JERUSALEM: US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Wednesday urged Israeli leaders to factor all parties into a proposed de facto annexation of the occupied West Bank so that it squares with Washington’s plan for Israeli-Palestinian peace.
During a one-day visit to Israel, Pompeo also took another swipe at China over what he said was Beijing’s lack of transparency during the coronavirus crisis.
Pompeo held talks with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his political rival turned designated coalition partner Benny Gantz, a day before the inauguration of their new government.
The new government plans in July to begin debating extending sovereignty to Israeli settlements and the strategic Jordan Valley in the West Bank, territory Israel captured in a 1967 war and that Palestinians seek for a future state.
In an interview with the Israel Hayom newspaper, where he was quoted in Hebrew, Pompeo said West Bank annexation was an Israeli decision that Netanyahu and Gantz have a right to make.
But appearing to caution against the move, he said the leaders had also discussed many other issues related to it — how to deal with all parties involved, and how to make sure the move is done properly to bring about an outcome in accordance with US President Donald Trump’s Middle East plan.
The Palestinians have rejected Trump’s plan, under which the vast majority of West Bank settlements would be incorporated into “contiguous Israeli territory.”
The plan envisages a Palestinian state under near-complete Israeli security control, made up of stretches of land in the West Bank, as well as the Gaza Strip on the Mediterranean coast and two expanses of territory in Israel’s southern Negev desert.
President Mahmoud Abbas has rejected it as offering the Palestinians a “Swiss cheese” state.
VIOLENCE
The Palestinians deem Israel’s settlements illegal under international law, as do most world powers. Israel and the Trump administration dispute that view.
With Palestinian leaders warning that annexation could imperil the already limited cooperation between the sides, there has been a spike in violence in the West Bank.
On Wednesday, Israeli forces killed a Palestinian teenager during a raid near the city of Hebron, the Palestinian Health Ministry said. The Israeli military said Palestinians had thrown rocks and fire-bombs at the soldiers, slightly injuring one of them.
A day earlier, a Palestinian rock-thrower killed an Israeli soldier who was taking part in an arrest raid near Jenin city.
The Palestinians have tried to rally European states to oppose any Israeli annexation, as France pushes for the European Union to consider punitive economic measures should Israel declare sovereignty in the West Bank.
Arab countries have cautioned against Israeli annexation, including Jordan and Egypt, Israel’s neighbors and the only two Arab countries to sign peace treaties with it.
FRICTION OVER CHINA
Trump and his senior officials have engaged in a war of words with China, where the new coronavirus first emerged, accusing Chinese authorities of failing to inform the world fast enough about the dangers it posed and muzzling those who raised the alarm. Beijing denies the charges.
Addressing Netanyahu at the start of their three-hour meeting on Wednesday, Pompeo said: “You’re a great partner, you share information — unlike some other countries that try and obfuscate and hide that information — and we’ll talk about that country, too.”
Pompeo did not name China and did not give specific examples of Israeli cooperation in the fight against coronavirus.
Israeli business ties with China are an irritant in Netanyahu’s usually close relationship with the Trump administration.
The United States has previously cautioned Israel against potential security threats from Chinese investment in its economy, prompting the Netanyahu government to set up a committee last October to vet such projects.
A US State Department spokesperson briefly summed up the Pompeo-Netanyahu meeting as a discussion of “our nations’ ongoing efforts to mitigate the COVID-19 pandemic and counter Iran’s destabilising influence in the region, as well as the steadfast US commitment to Israel’s security.”
Trump’s pro-Israel moves have been widely seen as an effort to bolster his appeal to evangelical Christian voters, an important part of his political base that he is counting on to help him win re-election in November.
Pompeo urges Israeli caution in West Bank moves
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Pompeo urges Israeli caution in West Bank moves
- Pompeo held talks with Netanyahu and Gantz, a day before the inauguration of their new government
- The Palestinians have rejected Trump’s plan
US adding second aircraft carrier in Middle East
- The Harry S. Truman carrier strike group will be joined by the Carl Vinson “to continue promoting regional stability, deter aggression, and protect the free flow of commerce in the region,” Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell said in a statement
WASHINGTON: The United States is increasing the number of aircraft carriers deployed in the Middle East to two, keeping one that is already there and sending another from the Indo-Pacific, the Pentagon said Tuesday.
The announcement comes as US forces hammer Yemen’s Houthi rebels with near-daily air strikes in a campaign aimed at ending the threat they pose to civilian shipping and military vessels in the region.
The Carl Vinson will join the Harry S. Truman in the Middle East “to continue promoting regional stability, deter aggression, and protect the free flow of commerce in the region,” Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell said in a statement.
“To complement the CENTCOM maritime posture, the secretary also ordered the deployment of additional squadrons and other air assets that will further reinforce our defensive air-support capabilities,” Parnell said, referring to the US military command responsible for the region.
“The United States and its partners remain committed to regional security in the CENTCOM (area of responsibility) and are prepared to respond to any state or non-state actor seeking to broaden or escalate conflict in the region,” he added.
