Author: Steven Sahiounie

The United States is watching developments on the Lebanon-Israel border closely and does not want to see the conflict widened or expanded, says White House national security spokesman John Kirby. “We have seen rocket fire coming from southern Lebanon … into northern Israel. We obviously are watching this with great concern. We don’t want to see this conflict widened or expanded,” Kirby says in an interview with MSNBC. He adds that it is not in Israel’s interest to have a second front to fight and defend. Source: Aljazeera

Mahjoob Zweiri, the director of Gulf Studies Center at Qatar University, said a paraglider incursion from Lebanon into Israel would represent a major shift in the conflict. The Israeli military has not confirmed if manned paragliders had indeed landed. However, the head of a regional council in northern Israel has said manned paragliders had landed and a manhunt was under way. “This is a new technique … This is a new strategy that they are following now,” Zweiri told Al Jazeera of the possible incursion. “In Lebanon, you have the al-Qassam brigade, you have the al-Aqsa brigade, and you have…

Syrian students staged solidarity stands at universities and institutes on Wednesday in support of the Palestinian resistance and Operation “Al-Aqsa Flood” in the face of the brutal attacks of the Israeli occupation. The Syrian students affirmed their support to the Palestinian cause as a core and central issue for all Arabs until liberating the territory and establish the Palestinian state with Jerusalem as its capital. Damascus Tartous Hasaka Source: SANA

White House National Security Council spokesman John Kirby has said the US is working on creating safe passage for Gazans seeking to flee the Israeli bombardment, but there has been no breakthrough. “We’re actively discussing this with our Israeli and Egyptian counterparts,” Kirby told reporters. “We support safe passage for civilians. Civilians are not to blame for what Hamas has done. They didn’t do anything wrong.” Kirby added that the death toll of US citizens in Israel has risen to 22 with 17 missing. He dodged when asked if the US government has sought to dissuade an Israeli land operation…

Hassan Ahmad Khalil, a Lebanese political analyst, says the fighting between Israel and Hamas could engulf the entire Middle East in war. “Once a front on Gaza and the Lebanese border opens, this would mean Syria, Turkey and Iraq are engaged, and it could go to an all-out war involving Iran as well against the Israelis and the Western camp. “If this happens, we’re talking about Armageddon Day. Some may think I’m overexaggerating, but everybody is playing a dangerous game. Everyone is squeezed into a corner and looking for a corridor to ease the tension. “Both sides can’t think of…

The single power plant in Gaza shut down on Wednesday due to a lack of fuel, according to Jalal Ismail, the director of the exclave’s energy administration. The Health Ministry of Gaza has reported that the number of Palestinians killed by Israeli air raids has surpassed 1,1000 and more than 5,300 people have been injured. “As of 18:20 on Wednesday [local time, 15:20 GMT], a total of 1,100 citizens have been killed and 5,339 have been injured,” according to a statement by the ministry. The Israeli occupation continues its aggression against Gaza for the fifth day in a row, confirming it launched…

A number of Palestinians civilians were Wednesday killed in new Israeli aistrikes on a number of homes in the Gaza and Khan Younis governorates and the city of Deir al-Balah. WAFA correspondent said that Israeli occupation warplanes bombed a house in the Sheikh Radwan neighborhood in Gaza, killing and injuring a number of people. The warplanes also bombed another house for Al-Adham family in the Shati camp, west of the governorate, leaving at least three dead and a number of other injuries. Israeli warplanes also bombed a house in Al-Hakar area in the city of Deir Al-Balah in the middle of…

In the released footage, Hezbollah fighters destroy an Israeli armored vehicle, although the Resistance party did not confirm whether the APC hosted soldiers. Hezbollah targeted and destroyed an Israeli Zelda M113 Armored Personnel Carrier in al-Sadah site located to the west of the southern Lebanese town of Salha, the Resistance movement confirmed late on Tuesday. Hezbollah’s fighters targeted the armored vehicle following Israeli occupation forces’ targeting of several of its observation sites in Lebanon. Salha is one of the Seven Villages, which are seven Lebanese villages occupied by the Israeli occupation and claimed as part of its own after their mandate was handed from…

Israeli air strikes have destroyed the al-Fakhoora House of the Education Above All (EAA) Foundation in Gaza. The Qatar-based EAA said in a statement that the attack on the facility, a safe space for students and families in an area that hosts civil society and international organisations, happened on Tuesday. “In 2009, the UNRWA Al Fakhoora school in Gaza was bombed during Operation Cast Lead while civilian IDPs used it as a shelter. The Al Fakhoora programme was created in 2010 as a direct response to honour the victims of this attack on education,” the statement added. The Palestinian foreign…

The Rimal neighbourhood, once the beating heart of the Gaza Strip, has been nearly wiped out in the four days of intense Israeli bombardment. “Israel has destroyed the centre of everything,” said Palestinian businessman Ali al-Hiyak from his home near Rimal. “That is the space of our public life, our community. “They are breaking us.” Source: ALjazeera