In a press statement, the head of the Commission for Detainees and Ex-Prisoners’ Affairs, Qadura Fares, condemned the decision of the fascist Israeli Minister of National Security (Ben Gvir) to reduce the visits of prisoners to their families in the context of racist retaliatory behavior through which he wants to harm the prisoners and their families and violate their basic rights, and in a way that even contradicts Israeli laws and regulations, not only international law. 

Fares adds this measure will transform the conditions of the prisoners' lives into an issue of political conflict and a challenge to the will of the Palestinian people. He pointed that, occupation acts out of sense of failure and frustration.

Fares stressed that the coming days and months will prove that (Ben Gvir) poses a threat to security and stability in the region, as well as a threat to the security of Israel itself.

Palestinian prisoners have announced that they will launch a hunger strike on September 14 in protest of the Israeli far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir's decision on Friday to limit visits to families of Palestinian detainees in Israeli prisons.

Palestinians will only be allowed to visit their families once every two months instead of once a month, according to the new guidelines reported by the Israeli newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth. 

The policy will come into force from Sunday, and will effect 1,600 out of 5,000 Palestinian prisoners.

Yedioth Ahronoth reported that Ben-Gvir made the decision without coordination with the security services, and after clashing with the Commissioner of the Prison Service Katy Perry, who warned him that such a decision to ignite Palestinian opposition on the streets.

Shortly after the announcement, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that any such step will be subject to security clearance next week. 

The Palestinian Minister of Detainees and Ex-Detainees Affairs Qadura Fares condemned the decision for violating "the basic rights of prisoners" in a way that even violates Israeli law. He added that the coming months will "prove that [Ben-Gvir] poses a threat to security and stability in the region, as well as a threat to the security of Israel itself."

Hussein Al-Sheikh, the Secretary of the Executive Committee of the Palestine Liberation Organization, also slammed the "racist" policy, and warned that Ben-Gvir's approach could "explode" the situation on the ground.

The commission said that is considering its next steps in response to the decision, adding that detainees are "in a state of alert."

The Red Cross also expressed its opposition to the move and threatened to resort to international courts if the conditions of the security detainees deteriorated. 

This also comes after Ben-Gvir announced this week that he would abolish the mechanism to release Palestinian detainees in prisons due to overcrowding, which drew criticism from the chief of the Shin Bet security service.

At dawn on Friday, the Israeli occupation forces launched a campaign of raids and arrests in separate areas of the West Bank.

According to local sources, these forces stormed the town of Saida, north of Tulkarm, and arrested the young men, Jamal Ajaj, Imran Raddad, and Ahmed Fanny.

Meanwhile, the young man, Muhammad Obaid, was arrested from the city of Nablus.

The occupation forces stormed the Al-Masaken neighborhood, amidst gunfire, and raided several houses.

In Hebron, the occupation forces arrested the young man, Nour Salibi, after raiding his house in the town of Beit Ummar.

Two Palestinians were injured on Friday night by Israeli occupation forces after they stormed Deir Ammar refugee camp, near Ramallah.

Israeli troops raided the camp in the early hours of the morning, prompting clashes with Palestinians. The occupation forces fired live ammunition and tear gas canisters, injuring two men who were evacuated to hospital.

On Thursday, Israeli forces invaded the family home of the martyr Daoud Dares, who carried out the ramming attack near the Beit Sira checkpoint, west of Ramallah, killing an Israeli soldier and injuring four others.  An Israeli engineer took measurements of the house in preparation for its demolition.

The 413th meeting of the United Nations General Assembly, which convened on Wednesday, August 30, 2023, discussed a study on the legitimacy of the Israeli occupation, prepared by Michael Lynk, the former Special Rapporteur on "The Situation of Human Rights in the Occupied Palestinian Territories", a study that had been requested by the concerned committee on The legitimacy of the Israeli occupation.

In the aforementioned meeting, the Permanent Ambassador of Palestine to the United Nations, Dr. Riyad Mansour, highlighted the "paralysis of the international community and the lack of progress in holding Israel accountable for its actions." He also presented a report on the preparations for the case before the International Court of Justice, which exposes Israel's long-standing illegal practices. Its term and policies that deny the Palestinian people their right to self-determination, "The Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People approved its annual report today."

Mansour declared, “The Palestinian people are angry because of the lack of progress in ending their tragedies. According to the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, the number of Palestinians killed this year has already exceeded the number of those killed in 2022; among them 44 children, however, the Secretary General In his report on children in armed conflict, the General Committee did not include Israel as a country that violates the rights of children," he said.

He pointed out that "the current Israeli government is the most extreme right-wing government in the history of Israeli governments."

One of the ministers, who made a racist statement, also declared that his and his family's right to survival is greater than the Palestinian people's right to movement in the Occupied Palestinian Territory.

The report issued by the United Nations stated that the current Israeli government is working to accelerate the annexation process, especially in the majority area – the so-called Area C – which constitutes about 60 percent of the occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem, while Palestinians face the demolition of their homes, the displacement of families, and the threats against “Masafer Yatta” and other areas in the occupied territory, as well as against the holy sites in occupied East Jerusalem by extremist elements.

Mansour stressed that "settlement is increasing, while the siege of the Gaza Strip continues, which threatens two million people who live in that huge prison made by the occupation," adding: "This is the reality on the ground that we are fighting against."

Mansour once again denounced the paralysis of the international community, including the Security Council, which reiterates principled positions but does not take practical steps to hold Israel accountable and force it to fulfill its obligations under the United Nations Charter and in accordance with resolutions and international law.

