Pakistani authorities were preparing on Monday to move former prime minister Imran Khan (pictured) to a prison with better facilities after a court order, his party said.

His legal team and party had been pleading with several courts to issue orders for Khan to be shifted to Adyala Jail in garrison city of Rawalpindi, which they argued was more appropriate for a former premier.

“Arrangements are taking place,” Khan’s close aide Zulfikar Bukhari said in a message to journalists, referring to preparations to move the former premier after Khan’s lawyer, Naeem Panjutha, said a high court in the capital had ordered the move.

Panjutha later wrote on social media platform X that Khan had been moved to the new prison but then deleted that post. Khan has been detained in a low-key, colonial era prison in the northwestern Attock district that lacked facilities like attached bathroom and television and made it harder for family and friends to visit or send newspapers, books or food.

The former prime minister has been in jail since early August after being controversially convicted on hotly disputed corruption charges. The judge cantered to Britain for a workshop after announcing a verdict without hearing the defense witnesses.

A court suspended his three year prison term, but his release on bail did not happen as authorities charged him in another case related to “leaking state secrets”.

The Intercept, an American news outlet known for its investigative mien, last month published the full contents of the cipher at the heart of the case, which appeared to strongly back Khan’s claim of US involvement in his removal from power by orchestrating a no-confidence vote in the parliament for not siding with Washington in the Ukraine war.

Khan says the charges are designed to stop him running in an election early next year, an allegation the authorities deny. From moving as a free citizen until last year, he has been charged in over 150 cases. Most opinion polls this year give him an edge over his rivals by a country mile, but he has been barred from contesting after the court verdict last month.

The Prisoners' Club said on Tuesday, "Since the beginning of this year, the occupation authorities have escalated the arrest of the wounded, whether those who were shot during their arrest, or before the arrest, as the number of wounded who were subjected to arrest reached about (60) wounded, including children and women, And previously wounded, and these numbers are higher compared to the number of wounded during the past year.”

The Prisoner's Club explained that the occupation carried out systematic acts of abuse against the wounded, including attacks on them during their arrest, without the slightest consideration for their health conditions, and even turned their injuries into a tool to torture them by practicing the crime of medical negligence (slow killing), and they deliberately continued to restrain them during... The first moments of arrest, and even after they were transferred to hospitals, and the majority of them were subjected to interrogation while they were tied up inside the hospitals, in addition to the orders prohibiting them from meeting with a lawyer that were issued against some of them.

In this context, the Prisoner's Club called on all international human rights institutions to seek serious and real intervention in the crimes that the occupation continues to carry out against prisoners and detainees, including the wounded, and to ensure the provision of the necessary treatment for them, and to stop the crime of medical negligence (slow killing) that they face in the occupation prisons.

The Saudi ambassador to Jordan and the non-resident ambassador of Riyadh to the Palestinian territories, Nayef bin Bandar Al-Sudairi, published a post on “X” in which he greeted the Saudi king and his crown prince from what he described as “beloved Palestine.”

Al-Sudairi’s post included pictures of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas (Abu Mazen) with Saudi King Salman bin Abdulaziz and Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.

The Saudi ambassador wrote in his post: “From the beloved state of Palestine, the land of Canaan, best regards.”

Al-Sudairi continued, saying that the greeting is “combined with the love of My Lord, the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, and His Highness, the Crown Prince,” as he put it.

The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia on Tuesday condemned the attack that led to the killing of two Bahraini soldiers on its 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.

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.

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.

Today, Tuesday, a group of settlers destroyed a house under construction in the town of Al-Auja, north of Jericho.

According to local sources, the settlers attacked the 70-square-meter residence of citizen Abdul Qader Masharqa in an area classified as A, south of the town of Al-Auja, and destroyed it and broke the trees around it.

Israeli President Isaac Herzog warned on Tuesday of the state of division that the Jewish community has witnessed recently, especially after the events that Tel Aviv witnessed by separating the sexes in Yom Kippur prayers during the past two days.

Herzog said at a ceremony commemorating the Yom Kippur War, “Internal disputes are the most dangerous of all... Only yesterday we saw in the largest Hebrew city a painful example of how internal conflict escalates and worsens.”

He expressed his sadness at seeing Israelis fighting on a day that was an example of unity. According to him.

For his part, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said, “The people, secular and religious, left and right, Jews and non-Jews, have all proven that what we have in common is greater than what divides us.”

He added: "I am sure that even today what we have in common will overcome what divides us."

He continued: "In difficult moments, we all unite. On the day we find ourselves in a new round of fighting, we are all in one row against our enemies."

Netanyahu claimed that many Middle Eastern countries want peace with Israel... Expanding the circle of peace is a historic opportunity and we are committed to it with all our might while preserving the vital interests of our country.”

Today, Tuesday, the Israeli occupation forces arrested one of the guards of the holy Al-Aqsa Mosque.

According to local sources, these forces arrested Al-Aqsa guard, Shaher Al-Razem, while he was at his workplace near the Bab Al-Rahma prayer hall.

An official Saudi delegation, headed by the non-resident ambassador to the Palestinian territories, Nayef Al-Sudairi, arrived in the occupied West Bank on Tuesday, a Palestinian official confirmed to Agence France-Presse.

The acting governor of Jericho, Yusra Sweiti, explained to Agence France-Presse that "the Saudi delegation arrived in the Palestinian territories."

The visit of the delegation, which arrived via the King Hussein (Allenby) Bridge, which is controlled by Israel, is the first since the signing of the historic Oslo Accords.

