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2021.05.25 國際新聞導讀-敘利亞明天總統大選、以巴戰爭後重建路長、白俄羅斯逼降商業航班逮捕異議份子、以色列未來黨組閣困難、土耳其探勘天然氣
2021.05.25 國際新聞導讀-敘利亞明天總統大選、以巴戰爭後重建路長、白俄羅斯逼降商業航班逮捕異議份子、以色列未來黨組閣困難、土耳其探勘天然氣
經過多年戰爭，敘利亞大選毫不意外
西方政府和阿薩德的國內反對派認為，這次投票是精心編排的事情，可以印證他的統治。
通過SULEIMAN AL-哈利迪/路透
2021年5月24日17:18
敘利亞總統巴沙爾·阿薩德（Bashar Assad）於8月在大馬士革向他的國家議會議員致辭。
（照片來源：SANA /路透社）
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巴沙爾·阿薩德 （Bashar Assad）的競選海報與大馬士革的街道以及兩個晦澀的競爭對手的海報並排排列，但沒有人真的懷疑，儘管十年的戰爭使敘利亞陷入一片廢墟，但周三的大選將擴大他的總統職位。
在他的家人統治了五十年的今天，敘利亞現在幾乎無法被這個國家所識別。現年55歲的阿薩德（Assad）在其父親哈菲茲·阿薩德（Hafez al-Assad）死後於2000年接管了敘利亞。
當他開始任職時，這位年輕的眼科醫生在哥哥死於車禍後才得到了最後的修飾，他承諾將擺脫父親的鐵腕掌控，為反對者提供空間，向西方敵人招投標。
但是改革很快就被埋葬了，2011年阿拉伯之春席捲整個地區，抗議他的獨裁統治的抗議活動爆發，這場衝突已導致數十萬人喪生，並將1100萬人驅逐出家，約佔人口的一半。
阿薩德（Assad）已經奪回了他的大部分國家的控制權，一些選民本週將在被炸毀的建築物包圍的投票站投票。但是，只有在俄羅斯和伊朗的果斷軍事援助下，他才能實現這一目標。
他在Facebook競選活動中說：“如果戰爭將自己強加在我們的議程上，那並不意味著阻止我們履行職責。”該運動的口號是“希望通過工作”。
但是，對於該國的廣大地區來說，他們的工作幾乎買不到足夠的食物。夏爾馬三明治是用雞肉或肉串烤製成的，曾經是人們在街邊咖啡館不加思索地搶來的小吃。
“你能相信一個夏爾馬人花了我一半的薪水嗎？” 33歲的阿里·哈比卜（Ali Habib）說，這花了20,000敘利亞鎊，而他在公立學校任教的月工資是50,000鎊，或者以非官方的價格略高於16美元。
補貼食品已成為許多人的命脈。與本文中引用的敘利亞其他人一樣，哈比卜與該國以外的路透社通訊員通訊，他不得不賣掉一些家具養活他的妻子和兩個女兒。
西方訊息
西方政府和阿薩德的國內反對派，許多現在在國外，因為他們說這是避免敘利亞無處不在的秘密警察（穆巴拉巴特）的唯一方法，他們認為這次投票是精心策劃的事情，可以為他的統治打上烙印。
美國前流亡政治犯韋爾·薩瓦（Wael Sawah）說：“阿薩德統治的國家是10年前敘利亞的陰影。” “社會結構以及經濟也發生了變化。這是敘利亞過去的陰影。”
一些敘利亞人說，投票的目的是告訴美國，歐洲和其他國家，阿薩德沒有間斷，即使在戰鬥多發的情況下，敘利亞仍在發揮作用，大部分在北部。
敘利亞智囊團ETANA負責人馬安·阿卜杜勒·薩拉姆（Maan Abdul Salam）說：“這些選舉是針對西方的，以一種或兩種方式採取西方式的選舉方式，以傳達'我就像你一樣'的信息。”
過去的結果沒有西方風格。在2014年的民意測驗中，阿薩德獲得了將近89％的選票，投票率超過73％，儘管這是在激烈的戰鬥中進行的。批評家認為這是一種虛假行為。
今年，阿薩德的競爭對手是前內閣副部長阿卜杜拉·薩盧姆·阿卜杜拉（Abdallah Saloum Abdallah）和經正式批准的小型反對黨負責人馬哈茂德·艾哈邁德·馬雷（Mahmoud Ahmed Marei）。
阿薩德還釋放了數百名長期支持者，從法官到公務員，今年早些時候被阿薩德逮捕，目的是鎮壓其陣營內的批評家。
來自小型阿拉維派宗教團體的阿薩德（Assad）幾乎摧毀了遜尼派穆斯林多數國家敘利亞的叛亂。他是在派遣戰機的俄羅斯和伊朗的幫助下做到這一點的，伊朗的支持者包括來自真主黨的戰鬥人員，真主黨是由伊朗支持的黎巴嫩什葉派團體。
在逃離俄羅斯支持的轟炸之後，土耳其仍然佔據西北地區的領土，數百萬人生活在骯髒的營地中，而美國東北部也有少量的美軍存在，這是庫爾德叛軍的基礎。
包含對手
戰爭之前，敘利亞的工業基地很小但正在增長，並且從東北部生產了少量石油，而現在東北部則由庫爾德人控制，那裡的大部分小麥都在那兒種植。其他食物需求主要來自肥沃的地中海沿岸。
現在經濟崩潰了。由於政府缺乏外彙來進口燃料，因此斷電的時間比在最惡劣的戰鬥中更長。通貨膨脹率飆升。
大馬士革附近一個城市穆達米亞的阿卜杜勒·哈里克·哈蘇納說：“今天的局勢比前幾天遭受包圍和轟炸時要好。” “現在比現在好。”
但是阿薩德遏制了他的主要對手。叛亂的主力遜尼派叛軍大部分被包圍在北部。在其他領域幾乎沒有新的反對的跡象。
大馬士革邊緣的古塔（Ghouta）之類的地方仍然被壓抑。西方國家和人權組織說，古塔在起義後遭到致命的瓦斯襲擊，數百人喪生。阿薩德否認了這一說法。
為了鼓勵那些心灰意冷的忠實擁護者，阿薩德（Assad）向州政府僱員提供了無息貸款和一次性贈款。國家工資已經提高。但是，西方的製裁仍然令人瞠目結舌。
大馬士革的經濟學家納比爾·蘇克爾（Nabil Sukr）表示：“如果不取消經濟制裁，經濟將無法站穩腳跟。”
戰爭期間，阿薩德（Assad）的安全部門培養了民兵，以幫助其作戰。在戰鬥平息下來之後，一些分裂的民兵表示，這些團體已經建立了強大的領地。其他人則抱怨他們沒有得到應有的回報。
“我的兩個兄弟都罹難了，我們得到了什麼？什麼都沒有，”曾在地中海塔爾圖斯（Tartous）的一名民兵前戰鬥人員尤尼斯說，他只給了他的名字。
但是，對於某些敘利亞人來說，例如哈比卜（Habib）能否接受小老師的薪水，是否當選，就別無選擇。
他說：“在阿薩德統治下，生活變得無法忍受。” “我們以前把他當成聖人，現在他把我們從堅定的支持者推向沉默的反對派。”
Syria's election holds few surprises after years of war
Western governments and Assad's domestic opponents, view the vote as a choreographed affair to rubber stamp his rule.
By SULEIMAN AL-KHALIDI/REUTERS
MAY 24, 2021 17:18
SYRIAN PRESIDENT Bashar Assad addresses members of his country’s parliament in Damascus in August.
(photo credit: SANA/REUTERS)
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Campaign posters for Bashar Assad line the streets of Damascus, alongside those for two obscure rivals, but no one really doubts that Wednesday's election will extend his presidency despite 10 years of war that has left Syria in ruins.
Ruled by his family for five decades, Syria is now barely recognizable from the nation that Assad, now 55, took over in 2000 after the death of his father, Hafez al-Assad.
When he began, the young eye doctor, who was belatedly groomed for office after his elder brother died in a car accident, promised a shift from his father's iron grip - offering space to opponents and overtures to Western foes.
But reforms were swiftly buried and protests against his authoritarian rule erupted in 2011 as the Arab Spring swept across the region, turning into a conflict that has killed hundreds of thousands of people and driven 11 million from their homes, about half the population.
Assad has retaken control of much of his nation, where some voters will cast ballots this week at polling stations surrounded by bombed out buildings. But he has achieved this only with the decisive military help from Russia and Iran.
"If war imposes itself on our agenda, it doesn't mean to prevent us from doing our duties," he said on the Facebook account for his campaign, which has the slogan "Hope through work."
But, for swathes of the country, their employment barely buys enough food. A Sharma sandwich, made from chicken or meat roasted on a skewer, was once the kind of snack people grabbed with little thought from a street cafe.
"Can you believe a Sharma costs nearly half my salary?" said Ali Habib, 33, saying it cost 20,000 Syrian pounds, while his monthly wage as a teacher in a state school is 50,000 pounds, or just over $16 at the unofficial rate.
Subsidized food has become a lifeline for many. Habib, who like others in Syria quoted in this article communicated with a Reuters correspondent outside the country, has had to sell some furniture to feed his wife and two daughters.
MESSAGE TO THE WEST
Western governments and Assad's domestic opponents, many now abroad because they say it is the only way to avoid Syria's pervasive secret police, or mukhabarat, view the vote as a choreographed affair to rubber stamp his rule.
"The country Assad is ruling is a shadow of the country that was Syria 10 years ago," said Wael Sawah, a former political prisoner in exile in the United States. "The structure of society has changed as well as the economy too. It's a shadow of what Syria was."
Some Syrians say the vote aims to tell the United States, Europe and others that Assad is unbroken and Syria still functions, even amid pockets of fighting, mostly in the north.
"These elections are aimed at the West, taking the pattern of Western-style elections in one way or the other to give an 'I am like you' message," said Maan Abdul Salam, who heads Syrian think-tank ETANA.
There has been nothing Western-style about past results. In the 2014 poll, official numbers had Assad securing almost 89% of votes on turnout of more than 73%, even though it took place amid fierce fighting. Critics dismissed it as a sham.
This year, Assad's rivals are former deputy cabinet minister Abdallah Saloum Abdallah, and Mahmoud Ahmed Marei, head of a small, officially sanctioned opposition party.
Assad has also released hundreds of longtime supporters from judges to civil servants who were arrested earlier this year in a crackdown to silence critics within his loyalist camp.
Assad, who is from the tiny Alawite religious community, has all but crushed the insurgency in Syria, a majority Sunni Muslim nation. He has done so with the aid of Russia, which sent in warplanes, and Iran, whose support includes fighters from Hezbollah, the Lebanese Shi'ite group backed by Iran.
Turkey still holds territory in the northwest where millions live in squalid camps after fleeing Russian-backed bombardment, and there is a small U.S. military presence in the northeast, underpinning Kurdish rebels.
CONTAINING OPPONENTS
Before the war, Syria had a small but growing industrial base and produced modest amounts of oil from its northeast, now under Kurdish control, where most of its wheat was grown. Other food needs were met mainly from its fertile Mediterranean coast.
Now the economy has crumbled. Power cuts are longer than during some of the worst fighting, as the government lacks foreign exchange to import fuel. Inflation has soared.
"The situation today is not better from previous days when we lived under siege and bombardment," said Abdul Khalek Hasouna from Moudamiya, a town near Damascus. "It was better than now."
But Assad has contained his main opponents. Sunni rebels, the backbone of the insurgency, are largely hemmed into the north. There is little sign of new opposition in other areas.
Places like Ghouta, on the edge of Damascus, remain subdued. Western states and rights groups say Ghouta faced deadly gas attacks that killed hundreds after an uprising. Assad denies it.
To encourage any disenchanted loyalists, Assad has offered interest-free loans and one-off grants to state employees. State salaries have been hiked. But Western sanctions still bite.
"The economy won't stand on its feet if economic sanctions are not lifted," said Nabil Sukr, a Damascus-based economist.
During the war, Assad's security services nurtured militias to help fight its battles. With the fighting subsiding, some disenchanted militia members say the groups have created powerful fiefdoms. Others complain they have not been fairly rewarded.
"My two brothers were martyred and what did we get? Nothing," said Younes, a former fighter in a militia in Tartous on the Mediterranean, who only gave his first name.
Yet, for some Syrians, such as Habib on his tiny teacher's salary, election or not, there is little choice.
"Life has become unbearable under Assad," he said. "We used to look at him at as saint and now he is pushing us from stalwart supporters to silent opposition."
Iran's Quds Force chief tells Islamic Jihad it defeated 'Zionist pride'
The comments made by Esmail Ghaani, the head of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Quds Force, praised death and martyrdom and said fighters welcome death with 'longing and passion.'
By SETH J. FRANTZMAN
MAY 24, 2021 16:43
Brigadier General Esmail Ghaani, the newly appointed commander of the country's Quds Force, is seen in Tehran, Iran, in this undated picture obtained January 3, 2020
(photo credit: TASNIM NEWS AGENCY/HANDOUT VIA REUTERS)
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The recent war against Israel “destroyed the pride of the Zionist army,” Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Quds Force Commander Esmail Ghaani told his Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) counterpart, Akram al-Ajouri, in a letter, Iran’s Tasnim News Agency reported.
His comments came after Hamas reportedly thanked Iran for its support in the war. Iran backs Hamas and Islamic Jihad, which has offices in Damascus.
