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Israel, Azerbaijan Strengthen Strategic Alliance With Gas Exploration Deal Signing in Jerusalem

Israeli Minister of Energy Eli Cohen (right) shaking hands with Azerbaijani Minister of Economy Mikayil Jabbarov as Israel and Azerbaijan’s state oil company SOCAR sign a gas exploration license agreement in Jerusalem, March 17, 2025. Photo: Screenshot
Israel and Azerbaijan strengthened their strategic alliance on Monday as Azerbaijan’s state oil company, SOCAR, signed a gas exploration license agreement in Jerusalem.
The agreement, expected to strengthen Israel’s energy security, marked the latest development of the Jewish state and the predominantly Shi’ite Muslim country continuing to expand their cooperation and strengthen bilateral ties amid increasing regional tensions.
During a visit to Israel, Azerbaijan’s Economy Minister Mikayil Jabbarov, who also serves as chairman of SOCAR, signed the gas exploration deal with Israeli Energy Minister Eli Cohen, the Israeli Ministry of Energy and Infrastructure announced on Monday.
During our working visit to Israel, alongside Rovshan Najaf (@RovshanNajaf), the President of SOCAR (@SOCARofficial), we attended the presentation ceremony of exploration licenses for Block “I” in Israel’s Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ). These licenses offer strategic advantages… pic.twitter.com/ZVoclkmyTP
— Mikayil Jabbarov (@MikayilJabbarov) March 17, 2025
As part of our working visit to Israel, a #MemorandumofUnderstanding was signed between #SOCAR (@SOCARofficial) and Union Energy on joint exploration activities in Israel’s Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ). The implementation of this agreement will drive the expansion of the… pic.twitter.com/VpmgiHBuqU
— Mikayil Jabbarov (@MikayilJabbarov) March 17, 2025
Part of a consortium that included British multinational oil and gas firm BP and Israel’s NewMed Energy, SOCAR will now have the right to explore one offshore block in the Mediterranean, with three years to conduct seismic surveys to assess the potential presence of gas reserves.
“The entry of SOCAR and BP is excellent news for the State of Israel,” Cohen said in a statement. “Natural gas is a strategic asset that strengthens our economic and political standing in the world in general and in the Middle East in particular. Therefore, especially these days, we are working to expand natural gas production, for the benefit of the local economy and for exports.”
Meanwhile, Jabbarov referred to the “strategic alliance” between Israel and Azerbaijan while documenting his trip on social media.
In 2023, SOCAR secured the exploration rights via a tender from Israel’s Energy Ministry to drill in Mediterranean fields near the Leviathan field, one of the largest offshore gas discoveries in the world. However, the signing was postponed due to the Israel-Hamas war.
The new exploration licenses will allow access to Cluster I — an area covering approximately 1,700 square kilometers in the northern part of Israel’s economic waters. In a statement, the Israeli Energy Ministry said this area “has hardly been explored in the past in terms of natural resources.”
During his visit, Jabbarov also met with Israeli President Isaac Herzog and senior business leaders. He is the first Azerbaijani minister to visit Israel since the Hamas-led invasion of and massacre across southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, which triggered the Gaza war.
Last month, Hikmet Hajiyev, the assistant to Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev, met with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to discuss bilateral ties and regional developments on his second such trip in the last three months.
Azerbaijan’s ties with Israel have long been significant, with the country serving as the Jewish state’s most vital ally in the Caucasus and Central Asia for more than three decades, fostering a partnership that spans energy security, defense, and intelligence.
As of 2019, Azerbaijan supplied over a third of the Jewish state’s oil. Last year, Israel was the sixth-biggest buyer of oil from Azerbaijan, with sales totaling $713 million.
Meanwhile, Baku has acquired advanced Israeli defense systems, including the “Barak MX” missile system and surveillance satellites, and remains a leading buyer of Israeli military hardware, which was crucial in its 2020 war with Armenia.
Last month, Israel and SOCAR struck a major energy deal in which the Azerbaijani state oil company invested heavily in in Israel’s offshore gas fields. The deal made SOCAR a significant stakeholder in the Tamar gas field, which is a major natural gas source for Israel and has turned the country into a gas exporter in the region.
The agreement also marked one of the latest examples of Azerbaijan’s growing influence in the Middle East.
Azerbaijan’s strategic importance stems not only from its economic influence in the region but also from its role at the crossroads of a growing pro-Western bloc countering the regional ambitions of Iran, with which Azerbaijan shares a long border.
The Abraham Accords reshaped regional alliances during US President Donald Trump’s first term, and experts have argued that his current administration could further this shift, with Azerbaijan – a country that shares hundreds of miles of border with Iran while maintaining strong ties with Israel and Turkey – playing a key role in balancing regional power blocs and advancing Trump’s goals for the Middle East.