The Houthis began targeting shipping in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden after the start of the Gaza war in 2023, claiming solidarity with Palestinians.
Houthi attacks have prevented ships from passing through the Suez Canal, a vital route that normally carries about 12 percent of world shipping traffic. Ongoing attacks are forcing many companies into a costly detour around the tip of southern Africa.
A day before the carrier announcement, US President Donald Trump vowed that strikes on Yemen’s Houthis would continue until they are no longer a threat to shipping.
“The choice for the Houthis is clear: Stop shooting at US ships, and we will stop shooting at you. Otherwise, we have only just begun, and the real pain is yet to come, for both the Houthis and their sponsors in Iran,” Trump said on his Truth Social platform.
Trump added that the Houthis had been “decimated” by “relentless” strikes since March 15, saying that US forces “hit them every day and night — Harder and harder.”
He has also ramped up rhetoric toward Tehran, with the president threatening that “there will be bombing” if Iran does not reach a deal on its nuclear program.
Trump’s threats come as his administration battles a scandal over the accidental leak of a secret group chat by senior security officials on the Yemen strikes.
The Atlantic magazine revealed last week that its editor — a well-known US journalist — was inadvertently included in a chat on the commercially available Signal app where top officials were discussing the strikes.
The officials, including Trump’s National Security Adviser Mike Waltz and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, discussed details of air strike timings and intelligence — unaware that the highly sensitive information was being simultaneously read by a member of the media.
Algeria says it downed a drone near its border with Mali as tensions simmer between the 2 countries
- Algeria has denounced the direction that Mali’s new government has taken and its expanded efforts to quash rebellion in historically volatile parts of northern Mali
- Algeria once served as a key mediator during more than a decade of conflict between Mali’s government and Tuareg rebels
BAMAKO, Mali: Algeria said Tuesday it shot down a military drone near the country’s border with Mali in the first incident of its kind during growing tensions between the two countries governing a vast portion of the Sahara.
The country’s army said in a statement that the armed reconnaissance drone had entered Algerian airspace Monday near Tin Zaouatine, a border town and stronghold for Tuareg separatists opposed to Mali’s government. Mali’s army acknowledged that one of its drones had crashed in the area, but did not confirm whether it was shot down by Algeria.
Rida Lyammouri, a Sahel expert at the Morocco-based Policy Center for the New South, said the shooting down of the drone — rather than issuing a warning — reflected simmering frustrations.
It “confirms the serious tensions between the countries and unwillingness and zero tolerance by Algeria to allow the use of its airspace and territory by Malian forces,” he said.
The incident comes as tensions rise between Algeria and its southern neighbors, including Mali.
Algeria once served as a key mediator during more than a decade of conflict between Mali’s government and Tuareg rebels. But the two countries have grown apart since a military junta staged coups in 2020 and 2021, putting military personnel in charge of the country’s key institutions.
Algeria has denounced the direction that Mali’s new government has taken and its expanded efforts to quash rebellion in historically volatile parts of northern Mali. Afraid of conflict spilling over the border, Algerian officials have denounced Mali’s use of Russian mercenaries and armed drones near Tin Zaouatine, which is divided by the border separating the two countries.
But failures to curb instability in northern Mali have led to the downfall of previous governments and Mali’s Prime Minister Abdoulaye Maiga addressed the issue in a speech at the United Nations General Assembly last year, promising to respond swiftly to violence in the north.
Algeria has one of Africa’s largest militaries and has long considered itself a regional power but military leaders in neighboring Mali and Niger have distanced themselves as they’ve championed autonomy and sought new alliances, including with Russia.
Algeria did not specify who the drone it intercepted belonged to. A spokesperson for Mali’s army declined to comment when asked about Algeria’s alleging that an armed drone had crossed its border, but said the crash didn’t hurt anyone or cause property damage.
Unverified video circulating on social media showed images of an Akinci drone manufactured by Baykar downed in Tin Zaouatine. Mali purchased at least two from the Turkish company last year and has used them against armed separatists as well as fighters linked to Al-Qaeda and the Daesh group.
Three injured in Iraq when an axe-wielding man attacks an Assyrian Christian new year parade
- Witnesses said the attacker, who has not been officially identified, ran toward the crowd shouting Islamic slogans
- He struck three people with the axe before being stopped by participants and security forces
IRBIL: The annual parade by Assyrian Christians in the Iraqi city of Dohuk to mark their new year was marred Tuesday when an axe-wielding man attacked the procession and wounded three people, witnesses and local officials said.
The parade, held every year on April 1, drew thousands of Assyrians from Iraq and across the diaspora, who marched through Dohuk in northern Iraq waving Assyrian flags and wearing colorful traditional clothes.
Witnesses said the attacker, who has not been officially identified, ran toward the crowd shouting Islamic slogans.
He struck three people with the axe before being stopped by participants and security forces. Videos circulated online showed him pinned to the ground, repeatedly shouting, “Daesh, the Daesh remains.”
