Author: Steven Sahiounie

In his first high-level meeting with Dhaka on Friday, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi expressed his support for a “democratic, stable” Bangladesh. Modi made the remarks while receiving a phone call from Muhammad Yunus, the chairman of Bangladesh’s interim administration. It is the first time the two leaders have spoken since Yunus took the oath of office on August 8, three days after the fall of Sheikh Hasina’s administration, India’s longstanding ally. Hasina fled to New Delhi following a month of demonstrations against her government. Modi wrote on X that he “Exchanged views on the prevailing situation” with Yunus and “Reiterated…

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said that his recent cabinet line-up represents all the Iranian people, describing it as a “national consensus government” during a parliamentary session on Saturday. “The government that has been introduced to the parliament today is a government of national consensus, and as I said in the inauguration ceremony, the government of national consensus considers itself as representative of all the Iranian people,” Pezeshkian said while vetting his list of ministerial nominees. “The national consensus government is obliged to ensure the citizenship rights of all Iranian people and is committed to securing national interests,” he added. The newly-inaugurated President highlighted the…

During a meeting with French Foreign Minister Stéphane Séjourné in Cairo, El-Sisi warned that the ongoing conflict will push the region into a destructive cycle of instability. He reaffirmed the international community’s responsibility to exert pressure to reduce escalation and address the root causes of the conflict by establishing a Palestinian State and implementing the two-state solution. For his part, Séjourné commended Egypt’s vital role as a mediator, alongside Qatar and the United States, to reach a ceasefire deal in the Gaza Strip and facilitate the exchange of hostages. He also affirmed his country’s steadfast support for de-escalating efforts and its…

Israeli bombardment on the city of Deir al-Balah in the central war-torn Gaza Strip Saturday evening killed four Palestinians and injured others, according to local sources. They said that the Israeli occupation forces targeted a house located to the south of the city, killing four civilians and injuring others. Meanwhile, Israeli fighter jets launched an airstrike on a residential tower in the Nuseirat refugee camp in the central Strip. Israel has proceeded with its genocidal offensive on the war-torn Strip in complete disregard of the International Court of Justice (ICJ), which ordered Israel in a legally binding decision to halt…

Given the severe military restrictions the Israeli occupation authorities had placed on mosque entry, tens of thousands of people performed Friday prayer at Al-Aqsa Mosquee. About 40,000 people, according to the Islamic Awqaf Department in Jerusalem, performed Friday prayers within Al-Aqsa Mosque. According to the Palestinian News Agency (WAFA), the occupation forces are still enforcing harsh limitations on worshipers’ access to Al-Aqsa, particularly on Fridays. Thousands of residents of the West Bank governorates are unable to travel to Jerusalem to pray at Al-Aqsa Mosque because they need special permission to pass through the military checkpoints that encircle the Holy City…

Early this morning, nine Lebanese citizens, including a mother and her two children, were killed in an Israeli airstrike on the Nabatieh Governorate in southern Lebanon. Additionally, five others sustained injuries in the attack. The Lebanese Ministry of Health reported that the casualties and injuries resulted from an air raid carried out by Israeli fighter jets on the Wadi al-Kfour village in the Nabatieh region. Simultaneously, the southern region of Lebanon experienced intense Israeli reconnaissance and drone flights, particularly over the cities and villages of Tyre, Bazourieh, and Qadmus. Source: WAFA

The Doha negotiations did not yield any developments as “Israel” is clinging to its positions, a senior Palestinian Resistance official told Al Mayadeen. Moreover, a senior Hamas source pointed out that what the movement’s leadership was informed of Friday regarding the results of the Doha ceasefire meetings does not include a commitment to what was agreed upon on July 2. This follows a statement that senior officials from the governments of the United States, Qatar, and Egypt will reconvene in Cairo before the end of next week with an aim to conclude a ceasefire agreement in Gaza and a prisoner…

Medical sources reported today that the death toll from the Israeli airstrike on the Al-Zawaida area in the central Gaza Strip has risen to 15. The occupation’s warplanes targeted at dawn tonight a shack and a house belonging to the Al-Ajl family near the entrance to Al-Zawaida on Salah Al-Din Street in the central Gaza Strip, resulting in the killing of at least 15 citizens and the injury of dozens of others. He added that paramedics recovered the bodies of two people and a number of wounded after the occupation fighter jets bombed the house of the Madi family in…

Firefighters in Izmir’s Karsiyaka district have resumed aerial interventions as strong winds exacerbate the forest fire that has led to widespread evacuations and destruction in western Türkiye over the past two days. The wildfire, which began in the area of Yamanlar Karatepe in the Karsikaya district, has intensified, forcing the evacuation of three neighborhoods and threatening both residential and industrial areas. As the morning light appeared, aerial firefighting efforts were resumed, with teams on the ground continuing to combat the blaze despite challenging conditions. The fire has already destroyed 16 homes and forced the evacuation of 87 houses and 45…

The Israeli settlers who attacked Hassan Arman’s village of Jit in the occupied West Bank had a simple aim, he says: “To burn, kill, or destroy” — all of which took place that night.Residents hid in fear while dozens of settlers ransacked their northern village late on Thursday, burning homes and cars, until eventually a young Palestinian man was shot dead.Arman, whose car was destroyed by fire during the attack, said he had “never seen anything like it” in Jit as he opened the charred door of his vehicle.Inside, everything had melted, leaving just a skeleton of twisted metal. When…