He added, "The Palestinian people will never surrender, and they will never raise white flags," pointing out that a number of them take matters into their own hands.

Noting that his delegation was engaged in the follow-up and preparation of documents for submission to the International Court of Justice, he expressed his appreciation to the 58 countries that submitted opinions to the court in support of the argument exposing Israel's long-standing illegal practices and policies that deny the Palestinian people their right to self-determination, and are being Prepare to submit an appeal to the International Court of Justice before 25 October to dismiss the few submissions that attempt to indicate the ongoing political process in which the Court should not interfere.

He also referred to his delegation's participation in the next session of the General Assembly, expressing his hope that the Committee and its members would be at the forefront of advancing the cause of the Palestinian people to obtain their inalienable rights. "Maybe we will soon see some light at the end of the tunnel," he said, expressing his hope that the State of Palestine will soon become a full member of the United Nations system as Member State No. 194.

In turn, Pedro Pedroso (representative of Cuba), Vice-Chairman of the Committee, who currently replaces the Rapporteur of the Committee's Bureau, referred to the "implied extermination of the Palestinian people, their deprivation of their rights and their expulsion from their land in an unacceptable process of ethnic cleansing." However, he said, "Here we are acting as if it is business as usual --- the world is not aware, the media is not reporting what is happening in Palestine, neither is the United Nations or the Security Council."

Michael Link, (former Special Rapporteur), briefed the committee on the study he had prepared at its request on the legitimacy of the Israeli occupation, stressing that "no one can say that the subject was dealt lightly or superficially" in the study, noting that while the Many features of the 56-year-old Israeli occupation are illegal in themselves, the main aim of the study is to answer the question of whether the occupation itself is illegal and, if so, to determine the consequences for Israel and the international community.

Link said: "The concept of illegal occupation is not a new idea in international law, as the United Nations stated that South Africa's rule of Namibia, Portugal's rule of Guinea-Bissau and Israel's occupation of the Palestinian territories are illegal occupations."

He pointed out that the study highlights three peremptory rules that can determine whether the occupation is illegal, including whether the occupying state has moved to annex any part of the occupied territory; whether that authority violated the right to self-determination of the occupied people; whether that power instituted policies of discrimination or apartheid in the occupied territories, the violation of any of these standards would indicate that the occupation had become unlawful; Violating these three criteria will be conclusive evidence of this illegality, and the study concludes that Israel - as the occupying power - "flagrantly violates these three criteria, and therefore is a bad faith occupier."

He also pointed out that the study found many similarities between the situation in the State of Palestine today and the apartheid rule in South Africa over Namibia 50 years ago.

Given the illegality of its occupation, Israel is obligated to withdraw from the Occupied Palestinian Territory immediately and completely.

He stressed that these are strong results, pointing out that the study deals with the questions that will be raised before the International Court of Justice.

He added that the report will also resonate in political, diplomatic and intellectual circles around the world because it is one of the most comprehensive reports ever published by the United Nations on occupation, decolonization and self-determination.

The Iranian Ministry of Defense announced that it had thwarted an attempt to "sabotage" its missile program, behind which a network linked to Israel was located, and arrested a number of those involved, according to the official media on Thursday.

The IRNA news agency described the attempt as "the largest industrial sabotage operation targeting the missile and space industries of the Ministry of Defense and Armed Forces Support," quoting an unnamed ministry official.

"In recent months, a completely professional network, in cooperation with some hackers, planned to introduce defective parts into the advanced missile production ring of the Missile Industries of the Ministry of Defense," this official added.

It explained, "This network sought, under direct guidance from the (Israeli foreign intelligence) Mossad, to convert the missiles produced by selling the equipped parts into explosive devices to strike industrial lines and employees working in this field," stressing "the arrest of the elements of this sabotage network and the neutralization of its operations." , without providing additional details.

The official pointed out that the intelligence operation "is the most complex in recent years, and the Zionist entity suffered a complete failure by thwarting its plan."

The agency quoted Deputy Defense Minister Mehdi Riahi as saying that members of the network tried to "plant explosives" in the missiles so that they would "explode at a specific time and place."

The Islamic Republic accused its archenemies Israel and the United States of being behind a series of attempts to sabotage its nuclear and missile programs over the past years. Likewise, it accuses it of being responsible for the assassinations and attempts to assassinate scientists and experts involved in such programs that raise the concern of Western countries.

In January, Iran accused the Hebrew state of being behind an attempt to target a Ministry of Defense facility in Isfahan province, in the center of the country.

For its part, the United States and Israel accuse Iran of using its production of missiles and drones to target American forces and commercial ships linked to Israel in the Gulf waters and countries in the region.

Today, Thursday, a 40-year-old woman was killed in a shooting attack inside a residential apartment in Haifa.

According to local sources, the woman was critically injured and later died after her first resuscitation operations failed.

Another woman, who was accompanied by her, was seriously injured and was taken to Rambam Hospital for further treatment.

Washington – A senior U.S. official said that President Joe Biden's administration is "concerned" about the recent rise in violence in the occupied West Bank and Israel on Thursday, and called on both sides to de-escalate.

The official, who asked not to be named, responded to Al-Quds' query about the Human Rights Watch report issued last Sunday, which charged that Israeli occupation authorities are killing Palestinian children without any accountability, by stating that the administration is urging both parties to work to avoid violence against innocent citizens, and to create an atmosphere that would facilitate a two-state solution.

The Human Rights Watch report found that Israel had killed the highest number of children in almost two decades, with 34 Palestinian children killed in the occupied West Bank so far this year, and has provided little recourse for justice for these killings. 

