Radicalisation

Just when we thought the news from Gaza could not get bleaker, something new about the Israeli actions in the territory has emerged. Israel is arming “criminal gangs” in the war-torn Gaza Strip. Former Defence Minister, Avigdor Lieberman, revealed this on Thursday (5 June). "Israel transferred assault rifles and light weapons to criminal gangs in Gaza,” Lieberman, leader of the right-wing Yisrael Beiteinu Party, told the public broadcaster KAN. He said the weapons were transferred to the gangs upon orders of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. “In my opinion, the Cabinet hasn’t approved the transfer of weapons, but the head of the General Security Service (Shin Bet) was aware,” he added. “We are talking about what is equivalent to ISIS (Daesh) in Gaza. No one guarantees that these weapons will not be directed at Israel. We have no means of monitoring or tracking,” Lieberman said.

US President Donald Trump met with Syria's president Ahmed al-Sharaa in Saudi Arabia on Wednesday and urged him to normalise ties with longtime enemy Israel, after an announcement that US would lift all sanctions on the Islamist-led government. Trump met the Syrian president before a summit between the United States and Gulf Arab countries. They shook hands in the presence of Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.