Iran s Health Ministry said on Monday nearly the whole country was on a coronavirus red alert as cases and deaths rose to record levels, with a member of the state task force s warning field hospitals might be needed if people flout the rules. Ministry spokeswoman Sima Sadat Lari told state television that 26 of Iran s 31 provinces were "red" zones, the highest alert level, while four were at the next "orange" level. Authorities registered a record high 3,902 new cases in the past 24 hours, with the total number of identified cases in the worst-hit country in the Middle East rising to 475,674, Lari said. She said 235 patients had died in the past 24 hours, equalling a daily death toll high set on July 28, bringing the total death toll to 27,192. Officials have complained that many have defied regulations to wear face masks and some families used lockdowns to go on trips, helping spread the virus with hospitals nearly full. "If people keep going on weekend trips..., our patients might have to go to field hospitals," Masoud Mardani, a member of the state coronavirus task force, told Khabaronline website. On Saturday, schools, libraries, mosques and other public institutions in the capital Tehran closed for a week as part of measures to stem the rapid rise in COVID-19 cases. Similar closures have been also imposed in Zanjan province, northwest of Tehan, and cities in several other provinces, shutting museums, theatres, gyms, cafes and hair salons, state media said. Because of coronavirus concerns, Iran has banned flights to Iraq to block trips by Iranians to the neighbouring country for the annual pilgrimage of Arbaeen, which draws large crowds. Land borders to Iraq have also been closed. After stopping flights to Turkey, Iran s Civil Aviation Organization said on Monday one flight per day would be allowed in each direction.

The United Arab Emirates foreign minister said on Tuesday, in a joint statement with Israeli and German counterparts, that the most important thing that must be emphasized today is the return of hope to Palestinians and Israelis to work for a two-state solution, UAE state news agency (WAM) reported. Minister Abdullah bin Zayed al-Nahyan said he also discussed with Israeli Foreign Minister Gabi Ashkenazi in Berlin cooperation in the energy field, WAM said.

After a coronavirus-related delay, Israel s navy is preparing for the long-awaited arrival of its next generation of missile boats, giving it a powerful new tool to defend its strategic natural gas industry from the threat of the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah. The first missile boat of “Project Magen is scheduled to arrive by early December, with three more of the German-made corvettes scheduled to arrive over the next two years. “It s bigger. It s newer. It s faster. It s better, said Rear Adm. Eyal Harel, head of Israeli naval operations, during a rare tour of Israel s offshore Leviathan gas field. A massive gas platform stood just a few hundred meters (yards) away. The vessels, commonly known as the “Saar 6,” will be at the forefront of Israeli efforts to protect its 200-mile exclusive economic zone. The natural gas industry, seen as a national asset, is at the heart of those efforts. Over a decade after finding sizeable reserves off its Mediterranean coast, Israel now generates some 60% of its electricity from natural gas, according to the national electric company, and has begun to export gas to its Arab neighbors Jordan and Egypt. Israel is also pursuing a project with Greece and Cyprus in hopes of creating an Eastern Mediterranean gas pipeline to Europe. With so much at stake, Hezbollah has identified Israeli gas installations as high-priority targets. In a 2018 speech, the group s leader, Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah, said he could destroy Israeli gas assets “within a few hours” if there was a government order to do so. Hezbollah is part of an alliance that dominates Lebanese politics and government. Israel takes such threats seriously. During a monthlong war in 2006, a Hezbollah cruise-missile strike on an Israeli “Saar 5” warship killed four soldiers. The conflict is believed to have killed between 1,191 and 1,300 Lebanese people, and 165 Israelis. It severely damaged Lebanese civil infrastructure, and displaced approximately one million Lebanese and 300,000–500,000 Israelis. Lt. Col. Eitan Paz, a flotilla commander, said the new vessels would bring a welcome upgrade to the aging Saar 5 s, which are nearly 30 years old. He said they would be equipped with newer and more powerful radar and other electronic systems, and handle rough seas much better than their predecessors. The 90-meter (295-foot) vessels are equipped with rocket and missile defense systems, anti-aircraft and anti-ship missiles, torpedoes and an upgraded launching pad for Israel s newest attack helicopters. “Physically, it s not much bigger than the Saar 5,” he said. “But it adds all of these systems. He said the first boat, the INS Magen, or “Shield, was supposed to arrive in August, but delivery was delayed due to the coronavirus. He said it would be deployed immediately and reach full operational capacity within several months after it is outfitted with Israeli weapons systems in several phases. Since the 2006 war, Hezbollah is believed to have greatly beefed up its arsenal with some 150,000 rockets and missiles, according to Israeli estimates. Israel also accuses the group of trying to develop precision-guided missiles, which would make that arsenal far more lethal. Harel said the navy s main concerns are Chinese-made C-802 missiles, like the one that hit the Israeli ship in 2006, and Russian-made “Yakhont” anti-ship missiles possessed by Hezbollah s ally Syria. But he said the military has learned lessons from that war. “We are prepared and we will be even more prepared when we have the new battleships,” he said. Israel agreed to buy the vessels in a 2015 deal valued at roughly 430 million euros ($480 million at the time), with the German government covering about one quarter of the cost. Several Israeli businessmen, including confidants of Israel s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and a former commander of the navy, are suspects in a graft scandal connected to the purchase of the warships and submarines from German conglomerate ThyssenKrupp. Netanyahu, who is on trial in three other corruption cases, was not named as a suspect in the scandal and no one active in the Israeli navy has been connected.

The counter-terrorism division of Iraq s autonomous Kurdish region on Wednesday accused the Hashed al-Shaabi, a state-sponsored paramilitary network dominated by pro-Iran forces, of targeting US forces in a rocket attack. "Six rockets were fired from Nineveh province by the Hashed al-Shaabi, targeting Arbil airport," where US troops are based, on Wednesday, it said in a statement. Souran Ali, a commander of the Democratic Party of Iranian Kurdistan (PDK-I) -- an Iranian opposition group that operates in Iraq s Kurdish region -- earlier said three rockets had been fired, without causing casualties. Three rockets "targeted at 8.30pm (1730 GMT) a headquarters of the PDK-I two kilometres" from Arbil airport, he said. Video footage circulating online purported to show fires started by the rockets. Hoshyar Zebari, a former Iraqi foreign minister and an Iraqi Kurdish politician, said on Twitter that the rockets were fired by the "same groups who are attacking #USEmbassy in #Baghdad and its convoys. Action is needed to stop it." Around 40 rocket attacks have targeted US interests in Iraq since early August, including one on Monday that hit a village close to Baghdad airport, where American troops are stationed. That attack killed five children and two women from the same family. The US State Department on Tuesday pointed the finger of blame at Iran-backed militias operating in Iraq, saying they "pose an unacceptable danger" in Iraq. Washington has threatened to close its embassy in Iraq and withdraw its 3,000 troops from the country unless the rockets stop.

