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Arab World

Palestinian Parties Reject Canceling Elections

A protest against postponing the elections in front of the headquarters of the Central Elections Commission in Gaza (dpa)
A protest against postponing the elections in front of the headquarters of the Central Elections Commission in Gaza (dpa)
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Palestinian Parties Reject Canceling Elections

A protest against postponing the elections in front of the headquarters of the Central Elections Commission in Gaza (dpa)
A protest against postponing the elections in front of the headquarters of the Central Elections Commission in Gaza (dpa)

Rumors that the Israeli government has agreed to allow the elections to take place, including in East Jerusalem, are “unfounded,” the Palestinian Authority (PA) has announced.

Earlier, Israel tried to embarrass Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas by suggesting that it does not interfere in the elections and holding them depends on Abbas himself.

Fatah Central Committee Member Hussein al-Sheikh said “the Israeli government has officially informed us that the Israeli position on holding elections in East Jerusalem remains negative.”

Sheikh stressed the party that must receive the official Israeli decision is the Palestinian National Authority.

The Israel Hayom newspaper and Walla website have reported that Tel Aviv will not interfere in the polls, and it informed European countries that it did not prevent the Palestinian elections from taking place in Jerusalem.

Head of the Israeli Foreign Ministry’s political department Alan Bar said in a meeting with 13 European ambassadors that Tel Aviv views the Palestinian elections an internal matter and will not intervene in the polls.

He claimed that Israel has not taken any official position on the elections in East Jerusalem, telling the ambassadors that it was up to Abbas to make the decision.

The statements consolidated the belief among Palestinian opposition and electoral blocs that Abbas has a desire to cancel the elections over disagreements within Fatah and the formation of alternative lists of the movement's leaders.

Member of Hamas politburo Mousa Abu Marzouk confirmed the movement’s rejection to postpone the elections under any pretext, warning any such move would affect the future of Palestinian reconciliation.

The official asserted Hamas’ position on holding the polls in Jerusalem, saying the justifications for postponement are “unrealistic.”

Nashaat al-Aqtash, the campaign manager of the independent Watan candidates, said the list “will not recognize the postponement.”

“The reason is that the president issued the election decree and no longer has the authority to issue decrees at this stage. It is now up to the election commission,” indicated Aqtash, who is also a media professor at Bir Zeit University.

Fatah media official Munir al-Jaghoub responded by saying that the Palestinian factions signed an agreement in Cairo that there would be no elections without Jerusalem.

Fatah argues that the matter is related to sovereign and legal issues, given that East Jerusalem is the capital of the Palestinian state.

A number of electoral lists sent a letter to Abbas, and another copy to the chairman of the Palestinian Central Elections Commission (PCEC) Hanna Nasser, stressing the importance of implementing the presidential decree to hold legislative, presidential, and National Council elections on their specified dates.

They indicated that the elections are a long-awaited fundamental right that must be implemented for political and national reasons and a commitment to the popular demand of over 90 percent of the electorate.

The message stressed the importance of renewing the legitimacy of all Palestinian institutions to enable them to face the challenges that threaten the Palestinian cause.

Abbas is expected to hold a meeting with the factions to discuss the legislative elections, and he is anticipated to deliver a speech on Thursday announcing the postponement of the elections over the failure to hold them in Jerusalem.

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Arab World

PA Calls Sanctions on Israeli Settlements ‘Important’ Step to Accountability

View of an area near the Israeli settlement of Maale Adumim in the occupied West Bank, Tuesday, Sept. 8, 2026. (AP)
View of an area near the Israeli settlement of Maale Adumim in the occupied West Bank, Tuesday, Sept. 8, 2026. (AP)
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PA Calls Sanctions on Israeli Settlements ‘Important’ Step to Accountability

View of an area near the Israeli settlement of Maale Adumim in the occupied West Bank, Tuesday, Sept. 8, 2026. (AP)
View of an area near the Israeli settlement of Maale Adumim in the occupied West Bank, Tuesday, Sept. 8, 2026. (AP)

The Palestinian Authority on Tuesday welcomed the announcement by 12 countries of trade sanctions on Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank, calling it "an important step" to accountability.

"This as an important practical step toward holding the settlement system accountable and demonstrating non-recognition of the unlawful situation created by the occupation," Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas's office said in a statement.

Twelve countries including Britain, Canada and France announced Tuesday they would sanction trade with Israeli settlements in the West Bank, after increasing attacks by settlers against Palestinians in the occupied territory.

Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Ireland, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Spain, and Sweden also plan to issue restrictions on trade with the settlements, the nations' foreign ministers said in a joint statement.

