Author: Steven Sahiounie

Israel’s military assault on the Palestinian enclave has left “no place safe for civilians,” a senior UN official has said The UN has said its humanitarian efforts in Gaza are on the brink of collapse, stating that aid deliveries have become “erratic” and “undependable.” The warning comes as Israeli forces step up strikes on southern Gaza, where thousands of civilians previously fled for safety. Addressing reporters in a press briefing in Geneva, UN Under Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs Martin Griffiths outlined the dire situation in Gaza, saying that plans to protect non-combatants are “in tatters” as Israel’s military moves south. “We do not have a humanitarian operation in southern Gaza that can be…

The White House is reportedly weighing whether to fast-track thousands of munitions under emergency powers US President Joe Biden is quietly urging lawmakers to approve the sale of 45,000 tank shells to Israel, Reuters reports, noting that the deal is facing scrutiny amid growing concerns about civilian casualties in Gaza. Worth over $500 million, the potential sale would restock Israel’s arsenal of 120-millimeter shells, which are used by its Merkava main battle tank, four unnamed sources told the outlet on Friday. Congress must authorize the transfer before it proceeds, but some lawmakers remain skeptical. “This went to committees earlier this week and…

Moscow’s envoy at the UN has called out an Israeli plan to pump seawater into the Palestinian enclave If Israel is truly considering flooding the “Hamas tunnels” under Gaza with seawater, this would be a clear-cut atrocity, Russia’s first deputy permanent representative to the UN, Dmitry Polyansky, said at the Security Council meeting on Friday. China, Russia and the United Arab Emirates called for the emergency session, given the deteriorating situation in the Palestinian enclave after the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) resumed military operations at the start of December. “In recent days, shocking information has spread about Israeli plans to…

Saudi Arabia’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Prince Faisal bin Farhan received a phone call from EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Josep Borrell, the Kingdom’s foreign ministry said on Friday.The two officials discussed developments in the Gaza Strip and its surrounding areas, and the efforts exerted to reach an immediate cease-fire in the besieged Palestinian enclave. They also discussed the repercussions of the current crisis, especially at the humanitarian level. Source: Arab News

The president of the Palestinian Authority says that should a binding international agreement be reached on the future of Palestine, he will hold presidential and primary elections. “I am with peaceful resistance. I am for negotiations based on an international peace conference and under international auspices that would lead to a solution that will be protected by world powers to establish a sovereign Palestinian state in the Gaza Strip, the West Bank and East Jerusalem,” he told Reuters in an interview. When Reuters asked if he would risk holding elections given the possibility that Hamas could win as it did…

Majority of speakers at the UNSC emergency session held today to discuss the disastrous situation in the Gaza Strip emphasized the need for an immediate ceasefire. The United Nations Security Council held today an emergency session to discuss the deteriorating situation in Gaza as a result of the ongoing Israeli aggression against it since October 7. Representative of China Zhang Jun, paid tribute to the Secretary-General for his statement on the seriousness of the situation in Gaza. “The draft resolution submitted by the UAE reflects the call of the international community, which China supports and co-sponsors because only an immediate…

Russia’s next presidential election is scheduled for March 17 Vladimir Putin will run for president in the 2024 election, he said in the Kremlin while talking to participants at a Heroes of the Fatherland Day ceremony. “I am going to run for president of the Russian Federation,” Putin said. Artem Zhoga, speaker of the parliament of the Donetsk People’s Republic and the father of a fallen hero of the special military operation, asked him to run for re-election. Putin admitted that he thought long and hard about his future presidency. “Well, as for now, you are right. It is time…

Dr Salah al-Jabari, a health worker at the Kuwaiti Hospital in Rafah, says the three hospitals in Gaza’s southernmost city are only able to provide immediate emergency care. As the injured flood into these medical facilities, he told Al Jazeera, there are no intensive care unit beds left in the city where hundreds of thousands of people have fled as fighting has moved south in Gaza. Meanwhile, al-Jabari said, access to Khan Younis, which has more medical centres that could provide intensive care, has been cut off. “Now we are isolated here in Rafah,” he said. “More than a million…

Here are some of the key points Alya Ahmed Saif al-Thani made in her speech: Source: alJazeera

Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi is en route to Moscow for discussions centering on Gaza’s crisis and advancing bilateral ties between Iran and Russia. Before his departure for Russia, Raisi emphasized the urgency of prioritizing discussions on halting the Gaza bombings, lifting the blockade, extending aid to the Palestinian people, and above all, securing Palestinian rights. Responding to an official invitation from Russian President Vladimir Putin, Raisi left for Moscow on Thursday morning, accompanied by a prominent political and economic delegation. At Mehrabad Airport in Tehran, the president outlined the agenda for this brief visit, emphasizing, “This trip centers on addressing sensitive regional concerns and…