Middle East Experience

Prime Minister-designate Mustapha Adib’s decision not to present a draft Cabinet lineup to President Michel Aoun Monday has averted a new political crisis in the country already reeling from multiple problems, aggravated by last month’s deadly explosion in Beirut and the alarming surge in coronavirus cases, political sources said..
Source: Albawaba
Full Article: New political crisis averted; France urges swift govt formation

Places of worship, cafes, restaurants and public markets must close their doors for the next two weeks.
Source: Al Monitor
Full Article: Jordan reimposes restrictions on schools, businesses after COVID-19 spike

Amiram Ben-Uliel was handed three life sentences for firebombing a Palestinian home in 2015, killing three of the family members inside.
Source: Al Monitor
Full Article: Israeli sentenced to life in prison for 2015 murder of Palestinian toddler, parents

A fire erupted in central Beirut’s commercial district in a landmark building designed by the late British-Iraqi architect Zaha Hadid, Al Arabiya sources confirmed on Tuesday.The fire was extinguished shortly after, Reuters reported citing a Lebanese civil defense official.For all the latest headlines follow our Google News channel online or via the app.The building had been under construction for years and was close to completion, according to Al Arabiya sources.Lebanese social media users, still traumatized by the deadly Beirut port explosion on August 4, shared footage of the fire online.The fire comes just two days after white smoke was seen from the Beirut port on Saturday night. Officials confirmed the smoke resulted from remnants of a previous fire days earlier.On Friday, Lebanese firefighters and army helicopters struggled to put out the remains of a huge fire that erupted on the port a day earlier at the same site where at least 190 people were killed and large parts of the city were destroyed more than a month earlier.(With Reuters)Read more:White smoke seen in Beirut port, officials say ‘not new fire’Firefighters extinguish new Beirut port fire, cause remains unknown: ReportsBeirut port fire hits warehouse where food aid stored: Red Cross
Source: Al Arabiya
Full Article: Fire breaks out in landmark building in central Beirut: Reports 

Bahrain and Israel will sign a historic agreement of normalization on Tuesday, but in the last three years, the countries have interacted in various ways - from interfaith trips to security conferences.Here are seven events that paved the way to Tuesday’s landmark moment:December 2017: Interfaith group from Bahrain visits IsraelAn interfaith group from Bahrain traveled to Israel for a three-day visit on December 12, 2017.The 25 participants included Muslims, Christians, Hindus, and Buddhists, according to The Associated Press, which reported that half of the group were Bahraini citizens.Bahrain News Agency (BNA) said at the time that the group did not “represent any official entity” in the country.February 2018: American Jewish community visits BahrainA New York-based Jewish community group traveled to Bahrain on February 25, 2018, at the invitation of Bahrain’s King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa.Rabbi Marc Schneier led the community, and he was later appointed special advisor by the King of Bahrain to the King Hamad Global Centre for Peaceful Coexistence.“We visited the synagogue in Manama and the Jewish cemetery,” Schneier told Al Arabiya English.The group met with Bahrain’s indigenous Jewish community including former Bahraini ambassador to the US Houda Nonoo, parliament member Nancy Khedouri, and community leader Michael Yadgar.November 2018: Israeli minister invited to conference in ManamaDuring a radio interview, Israel’s then-Economy Minister Eli Cohen said he had received a “personal invitation” to a 2019 technology conference, titled Startup Nations Ministerial conference, in Bahrain’s capital city Manama.June 2019: Bahrain hosts the White House Peace to Prosperity conferenceLast year Bahrain hosted the White House’s Peace to Prosperity workshop in Manama, where the Trump administration rolled out its $50 billion Middle East economic plan and proposals to solve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.The White House did not invite Israeli officials to the event, but Israeli journalists, who were invited to cover the conference, interviewed Bahrain’s then-foreign minister Khalid bin Ahmed Al Khalifa.July 2019: Bahraini and Israeli foreign ministers meet in Washington, DCAl Khalifa and Israel’s then-Foreign Minister Israel Katz met publicly for the first time in Washington, DC at a US State Department event on religious freedom.A photo of the two officials was shared by the State Department.Katz later said in a tweet that he discussed Iran and regional threats with Al Khalifa.October 2019: Senior Israeli official attends Bahrain for security conferenceIsraeli Foreign Ministry Counterterrorism Director Dana Benvenisti attended a maritime security conference in Bahrain on October 21, 2019.December 2019: Former Chief Rabbi of Jerusalem visits BahrainFormer Chief Rabbi of Jerusalem Shlomo Amar visited Bahrain on December 9, 2019 to participate in an interfaith forum alongside religious leaders from Kuwait, Lebanon, Egypt, and Jordan.Read more:After Israel deal, Bahrain’s Jews seek to revive community with new rabbi, synagogueIsrael agreement ‘not a political treaty, it’s a treaty of coexistence’: UAE officialDirect flights from UAE to Israel possible by end of 2020: Israeli spokesperson
Source: Al Arabiya
Full Article: Bahrain, Israel normalize ties: Seven events that led to the deal