Ajouri was reportedly targeted in an airstrike in Damascus in November 2019 during Israel-PIJ tensions.
Ghaani’s macabre letter praised death and martyrdom, adding that while the killing of pro-Iran operatives is a threat, they look forward to death with longing and passion, according to Al-Mayadeen, a Beirut-based pan-Arabist satellite television channel. Ghaani’s predecessor, Qasem Soleimani, was killed by the US in 2020 and is revered as a great martyr.
The letter to Ajouri, one of several letters and memos of support that have been sent from Iran to Hamas and PIJ recently, said: “We believe that every drop of blood that falls on the way to Jerusalem brings us closer to liberating it from the filth of the occupier.”
The term “filth” is used in anti-Israel protests in the West in which Jews have been described as “filth.” It may be that Iran’s messaging uses Islamist terminology so that terms such as “filth” can being applied to Israel and Jews, much as the Nazis used such terminology. These terms were also used in recent anti-Israel protests in Germany.
The support for PIJ includes more imagery about martyrdom and calls for Palestinians to be “steadfast.” It calls on “all the mujahideen in the land of Palestine. I kiss your striving hands, which God throws at his enemy, and which pave the way to making the clear conquest, God willing.”
This was similar to a message sent to Mohammed Deif, supreme commander of Izzadin al-Qassam, the so-called “military” wing of Hamas.
Clearly, Ghaani is trying to bolster the “resistance” axis and thank them for fighting Israel on Iran’s behalf. It appears that Iran timed this war to coincide with Quds Day on May 7, ordering Hamas to begin the battle on May 10.
It has put Palestinians and Hamas back on the agenda, with Hamas now being treated normally by international media, rather than as a terrorist group. Iran is pleased.
Ghaani also called the head of Islamic Jihad, Ziad Nakhaleh, a frequent guest of the Iranian regime, and he called Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh.
“We will offer everything we can to achieve the goal of liberating all of the Palestinian land,” he was quoted as saying.
Ahmadinejad wants to run for president of Iran, again
The former president is remembered fondly by some Iranians for his populism and for offering loan programs. He was often portrayed as a modest 'Mr. Clean' but this is disputed by others.
By SETH J. FRANTZMAN
MAY 24, 2021 16:17
Iran's then-president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad gestures as he leaves a news conference in Istanbul, Turkey May 9, 2011
(photo credit: REUTERS/MURAD SEZER)
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A decade ago, Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad appeared to be the nemesis of Israel. His questioning of the Holocaust and threats against Israel appeared perfectly timed to go along with Iran’s nuclear threats. He was everything that was bad about the Iranian regime.
Now, tempered by time, he wants to run for president. But the Iranian regime may not let him.
Ahmadinejad has changed his tune from the old days. He now speaks about freedom and poses as an outsider, a “man of the people.” He hosts discussions on Clubhouse, and tens of thousands have tuned in.
Iranian law-enforcement officials are warning candidates such as Ahmadinejad to be careful, according to Iran International, a Persian-language television station headquartered in London.
The authorities “drew attention to some would-be candidates making claims illustrating ‘nothing but treason’ and showing they were ‘servants and mercenaries’ of foreign powers,” the report said. “The high-ranking police official’s veiled references are likely to refer to former president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and the reformist former minister Mostafa Tajzadeh.”
Iran has had low voter turnout in recent elections. Ahmadinejad, if he is disqualified, could cause June’s poll to be even lower. The Guardian Council must approve all candidates, and some have hit the ground running already. But according to Fereshteh Sadeghi, an Iranian journalist and social-media activist based in Tehran, Ahmadinejad has faced obstacles.
“Ahmadinejad today went to a town near the city of Qazvin,” she wrote. “City officials had blocked the road to the town, cutting water, electricity and phone services for hours. He, however, walked part of the road, circumvented the obstacles and attended the gathering.”
Ahmadinejad reportedly has been blocked from other cities, including Urmia. His flights have been mysteriously canceled to stop him from campaigning, according to other reports.
The former president is remembered fondly by some for his loan programs and populism. He was often portrayed as personally modest and not corrupt. But that is disputed by reports going back to his second term of office, and authorities have sought at times to place him under house arrest.
A popular photo of him several years ago portrayed Ahmadinejad as a modest villager, even though he lived in Tehran in Narmak, according to reports.
He is a professor at Iran University of Science and Technology in Tehran. He has a PhD from the university in civil engineering and transportation planning and has apparently owned, or regularly used, a Macbook Air computer, a luxury item in Iran.
Can Yemen once more be a united nation?
The future of Yemen is being decided on the battlefield rather than through political dialogue.
By MOHAMMED SAYERS / THE MEDIA LINE
MAY 24, 2021 13:01
HOUTHI SUPPORTERS rally to denounce the US killing of Iranian military commander Qasem Soleimani and Iraqi militia commander Abu Mahdi alMuhandis, in Sana’a, Yemen, on January 6. The placards read, ‘God is the greatest, death to America, death to Israel, Curse on the Jews, victory to Islam.’
(photo credit: KHALED ABDULLAH/ REUTERS)
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Unity Day, a public holiday commemorating the unification of North Yemen and South Yemen 31 years ago, fell on Saturday, amid a bitter civil war that began six and a half years ago.
For more stories from The Media Line go to themedialine.org
Asked about the prospects for a return to that unity, Muhammad Hussein, a 59-year-old Yemeni businessman, told the Media Line, “There are already two governments, two banks and two banknotes between Sanaa and Aden, and you are still talking about unity.”
Iran-backed Houthi rebel forces control Sanaa, Yemen’s capital, and all of northern Yemen except Marib Governorate.
Aden is run by the UAE-backed Southern Transitional Council (STC), which controls most of and advocates for the separation of southern Yemen from the rest of the nation, restoring the pre-1990 status.
The oil-rich eastern governorates (Hadramaut, Shabwah and Marib) remain loyal to the internationally recognized government and support Yemen’s unity, on the condition of implementing a federal system and that they are allowed to utilize their wealth for their own interests.
In the far west, near the Bab el-Mandeb strait connects the Red Sea to the Gulf of Aden, the forces of Tareq Saleh, a nephew of the late President Ali Abdullah Saleh and a former commander of the Presidential Guard, control parts of the governorates of Hudaydah and Taiz, which are loyal to the former regime.
The north and south of Yemen were more tolerant of each other before the unification of Yemen in 1990, and, unlike today, rejected violence.
“After the unification, we in the north did not face any harassment when we worked or visited the southern regions. However, after 2015, and after the civil war between the southern forces and the Ansar Allah forces [the Houthis), the story changed,” Hussein said. “We became afraid of visiting the south to travel [through Aden International Airport] or to work; we became outcasts and we could place ourselves at risk just by disclosing that we are from the north.”
Hussein explained that his job in the south was suspended many times due to hate campaigns against northerners, and many northerners were forced to employ intermediaries to be able to do work in the south.
During the period 2017-2020, some northern workers in southern cities were harassed or deported. Also, some properties were vandalized or demolished by armed groups affiliated with the Southern Transitional. Many travelers were prevented from entering the southern regions.
‘Three parties seek to destroy Yemen’s unity’
President Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi, in a speech on Friday ahead of Unity Day, said, “Yemen’s unity has been gnawed on and shattered. Turning against the state, and having it subjected to racial violence and sectarian prejudices, as well as the Iranian agenda, has harmed Yemen’s unity at its core, and has reproduced the stereotypical image of imamate [i.e., Houthi] racism.”
The president held three parties responsible for the threat facing Yemen’s unity, which could lead to its destruction: the “former regime,” meaning that of Ali Abdullah Saleh, who was president from 1990 to 2012; Ansar Allah; and the STC.
The “Southern Issue” began in 2007 with the establishment of the Southern Movement and the demand for an equitable division of the country’s wealth and of prestigious positions in state institutions. It changed after the establishment of the STC on April 4, 2017, which later became a political faction with a military wing outside state institutions and called for separation from the north and for the right to self-determination. In April 2020, the STC declared autonomous rule in the south and entered into armed confrontations with the Yemeni Army, in what many analysts saw as a prelude to secession.
‘Separation is a reality on the ground’
Journalist Samah Lotf said Ansar Allah forces took control of most of the north and so enabled the STC, militarily and politically, to control the southern and eastern regions. In addition, there is the complete absence of the internationally recognized government, which is based outside Yemen.
In light of the deteriorating economic and development conditions in the southern regions, to the extent that the currency collapsed, electricity and water were cut off and diseases spread, the return of Yemeni unity would be a “miracle,” Lotf said.
“Separation has become a reality on the ground, waiting to be announced,” she said. “We are already living the reality of separation in everything. In addition to the existence of central institutions in both the north and the south, such as the Central Bank of Yemen, the House of Parliament, as well as separate government and financial transactions, the social fabric has become separated, especially in the southern regions. Everything has come to produce the separation scenario.”
‘The right to self-determination’
In 1994, four years after unification, southern forces declared a war of secession. A two-month civil war ended with the exile of many southern military and political leaders. The impact on the deterioration of the political situation between the north and the south can still be felt today.
Aidarus al-Zoubaidi, head of the STC and the commander in chief of the southern armed forces, spoke on the 27th anniversary of the Separation Declaration, saying, “The Unity project was aborted by the forces of the Sanaa regime by declaring war on the south and occupying it, choosing to turn it into an occupation that usurps the land and kills the people.
“Since then, our people have made enormous sacrifices in a continuous, legendary national struggle toward the restoration of their state. We are still walking on the same path for which our martyrs gave their lives, and we will not hesitate or deviate from our path until our people regain and build their independent, federal and fully sovereign southern state,” Zoubaidi said.
‘The Southern issue is a people’s cause’
Some people from the south believe the unity project has ended and that the solution lies in the establishment of two states within the borders of Yemen as they were in May 1990. Many blame the deterioration of the social and economic situation in the south and the deterioration of the health and security situation throughout the country on northern actors and their leaders.
Bassam al-Qadi, a southern activist, told the Media Line, “The rectitude of the southern people’s cause and the legitimacy of its legal and human rights, and the injustices inflicted on the southerners, are the only guarantor of the re-establishment of the southern state and the return to the two-state solution within the borders of May 1990.
“The issue of the south is a people’s issue and the southerners’ rights to regaining their state will be given to them sooner or later,” he said.
“The reality today proves the existence of two states, one in the south and another in the north, despite the conditions of war and the country’s placement under Chapter VII,” Qadi said.
Security Council Resolution 2140, approved under Chapter VII of the UN Charter in 2014, provides for the use of sanctions against those seeking to derail Yemen’s “political transition.”
“There is no just peace, nor a comprehensive solution to the crises and war in Yemen, except through a two-state solution and the involvement of the south in the current negotiations,” Qadi said, adding that the international community knows full well there will be no peace and no cessation of war except through a south-north dialogue.
The 2-state solution has become a dream
Radwan Jawar, a political scientist, agrees that separation is inevitable, in light of the “clinical death” of the unity project and the division into political and military components and alliances that reject the legitimacy of the internationally recognized government.
“The Federal Yemen and six regions proposal that was devised during the National Dialogue Conference in 2013 was the last hope for Yemen to be a unified state with a federal administration, but after this war, maintaining the two-state solution has become a dream as opposed to the alternative, which is the formation of many states within Yemen,” Jawar said.
