The Chinese government's special envoy to the Middle East issue, Zhai Jun, revealed that he discussed with Saudi officials in Riyadh yesterday ways to mobilize international efforts to stop the Israeli war on Gaza immediately.

Zhai Jun, China's special envoy to the Middle East

In a special statement to Asharq Al-Awsat, Jeon stated that he sensed from the consultations he conducted in Riyadh a congruence of visions and a common desire to advance coordination and bilateral consultations in the direction of stopping the Israeli attack on Gaza. He said, “I will complete my visit to Jordan and will continue to strengthen coordination with the parties concerned in the coming days.” For a ceasefire and calming the situation,” stressing that the Palestinian people enjoy equal rights to establish a state and survive, and that the lives of civilians are equally important, and that his country’s position is largely with the Arab position.

The two-state solution and an international peace conference

The Chinese official promised that the only way out for resolving the Palestinian issue lies in implementing the “two-state solution” and restoring the legitimate national rights of the Palestinian people, stressing that violence and counter-violence only lead to falling into a vicious circle and create more obstacles to the political solution.

Jeon said that his country calls for holding an international peace conference with more credibility, on a broader scale, and with greater effectiveness, in order to urgently push the Palestinian and Israeli sides to resume peace negotiations and set a detailed timetable and road map.

Jeon added, "True and lasting peace and security for all in the Middle East region cannot be achieved except after finding a comprehensive and just solution to the Palestinian issue, stressing that Beijing stands for justice and fairness in the Palestinian issue."

The Chinese official stressed that his country will continue to support the Palestinian people to restore their legitimate national rights, support the Palestinians in establishing their independent state, and provide them with assistance as much as possible.

He continued, "China, as a permanent member of the Security Council, will be committed to justice and fairness in international forums, will advance the implementation of United Nations resolutions related to the Palestinian issue, and continue its positive role in finding a comprehensive, just and lasting solution to the Palestinian issue and bringing peace and stability to the region."

Chinese support to stop the war

Jeon added, "Since the outbreak of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, the Chinese side has been making intense efforts to cease fire and prevent violence, and calls for the restoration of peace," noting that a member of the Political Bureau of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, Foreign Minister Wang Yi, held several meetings and made extensive phone calls. With the foreign ministers and senior political figures of Palestine, Israel, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Iran, Turkey, Russia, the United States, Brazil, Malaysia and others, a meeting was also held with the Secretary-General of the United Nations and the High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, to shed light on the position and vision of the Chinese side towards the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, With the aim of calming the conflict, and calling for avoiding a serious humanitarian catastrophe resulting from the expansion of the conflict.

Jeon stressed that the current situation in Palestine and Israel is very dangerous, and that the Chinese side feels pain over the outcome of the conflict and the occurrence of a large number of deaths and injuries among civilians, expressing his deep sympathy with the Palestinian side, especially those who live in the Gaza Strip because they suffer from difficult conditions. The latest development threatens and destabilizes peace and stability in the region due to the expansion of the conflict.

Beijing condemns the targeting of civilians

According to Jeon, the Chinese side strongly condemns and opposes all actions that target civilians and violate international law, and China calls for an immediate ceasefire and prevention of fighting, protecting civilians, opening humanitarian relief corridors, ensuring the arrival of living necessities to the residents of the Gaza Strip, and making every effort to prevent the occurrence of A more serious humanitarian disaster that constitutes a greater shock to security and stability in the region and the world.

The Chinese official held the United Nations and the UN Security Council seriously responsible for calming the situation as quickly as possible, stressing that the international community must act urgently and provide more humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip. In the same context, he called for major powers to move to calm the situation and commit to objectivity and justice, and that Play a constructive role in pushing for a political solution to the crisis.

Urgent aid for the people of Gaza

Jeon stated that the Chinese side provided urgent humanitarian assistance through both the Palestinian National Authority and United Nations agencies, and will continue to provide material assistance according to the needs of the residents of the Gaza Strip, adding that he represented his country at the Cairo Peace Summit on the Palestinian issue in response to the invitation, in which the Arab countries called on the international community. To take strong action to alleviate the humanitarian crisis in Palestine.

Jeon continued, “I conducted urgent communication and coordination with the concerned parties on behalf of the Chinese government, before the start of this tour, and I contacted by phone with officials from the Foreign Ministries of Palestine, Israel, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, the UAE, and Norway, the United Nations Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process, and the Special Representative of the European Union.” "For the peace process in the Middle East, I met with the Arab ambassadors accredited to China collectively to work on resolving the crisis and alleviating its severity."