The Syrian regime and Russian forces are facing a growing threat of the Islamic State, which continues to hold pockets across the desert in central Syria.
Source: Al Monitor
Full Article: How the Islamic State found a haven in Syrian desert

Iran warned the US on Tuesday against making a “strategic mistake” after President Donald Trump threatened Tehran over reports it planned to avenge the killing of top general Qasem Soleimani.“We hope that they do not make a new strategic mistake and certainly in the case of any strategic mistake, they will witness Iran’s decisive response,” government spokesman Ali Rabiei told a televised news conference.For all the latest headlines follow our Google News channel online or via the app.A US media report, quoting unnamed officials, said that an alleged Iranian plot to assassinate the US ambassador to South Africa was planned before the US presidential election in November.“Any attack by Iran, in any form, against the United States will be met with an attack on Iran that will be 1,000 times greater in magnitude!” Trump wrote on Twitter on Monday.Rabiei expressed regret that “the president of a country who has claims to global management and order would make hasty, agenda-fueled and dubious remarks on such a weak basis.”He warned that reacting to such reports would “achieve nothing but disruption to the region and to world calm” and advised Trump to “refrain from fresh adventurism... for the sake of winning a new term as president.”On Monday, the foreign ministry denied the report of an assassination plot as “baseless” and part of “repetitive and rotten methods to create an anti-Iranian atmosphere”.Relations between Washington and Tehran have been tense ever since the Islamic revolution of 1979. They have deteriorated sharply since Trump unilaterally pulled out of a landmark international nuclear deal with Iran in May 2018 and reimposed crippling sanctions.The Iranian navy said last week that it drove off US aircraft that flew close to an area where naval exercises were underway near the sensitive Strait of Hormuz.The military said three US aircraft were detected by air defences.One of them was a US RQ-4 drone, the same model as one shot down by Iran in June last year after allegedly violating Iranian airspace – a claim the US has denied.Read more:Trump says US response to Iran attack will be ‘1,000 times greater’Iran considering assassination attempt on US ambassador to avenge Soleimani: Report
Source: Al Arabiya
Full Article: Iran warns US against ‘strategic mistake’ after Trump threatens response