It comes in conjunction with American efforts to normalize relations between Riyadh and the Hebrew state.

The Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics and the Palestine Monetary Authority issued the preliminary results of the international investment position and external debt of Palestine as they stand at the end of the second quarter of 2023, as part of the periodic release of the international investment position and external debt statistics for Palestine, which represents a continuation of the joint efforts undertaken by the two institutions.

These results indicate that the disparity between the stocks of investments in the Palestinian economy employed outside Palestine and the stocks of foreign investments employed in the Palestinian economy (foreign assets - foreign liabilities) is still large, with a value of 3,397 million US dollars, an increase of 2% compared to the previous quarter.

58% of the total balances of external assets of the Palestinian economy are currency and deposits at the end of the second quarter of 2023, due to the lack of a Palestinian national currency.

In this context, the results indicate that the total stocks of the Palestinian economy’s assets invested abroad amounted to 9,514 million US dollars, distributed between 3% foreign direct investment, 17% portfolio investments, 67% other investments (the most important of which are currency and deposits), and 13% reserve assets. . At the sectoral level, the banking sector’s foreign investments (balances abroad, cash on hand, and portfolio investments abroad) constituted 66% of the total foreign assets of the Palestinian economy.

53% of the total stocks of foreign liabilities (commitments) on the Palestinian economy at the end of the second quarter 2023 are foreign direct investment. In contrast, the total stocks of foreign liabilities (commitments) on the Palestinian economy (stocks of non-residents invested in Palestine) amounted to about 6,117 million US dollars, distributed Between direct foreign investment by 53%, portfolio investments by 13%, and other investments (the most important of which are loans and deposits from abroad) by about 34%. At the sectoral level, foreign investments in the banking sector constituted about 35% of the total foreign liabilities on the Palestinian economy.

The government's external debt stock stabilized at about US$1.3 billion at the end of the second quarter of 2023.

Preliminary results indicated that the total balance of external debt on the Palestinian economic sectors amounted to approximately 2,109 million US dollars at the end of the second quarter of 2023, a decrease of 3% compared to the previous quarter. It was distributed between debt to the government sector at a rate of 62%, the banking sector at a rate of 35% (deposits of non-residents in banks operating in Palestine), and other sectors (non-banking financial companies, non-financial companies, private institutions, and households) at a rate of 2%, and borrowing between... Affiliate subsidiaries 1%.

It should be noted that the International Investment Position represents a record of the investment stocks of residents of Palestine (individuals, companies, and government) invested abroad under the name (assets) on the one hand, and the investment stocks owned by residents outside Palestine (individuals, companies, and governments) invested in Palestine under the name (liabilities) on the one hand. On the other hand. These assets and liabilities are divided (based on the “Guide for Preparing the Balance of Payments,” fifth edition, issued by the International Monetary Fund in 1993) into direct investment (investment of 10% or more of the capital of a non-resident enterprise), and portfolio investments (investment of less than 10% of the capital of a non-resident enterprise). value in addition to investment in bonds), other investments (trade credit balances, loans, currency, deposits and any other assets or liabilities), in addition to reserve assets, which are defined as the balances held by central banks/monetary authorities to address imbalances in the balance of payments, which It falls under the assets side only.

As for external debt, it represents a record of debt stocks owed by sectors of the Palestinian economy to non-residents, including loans from non-residents, deposits of non-residents placed in the banking sector in Palestine, Palestinian bonds purchased by non-residents, and debt transactions that take place between non-resident companies and those Subsidiaries and affiliates in Palestine, and any other obligations on the Palestinian economy other than those mentioned. External debt data is obtained by liabilities in the international investment position system (debt items), based on the External Debt Statistics Manual issued by the International Monetary Fund in 2003, which is consistent with the Balance of Payments Manual, fifth edition.

Our region and the world are witnessing rapid developments, whether in terms of wars and deteriorating conditions or in terms of attempts to achieve peace in the region, but it seems that this peace, if achieved, will be incomplete due to the Israeli refusal to establish an independent Palestinian state with Holy Jerusalem as its capital and content with providing some economic and financial aid, i.e. A return only to economic peace, or what Netanyahu and the leaders of his government call peace in exchange for peace, and without the Palestinians obtaining a state.

These rapid developments force the Palestinian side to exploit them for the benefit of the cause of our people and for the sake of ending the occupation and establishing the Palestinian state, and not be satisfied with continuing to present demands to either the United Nations or the international community, many of whose forces and countries are fighting for the sake of creating a multipolar international community and ending American and colonial West hegemony over the world. This hegemony, which deals with Arab issues, most notably the Palestinian issue, according to two criteria when it comes to the occupying state, which has encouraged this state to continue its rejection of peace, to continue settlement and aggression, and to consider the Palestinian land as Jewish, and that only the Jews have the right to settle in it and not to abide by the decisions of international legitimacy to withdraw from it. As occupied Palestinian territories.

The countries that seek to make the world multipolar are concerned with ending wars, disputes and conflicts, which is the duty of the Palestinian side to exploit in order to end the occupation and restore the Palestinian people to their full inalienable national rights to return, self-determination and establishing an independent state with Holy Jerusalem as its capital.

Without broad Palestinian action at all levels, the situation will remain as it is and without taking advantage of the opportunity of rapid developments, in addition to the increase of countries and peoples that have revealed the truth about the occupying state that it practices racial discrimination against our people and oppresses them, which has increased the number of countries and peoples supporting the right to self-determination. For our people to establish their independent state.