白俄羅斯聲稱由於哈馬斯的威脅迫使Ryanair飛機降落
面臨15年監禁的政府評論家拉曼·普拉塔塞維奇（Raman Pratasevich）在飛機降落時被捕並拘留，引發國際憤怒
按代理商今天晚上8:22 0
2021年5月，載有反對派人物拉曼·普拉塔塞維奇（Raman Pratasevich）的Ryanair飛機從雅典飛往維爾紐斯，在炸彈威脅後被轉移到明斯克，於2021年5月23日降落在立陶宛維爾紐斯國際機場。 / Mindaugas Kulbis）
白俄羅斯高級運輸官員周一說，該國已收到炸彈威脅，聲稱來自哈馬斯，這是在載有持不同政見者的瑞安航空公司客機改航之前進行的。
運輸和通信部航空部門負責人阿爾喬姆·西科斯基（Artem Sikorsky）向記者宣讀了一封信，信中說：“我們，哈馬斯的士兵，要求以色列在加沙地帶停火。我們要求歐洲聯盟在這場戰爭中放棄對以色列的支持……這架飛機上裝有炸彈。如果您不能滿足我們的要求，炸彈將在5月23日在維爾紐斯爆炸。”
面對以色列與哈馬斯恐怖組織之間的停火協議，白俄羅斯的可疑主張飛了起來。停火協議自5月21日星期五凌晨2點開始生效，結束了為期11天的戰鬥。
批評者指責，瑞安航空公司航班被迫降落以逮捕船上的異議人士，構成“海盜”。據報導，美國和歐盟官員正在考慮採取措施，以懲罰這一事件的白俄羅斯獨裁政權。
目的似乎是要逮捕現年26歲的激進主義者，記者和著名評論家拉曼·普拉塔塞維奇（Raman Pratasevich），他運行著一個受歡迎的消息傳遞應用程序，在幫助組織針對專制領導人的大規模抗議活動中發揮了關鍵作用。降落後不久，他和他的俄羅斯女友被帶下飛機，當局沒有透露他們被關押的地點。這架飛機從希臘雅典開始飛行，最終被允許繼續飛往立陶宛維爾紐斯。
通過電子郵件獲取《以色列時報》的每日版，千萬不要錯過我們的熱門新聞免費註冊
白俄羅斯獨裁總統拉曼·普拉塔塞維奇（Raman Pratasevich）的一位著名對手參加了2012年3月25日在白俄羅斯明斯克舉行的反對派集會。（美聯社照片）
瑞安航空說，白俄羅斯的飛行控制人員告訴機組人員，飛機在穿越該國領空時遭到炸彈威脅，並下令將其降落在明斯克的首都。
白俄羅斯總統米迦勒·魯卡申科（Alexander Lukashenko）爭先恐後地向一架白俄羅斯米格（MiG-29）戰鬥機護送飛機，後者用鐵拳統治了25個多世紀。空軍副司令安德烈·古爾瑟維奇（Andrei Gurtsevich）說，飛機機組人員決定降落在明斯克。
白俄羅斯總統亞歷山大·盧卡申科（Alexander Lukashenko）在官員的陪同下於2021年4月26日在白俄羅斯明斯克東南約360公里（225英里）的布拉金鎮參加切爾諾貝利災難35週年之際舉行的安葬集會。 。（Sergei Sheleg / BelTA Pool通過AP）
立陶宛總統Gitanas Nauseda稱此事件為“國家資助的恐怖行為”。他說，歐洲理事會將在周一討論此案，他將提議禁止白俄羅斯飛機離開歐盟機場，並對盧卡申科政府實行“嚴重製裁”。
“白俄羅斯領空對於任何商業飛行都是完全不安全的，不僅歐盟，而且國際社會都應認為這是不安全的。因為現在，這種儀器可用於穿越白俄羅斯領空的任何飛機。”立陶宛外交大臣加布里埃留斯·蘭茲貝吉斯（Gabrielius Landsbergis）說。
白俄羅斯總統新聞社說，飛機在白俄羅斯領土上空時收到了炸彈威脅。官員隨後表示，機上沒有發現爆炸物。
乘客在明斯克被下飛機。飛機抵達維爾紐斯後，國防部長阿維達斯·阿努索斯卡斯說，普拉塔塞維奇的女友和另外四個人沒有重新登機。
“我們將找出其他四個沒有旅行的人是誰。立陶宛發起了一項調查，以了解那架飛機上到底發生了什麼。”他在Facebook上說。
西方國家也表示震驚。
2021年5月，載有反對派人物拉曼·普拉塔塞維奇（Raman Pratasevich）的Ryanair飛機從雅典飛往維爾紐斯，在炸彈威脅後被轉移到明斯克，於2021年5月23日降落在立陶宛維爾紐斯國際機場。 / Mindaugas Kulbis）
美國大使朱莉·費舍爾說，白俄羅斯“再次表現出對國際社會及其公民的蔑視”，稱這一事件“危險而令人憎惡”。
歐盟委員會主席烏爾蘇拉·馮·德·萊恩（Ursula von der Leyen）在推文中說：“強迫@Ryanair從雅典飛往維爾紐斯的航班降落在明斯克，是完全不可接受的。”
德國外交大臣馬科斯（Heiko Maas）表示：“如果沒有歐盟方面的明確後果，就不能採取這樣的行動”，並呼籲釋放普拉塔塞維奇。
美國國務卿安東尼·布林肯稱這種轉移“令人震驚”，並呼籲釋放普拉塔塞維奇。歐盟領導人特別譴責逮捕行動，並反對這架飛機。這架飛機正在該集團的兩個成員國之間飛行，並由設在愛爾蘭的航空公司（也是該國的成員）運營。
美國國務卿安東尼·布林肯（Antony Blinken）在2021年5月12日在華盛頓舉行的國務院新聞發布會上（美聯社照片/安德魯·哈尼克（Andrew Harnik），普爾）
“獨立媒體是支持法治的重要支柱，也是民主社會的重要組成部分。美國再次譴責盧卡申科政權對記者的持續騷擾和任意拘留。”
Pratasevich是Telegram通訊應用程序Nexta頻道的聯合創始人，該頻道在幫助組織針對盧卡申科的大規模抗議活動中發揮了重要作用。
該頻道有930萬人，在該國有930萬人的白俄羅斯人中，有近200萬人跟隨該頻道，該頻道已成為組織遊行示威的主要渠道，並就如何躲避警戒線提供了建議。它還放有照片，視頻和其他材料，記錄了警方對抗議活動的殘酷鎮壓。
白俄羅斯當局已將頻道標記為“極端主義者”，並對針對普拉塔塞維奇的煽動大規模騷亂和煽動社會仇恨的指控進行了指控。如果罪名成立，他將面臨15年監禁。
Belarus claims it forced Ryanair plane to land because of Hamas threat
Government critic Raman Pratasevich, who faces 15 years in jail, arrested and detained when plane lands, sparking international outrage
By AGENCIESToday, 8:22 pm 0
The Ryanair plane with registration number SP-RSM, carrying opposition figure Raman Pratasevich which was traveling from Athens to Vilnius and was diverted to Minsk after a bomb threat, lands at the International Airport outside Vilnius, Lithuania, May 23, 2021. (AP Photo/Mindaugas Kulbis)
A senior Belarus transport official said Monday that the country had received a bomb threat claiming to be from Hamas ahead of the diversion of a Ryanair passenger flight carrying a dissident.
Artem Sikorsky, the head of the aviation department at the transport and communications ministry, read out a letter to journalists that said: “We, the soldiers of Hamas, demand that Israel cease fire in the Gaza Strip. We demand that the European Union renounces its support for Israel in this war… A bomb is planted on this flight. If you do not fulfill our demands, the bomb will explode over Vilnius on May 23.”
Belarus’s dubious claim flies in the face of the ceasefire between Israel and the Hamas terror group, which took effect from Friday, May 21, at 2 a.m., ending 11 days of fighting.
Critics have charged that the forced landing of the Ryanair flight to arrest a dissident on board amounted to “piracy,” and US and European Union officials are reportedly mulling steps to punish Belarus’s authoritarian regime for the incident.
The goal was seemingly to arrest Raman Pratasevich, a 26-year-old activist, journalist, and prominent critic who ran a popular messaging app that played a key role in helping organize massive protests against the authoritarian leader. He and his Russian girlfriend were led off the plane shortly after landing, and authorities have not said where they are being held. The plane, which began its journey in Athens, Greece, was eventually allowed to continue on to Vilnius, Lithuania.
A prominent opponent of Belarus’ authoritarian president Raman Pratasevich attends an opposition rally in Minsk, Belarus, March 25, 2012. (AP Photo)
Ryanair said Belarusian flight controllers told the crew that there was a bomb threat against the plane as it was crossing through the country’s airspace and ordered it to land in the capital of Minsk.
A Belarusian MiG-29 fighter jet was scrambled to escort the plane in a brazen show of force by President Alexander Lukashenko, who has ruled with an iron fist for over a quarter-century. Deputy Air Force Commander Andrei Gurtsevich said the plane’s crew made the decision to land in Minsk.
Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko, accompanied by officials, attends a requiem rally on the occasion of the 35th anniversary of the Chernobyl disaster in the town of Bragin, some 360 km (225 miles) south-east of Minsk, Belarus, on April 26, 2021. (Sergei Sheleg/BelTA Pool via AP)
Lithuanian President Gitanas Nauseda called the incident a “state-sponsored terror act.” He said that the European Council would discuss the case Monday and that he would propose banning Belarusian planes from European Union airports and “serious sanctions” against Lukashenko’s government.
“Belarusian airspace is completely unsafe for any commercial flight, and it should be deemed this not only by the EU but by the international community. Because now, this instrument could be used for any plane crossing Belarusian airspace,” said Lithuania’s foreign minister, Gabrielius Landsbergis.
The Belarus presidential press service said the bomb threat was received while the plane was over Belarusian territory. Officials later said no explosives were found onboard.
Passengers were taken off the plane in Minsk. After the plane arrived in Vilnius, Defense Minister Arvydas Anusauskas said Pratasevich’s girlfriend and four other people did not reboard.
“We will find out who are the other four that did not travel with the rest. Lithuania has launched an investigation to find out what really happened on that plane,” he said on Facebook.
Western countries also expressed alarm.
The Ryanair plane with registration number SP-RSM, carrying opposition figure Raman Pratasevich which was traveling from Athens to Vilnius and was diverted to Minsk after a bomb threat, lands at the International Airport outside Vilnius, Lithuania, May 23, 2021. (AP Photo/Mindaugas Kulbis)
Belarus “showed again its contempt for international community and its citizens,” US Ambassador Julie Fisher said, calling the event “dangerous and abhorrent.”
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen tweeted: “It is utterly unacceptable to force @Ryanair flight from Athens to Vilnius to land in Minsk.”
German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas said that “such an act cannot be left without definite consequences from the side of the European Union” and called for Pratasevich to be released.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken called the diversion “shocking” and appealed for Pratasevich’s release. EU leaders were particularly forceful in their condemnation of the arrest and move against the plane, which was flying between two of the bloc’s member nations and was being operated by an airline based in Ireland, also a member.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken at a news conference at the State Department in Washington, May 12, 2021. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik, Pool)
“Independent media are an essential pillar supporting the rule of law and a vital component of a democratic society. The United States once again condemns the Lukashenko regime’s ongoing harassment and arbitrary detention of journalists,” Blinken said.
Pratasevich was a co-founder of the Telegram messaging app’s Nexta channel, which played a prominent role in helping to organize major protests against Lukashenko.
Nearly 2 million Belarusians in the nation of 9.3-million people have followed the channel, which has served as the main conduit for organizing demonstrations and offered advice on how to dodge police cordons. It also has run photos, video, and other materials documenting the brutal police crackdown on the protests.
The Belarusian authorities have labeled the channel “extremist” and leveled charges against Pratasevich of inciting mass riots and fanning social hatred. He could face 15 years in prison if convicted.
WHO says at least 115,000 health workers have died from Covid
By AFP
GENEVA, Switzerland — At least 115,000 health and care workers have died from Covid-19 since the beginning of the pandemic, the WHO chief says, calling for a dramatic scale-up of vaccination in all countries.
At the opening of the World Health Organization’s main annual assembly, Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus hails the sacrifices made by health workers around the world to battle the pandemic.
“For almost 18 months, health and care workers all over the world have stood in the breach between life and death,” he says. “They have saved countless lives and fought for others who, despite their best efforts, slipped away.
Healthcare workers take on a stretcher a patient suspected of having COVID-19 from an ambulance, at the HRAN public hospital in Brasilia, Brazil, March 23, 2021 (AP Photo/Eraldo Peres)
“Many have themselves become infected, and while reporting is scant, we estimate that at least 115,000 health and care workers have paid the ultimate price in the service of others.”
He says many health workers have since the start of the crisis felt “frustrated, helpless and unprotected, with a lack of access to personal protective equipment and vaccines.”
And they are not alone. He describes the overall inequity in access to vaccines as “scandalous,” warning it was “perpetuating the pandemic.”
More than 75 percent of all Covid-19 vaccines have gone to just 10 countries.
Blinken heads to region to push peace talks, Gaza aid
By AP
WASHINGTON — Secretary of State Antony Blinken is heading to the Middle East to press the Israelis, Palestinians and regional players to build on last week’s Gaza ceasefire by laying the groundwork for an eventual resumption in long-stalled peace talks.
President Joe Biden announced Blinken would depart today for a short visit to Israel, the West Bank, Jordan and Egypt for what will be the Biden administration’s highest-level in-person meetings on the crisis that erupted earlier this month.
In a statement, Biden said the time is not right for an immediate resumption in negotiations between the two sides but that steps could be taken — mainly humanitarian initiatives — to repair damage from Israeli airstrikes in Gaza.
“I don’t think we’re in a place where getting to some kind of a negotiation for what ultimately, I think, has to be the result, which is a two-state solution, is the first order of business,” he said. “We have to start building back in concrete ways and offering some genuine hope, prospects, opportunity in the lives of people.”
Gantz orders seizure of chemicals, equipment, gold intended for Hamas
Defense Minister Benny Gantz orders the confiscation of shipments of materials and equipment to Gaza that the IDF suspects is intended for Hamas’s military efforts.
In the days that preceded the latest round of fighting that began May 10, inspectors at the Kerem Shalom border crossing nabbed shipments of potassium chloride, glycerin, polyurethane, fiberglass and other materials, as well as sophisticated communications equipment, the Ynet news site reports.
Gantz also orders the confiscation of an estimated million shekels ($310,000) worth of gold the IDF caught being smuggled from Gaza to the West Bank, which officials say was intended to fund Hamas operations and terror attacks in the West Bank.
Lapid says chances of ‘change’ coalition ‘not high,’ but vows to try
Yesh Atid leader Yair Lapid, who has nine days left to his presidential mandate to form a coalition, tells his Knesset faction he’ll “do everything to form a government. Anyone that wants to come and talk, my door is open. We’ll sit, we’ll talk, we’ll think together how to build the best possible government for the State of Israel and the citizens of Israel.”
“The chances might not be high,” he says, “but while there is a chance, however small, we will leave no stone unturned.”
He blames what he describes as the long series of troubles over the past month on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s dysfunctional government.
Israel has seen two civilian disasters — at Mount Meron and in the Jerusalem suburb of Pisgat Ze’ev — in which poor infrastructure and the disregard of safety rules led to the deaths of participants at Haredi religious functions.
