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."

The National Elections Authority in Egypt announced on Monday that presidential elections will be held in December, against the backdrop of a deep economic crisis in the country.

The head of the authority, Walid Hamza, said in a press conference that the presidential elections will be held over a period of three days, from December 10 to 12, that is, nearly four months before the end of the current term of President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi at the beginning of next April.

The Egyptian President, who has been in power in the country since 2014, has not yet announced his intention to run for a third term, but it is almost certain, according to analysts.

Observers believe that bringing forward the date of the presidential elections is linked to harsh economic measures that the Egyptian authorities may be forced to take early next year to confront the economic crisis, especially the problem of foreign debt ($165 billion), the installments of which must be paid in the coming months at a time when it is suffering from a shortage of foreign exchange.

Egyptians are already suffering from a decline in their purchasing power with the rise in inflation, which reached a new record in August, reaching nearly 40%.

In recent months, Egypt has witnessed a decline in the value of the pound against foreign currencies by approximately 50 percent.
So far, only one opposition candidate has begun an electoral campaign to run against Sisi, and that is former member of parliament Ahmed Al-Tantawi, who has not stopped denouncing the "crimes" committed by the security services against his supporters and campaign members, at least 35 of whom were recently arrested.
Al-Tantawi, who was known for his sharp criticism of the authorities in Parliament, also revealed that his mobile phone had been under surveillance since September 2021 after Citizen Lab in Toronto confirmed that a spy program had been used to hack his phone.
Another opposition figure, Hisham Qasim, head of the Free Movement (a coalition of liberal opposition parties), was recently sentenced to six months in prison, which deprives him of any possibility of participating in the electoral process.

NBC News said that two diplomatic sources revealed to the network that the United States is making progress towards a historic agreement requiring Saudi Arabia to normalize its relations with Israel in exchange for a US defense agreement and assistance in developing its civilian nuclear program.

The complex talks are gaining momentum, as officials from all parties express increasing optimism in recent days that they may meet soon to reach an agreement that would change the political landscape in the Middle East and achieve a major foreign policy victory for US President Joe Biden.

“Formal recognition of the Jewish state by the most influential power in the Arab world would represent a radical shift in the region after more than half a century of conflict and hostility, and it could also represent a diplomatic coup for the Biden administration,” said Andrea Mitchell, the network’s veteran State Department correspondent. , which reversed its hardline stance toward Saudi Arabia in an attempt to bring together two close allies of the United States as it seeks to stave off China's growing ambitions.

But the network acknowledges that significant obstacles remain, including Israel's ongoing conflict with the Palestinians. Regarding this issue, “the two sources told the network that the agreement will see the Palestinians being granted unspecified lands in the West Bank, but there are still big questions about what this will mean for their future.”

For its part, The Hill newspaper, which specializes in US Congressional affairs, said in a lengthy article on Sunday: Unfortunately, it seems that the Palestinian issue will be ignored again. Netanyahu disparagingly described it as a “check box to check,” a sign that Israel views the Palestinians as an afterthought. Unless something radical happens in these negotiations, normalization between Saudi Arabia and Israel will do nothing but ensure the permanent submission of the Palestinians to Israeli military rule and paralyze their aspirations.”

Discussion of peace, a concept based on the ideals of equality, justice and stability, rings hollow, but it deliberately ignores the plight of the Palestinians. In light of the current situation, the Palestinian people have no strength, hope or means left to change their condition. Israel controls every aspect of Palestinian life, and it exercises this control in a way that is degrading to humanity, according to the newspaper.

The newspaper points out that “in order to make peace possible, both the United States and Saudi Arabia must make clear that the Palestinians are part of the equation, and that normalization does not mean keeping them out of the loop.”

The newspaper points out that the failure of the Abraham normalization agreements did not bring peace, but rather an increase in the intensity of violence practiced by settlers against the Palestinians on an increasing basis since the signing of those agreements three years ago, warning that “any agreement that ignores the Palestinians will be tantamount to diplomatic malpractice and a distortion of the concept of peace, because it will leave the Palestinians alone.” "Forever stateless and without sanctuary."

Experts believe that introducing a formal mutual defense agreement between Washington and Riyadh, an arrangement on par with US guarantees to key allies such as Japan and South Korea, could also complicate the domestic politics of any deal.

If the deal is reached, US officials believe it will happen early next year, before the presidential campaign makes it difficult to get 67 votes in the Senate, which must ratify the defense treaty and will need to approve aid to the kingdom.

According to a senior US official, Israel also wants to conclude a defense treaty with the United States to match any new Saudi treaty, but the United States has not agreed to this. Israel already receives nearly $4 billion annually in US military aid, and administration officials believe that could make it more difficult to get an already complex agreement through the Senate.

It is noteworthy that a recent poll conducted by the “Quuency Institute” showed that more than half of Americans would oppose an agreement between the United States and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia that stipulates that Washington would commit American soldiers to defend Saudi Arabia in the event of a war, especially since the exact terms of any defense agreement remain unclear. Clear.

In turn, US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken told MSNBC on Thursday that a deal of this size would be “transformational.” He warned that there were still "a lot of moving pieces" and landing them all would require a "huge amount of work".

For Biden, the deal could provide a boost ahead of the 2024 presidential election, rivaling the Abraham Accords signed by then-President Donald Trump — a series of landmark agreements signed in 2020 to normalize relations between Israel and the Gulf states of the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain.

“Recognition of Israel will likely be viewed as a betrayal by Palestinians and those who support a Palestinian state, and who have relied on Riyadh as a bedrock of support for the Arab world,” says NBC's Mitchell.

It is noteworthy that Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, in his speech before the United Nations General Assembly on Thursday, described the idea of peace in the Middle East without the full rights of the Palestinian people as “illusory.” An agreement that does not include real concessions to their cause may fuel anger in the region.

In a separate statement to the Palestinian news agency Wafa, today, Friday, Abbas’s spokesman, Nabil Abu Rudeina, said: “Peace begins with Palestine, and stability begins with the Palestinian people obtaining their legitimate national rights and establishing their independent Palestinian state with East Jerusalem.” Its capital. Without that, there is no peace, security, or stability in the region.”