In order for the Palestinian movement to be effective, it is necessary to restore Palestinian national unity and end the destructive division that has caused the greatest harm to our people and their national cause. Also, stopping betting on the possibility of achieving peace with the occupying state and the two-state solution, which has become far-fetched, and working according to a unified work program and a vision different from what is happening now, will lead to the failure of the occupation’s plans to resolve the conflict in its favor, and eliminate and liquidate the issue. On the contrary, unity The joint work program and the development of a future and interim strategy are the basis for benefiting from the rapid developments and achieving the full national goals of our people.

The Fatah Revolutionary Council decided today, Tuesday, to hold the movement’s eighth general conference on December 17, 2023.

Tayseer Nasrallah, a member of the Revolutionary Council, said in statements to the official “Voice of Palestine” radio, “The Council is in permanent and continuous session, to follow up on all the files that it approved in its last session, in addition to following up on what is happening inside the Palestinian territories in terms of the ongoing crimes of the Israeli occupation and its settlers against our people.” "Palestinian."

He pointed out that the preparatory committee will hold its meeting next week with all its members to review all the preparations made by the subcommittees, and review all the reports that will come from these committees, in addition to another session that will be held for the Revolutionary Council on the sixteenth of next November to review the proceedings of the conference. The eighth of the Fatah Revolutionary Council on the seventeenth of next December.

Nasrallah said: "The Fatah movement has great concern as a result of the shootings that are taking place on the institutions of the authority and the security services, and the incidents of shootings and attacks on citizens or officials in the municipalities of Hebron, or other attacks."

He added: "This is against the law, and it is what the Fatah movement seeks with all its capabilities in order to maintain order and for the law to prevail among the Palestinian people."

The Hebrew newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth said, on Tuesday, that the Israeli army, thanks to the intelligence information it was obtaining from the General Security Agency, “Shin Bet”, which was transmitted quickly, with the improvement and intensification of cooperation between the two sides, led to the implementation of 172 arrests of wanted Palestinians during the year 2023, and it was The vast majority of them are successful.

According to the newspaper, in January of this year, 26 operations were carried out in which all the wanted targets were arrested, and in February 18 similar operations were carried out and were successful, and in other successive months 24, 12, 27, and 34 were carried out. 22 and 9, similar operations.

The newspaper claimed that these operations were focused and aimed at closing circles related to carrying out attacks or planning attacks that were on their way to being implemented.

The newspaper says: The process of transmitting intelligence information has improved significantly, and what used to take about 40 minutes last year, now takes about a minute, which helps in arresting wanted persons who are being pursued.

A senior security official said that intelligence information goes directly to soldiers in the field using technological means, and all they have to do is arrest the wanted person.

He added: Intelligence has become very sophisticated, more details about targets are passed on more quickly, we see successes, and we are able to arrest them in the place suitable for us. like he said.

He continued: Intelligence cooperation between forces has improved greatly, and in the past, it would take us perhaps 40 minutes to transmit accurate information to a soldier in the field, but today, within a minute or so, the information reaches the soldier in the field in detail with a lot of information. And the data, and all he has to do is stop the terrorist. And it worked. like he said.

The newspaper pointed out that the Israeli army, in cooperation with the Shin Bet, is currently focusing its operations on pursuing the perpetrators of the attacks and those who have not been arrested, including the perpetrator of the Hawara operation that led to the killing of settlers, another operation near the town that led to the injury of settlers, and a shooting operation near Tulkarm that led to the death of a settler.

The operations focus mainly on the northern West Bank, which witnessed a series of shooting operations, which prompted the Israeli army to resume its operations in the Jenin camp despite the attempts of the Palestinian Authority to move against the armed cells there.

A senior Israeli officer said that the aim of these operations is not only to chase, but to create a state of deterrence, and therefore large-scale arrests are carried out, and not only the targeted wanted persons.

The newspaper says that the offensive activity does not come out of nowhere, but rather due to the increase in shooting operations that have increased this year and which arouse anger among the settlers who are demanding the restoration of checkpoints and inspections at the entrances to Palestinian cities and villages.

Today, Tuesday, two press institutions called for the largest practical local, Arab and international campaign on the ground to expose the occupation’s practices against journalists and to provide and strengthen their steadfastness and provide protection for them during their press coverage in the field, especially since the majority of Palestinian press crews do not possess the most basic protective tools such as protective vests and helmets. Or armored cars for transportation.

The Journalists Support Committee called on the national committee charged with following up on the International Criminal Court’s file regarding the occupation’s violation of the rights of journalists to take urgent action in foreign institutions.

It said: “We urge journalists, human rights activists, and social media activists to monitor and document in word, image, and video all violations in order to prepare a comprehensive file so that organizations and centers defending media freedom and human rights can file complaints before international courts to prosecute and try criminals and aggressors.”

The Journalists Support Committee confirmed that the crimes committed by the occupation against the media are expected from the frameworks that protect the freedom of the press, media, publishing and printing to prosecute the Israeli authorities, and also require the implementation of UN Security Council Resolution (No. 2222), which guarantees the protection of journalists.

It called on international and human rights institutions to pressure the release of journalists detained in occupation prisons, and to intervene in order to stop the policy of arresting and detaining journalists while performing their journalistic duty.

