Abbas on 1st Appearance Since Death Rumors: Jerusalem is not for Salehttps://english.aawsat.com/home/article/3693171/abbas-1st-appearance-death-rumors-jerusalem-not-sale
Abbas on 1st Appearance Since Death Rumors: Jerusalem is not for Sale
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas delivers a speech at his office in Ramallah on Wednesday. (Reuters)
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas dispelled rumors about his death with an audio intervention on Wednesday at a conference on Jerusalem and Al-Aqsa.
“Jerusalem is not for sale, and all evidence and historical documents confirm the identity of Jerusalem, the Al-Aqsa Mosque and all the Islamic and Christian holy sites in our holy capital,” Abbas said, in a speech delivered over the phone to a conference entitled, Property Documents and the Historical Status of the Blessed Al-Aqsa Mosque.
“We will not allow and will not accept a change in the legal and historical status quo at Al-Aqsa, whatever the circumstances,” he told the conference that was held at the headquarters of the Red Crescent in Al-Bireh.
The Palestinian president stressed that the conflict with the Israeli occupation was essentially political, “not a conflict with a particular religion.”
He continued: “Jerusalem and Palestine are not for sale, and we have foiled all suspicious projects to liquidate the Palestinian cause, in particular the deal of the century.”
His comments came following rumors that spread earlier on Wednesday about his death. The Palestinian presidency published photos of Abbas delivering his speech over the phone. In the background the screen of the Palestine TV broadcast the live intervention of the president.
News websites and activists on social media platforms talked of Abbas’ death, days after reports emerged about the deterioration of his health.
The Fatah Movement spokesman, Osama al-Qawasmi, denied the rumors, stressing that the president was in good health.
Speculations over the health of Abbas, 86, started earlier this week with brief news reported by some media outlets, including BBC Arabic, that Abbas had asked the Secretary of the PLO Executive Committee, Hussein Al-Sheikh, to perform some of his essential tasks as he was suffering from some health problems.
Iran Further Undermines Yemen’s Sovereignty as Houthis Violate the Trucehttps://english.aawsat.com/arab-world/5295602-iran-further-undermines-yemen%E2%80%99s-sovereignty-houthis-violate-truce
Iran Further Undermines Yemen’s Sovereignty as Houthis Violate the Truce
Smoke rises following airstrikes on Sanaa airport in Sanaa, Yemen, 13 July 2026. (EPA)
Yemen's legitimate government said it struck Houthi-controlled Sanaa airport on Monday, its biggest flare-up in years with the militants.
The government said it had wanted to prevent an Iranian plane from landing in the capital, after failing to convince a Houthi delegation that went to Tehran for the late Iranian supreme leader's funeral to board a Yemenia flight instead.
The latest escalation threatens to unravel a truce that has been holding since 2022 despite expiring, and comes at a time of heightened tensions as the United States and Iran trade attacks impacting the Gulf and traffic in the Strait of Hormuz.
Yemen's Defense Ministry accused the Houthis of "allowing an Iranian plane to violate Yemeni territory; consequently, the airport runway was targeted".
Following the strikes, the head of Yemen's Presidential Leadership Council, Dr. Rashad al-Alimi, said he had "ordered that the scope of the confrontation not be expanded".
He held the Houthis “fully accountable for the escalation,” saying they had insisted on welcoming a new Iranian flight despite objections and attempts to contain the crisis and avert more tensions.
The government had run out of political and legal options before the arrival of the flight. He added that the government had offered to operate the flight through the Yemenia airline seeing as it is the national carrier.
The Houthis rejected the proposal and insisted on welcoming the Iranian plane outside official channels, stated al-Alimi, saying this was evidence that the militants “were not serving the people or easing their suffering, but deepening the division and imposing a status quo that serves foreign agendas.”
He ordered the army and security forces “to be on the highest level of alert and take the necessary political, diplomatic, legal and military measures allowed by the constitution and international law to protect Yemen’s airspace and land and sea ports.”
Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Shaya al-Zindani held an extraordinary government meeting in the interim capital Aden to discuss the escalation.
The cabinet tasked the Foreign Ministry with intensifying its contacts with friendly nations and regional and international organizations to urge them against the use of Yemen’s airspace outside official channels.
Smoke rises after reports of an airstrike hitting near the Sanaa International Airport, as seen from Sanaa, Yemen, July 13, 2026. (Reuters)
It held the Houthis “fully responsible for the escalation and its consequences”, accusing them of “undermining peace efforts and exposing Yemen and the region to more dangers”.