Israeli occupation forces arrested Palestinians and seized textbooks from the Palestinian curriculum in the occupied city of Jerusalem on Thursday.

Local sources said that Israeli intelligence forces confiscated textbooks en route to a private school that teaches the Palestinian curriculum in the Old City of occupied Jerusalem, and detained the driver and a school employee.

The confiscation was condemned by Palestinian Authority's Jerusalem Governorate as a "new racist attack against Palestinian schools."

They stressed the "right of our people to education, and to choose their own curricula as guaranteed by international conventions, as they are a people under occupation with the recognition of the international community."

The Jerusalem Governorate called on the international community to take action against this case, and the broader attempts by the occupation authorities to "Judaize" the Arab curriculums in Jerusalem.

Today, Thursday, a young man and a woman were shot, and dozens suffocated during clashes with the Israeli occupation forces, in Deir Ammar camp, west of Ramallah.

Today, Thursday, the Israeli occupation forces arrested a citizen Yasser Abu Amra from Jericho at a military checkpoint while severely beaten him and smashed his car's windows, before arresting him

Today, Thursday, the Prisoners Club reported that about (70) administrative detainees in the occupation prisons continue their boycott of the occupation military courts, in the framework of confronting the systematic crime of administrative detention, which the occupation authorities continue to escalate, by arresting hundreds of our people under the pretext of having a (secret file) Where the number of administrative detainees exceeded more than 1,200, and this number is the highest since the years of the Al-Aqsa Uprising.

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The  Prisoners Club  renewed its call for the need to re-evaluate the continuity of dealing with the occupation judicial system, specifically in the case of administrative detention.

Today, Thursday, the Israeli occupation authorities notified the demolition of 9 houses in Al-Bustan neighborhood, south of Al-Aqsa Mosque.

It is noteworthy that the Al-Bustan neighborhood is threatened with demolition completely by the occupation municipality in Jerusalem, and it includes 116 homes, and approximately 1,500 people live in it.

One Israeli solider was killed and five more people were injured on Thursday morning in a Palestinian ramming attack at a West Bank checkpoint, west of Ramallah. 

The Palestinian truck driver was shot and killed at a second checkpoint, Hashmonaim checkpoint, as he tried to flee.

He was identified by Israeli media as a 41-year-old Daoud Abdel Razak Faiz, who held a permit to work inside Israel. 

The Palestinian Authority's demands to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia in the event of normalization process with Israel were revealed by the American outlet Axios on Thursday. 

The proposals, expressed by Secretary of the Executive Committee of the PLO Hussein Al-Sheikh, include shifting Israeli control in Areas B and C of the occupied West Bank to joint Israeli and Palestinian control, a Saudi consulate and the reopening of the U.S. consulate for the Palestinians in East Jerusalem, an immediate settlement freeze, and backing UN recognition of Palestine as a state

It is expected, however, that Israel's right-wing coalition would reject these demands outright.

The Palestinian Authority also requested Saudi aid, which has already been discussed.

Several Palestinians were arrested and injured in dawn raids on Thursday by Israeli occupation forces across the West Bank. 

In the early hours of the morning, Israeli occupation forces escorted 1,500 settlers to Joseph's Tomb, near Nablus. Palestinian arrived at the scene to confront the convoy, and injured one IDF officer and three soldiers with an explosive device. 

In ensuing clashes, a Palestinian man was moderately wounded by live ammunition, while four others were wounded by rubbet-coated bullets and dozens more by tear gas.

Israelli forces also detained former prisoners Alaa Al-Araj and Omar Al-Shakhshir from the Nablus Governorate.

Seven Palestinians were arrested in the town of Zababdeh, near Jenin, while another incursion in the nearby town of Kafr Dan saw one Palestinian arrested and another suffering from a foot injury during clashes with occupation forces.

The arrest raids extended to several other areas in the West Bank. In the Ramallah Governorate, one man was arrested in Beitunia and three more were detained in Barqa, One man was also arrested in Jericho, and another from Jerusalem. In Hebron, three Palestinians were arrested, including two ex-prisoners.

The Israeli army announced on Thursday that an IDF officer and three soldiers were wounded by an explosive device that was set off against a military convoy protecting Jewish worshippers going to Joseph's Tomb, near the West Bank city of Nablus.

The military spokesman said that the convoy was brought in to secure the entrance of 1,500 settlers to Joseph's Tomb.

Among the worshippers was extremist Israeli lawmaker Zvi Succot. 

Beilinson Hospital in the central Israel city of Petah Tikva reported that one of the soldiers was moderately wounded, while the others were lightly wounded.

A 14-year-old Palestinian was shot dead after he reportedly stabbed an Israeli man by the light rail in occupied Jerusalem on Wednesday night.

The Israeli man was moderately wounded in the stabbing, after which an off-duty police officer shot the minor dead.

Later in the evening, a group of Israeli settlers attacked Palestinian vehicles in the city.

According to local sources, settlers threw stones at Palestinian cars, which smashed the windows of a number of passing vehicles.

A young man was wounded, this evening, Wednesday, by Israeli occupation forces, in the town of Azzun, east of Qalqilya. The young man was shot in the neck by those forces.

Today, Wednesday, the Israeli occupation forces forced a Palestinian Jerusalemite to demolish his house overlooking the Holy Al-Aqsa Mosque in the Old City of occupied Jerusalem.

According to local sources, the occupation municipality forced Jaafar from Haret Al-Saadiya to self-demolish his house, under the pretext of building without a permit.

Today, Wednesday, the Israeli occupation authorities renewed administrative detention orders against former Jerusalem Minister Khaled Abu Arafa and Jerusalemite MP Ahmed Atoun for a new four-month period, for the second time in a row.