The Journalist Support Committee warned of the danger of the Israeli government’s pressure on the management of social media platforms to fight Palestinian content and violate the rules of international law for freedom of opinion and expression, by imposing unjust restrictions on Palestinian content, which it uses as a tool to combat the Palestinian narrative. The Journalist Support Committee report recorded Journalists (102) cases of violation of the Palestinian content of journalists, media professionals, and their news websites.

In another statement, the Palestinian Media Forum said, “The International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian Journalist comes in the wake of the Authority’s security violations against media knights, the most recent of which was the arrest of journalist Tariq Al-Sukji by the Preventive Security Service, and this was preceded by the exposure of journalist Jarrah Khalaf, a Quds Network correspondent in, Jenin was beaten and ghosted, the journalist Hatem Hamdan was arrested from Al-Bireh, and the journalist Muhammad Shusha was detained because of a post on his personal Facebook page during the current month, which contradicts the role sought from the Palestinian Authority in ensuring freedom of journalistic work.”

It stressed that we must strive diligently to try and hold the leaders of the Israeli occupation accountable for their crimes against journalists and their continued violations of freedom of opinion and expression, and to ensure that the Israeli occupation adheres to Article 79 of the Additional Protocol annexed to the 1949 Geneva Convention for the Protection of Civilians in Military Conflicts, which stipulates that civilian journalists who perform their duties in areas of armed conflict They must be respected and treated as civilians, and protected from every form of deliberate attack.

The Palestinian Media Forum called for intensifying international solidarity with the Palestinian journalist, and translating it into programs of work, support and support for journalists in various fields.

Palestinian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates described as shocking facts in the “OCHA” report as a result of the absence of international will to impose deterrent sanctions on the occupying state.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates welcomes the recent report issued by the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs in the Occupied Palestinian Territory (OCHA), which summarizes the scene of violations and crimes committed by the occupation forces, settler militias, and their organized and armed terrorist elements against Palestinian citizens, their land, homes, property, and sanctities, and which highlights the crime of heinous and widespread ethnic cleansing against Bedouin communities in the occupied Palestinian territory, of which approximately 17 communities were displaced and expelled, either completely, or partially , through racist colonial measures and procedures that reflect the distribution and integration of roles between the occupation forces and the settler militias to achieve the broadest process of seizure and annexation.

Palestinian lands, especially those located in areas with a high density of random settlement outposts, with the aim of fattening them and turning them into large settlement blocs, whether related to the violence and terrorism of settlers, such as seizing the lands of shepherds or sabotaging and burning their crops and property, in addition to physical attacks on them, or through measures Military occupation, such as declaring closed military zones and issuing confiscation orders for the lands that these communities benefit from, as well as depriving them of water sources by polluting, sabotaging, or seizing them.

At dawn on Tuesday, a group of settlers cut a number of electricity poles between the towns of Qusra and Jalud, south of Nablus.

According to local sources, the settlers attacked the southern region on the road connecting the towns of Qasra and Jalud, and cut four poles from the electricity network, and the residents confronted them and fled the area.

Today, Tuesday, Israeli occupation forces demolished a house and a barn in the village of Nuweima, north of Jericho.

According to local sources, these forces stormed the village and demolished a house under construction and a barracks, belonging to the citizen Talib Daoud Zayed Rashaida.

The occupation authorities continue their attacks on Christian and Islamic churches and sanctities in the occupied city of Jerusalem, and continue to violate the freedom of worship of Christians and Muslims. These attacks and violations are considered a violation of international humanitarian law, human rights law, and all religious laws, which has sparked the anger and condemnation of many human rights institutions and organizations. And many religious institutions and Christian churches, in a large number of countries around the world.

In this context, we point out the position of the churches and Christian institutions in the United States of America, which rejected and condemned these violations and attacks, and called for the protection of the Palestinian Christian presence, as more than 30 individuals directed this matter, including church leaders and representatives of Christian institutions in the United States of America, along with a number of church representatives in Holy Lands, two letters to US President Joe Biden dated September 11, 2023, to stop these ongoing attacks and violations by the occupation authorities and herds of settlers.

In their letter to President Biden, the heads and representatives of churches and Christian institutions in the United States of America expressed their deep concern about what Christians are being exposed to in the Holy Land, especially with the escalation of attacks against clergy, monasteries and churches, under the extreme right-wing Israeli occupation government, stressing their support. The full position of the leaders of the churches in Jerusalem and their rejection of all racist and extremist practices, and attempts at Judaization that the Israeli government is trying to impose on the city of Jerusalem.

The message emphasized that Christian Palestinians are an essential and major part of the cultural, religious and political fabric in Jerusalem and the Holy Land, and this presence extends for more than two thousand years, adding that security, freedom and prosperity cannot be achieved except through equality among all peoples.

The heads and representatives of the churches called on President Biden, ahead of his meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, to put pressure on stopping all forms of violence and incitement against Christians in the Holy Land, and to put an end to the extremist practices that churches, cemeteries and holy places are exposed to, noting that the world views these matters with concern. The attacks and hateful acts against the Christian presence, especially in the city of Jerusalem, expressing their concern about the threats to the Mount of Olives and the Israeli attempts to strip the churches of their right to manage the site. Pointing out that the Israeli plans to transform the Mount of Olives into an Israeli national park will have far-reaching consequences, threatening to cause an imbalance in the religious and heritage balance of the city of Jerusalem and its character as a city of global importance.

