Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu landed in Chad, Sunday morning for a visit of about seven hours, during which he and Chadian President Idriss Déby are expected to announce the resumption of bilateral ties.

After arriving in the country, Netanyahu was greeted by Chad Foreign Minister Mahamat Zene, the second-highest official in the country, a local source told The Times of Israel.

At the presidential palace in N’Djamena, the country’s capital city, Netanyahu met with Chad’s President Idriss Déby for a one-on-one talk, with another scheduled together with their expanded staff.

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He and Déby are expected to issue a formal declaration about the reestablishment of diplomatic relations, which were severed 47 years ago.

If Chad formally resumes ties with Israel, the number of countries that have diplomatic ties with the Jewish state would reach a record 160, part of an intense drive by Netanyahu to expand Israel’s diplomatic reach. In November, Déby made a surprise visit to Israel, during which he said he was interested in restoring full diplomatic ties.

Before taking off, the prime minister called the visit a “historic breakthrough.”

“Chad is a huge Muslim country that borders on Libya and Sudan. It’s part of the revolution we are doing in the Arab and Muslim world,” he said from the tarmac.

Netanyahu claimed that Iran and the Palestinians were trying to prevent Israel’s diplomatic push.

“It greatly worries, even greatly angers [them],” he said.

The last country to renew diplomatic ties with Israel was Nicaragua, in March of 2017. The Central American country had severed diplomatic relations seven years earlier, in protest over an incident during which violent pro-Palestinian activists and IDF troops clashed aboard the Gaza-bound Mavi Marmara ship.

At the time, Netanyahu did not fly to Nicaragua for a ceremony.

In N’Djamena, Netanyahu is widely expected to boost defense deals and other trade ties with Chad. For that purpose, he is joined by senior officials from the defense and finance ministries, Israel’s Kan broadcaster reported on Saturday.

After delivering a statement to the press, Netanyahu is scheduled to leave for Israel around 3 p.m.

Chad is located in a potentially strategically important place for Israel, as it could enable Israeli aircraft to shave off several hours in flight routes to Latin America (though for this to happen Israel would also need to get overfly rights from Sudan, which does not appear imminent).

Netanyahu’s flight, which must skirt Sudan, is expected to take eight hours, despite N’Djamena being only 3,000 kilometers (1,800 miles) from Tel Aviv.

The Republic of Chad cut diplomatic ties with Jerusalem on November 28, 1972, at the behest of Libyan dictator Muammar Ghaddafi.

Nearly 15 million people live in Chad, 55 percent of them Muslim. About 40% are Christian.

Israel and Chadian leaders have acknowledged that clandestine contacts continued even after relations were severed.

“The relations between our countries were cut in 1972 for specific historic reasons, but our special relations continued all the time,” Déby, who has ruled Chad since 1990, said in Jerusalem in November.

“The resumption of diplomatic relations with your country, which I desire, does not make us ignore the Palestinian issue,” Déby continued. “My country is profoundly attached to the peace process and has shaped the Arab peace initiative, the Madrid principles and existing agreements.”

At an event at the Jerusalem residence of President Reuven Rivlin, Déby said Israel is “an important partner” for Chad.

“Of course, peace has not yet come to the region. Peace is what every people needs to live a good life. I want to say to you that diplomatic relations with Israel would not make the Palestinians disappear. This is a critical issues that must be dealt with,” he said.

Netanyahu has traveled to Africa three times in the last two years, visiting Kenya, Rwanda, Ethiopia, Uganda, and Liberia.

He regularly vows to expand ties with all countries on the continent, including those that do not have diplomatic relations with Israel.

In July 2016, the Republic of Guinea, a small, overwhelmingly Muslim country in West Africa, renewed diplomatic relations with Israel, after it had cut ties with the Jewish state in 1967.

Since then, Netanyahu has met with leaders of additional African Muslim-majority states, such as Mali and Somalia. </s> A U.S.-based monitoring group says Jama’at Nusrat al-Islam Muslimeen, known as JNIM and formed in 2017, says it carried out the attack in response to Chad renewing diplomatic ties with Israel.

DAKAR, Senegal — SITE Intelligence Group says Mali’s al-Qaida branch has claimed responsibility for an attack on a United Nations peacekeeping mission that killed at least 10 peacekeepers and wounded 25 others in northern Mali’s Kidal region.

The U.S.-based monitoring group says Jama’at Nusrat al-Islam Muslimeen, known as JNIM and formed in 2017, says it carried out the attack in response to Chad renewing diplomatic ties with Israel. It suggested this was the first of many “responses” to Chad’s relations with Israel.

The renewed ties were announced after a recent visit by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to Chad.

