Army Chief Calls for Thwarting Plots Targeting Algeria

Chanegriha visits the troops on Saturday. (Defense Ministry)
Chanegriha visits the troops on Saturday. (Defense Ministry)
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Army Chief Calls for Thwarting Plots Targeting Algeria

Chanegriha visits the troops on Saturday. (Defense Ministry)
Chanegriha visits the troops on Saturday. (Defense Ministry)

Chief of Staff of the Algerian army Lieutenant General Said Chanegriha called for thwarting attempts to undermine the country’s territorial and public unity.

He warned of the "chronic fragile security" in the region, as well as the expansion of terrorism in neighboring countries and transnational organized crime.

Chanegriha addressed military officers on Saturday during a visit to a military facility in southern Algeria.

He underlined the importance of unity between the people and army, which allowed Algeria to defeat the scourge of barbaric terrorism, advance and develop.

He pointed to promoters of recent frantic campaigns against Algeria in betrayal of their homeland.

His remarks were a reference to Algerian opposition figures who live abroad and belong to the Rachad movement, which Algeria deems a terrorist group and has issued international arrest warrants against its members.

Many people have been detained charges of belonging to the movement.

The government has also designated the Kabylie separatist group (MAK) as terrorist organization. It is working on deporting its leader, Ferhat Mhenni, from Paris where he is currently residing.

“While Algeria needs to strengthen its national unity and prioritize the national interest, these mercenaries seek to sow discord and division among people and between Algerians and their army,” Chanegriha stressed.

He urged the soldiers to serve their country, preserving its supreme interests and enhance its security, stability and sovereignty to build the new Algeria.



Israeli Defense Minister Says He Will End Detention without Charge of Jewish Settlers

Palestinians look at damaged cars after an Israeli settlers attack in Al-Mazraa Al-Qibleyeh near Ramallah, in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, November 20, 2024. (Reuters)
Palestinians look at damaged cars after an Israeli settlers attack in Al-Mazraa Al-Qibleyeh near Ramallah, in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, November 20, 2024. (Reuters)
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Israeli Defense Minister Says He Will End Detention without Charge of Jewish Settlers

Palestinians look at damaged cars after an Israeli settlers attack in Al-Mazraa Al-Qibleyeh near Ramallah, in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, November 20, 2024. (Reuters)
Palestinians look at damaged cars after an Israeli settlers attack in Al-Mazraa Al-Qibleyeh near Ramallah, in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, November 20, 2024. (Reuters)

Israel’s new defense minister said Friday that he would stop issuing warrants to arrest West Bank settlers or hold them without charge or trial — a largely symbolic move that rights groups said risks emboldening settler violence in the Israeli-occupied territory.

Israel Katz called the arrest warrants “severe” and said issuing them was “inappropriate” as Palestinian militant attacks on settlers in the territory grow more frequent. He said settlers could be “brought to justice” in other ways.

The move protects Israeli settlers from being held in “administrative detention,” a shadowy form of incarceration where people are held without charge or trial.

Settlers are rarely arrested in the West Bank, where settler violence against Palestinians has spiraled since the outbreak of the war Oct. 7.

Katz’s decision was celebrated by far-right coalition allies of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. National Security Minister and settler firebrand Itamar Ben-Gvir applauded Katz and called the move a “correction of many years of mistreatment” and “justice for those who love the land.”

Since Oct. 7, 2023, violence toward Palestinians by Israeli settlers has soared to new heights, displacing at least 19 entire Palestinian communities, according to Israeli rights group Peace Now. In that time, attacks by Palestinian militants on settlers and within Israel have also grown more common.

An increasing number of Palestinians have been placed in administrative detention. Israel holds 3,443 administrative detainees in prison, according to data from the Israeli Prison Service, reported by rights group Hamoked. That figure stood around 1,200 just before the start of the war. The vast majority of them are Palestinian, with only a handful at any given time Israeli Jews, said Jessica Montell, the director of Hamoked.

“All of these detentions without charge or trial are illegitimate, but to declare that this measure will only be used against Palestinians...is to explicitly entrench another form of ethnic discrimination,” said Montell.