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Palestinian Officials to Discuss Request to Dissolve Legislative Council

A Palestinian man walks along the beach next to al-Shatee refugee camp on a rainy day, in Gaza City, on February 22, 2016. AFP/MOHAMMED ABED
A Palestinian man walks along the beach next to al-Shatee refugee camp on a rainy day, in Gaza City, on February 22, 2016. AFP/MOHAMMED ABED
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Palestinian Officials to Discuss Request to Dissolve Legislative Council

A Palestinian man walks along the beach next to al-Shatee refugee camp on a rainy day, in Gaza City, on February 22, 2016. AFP/MOHAMMED ABED
A Palestinian man walks along the beach next to al-Shatee refugee camp on a rainy day, in Gaza City, on February 22, 2016. AFP/MOHAMMED ABED

The Palestinian Central Council (PCC) will discuss during its meeting on Oct. 28 a request to dissolve the Legislative Council, according to senior Palestinian official Salim Zanoun.

Zanoun, the president of the Palestinian National Council (PNC), said on Monday that the request by Fatah’s Revolutionary Council (FRC) to the PCC to dissolve the Legislative Council would be discussed as an emergency item on the agenda of the PCC, end of October.

If a decision is made to dissolve the Legislative Council, the PCC will be directing towards Hamas a new blow, which won’t be the harsher if it decides to stop funding the Gaza Strip entirely. The PCC is in fact considering proposals to halt funding for the Gaza Strip in response to Hamas’ refusal to hand over the Gaza Strip to the Palestinian Authority.

An Egyptian security delegation led by Major General Ahmed Abdel Khaliq, the official of the Palestinian file in the Egyptian intelligence service, arrived on Monday in Gaza on a second visit within several days as part of intensive Egyptian and international efforts to reach a new truce agreement in the Gaza Strip.

The delegation entered Gaza through the Israeli Erez crossing, and immediately met with Hamas leaders, including Ismail Haniyeh, head of the movement’s political bureau, and Yehya al-Sinwar, the head of the movement in the sector.

Palestinian sources told Asharq Al-Awsat that the delegation mainly focused on convincing Hamas to maintain the current state of calm so that further steps could be made.

The Egyptian delegation met with the Hamas leadership last Thursday and then held talks with Israeli National Security Adviser Meir Ben-Shabbat and senior officials of the Shin Bet security service within the framework of contacts aimed at reaching a truce in Gaza.

The delegation told Hamas leaders on the first visit that Cairo would not be able to prevent Israel from launching attacks on the Gaza Strip if the demonstrations took a violent turn. The movement responded that it was prepared to gradually reduce the size of the demonstrations if progress was achieved in easing the siege on Gaza.

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Arab World

Rescue Teams Search for Survivors in Building Collapse that Killed at Least 2 in Northern Lebanon

A Lebanese flag is pictured, in the aftermath of a massive explosion, in Beirut's damaged port area, Lebanon August 17, 2020. REUTERS/Hannah McKay
A Lebanese flag is pictured, in the aftermath of a massive explosion, in Beirut's damaged port area, Lebanon August 17, 2020. REUTERS/Hannah McKay
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Rescue Teams Search for Survivors in Building Collapse that Killed at Least 2 in Northern Lebanon

A Lebanese flag is pictured, in the aftermath of a massive explosion, in Beirut's damaged port area, Lebanon August 17, 2020. REUTERS/Hannah McKay
A Lebanese flag is pictured, in the aftermath of a massive explosion, in Beirut's damaged port area, Lebanon August 17, 2020. REUTERS/Hannah McKay

At least two people were killed and four rescued from the rubble of a multistory apartment building that collapsed Sunday in the city of Tripoli in northern Lebanon, state media reported.

Rescue teams were continuing to dig through the rubble. It was not immediately clear how many people were in the building when it fell.

The bodies pulled out were of a child and a woman, the state-run National News Agency reported.

Dozens of people crowded around the site of the crater left by the collapsed building, with some shooting in the air.

