway also continues to lead the Palestine Donor Group (AHLC), where the parties and the international community coordinate work to build a sustainable Palestinian economy and government institutions.

But aid and what some call “economic peace” are not enough. A political solution is needed.

Fifth, we must send a clear message to both parties that they must work to create a credible political horizon. Although the parties are far apart today, our message is clear: peace negotiations must resume. It is also important for Palestinians to come together. The division between Gaza and the West Bank, and between Hamas and Fatah, hinders the political ambitions of the Palestinians.

The Palestinians demand legitimate and comprehensive leadership, and it is past time to hold Palestinian elections. But at the same time, we must avoid a repeat of what happened in 2006, when the Palestinian government became internationally isolated due to the international community's objections to the election results. Norway believes that communication is also important with those with whom we disagree. There are no good alternatives to continuing the line of dialogue with the various Palestinian factions.
What is most important now is for the Israelis to make clear political choices toward a two-state solution. It will require a complete shift from now on, as the use of language and actions by the Israeli government has increased the level of tension with the Palestinians. At the same time, I noted statements from the Israeli side during my visit this week regarding the desire to hold further talks with the Palestinians. Both sides must also stop the violence carried out by extremist actors on each side.

Normalization gives hope
Thirty years after the Oslo Accords, time is running out for a two-state solution and the establishment of a viable Palestinian state. At this crossroads, I will highlight the need for renewed and joint efforts to reach a just, peaceful solution. Like my colleagues in the Middle East, as well as in Europe, the United States, China and other countries in many parts of the world, I believe that a Palestinian state alongside Israel, with borders negotiated on the basis of the 1967 line, remains the ideal solution and the best and most sustainable path to peace. This will serve both peoples. The two-state solution will provide unexpected and positive opportunities for increased cooperation, security, stability and integration in the Middle East.

While the situation has deteriorated for the Palestinians, relations have improved between Israel and many Arab countries. It is crucial that the Palestinians are not forgotten in this regional normalization process. And here perhaps lies hope. We have already seen what opportunities the rapprochement between countries in the Middle East has created for Israel. However, what will contribute more than anything else to improving Israel's relations with its neighbors and the rest of the world is reaching a just, peaceful solution with the Palestinians.