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Algeria Heads towards Italy to Conclude 'Arm Deals'

 Meeting between the Italian military delegation and Algerian defense officials (Algerian Ministry of Defense)
 Meeting between the Italian military delegation and Algerian defense officials (Algerian Ministry of Defense)
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Algeria Heads towards Italy to Conclude 'Arm Deals'

 Meeting between the Italian military delegation and Algerian defense officials (Algerian Ministry of Defense)
 Meeting between the Italian military delegation and Algerian defense officials (Algerian Ministry of Defense)

In light of its increasing military spending, Algeria is considering diversifying its partners in the field of defense and arms purchases.

 

In this context, the Director of Armaments at the Italian Ministry of Defense, General Luciano Portolano, is currently on an official visit to Algiers, where he held meetings with local military officials and discussed the situation in the region, especially in Libya and Mali.

 

 

 

In a statement, the Algerian Ministry of Defense said that its secretary-general, Major General Mohammed Al-Saleh Benbisha, held talks on Thursday with the Portolano, in the presence of the director of Military Industries and the head of Foreign Relations and Cooperation.

 

 

 

Algiers and Rome maintain continuous consultation in the fight against terrorism and illegal migration.

 

 

 

The two military officials had attended in March 2022 the 12th session of the Algerian-Italian Joint Committee for Cooperation in the Field of Military Industry and Defense, at the National Army Club in the Algerian capital.

 

The Ministry of Defense said at the time that the meeting “constituted an opportunity to exchange views and enhance coordination and joint action between the armies of the two countries.”

 

 

 

Italian Nova Agency (Agenzia Nova) quoted a website specialized in the defense industries sector, as saying that Algeria had asked Rome for a new amphibious transport unit, within the framework of a potential cooperation agreement between the two countries.

 

 

 

In the context of doubling Italy’s import of Algerian gas, following the interruption of Russian gas since the outbreak of the war in Ukraine, several agreements were signed during a visit by Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni to Algiers in January.

 

The agreements also covered cooperation in micro-enterprises, food and textile industries, infrastructure, public works, pharmaceuticals, the navy, as well as space industries.

 

 

 

In remarks during the visit, President Abdelmadjid Tebboune said that the volume of trade exchange increased from $8 billion in 2021, to $16 billion last year.

 

 

 

 

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Arab World

Coalition Carries out Military Operation in Yemen’s Hodeidah to Protect Marine Navigation

Coalition spokesman Major General Turki al-Malki. (Asharq Al-Awsat)
Coalition spokesman Major General Turki al-Malki. (Asharq Al-Awsat)
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Coalition Carries out Military Operation in Yemen’s Hodeidah to Protect Marine Navigation

Coalition spokesman Major General Turki al-Malki. (Asharq Al-Awsat)
Coalition spokesman Major General Turki al-Malki. (Asharq Al-Awsat)

The Coalition to Restore Legitimacy in Yemen announced on Monday that naval forces carried out a military operation in the Hodeidah governorate as part of its goals to protect marine navigation in the Bab al-Mandeb Strait.

In a post on the X platform, Coalition spokesman Major General Turki al-Malki said the operation destroyed legitimate terrorist Houthi militia military targets.

The Coalition obstructed plans for attacks and a network that was targeting waterways in the southern Red Sea.

It confirmed the destruction of weapons warehouses, sea mines and booby-trapped vessels, added the spokesman.

Earlier on Monday, the Coalition announced that 100 fighter jets were taking part in Operation Yemen Dawn that was launched by the legitimate Yemeni government to liberate territories held by the Houthis.

Al-Malki said the Coalition was providing “around the clock” aerial support for the Yemeni armed forces on the ground, revealing that the air forces were securing the Bab al-Mandeb Strait.

He added that 324 “high value” targets have been destroyed since the launch of the operation.

Arab World

At Oct 7 Memorial, Netanyahu Says Will Be No Hamas Rule in Gaza

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks at the State Memorial Ceremony for the three year anniversary of the October 7, 2023, Hamas attack - REUTERS
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks at the State Memorial Ceremony for the three year anniversary of the October 7, 2023, Hamas attack - REUTERS
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At Oct 7 Memorial, Netanyahu Says Will Be No Hamas Rule in Gaza

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks at the State Memorial Ceremony for the three year anniversary of the October 7, 2023, Hamas attack - REUTERS
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks at the State Memorial Ceremony for the three year anniversary of the October 7, 2023, Hamas attack - REUTERS

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday vowed there would be no Hamas rule in Gaza as he attended a memorial event marking three years since the October 7, 2023 attack.