It is noteworthy that Israel continues to escalate the crime of administrative detention, by issuing more new arrest warrants against new and former detainees.

Note that since the beginning of this year, the occupation has issued more than 2,200 administrative detention orders.

Palestinian security forces shot dead a young man from Tulkarm refugee camp in the northern West Bank on Wednesday. 

According to Major General Talal Dweikat of the Palestinian Security Forces, forces arrived at the scene to remove "dangerous material" from the camp after they received several complaints from institutions and individuals.

Local sources said that Dweikat's comments referred to barricades set up by resistance group to hinder incursions by Israeli occupation forces.

Once they arrived at the camp, altercations took place between the security forces and residents, leading the PSF to fire tear gas, and eventually transforming into armed clashes. Dweikat said that the situation "threatened civil peace" and "necessitated intervention."

The victim was identified as 22-year-old Abdul Qadir Zakdah. 

Israeli occupation forces injured a Palestinian youth on Wednesday evening near Hebron after claiming that he was trying to carry out a ramming attack against a group of soldiers. The condition of the Palestinian is not yet known.

None of the soldiers were reportedly injured in the incident near the Beit Hagai settlement, south of Hebron.

Britain added to its unforgivable record and history against the Palestinian Arab people a sin, rather a new crime against it. After the ominous Balfour Declaration for which it did not apologize to this day and did not bear its responsibility, the implementation of the British Mandate over Palestine in a manner loyal to the Jews, Partition Resolution No. The weak resolution of Resolution No. 242 of 1967 through its delegate, Lord Karadon, and its opposition to the advisory opinion of the International Court of Justice in the 2004 wall case, even submitting a legal review against it, and its refusal to apply the universal mandate regarding war crimes and against humanity to Tzipi Livni, the Israeli Minister of Foreign Affairs and others, and even to amend the law that affects them, Instead of urging the International Criminal Court and its Attorney General Karim Khan, the British, to pursue the Israeli perpetrators for being a member of its charter, and instead of the British government taking the initiative to recognize the Palestinian state and supporting it in obtaining membership in the United Nations, instead of all that, the British government, as a friend of the entity, presents a lengthy review of more than Forty pages, rejecting in advance any role of the International Court of Justice in the request made by the United Nations General Assembly to clarify the legal effects and consequences of the Israeli occupation on other countries.

It seems that Britain, the colonial empire, is still nostalgic for its colonial role that denies the legitimate rights of peoples, including the Palestinian people, and stands in solidarity with them. Hence its suspicious role by submitting a lengthy memorandum to the International Court of Justice in the Hague rejecting the entire matter, misleading it and distorting the request itself, even though it is not a party to the dispute or the case. As if the colloquial proverb says with fullness, “Who steps on her tail?” applies to its request, meaning its not her job. Note that it had initially refused to refer the matter to the International Court of Justice, when it voted against it in the United Nations General Assembly on the thirtieth of December of last year.

Although the talk is about a legal advisory opinion of the International Court of Justice, regarding the consequences of the long-term Israeli occupation, and not about a binding judicial ruling of the Court regarding the occupied territories. That is, the talk is about a non-binding decision and its moral effect, the British government refuses and insists on committing the sin and forbids It is wrong and resolutely rejects even the mere fact that a legal advisory opinion is issued showing the effects of the Israeli occupation of the occupied Palestinian territories, and would be an additional legal reference for the Palestinian cause and a legal support for it.

The argument of the British government, friendly to the entity, in its reading that the International Court of Justice in The Hague in the Netherlands, is not in its ability to examine the broad and complex issues between the two conflicting parties, and that the court's advisory opinion will complicate the matter, and that it will undermine the negotiations and that it is inappropriate. An excuse worse than a sin. The author of the British memorandum to the court forgot or overlooked that the role of the court is to adjudicate in all matters pertaining to international peace and security and to adjudicate on issues regulated by the Charter of the United Nations and/or treaties and agreements in force.

Glory be to Allah, a court composed of fifteen judges from all over the world, representing its civilizations, values and principles, entrusted to it by the United Nations Charter to resolve international disputes (Articles 92, 93 and 94 of the United Nations Charter), Britain claims that this international court is unable to resolve this dispute due to its length, breadth and complexity. Who will solve it then, the united kingdom? And what is the reference and support for resolving this dispute, the British? Is it strength, is it the alleged divine promise, is it the Torah or religious books, is it financial strength, is it the principles of evangelical Christianity, is it financial ability, is it the whiteness of skin, is it acceptance of homosexuality or what? In disputes always and never, legal rules resolve factual disputes. That is, the reference for resolving any dispute, small or large, internal or international, financial, familial, water, maritime, territorial, criminal, is the legal rules only and not the desires or inclinations of the parties. So why not apply these general rules to the Palestinian cause and to apply them in turn to the Argentine Falkland Islands, which are thousands of kilometers away from the British Isles?

The Charter of the International Court of Justice in The Hague, from the moment of its approval immediately after the Second World War, did not leave the foundations for resolving international disputes to lean, mood, philosophy, vacuum, diligence, political color or military force, and did not work to ignore or circumvent it. But rather confronted and codified it in Article 38 of that Charter exclusively that stated, international treaties and their covenants, international custom, rules of international law, principles of law in civilized countries, senior jurists in international law, and court decisions are sources of resolving international disputes.

