Author: Steven Sahiounie

Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud says that ending the fighting in Gaza does not seem to be a priority for the international community. He spoke on behalf of the Arab-Islamic Ministerial Committee, which is currently on a visit to Washington, DC to meet US officials. “Our message is we believe it is absolutely necessary to end the fighting immediately,” he said, appealing to the UN Security Council to enact a ceasefire in Gaza. Source: Aljazeera

Regional governments ‘should act responsibly,’ Hakan Fidan says during visit to Washington Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan on Friday reiterated his call for a two-state solution to the Israel-Palestinian conflict. “What we are trying to promote is a permanent two-state solution,” Fidan told reporters in Washington. Fidan, along with his counterparts assigned by a joint Arab-Islamic extraordinary summit last month, is visiting the US to press for a cease-fire in the Gaza Strip, which has been under relentless Israeli attacks for over two months. “We think that regional governments should act responsibly,” said Fidan, underlining the need for a two-state…

Riyad Mansour has delivered a passionate appeal to the Security Council, calling on member states to support the draft ceasefire resolution. “Are we supposed to pretend we don’t know the objective [of Israel] is the ethnic cleansing of the Gaza Strip, the dispossession of and forcible displacement of the Palestinian people when so many Israeli representatives could not refrain from admitting it?” he asked. “If you are against the destruction and displacement of the Palestinian people, you have to be in favour of an immediate ceasefire,” he said. “Enough is enough. They are playing games with and they’re taking you…

A spokesperson from Germany’s foreign office says ensuring lasting peace in the Middle East will not be possible as long as Hamas continues its attacks from the Gaza Strip. As the UN Security Council meets later today to discuss the situation in Gaza, the spokesperson said Germany advocated for “further ceasefires”, adding that Israel must avoid civilian suffering during its military campaign in the south and abide by humanitarian law. Source: AlJazeera

‘I would like to congratulate TRT, Anadolu, and our other media institutions that opened up a vital corridor from Gaza to the world,’ Recep Tayyip Erdogan says Israel is targeting not only women and children in Gaza but also journalists trying to work under difficult conditions, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Friday. International organizations are responsible for the world’s inability to establish global peace and security and solve problems, Erdogan said in an address to the TRT World Forum 2023 in Istanbul. “Global media cartels are trying to cover up the brutality in Gaza and legitimize the massacre…

“The brutality perpetuated by Hamas can never justify the collective punishment of the Palestinian people. “The people of Gaza are looking into the abyss. The international community must do everything possible to end their ordeal. I urge the council to spare no effort to push for an immediate humanitarian ceasefire for the protection of civilians and for the urgent delivery of life-saving aid. “The eyes of the world and the eyes of history are watching. It is time to act.” Source: AlJazeera

The Lebanese military says there is material damage but no casualties from the attack on the hospital in Ain Ebel in southern Lebanon. Israel and the Lebanese Hezbollah group, as well as fighters from the armed wing of Hamas based in Lebanon, have exchanged cross-border attacks since October 8. Earlier this week, a Lebanese soldier was killed by Israeli shelling near the border, the first such casualty of the war. The killing prompted a rare expression of regret from Israel, which said Lebanese forces were not the target of the attack. Source: AlJazeera

Robert Wood has told the Security Council that Hamas “continues to pose a threat to Israel and remain in charge of Gaza”. “For that reason, while the United States strongly supports the durable peace in which both Israelis and Palestinians can live in peace and security, we do not support calls for an immediate ceasefire,” he said. “This would only plant the seeds for the next war because Hamas has no desire to see a durable peace, to see a two-state solution,” he said. The US is one of five veto-wielding permanent members of the Security Council. The other permanent…

Two separate investigations have found that two Israeli tank rounds fired in quick succession, while journalists were filming shelling close to the border between Lebanon and the occupied Palestinian territories, killed a Reuters journalist and wounded six reporters in southern Lebanon on October 13. A Reuters investigation has discovered that the two Israeli strikes claimed the life of its 37-year-old visuals journalist Issam Abdallah, and severely wounded Agence France-Presse (AFP) photographer Christina Assi, 28, near the Lebanese village of Alma al-Chaab. Assi later had a leg amputated and is still in hospital. The group of seven journalists from Reuters and AFP…

The Southern Gaza Strip is presently reeling under heavy Israeli bombardment, with UN officials warning that no place in Gaza is safe amid Israel’s fresh air raids and evacuation orders. As a result of Israel’s conduct of hostilities, and its orders for people to leave the north and parts of the south, hundreds of thousands are being confined in ever smaller areas in southern Gaza without proper sanitation, access to sufficient food, water, and health supplies, even as bombs rain down around them. Winter is harder than this ongoing war where we live inside tents, a primordial life. We are living like…