Qatar

Chinese Communist Party leader Xi Jinping called for “unity and harmony” among Persian Gulf states as he welcomed Qatari Emir Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani to Beijing on Thursday.

In a missive sent to supporters, Hillary Clinton utilized what she claimed were “false accusations” and “baseless assaults” against the controversial Clinton Foundation in order to build up the foundation’s email list.

TEL AVIV – Amid another flare-up along the Gaza border during which a Palestinian sniper opened fire on a group of IDF soldiers and explosions were reportedly heard in the northern Gaza Strip, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu stopped the transfer of Qatari funds to the Hamas-run enclave. 

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo met with Saudi King Salman and Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (MBS) in Riyadh on Monday to discuss the civil wars in Yemen and Syria, threats posed by Iran, the dispute with Qatar, and the murder of Washington Post contributor Jamal Khashoggi.

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said on Sunday that a rift between Qatar and its Gulf Arab neighbors had gone on for too long and was threatening regional unity needed to counter Iran.

Doha — US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo arrived in Qatar on Sunday pushing for an end to a diplomatic rift between Washington’s Gulf allies on the latest leg of his Middle East tour.

Iran’s foreign ministry summoned a senior Polish diplomat on Sunday in protest at Poland’s jointly hosting a global summit with the U.S. focused Iran and the Middle East.

The Taliban on Tuesday called off scheduled peace negotiations with American officials in Qatar this week over “agenda differences,” particularly the involvement of officials from the Afghan government, a truce requested by U.S.-backed Kabul, and a prisoner exchange the Taliban demanded.

The Taliban wants to change the venue of scheduled peace talks with the United States this month from Saudi Arabia to Qatar over Riyadh’s push to include the Afghan government in the negotiations, members of the Taliban declared on Sunday.

A recent op-ed in The Hill condemns American colleges that operate satellite campuses in the Middle East based on the woeful state of free speech in many countries in the region.

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo is set to depart on a tour of the Middle East next week in a bid to galvanize regional leaders to confront Iran and remind allies that the United States is not disappearing from region amid the Trump administration’s decision to pull American troops out of Syria and possibly Afghanistan, according to senior State Department officials.

The Washington Post published an interesting piece last weekend about its slain contributor Jamal Khashoggi that painted a very different portrait of the man transformed into an avatar of pure journalistic integrity by most of the media.

Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif on Saturday said US sanctions will have no impact on the policies of the Islamic republic at home or abroad.

Mueller is preparing to reveal information outlining Middle Eastern countries’ efforts to meddle in the 2016 election, according to a report. 

Contents: Qatar withdraws from Saudi Arabia-led OPEC; The split deepens between Saudi Arabia and Qatar

TEL AVIV – Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Saturday charged Iran with test-firing a medium-range ballistic missile capable of “carrying multiple warheads.”

Airbnb’s partial boycott of Israel last week came just as the Arab world, Africa, and Eastern Europe moved closer to the Jewish state.

Rabbi Marc Schneier, president of the Foundation for Ethnic Understanding (FFEU), who maintains extensive ties with countries in the Persian Gulf, said he has recently seen a vast improvement in relations between Israel and the Gulf states.

U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration has secretly held “around ten” round of talks with Taliban representatives, the Russian government claimed on Monday, contradicting media reports that there have only been two meetings.

JERUSALEM — Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu rushed back to Israel on Monday, hours after an Israeli army officer and seven Palestinians, including a local Hamas commander, were killed after an incursion by Israeli special forces into the Gaza Strip.

Contents: Qatar provides $15 million in aid to Gaza, will mediate electricity issues and Cyprus seaport; Israel and Qatar agree to a sea route between Gaza and Cyprus

The five high-level Taliban members transferred from the American prison in Guantánamo to Qatar in exchange for U.S. Army deserter, Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl have joined the jihadi organization’s political office in Doha, Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid revealed Tuesday.

Hamas on Saturday demanded that Israel transfer the Gaza-based terror group $15 million in cash from Qatar every month in order to prevent further escalation in the Palestinian enclave.

Israel will renew the supply of Qatari-purchased fuel into the Gaza Strip starting Wednesday, Defense Minister Avigdor Liberman’s office said Tuesday evening, following relative calm this week along the border.

Israel reopened the crossings into the Gaza Strip on Sunday morning, allowing people and goods in and out of the coastal enclave, following a decrease in the amount of violence along the border.

The Washington Post on Tuesday published the final column submitted by Jamal Khashoggi’s assistant before Khashoggi entered the Saudi consulate in Istanbul on October 2. He has not been seen or heard from since.

TEL AVIV – Amid sharp objections from the Palestinian leadership, the European Union on Sunday supported United Nations Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process Nikolay Mladenov’s efforts to reach a ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas.

Qatar has announced a pledge of $150 million in humanitarian aid for the Gaza Strip, the state-run Qatar News Agency (QNA) reported late Wednesday evening.

Tuesday’s fuel shipments to Gaza were a game-changer because they separated Gaza from the PLO/PA, and allow alternatives to emerge.

Qatari-bought fuel arrived at the Gaza Strip’s only power station after entering through Israel on Tuesday in a bid to alleviate conditions in the Palestinian enclave, a Hamas spokesman and sources said.