Experts believe that the growing relations between Israel and Saudi Arabia were largely driven by mutual cruelty towards Iran.

Although Riyadh agreed to a Beijing-brokered deal to restore diplomatic relations with Tehran earlier this year, Washington may see establishing formal Saudi relations with Israel as a way to combat Iranian aggression and counter China's efforts to expand its influence in the region.

In a meeting with Biden in New York on Wednesday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that an agreement to “achieve reconciliation between the Islamic world and the Jewish state” was within reach.

But the sticking point may be the Israeli leader's own government, which is the most religious and right-wing government in his country's history. Its coalition partners may show strong resistance to any major concessions to the Palestinians, which in turn could break the agreement for Saudi Arabia.

Opposition leader Yair Lapid also raised concerns about Saudi Arabia becoming a "nuclear threshold state" if an agreement is reached.

It is noteworthy that, speaking with Fox News on Wednesday, Saudi Crown Prince Bin Salman pledged to work with “everyone present” in the Israeli government as long as the deal guarantees the “needs” of the Palestinians. He appeared optimistic about the potential agreement, saying it would be the largest diplomatic agreement since the end of the Cold War. “Every day we get closer,” he told Fox.

Amid a state of fear and anxiety, Palestinian worker Mahmoud Abu Rizq awaits news regarding the date of reopening the Erez crossing in the northern Gaza Strip to workers to allow them to reach their workplaces in Israeli towns after a ban that lasted for more than eight consecutive days.

Since September 16, the Israeli authorities have imposed a ban on the entry of Palestinian workers from the Gaza Strip through the Erez crossing in the northern Gaza Strip, which is the only crossing for individuals between Gaza and Israel, following renewed violent popular protests on the border fence of the Gaza Strip.

On several occasions, the Coordinator of Israeli Government Activities in the Palestinian Territories, Ghassan Olayan, announced in separate statements that the Erez Crossing would remain closed and be opened according to assessments of the situation, in reference to the cessation of protests.

Abu Rizq (43 years old), a father of eight children, told Xinhua News Agency, “Every time the closure of the crossing in the faces of Palestinian workers is extended, I feel that I am approaching the abyss, and I am terrified of the idea of losing my job forever and returning to the abyss of poverty, which I soon reached.” Say goodbye to her.”

Abu Rizq, whose hair has turned gray, adds, “With difficulty, I was able to obtain a permit to work in Israel in order to provide a living for my family, which has experienced the scourge of poverty and need. I do not know why our issue is being thrown into the political wrangling between Israel and the Palestinian factions.”

He continues, “We seek to live in safety and peace to provide a decent life for our families. We have never and will never think about getting involved in any violent activities in the Gaza Strip,” noting that the Israeli government is making a mistake in preventing us from reaching our workplaces, which are our only source of livelihood.

In an attempt to avoid losing his job permanently, Abu Rizq is keen to constantly communicate with his employer (his Israeli employer) to keep him updated on developments in Gaza, amid his fear that the crossing will not be opened in the near future and that he will return to a life of poverty again.

The situation is not much different for worker Younis Abu Ismail (38 years old), who returned to the Gaza Strip like thousands of workers during the Jewish holidays eight days ago and who were unable to return to their work again due to the closure of the crossing.

Abu Ismail, who obtained a work permit inside Israel after years of waiting, says that closing the crossing for a longer period increases the worker’s daily financial loss, as well as the doubt and concern that the situation is likely to develop further.

He added that during the lean years of poverty that we lived in the Gaza Strip, we were not able to earn 10 US dollars a day, while we were now earning approximately 100 dollars at least, and this is enough to change my family’s life for the better.

Both Abu Rizq and Abu Ismail hope that the issue of Palestinian workers will be neutralized from any political disputes and that the workers will be able to return to their work in Israel again to earn more money to build their children’s future as they were doing before the closure crisis.

The number of Palestinian workers working inside Israel from the Gaza Strip, which is inhabited by more than two million people and controlled by the Hamas movement, is approximately 18 thousand workers, of whom 9 thousand leave daily through the Beit Hanoun/Erez crossing.

Two weeks ago, youth groups calling themselves "Rebel Youth" began organizing protests every afternoon, including burning vehicle tires, detonating homemade explosive devices, and throwing stones at Israeli forces stationed behind the fence.

The groups say in statements that the demonstrations come in response to the settlers’ storming of Al-Aqsa Mosque and what the Palestinian prisoners are exposed to. On the other hand, the Israeli army confronted the demonstrators with gunfire, which led to the death of a young man and the wounding of others with varying injuries over the past days.

The Israeli army also bombed observation points belonging to the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) on the outskirts of Gaza, followed by closing the Beit Hanoun/Erez crossing, located in the northern Gaza Strip, to Palestinian workers.

The decision to close the crossing to workers was met with rejection and condemnation by the General Federation of Palestinian Trade Unions in the Gaza Strip, considering the move an extension of the policy of collective punishment against thousands of worker families.

President of the General Federation of Palestinian Trade Unions, Sami Al-Amsi, said that the continued closure of the crossing doubles the suffering of workers who are in dire need of every day of work, after long years of closure and deprivation of their daily livelihood.

Al-Amsi affirmed his rejection of the Israeli policy of linking the file of workers’ permits to the security and political situations, calling on all international and Arab parties to put pressure on the Israeli side to separate the file of workers from current developments and events.

According to Palestinian officials in Gaza, Egypt and Qatar, the main mediators in previous rounds of fighting between Palestinian factions, most notably Hamas and Israel, are holding talks with both sides in an attempt to avoid sliding into a new wave of armed confrontation.

The step to close the Beit Hanoun/Erez crossing to workers increases the pressure on the sector's economy, which is already suffering as a result of the strict siege imposed by Israel since mid-summer 2007 following Hamas' control of the situation there.

In this regard, economic expert Hamid Gad believes that closing the crossing to the category of workers caused a huge loss on all sides, since this group enters the sector about two million dollars monthly.