Accordingly, it is no longer acceptable for the sinful British policy or the pragmatic American policy to constitute a source for resolving the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, regardless of the strength of the two states. However, it is acceptable and required that the Fourth Geneva Convention of 1949, for example, which is full of neutral rules of international humanitarian law, constitute a source for resolving the conflict. An agreement that has become part of customary international law in the world is rejected in the eyes of the British, while breaching it and its principles, rules and fundamentals by the Israelis, which are war crimes, is accepted by the British. The British had to stand firmly against the Israeli violations in accordance with the first article of this agreement, which was ratified by Britain and became part of British customary law. Britain should have respected and ensured respect for this agreement in all circumstances.

And this example must be measured, for example, the Charter of the United Nations, the Declaration of Independence and Control over Natural Resources of 1960, the Charter of Civil and Political Rights of 1966, the Declaration of Friendly Relations of 1970, and the Charter of the International Criminal Court of 1998 are rules of international law in times of peace and war, which were endorsed the decisions and rulings of the International Court of Justice and the Nuremburg and Tokyo Tribunals for war criminals, were guided by the books of jurists of public international law and human rights.

Unfortunately, the news of the submission of the British memorandum to the registrar of the International Court of Justice passed quietly and without fuss, noise or condemnation, and in fact it should not pass like this, until Britain and other countries that reject the role of the International Court of Justice know that there is a Palestinian, Arab and human opinion, and there are organizations Human rights, and there are peoples and intellectuals who reject the despicable British role in the International Court of Justice. Enough of humiliation and welcoming the symbols of British diplomacy,  visiting its embassies, and receiving its envoys.

Countries interested in Palestinian human rights should protest against the increasing British role in favor of Zionism, and we call on countries and international human rights organizations to submit memorandums to the International Court of Justice supporting the right of the International Court to issue an advisory opinion on the legal consequences of the Israeli occupation of Palestinian lands. The disaster is not the injustice of the evil people, but the silence of the good people. International justice is indivisible, and when the law ends, tyranny begins.

I know it's really hard to keep a big secret. Even more so when you are a politician and have to publicize your success so that the public will remember your name. There are people, for example, in the intelligence community whose whole life is basically one big secret. Sometimes she has a second identity. They live in other countries. They meet people and open contacts with countries that do not have diplomatic relations with the country they belong to. Well, politicians are not part of the intelligence community. Sometimes it's hard to realize how unintelligent they are.

Direct covert back channels are the juice of diplomacy. It is the hard work of diplomats especially from a country located in a region where open diplomatic relations are far from the norm. These direct secret back channels are difficult to open.

It is based on a long process of building trust and can be destroyed with a single leak beyond what was agreed upon. I know some diplomats from here and other countries who have spent their lives opening secret back channels directly. I know people in the intelligence community who did, too. They will never talk about their work publicly, even after they retire. I have never been a diplomat nor worked for any intelligence organization. I can talk about what I've done in the past. I have been running secret back channels between Israelis and Palestinians since 1989. I have run dozens of them. Recently, a senior Likud MK rejected my invitation to participate in a secret back channel at the request of senior PA officials, saying, "In Israel, it is impossible to keep anything a secret." My answer, based on my experience, is that as long as the participants themselves are interested in keeping it a secret, it will remain a secret. At the moment I am running three secret channels and hope to start another soon. I had been running a secret back channel with Hamas for one week after Gilad Shalit was withdrawn to Gaza in June 2006. Throughout the five years and four months he spent in captivity, there were times when Israeli government officials would use the secret back channel as a means of relaying messages to Hamas leadership. Hamas has often used this back channel to pass messages to Israel. From April 2011 until Gilad's return to his "homeland" in mid-October 2011, this channel was official and supported by senior Israeli national security officials. Prime Minister Netanyahu gave his support to this channel on the condition that it remain confidential. It worked, and as a result, Gilad Shalit returned home.

And Israeli Foreign Minister Eli Cohen could not keep the secret. Secret channels are the cornerstone of successful diplomacy. The current relations between Israel and the UAE are the result of 30 years of direct, covert back channels. Successful covert back channels always contained the necessary deniability that enabled participants to avoid questions and inquiries. The Oslo negotiations took place as a direct, secret back channel, and whether you think the original agreement, or the Declaration of Principles, was good or bad, there is no denying that a détente between Israel and the Palestinians could not have been achieved without a direct, secret back channel. The United States and the Soviet Union established direct, secret back channels for years that enabled arms control and arms reduction agreements. The United States and Iran implemented covert direct back channels (and continue to do so) that enabled the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) in 2015, in which Prime Minister Netanyahu persuaded President Trump to withdraw from exposing Israel and the world to a much greater risk of a nuclear Iran. This deal, with all its flaws, made the world a safer place and limited Iran's ability to get where it is today (without the deal). This agreement would never have happened without the direct secret back channel. The Israeli-Egyptian peace agreement would not have happened without the secret back channel in Morocco between Foreign Minister Moshe Dayan and Egyptian Deputy Prime Minister Hassan al-Tohamy. There are plenty of examples of how direct secret back channels work and how they can eventually turn into open direct channels with full diplomatic relations.
All the successes of these and many other secret, little-known and unreported back channels make it even more difficult to understand why Foreign Minister Eli Cohen had to reveal his secret conversations with Libyan Foreign Minister Naglaa al-Mangoush, endangering her life and bringing a swift end to the conflict. This channel that had the potential to lead to something much bigger and more important than some secret meeting. The bottom line is that Foreign Minister Eli Cohen has proven that he should not be Israel's foreign minister (or any minister), and if we had a responsible prime minister, he would immediately dismiss Eli Cohen from his position in the Israeli government.

