Xinhua Middle East news summary at 2200 GMT, April 18

RAMALLAH --- Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Tayseer Jaradat said Wednesday that Palestinians are exerting efforts to block Israel from being voted as member of the UN Security Council on June.

Jaradat affirmed that contacts are underway with members of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation and the Arab League to foil Israel's attempt to get a seat on the UN Security Council, saying "it is irrational that Israel gets this status while it violates all UN Security Council and General Assembly resolutions." (Palestine-Israel-UN)

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ANKARA -- Turkey will hold early presidential and parliamentary elections on June 24, 2018, instead of the scheduled date in November 2019, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said in Ankara on Wednesday.

His statement came after a meeting with the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) leader Devlet Bahceli who called on the government to hold early elections on Tuesday. (Turkey-Early Elections)

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TRIPOLI -- General Abdarrazzaq al-Nathuri, Chief of Staff of the Libyan eastern-based army, on Wednesday survived an assassination attempt in the eastern city of Benghazi, said the army's information office.

"A car carrying a bomb was parked on roadside in the eastern entrance of the city of Benghazi, in the Sidi Khalifa district. It exploded as soon as his convoy passed by," the statement said. (Libya-Assassination)

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JERUSALEM -- The Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Wednesday that Israel is becoming a "world power" as he was going to light a torch marking Israeli 70th Independence Day at the Mount Herzl in Jerusalem

"We don't hesitate to confront those who want to eradicate us, because we know that defending ourselves with our own force is the essence of independence," said Netanyahu. (Israel-Independence Day) Enditem