Middle East

Israel forces Palestinian family to tear down their houses in al-Quds

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Israeli authorities have displaced a Palestinian family after forcing it to demolish their homes in the occupied al-Quds under the pretext of lacking a construction permit, amid ongoing land grab policies by the Tel Aviv regime.

The official Palestinian news agency Wafa, citing local sources, reported that Israeli troops raided the neighborhood of Beit Hanina, north of occupied al-Quds, surrounding two residential apartments owned by Fayza al-Ebeidi, a Palestinian woman, on Sunday.

The sources said that Israeli forces stormed the area where the houses were located and gave the family a few minutes to evacuate and start demolishing it.

Al-Ebeidi family had no choice but to do so in order to avoid paying exorbitant fees to the municipality in the event that its crews carried out the demolition on their own.

Had al-Ebeidi family not demolished the house himself, the sources said, the Israeli municipality would have charged her and family members to have the building pulled down.

Israel routinely demolishes Palestinian houses in the occupied West Bank and East al-Quds, claiming that the structures have been built without permits, which are almost impossible to obtain. They also sometimes order Palestinian owners to demolish their own houses or pay the costs of the demolition.

Some 181 Palestinian structures in occupied al-Quds were demolished in the first half of this year, 40 of which were demolished by their owners following orders from the Tel Aviv regime’s authorities.

Israel has already occupied thousands of dunums of Palestinian agricultural land to construct and expand new illegal settler units in various areas in the West Bank.

The Tel Aviv regime also plans to force out Palestinian families from the Sheikh Jarrah and some other neighborhoods in an attempt to replace them with settlers. That plan sparked days of fighting between Gaza-based Hamas and the Israeli regime in May 2021.

Hamas and other Palestinian resistance groups have warned Israeli regime against forced eviction of Palestinians.  

Israel has already occupied thousands of dunums of Palestinian agricultural land to construct and expand new illegal settler units in various areas in the West Bank.

More than 700,000 Israelis live in over 230 settlements built since the 1967 Israeli occupation of the Palestinian territories of the West Bank and al-Quds.

All Israeli settlements are illegal under international law. The United Nations Security Council has condemned Israel’s settlement activities in the occupied territories in several resolutions.

The international community views the Israeli settlements – hundreds of which have been built across the West Bank since Tel Aviv’s occupation of the territory in 1967 – as illegal under international law and the Geneva Conventions due to their construction on the occupied territories.

Over the past months, Israel has also ramped up attacks on Palestinian towns and cities throughout the occupied territories. As a result of these attacks, dozens of Palestinians have lost their lives and many others have been arrested.

Palestinians want the West Bank as part of a future independent state with East Jerusalem al-Quds as its capital.

Middle East

Terrorists will never succeed in destroying Turkey’s peace: Erdogan

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Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has reiterated that Turkey will continue its fight against terrorism, saying the terrorists who attempt to disrupt peace and security in the country will never succeed.

Erdogan made the remarks in his opening speech to the new legislative year of the Parliament on Sunday, after an explosion near Turkey’s parliament in Ankara left two police officers injured earlier in the day.

“We have largely solved the separatist terrorism issue, which has made our country pay heavy human and economic costs for 40 years, within our borders,” he said while stressing the need for solidarity in the fight against terrorism.

“We will not allow the terrorist group to direct politics or prevent the sacred march of our country,” he added.

Erdogan further reiterated that Turkey will continue to fight terrorism with determination until the last terrorist at home or abroad is eliminated.

He also hailed the timely intervention of the police during Sunday’s attack which he said was a “final flutters of terrorism,” noting that the burden of instilling morale in terror groups with political calculations will be very heavy.

On Sunday, Turkish media reported that a loud explosion was heard near the parliament and ministerial buildings, and broadcasters showed footage of debris scattered on a street near the interior ministry. Some reports said the explosion was followed by gunfire.

One of the terrorists died in the explosion and the other was “neutralized” by authorities there. Two police officers were “slightly injured” in the fire caused by the blast.

The injured police officers are still being treated, and their injuries are not life-threatening, according to the Turkish interior minister.

Ankara Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office launched an investigation into the terrorist attack.

The outlawed Kurdistan’s Workers; Party (PKK) has accepted responsibility for the terrorist attack in Ankara, according to a news website close to the group.

