Author: Steven Sahiounie

Health Minister Fahrettin Koca posts video on Türkiye’s health achievements, statistics in 2023, highlighting services in earthquake zone in country’s south, Gaza Strip Türkiye has received 292 wounded and sick from Gaza for treatment since Israel’s devastating attacks on the Palestinian enclave began earlier this year, according to a post on X by the country’s health minister on Sunday. Fahrettin Koca shared a video on X about the country’s achievements over the past year in the realm of health, showing that Türkiye also sent Gaza 15 planes and a ship-load of humanitarian aid, including medical supplies, a fully-equipped field hospital,…

Israel’s relentless bombardment of Gaza for nearly three months has destroyed 70 percent of the homes in the besieged Palestinian enclave, according to the Government Media Office. An earlier report said more than 200 heritage and archaeological sites were destroyed in the Israeli bombardment considered the most destructive in modern history. About 300,000 out of 439,000 homes have been destroyed in Israeli attacks, a Wall Street Journal report said. Analysing satellite imagery, the report added that the 29,000 bombs dropped on the strip have targeted residential areas, Byzantine churches, hospitals and shopping centres and all civilian infrastructure has been damaged to an…

Nabil Abu Rudeineh, spokesperson for President Mahmoud Abbas, declared today that there can be no peace or stability without a complete end of the Israeli occupation of all the Palestinian territories, including Gaza, the West Bank, and East Jerusalem. In response to Netanyahu’s recent statements about Israel’s plan to take control of the Philadelphi Corridor of the Palestine-Egypt border, Abu Rudeineh emphasized that the first national priorities now are to halt the Israeli aggression on Gaza and stop the attacks by army-backed Israeli terrorist settler militias on Palestinian cities, villages, and refugee camps in the West Bank. Abu Rudeineh further…

Footage obtained by Al Jazeera shows massive destruction of historical landmarks in Gaza City as a result of continuous Israeli bombardment since October 7. Among those affected is the El Samra Historical Bathhouse, also known as Hammam El Smara, on Omar al-Mukhtar Street in Gaza City, which now lies in ruins. El Samra was the last public bathhouse left in Gaza from the Ottoman era, built more than 800 years ago. Gaza’s ancient Great Omari Mosque, tracing its roots to the pre-Islamic era atop an ancient Philistine temple site, has also been reduced to rubble. In the Daraj neighbourhood, Israeli…

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights says, “The number of people killed by air strikes, believed to be carried out by Israeli forces, has risen to 23.” The UK-based organisation added that those people killed in the air raids on al-Bokamal, Syria were from Iran-backed armed groups and included five Syrians and six Iraqis. The reports come after Israeli air raids earlier targeted Aleppo, Syria. Source: AlJazeera

The greenback’s share of global reserves plummeted below 60% in the third quarter of 2023, according to data

The Israeli newspaper Maariv has quoted Foreign Minister Eli Cohen as saying that the Israeli government bears responsibility for Hamas’s attack on October 7 and that an investigation committee must be formed to hold those who were negligent accountable. Cohen added that talking about settlement in the Gaza Strip is “premature” and that restoring security “comes first”. Source: ALJazeera

Hussein Al-Sheikh, the Secretary-General of the PLO Executive Committee, asserted today that Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu’s recent statements about Israel’s intention to regain control over the Philadelphi Route and the Rafah border crossing is indicative of Israel’s plan to re-occupy the Gaza Strip. Al-Sheikh, in a concise statement on X, said he views this move as “a blatant violation of agreements with Egypt and a termination of all agreements with the PLO.” Al-Sheikh emphasized the need for “a unified Palestinian and Arab decision to confront the repercussions of this aggressive war.” He highlighted “Netanyahu’s attempts to impose new facts on…

‘All countries, institutions need to take a united stand against the killing of innocent children and women in Gaza,’ Erdogan says in his video message on New Year eve Türkiye’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Sunday that “all countries and institutions” ought to unite in their opposition to the killing of defenseless women and children in the Gaza Strip for a better future. “All countries, institutions need to take a united stand against the killing of innocent children and women in Gaza,” Erdogan said in his video message on New Year eve. “We hold hope for a better future…

Lloyd Austin and Grant Shapps both agreed the attacks by the Yemen-based Houthi group in Red sea “violate freedom of navigation protected by international law, and threaten citizens of multiple countries”, according to the Pentagon. “Both secretaries highlighted the attacks are unacceptable and profoundly destabilising to the international rules-based order,” a statement said. “Secretary Austin noted these attacks constitute a significant international problem that demands collective action.” The US launched a 20-country coalition to protect commercial ships after the Houthis said they would attack all vessels, going to or coming from Israel, in solidarity with Gaza. Source: AlJazeera