Gazans return to work in Israel as West Bank border reopens

Palestinian workers enter the reopened Erez crossing to Israel, after Israeli ends a ban on workers from Gaza. (REUTERS)
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Updated 29 September 2023
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Gazans return to work in Israel as West Bank border reopens

  • Move follows deadly two-week protest crackdown
  • UN, Egypt defuse tensions

JEDDAH: Thousands of Palestinians from Gaza returned to work in Israel and the occupied West Bank on Thursday when border crossings reopened after a two-week closure.

A Palestinian official said Israel had reopened the border “at the request of mediators to de-escalate tensions.” The move comes amid increased international efforts by Egypt and the UN to defuse tensions and prevent a new round of armed conflict in Gaza.
For the past two weeks, Palestinian protesters throwing stones and explosive devices faced off against Israeli troops who responded with live fire. Seven Palestinians have been killed and more than 100 injured by Israeli violence. Israel said security assessments would determine whether the border remained open.

Crowds of Palestinians waited at the Erez pedestrian crossing complex from the early hours on Thursday, including many who had spent the night there. “We learned at midnight that the crossing would open today, and I have been waiting here since one in the morning,” said Awni Abu Oda, who works in Tel Aviv.

Khaled Zurub, 57, who works in construction in Israel, said: “We want to go to work and earn a living for our children because the situation was too bad for us the past two weeks.”
Others expressed relief at the reopening of the crossing. “I’m very happy that the crossing is open. We have nothing to do with this problem,” said Ayman Al-Rifi, who works at a restaurant in the Israeli coastal city of Jaffa. “I hope workers stay out of these problems because we suffer if Erez is closed.”
About 18,000 Gazans have permits from Israeli authorities to work outside the blockaded enclave, injecting about $2 million a day to the impoverished territory’s economy.


Turkiye’s growing military exports to Russia prompt US scrutiny, urgent diplomatic visit

Updated 9 sec ago
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Turkiye’s growing military exports to Russia prompt US scrutiny, urgent diplomatic visit

  • US Treasury officials have been concerned that Turkiye’s export of products to Russia could serve both commercial and military purposes
  • US has imposed sanctions on Turkish electronics supplier, Azint Elektronik, over its alleged shipping of high-priority goods, such as electronic integrated circuits, to Russia

ANKARA: Turkiye has found itself under heightened US scrutiny over a rise in the export of potentially sanctions-busting goods to Russia.

US Undersecretary of the Treasury for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence Brian Nelson was this week due in Ankara and Istanbul to follow up on American fears that Turkiye could inadvertently be fueling Moscow’s military campaign in Ukraine.

Nelson, making his second visit to Turkiye this year, will investigate trade activities that may unintentionally be aiding Russia’s war efforts through third-party exports.

He was expected to hold talks with Turkish officials on preventive measures to curb the flow of dual-use goods that could indirectly benefit Russia’s military pursuits.

In a statement on its website, the US Department of the Treasury said: “In Turkiye, a NATO ally, undersecretary Nelson will also discuss efforts to prevent, disrupt, and investigate trade and financial activity that benefit the Russian effort in its war against Ukraine.”

During the first nine months of this year, Turkiye has seen record exports of 45 goods, valued at 158 million euros ($173 million), to Moscow and five ex-Soviet nations — Azerbaijan, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, and Uzbekistan. The figure represents a threefold increase on the same period at the start of the Ukraine conflict.

Among the exported items were microchips classified as “high priority” by Washington.

US officials revealed instances where dual-use parts ostensibly bound for intermediary nations were, in fact, reaching Russia directly. For example, while Kazakhstan reported imports of high-priority goods from Turkiye valued at $6.1 million, Turkish official data revealed exports to Kazakhstan reaching a record $66 million during the same period.

Western assessments have indicated that some high-priority goods from Turkiye have been applied to the production of drones, helicopters, and cruise missiles.

Turkiye has strong trade and diplomatic ties with Moscow, but US Treasury officials have been recently concerned about the country’s export of products to Russia that could serve both commercial and military purposes.

