Author: Steven Sahiounie

Voting for Egypt’s presidential election, a contest between four candidates including the incumbent President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, began on Sunday. The electoral process will take place over three days from 9 a.m. (0700 GMT) until 9 p.m. (1900 GMT) local time, with results due to be announced on Dec. 18. While President al-Sisi is poised to win a third term, his opponents are Farid Zahran, head of the Egyptian Social Democratic Party, Abdel-Sanad Yamama, leader of the Egyptian Wafd party, and Hazem Omar, head of the Republican People’s Party. In Egypt’s 27 governorates, voting began in 11,631 polling stations in…

The Israeli occupation forces today detained 50 Palestinians in raids at their homes across the occupied West Bank, including two women. In Ramallah, the occupation forces detained 22 people, including Wasim Snaiber, who was shot by the soldiers by live bullets, and a woman. The Israeli forces detained 12 people from Bethlehem, six from Hebron, two from Nablus, one from Tubas and six from Jenin, including a woman. Source: WAFA

We’re getting reports of an Israeli bombardment on the southern Gaza city of Rafah. Palestinian medical sources are saying at least 20 people have been killed, including seven children and at least five women. Three homes were destroyed by the strikes in the north of the city. People are feared trapped under the rubble. Tens of thousands of displaced Palestinians have fled to Rafah after evacuation orders by the Israeli army but the city has been subjected to heavy bombing in recent days. Source: AlJazeera

Israel’s defence minister has pushed back against international calls for a ceasefire, saying the current phase of what Israel says is an operation against Hamas will “take time”. “We are going to defend ourselves. I am fighting for Israel’s future,” Yoav Gallant, a member of Israel’s three-man war cabinet, said in a briefing with The Associated Press. Gallant refused to commit to any firm deadlines but signalled that the current phase, characterised by heavy ground fighting backed up by air power, could stretch on for weeks and that further military activity could continue for months. He added that the next…

After besieging and shelling it for several days, Israeli forces have raided Kamal Adwan Hospital in northern Gaza, a health ministry spokesman said. In a post on Telegram, Ashraf al-Qudra added that Israeli forces were gathering males – including the medical staff – in the hospital courtyard, who he feared may then be arrested. “We call on the United Nations, the World Health Organization and the International Committee of the Red Cross to act immediately to save the lives of those in the hospital,” he added. We will bring you more on this as soon as possible. Source: Aljazeera

Shop owners have closed their businesses across the occupied West Bank and several West Asian countries to heed a call for a general strike in support of the Gaza Strip, which has been under an unrelenting Israeli onslaught for more than two months. The National and Islamic Forces, which is an umbrella coalition for major factions in Palestine, had called for the one-day strike in a statement on Saturday. Acknowledging the call, shops, schools, and government offices were shut across the occupied West Bank, including in East al-Quds, on Monday. Essam Abu Baker, who coordinates Palestinian factions in the West…

Yemeni Armed Forces claim responsibility for a missile strike on a Norwegian-flagged tanker in the Red Sea as it was heading towards an Israeli port. Speaking at a press briefing broadcast live from the Yemeni capital city of Sana’a on Tuesday, spokesman for the Yemeni Armed Forces Brigadier General Yahya Saree said the strike on the oil tanker Strinda was a “victory” for the Palestinians getting killed in an Israeli “massacre.” The strike was “a victory for the oppressed Palestinian people, who are currently being subjected to massacre, destruction, and siege in the Gaza Strip, and in response to the calls…

Iran’s foreign minister has once again warned about the spillover of Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza to the rest of the region, saying the regime’s prime minister can only survive through continued war and genocide. Hossein Amir-Abdollahian made the comment in a Monday phone call with his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi during which the two sides discussed bilateral and regional issues, especially the ongoing situation in the occupied Palestinians territories. During the conversation, Iran’s top diplomat criticized the United States’ recent vetoing of a United Nations Security Council resolution, which demanded an immediate end to Israel’s genocide in the besieged Gaza Strip.…

US President Joe Biden has pledged “unshakeable” support for Israel as the death toll from the occupying regime’s genocidal aggression against the Gaza Strip surpasses 18,000. Biden made the remarks during a ceremony marking a Jewish holiday at the White House on Monday night, amid mounting pressure on his administration over its provision of lethal weapons to Israel at the height of the Gaza war. He said that his “commitment to the safety of the Jewish people, and the security of Israel, its right to exist … is unshakeable.” Washington will “continue to provide military assistance to Israel until they get rid of Hamas,” he added, referring to the…

The Palestinian Islamic Resistance Movement Hamas says there will be no new captive swap with Israel until the unrelenting aggression against the besieged territory stops. In a press briefing in Beirut on Monday, Osama Hamdan, Hamas representative in Lebanon and also a member of the group’s politburo dismissed reports that said Israel is ready to resume contact with mediators for the possible release of the remaining Israeli captives held in Gaza. “There will be no agreement on the exchange of more captives for prisoners before the onslaught [against Gaza] ceases. The Israeli media reports about the possibility of a new prisoner…