On Thursday, the Gaza municipality warned of a “serious health and environmental catastrophe” due to the accumulation of thousands of tons of waste in Gaza, as Israel’s attacks continued for the twentieth day in a row.

A statement issued by the municipality, a copy of which was received by Xinhua News Agency today, stated that large quantities of waste are accumulating in Gaza City and temporary dumps “due to the Israeli occupation preventing municipal crews from reaching the main dump in the Juhr al-Dik area, east of the city,” warning that this It may "cause a serious health and environmental catastrophe."

The statement stated that the amount of waste amounted to about 16 thousand tons and is currently being collected in two temporary centers, and there are areas from which waste has not been collected due to the difficulty and danger of reaching them as a result of the ongoing Israeli attack.

It explained that about 50 percent of the waste accumulated in the streets was collected, noting that the municipality is operating at nearly half capacity due to the lack of fuel necessary to operate the machinery.

The statement added that the ongoing Israeli attack is causing major and severe crises in various basic services due to power outages, fuel shortages, and damage to many water and sanitation facilities.

The Russia Today website announced the arrival of a leading delegation from the Hamas movement, headed by a member of its political bureau, Musa Abu Marzouk, today, Thursday, to the Russian capital, Moscow.

Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said, during a press conference, that representatives of the movement are visiting Moscow, and “as for communications, we will inform you more about them later.”

For its part, the Hamas movement confirmed that its delegation met with the Special Envoy of the Russian President to the Middle East and Africa, Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Bogdanov, and reviewed the Israeli aggression against the Gaza Strip.

The following is the text of Hamas's statement:

The delegation of the Islamic Resistance Movement Hamas, led by the head of the movement’s International Relations Office, Dr. Musa Abu Marzouk, the Special Envoy of the Russian President to the Middle East and Africa, met with the Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mr. Mikhail Bogdanov, at the headquarters of the Russian Foreign Ministry in the capital, Moscow, on Thursday afternoon. The movement’s delegation included all From a member of the Hamas movement’s leadership in the Gaza Strip, Dr. Bassem Naeem, and the movement’s representative to Moscow.

The movement's delegation reviewed the Zionist aggression against the Gaza Strip, and ways to stop the Zionist crimes supported by the United States and the West.

The movement’s delegation affirmed the right of our Palestinian people to freedom, self-determination and return, and their right to resist the Israeli occupation by all available means, and that the Zionist crimes against civilians will not cover up the military and security defeat they suffered on October 7th.

The movement's delegation praised the position of Russian President Vladimir Putin and the efforts of active Russian diplomacy, and stressed the need for the international community to shoulder its responsibilities towards the crime of genocide committed by the Zionist government.

Mr. Bogdanov expressed his country's position in support of the rights of the Palestinian people, and reviewed his country's efforts with the concerned parties aimed at a ceasefire, opening the crossings and bringing in humanitarian aid.

Today, Thursday, settlers attacked farmers in the town of Qasra, south of Nablus.

According to local sources, armed settlers attacked farmers in the southeastern side while they were picking olives, and the residents confronted them.

On Thursday, the foreign ministers of the UAE, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Oman, Qatar, Kuwait, Egypt and Morocco issued a statement, following the “Cairo Peace Summit” held in Cairo on October 21.

The joint statement included the following elements: Condemning and rejecting the targeting of civilians, all acts of violence and terrorism against them, and all violations and transgressions of international law, including international humanitarian law and international human rights law, by any party, including targeting civilian infrastructure and facilities. Condemning individual or forced displacement. collective, as well as the policy of collective punishment.

Emphasizing the rejection in this context of any attempts to liquidate the Palestinian cause at the expense of the Palestinian people and the peoples of the countries of the region, or to displace the Palestinian people outside their land in any way, as it is a grave violation of international humanitarian law and a war crime.

Emphasizing the necessity of committing to work to ensure full respect for the Geneva Conventions of 1949, including with regard to the responsibilities of the occupying power, and also the importance of the immediate release of hostages and civilian detainees, and ensuring that they are provided with safe, dignified and humane treatment consistent with international law, while emphasizing the role of the Committee International Red Cross in this regard.

Emphasizing that the right to self-defense guaranteed by the United Nations Charter does not justify flagrant violations of international law and international humanitarian law, or the deliberate neglect of the legitimate rights of the Palestinian people, including the right to self-determination, and ending the occupation that has continued for decades.

Demanding the Security Council to oblige the parties to an immediate and sustainable ceasefire.

