Author: Steven Sahiounie

“These include medics, injured people, patients and internally displaced people,” the statement reads BEIRUT, November 15. /TASS/. Al-Shifa Hospital in the Gaza Strip is now host to almost 9,000 people, including patients and those injured, Gaza officials said in a statement. “The occupant army (the Israel Occupation Forces (IOF) – TASS) is striking the Al-Shifa hospital complex as it has been opening fire on its premises, even though they are well aware that that are almost 9,000 people inside the facility. These include medics, injured people, patients and internally displaced people,” the government of the Palestinian enclave wrote on its…

Vladimir Putin and Abdel Fattah al-Sisi expressed concern about the increase in civilian casualties in the Palestinian enclave MOSCOW, November 14. /TASS/. The presidents of Russia and Egypt, Vladimir Putin and Abdel Fattah El-Sisi, emphasized during a phone conversation on Tuesday that the sides to the Israli-Palestinian conflict need to end bloodshed and release hostages as soon as possible, the Kremlin press service said. “The principal importance of soonest ceasefire, release of hostages and unimpeded humanitarian assistance to Gaza civilians was underscored,” the press service said in a statement. The two leaders spoke by phone on Tuesday to discuss “the…

They were accompanied by doctors and counselors of the Russian emergencies ministry MOSCOW, November 15. /TASS/. The Russian emergencies ministry’s Il-76 plane brought to Moscow another group of Russian citizens evacuated from the Gaza Strip, the ministry’s chief spokesman Roman Okhotenko told TASS early on Wednesday. “The Russian emergencies ministry’s Il-76 plane has landed with 98 Russian citizens evacuated from the Gaza Strip on board. They were accompanied by doctors and counselors of the Russian emergencies ministry. The evacuation from the Gaza Strip of Russian citizens who found themselves in the zone of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict is organized by the…

Deliberate attacks on hospitals and ambulances in Gaza are an atrocity, the group said Israel’s attacks on hospitals, ambulances and medical personnel in Gaza should be “investigated as war crimes,” Human Rights Watch (HRW) said on Tuesday, urging the government in West Jerusalem to end such strikes immediately. Israel Occupation Forces (IOF) attacks are “apparently unlawful” and are “further destroying” the healthcare system in Gaza, according to HRW. Even though Israel accused Hamas of “cynical use of hospitals,” earlier this month, “no evidence put forward would justify depriving hospitals and ambulances of their protected status under international humanitarian law,” the group added. “The strikes on hospitals have killed hundreds of people…

The US president has said that he’s in daily contact with parties involved in talks to free the captives in Gaza US President Joe Biden has expressed confidence that an agreement to free the hostages held by Hamas in Gaza will soon be completed amid the militant group’s ongoing war with Israel. “I’ve been talking with the people involved every single day,” Biden told reporters on Tuesday at the White House. “I believe it’s going to happen, but I don’t want to get into detail.” When asked what message he has for families of the hostages, he replied, “Hang in there. We’re coming.” Biden…

US officials have backed the country’s allegations that militants are stationed within the complex The Israel Occupation Forces (IOF) has launched an operation against al-Shifa Hospital in northern Gaza, the Palestinian enclave’s largest medical complex. IDF officials say the facility has been used for military purposes by Hamas, a claim rejected by the armed group. The IOF announced the raid early Wednesday morning, saying it would carry out a “precise and targeted operation” against Hamas fighters within a “specified area in the Shifa Hospital,” also accusing the group of using “human shields” there. “In recent weeks, the IOF has publicly warned time and again that Hamas’ continued military…

Speaking from Khan Younis, Al Jazeera’s Tareq Abu Azzoum says premature babies who have been removed from their incubators at al-Shifa Hospital due to a lack of fuel and oxygen are at risk without proper medical care. Al-Shifa said there are 36 premature babies at risk of dying from a lack of oxygen and they have been placed together on beds in an attempt to keep them alive. Medical staff can only offer basic first aid, and the babies cannot be stabilised without incubators. At least three babies have already died. Abu Azzoum pointed out that Israel’s ongoing ban on…

John Kirby, spokesperson for the White House’s National Security Council, said Washington “has information that Hamas and the Palestinian Islamic Jihad use some hospitals in the Gaza Strip, including al-Shifa, and tunnels underneath them to conceal and support their military operations and to hold hostages”. He said members of the two Palestinian factions “operate a command and control node from al-Shifa in Gaza City” and store weapons there. Kirby presented no evidence to back up the White House’s claims, which echo allegations made, also without evidence, by Israel. Earlier, a senior Hamas official rejected accusations that the group is using…

Writing in the Washington Post, King Abdullah II decried nearly two decades of Israeli policies that “undermined the peace process and flouted the Oslo accords, which promised the two-state solution of peace and security for both sides”. He cited the expansion of Israeli settlements, attacks and harassment by Israeli settlers, and more recently, the displacement of 60 percent of Gaza’s population. “An Israeli leadership that is unwilling to take the path of peace on the basis of the two-state solution will not be able to provide its people the security they need,” King Abdullah said. “What happens next will be…

Minister of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates Riyad Malki today briefed his French counterpart, Catherine Colonna, on the latest developments in the barbaric Israeli aggression against the Palestinian people, especially in the Gaza Strip, and the importance of France and Europe demanding an immediate halt to the aggression “because what we are witnessing in Gaza in terms of daily massacres and killing of civilians, especially women and children, requires a serious stance and steps.” Malki said that Israel, as an occupying power, has no right to defend itself while it commits crimes and violates all the rules of international humanitarian law,…