The victims included a 17-year-old boy and a 75-year-old woman, both of whom suffered skull fractures. A member of the local security forces, who was operating a surveillance drone, was also injured. All three were hospitalized, local security officials said.
At the hospital where her 17-year-old son Fardi was being treated after suffering a skull injury in the attack, Athraa Abdullah told The Associated Press that her son had come with his friends in buses. He was sending photos from the celebrations shortly before his friends called to say he had been attacked, she said.
Abdullah, whose family was displaced when Daesh militants swept into their area in 2014, said, “We were already attacked and displaced by Daesh, and today we faced a terrorist attack at a place we came to for shelter.”
Janet Aprem Odisho, whose 75-year-old mother Yoniyah Khoshaba was among the wounded, said she and her mother were shopping near the parade when the attack happened.
“He was running at us with an axe,” she said. “All I remember is that he hit my mother, and I ran away when she fell. He had already attacked a young man who was bleeding in the street, then he tried to attack more people.”
Her family, originally from Baghdad, was also displaced by past violence and now lives in Ain Baqre village near the town of Alqosh.
Assyrians faced a wave of hate speech and offensive comments on social media following the incident.
Ninab Yousif Toma, a political bureau member of the Assyrian Democratic Movement (ADM), condemned the regional government in northern Iraq’s semi-autonomous Kurdish region and Iraqi federal authorities to address extremist indoctrination.
“We request both governments to review the religious and education curriculums that plant hate in people’s heads and encourage ethnic and religious extremism,” he said. “This was obviously an inhumane terrorist attack.”
However, he said that the Assyrian community had celebrated their new year, known as Akitu, in Duhok since the 1990s without incidents of violence and acknowledged the support of local Kurdish Muslim residents.
“The Kurds in Duhok serve us water and candy even when they are fasting for Ramadan. This was likely an individual, unplanned attack, and it will not scare our people,” he said, adding that the community was waiting for the results of the official investigation and planned to file an official lawsuit.
“The Middle East is governed by religion, and as minorities, we suffer double because we are both ethnically and religiously different from the majority,” he said. “But we have a cause, and we marched today to show that we have existed here for thousands of years. This attack will not stop our people.”
Despite the attack, Assyrians continued the celebrations of the holiday, which symbolizes renewal and rebirth in Assyrian culture as well as resilience and continuous existence as an indigenous group.
At one point, as the injured teenager was rushed to the hospital, some participants wrapped his head in an Assyrian flag, which was later lifted again in the parade— stained with blood but held high as a symbol of resilience.
Nationwide power outage in Syria due to malfunctions, energy minister’s spokesperson says
- Syria suffers from severe power shortages, with state-supplied electricity available for only two or three hours a day in most areas
DAMASCUS: Syria suffered a nationwide power outage on Tuesday night due to malfunctions at several points in the national grid, a spokesperson from the energy ministry told Reuters.
The spokesperson said technical teams were addressing the issues.
Syria suffers from severe power shortages, with state-supplied electricity available for only two or three hours a day in most areas. Damage to the grid means that generating or supplying more power is only part of the problem.
Damascus used to receive the bulk of its oil for power generation from Iran, but supplies have been cut off since Islamist Hayat Tahrir Al-Sham led
the ouster of Tehran-allied former president Bashar Assad in December.
The former interim government under President Ahmed Al-Sharaa has pledged to quickly ramp up power supply, partly by importing electricity from Jordan and using floating power barges.
Damascus also said it will receive two electricity-generating ships from Turkiye and Qatar to boost energy supplies.
Turkish opposition calls for boycott over jailed students
- Istanbul public prosecutor’s office said it was opening an investigation against people who had launched or shared calls for a boycott
ISTANBUL: The leader of Turkiye’s main opposition party has called for a boycott on Wednesday to protest the detention of students rallying in support of Istanbul’s jailed opposition mayor.
“Stop all purchases! Supermarkets, online shopping, restaurants, petrol, coffees, bills, buy nothing,” said Ozgur Ozel, head of the CHP party to which mayor Ekrem Imamoglu belongs, on Tuesday.
“I invite everyone to use their consumer power by participating in this boycott,” added Ozel, echoing an appeal launched by student groups.
Ozel said 301 students have been arrested and detained for taking part in the protests against the detention on March 19 of Imamoglu, widely considered President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s greatest political rival.
In the wake of his message, the Istanbul public prosecutor’s office said it was opening an investigation against people who had launched or shared calls for a boycott, according to the official Anadolu news agency.
That investigation would notably probe “incitement to hatred,” the agency added.
Lawyers and politicians supportive of Imamoglu have denounced rough treatment of students by police.
The CHP leader had already launched a call to boycott dozens of Turkish companies and groups reputed to be close to the government, in a bid to put pressure on the authorities.
Imamoglu’s arrest on corruption charges, which he denies, have set off a wave of popular protests unseen in Turkiye for more than a decade.
Turkiye’s authorities had banned demonstrations in Istanbul, the large western city of Izmir and the capital Ankara in response.
