Author: Steven Sahiounie

Israel should allow displaced Palestinians in Gaza to return to their homes, says Jordan’s foreign minister. Ayman Safadi was speaking at a press conference with his Turkish counterpart Hakan Fidan. “With regard to the current priorities, they are clear: ending the aggression in Gaza, letting in sufficient permanent humanitarian aid to all parts of the Strip, south and north, stopping the destruction, and working immediately for the return of displaced Gazans to their areas and homes,” Safadi said. Source: AlJazeera

Iran issued a stern warning, saying it will not tolerate any operation by the Israeli regime targeting the Iranian nation and government, regardless of the country from which the threats emanate. The announcement came during a phone call between Secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council (SNSC) Ali-Akbar Ahmadian and Iraqi National Security Adviser Qasim al-Araji on Wednesday, in which the officials emphasized the joint efforts to ensure the security of the two neighboring countries. Ahmadian told his Iraqi counterpart that “any action against the Iranian nation and government by the Israeli regime, no matter which country the threats come…

Trump has been threatened with dismissal for consistently neglecting house instructions and actively disrupting the trial with remarks made as the plaintiff gave her testimony. Former President Donald Trump was warned of removal from court during a hearing in author E. Jean Carroll’s rape and defamation case raised against him. On Wednesday, Trump attended the trial in New York but was threatened with dismissal for consistently neglecting house instructions and actively disrupting the trial with remarks made as the plaintiff gave her testimony. Trump was given several warnings but could still be heard mumbling phrases such as “it is a witch hunt”…

Penny Wong has visited the occupied West Bank, meeting with Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Mohammad Shtayyeh and Palestinians affected by settler violence. “Australia is deeply concerned by ongoing settler violence against Palestinians in the West Bank,” Wong said in a post on X. The UN’s humanitarian agency OCHA says that it has recorded 431 Israeli settler attacks against Palestinians since October 7. “In nearly half of all recorded incidents after 7 October, Israeli forces were either accompanying or reported to be supporting the attackers,” OCHA said. Source: AlJazeera

An ongoing telecommunications blackout has limited the latest update from the UN’s humanitarian agency (OCHA), with information from northern Gaza even further limited by highly restricted access. The report says that a missile reportedly struck the UNRWA health clinic in Daraj, in Gaza City on Wednesday, but that “further details on the impact of the projectile are yet to be established”. In Southern Gaza, OCHA reported heavy bombardment in the Khan Younis area for the last two days targeting residential buildings, a cemetery and hospitals. “Initial reports and video footage show that much of the al-Namsawi cemetery was destroyed and graves empty…

Some $15bn will be required to rebuild Gaza’s homes alone, the head of the Palestine Investment Fund Mohammed Mustafa has said at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. Citing international reports, Mustafa said some 350,000 housing units have been completely or partially damaged in Gaza since Israel’s bombardment began on October 7. “We still didn’t talk about infrastructure, we didn’t talk about the hospitals that were damaged, the grids,” he added. Nearly 25,000 people have been killed and almost all of Gaza’s 2.3 million residents have been displaced since Israel’s war on the Palestinian territory began. Source: AlJazeera

GAZA, TULKAREM: A top Hamas official announced new conditions on Wednesday for delivering medicines to hostages held by the group in Gaza, insisting trucks carrying the drugs must not be inspected by Israel.

JERUSALEM: Israel’s army chief said Wednesday the likelihood of war breaking out on the country’s northern border with Lebanon has become “much higher.”

BEIRUT: Iran-backed Hezbollah has rebuffed Washington’s initial ideas for cooling tit-for-tat fighting with neighboring Israel, such as pulling its fighters further from the border, but remains open to US diplomacy to avoid a ruinous war, Lebanese officials said.

AL-MUKALLA: Twenty-six international aid groups working in Yemen have expressed deep worry about the effect of the military escalation in the Red Sea on the deteriorating humanitarian situation in the war-ravaged country. Tensions in the Red Sea have risen since November, when the Houthis captured a commercial ship and launched over 20 drone and missile strikes on commercial and navy ships, attempting to block the key passage to Israel-bound vessels. The US formed a coalition to protect the Red Sea from Houthi assaults, and on Friday unleashed dozens of strikes on military targets in Houthi-controlled areas of Yemen. The aid…