Sunday’s attack targeted the base in Aguelhoc, which houses Chadian peacekeepers. Peacekeepers from Chad, a strong contributor to regional security efforts, have suffered repeated assaults in Mali. </s> Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu held a "secret meeting" with Moroccan Foreign Minister Nasser Bourita last September, according to Israeli media on Monday.

The meeting took place on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly in New York, where they discussed normalizing ties between Israel and Morocco, Israeli Channel 13 reported.

"Netanyahu also mentioned that he was intending to visit Morocco publicly," the channel quoted an Israeli official as saying. 

 Israel and Morocco don't have diplomatic relations.

According to the Israeli channel, talks between Netanyahu and Bourita also tackled the Iranian issue.

Netanyahu's office, meanwhile, declined to confirm the meeting had taken place.

"We do not comment on contacts with countries Israel has no formal relations with," it said.

There was no comment from Moroccan authorities on the allegation.

With the exception of Jordan and Egypt, which have signed peace agreements with Israel, no Arab state has official relations with Tel Aviv. </s> (AFP) — BAMAKO, Mali — Jihadist gunmen angered by Chad forging ties with Israel killed 10 Chadian peacekeepers and injured at least 25 others in an attack on a UN camp in northern Mali on Sunday, one of the deadliest strikes against the UN mission in the West African country.

Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) claimed responsibility for the attack, saying it was “in reaction” to the visit to Chad by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, according to the Mauritanian Al-Akhbar news agency, which regularly receives statements from this jihadist group.

Netanyahu flew to Chad for a single-day visit Sunday, re-establishing ties with the Muslim-majority country after 47 years. Netanyahu called the move ” a breakthrough into the heart of the Muslim world,” and lauded the fact that there was no opposition.

Israel has in recent years established or upgraded ties with a number of African countries, including with Guinea, which neighbors Mali.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres strongly condemned what he described as a “complex attack” on the peacekeepers camp in Aguelhok, in Kidal region and called for the perpetrators to be brought to justice.

“Ten peacekeepers from Chad were killed and at least 25 injured,” said a statement from UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric.

The gunmen struck early Sunday at the Aguelhok base 200 kilometers (125 miles) north of Kidal and towards the border with Algeria, according to a source close to the MINUSMA mission.

“MINUSMA forces responded robustly and a number of assailants were killed,” Dujarric said, without specifying the toll.

Mahamat Saleh Annadif, the UN envoy for Mali, condemned what he called a “vile and criminal” attack.

“Peacekeepers of the MINUSMA force at Aguelhok fought off a sophisticated attack by assailants who arrived on several armed vehicles,” he said in a statement.

The attack “illustrates the determination of the terrorists to sow chaos.

“It demands a robust, immediate and concerted response from all forces to destroy the peril of terrorism in the Sahel.”

On Sunday, France’s Defense Minister Florence Parly told French radio that the G5 Sahel anti-jihadist force in the region was resuming its operations.

They were suspended after an attack on their headquarters in mid-2018. The G5 force comprises contingents from Mali, Mauritania, Niger, Burkina Faso and Chad.

An attack at the same base last April killed two peacekeepers and left several others wounded.

In October 2014, nine troops of a Nigerian contingent were killed in the northeast.

Some 13,000 peacekeepers are deployed in Mali as part of a UN mission.

It was established after Islamist militias seized the north of the country in 2012. They were pushed back by French troops in 2013.

A peace agreement signed in 2015 by the Bamako government and armed groups was aimed at restoring stability to Mali.

But the accord has failed to stop violence by Islamist militants, who have also staged attacks in neighboring Burkina Faso and Niger.

Earlier this month, both France and the United States criticized the authorities in Mali for their failure to stem the worsening violence.

On January 16, France threatened to push for more targeted sanctions to be imposed on Mali after hearing a UN official report on worsening violence in the West African country.

Washington renewed its warning that it would push for changes to the peacekeeping mission in Mali, possibly a major drawdown, if there was no progress.

In August, a panel of experts said in a report to the UN Security Council that inter-communal conflicts in the region were exacerbating existing tensions from clashes between jihadist groups and international and Malian forces. </s> Israel’s foreign ministry said Tuesday the country was “reducing” ties with nations that voted for last week’s UN Security Council resolution demanding a halt to settlement building in Palestinian territory.

Refuting reports that ties had been suspended, foreign ministry spokesman Emmanuel Nahshon said that Israel was “temporarily reducing” visits and work with embassies.

“Until further notice, we’ll limit our contacts with the embassies here in Israel and refrain from visits of Israeli officials to those states, and of visits of officials from those states here,” he told AFP.

