Author: Steven Sahiounie

Large plumes of smoke can be seen rising over various parts of Khan Younis, in southern Gaza, where there has been fierce fighting between Israeli forces and Palestinian fighters. Reporting from Rafah, further south, Al Jazeera’s Hani Mahmoud said “heavy confrontations” have been taking place under intense Israeli aerial bombardment. He added that there were clashes in the east of the city and further deep, in “the heart of Khan Younis, in an area better known as the Project area, around the hospital”. Source: alJazeera

The United Nations says only 13 out of 36 hospitals in the Gaza Strip are partially functional as Israeli occupation forces are targeting medical centers and staff amid heavily bombardment of the besieged territory. The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said in a report on Tuesday that the services provided to patients in operational hospitals are “limited” as they have run out of bed capacity. “The two major hospitals in southern Gaza are operating at three times above their bed capacity while facing critical shortages of basic supplies and fuel,” the report said. “Only one of these hospitals…

The Israeli military says ten of its soldiers and officers were killed on Tuesday during the aggression against the besieged Gaza Strip. The occupying regime’s military on Wednesday announced the new fatalities that bring to 113 the total number of Israeli troops killed in the Gaza war. Lieutenant Colonel Tomer Grinberg, commander of the Golani Brigade’s 13th Battalion, was among those killed. Reports said seven of the eight slain Israeli forces were killed in an ambush by the Palestinian resistance in the Gaza neighborhood of Shejaiya. Resistance fighters planted explosives and then opened fire at the Israeli soldiers who came…

The United Nations General Assembly has overwhelmingly passed a resolution calling for an immediate humanitarian ceasefire in the Israeli regime’s months-long genocidal war on the Gaza Strip. The 193-member assembly adopted the resolution with 153 votes in favor on Tuesday. Nine countries voted the resolution down, including the United States in line with its unfaltering political support for the Israeli regime. The US, however, does not hold a veto power at the assembly, unlike the UN Security Council, where it has blocked successive such resolutions. Washington has also provided Tel Aviv with more than 10,000 tons of military equipment since…

Nearly $9 billion in private funds is blocked in the country’s institutions due to sanctions Some Swiss financial institutions have begun charging their Russian clients fees on frozen accounts, sometimes accruing interest payments years in advance, Vedomosti reported on Tuesday, citing bankers and a brokerage firm. Commissions on the blocked assets of Russian citizens are charged years in advance, an auditing company source told the outlet, citing an employee at a Swiss bank. “The idea is that there is an account, it needs to be serviced, and it doesn’t matter that a person cannot use the banking service, in fact it…

Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan arrived in Geneva on Monday to lead the Kingdom’s delegation at an event commemorating the 75th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, Saudi Press Agency reported on Tuesday. Prince Faisal also led a delegation from the ministerial committee formed by the extraordinary joint Arab-Islamic summit, which also held multiple meetings in Geneva. The high-level event, which runs from Dec. 11-12, focuses on boosting international cooperation for the protection of human rights amid various global challenges, including wars. Discussions at the event also center on the importance of upholding and promoting respect…

As part of an overall $35 million package of support, the World Bank announced $20 million in new financing to provide emergency relief for the affected people of Gaza. This includes $10 million in new financing for food vouchers and parcels, approved by the World Bank board of Directors, that will reach an estimated 377,000 people. The urgently needed assistance will be delivered through the World Food Programme. This additional financing comes from the Emergency Social Protection and Jobs COVID-19 Response Project. In addition, the World Bank’s Health Emergency & Preparedness Trust Fund Program has allocated $10 million, provided by…

The Jordanian foreign ministry slammed Israel’s decision to expropriate Palestinian-ownded land in and around Silwan for the purposes of erecting a cable car from the area to Abu Tor in West Jerusalem going through the Old City in occupied East Jerusalem. “This is a rejected and condemned step that represents a grave violation of international law and UNESCO resolutions,” the Jordanian government said in a statement posted on X. “These Israeli steps to change the features of the Old City of Jerusalem and its legal status are null and void,” the statement said. According to Daniel Seidemann, an expert on…

A young Palestinian man has died of wounds sustained after being shot by Israeli forces. Fawaz Hammad, head of the al-Razi Hospital in Jenin, identified him as 18-year-old Rashad Turkman, who had been shot in the abdomen. Turkman died in the facility despite efforts to resuscitate him. This brings the death toll from Israel’s ongoing raid in Jenin to six. Earlier today, five Palestinians were killed in Jenin, either in a drone attack or by being shot. Separately, the ministry said a 13-year-old boy, who had previously been sick, died in his father’s arms after Israeli forces prevented an ambulance…

UN human rights chief Volker Turk said that Gaza is experiencing dangerous humanitarian conditions. “If you look at the humanitarian situation at the moment, it is so precarious… extremely precarious,” Turk said. “It’s on the verge of well beyond breakdown.” The UN rights chief previously called for a ceasefire to end the crisis, stressing that the only way forward is “through an immediate end to the violence”. Source: AlJazeera