The action follows weeks of increasing attacks by Israeli settlers against Palestinian villages in the illegally occupied territory that has drawn widespread condemnation from the international community.

Ireland and Spain have already taken measures against trade with Israeli settlements, and France has for weeks been pushing for a similar decision from the European Union, Israel's leading trading partner, but has been blocked by some members.

The 12 ministers said actions by the Israeli government in the West Bank was "undermining the possibility of a two-state solution" referring to a plan under which two states -- one Israeli and one Palestinian -- would live peacefully side by side.

"The situation is rapidly deteriorating amid unprecedented levels of settler violence and settlement expansion," they warned.

The E1 settlement plan -- approved by Israel last year after decades of being frozen, notably due to pressure from successive US administrations -- would see 1,200 housing units built in the West Bank.

It would further isolate Israeli-annexed east Jerusalem from the rest of the occupied territory.

During an address to the UK parliament, British Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband accused the Israeli government of turning a "blind eye" to what he called "ethnic cleansing" by the Israeli settlers.

He announced Britain would introduce an "import ban on goods from illegal settlements in the occupied territories".

"I do not believe the British people want us supporting the occupation by accepting products from settlements in our shops and supermarkets," he told the British parliament, flanked by new Prime Minister Andy Burnham.

"We will take action against specific companies and individuals who provide services such as construction, infrastructure, financing, or real estate for settlement expansion," he added.

In a statement posted on X, French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot said France "will end trade" with settlements located in the occupied territories.

Commenting on Britain's move, America's ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee told BBC Radio Tuesday: "I feel like it's discrimination against the Israeli government. It's a discrimination against the Jewish people."

Milibrand is the son of Jewish immigrant parents.

Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, who leads a far-right party that advocates the annexation of the entire West Bank, called for the expulsion of Britain's ambassador to Israel.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has vowed to continue establishing the illegal settlements despite mounting international pressure, promising a major wave of settler immigration into the West Bank.

Some of the violence by settlers in recent weeks had drawn rare condemnation from Netanyahu and unusually strong criticism from Huckabee, as well as more typical critics in European capitals.

The UK government's move signals a toughening of its stance towards Israel under Burnham, who entered Downing Street in July after Keir Starmer stepped down.

Burnham has said that Starmer was too soft on Israel, which faced intense international criticism over its relentless offensive that flattened much of Gaza following the October 7, 2023, Hamas attack.

Starmer's government did, however, announce sanctions on six entities and one person "involved in financing, enabling and carrying out settler violence" back in June and last year formally recognized a Palestinian state.

More than 500,000 Israelis live in illegal settlements in the West Bank, among some three million Palestinians.

According to an AFP tally based on data from the Palestinian health ministry, Israeli forces or settlers have killed at least 1,105 Palestinians in the territory since the start of the Gaza war.

Trade between the UK and the Occupied Palestinian Territories was around only £38 million ($51 million) in 2025, according to the government, implying the move could be largely symbolic.

Critics have also said it could be difficult to distinguish goods from the West Bank from those from the rest of Israel.

Arab World

Some Israeli Actions in Syria May Amount to War Crimes, UN Probe Says

Israeli soldiers stand next to military vehicles as they gather near the ceasefire line between Syria and the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights, December 9, 2024. (Reuters)
Israeli soldiers stand next to military vehicles as they gather near the ceasefire line between Syria and the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights, December 9, 2024. (Reuters)
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Some Israeli Actions in Syria May Amount to War Crimes, UN Probe Says

Israeli soldiers stand next to military vehicles as they gather near the ceasefire line between Syria and the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights, December 9, 2024. (Reuters)
Israeli soldiers stand next to military vehicles as they gather near the ceasefire line between Syria and the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights, December 9, 2024. (Reuters)

A UN commission investigating Syria said on Tuesday it was deeply alarmed over Israel's military activity inside Syrian territory, warning that some actions including the detention of civilians could amount to war crimes.

Presenting an update to the UN Human Rights Council, Commissioner Fionnuala Ní Aoláin said Israeli military operations in southern Syria had become "increasingly sustained and entrenched", with recurring ground incursions, patrols, raids and searches affecting civilians.

The Israeli mission in Geneva accused ‌the Commission of conducting ‌an "Israel-bashing session" and said Israel had no territorial aspirations in ‌Syria.

"It ⁠maintains a temporary ⁠buffer zone amounting to 0.1% of Syria to protect its citizens from proven security threats," it said in a statement.

Syria is seeking to rebuild nearly two years after the fall of former President Bashar al-Assad.

