Author: Steven Sahiounie

United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said on Sunday he will not give up appealing for a humanitarian ceasefire in Gaza, adding that the war undermined the credibility and authority of the Security Council.Gueterres was speaking at the Doha Forum conference as Washington vetoed on Friday a proposed UN Security Council demand for an immediate humanitarian ceasefire in the war between Israel and Palestinian militant group Hamas.“I urged the Security Council to press to avert a humanitarian catastrophe and I reiterated my appeal for a humanitarian ceasefire to be declared,” Guterres said.“Regrettably, the Security Council failed to do it, but that…

Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan on Sunday said continued Israeli attacks on the Gaza Strip are a threat to common values of humanity, as he marked Human Rights Day that honors the 75th anniversary of the adoption of the UN Universal Declaration of Human Rights. “This year, we observe this significant day with an increased awareness of the responsibility to stand against human rights violations in our region and worldwide, aiming to establish lasting peace and stability,” Fidan said in a written message released by Turkish Foreign Ministry. “The ongoing inhumane attacks in Gaza not only strike a blow to…

We have more updates from Qatar’s PM who has been addressing the Doha Forum. The PM warned that the Gaza war risks radicalising an entire generation in the Middle East and that the prospect of another truce agreement between Israel and Hamas is dwindling despite Qatari efforts. “Our efforts as the state of Qatar along with our partners are continuing. We are not going to give up,” he said, adding that “the continuation of the bombardment is just narrowing this window for us”. Source: AlJazeera

The Palestinian FM says the rights enshrined in the UN’s Declaration of Human Rights, which today marks its 75th anniversary, have never been extended to the Palestinians. “The rights of the Palestinian people have been violated for 75 years, foremost among them the right to life,” said a post by the Palestinian Foreign Ministry, attributed to FM Riyad al-Maliki, on X. The UN’s Declaration of Human Rights, adopted on December 10, 1948, sets out basic rights and freedoms, including the right to life and freedom of movement, of all individuals, regardless of “nationality, place of residence, sex, national or ethnic…

Russia’s FM Sergei Lavrov says it is unacceptable for Israel to use Hamas’s offensive on October 7 as justification for the collective punishment of the Palestinian people in Gaza. Lavrov also called for international monitoring on the ground in the besieged enclave. Russian President Putin has repeatedly blamed the Israel-Hamas war on the failure of years of US diplomacy in the Middle East. Source: AlJazeera

Jordan’s foreign minister has accused Israel of trying to “empty Gaza of Palestinians” in a campaign that amounts to “genocide”. “What we are seeing in Gaza is not simply the killing of innocent people and the destruction of their livelihoods, but a systematic effort to empty Gaza of its people,” Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi said at the Doha Forum. Jordan borders the occupied West Bank and absorbed the bulk of Palestinians after the creation of Israel in 1948. In response, Israeli government spokesperson Eylon Levy called the allegations by Safadi “outrageous”. “Israel is fighting to defend itself from the monsters…

The Al-Aqsa Storm operation that the Palestinian combatants launched outside Gaza on October 7 resulted in the expansion of the boundaries of resistance from the region to the whole world, Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi said. In a meeting with Prime Minister of Syria Hussein Arnous, held in Tehran on Saturday, the Iranian president said the Palestinian nation will emerge victorious in the same way that the Syrian, Iraqi, Yemeni and Lebanese nations defeated the US and its allies. He said the Al-Aqsa Storm operation has extended the boundaries of the resistance system from the region to the entire world. Raisi…

A large number of people gathered in the Turkish metropolitan of Istanbul on Sunday to protest the Israeli army’s ongoing onslaught on the besieged Gaza Strip, where the Palestinian civilian casualties surpassed 17,700 since Oct. 7. Ten human rights organizations had given a call for the anti-Israel protest on World Human Rights Day, with speakers slamming Israel for its worst kind of human rights violations, including destroying Gaza’s basic infrastructure, leaving 500,000 people vulnerable to death due to a lack of water and food. The rally’s participants gathered in Beyazit Square to protest Israel while carrying pro-Palestine banners. After marching…

The United Nations children’s agency has strongly slammed Israel’s complete blockade of the Gaza Strip, which is under the regime’s genocidal war, calling it a death sentence for children in the territory. Adele Khodr, UNICEF’s Regional Director for the Middle East and North Africa, made the comment on Saturday, while explaining about the dire humanitarian situation across Gaza. “Our team on the ground describes meeting children with missing limbs and third-degree burns, and children left shell-shocked by the continuing violence that surrounds them,” Khodr said. Reflecting on the impact of Israel’s total siege of Gaza on children, the UNICEF official said, “Close to…

The Palestinian resistance movement Hamas has praised the Yemeni Armed Forces’ decision to prevent the passage of all ships bound for the occupied territories through the Red Sea as long as Israel maintains its all-out siege of the Gaza Strip. “We consider the decision to be a brave and bold decision,” Hamas said in a statement on Saturday. It added that Yemen’s decision “stands against the Zionist-American aggressors that have continued the war of genocide and massacres against all components of the human life of our Palestinian people over the past 64 days.” Hamas also called on Arab and Islamic countries to activate all their…