Middle East Experience

Azza Slimene's message about being unable to post on Instagram after talking to a man from Gaza went viral, the social media giant claimed it fixed a 'global' posting issue..
Source: Albawaba
Full Article: US-based Tunisian super model accuses Instagram of censorship over Palestinian content

Damage can be seen from the rocket that fell in Ramat Gan on Saturday morning.
Source: Jerusalem Post
Full Article: Rockets land in central Israel - in pictures

11 Palestinians were killed and 150 injured out of some 5,000 Palestinians who demonstrated to show solidarity with Hamas and the Gaza Strip.
Source: Jerusalem Post
Full Article: Thousands gather in northern Israel for Nakba Day protests

The elite prison unite will be temporarily granted the power to detain, search, and arrest civilians until the violence across Israel is under control.
Source: Jerusalem Post
Full Article: Prison guards granted the power to arrest civilians amid ongoing violence

The long-awaited “Friends” cast reunion will be broadcast on May 27 and will feature a slew of celebrity guests including Justin Bieber, Lady Gaga, and K-Pop band BTS, streaming service HB0 Max said on Thursday.For the latest headlines, follow our Google News channel online or via the app.“Friends: The Reunion,” featuring all six of the original cast, was originally supposed to have been filmed more than a year ago but was repeatedly delayed by the coronavirus pandemic.The unscripted, one-off special was filmed earlier this year on the same sound stage in Los Angeles as the original comedy about six young 20-somethings, played by Jennifer Aniston, Lisa Kudrow, Courteney Cox, David Schwimmer, Matt LeBlanc and Matthew Perry, living in New York.In an statement, carried by Harpers Bazaar, HBO Max explained: “in order to avoid any misunderstanding about what this special is, we want to make it very clear that this is not a new, original episode of the series. The cast will be appearing as themselves, not as their beloved characters.”“Friends,” which ended its 10 year-run on NBC television in 2004, was one of the most popular TV shows of the 1990s and found a new life on streaming platforms where it is one of the most watched shows worldwide.News of the broadcast date for the reunion quickly became the top trending item worldwide on Twitter.“The one with us finally getting together,” quipped Kudrow on Instagram.Cox said she felt “blessed to have reunited with my Friends... and it was better than ever.”HBO Max said more than 15 celebrity guests would also take part, including former “Friends” cast members Tom Selleck (Richard), and Maggie Wheeler (Janice) and others such as British soccer star David Beckham, “Game of Thrones” actor Kit Harington and Pakistan’s Nobel Peace Prize winner Malala Yousafzai.With ReutersRead more:Report: Ellen DeGeneres to end her TV talk show next yearNetflix series ‘Zero’ signals racial breakthrough in Italian TV Britney Spears says recent documentaries about her life are ‘hypocritical’
Source: Al Arabiya
Full Article: ‘Friends’ reunion to air May 27 on HBO Max, Bieber, BTS, Beckham as guests

Turkey’s Karpowership, which provides electricity to Lebanon from two barges, said on Friday it was shutting down supplies over payment arrears and a legal threat to its vessels amid the country’s economic crisis.For the latest headlines, follow our Google News channel online or via the app.The company, which supplies 370 megawatts (MW), or about a quarter of Lebanon’s supply, had told the government this week it would have to shut down in the absence of moves towards a settlement.The shutdown threatens longer daily power cuts across the heavily indebted nation, which did not have enough capacity to meet demand even before Karpowership’s move on Friday.Many people rely on private generators or struggle for several hours a day without power.In a statement, the company, a unit of Kardeniz, said it was shutting down supplies on Friday. A source familiar with the situation said the step was taken at about 8 a.m. (0500 GMT), as the vessels’ fuel had been running down.The source, speaking on condition of anonymity, said arrears exceeded $100 million, and added that the government had not reached out for talks or to try and resolve a legal case, despite the firm’s repeated appeals meant to avert a shutdown.Lebanon’s Finance Ministry said it had been notified by the Turkish firm and cited a lawmaker saying that the country could face “total darkness” in case of a shut-off. It has made no public statement about any talks.A Lebanese prosecutor threatened this month to seize the barges and fine the firm after Lebanese TV channel al-Jadeed reported corruption accusations over the power contract.The firm denies the charges.At the weekend, it said it had not been paid for 18 months, a period coinciding with the financial crunch, and added that it sought a “reasonable solution” to maintain generation.Each of its barges has capacity of 202 MW, against a contract to supply a total of 370 MW.An industry source said Lebanon’s total capacity was about 2,200 MW, including the barges, but was only generating a total of 1,300 MW, including the Turkish supplies of 370 MW. Lebanon’s peak demand in 2020 was 3,500 MW, the source said.Read more:Lebanon must fix debts, halt prosecutor action or face power cut, says Turkish firm
Source: Al Arabiya
Full Article: Turkey’s Karpowership shutting down electricity generation to Lebanon: Statement