The building was in the neighborhood of Bab Tabbaneh, one of the poorest areas in Lebanon’s second largest city, where residents have long complained of government neglect and shoddy infrastructure. Building collapses are not uncommon in Tripoli due to poor building standards, according to The AP news.

Lebanon’s Health Ministry announced that those injured in the collapse would receive treatment at the state’s expense.

The national syndicate for property owners in a statement called the collapse the result of “blatant negligence and shortcomings of the Lebanese state toward the safety of citizens and their housing security,” and said it is “not an isolated incident.”

The syndicate called for the government to launch a comprehensive national survey of buildings at risk of collapse.

Arab World

Israel to Take More West Bank Powers and Relax Settler Land Buys

A view of Israeli settlement of Maale Adumim, in the West Bank, Sunday, June 18, 2023. (AP)
A view of Israeli settlement of Maale Adumim, in the West Bank, Sunday, June 18, 2023. (AP)
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Israel to Take More West Bank Powers and Relax Settler Land Buys

A view of Israeli settlement of Maale Adumim, in the West Bank, Sunday, June 18, 2023. (AP)
A view of Israeli settlement of Maale Adumim, in the West Bank, Sunday, June 18, 2023. (AP)

Israel's security cabinet approved a series of steps on Sunday that would make it easier for settlers in the occupied West Bank to buy land while granting Israeli authorities more enforcement powers over Palestinians, Israeli media reported.

The West Bank is among the territories that the Palestinians seek for a future independent state. Much of it is under Israeli military control, with limited Palestinian self-rule in some areas run by the Western-backed Palestinian Authority (PA).

Citing statements by Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich and Defense Minister Israel Katz, Israeli news sites Ynet and Haaretz said the measures included scrapping decades-old regulations that prevent Jewish private citizens buying land in the West Bank, The AP news reported.

They were also reported to include allowing Israeli authorities to administer some religious sites, and expand supervision and enforcement in areas under PA administration in matters of environmental hazards, water offences and damage to archaeological sites.

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said the new measures were dangerous, illegal and tantamount to de-facto annexation.

The Israeli ministers did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

The new measures come three days before Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is scheduled to meet in Washington with US President Donald Trump.

Trump has ruled out Israeli annexation of the West Bank but his administration has not sought to curb Israel's accelerated settlement building, which the Palestinians say denies them a potential state by eating away at its territory.

Netanyahu, who is facing an election later this year, deems the establishment of any Palestinian state a security threat.

His ruling coalition includes many pro-settler members who want Israel to annex the West Bank, land captured in the 1967 Middle East war to which Israel cites biblical and historical ties.

The United Nations' highest court said in a non-binding advisory opinion in 2024 that Israel's occupation of Palestinian territories and settlements there is illegal and should be ended as soon as possible. Israel disputes this view.

Arab World

Arab League Condemns Attack on Aid Convoys in Sudan

A general view shows the opening session of the meeting of Arab foreign ministers at the Arab League Headquarters (Reuters)
A general view shows the opening session of the meeting of Arab foreign ministers at the Arab League Headquarters (Reuters)
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Arab League Condemns Attack on Aid Convoys in Sudan

A general view shows the opening session of the meeting of Arab foreign ministers at the Arab League Headquarters (Reuters)
A general view shows the opening session of the meeting of Arab foreign ministers at the Arab League Headquarters (Reuters)

Arab League Secretary-General Ahmed Aboul Gheit strongly condemned the attack by the Rapid Support Forces on humanitarian aid convoys and relief workers in North Kordofan State, Sudan.

In a statement reported by SPA, secretary-general's spokesperson Jamal Rushdi quoted Aboul Gheit as saying the attack constitutes a war crime under international humanitarian law, which prohibits the deliberate targeting of civilians and depriving them of their means of survival.

Aboul Gheit stressed the need to hold those responsible accountable, end impunity, and ensure the full protection of civilians, humanitarian workers, and relief facilities in Sudan.