Ankara has not formally joined Western sanctions against Russia for fear of damaging the Turkish economy. However, the US recently imposed sanctions on Turkish electronics supplier, Azint Elektronik, over its alleged shipping of high-priority goods, such as electronic integrated circuits, to Russia.

Rich Outzen, a senior fellow at the Atlantic Council, told Arab News: “Maintaining non-military trade with Russia remains an integral part of Turkish economic diplomacy.”

Five Turkish companies were among firms faced with American sanctions in September for dispatching sensors and measuring tools to Russia, providing repair services to vessels linked to the Russian Defense Ministry, and shipping electronic components of US and European origin to Russian firms.

Outzen noted that private Turkish companies could well fall foul of US sanctions over their exports to Russia while government entities may escape them unless there was clear evidence of a coordinating role.

Sinan Ulgen, a former Turkish diplomat and chairman of the Istanbul-based think tank EDAM, told Arab News: “The visit of Nelson will also be an opportunity for the US to iterate its concerns about the ongoing trade.

“There are a number of product groups that are under the radar of US and EU authorities where Turkiye is expected to do more in terms of curtailing trade with Russia.

“Turkish authorities will indeed take on board these concerns and examine more closely trade with Russia on these products in concern.

“Also, given that ultimately the total affected exports are around $158 million, while some of them are re-exported products, there is little value-added that remains in Turkiye, which is not a reason why Turkish authorities should actually heed the concerns of its partners in the West,” Ulgen said.

Nelson’s visit to Turkiye comes as the country continued its long-standing efforts to procure F-16 fighter jets from the US, or alternatively, source Eurofighters.

“Especially at this moment, when Turkiye tries to normalize its ties, Ankara would not want to be affected by additional sanctions from the West, even though they essentially target companies and individuals that are party to this trade.

“This visit would be an opportunity for both parties to essentially seek a convergence on trade policies with Russia,” Ulgen added.

The trade volume between Turkiye and Russia was this year expected to exceed $65 billion. It surged in 2022 following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and the heightened sanctions regime of the West against Moscow.

Last year, Russia was Turkiye’s main import partner with goods valued at $58.85 billion, a threefold increase on the same period in 2021.


Erdogan tells UN chief Israel must be tried in international courts for Gaza crimes

Updated 8 min 17 sec ago
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Erdogan tells UN chief Israel must be tried in international courts for Gaza crimes

  • Erdogan and Guterres discussed the “expectations of the international community regarding Israel’s unlawful attacks”
  • “During the call, President Erdogan said Israel continues to shamelessly trample on international law, the laws of war,” the Turkish presidency said

ANKARA: Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan on Tuesday told United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres that Israel must be held accountable in international courts for what he called war crimes it committed in Gaza, the Turkish presidency said.
Israel has mounted an offensive by air and ground against Hamas militants in Gaza in which more than 15,000 people have been killed, according to Gaza health authorities.
The offensive was launched after Hamas went on a rampage in southern Israel on Oct. 7, killing some 1,200 people and taking 240 hostage.
In a phone call ahead of a UN Security Council meeting on Gaza planned for Wednesday, Erdogan and Guterres discussed the “expectations of the international community regarding Israel’s unlawful attacks,” access of humanitarian aid into the enclave, and efforts for a lasting peace, the Turkish presidency said.
“During the call, President Erdogan said Israel continues to shamelessly trample on international law, the laws of war, and international humanitarian law by looking in the eyes of the international community, and it must be held accountable for the crimes it committed in front of international law,” it said in a statement.
Turkiye’s foreign ministry said Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan would attend the UN Security Council meeting in New York.
In a statement, it added that Fidan would hold also meet his counterparts as part of a so-called contact group of some Muslim countries, formed by the Arab League and Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) this month to discuss Gaza with Western powers and others.
Turkiye has harshly criticized Israel’s attacks on Gaza and called for an immediate cease-fire to allow for discussions over a two-state solution to the wider Israel-Palestinian conflict.
Erdogan has called the Israeli attacks on Gaza a genocide and accused Israel of being a “teror state.” Israel rejects such charges and say it is acting in self-defense against a foe bent on it destruction.
Turkiye also hosts some members of Hamas, which it does not consider a terrorist group, unlike the United States, European Union, and some Gulf countries. It has accused the West, apart from Spain and Belgium, of complicity due to their support of Israel.