Kuwait s parliament swore in on Wednesday the country s new emir, Sheikh Nawaf Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah, and prepared to receive the body of his half-brother, the late ruler Sheikh Sabah who died in the US at the age of 91. The body of Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah, an acclaimed diplomat and mediator who ruled for 14 years, is expected to arrive in Kuwait City later on Wednesday. He died the day before in Minnesota where he had been undergoing treatment in hospital since July. According to the royal court, the funeral will be "restricted to the emir s relatives" -- a move likely designed to avoid large crowds amid the coronavirus pandemic. Kuwait s new leader, 83-year-old Crown Prince Sheikh Nawaf, was sworn in at an 0700 GMT session of the National Assembly. The country has already begun a 40-day period of national mourning. Sheikh Sabah earned a reputation as a shrewd, unshakeable leader who helped steer his country through the 1990 Iraqi invasion, crashes in global oil markets and upheavals in parliament and on the streets. World leaders and Kuwaitis alike have hailed the legacy of the late emir, architect of the nation s modern foreign policy and mediator in some of the worst crises to grip the Gulf. "This man was the safety valve of the Arab world, not just for Kuwait," Bandar al-Dahani, a Kuwaiti citizen, told AFP. "God willing, that goodness will be in Crown Prince Sheikh Nawaf and he will follow the emir s path." Generational transition looms Sheikh Nawaf, who has held high office for decades, takes over with Kuwait facing the repercussions of the coronavirus crisis, which triggered a sharp decline in oil prices and severe economic consequences for Gulf states. The elder statesman, who was named heir apparent in 2006, served as defence minister when Iraqi troops rolled into the oil-rich emirate in 1990, and also as interior minister in the face of challenges from Islamist militants. The new leader is popular within the ruling Al-Sabah family and is reported to have been a consensus choice for ruler. He also enjoys a reputation for modesty and has largely maintained a low profile. Major policy changes are not expected during his reign, even after the Gulf underwent a seismic shift with Kuwait s neighbours, the UAE and Bahrain, opting to establish relations with Israel. Normalisation with Israel is highly unpopular among the Kuwaiti public, which largely supports the Arab world s historic position of demanding a resolution of the Palestinian cause before giving diplomatic concessions to Israel. Despite expectations for a smooth succession, there could be more spirited debate over who the new crown prince should be. Kuwait s constitution stipulates that the ruler should be a descendant of the nation s founder, Mubarak al-Sabah, but the throne has alternated between the descendants of his sons, Salem and Jaber, for four decades. Contestants for the newly vacated role of crown prince include Sheikh Sabah s son and former deputy prime minister Nasser Sabah al-Ahmed al-Sabah, a Kuwaiti political heavyweight. "Sheikh Nawaf al-Ahmed should be viewed more as a caretaker than as a watershed new leader," said Cinzia Bianco, a research fellow at the European Council on Foreign Relations.

The chief of Afghanistan s peace negotiating team said Tuesday on a visit to Pakistan that the time has come for the two neighboring countries to shun the suspicion, ``stale rhetoric and tired conspiracy theories that have dogged past relations. Abdullah Abdullah is in Pakistan on a bridge-building mission meant to mend deep-rooted mistrust between the two countries. It was his first visit in 12 years. Abdullah told the Institute of Strategic Studies in the federal capital of Islamabad that the two neighbors are on the threshold of a new relationship characterized by ``mutual respect, sincere cooperation and shared prosperity. ``I am a firm believer that after many troubling years, we now need to go beyond the usual stale rhetoric and shadowy conspiracy theories that have held us back, Abdullah said. ``We cannot afford to pursue business as usual. We need fresh approaches and our people demand it. It is more urgent than ever to look to our region as one region. His statements come ahead of meetings later Tuesday with Pakistan s powerful army chief and prime minister. His visit also comes at a crucial time in Afghanistan s troubled history as a government-appointed negotiation team is in the Gulf state of Qatar brokering an end to war with its Taliban foes. Even before coming to power in 2018, Pakistan s Prime Minister Imran Khan has advocated for a political end to Afghanistan s war and has been a strong critic of Washington s so-called war on terror saying it has left tens of thousands of Pakistanis and Afghans dead. But many in Afghanistan have been critical of the support the Taliban received in Pakistan following the collapse of their rule in 2001 with the U.S.-led invasion of Afghanistan. Pakistan argues its relationship with the Taliban was what gave it leverage to press the religious militia into negotiations. Still, Afghans are deeply suspicious of Pakistan and government officials fear Pakistan s continued involvement in their country as a means to counter its hostile neighbor India s influence in Afghanistan. Pakistan and India have gone to war three times and both Pakistan and India accuse each other of using Afghan territory to undermine stability in the region. Pakistan has come under international criticism for its support for some militant groups and opposition to others. While Pakistan s military and politicians say that policy has been relegated to the past, Islamabad s neighbors remain suspicious. ``We do not want a terrorist footprint in our country or to allow any entity to pose a threat to any other nation, Abdullah said Tuesday. ``The current intra-Afghan talks offer the best hope to put the war behind and using patience, dialogue and compromise to agree to unite the country. Abdullah and the United States, which brokered the peace deal with the Taliban to start negotiations with the government, have been pressing for talks to be accompanied by a reduction in violence. The Taliban have refused. ``We call on all sides to agree to seriously reduce violence and protect civilians from further harm as we aim for a comprehensive and permanent ceasefire, Abdullah said. Still the violence continues and on Tuesday in Afghanistan s central Day Kundi province a roadside bomb killed at least 14 civilians, including five children, as they travelled from one district to another, said Afghan Interior Ministry spokesman Tariq Arian. ``Peace is not only an Islamic tenet and duty, but it is also that unique historical opportunity that should not be squandered, said Abdullah. ``Now that the ice has been broken, we all have a role and a responsibility to help it move toward fruition and prevent a relapse.

