Author: Steven Sahiounie

Khaled Meshaal’s comments came in response to “some Western politicians [who] are discussing Gaza after Hamas”. “We reject the participation of any international or Arab forces in the administration of Gaza, and all these plans will be trampled upon by our heroes in the resistance, led by our victorious Al-Qassam Brigades,” he said in a speech to the International Islamic Forum of Parliamentarians. Meshaal was the leader of Hamas’s politburo until he reached his term limit in 2017. He currently leads Hamas’s diaspora office. Source: AlJazeera

We saw two buses move from the gate behind me at Ofer prison out towards the main gate towards Ramallah. Those buses were carrying the prisoners. It was exactly at that time when the Israeli army fired the largest volley of tear gas to try and disperse the hundreds of people that have been gathering near here over the last few hours waiting for this prison release. This is just the first day of four days where, according to the deal, up to 150 Palestinians will be exchanged for 50 captives out of Gaza. So far, things have certainly gone…

Marah Bakeer, who was arrested in 2015 when she was 16 years old, has just been released from Ofer Prison. She is among the first batch of Palestinian women and children who were released as part of the truce agreement. Bakeer tells Al Jazeera many of the released prisoners need medical attention. “All of the prisoners suffered a high level of medical neglect [while detained],” she said. Bakeer was shot in the arm while being arrested. She said she is looking forward to spending time with her family, and is considering enrolling in a university to pursue a degree in…

 Saudi Defense Minister Prince Khalid bin Salman discussed the situation in Gaza with Grant Shapps, UK secretary of state for defense.Prince Khalid wrote on X: “I stressed the need to end military operations, protect civilians and allow unimpeded flow of humanitarian aid.”Prince Khalid said they also reviewed the two nation’s strategic defense partnership and explored ways to strengthen cooperation. Source: Arab News

In a phone call, Lebanese Army Commander, General Joseph Aoun, offers his condolences to the Chairman of the Board of Directors of Al Mayadeen Media Network, Ghassan Ben Jeddou. Lebanese Army Commander, General Joseph Aoun, offered condolences to the Chairman of the Board of Directors of Al Mayadeen Media Network, Ghassan Ben Jeddou, for the martyrdom of our colleagues Farah Omar and Rabih Al-Me’mari and Hussein Akil, who were killed as a result of deliberate direct Israeli targeting. During a phone call, Aoun affirmed the army’s solidarity with Al Mayadeen and all journalists working in the field. In response, Ben Jeddou thanked the Lebanese Army leadership for…

The Foreign Ministry of Iran welcomed a temporary ceasefire in Gaza following weeks of brutal Israeli strikes, describing it as the first step to triumph for the Palestinian people and resistance forces. In a statement released on Thursday evening, Iranian Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Nasser Kanaani welcomed the four-day truce in Gaza, describing the development as the first step in halting the “usurping and child-killing Zionist regime’s war crimes against the Palestinian citizens, women and children.” Describing the truce as the result of over 45 days of indescribable resistance shown by the Palestinian people and historical perseverance of the resistance combatants,…

Eli Bin, the director general of Israel’s national emergency service Magen David Adom, has told Army Radio he had spoken to the Red Cross delegation overseeing the captive release. He said he was told an initial assessment indicated the captives were in “good and reasonable” health. The released Israeli captives were set to be brought to hospitals in Israel after being brought from Gaza to Egypt via the Rafah crossing. Source: AlJazeera

On behalf of President Bashar al-Assad, the advisor to Foreign and Expatriates Minister for Lebanese Affairs, the former Syrian Ambassador to Lebanon, Ali Abdul Karim, offered condolences to the Head of the Loyalty to the Resistance Bloc, MP Mohammad Raad, on the martyrdom of his son Abbas. Abbas and four other Lebanese resistance fighters were martyred in an Israeli airstrike on the Southern Lebanon last Wednesday. Source: SANA

Egypt’s President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi on Friday appeared to discredit the moribund Israel-Palestinian peace process and instead called on the international community to recognize the Palestinian state.During a joint news conference with the prime ministers of Spain and Belgium in Cairo, El-Sisi said reviving the process aimed at ending the Israel-Palestinian conflict “may not be what is required.”“The results of this path faltering for 30 years tells us that we must” adopt a different approach, he said.This would entail “the recognition of the Palestinian state by the international community and bringing it into the United Nations… This would show seriousness,”…

As we enter the four-day pause in fighting, the mood in Israel is still for the most part “behind the war” in Gaza, says Al Jazeera’s Rory Challands. “At the crux of this is that October 7 and the horror and trauma that Israelis went through that day is still incredibly raw,” he said. The Israeli prime minister is shouldering most of the blame for this, Challands said, because of his policy of bolstering Hamas in order to sabotage a two-state solution and divide Palestinians. “[The Israeli public] think that was a massive security blunder,” he said. A poll from…