Another Yemeni prisoner dies in Houthi detention, fourth in month

Updated 38 min 2 sec ago
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Another Yemeni prisoner dies in Houthi detention, fourth in month

  • Houthis requested that the family of Yanouf Hassan Ali Al-Batenah collect his remains without providing details regarding the cause of death
  • Al-Batenah, a soldier of the Yemeni army’s 7th Military Region, was seized by the Houthis in Nov. 2020 while fighting with Yemeni government troops in Mas, Marib province

AL-MUKALLA: A Yemeni government soldier has died of torture inside a Houthi detention facility in Sanaa, the fourth confirmed prisoner dying as a result of torture in less than a month, Yemeni government officials and activists said.

The Houthis recently requested that the family of Yanouf Hassan Ali Al-Batenah collect his remains without providing details regarding the cause of death.

Al-Batenah, a soldier of the Yemeni army’s 7th Military Region, was seized by the Houthis in November 2020 while fighting with Yemeni government troops in the Mas area in the province of Marib.

For three years, the Houthis had forcefully disappeared the Yemeni soldier and refused his family’s repeated requests to see him or learn his location.

Yemeni human rights advocates and authorities reported that the 26-year-old soldier was mercilessly tortured to death in a notorious Houthi intelligence jail in Sanaa.

Al-Batenah’s death occurred only days after the Houthis said that Yemeni government soldier Mohammed Ahmed Wahban, who was captured by the Houthis during the same fight in Mas, committed suicide inside the military prison in Sanaa by hanging himself.

Yemeni activists, citing a Houthi death sentence against him, contradicted the Houthis’ assertions, saying that the Houthis brutally tortured and murdered Wahban.

Two more inmates have died within Houthi detentions since late last month, including a Yemeni citizen working for the international organization Save the Children.

The Houthis repeatedly rejected pleas from Save the Children, local and international rights organizations, and foreign envoys in Yemen to provide explanations for the deaths of captives in their hands.

Yemeni Information Minister Muammar Al-Eryani said on Monday that 350 inmates died of abuse within Houthi detention facilities out of 1,635 recorded cases of torture since 2015 and that the Houthis maintain 237 official jails and another 128 hidden prisons throughout territories under their control.

“We reaffirm our request to the International Committee of the Red Cross and international and local human rights groups to launch an open inquiry into the crimes of murder and torture committed by Houthi militia in detention facilities,” the Yemeni minister said on X.

Meanwhile, a delegation of EU ambassadors to Yemen completed their visit to Yemen’s temporary capital, Aden, on Tuesday by expressing their support for the Presidential Leadership Council and the Yemeni government’s efforts to improve revenues and combat corruption.

“They praised the government’s work aimed at raising revenue and stabilizing the economy, continuing implementing reforms and improving service delivery under extremely challenging circumstances in a very complex regional context,” the EU ambassadors to Yemen said in a joint statement.


Jordan explores feasibility of green hydrogen projects

Updated 28 November 2023
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Jordan explores feasibility of green hydrogen projects

  • MoU focused on annual production of 180,000 tons of green ammonia

AMMAN: Jordan’s Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources Saleh Kharabsheh signed a memorandum of understanding on Tuesday with Ahmad Saleh, the chairman of Mass Group Holding, to conduct feasibility studies into the development of green hydrogen projects in Jordan, the Jordan News Agency reported.

Kharabsheh said that the memorandum focused on annual production of 180,000 tons of green ammonia. Once the preliminary studies are completed, and depending on the results, the ministry is to construct a framework agreement to lead to the final investment deal for the project.