It is worth noting that Christians and Christian sanctities in Jerusalem were subjected to approximately 40 violent attacks during the past months of June and July, which included attacks on Christian priests, cemeteries and tombstones, and the storming of churches. Maariv says that since the election of the government, and especially since the appointment of members of the extremist wing as ministers and members of the Knesset, A feverish race has begun to suppress the activities of other religions, including Christianity, especially in Jerusalem, which is the heart of the dispute between Jews and Palestinian Christians.

Several churches in Jerusalem were subjected to attacks by settlers, without the Israeli occupation police taking any measures against the settlers’ terrorism. Last March, two settlers attempted to attack the Church of the Tomb of the Virgin Mary “Gethsemane” in the occupied city of Jerusalem. In addition to the terrorist attacks targeting churches, cemeteries, and Christian property, the physical and verbal attacks against Christian clergy at the hands of extremist Zionist groups, the restrictions and the prevention of the free practice of worship, these have become almost daily events that increase in frequency during the Christian holiday seasons, and nothing is done about them, locally or internationally, despite From the calls, appeals and protests made by the churches of the Holy Land individually and collectively, such that the authentic Christian presence in the Holy Land has become seriously endangered.

Since the beginning of this year, settlers have committed several attacks on Christian holy sites in Jerusalem. A settler stormed the “Christ’s Imprisonment” Church in the Old City of occupied Jerusalem, broke and destroyed some of its contents, and tried to set fire to it. The Episcopal Church cemetery was also attacked and broke the crosses. The Armenian Patriarchate was also subjected to an attempt to storm it, and racist slogans were written on its walls.

Palestinian Christians are forced to obtain permits to pass through the Israeli occupation checkpoints surrounding the occupied city of Jerusalem, on their way to Christian and Islamic places of worship in the Holy City, which constitutes a violation of international laws that guarantee freedom of worship.

These attacks and violations against Christian churches by the occupation forces and settler gangs, in the occupied city of Jerusalem, called on representatives and leaders of Christian churches and institutions in the United States of America to condemn these serious violations that affect the religious rights of Christians, and to take positive action and address US President Joe Biden. To stop it and put an end to it once and for all, to protect the Christian presence in occupied Jerusalem, and to protect their right to practice their religious rituals freely and without any restrictions.

Despite the importance and necessity of this positive and important stance of the leaders and representatives of churches and Christian religious institutions in the United States of America, the success of these efforts in stopping the attacks on Christians and their churches depends on a serious and practical stance by the American administration, especially by the American President, to put pressure on the right-wing occupation government. extremism, and force it to stop these violations and attacks.

There has been a noticeable increase in the number of people infected with the new “Omicron” mutant strains of the Coronavirus, especially serious infections, as confirmed by the Israeli Ministry of Health.

According to the Hebrew Kan Radio, the Ministry has updated health funds in preparation for giving infected people vaccines immediately after the “Sukkot” holiday in the coming days.

It is expected that about 200,000 new vaccines will arrive today that have properties that adapt to the new strains of Omicron.

This will represent the first shipment of new vaccines that will arrive in Israel, produced by Moderna.

Millions of Americans on Monday began the countdown to the cessation of salaries and social benefits within days, with matters in Congress heading towards the “closure” of government institutions after right-wing Republicans obstructed efforts to approve the budget.

Four months after avoiding a catastrophic debt default, the world's largest economy is once again on the brink of crisis, with the effects of the lockdown expected to begin to appear at the end of this week.

Republicans, who have a majority in the House of Representatives, were unable to approve the usual set of bills that determine departmental budgets for the next fiscal year, which begins Sunday, after their efforts were hampered by extremists in the party demanding a significant reduction in spending.

The party leadership does not have the necessary votes to advance a short-term financing bill based on spending levels for the year 2023, to ensure continuity of funding for federal institutions after midnight Saturday-Sunday.

The closure would jeopardize the financial resources allocated to workers in national parks, museums and other federally funded sites, and could have serious political repercussions for Biden as he seeks to win a second term in the 2024 elections.

The White House warned Monday that seven million people who depend on the Food Assistance Program for Women and Children may be cut off from funding.

White House spokeswoman Karine Jean-Pierre said in a statement to reporters, "We will hold Republican extremists in the House of Representatives accountable."

She continued, "We will hold them accountable for the reckless cuts they require" to spare federal institutions from closing.

The crisis resulted from Republicans in the House of Representatives refusing to move the government forward with spending based on the levels agreed upon between Biden and House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, the Republican leader in Congress.

In addition, another thorny issue is the request for additional aid for Kiev, after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky visited Congress last week and requested more weapons to fight Russian forces in the war that has been raging in his country for 18 months.

Both parties in the Senate support the $24 billion aid bill, but a group of hard-line Republicans in the House of Representatives threatens to obstruct the approval of any financing measures, including aid.

A post by former President Donald Trump on his Truth Social platform on Sunday night said, “If you don’t get everything, close it,” referring to federal institutions.

The budget vote in Congress often turns into a confrontation in which one party uses the specter of a closure to extract concessions from the opponent, but these maneuvers usually fail.

Trump, who is also a presidential candidate next year, imposed a 35-day closure of federal institutions due to border controls in 2018, but the federal institutions eventually resumed their work after the administration failed to extract any concession from the Democrats.

The dilemma is usually resolved before it turns into a crisis, but the possibilities of closing federal institutions this year are exacerbated by sharp polarization in Congress.

In the Senate, two senior politicians are leading the debate: Democratic Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and Republican Minority Leader Mitch McConnell.

In talks with McConnell and the White House, Schumer seeks to pave the way for approving short-term funding that includes aid to Ukraine.

