Author: Steven Sahiounie

Egypt’s President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi has won a new six-year term with 89.6 percent of the vote, the election authority announced Monday.Turnout reached an “unprecedented” 66.8 percent of voters, said authority head Hazem Badawy.Over 39 million had cast their ballots for El-Sisi, a former army chief who has ruled the most populous Arab country for a decade.The president was up against three relative unknowns in the vote held between December 10 and 12.Runner-up Hazem Omar, who leads the Republican People’s Party, received 4.5 percent of the vote.Next came Farid Zahran, leader of the left-leaning Egyptian Social Democratic Party, and Abdel-Sanad…

Lloyd Austin expected to press Israeli leaders to ‘transition to new phase of Gaza war’ after weeks of heavy strikes, ground offensive, The Times of Israel reports US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin arrived in Israel on Monday for talks on the ongoing Israeli war on the Gaza Strip. Austin, who is accompanied by Joint Chiefs Chairman Gen. Charles Q. Brown, is expected to meet with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Defense Minister Yoav Gallant and Israel’s war Cabinet during his visit. The top defense official will press Israeli leaders to “transition to a new phase of the war” in Gaza after…

Yemen’s Houthi rebel group has claimed responsibility for the attack on two ships – the Swan Atlantic and MSC Clara – in the Red Sea. The group’s military spokesperson Yahya Sarea said in a statement published on X that the attacks were carried out by naval drones. He added that they were “in solidarity with the Palestinian people in light of the aggression against Gaza”. Source: AlJazeera

The UN Security Council (UNSC) is set to convene later today to vote for a new resolution calling for a suspension of the fighting in Gaza. The draft text “calls for an urgent and sustainable cessation of hostilities to allow safe and unhindered humanitarian access in the Gaza Strip for those in need”. The vote comes after it failed to pass a resolution on December 8 calling an immediate ceasefire due to a US veto. Source: AlJazeera

Demonstrators in Germany and the Netherlands expressed support on Sunday for Palestine, with thousands gathering in Berlin to take part in a vehicle convoy and hundreds marching to the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague. Simultaneously, human rights organizations in Amsterdam called for a cease-fire in Gaza, decrying the Dutch government’s inaction. In Berlin, demonstrators attached Palestinian flags and signs to their vehicles saying “Stop the genocide in Gaza” and “Freedom for Palestine” and later formed a convoy that passed through the central points of the city. While some protesters accompanied the convoy with bicycles on the roadside, a…

More and more displaced Palestinians are being pushed here to the southern part of Gaza Strip where there is a lack of the very basic survival items in these difficult conditions. So far the number of trucks allowed in through Karem Abu Salem (Kerem Shalom) crossing is 24. Those are the trucks that used to be allowed through the Rafah crossing, but now they are going through the security clearance at al-Awja checkpoint, that is an Israeli-controlled territory. We are talking about medical supplies and fuel. Anything else will be allowed through the Rafah crossing and will be managed and…

The lack of water or sanitation could soon become equally “dangerous” as the ongoing Israeli bombardment of Gaza, according to a member of Doctors without Borders, known by its French initials MSF. “The water system isn’t working anymore – it has completely collapsed,” Ricardo Martinez, who spent four weeks in Gaza during the war, said in an interview posted on the aid group’s website. “People are being pushed to the limit, having to fight for their survival. At most, people have one litre of water per day – that’s for drinking, washing and cooking,” added Martinez, a logistics coordinator for…

At least 35 Palestinians, including three women, have been arrested in overnight and morning raids in the occupied West Bank and Jerusalem, right groups have said. The Commission of Detainees and Ex-Detainees Affairs and the Palestinian Prisoner’s Society in a joint statement said the raids took place in various parts including Hebron, Jerusalem, Ramallah, Tulkarem, Jericho and Tubas. The total number of Palestinians detained in the occupied West Bank since October 7 now stands at 4,575. Source: AlJazeera

Live footage shows a large cloud of smoke billowing from the hospital in Gaza City. Al-Shifa, the largest medical complex in Gaza, has come under repeated attacks from Israeli forces since the war began. We will bring you more on this as further updates come in. Source: AJazeera

Israel’s indiscriminate attacks against Palestinians risk “fuel the conflict for another 50 years” and radicalising young Muslims across the world, Ben Wallace, Britain’s former defence minister, has written in the UK’s Daily Telegraph. “Going after Hamas is legitimate, obliterating vast swathes of Gaza is not. Using proportionate force is legal but collective punishment and forced movement of civilians is not,” he wrote. “We are entering a dangerous period now where Israel’s original legal authority of self-defence is being undermined by its own actions. It is making the mistake of losing its moral authority alongside its legal one.” He accused Israeli…