“The tragedy at Mount Meron, the disaster in Givat Ze’ev, the riots on the Temple Mount, the loss of control on the streets of mixed Arab-Jewish towns,” he says in the statement. “Look at how the public security minister attacked the chief of police that he himself appointed, at how the police collapsed and received no real backing, at how political corruption has become the standard.”
Netanyahu, he charges, “failed spectacularly” in the Gaza fight. “His government went into the operation without a strategy, without a functioning public diplomacy operation, without proper shelters for the citizens of the south, without a diplomatic vision and like always, without taking any responsibility.”
Iran agrees to extend deal on cameras at its nuclear sites
By AP
VIENNA — Iran and the UN’s nuclear watchdog agree to a one-month extension to a deal on surveillance cameras at Tehran’s atomic sites, buying more time for ongoing negotiations seeking to save the country’s tattered nuclear deal with world powers.
The last-minute discussions, including the International Atomic Energy Agency pushing back a statement planned for Sunday, further underscored the narrowing window for the US and others to reach terms with Iran as it presses a tough stance with the international community over its atomic program. The Islamic Republic is already enriching and stockpiling uranium at levels far beyond those allowed by its 2015 nuclear deal.
Speaking at a news conference Monday in Vienna, IAEA Director-General Rafael Mariano Grossi tells journalists that agreement came after a discussion with Ali Akbar Salehi, the head of Iran’s civilian nuclear program. He acknowledges that challenges remain, however, as the agency still can’t access images taken by its cameras.
“I’d want to stress this is not ideal,” Grossi said. “This is like an emergency device that we came up with in order for us to continue having these monitoring activities.”
Kazem Gharibabadi, Iran’s representative to the IAEA, acknowledges the deal at the same time on Twitter. He says Tehran’s civilian nuclear agency, the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran, would keep the material already recorded by the IAEA cameras.
“We recommend the negotiating countries to seize the extra opportunity provided by Iran in good faith for the complete lifting of sanctions in a practical and verifiable manner,” Gharibabadi writes.
Under a confidential agreement called an “Additional Protocol” with Iran, the IAEA collects and analyzes images from a series of surveillance cameras installed at Iranian nuclear sites. Those cameras helped it monitor Tehran’s program to see if it is complying with the nuclear deal.
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4:26 pm
Hamas threatens rocket fire if Israel puts conditions on reconstruction aid
Hamas leaders say they reject the conditions Israel is seeking to impose on Gaza’s reconstruction, including the proposal made by Defense Minister Benny Gantz yesterday that any aid that isn’t humanitarian be conditioned on Hamas’s release of two Israeli civilians and the bodies of two soldiers captured by Hamas in 2014.
Hamas would “not be blackmailed,” the report in the Lebanese newspaper Al-Akhbar quotes officials as saying.
Hamas officials also threaten to resume rocket attacks on Israel if the Israeli government seeks to impose a new status quo on Gaza following the fighting, after some Israeli officials called for a renewal of assassinations of Hamas leaders if rocket fire and other violence from Gaza continues.
正如Blinken所說，內塔尼亞胡暗示以色列可能對伊朗採取獨立行動
總理以不尋常的言辭表示讚賞美國的友誼，但在德黑蘭的核威脅可能需要“勇敢而獨立的決定”的情況下
由TOI員工和代理商今天晚上10:49 0
以色列總理本傑明·內塔尼亞胡在2021年5月15日的電視講話中（GPO）
在美國國務卿安東尼·布林肯首次訪問以色列和鄰國前夕，總理本傑明·內塔尼亞胡對伊朗發表了不同尋常的強硬言論，包括暗示耶路撒冷可能對華盛頓實施軍事行動，除非華盛頓同意。
內塔尼亞胡在紀念即將上任的摩薩德酋長戴維·巴內亞（David Barnea）任命並參加許多摩薩德成員的儀式上說：“你們每個人的首要任務是防止伊朗用核武器武裝自己。”
“我非常感謝我們的朋友美國，它已經在我們身邊站了很多年了。這是我們國家安全不可或缺的一部分。”內塔尼亞胡繼續說道。
總理說：“但是，在某些情況下，我們的最高目標-保證阿亞圖拉人不會結束猶太人民的數千年生存-將需要我們做出勇敢而獨立的決定。”
“無論有無協議，無論如何，我們都會竭盡全力否認伊朗的核武器，因為這關係到我們的生存。”
總理本傑明·內塔尼亞胡（Benjamin Netanyahu），中心，即將離任的摩薩德導演約西·科恩（Yossi Cohen）和即將上任的導演大衛·巴尼亞（David Barnea）在2021年5月24日舉行的總理典禮上授予莫薩德特工特等獎（Amos Ben Gershom / GPO）
自4月初以來，全球大國一直在維也納開會，以使華盛頓回到與德黑蘭的2015年核協議，美國於2018年離開該國。
時任美國總統唐納德·特朗普（Donald Trump）撤軍並實施制裁，導致伊朗加強了核活動。
伊朗國會發言人周日表示，國際檢查人員可能不再能獲得伊斯蘭共和國核基地的監視圖像，從而加劇了緊張局勢。
一年多以前，美國的一次無人駕駛飛機襲擊殺死了一名伊朗高級將領，促使德黑蘭後來發射彈道導彈，炸傷了數十名美軍在伊拉克。
一次神秘的爆炸也襲擊了伊朗的納坦茲核設施，伊朗將其描述為破壞活動並歸咎於以色列。11月，在大約20年前創立了伊朗軍事核計劃的伊朗科學家Mohsen Fakhrizadeh，在德黑蘭的襲擊中喪生，該襲擊也歸咎於以色列。
美國國務卿安東尼·布林肯（Antony Blinken）於2021年5月24日登上飛往馬里蘭州安德魯斯空軍基地的飛機時揮手致意。（美聯社照片/亞歷克斯·布蘭登，游泳池）
華盛頓總統幫助達成停火協議，結束了七年來以色列和哈馬斯之間最嚴重的暴力升級。
為期三天的行程（其中還將包括在拉馬拉，開羅和安曼的停留）的目標將是確保以色列與加沙恐怖團體之間的停火得以維持，同時也將採取步驟改善雙方的生活質量。國務院高級官員在布林肯起飛前的電話簡報中告訴記者，由於沒有立即進行和談以結束以巴衝突。
這位官員還說，秘書還將與雙方合作，幫助恢復加沙的恢復活力，同時阻止國際援助到達該地區執政的哈馬斯恐怖組織。
白宮在一份聲明中說，在以色列，布林肯將與總理內塔尼亞胡，總統魯汶·里夫林，外交部長加比·阿什肯納齊和其他以色列高級官員舉行會議，討論拜登政府“對以色列安全的堅定承諾”。
As Blinken due, Netanyahu hints Israel may take independent action against Iran
In unusually stark remarks, PM says he appreciates US friendship, but there could be a situation where Tehran’s nuclear threat necessitates ‘brave and independent decisions’
By TOI STAFF and AGENCIESToday, 10:49 pm 0
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in a televised address, May 15, 2021. (GPO)
On the eve of US Secretary of State Antony Blinken’s first visit to Israel and neighboring countries, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu made unusually tough remarks regarding Iran, including hinting that Jerusalem could take military action against the Islamic Republic’s nuclear sites without Washington’s okay.
In a ceremony marking the appointment of incoming Mossad chief David Barnea, and with many Mossad members in attendance, Netanyahu said: “The first task of each one of you is to prevent Iran from arming itself with nuclear weapons.”
“I very much appreciate our friend the United States, which has been standing by our side for many years. That’s an integral part of our national security,” Netanyahu continued.
“But there could be a situation in which our highest goal — to guarantee that the ayatollahs don’t end the thousands of years of existence of the Jewish people — will require us to take brave and independent decisions,” the premier said.
“In any event — with or without a deal — we will do everything to deny Iran nuclear weapons, because this concerns our very existence.”
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, center, outgoing Mossad director Yossi Cohen, right, and incoming director David Barnea at a ceremony conferring the Prime Minister’s Award on exception Mossad agents, May 24, 2021. (Amos Ben Gershom/GPO)
Global powers have been meeting in Vienna since early April in a bid to bring Washington back to the 2015 nuclear deal with Tehran, which the US left in 2018.
The withdrawal under then-US president Donald Trump and the reimposition of sanctions has led Iran to step up its nuclear activities.
Iran’s parliament speaker said Sunday that international inspectors may no longer access surveillance images of the Islamic Republic’s nuclear sites, escalating tensions.
Over a year ago, a US drone strike killed a top Iranian general, prompting Tehran to later launch ballistic missiles that wounded dozens of American troops in Iraq.
A mysterious explosion also struck Iran’s Natanz nuclear facility, which Iran has described as sabotage and blamed on Israel. In November, Iranian scientist Mohsen Fakhrizadeh, who founded the country’s military nuclear program some two decades earlier, was killed in an attack Tehran also blames on Israel.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken waves as he boards a plane on May 24, 2021, at Andrews Air Force Base, Maryland, en route to the Middle East. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon, Pool)
Blinken was heading to Israel Monday for his first trip to the region as US secretary of state, days after Washington helped broker a ceasefire that brought an end to the most significant escalation of violence between Israel and Hamas in seven years.
The goals of the three-day trip — which will also include stops in Ramallah, Cairo and Amman — will be to ensure that the ceasefire between Israel and Gaza terror groups holds while also pushing steps that will improve the quality of life for both sides in the absence of immediate peace talks to end the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, a senior State Department official told reporters in a phone briefing ahead of Blinken’s takeoff.
The secretary will also work with the parties to help kickstart efforts to rehabilitate Gaza, while preventing international aid from reaching the enclave’s ruling Hamas terror group, the official added.
In Israel, Blinken will meet with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, President Reuven Rivlin, Foreign Minister Gabi Ashkenazi, and other senior Israeli officials, discussing the Biden administration’s “ironclad commitment to Israel’s security,” the White House said in a statement.
Jacob Magid contributed to this report.