Gad says that work in Israel is an important source of income for families, and the current closure leads to a direct impact on purchasing activity and markets in Gaza, which have become almost halted due to the inability of workers to go out to work and receive their daily wages.

Russian foreign minister slams what he calls American double standard when it demands Russia withdraw from the East Ukraine region but recognizes Israel sovereignty over Golan Heights captured from Syria in the 1967 Six Day War

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov on Saturday, slammed what he called American double standards comparing the Russian control of the Eastern Ukraine region of Donbas to the Statement of the U.S. State Department on the importance of the Golan Heights, captured from Syrian in the 1967 Six Day War, to Israel's security.

Lavrov was speaking to journalists who asked him about remarks made by the U.S. ambassador to the UN Linda Thomas-Greenfield last week ahead of the UN General Assembly. 

The ambassador said UN resolutions including those respecting the sovereignty of member states must be complied with. She then briefed the press that the Biden administration's position on the Golan Heights remained unchanged after then-president Donald Trump recognized Israel's sovereignty over the region in 2019.

Lavrov read a statement to reporters claiming Donbas is very important to Russian security. " "As long as Zelensky is in power in Ukraine, as long as NATO is present in Ukraine, militia groups backed by NATO, the Zelensky regime itself - all of these pose a significant security threat to Russia, and as a practical matter, the control of the Donbas in that situation, I think, remains of real importance to Russia's security. Legal questions are something else. And over time, if the situation were to change in Ukraine, that's something we'd look at. But we are nowhere near that," Lavrov said. 

The head of the Hamas movement abroad, Khaled Meshal, said, “The Israeli occupation has prepared itself to implement its plans and escalate its aggression against Al-Aqsa Mosque, taking advantage of the global and Arab preoccupation with normalization.”

Meshaal continued during his participation in the “Meeting of Support for Al-Aqsa and its sit-ins Palestinians” which was organized by the International Al-Quds Foundation and the International Union of Palestine Scholars: “This moment is historic, and it is the moment of truth between Israeli plans and the nation’s responsibility.”

He pointed out that the current Israeli government is the most extreme, and through the Temple organizations and settler groups who have become present in the Knesset and the government, they have strengthened this with normalization, and they have prepared for what is known as the “Abraham” Accords and used them as a cover for their plans in Al-Aqsa.

Mishaal added: “The Abraham Accords view Al-Aqsa as an open square for all, and gave the settlers the right to storm it, and reduced Al-Aqsa Mosque to the Al-Qibli Mosque.”

He continued: “The group of Smotrich, Ben Gvir, and Netanyahu is seeking to resolve the battle of the West Bank, not only by planting it with settlements, but by working to displace the residents of the West Bank. This is a difficult moment, and they want to resolve the battle of Jerusalem by tightening political and religious control over it.”

Meshaal said: "Challenge is met only with challenge, and force is met only with force. The occupation was preparing itself for a repeated battle with Gaza, but with the great resistance sponsored by the Joint Resistance Chamber, our people surprised the occupation by moving the focus of the conflict to all the cities, villages and camps of the West Bank."

He pointed out that normalization allowed the occupation to storm Al-Aqsa, stressing that the religious war imposed by the occupation will not pass, and our people will remain the impregnable fortress to protect Jerusalem and Al-Aqsa.

Meshaal said: "The enemy is playing with fire, and we will burn him with fire. The resistance is capable of thwarting the occupation's plans, and before we thwarted his plans in Al-Aqsa. This is the battle of the nation, conscience, humanity, and the battle of faith. Gaza today is once again preoccupying the enemy with the battle of Saif al-Quds and on the border with the participation of our people."

He called on the Palestinian people to rush to sit-in around Al-Aqsa to confront Judaization plans, warning that the Islamic, Arab and popular response must be escalated in various fields in support of Al-Aqsa.

Meshaal called on the Arab and Islamic countries to stop the sin of normalization with the occupation, considering that it is not a service to the Palestinian people, but rather a stab in the back of the issue.

He told the countries: “Normalization is a danger to your economy, your national security, and your sovereignty. This is an enemy that wants bad for you just as it wants bad for us. It does not even care about its allies in the West, let alone those who normalize with it and considers them a bridge to penetrate the region and a cover for its crimes against our people.”

The Prisoners' and Ex-Prisoners' Affairs Authority said, "The Israeli occupation authorities are holding 18 Jordanian prisoners in their prisons, distributed among several Israeli prisons."

The Commission indicated in its report, today, Monday, that among the Jordanian prisoners currently detained in the occupation prisons, there are (9) prisoners serving life sentences (for life) one or more times, and (5) other prisoners serving sentences ranging from 20 -36 years, in addition to (3) prisoners serving sentences ranging from 15-19 years, and another prisoner serving a 5-year prison sentence.

It indicated that (7) of the Jordanian prisoners are on the list of “Deans of Prisoners” and have been detained for more than 20 years, and (5) others have been detained for more than 15 years.

The Commission confirmed that the Arab prisoners are an integral part and an essential component of the prisoner movement, which will not forget their participation in confronting the prison guard through the various stages of the struggle behind bars, and their participation in hunger strikes alongside their Palestinian brothers.

She explained that the Palestinian issue was not, at one time, an issue that concerned the Palestinians alone, but rather it was and still is the issue of the Arabs in general, and for its sake the Arabs provided many martyrs and prisoners, and that the Palestinian people preserve this and record their respect and appreciation for all those who struggled in the ranks of the revolution, in particular Those who were martyred in the battles defending Palestine, and those who were arrested and spent years in occupation prisons, and the Palestinian people still look forward to active Arab support and a supportive and influential role in seizing their freedom, ending the occupation, and establishing their independent state with Jerusalem as its capital.

In the same context, the Commission stated that the Lebanese martyr, Samir Kuntar, is the one who spent the most continuous years in Israeli prisons among the Arab prisoners. He spent more than 29 years before he was freed in 2008, and was martyred in an Israeli raid in 2015, while the freed prisoner Sidqi Al-Muqt is considered , from the occupied Syrian Golan Heights, spent the most years in occupation prisons over two periods, as he spent a total of 32 years, before he was released from the second detention in 2020.