The United States and Greece called on Monday for a peaceful resolution of maritime disputes in the east Mediterranean as U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo began a two-day trip to Greece amid increased regional tension over energy resources. NATO allies Greece and Turkey, at loggerheads on a range of issues, have agreed to resume exploratory talks over contested maritime claims following weeks of tensions that culminated in a collision between their warships. "The United States and Greece .. reaffirmed their belief that maritime delimitation issues should be resolved peacefully in accordance with international law," the United States and Greece said in a joint statement after Pompeo met his Greek counterpart Nikos Dendias. The two countries are also ready to use "all appropriate means" to safeguard regional stability, they said after meeting in the northern Greek city of Thessaloniki. Pompeo has previously said the United States is "deeply concerned" about Turkish actions in the east Mediterranean. Ankara infuriated Athens last month by sending a seismic survey ship into disputed waters, escorted by gunboats, to map out sea territory for possible oil and gas drilling in an area thought to be rich in energy resources. Turkey then recalled the vessel, saying it wished to give diplomacy a chance. Complicating the geopolitical situation in the region, Turkey has signed a maritime demarcation deal with Libya which conflicts with a rival deal between Greece and Egypt. The United States hopes to build up its energy ties with Greece, which seeks to become an energy hub in the Balkans and help Europe to diversify its energy resources. Athens already imports large quantities of U.S. liquefied natural gas (LNG). It is developing a floating LNG storage and regasification unit off the port of Alexandroupolis, which is expected to channel gas to Bulgaria and from there to central Europe by early 2023. Greece is selling a majority stake in the port of Alexandroupolis and is also looking for an investor to operate part of the Kavala port facilities in northern Greece.

Syria s foreign minister accused Turkey on Saturday of being ``one of the main sponsors of terror in his country and the region, and said it is guilty of ``a war crime and a crime against humanity`` for cutting water to more than a dozen towns that resisted Turkish occupation. In unusually harsh language, Walid al-Moallem said ``the Turkish regime reigns supreme`` when it comes ``to sponsors and financiers of terrorism.`` He said in a prerecorded speech to the first-ever high-level meeting of the U.N. General Assembly held virtually because of the COVID-19 pandemic that the cutoff of water supplies endangered civilian lives, especially during the coronavirus crisis. The nine-year Syrian conflict, which initially began as a civil war, later became a regional proxy fight. Turkey, which now controls a zone in northern Syria, has backed opposition fighters against Syrian President Bashar Assad, Syrian Kurdish fighters and the Islamic State extremist group. Al-Moallem also accused Turkey of moving ``terrorists and mercenaries _ referred to by some as `moderate opposition -- from Syria to Libya,`` violating Iraq s sovereignty, using refugees ``as bargaining chips against Europe and laying claim ``by force to energy resources in the Mediterranean. ``The current Turkish regime has become a rogue and outlaw regime under international law, the Syrian minister said. ``Its policies and actions, which threaten the security and stability of the whole region, must be stopped. Turkey s U.N. Mission said it ``rejects Syrian regime s delusional statement, ridden with ludicrous allegations, in its entirety. ``It s shameful and unacceptable that the murderous Syrian regime which lost its legitimacy long ago continues to misuse (the) U.N. General Assembly general debate to distort the facts, said a mission spokesperson, who spoke on condition of anonymity. ``The Syrian regime is responsible for death, mutilation, abduction, starvation and enforced disappearance of millions of Syrians,`` the spokesperson said. ``Its crimes against humanity, violations of international humanitarian law and the war crimes have been documented in countless U.N. reports. Al-Moallem declared that the Syrian government ``will spare no effort to end the occupation by all means possible under international law of American and Turkish forces. U.S. troops are deployed in the country to fight the Islamic State group. ``The actions of these forces, taken directly or through their terrorist agents, secessionist militias, or manufactured and illegitimate entities, are null and void, with no legal effect, he said. Al-Moallem, who is also deputy prime minister, denounced U.S. sanctions, saying they are blocking the delivery of life-saving medicine and equipment during the pandemic. He called the ``Caesar Syria Civilian Protection Act passed by the U.S. Congress an ``inhumane attempt to suffocate Syrians, just like George Floyd and others were cruelly suffocated in the United States, and just like Israel suffocates Palestinians on a daily basis. Floyd, a handcuffed Black man, died May 25 after a white officer used his knee on Floyd s neck to pin him to the ground. The officer has been charged with second-degree murder, third-degree murder and manslaughter. Al-Moallem called on all countries affected by unilateral sanctions ``and those that reject such measures to close ranks against them and alleviate their impact on our peoples ... through cooperation, coordination, and concrete political, economic and commercial means. On the political front, he said Syria s government hopes a committee given the responsibility of drafting a new constitution for the country ``will succeed. But, he said, this will be possible only ``if there is no external interference whatsoever in its work and by any party.

The energy ministers of the United Arab Emirates and Israel discussed possible cooperation and investment opportunities, including natural gas exports to Europe, in a video call on Wednesday, an Israeli statement said. Israel and the UAE signed an agreement on Sept. 15 to establish diplomatic relations, an accord that Energy Minister Yuval Steinitz said in the statement presented a "historic opportunity" for energy development in the region. "I spoke (with the UAE energy minister) on cooperating in linking power grids and developing the natural gas market for exports via pipeline to Europe ... as well as other projects," the statement quoted Steinitz as saying. The statement, released by Steinitz s office, said he proposed the UAE join an Egypt-based energy forum that seeks to promote natural gas exports from the east Mediterranean. "They (the UAE) said they would examine the issue," the Israeli statement said. Egypt, Israel, Greece, Cyprus, Italy and Jordan signed a charter on Tuesday establishing the East Mediterranean Gas Forum (EMGF). The group unites regional rivals of Turkey, which has been locked in a bitter dispute with European Union members Greece and Cyprus over gas drilling rights in the region. In a report on the Israeli and UAE ministers discussion, the UAE state news agency WAM said they spoke about possible investment opportunities in oil, gas and green energy.

