Author: Steven Sahiounie

An international conference dubbed the Cairo Peace Summit is scheduled to open later today to discuss ways to “de-escalate” the Israel-Hamas war. Egypt’s Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry said the gathering would work towards de-escalation and humanitarian aid deliveries to the Gaza Strip, though representatives from the US and Israel are not expected to attend. According to the Reuters news agency, leaders from the Middle East, Europe, South Africa, Japan and the United Kingdom are likely to be in attendance, including: Source: Aljazeera

The official has characterized Washington’s rush to provide military aid as “shortsighted” and “destructive” A senior official in the US Department of State responsible for weapons transfers has resigned in protest, stating that Washington’s rush to arm Israel was “shortsighted, destructive, unjust, and contradictory to the very values that we publicly espouse.” Josh Paul had served as the director of the Bureau of Political-Military Affairs (PM) for more than 11 years. On Wednesday, he published his resignation letter on his LinkedIn profile. HuffPo was the first major news outlet to report it on the same day. Paul said he took the…

The social media company has launched a crackdown on war-related content since the Israel-Hamas conflict began Instagram’s parent company, Meta, has apologized for an apparent bug that inserted the term “Palestinian terrorists” into the bios of some pro-Palestine users. The bug was noticed earlier this week by TikTok user @ytkingkhan, who posted a video explaining that Instagram had falsely auto-translated his friend’s bio, which featured the word “Palestinian” written in English, the Palestinian flag emoji, and the word “alhamdulillah” (praise be to God) written in Arabic, as “Praise be to god, Palestinian terrorists are fighting for their freedom.” Different combinations of similar words and emojis produced the…

Mahmoud Abbas reportedly turned down a US request to talk following the bombing of a hospital in Gaza Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas refused to hold a phone call with US President Joe Biden during the latter’s visit to Israel on Wednesday, Israeli state media reported on Friday. Citing a Palestinian source in the West Bank, the Kan news agency said that Biden’s team had attempted to arrange a conversation between the leaders, but Abbas rejected the request. Biden and Abbas did speak by phone on Saturday, with the US president pledging to support efforts to “bring urgently needed humanitarian assistance…

Justin Amash has revealed that he lost family members at the St. Porphyrius Church Former Michigan Congressman Justin Amash announced on Friday that his relatives were among those killed at the St. Porphyrius Orthodox Church in Gaza City, when its meeting hall was hit by Israeli bombs. “With great sadness, I have now confirmed that several of my relatives (including Viola and Yara pictured here) were killed at Saint Porphyrius Orthodox Church in Gaza, where they had been sheltering,” Amash said on X (formerly Twitter), posting a photo of the two women. “The Palestinian Christian community has endured so much. Our family is…

American officials reportedly hope to buy time to secure the release of captives held in Gaza The US government and some European allies are pushing Israel to postpone its ground attack on Gaza in order to negotiate the release of more hostages held by Hamas, Bloomberg reports. Israeli forces are planning a major operation in the Palestinian enclave in response to a deadly terrorist attack earlier this month. Though Israel previously signaled it would soon deploy troops to Gaza, it has “agreed under US pressure to hold off,” multiple sources familiar with the hostage negotiations told the outlet on Friday. Hamas, the…

More than 40 Palestinians have been killed on the 13th day of the bloody Israeli bombing campaign on the fully besieged Gaza Strip. Citing witnesses and medical sources, the Palestinian Wafa news agency reported that on Thursday over 30 people were also killed in Israeli aerial assaults on the city of Rafah, south of Gaza. Nine more Palestinians, including seven children, lost their lives in similar Israeli strikes on a house in the southern city of Khan Yunis, the report added. It also said Israeli air raids killed a Palestinian baby in the Nuseirat refugee camp and a child west…

NEW YORK CITY: The permanent observer of the State of Palestine to the UN on Wednesday expressed disbelief that “some still speak of the right to self-defense of a power that seeks the forced transfer and annihilation” of Palestinians. Riyad Mansour was speaking during a Security Council meeting to discuss the ongoing Israel-Hamas war. It followed a vote in which the US vetoed a draft resolution that called for “humanitarian pauses” in the conflict and condemned the attack on Israel by Hamas on Oct. 7. As justification for the decision, America’s envoy cited the failure of the resolution to mention…

Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Qatar have pledged millions of dollars to assist Palestinians under Israeli bombardment  Gaza has been under strict Israeli embargo since Hamas launched its cross-border attack on Israel on October 7 RIYADH: As the humanitarian crisis in Gaza worsens in tandem with Israel’s expanding war with the Palestinian militant group Hamas, the Arab Gulf states have been pledging aid and support to assist civilians living under siege and daily bombardment. Since Hamas launched its unprecedented cross-border attack on Israel on Oct. 7, Gaza has been under strict Israeli embargo, depriving its 2.2 million-strong population of food,…

In an emailed advisory to citizens, the embassy said it was closely monitoring the security situation in Lebanon BEIRUT – The U.S. embassy in Lebanon urged its citizens on Thursday to “make plans to depart as soon as possible while commercial options are still available”. In an emailed advisory to citizens, the embassy said it was closely monitoring the security situation in Lebanon. “We recommend that U.S. citizens who choose not to depart prepare contingency plans for emergency situations,” the embassy said. On Oct. 17, the State Department issued a travel advisory urging its citizens not to travel to Lebanon…