Emphasizing that failure to describe flagrant violations of international humanitarian law amounts to giving the green light for the continuation of these practices and complicity in their commission.

Today, Thursday, activists and family members of detainees organized a protest in front of the Red Cross headquarters in the city of Al-Bireh, denouncing the ill-treatment of their relatives in Israeli prisons, according to Agence France-Presse.

The protesters closed the office in the town of Al-Bireh with iron chains for two hours before removing the chains again.

They criticized the silence of the Red Cross regarding what is happening in the Israeli occupation prisons, they said, pointing to the killing of two prisoners who were recently arrested by Israel after the war with the Hamas movement.

On October 23, the Israeli Prison Administration Authority claimed the death of a detainee from Megiddo Prison due to a health condition. On Monday, it also announced “the death of a detainee from Ofer Prison,” claiming that he died as a result of a “health illness,” noting that “the circumstances” of the two incidents will be “examined.”

Director of the Red Cross delegation, Arnaud Mivre, told Agence France-Presse: “The Red Cross has not been able to visit Palestinian detainees held by the occupation since the start of the war.”

He added: "The Red Cross is conducting secret discussions to arrange mechanisms for visiting detainees with the relevant authorities, and the Red Cross understands the families' concerns."

In a statement, the Prisoners' Club and the Prisoners' Affairs Authority expressed their "disapproval and your rejection of the suspicious silence surrounding the position of the International Red Cross," accusing the international organization of "collusion and bias" toward the Israeli position.

According to the latest statistics of the Palestinian Prisoners' Club, the Israeli occupation army has arrested at least 1,460 people since the start of the war in the West Bank. The occupation arrested more than 85 Palestinians at dawn today, including women, in the West Bank.

The total number of Palestinian detainees in Israeli prisons reached more than 6,600.

The Counter-Terrorism Service in the Kurdistan region in northern Iraq announced today (Thursday) that ten PKK members were killed and three others were wounded in Turkish air strikes in northern Iraq.

The agency said in a statement, "Successive bombings on Wednesday/Thursday night by Turkish army warplanes and drones targeted the positions of Kurdistan Workers' Party militants in the Sidkan district of Erbil Governorate, killing nine militants from the party."

The statement added, "Last night, Turkish warplanes and drones also attacked several sites of Kurdistan Workers' Party members in the towns of Shiladzi and Dirluk in the Amadiya district of Dohuk Governorate, which led to the killing of one of the party's members and the wounding of three others."

From time to time, Turkey launches artillery and air attacks and ground incursions on sites belonging to the Kurdistan Workers' Party, which opposes Ankara, inside Iraqi territory in the mountainous areas of northern Iraq adjacent to the Turkish border.

Iraq has always rejected Turkish military operations, and demands that they stop and that Iraq's sovereignty and independence be respected.

Turkey and the United States classify the Kurdistan Workers' Party, which has bases in northern Iraq, as a "terrorist organization."

A teen was shot dead by Israeli occupation forces, Thursday evening, during their storming of the Jalazoun camp, north of Ramallah.

The Ministry of Health reported that the child, Aseed Hamdi Hamidat (17 years old), was critically wounded by occupation bullets, and was subsequently transferred to the Arab Istishari Hospital, before doctors declared him dead as a result of his injury.

With the martyrdom of the child Hamidat, the number of martyrs in the West Bank since the beginning of this year rises to 313 martyrs, including 105 martyrs since the seventh of this October.

It is noteworthy that the occupation forces stormed the camp and fired live bullets, tear gas and sound bombs at the young men, and closed the iron gate at the entrance to the camp.

It is noteworthy that the child Hamidat is the third martyr in the camp within three days, as the two young men, Mahmoud Saif Al-Tarish Nakhla, and Muhammad Nidal Alyan, were martyred last Monday, by bullets from the occupation forces.

The British Middle East Eye news website quoted what it said was a high-ranking Arab source familiar with the affairs of the Palestinian resistance factions as saying that delaying the Israeli ground invasion of Gaza is part of a disinformation campaign aimed at obtaining the element of surprise in a multi-pronged attack.

According to this source, these factions expect Israel to flood the Gaza tunnels with nerve gas and chemicals under the supervision of American special forces as part of a surprise attack on the Gaza Strip.

He attributed his information to leaks from an American source, who explained that Israel and the United States hoped to achieve the element of surprise in order to penetrate Hamas' tunnels, rescue an estimated 220 detainees, and kill thousands of fighters affiliated with the Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades, the military wing of the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas).

