Author: Steven Sahiounie

Lindsey Graham insists no amount of Palestinian deaths should make the US put the brakes on Israel The US should stand by Israel in its campaign against Hamas no matter how heavy a toll it takes on the civilian population in Gaza, Senator Lindsey Graham has argued. He likened Israel’s military operation against the militants to the allies’ struggle against Nazi Germany and Japan during World War II. In an interview with CNN on Tuesday, Graham was asked if there was a “threshold” for him, after which he would start questioning Israel’s tactics. The Republican replied in the negative, saying…

Seven captives, including three foreign passport holders, were killed in Israel’s bombing of Jabalia refugee camp yesterday, Hamas has announced. Last week, the Qassam Brigades, the armed wing of Hamas, also said that “almost 50” Israeli captives had been killed in Israeli bombing raids. Israeli authorities have not confirmed the figures. The Israeli army says there are 240 captives in Gaza, including Israelis, foreigners and dual nationals. Four women have been released, and an Israeli soldier was freed during a ground operation, according to Israeli authorities. Source: AlJazeera

The US president will reject the spending bill unless it also includes assistance for Ukraine, the White House has warned US President Joe Biden will refuse to sign a Republican-backed military aid package for Israel if it does not include billions in funding for Ukraine, according to the White House’s budget office. The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) issued a statement on Tuesday dissecting the Republican proposal, saying it “inserts partisanship into support for Israel” and fails to devote resources for Kiev in its conflict with Russia. “Congress has consistently worked in a bipartisan manner to provide security assistance to Israel,…

The organization has “surrendered to the power of the US” and given in to the “Israeli lobby,” Craig Mokhiber has said Instead of doing its job, the UN has “surrendered to the power of the US” and given in to the “Israeli lobby,” while the “European, ethno-nationalist, settler colonial project in Palestine has entered its final phase,” the senior official claimed. “Once again, we are seeing a genocide unfolding before our eyes, and the Organization that we serve appears powerless to stop it,” Mokhiber said in a letter to UN High Commissioner on Human Rights Volker Turk, published on Tuesday. The official squarely described the ongoing Israeli action in…

The United Nations chief said Tuesday he was “deeply alarmed” by the intensifying conflict between Israel and Hamas, while the UN refugee agency appealed for the divided Security Council to act.The 15-member Council has not adopted any resolution on the three-week-long war in the Middle East, rejecting four drafts.UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said that the escalating fighting included “ground operations by the Israel Defense Forces accompanied by intense air strikes, and the continued rocket fire toward Israel from Gaza.”“Civilians have borne the brunt of the current fighting from the outset,” he said in his statement.“I repeat my utter condemnation of…

Tamer Qarmout, professor of public policy at the Doha Institute for Graduate Studies, tells Al Jazeera letting hundreds of people into Egypt is far from enough to address the humanitarian disaster in Gaza. He blamed Israel for the few people allowed to escape. “The borders are under their control, based on the fact that Israel is still the de facto occupying power in the Gaza Strip.” Qarmout also noted Egypt is wary of a mass exodus. “The Egyptians are nervous of the displacement scenario. They don’t want to see refugees in the Sinai. They also want to protect the Palestinian…

The Israeli entity which commits dozens of massacres on a daily basis adopts the scorched-earth policy, uncovers its inhuman fascist face, which completely contradicts with the values set by Geneva Conventions, UN Charter and the most basic human rights, Foreign and Expatriates Ministry has affirmed. “The racist Israeli entity has committed a new war crime against humanity through the criminal shelling of Jabalia camp in the Gaza Strip, which left more than 400 martyred and hundreds wounded,” the Ministry said in a statement on Wednesday. The statement added “(Israel) which commits dozens of massacres on a daily basis and adopts…

Egypt has opened the Rafah crossing to allow the evacuation of 81 critically injured Palestinians and hundreds of foreigners or Palestinians with dual nationality. They received information from their embassies through the Red Cross to leave via the Rafah crossing. It’s not like anyone with a foreign nationality can go to Rafah. Source: AlJazeera

Muslim leaders in the US send an open letter titled “2023 Ceasefire Ultimatum” to the US President. Muslim Americans and certain Democratic Party supporters have expressed their intent to mobilize millions of Muslim voters and refrain from contributing donations or votes toward President Joe Biden’s 2024 reelection unless he promptly acts to facilitate a Gaza ceasefire. The National Muslim Democratic Council, a group comprising Democratic Party figures from pivotal states in the upcoming election, including Michigan, Ohio, and Pennsylvania, urged Biden to leverage his influence with “Israel” to mediate a ceasefire by 5 pm ET (2100 GMT) on Tuesday. In…

The Palestinian Presidency has called upon the international community to take a firm stance against the ongoing Israeli aggression against the Palestinian people in Gaza, the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and most recently in the Jabalia refugee camp, where hundreds of civilians were killed in a brutal Israeli massacre. The Presidency emphasized that the lack of accountability for Israeli war criminals regarding all the crimes they have committed serves as an incentive for further atrocities against the Palestinian population. The Presidency urged the international community, along with its institutions and organizations to bear responsibility for these massacres in the…