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Video: IDF at the annual African Lion 2025 military exercise

The Israeli military's involvement in the multinational exercise sparked intense backlash across Arab social media platforms, where critics condemned Morocco's collaboration with Israel.

The comprehensive African Lion 2025 training operation unfolded earlier this month throughout multiple Moroccan regions, spanning the urban centers of Agadir, Tiznit, Kenitra, Ben Guerir and Tifnit. The large-scale military cooperation involved over 10,000 personnel representing forces from the United States, Morocco and several allied nations.

Exercise components encompassed full-scale warfare simulations incorporating fighter aircraft, artillery systems and specialized commando operations. The training program additionally featured humanitarian response elements, including the deployment of mobile medical facilities.

Moroccan General Mohammad al-Qaysi highlighted how a strategic partnership with American forces proved instrumental in the exercise's operational success. He noted that such collaborative training initiatives demonstrate Morocco's dedication to enhancing military readiness while strengthening coordination mechanisms with allied partners. Israel's integration into the annual exercise began two years ago following the diplomatic normalization between the two nations.

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The Foreign Ministry issued an apology early Friday morning following an uproar in Moroccan media over Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's use of a map during a recent interview that did not depict Western Sahara as part of Morocco.

The controversy erupted after Netanyahu appeared on France's LCI channel on Thursday evening, holding a map of Morocco that excluded the Western Sahara territory. This contradicted Israel's recognition of Moroccan sovereignty over the region just over a year ago in a letter from Netanyahu himself to King Mohammed VI.

The Moroccan website Hiba Press accused Netanyahu of "once again provoking the Moroccans" with the "truncated map, without [Western] Sahara," as he discussed the Middle East situation and Gaza war. Another popular news outlet claimed Netanyahu looked angry while holding a map that did not include Morocco's "southern regions."

Social media users in Morocco condemned the Israeli leader's conduct, stating Morocco does not need recognition of its claims from the "occupying entity."

Responding to the outcry, the Foreign Ministry's Arabic spokesperson Hassan Kaabia apologized on X for the map depiction, calling it an "unintentional mistake" and "technical error." Kaabia conveyed a message directly to King Mohammed VI, stating he wished to clarify the situation and apologize for the mistake. He reaffirmed the close relationship between Israel and Morocco, emphasizing that Israel stands firmly by its previous recognition of Western Sahara as rightfully part of Moroccan territory.

The decades-old Western Sahara conflict pits Morocco, which controls most of the territory and offers autonomy under its sovereignty, against the Polisario Front demanding an independence referendum for the local Sahrawi population.

In 2020, the Trump administration broke with past US neutrality by recognizing Morocco's sovereignty claim as part of normalizing ties between Israel and Morocco. Israel officially recognized Moroccan sovereignty in 2022.

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All Israelis in Morocco who were not immediately reachable following a devastating earthquake that hit the country were contacted and were safe and sound.

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Over 2,000 people were killed, and the toll was expected to rise as rescuers struggled Saturday to reach hard-hit remote areas. The magnitude 6.8 quake, the biggest to hit the North African country in 120 years, sent people fleeing their homes in terror and disbelief late Friday.

Video: Deadly earthquake hits Morocco

An Israeli relief mission comprising IDF troops, Health Ministry officials, and medics from the Magen David Adom rescue service was announced and was expected to arrive in Morocco later on Saturday. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu expressed his condolences to Moroccan people in a statement. "I pray for them and vow to help as much as needed," the statement said, noting that he had instructed the government agencies to help their counterparts in Morocco.

Kobi Ifrach, who runs the Kulna organization in Morocco that fosters ties between Israel and Arab nations, recalled the moments of horror, saying, "While singing Shabbat songs, the house started swaying from side to side with a strong tremor. We immediately realized it was an earthquake and ran outside in crazy hysteria.

"The ground was still shaking outside. After a few minutes, we realized that this was a different event from what we knew or had been in before. In the street outside, everything was falling down," Ifrach said, adding that he and other Kulna volunteers made sure that the members of the local Jewish community were safe.

He continued, "In the morning, the destruction became clear, dozens of houses collapsed. "Our synagogue, from the outside everything is broken and destroyed and there was no way to get inside, where the ceiling collapsed."