Israeli troops entered a UN-patrolled buffer zone after the collapse of Assad's government in December 2024, a move Israel described as temporary and necessary to secure its border during the political transition.

Israel has since carried out hundreds ⁠of strikes on Syrian military infrastructure and seized new positions ‌deeper into Syria. The Syrian government and the ‌United Nations have said the deployment violates Syrian sovereignty and a 1974 disengagement agreement that followed ‌the 1973 Middle East war.

Israel says its actions are necessary to protect ‌its security.

The Independent International Commission of Inquiry on Syria said it had documented the establishment of temporary checkpoints and fixed military infrastructure by Israel on Syrian territory, particularly in the southern provinces of Quneitra and Daraa.

"The Commission is deeply alarmed about continued Israeli violations," Ní Aoláin told the council, ‌saying local residents reported "bewilderment" at Israeli actions while the country undergoes reconstruction.

As of June, the commission had identified 49 Syrians, including ⁠two children, detained ⁠by the Israeli military on Syrian territory and believed to have been transferred across the border, she said.

"Such acts may amount to war crimes," Ní Aoláin said.

In a statement released alongside the session, the commission said some detainees were being held incommunicado, raising concerns about potential torture or ill-treatment. It said Israeli military activity had caused displacement among residents and described Israel's presence in the area as a "belligerent occupation".

The commission said it agreed with UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres that violations of Syria's sovereignty and territorial integrity were unacceptable and must cease.

Syria's representative welcomed the commission's findings and reiterated Damascus' commitment to cooperate with UN human rights mechanisms while pursuing accountability for abuses committed under the former government.

The Syrian delegate also condemned Israeli military operations, accusing Israel of violating international law and the 1974 disengagement agreement.

Arab World

Drone Strike Near Courthouse in Central Sudan Kills 13

The war in Sudan has raged for more than three years. (AFP)
The war in Sudan has raged for more than three years. (AFP)
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Drone Strike Near Courthouse in Central Sudan Kills 13

The war in Sudan has raged for more than three years. (AFP)
The war in Sudan has raged for more than three years. (AFP)

A drone strike blamed on Sudan's paramilitary Rapid Support Forces killed 13 people outside a courthouse in the army-held central town of Umm Rawaba on Tuesday, a medical source and witnesses told AFP.

The attack is the latest in an escalating wave of drone attacks by both the RSF and the Sudanese army, which have been at war since April 2023.

"There are now 13 killed and 22 injured being treated at the hospital," a medical source at the local hospital told AFP, revising an earlier toll of 12 after one more person succumbed to their injuries.

The strike hit a crowded area outside the courthouse in North Kordofan, where residents had gathered to complete legal and administrative procedures.

"I was near the courthouse when I saw the drone hit a tree outside the building," one witness told AFP, adding that the area was crowded with people at the time.

Another witness said residents rushed to help those caught in the blast.

"After the drone hit, we tried to save people, but some died at the scene," he said. "The sound of the explosion was very loud."

Umm Rawaba, which lies along a strategic route linking central and western Sudan, has remained under army control despite repeated attacks in the surrounding region.

There was no immediate comment from the RSF.

- Military build-up -

Drone strikes, deployed en masse by both sides, killed more than 1,100 people this year, according to UN figures.

Since the war broke out, more than 200,000 people have been killed, aid workers estimate, while millions more have been displaced in the world's largest displacement and hunger crises.

Attempts at diplomacy have floundered as fighting escalates on several fronts across Africa's third-largest country.

Kordofan has been a strategically important battleground, linking army-controlled areas in central Sudan with the vast western region of Darfur, where the RSF consolidated power last year.

On the southeastern border with Ethiopia, RSF attacks have displaced hundreds of thousands of people as they press an offensive through the Blue Nile state.

Military sources told AFP the RSF had expanded its presence along the frontier in recent weeks, raising concerns that the conflict could spill into new areas and further destabilize an already volatile region.

The UN has repeatedly warned against the growing use of drones and other advanced weapons, pointing to thriving supply lines through Sudan's borders.

RSF supply lines have been tracked through Sudan's borders with Libya, Chad, South Sudan and Ethiopia.

This week, a United Nations fact-finding mission warned that outside support was enhancing the military capabilities of both sides and enabling increasingly advanced operations, often with severe consequences for civilians.

"Protecting Sudan's civilians requires action not only against those fighting the war, but also against the individuals, entities and networks that enable it to continue," said the mission's chairman Mohamad Chande Othman.

The UN warning coincided with a US call for the United Nations Security Council to expand an arms embargo currently focused on Darfur to cover all of Sudan.