The Commission called on all concerned parties and institutions, Palestinian and Arab, to give these Arabs the attention they deserve and adequate space to highlight their struggle and the sacrifices they made for the Palestinian cause, while making a lot of effort, both Palestinian and Jordanian, in order to activate the issue of the Jordanian prisoners and their worsening suffering in Israeli occupation prisons, which have increased due to escalating Israeli extremism.

The results of a survey conducted by Sada Social showed economic, financial, and employment losses suffered by media institutions and male and female journalists due to the platforms’ policies regarding Palestinian content, and the restrictions they impose on the performance of personal accounts and public pages because of that.

The results show that 29.3% of the media institutions participating in the survey stopped making profits completely from the digital sector, and 9.8% of them lost profits ranging between half and three-quarters of the profits, while 36.3% said that they suffered a loss between 30% and 50% of the total profits of Digital sector.

The survey participants, who were distributed among 30 media organizations and 23 journalists from the West Bank, Gaza Strip, Jerusalem, the occupied interior and outside Palestine, said that the sources of their profits in the digital sector varied between revenues from publishing advertisements for other parties on their pages and accounts, or from the number of visits to the website ( Google ads and third-party ads), or from profits from views on platforms such as YouTube and Facebook.

The results indicated that 75.5% of the participating media institutions expressed a decline in visits to their website due to the platforms restricting their pages in the context of blocking Palestinian content.

While 36.7% of media institutions said that they had reduced their digital team to adapt to the decline in profits, and 34.7% of them indicated a decline in the percentage of profits they earned from viewing content on the platforms, and 30.6% of media institutions spoke of the unwillingness of those concerned to advertise on their pages due to... Advertising and reach restrictions, and 24.5% of them told that they lost the funder’s interest in renewing their funding due to the decline in their digital performance.

Regarding digital restrictions, restrictions on Palestinian content, 96.2% of the survey participants said that they were subjected to restrictions on the Facebook platform due to publishing Palestinian content, and 43.3% of them reported that they were restricted on the Instagram platform, and 32.1% of them reported that they were subjected to restrictions on YouTube, and 20 % of them had their digital activity restricted on TikTok, while 17% of them were restricted on Twitter, 11.3% of them had their activity restricted on WhatsApp, while two participants reported that their activity on Telegram was restricted.

Regarding the nature of the violation practiced against them due to publishing Palestinian news, 56.6% of participants indicated that their media accounts were completely deleted, 79.2% faced reduced access, 50.9% of them were prevented from publishing, 54.7% were prevented from broadcasting live, while 41.5% were prevented from broadcasting. Advertising funding, and 24.5% of participants said they were subjected to restrictions such as blocking messages and calls, blocking interaction.

Saudi Arabia and Egypt today condemned in two separate statements the storming of Al-Aqsa Mosque, Islam’s third holiest site, by Jewish extremists, describing it as a provocative act.

The Saudi Ministry of Foreign Affairs expressed the Kingdom’s condemnation “of the continuous provocative practices carried out by a group of extremists at Al-Aqsa Mosque under the protection of Israeli occupation forces.”

It expresses the Kingdom’s “regret for the practices carried out by Israeli authorities that undermine international peace efforts and contradict international principles and norms regarding respecting religious sanctities.”

The Ministry reiterated Saudi Arabia’s “firm position to stand by the Palestinian people and support all efforts aimed at ending the occupation and reaching a just and comprehensive solution to the Palestinian issue, enabling the Palestinian people to establish their independent Palestinian state on the 1967 borders, with East Jerusalem as its capital.”

Egypt also condemned in a statement the storming by Jewish extremists of the courtyards of Al-Aqsa Mosque under the protection of the Israeli occupation police.

The Egyptian Foreign Ministry said this step represents “a new episode in a series of escalatory measures that provoke the feelings of millions of Muslims around the world, and carry with it the risk of fueling violence and tension in the occupied Palestinian territories.”

It called on the Israeli occupation authorities “to fulfill their obligations as the occupying power, and to stop such escalatory practices, as they represent a clear violation of the existing legal and historical status of the city of Jerusalem and its noble sanctuaries,” stressing the need to respect the status quo at the Al-Aqsa Mosque and Al-Haram Al-Sharif in its entire area of 144 dunums as a Muslim worship endowment.

Egypt reiterated its call to influential international parties to assume their responsibilities toward protecting the Palestinian people’s holy places and defend their legitimate rights, foremost of which is their right to self-determination and establishing their independent state on the 1967 borders with East Jerusalem as its capital.

Today, Monday, the Council of Ministers decided to consider next Thursday, the 28th of this month, an official holiday on the occasion of the anniversary of the Prophet’s birthday.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates warned against the international community’s coexistence with the scene of daily Palestinian suffering resulting from the occupation’s violations and crimes against our people, their land, and their sanctities, as if it had become normal and did not require any serious intervention or stance.

In a press statement today, Monday, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs called on the international community to stop international double standards and be bold and courageous in applying international law to the situation in occupied Palestine, including implementing international legitimacy resolutions to ensure an end to the Israeli occupation of the land of the State of Palestine.

It condemned the violations of the occupation forces, settler militias, their members and armed terrorist organizations, and their continuing crimes against Palestinian citizens, their land, homes, property and sanctities, in addition to the continued targeting of Al-Aqsa Mosque and the Ibrahimi Mosque, with the aim of Judaizing them and imposing Israeli control over them.

It also condemned the ethnic cleansing operations carried out by the occupation forces against the Palestinian presence in Jerusalem and Area C, the latest of which was the notification to stop construction in 21 homes and facilities in the village of Sarta, west of Salfit.

The Foreign Ministry considered that the escalation in the crimes and violations of the occupation and its settlers is an integral part of the open war of occupation against the Palestinian people and their rights, and falls within an official replacement settlement plan aimed at completing the creeping gradual annexation of the occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem.