Speaking during a state ceremony at the Mount Herzl military cemetery in Jerusalem, Netanyahu said "we have achieved enormous accomplishments, but there are still missions ahead of us, and we intend to complete them".

"There will be no Hamas rule in Gaza," he added, vowing to continue targeting anyone who was involved in the attack or who held hostages.

The Hamas-led attack resulted in the deaths of 1,221 people, according to an AFP tally based on official Israeli figures. Militants also dragged 251 hostages into Gaza, 44 of them already dead.

In response, Israel launched a massive military offensive that has killed more than 74,200 people in Gaza, according to the territory's health ministry, which is under Hamas authority and whose figures are considered reliable by the United Nations.

Since a ceasefire was declared last October, Israeli forces have killed more than 1,440 people in Gaza, according to the ministry.

Plans for Gaza's post-war governance have begun to take shape, but the issue remains largely unresolved in practice.

Since Hamas's October 2023 attack, Israel has fought wars on several fronts, including against Iran-backed Hezbollah in Lebanon.

During his speech on Monday, Netanyahu also vowed to keep striking Hezbollah to "create an opportunity for peace with a country whose people, for the most part, want peace with us".

Netanyahu also hit out at the clerical leadership in Iran, where Israel and the United States launched a joint attack on February 28, triggering the Middle East war.

"We will not allow the ayatollah regime in Tehran to threaten our existence," Netanyahu said, adding the Iranian leadership was "weaker than it has been since its establishment".

Arab World

Israeli Soldiers Kill Palestinian in West Bank

A blue body bag containing the body of a Palestinian man shot by Israeli forces in an incident in which a car hit a military jeep, is guarded as it lies on the road close to the Israeli-occupied West Bank town of Bani Naim on October 5, 2026. (Photo by Ahmad GHARABLI / AFP)
A blue body bag containing the body of a Palestinian man shot by Israeli forces in an incident in which a car hit a military jeep, is guarded as it lies on the road close to the Israeli-occupied West Bank town of Bani Naim on October 5, 2026. (Photo by Ahmad GHARABLI / AFP)
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Israeli Soldiers Kill Palestinian in West Bank

A blue body bag containing the body of a Palestinian man shot by Israeli forces in an incident in which a car hit a military jeep, is guarded as it lies on the road close to the Israeli-occupied West Bank town of Bani Naim on October 5, 2026. (Photo by Ahmad GHARABLI / AFP)
A blue body bag containing the body of a Palestinian man shot by Israeli forces in an incident in which a car hit a military jeep, is guarded as it lies on the road close to the Israeli-occupied West Bank town of Bani Naim on October 5, 2026. (Photo by Ahmad GHARABLI / AFP)

Israeli forces killed one Palestinian and injured two others in the occupied West Bank on Monday, Palestinian authorities said, while the military said troops fired at a car that had hit an army vehicle.

The military said a "vehicle carrying three suspects... accelerated toward an army vehicle and hit it" in the area of Bani Naim, north of the city of Hebron.

In a statement, it said no injuries were reported among Israeli forces and that soldiers "responded by firing toward the vehicle, and hits were identified."

The Palestinian General Authority for Civil Affairs said "Israeli forces opened fire on a civilian vehicle" at the entrance to Bani Naim, without giving details on whether those inside had been attempting to ram soldiers, according to AFP.

"One citizen was killed and two young men sustained serious and moderate injuries," it added, saying the wounded had been transferred to hospitals inside Israel and that the identity of the deceased remained unknown.

Israel has occupied the West Bank since 1967 and violence there has surged since October 7, 2023.

More than 500,000 Israelis live in the West Bank in settlements illegal under international law, a minority of whom engage in violence towards Palestinians.

According to an AFP tally based on data from the Palestinian health ministry, Israeli forces or settlers have killed 1,112 Palestinians in the territory since the start of the Gaza war.

Israeli figures show at least 49 Israelis, including civilians and security personnel, have been killed in Palestinian attacks or during Israeli military operations during the same period.