Author: Steven Sahiounie

The United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Turk has said that he was “very disturbed” by Israeli calls for Palestinians to leave the besieged Gaza Strip, stressing that international law prohibits their forcible transfer.

A Palestinian teenager has been shot dead by Israeli forces during early morning raids on towns in the occupied West Bank, where a ferocious campaign is underway in parallel with the ongoing genocide in the besieged Gaza Strip. 

The US’s top diplomat Blinken is embarking on a Middle East trip this week, and will visit Turkey, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Israel and the occupied West Bank. State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller said Blinken will discuss with Israeli officials ensuring sustained humanitarian access to Gaza, the next phase of the war, protecting civilians and “how to enable Palestinians to return to their homes and neighbourhoods as fighting curtails”. Nearly two million people in Gaza – more than 80 percent of the territory’s population – have been forced out of their homes. So far, Israeli forces are preventing residents…

Daesh has claimed responsibility for two explosions that killed at least 84 people and wounded scores at a memorial for top anti-terror commander Gen. Qassem Soleimani in the southeastern Iranian city of Kerman. In a statement posted on its affiliate Telegram channels, Daesh terrorist group said two members had detonated their explosive belts in the crowd which had gathered at a cemetery for the anniversary of the US assassination of Gen. Soleimani. Earlier, an unnamed source told the official news agency IRNA that the first explosion at the cemetery in Kerman, Gen. Soleimani’s hometown, “was the result of a suicide bomber’s…

Russia is seriously concerned about the situation in the Red Sea, Vasily Nebenzya said Russia is seriously concerned of the situation in the Red Sea and is confident that developments there are the direct projection of violence in the Gaza Strip, Russian Permanent Representative to the United Nations Vasily Nebenzya said. “I think that hardly anyone of our counterparts will deny the fact that developments in the Red Sea are the direct projection of violence in Gaza, where the cruel operation of Israel continues already for three months,” the Russian diplomat said at the meeting of the UN Security Council.…

The UN and other humanitarian agencies have been unable to deliver aid north of Wadi Gaza for three days, the UN Humanitarian Agency (OCHA) has said. Around half of Gaza lies north of Wadi Gaza, including Gaza City. OCHA said aid could not be delivered due to “access delays and denials, as well as active conflict”, but did not specify who was responsible. Areas north of Wadi Gaza have “been severed from the south for more than a month”, OCHA added, with people there facing “catastrophic and life-threatening food insecurity”. The UN said the aid that was blocked from entering…

Attacks on cargo vessels in Red Sea shipping lanes have to stop otherwise international action will be taken, British Foreign Secretary David Cameron said on Thursday.Recent attacks by Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthis have drawn international condemnation, with Britain, the United States and others issuing a joint statement on Wednesday warning that there would be consequences to any further attacks.Houthis have since October attacked commercial vessels in the Red Sea. They say the vessels have Israeli links or are sailing to Israel and they are acting in solidarity with Palestinians in Gaza.”This is illegal. It’s not to do with Gaza, it’s not…

Numan Kurtulmus holds phone call with Iranian counterpart Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf The Turkish parliament speaker on Thursday expressed condolences with his Iranian counterpart over an attack during a ceremony in the city of Kerman marking the anniversary of death of commander Gen. Qassem Soleimani​​​​​​​. Numan Kurtulmus, who spoke to Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf over phone, said on X that he “conveyed our condolences for the terrorist attacks in the province of Kerman.” “We emphasized that Türkiye has been fighting against terrorism for many years and that the countries in the region must understand the reality of terrorism in the best way…

Prime Minister Hussein Arnous sent a message of condolence to the Iran’s First Vice-President Mohammad Mokhber, in which he expressed his sincere condolences over the victims of the terrorist attack that struck the city of Kerman, southern Iran. “My deepest condolences for you and the friendly Iranian people”, Premier Arnous said in his telegram, praying to God Almighty to include in His vast mercy those who died in this disaster and to inspire their families with patience , wishing a speedy recovery for the injured. The Prime Minister , in the cable, voiced his confidence in the ability of the…

Every 15 people per 100,000 are estimated to be living rough across the country, researchers say