Mideast Week in Review - May 29 // FAI ONLINE

Israel — An unnamed “high-ranking” Israeli government official reportedly visited Saudi Arabia last week. The unofficial visit has revived rumors that the Jewish State and the Saudi Kingdom are actively pursuing political and economic normalization. Saudi Arabia would become the fifth Arab nation to normalize relations with Israel as part of the Abraham Accords, joining the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Sudan, and Morocco. Both Egypt and Jordan have previous bilateral peace treaties with Israel.

One American diplomatic source reported that the talks are being mediated by the United States and are trilateral negotiations between Israel, Saudi Arabia, and Egypt. In 2016, the Egyptian government agreed in principle that the islands of Tiran and Sanafir, which sit in a strategic position at the mouth of the Gulf of Aqaba, belong to Saudi Arabia. However, Egypt was unable to complete the transfer of sovereignty over the islands to the Saudi monarchy due to Israeli objections. While Egypt has a 43-year-old peace treaty with Israel, Saudi Arabia is still technically an enemy of the Jewish State, although diplomatic overtures and backchannel security cooperation have warmed relations between the two nations in recent years. Saudi normalization with Israel would allow Egypt to complete the transfer of the islands to Saudi sovereignty for the first time since the inception of the Gulf kingdom in the 1930’s.

News of the Saudi visit broke in Israel just before tens of thousands of Jewish worshippers flocked to the Old City of Jerusalem on Saturday to observe Jerusalem Day. The national holiday commemorates the day that Israeli Defense Forces captured the entire city of Jerusalem from Jordanian forces during the Six-Day War in 1967. Several thousand Jews gathered at the Western Wall, while over 100 lined up to visit the restive Temple Mount platform. Hamas and other Palestinian militant organizations have threatened violence against Jewish worshippers who approach the al-Aqsa Mosque atop the Temple Mount, calling for other Palestinian Muslims to gather at the mosque and at the Damascus Gate, the main entrance to the Old City from East Jerusalem. Israeli security forces are preparing for clashes ahead of a planned Israeli flag march around the Old City.

Iran - Public demonstrations continued in the nation of Iran last week, as protestors continued to march in the streets to show their opposition to the regime. Public anger over drastic food price hikes earlier this month was exacerbated by the death of at least 28 people on Monday following the collapse of a Metropol building in the southwestern city of Abadan. Amateur video posted to social media showed thousands of demonstrators taking to the streets in and around Abadan in Khuzestan Province, chanting slogans such as, “[Supreme Ruler] Khamenei is [a] murderer, his rule Is illegitimate.” Many protesters blame the government’s response to the building collapse for a higher death toll, claiming that emergency services were withheld in order to suppress public reports of the disaster. Iranian security forces reportedly attempted to divert protests in Abadan on Friday by firing tear gas and live rounds, as well as by setting local shops on fire.

The deadly Metropol collapse comes after the public assassination of a top Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) officer in Tehran last Sunday. Colonel Sayyad Khodai was sitting in his car when he was shot five times by an unidentified gunman on a motorbike. Khodai was known as "defender of the sanctuary” for his work to coordinate IRGC forces in Iraq and Syria, with the ultimate objective of attacking the State of Israel and its interests abroad. Although no one has claimed responsibility for the assassination, Israeli intelligence agencies have previously managed to assassinate high-profile Iranians in Tehran, including top Iranian nuclear scientist Mohsen Fakhrizadeh in November, 2020.

Afghanistan - Dozens of Afghans were killed in a string of bombings last Wednesday. Taliban officials reported that 22 were killed and over 30 injured when three bombs exploded on minibuses in separate districts of the northern city of Mazar-i-Sharif. Another bombing at a mosque in the capital of Kabul claimed the lives of at least 6 more and wounded at least 18.

The Afghan affiliate of ISIS, known as ISIS-K, claimed responsibility for the minibus bombings. The onset of the 2022 Ramadan season has marked a sharp rise in ISIS-K attacks across Afghanistan in defiance of their Taliban rivals, with over 100 civilians dead and many more wounded.

Syrian Kurdistan - Clashes between the Turkish military and Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) continued to intensify in northern Syria last week, as Turkish troop movements near the Syrian border west of the Euphrates River shows signs that a fourth cross-border incursion into Kurdish-majority areas of Syria may be imminent. American officials called the threats of another offensive “serious,” as the government of Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan continues to broadcast its intentions to repatriate one million Syrian Arab refugees ahead of presidential elections next year. The plan calls for most refugees to be resettled in Kurdish-majority border areas in an ongoing attempt to create a “buffer zone” between Turkey and Kurdish forces, effectively orchestrating a demographic shift in Northern Syria through the ethnic cleansing of its Kurdish population. Hundreds of thousands of Kurdish civilians have already been driven from their homes since the beginning of Operation “Olive Branch” in 2018 near the town of Afrin followed by Operation “Peace Spring” around the towns of Tel Abyad and Ras al-Ayin in 2019.

Iraq and Iraqi Kurdistan - A Turkish military offensive dubbed “Claw-Lock” continued advancing deeper into Iraqi Kurdistan last week, as Turkish commandos reached the communities of Hakkarî, Cûdî and Zêwê in Duhok province, engaging Kurdish PKK militants in intense firefights. The Turkish military claimed that 14 PKK fighters were killed in an airstrike on Thursday. Claw-Lock has seen the Turkish military penetrate much deeper into Iraqi Kurdistan than before, moving far beyond the Turkish outposts in the remote, mountainous border region into more heavily populated areas of Duhok province.

Meanwhile, the Iraqi Parliament overwhelmingly voted to approve a law on Thursday which would ban any citizen or foreigner within its borders from associating with, communicating with, or supporting the State of Israel, including individual Israeli citizens and Israeli-based organizations. Named “Criminalizing Normalization and Establishment of Relations with the Zionist Entity,” the law was championed by radical Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr, making it a capital crime to promote “any ideas, ideologies, principles, or Israeli or Zionist conduct, in any form.” The legislation also contains the ambiguous clause outlawing “financial or moral assistance” to Israel and its citizens. Acts as simple as talking with an Israeli citizen on the phone may now potentially incur the death penalty in Iraq, a prospect which does not bode well for the few remaining Jewish residents of Iraqi Kurdistan who might communicate with relatives in the Jewish State. The US State Department claimed that the Biden Administration is “deeply disturbed” by the passage of the Iraqi law and reaffirmed its commitment to the State of Israel and Mideast peace initiatives.

As the incidence of “wars and rumors of wars” continues to increase across the Middle East, we implore the Maranatha global family to join us in prayer for the opening of a “great, effectual door” for Good News in the region. We firmly believe that ongoing hostilities, upheaval, and chaos create opportunities for the message of the Prince of Peace.

Maranatha!