Just weeks ago, the Gaza Strip’s feeble health system was struggling with a runaway surge of coronavirus cases. Authorities cleared out hospital operating rooms, suspended nonessential care and redeployed doctors to patients having difficulty breathing.Then, the bombs began to fall.For the latest headlines, follow our Google News channel online or via the app.This week’s Israeli strikes on Gaza have killed 103 Palestinians, including 27 children, and wounded 530 people in the impoverished territory. The airstrikes have pounded apartments, blown up cars and toppled buildings.Doctors across the crowded coastal enclave are now reallocating intensive care unit beds and scrambling to keep up with a very different health crisis: treating blast and shrapnel wounds, bandaging cuts and performing amputations.Distraught relatives didn’t wait for ambulances, rushing the wounded by car or on foot to Shifa Hospital, the territory’s largest. Exhausted doctors hurried from patient to patient, frantically bandaging shrapnel wounds to stop the bleeding. Others gathered at the hospital morgue, waiting with stretchers to remove the bodies for burial.At the Indonesia Hospital in the northern town of Jabaliya, the clinic overflowed after bombs fell nearby. Blood was everywhere, with victims lying on the floors of hallways. Relatives crowded the ER, crying out for loved ones and cursing Israel.“Before the military attacks, we had major shortages and could barely manage with the second (virus) wave,” said Gaza Health Ministry official Abdelatif al-Hajj by phone as bombs thundered in the background. “Now casualties are coming from all directions, really critical casualties. I fear a total collapse.”Gutted by years of conflict, the impoverished health care system in the territory of more than 2 million people has always been vulnerable. Bitter division between Hamas and the West Bank-based Palestinian Authority and a nearly 14-year blockade imposed by Israel with Egypt’s help also has strangled the infrastructure. There are shortages of equipment and supplies such as blood bags, surgical lamps, anesthesia, and antibiotics. Personal protection gear, breathing machines and oxygen tanks remain even scarcer.Last month, Gaza’s daily coronavirus cases and deaths hit record highs, fueled by the spread of a variant that first appeared in Britain, relaxation of movement restrictions during Ramadan, and deepening public apathy and intransigence.In the bomb-scarred territory where the unemployment rate is 50 percent, the need for personal survival often trumps the pleas of public health experts. While virus testing remains limited, the outbreak has infected more than 105,700 people, according to health authorities, and killed 976.As cases climbed last year, stirring fears of a health care catastrophe, authorities set aside clinics just for COVID-19 patients. But that changed as airstrikes pummeled the territory.Nurses at the European Hospital in the town of Khan Younis, frantically needing room for the wounded, moved dozens of virus patients in the middle of the night to a different building, said hospital director Yousef al-Akkad. Its surgeons and specialists, who had deployed elsewhere for the virus, rushed back to treat head injuries, fractures and abdominal wounds.If the conflict intensifies, the hospital won’t be able to care for the virus patients, al-Akkad said.“We have only 15 intensive care beds, and all I can do is pray,” he said, adding that because the hospital lacks surgical supplies and expertise, he’s already arranged to send one child to Egypt for reconstructive shoulder surgery. “I pray these airstrikes will stop soon.”At Shifa, authorities also moved the wounded into its 30 beds that had been set aside for virus patients. Thursday night was the quietest this week for the ICU, as bombs had largely fallen elsewhere in Gaza. Patients with broken bones and other wounds lay amid the din of beeping monitors, intercoms and occasional shouts by doctors. A few relatives huddled around them, recounting the chaotic barrage.“About 12 people down in one airstrike. It was 6 p.m. in the street. Some were killed, including my two cousins and young sister. It’s like this every day,” said 22-year-old Atallah al-Masri, sitting beside his wounded brother, Ghassan.Hospital director Mohammed Abu Selmia lamented the latest series of blows to Gaza’s health system.“The Gaza Strip is under siege for 14 years, and the health sector is exhausted. Then comes the coronavirus pandemic,” he said, adding that most of the equipment is as old as the blockade and can’t be sent out for repairs.Now, his teams already strained by virus cases are treating bombing victims, more than half of whom are critical cases needing surgery.“They work relentlessly,” he addedTo make matters worse, Israeli airstrikes hit two health clinics north of Gaza City on Tuesday. The strikes wreaked havoc on Hala al-Shawa Health Center, forcing employees to evacuate, and damaged the Indonesian Hospital, according to the World Health Organization. Israel, already under pressure from an International Criminal court investigation into possible war crimes during the 2014 war, reiterated this week that it warns people living in targeted areas to flee. The airstrikes nonetheless have killed civilians and inflicted damage on Gaza’s infrastructure.The violence also has closed a few dozen health centers conducting coronavirus tests, said Sacha Bootsma, director of WHO’s Gaza office. This week, authorities conducted some 300 tests a day, compared with 3,000 before the fighting began.The UN Relief and Works Agency, or UNRWA, ordered staff to stay home from its 22 clinics for their safety. Those now-closed centers had also administered coronavirus vaccines, a precious resource in a place that waited months to receive a limited shipment from the UN-backed COVAX program. Those doses will expire in just a few weeks and get thrown away, with “huge implications for authorities’ ability to mobilize additional vaccines in the future,” Bootsma said.For the newly wounded, however, the virus remains an afterthought.The last thing that Mohammad Nassar remembers before an airstrike hit was walking home with a friend on a street. When he came to, he said, “we found ourselves lying on the ground.”Now the 31-year-old is hooked up to a tangle of tubes and monitors in the Shifa Hospital surgical ward, with a broken right arm and a shrapnel wound in his stomach.Read more:Israeli army launches military operation on Gaza StripAt least three rockets fired at Israel from south LebanonIsraeli airstrikes kill 109 Palestinians in Gaza, including 28 children, 15 women
Source: Al Arabiya
Full Article: Gaza hospitals already struggling with COVID-19 now treating injured