Investors in China are betting on a bumpy ride until the end of the US presidential election and seeking to protect their assets from a long chill in Sino-US ties. Global equity fund managers are shifting out of New York-listed shares in Chinese firms and into Hong Kong-listed vehicles to counter the risk of forced delistings, as both Democrat Joe Biden and Republican President Donald Trump promise a hard line on Beijing. And currency investors are fretting that a yuan hovering near 16-month highs is priced for a Biden win, and a calmer tone in diplomacy, which could swiftly unwind if Trump is victorious. Their bets are focused less on the outcome and more on what most expect to be a rollercoaster period until at least polling day on Nov. 3. "It doesn t matter if Biden or Trump will be elected. The bipartisan consensus is to be tough on China," said Chen Jiabeng, fund manager of Xiamen Portfolio Management Co, which helps investors allocate assets through funds of funds. "We will not bet on direction. We will bet on higher volatility," he said. Chen is allocating some 30%-40% of his portfolio to funds with options and futures trading strategies that can profit from wild swings in underlying assets. A doubling in the volume of stock index option contracts traded on the Shanghai Stock Exchange in July, surpassing even March s peak at the height of the coronavirus panic, and heavy volumes through August shows Chen is not alone. Adam Coons, portfolio manager of Indianapolis-based Winthrop Capital Management, plans shifting his stake in Alibaba from its New York listing to Hong Kong as a "defensive move", even though he thinks a US delisting is unlikely. Even Hong Kong-listed shares of Tencent have been hit by a Trump ban on US downloads of its popular WeChat app. A lack of momentum in Chinese equity markets, which have moved sideways in Shanghai and downwards in Hong Kong over recent weeks, belies shifts beneath the surface. "It s the calm before the storm," said Allen Mo, chief investment officer of Ming Yue Asset, a Chinese hedge fund that like Chen s Xiamen is using derivatives to bet on volatility. The "smart money" in China is already pulling out of stocks, he said. "TREACHEROUS" China policy is a major campaign issue, regularly raised by both candidates on the stump and expected to feature in three scheduled televised debates, beginning on Sept. 29. To be sure, some fund managers think the campaign rhetoric and the election outcome matter little to the long-term trends that form the basis of their investments in China. "We are fully invested and are seeing green shoots arise in the Chinese economy," said Sam Lecornu, chief executive of Stonehorn Global Partners in Hong Kong. "We see upside in markets as there s ample liquidity in the system and central banks continue to drive real rates down." Yet some China bulls are holding back for now. "Clients are very, very concerned about the next 50 days, which I think are very, very treacherous," said Davis Hall, head of capital markets in Asia at Indosuez Wealth Management. "It seems like dollar/CNY is reflecting the probability of a Biden victory," he said. "So what happens if we don t get one? We could immediately give back a lot of this current move," he said, advising investors long on yuan to trim their positions for safety.

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson will tell people on Tuesday to work from home where possible and will curb timings for bars and restaurants to tackle a fast-spreading second coronavirus wave, but the opposition accused him of losing control. With millions across the United Kingdom already under some form of COVID-19 restriction, Johnson will tighten measures in England while stopping short of another full lockdown like he imposed in March, according to his office and ministers. Johnson will hold emergency meetings with ministers, address parliament at 1130 GMT and then speak to the nation at 1900 GMT after government scientists warned that the death rate would soar without urgent action. Just weeks after urging people to start returning to workplaces, Johnson will now advise them to stay at home if they can, according to his office and ministers. He will also order all pubs, bars, restaurants and other hospitality sites across England to start closing at 10 p.m. from Thursday. "There is going to be a shift in emphasis. If it is possible for people to work from home, we are going to encourage them to do so," Michael Gove, the minister for the cabinet office, told Sky News. The new curbs will restrict the hospitality sector to table service only, though Gove said he wanted those who could not work from home - for example in manufacturing, construction and retail - to continue to work from COVID-secure workplaces. Schools will also stay open, he said. SCIENTIFIC WARNING It was unclear if the measures would be enough to tackle Britain s second wave, which government scientists warned could reach 50,000 new cases per day by mid-October. Opposition Labour leader Keir Starmer lambasted Johnson s leadership, especially over failings in testing. "Instead of getting a grip, the government has lost control ... Our testing system collapsed just when we needed it most," he said. The United Kingdom already has the biggest official COVID-19 death toll in Europe - and the fifth largest in the world - while it is borrowing record amounts to pump emergency money through the damaged economy. Bank of England Governor Andrew Bailey warned that the "very unfortunate" escalation of COVID-19 cases threatened the economic outlook and said the central bank was looking hard at how it could support the economy further. Pub operator JD Wetherspoon said it could cut 400-450 jobs at sites at six airports, including London s Heathrow and Gatwick, because of the large drop in passengers.

Lebanese Prime Minister-designate Mustapha Adib said on Monday all parties should cooperate to facilitate the formation of a new government and urged everyone to work so that a French initiative succeeds immediately. Lebanon is in the throes of an economic crisis that marks the worst threat to its stability since the 1975-90 civil war. But French efforts to get its fractious leaders to agree a new government to start fixing the problems have yet to bear fruit. The cabinet formation process has hit a logjam over the demand of Lebanon s two dominant Shi ite parties, the Iran-backed Hezbollah and its ally the Amal Movement, to name Shi ite ministers in cabinet including the finance minister. "Lebanon doesn t have the luxury of wasting time amid the unprecedented crises that it is going through," said Adib, a Sunni Muslim who is backed by former Lebanese prime ministers including Saad al-Hariri. Any additional delay would exacerbate the crises, he said. All parties should cooperate for the formation of a government of specialists "capable of halting the collapse and starting work to get the country out the crises," he said. Adib said he would spare no effort "to achieve this goal in cooperation with the president of the republic".