The bombing, the first to hit Ankara in a number of years, comes almost a year after six people were killed and 81 wounded in an explosion in a busy pedestrian street in central Istanbul on Nov 13, 2022.

Middle East

Israeli forces assault journalists, worshipers at al-Aqsa Mosque compound

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Israeli occupying forces have attacked Palestinian worshippers and reporters as hundreds of extremist settlers forced their way into the flashpoint al-Aqsa Mosque complex in occupied East al-Quds.

Early on Sunday, hundreds of Israeli settlers once again broke into al-Aqsa under the protection of the regime’s forces and carried out provocative actions in the holy site.

In a statement released on Sunday, the Jordan-run Islamic Waqf Department, which is in charge of al-Aqsa Mosque affairs said Israeli forces closed the the Moroccan Gate, also known as the Mughrabi Gate, “after allowing 602 Jewish extremists” into the site.

According to witnesses, Israeli settlers entered the holy site in groups.

The al-Quds Governorate published a video on its Facebook account of Jewish settlers trying to enter animal sacrifices inside the complex.

Citing local sources, Palestinian media reported that the occupation soldiers beat up worshipers and journalists who were covering events in and around the holy compound in East al-Quds.

Calls for the regular presence of Jewish extremists in the al-Aqsa Mosque have increased in recent days concurrent with holidays marking a Jewish festival.

Israeli police began allowing the settler incursions into the Al-Aqsa Mosque complex in recent years, despite repeated condemnations from Palestinians.

Israeli settler incursions into al-Aqsa Mosque and violence against Palestinians have been on the rise since the far-right extremist cabinet of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu took office last December.

Such mass settler break-ins almost always take place at the behest of Tel Aviv-backed temple groups and under the auspices of the Israeli police in al-Quds, leading to daily confrontations with Palestinians at the mosque, with many injured, arrested and killed.

This is while non-Muslim worship at the al-Aqsa Mosque compound is prohibited according to an agreement between the occupying Israeli regime and the Jordanian government following the regime’s illegal seizure of East al-Quds in 1967.

The Palestinian resistance movement Hamas on Sunday condemned Israel’s continued desecration and attacks on the al-Aqsa Mosque Compound in the occupied al-Quds, saying the Tel Aviv regime has launched “a religious war” against the holy site to implement its plan of dividing it by any means.

Israeli army targets journalists across occupied territories with impunity

The occupied Palestinian territory has seen many journalists killed in the line of duty in recent years. Israel targets non-combatants frequently, especially journalists and medics.

Tel Aviv regime forces recently targeted Palestinian photojournalist Ashraf Abu Amra while he was covering similar protests.

In 2018, volunteer medic Razan Al-Najjar, 21, was shot and killed while tending to Palestinians wounded during the Great March of Return protests in Gaza.

In May 2022, the Israeli army shot dead Al Jazeera correspondent Shireen Abu Akleh.

Several reports and human rights groups concluded that slain Al Jazeera reporter Abu Akleh was intentionally targeted by Israeli troops, dismissing the Israeli regime’s account that the killing was unintentional.

Abu Akleh was shot in the head and killed by the Israeli army forces on May 11 of that year while she was covering their raid in the Jenin refugee camp in the occupied West Bank. At the time of her killing, the 51-year-old journalist was wearing easily recognizable press attire.

The Israeli army has reportedly killed more than 55 journalists in the occupied Palestinian territory since 2000.

Middle East

Nasrallah to speak Monday on Holy Prophet birth anniversary

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The Hezbollah leader is to tackle the latest developments during a ceremony held by the resistance party at 20:00 (Local Beirut time) on Monday at Sayyed Shuhada Complex in Beirut’s southern suburb, Dahiyeh, Al-Manar TV English webiste reported.

Muslims across the world observe the birth anniversary of Prophet Mohammad (PBUH) between 12 to 17 of Rabi Al-Awwal lunar Hijri month. On the initiative of the founder of the Islamic Revolution late Imam Khomeini, this period of time is called the Islamic Unity Week.

Late Imam Khomeini’s move aimed at highlighting the importance of solidarity among Sunni and Shia Muslims.

Nasrallah recently spoke on August 28, hitting back at Israeli threats of assassinating Palestinian resistance leaders.