Kharabsheh said that it was the ministry’s eighth agreement of its kind regarding the production of green hydrogen and green ammonia, and highlighted the importance of forming partnerships with the private sector.

He expressed optimism about Jordan becoming a regional and global hub for hydrogen production and export, as envisioned by the ministry and the energy sector.

The minister reaffirmed the commitment of the ministry and the sector to streamlining the green hydrogen investment process. He spoke of the importance of the opportunity for both Jordan and investors.

Kharabsheh said that the memorandum was consistent with the government’s efforts to harness significant renewable energy resources, and Jordan’s strategic location in the region, in line with the country’s Economic Modernization Vision for 2023-2033.
 


In Gaza, little solace in truce as people endure grief and deprivation

Updated 28 November 2023
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In Gaza, little solace in truce as people endure grief and deprivation

  • “The struggle for water happens daily, since we were first displaced until now,” said Rami Al-Rizek
  • Now in its fifth day, the pause in fighting between Israel and Hamas has allowed an increased number of aid trucks to enter Gaza from Egypt

KHAN YOUNIS, Gaza Strip: Carting heavy cans of water through muddy streets, searching mounds of rubble for clothes, mourning lost relatives and homes — Gazans reprieved from Israeli bombardment during the truce with Hamas were still facing the daily hardships of war.
At a water station in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip on Tuesday, people filled plastic containers and lugged them to homes or shelters using carts pulled by donkeys or by hand, bicycles, a shopping trolley, a wheelbarrow, even a wheelchair.
“The struggle for water happens daily, since we were first displaced until now. Even during the cease-fire, they didn’t find a solution to the water problem,” said Rami Al-Rizek, displaced with his family from their home in Gaza City.
Now in its fifth day, the pause in fighting between Israel and Hamas has allowed an increased number of aid trucks to enter Gaza from Egypt, but the humanitarian needs are so immense that many Gazans have felt little or no impact.
“Whether there is a truce or not, we still have no electricity, no water, and none of life’s basic necessities,” said Muath Hamdan, another man waiting at the water station.
It had rained, and a steady stream of children and adults trudged through mud and puddles in sandals and flip flops on their way to the water station. The quest for water was the main activity that could be seen on the streets.
In a different area of Khan Younis, Maryam Abu Rjaileh had returned to her home, reduced to rubble by an Israeli air strike, to search for clothes for her children. The family are now sheltering at a school, in a classroom shared with many others.
“We see our homes getting destroyed, our dreams getting destroyed, we see the efforts we put into our homes all destroyed,” said Abu Rjaileh.
“How can I describe our situation? They gave us a four-day truce, what are these four days? We come here, feel sorry for ourselves and turn back.”

PAINFUL MEMORIES
In another part of town, Yasser Abu Shamaleh paced over the pile of debris that used to be a block where many of his relatives lived. He said more than 30 of them had been killed — his parents, sisters and brothers, nieces, nephews and cousins.
“Two things made me come to this area. First, my cousin is still under the rubble and no-one has been able to get him out. Second, my painful memories,” he said.
Abu Shamaleh, who said he survived because he, his wife and their five children live in a different building, picked up chunks of concrete and tossed them aside. A rag doll could be seen in the rubble.
“As much as you try to retrieve things, it’s useless. We need machinery and tools to get things out,” he said.
“The truce is the time to lift the rubble and search for all the missing people and bury them. We honor the dead by burying them. What use is the truce if the bodies remain under the rubble?” he said.
The war began when militants from Hamas, the Islamist group that controls Gaza, rampaged through southern Israel on Oct. 7, killing 1,200 people, including babies and children, and seizing about 240 hostages, according to Israeli figures.
Israel responded with aerial bombardment and a ground assault on Gaza, killing more than 15,000 people, around 40 percent of them children, according to Gazan health officials.
Another Khan Younis resident, Ahmed Al-Najjar, said of the truce: “Four days are not enough, and forty days are not enough, and four years will not be enough to get over the pain.”