This measure, which has bipartisan support in the Senate, would ensure the continuity of the work of federal institutions until the beginning of December, but it is likely that it will not be ready to be presented for a vote before the “closing” and it will not receive the support of the right-wingers in the Republican Party.

The specter of a "lockdown" looms just four months after the country approached a catastrophic default on its debts, with dire consequences for the economy in the United States and abroad.

Moody's, the only major agency that maintained its higher rating on US sovereign debt, warned that the recent crisis could push it to lower its rating.

The US government employs more than two million civilians, in addition to military personnel and federal contractors.

“Non-essential” civil servants may be asked to stay home during the “lockdown,” and they will not receive their salaries until the lockdown ends and they return to work.

Former Israeli Interior Minister Ayelet Shaked said on Tuesday that current Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu would have waged a global war against an agreement to normalize relations with the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, had former Prime Minister Naftali Bennett brought it.

Shaked added in an interview with Israeli Army Radio: It is clear to anyone with a brain that Netanyahu would have waged this war against the agreement if Bennett had brought it.

She continued: We saw how this government frightened the public when we were in government.

She pointed out that the current government, when it was in the opposition, was preventing the passage of many political, security and other issues, and it was also the one that thwarted progress in the file of entering Israel through the visa exemption program by the United States.

For about 10 days, the Israeli occupation authorities have continued to close the Beit Hanoun “Erez” checkpoint in the northern Gaza Strip, designated for the movement of individuals, especially for the movement of workers.

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.

The Israeli occupation authorities allow foreigners and patients with serious conditions to move to and from the Gaza Strip through the checkpoint.

Jewish religious groups have resorted to trying to separate men and women during the celebrations of Jewish holidays, especially on the occasion of the so-called “Yom Kippur”, the celebrations of which ended yesterday evening, which prompted many Israelis to reject these attempts, amid mutual accusations of each party trying to impose its ideology on others. .

The city of Tel Aviv witnessed, in more than one open square, such events, which prompted the Israeli police to intervene over the past two days, to resolve differences between religious Israelis who sought to implement this separation, and those who opposed it, which transformed this crisis from a religious to a political one that showed the depth of The division that has been increasing within Israeli society since the government of Benjamin Netanyahu began trying to pass judicial legislation.

Israeli journalists and activists described what happened as unprecedented events, especially since these holidays represent a special sanctity for the Jewish community.

These disputes turned political, especially after their opponents accused some of the leaders of those religious groups that they were implementing the far-right plan to impose religious coercion on the Jewish community within steps imposed by the Netanyahu government.

In a statement, Netanyahu denounced what happened and accused activists from the Israeli left of standing behind it and inciting hatred.

While Israeli opposition leaders expressed their rejection of Netanyahu's accusations, they considered them to be incitement to sedition.

On Tuesday, the Israeli occupation forces arrested four Palestinians from the town of Silwad, Ramallah district.

These forces raided many citizens' homes in the town, searched them, tampered with their contents, and subjected their residents to field investigation.

These forces arrested Musa Al-Najjar, Ezz Al-Natour, Bilal Zaghloul, and Qassam Al-Saifi.

The occupation forces also raided several areas of Ramallah and Al-Bireh Governorate, and in Nablus and Hebron, and carried out combing operations in areas of Jenin, without any arrests being reported.

Addressing UN General Assembly, Israeli premier presented map that did not show occupied West Bank, East Jerusalem, Gaza

Germany on Monday criticized Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for showing a map of “The New Middle East” without Palestine during his recent speech at the 78th session of the United Nations General Assembly in New York City.

“Showing a map that does not show territories that are occupied or annexed, so to speak, is something that we naturally reject and that it is of no help with regard to the efforts to reach a negotiated two-state solution,” German Foreign Ministry spokesman Sebastian Fischer said during a regular press briefing in Berlin.

He reiterated that his country remained committed to a two-state solution, urging all sides to step up their diplomatic efforts to end the decades-old Israeli-Palestinian hostilities.

“It is clear that we continue to adhere to the goal of a two-state solution,” Fischer said.

Addressing the General Assembly on Friday, Netanyahu — whose far-right government is widely viewed as the most extreme in Israeli history — presented a series of maps, including one that did not show the occupied West Bank, East Jerusalem, or Gaza.

These Palestinian territories have been illegally occupied by Israel since 1967, with the exception of Gaza — from which Israeli forces withdrew in 2005 while maintaining an economic stranglehold over the densely populated coastal strip.

The Council of Endowments, Affairs, and Islamic Holy Places in Jerusalem denounced yesterday’s raid by a group of Jewish extremists into the Bab al-Rahma cemetery on the eastern wall of the blessed Al-Aqsa Mosque, opposite the Bab al-Rahma prayer hall from the outside, and the desecration of it, stomping their feet and dancing on the graves of dead Muslims with enhanced protection from the occupation police, “in a scene that reflects a hostile spirit.” Against a cemetery that represents the history and our Islamic civilization in the vicinity of the blessed Al-Aqsa Mosque and throughout the Holy City.”

The Council of Endowments, Islamic Affairs and Holy Places also denounced, in a statement today, Monday, all the new occupation police and military measures in the recent period in the vicinity of and inside the blessed Al-Aqsa Mosque, including the incursions of Jewish extremists that violated all religious and legal taboos, adding that the repressive measures condemned are at the gates of the mosque. The Blessed Al-Aqsa Mosque has exceeded all limits, including the practice of arbitrary security checks, the confiscation of the ID cards of all worshipers heading to the Blessed Al-Aqsa Mosque, and the prevention of young people from entering their mosque without any justification and in an abhorrent manner, in violation of the sanctity, holiness, and message of this Islamic mosque with all the value it carries in the souls. Children of the Islamic nation.

