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Arab World

Morocco’s FM: Relations With Israel Never Stopped

David Fischer, US ambassador to Rabat, stands in front of a US State Department-authorized map of Morocco recognizing the internationally disputed territory Western Sahara as a part of the North African kingdom on Dec. 12, 2020. (AFP)
David Fischer, US ambassador to Rabat, stands in front of a US State Department-authorized map of Morocco recognizing the internationally disputed territory Western Sahara as a part of the North African kingdom on Dec. 12, 2020. (AFP)
    Rabat, Tel Aviv- Asharq Al-Awsat
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Morocco’s FM: Relations With Israel Never Stopped

David Fischer, US ambassador to Rabat, stands in front of a US State Department-authorized map of Morocco recognizing the internationally disputed territory Western Sahara as a part of the North African kingdom on Dec. 12, 2020. (AFP)
David Fischer, US ambassador to Rabat, stands in front of a US State Department-authorized map of Morocco recognizing the internationally disputed territory Western Sahara as a part of the North African kingdom on Dec. 12, 2020. (AFP)

Relations between Morocco and Israel were “already normal” before a diplomatic normalization was recently announced, Morocco’s foreign minister said Sunday.

“From our perspective, we aren’t talking about normalization because relations were already normal,” Nasser Bourita was quoted as saying in an interview with Israel’s Yedioth Ahronoth newspaper.

“We’re talking about (re-formalizing) the relations between the countries to the relations we had because there have been relations the entire time. They never stopped,” he added.

On Thursday, Morocco announced a “resumption of relations” with Israel, shortly after outgoing US President Donald Trump tweeted that Rabat and the Jewish state had “agreed to full diplomatic relations.”

That followed Trump’s recognition of Morocco’s contested sovereignty in Western Sahara.

Morocco’s announcement is widely seen as making it the fourth Arab country this year to unveil plans to normalize ties with Israel through a US-brokered deal, following the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, and Sudan.

“Israel’s relations with Morocco are special and can’t be compared to the relations that Israel has with any other Arab country,” Bourita stressed.

He highlighted his country’s enduring connection to Israel through its domestic Jewish community and the estimated 700,000 Israeli Jews of Moroccan descent.

“Morocco has an important history with the Jewish community, a history that is special in the Arab world,” he told the paper.

Meanwhile, the country’s Justice and Development Party broke its silence on Trump’s recognition of the Moroccan Sahara in exchange for full normalization with Israel.

The Islamic party, which used to criticize any normalization with Israel, has avoided criticizing the kingdom’s recent move.

The normalization agreement includes facilitating the travel of Jews and Israelis to Morocco and establishing diplomatic and economic relations with the Hebrew state.

The party only reiterated its constant stance against the “Zionist occupation” and denounced the “crimes of murder, displacement, and aggression” against the Palestinian people.

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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.