Israel has already called back its ambassadors to New Zealand and Senegal for consultations, and cancelled aid programmes with the African state.

On Tuesday, Israel informed Angola it would be freezing its aid programme there, Nahshon said.

Israeli media have reported that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who also serves as foreign minister, has asked officials to visit the countries that voted for the resolution as little as possible for now.

At least two trips have been cancelled or postponed, including this week’s visit to Israel by Ukrainian Prime Minister Volodymyr Groysman and an upcoming visit by the Senegalese foreign minister.

There have also been reports that Netanyahu was calling off a meeting with British Prime Minister Theresa May at next month’s World Economic Forum in Davos, but there has been no official confirmation.

Deputy foreign minister Tzipi Hotovely said Tuesday she was concerned that Israel would miss opportunities to explain its position by cancelling visits, but that she supported making clear “you can’t take Israel for granted.”

Countries should not be able to “make pilgrimages to Israel to learn about fighting terror, cyber-defence and agricultural technologies, and in the UN do whatever you want,” she told army radio.

Netanyahu and other Israeli officials have responded with especially harsh language to Friday’s Security Council resolution which passed after the United States abstained from voting.

Netanyahu has alleged that US President Barack Obama “colluded” to see the “shameful” resolution through in the waning days of his administration.

By deciding not to veto the move, the United States enabled the adoption of the first UN resolution since 1979 to condemn Israel over its settlement policy.

The text was passed with support from all remaining members of the 15-member council.

Israel summoned ambassadors of countries that voted for the resolution on Sunday -- Christmas Day -- while Netanyahu also met with US ambassador to Israel Dan Shapiro.

Security Council members such as Russia, China and Britain are key to Israeli diplomacy or trade and some analysts suggested the measures being taken were more symbolic than substantive.

The United States is Israel’s most important ally and provides it with more than $3 billion per year in defence aid.

On Monday, Netanyahu defended his response to the UN vote in the face of criticism that he was overreacting, saying “we do not turn the other cheek”.

“Not only will our relations with the nations of the world not be harmed, over time they will only improve because the nations of the world respect strong countries that stand up for themselves and do not respect weak ingratiating countries that bow their heads,” he told a conference. </s> PARIS (Reuters) - French warplanes struck a rebel convoy in northern Chad on Sunday, helping local troops repel an incursion across the border from Libya, a sign France’s support for President Idriss Deby goes beyond fighting Islamist militants.

FILE PHOTO: Chad's President Idriss Deby arrives to attend a visit and a dinner at the Orsay Museum on the eve of the commemoration ceremony for Armistice Day in Paris, France, November 10, 2018. REUTERS/Benoit Tessier/File Photo

Mirage jets struck a column of 40 pickups carrying armed groups from Libya deep into Chadian territory, the French army said in a statement.

“This intervention at the request of Chadian authorities helped hinder this hostile advance and disperse the column,” it said.

The strikes were the first by French jets in support of Chadian troops since the rebel Military Command Council for the Salvation of the Republic (CCMSR) based in southern Libya increased its activities last year in a bid to overthrow him.

The Union of Forces of Resistance (UFR), a rebel Chadian coalition created in 2009 after almost toppling Deby, said it was behind the offensive. CCMSR is a splinter group of the UFR.

“The aim is to bring Deby down,” a UFR official said. “We thought France would not intervene in Chad’s internal affairs, but it appears that it is offering no solutions for the Chadian people beyond keeping Deby in power to do their dirty work in the region.”

The official said two fighters had been killed and two trucks destroyed.

Deby has faced several rebellions since seizing power in 1990 in a military coup. International observers have questioned the fairness of elections that have kept him in office since and last year he pushed through constitutional reforms that could keep him on office until 2033.

France considers its former colony as vital in the fight against Islamist militants in West Africa and based its 4,500-strong counter-terrorism Operation Barkhane force in the capital N’djamena where the United States also has a base.

But Deby’s fight against Islamist militants - he has deployed troops to counter groups linked to al Qaeda and Islamic State in the Sahel and Lake Chad region- has strained his military and hit the oil-dependent economy, leading to growing dissatisfaction in one of the world’s poorest nations.

“Deby remains the most viable and solid partner in the region. The Chadians are counting on France for the Libyan border,” a French military source said.

Chad’s military command said the operation had neutralized the column of “mercenaries and terrorists” in Chadian territory after earlier operations by the Libyan National Army.

The LNA, the military wing of one of Libya’s two rival governments that operates in the east of the country under General Khalifa Haftar, began operations against Chadian rebels at the start of the year.

