Author: Steven Sahiounie

Yoav Gallant was visiting troops in southern Israel close to Gaza. He said the southern city of Khan Younis has “become the new capital of terror” and Israel will not stop until it targeted all senior Hamas officials. “The ground operation will expand to additional areas,” he said. Israeli forces initially told civilians to flee from northern Gaza to “safe zones” in the south, before telling them to flee further south from Khan Younis and bombing there. Hundreds of thousands of displaced are currently gathered in Rafah, the enclave’s southernmost city. Source: AlJazeera

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates today welcomed the announcement by French Foreign Minister Catherine Colonna that her country decided to take measures against some extremist Israeli colonists and that she expressed France’s rejection of the acts of violence they are committing because they undermine the possibilities of reaching a political solution. The Ministry considered, in a statement, that this decision is a step in the right direction towards applying international law and relevant United Nations resolutions to the entire colonial settlement regime, which undermines the opportunity to implement the two-state solution. It called on all countries to place…

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Tuesday implied that the bloodshed in Gaza would end solely on the condition that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu be removed from office. “Those who do not listen to us or do not believe us when we say that Netanyahu will be out will see his exit. But his leaving office will not save him. We will persecute him legally … I hope that Israel’s cabinet reshuffle will put an end to this bloodshed,” Erdogan told reporters. He also pledged to hold accountable all those responsible for the killing of civilians in Gaza. According to…

Tor Wennesland, the UN’s special coordinator for the Middle East peace process, has said in a statement that aid delivery to Gaza continues to face “nearly insurmountable challenges”. His statement comes a day after aid was allowed to enter Gaza via the Karem Abu Salem (Kerem Shalom) crossing for the first time since the start of the war. The opening had increased hopes that more aid would be able to reach Palestinians facing severe shortages of food, clean water and medical supplies. “Amid displacement at an unimaginable scale and active hostilities, the humanitarian response system is on the brink,” Wennesland…

It will be the first vote by the council on the conflict since the US vetoed a UAE-introduced resolution that called for an “immediate humanitarian ceasefire” on December 8. The wider UN General Assembly last week voted overwhelmingly in support of a ceasefire, though the resolution it ultimately passed is nonbinding. Today’s vote was delayed from yesterday, when members reached an impasse over the phrasing of calls for the “cessation of hostilities”. The new draft calls for “urgent steps towards a suspension of hostilities”. The draft also calls for the UN secretary-general to create a monitoring mechanism for all aid…

Mohammad al-Hindi, the deputy secretary-general of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad, tells Al Jazeera that Israel is committing massacres against Palestinians to hide the failures of its ground invasion. “What happened on October 7 was a thunderbolt in the region and undermined all arrangements for Israel’s control over the region,” al-Hindi said. The leader asserted that targeting Tel Aviv with rockets on the 74th day of the war is “evidence of the failure of the Israeli aggression”. “Annihilating the resistance is an illusion as the entire Palestinian people are resistance,” he said, adding that there is not an inch left in…

Prime Minister Mohammad Shtayyeh today stressed during his meeting with the German Federal Minister for Economic Cooperation and Development, Svenja Schulze, at his office in Ramallah for supporting a cessation of the Israeli war on Gaza, not encouraging it. “Wisdom calls for supporting a halt to the war, not encouraging its continuation,” said the Prime Minister, stressing that the priority now is to immediately stop the Israeli occupation’s aggression against the Palestinian people in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank, including Jerusalem, and bringing into Gaza relief and medical aid and restore electricity and water. “The aggression against the Gaza…

Israeli President Isaac Herzog has said his country “is ready for another humanitarian pause and additional humanitarian aid in order to enable the release of hostages”. Herzog, whose public role is largely ceremonial, made the remarks at a gathering of ambassadors, according to his office. Source: ALJazeera

Saudi Arabia sent on Tuesday its 33rd plane with aid for the embattled people of Gaza. The plane left King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh bound for Al-Arish International Airport in Egypt, the Saudi Press Agency reported. Operated by KSrelief, the Kingdom’s aid agency, the aircraft carries 18 tons of medical supplies for the people in the besieged Gaza Strip. This forms part of Saudi Arabia’s commitment to support the Palestinian people, SPA reported. source: Arab News

A senior Houthi official has told Al Jazeera that “intense talks” are under way to contain tensions in the Red Sea. On Saturday, a Houthi spokesman said the group has engaged in Oman-mediated talks with unnamed “international parties” over its operations in the Red Sea and Arabian Sea. The official speaking to Al Jazeera called the launch of a US-led naval task force to protect maritime trade after Houthi attacks forced at least a dozen shipping lines to suspend operations “unnecessary”. “We are trying help Palestinians,” the official said. “We will consider any military vessel that enters our territorial waters…