Benjamin Netanyahu pondered an American suggestion that Israel should freeze the building of settlements in the West Bank for another 90 days, in exchange for American security and political guarantees. Leaders of the Arab League have convened a meeting on the 8th of October to discuss what the Palestinians should do if Israel rejects the proposal.
The Israeli military seized a ten-meter boat operated by Jewish activists which was bound for Gaza with aid supplies. Israel denied claims from those on board that its soldiers used excessive force while taking control of the vessel.
At least 13 African refugees fleeing to Yemen died in the Gulf of Aden when their boat sank during a rescue operation by an American warship.
A ten-month moratorium on Israeli settlement building in the West Bank expired and was not renewed by Israeli president Benjamin Netanyahu. Palestinian leaders said they will decide at a meeting on October 4th whether or not they will continue peace talks.
The emirate of Dubai managed to raise $1.25 billion in a two-part bond sale which was heavily oversubscribed.
Thousands of civilians fled Hawta, a town in the south of Yemen, which had been besieged by government forces in an attempt to flush out jihadist rebels believed to be linked to Al-Qaeda.
The Israeli government was pressed by American diplomats to extend its moratorium (due to expire Sep 26th) on the building and expansion of Jewish settlements in the West Bank.
Direct peace talks, chaired by the United States, between Israel en Palestine are ongoing in Sharm el-Sheikh and Jerusalem. The US and Palestine want Israel to extend a freeze on settlement-building that is due to expire at the end of September.
The Obama administration has announced that it plans to sell US$ 90 billion worth of arms to Saudi Arabia in the coming decade. The package would be the USA’s largest-ever weapons sale, and includes dozens of fighter jets which could be used in any future confrontation with nuclear-armed Iran.
Saad Hariri, Lebanon’s Prime Minister, highlighted a reconciliation of cordial relations with Syria. He said he had been misled into accusing Syria of the assassination of his father Rafik Hariri, a five-time Prime Minister of Lebanon, in 2005.
Mohamed El Baradei, a former head of the UN’s International Atomic Energy Agency, called for a boycott of the polls of the presidential elections in Egypt in November. El Baradei had openly aired his intention to run for president, but now says the elections cannot be fair.
A few days after the official departure of US combat troops out of Iraq, five suicide bombers killed at least 17 people including themselves, in attacks against Iraqi army facilities in Baghdad.
US president Obama announced that the combat operation in Iraq is officially over, and that he will proceed to scale down operations in Afghanistan next year.
The first direct negotiations between Israel and Palestine in 20 months commenced. Benjamin Netanyahu and Mahmoud Abbas were urged by Barack Obama along with Hosni Mubarak (Egypt), King Abdullah (Jordan), and Tony Blair.
Hamas claimed responsibility for two separate incidents in the West Bank, killing four Israeli settlers and injuring two.
A series of bomb attacks throughout Iraq coincided with the departure of the last American combat troops, seven years after the invasion. The bombings left over 50 people dead.
At least 59 people were killed in a suicide bomb in Baghad, Iraq. The attack came a day after talks on forming a coalition government were suspended, and just as American troops start to withdraw from Iraq.
Lebanon’s parliament passed a law which allows Palestinian refugees to work legally. The law gives 400,000 Palestinians the same rights as other foreign workers and ends years of discrimination which limited them to the most menial jobs.
Dubai’s DP World, a large operator of ports, said recovering world-trade volumes has boosted its first-half profits by 17% to $219m.
After talks with George Mitchell (US envoy to the Middle-East), Mahmoud Abbas (president of the Palestine Authority) said that direct talks between his side and Israel will resume after a 2-year hiatus.
Grand Ayatollah Ali Al-Sistani of Iraq received a letter from Barack Obama, in which Obama urged him to persuade country’s rival parties to forge a coalition before the departure of US combat troops at the end of this month. Iraq’s elections in March remain inconclusive, a new government is yet to be established.
Barack Obama confirmed that the USA will end combat operations in Iraq on the 31st of August, “as promised and on schedule”. Around 50,000 troops will remain to train local security forces.
Clashes broke out on the border between Israel and Lebanon when Israeli troops tried to cut down a tree that both sides claimed was in their territory. Four people were killed. The UN Security Council expressed “deep concern” over the worst border clash since 2006.