Author: Steven Sahiounie

Russia is not a party to the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court (ICC) and therefore does not recognize any decisions handed down by the Hague-based ICC, Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov said, commenting on arrest warrants issued by the ICC against Sergey Kobylash, commander of the Russian Aerospace Forces’ Long-Range Aviation, and Russian Black Sea Fleet Commander Viktor Sokolov. The Kremlin official noted: “We do not participate in the Statute, we do not recognize it. So we treat such decisions accordingly.” “This is not the first decision [by the ICC against Russia],” Peskov reiterated. Earlier, the court, unrecognized by…

Indirect talks to end hostilities along the Lebanese-Israeli border will begin during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan which starts next week, Lebanon’s caretaker prime minister Najib Mikati said on Tuesday.Powerful Lebanese armed group Hezbollah and Israel have been exchanging fire for nearly five months in parallel with the Gaza war, prompting diplomatic efforts aimed at staving off an escalation.In an interview on Tuesday night with local Lebanese broadcaster Al Jadeed, Mikati said long-term stability on the southern border required Israel to stop violating Lebanon’s territorial integrity and to return territories it occupies all along the border.He said Lebanon’s parliament…

Leaders from the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations and Australia (ASEAN-Australian) were reported to be struggling to find common ground on the war in Gaza, with nations split on the wording of a joint declaration. The AFP reports that a draft joint ASEAN-Australian statement showed there was broad agreement behind a call for “an immediate and durable humanitarian ceasefire”. “We condemn attacks against all civilians and civilian infrastructure, leading to a further deterioration of the humanitarian crisis in Gaza including restricted access to food, water, and other basic needs,” the latest draft, accessed by AFP, read. But a working…

A piece published on The Atlantic magazine’s news website suggested that Yemeni Ansar Allah leader Sayyed Abdul-Malik al-Houthi “may now be the most popular public figure in the Middle East.” The piece pointed out that since the Yemeni Armed Forces began their operations in the Red Sea in November in support of the Palestinian people, Sayyed al-Houthi “has been treated like a latter-day Che Guevara, his portrait and speeches shared on social media across five continents.” It emphasized that although it remains challenging to assess the consequences of the attacks, the Yemeni operations created a gap in the global economy. The operations, according to…

Despite restrictions on travel, Benny Gantz somehow met with US officials in Washington pushing the Israeli PM’s office into disarray. The office of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is conducting a comprehensive investigation into how war cabinet member Benny Gantz obtained a travel ticket to the United States, despite Netanyahu’s orders against it, according to the Israeli Public Broadcasting Corporation. Netanyahu tried to cancel Benny Gantz’s trip to the United States, prompting the Prime Minister’s office to open a wide-ranging investigation into how he obtained a travel ticket, according to the Israeli broadcaster. On the other hand, Gantz’s aides explained that…

During a joint press conference with President Mahmoud Abbas in Ankara, the capital of Turkey, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said it has become all the more obvious with the recent incidents that peace cannot prevail in the Middle East without a fair solution to the Israel-Palestine issue. Yet, he added, the only path to lasting peace is the establishment of an independent, sovereign and geographically-integrated Palestinian state based on the 1967 borders, with East Jerusalem as its capital. “We have been exerting extraordinary efforts in this regard since October 7. Israel’s attacks on the occupied Palestinian territories have topped our…

A young Palestinian youth late at night on Wednesday succumbed to critical wounds he sustained after being critically wounded by the Israeli occupation forces’ live fire during a military incursion into the Jenin area, in the northern occupied West Bank, on February 29. Medical sources at Ibn Sina Hospital reported that 18-year-old Nooruddin Ibrahim Yasin from the village of Deir Abu Da’if, northeast of Jenin, died of his serious gunshot head wounds which he sustained from the occupation forces’ live fire a week ago. The 18-year-old young youth was injured during an Israeli military incursion into the al-Jaberiyat neighborhood in Jenin…

Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan will pay an official visit to the US on Thursday, his ministry announced. During the two-day trip, which comes at the invitation of US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, Fidan will attend a meeting of the Türkiye-US Strategic Mechanism, the ministry said in a Wednesday statement. Fidan is expected to meet with Blinken and engage in talks on bilateral relations, as well as regional and global developments. The ministry shared no further details. source: Anadolu Agency

By, Ahmed Abdu-Almalik Al-Ansi, Yemeni writer and researcher SANA’A, March 4, 2024 – In a significant escalation of tensions in the Middle East, the Yemeni Armed Forces announced that they have successfully targeted an Israeli ship, the “MSC SKY”, in the Arabian Sea. The operation was carried out using naval missiles and was described as “accurate and direct”. This successful operation, carried out with the help of Allah, marks a victory for the Palestinian people’s plight and sends a clear message to all hostile forces in the region. Just hours before this naval strike, ballistic missiles and drones were launched…

Saudi Arabia’s Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan on Tuesday said any potential Israeli military actions in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip would have dangerous repercussions, a foreign ministry statement said. Speaking during an extraordinary session of the Organization of Islamic Countries (OIC) held in Jeddah, Prince Faisal also reiterated the Kingdom’s opposition to the displacement of Palestinians from the territory. The extraordinary session was held to discuss the ongoing war in Gaza between Hamas and Israel which began in October. More than 30,000 Palestinians have been killed by Israel’s assault, launched after Hamas-led attacks that killed 1,200 people…