Israeli ministers have refused so far to address the possibility of an internationally mediated cease-fire agreement with Hamas, demanding that the group first stops unilaterally all hostilities.
Source: Al Monitor
Full Article: Israel mum on international efforts for cease-fire with Hamas

The Israeli army fired 450 missiles within 40 minutes overnight at 150 “targets” in Gaza, spokesman Avichay Adraee said in a tweet on Friday.The airstrikes have continuously pounded apartments, blown up cars and toppled buildings, with Israel officials claiming to be targeting militants in the area.For the latest headlines, follow our Google News channel online or via the app.As of May 14, Israeli strikes on Gaza have killed at least 119 Palestinians, including 31 children, 19 women, and wounded 830 people, according to Palestine’s Ministry of Health.“These raids were to deal a heavy blow to the underground interests, the Hamas metro located under the northern and eastern neighborhoods in the vicinity of Gaza City,” Adraee said. “We enter the fifth day of the process and continue working aggressively.”He also said 160 planes and six air bases were uses during the raid overnight.Missiles have been fired out of Gaza by the Palestinian militant group Hamas; however, most have been intercepted using Israel’s Iron Dome system.In recent days, tensions have soared over Israel’s planned eviction of Palestinians from the Sheikh Jarrah district in east Jerusalem, which Israel sees as part of its eternal capital but is considered occupied by the United Nations.Israel has prepared combat troops along the Gaza border and was in “various stages of preparing ground operations”, a military spokesman said, a move that would recall similar incursions during Israel-Gaza wars in 2014 and 2008-2009.Health authorities in Gaza said they were investigating the deaths of several people who they said may have inhaled poisonous gas. Samples were being examined and they had yet to draw any final conclusions, they said.With agenciesRead more:Israeli troops mass at Gaza border amid ongoing strikesIsraeli army launches military operation on Gaza StripIsraeli airstrikes kill 109 Palestinians in Gaza, including 28 children, 15 women
Source: Al Arabiya
Full Article: Israel fired 450 missiles at Gaza within 40 minutes overnight: Spokesman

Four Palestinians were killed by Israeli fire in the West Bank on Friday afternoon, bringing the day’s toll from clashes in the territory to six dead, the health ministry said.For the latest headlines, follow our Google News channel online or via the app.“Two citizens who arrived in serious condition at Salfit hospital after being wounded by Israeli army live fire to the chest and stomach... are dead,” the ministry said, after announcing two other deaths earlier in the day.Violence on Fridays in the West Bank is a traditional facet of the long running Israeli-Palestinian conflict, but the fresh unrest comes amid Israel’s ongoing strikes on Gaza.Israel’s army said it “neutralized” an assailant who attempted to stab at soldier at a military post in Ofra, north of Ramallah.The Palestinian health ministry confirmed the man’s death and that of a second man it said was shot dead by Israeli troops near Jenin.There have been daily clashes in the West Bank since Monday, after Israel attacked worshipers at the al-Aqsa mosque in Jerusalem following attempts to evict Palestinians from their homes in the neighborhood of Sheikh Jarrah.The Palestinian Red Crescent said Friday’s West Bank clashes, affecting multiple locations, had left more than 100 people wounded, including from tear gas and rubber bullets.An Al Arabiya correspondent said the Israeli army was using drones to drop tear gas on protesters.Amid the surge in West Bank violence, the Gaza conflict raged on Friday, with Israeli forces continuing a bombing campaign in response to Palestinian rocket fire.Earlier in the day, the Israeli army said it had fired 450 missiles into Gaza within a 40-minute period.With AFP & the Associated PressRead more:Israel fired 450 missiles at Gaza within 40 minutes overnight: SpokesmanIsraeli army launches military operation on Gaza StripIsraeli airstrikes kill 109 Palestinians in Gaza, including 28 children, 15 women
Source: Al Arabiya
Full Article: Six Palestinians killed by Israeli fire in West Bank, hundreds injured