Middle East Experience

Decision on the program is expected by mid-2022
Source: Jerusalem Post
Full Article: IDF's second pilot to integrate women into armored corps to begin

Qadri Abu Bakr told The New York Times that prisoners' families salaries would change to match the families' needs, instead of correlating to prison sentence. He denied the statement to Arab media.
Source: Jerusalem Post
Full Article: PLO official gives directly opposing statements to NYT and Arab media

Ministers will also discuss new tracking technology and public transportation.
Source: Jerusalem Post
Full Article: Coronavirus cabinet debating schools, stores - again

As part of the arrangement, airlines will arrange for electronic entrance documents for passengers.
Source: Jerusalem Post
Full Article: UAE approves temporary entry arrangement for Israelis

US President Donald Trump all but conceded defeat to President-elect Joe Biden on Monday in a tweet where he asked officials to help with the transition to a new president after a federal agency certified Biden as the winner of the November 3 elections.Although Trump said his case “STRONGLY” continues, in an apparent reference to his lawsuits appealing the election outcome in favor of Biden, the president said he informed the General Services Administration to “do what needs to be done with regard to initial protocols.”For all the latest headlines, follow our Google News channel online or via the app.GSA head Emily Murphy released a letter giving Biden permission to begin the transition.“I take this role seriously and, because of recent developments involving legal challenges and certifications of election results, am transmitting this letter today to make those resources and services available to you,” Murphy wrote in a letter to Biden.“I want to thank Emily Murphy at GSA for her steadfast dedication and loyalty to our Country. She has been harassed, threatened, and abused – and I do not want to see this happen to her, her family, or employees of GSA,” Trump tweeted.The president’s campaign has filed several lawsuits in key battleground states where he has claimed voter fraud.Local courts have thrown out many cases, but Trump called on his team to continue fighting, “and I believe we will prevail.”Nevertheless, he revealed that he had instructed Murphy and his own team to help begin the transition process to a new administration.“In the days ahead, transition officials will begin meeting with federal officials to discuss the pandemic response, have a full accounting of our national security interests, and gain complete understanding of the Trump administration’s efforts to hollow out government agencies,” Biden transition executive director Yohannes Abraham said in a statement.Read more: Joe Biden fills top brass positions with veteran diplomats: Who’s who?'Breath of fresh air' as Biden picks officials, signals seriousness on climate change- with Reuters
Source: Al Arabiya
Full Article: Trump says no longer opposing Biden transition, asks team to help president-elect

Gasser Abdel-Razek and two of his colleagues were arrested in what experts say is a renewed crackdown on human rights defenders.
Source: Al Monitor
Full Article: Egyptian rights group's director held in solitary confinement, lawyers say

An official from the Saudi Aramco oil company on Tuesday said customers were unaffected by an attack that came from Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthi militia at a petroleum products distribution plant in the north of Jeddah city.For all the latest headlines follow our Google News channel online or via the app.Aramco’s oil production and export facilities are mostly in Saudi Arabia’s Eastern Province, more than 1,000 kilometer (620) from Jeddah.One of the 13 tanks used for diesel oil, gasoline and jet fuel at Aramco’s North Jeddah Bulk Plant is currently out of action, the facility’s manager Abdullah al-Ghamdi told journalists on a tour. Al-Ghamdi said they were still assessing the scale and cost of the damage from the attack which happened at 3:50 am Saudi time on Monday. He described the site as a “critical facility” with total storage capacity of 5.2 million barrels. It can distribute more than 120,000 barrels of products per day domestically to Jeddah, Mecca and the al-Baha region. “Within a minute [of the attack] the response team started the firefighting system which is fixed to the tank itself. A minute or two later the fire station crew arrived at the scene,” Ghamdi said. A fire caused by the attack was extinguished in around 40 minutes with no casualties, he said. “It was a big fire, a big explosion, but was dealt with swiftly,” Ghamdi said. The projectile struck the storage tank, which has a maximum capacity of 500,000 barrels, from the top, causing “major damage” to its roof, with a hole around 2 meters square, the official said. Black marks and some damage around its top rim were visible.A projectile launched by Iran-backed Houthis in Yemen caused a fire at a petroleum products distribution station in Jedda, the Arab Coalition's spokesman Colonel Turki al-Maliki said on Monday.Arab Coalition spokesman said: “The Iran-backed terrorist Houthi militia has been implicated in this cowardly terrorist attack, which does not target the Kingdom's national capabilities, but rather targets the global economy, its supplies and global energy security,” SPA reported.The United Arab Emirates strongly condemned the “cowardly attack committed by the Iranian-backed Houthi militia terrorists” that targeted a petroleum products distribution station in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, Emirates News Agency (WAM) reported on Monday.- With ReutersRead more:Arab Coalition: Fire at Jeddah petroleum products station caused by Houthi projectileThe UAE condemns ‘cowardly attack’ on Jeddah petroleum products station
Source: Al Arabiya
Full Article: Saudi Aramco: Customers unaffected by Houthi attack on Jeddah petroleum facility

As Israel fails to fulfil its part of the truce understandings and in light of Qatar's alleged refusal to increase and renew its financial grant to the Gaza Strip, tensions have resumed between Israel and Hamas.
Source: Al Monitor
Full Article: Hamas seeks to lock in Qatar aid while exchanging border fire with Israel

Iraq’s foreign ministry on Tuesday condemned the attack by the Iranian-backed Houthi militia that targeted a Jeddah petroleum products station in Saudi Arabia.For all the latest headlines follow our Google News channel online or via the app.“The Iraqi Ministry of Foreign Affairs condemns the attack that targeted the Aramco oil station in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, and affirms the Iraqi position to stand against any aggression and reject escalation in the region,” Iraq’s foreign ministry said in a statement.Iraq calls “for a solution to crises by peaceful means and through negotiations between all parties concerned, to bring security and stability to the region,” the statement added.On Monday, a projectile launched by the Iran-backed Houthis in Yemen caused a fire at a petroleum products distribution station in Jeddah, the Arab Coalition’s spokesman Colonel Turki al-Maliki said.An official at the Saudi Ministry of Energy said earlier in the day that an explosion caused a fire to break out in a fuel tank at a petroleum products distribution station in Northern Jeddah.Jordan, Pakistan, Kuwait, and the United Arab Emirates also condemned the attack.Read more:Saudi Aramco: Customers unaffected by Houthi attack on Jeddah petroleum facilityThe UAE condemns ‘cowardly attack’ on Jeddah petroleum products station
Source: Al Arabiya
Full Article: Iraq condemns Houthi attack that targeted Jeddah petroleum products station

As the conflict between the Polisario Front and Morocco intensifies, more than eight Arab countries rush to declare their full support for the kingdom, while Egypt simply calls on the parties to show restraint and refrain from any provocative actions.
Source: Al Monitor
Full Article: Egypt backs Polisario Front, risks relations with Morocco