After the last two operations in Hawara and Hebron, in which three settlers were killed and three others were injured, the security and military systems did not acknowledge the failure of the political system to address the tension in the West Bank as a whole, and to develop radical solutions by recognizing all the rights of the Palestinian people, including their right to self-determination. Rather, they were led by Netanyahu's distortion of the compass about the ability of the Palestinians to confront the occupier, to cause him pain, and to threaten the future of the entire settlement in the West Bank, attributing the matter to Iran directing such operations and financing them with weapons and money. It is as if the Palestinians cannot resist or do not have the ability to carry out commando operations unless Iran permits it. A miserable occupation attempt to exploit the Iranian file to serve Netanyahu’s personal goals of overcoming the opposition and portraying that his entity is under threat, which requires unifying efforts and ranks between the opposition and the coalition so that his government can confront the challenges and implement its Judaization programs and plans to resolve the conflict in the West Bank and Jerusalem without Palestinian resistance that obstructs and overthrows these programs and distracts them. The security and military systems are trying to restore calm and stability without paying political prices or making political concessions to the Palestinians.

The Hebrew media is raising a serious campaign of incitement to assassinate Hamas and Islamic Jihad leaders. Yesterday, the Hebrew newspaper, Yedioth Ahronoth, published an inciting report on the assassination of Al-Arouri, describing him as a "deadly man." It considered him the most dangerous person and the most important person in Hamas abroad. The report said that the man holds all the strings in the West Bank, and he is the one who threatened two days ago that the return of the occupation to the policy of assassinations would lead to a regional war with multiple arenas. The newspaper considered that the occupying state is mainly interested in his assassination, and said that Al-Arouri is one of the authors of the guerrilla agenda in the West Bank, and this is what made him very close to the axis that sees the West Bank and Jerusalem as central tools in its struggle against occupation. The Hebrew media said that the sources in the security and military system accuse Al-Arouri of giving the green light to Hamas men in Lebanon to fire rockets at the northern settlements of the occupying state last Ramadan, which contributed to breaking the deterrence system between the occupying state and Lebanon.

Netanyahu directed an explicit threat to Al-Arouri, head of the Hamas movement's office in the West Bank, and said that he and his movement were behind a series of recent attacks against Israel. At the outset of his cabinet meeting, he added, "Those who try to harm us and finance the commando operations and stand behind these operations will pay a heavy price." Netanyahu sent important messages to the Israeli public, taking advantage of these events, and said, "These are not easy days, they are full of challenges, and we must unite our forces against what he called terrorism and against Crime in Arab society and against external and internal threats organized by Iran to a large extent, we will stand together and defeat them." Netanyahu, at this stage, is preparing the Israeli public for a battle that may be prolonged and is suggesting to them that he will do everything he can to deter Hamas and the Jihad, but at the same time he is maneuvering and trying through mediators not to reach this battle because its results are unknown to him and may bring negative political results at the level of the Israeli internal scene and on the level of the relationship with Gaza , if he gets out of this war without achieving great goals that lead to a long calm in Gaza and the West Bank. At the same time he manages to divert the resistance of Gaza from the West Bank and ensures that none of Hamas and Jihad will interfere in the resistance work there.

The mediators did not stop their efforts, especially Egypt, which has been making efforts over the past days and at the present time to defuse any possible confrontation, which received heated messages from both sides, and built its efforts on the basis of what is considered the most dangerous of these messages. Haaretz said, "Israel has informed the Egyptian mediator that it has washed its hands." of all the recent understandings that were concluded with the factions, especially the Islamic Jihad Movement, which led to stopping Israel’s aggression last May, which stipulated the cessation of assassinations.” Sources had reported that many messages had reached the leaderships of Hamas and Jihad from more than one source, stating that the occupying state was going the direction of carrying out aggressive military action against them and that they should take caution. Efforts are faltering because the demands of the occupying state are beyond the impossible. It demands a long-term calm in Gaza and demands that the resistance in Gaza be neutralized from any resistance action in the West Bank, whether it is supplying the resistance men with money or weapons or directing the implementation of any resistance actions without the occupying state giving any political or non-political price. Therefore, it only wants by force to conclude humiliating understandings for the Palestinian resistance, and this is what complicates the scene and may lead to a major confrontation.

It seems that the decision to return to the assassinations was taken in the mini-cabinet on the eve of the Hebron operation, and the occupying state is proceeding in the stage of collecting and updating intelligence information about some of the senior figures in the two movements, especially Al-Arouri in Beirut. Perfect, but this failed so far after the Lebanese intelligence and Hezbollah elements arrested a Mossad man and his wife who were collecting information in the southern suburbs about the whereabouts of Mr. Al-Arouri on Lebanese soil. The occupying power is preparing for a sudden strike that opens this confrontation, starting with the assassination of several people at the same time in Gaza and Lebanon, and through which it assures the Israelis that it has achieved the required deterrence, and then the confrontation will take place for several days before the mediators reach a new cease-fire. This is the expected scenario, but the unexpected may be the severity of the Palestinian resistance's response to such an act, which will surely surprise the security and military systems of the occupying state.
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I asked the leader, Yasser Arafat, why do you not like holding general conferences for Fatah, and sometimes delaying their convening for decades?

Answer: The Fatah conference is tired in preparing for its convening, and more tired in dealing with its results.

 I asked him... tired in preparation. these are understandable, but more tired in its results, this is what needs an explanation from you.

He replied: I spend a lot of time taming the successful and a longer time appeasing those who did not succeed, and sometimes matters reached divisions and defections.

 I said.. But there is no normal and effective political movement that does not hold periodic conferences to renew its leadership and programs, so why does Fatah seem to be an exception to this law by which political parties and movements are governed?