The Middle East Eye website indicated, in its report prepared by its editor-in-chief, David Hirst, that it was unable to independently verify the information contained in the leak.

According to the source, the plan depends on the element of surprise to win the battle decisively by using internationally banned gases, especially nerve gas and chemical weapons. Large quantities of nerve gas will also be pumped into the tunnels, and the American Delta Force will supervise “pumping large quantities of nerve gas into Hamas’ tunnels.” It is sufficient to paralyze physical movement for a period ranging between 6 and 12 hours.

During this period, the source adds, the tunnels will be penetrated, the hostages will be rescued, and thousands of Al-Qassam Brigades soldiers will be killed.

The Middle East Eye website says it has contacted the White House and the US Department of Defense for comment, but has not received any response at the time of publication.

The leaked information says that the details of the operation have been agreed upon, and that talk about Israel delaying its ground invasion is nothing but misleading information aimed at gaining an element of surprise in a multifaceted attack, which will include the landing of Israeli special forces in northern Gaza and along the coast.

The American Wall Street Journal reported yesterday, Wednesday, that Israel had agreed to postpone its expected ground invasion to allow the United States more time to deploy air defense systems in the region. Netanyahu said later on Wednesday that Israel was preparing for a ground invasion, but did not give the timing or any other details.

It is noteworthy that the Palestinian resistance launched an attack on October 7, which it called “Operation Al-Aqsa Flood,” which, according to Israeli officials, led to the killing of approximately 1,400 Israelis and the capture of at least 220 others and their transfer to Gaza, including soldiers and civilians. Israel launched a violent bombardment on the Gaza Strip, leading to the death of more than 7,000 Palestinians, more than 70% of whom were children, women, and the elderly.

Source: Middle East Eye

Former Pentagon advisor Douglas MacGregor said, "A detachment of American and Israeli special forces came under fire in the Gaza Strip, after entering for the purpose of reconnaissance and identifying the possibility of liberating prisoners."

MacGregor stated, in an interview with the famous American journalist Tucker Carlson on the platform X, that “over the past 24 hours or so, some of our (American) and Israeli special forces went to the Gaza Strip to reconnaissance and determine possible ways to liberate the prisoners, but they were shot and cut into pieces.” 

The American expert added, according to the Russian RIA Novosti agency, that "not only can he not imagine an Israeli victory in one way or another during the war, but he also considers the conflict very dangerous for the United States itself because of the danger of war with Iran."

MacGregor stressed that American military power "has reached its weakest point in modern history, and therefore the country is not ready to get involved in a large-scale conflict."

This came after Pentagon spokesman Patrick Ryder confirmed the presence of American military “advisors” in the Israeli occupation state to discuss “planning” issues for operations in Gaza.

The Martyr Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades, the military wing of the Hamas movement, announced that an armored force of the occupation army was ambushed east of Khan Yunis in the southern Gaza Strip after it crossed the security fence for several meters, at a time when the occupation army admitted that a soldier had been killed and others wounded.

Al-Qassam explained at the time in a military report that its resistance fighters "met the infiltrating force, destroyed two bulldozers and a tank, forced the force to withdraw, and returned to their bases safely."

For its part, the occupation army admitted that a soldier was killed and 3 others were injured in the operation.

On October 7, the Chief of Staff of the Al-Qassam Brigades, Muhammad Deif, announced the launch of Operation “Al-Aqsa Flood,” after hundreds of rockets were launched from Gaza towards the occupied Palestinian territories.

The occupation army spokesman admitted that there had been hundreds of deaths and injuries among the ranks of the occupation army and settlers, in addition to the capture of dozens of soldiers and settlers.

Russian Deputy Foreign Minister, Mikhail Bogdanov, confirmed today, Thursday, that Israel has the right to defend itself; “But self-defense does not consist of killing civilians in the Gaza Strip.”

He said after holding a meeting in Qatar with leaders from the Hamas movement, that the fate of the detained hostages was discussed.

"Without killing innocent people"

He also added during a roundtable entitled “The Prospects of the Crisis in the Middle East and the Tasks of Russian Policy”: “Italy, Spain, Britain, and Canada all assert that Israel has the right to self-defense. No one disputes that, but this self-defense should not "It consists of killing a large number of completely innocent people in Gaza."

Warning of land invasion

Meanwhile, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Thursday that any Israeli ground attack in Gaza would exacerbate the already disastrous humanitarian situation in the Strip.

The UN Security Council had failed to agree on two draft resolutions submitted by the United States of America and Russia regarding the escalation of the situation in Gaza and Israel and the humanitarian crisis in the Gaza Strip.

