Arabic press review: Egypt mediates to calm West Bank tensions
Abbas asks Cairo to mediate in West Bank
Egyptian intelligence officials have, in the past few days, led extensive efforts to calm the situation in the occupied West Bank, which has significantly escalated with near-daily Israeli raids since the start of the year, Palestinian sources told Al-Araby al-Jadeed newspaper.
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas recently asked Cairo to mediate with the Israeli government to reach an agreement to stop incursions in Palestinian towns and cities, the sources said.
“[The raids] have made the PA appear weak before its people and further weaken its influence on the Palestinian political scene in favour of other factions like Hamas and the Islamic Jihad,” the sources were quotes as saying.
They added that the Egyptian mediation aims to "rectify the status of the Palestinian Authority in the West Bank to prevent an explosion of the situation there in a way that also limits the role of its security services."
The recent Egyptian mediation coordinated a high-level meeting between prominent Israeli security officials and the chief of the PA’s intelligence service Majed Faraj and Civil Affairs Minister Hussein al-Sheikh to discuss an agreement that guarantees the Palestinian security services their role in the West Bank, especially in northern cities.
“Israeli forces stressed that they will loosen their security grip until after the end of the upcoming Jewish holiday period, despite Egyptian warnings against security escalation in the West Bank and its danger to the entire Palestinian situation,” the sources said.
Meanwhile, a Hamas source said the movement had relayed “strongly worded warning messages” to the Israeli government through the Egyptian mediator regarding the situation in Jerusalem and the area surrounding al-Aqsa Mosque in the coming period.
Hamas has warned against allowing Israeli ultra-nationalists to storm the mosque, which they have been doing on a near-daily basis, the source added.
Sudanese syndicate condemns journalist attacks
The newly-formed Sudanese Journalists Syndicate on Wednesday condemned the Sudanese forces' assault on journalists while performing their duties, insisting on their right to unconditionally cover and report on events, according to Al-Quds Al-Arabi newspaper.
The syndicate stressed its rejection of targeting press freedoms, denouncing what it described as the "intended campaign against media professionals and photographers."
It also pledged to "defend the right of public opinion to receive information," vowing to "stand firmly against the intimidation of journalists or any attempt to detract their legal and constitutional rights, starting with the right to obtain information"
The syndicate pointed out that it would "work hard to ensure the consolidation of these rights," calling on the police, security and military services to "respect the freedom of expression, the freedom of reporting and the freedom of the press in general, as rights guaranteed by local laws and international and humanitarian conventions."
Journalist Omar Ibrahim suffered a severe jaw wound have being hit by a tear gas canister on Tuesday while covering protests against the military rule.
The police also forcibly took journalist Amira Saleh to a police station as she covered the same protest.
This follows the banning of journalist Aya Sabbagh from working after she hosted members of the journalists' syndicate on her radio programme.
Most Sudanese newspapers have stopped publishing after the military coup that upended the country's transition to civilian rule last October.
Jewish group sues Lapid and Gantz for war crimes
The Jewish Voice for a Just Peace in the Middle East group has filed a lawsuit in Germany against Israeli Prime Minister Yair Lapid and Defence Minister Benny Gantz, accusing them of war crimes committed during Israel's military campaign on Gaza in August, The New Khalij reported.
The group said the lawsuit demands that Lapid and Gantz be held accountable for the suffering of Palestinians in Gaza.
As an Israeli group, the Jewish Voice for a Just Peace in the Middle East stressed that the Israeli government does not represent or speak on behalf of all Jews.
The group was founded by German and Israeli Jews in 2003, with the aim of sending a message that not all Jews fully support Israel and its policies, in particular its oppression and persecution of Palestinians.
It also states that many Jews around the world support the right of Palestinians to live freely and without oppression.
*Arabic press review is a digest of news reports not independently verified as accurate by Middle East Eye.
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