土耳其可能因領土爭端擴大地中海東部鑽探
當土耳其和希臘海軍護衛艦護航時，土耳其，希臘和塞浦路斯之間的緊張局勢在地中海東部地區的能源和管轄權問題上爆發。
由路透社
2021年5月24日15:31
2019年8月6日，土耳其鑽井船Yavuz在地中海東部塞浦路斯附近的土耳其海軍護衛艦護航下
（照片來源：路透社）
廣告
能源部長法提赫·唐梅茲（Fatih Donmez）週一表示，土耳其可能在地中海東部尋找更多的天然氣井，該地區的搜索和鑽井業務導致去年與希臘和塞浦路斯陷入僵局。
頓梅斯說，土耳其已經在該地區開了八個鑽孔，並補充說，儘管有天然氣的跡象，但在經濟上沒有重大發現。
他告訴廣播公司A Haber：“我們的專家將使用先前獲得的地震數據在每次鑽探之後檢查數據。我們可能還會在靠近我們看到天然氣跡象的（鑽孔）附近再鑽幾鑽。”
他說：“時間會證明一切，但我們充滿希望。我們認為這是有潛力的。”
8月，土耳其和歐盟成員國希臘和塞浦路斯之間的能源資源和管轄權在地中海東部之間爆發了緊張局勢，當時土耳其和希臘海軍護衛艦護航。
歐盟領導人在3月履行了2016年與土耳其加強貿易關係的承諾，但也警告安卡拉，如果重新啟動對地中海東部的能源勘探，將受到製裁。
土耳其最大的歷史發現-黑海天然氣儲備的交付預計將於2023年開始。
如果能夠將天然氣商業化開採，那麼這一發現可能會改變土耳其對能源進口的依賴，取決於俄羅斯，伊朗和阿塞拜疆。
土耳其可能因領土爭端擴大地中海東部鑽探
當土耳其和希臘海軍護衛艦護航時，土耳其，希臘和塞浦路斯之間的緊張局勢在地中海東部地區的能源和管轄權問題上爆發。
由路透社
2021年5月24日15:31
2019年8月6日，土耳其鑽井船Yavuz在地中海東部塞浦路斯附近的土耳其海軍護衛艦護航下
（照片來源：路透社）
廣告
能源部長法提赫·唐梅茲（Fatih Donmez）週一表示，土耳其可能在地中海東部尋找更多的天然氣井，該地區的搜索和鑽井業務導致去年與希臘和塞浦路斯陷入僵局。
頓梅斯說，土耳其已經在該地區開了八個鑽孔，並補充說，儘管有天然氣的跡象，但在經濟上沒有重大發現。
他告訴廣播公司A Haber：“我們的專家將使用先前獲得的地震數據在每次鑽探之後檢查數據。我們可能還會在靠近我們看到天然氣跡象的（鑽孔）附近再鑽幾鑽。”
他說：“時間會證明一切，但我們充滿希望。我們認為這是有潛力的。”
8月，土耳其和歐盟成員國希臘和塞浦路斯之間的能源資源和管轄權在地中海東部之間爆發了緊張局勢，當時土耳其和希臘海軍護衛艦護航。
歐盟領導人在3月履行了2016年與土耳其加強貿易關係的承諾，但也警告安卡拉，如果重新啟動對地中海東部的能源勘探，將受到製裁。
土耳其最大的歷史發現-黑海天然氣儲備的交付預計將於2023年開始。
如果能夠將天然氣商業化開採，那麼這一發現可能會改變土耳其對能源進口的依賴，取決於俄羅斯，伊朗和阿塞拜疆。
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2021.05.25 國際新聞導讀-敘利亞明天總統大選、以巴戰爭後重建路長、白俄羅斯逼降商業航班逮捕異議份子、以色列未來黨組閣困難、土耳其探勘天然氣
經過多年戰爭，敘利亞大選毫不意外
西方政府和阿薩德的國內反對派認為，這次投票是精心編排的事情，可以印證他的統治。
通過SULEIMAN AL-哈利迪/路透
2021年5月24日17:18
敘利亞總統巴沙爾·阿薩德（Bashar Assad）於8月在大馬士革向他的國家議會議員致辭。
（照片來源：SANA /路透社）
廣告
巴沙爾·阿薩德 （Bashar Assad）的競選海報與大馬士革的街道以及兩個晦澀的競爭對手的海報並排排列，但沒有人真的懷疑，儘管十年的戰爭使敘利亞陷入一片廢墟，但周三的大選將擴大他的總統職位。
在他的家人統治了五十年的今天，敘利亞現在幾乎無法被這個國家所識別。現年55歲的阿薩德（Assad）在其父親哈菲茲·阿薩德（Hafez al-Assad）死後於2000年接管了敘利亞。
當他開始任職時，這位年輕的眼科醫生在哥哥死於車禍後才得到了最後的修飾，他承諾將擺脫父親的鐵腕掌控，為反對者提供空間，向西方敵人招投標。
但是改革很快就被埋葬了，2011年阿拉伯之春席捲整個地區，抗議他的獨裁統治的抗議活動爆發，這場衝突已導致數十萬人喪生，並將1100萬人驅逐出家，約佔人口的一半。
阿薩德（Assad）已經奪回了他的大部分國家的控制權，一些選民本週將在被炸毀的建築物包圍的投票站投票。但是，只有在俄羅斯和伊朗的果斷軍事援助下，他才能實現這一目標。
他在Facebook競選活動中說：“如果戰爭將自己強加在我們的議程上，那並不意味著阻止我們履行職責。”該運動的口號是“希望通過工作”。
但是，對於該國的廣大地區來說，他們的工作幾乎買不到足夠的食物。夏爾馬三明治是用雞肉或肉串烤製成的，曾經是人們在街邊咖啡館不加思索地搶來的小吃。
“你能相信一個夏爾馬人花了我一半的薪水嗎？” 33歲的阿里·哈比卜（Ali Habib）說，這花了20,000敘利亞鎊，而他在公立學校任教的月工資是50,000鎊，或者以非官方的價格略高於16美元。
補貼食品已成為許多人的命脈。與本文中引用的敘利亞其他人一樣，哈比卜與該國以外的路透社通訊員通訊，他不得不賣掉一些家具養活他的妻子和兩個女兒。
西方訊息
西方政府和阿薩德的國內反對派，許多現在在國外，因為他們說這是避免敘利亞無處不在的秘密警察（穆巴拉巴特）的唯一方法，他們認為這次投票是精心策劃的事情，可以為他的統治打上烙印。
美國前流亡政治犯韋爾·薩瓦（Wael Sawah）說：“阿薩德統治的國家是10年前敘利亞的陰影。” “社會結構以及經濟也發生了變化。這是敘利亞過去的陰影。”
一些敘利亞人說，投票的目的是告訴美國，歐洲和其他國家，阿薩德沒有間斷，即使在戰鬥多發的情況下，敘利亞仍在發揮作用，大部分在北部。
敘利亞智囊團ETANA負責人馬安·阿卜杜勒·薩拉姆（Maan Abdul Salam）說：“這些選舉是針對西方的，以一種或兩種方式採取西方式的選舉方式，以傳達'我就像你一樣'的信息。”
過去的結果沒有西方風格。在2014年的民意測驗中，阿薩德獲得了將近89％的選票，投票率超過73％，儘管這是在激烈的戰鬥中進行的。批評家認為這是一種虛假行為。
今年，阿薩德的競爭對手是前內閣副部長阿卜杜拉·薩盧姆·阿卜杜拉（Abdallah Saloum Abdallah）和經正式批准的小型反對黨負責人馬哈茂德·艾哈邁德·馬雷（Mahmoud Ahmed Marei）。
阿薩德還釋放了數百名長期支持者，從法官到公務員，今年早些時候被阿薩德逮捕，目的是鎮壓其陣營內的批評家。
來自小型阿拉維派宗教團體的阿薩德（Assad）幾乎摧毀了遜尼派穆斯林多數國家敘利亞的叛亂。他是在派遣戰機的俄羅斯和伊朗的幫助下做到這一點的，伊朗的支持者包括來自真主黨的戰鬥人員，真主黨是由伊朗支持的黎巴嫩什葉派團體。
在逃離俄羅斯支持的轟炸之後，土耳其仍然佔據西北地區的領土，數百萬人生活在骯髒的營地中，而美國東北部也有少量的美軍存在，這是庫爾德叛軍的基礎。
包含對手
戰爭之前，敘利亞的工業基地很小但正在增長，並且從東北部生產了少量石油，而現在東北部則由庫爾德人控制，那裡的大部分小麥都在那兒種植。其他食物需求主要來自肥沃的地中海沿岸。
現在經濟崩潰了。由於政府缺乏外彙來進口燃料，因此斷電的時間比在最惡劣的戰鬥中更長。通貨膨脹率飆升。
大馬士革附近一個城市穆達米亞的阿卜杜勒·哈里克·哈蘇納說：“今天的局勢比前幾天遭受包圍和轟炸時要好。” “現在比現在好。”
但是阿薩德遏制了他的主要對手。叛亂的主力遜尼派叛軍大部分被包圍在北部。在其他領域幾乎沒有新的反對的跡象。
大馬士革邊緣的古塔（Ghouta）之類的地方仍然被壓抑。西方國家和人權組織說，古塔在起義後遭到致命的瓦斯襲擊，數百人喪生。阿薩德否認了這一說法。
為了鼓勵那些心灰意冷的忠實擁護者，阿薩德（Assad）向州政府僱員提供了無息貸款和一次性贈款。國家工資已經提高。但是，西方的製裁仍然令人瞠目結舌。
大馬士革的經濟學家納比爾·蘇克爾（Nabil Sukr）表示：“如果不取消經濟制裁，經濟將無法站穩腳跟。”
戰爭期間，阿薩德（Assad）的安全部門培養了民兵，以幫助其作戰。在戰鬥平息下來之後，一些分裂的民兵表示，這些團體已經建立了強大的領地。其他人則抱怨他們沒有得到應有的回報。
“我的兩個兄弟都罹難了，我們得到了什麼？什麼都沒有，”曾在地中海塔爾圖斯（Tartous）的一名民兵前戰鬥人員尤尼斯說，他只給了他的名字。
但是，對於某些敘利亞人來說，例如哈比卜（Habib）能否接受小老師的薪水，是否當選，就別無選擇。
他說：“在阿薩德統治下，生活變得無法忍受。” “我們以前把他當成聖人，現在他把我們從堅定的支持者推向沉默的反對派。”
Syria's election holds few surprises after years of war
Western governments and Assad's domestic opponents, view the vote as a choreographed affair to rubber stamp his rule.
By SULEIMAN AL-KHALIDI/REUTERS
MAY 24, 2021 17:18
SYRIAN PRESIDENT Bashar Assad addresses members of his country’s parliament in Damascus in August.
(photo credit: SANA/REUTERS)
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Campaign posters for Bashar Assad line the streets of Damascus, alongside those for two obscure rivals, but no one really doubts that Wednesday's election will extend his presidency despite 10 years of war that has left Syria in ruins.
Ruled by his family for five decades, Syria is now barely recognizable from the nation that Assad, now 55, took over in 2000 after the death of his father, Hafez al-Assad.
When he began, the young eye doctor, who was belatedly groomed for office after his elder brother died in a car accident, promised a shift from his father's iron grip - offering space to opponents and overtures to Western foes.
But reforms were swiftly buried and protests against his authoritarian rule erupted in 2011 as the Arab Spring swept across the region, turning into a conflict that has killed hundreds of thousands of people and driven 11 million from their homes, about half the population.
Assad has retaken control of much of his nation, where some voters will cast ballots this week at polling stations surrounded by bombed out buildings. But he has achieved this only with the decisive military help from Russia and Iran.
"If war imposes itself on our agenda, it doesn't mean to prevent us from doing our duties," he said on the Facebook account for his campaign, which has the slogan "Hope through work."
But, for swathes of the country, their employment barely buys enough food. A Sharma sandwich, made from chicken or meat roasted on a skewer, was once the kind of snack people grabbed with little thought from a street cafe.
"Can you believe a Sharma costs nearly half my salary?" said Ali Habib, 33, saying it cost 20,000 Syrian pounds, while his monthly wage as a teacher in a state school is 50,000 pounds, or just over $16 at the unofficial rate.
Subsidized food has become a lifeline for many. Habib, who like others in Syria quoted in this article communicated with a Reuters correspondent outside the country, has had to sell some furniture to feed his wife and two daughters.
MESSAGE TO THE WEST
Western governments and Assad's domestic opponents, many now abroad because they say it is the only way to avoid Syria's pervasive secret police, or mukhabarat, view the vote as a choreographed affair to rubber stamp his rule.
"The country Assad is ruling is a shadow of the country that was Syria 10 years ago," said Wael Sawah, a former political prisoner in exile in the United States. "The structure of society has changed as well as the economy too. It's a shadow of what Syria was."
Some Syrians say the vote aims to tell the United States, Europe and others that Assad is unbroken and Syria still functions, even amid pockets of fighting, mostly in the north.
"These elections are aimed at the West, taking the pattern of Western-style elections in one way or the other to give an 'I am like you' message," said Maan Abdul Salam, who heads Syrian think-tank ETANA.
There has been nothing Western-style about past results. In the 2014 poll, official numbers had Assad securing almost 89% of votes on turnout of more than 73%, even though it took place amid fierce fighting. Critics dismissed it as a sham.
This year, Assad's rivals are former deputy cabinet minister Abdallah Saloum Abdallah, and Mahmoud Ahmed Marei, head of a small, officially sanctioned opposition party.
Assad has also released hundreds of longtime supporters from judges to civil servants who were arrested earlier this year in a crackdown to silence critics within his loyalist camp.
Assad, who is from the tiny Alawite religious community, has all but crushed the insurgency in Syria, a majority Sunni Muslim nation. He has done so with the aid of Russia, which sent in warplanes, and Iran, whose support includes fighters from Hezbollah, the Lebanese Shi'ite group backed by Iran.
Turkey still holds territory in the northwest where millions live in squalid camps after fleeing Russian-backed bombardment, and there is a small U.S. military presence in the northeast, underpinning Kurdish rebels.
CONTAINING OPPONENTS
Before the war, Syria had a small but growing industrial base and produced modest amounts of oil from its northeast, now under Kurdish control, where most of its wheat was grown. Other food needs were met mainly from its fertile Mediterranean coast.
Now the economy has crumbled. Power cuts are longer than during some of the worst fighting, as the government lacks foreign exchange to import fuel. Inflation has soared.
"The situation today is not better from previous days when we lived under siege and bombardment," said Abdul Khalek Hasouna from Moudamiya, a town near Damascus. "It was better than now."
But Assad has contained his main opponents. Sunni rebels, the backbone of the insurgency, are largely hemmed into the north. There is little sign of new opposition in other areas.
Places like Ghouta, on the edge of Damascus, remain subdued. Western states and rights groups say Ghouta faced deadly gas attacks that killed hundreds after an uprising. Assad denies it.
To encourage any disenchanted loyalists, Assad has offered interest-free loans and one-off grants to state employees. State salaries have been hiked. But Western sanctions still bite.
"The economy won't stand on its feet if economic sanctions are not lifted," said Nabil Sukr, a Damascus-based economist.
During the war, Assad's security services nurtured militias to help fight its battles. With the fighting subsiding, some disenchanted militia members say the groups have created powerful fiefdoms. Others complain they have not been fairly rewarded.
"My two brothers were martyred and what did we get? Nothing," said Younes, a former fighter in a militia in Tartous on the Mediterranean, who only gave his first name.
Yet, for some Syrians, such as Habib on his tiny teacher's salary, election or not, there is little choice.
"Life has become unbearable under Assad," he said. "We used to look at him at as saint and now he is pushing us from stalwart supporters to silent opposition."
Iran's Quds Force chief tells Islamic Jihad it defeated 'Zionist pride'
The comments made by Esmail Ghaani, the head of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Quds Force, praised death and martyrdom and said fighters welcome death with 'longing and passion.'
By SETH J. FRANTZMAN
MAY 24, 2021 16:43
Brigadier General Esmail Ghaani, the newly appointed commander of the country's Quds Force, is seen in Tehran, Iran, in this undated picture obtained January 3, 2020
(photo credit: TASNIM NEWS AGENCY/HANDOUT VIA REUTERS)
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The recent war against Israel “destroyed the pride of the Zionist army,” Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Quds Force Commander Esmail Ghaani told his Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) counterpart, Akram al-Ajouri, in a letter, Iran’s Tasnim News Agency reported.
His comments came after Hamas reportedly thanked Iran for its support in the war. Iran backs Hamas and Islamic Jihad, which has offices in Damascus.
Ajouri was reportedly targeted in an airstrike in Damascus in November 2019 during Israel-PIJ tensions.
