Continuing violations of the occupation: settlement construction, demolition, arrests, storming Al-Aqsa Mosque and uprooting olive seedlings

Governorates Wafa -  Today, Thursday, the Israeli occupation and settlers continued their aggression against our people, their sanctities and their properties, as the construction of 1,500 settlement units was approved in Jerusalem, while the village of Deir Nidham near Ramallah witnessed the demolition of a number of houses and barracks, and dozens of settlers stormed Al-Aqsa Mosque and others uprooted olive saplings south of Hebron, and 5 civilians were arrested. 

Approval of the construction of 1,500 settlement units in Jerusalem and demolition near Ramallah

The "Organizing and Building Committee" of the occupation municipality in Jerusalem approved a plan to build 1,500 settlement units on land located between the French Hill and the Hebrew University, in occupied Jerusalem .

The construction will be on an area of ​​150 dunums that the occupation municipality claims to be “state land.” The construction includes 500 rooms for housing for Jewish students, 200 fortified rooms, and several residential towers to be rented for long-term periods of time, in addition to buildings to serve the public .

On the other hand, the Israeli occupation bulldozers demolished houses and barracks in the "Al-Hassa" area in Deir Nidham village northwest of Ramallah, belonging to the Bedouin citizens living there . 

Settlers storm Al-Aqsa and uproot olive saplings in Hebron

140 settlers stormed the blessed Al-Aqsa Mosque from the Mughrabi Gate, carried out provocative tours in its courtyards, and performed Talmudic rituals in the eastern region of it, under heavy guard by the Israeli occupation police .

And the occupation police stationed at the Al-Silsila and Al-Ghawanimah gates prevented dozens of citizens who traveled to Al-Aqsa Mosque from reaching it, coinciding with the settlers’ storming of the mosque .

In another violation, settlers uprooted 60 olive plantations in the Khallet al-Dabaa area in Masafer Yatta, south of Hebron, and attacked the shepherds and tried to expel them from the pastures. 

The occupation arrests five citizens of the West Bank

The Israeli occupation forces arrested five citizens of the West Bank .

In Bethlehem, the occupation forces arrested the freed captive Mustafa Attia Al-Hasanat (26 years), from Dheisheh refugee camp, and Ramez Al-Lahham (26 years), from Jabal Hindazah .

From Qalqilya, the occupation forces arrested Omar Ahmed Odeh in his twenties, after they raided and searched his family's house in Habla village .

From Jenin, the occupation forces arrested two citizens from the town of Al-Silah Al-Harithiya: Omar Ibrahim Fayek Zayoud and Majd Saleh Jaradat .

From Tubas, the occupation forces arrested the young man, Moheeb Khaled Daraghmeh (23 years), who is a freed prisoner, after they raided his family's house. They also searched the house of Lotfi Qassem Ainbousi, and wreaked havoc there.

The killing of the leader of the “Islamic State” organization The Pentagon wanted to arrest him, and Baghdad provided information to Washington

The Pentagon said that the US forces would have preferred to arrest the leader of the Islamic State, Abu Ibrahim Al-Qurashi, who blew himself up during a raid by US forces on Thursday in northern Syria, while the Iraqi army said that it had provided US forces with information about the whereabouts of the leader of the organization.

A Pentagon official told Al-Jazeera correspondent in Washington, Fadi Mansour, that the US forces would have preferred to arrest the leader of the "Islamic State" organization, 45-year-old Qurashi, alive, but took into account that he deliberately blew himself up.

A senior US official said that US President Joe Biden was informed a month ago of the plan to target the leader of the organization through a model of the building in which he had been spotted.

The American raid lasted for about two hours, in a place near a camp for the displaced in the village of Atma in the far northwest of Syria, close to the Syrian-Turkish border.

Yesterday, Thursday, the US President said that he had ordered the assassination of the leader of the “Islamic State” organization, while minimizing civilian casualties.

And Biden added, in a brief speech at the White House, yesterday evening, Thursday, that Al-Qurashi chose to blow up the third floor of the building surrounded by his family, instead of facing what he described as justice.

President Biden said that the assassination of the leader of the Islamic State bears witness to the ability of the United States to eliminate terrorist threats wherever they are in the world.

Serious harm

The commander of the US Central Command, General Kenneth McKenzie, stated that the killing of the leader of the "Islamic State" organization has seriously damaged the organization's capabilities and its work at the international level, but increases its desire to harm.

General McKenzie added in a speech to the Middle East Institute symposium in Washington that ISIS is still behind terrorist operations in Syria and Iraq, and that it still poses the greatest threat to the United States, according to him.

Al-Jazeera correspondent in Washington stated that senior US officials were keen to provide successive clarifications regarding the killing of civilians in the process of targeting the leader of the "Islamic State" organization, referring to the fact that he had blown up the building from the beginning to avoid its fall into the hands of US special forces.

The reporter added that an aide to the leader of the Islamic State was living on the second floor of the building in which the leader of the organization was, and he clashed with the American forces, which led to the killing of him, his wife and one of the children.

Civilian killed

The official American version says that in order to avoid the fall of civilians, America was keen not to launch an air strike on the whereabouts of al-Qurashi, and relied on the implementation of an airdrop, and after the American forces cordoned off the whereabouts of the leader of the organization, she asked, through loudspeakers, the residents of the building to get out of it, but al-Qurashi hastened To blow himself up and the building.

