Author: Steven Sahiounie

Al-Hadath TV said earlier that Egypt is in talks with the Israeli and Palestinian sides on a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip A ceasefire in the Gaza Strip will come in force from 20:00 local time on Sunday, August 7, Reuters said on Sunday, citing a Palestinian official. It said earlier that Israel has accepted a proposal on establishing a ceasefire suggested by Egypt, which is acting as a mediatory. Al-Hadath TV said earlier in the day that Egypt is in talks with the Israeli and Palestinian sides on a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip. According to Al-Jazeera TV, Egypt…

The Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC) today urgently called on all parties to refrain from targeting civilians and work towards an immediate ceasefire, following Israel’s assault on Gaza that began on Friday. At least 31 Palestinians have been killed since the escalation of hostilities, including a five-year-old girl killed in an Israeli airstrike on Khan Younis, southern Gaza. “Every single escalation of violence in Gaza comes at the cost of ordinary people, who pay the highest price for military actions. We urge all parties to protect civilians by all means, put an end to hostilities and work towards an immediate ceasefire,”…

China’s largest-ever military exercises surrounding Taiwan were drawing to a close on Sunday following a controversial visit last week to the self-ruled island by US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. Beijing has raged at the trip by Pelosi -the second in the line of succession to the US presidency- ripping up a series of talks and cooperation agreements with Washington, most notably on climate change and defense. It has also deployed fighter jets, warships and ballistic missiles around Taiwan in what analysts have described as practice for a blockade and ultimate invasion of the island. Those exercises were set to end…

Steven Sahiounie, journalist and political commentator Gaza is separated from Jenin refugee camp in the West Bank by Israeli territory, and yet the current Israeli attack on Gaza, and the deaths, injuries and destruction of homes is directly connected to Jenin, the center of Palestinian resistance. On Friday, the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) carried out a long range assassination of Tayseer Jabari, a leader in the Palestinian Islamic Jihad movement (PIJ).  He was killed when his home was attacked by Israeli missiles fired at the high-rise residential building Palestine Tower in Gaza.  At least 10 people were killed along with…

We will be continuing dialogue with Russia, our Black Sea neighbor, in all sectors to contribute to regional and global peace, the Turkish president said Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan proposed at the meeting with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin in Sochi on August 5 that his country can host a meeting between the Russian and Ukrainian leaders, the TRT television channel reported on Saturday citing Erdogan’s statements for presidential pool journalists upon his return from Sochi. “It is crucial now to fully implement the grain export plan and substantiate this with practical steps to return to the Istanbul talks.…

Pakistan strongly condemned Israel’s deadly airstrikes on the Gaza Strip, Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif said. The killing of 10 Palestinians including a five-year-old girl in Gaza is the latest act of Israeli terrorism, Sharif tweeted on Saturday. “If impunity and barbarism had a face, it would have been that of Israel, which has targeted Palestinians without any care for consequences,” the prime minister added. Source: Xinhua

The commander of the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps lauded the Palestinian resistance groups for developing the power to deal with large-scale wars against Israel, saying the collapse of the Zionist regime may not even require a war. In a meeting with Secretary General of the Gaza-based Islamic Jihad movement Ziad al-Nakhala in Tehran on Saturday, Major General Hossein Salami described the liberation of Palestine as a definite strategy. “Our goal and strategy is to liberate holy al-Quds and return the lost and occupied territories of Palestine to its true owners,” the IRGC commander said. Hailing the Palestinian resistance groups for…

The Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) have escalated their strikes on the Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) in the Gaza Strip in the framework of Operation Breaking Dawn, which was launched on August 5. Since the morning of August 6, Israeli fighter jets, attack helicopters, combat drones and battle tanks have stuck dozens of targets of the al-Quds Brigades, the military wing of the PIJ, across the enclave. The targets included weapons depots, rocket launch sites, mortar posts, command centers and at least one training camp. The IDF strikes on Gaza also knocked down a number of residential multi-storey buildings, which are not…

Moscow has not received any official proposals on replacing the New START arms control treaty, a senior diplomat has said Russia has not received any concrete proposals to resume talks on replacing the landmark New START (Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty), despite recent remarks by US President Joe Biden on the matter, a senior Russian diplomat said on Friday. He also signaled that the negotiations should be held without any preconditions. “Saying that you’re ready doesn’t mean you are,” the deputy head of Moscow’s delegation to the UN Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) review conference, Andrey Belousov, told reporters. According to the diplomat,…

The Taiwan Defense Ministry said Saturday that China’s People’s Liberation Army (PLA) may be carrying out a simulated attack against the self-ruled island. “Multiple PLA craft were detected around the Taiwan Strait, some have crossed the median line,” it said on Twitter, calling the motive a “possible simulated attack”, Anadolu Agency reported. “#ROC Armed Forces (Taiwan armed forces) have utilized alert broadcast, aircraft in CAP, patrolling naval vessels, and land-based missile systems in response to this situation,” it added, referring to combat air patrol. PLA warships and warplanes came so close to the Taiwan Island Friday that sailors and pilots…