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Israel to OK New Homes for West Bank Settlers, Palestinians

A Jewish settler walks past Israeli settlement construction sites around Givat Zeev and Ramat Givat Zeev in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, near Jerusalem June 30, 2020. REUTERS/Ammar Awad
A Jewish settler walks past Israeli settlement construction sites around Givat Zeev and Ramat Givat Zeev in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, near Jerusalem June 30, 2020. REUTERS/Ammar Awad
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Israel to OK New Homes for West Bank Settlers, Palestinians

A Jewish settler walks past Israeli settlement construction sites around Givat Zeev and Ramat Givat Zeev in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, near Jerusalem June 30, 2020. REUTERS/Ammar Awad
A Jewish settler walks past Israeli settlement construction sites around Givat Zeev and Ramat Givat Zeev in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, near Jerusalem June 30, 2020. REUTERS/Ammar Awad

Israel is set to approve construction of new homes for Jewish settlers in the occupied West Bank but in a rare step will also grant permits for Palestinian housing construction, Reuters reported an Israeli security official as saying on Wednesday.

The planned permits for Palestinian housing in West Bank territory Israel captured in the 1967 Middle East war appeared aimed at blunting US and international criticism of Israeli settlement construction, assailed by Palestinians and viewed by most countries as illegal.

The settlement approvals, expected next week, would be the first by new Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett's government since he and his cross-partisan coalition replaced longtime leader Benjamin Netanyahu in June.

Some 2,000 settler units are expected to be approved next week, the Israeli security official said. Around 1,000 Palestinian homes will be approved for construction in areas under complete Israeli military control, the official said.

Around 650 of the Palestinian homes will be near the northern West Bank city of Jenin, with approximately 150 in the central city of Bethlehem and another 150 further south.

There was no immediate comment from the Palestinians, who seek the West Bank, along with East Jerusalem and the Gaza Strip, for a future state. Bennett's office did not provide comment on the settlement and Palestinian housing plans. The story was widely reported in the Israeli media.

The administration of US President Joe Biden, which took office in January, has warned against actions by Israel or the Palestinians that could undermine the viability of the two-state solution, including settlement construction.

Biden has sought to repair relations with the Palestinians which plummeted under former President Donald Trump, who embraced Israel's settlements.

CIA director William Burns was due to meet with Palestinian officials in Ramallah on Thursday, following earlier talks with Bennett, who is expected to meet Biden in Washington later this month.

The Palestinians and many countries regard Israel's settlements as illegal under the Geneva Conventions that bar settling on land captured in war.

Israel disputes this, citing security needs and biblical, historical and political connections to the land.

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Arab World

Iraq Criminalizes Volunteering in Russia-Ukraine War

A photo circulated on social media shows a 24-year-old Iraqi who traveled to Russia to join its armed forces. (AFP)
A photo circulated on social media shows a 24-year-old Iraqi who traveled to Russia to join its armed forces. (AFP)
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Iraq Criminalizes Volunteering in Russia-Ukraine War

A photo circulated on social media shows a 24-year-old Iraqi who traveled to Russia to join its armed forces. (AFP)
A photo circulated on social media shows a 24-year-old Iraqi who traveled to Russia to join its armed forces. (AFP)

The Iraqi judiciary warned on Wednesday that people involved in the war between Russia and Ukraine will face jail as it attempts to crack down on the recruitment of Iraqis joining the conflict.

Faiq Zidan, the head of Iraq's Supreme Judicial Council, received on Wednesday National Security Advisor Qasim Al-Araji and members of a committee tasked with combating the recruitment of Iraqis.

Zaidan stressed that Iraq criminalizes any Iraqi who joins the armed forces of another nation without the approval of the government.

The judiciary does not have a fixed prison term for anyone accused of the crime, but a court in Najaf last week sentenced to life an Iraqi accused of human trafficking.

He was convicted of belonging to an international criminal gang that recruits Iraqis to fight for Russia in its war against Ukraine.

In November, Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani ordered the formation of a committee, headed by Araji, to crack down on the recruitment of Iraqis to fight for the Russian and Ukrainian militaries.

Iraq does not have official figures detailing how many of its citizens have joined the war. Media reports said some 50,000 Iraqis have joined Russian ranks, while unofficial figures put the number at around 5,000, with 3,000 fighting for Russia and 2,000 for Ukraine.

The debate over the recruitment played out over the media between the Russian and Ukrainian ambassadors to Iraq.

Ukrainian Ambassador Ivan Dovhanych accused Russia of recruiting Iraqis. Last week, the Ukrainian government sent a letter to the Iraqi government about the recruitment.

It hailed Baghdad’s criminalization of such activity. The letter also revealed that Ukrainian authorities had arrested an Iraqi who was fighting for Russia.

Ukraine has denied that it has recruited Iraqis to join the conflict, but reports indicate otherwise.

Meanwhile, Russian Ambassador to Baghdad Elbrus Kutrashev acknowledged that Iraqi fighters had joined the Russian army.

Speaking to the media, he declined to give exact figures, but dismissed claims that they reached 50,000 or even 5,000, saying instead they number no more than a few hundred.

He confirmed that Iraqis had joined the Russian army and “that some four to five had lost their lives”.

He revealed that the Russian embassy in Baghdad had granted visas to Russia to the families of the deceased on humanitarian grounds.

Russian law allows any foreign national residing in Russia and who speaks Russian to join its army with a salary of around 2,500 to 3,000 dollars.