It held the Israeli government fully and directly responsible for the successive waves of escalation and its disastrous results on the conflict arena and the entire region, and its repercussions on the chances of reviving the peace process and negotiations between the Israeli and Palestinian sides. It also held the international community responsible for its failure to force the occupying state to stop all its illegal unilateral measures. And being satisfied with some statements and media positions that do not find any echo from the other party, and do not translate into practical steps and actions to curb the continuing Israeli aggression against our people, and force the occupying state to engage in a real political negotiation process.

Secretary of the Executive Committee of the PLO, Hussein Al-Sheikh, said, “The ambassador of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia will arrive in Ramallah within days to present his credentials to President Mahmoud Abbas.”

A Palestinian official had announced an expected visit by a Saudi delegation, headed by Nayef bin Bandar Al-Sudairi, to the Palestinian territories to meet with President Mahmoud Abbas, during this week.

This comes in light of diplomatic efforts to reach an agreement between Israel and the Kingdom that may include concessions to the Palestinians.

The visit comes after Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said last week that efforts are underway to reach an agreement to normalize relations between the two countries.

On Monday, Director of Public Relations and Media at the Gaza Chamber of Commerce, Maher Al-Tabbaa, revealed the losses in the Gaza Strip due to the Israeli occupation’s closure of the crossings, under the pretext of “Jewish holidays.”

Speaking to the official Voice of Palestine radio, Al-Tabbaa explained that the sector’s economic losses are estimated at 5 million shekels per day, noting that the closure of the crossings, especially the Beit Hanoun “Erez” checkpoint, greatly affected the movement of workers.

He said: "More than 15,000 workers cannot go to work within the occupied Palestinian territories, which has greatly affected the availability of cash liquidity in the sector, and has directly affected commercial activity and weakened it."

Al-Tabbaa confirmed that closing the crossings is a disastrous economic indicator that has negative repercussions on the economic reality in the Gaza Strip.

He pointed out that the Gaza Strip needs to end all the reasons that led to this huge rise in the unemployment rate in the Strip, namely ending the siege and lifting the restrictions imposed on the Gaza Strip for many years, so that the conditions of the Strip improve significantly.

On Monday morning, the Israeli occupation forces arrested a young Palestinian from inside the courtyards of the blessed Al-Aqsa Mosque.

A video clip, broadcast by activists from inside the mosque, showed the arrest of the young Palestinian whose identity has not yet been known, under the pretext of his presence in the paths designated by the occupation for settlers to storm.

The occupation forces tightened their procedures at the gates of Al-Aqsa Mosque since the early morning hours, and prevented citizens from entering the mosque, under the pretext that they were under 50 years of age. They also seized the identities of others.

The Israeli occupation authorities continue to close the Beit Hanoun “Erez” checkpoint in the northern Gaza Strip, designated for the movement of individuals, for the 11th day in a row.

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.

It is noteworthy that more than 20,000 Palestinian workers leave the Gaza Strip at the beginning of each week, and the same numbers enter their scheduled vacation days on Thursday, which inflicts daily losses on the workers estimated at about 5 million shekels.

The Israeli escalation in the West Bank, including Jerusalem and the Gaza Strip, represented by cold-blooded killings, storming of camps, cities, towns and villages, and the desecration of Islamic and Christian sanctities, most notably the blessed Al-Aqsa Mosque, in addition to attacks by herds of settlers, will fuel flammable situations at any moment, which may lead to war. Limited or limited skirmishes would put the West Bank and Gaza Strip at the mouth of a volcano, and its explosion would inflict heavy losses not only on the Palestinian side but also on the occupying state, which believes that the Palestinian people will ultimately raise the white flag and that the use of force against them in a continuous and escalating manner will ultimately lead to a solution. The conflict is in favor of the occupying state.

Despite this occupation escalation, which led to the martyrdom of two young men from Nour Shams camp, in addition to injuries, the raid on Birzeit University and the arrest of eight of its students, the destruction and vandalism operations, the raids on the blessed Al-Aqsa Mosque, and many other crimes and violations, our people have not and will not surrender or become complacent as the occupying state imagines, but rather These crimes and this escalation will only increase by the insistence on adhering to his inalienable and inalienable national rights, and he will continue his struggle by all means approved by international legitimacy until his national goals of liberation and the departure of the occupation are fully achieved, which has not yet understood that the peoples are the victors in the end and that the fate of the occupation is... The demise, just as many occupations have disappeared as a result of the struggles of the peoples who, despite possessing the power possessed by the occupying state, were able to inflict a terrible defeat on the colonial countries in the face of determination, determination, and the continuation of the struggle.

The best evidence of this is the humiliating exit of the United States of America, which is the most powerful country in the world, from Afghanistan, despite the primitive means by which the Afghan people resisted the American occupation, and the same thing happened to the American forces and their allies in Iraq, in addition to America’s defeat in Vietnam, France and other colonial countries. .

Our people are no less patriotic and ready to make more sacrifices on the altar of their national cause, and their victory over the occupation is just a matter of time, whether this time is long or short, but the facts of history and the experiences of the peoples all confirm that the peoples are the victors, and that the occupation is destined for a terrible defeat.

The brutal occupation has no choice but to review its calculations and take lessons and lessons from its masters, especially the United States. Our people will not be defeated, but rather defeat, disgrace and disgrace will befall the occupation and its supporters.

Any explosion in the region will not be to the benefit of the occupying state, but will be harmful to it.

For some reason, the word “normalization” was translated as “normalization,” even though it is derived from “normal.” The Israelis have become accustomed to using the term and emphasizing it no less than their emphasis on peace agreements with Arab countries, which they fear will remain formal and superficial if they are not followed by the normalization of relations, so that “peace” takes root, and settler colonialism in the Arab region turns from aggressive power relations that contradict everything. It is normal to normal, and people are accustomed to the fact that relations with Israel, in the presence of occupation and practices of apartheid, are normal.