 Answer: Fatah is neither a party nor a movement. It is a broad popular movement with multiple tendencies, stances, and backgrounds. That is why I fear for it from its conferences.

 Despite this, general conferences of the movement had to be held, with or without Arafat's consent. Fatah held several conferences in exile, and held two conferences on the homeland during the era of the Authority, and if you asked everyone who participated in the two conferences and those who did not participate, their answer would be the same: “These were two conferences that did not stop the state of the accelerating decline in the status and status of the movement.” And when Fatah retreats, the state of the homeland recedes and the cause itself.

  Now that Fatah is supposed to address a host of internal and national issues and provide ways out of them, we see it more preoccupied with its internal competitive conflicts, which has resulted in widespread marginalization of the majority of its members at all grassroots and leadership levels, and in addition to the army of the marginalized, which is the army of the majority, there are overt and hidden divisions and splits. To the extent that it entered the general election arrangements before it was canceled on several lists. In addition to the divisions that have become widespread in its official structure, the result of this is the failure of many by-elections, even in places that were closed centers of influence for it. The scope is limited if we talk in detail about the deterioration of its condition, as the matter is acknowledged by those who occupy titles, and I do not say leadership positions, or those who are outside labels and frameworks.

 It was finally decided that the eighth conference will be held at the end of this year, and apart from the debate about whether it will be held at all or not, the assumption that it will actually be held at the specified time, leads us to ask questions? Will it be a conference that will remove the historical movement from its deep and many dilemmas? Or will it be a reproduction of the two previous conferences held in Bethlehem and Ramallah?

  I do not want to pre-empt matters and specify a definitive answer to the big question, but the situation can be dealt with in a preliminary way by discussing what Fatah needs in order for its forthcoming conference to be effective in getting it out of the deep impasse.

My judgment: It needs a unifying conference that takes on the character and function of the founding conference. A conference that abolishes the phenomenon of marginalization, exclusion. A conference that discusses political options and mechanisms for their implementation. A conference that is not controlled by obsessions about the succession as if it is hereditary, a conference whose members are not chosen according to the method of pre-sharing votes, nor by the method of mobilizing supporters and placing names in their hands to put them in boxes, a conference to which hundreds of observers from all over the world are invited, and a committee participates in supervising its Central elections, and there is no harm in that if the organizational procedures and arrangements are sound and elaborate. Rather, it is a necessity to provide credibility to the Palestinian people and the world that Fatah led with a solid and unified internal situation, a clear political vision, and a justly and correctly elected leadership.  Whoever says that this is not possible and works to perpetuate the status quo in its worst form as the only possibility, does not want good for Fatah, the cause, or the national struggle.  It is a pivotal test, that it be a conference for all of Fatah, and not for what remains of it and within it, and this is not impossible for an ancient movement to do.  The healthy national and democratic Fatah is in the interest of its people first, its Arab brothers, its supporters and those betting on it all over the world. Let it start with itself in order to be worthy of the support and adoption of others for it and for what it represents.

Opposition Israeli lawmaker Gilad Kariv met with leading figures in the Palestinian Authority in Ramallah on Tuesday evening, according to the Israeli broadcaster Channel 12.

Kariv reportedly met with close associates of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, Fatah leaders and civil society figures. 

He received permission from the Israeli army to visit Ramallah, and was provided with strict protection from Palestinian security forces once inside the West Bank city.

Kariv stressed the importance of continued security cooperation between the Palestinian Authority and Israel. He added that the meeting took place with "good spirits," and hoped that there will be more in the near future.

The Labor lawmaker's office said that Abbas' associates expressed concerns about the radicalization of Palestinian youth as a response to Israel's extremist government, claiming that "Smotrich is a gift from God" for Hamas.

Kariv's office said that pictures of the meeting were not published due to objections from the Palestinian side.

According to Kariv, the purpose of the meeting was to "renew dialogue" between moderate Israeli and Palestinian leaders to present an alternative vision to "the annexation reality" presented by the Netanyahu government.

In my life, I have met more than 18 Arab and Islamic heads of state on various occasions, and I listened to some of them closely, and many of them did not impress me, but King Hussein (may God have mercy on him) had an aspect that distinguished him from others, which is his humility, wisdom, and human nature in his dealings with people.

In fact, there was more than one situation in which I touched the manifestations of these dimensions in the personality of the king, and I may begin by mentioning two scenes that I lived through myself, and another that I followed closely.

In 1994, King Hussein was on a visit to Washington, and the embassy invited a number of community leaders to meet with him. My friend Atef Dalkamouni and I entered the Four Seasons Hotel where the King stayed. We were preceded by personalities from the Jordanian and Arab communities. His Majesty entered the meeting hall smiling and saluting everyone with his hands. He delivered a welcoming speech in which he thanked the audience in a language of high politeness and good manners. Then he spoke for about twenty minutes about politics and the Palestinian issue, as it is Jordan's first issue. king, government and people.

Before leaving, there was an arrangement for everyone to pass by to greet the king.. The guests of the meeting, dignitaries and legal personalities, lined up and started moving to greet the king and his family.

I was watching the scene closely, and I had an idea in my mind trying to find a suitable conclusion for it.. The protocol required that the guest extend his hand in peace and then leave, making room for the one behind him.

Before we went to meet the king, my friend Atef told me about a number of well-known human attitudes about the king, which reflect his kindness, humility, vigil, and follow-up to the conditions of his people. In this regard, he mentioned to me a story that happened to him personally when the king met in Washington with Dr. Kamel al-Sharif in the summer of 1993, saying: I will not forget that meeting as long as I live, for the scene of the king's humility and humanity, and his question about my sick father and interest in his treatment had a great impact on my soul.