The post Israel, Azerbaijan Strengthen Strategic Alliance With Gas Exploration Deal Signing in Jerusalem first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Hamas Says No Interim Hostage Deal Possible Without Work Toward Permanent Ceasefire

Explosions send smoke into the air in Gaza, as seen from the Israeli side of the border, July 17, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Amir Cohen
The spokesperson for Hamas’s armed wing said on Friday that while the Palestinian terrorist group favors reaching an interim truce in the Gaza war, if such an agreement is not reached in current negotiations it could revert to insisting on a full package deal to end the conflict.
Hamas has previously offered to release all the hostages held in Gaza and conclude a permanent ceasefire agreement, and Israel has refused, Abu Ubaida added in a televised speech.
Arab mediators Qatar and Egypt, backed by the United States, have hosted more than 10 days of talks on a US-backed proposal for a 60-day truce in the war.
Israeli officials were not immediately available for comment on the eve of the Jewish Sabbath.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said in a statement on a call he had with Pope Leo on Friday that Israel‘s efforts to secure a hostage release deal and 60-day ceasefire “have so far not been reciprocated by Hamas.”
As part of the potential deal, 10 hostages held in Gaza would be returned along with the bodies of 18 others, spread out over 60 days. In exchange, Israel would release a number of detained Palestinians.
“If the enemy remains obstinate and evades this round as it has done every time before, we cannot guarantee a return to partial deals or the proposal of the 10 captives,” said Abu Ubaida.
Disputes remain over maps of Israeli army withdrawals, aid delivery mechanisms into Gaza, and guarantees that any eventual truce would lead to ending the war, said two Hamas officials who spoke to Reuters on Friday.
The officials said the talks have not reached a breakthrough on the issues under discussion.
Hamas says any agreement must lead to ending the war, while Netanyahu says the war will only end once Hamas is disarmed and its leaders expelled from Gaza.
Almost 1,650 Israelis and foreign nationals have been killed as a result of the conflict, including 1,200 killed in the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas attack on southern Israel, according to Israeli tallies. Over 250 hostages were kidnapped during Hamas’s Oct. 7 onslaught.
Israel responded with an ongoing military campaign aimed at freeing the hostages and dismantling Hamas’s military and governing capabilities in neighboring Gaza.
The post Hamas Says No Interim Hostage Deal Possible Without Work Toward Permanent Ceasefire first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Iran Marks 31st Anniversary of AMIA Bombing by Slamming Argentina’s ‘Baseless’ Accusations, Blaming Israel

People hold images of the victims of the 1994 bombing attack on the Argentine Israeli Mutual Association (AMIA) community center, marking the 30th anniversary of the attack, in Buenos Aires, Argentina, July 18, 2024. Photo: REUTERS/Irina Dambrauskas
Iran on Friday marked the 31st anniversary of the 1994 bombing of the Argentine Israelite Mutual Association (AMIA) Jewish community center in Buenos Aires by slamming Argentina for what it called “baseless” accusations over Tehran’s alleged role in the terrorist attack and accusing Israel of politicizing the atrocity to influence the investigation and judicial process.
The Iranian Foreign Ministry issued a statement on the anniversary of Argentina’s deadliest terrorist attack, which killed 85 people and wounded more than 300.
“While completely rejecting the accusations against Iranian citizens, the Islamic Republic of Iran condemns attempts by certain Argentine factions to pressure the judiciary into issuing baseless charges and politically motivated rulings,” the statement read.
“Reaffirming that the charges against its citizens are unfounded, the Islamic Republic of Iran insists on restoring their reputation and calls for an end to this staged legal proceeding,” it continued.
Last month, a federal judge in Argentina ordered the trial in absentia of 10 Iranian and Lebanese nationals suspected of orchestrating the attack in Buenos Aires.
The ten suspects set to stand trial include former Iranian and Lebanese ministers and diplomats, all of whom are subject to international arrest warrants issued by Argentina for their alleged roles in the terrorist attack.
In its statement on Friday, Iran also accused Israel of influencing the investigation to advance a political campaign against the Islamist regime in Tehran, claiming the case has been used to serve Israeli interests and hinder efforts to uncover the truth.
“From the outset, elements and entities linked to the Zionist regime [Israel] exploited this suspicious explosion, pushing the investigation down a false and misleading path, among whose consequences was to disrupt the long‑standing relations between the people of Iran and Argentina,” the Iranian Foreign Ministry said.
“Clear, undeniable evidence now shows the Zionist regime and its affiliates exerting influence on the Argentine judiciary to frame Iranian nationals,” the statement continued.