In 1991 when the Madrid Peace Conference was launched to settle the Arab-Israeli conflict, two tracks were established for negotiations, a bilateral and a multilateral track. In the early nineties, Hesham Youssef, an Egyptian diplomat, was in charge of a number of working groups in the multilateral track that examined a range of possible Arab-Israeli economic cooperation that could be pursued once a peace settlement was reached. A couple of years later, he served as the Official Spokesman of the Arab League during its Summit in Beirut, when the Arab Peace Initiative, presented by then Crown Prince Abdullah of Saudi Arabia, was adopted. For many subsequent years, as Chief of Staff of the Arab League Secretary General, Youssef attended and followed endless rounds of simply inconclusive and failed negotiations. This week, Youssef, currently a Senior Fellow at the Washington-based US Institute of Peace, was carefully following the most eventful development of a twin-deal for normalization that Israeli Prime Minister Benyamin Netanyahu signed at the White House with both the foreign ministers of the UAE and Bahrain. These agreements are a definite game changer for the region and for peace prospects in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, Youssef said. Speaking to Ahram Online on the phone from the US capital, hours after the White House signing that saw US President Donald Trump promising that another five or six Arab states would be soon joining the normalization path with Israel, Youssef offered that these agreements have upset a decades-long working paradigm for resolving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. For decades, it was assumed that incentives and gestures from Arab countries toward Israel would move the Israeli public to call on its leadership to constructively address the conflict with the Palestinians, making room for a historic compromise to take place. This paradigm, he added, was dealt a huge blow by Netanyahu this summer, as the Israeli Prime Minister has portrayed these agreements as achieved under a framework of “peace for peace,” requiring no concessions from Israel in return. This narrative, while perhaps accurate for Bahrain, so far, is not true in the case of the Emirates, but the key question today is whether the old paradigm can survive because it is not clear if it can be easily replaced. Youssef believes that with these normalization steps the Arab states are significantly ceding leverage toward a long-articulated goal of resolving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and realizing the Palestinian right to self-determination. The current approach appears to set aside old paradigms in order to pursue a host of more pressing national interests. It also comes at a time when Israel has become much stronger in the region, the Palestinians are becoming much weaker, and the gap between their positions on all final status issues is becoming unbridgeable Ð making a negotiated agreement harder than ever to achieve. “The erosion of these cornerstones for peacemaking is a precursor for an eventual new crisis,” Youssef warned. According to Youssef, the Palestinians have legitimate reasons for concern over the recent decisions of Abu Dhabi and Manama to normalize relations with Israel at a time when the prospects for a fair and just settlement for the Palestinian cause seem dim. “Palestinian concern over the recent normalization is justified,” he stated. Still, Youssef argued that given that one of the key obstacles to the establishment of a Palestinian state has been the progressive entrenchment of Israeli presence in Palestinian territories in the West Bank, through fast-growing illegal settlement activity and more recently via the annexation scheme that Netanyahu was planning to implement. Therefore, one should not underestimate the importance of the Emirates securing a halt to annexation momentum, particularly if it is “off the table” as President Trump indicated. Youssef recognized that while stopping annexation was due to many factors, the Emirati deal was also instrumental. Obviously, crucial questions arise about the permanence of the annexation halt, and whether it could last long enough to allow a fresh start for negotiations between Palestinians and Israelis on the basis of the two-state solution. Youssef noted that even after the White House ceremony, David Friedman, the US Ambassador to Israel, stated his belief that annexation will still happen as proposed by the Trump Administration’s Vision for Peace. Still, Youssef believes that given the popularity within Israel of the normalization steps with the Emiratis, combined with an American “stop sign” and the lack of strong Israeli public push for annexation as a priority, it would be difficult for Israel to proceed with annexation in the near future if it were seen to threaten the normalization process with the Emirates and the prospect for additional deals with other countries. “I am not saying that if the halt remains for a few years that this means that a deal between Palestinians and Israelis would be easy, obviously not,” Youssef added. “However, the question today is one of political will. There are two possibilities Ð these developments can either constitute a bridge to help achieve peace or a bypass around the Palestinian cause,” he said. Youssef indicated that the Emirates have taken a number of significant steps towards normalization already and that more steps are on the way. Bahrain is expected to take steps in the near future. Whether these steps will be confined to achieving mutually-beneficial bilateral gains, or whether the two Arab countries will seek to leverage these steps to secure Israeli concessions in favor of the Palestinian people remains to be seen. To help Palestinians in their quest, several options could be contemplated from freezing settlements, to ending collective punishment practices such as Palestinian home demolitions, among numerous other issues. “An approach of that nature would make it more of a bridge, but if the focus remains limited to bilateral interests and agreements these agreements will ultimately be a bypass road around the conflict.” Both the Emirates and Bahrain have reiterated their traditional positions regarding the conflict as well as their support to the Palestinian people and their continued adherence to the Arab Peace Initiative and its principles, Youssef added. At the same time, Youssef argued, there is a sea change of developments in the region. For the first time in recent history, the Arab League denied a Palestinian leadership request for support of its position. The Palestinians’ inability to mobilize Arab support to criticize the Emirati step is quite significant. The Palestinians have also witnessed explicit support for the Emirati and later the Bahraini steps from Egypt, Oman and others, and tacit acceptance and even gestures from Saudi Arabia, which opened its airspace for Israeli flights. A number of additional Arab countries, such as Jordan, took a more nuanced position more clearly aligned with the API framework. Jordanian Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi said that if Israel dealt with the UAE deal as an incentive to end occupation, it will move the region towards a just peace. While the Palestinian question cannot be wished away, and hundreds of millions around the world would still voice support for their cause, the Palestinians need to recognize the significant nature of these fundamental developments, Youssef said. “Denying the reality of these steps, withdrawing PLO ambassadors, and boycotting the Dubai Expo is not a strategy. The Palestinians badly need a unified and effective strategy to achieve their legitimate rights,” he added. Youssef recalled the controversial debate in Egypt and all over the Arab world when President Sadat went to Jerusalem in 1977. Youssef pointed out that while there was still strong opposition to the agreement when it was inked, many years later he believes a majority of Egyptians would think that Sadat was a visionary after all and that what he did ultimately served Egyptian interests. Of course, Youssef agreed, there are major differences between that deal and the ones Israel, the UAE and Bahrain just struck; chief among them that Egypt had been in direct conflict with Israel, over the Israeli occupation of Egyptian territories, and sought through the deal to end Israeli occupation of Sinai. “However, it remains the case that people in the Arab world will likely debate the normalization steps taken by the Emirates and Bahrain for decades to come,” he added. Youssef agreed that with the Trump plan earlier this year, the API is challenged, but he does not believe it is no longer relevant. He noted that Donald Trump’s chief advisor Jared Kushner admitted that all the Arab leaders with whom he met spoke about the API. “Even in the wake of the UAE and Bahrain deals, almost all Arab countries, and the Palestinian leadership, reconfirmed their commitment to this peace initiative,” Youssef added. Having been in the negotiating rooms in which Palestinians and Israelis were brought together on many occasions over the years, Youssef knows well that it will take a long time before Israel makes the concessions necessary to bring about the independent and viable Palestinian state, as stipulated by the API 18 years ago. According to Youssef, “Palestinians argue that their significant concessions over the years remain unrecognized by Israel and by this US administration. They have accepted a future Palestinian state on only 22 percent of “Mandatory Palestine.” They agreed to land swaps around the 1967 borders, expressed willingness to allow Israelis to remain as residents in Palestine, and agreed to only a symbolic return of refugees. From the Palestinian perspective, there isn’t a single comparable Israeli concession.” Youssef acknowledged that more challenges remain. There are major hurdles to overcome associated with the Palestinian divisions; Hamas unilateral control of Gaza away from the Palestinian Authority; the Israeli siege on Gaza; the desperate situation of the Palestinian Authority that is on the verge of collapse; and the volatile Israeli political context that witnessed three elections in one year, with a fourth possibly imminent. Beyond that of course, Europe is preoccupied, perhaps even overwhelmed, with its own challenges, and the world awaits the outcome of the US elections in a few weeks. “On the American side, the Trump administration is making the best use of the extent to which many Arab countries are unwilling to confront it, particularly at a time when these countries have several more urgent priorities than the Palestinian question and when, above all, they firmly believe that the Trump Plan has no chance of leading to a resolution of that conflict,” Youssef said. Should President Trump get re-elected, the dilemma posed by the plan will come into sharp focus. Palestinians, across the political spectrum, rejected the Trump Plan. And, the current Palestinian leadership will not go to negotiations on the basis of this plan. Meanwhile, an Israeli right-wing government will not go to negotiations except with the Trump plan on the table, a dilemma that will not be easily resolved, he said.Moreover, he added that some Arab countries have real concerns with the Trump Plan also noting the Arab League resolution that rejected it. Jordan, a crucial partner to the US, Israel, and the Palestinians, is a country that sees real danger in this plan, particularly as some Israeli right-wing circles have recently revived the narrative that Jordan is an alternative homeland for the Palestinians Ð an argument that was virtually abandoned after the signing of the Jordanian-Israeli peace treaty in 1994. King Abdullah of Jordan has also fiercely rejected settling more Palestinian refugees in Jordan. But, with an empowered right-wing government in Israel, the Kingdom is increasingly concerned that Israel may try to resolve its demographic problem at Jordan’s expense. Jerusalem is another key factor. Jordan, along with many Arab and Islamic countries, could not accept Israeli sovereignty over all of Jerusalem, to include the Al-Haram Al-Sharif, as stipulated in the Trump plan. He added that recent statements from the US administration indicating that Muslims from all over the world coming in peace can go through Abu Dhabi or Manama to pray at the holy site, under Israeli control, altogether miss the point of Arab and Islamic countries’ interest and concerns on this issue. Where does this leave the key stakeholders and the pathway forward? The view from the US will be shaped by the election outcome, Youssef said. If president Trump wins, Youssef cautioned, there is a risk that the administration runs in persisting in an assumption that the plan has a realistic diplomatic path forward. This would not only lead to a dead end but can also undermine the prospects of peace and the possibility of the US playing a credible and effective role going forward, Youssef argued. According to Youssef, if Joseph Biden is elected, there may be efforts to roll back some - though by no means all - of the decisions made by the Trump administration, unless a military confrontation or a crisis erupts. He however added that the growing consensus in Washington is that a Biden administration will be extremely preoccupied with numerous more pressing internal and international issues and unable to dedicate meaningful attention to the Israeli Palestinian conflict, at least not immediately. As for the Palestinians, Youssef believes that they are facing one of the most difficult times since the signing of the Oslo Accords in September 1993. They can no longer rely on automatic dependable Arab support as they once did. Now they need to overcome their division and focus their effort, with the help of the international community, on conducting elections, agree on a strategy, and recognize that good governance is their only way to gain the support of donors and public opinion. The lack of progress on these fronts is the reason behind the steep declining popularity of the Palestinian leadership. On the Israeli side, according to Youssef, the government is embracing a plan that cannot lead to a peaceful settlement of the conflict. Accordingly, Israeli society finds itself at a historic crossroads, facing a choice between its democratic and Jewish characters if it pursues an extreme right maximalist position toward control of the occupied territories and its Palestinian inhabitants. Israel’s decisions today will forever affect the state’s long-term trajectory. Israel is also facing another daunting challenge: Netanyahu, the prime minister on trial, has presented his public with a narrative that achieving normalization with Arab countries requires no concessions; and, Benny Gantz, the prime minister in waiting who, even if he assumes that position, will be hard pressed to compete with this narrative as someone whose positions have long nodded toward the necessity of compromise to resolve the central existential conflict for Israel with the Palestinians. In the current climate, with the right wing in ascendancy, persuading public opinion with this proposition will require nothing short of a miracle. The growing and warming Israel-Gulf embrace, and the eagerness to advance ties, to include people to people relations, will likely strengthen calls from the younger generation in Palestine to abandon the pursuit of statehood in favor of a rights-based approach that would seek a bi-national state in the whole of Mandatory Palestine. This is non-starter for both the Israeli government and the public. The question today, therefore, is what next? According to Youssef, the new US administration, regardless of who resides in the White House, will need to rebalance the current policy if the goal is a just and sustainable peace between Palestinians and Israelis. Arab countries who have more immediate and pressing concerns, whether confronting Iran, wars in Yemen, Libya and Syria, the pandemic and its devastating economic implications, not to mention a host of other national challenges of diverse nature and intensity, have to reconfirm that resolving this conflict is still a sine qua non for regional peace and stability. According to Youssef, there was a recent ray of hope for effective diplomatic paths forward with the emergence of a “new Middle East Quartet”. In the first week of July, the foreign ministers of Egypt, Jordan, France and Germany held a videoconference to discuss Middle East developments and adopted a firm position that denounced annexation plans and warned Israel of the repercussions of such a step. Arguably this also contributed to those plans being put on hold, and a formalized version of this grouping could serve both as a balance and a bridge in the international and regional management of the Israeli-Palestinian and broader Arab-Israeli conflicts. “These four countries, in particular, have an important role to play,” Youssef elaborated. “Egypt and Jordan were the first two countries to have peace treaties with Israel, treaties that have endured for over 40 and 25 years, respectively. On the European side, both France and Germany are the most influential countries in Europe in relation to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, and their good relations with the Palestinians, Israelis and the US suggest an ability to serve an important mediating role. Youssef argued that this new quartet can work with the US on securing a constructive start for Palestinian-Israeli negotiations in order “to allow for a settlement without which the Middle East could never really claim that it can live in peace, stability, security, or achieve prosperity”. The Emirates and Bahrain need to take a step towards the Palestinians. There are many prominent Palestinians who would be willing to work with them on trying to work out a modus operandi for the coming period to see how the normalization step can help advance peace and become a solid and sturdy bridge rather than a detrimental bypass to a conflict that will not go away. Perhaps Egypt can play a role in this regard. Youssef stressed that the input of any group of countries is no guarantee at all that things would necessarily take the right course. No one step by any power, whoever this power is, would be enough to achieve a breakthrough in the current impasse. There is a need for a package of steps to be taken by all sides in an orchestrated manner for the conflict to move along the right path toward resolution.

