Author: Steven Sahiounie

Colombia is among several Latin American countries to recall their ambassadors to Israel in opposition to the war on Gaza. Left-wing Colombian leader Gustavo Petro in November called Israel’s actions in Gaza “genocide” and said its military operations sought to “remove the Palestinian people from Gaza and take it over”. However, in a post on X today, Israeli Foreign Minister Eli Cohen said he had spoken with his Colombian counterpart Alvaro Leyva, who had accepted an invitation to visit Israel. Cohen said that “during his visit we will hold an open dialogue and discuss the return of relations between the…

Denmark is planning to send a frigate to participate in the US-led coalition aimed at protecting commercial shipping in the Red Sea, according to the Danish defence minister. “We are concerned about the serious situation unfolding in the Red Sea, where unprovoked attacks against civilian shipping continue,” Defence Minister Troels Lund Poulsen said in a statement. The frigate will be sent in January, per approval by the Danish parliament, he said. The Yemen-based Houthi group has promised to attack vessels going to and from Israel along the arterial shipping route. Source: AlJazeera

In a significant move, South Africa formally launched legal proceedings today against Israel by submitting an application to the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in response to the ongoing, relentless Israeli genocide campaign against the Gaza Strip. The application urges the ICJ to indicate provisional measures against Israel for violating its obligations under the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide concerning Palestinians in the Gaza Strip. The ICJ, in a press release, revealed that the application states that “the acts and omissions by Israel are genocidal in character, as they are committed with the requisite…

Addressing the UN Security Council, Majed Bamya says the widescale destruction of Gaza by Israeli operations has made it clear their sole goal is forced displacement. “They want to make sure that Palestinians in Gaza have no homes to return to,” he said. They want to make sure they have no life to return.” “They want to make sure that life in Gaza is no longer possible, with one aim, what they call ‘voluntary migration’ … the codename for forced displacement. These are the options for Palestinians: Destruction or displacement, death or displacement,” he said. Source: AlJazeera

Speaking to reporters, Yoav Gallant hailed the “cooperation” of ground forces and the Israeli Air Force, which has bombarded Gaza since October 7. “We are now carrying out major operations in the Gaza Strip for a prolonged period until all targets are met,” he said. “The fighting is centred in Khan Younis. The achievements are precise and impressive, and the results are coming.” Source: AlJazeera

Turkish first lady , Emine Erdogan speaks at exhibition aimed at raising awareness in international community by conveying feelings, traumas, pain, difficult conditions of children in Gaza Strip Turkish First Lady Emine Erdogan called on the international community on Friday to take steps to end the persecution of people in the Gaza Strip, promising to make the voices of Palestinian children heard globally. Speaking at the “Bulletproof Dreams: Exhibition of Gazan Child Artists” in Istanbul, Emine Erdogan said they must make the voices of Palestinian children, whose right to life is their most basic right, more audible and their suffering…

Olaf Scholz spoke to Israeli war cabinet member Benny Gantz today, according to a statement from the German government. The pair discussed the latest developments in Gaza and on Israel’s northern border, with Scholz relating his diplomatic efforts to keep the conflict from spreading regionally. The German chancellor also emphasised to Gantz the need to improve the humanitarian situation in Gaza and for Israel to protect civilian life. Source: AlJazeera

Responding to a Human Rights Watch report that documented “systemic censorship” of Palestinian content on platforms owned by Meta, Mona Shtaya, a non-resident fellow at Tahrir Institute for Middle East Policy, said that the “discriminatory policies and algorithms” are treading on Palestinians’ rights. It’s also making Palestinians less safe, she said. “We’re seeing this across other platforms. We have seen rights violations on TikTok and on YouTube,” she told Al Jazeera from Ramallah. “Let’s be clear here – these platforms are widespread and widely used between Palestinian users … to share documentation of human rights violations around, and they’re also…

Russia will retaliate in kind to the potential confiscation of its assets by Western countries, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told journalists on Friday.

Hamas has said the Gaza Strip-based Palestinian resistance movements’ Operation al-Aqsa Storm against Israel put the occupying regime “on the path of extinction.”