Author: Steven Sahiounie

Taher al-Nono, media adviser to Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh, has called for an end to the EU’s “double-standard policy”. “These are ridiculous and silly sanctions because everyone knows that Yahya Sinwar has no assets or money neither in Palestine nor outside it,” he told Reuters. “Such a decision has no value against Hamas, but the idea of imposing sanctions on the leaders of the resistance and Hamas, which is resisting the [Israeli] occupation as granted by international law, shows bias to the occupation.” Earlier we reported that Sinwar has been subjected to an asset freeze in the 27-nation bloc and…

The International Centre of Justice for Palestinians (ICJP) has lodged a war crimes complaint against 13 unnamed UK individuals, including officials and those believed to be fighting for the Israeli army. “True to our word, we have taken the first step in holding those alleged to support war crimes in the UK to account,” said the ICJP ’s director, Tayab Ali. “We have referred a complaint to Scotland Yard. The complaint names nine UK citizens who are allegedly fighting with the IDF [Israeli military] and four UK government officials,” he said. The organisation said it turned over more than 70…

Jordan’s King Abdullah met separately the foreign ministers of Australia and Greece on Tuesday in Amman to stress the importance of ending Israel’s war in Gaza, the Jordan News Agency reported. King Abdullah reaffirmed to Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong Jordan’s opposition to the displacement of Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza, and Israel’s plans to separate the territories, adding that both must be part of the Palestinian state. The king said that military and security solutions would not bring peace, and that the only way to do so was to establish a political horizon based on the two-state…

Ibn Farhan, Saudi Minister of Foreign Affairs, says that there is no indication that “Israel” is headed towards a ceasefire or a descalation. On the sidelines of the 2024 Annual Meeting of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, on Tuesday, the Saudi Foreign Minister, Faisal Ibn Farhan, said, “De-escalation in the Red Sea is a priority,” adding that Saudi Arabia is concerned about tensions in the region. Faisal bin Farhan emphasized that Saudi Arabia “does not see any indication that Israel will stop the war and de-escalate the tensions.” “Our priority is to find a path to reduce escalation, and this…

Israeli forces have targeted and damaged a supplies warehouse belonging to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) near Salah al-Din Street in the city of Deir el-Balah, central Gaza Strip. The building, which is a critical part of UNRWA’s efforts to provide essential supplies in Gaza, suffered significant damage due to artillery shelling, intense gunfire, and the impacts of surrounding air attacks. Alongside the pockmarked walls, at least one UN vehicle also appears to be destroyed. Source : AlJazeera

Prime Minister Mohammed Shtayyeh met today with the World Food Program ( WFP )’s Deputy Executive Director and Chief Operating Officer, Carl Skau, during which he was briefed on the program’s efforts to deliver food and relief aid to the Gaza Strip. During a meeting in Ramallah, Shtayyeh warned of the accelerating humanitarian catastrophe in the Gaza Strip as a result of the limited food and relief supplies brought in through the Rafah crossing. He called for exerting more pressure on Israel to open all crossings for relief aid delivery and to allow aid to be delivered directly from the West Bank…

The upward moves in crude prices have so far shown no signs of panic-buying, although investors remain on edge

Chinese state-owned banks are tightening controls on servicing Russian clients after the US approved secondary sanctions on financial institutions found aiding Russia’s military-industrial complex, Bloomberg reported on Tuesday, citing people familiar with the matter.  

The technology’s benefits for production will be more pronounced in high-income economies, according to a survey by the WEF

The issue of compliance with US sanctions by Chinese banks falls outside the purview of the Kremlin, presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters on Tuesday.