France’s leadership is failing to stand up to Iran and its proxy Lebanese Hezbollah, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said on Monday.France’s President Emmanuel Macron has recently attracted attention for two high-profile visits to Lebanon following the Beirut port explosion on August 4.According to reports in French newspaper Le Figaro, Macron met with a Hezbollah official during his first trip, saying to Mohammed Raad: “I want to work with you to change Lebanon but prove that you are Lebanese,” referring to the organization supporting Iran’s regional policies.In remarks published on the US’ Virtual Iran Embassy, Pompeo called France’s approach to Iran and Hezbollah “appeasement.”Pompeo questioned how France could vote against extending the UN arms embargo on Iran and also have its president meet with a Hezbollah official in Beirut.“How could France vote down the arms embargo one week, and President Macron meet with a senior Hizballah official in Beirut the next?” Pompeo said.Designating Hezbollah terrorist organizationPompeo criticized France’s refusal to designate “all of Hizballah a terrorist organization, as other European nations have done.”Earlier this year, both the UK and Germany designated the entire Hezbollah a terror organization.Like France and the European Union, both countries previously had distinguished between Hezbollah’s political arm and military units.“Paris maintains the fiction that there is a ‘political wing’ of Hizballah, when all of it is controlled by a single terrorist, Hassan Nasrallah,” said Pompeo, adding that he backs a group of 27 prominent French figures, who recently called for France to declare Hezbollah a terrorist organization in an article published in Le Figaro.Macron has rejected criticism of his approach, saying he wants to avoid “escalation.”Extending UN arms embargo on IranFrance, in addition to the UK and Germany, did not support the US resolution to extend the UN arms embargo on Iran, resulting in it failing to pass the UN Security Council vote.The current UN arms embargo on Iran is set to expire next month, despite the US and allies in the region pointing to the dangers of allowing Iran to purchase arms considering its destabilizing regional activities.Pompeo said America’s “European friends” did not support the “reasonable proposal” because of fear and political calculations.“Our European allies fear that if they hold Iran accountable for its destabilizing behavior, Iran will violate the [nuclear deal] even more in response,” he said.“This strategy of appeasement does nothing but play into Iran’s grand strategy,” Pompeo said.France is one of the partners to the Iran nuclear deal, known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), and has advocated for the preservation of the deal that the Trump administration exited in 2018 - despite Tehran violating the deal multiple times since then.“The question is whether France is willing to join us to stand up to Iran and secure peace and regional stability,” Pompeo said.Read more:Iran considering assassination attempt on US ambassador to avenge Soleimani: ReportBahrain, Israel normalize ties: Seven events that led to the dealTurkey arrests journalist for ‘insulting’ Turkish sultan on Twitter
Source: Al Arabiya
Full Article: US Secretary Pompeo criticizes France for policy on Iran, Hezbollah

Oman is expected to send representatives to attend the White House ceremony for the signing of agreements between Israel and the UAE and Bahrain, a source told Al Arabiya English on Tuesday.Oman’s fellow Gulf countries, Bahrain and the UAE, are set to finalize agreements that will normalize relations with Israel.The deals make them the third and fourth Arab states to normalize ties with Israel. Israel signed peace treaties with Egypt in 1979 and Jordan in 1994.Emirati Foreign Minister Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed al-Nahyan and Bahrain’s Foreign Minister Abdullatif Al Zayani will sign agreements alongside Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.US President Donald Trump will host the ceremony.Oman welcomed both the UAE and Bahrain’s decisions to build bridges with Israel when the agreements were first announced, on August 13 and September 11, respectively.Oman said earlier this month that it hoped the “new strategic path taken by some Arab countries will contribute to bringing about a peace based on an end to the Israeli occupation of Palestinian lands and on establishing an independent Palestinian state with East Jerusalem as capital.”Oman’s foreign minister Yousuf bin Alawi bin Abdullah spoke to his Israeli counterpart Gabi Ashkenazi four days after the UAE-Israel deal was announced, on August 17.Former US Ambassador to Oman Richard Schmierer told Al Arabiya English at the time that he believed Oman “will support and try to advance the step taken by the UAE in its decision to seek normal relations with Israel.”Read more:Six major events in Oman-Israel relations: TimelineIran considering assassination attempt on US ambassador to avenge Soleimani: ReportUS Secretary Pompeo criticizes France for policy on Iran, Hezbollah
Source: Al Arabiya
Full Article: Oman to send officials to White House for UAE-Israel-Bahrain ceremony: Source

Egypt announced the discovery of 13 completely sealed coffins dating back more than 2,500 years, as the country resumes excavation missions following months of hiatus due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Source: Al Monitor
Full Article: More intact coffins among archaeological discoveries in Egypt