Author: Steven Sahiounie

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…

“There were many failures on the part of our state before the Hamas attack,” Lapid, who leads Israel’s centrist Yesh Atid party, told the paper. “We must investigate exactly how this could have happened.” Lapid added that he had received intelligence alerts from Israel’s secret service of “imminent” violence two weeks before October 7 and raised the alarm, but Israel’s government did not take the threat seriously. “I warned about this in a press conference – unfortunately, nobody wanted to hear it at the time,” said Lapid, adding that Netanyahu should resign over the failure. Source: ALJazeera

Israel’s army will conduct the probe once it receives additional details on the staffer’s identity from French officials, Turkey’s Anadolu news agency reports. This weekend, the French Foreign Ministry condemned the death of the embassy staffer, who had sought shelter in a colleague’s home that was hit by Israeli shelling, and asked Israel to clarify the incident as soon as possible. “We have asked for a complete spotlight on the circumstances that could explain the targeting of this house following the explosion that resulted in the death of this staffer,” said French Foreign Minister Catherine Colonna on Sunday. Source: ALJazeera

“I believe our efforts converge to … wish for another immediate, lasting truce,” French Foreign Minister Catherine Colonna said in a joint news conference with her British counterpart David Cameron in Paris. Colonna also said that France would take measures along with the country’s partners to put an end to Houthi attacks in the Red Sea. Cameron said at the news conference that the UK also wants a “ceasefire as soon as possible, but it must be a sustainable ceasefire”. source: ALJazeera