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Azerbaijan to Open Representative Office in Ramallah

The Palestinian President, Mahmoud Abbas, with Azeri Foreign Minister Jeyhun Bayramov (dpa)
The Palestinian President, Mahmoud Abbas, with Azeri Foreign Minister Jeyhun Bayramov (dpa)
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Azerbaijan to Open Representative Office in Ramallah

The Palestinian President, Mahmoud Abbas, with Azeri Foreign Minister Jeyhun Bayramov (dpa)
The Palestinian President, Mahmoud Abbas, with Azeri Foreign Minister Jeyhun Bayramov (dpa)

The President of Azerbaijan, Ilham Aliyev, sent a letter to the Palestinian President, Mahmoud Abbas, confirming his country's desire to boost bilateral ties and open a representative office soon, according to sources in the Palestinian presidency.

The message was delivered by Azeri Foreign Minister Jeyhun Bayramov, who was at the Palestinian presidency in Ramallah on Thursday.

The sources said that Abbas briefed Bayramov and his accompanying delegation on the latest developments in the Palestinian territories, especially since Azerbaijan heads the Non-Aligned Movement.

The President referred to Palestine's keenness to boost the solid historical relations with Azerbaijan.

Azerbaijan recognizes the State of Palestine, which has an embassy in Baku.

The Foreign Minister conveyed the greetings of Aliyev, stressing his country's desire to improve brotherly ties.

Baku will soon open its representative office in Palestine, provide 25 scholarships for Palestinian students, and build a school in Nablus with Azeri funding.

Before concluding his visit to the region, Bayramov laid a wreath at the tomb of the late Palestinian President Yasser Arafat and visited his museum.

The Director General of the Yasser Arafat Foundation, Ahmed Suboh, and the director of the Yasser Arafat Museum, Mohammad Halayqa, briefed the Azerbaijani Minister and his accompanying delegation on the details of the shows at the museum.

Bayramov asserted the close historical ties between Azerbaijan and Palestine, lauding the efforts of Arafat in consolidating them.

Earlier, Bayramov opened an Azeri embassy in Tel Aviv and met with several Israeli officials, led by President Isaac Herzog, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and Foreign Minister Eli Cohen.

He confirmed that Israeli-Azeri relations had moved to the highest cooperation and strategic and security partnership stages.

Netanyahu stressed that there are common regional challenges between Israel and Azerbaijan in light of the regional security challenges and Iran's threat to regional stability.

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Israeli Troops, Palestinian Fighters Clash in West Bank after Incidents Near Settlements

Israeli troops move inside the Jenin refugee camp on the fourth day of an Israeli military operation in the West Bank city of Jenin, 31 August 2024. EPA/ALAA BADARNEH
Israeli troops move inside the Jenin refugee camp on the fourth day of an Israeli military operation in the West Bank city of Jenin, 31 August 2024. EPA/ALAA BADARNEH
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Israeli Troops, Palestinian Fighters Clash in West Bank after Incidents Near Settlements

Israeli troops move inside the Jenin refugee camp on the fourth day of an Israeli military operation in the West Bank city of Jenin, 31 August 2024. EPA/ALAA BADARNEH
Israeli troops move inside the Jenin refugee camp on the fourth day of an Israeli military operation in the West Bank city of Jenin, 31 August 2024. EPA/ALAA BADARNEH

Clashes broke out between Israeli troops and Palestinian fighters in the occupied West Bank on Saturday as Israel pushed ahead with a military operation in the flashpoint city of Jenin.
Israeli troops searched areas around Jewish settlements after two separate security incidents on Friday evening. In Jenin itself, drones and helicopters circled overhead while the sound of sporadic firing could be heard in the city, said Reuters.
Hundreds of Israeli troops have been carrying out raids since Wednesday in one of their largest actions in the West Bank in months.
The operation, which Israel says was mounted to block Iranian-backed militant groups from attacking its citizens, has drawn international calls for a halt.
At least 19 Palestinians, including armed fighters and civilians, have now been killed since it began. The Israeli military said on Saturday a soldier had been killed during the fighting in the West Bank.
The Israeli forces were battling Palestinian fighters from armed factions that have long had a strong presence in Jenin and the adjoining refugee camp, a densely populated township housing families driven from their homes in the 1948 Middle East war around the creation of Israel.
The Palestinian Red Crescent said on Saturday a child had been taken to hospital in Jenin with a bullet wound to the head.
The escalation in hostilities in the West Bank takes place as fighting between Israeli forces and Hamas group still rages in the coastal Gaza Strip nearly 11 months since it began, and hostilities with the Iranian-backed Hezbollah movement in the Israel-Lebanon border area have intensified.
Late on Friday, Israeli forces said two men were killed in separate incidents near Gush Etzion, a large West Bank settlement cluster located south of Jerusalem, that the military assessed were both attempted attacks on Israelis.
In the first, a car exploded at a petrol station in what the army said was an attempted car bombing attack. The military said a man was shot dead after he got out of the car and tried to attack soldiers.
In the second incident, a man was killed after the military said a car attempted to ram a security guard and infiltrate the Karmei Tzur settlement. The car was chased by security forces and crashed and an explosive device in it was detonated, the military said in a statement.
The two deaths were confirmed by Palestinian health authorities but they gave no details on how they died.
Troops combed the area following the two incidents. Security forces also carried out raids in the city of Hebron, where the two men came from.
Hamas praised what it called a "double heroic operation" in the West Bank. It said in a statement it was "a clear message that resistance will remain striking, prolonged and sustained as long as the brutal occupation's aggression and targeting of our people and land continue".
The group, however, did not claim direct responsibility for the attacks.
Israeli army chief General Herzi Halevi said on Saturday Israel would step up defensive measures as well as offensive actions like the Jenin operation.
Amid the gunfire, armored bulldozers searching for roadside bombs have ploughed up large stretches of paved roads and water pipes have been damaged, leading to flooding in some areas.
Since the Hamas attack on Israel last October that triggered the Gaza war, at least 660 Palestinian combatants and civilians have been killed in the West Bank, according to Palestinian tallies, some by Israeli troops and some by Jewish settlers who have carried out frequent attacks on Palestinian communities.
Israel says Iran provides weapons and support to militant factions in the West Bank - under Israeli occupation since the 1967 Middle East war - and the military has as a result cranked up its operations there.