Ghaani’s macabre letter praised death and martyrdom, adding that while the killing of pro-Iran operatives is a threat, they look forward to death with longing and passion, according to Al-Mayadeen, a Beirut-based pan-Arabist satellite television channel. Ghaani’s predecessor, Qasem Soleimani, was killed by the US in 2020 and is revered as a great martyr.
The letter to Ajouri, one of several letters and memos of support that have been sent from Iran to Hamas and PIJ recently, said: “We believe that every drop of blood that falls on the way to Jerusalem brings us closer to liberating it from the filth of the occupier.”
The term “filth” is used in anti-Israel protests in the West in which Jews have been described as “filth.” It may be that Iran’s messaging uses Islamist terminology so that terms such as “filth” can being applied to Israel and Jews, much as the Nazis used such terminology. These terms were also used in recent anti-Israel protests in Germany.
The support for PIJ includes more imagery about martyrdom and calls for Palestinians to be “steadfast.” It calls on “all the mujahideen in the land of Palestine. I kiss your striving hands, which God throws at his enemy, and which pave the way to making the clear conquest, God willing.”
This was similar to a message sent to Mohammed Deif, supreme commander of Izzadin al-Qassam, the so-called “military” wing of Hamas.
Clearly, Ghaani is trying to bolster the “resistance” axis and thank them for fighting Israel on Iran’s behalf. It appears that Iran timed this war to coincide with Quds Day on May 7, ordering Hamas to begin the battle on May 10.
It has put Palestinians and Hamas back on the agenda, with Hamas now being treated normally by international media, rather than as a terrorist group. Iran is pleased.
Ghaani also called the head of Islamic Jihad, Ziad Nakhaleh, a frequent guest of the Iranian regime, and he called Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh.
“We will offer everything we can to achieve the goal of liberating all of the Palestinian land,” he was quoted as saying.
Ahmadinejad wants to run for president of Iran, again
The former president is remembered fondly by some Iranians for his populism and for offering loan programs. He was often portrayed as a modest 'Mr. Clean' but this is disputed by others.
By SETH J. FRANTZMAN
MAY 24, 2021 16:17
Iran's then-president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad gestures as he leaves a news conference in Istanbul, Turkey May 9, 2011
(photo credit: REUTERS/MURAD SEZER)
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A decade ago, Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad appeared to be the nemesis of Israel. His questioning of the Holocaust and threats against Israel appeared perfectly timed to go along with Iran’s nuclear threats. He was everything that was bad about the Iranian regime.
Now, tempered by time, he wants to run for president. But the Iranian regime may not let him.
Ahmadinejad has changed his tune from the old days. He now speaks about freedom and poses as an outsider, a “man of the people.” He hosts discussions on Clubhouse, and tens of thousands have tuned in.
Iranian law-enforcement officials are warning candidates such as Ahmadinejad to be careful, according to Iran International, a Persian-language television station headquartered in London.
The authorities “drew attention to some would-be candidates making claims illustrating ‘nothing but treason’ and showing they were ‘servants and mercenaries’ of foreign powers,” the report said. “The high-ranking police official’s veiled references are likely to refer to former president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and the reformist former minister Mostafa Tajzadeh.”
Iran has had low voter turnout in recent elections. Ahmadinejad, if he is disqualified, could cause June’s poll to be even lower. The Guardian Council must approve all candidates, and some have hit the ground running already. But according to Fereshteh Sadeghi, an Iranian journalist and social-media activist based in Tehran, Ahmadinejad has faced obstacles.
“Ahmadinejad today went to a town near the city of Qazvin,” she wrote. “City officials had blocked the road to the town, cutting water, electricity and phone services for hours. He, however, walked part of the road, circumvented the obstacles and attended the gathering.”
Ahmadinejad reportedly has been blocked from other cities, including Urmia. His flights have been mysteriously canceled to stop him from campaigning, according to other reports.
The former president is remembered fondly by some for his loan programs and populism. He was often portrayed as personally modest and not corrupt. But that is disputed by reports going back to his second term of office, and authorities have sought at times to place him under house arrest.
A popular photo of him several years ago portrayed Ahmadinejad as a modest villager, even though he lived in Tehran in Narmak, according to reports.
He is a professor at Iran University of Science and Technology in Tehran. He has a PhD from the university in civil engineering and transportation planning and has apparently owned, or regularly used, a Macbook Air computer, a luxury item in Iran.
Can Yemen once more be a united nation?
The future of Yemen is being decided on the battlefield rather than through political dialogue.
By MOHAMMED SAYERS / THE MEDIA LINE
MAY 24, 2021 13:01
HOUTHI SUPPORTERS rally to denounce the US killing of Iranian military commander Qasem Soleimani and Iraqi militia commander Abu Mahdi alMuhandis, in Sana’a, Yemen, on January 6. The placards read, ‘God is the greatest, death to America, death to Israel, Curse on the Jews, victory to Islam.’
(photo credit: KHALED ABDULLAH/ REUTERS)
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Unity Day, a public holiday commemorating the unification of North Yemen and South Yemen 31 years ago, fell on Saturday, amid a bitter civil war that began six and a half years ago.
For more stories from The Media Line go to themedialine.org
Asked about the prospects for a return to that unity, Muhammad Hussein, a 59-year-old Yemeni businessman, told the Media Line, “There are already two governments, two banks and two banknotes between Sanaa and Aden, and you are still talking about unity.”
Iran-backed Houthi rebel forces control Sanaa, Yemen’s capital, and all of northern Yemen except Marib Governorate.
Aden is run by the UAE-backed Southern Transitional Council (STC), which controls most of and advocates for the separation of southern Yemen from the rest of the nation, restoring the pre-1990 status.
The oil-rich eastern governorates (Hadramaut, Shabwah and Marib) remain loyal to the internationally recognized government and support Yemen’s unity, on the condition of implementing a federal system and that they are allowed to utilize their wealth for their own interests.
In the far west, near the Bab el-Mandeb strait connects the Red Sea to the Gulf of Aden, the forces of Tareq Saleh, a nephew of the late President Ali Abdullah Saleh and a former commander of the Presidential Guard, control parts of the governorates of Hudaydah and Taiz, which are loyal to the former regime.
The north and south of Yemen were more tolerant of each other before the unification of Yemen in 1990, and, unlike today, rejected violence.
“After the unification, we in the north did not face any harassment when we worked or visited the southern regions. However, after 2015, and after the civil war between the southern forces and the Ansar Allah forces [the Houthis), the story changed,” Hussein said. “We became afraid of visiting the south to travel [through Aden International Airport] or to work; we became outcasts and we could place ourselves at risk just by disclosing that we are from the north.”
Hussein explained that his job in the south was suspended many times due to hate campaigns against northerners, and many northerners were forced to employ intermediaries to be able to do work in the south.
During the period 2017-2020, some northern workers in southern cities were harassed or deported. Also, some properties were vandalized or demolished by armed groups affiliated with the Southern Transitional. Many travelers were prevented from entering the southern regions.
‘Three parties seek to destroy Yemen’s unity’
President Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi, in a speech on Friday ahead of Unity Day, said, “Yemen’s unity has been gnawed on and shattered. Turning against the state, and having it subjected to racial violence and sectarian prejudices, as well as the Iranian agenda, has harmed Yemen’s unity at its core, and has reproduced the stereotypical image of imamate [i.e., Houthi] racism.”
The president held three parties responsible for the threat facing Yemen’s unity, which could lead to its destruction: the “former regime,” meaning that of Ali Abdullah Saleh, who was president from 1990 to 2012; Ansar Allah; and the STC.
The “Southern Issue” began in 2007 with the establishment of the Southern Movement and the demand for an equitable division of the country’s wealth and of prestigious positions in state institutions. It changed after the establishment of the STC on April 4, 2017, which later became a political faction with a military wing outside state institutions and called for separation from the north and for the right to self-determination. In April 2020, the STC declared autonomous rule in the south and entered into armed confrontations with the Yemeni Army, in what many analysts saw as a prelude to secession.
‘Separation is a reality on the ground’
Journalist Samah Lotf said Ansar Allah forces took control of most of the north and so enabled the STC, militarily and politically, to control the southern and eastern regions. In addition, there is the complete absence of the internationally recognized government, which is based outside Yemen.
In light of the deteriorating economic and development conditions in the southern regions, to the extent that the currency collapsed, electricity and water were cut off and diseases spread, the return of Yemeni unity would be a “miracle,” Lotf said.
“Separation has become a reality on the ground, waiting to be announced,” she said. “We are already living the reality of separation in everything. In addition to the existence of central institutions in both the north and the south, such as the Central Bank of Yemen, the House of Parliament, as well as separate government and financial transactions, the social fabric has become separated, especially in the southern regions. Everything has come to produce the separation scenario.”
‘The right to self-determination’
In 1994, four years after unification, southern forces declared a war of secession. A two-month civil war ended with the exile of many southern military and political leaders. The impact on the deterioration of the political situation between the north and the south can still be felt today.
Aidarus al-Zoubaidi, head of the STC and the commander in chief of the southern armed forces, spoke on the 27th anniversary of the Separation Declaration, saying, “The Unity project was aborted by the forces of the Sanaa regime by declaring war on the south and occupying it, choosing to turn it into an occupation that usurps the land and kills the people.
“Since then, our people have made enormous sacrifices in a continuous, legendary national struggle toward the restoration of their state. We are still walking on the same path for which our martyrs gave their lives, and we will not hesitate or deviate from our path until our people regain and build their independent, federal and fully sovereign southern state,” Zoubaidi said.
‘The Southern issue is a people’s cause’
Some people from the south believe the unity project has ended and that the solution lies in the establishment of two states within the borders of Yemen as they were in May 1990. Many blame the deterioration of the social and economic situation in the south and the deterioration of the health and security situation throughout the country on northern actors and their leaders.
Bassam al-Qadi, a southern activist, told the Media Line, “The rectitude of the southern people’s cause and the legitimacy of its legal and human rights, and the injustices inflicted on the southerners, are the only guarantor of the re-establishment of the southern state and the return to the two-state solution within the borders of May 1990.
“The issue of the south is a people’s issue and the southerners’ rights to regaining their state will be given to them sooner or later,” he said.
“The reality today proves the existence of two states, one in the south and another in the north, despite the conditions of war and the country’s placement under Chapter VII,” Qadi said.
Security Council Resolution 2140, approved under Chapter VII of the UN Charter in 2014, provides for the use of sanctions against those seeking to derail Yemen’s “political transition.”
“There is no just peace, nor a comprehensive solution to the crises and war in Yemen, except through a two-state solution and the involvement of the south in the current negotiations,” Qadi said, adding that the international community knows full well there will be no peace and no cessation of war except through a south-north dialogue.
The 2-state solution has become a dream
Radwan Jawar, a political scientist, agrees that separation is inevitable, in light of the “clinical death” of the unity project and the division into political and military components and alliances that reject the legitimacy of the internationally recognized government.
“The Federal Yemen and six regions proposal that was devised during the National Dialogue Conference in 2013 was the last hope for Yemen to be a unified state with a federal administration, but after this war, maintaining the two-state solution has become a dream as opposed to the alternative, which is the formation of many states within Yemen,” Jawar said.
