Biden sanctions four Israeli settlers who attacked Palestinians in the West Bank

Biden sanctions four Israeli settlers who attacked Palestinians in the West Bank
President Joe Biden on Thursday issued an executive order that targets Israeli settlers in the West Bank who have been attacking Palestinians in the occupied territory, imposing financial sanctions and visa bans in an initial round against four individuals. (AFP/File)
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Updated 01 February 2024
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Biden sanctions four Israeli settlers who attacked Palestinians in the West Bank

Biden sanctions four Israeli settlers who attacked Palestinians in the West Bank
  • Settlers involved in acts of violence, as well as threats and attempts to destroy or seize Palestinian property
  • Penalties aim to block four from using US financial system and bar American citizens from dealing with them

WASHINGTON: President Joe Biden on Thursday issued an executive order that targets Israeli settlers in the West Bank who have been attacking Palestinians in the occupied territory, imposing financial sanctions and visa bans in an initial round against four individuals.
Those settlers were involved in acts of violence, as well as threats and attempts to destroy or seize Palestinian property, according to the order. The penalties aim to block the four from using the US financial system and bar American citizens from dealing with them. US officials said they were evaluating whether to punish others involved in attacks that have intensified during the Israel-Hamas war.
Palestinian authorities say some Palestinians have been killed, and rights groups say settlers have torched cars and attacked several small Bedouin communities, forcing evacuations.
Biden is facing growing criticism for his administration’s strong support of Israel as casualties mount in the conflict, which began when Hamas, the militant group that rules Gaza, attacked Israel on Oct. 7.
His order is a rare step against America’s closest ally in the Mideast who, Biden says, has the right to defend itself. But the Democratic president has pressed Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government to show greater restraint in its military operations aimed at rooting out Hamas.
Biden has spoken out against retaliatory attacks by Israeli settlers and pledged that those responsible for the violence will be held accountable. He said in late October that the violence by “extremist settlers” amounted to “pouring gasoline” on the already burning fires in the Middle East. “It has to stop. They have to be held accountable. It has to stop now,” Biden said.
Israel Defense Forces stepped up raids across the West Bank after the war began. Hamas militants are present in the West Bank, but largely operate underground because of Israel’s tight grip on the territory. Palestinians have accused the Israeli military of not preventing attacks by settlers or, at times, of even protecting those settlers.
White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan met on Wednesday at the White House with Ron Dermer, Israel’s minister of strategic affairs. US officials said the Israeli government was notified in advance of the sanctions.
The order will give the Treasury Department the authority to impose financial sanctions on settlers engaged in violence, but is not meant to target US citizens. A substantial number of the settlers in the West Bank hold US citizenship, and they would be prohibited under US law from transacting with the sanctioned individuals.
US lawmakers have zeroed in on the role of Americans or dual citizens in the settler violence and intimidation. In a letter last month, Sen. Ben Cardin, chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, asked the White House to take action against any US citizens involved in attacks against Palestinians. He said that could include criminal charges and financial sanctions.
“There’s got to be a strong message against the extreme activities taken by some settlers on the West Bank, jeopardizing the lives of Palestinians as well as the peace in the region,” Cardin, D-Md., told reporters Thursday.
Biden’s order was first reported by Politico.
Officials said there are no plans to penalize far-right Israeli ministers who have defended the violence by Israeli settlers and have called for the expansion of settlements.
The new executive order comes as Biden was set to visit Michigan on Thursday to rally support from union members in a key presidential battleground state. The Democratic president has faced sharp criticism from Arab and Muslim leaders over his handling of the war with Hamas, and the shadow of the conflict has some Democrats worrying that it could have a major effect on the outcome in the November election.
The president’s campaign team has already seen alarming signs of the growing rift with Michigan’s Arab American community.
Last week, the president’s campaign manager, Julie Chavez Rodriguez traveled to suburban Detroit and found a number of community leaders unwilling to meet with her. Some frustrated by Biden’s Israel policy are working to discourage voters from supporting the president in the general election.
The State Department announced in December it would impose travel bans on extremist Jewish settlers implicated in a rash of recent attacks on Palestinians in the occupied West Bank.
The department did not announce individual visa bans. But officials said at the time the bans would cover “dozens” of settlers and their families, with more to come if the violence continued.