Another Israeli tourist said, "There were a few minutes of chaos, but immediately after the earthquake we gathered in the central square, so the police protected us and later they moved us to another separate square, less full than the city's central square, where all those whose houses were destroyed, or those who are afraid of the second earthquake, went. They stood there dusty, shocked, not knowing what would happen to them, then they sat down on the ground and started eating. That's how it is here, life goes on."

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A rare, powerful earthquake struck Morocco, sending people racing from their beds into the streets and toppling buildings in mountainous villages and ancient cities not built to withstand such force. More than 2,000 people were killed, and the toll was expected to rise as rescuers struggled Saturday to reach hard-hit remote areas.

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The magnitude 6.8 quake, the biggest to hit the North African country in 120 years, sent people fleeing their homes in terror and disbelief late Friday. One man said dishes and wall hangings began raining down, and people were knocked off their feet. The quake brought down walls made from stone and masonry, covering whole communities with rubble.

Video: Deadly earthquake hits Morocco

Contact was made with all Israelis in Morocco who were not immediately reachable.

Kobi Ifrach, who runs the Kulna organization in Morocco that fosters ties between Israel and Arab nations, recalled the moments of horror, saying, "While singing Shabbat songs, the house started swaying from side to side with a strong tremor. We immediately realized it was an earthquake and ran outside in crazy hysteria.

"The ground was still shaking outside. After a few minutes, we realized that this was a different event from what we knew or had been in before. In the street outside, everything was falling down," Ifrach said, adding that he and other Kulna volunteers made sure that the members of the local Jewish community were safe.

He continued, "In the morning, the destruction became clear, dozens of houses collapsed. "Our synagogue, from the outside everything is broken and destroyed and there was no way to get inside, where the ceiling collapsed."

The devastation gripped each town along the High Atlas' steep and winding switchbacks in similar ways: homes folding in on themselves and mothers and fathers crying as boys and helmet-clad police carried the dead through the streets.

Remote villages like those in the drought-stricken Ouargane Valley were largely cut off from the world when they lost electricity and cellphone service. By midday, people were outside mourning neighbors, surveying the damage on their camera phones and telling one another "May God save us."

Hamid Idsalah, a 72-year-old mountain guide, said he and many others remained alive but had little future to look forward to. That was true in the short-term –with remnants of his kitchen reduced to dust –and in the long-term –where he and many others lack the financial means to rebound.

"I can't reconstruct my home. I don't know what I'll do. Still, I'm alive, so I'll wait," he said as he walked through the desert oasis town overlooking red rock hills, packs of goats and a glistening salt lake. "I feel heartsick."

In historic Marrakech, people could be seen on state TV clustering in the streets , afraid to go back inside buildings that might still be unstable. The city's famous Koutoubia Mosque, built in the 12th century, was damaged, but the extent was not immediately clear. Its 69-meter (226-foot) minaret is known as the "roof of Marrakech." Moroccans also posted videos showing damage to parts of the famous red walls that surround the old city, a UNESCO World Heritage site.

At least 2,012 people died in the quake, mostly in Marrakech and five provinces near the epicenter, Morocco's Interior Ministry reported Saturday night. At least 2,059 more people were injured –1,404 critically –the ministry said.

"The problem is that where destructive earthquakes are rare, buildings are simply not constructed robustly enough to cope with strong ground shaking, so many collapse, resulting in high casualties," said Bill McGuire, professor emeritus of geophysical and climate hazards at University College London.

In a sign of the huge scale of the disaster, Morocco's King Mohammed VI ordered the armed forces to mobilize specialized search and rescue teams and a surgical field hospital, according to a statement from the military.

The king said he would visit the hardest hit area Saturday, but despite an outpouring of offers of help from around the world, the Moroccan government had not formally asked for assistance, a step required before outside rescue crews could deploy.

The epicenter of Friday's tremor was near the town of Ighil in Al Haouz Province, roughly 70 kilometers (44 miles) south of Marrakech. Al Haouz is known for scenic villages and valleys tucked in the High Atlas Mountains.