There have been mounting calls in Iraq for the authorities to crack down on human trafficking gangs.

Would-be recruits are often lured by the monthly salary and the possibility of gaining the Russian or Ukrainian nationality.

Critics of the authorities have said Iraqi youths are lured to join foreign wars given the lack of job opportunities in Iraq.

Arab World

Somalia's Capital Votes in First Step toward Restoring Universal Suffrage

Members of the Justice and Solidarity Party (JSP) campaign in the streets as they share their political aims with voters in Mogadishu, Somalia, 22 December 2025. EPA/SAID YUSUF WARSAME
Members of the Justice and Solidarity Party (JSP) campaign in the streets as they share their political aims with voters in Mogadishu, Somalia, 22 December 2025. EPA/SAID YUSUF WARSAME
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Somalia's Capital Votes in First Step toward Restoring Universal Suffrage

Members of the Justice and Solidarity Party (JSP) campaign in the streets as they share their political aims with voters in Mogadishu, Somalia, 22 December 2025. EPA/SAID YUSUF WARSAME
Members of the Justice and Solidarity Party (JSP) campaign in the streets as they share their political aims with voters in Mogadishu, Somalia, 22 December 2025. EPA/SAID YUSUF WARSAME

Residents of Somalia's capital Mogadishu will vote on Thursday in municipal elections meant to pave the way for the East African country's first direct national polls in more than half a century.

With the exception of votes in the semi-autonomous region of Puntland and the breakaway region of Somaliland, Somalia last held direct elections in 1969, months before military general, Mohamed Siad Barre, took power in a coup, Reuters said.

After years of civil ‌war that ‌followed Barre's fall in 1991, indirect elections ‌were ⁠introduced in ‌2004. The idea was to promote consensus among rival clans in the face of an armed insurgency, although some Somalis say politicians prefer indirect elections because they create opportunities for corruption.

Under the system, clan representatives elect lawmakers, who then choose the president. The president, in turn, has been responsible for appointing Mogadishu's mayor.

The vote in Mogadishu, a ⁠city of some 3 million people where security conditions have improved in recent years ‌despite continuing attacks by al Qaeda-linked al ‍Shabaab militants, is seen as ‍a test run for direct elections at the national level.

Around ‍1,605 candidates are running on Thursday for 390 posts in Mogadishu's district councils, said Abdishakur Abib Hayir, a member of the National Electoral Commission. Council members will then choose a mayor.

"It shows Somalia is standing on its feet and moving forward," Hayir told Reuters. "After the local election, elections can and will take place in ⁠the entire country."

A 2024 law restored universal suffrage ahead of federal elections expected next year. However, President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud reached a deal in August with some opposition leaders stipulating that while lawmakers would be directly elected in 2026, the president would still be chosen by parliament.

Opposition parties have argued the rapid introduction of a new electoral system would benefit Mohamud's re-election prospects.

They also question whether the country is safe enough for mass voting given al Shabaab's control over vast areas of the countryside and regular strikes ‌on major population centers.

Arab World

Sudan's RSF Says Captured Areas Near Chad Border

Sudanese refugee girls carry water supplies near a polling station in the refugee camp of Zamzam, on the outskirts of el-Fasher, Darfur, Sudan, on April 13, 2010. (AP)
Sudanese refugee girls carry water supplies near a polling station in the refugee camp of Zamzam, on the outskirts of el-Fasher, Darfur, Sudan, on April 13, 2010. (AP)
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Sudan's RSF Says Captured Areas Near Chad Border

Sudanese refugee girls carry water supplies near a polling station in the refugee camp of Zamzam, on the outskirts of el-Fasher, Darfur, Sudan, on April 13, 2010. (AP)
Sudanese refugee girls carry water supplies near a polling station in the refugee camp of Zamzam, on the outskirts of el-Fasher, Darfur, Sudan, on April 13, 2010. (AP)

Sudan’s Rapid Support Forces (RSF) announced on Wednesday that it had seized full control of areas bordering Chad in North Darfur in western Sudan.

The RSF released videos of its forces as they deployed in several towns in the regions.

The Sudanese army has yet to comment on the development.

In a statement, the RSF said that along with allies forces, it captured the regions of Um Qamra and Abu Barro in the westernmost point in North Darfur.

It accused the army and its allied forces of carrying out “systematic attacks” and “reprisals” against civilians in the area.

The RSF said the capture of the regions “ends the deployment of armed forces” and puts and end to the “reprisals and chaos”.

It added that it has deployed military units “to protect the civilians and secure roads and public areas to restore normal life there.”

On Tuesday, prior to the capture, Darfur region governor and leader of the Sudan Liberation Movement/Army Minni Minnawi had warned of an imminent RSF attack.

He had called on the people to defend themselves and their property, adding: “Defend your existence... the land that is not protected by its people gets stolen, and the dignity that is not defended is killed.”

His call had prompted harsh criticism in Darfur who accused him of attempting to embroil the people in an uneven confrontation with the RSF that is far better equipped and ready to fight.

They wondered why the joint forces of various parties had withdrawn from the area and not held their ground to fight the RSF.

The RSF had in the early hours of Wednesday launched attacks on the towns of al-Tina and Kernoi, capturing them without resistance.

With its latest capture, the RSF now has control of Sudan’s borders with Chad, Libya, Central Africa and South Sudan.