The African countries that boycotted South Africa and refused to normalize relations with it were much poorer than the Arab countries, and more in need of economic relations with the abnormal party located next to them. Nor was it more democratic, nor less authoritarian, than the Arab countries. But there are positions on which countries (peoples and regimes) agree, including racism and colonialism, as well as its continuation in the era of liberation from it. There is no doubt that racist South Africa at the time, and Israel (which remained its ally until its last days) were remnants of the colonial issue. In our region, the unity of the position (at least apparent) on the last open colonial issue has collapsed.

If we put the moral position aside (and it should not be set aside for purposes other than discussion, as such a departure constitutes a prelude to social and cultural collapse) and consider the step as resulting from the awakening of a practical, “pragmatic” style of thinking, we find that there was no need for it from this perspective, even when it was attached. The matter concerns the countries neighboring Palestine, as well as those that did not participate, officially, in any wars against it. There are illusions related to Israel's contribution to strengthening or fortifying the relations of normalized regimes with the United States.

The truth is that whoever arranges his internal situation to the minimum required to maintain stability (we are not talking here about justice), and acts responsibly in foreign policy, imposes his respect on others in the East and West. From an economic standpoint, relations with Israel did not contribute to reviving any country's economy. Ask the countries that have normalized since the Egyptian-Israeli Camp David Accords!

The truth is that the leaders of countries know this. Those who met the Israelis noticed their pushy, inquisitive, vulgar, and colloquial manner, and realized that their goal was to benefit, not to benefit. But they are pushing in this direction because they want Israel as their ally in the West as opposed to nearby adversaries. The latest examples of this competition in getting closer to Israel came from Libya and Sudan. The motive in this case was the rivalries within each country, as each party within Libya and Sudan feared that the other alone would enjoy this “glory.” As for the regional conflicts and rivalries and competition for the affection of the United States that have pushed the parties towards Israel, as in the case of the Gulf and Morocco, they do not need explanation.

Will normalization with Israel solve the internal Arab conflicts or contribute to fueling and inflaming them?

Normalization is taking place at the expense of the Palestinian people. This is a given. What requires reflection is that concessions to Israel are made at the expense of the Arabs as a nation and people. It is enough for a person to quickly look at this region to be shocked by the combination of political and moral deterioration and the gap between regimes and peoples in the context of which normalization is taking place.

If Arabs do not want to bother themselves with arguments about the justice of the Palestine issue, even though they are convincing arguments and have convinced wide circles of Americans, then the “pragmatic” argument that can be presented to the elderly Biden, for whom normalization will not bring a single additional vote, and who is rushing to put pressure on the Arab countries Motivated by his Zionist convictions, they are summed up in the fact that every Arab step toward normalization with Israel so far has increased the latter’s extremism, intransigence, and conviction in its position that intransigence and the logic of force are what works with the Arabs, who are moving from one peace initiative to another with less conditions. This can be supported by evidence. What about normalization in the presence of the current government? It is an incentive reward for the practices of the Israeli government, and for settlers who are not interested in normalization with the Arabs. This is a convincing answer even for Biden. But those who want normalization will not do so, because their motives are different, and they are looking for justifications to do so, not for a way out of it.

There is no need to talk about the benefit that the Palestinians will reap, as the normalization steps so far have shown that the marginalization of the Palestine issue is structural because it is based on the fact that normal relations with Israel are possible without resolving the Palestinian issue. It is a confirmation of Israel's point of view since the Nakba regarding the marginality of Palestine in the context of what was once called the Arab-Israeli conflict, which still exists only in terms of the peoples.

The truth is that the Palestine issue has nothing to do with the motives of the normalizers, whether positive or negative. The issue is demands and expectations from the United States. This does not hide taking pictures with Mahmoud Abbas, nor even with Hamas leaders, nor wearing a shawl in the colors of the Palestinian keffiyeh. This folklore is repulsive and consuming. Israel is not prepared to sacrifice settlements for the sake of peace agreements, nor even the unity of its coalition.

But the matter goes beyond the lack of connection with the Palestinian issue to justifying some of their steps towards Israel with a retrogressive effect for themselves by attacking the Palestinians, and even the Arabs in general. No normalization so far has been without media choirs that excel at bridging the gap between moral conscience and practice, and between convictions and actions (cognitive dissonance) by silencing conscience and changing convictions. This falls within the deterioration of the moral and political cultural conditions that constitute the context of such steps.

Archives indicate that a large number of Arab leaders communicated with the Zionist movement before the Nakba and with Israeli officials after it, and that the almost complete cessation of this occurred during the period of rule of the nationalist parties. But Sadat went beyond those who were secretly managing relations when he signed peace and normalization agreements with Israel, turning the issue into bilateral border settlements. At that stage, Egypt was removed from the Arab League, which moved its headquarters to Tunisia, and a steadfastness front was established to confront opposition to this approach.

But the approach continues. No official fronts or conferences were formed against normalization, and some began to argue that normalization was a sovereign step, as if the debate was legal about the powers of states to conclude bilateral peace agreements. The debate is not legal, but rather political and moral, and this is generally the nature of disagreement with the sovereign steps taken by states, from waging wars to concluding peace agreements.

The Palestine issue remains, and it is becoming less usable by Arab regimes. On the other hand, Israel, which insists on expanding settlement and actual annexation, is transforming the settler occupation system into a system similar to apartheid in the heart of the Arab region, which cannot become a natural matter, and it is impossible to accustom the Arab peoples to accepting it.

The current year, 2023, witnessed developments in the international and regional tracks, and reading them carefully, without romanticism, shows that they are in the Palestinian strategic interest, making 2023 a turning point in international and regional policies in favor of the Palestinian cause, which makes developing the internal situation an imposition on the Palestinians that is a sin for laziness. In its performance, in order to take advantage of the opportunities these developments entail, it has become clear that they outweigh the threats they entail in the path of freedom, independence, and an independent state.

In the current year, 75 years have passed since the Palestinian Nakba, which is the foundation of the Palestinian narrative, the establishment of the State of Israel on 78% of the area of Mandatory Palestine, and the formulation of the international system that emerged after World War II, with its values and principles in which the Palestinian people were excluded from public destiny. 55 years have passed since Israel occupied the remainder of Palestine (the West Bank, including East Jerusalem and the Gaza Strip), and 30 years have passed since the signing of the Oslo Accords, which is the basis on which the Palestinian Authority was established.