Police, emergency vehicles and people fleeing in shared taxis spent hours traversing unpaved roads through the High Atlas in stop-and-go traffic, often exiting their cars to help clear giant boulders from routes known to be rugged and difficult long before Friday's earthquake. In Ijjoukak, a village in the area surrounding Toubkal, North Africa's tallest peak, residents estimated nearly 200 buildings had been leveled.

Couch cushions, electric cords and grapes were strewn in giant piles of rubble alongside dead sheep, houseplants and doors wedged between boulders. Relatives from the town and those who had driven from major cities cried while they wondered who to call as they reckoned with the aftermath and a lack of food and water.

"It felt like a bomb went off," 34-year-old Mohamed Messi said.

Morocco will observe three days of national mourning with flags at half-staff on all public facilities, the official news agency MAP reported.

World leaders offered to send in aid or rescue crews as condolences poured in from countries in Europe, the Middle East and the Group of 20 summit in India. The president of Turkey, which lost tens of thousands of people in a massive earthquake earlier this year, was among those proposing assistance. France and Germany, with large populations of people of Moroccan origin, also offered to help, and the leaders of both Ukraine and Russia expressed support for Moroccans.

In an exceptional move, neighboring rival Algeria offered to open its airspace to allow eventual humanitarian aid or medical evacuation flights to travel to and from Morocco. Algeria closed the airspace when its government severed diplomatic ties with Morocco in 2021 over a series of issues. The countries have a decadeslong dispute involving the territory of Western Sahara.

The US Geological Survey said the quake had a preliminary magnitude of 6.8 when it hit at 11:11 p.m. (22:11 GMT), with shaking that lasted several seconds. The U.S. agency reported a magnitude 4.9 aftershock hit 19 minutes later. The collision of the African and Eurasian tectonic plates occurred at a relatively shallow depth, which makes a quake more dangerous.

Earthquakes are relatively rare in North Africa. Lahcen Mhanni, Head of the Seismic Monitoring and Warning Department at the National Institute of Geophysics, told 2M TV that the earthquake was the strongest ever recorded in the region.

In 1960, a magnitude 5.8 tremor struck near the Moroccan city of Agadir and caused thousands of deaths. That quake prompted changes in construction rules in Morocco, but many buildings, especially rural homes, are not built to withstand such tremors.

In 2004, a 6.4 magnitude earthquake near the Mediterranean coastal city of Al Hoceima left more than 600 dead.

Friday's quake was felt as far away as Portugal and Algeria, according to the Portuguese Institute for Sea and Atmosphere and Algeria's Civil Defense agency, which oversees emergency response.

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Morocco's senate president has postponed a historic visit to Israel due to a medical emergency, the Israeli parliament announced Wednesday.

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The announcement came just a day before Enaam Mayara was scheduled to visit Israel's Knesset on a trip aimed at cementing the fledgling ties between the two countries.

Mayara was to be the first Moroccan official and one of the few Muslim leaders ever to set foot in the Knesset. The parliament had planned to greet him with a red carpet and a ceremonial guard of honor.

Israel and Morocco fully normalized relations as part of the 2020 Abraham Accords, a series of diplomatic agreements between Israel and four Arab countries brokered by then-President Donald Trump.

The Knesset issued a statement late Wednesday saying that Mayara had been hospitalized during a stop in neighboring Jordan. He was forced to reschedule his Israel trip and call off a visit earlier in the day to the Palestinian government in the West Bank, the statement said.

Video: Papua New Guinea opens embassy in Jerusalem / Credit: Reuters

"I am sorry that because of a medical emergency, I am unable to come to the Knesset," the statement quoted Mayara as saying. It gave no details on the nature of his illness but said he would return to Morocco.

"The connection between the kingdom of Morocco and the state of Israel is a shared interest of the two countries, and together we will deepen it," he added.

Israel's Knesset speaker Amir Ohana, who visited Morocco earlier this year, said Mayara's visit was supposed to be a highlight of the new relations. He said Israel wished Mayara "a speedy and full recovery."

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has expressed interest in expanding the Abraham Accords to bring in additional Arab and Muslim countries, most notably Saudi Arabia. But relations with Israel's Arab partners have cooled due to the treatment of Palestinians by Netanyahu's far-right government.

Morocco delayed a summit of Israel and its Abraham Accord partners earlier this year due to the political climate.

