Author: Steven Sahiounie

Tuesday saw a spate of attacks in the Red Sea, with the US military saying it shot down 12 one-way attack drones, three anti-ship ballistic missiles and two land attack cruise missiles fired by the Yemen-based Houthis in a 10-hour period. Before that, the Mediterranean Shipping Co reported that its container ship came under attack. No injuries were reported. The Houthis have promised to attack commercial ships going to and from Israel in the arterial Red Sea waterway. The US has launched a 20-member coalition in response to protect ships in the region. Source: AlJazeera

Lloyd Doggett, a Democratic representative in the US House of Representatives, has questioned US support for Israel in a post on social media. “US policy of begging Netanyahu to safeguard civilians while sending him weapons and abstaining on even the most modest UN resolution has failed,” said Doggett. Doggett made the comments in response to reports that Israel has been using “non-precision 2,000 [pound] bombs dropped in densely populated areas”. Source: AlJazeera

As we reported earlier, the UN has appointed Sigrid Kaag as the senior humanitarian and reconstruction coordinator for Gaza, a new role created by a UNSC resolution adopted on Friday. Kaag – a former deputy prime minister of the Netherlands – is expected to begin on January 8 2024, the UN said. It’s worth noting that UN Humanitarian Coordinator for the Occupied Palestinian Territory Lynn Hastings left the country last week after Israel revoked her residence visa. Hastings had criticised Israeli restrictions on much-needed aid deliveries. “The conditions required to deliver aid to the people of Gaza do not exist,”…

Qatar Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani received a phone call on Tuesday from US President Joe Biden to discuss the latest developments in Gaza and current joint mediation efforts for calming the situation in the besieged enclave to reach a permanent cease-fire, according to a report from the Qatari State News Agency.Qatar and Egypt were mediators between Israel and Hamas in the late November truce during which Hamas released 110 women, children and foreigners it was holding in exchange for 240 Palestinian women and teenagers freed from Israeli jails Source: Arab News

Jordanian King Abdullah II is on his way to Egypt to meet President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, the Royal Hashemite Court announced on X. The pair are also expected to discuss the situation in Gaza and the path towards a ceasefire. On Monday, Egypt announced what is described as a plan to end the war in Gaza, which would see Israel entirely withdraw from the enclave, all captives held by Hamas released, many Palestinian prisoners freed, and a united technocratic Palestinian government installed. Source: AlJazeera

Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas has given a speech. Here are some of his main talking points: source: AlJazeera

The appointment was required by the UN Security Council resolution passed last week, which said the international organisation must appoint a coordinator to oversee humanitarian relief shipments into Gaza. Kaag, who resigned from her post as deputy prime minister of the Netherlands after the announcement, will have the title of senior humanitarian and reconstruction coordinator. The role begins on January 8, the UN said in a statement. “In this role she will facilitate, coordinate, monitor and verify humanitarian relief consignments for Gaza,” the UN said. She will also establish a “mechanism” to accelerate aid into Gaza through countries not involved…

After the communications and internet blackout, the Palestinian Red Crescent says it is cut off from its teams in the Gaza Strip. “The artillery shelling this morning of the association’s headquarters in Khan Younis also destroyed the VHF antenna network for the association’s work, which was the only means of contact in light of the communications outage,” the Red Crescent said. “This poses a major challenge for ambulance and emergency crews in reaching the wounded and injured.” Source: AlJazeera

In his yearly review, World Health Organization (WHO) chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus cited some positive developments in 2023, including the end of COVID as a public health emergency of global concern and increased attention to the health impacts of climate change. He also listed the war Gaza as the source of 2023’s “immense and avoidable suffering” and mentioned fighting in Sudan, Ukraine, Ethiopia and Myanmar. Source: AlJazeera

Steven Sahiounie, journalist and political commentator On October 17, just 10 days after the Hamas attack on Israel, former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak said Hamas cannot be eliminated. Barak said, “We cannot completely eliminate Hamas. Hamas is an ideological movement which exists in [Palestinian] people’s dreams, in their hearts and in their minds.” For