Author: Steven Sahiounie

MOSCOW (Sputnik) – Russian President Vladimir Putin has held phone conversations with Syrian President Bashar Assad and Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi, Kremlin aide Yury Ushakov said on Monday. “Today, one can say that we have had a powerful shot [a busy day] — five phone conversations. The president has already spoken with the president of Syria [Bashar Assad] and the president of Iran [Ebrahim Raisi],” Ushakov told reporters, adding that Putin was also planning to hold phone talks with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah Sisi, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu during the day. Ushakov added that Putin was…

Gaza’s residents are in urgent need of humanitarian aid deliveries, but it is still impossible. The only available checkpoint to Gaza is closed, despite agreements on its opening today. As the humanitarian crisis in the Gaza Strip deepens, with food, fuel and water running short, humanitarian aid from several countries has been held up in Egypt pending a deal for its safe delivery to Gaza and the evacuation of some foreign passport holders through the Rafah border crossing. According to the UN, fuel reserves at all hospitals across the enclave are expected to last for about an additional 24 hours.…

An area at the Rafah border crossing between the blockaded Gaza Strip and Egypt has been hit for a fourth time by an Israeli military strike, Egyptian news outlet Mada Masr has reported, citing two unnamed sources. The report, which cited a Palestinian journalist and an Egyptian official, comes as United Nations leaders urgently call for humanitarian aid access to Gaza amid Israel’s bombardment. Mada Masr said the bombing occurred “between the Egyptian and Palestinian terminals” at the Rafah crossing. Correspondents with the AFP news agency also reported that the area of the crossing was hit by another military strike…

On October 16, the Russian leader also held phone talks with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Egyptian counterpart Abdel Fattah el-Sisi discussed during their phone talks the evacuation of citizens from Russia and other CIS countries from the Gaza Strip, the Kremlin’s press office reported on Monday. “The sides touched upon the issues of Egypt’s assistance in evacuating citizens of Russia and CIS states from the Gaza Strip,” the press office said after the phone talks. On October 16, Putin also held phone talks with Syrian…

Russian President Vladimir Putin has offered Moscow’s support to end the current conflict in a call with Israel’s Netanyahu, according to the Kremlin. Putin also informed the Israeli prime minister of his conversations with Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi and Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, his foreign policy adviser Yuri Ushakov said, as reported by the Interfax news agency. Putin had called for an immediate ceasefire and for the interests of the Palestinians to be taken into account in the crisis. Source: AlJazeera

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken was made to wait all night for an audience with Saudi Arabian Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman. Blinken flew to the Saudi capital Riyadh at the weekend as he toured Middle Eastern capitals to discuss the sharp escalation of the Palestine-Israel conflict. Israel is conducting round-the-clock bombing raids on the besieged Palestinian enclave of the Gaza Strip, home to 2.5 million people, in preparation for a ground invasion which Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has vowed will destroy the ruling Hamas movement. That comes in response to an offensive launched on October 7 by militants loyal to Hamas…

The Israeli call for civilians to evacuate the northern half of the Gaza Strip does not seem to have produced the desired results as of yet. Nobody knows what the primary intention of the announcement made on Friday was, but whatever it was, it fell short of anything that could be called full Israeli success. Source: AlJazeera

Israel’s war with Hamas in the Gaza Strip may hit the world’s economy if it spirals into a broader conflict, Tom Luongo, financial and geopolitical analyst, told Sputnik. Market indicators suggest the impact of the Israeli-Hamas conflict has remained contained so far, but the situation may change if Tel Aviv’s ground operation in Gaza goes wrong and Iran steps in. Last Saturday’s surprise attack by Hamas, Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ), and other Gaza militants as well as Israel’s retaliatory strikes have taken a toll on the economies of the region. The shekel, Israel’s currency, has lost 3% against the US…

The offensive had been planned for the weekend but was rescheduled due to adverse weather conditions, the newspaper claims Israel has decided to put off the start of its ground operation against Hamas in Gaza due to adverse weather conditions, the New York Times has claimed. The newspaper is also reporting that the incursion will likely come at quite a price for the Israeli military, given its scope as well as the fortifications built by the militants. In an article on Saturday the media outlet alleged, citing anonymous Israeli officers, that the “invasion was initially planned for the weekend but…

The armed group is holding about 150 civilians captive in Gaza, according to reports Officials from the United States and Qatar have engaged in dialogue aimed at securing the release of civilian hostages held by the Palestinian militant group Hamas in Gaza, according to a report by the Financial Times. “There were positive meetings yesterday and Hamas seems willing to release the civilian hostages,” the newspaper wrote late on Saturday, citing comments from an anonymous source with knowledge of the discussions. “But Hamas say they can’t do so while the bombing continues.” The report adds that the FT’s source said that Hamas “needs…