Algeria pledges $100 mn to Palestinians

Algeria's President Abdelmadjid Tebboune pledged $100 million in aid to the Palestinians, as Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas visited Algiers on Monday.

Tebboune said at a joint press conference that the funding was "in keeping with Algeria's revolutionary history and the entire Algerian people's commitment to support the just Palestinian cause under all circumstances".

Algeria is to host an Arab League summit in March 2022, the first since Morocco renewed ties with Israel amid a string of US-brokered normalisation deals with the Jewish state.

Tebboune said Monday that Algeria plans "to put the Palestinian cause at the centre of this important event".

Algerian television also reported that Tebboune plans to host Palestinian factions for talks.

The Palestinian leader's tour of North Africa, where he also plans to visit Tunisia, comes two weeks after Israeli Defence Minister Benny Gantz signed an unprecedented defence deal with Morocco.

That deal stoked already high tensions with Algeria, which sees Israeli defence cooperation with the kingdom as a danger to its national security.

A top Algerian official said Gantz's visited "targeted" his country.

Algiers broke off diplomatic ties with Rabat in August, citing "hostile" actions by Morocco, which the kingdom denies.