Still, Israel's relations with Morocco appear strong.

Israel is home to a large community of Jews of Moroccan descent. Morocco and Israel have agreed to military cooperation and boosted trade. Earlier this year, Israel recognized Moroccan sovereignty over Western Sahara, joining the United States as the only two countries to acknowledge the kingdom's annexation of the disputed north African territory.

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Morocco's king invited Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for an official visit, the Prime Minister's Office office said in a statement on Wednesday, two days after Israel recognized the kingdom's sovereignty over the disputed Western Sahara.

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In a personal letter, which was confirmed by Morocco's national news agency, MAP, King Mohammed VI thanked Israel for its position and said Netanyahu's visit "would open new opportunities for strengthening bilateral relations".

National Security Adviser Tzachi Hanegbi and Moroccan Foreign Minister Nasser Bourita agreed on Wednesday to set a date "in the near future" for what would be Netanyahu's first visit to the kingdom, the prime minister's statement said.

Morocco considers Western Sahara its own territory, but the Algerian-backed Polisario Front wants an independent state there. In 2020, then-US President Donald Trump recognized Morocco's claim to the territory in return for Morocco's resumption of diplomatic ties with Israel.

Earlier on Wednesday, a State Department spokesperson told reporters that the US recognition of Morocco's sovereignty over Western Sahara remains unchanged.

Twenty-eight other countries – mostly African and Arab  – have opened consulates in the Western Saharan cities of Dakhla or Laayoune, in what Morocco sees as tangible support for its Western Saharan rule.

According to MAP, the king also welcomed Israel's decision to mull opening a consulate in Western Sahara in his letter.

After Israel's announcement on Monday, a Moroccan senior government official told Reuters that efforts to upgrade Morocco's liaison office in Israel to an embassy are "ongoing," without offering a specific date.

The official added that Israel's recognition would not affect Morocco's "principles" in defending the two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

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New details have come to light on the decision of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to recognize Western Sahara as a part of Morocco. Israel Hayom has learned that back when he was still the Leader of the Opposition, Netanyahu promised the Moroccans to respond to their request. Subsequently, statements made by Minister of Foreign Affairs, Eli Cohen, and which were wrongly interpreted by the Moroccans, led to a dispute between the countries, and eventually this new dramatic step taken by Israel.

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Recognition of Western Sahara as part of Morocco is a top priority on the agenda of King Mohammed VI. Diplomatic sources have told Israel Hayom that since the announcement of the renewed relations between Israel and Morocco, the kingdom has expected Israel to recognize this contested region. Despite Rabat's eager expectations, the fact is that Israel did not express any obligation to such a move in the Abraham Accords.

As a result of Israel's reluctance to declare its recognition, the king steadfastly refused to receive the Israeli prime ministers serving in office throughout this entire period. The only Israeli representative who did meet the king of Morocco in public was the then head of the National Security Council, Meir Ben Shabbat, who represented Israel on the historic occasion of signing the agreement to renew relations with the kingdom. Additionally, Morocco did not upgrade its diplomatic mission in Israel to an embassy, even though its Minister of Foreign Affairs, Nasser Bourita, promised to do so on several occasions. Neither have any Moroccan ministers visited Israel, although their Israeli counterparts have visited Morocco on numerous occasions.

Video: Eli Cohen speaks about the Palestinians

In Israel, for over two years, going back to the period of the Bennett-Lapid government, the politicians have been toying with the question of whether or not to recognize Western Sahara. The arguments against doing so were the anticipated criticism from some European states and concern that some of them might even declare recognition of "Palestine" as a counter to this. Israel Hayom has also learned that during his visit to Israel in March 2022, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Nasser Bourita, met with then-Opposition Leader Benjamin Netanyahu. It was during this meeting that Netanyahu promised that should he return to power, he would recognize Western Sahara as part of Morocco in the name of the State of Israel.

As things turned out, in January 2023, Netanyahu indeed returned to serve as prime minister, but due to various reasons, implementation of this decision was delayed. Among others, Netanyahu sought to secure a clear undertaking from Rabat that it would provide Israel with something in return for such a move, but the Moroccans gave him the cold shoulder.