While Israel has received, over the past decades, full support and support from its partners in the world (the colonial West), whether materially, politically or popularly, which has led it and still believes that it is a state above the law that does what it wants with the Palestinians, their property and their sanctities without accountability or oversight, and what is wrong with the Palestinians and the Arabs? Muslims and the entire world behind them, except to accept it as a fait accompli and submit to its conditions, which prompted its current Prime Minister, Netanyahu, to brag about saying in recent years that Israel seeks peace with the Palestinians and the Arabs! But it is a free peace, and without charge! That is, peace in exchange for peace, not peace in exchange for land and rights for the Palestinians, and peace according to Israel’s vision, especially the vision of the extreme right that now rules the state, not peace according to international legitimacy and its resolutions, which number more than a thousand resolutions.

However, this year can be considered a turning point in the course of the conflict, especially since it has witnessed and continues to witness transformations at the internal Israeli, Palestinian, regional and international levels, all of which indicate that the Zionist colonial project in Palestine is a project built on failure and has reached its end, and there are no options. Its supporters have no choice but to acknowledge the reality of failure, and that the time has come to lift the historical injustice against the Palestinian people and give them their rights, or some of them, to freedom, independence, self-determination, and the establishment of their own sovereign state on their land.

At the internal level of Israel, the political, cultural and media community there is witnessing a deep debate and controversy driven by a question, even if it does not surface, which is: Why has Israel not become a safe, just, prosperous, and democratic Jewish state, as the first founders wanted it to be, after all these decades since its establishment? Then why is Israel's deterrent power eroding in the face of its enemies, many of whom are in the region, despite all the military, technological and economic capabilities it possesses and political support from the great powers that have dominated the global system since the end of World War II?

Why has the number of Jews on the land extending from the sea to the river become less than the number of the country's indigenous owners? Why has the percentage of Jewish immigrants to Israel since the beginning of Jewish immigration to Palestine more than a century ago not exceeded 43% of the total number of Jews around the world?

Why did the Palestinians not surrender and raise the white flag despite their ongoing catastrophe for 75 years?

Why do 52% of the state’s Jewish citizens still consider the Palestinians to be the greatest external threat to the state, compared to 24% who believe that the Iranian nuclear program is the greatest threat, according to the indicators of the Israeli National Security Scale for the year 2023? More importantly, why has this country become, in the eyes of a large percentage of Jews in Israel and around the world, an apartheid and apartheid state, while it was presented to them as an oasis of democracy and a refuge protecting Jews from Nazi and anti-Semitic crimes?

As for the global level, there is a shift in the view of Israel, whether at the level of international institutions such as the United Nations and its affiliated institutions, or at the level of the great powers at this moment in time in which the global system is witnessing a radical transformation and transition from a unipolar system to a multipolar system, or at the level of public opinion. Especially American public opinion, especially among Jewish communities.

One of the most prominent changes in this regard was the United Nations’ commemoration of the Palestinian Nakba as a crime committed against the Palestinians, which opens the doors, even if it is 75 years later, to the necessity of punishing the perpetrators of this crime, and then declaring all the poles of the world order, whether the old one that has not yet died, or This is the desired new thing that has not yet found its feet due to the necessity of getting justice for the Palestinian people and establishing their independent state, which was clearly demonstrated at the recent BRICS summit in Johannesburg.

As for public opinion, all the pro-Israel awareness and public opinion formation centers owned by Jewish lobbies around the world are no longer able to change the labeling of Israel as an apartheid and apartheid state, especially among the senior generals of the Israeli security system and among the American Jewish communities, which is a matter that It is expected to spread within American institutions of government within a decade.

The Saudi-Israeli normalization and Saudi Arabia’s conditions for signing the expected normalization treaty are considered among the most prominent developments witnessed this year at the regional level. Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman set these conditions in his rare and long interview on the American Fox News channel four days ago with three conditions: (Giving the Palestinians what They need it, normalization that unites the region, making life easier for the Palestinians, a good life for the Palestinians.

While the Crown Prince did not mention an independent Palestinian state as a condition for normalization, Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan added this condition in the Kingdom’s speech before the United Nations General Assembly on Saturday, 9/23/2023.

The above shows that the current year has already inaugurated a turning point in regional and global politics in favor of Palestine, which puts an end to Netanyahu’s boasting that Israel is ready to make peace with the Palestinians and Arabs for free and without compensation from Israel. Today, Israel is facing the truth and must decide where to go? Will it admit failure, or will it continue to continue deceiving its people and Jews around the world?

Perhaps this is what prompted President Abbas to say from the podium of the United Nations in his speech several days ago that he is “delusional who believes that he can make peace in the region without giving the Palestinian people their full rights.” Yes, it is, Mr. President, but in return we must prepare for what is coming and make all the changes. What is required in order to avoid sin and gain the respect and pride of future generations.

Administrative detainee Kayed Al-Fasfous (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. 

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.”

According to the prisoner Al-Fasfous, after he started the strike, the prison administration and its forces deliberately carried out daily searches of his cell, and all the electrical appliances and clothes were removed from it, and he was left with nothing but the clothes he was wearing, and he was given his sleeping mattress with a cover, and later they deliberately took it out in the morning, and returned it in the evening. This procedure continued for five days.

T

Last night, the Israeli occupation forces arrested the ex-prisoner Raad Amjad Odeh, while he was passing through a military checkpoint in the city of Qalqilya.

The occupation forces took the Odeh to an unknown destination.

Odeh, a resident of Tulkarm, spent several years in occupation prisons.

On Monday morning, Israeli settlers stormed Al-Aqsa Mosque in successive groups, amid calls to intensify the storming to commemorate the so-called “Yom of Atonement.”

Yesterday, hundreds of settlers participated in the ongoing raids due to Jewish holidays.

A group of settlers were seen performing “epic prostration” inside the courtyards of Al-Aqsa.