白俄羅斯聲稱由於哈馬斯的威脅迫使Ryanair飛機降落
面臨15年監禁的政府評論家拉曼·普拉塔塞維奇（Raman Pratasevich）在飛機降落時被捕並拘留，引發國際憤怒
按代理商今天晚上8:22 0
2021年5月，載有反對派人物拉曼·普拉塔塞維奇（Raman Pratasevich）的Ryanair飛機從雅典飛往維爾紐斯，在炸彈威脅後被轉移到明斯克，於2021年5月23日降落在立陶宛維爾紐斯國際機場。 / Mindaugas Kulbis）
白俄羅斯高級運輸官員周一說，該國已收到炸彈威脅，聲稱來自哈馬斯，這是在載有持不同政見者的瑞安航空公司客機改航之前進行的。
運輸和通信部航空部門負責人阿爾喬姆·西科斯基（Artem Sikorsky）向記者宣讀了一封信，信中說：“我們，哈馬斯的士兵，要求以色列在加沙地帶停火。我們要求歐洲聯盟在這場戰爭中放棄對以色列的支持……這架飛機上裝有炸彈。如果您不能滿足我們的要求，炸彈將在5月23日在維爾紐斯爆炸。”
面對以色列與哈馬斯恐怖組織之間的停火協議，白俄羅斯的可疑主張飛了起來。停火協議自5月21日星期五凌晨2點開始生效，結束了為期11天的戰鬥。
批評者指責，瑞安航空公司航班被迫降落以逮捕船上的異議人士，構成“海盜”。據報導，美國和歐盟官員正在考慮採取措施，以懲罰這一事件的白俄羅斯獨裁政權。
目的似乎是要逮捕現年26歲的激進主義者，記者和著名評論家拉曼·普拉塔塞維奇（Raman Pratasevich），他運行著一個受歡迎的消息傳遞應用程序，在幫助組織針對專制領導人的大規模抗議活動中發揮了關鍵作用。降落後不久，他和他的俄羅斯女友被帶下飛機，當局沒有透露他們被關押的地點。這架飛機從希臘雅典開始飛行，最終被允許繼續飛往立陶宛維爾紐斯。
通過電子郵件獲取《以色列時報》的每日版，千萬不要錯過我們的熱門新聞免費註冊
白俄羅斯獨裁總統拉曼·普拉塔塞維奇（Raman Pratasevich）的一位著名對手參加了2012年3月25日在白俄羅斯明斯克舉行的反對派集會。（美聯社照片）
瑞安航空說，白俄羅斯的飛行控制人員告訴機組人員，飛機在穿越該國領空時遭到炸彈威脅，並下令將其降落在明斯克的首都。
白俄羅斯總統米迦勒·魯卡申科（Alexander Lukashenko）爭先恐後地向一架白俄羅斯米格（MiG-29）戰鬥機護送飛機，後者用鐵拳統治了25個多世紀。空軍副司令安德烈·古爾瑟維奇（Andrei Gurtsevich）說，飛機機組人員決定降落在明斯克。
白俄羅斯總統亞歷山大·盧卡申科（Alexander Lukashenko）在官員的陪同下於2021年4月26日在白俄羅斯明斯克東南約360公里（225英里）的布拉金鎮參加切爾諾貝利災難35週年之際舉行的安葬集會。 。（Sergei Sheleg / BelTA Pool通過AP）
立陶宛總統Gitanas Nauseda稱此事件為“國家資助的恐怖行為”。他說，歐洲理事會將在周一討論此案，他將提議禁止白俄羅斯飛機離開歐盟機場，並對盧卡申科政府實行“嚴重製裁”。
“白俄羅斯領空對於任何商業飛行都是完全不安全的，不僅歐盟，而且國際社會都應認為這是不安全的。因為現在，這種儀器可用於穿越白俄羅斯領空的任何飛機。”立陶宛外交大臣加布里埃留斯·蘭茲貝吉斯（Gabrielius Landsbergis）說。
白俄羅斯總統新聞社說，飛機在白俄羅斯領土上空時收到了炸彈威脅。官員隨後表示，機上沒有發現爆炸物。
乘客在明斯克被下飛機。飛機抵達維爾紐斯後，國防部長阿維達斯·阿努索斯卡斯說，普拉塔塞維奇的女友和另外四個人沒有重新登機。
“我們將找出其他四個沒有旅行的人是誰。立陶宛發起了一項調查，以了解那架飛機上到底發生了什麼。”他在Facebook上說。
西方國家也表示震驚。
2021年5月，載有反對派人物拉曼·普拉塔塞維奇（Raman Pratasevich）的Ryanair飛機從雅典飛往維爾紐斯，在炸彈威脅後被轉移到明斯克，於2021年5月23日降落在立陶宛維爾紐斯國際機場。 / Mindaugas Kulbis）
美國大使朱莉·費舍爾說，白俄羅斯“再次表現出對國際社會及其公民的蔑視”，稱這一事件“危險而令人憎惡”。
歐盟委員會主席烏爾蘇拉·馮·德·萊恩（Ursula von der Leyen）在推文中說：“強迫@Ryanair從雅典飛往維爾紐斯的航班降落在明斯克，是完全不可接受的。”
德國外交大臣馬科斯（Heiko Maas）表示：“如果沒有歐盟方面的明確後果，就不能採取這樣的行動”，並呼籲釋放普拉塔塞維奇。
美國國務卿安東尼·布林肯稱這種轉移“令人震驚”，並呼籲釋放普拉塔塞維奇。歐盟領導人特別譴責逮捕行動，並反對這架飛機。這架飛機正在該集團的兩個成員國之間飛行，並由設在愛爾蘭的航空公司（也是該國的成員）運營。
美國國務卿安東尼·布林肯（Antony Blinken）在2021年5月12日在華盛頓舉行的國務院新聞發布會上（美聯社照片/安德魯·哈尼克（Andrew Harnik），普爾）
“獨立媒體是支持法治的重要支柱，也是民主社會的重要組成部分。美國再次譴責盧卡申科政權對記者的持續騷擾和任意拘留。”
Pratasevich是Telegram通訊應用程序Nexta頻道的聯合創始人，該頻道在幫助組織針對盧卡申科的大規模抗議活動中發揮了重要作用。
該頻道有930萬人，在該國有930萬人的白俄羅斯人中，有近200萬人跟隨該頻道，該頻道已成為組織遊行示威的主要渠道，並就如何躲避警戒線提供了建議。它還放有照片，視頻和其他材料，記錄了警方對抗議活動的殘酷鎮壓。
白俄羅斯當局已將頻道標記為“極端主義者”，並對針對普拉塔塞維奇的煽動大規模騷亂和煽動社會仇恨的指控進行了指控。如果罪名成立，他將面臨15年監禁。
Belarus claims it forced Ryanair plane to land because of Hamas threat
Government critic Raman Pratasevich, who faces 15 years in jail, arrested and detained when plane lands, sparking international outrage
By AGENCIESToday, 8:22 pm 0
The Ryanair plane with registration number SP-RSM, carrying opposition figure Raman Pratasevich which was traveling from Athens to Vilnius and was diverted to Minsk after a bomb threat, lands at the International Airport outside Vilnius, Lithuania, May 23, 2021. (AP Photo/Mindaugas Kulbis)
A senior Belarus transport official said Monday that the country had received a bomb threat claiming to be from Hamas ahead of the diversion of a Ryanair passenger flight carrying a dissident.
Artem Sikorsky, the head of the aviation department at the transport and communications ministry, read out a letter to journalists that said: “We, the soldiers of Hamas, demand that Israel cease fire in the Gaza Strip. We demand that the European Union renounces its support for Israel in this war… A bomb is planted on this flight. If you do not fulfill our demands, the bomb will explode over Vilnius on May 23.”
Belarus’s dubious claim flies in the face of the ceasefire between Israel and the Hamas terror group, which took effect from Friday, May 21, at 2 a.m., ending 11 days of fighting.
Critics have charged that the forced landing of the Ryanair flight to arrest a dissident on board amounted to “piracy,” and US and European Union officials are reportedly mulling steps to punish Belarus’s authoritarian regime for the incident.
The goal was seemingly to arrest Raman Pratasevich, a 26-year-old activist, journalist, and prominent critic who ran a popular messaging app that played a key role in helping organize massive protests against the authoritarian leader. He and his Russian girlfriend were led off the plane shortly after landing, and authorities have not said where they are being held. The plane, which began its journey in Athens, Greece, was eventually allowed to continue on to Vilnius, Lithuania.
A prominent opponent of Belarus’ authoritarian president Raman Pratasevich attends an opposition rally in Minsk, Belarus, March 25, 2012. (AP Photo)
Ryanair said Belarusian flight controllers told the crew that there was a bomb threat against the plane as it was crossing through the country’s airspace and ordered it to land in the capital of Minsk.
A Belarusian MiG-29 fighter jet was scrambled to escort the plane in a brazen show of force by President Alexander Lukashenko, who has ruled with an iron fist for over a quarter-century. Deputy Air Force Commander Andrei Gurtsevich said the plane’s crew made the decision to land in Minsk.
Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko, accompanied by officials, attends a requiem rally on the occasion of the 35th anniversary of the Chernobyl disaster in the town of Bragin, some 360 km (225 miles) south-east of Minsk, Belarus, on April 26, 2021. (Sergei Sheleg/BelTA Pool via AP)
Lithuanian President Gitanas Nauseda called the incident a “state-sponsored terror act.” He said that the European Council would discuss the case Monday and that he would propose banning Belarusian planes from European Union airports and “serious sanctions” against Lukashenko’s government.
“Belarusian airspace is completely unsafe for any commercial flight, and it should be deemed this not only by the EU but by the international community. Because now, this instrument could be used for any plane crossing Belarusian airspace,” said Lithuania’s foreign minister, Gabrielius Landsbergis.
The Belarus presidential press service said the bomb threat was received while the plane was over Belarusian territory. Officials later said no explosives were found onboard.
Passengers were taken off the plane in Minsk. After the plane arrived in Vilnius, Defense Minister Arvydas Anusauskas said Pratasevich’s girlfriend and four other people did not reboard.
“We will find out who are the other four that did not travel with the rest. Lithuania has launched an investigation to find out what really happened on that plane,” he said on Facebook.
Western countries also expressed alarm.
The Ryanair plane with registration number SP-RSM, carrying opposition figure Raman Pratasevich which was traveling from Athens to Vilnius and was diverted to Minsk after a bomb threat, lands at the International Airport outside Vilnius, Lithuania, May 23, 2021. (AP Photo/Mindaugas Kulbis)
Belarus “showed again its contempt for international community and its citizens,” US Ambassador Julie Fisher said, calling the event “dangerous and abhorrent.”
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen tweeted: “It is utterly unacceptable to force @Ryanair flight from Athens to Vilnius to land in Minsk.”
German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas said that “such an act cannot be left without definite consequences from the side of the European Union” and called for Pratasevich to be released.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken called the diversion “shocking” and appealed for Pratasevich’s release. EU leaders were particularly forceful in their condemnation of the arrest and move against the plane, which was flying between two of the bloc’s member nations and was being operated by an airline based in Ireland, also a member.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken at a news conference at the State Department in Washington, May 12, 2021. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik, Pool)
“Independent media are an essential pillar supporting the rule of law and a vital component of a democratic society. The United States once again condemns the Lukashenko regime’s ongoing harassment and arbitrary detention of journalists,” Blinken said.
Pratasevich was a co-founder of the Telegram messaging app’s Nexta channel, which played a prominent role in helping to organize major protests against Lukashenko.
Nearly 2 million Belarusians in the nation of 9.3-million people have followed the channel, which has served as the main conduit for organizing demonstrations and offered advice on how to dodge police cordons. It also has run photos, video, and other materials documenting the brutal police crackdown on the protests.
The Belarusian authorities have labeled the channel “extremist” and leveled charges against Pratasevich of inciting mass riots and fanning social hatred. He could face 15 years in prison if convicted.
WHO says at least 115,000 health workers have died from Covid
By AFP
GENEVA, Switzerland — At least 115,000 health and care workers have died from Covid-19 since the beginning of the pandemic, the WHO chief says, calling for a dramatic scale-up of vaccination in all countries.
At the opening of the World Health Organization’s main annual assembly, Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus hails the sacrifices made by health workers around the world to battle the pandemic.
“For almost 18 months, health and care workers all over the world have stood in the breach between life and death,” he says. “They have saved countless lives and fought for others who, despite their best efforts, slipped away.
Healthcare workers take on a stretcher a patient suspected of having COVID-19 from an ambulance, at the HRAN public hospital in Brasilia, Brazil, March 23, 2021 (AP Photo/Eraldo Peres)
“Many have themselves become infected, and while reporting is scant, we estimate that at least 115,000 health and care workers have paid the ultimate price in the service of others.”
He says many health workers have since the start of the crisis felt “frustrated, helpless and unprotected, with a lack of access to personal protective equipment and vaccines.”
And they are not alone. He describes the overall inequity in access to vaccines as “scandalous,” warning it was “perpetuating the pandemic.”
More than 75 percent of all Covid-19 vaccines have gone to just 10 countries.
Blinken heads to region to push peace talks, Gaza aid
By AP
WASHINGTON — Secretary of State Antony Blinken is heading to the Middle East to press the Israelis, Palestinians and regional players to build on last week’s Gaza ceasefire by laying the groundwork for an eventual resumption in long-stalled peace talks.
President Joe Biden announced Blinken would depart today for a short visit to Israel, the West Bank, Jordan and Egypt for what will be the Biden administration’s highest-level in-person meetings on the crisis that erupted earlier this month.
In a statement, Biden said the time is not right for an immediate resumption in negotiations between the two sides but that steps could be taken — mainly humanitarian initiatives — to repair damage from Israeli airstrikes in Gaza.
“I don’t think we’re in a place where getting to some kind of a negotiation for what ultimately, I think, has to be the result, which is a two-state solution, is the first order of business,” he said. “We have to start building back in concrete ways and offering some genuine hope, prospects, opportunity in the lives of people.”
Gantz orders seizure of chemicals, equipment, gold intended for Hamas
Defense Minister Benny Gantz orders the confiscation of shipments of materials and equipment to Gaza that the IDF suspects is intended for Hamas’s military efforts.
In the days that preceded the latest round of fighting that began May 10, inspectors at the Kerem Shalom border crossing nabbed shipments of potassium chloride, glycerin, polyurethane, fiberglass and other materials, as well as sophisticated communications equipment, the Ynet news site reports.
Gantz also orders the confiscation of an estimated million shekels ($310,000) worth of gold the IDF caught being smuggled from Gaza to the West Bank, which officials say was intended to fund Hamas operations and terror attacks in the West Bank.
Lapid says chances of ‘change’ coalition ‘not high,’ but vows to try
Yesh Atid leader Yair Lapid, who has nine days left to his presidential mandate to form a coalition, tells his Knesset faction he’ll “do everything to form a government. Anyone that wants to come and talk, my door is open. We’ll sit, we’ll talk, we’ll think together how to build the best possible government for the State of Israel and the citizens of Israel.”
“The chances might not be high,” he says, “but while there is a chance, however small, we will leave no stone unturned.”
He blames what he describes as the long series of troubles over the past month on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s dysfunctional government.
Israel has seen two civilian disasters — at Mount Meron and in the Jerusalem suburb of Pisgat Ze’ev — in which poor infrastructure and the disregard of safety rules led to the deaths of participants at Haredi religious functions.