Suad Mohammad had hoped for a better life when her husband climbed into a dinghy to flee poverty-hit Lebanon, but he disappeared into the waves before he reached Cyprus. In her family home in the northern Lebanese city of Tripoli, Mohammad, 27, said she believed the Syrian father of her two small children, 35-year-old Shady Ramadan, was dead. "I m waiting for my husband s body," she said, tears streaming down her face, as she clutched her baby boy on her lap. Ramadan is among dozens of Lebanese and Syrians to have tried to make the illicit sea crossing to European Union-member Cyprus in recent weeks, fleeing Lebanon s worst economic crisis in decades. His family said he was on a boat that drifted without food or water for a week in the Mediterranean sea before a United Nations peacekeeping ship rescued survivors on Monday. Mohammad recounted how desperation drove her diabetic husband to embark on the dangerous trip to the shores of the island of Cyprus, 160 kilometres (100 miles) away. "He fled Lebanon because of the grinding poverty to try to find us some money," she told AFP, a lively toddler girl playing at her feet. Lebanon s financial crunch has seen tens of thousands lose their jobs or part of their salaries, sparked sharp inflation and pushed poverty rates up to encompass more than half the population. Tripoli was one of Lebanon s poorest cities even before the crisis, which has been compounded in recent months by the novel coronavirus pandemic and a catastrophic explosion at Beirut s port that killed 190 people. Stranded at sea Before he left, Ramadan had tried to peddle ice creams from a cart, but earned no more than 20,000 Lebanese pounds a day (now worth around $2.50 at the black market rate). "A bag of nappies alone costs 33,000 pounds, without even considering rent," his wife said. The UNIFIL peacekeeping force rescued 25 Syrians, eight Lebanese and three others from a boat off the country s coast on Monday, the UN refugee agency said. UNIFIL also said it retrieved the body of someone who had died at sea. But relatives of those on board -- who included several other members of Mohammad s extended family -- claim at least four more either died or have gone missing. Ziad al-Bira, a relative, said two children had died of hunger and thirst, and their bodies had been pushed overboard, while Ramadan and another had disappeared at sea. It all started on September 7, when they climbed into a dinghy after having paid a smuggler five million pounds each (more than $660 at the market rate), he said. With the boat far over capacity, the smuggler "prevented them from coming aboard with their belongings, which included water, food and baby milk," Bira said. They ended up "stranded at sea without a guide, with communication cut off for days on end, until the UNIFIL ship found them," he added. After the two children died, Ramadan swam off to try to find help. "He left and never came back," Bira said. Slow death at home Another young man -- 27-year-old Mohammad Mohammad -- tried the same and also disappeared. Sitting in front of his home in Tripoli, his father Khaldoun, 54, said his son was unemployed and had left along with relatives without telling him. "The smuggler kept reassuring us that the boat had arrived safely, until we discovered three days later that he was lying -- by which time we could no longer speak to any of our children," he said. Distraught family members have filed three legal complaints against the smuggler, who has since disappeared. In Tripoli, however, not everybody is relying on a smuggler. This month, dozens of people chipped in to buy their own boat and spent 40 hours at sea trying to reach Cyprus before being turned back by the Cypriot navy. Two of them said they would jump at the opportunity to try again. Khaled Abdallah, 47, said life was no longer sustainable working 17-hour shifts as a school security guard for a daily wage of 25,000 pounds (around $3). "I m determined to try again, whatever the cost," he said. Mohammed al-Khanji, 37, said he could no longer provide for his two young children as an ambulant vegetable seller. "I will do the impossible to feed my children," he said. "In the end, we will go. We might get there or we might die straight away, but in this country, we are dying a slow death."