Spy satellite images lead archaeologists to the site of a historic battle in Iraq

Spy satellite images lead archaeologists to the site of a historic battle in Iraq
Updated 5 sec ago
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Spy satellite images lead archaeologists to the site of a historic battle in Iraq

Spy satellite images lead archaeologists to the site of a historic battle in Iraq
BEIRUT: Declassified 1970s-era US spy satellite imagery has led a British-Iraqi archaeological team to what they believe is the site of a seventh-century battle that became decisive in the spread of Islam throughout the region.
The Battle of Al-Qadisiyah was fought in Mesopotamia — in present-day Iraq — in the A.D. 630s between Arab Muslims and the army of the Sassanid Persian dynasty during a period of Muslim expansion. The Arab army prevailed and continued on its march into Persia, now Iran.
A joint team of archaeologists from the UK’s Durham University and the University of Al-Qadisiyah stumbled across the site while undertaking a remote sensing survey to map the Darb Zubaydah, a pilgrimage route from Iraq’s Kufa to Makkah in Saudi Arabia built more than 1,000 years ago. The findings were published Tuesday in the journal Antiquity.
While mapping the route, the team noticed that a site some 30 kilometers (20 miles) south of Kufa in Iraq’s southern Najaf province — a desert area with scattered plots of agricultural land — had features that closely matched the description of the Al-Qadisiyah battle site described in historic texts.
William Deadman, a specialist in archaeological remote sensing at Durham University, said the Cold War era satellite images are a commonly used tools by archaeologists working in the Middle East, because the older images often show features that have been destroyed or altered and would not show up on present-day satellite images.
“The Middle East has developed so much in the last 50 years, both agricultural expansion and urban expansion,” he said. Some of the distinguishing features at the Al-Qadisiyah site, such as a distinctive trench, were “much more pristine and clear” in the 1970s images, he said.
A survey on the ground confirmed the findings and convinced the team that they had correctly identified the site.
The key features were a deep trench, two fortresses and an ancient river that was reportedly once forded by elephant-mounted Persian troops, said Jaafar Jotheri, a professor of archaeology at the University of Al-Qadisiyah who is part of the team that made the discovery. The survey team also found pottery shards consistent with the time period when the battle took place.
Jotheri said that Iraqis of his generation, who grew up under the rule of Saddam Hussein, were all familiar with the battle in minute detail, down to the names of the generals on both sides.
The battle at the time had political connotations — Iraq was engaged in a devastating war with Iran through much of the 1980s. Saddam pointed to the Battle of Qadisiyah as a harbinger of victory for Iraq.
Like most children growing up in that era, Jotheri said he had watched a popular movie about the battle multiple times as it was on regular rotation on television.
In the post-Saddam era, Al-Qadisiyah has become something of a political litmus test. Iraqis’ views of the battle vary depending on their feelings toward Iran, which has expanded its influence in the country since the 2003 US-led invasion of Iraq that toppled Saddam.
“There is some political and religious context in this battle, because now, of course, we have religious differences, ethnic differences, political differences in Iraq and we read or we view everything based on our … differences,” Jotheri said. But he added, ”We all agree that it is a very important battle, a decisive one, and we all know about it.”
The team plans to begin excavations at the site in the coming year, Jotheri said.
The discovery comes as part of a broader project launched in 2015 to document endangered archaeological sites in the region.
It also comes at the time of a resurgence of archaeology in Iraq, a country often referred to as the “cradle of civilization,” but where archaeological exploration has been stunted by decades of conflict that halted excavations and led to the looting of tens of thousands of artifacts.
In recent years, the digs have returned and thousands of stolen artifacts have been repatriated.