He stressed that the blessed Hashemite custodianship of the Blessed Al-Aqsa Mosque represents in itself a safety valve to preserve the Blessed Al-Aqsa Mosque and the entire Holy Mosque as an Islamic mosque, and Muslims alone have the right to manage and maintain it and practice their rituals and prayers in it, in addition to all the Islamic and Christian holy places in Al-Quds Al-Sharif.

He renewed his call to all governments of the Islamic world to support and consolidate this guardianship and provide it with all aspects of political support required to protect Islamic and Christian sanctities.

He stressed that it is not possible to accept such arbitrary measures under the pretext of Jewish holidays, which have no relation, neither remotely nor remotely, to the history, reality and message of the blessed Al-Aqsa Mosque. “Merely linking these occasions to an authentic Islamic mosque represents to us in itself an assault and a blatant violation of its right as an Islamic mosque.” With all its squares, facilities, chapels, roads, entrances, and its entire area of 144 dunums.”

The Council considered all of these measures as a way to destabilize the existing historical, legal and religious situation in the Blessed Al-Aqsa Mosque, calling on the occupation police and all its institutions to stop all practices and violations of the sanctity of Al-Aqsa Mosque and to end all armed demonstrations and military crowds at its doors and inside its courtyards, which deprive thousands of worshipers from exercising their natural right to Performing their rituals and prayers in their mosque, and stopping these scenes that provoke the feelings of millions of Muslims around the world.

US President Joe Biden announced the United States' official recognition of the Cook Islands and Niue in the Pacific Ocean on Monday, while hosting regional leaders in an effort to limit China's influence.

Biden stated that Washington recognizes them as “independent and sovereign” countries and will establish diplomatic relations with them, noting that the step will contribute to supporting “a free and open Indo-Pacific region.”

The announcement came at the start of a summit with the 18-country Pacific Islands Forum, during which US officials said the president would announce a stronger stance toward the region.

Biden stated that the two-state recognition agreements will help reduce illegal fishing and deal with climate change in a region that is vulnerable to its risks, as well as promoting economic growth.

Although their combined population does not exceed twenty thousand people, the Cook Islands and Niue constitute a large economic region in the South Pacific.

The two countries are self-governing with "free association" with New Zealand, meaning their foreign and defense policies are linked to varying degrees to Wellington. After being relatively ignored for decades, the South Pacific region has become an important theater of competition between the United States and an increasingly influential China.

China has significantly intensified its economic, political and military presence in the strategic ocean region.

A senior White House official, who requested anonymity, said, "There is no doubt that the People's Republic of China played some kind of role in all of this."

He added, "China's influence, especially in this region, was a factor that required us to maintain our strategic focus."

The forum includes countries and territories scattered in the Pacific Ocean, from Australia to small countries with sparse populations and archipelagos.

In an indication of Chinese influence, Solomon Islands Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavar, who is close to China, was absent from the meeting.

A number of citizens were injured, on Monday evening, as a result of the Israeli occupation forces’ suppression of a march on the eastern border of Gaza City.

According to local sources, one of the young men was hit in the foot by a bullet, and was taken for treatment to Al-Shifa Hospital.

While a number of others suffered from suffocation due to the occupation forces firing heavy tear gas bombs at the young men.

France is preparing to leave Niger, its last ally in the Sahel region, in the latest setback for Paris, which was previously expelled from Mali and Burkina Faso, bringing the curtain down on a decade of military intervention to combat jihadists in the region.

At the end of an unsustainable two-month standoff with the military regime, President Emmanuel Macron finally relented by announcing on Sunday the ambassador's return to Paris and the withdrawal of 1,500 soldiers "by the end of the year."

This forced withdrawal comes after the departure of Mali in August 2022 and Burkina Faso in February 2023. In the three countries, the military regimes that took power after the coups asked France to withdraw, relying on the feeling hostile to it and shifting, as in Mali, towards cooperation with... Russian Wagner Group.

Until the July 26 coup that ousted elected President Mohamed Bazoum, Niger was one of Paris's last allies in the Sahel region, and a pillar of its forces deployed to fight jihadists in the region.

Researcher Ivan Guichaoua, who specializes in Sahel region affairs, said on the X website (formerly Twitter) that the withdrawal from this country “consecrates the abject failure of France’s policy in the Sahel region.”

According to many observers, Paris did not notice or did not want to see the developments taking place in the region.

A French diplomat said that what happened in “Mali spread slowly. We knew that we were facing such a clear trend. We have seen this wave growing for years. France felt that it was losing its position, but it remained in a state of denial and amazement.”

He added, "We now find ourselves facing the consequences of excessive militarization in our relationship with Africa, while security, environmental, and societal crises are also ravaging the Sahel region," which is one of the poorest regions in the world.

Since his first election, Emmanuel Macron has tried to change the course in Africa, exemplified by his Ouagadougou speech in 2017, then reaffirmed in February 2023, when he outlined a less militarized approach based on relations with civil society and “soft power.” . He stressed on Sunday that "French influence in France has passed."

But the contradiction of Paris's positions has exposed it to criticism. While it condemned the coup in Niger, it supported the first coup in Mali in 2020, and the following year it supported Mohamed Idriss Déby Itno’s assumption of power in Chad without respecting constitutional processes.