Going to your majesty.. you have arrived!!
While the line of those who offered peace was getting closer and closer to the podium on which the king and his family were standing, I whispered in the ear of my friend Atef, saying: What do you think that we raise the issue of our brother Moein before the king? Detained by the security services in Amman? He nodded his head in agreement. Brother Mueen is one of the Palestinian youth studying in America and sympathizing with the Hamas movement. He went to visit his family in Jordan, and he was arrested and interrogated there. We have heard that he was subjected to humiliating torture in detention, and no one knows what awaits him after the investigation.

On account of these fears for his life, I resolved to present his case to the King, but the challenge was time, for I had but a few seconds.

I decided to be the last to greet the king. Perhaps that would give me extra seconds.. My mind was preoccupied with how to present the novel, and what I could say to win the king's sympathy with the issue.. I delegated my affairs to God, and left it to the forgiveness of the mind and the diligence of the moment.
Words kept coming and going on my tongue, as I counted the time in seconds. My turn is approaching, and I am the last one in the line, and therefore I will be the last to shake hands with the King in this meeting.

Suddenly, I found myself in front of the King face to face. I was calm, as this is not the first time that I have met a leader or head of state of this weight. You have all our appreciation and respect, and we have a friend from our community who was arrested a month ago in Amman, and we hope for your generosity to quickly release him.. The King asked me: What is his name? I said: Moein...and I forgot the last name. The king appreciated that, and said to one of the attendants: Take his name and address to communicate with him.. Indeed; We left in a corner of the hall, where I presented him with my identity card, and on it was my name, address, work, and the full name of my brother, Moein, and we went back to the hall, where coffee and Jordanian sweets were waiting for us.

After the end of the meeting ceremony, we left the hotel, and on the way, the puzzled question on my tongue was: Do you see that the king pays attention to this issue? Atef said with confidence while smiling: Good news, brother Ahmed. Three days passed after that meeting, and if news arrived from Amman that brother "Mu'in" had been released.

Our joy was overwhelming, and I really felt that we had accomplished something great behind this meeting, in which my friend was credited.
Dr.. Musa Abu Marzouk in Raghadan Palace!!

The second scene was during the arrest of Dr. Musa Abu Marzouk is in America, and we were trying to reach the King as a defense committee, to appeal to him to mediate for his release, as he has close friendship with the American administration and President Clinton.

was dr. Fayez Al-Tarawneh; The Jordanian ambassador in Washington, D.C., who was the one we were communicating with, and the man was interested and interacted with us, and he promised Sister Nadia Al-Ashi; Dr.'s wife. Abu Marzouk, to make it easy for her to meet the King if health conditions permit, as the King - at that time - was in America for treatment.

The Defense Committee sent Dr. Abu Marzouk "Bouquet of Flowers" in the name of Sister Nadia, in which she wishes the king recovery, health and wellness, and expresses her desire to meet him. The answer came through His Excellency Ambassador Al-Tarawneh that the message had been received, that His Majesty was following up on the file, and that he would meet her when his health condition improved.

After Netanyahu's retraction of the request to extradite d. Abu Marzouk to Israel, there is no longer any justification for his continued detention, and the case was transferred to the Department of Immigration and Nationality, where it was agreed that he would be released in return for giving up his permanent residency card and not returning to America.

D. was deported. Abu Marzouk to Jordan in May 1997, when his family joined him there. In Jordan, Dr. Abu Marzouq was invited to meet the King and his wife at Raghadan Palace. The king shook hands with Dr. Abu Marzouq greeted his wife, and leaned caressing the child "Ruba" with some words.. After the meeting ended, Dr. left. Abu Marzouk and his minor family, with the king's welcome to him to reside in Jordan as long as he wants. That meeting was a generous gesture of loyalty from the King, as if he was saying to Sister Nadia: This is what we promised you in Washington.

The other scene that is not forgotten in our memory as Palestinians is that strong position of King Hussein, after the failed Mossad attempt to assassinate Mr. Khaled Meshaal, head of the Political Bureau in 1997.. where the king called President Clinton, and asked him to help provide treatment for Meshaal, telling him: If he dies Meshaal, a catastrophe will befall Jordan. Clinton personally asked Israel to provide accurate details about the poison that was used in the attempt to kill Meshaal.. Channel 1 of Israeli television said that Netanyahu had sent a private doctor to Amman with the "antidote", which made it possible to save Meshaal's life and heal him completely.

The king was angry at that Israeli insolence and audacity to insult Jordan, and his position was strong in criticizing Netanyahu, and his message to him came with a lot of threats and intimidation.

In the context of placating King Hussein, Israel released Sheikh Ahmed Yassin, and treatment was provided for him in Jordan. The king personally visited him in the hospital to check on his safety, and to provide everything necessary during his stay in Jordan.

Arab wise..
May God have mercy on King Hussein, for he was one of the pillars of wisdom in this nation, even if there were differing points of view regarding some policies and positions. His charisma and attitudes made him loved by all his people. May God have mercy on King Hussein, and accept him among the righteous among his servants.

Israeli occupation forces detained seven Palestinians on Wednesday in the occupied Jerusalem neighborhood of Al-Issawiya.

According to the Palestinian Prisoners Affairs Authority, Israeli forces raided the homes of the seven young men and took them for interrogation.

The detainees were identified as Ibrahim Abu Shammala, Mahmoud Wissam Abu al-Hummus, Hamza Khalil al-Tamimi, Muhammad Salih al-Tamimi, Nassim Abu al-Hummus, and Mahmoud Abu al-Hummus.