Israel says it has met most US demands on Gaza aid as deadline looms

Israel says it has met most US demands on Gaza aid as deadline looms
Updated 47 min 44 sec ago
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Israel says it has met most US demands on Gaza aid as deadline looms

Israel says it has met most US demands on Gaza aid as deadline looms
  • US told Israel last month to take steps to improve the aid situation in Gaza within 30 days
  • Israel appears to have refused Washington’s demand to allow entry of 50-100 trucks a day

JERUSALEM: Israel said on Monday it had met most demands by the United States to improve humanitarian conditions in Gaza but was still discussing some items as a deadline looms to improve the situation or face potential restrictions on US military aid.
There are a number of things that remain under discussion and they touch on safety issues, an Israeli official told reporters. He said most issues had been addressed.
Among the US demands that Israel appears to have refused is allowing the entry of 50-100 commercial trucks a day.
The official said commercial activity had been halted because Hamas was controlling the merchants. Restrictions on the entry of closed containers would also not be lifted due to security risks, the official said.
Others, including the opening of a fifth crossing into Gaza, have been implemented.
The United States told its ally Israel in a letter on Oct. 13 that it must take steps to improve the aid situation within 30 days, with Tuesday as the final deadline.
Last week, the State Department said Israel had taken some measures to increase aid access to Gaza but had so far failed to significantly turn around the humanitarian situation.
Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar said on Monday he had met the US ambassador and was confident that “we can reach an understanding with our American friends and that the issue will be solved.”
Last week, a committee of global food security experts warned of a strong likelihood that famine is imminent in certain areas of northern Gaza, a claim which Israel rejected outright.
The Israeli official said Israel had added entrances into Gaza, expanded the humanitarian zone, increased security for aid vehicles and managed joint task forces with the international community and many others as part of the process to improve the humanitarian situation.
Israel began a wide military offensive in northern Gaza early last month. Linda Thomas-Greenfield, the US envoy to the UN, said on Oct. 16 that Washington was watching to ensure Israel’s actions on the ground show it does not have a “policy of starvation” in the north.


Turkiye mulls unifying telecom fiber infrastructure in one entity, official says

For years Ankara has demanded that telecom operators invest more to accelerate fiber network expansion. (REUTERS)
For years Ankara has demanded that telecom operators invest more to accelerate fiber network expansion. (REUTERS)
Updated 12 November 2024
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Turkiye mulls unifying telecom fiber infrastructure in one entity, official says

For years Ankara has demanded that telecom operators invest more to accelerate fiber network expansion. (REUTERS)
  • Turk Telekom owns and maintains 78 percent of Turkiye’s 577,000-kilometer (359,000-mile) national fiber network through a concession agreement that is set to expire in 2026

ANKARA: Turkiye is considering adopting a unified fiber optic telecoms entity to expand its network, signalling it could create a separate manager for the expensive infrastructure investments, a senior official told Reuters.
The study is at an early stage and all options remain on the table, said the Turkish official, who has direct knowledge of government telecoms policy but requested anonymity.
Such a consolidation of telecoms infrastructure could help accelerate Turkiye’s broadband Internet usage and speed, benefit smaller service providers and pose a challenge for the network’s largest stakeholder, Turk Telekom.
“We are considering the unification of the fiber infrastructure and conducting a study on it,” the senior Turkish official said when asked about some sector demands for infrastructure and sales to be separated, and for the establishment of a common infrastructure holding company.
“It is in early stages and not yet finalized. By establishing a common infrastructure, we aim to further strengthen our country’s fiber-optics network,” the official told Reuters.
For years Ankara has demanded that telecom operators invest more to accelerate fiber network expansion. The companies have grown the network by a bit more than 3 percent per year over the past decade, and have partly blamed complicated permissions and high costs for the slow progress.

NETWORK OWNERSHIP
Turk Telekom owns and maintains 78 percent of Turkiye’s 577,000-kilometer (359,000-mile) national fiber network through a concession agreement that is set to expire in 2026.
A handful of other players, including Turkcell , Turksat and Vodafone own the rest.
Turk Telekom and Turkcell are controlled by the country’s wealth fund.
Smaller service providers have long advocated that investments should be made by a jointly-owned entity, rather than largely by Turk Telekom, which also sells telecom services. An effort in the mid-2010s to set up such an entity failed.
In July, UK-based Vodafone’s Turkiye unit again suggested in a report that the business of selling telecoms services should be separated from infrastructure investment and management, which could be handled by a separate “common” entity.
In September, Turk Telekom’s chief executive rejected the suggestion, saying it was aimed at carving away its infrastructure assets, which are set to return to the government once the concession period ends.
Turkiye trails its peers on fixed-line broadband Internet usage, with 23 subscribers per 100 inhabitants as of last year, below the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) average of 36.
It also lags on broadband speed with less than one high-speed subscriber with greater than 100 Mbps speed per 100 people, compared to a 24 OECD average.
 