The European Union s chief executive on Wednesday said the bloc should commit to deeper emissions cuts over the next decade, and pledged to use green bonds to finance its climate goals. European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen said the EU should set a target to cut its greenhouse gas emissions by at least 55% by 2030, against 1990 levels, confirming plans laid out in draft Commission documents previously reported by Reuters. The EU s current 2030 emissions target is for a 40% cut. Von der Leyen said the upgrade is needed to put EU "firmly on track" for its plan to reach net zero emissions by 2050, and that Commission analysis had confirmed a 55% emissions cut was economically possible. But she acknowledged the proposal would divide European Parliament and member states, who must approve the legally binding target, but disagree on how ambitious it should be. "I recognise that this increase from 40 to 55 is too much for some, and not enough for others," she said in a speech in European Parliament. To help meet the goal, von der Leyen said 30% of the bloc s 750 billion euro coronavirus recovery package of grants and loans, which the EU as a whole will borrow, should be raised through green bonds.

Iran on Saturday strongly condemned Bahrain s plan to normalize relations with Israel, calling it a shameful and ignominious move by the Gulf Arab country. Bahrain s announcement Friday followed a similar normalization agreement last month by the United Arab Emirates, a fellow U.S. ally. The two Arab nations establishment of full relations with Israel is part of a broader push by the Trump administration find common ground with countries that share U.S. wariness of Iran. Tehran s arch rival Saudi Arabia may also be close to a deal. In a statement, Iran s Foreign Ministry said Bahrain s normalization ``will remain in the historical memory of the oppressed and downtrodden people of Palestine and the world s free nations forever. Iran s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard also denounced Bahrain s move using similar language, calling it a betrayal of the Palestinian people and a ``threat to security in West Asia and the Muslim world. The agreements by the UAE and now Bahrain are a setback for Palestinian leaders, who have urged Arab nations to withhold recognition until they have secured an independent state. The Palestinians have seen a steady erosion in once-unified Arab support _ one of the few cards they still held as leverage against Israel _ since President Donald Trump began pursuing an unabashedly pro-Israel agenda. The Foreign Ministry statement also said Bahrain s government and the other supporting governments would be held accountable for any act by Israel that causes insecurity in the Persian Gulf region. The island of Bahrain lies just off the coast of Saudi Arabia, and is among the world s smallest countries, only about 760 square kilometers (290 square miles). Bahrain s location in the Persian Gulf long has made it a trading stop and a naval defensive position. The island is home to the U.S. Navy s 5th Fleet and a recently built British naval base. Like Iran, Bahrain s population is majority Shiite, and the country has been ruled since 1783 by the Sunni Al Khalifa family. Since Iran s 1979 Islamic Revolution, Bahrain s rulers have blamed Iran for arming militants on the island. Iran denies the accusations. Bahrain s Shiite majority has accused the government of treating them like second-class citizens. The Shiites joined pro-democracy activists in demanding more political freedoms in 2011, as Arab Spring protests swept across the wider Middle East. Saudi and Emirati troops ultimately helped violently put down the demonstrations.

