Middle East

Saudi reporter Jama Khashoggi went missing after he entered the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul on October 2. Riyadh has arrested 21 Saudis as part of an investigation into the murder and is seeking the death penalty for five suspects.

CAIRO (Sputnik) - The spokesman for the Libyan National Army (LNA), Mismari, was quoted as saying by the Sky News Arabia that Qatar and Turkey should not have been invited to the Palermo conference since they only sought to "defend the interests of terrorists" that they support in the country.

The US imposed sanctions against Tehran's energy, banking and shipping sectors on November 5 following Washington's unilateral withdrawal from the Iran nuclear deal. The European Union slammed the decision and vowed to safeguard's Iran's access to the global oil market with a backup payment mechanism. However, no country seems willing to host it.

Lieberman stepped down as Israel's defence minister on Wednesday in an act of protest against Netanyahu's Gaza ceasefire, which he called a "capitulation to terror." This comes as yet another controversial statement in his more than two-decade-long political career - but perhaps not the most bombastic so far.

WASHINGTON (Sputnik) - The reports that the US-led coalition against the Daesh* used cluster bombs in its airstrikes on Hajin city and Shaafa village in Syria's Deir ez-Zor province are untrue, coalition spokesman Sean Ryan told Sputnik on Thursday.

Late last month, the Israeli satellite imaging company ImageSat International released images of what it claimed was the first site for one of the S-300 missile systems delivered by Russia to Syria. The site was located in the northwest of the town of Masyaf, according to the company.

Earlier, Israeli Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman announced his resignation, expressing his protest against the truce with the Hamas movement in the Gaza Strip.

TEL AVIV (Sputnik) - A knife-wielding man injured four Israeli security officers at a police station in Jerusalem, the Israeli police foreign press spokesman said on Thursday.

WASHINGTON (Sputnik) – The recently imposed US sanctions against Tehran may help force Iran to reduce its presence in Syria, US Special Representative for Syria James Jeffrey told reporters in a press briefing.

BRUSSELS (Sputnik) – The European Union believes that there is no credible peaceful alternative to the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), commonly referred to as the Iran nuclear deal, Vera Jourova, the European Commissioner for Justice, Consumers and Gender Equality, said.

WASHINGTON (Sputnik) - US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Qatari Deputy Prime Minister Khalid Al-Attiyah met in Washington to discuss the Trump administration's proposal to create an Arab security alliance, the State Department said in a press release on Wednesday.

Israeli Defence Minister Lieberman's resignation is seen as Gaza’s political victory, according to Hamas spokesman Abu Zukhri. Speaking to Radio Sputnik, Professor Abraham Diskin, an Israeli political scientist at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and a professor at the Interdisciplinary Center in Herzliya, shared his views on the situation.

TEL AVIV (Sputnik) - Israeli Minister of Immigration and Absorption Sofa Landver, a member of the right-wing Yisrael Beiteinu party, has announced her resignation following the decision of the party leader and Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman to resign, party press secretary Lyudmila Lagush told Sputnik.

PARIS (Sputnik) - London, Paris and Washington are lacking "political courage" to pressure Saudi Arabia over the actions of the Riyadh-led coalition in the Yemeni conflict and to ensure that Riyadh is held accountable, Bruno Stagno-Ugarte, the deputy executive director for advocacy at Human Rights Watch told Sputnik.

The strikes were the second reported instance of US-coalition forces carrying out deadly attacks in the town of al-Sha'afa, Deir ez-Zor this week, with Syrian media earlier reporting that over 60 civilians had been killed or injured in deadly coalition airstrikes in the town on Monday.

MOSCOW (Sputnik) - Hamas spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri has stated that the resignation of Israeli Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman proves that Israel recognizes its failure in the fight against Palestinian resistance.

Shortly after the sides agreed on the ceasefire, which prompted the resignation of Israel's Defence Minister, reports about victims of the IDF attack have appeared in Israeli and Palestinian media. The IDF has not confirmed the reports yet.

ANKARA (Sputnik) - Turkey is demanding extradition of 452 people from 83 countries over their alleged links to the movement of Islamic cleric Fethullah Gulen, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said on Wednesday.

This week, the Trump administration promised to "squeeze" Iran "until the pips squeak" with new measures following the introduction of tough new unilateral sanctions against Tehran earlier this month targeting the country's energy, banking and shipping sectors.

During a July memorial service dedicated to Israeli serviceman Hadar Goldin's death in the 2014 Operation Protective Edge, his father lamented the fact that even though "Hadar has been in Hamas hands for four years now, the Israeli government, which sent him to battle, is failing in bringing him back."