Hezbollah won’t allow the Zionist enemy to change the rules of engagement, the Lebanese resistance leader said, stressing that any assassination attempt on the Lebanese territory will not go unanswered.

MNA

Middle East

Iran security chief urges strict implementation of security deal with Iraq

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Iran’s security chief urges “full and precise” implementation of a security agreement with Iraq that entails the complete disarmament and re-location of anti-Iran terrorist groups operating in the semi-autonomous Kurdistan region.

In a Sunday meeting with Iraq’s National Security Advisor Qasim al-Araji in Tehran, Secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council (SNSC) Ali Akbar Ahmadian said the agreement guarantees the border security.

He added that the pact is a “rational and appropriate” road map for the elimination of the factors that create insecurity in the two countries and the region.

On March 19, in Baghdad, Iran and Iraq signed a security agreement encompassing coordination in protecting the border.

Under the agreement, the Iraqi government had promised to disarm terrorist and separatist groups based in the Kurdistan region by September 19, vacate their military barracks, and transfer them to the camps established by the Baghdad government.

Iraqi Foreign Minister Fuad Hussein said on September 23 that his country has implemented all clauses of the security agreement with neighboring Iran.

He made the comment after Major General Mohammad Hossein Baqeri, the Chief of General Staff of Iran’s Armed Forces, said the country has given Iraq several more days to fully implement the security pact, stressing that all terrorist groups in the region must be disarmed.

“What happened during this six-month respite was that [they] just distanced a bit from the borders of our country,” he said while thanking the Iraqi government for its efforts to disarm the separatists.

Elsewhere in his remarks, Ahmadian pointed to agreements signed between Tehran and Baghdad to expand relations and said the two sides have ample capacities for the improvement of all-out cooperation in various fields, particularly in the economic sector.

For his part, the top Iraqi security official reaffirmed his country’s determination to implement the security deal with Iran.

He said that Baghdad would take every opportunity to strengthen relations with Tehran.

Iraq sets up 12 checkpoints along border with Iran as implementation of security agreement

The deputy commander of Iraq’s Joint Operations, Lieutenant General Qais al-Mohammadawi, said on Sunday that his country has formed a higher committee which has been working for almost a year on developing a mechanism to implement the security pact with Iran.

In an interview with the Iraqi News Agency (INA) published on Sunday, Mohammadawi said the committee is working under the chairmanship of the national security adviser and specialized officers from the ministries of defense, interior, advisory and security services. He said 10 to 12 checkpoints had been set up over the past two weeks and separatist elements had been transferred from the border to specific places.

The Iraqi official said Baghdad would allow no one to use its soil as a springboard for aggression against neighboring countries, whether Iran, Turkey or other states. The commander, however, stressed the importance of respecting Iraq’s sovereignty.

The presence of Kurdish terrorist groups, including the Kurdistan Democratic Party, Komala, Kurdistan Free Life Party, and the Kurdistan Freedom Party, has been a source of tension between Iran and Iraq for years, with these groups often carrying out terrorist attacks on Iranian soil.

Iran has, on countless occasions, warned Iraqi Kurdistan’s local authorities that it will not tolerate the presence and activity of terrorist groups along its northwestern borders, saying the country will give a decisive response should those areas become a haven for anti-Tehran terrorists.

Middle East

We must stand against Zionist enemy : Hezbollah official

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Speaking at the 37th International Islamic Unity Conference (IIUC) on Sunday, Hezbollah Deputy Secretary General Sheikh Naim Qassem noted that one of the most important solutions to strengthen Islamic cooperation is Islamic unity.

He said “We should make efforts towards practical unity and consider this Islamic value as one of the most important values,” emphasizing that ” we should try to achieve a unifying spirit in our own society and promote real human values through the great Islamic countries and the United Nations”. 

Hezbollah official stated that the unity must have a minimum and a maximum, adding that “At the very least, our countries and organizations should not side with the enemy bloc and on the other hand, try to cooperate in different fields”.

He went on to say that Imam Khomeini (RA) always emphasized spreading unity among all members of the Islamic society.

Qassem noted that Islamic nations must stand against the Zionist enemy, emphasizing that “We must consider the Palestinian issue as the main issue,” announcing that the occupation of Palestine means the occupation of all Islamic lands. 

