Author: Steven Sahiounie

Ashraf al-Qudra, the spokesperson of the health ministry in Gaza, has addressed reporters after providing the latest casualty toll that we reported on earlier. He said the heavy Israeli bombardment had turned Gaza into a “ball of fire”, with at least 377 more Palestinians losing their lives in designated safe areas. Al-Qudra added that Israel’s actions had caused complete paralysis of the health system, medical teams and ambulances in Gaza. Repeating a call for international help, he also called on medical students and retired nurses to come forward. Source: AlJazeera

Russian Foreign Minister said as he urged humanitarian efforts to rescue the Gaza population Destroying the Gaza Strip or expelling 2 mln residents from the Palestinian enclave risks causing a crisis that may last decades, if not ages, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov told BelTA in an interview. “If Gaza is destroyed or if 2 mln people are expelled from there <…>, this would cause a crisis for decades, if not ages,” Lavrov said as he urged humanitarian efforts to rescue the Gaza population. According to Russia’s top diplomat, the resolution at the United Nations Security Council drafted by Russia…

Entrepreneur Elon Musk has announced that his satellite-based system Starlink “will support connectivity to internationally recognized aid organizations in Gaza”. “It is not clear who has authority for ground links in Gaza, but do we know that no terminal has requested a connection in that area,” Musk said on X. “No terminals from Gaza have attempted to communicate with our constellation,” he also said in a separate post. His comments came after social media users urged him to use Starlink to provide internet to Gaza after Israel cut off telecommunications. Source: AlJazeera

The Israeli military has reissued a call for residents in the Gaza Strip to evacuate the northern part of the enclave ahead of an impending Israeli operation. People across the besieged enclave say no place is safe as the Israeli army has repeatedly struck homes and buildings in the central and southern parts of the Strip – despite telling residents to move there Source: AlJazeera

RAMALLAH, Saturday, October 28, 2023 (WAFA) – The situation in the West Bank is rapidly spiraling out of control, ActionAid is warning today, with Palestinian civilians subject to increasing attacks from both the Israeli forces and armed settlers. As of the 26th of October, according to OCHA, 103 Palestinians have been killed since 7 October in the West Bank, including at least 32 children – the highest ever monthly total since the UN began keeping records in 2005. The Israeli forces have been conducting military raids day and night in refugee camps, neighborhoods and towns, and making widespread arrests. Some…

Palestinians whose permits to work in Israel were revoked are believed to be held in detention camps, but Israel has so far refused to release information about them, human rights groups say. Thousands of workers from Gaza, who were employed in Israel when the war started, have gone missing since then amid a campaign of mass arrests. Human rights groups and trade unions believe some of the workers have been illegally detained in military facilities in the occupied West Bank, following the revocation of their permits to work in Israel. Authorities in Israel have so far refused to release the names…

Hamas and Israeli troops are engaged in a fierce battle in the Gaza Strip as Tel Aviv expands its ground offensive and cuts communications to the besieged area. The al-Qassam Brigades, the military wing of Hamas, said in a statement that it was fighting Israeli forces in two areas inside the Gaza Strip early on Saturday as the Israeli war against the Palestinians in Gaza entered its 22nd day. “We are confronting an Israeli ground incursion in Beit Hanoun (in the northern Gaza Strip) and east Bureij (in the center) and violent engagements are taking place on the ground,” the statement said.…

However, it is up to an independent court to pass judgement on military actions in Gaza, a spokeswoman for the agency says Both sides in the Israel-Hamas conflict could be committing war crimes, Ravina Shamdasani, the spokesperson for the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), has warned. During a press conference in Geneva on Friday, Shamdasani was asked if the Israeli bombing of Gaza in response to the surprise attack by Hamas on October 7 could be characterized as “genocide.” The spokesperson avoided a direct answer, but said her agency was “concerned that war crimes are being committed. We are concerned…

The exercises seek to “improve deterrence power in the face of new threats,” the country’s military has said Iran has launched large-scale two-day war games in the central part of the country amid rising tensions in the region fueled by the conflict between the Palestinian armed group Hamas and Israel. The drill, dubbed ‘Eqtedar 1402’, started on Friday in the Nasrabad region of Isfahan province. Brigadier General Karim Cheshak, the spokesman for the exercise, was cited by Iranian media as saying that it involves infantry, various military hardware, warplanes, drones, and means of electronic warfare. Cheshak also noted that a…