“The tragedy at Mount Meron, the disaster in Givat Ze’ev, the riots on the Temple Mount, the loss of control on the streets of mixed Arab-Jewish towns,” he says in the statement. “Look at how the public security minister attacked the chief of police that he himself appointed, at how the police collapsed and received no real backing, at how political corruption has become the standard.”
Netanyahu, he charges, “failed spectacularly” in the Gaza fight. “His government went into the operation without a strategy, without a functioning public diplomacy operation, without proper shelters for the citizens of the south, without a diplomatic vision and like always, without taking any responsibility.”
Iran agrees to extend deal on cameras at its nuclear sites
By AP
VIENNA — Iran and the UN’s nuclear watchdog agree to a one-month extension to a deal on surveillance cameras at Tehran’s atomic sites, buying more time for ongoing negotiations seeking to save the country’s tattered nuclear deal with world powers.
The last-minute discussions, including the International Atomic Energy Agency pushing back a statement planned for Sunday, further underscored the narrowing window for the US and others to reach terms with Iran as it presses a tough stance with the international community over its atomic program. The Islamic Republic is already enriching and stockpiling uranium at levels far beyond those allowed by its 2015 nuclear deal.
Speaking at a news conference Monday in Vienna, IAEA Director-General Rafael Mariano Grossi tells journalists that agreement came after a discussion with Ali Akbar Salehi, the head of Iran’s civilian nuclear program. He acknowledges that challenges remain, however, as the agency still can’t access images taken by its cameras.
“I’d want to stress this is not ideal,” Grossi said. “This is like an emergency device that we came up with in order for us to continue having these monitoring activities.”
Kazem Gharibabadi, Iran’s representative to the IAEA, acknowledges the deal at the same time on Twitter. He says Tehran’s civilian nuclear agency, the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran, would keep the material already recorded by the IAEA cameras.
“We recommend the negotiating countries to seize the extra opportunity provided by Iran in good faith for the complete lifting of sanctions in a practical and verifiable manner,” Gharibabadi writes.
Under a confidential agreement called an “Additional Protocol” with Iran, the IAEA collects and analyzes images from a series of surveillance cameras installed at Iranian nuclear sites. Those cameras helped it monitor Tehran’s program to see if it is complying with the nuclear deal.
·
4:26 pm
Hamas threatens rocket fire if Israel puts conditions on reconstruction aid
Hamas leaders say they reject the conditions Israel is seeking to impose on Gaza’s reconstruction, including the proposal made by Defense Minister Benny Gantz yesterday that any aid that isn’t humanitarian be conditioned on Hamas’s release of two Israeli civilians and the bodies of two soldiers captured by Hamas in 2014.
Hamas would “not be blackmailed,” the report in the Lebanese newspaper Al-Akhbar quotes officials as saying.
Hamas officials also threaten to resume rocket attacks on Israel if the Israeli government seeks to impose a new status quo on Gaza following the fighting, after some Israeli officials called for a renewal of assassinations of Hamas leaders if rocket fire and other violence from Gaza continues.
正如Blinken所說，內塔尼亞胡暗示以色列可能對伊朗採取獨立行動
總理以不尋常的言辭表示讚賞美國的友誼，但在德黑蘭的核威脅可能需要“勇敢而獨立的決定”的情況下
由TOI員工和代理商今天晚上10:49 0
以色列總理本傑明·內塔尼亞胡在2021年5月15日的電視講話中（GPO）
在美國國務卿安東尼·布林肯首次訪問以色列和鄰國前夕，總理本傑明·內塔尼亞胡對伊朗發表了不同尋常的強硬言論，包括暗示耶路撒冷可能對華盛頓實施軍事行動，除非華盛頓同意。
內塔尼亞胡在紀念即將上任的摩薩德酋長戴維·巴內亞（David Barnea）任命並參加許多摩薩德成員的儀式上說：“你們每個人的首要任務是防止伊朗用核武器武裝自己。”
“我非常感謝我們的朋友美國，它已經在我們身邊站了很多年了。這是我們國家安全不可或缺的一部分。”內塔尼亞胡繼續說道。
總理說：“但是，在某些情況下，我們的最高目標-保證阿亞圖拉人不會結束猶太人民的數千年生存-將需要我們做出勇敢而獨立的決定。”
“無論有無協議，無論如何，我們都會竭盡全力否認伊朗的核武器，因為這關係到我們的生存。”
總理本傑明·內塔尼亞胡（Benjamin Netanyahu），中心，即將離任的摩薩德導演約西·科恩（Yossi Cohen）和即將上任的導演大衛·巴尼亞（David Barnea）在2021年5月24日舉行的總理典禮上授予莫薩德特工特等獎（Amos Ben Gershom / GPO）
自4月初以來，全球大國一直在維也納開會，以使華盛頓回到與德黑蘭的2015年核協議，美國於2018年離開該國。
時任美國總統唐納德·特朗普（Donald Trump）撤軍並實施制裁，導致伊朗加強了核活動。
伊朗國會發言人周日表示，國際檢查人員可能不再能獲得伊斯蘭共和國核基地的監視圖像，從而加劇了緊張局勢。
一年多以前，美國的一次無人駕駛飛機襲擊殺死了一名伊朗高級將領，促使德黑蘭後來發射彈道導彈，炸傷了數十名美軍在伊拉克。
一次神秘的爆炸也襲擊了伊朗的納坦茲核設施，伊朗將其描述為破壞活動並歸咎於以色列。11月，在大約20年前創立了伊朗軍事核計劃的伊朗科學家Mohsen Fakhrizadeh，在德黑蘭的襲擊中喪生，該襲擊也歸咎於以色列。
美國國務卿安東尼·布林肯（Antony Blinken）於2021年5月24日登上飛往馬里蘭州安德魯斯空軍基地的飛機時揮手致意。（美聯社照片/亞歷克斯·布蘭登，游泳池）
華盛頓總統幫助達成停火協議，結束了七年來以色列和哈馬斯之間最嚴重的暴力升級。
為期三天的行程（其中還將包括在拉馬拉，開羅和安曼的停留）的目標將是確保以色列與加沙恐怖團體之間的停火得以維持，同時也將採取步驟改善雙方的生活質量。國務院高級官員在布林肯起飛前的電話簡報中告訴記者，由於沒有立即進行和談以結束以巴衝突。
這位官員還說，秘書還將與雙方合作，幫助恢復加沙的恢復活力，同時阻止國際援助到達該地區執政的哈馬斯恐怖組織。
白宮在一份聲明中說，在以色列，布林肯將與總理內塔尼亞胡，總統魯汶·里夫林，外交部長加比·阿什肯納齊和其他以色列高級官員舉行會議，討論拜登政府“對以色列安全的堅定承諾”。
As Blinken due, Netanyahu hints Israel may take independent action against Iran
In unusually stark remarks, PM says he appreciates US friendship, but there could be a situation where Tehran’s nuclear threat necessitates ‘brave and independent decisions’
By TOI STAFF and AGENCIESToday, 10:49 pm 0
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in a televised address, May 15, 2021. (GPO)
On the eve of US Secretary of State Antony Blinken’s first visit to Israel and neighboring countries, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu made unusually tough remarks regarding Iran, including hinting that Jerusalem could take military action against the Islamic Republic’s nuclear sites without Washington’s okay.
In a ceremony marking the appointment of incoming Mossad chief David Barnea, and with many Mossad members in attendance, Netanyahu said: “The first task of each one of you is to prevent Iran from arming itself with nuclear weapons.”
“I very much appreciate our friend the United States, which has been standing by our side for many years. That’s an integral part of our national security,” Netanyahu continued.
“But there could be a situation in which our highest goal — to guarantee that the ayatollahs don’t end the thousands of years of existence of the Jewish people — will require us to take brave and independent decisions,” the premier said.
“In any event — with or without a deal — we will do everything to deny Iran nuclear weapons, because this concerns our very existence.”
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, center, outgoing Mossad director Yossi Cohen, right, and incoming director David Barnea at a ceremony conferring the Prime Minister’s Award on exception Mossad agents, May 24, 2021. (Amos Ben Gershom/GPO)
Global powers have been meeting in Vienna since early April in a bid to bring Washington back to the 2015 nuclear deal with Tehran, which the US left in 2018.
The withdrawal under then-US president Donald Trump and the reimposition of sanctions has led Iran to step up its nuclear activities.
Iran’s parliament speaker said Sunday that international inspectors may no longer access surveillance images of the Islamic Republic’s nuclear sites, escalating tensions.
Over a year ago, a US drone strike killed a top Iranian general, prompting Tehran to later launch ballistic missiles that wounded dozens of American troops in Iraq.
A mysterious explosion also struck Iran’s Natanz nuclear facility, which Iran has described as sabotage and blamed on Israel. In November, Iranian scientist Mohsen Fakhrizadeh, who founded the country’s military nuclear program some two decades earlier, was killed in an attack Tehran also blames on Israel.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken waves as he boards a plane on May 24, 2021, at Andrews Air Force Base, Maryland, en route to the Middle East. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon, Pool)
Blinken was heading to Israel Monday for his first trip to the region as US secretary of state, days after Washington helped broker a ceasefire that brought an end to the most significant escalation of violence between Israel and Hamas in seven years.
The goals of the three-day trip — which will also include stops in Ramallah, Cairo and Amman — will be to ensure that the ceasefire between Israel and Gaza terror groups holds while also pushing steps that will improve the quality of life for both sides in the absence of immediate peace talks to end the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, a senior State Department official told reporters in a phone briefing ahead of Blinken’s takeoff.
The secretary will also work with the parties to help kickstart efforts to rehabilitate Gaza, while preventing international aid from reaching the enclave’s ruling Hamas terror group, the official added.
In Israel, Blinken will meet with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, President Reuven Rivlin, Foreign Minister Gabi Ashkenazi, and other senior Israeli officials, discussing the Biden administration’s “ironclad commitment to Israel’s security,” the White House said in a statement.
Jacob Magid contributed to this report.
土耳其可能因領土爭端擴大地中海東部鑽探
當土耳其和希臘海軍護衛艦護航時，土耳其，希臘和塞浦路斯之間的緊張局勢在地中海東部地區的能源和管轄權問題上爆發。
由路透社
2021年5月24日15:31
2019年8月6日，土耳其鑽井船Yavuz在地中海東部塞浦路斯附近的土耳其海軍護衛艦護航下
（照片來源：路透社）
廣告
能源部長法提赫·唐梅茲（Fatih Donmez）週一表示，土耳其可能在地中海東部尋找更多的天然氣井，該地區的搜索和鑽井業務導致去年與希臘和塞浦路斯陷入僵局。
頓梅斯說，土耳其已經在該地區開了八個鑽孔，並補充說，儘管有天然氣的跡象，但在經濟上沒有重大發現。
他告訴廣播公司A Haber：“我們的專家將使用先前獲得的地震數據在每次鑽探之後檢查數據。我們可能還會在靠近我們看到天然氣跡象的（鑽孔）附近再鑽幾鑽。”
他說：“時間會證明一切，但我們充滿希望。我們認為這是有潛力的。”
8月，土耳其和歐盟成員國希臘和塞浦路斯之間的能源資源和管轄權在地中海東部之間爆發了緊張局勢，當時土耳其和希臘海軍護衛艦護航。
歐盟領導人在3月履行了2016年與土耳其加強貿易關係的承諾，但也警告安卡拉，如果重新啟動對地中海東部的能源勘探，將受到製裁。
土耳其最大的歷史發現-黑海天然氣儲備的交付預計將於2023年開始。
如果能夠將天然氣商業化開採，那麼這一發現可能會改變土耳其對能源進口的依賴，取決於俄羅斯，伊朗和阿塞拜疆。
土耳其可能因領土爭端擴大地中海東部鑽探
當土耳其和希臘海軍護衛艦護航時，土耳其，希臘和塞浦路斯之間的緊張局勢在地中海東部地區的能源和管轄權問題上爆發。
由路透社
2021年5月24日15:31
2019年8月6日，土耳其鑽井船Yavuz在地中海東部塞浦路斯附近的土耳其海軍護衛艦護航下
（照片來源：路透社）
廣告
能源部長法提赫·唐梅茲（Fatih Donmez）週一表示，土耳其可能在地中海東部尋找更多的天然氣井，該地區的搜索和鑽井業務導致去年與希臘和塞浦路斯陷入僵局。
頓梅斯說，土耳其已經在該地區開了八個鑽孔，並補充說，儘管有天然氣的跡象，但在經濟上沒有重大發現。
他告訴廣播公司A Haber：“我們的專家將使用先前獲得的地震數據在每次鑽探之後檢查數據。我們可能還會在靠近我們看到天然氣跡象的（鑽孔）附近再鑽幾鑽。”
他說：“時間會證明一切，但我們充滿希望。我們認為這是有潛力的。”
8月，土耳其和歐盟成員國希臘和塞浦路斯之間的能源資源和管轄權在地中海東部之間爆發了緊張局勢，當時土耳其和希臘海軍護衛艦護航。
歐盟領導人在3月履行了2016年與土耳其加強貿易關係的承諾，但也警告安卡拉，如果重新啟動對地中海東部的能源勘探，將受到製裁。
土耳其最大的歷史發現-黑海天然氣儲備的交付預計將於2023年開始。
如果能夠將天然氣商業化開採，那麼這一發現可能會改變土耳其對能源進口的依賴，取決於俄羅斯，伊朗和阿塞拜疆。
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