It also held the Iranian regime responsible for the escalation given its continued support to the Houthis.
Ahead of the strike, the Defense Ministry had urged citizens to evacuate the airport and its vicinity for their safety.
It vowed that it would “deal with any party or plane that tries to violate Yemen’s airspace or orders issued by relevant authorities.”
Government authorities had for days warned that flights to Sanaa should only take place through state institutions.
Houthi sources later said the plane, which was carrying a Houthi delegation, landed in Hodeidah airport.
Yemeni authorities held the Houthis responsible for the escalation for insisting on imposing their own arrangements away from official regulations.
Monday’s escalation took place after the Houthis insisted on receiving Iranian flights at Sanaa airport amid the government’s refusal to operate flights outside official channels.
The United Nations Special Envoy for Yemen, Hans Grundberg, urged the parties to turn to diplomacy, saying his office has "contacted military representatives from all sides".
Earlier in the day, the Yemeni government accused the Houthis of preventing an International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) aircraft from leaving Sanaa airport and holding the pilot and co-pilot "hostage".
"All ICRC staff and the crew of the plane are safe and accounted for," ICRC spokesman for the Middle East Hachem Osseiran told AFP.
Spanish PM to Visit Algeria in Bid to Mend Tieshttps://english.aawsat.com/arab-world/5295592-spanish-pm-visit-algeria-bid-mend-ties
Spain's Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez talks to media during a visit in the area of a wildfire that killed at least 13 people, at the command post set in Turre, Almeria Province, on July 13, 2026. (AFP)
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Spanish PM to Visit Algeria in Bid to Mend Ties
Spain's Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez talks to media during a visit in the area of a wildfire that killed at least 13 people, at the command post set in Turre, Almeria Province, on July 13, 2026. (AFP)
Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez will travel to Algeria next week for an official visit aimed at ending years of tensions between the two countries over the Western Sahara dispute, his office said on Monday.
The visit on July 20 will be Sanchez's first trip to Algeria since relations deteriorated in 2022 after Madrid shifted its longstanding position of neutrality on Western Sahara and backed Morocco's autonomy plan for the disputed territory.
Spain's move was part of a diplomatic rapprochement with Morocco, ending its decades of ambiguity on the issue but angering Algeria, which supports the pro-independence Polisario Front, which opposes Rabat's claim over the former Spanish colony.
Western Sahara, a mineral-rich desert territory with significant phosphate reserves and fishing resources, was controlled by Spain until 1975.
Morocco now controls most of the territory.
In response to the policy shift in Madrid, Algeria suspended a 2002 friendship treaty with Spain and restricted trade ties between the two countries.
Relations have gradually improved since 2025, with commercial exchanges beginning to recover.
New Round of Lebanon-Israel Talks to Begin on Tuesdayhttps://english.aawsat.com/arab-world/5295573-new-round-lebanon-israel-talks-begin-tuesday
An Israeli military vehicle covered with netting to protect against FPV drones patrols on the Lebanese side of the border, as seen from an undisclosed location along the border, 13 July 2026. (EPA)
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New Round of Lebanon-Israel Talks to Begin on Tuesday
An Israeli military vehicle covered with netting to protect against FPV drones patrols on the Lebanese side of the border, as seen from an undisclosed location along the border, 13 July 2026. (EPA)
The sixth round of negotiations between Lebanon and Israel are to begin on Tuesday in Rome, a Lebanese official told AFP on Monday.
The two-day talks will begin at 10.00am (0800 GMT), the official said, requesting anonymity.
An Italian foreign ministry spokesperson had earlier said the talks would be held on July 15 and 16, and Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar had confirmed on July 7 that the negotiations would resume "next week".
The two countries, which have no formal relations, began direct talks in April after Tehran-backed Hezbollah drew Lebanon into the Middle East war by attacking Israel in support of Iran the month prior.
They recently reached a framework agreement that calls for Hezbollah's disarmament and a gradual Israeli withdrawal from occupied Lebanese territory while Lebanon's army deploys into "pilot zones".
But the agreement -- rejected by Hezbollah -- does not set a timetable for Israel's withdrawal, and Israeli officials have also vowed that their forces will remain in a "security zone" 10 kilometers (six miles) deep along the frontier for as long as Hezbollah remains armed.
A US military delegation met with Lebanon's army in Beirut last week to discuss the implementation of Israel's withdrawal from a first pilot zone.
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