Previously, large forces of the occupation police stormed the courtyards of the mosque to secure the settlers’ incursions, as some members of those forces were seen removing some of the stationed people from inside it.

These forces prevented worshipers from entering Al-Aqsa Mosque, and forced those inside it to leave.

A group of male and female Palestinians who make sit-ins gathered inside Al-Aqsa, where they shouted “Allahu Akbar” amid attempts to disrupt the settlers’ incursions.

The occupation forces deployed heavily inside the Old City since the early hours of dawn in preparation for securing the settlers' incursions.

In recent days, various factions, forces, and activities have launched calls to gather in Al-Aqsa and Rabat inside it, coinciding with calls for settlers to participate forcefully in the raids.

At the inaugural Al-Monitor/Semafor Middle East Global Summit, King Abdullah II emphasizes the centrality of the Palestinian issue; 

King Abdullah II of Jordan, speaking at the first Al-Monitor-Semafor Global Summit on Sept. 20, said that the possibility of normalization between Israel and Saudi Arabia could offer a “new horizon” for the region, but “part of the challenge is with the Israeli government.” 

“This belief, by some in the region, that you can parachute over Palestine, deal with the Arabs, and work your way back; that does not work,” said King Abdullah, who was the keynote speaker at the summit. “And even those countries that have Abraham Accords with Israel have difficulty moving publicly on those issues when Israelis and Palestinians are dying. So unless we solve this problem, there will never be a true peace.” ..and dealing with 'two elephants in the room'

“There are two elephants in the room,” the Jordanian king explained.

“One is the Palestinian transition and the future for the younger generation of leaders. We saw [Palestinian President] Mahmoud Abbas in the past month shaking up his government, new blood coming in. So that's one of the issues that we have to understand; where the Palestinians are going. And part of the challenge is we Jordanians, Arabs, Israelis, Americans do not know who the younger generation of Palestinians are. And this is very, very important for us to be able to reach out to, to these young voices.”  

“The other, the second elephant in the room, is where is Israel going? How can we have an understanding of a political horizon? Is it a one state solution that you want? Is it a two-state solution? And I'm sure your state solution is different than mine.” 

'Politics doesn’t work'

“My experience over the past 20 years is that politics doesn't work,” said King Abdullah, adding that “regional projects” offer the potential for a new horizon in the region. 

“So based on the tactical steps that we're doing with the Israelis and Palestinians, now with the Americans, the Egyptians, it's how do we get calm on the ground, so that the political horizon can be much easier to identify, because of all these regional projects from which we can all benefit. And at the end of the day, those that are against peace in the Middle East, 99% of the people on the ground, just want to put food on their table, and we can provide that new narrative for the region. That's why I'm optimistic.” 

Jerusalem as flashpoint, symbol for humanity.

“What binds the three monotheistic religions together is, you know, love thy God and love thy neighbor,” said King Abdullah. “And I think we need to listen to that a bit more. I mean, how could we go to our places of worship, and then come out and hate somebody else? And I think Jerusalem is central to bringing Islam, Christianity and Judaism together. And, again, maybe it's for religious figures to sort of raise the flag as opposed to politicians that look to their own personal issues. I know there's some challenges on the ground at the moment. But, again, Jerusalem is a flashpoint. It could send us into the abyss, or it could be the symbol of not only our region, but to the world of how humanity can come together."

The young man, Majdi Ghabayen (18 years old), died on Sunday evening, as a result of serious wounds he sustained on the thirteenth of this month on the eastern Gaza border.

Ghabayen was receiving treatment at Al-Shifa Hospital in critical condition, and his death was announced on Sunday evening.

Ghabayen was injured as a result of an explosion that occurred in the Malka area, east of Gaza, on that day, which led to the death of 5 young men at the time.

A Saudi delegation is due to visit Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in Ramallah this week, a Palestinian official said to "Reuters" , amid diplomatic efforts to secure an accord between Israel and Saudi Arabia that could involve concessions for the Palestinians.

The delegation will be led by the non-resident Saudi envoy to the Palestinians, who was appointed last month, the official said.

The visit comes after both Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said last week that efforts were underway to reach an agreement normalizing relations between their two countries.

U.S. officials have cautioned that any agreement, expected to include a defense agreement with Washington and a civilian nuclear program for Saudi Arabia, would be some way off.

Among the issues to be resolved would also be the Palestinian question, and calls for a revival of a peace process leading to a two-state solution with an independent Palestinian state alongside Israel.

U.S.-brokered peace talks between Israel and the Palestinians broke down in 2014 and relations between the two sides have plummeted amid a tide of violence.

Last week Abbas said no Middle East peace agreement would be achievable until Palestinians were granted full rights, and the Saudi foreign minister also called for a revival of the objective of a two-state solution.

French President Emmanuel Macron expressed on Sunday evening his concern about a possible military attack by Azerbaijan on Armenia, stressing that Baku “threatens” the common borders and the “territorial integrity” of this country, after Azerbaijan’s lightning victory over the separatists in Nagorno-Karabakh.

Macron said in a televised interview, "France is very keen on Armenia's territorial integrity, as this is the test. Today we have Russia complicit with Azerbaijan, Turkey, which always supports these maneuvers, and an unrestrained authority that threatens Armenia's borders."

The Hebron Municipality denounced in the strongest terms the assassination attempt on municipal council member Lawyer Abdul Karim Farrah, this Sunday evening, by direct shooting at him and burning his vehicle, in an explicit and premeditated targeting by a group “outside the law, religion, morals and customs.” .

The municipality confirmed in a statement that targeting members of the municipal council in this criminal and reprehensible manner is a dangerous indicator that threatens to drag Khalil Rahman into a state of chaos and lack of security and stability.

It warned of the consequences of these successive crimes, and the failure to prosecute the perpetrators and impose deterrent penalties against them.

The municipality called on President Mahmoud Abbas and Prime Minister Muhammad Shtayyeh to monitor the security situation in Hebron and provide security and protection for all the people of the city and all those who dedicated their lives to serving it.