 


Israel says it has met most US demands on Gaza aid as deadline looms

Israel says it has met most US demands on Gaza aid as deadline looms
Updated 12 November 2024
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Israel says it has met most US demands on Gaza aid as deadline looms

Israel says it has met most US demands on Gaza aid as deadline looms
  • The United States told its ally Israel in a letter on Oct. 13 that it must take steps to improve the aid situation within 30 days, with Tuesday as the final deadline

JERUSALEM: Israel said on Monday it had met most demands by the United States to improve humanitarian conditions in Gaza but was still discussing some items as a deadline looms to improve the situation or face potential restrictions on US military aid.
There are a number of things that remain under discussion and they touch on safety issues, an Israeli official told reporters. He said most issues had been addressed.
Among the US demands that Israel appears to have refused is allowing the entry of 50-100 commercial trucks a day.
The official said commercial activity had been halted because Hamas was controlling the merchants. Restrictions on the entry of closed containers would also not be lifted due to security risks, the official said.
Others, including the opening of a fifth crossing into Gaza, have been implemented.
The United States told its ally Israel in a letter on Oct. 13 that it must take steps to improve the aid situation within 30 days, with Tuesday as the final deadline.
Last week, the State Department said Israel had taken some measures to increase aid access to Gaza but had so far failed to significantly turn around the humanitarian situation.
Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar said on Monday he had met the US ambassador and was confident that “we can reach an understanding with our American friends and that the issue will be solved.”
Last week, a committee of global food security experts warned of a strong likelihood that famine is imminent in certain areas of northern Gaza, a claim which Israel rejected outright.
The Israeli official said Israel had added entrances into Gaza, expanded the humanitarian zone, increased security for aid vehicles and managed joint task forces with the international community and many others as part of the process to improve the humanitarian situation.
Israel began a wide military offensive in northern Gaza early last month. Linda Thomas-Greenfield, the US envoy to the UN, said on Oct. 16 that Washington was watching to ensure Israel’s actions on the ground show it does not have a “policy of starvation” in the north.


Head of Tunisia olive oil giant held on corruption suspicion: media

Head of Tunisia olive oil giant held on corruption suspicion: media
Updated 12 November 2024
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Head of Tunisia olive oil giant held on corruption suspicion: media

Head of Tunisia olive oil giant held on corruption suspicion: media
  • Mosaique FM reported that a total of 15 people, including a former agriculture minister, are being prosecuted in the case

TUNIS: The head of Tunisia’s leading olive oil exporter, CHO group, has been detained on suspicion of corruption, local media reported on Monday.
Tunisian website Business News, citing a source familiar with the case, said the detention of Abdelaziz Makhloufi, CHO’s president, had been extended until Tuesday.
The company is known abroad for its Terra Delyssa brand olive oil.
Makhloufi is also known in Tunisia for being the president of football team CS Sfaxien.
He was initially questioned on November 2 as part of an investigation into suspected corruption in the management of the Henchir Chaal state-owned lands which include 360,000 olive plants, local media said.
Mosaique FM reported that a total of 15 people, including a former agriculture minister, are being prosecuted in the case.
President Kais Saied, whose critics accuse of ushering in a new authoritarian regime, has made fighting corruption a priority.
Along with dates, olive oil is one of Tunisia’s main agricultural exports.
Official figures foresee production of about 340,000 tons in the 2024-25 season, putting Tunisia alongside Turkiye and just ahead of Greece and Italy, but far behind Spain’s 1.3 million tons.
Tunisian authorities expect a 50-percent increase in olive oil exports this year, at about 300,000 tons.