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Israeli Defense Chief Gantz to Visit Morocco

Israeli Defense Minister Benny Gantz attends the weekly cabinet meeting in Jerusalem August 22, 2021. Gil Cohen-Magen/Pool via REUTERS
Israeli Defense Minister Benny Gantz attends the weekly cabinet meeting in Jerusalem August 22, 2021. Gil Cohen-Magen/Pool via REUTERS
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Israeli Defense Chief Gantz to Visit Morocco

Israeli Defense Minister Benny Gantz attends the weekly cabinet meeting in Jerusalem August 22, 2021. Gil Cohen-Magen/Pool via REUTERS
Israeli Defense Minister Benny Gantz attends the weekly cabinet meeting in Jerusalem August 22, 2021. Gil Cohen-Magen/Pool via REUTERS

Israeli Defense Minister Benny Gantz will pay an official visit to Morocco on Nov. 24 and sign security cooperation agreements with the North African kingdom, Israel's Defense Ministry said on Monday.

Morocco was one of four Arab countries - along with the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Sudan - to normalize relations with Israel last year under US-engineered accords.

Israeli Foreign Minister Yair Lapid travelled to Morocco in August for the first visit by Israel's top diplomat to that country since 2003.

Morocco was home to one of the largest and most prosperous Jewish communities in North Africa and the Middle East for centuries until Israel's founding in 1948. An estimated quarter of a million left Morocco for Israel from 1948 to 1964, according to Reuters.

Today only about 3,000 Jews remain in Morocco, while hundreds of thousands of Israelis claim some Moroccan ancestry.

Officials in Morocco have described the diplomatic deal with Israel, including the opening of liaison offices and the launching of flights between the two countries, as a restoration of mid-level ties that Rabat cooled in 2000 in solidarity with the Palestinians.

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Erdogan Says Türkiye Can ‘Crush’ All Terrorists in Syria

Türkiye's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan gives a press conference during the G20 Leaders' Meeting in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, on November 19, 2024. (AFP)
Türkiye's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan gives a press conference during the G20 Leaders' Meeting in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, on November 19, 2024. (AFP)
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Erdogan Says Türkiye Can ‘Crush’ All Terrorists in Syria

Türkiye's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan gives a press conference during the G20 Leaders' Meeting in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, on November 19, 2024. (AFP)
Türkiye's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan gives a press conference during the G20 Leaders' Meeting in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, on November 19, 2024. (AFP)

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan warned on Wednesday that Türkiye had the power and ability to "crush" all terrorists in Syria, including ISIS and Kurdish militants, while urging all countries to "take their hands off" Syria.

Since last month's fall of Bashar al-Assad, Türkiye has said repeatedly it was time for the Kurdish YPG militia to disband. Ankara considers the group, which spearheads the US-allied Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), as a terrorist organization.

Ankara has said the new Syrian administration must be given an opportunity to address the YPG presence, but also threatened to mount a new cross-border operation against the militia based in northeast Syria if its demands are not met.

Speaking in parliament, Erdogan said the YPG was the biggest problem in Syria now, and added that the group would not be able to escape its inevitable end unless it lays down its arms.

"Regarding fabricated excuses like ISIS, these have no convincing side anymore," Erdogan said, referring to the US position that the YPG was a key partner against ISIS in Syria and that it plays a vital role guarding prison camps where the extremist militants are kept.

"If there is really a fear of the ISIS threat in Syria and the region, the biggest power that has the will and power to resolve this issue is Türkiye," he said.

"Everyone should take their hands off Syria and we, along with our Syrian siblings, will crush the heads of ISIS, the YPG and other terrorist organizations in a short time."

Türkiye has repeatedly asked its NATO ally the United States to halt support for the SDF, and has said the new administration in Syria had offered to take over the management of the prisons.