Pentagon spokesman John Kirby said there was "strong evidence" that Islamic State, not US forces, was responsible for the civilian deaths in the US raid that killed the group's leader there.

The Pentagon spokesman said that the United States evacuated 10 individuals, including children, from the area of ​​the raid on the home of the ISIS leader. He added that the US forces also clashed with one of the aides of the leader of the organization and his wife

Kirby added in a press statement that the United States evacuated 10 individuals, including children, from the area of ​​the raid.

He explained that the US forces also clashed with one of al-Qurashi's aides and his wife. The Pentagon spokesman added that the assistant and his wife were killed, "and it appears that a child was also killed."

For its part, the Syrian Civil Defense (White Helmets) said that at least 13 people - including 6 children and 4 women - were killed by bombing and clashes following the US airdrop.

One resident said rescuers had pulled at least 12 bodies from under the rubble of a multi-storey building, including children and women.

Al-Jazeera correspondent in Washington stated that the American forces confirmed the identity of Al-Qurashi on the spot through fingerprints, and later through DNA analysis.

The official in charge of the Middle East and North Africa in the Pentagon said that this operation enabled the US special forces to collect important intelligence data related to ISIS.

Iraqi help

In a related context, Major General Yahya Rasoul, spokesman for the Commander in Chief of the Iraqi Armed Forces, said yesterday, Thursday, that the Iraqi intelligence service provided the coalition with accurate information that led to the location of the leader of the Islamic State organization in northern Syria.

The Iraqi authorities had also provided intelligence information to their American counterpart to carry out the raid that killed the leader of the Islamic State, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, two years ago in northern Syria as well.

In the details of what happened during the American raid, various sources said that American helicopters flew over the "Atma" and "Deir Ballut" areas in the northern countryside of Idlib.

It began with warning strikes, and the overflight of at least two helicopters, according to the residents, followed by an airdrop in the vicinity of the town at exactly one o'clock and five minutes after midnight.

After that, gunfire was heard, and helicopters carried out more than 4 raids on the building where the leader of the Islamic State was staying, which is a 3-storey building.

One of the sources said that anti-aircraft missiles were fired by the opposition fighters, while witnesses confirmed that the raid ended with the helicopters leaving the place.

After the killing of the former leader of the Islamic State, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, in October 2019, the organization appointed Abdullah Qardash - also nicknamed "Haji Abdullah" - as his successor, an Iraqi who had previously been imprisoned in the United States.

Yesterday, Thursday, US forces killed Qardash in approximately the same area in which the killing of al-Baghdadi was carried out on October 27, 2019.

30 years since the start of relations, Erdogan visits Ukraine to develop cooperation

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said before traveling to Kiev that a number of cooperation agreements to develop relations between the two countries would be signed during the visit.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's visit to Ukraine on February 3 is a good opportunity to discuss ways to increase the volume of trade exchange and sign a free trade agreement between the two countries.

It is planned that during the visit, meetings and discussions will be held that will expand the areas of cooperation between the two countries.

The visit comes on the occasion of the 30th anniversary of the start of relations between Turkey and Ukraine, during which the tenth edition of the high-level strategic council meeting will be held with the participation of the presidents of the two countries.

With the mechanism of the High-level Strategic Council, which was established in 2011, the relations of the two countries have risen to the level of strategic partnership.

According to information collected by the Anatolian correspondent, the trade volume between the two countries amounted to 7.42 billion dollars in 2021. Turkey exports to Ukraine steel, ships, yachts and their services, air-conditioning sector products, paper, forest products, cars, tobacco, vegetables and fruits, in addition to the defense industries sector products. .

It is also expected that the recent tension between Russia and Ukraine will be discussed during the visit.

Expectations of signing a free trade agreement

In statements to Anadolu Agency, President of the Ukrainian-Turkish Business Council Roshan Cetin said that the visit will witness a high-level strategic cooperation meeting between the two countries, and that they expect to sign a free trade agreement between the two countries during the meeting.

He added that the two countries have been holding talks for several years about signing a free trade agreement between them, pointing out that the agreement would remove obstacles to enhancing cooperation and raising the volume of trade exchange between the two countries.

Record high volume of trade

Cetin pointed out that there is cooperation between Turkey and Ukraine in all fields. He explained that the data of the Turkish Statistical Authority showed that Turkish exports to Ukraine amounted to 2.1 billion dollars in 2020 and rose to 2.9 billion dollars in 2021, an increase of 43 percent. While imports rose by 87 percent, from $2.59 billion in 2020 to $4.52 billion in 2021.

He pointed out that the volume of trade exchange between the two countries amounted to $4.68 billion in 2020 and rose to $7.42 billion in 2021. with a significant increase of 67 percent.

And he added, "If a free trade agreement is signed, the volume of trade exchange between the two countries will rise to $10 billion within two or three years. It is certain that the visit will witness discussions on defense industries."

The crisis between Russia and Ukraine

On the political crisis between Ukraine and Russia, Cetin said: "So far, trade between us continues, and there is no way for us to be affected in trade or investment in Ukraine because of its tension with Russia. However, the crisis between the two countries can affect, in one way or another, trade between Turkey and Ukraine."

He added that the crisis between Ukraine and Russia can be resolved, and that Turkish President Erdogan is the most leader who can reach an understanding with the Russian and Ukrainian presidents, stressing that the business world is waiting for a solution to the crisis between the two countries.

Cetin stressed that instability in the Black Sea would not be in the interest of any country.