Elsewhere in his remarks, he pointed out that the Leader of the Islamic Revolution, Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei emphasized the issue of Palestinian rights will never be achieved through international organizations, but only through resistance of the people.

He continued “We should be able to make more efforts in the field of military consolidation and resistance by strengthening our own facilities and standing against our enemies.”

Regarding Iran’s experience in defending the oppressed in the world, Islamic nations should see that as a role model and be able to unite based on these high values and avoid enmity, he said.

He pointed out that the results and achievements resulting from the progress of the Islamic nations have caused the Resistance to take a logical form, and the Axis of Resistance can have good achievements for the Islamic nation. 

In the end, he emphasized avoiding any differences, adding that Iran’s cooperation with Islamic countries can help the realization of Islamic values.

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Middle East

Al-Aqsa Mosque, inmates Palestine's red lines: Hamas spox

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According to the Palestinian Information Center (PIC), Hamas spokesman Hazem Qasim clarified in a press statement that the movement’s redlines in not just a “motto” but they are a fact that was proven both in the Battle of Saif al-Quds (Sword of Quds) and in other battles.

Qasim stated that the current hard-line cabinet of the Zionist regime has launched a religious war against the Islamic and Christian sanctuaries of Al-Quds and is seeking to implement the plan to divide Al-Aqsa Mosque by any means.

Pointing out that the Zionist enemy has escalated the war and put pressure on the Quds residents with the aim of forcing them out, he emphasized that all the actions of the Zionist cabinet in the Al-Aqsa Mosque and its surroundings are carried out with the aim of implementing the Jewishization plan in holy Quds.

The Hamas spokesman further stated that the last crime committed by the Zionist enemy against the Palestinian nation was the attack on Palestinian prisoners in Ramon prison on Sunday morning.

He pointed out that the extremist Zionist cabinet, led by a number of extremists, is trying to put pressure on the prisoners with the aim of breaking their resolve, because the prisoners and Al-Aqsa Mosque are among the Palestinians’ symbols and red lines.

Qasim stated that the crimes committed by the extremist Zionist regime’s cabinet will face a strengthened Palestinian people’s resistance.

In continuation of the desecration of the Zionist settlers to the Al-Aqsa Mosque in the past few days under the pretext of Jewish holidays, the Zionists once again carried out provocative actions in that holy site by entering it illegally on Sunday morning.

MNA/IRN85244700

Middle East

Iraq’s national security advisor in Tehran to advance border security pact

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A security delegation from Iraq headed by the national security advisor has arrived in Tehran to discuss the terms of a security agreement that entails the complete disarmament and re-location of anti-Iran terrorist groups operating in the semi-autonomous Kurdistan region.

Qasim al-Araji traveled to Tehran at the head of a security delegation on Sunday under the direction of the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces and Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia’ al-Sudani, the official Iraqi News Agency reported. 

According to the report, the Iraqi delegation will meet with Iranian authorities to complete the implementation of the recent security agreement. 

Anti-Iran terrorists occasionally attempt to use the Kurdistan region to target Iranian soil or to smuggle weapons into the country and target Iran’s security.

The Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) has now and then targeted terrorists’ lairs in the Kurdistan region.

Iran has repeatedly urged Baghdad and Erbil to meet their commitments toward Iran and take necessary measures to make the common border between the countries secure.

Last month, Iraqi Foreign Minister Fuad Hussein said his country is committed to a security pact with Iran to disarm anti-Iran terrorist groups based in the Kurdistan region.

He made the remarks at a joint press conference with his Iranian counterpart Hossein Amir-Abdollahian in Tehran on September 13.

Hussein said the terrorist groups will be transferred to camps supervised by the United Nations.

He made clear that the Iraqi constitution does not allow any group to use Iraqi territory to attack other countries, saying the security agreement between the two neighboring countries is also based on the Arab country’s constitution.

He also said the Baghdad government and the Kurdistan region are cooperating with each other in this regard and both stress the necessity of implementing the security agreement.

Amir-Abdollahian, for his part, underscored that the Islamic Republic of Iran is serious when it comes to providing the country’s national security.

“Efforts are underway to disarm them and fully implement the clauses of the security agreement between the two countries,” he added.

Two days before the two foreign ministers visited, Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Nasser Kan’ani also said the ultimatum given to Iraq to disarm anti-Iran separatist groups based in the Kurdistan region would not be extended.