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27 Jun 2016 - NPWJ News Digest on Middle East and North Africa Democracy
Articles
Syria's civil war: 'Dozens killed' in Deir Az Zor raids
by Aljazeera, 27 Jun 2016
Syrian and Russian air strikes have killed at least 82 people, including 58 civilians, in Syria's eastern Deir Az Zor province, according to a UK-based monitoring group. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR), said three air rids hit the town of al-Quriyah, held by the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) group, in the suburbs of Deir Az Zor on Saturday. "ISIL fighters have now set up a security perimeter around the residential area, where the town's mosque is located," Rami Abdel Rahman, the head of the SOHR, said, referring to the group also known as ISIS. Russian fighter jets have been carrying out air raids over Syria in support of President Bashar al-Assad since September 2015. Incendiary bombs claim. Elsewhere in Syria, activists say, warplanes have dropped incendiary bombs over populated areas in Aleppo city for the first time. It was unclear whether the cluster bombs dropped in the northern city's Dahrat Awad district were from Russian or Syrian government planes.
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Israel and Turkey Agree to Resume Full Diplomatic Ties
by the New York Times, 26 Jun 2016
JERUSALEM — Israel and Turkey agreed on Sunday to resume full diplomatic relations, ending a bitter, six-year rift between the once-close regional allies, according to Israeli and Turkish officials. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel was scheduled to announce the deal in Rome on Monday, according to the Israeli official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity from Rome because the accord had not yet been formally made public. The Turkish government planned to make a parallel announcement in Ankara. The two countries fell out after a deadly confrontation in 2010 between Israeli commandos and Turkish activists on a passenger vessel that tried to breach Israel’s naval blockade of the Gaza Strip, the Palestinian coastal territory that is under the control of Hamas, the Islamic militant group. The ship, the Mavi Marmara, was part of a flotilla carrying aid to Gaza when Israeli naval commandos rappelled onto the ship’s deck and killed nine activists after being met with violent resistance. A 10th activist later died of his wounds. Negotiating teams for the two countries met in Rome over the weekend.
Iraq declares battle for Fallujah is ‘over’
by the Financial Times, 26 Jun 2016
The Iraqi commander leading the fight to recapture Fallujah declared the battle “over”, after government forces entered the last Isis stronghold in the city. Iraqi troops, aided by US-led coalition air strikes and support from controversial Shia militias, fought for nearly 30 days to retake the city that is the longest held by the militant group in Iraq. Haidar al-Abadi, Iraq’s prime minister, prematurely claimed victory when government forces entered the city centre more than a week ago, but a group of fighters loyal to Isis held out in a northwestern district known as Golan. Lieutenant-general Abdul Wahab al-Saidi said the struggle to clear that area, which for more than a decade has been a militant stronghold, was completed over the weekend. “Central Golan district … has been cleaned by the counter terrorism service and we convey the good news to the Iraqi people that the battle of Fallujah is over,” he told state television, according to Reuters news agency. Noting that at least 1,800 Isis militants were killed in the operation, he added that pockets of militants may remain in the city. Federal police forces, who played a central role in the fight for Fallujah, said 90 per cent of the city was cleared, according to Iraq’s Sumaria TV.
Israel: Water as a tool to dominate Palestinians
by Aljazeera, 23 Jun 2016
Occupied West Bank - As temperatures rise and summer months approach, yet again this year, thousands of Palestinians in the occupied West Bank are being deprived of their most basic need - access to water - as the Israeli national water company Mekorot restricted the water supply to villages and towns in northern West Bank. Although extremely worrying for the livelihood and health impact on the affected tens of thousands of Palestinians, this comes to little surprise. Since it occupied the West Bank in 1967, Israel has laid hands on Palestinian water resources through discriminatory water-sharing agreements that prevented Palestinians from maintaining or developing their water infrastructure through its illegal planning and permit regime. As a result, thousands of Palestinians are unable to access sufficient water supplies and became water-dependent on Israel. By building on the myth of a water-scarce region - Ramallah has more rainfall than London - Israel has deliberately denied Palestinians control over their water resources and successfully set the ground for water domination, granting itself a further tool to exercise its hegemony over the occupied population and territory.