Haftar has close ties with France which has backed him against Islamist militants in Libya. </s> ADDIS ABABA, June 17 (Reuters) - The African Union urged Djibouti and Eritrea to remain calm and exercise restraint on Saturday after Djibouti accused its neighbour of occupying disputed territory along their border following the withdrawal of Qatari peacekeepers.

On Friday, Djibouti's Foreign Minister Mahamoud Ali Youssouf said Eritrean troops had seized Dumeira Mountain and Dumeira Island, areas the neighbours contest, and his country's military was on alert.

Authorities in the Eritrean capital Asmara were not available for comment.

Qatari peacekeepers were previously deployed along the frontier. Doha announced on June 14 that it had pulled its contingent out, days after the East African countries sided with Saudi Arabia and its allies in their standoff with Qatar.

In a statement, the African Union Commission's Chairperson Moussa Faki Mahamat appealed for calm.

"The AU Commission, in close consultations with the authorities in Djibouti and Eritrea, is in the process of deploying a fact-finding mission to the Djibouti-Eritrea border," he said.

The United Nations Security Council is due to discuss the situation behind closed doors on Monday, according to diplomats.

Clashes broke out between the Horn of Africa countries in June 2008 after Djibouti accused Asmara of moving troops across the border, raising fears the spat could engulf the region.

The dispute triggered several days of fighting in which a dozen Djiboutian troops died and dozens were wounded. Eritrea had initially denied making any incursions, accusing Djibouti of launching unprovoked attacks.

At the time, the U.N. Security Council requested both sides withdraw, before the neighbours accepted a Qatari request to mediate and deploy peacekeepers.

Qatar has not given reasons for its withdrawal, but it comes amid a diplomatic crisis with some of its Arab neighbours. They cut ties a week ago, accusing Qatar of backing Islamist militants and Iran - claims Doha strongly denies. (Reporting by Aaron Maasho; Editing by Mark Trevelyan) </s> PARIS (Reuters) - French fighter jets struck targets in northern Chad on Sunday in support of local troops trying to repel a convoy of unidentified fighters that had crossed the border from Libya, the French military said on Monday.

The strikes could be the first official backing by Paris of President Idriss Deby as he looks to quell a fledgling rebel movement, the Military Command Council for the Salvation of the Republic (CCMSR), that seeks to overthrow him.

The statement did not say who was behind the incursion, but it was the first time French forces have hit targets in support of Chadian troops since the CCMSR movement based in southern Libya increased its activities last year.

“A Mirage 2000 patrol of the French armed forces intervened jointly with the Chadian army in northern Chad to strike a column of 40 pickups of an armed group from Libya infiltrating deep into Chadian territory,” the armed forces said on Monday.

“This intervention at the request of Chadian authorities helped hinder this hostile advance and disperse the column.”

France considers its former colony as vital in the fight against Islamist militants in West Africa and the headquarters of its 4,500-strong counter-terrorism Operation Barkhane force is in the Chadian capital N’djamena. The United States also has a base in the city.

Deby has deployed thousands of battled-hardened troops to face threats from groups with links to al Qaeda and Islamic State, which operate across the lawless, semi-arid Sahel band, and from Nigeria-based Boko Haram militants.

“Deby remains the most viable and solid partner in the region and the Chadians are counting on France for the Libyan border,” a French military source said.

However, Deby’s efforts have strained N’Djamena’s military and hit the oil-dependent economy, which has in turn led to growing internal dissatisfaction.

Deby, who closed the Libyan border last year, has faced several rebellions since coming to power in 1990 at the head of an insurrection that toppled then president Hissene Habre, but there has been relative calm since 2009.

The CCMSR, which says it has 4,500 fighters, was founded in 2014 and its ranks include former rebels from the Darfur region of neighbouring Sudan and former political allies of ex-president Habre.

Deby, a taciturn French-trained ex-fighter pilot who only survived a rebel attack on his presidential palace in 2008 thanks to support from Paris, has won election five times since coming to power. </s> Ten United Nations peacekeepers from Chad were killed in a terrorist attack on their camp in Mali’s Kidal region on Sunday, AP reported. The Al-Qaeda claimed responsibility for the attack on the United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission that also injured 25 people, according to Al Jazeera.

The extremist group purportedly said the attack was a response to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s visit to Chad, Al Jazeera quoted a Mauritanian Al-Akhbar news agency report as saying.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres condemned the attack and expressed his condolences with the families of the deceased and the government of Chad. Guterres said the peacekeepers “responded robustly” against the attack and killed several of the assailants.

The Secretary-General called on the Malian authorities and armed groups who are signatories to the peace agreement to crack down on the attackers.
Chad and Israel restore diplomatic relations with each other after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu meets with Chadian President Idriss Déby in N'Djamena. Chad severed ties with Israel in 1972.