Your MENA NewsDrops 🗞💧
Hey guys! 🙋♀️ Apologies for the delay, this week has been full of unforeseen issues. I still didn’t want to leave you without your weekly dose of MENA NewsDrops 🗞💧, especially in such an eventful week!
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Let’s start with the most scandalous news:
🇸🇾 On his 26th day in office, US President Joe Biden approved an airstrike on pro-Iranian militias in Syria in response to the recent Shi’a militia attacks (also Iran-backed) 💣 on the US coalition in Iraq. In his presidential campaign, Biden had promised to ‘end forever wars’ in Afghanistan and the Middle East, but the recent strike exposed quite the opposite: according to analysts, the strike were a strategic move to reassert US its presence in the region.
🇸🇦 A US intelligence report confirming that Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman ordered the killing of Washington Post columnist ✍️ Jamal Khashoggi was approved.
The 4-page report 📑 names 21 individuals who participated in Kashoggi’s murder, although US officials remain unsure whether the operation was meant to result in the journalist’s death 🔪.
Saudi Arabia’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs rejected ‘‘the negative, false and unacceptable assessment in the report’’ in statement to the Saudi Press Agency 👇🏻.
🇵🇸 ICC prosecutor Fatou Bensouda opened a war crimes probe in the Palestinian territories after ruling it had jurisdiction over the situation in February.
President Benjamin Netanyahu promised to fight the decisions and accused the ICC of being ‘‘anti-semitic’’ and of targeting ‘‘Israel, the only democracy in the Middle East.’’
🎬 (The video below is in English).
🇮🇱🇺🇸 In a call with Netanyahu, US Vice President Kamala Harris affirmed the US’ opposition to the ICC’s investigation, stating that since Israel is not a party to the ICC, the Court does not have jurisdiction over Israeli personnel.
👉🏻 The move comes at a time when US-Israel relations are strained due to Israel’s opposition to Biden re-joining the nuclear deal with Iran. In fact, whilst the US is attempting a more diplomatic path, Israel’s defence minister Benny Gantz stated this week that his country has a map of Iran-backed targets to attack if Iran continues its nuclear escalation.
🇪🇬 Egypt’s human rights abuses continue, as the country is targeting the relatives of activists who live abroad in order to silence dissent. Dozens of families have been arrested 👮 this past week, adding to the exceptionally high rate of government dissidents being detained, tortured, or even killed for speaking out against the regime.
🇪🇬 Egypt also passed a controversial and regressive ‘personal status law’, reducing women’s agency and rights in divorce and marriage:
👉🏻 The woman’s male guardian can request the annulment of a marriage if he deems two people incompatible.
👉🏻 A single mother who has custody of her children needs to receive permission from her ex-husband in order to travel with her children or make any legal decisions. The same law does not apply to the men.
About 50 Women’s rights activists have published a statement calling for the amendment of the bill.
🇾🇪 Only a month after the Biden Administration lifted Trump-imposed ‘‘Foreign Terrorist’’ label on Yemen’s Houthis, Biden imposed sanctions on two Houthi leaders due to their role in attacks on Saudi Arabia and shipping vessels in the Red Sea.
The leaders’ latest attack was claimed on Saudi Aramco oil base and an airbase. An attack on Jazan, on the Yemeni border, was also intercepted by Saudi officials.
Nonetheless, international organisations have warned that imposing sanctions on the Houthis is not the way to go, as will cause delays in the peace process, as well as impeding the delivery of aid needed by Yemenis.
🇩🇿 Thousands of Algerians have been protesting for the second week calling for the departure of President Abdelaziz Bouteflika, and asking that the army no longer be involved in national politics.
🪧 The protests aren’t new: they started with the Hirak movement in February 2019 and stopped during the pandemic
🇱🇧 In Lebanon, demonstrators have been protesting against deteriorating living conditions and the high exchange rate of the dollar, after the Lebanese currency slipped to record lows last week.
👉🏻Protesters have blocked main roads in different regions of the country, including Tripoli and Beirut.
👉🏻 In Beirut, a number of protesters stood in front of Banque du Liban with slogans such as ‘‘The people want to overthrow the regime’’ and ‘‘Hang the gallows’’.
That was all the most important news from the past ten days 💧.
See you next week 🙋♀️.
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