In April, lead prosecutor Sebastián Basso — who took over the case after the 2015 murder of his predecessor, Alberto Nisman — requested that federal Judge Daniel Rafecas issue national and international arrest warrants for Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei over his alleged involvement in the attack.
Since 2006, Argentine authorities have sought the arrest of eight Iranians — including former president Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, who died in 2017 — yet more than three decades after the deadly bombing, all suspects remain still at large.
In a post on X, the Delegation of Argentine Israelite Associations (DAIA), the country’s Jewish umbrella organization, released a statement commemorating the 31st anniversary of the bombing.
“It was a brutal attack on Argentina, its democracy, and its rule of law,” the group said. “At DAIA, we continue to demand truth and justice — because impunity is painful, and memory is a commitment to both the present and the future.”
31 años del atentado a la AMIA – DAIA. 31 años sin justicia.
El 18 de julio de 1994, un atentado terrorista dejó 85 personas muertas y más de 300 heridas. Fue un ataque brutal contra la Argentina, su democracia y su Estado de derecho.
Desde la DAIA, seguimos exigiendo verdad y… pic.twitter.com/kV2ReGNTIk
— DAIA (@DAIAArgentina) July 18, 2025
Despite Argentina’s longstanding belief that Lebanon’s Shiite Hezbollah terrorist group carried out the devastating attack at Iran’s request, the 1994 bombing has never been claimed or officially solved.
Meanwhile, Tehran has consistently denied any involvement and refused to arrest or extradite any suspects.
To this day, the decades-long investigation into the terrorist attack has been plagued by allegations of witness tampering, evidence manipulation, cover-ups, and annulled trials.
In 2006, former prosecutor Nisman formally charged Iran for orchestrating the attack and Hezbollah for carrying it out.
Nine years later, he accused former Argentine President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner — currently under house arrest on corruption charges — of attempting to cover up the crime and block efforts to extradite the suspects behind the AMIA atrocity in return for Iranian oil.
Nisman was killed later that year, and to this day, both his case and murder remain unresolved and under ongoing investigation.
The alleged cover-up was reportedly formalized through the memorandum of understanding signed in 2013 between Kirchner’s government and Iranian authorities, with the stated goal of cooperating to investigate the AMIA bombing.
The post Iran Marks 31st Anniversary of AMIA Bombing by Slamming Argentina’s ‘Baseless’ Accusations, Blaming Israel first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Jordan Reveals Muslim Brotherhood Operating Vast Illegal Funding Network Tied to Gaza Donations, Political Campaigns

Murad Adailah, the head of Jordan’s Muslim Brotherhood, attends an interview with Reuters in Amman, Jordan, Sept. 7, 2024. Photo: REUTERS/Jehad Shelbak
The Muslim Brotherhood, one of the Arab world’s oldest and most influential Islamist movements, has been implicated in a wide-ranging network of illegal financial activities in Jordan and abroad, according to a new investigative report.
Investigations conducted by Jordanian authorities — along with evidence gathered from seized materials — revealed that the Muslim Brotherhood raised tens of millions of Jordanian dinars through various illegal activities, the Jordan news agency (Petra) reported this week.
With operations intensifying over the past eight years, the report showed that the group’s complex financial network was funded through various sources, including illegal donations, profits from investments in Jordan and abroad, and monthly fees paid by members inside and outside the country.
The report also indicated that the Muslim Brotherhood has taken advantage of the war in Gaza to raise donations illegally.
Out of all donations meant for Gaza, the group provided no information on where the funds came from, how much was collected, or how they were distributed, and failed to work with any international or relief organizations to manage the transfers properly.
Rather, the investigations revealed that the Islamist network used illicit financial mechanisms to transfer funds abroad.
According to Jordanian authorities, the group gathered more than JD 30 million (around $42 million) over recent years.
With funds transferred to several Arab, regional, and foreign countries, part of the money was allegedly used to finance domestic political campaigns in 2024, as well as illegal activities and cells.
In April, Jordan outlawed the Muslim Brotherhood, the country’s most vocal opposition group, and confiscated its assets after members of the Islamist movement were found to be linked to a sabotage plot.
The movement’s political arm in Jordan, the Islamic Action Front, became the largest political grouping in parliament after elections last September, although most seats are still held by supporters of the government.
Opponents of the group, which is banned in most Arab countries, label it a terrorist organization. However, the movement claims it renounced violence decades ago and now promotes its Islamist agenda through peaceful means.
The post Jordan Reveals Muslim Brotherhood Operating Vast Illegal Funding Network Tied to Gaza Donations, Political Campaigns first appeared on Algemeiner.com.