Author: Steven Sahiounie

The fortunes of the country’s top billionaires grew by billions of dollars last year

UN secretary-general spokesperson Florencia Soto Nino has been asked directly by Al Jazeera’s diplomatic correspondent about whether the attack on al-Arouri was a breach of the UN Charter if it was carried out by Israel and whether the Secretary-General Antonio Guterres condemned the attack. She chose to sidestep the question, saying she did not “want to speculate”. However, she added that the UN chief was calling for maximum restraint. “I think our message to everyone … is the same: Because of the escalating tensions and the fragility of the situation in the region, we are calling for maximum restraints for…

Mosques in the occupied West Bank town north of Ramallah, Arura are mourning the death of one of their own, Saleh al-Arouri, who was killed earlier by an Israeli drone attack on Beirut. Protests and gatherings are also taking place in Ramallah and several towns near it, such as Deir Qaddis. A general strike in Ramallah has also now been called for Wednesday. Source: ALJazeera

Najib Mikati said the killing of al-Arouri “aims to pull Lebanon into a new phase of confrontations in light of the ongoing daily attacks on the south of Beirut ”. Mikati also warned against “the Israeli political upper echelon resorting to exporting its failures in Gaza to the southern border to impose new facts on the ground and change the rules of engagement”. Source: AlJazeera

Back in August, when Netanyahu threatened Palestinian leaders in Lebanon, Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah said the group would respond to attacks in the country. “Any assassination on Lebanese soil against a Lebanese, Palestinian, Iranian or Syrian person will be met with a strong response. We cannot remain silent and allow opening the Lebanese scene to assassinations,” Nasrallah said at that time. Israel’s attack in the southern suburb of Beirut represents a major escalation in the continuing clashes between Hezbollah and the Israeli military, which had been confined to the Lebanon-Israel border area. Source: AlJazeera

Al-Manar is reporting that Al-Arouri was the target of the drone attack in southern Beirut. The Lebanese al-Mayadeen channel has also reported that al-Arouri has been killed, and Reuters has reported the deputy Hamas politburo leader was the target, citing three security sources. Who was Saleh al-Arouri? Al-Arouri was the deputy chief of Hamas’s political bureau and one of the founders of the Palestinian group’s armed wing, the Qassam Brigades. He was born in Ramallah in the occupied West Bank in 1966. He had long been living in exile in Lebanon after spending 15 years in Israeli jail. In recent weeks,…

Despite the low number, many more still support Netanyahu `s war on Gaza, according to the Reuters news agency, which cited a new poll by the Israel Democracy Institute (IDI). The IDI poll found that 56 percent of those questioned said continuing the military offensive was the best way to recover Israeli captives. Meanwhile, 24 percent thought a swap deal including the release of thousands more Palestinian prisoners from Israel’s jails would be best. Netanyahu ’s political rival and present war cabinet partner, Benny Gantz, garnered support from 23 percent of interviewees. About 30 percent named no preferred leader. The…

Turkish officials have confirmed the arrest of 33 individuals suspected of being involved in a plot for Mossad, Israel’s spy agency, as reported by the state-run Anadolu news agency. The operations were conducted across eight Turkish provinces, and authorities are actively pursuing an additional 13 suspects linked to the case. Istanbul’s chief prosecutor’s office also disclosed that arrest warrants have been issued for 46 individuals in a separate investigation related to an Mossad scheme aimed at targeting foreigners within Turkey. The suspects are alleged to have been involved in activities such as reconnaissance, surveillance, assault, and abduction on behalf of…

The US plans for the Gaza Strip have stalled because either continuing support for the Israeli onslaught or acceding to a political solution in compliance with the demands of resistance will mark a defeat for Washington, the foreign minister of Iran said. Addressing a cultural event at the University of Tehran on Monday, Hossein Amirabdollahian said the Zionist regime and its allies have two options in Gaza, both of which entail defeats for them. “The first option is the continuation of (Israeli) war (on Gaza), but the continuation of war means the continuation of massacre and the continuation of a humiliating…

The Gaza Ministry of Health has published the names of 19 patients who have been approved for medical evacuation from Gaza through the Rafah Crossing with Egypt today. The group of 19 patients – including a two-week-old baby – have severe injuries and illnesses, including cancer. In late December, the UN said that the number of wounded Palestinians and other medical cases evacuated from the besieged Palestinian territory since 7 October represented just 1 percent of the total number of people reported injured amid Israel’s war on Gaza. Source: AlJazeera