In the end, the fait accompli was accepted. In Niger, the ambassador whom Paris refused to recall remained isolated in the French embassy, without diplomatic immunity, with food and water supplies close to running out.

At the Niamey base and at forward positions in the remote northwest of Oualam and Ayolo, troops are being supplied in “almost complex conditions,” according to the French General Staff. The 1,500 soldiers and pilots in Niger could have found themselves without a mission, after their marches, helicopters and fighters remained on the ground.

France, the former colonial power, which still maintains several bases in Africa - such as in Chad, Ivory Coast, Senegal, Gabon and Djibouti - also quickly appeared isolated.
Its Western allies have distanced themselves from its assertive policy towards Niger.

The Senegalese newspaper Wolf Quotidien reported, “With this latest setback, France sees its influence and authority diminishing significantly in West Africa in particular and in Africa in general.”

Fahiraman Rodrigue Kone, senior researcher at the Institute for Security Studies and specialist in Sahel affairs, pointed out that “France did not know how to withdraw in time and wanted to continue to play the role of leader in a context in which the social environment was witnessing a major change.”

The withdrawal from Niger will represent a logistical challenge for the French armies if it is implemented within three months, against the backdrop of the deteriorating security situation throughout the Sahel region. In Niger alone, about ten jihadist attacks have killed more than a hundred people, half of them civilians, since the coup.

Today, Monday, the Council of Ministers approved the general framework of the strategic plan for social assistance to enable the provision of services and in-kind and cash assistance to needy groups in accordance with standards of transparency, justice and entitlement.

The Council also adopted, in its weekly session held in the city of Ramallah, headed by Prime Minister Muhammad Shtayyeh, the national framework for industrial policy.

He ratified cooperation agreements with a number of South American countries, including Brazil, Argentina, Venezuela, Uruguay, and Paraguay.

It was decided to consider Thursday, September 28, 2023, as an official holiday on the occasion of the anniversary of the Prophet’s birthday.

He also decided to form a ministerial committee to implement the hydrocarbon law, and approved the project to develop the Tal al-Sultan site in the city of Jericho.

The Council of Ministers also decided to provide assistance to a number of institutions in Jerusalem and Gaza, assign government departments to follow up on the work of the formed government committees, and accelerate the implementation of government decisions according to the specified timetables.

The Council heard from the Minister of Social Development, Ahmed Majdalani, an explanation about the strategic plan for social assistance, which would provide services and cash and in-kind assistance to needy groups by adopting standards of transparency and justice.

He also heard from the Minister of National Economy, Khaled Al-Asili, an explanation about the national framework for industrial policy for the year 2024-2029, based on a comprehensive review of all relevant materials.

The Council of Ministers congratulated the Palestinian people and the Arab and Islamic worlds on the occasion of the anniversary of the Prophet’s birthday, which falls the day after tomorrow, Wednesday, the twelfth of Rabi’ al-Awwal 1445 AH, saluting the steadfastness of our people in the city of Jerusalem, the protectors of “Al-Aqsa” and “Resurrection,” and the protectors of the capital.

In his speech at the beginning of the session, Prime Minister Muhammad Shtayyeh said that President Mahmoud Abbas stressed in his speech at the United Nations the Palestinian national constants, the importance of curbing the Israeli aggression against our people and our capabilities, and relying on United Nations resolutions and the Arab Peace Initiative in any future solution.

He added that he participated in the Sustainable Development Goals summit at the United Nations, and showed the world that development is incomplete and regresses under occupation, and for the foundations of development to be complete, national independence and control over natural and national capabilities must be achieved.

He continued: We also participated in the meeting of donor countries, which was chaired by the Norwegian Foreign Minister, in the presence of more than 46 countries. The attendees unanimously condemned settlements and all unilateral measures that undermine the two-state solution and are being carried out by Israel. Most of the attendees demanded that Israel allow the Palestinians to hold general elections, including Jerusalem.

The attendees welcomed the reform steps taken by the government with the support of the President, and affirmed their continued support for UNRWA and Palestine. We presented to the world our financial needs and the impact of the Israeli cuts on our ability to fulfill our obligations. We also presented a review on the reform path and our development vision for the next three years.

Regarding what happened in Hebron yesterday, the Council of Ministers condemned the attack on a member of the municipal council, and stressed that the law is the master of rulings, and that the Ministers of Interior and Local Government are following up on the issue related to the municipality and the repercussions of that, and that the security services are pursuing outlaws and they will be brought to justice.

North Korea will allow foreign citizens to enter the country starting Monday, Chinese state media announced, after a three-year isolation driven by Covid restrictions.

North Korea has largely closed its borders to the world since the beginning of 2020 due to the Covid epidemic, preventing even its citizens from entering.

But signs emerged this month that it was reopening the border, with leader Kim Jong Un traveling to Russia, where he met President Vladimir Putin, and sending athletes to participate in the Asian Games in Hangzhou in eastern China.

The official Chinese CCTV network reported on Monday that North Korea announced that it would allow foreigners to enter its territory.

The report added that foreigners will be subject to a two-day quarantine period upon arrival.
He did not provide additional information about the source of the announcement, noting that North Korean official media did not publish any information about reopening the borders.

A Chinese company that operates flights to North Korea, Dandong Strait National Flights, told its followers on the WeChat social site, "Flights have not resumed at the present time. Wait and be patient."