Prime Minister-designate Mustapha Adib said on Monday he had met Lebanon s president for more consultations, raising doubts that he could form his cabinet by a deadline agreed with France of early this week to start hauling the nation out of deep crisis. Lebanese leaders promised French President Emmanuel Macron in Beirut on Sept. 1 to form a government in two weeks, part of a roadmap drawn up by Paris to start reforms aimed at ending the worst crisis since Lebanon s civil war ended three decades ago. "God willing, all will be well," Adib told reporters following his meeting with Lebanese President Michel Aoun. An official source had previously said the prime minister-designate, a Sunni Muslim under Lebanon s sectarian system of power sharing, would present plans for his cabinet on Monday. But on Sunday the Shia Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri and a leading Christian politician voiced objections to the way Adib was putting together a cabinet, undermining prospects for his government of technocrats to win support across the sectarian divide.

Saudi Arabian-led coalition fighter jets early on Sunday attacked barracks and military sites of the armed Houthi movement in Yemen s capital Sanaa, Saudi-owned Al-Arabiya reported. The coalition also destroyed four Houthi drones at Al-Delmi air base north of Sanaa, Al-Arabiya said, citing local sources. There was no immediate official confirmation from the coalition, which launched air strikes on two sites in Sanaa a day earlier. Those strikes followed a Houthi claim it had attacked an "important target" in the Saudi capital Riyadh on Thursday using a ballistic missile and drones. The coalition did not confirm an attack on Riyadh but said it had intercepted and destroyed ballistic missiles and explosive drones launched towards the kingdom on Thursday. Bombings in Sanaa city have been relatively rare since September 2019, when Saudi Arabia launched indirect talks with the Iran-aligned Houthi movement, which it has been at war with since 2015. The conflict has killed 100,000 people and led to what the United Nations describes as the world s worst humanitarian crisis. The Houthis took over the Yemeni capital Sanaa and most other cities in 2014 after ousting the Saudi-backed government of Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi. The coalition that Saudi Arabia leads intervened to try to restore Hadi to power.

French President Emmanuel Macron will gather leaders from Mediterranean states for a summit Thursday set to be dominated by growing tensions between Turkey and EU states in the east of the sea. The EuroMed 7 is an informal group of EU Mediterranean states, sometimes dubbed "Club Med", that held its first summit in 2016, though Turkey is not a member. France has strongly backed Greece and Cyprus in a growing standoff with Turkey over hydrocarbon resources and naval influence in the eastern Mediterranean that has sparked fears of more severe conflict. The summit of leaders from France, Italy, Malta, Portugal, Spain, Greece and Cyprus will open around 1500 GMT at Porticcio, a coastal resort on the French island of Corsica. Speaking with journalists in Ajaccio late Wednesday, Macron said the Mediterranean should be "a region of circulation of cultures and knowledge, and not, as is too often the case, a region of geopolitical, energy or religious conflicts." A French presidential official said Macron would seek to "make progress in the consensus on the relationship of the EU with Turkey above all ahead of the 24-25 September EU summit." Reaffirming Macron s policy towards Turkey, the official said that France wants a "clarification" in relations with Ankara which should be an "important" partner. - Same desire - Turkey has sought to join the EU for over half a century, though analysts say the growing rift President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and the bloc s leaders has made the prospect increasingly unlikely. Ankara s hunt for gas and oil reserves in waters claimed by Greece, the latest conflict between Turkey and a fellow NATO member, has further strained relations. Turkey last month deployed an exploration vessel backed by military frigates in waters between Greece and Cyprus, prompting Athens to respond with naval exercises as a warning. Some member states will be pressing for sanctions against Turkey at the EU summit, with French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian saying at the weekend such measures were on the table. "If Turkey refuses to listen to reason before then, I don t see any choice for my European colleagues except significant sanctions," Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis, who was to hold talks with Macron before Thursday s meeting, wrote in French daily Le Monde. Greek media said the possible sale by France of Rafale fighter jets could be on the table, in a sign of the increasingly strong alliance between Paris and Athens. But Erdogan, referring to areas claimed by Greece and Cyprus as their exclusive economic zones, has threatened he is ready to "tear up immoral maps and documents". Another cause of tension between France, as well as its EU allies, and Turkey has been Libya, where Ankara has engaged militarily in support of the UN-recognised Tripoli-based government. In an interview with AFP last week, Cypriot President Nicos Anastasiades denounced Turkey s "aggressiveness" which he said masked "an intention to control the whole area". The EuroMed 7 came into being against the backdrop of the economic crisis in Greece which had caused tensions between southern EU members and their more frugal northern counterparts. They "share the same desire to stimulate a new dynamic of cooperation" in the region, "in particular on issues of sustainable development and sovereignty", Macron s office said.

The Lebanese army on Tuesday prevented a group of Syrians and their Lebanese handlers from illicitly leaving the country by sea from the northern city of Tripoli, the official ANI news agency reported. "A Lebanese army naval patrol, in coordination with army intelligence, thwarted an operation to smuggle several people across the sea after the boat was spotted off the northern coast," ANI reported. The Lebanese and Syrian passengers were returned to Tripoli port, it said. It was the second failed clandestine attempt within days by people seeking to leave the country via Tripoli. On Saturday, a boat illegally transporting Lebanese and Syrians was intercepted off the coast of Cyprus to the west, and forced to turn back. On Monday, Cyprus said it would send a team to Lebanon to discuss dealing with the increasingly frequent crossing attempts. Cyprus, just 160 kilometres (100 miles) from Lebanon s coast, is so close that the deadly explosion that devastated Beirut on August 4 was heard on the island. It fears becoming a magnet for those fleeing a political and economic crisis Cyprus is on alert after at least five boats carrying over 150 migrants were spotted off the coast of the tourist island by authorities in recent days, and the interior ministry held an emergency meeting on the situation on Monday. Lebanon, which hosts around a million people displaced from neighbouring wartorn Syria, was undergoing a severe economic crisis even before the coronavirus pandemic struck. That was exacerbated by the massive August 4 explosion at Beirut port which laid waste to whole neighbourhoods of the capital and killed over 190 people.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov told Cyprus on Tuesday that Moscow was ready to help mediate in any talks with Turkey over energy exploration in the east Mediterranean Sea. A decades-old rift between Turkey and Cyprus, which is backed by Greece, has come to a head this year in disputes over commercial rights in the east Mediterranean, an area thought to be rich in natural gas. "As far as your relations with Turkey are concerned, we are ready to promote dialogue, pragmatically based on mutual interests and in search of decisions, which will be fair and based on international law," Lavrov said at a meeting with Cyprus President Nicos Anastasiades in Nicosia. "Russia considers any steps that could lead to a further escalation of tensions (in the east Mediterranean) unacceptable," he later added in a news conference. NATO allies Turkey and Greece are at loggerheads over the extent of their continental shelves. Ankara also disputes the rights of Cyprus to explore for natural gas in the sea area around the island.