Eventually, the breakthrough occurred following a speech delivered in March 2023, of all people, by Minister of Innovation, Science and Technology Ofir Akunis, in which, on behalf of Israel he gave a promise to invest in desalination plants in Western Sahara. Subsequently, a meeting was held between him and Morocco's Minister of Water, Nizar Baraka.

The process moved ahead positively until an address given by Foreign Minister Eli Cohen, at a briefing to the foreign media about ten days ago. In response to a question regarding the Israeli position on Western Sahara, he stated that "We are currently working on that issue, and our plan is to reach a final decision at the Negev Forum scheduled to take place in September." Cohen was simply reflecting the process taking place behind the scenes, in which Israel had indeed intended to recognize Western Sahara as part of Morocco. However, in the Moroccan media, his words were interpreted as an attempt to ratchet up the pressure on Rabat and to apply conditions to Jerusalem's recognition.

Following this incident, last week, Foreign Minister Bourita phoned the Head of the National Security Council, Tzachi Hanegbi, asking for clarification on what Cohen had said. In response, and in order to make it crystal clear that Israel had absolutely no intention of trying to gain any leverage over Morocco, both the National Security Council and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Israel worked to expedite the dispatch of Netanyahu's letter, in which he declared Israel's recognition of Western Sahara. The current assumption is that the Moroccans will now upgrade the status of their diplomatic mission in Israel to an embassy and invite Netanyahu to visit the kingdom.

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Israel announced Monday it was recognizing Moroccan sovereignty over Western Sahara, joining the United States as the only country to acknowledge the kingdom's annexation of the disputed North African territory.

The announcement came shortly after Morocco's Foreign Ministry issued a statement saying King Mohammed VI had received a letter from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu recognizing Morocco's claim over the territory.

Netanyahu's office later confirmed the announcement. Foreign Minister Eli Cohen said recognition of Western Sahara as Moroccan territory "will strengthen relations between the countries and the nations" and advance regional stability.

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Israel and Morocco reestablished diplomatic relations as part of the "Abraham Accords" brokered by former President Donald Trump between Israel and Arab states. The two countries had low-level diplomatic ties in the 1990s that were disrupted by the Palestinian uprising that began in 2000.

In exchange for Morocco normalizing relations with Israel, the Trump administration promised in December 2020 to recognize Moroccan sovereignty over Western Sahara.

The announcement upset decades of US policy and international consensus that Western Sahara's status should be settled by a UN referendum.

Video: Eli Cohen speaks about the Palestinians

Morocco annexed Western Sahara, a former Spanish colony believed to have considerable offshore oil deposits and mineral resources, in 1975, sparking a conflict with the pro-independence Polisario Front.

The UN brokered a 1991 cease-fire and established a peacekeeping mission to monitor the truce and help prepare a referendum on the territory's future. Disagreements over who is eligible to vote have prevented that vote from taking place.

The Polisario Front renewed armed conflict in 2020, ending a 29-year truce.

Mounting tensions have reverberated across borders to Morocco's neighbor Algeria, which broke diplomatic ties with Rabat in 2021. The enmity has escalated between the two nations, which both share allies in the West, the Middle East, and elsewhere.

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Pop star Michael Holbrook Penniman, known by his stage name Mika, declared his love for Morocco where he has performed several times in an interview with i24NEWS at the Casablanca Jazz Festival.

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"The Jazz Festival is going to be a different, more intimate experience," said the artist, who also said he was a fan of traditional North African music and Berber culture.

"My music is a little different because I studied classical music and I come from a Lebanese-Syrian mother and an American father who grew up all over the world. This eclecticism is part of me, I can't detach myself from it," Mika continued.

The singer also announced that he was currently working on his first album entirely in French – "it's a big challenge for me. Up until now, I've released a few songs in French, but never a whole album."

"This project has taken me a long time, but I'm proud of it, and I can't wait to share it with the public," he added.

With his triple Lebanese-American-British nationality, Mika could be considered a citizen of the world. His father was even born in Jerusalem.

He said he has never been happier than when he's on stage, saying that "music is the only true universal language."

In addition to his musician hat, the singer with millions of records sold worldwide has also coached on France's "The Voice" and the Italian version of "X Factor."

This article was first published by i24NEWS.

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