AMMAN: Israel should be held accountable for its “criminal incursions” into Al-Aqsa Mosque, according to Royal Committee for Jerusalem Affairs Secretary-General Abdullah Kanaan.
In an interview with the Jordan News Agency on Wednesday, Kanaan said that daily incursions into the mosque are part of Israel’s growing attacks in Jerusalem and occupied Palestine.
Israeli policy reveals the “true face of its extreme right-wing government,” he said, adding that Tel Aviv’s leadership, programs and alliances are aimed at dividing Al-Aqsa Mosque.

RAMALLAH: Israel is considering allowing 2 million residents of the Gaza Strip to use Ramon Airport in the Negev desert, which is due to be officially opened to Palestinians from the West Bank from Saturday.

Israeli sources told Arab News that the US pressured Israel during the last Sharm El-Sheikh summit on March 19 to permit Palestinians to use the airport, located near the Red Sea resort city of Eilat.

AL-MUKALLA: Hundreds of Yemenis have been forced from their homes in the central province of Marib as the Houthis continued to attack government troops, according to the UN International Organization for Migration.

Fighting has raged between Yemeni forces and the Houthis over the last 10 days in the Harib district, south of Marib, and Merkhah Al-Ulya area, in the southern province of Shabwa, leaving scores of fighters dead or injured.

BEIRUT: Civil society organizations and lawmakers in crisis-hit Lebanon have raised concerns over the awarding of a multi-million dollar contract to build and operate a second terminal at Beirut’s international airport.
Cash-strapped Lebanon announced last week that private company Lebanese Air Transport and Irish firm daa International would partner for the revamp.
Public Works and Transportation Minister Ali Hamieh said the private sector would fund the $122 million project, which would “create around 2,500 jobs.”

WASHINGTON: The United States will not back away from its nearly eight-year-old deployment to Syria, where it is battling the remnants of Daesh, despite attacks on US forces there last week by Iran-backed militia, the White House said on Monday.
A one-way attack drone struck a US base in Syria on March 23, killing an American contractor, injuring another and wounding five US troops.