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Israeli Parliament's Initial Vote Approves Death Penalty for Terrorists, Criticized for Targeting Palestinians

In an initial reading, the Israeli parliament approved a bill that allows the death penalty for Palestinians but not for Israelis who kill Palestinians. Under the proposed legislation, Israeli courts can sentence Palestinians to capital punishment if they have committed a murder motivated by nationalism against an Israeli citizen.

The bill received support from 55 members of the Knesset, while 9 opposed it.

This proposed legislation comes at a time of increased tensions between Palestinians and Israelis, as evidenced by the recent attack on the town of Huwara by radical settlers, which resulted in the death of a Palestinian and destruction of property.

The bill will now proceed to the House Committee before being presented to the Knesset for the first reading.

The Adalah Legal Centre for Arab Minority Rights in Israel has criticized the bill, describing it as "immoral" and a reflection of the Knesset's attempt to establish two legal systems based on race.

Read more on The New Arab.

Israeli-led crowdfunding raises hundreds of thousands of dollars for torched Palestinian town

The organizer of an Israeli-led crowdfunding campaign announced on Thursday, March 2, that hundreds of thousands of dollars had been raised for Palestinian residents of a West Bank town that was set on fire by radical Israeli settlers.

The campaign, which raised nearly 1.7 million shekels ($465,000) from 12,000 Israeli donors, aims to compensate Palestinians whose property was damaged in the attack.

The fundraising effort is an uncommon example of cooperation between Israelis and Palestinians amidst surging tensions and spiraling violence.

Late on Sunday, scores of Israeli settlers in the northern West Bank town of Hawara went on a violent rampage, setting dozens of cars and homes on fire after a Palestinian gunman killed two settlers.

The Palestinian Health Ministry reported that one Palestinian was killed by Israeli fire during the incident.

The attack drew international condemnation, but Israel's government expressed little outrage and only called on the perpetrators not to take the law into their own hands.

Some lawmakers went further, with Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich stating that Hawara should be "erased," although he later backtracked on his remarks.

This year, more than 60 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli fire, about half of them militants, while Palestinian attacks against Israelis have killed 14 Israelis, making it one of the deadliest periods between Israelis and Palestinians in recent years.

Read more on Associated Press.

IAEA Chief to visit Tehran after Iran's 83.7% enrichment raises concerns

The United Nations' nuclear watchdog announced on March 2 that its director-general, Rafael Mariano Grossi, had been invited to Tehran by the Iranian government for high-level meetings.

The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) is based in Vienna and revealed this news just days after reporting that uranium particles enriched up to 83.7% were discovered at Iran's Fordo nuclear site.

Grossi is expected to hold a press conference upon his return to Vienna on Saturday, March 4.

The IAEA's confidential quarterly report, distributed to member states on Tuesday, is likely to heighten tensions between Iran and the West over its nuclear program.

The report described how, on January 21, inspectors found two cascades of IR-6 centrifuges at Iran's Fordo facility had been configured in a way "substantially different" from what was previously declared, and samples taken the following day revealed particles with up to 83.7% purity.

Uranium enriched to 60% purity is already seen as problematic, as it has no civilian use, and uranium at nearly 84% is almost weapons-grade.

Iran's 2015 nuclear deal limited Tehran's uranium stockpile to 300 kilograms and enrichment to 3.67%, enough to fuel a nuclear power plant.

The U.S. withdrew from the accord in 2018, and Iran has long maintained that its nuclear program is peaceful and it is not seeking nuclear weapons.

Read more on Associated Press.

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UAE sends second astronaut to space

The United Arab Emirates (UAE) on March 2 successfully launched its second astronaut, Sultan Saif Al-Neyadi, into space on the NASA-named spacecraft Endeavor, or Zayed Ambition 2 by Dubai's Mohammed Bin Rashid Space Center (MBRSC). Al-Neyadi, a military engineer, is joined by three other international crew members, and they are currently in orbit after a midnight launch from NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

The astronauts are expected to dock at the International Space Station (ISS) on March 3 and join members of Expedition 68 to work together on research projects.

One project will assess the effects of microgravity on cardio-postural interactions, while the second will study dental and oral cells in a simulated microgravity environment.

The mission aims to involve educational outreach efforts to engage young Emirati students and researchers.

The UAE considers space exploration a top priority for the next 50 years and has invested about $6 billion in space-related activities between 2015 and 2020, with a 40% increase in contractual agreements for space services in 2020, according to the UAE Space Agency.

Read more on Al-Monitor.

Saudi Firms Outline $51 Billion of Projects Under Diversification Plan

Saudi Arabia announced a government incentive program this week aimed at diversifying its economy and reducing its dependence on oil. The program is part of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman's Vision 2030 plan to raise the kingdom's status to one of the world's top 15 economies by 2030. The plan includes 192 billion riyals ($51 billion) of investments from local companies, including Saudi Aramco and mining giant Maaden. In 2022, Saudi Arabia was the fastest-growing among the Group of 20 economies.

Read more on Bloomberg.

Egypt: Hidden corridor in Great Pyramid of Giza seen for first time

Egyptian officials in charge of antiquities have confirmed a hidden internal corridor above the main entrance of the Great Pyramid of Giza.

The corridor, which is 9 meters long and 2.1 meters wide, was discovered in 2016 using an imaging technique called muography.

Scientists made the discovery from the ScanPyramids Project, which used muons to detect density changes inside the pyramid.

Muons are subatomic particles similar to electrons but have a weight about 200 times heavier.

The officials suggest that the corridor could have been built to redistribute the pyramid's weight around the entrance or provide access to an undiscovered chamber.

The team recently released footage from an endoscope showing the inside of the corridor, with walls made of roughly hewn stone blocks and a vaulted stone ceiling.

The Great Pyramid of Giza, which stands at 146 meters high, was built on the Giza plateau during the fourth dynasty by the pharaoh Khufu, or Cheops.

Despite being one of Earth's oldest and largest monuments, there is still no consensus on how it was constructed.

Read more on BBC News.

Libya approves amendments to the constitution to hold elections

Libya's High Council of State voted on Thursday, March 2, in favor of a constitutional amendment aimed at laying the groundwork for elections.

However, experts believe that the changes do not address the issues that have hindered a national vote, which has been delayed for years due to disagreements.

This comes after a special UN envoy for Libya took charge of the stalled political process earlier this week, with elections being seen as the key to resolving the conflict that has plagued the country.

The political impasse in Libya began in late 2021 when a scheduled election was canceled due to disputes over rules, and the eastern-based parliament, the House of Representatives, withdrew its support from the UN-brokered interim government.

The vote on Thursday approved a constitutional amendment that was issued by the House of Representatives last month, but foreign powers have stressed that significant political changes require the approval of both the House of Representatives and the High Council of State under a 2015 agreement designed to establish a short transitional period that would ultimately resolve the conflict.

Read more on Al-Jazeera.

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About me

My name is Dario Sabaghi, and I am a freelance journalist interested in international news focusing on the MENA region.

Check out my work at dariosabaghi.com.

You can follow me on Twitter: @DarioSabaghi

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Cover photo: Reuters Archive/TRT World

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Israeli Parliament's Initial Vote Approves…