“Selfishness prevented efforts to achieve calm.”

Russian delegate Vasily Nebenzia said that narrow and selfish interests have prevented efforts to reach a calm in Gaza, and that Washington is using its veto to pass politicized decisions, stressing his country’s rejection of any measure or decision aimed at displacing civilians from Gaza.

The Russian delegate to the United Nations added, "The Security Council was unable to send a clear message regarding the calm in Gaza."

Details of the Russian draft resolution

The Russian draft resolution called for an immediate, permanent and fully respected humanitarian ceasefire, and strongly condemned all forms of violence and hostilities committed against civilians.

He rejected the project and "categorically condemned the heinous attacks launched by Hamas in Israel and the taking of civilian hostages."

It also categorically condemned "indiscriminate attacks against civilians and civilian objects in the Gaza Strip that lead to civilian casualties."

He also condemned and rejected measures aimed at "imposing a siege on the Gaza Strip that deprives the civilian population of the means indispensable for its survival, in violation of international humanitarian law."

Source: Al Araby Al Jadeed

The request directed by US President Joe Biden to the US House of Representatives on October 20, for additional financial appropriations worth $106 billion, part of which will be allocated to support Israel and Ukraine, reveals a desire to allocate part of the amount to “immigration and refugee assistance,” worth Approximately four billion dollars ($3,495,000,000), to meet humanitarian needs in Ukraine and assist refugees there, in addition to helping refugees in response to the situation in Israel and in the areas affected by the situation therein.

What is striking in the request is what is stated in the statement: “The funding will also provide life-saving humanitarian assistance in Israel, and in areas affected by the situation in Israel. These resources will support displaced civilians and those affected by the conflict, including Palestinian refugees in Gaza and the West Bank, and meet the potential needs of the population.” "This will include food and non-food items, health care, emergency shelter support, water and sanitation assistance, and emergency protection."

He added: “This will also include potentially critical humanitarian infrastructure costs needed for refugees to provide access to essential life-sustaining support. This crisis could lead to cross-border displacement and increased regional humanitarian needs, and funding could be used to meet evolving programming requirements outside of Gaza.” 

An American funding request that includes meeting the potential needs of Gaza residents fleeing to neighboring countries

Displacement of Gazans is a possibility

The clear talk about providing funding to “meet the potential needs of Gazans fleeing to neighboring countries” and the possibility that “the crisis will lead to cross-border displacement” reaffirms that the American administration is placing on its agenda the possibility of displacing Gazans outside the Strip, despite the denials of American officials, including a minister. State Department Anthony Blinken publicly stated this idea, and said in a television interview on October 16 that Washington does not support this idea.

But what Washington says publicly contradicts what is leaking in secret, especially with what the Associated Press reported on October 12 about a “senior Egyptian official,” whose identity was not revealed, saying that the Egyptian authorities “rejected an American proposal to allow Palestinians to flee the bombing.” Israeli forces to leave the Gaza Strip toward Egyptian territory. The official added, "Egypt is holding talks with Israel and the United States regarding establishing safe corridors inside Gaza and delivering humanitarian aid to the besieged Palestinians."

A senior Egyptian official: Cairo rejected an American proposal to allow Palestinians fleeing Israeli bombing to leave the Gaza Strip towards Egyptian territory.

With the intensification of the aggression against Gaza, especially the occupation’s intention to carry out a possible ground invasion, with what it entails causing the flow of numbers of Gazans towards the south first and then towards the border with Egypt second, Yedioth Ahronoth newspaper correspondent Bar Shalem Or reported yesterday that the Israeli Minister of Intelligence Gila Gamliel proposed a plan to displace Palestinians from Gaza to Sinai. Shalem Or pointed out in a series of tweets on his account on the “X” platform that the right-wing “Misgav” Center also called for using the war to displace Palestinians from the Gaza Strip to Egypt. He noted that the Center issued a paper a few days ago entitled “A rare opportunity to expel all residents of the Gaza Strip to Egypt.”

Orr added that the paper, which Amir Feitman, a leader in the ruling Likud Party, contributed to preparing, calls for the settlement of Palestinians who will be expelled in Egyptian cities located on the outskirts of Cairo. According to the paper issued, the center recommends that the displacement process take place through Israel’s contribution to raising the necessary funds to settle Palestinians inside Egypt.

A displacement plan towards Egypt and Jordan

For his part, Shmuel Meir, a former researcher in the Israeli Military Intelligence Division “AMAN,” said that according to right-wing forces in Israel, the displacement of Palestinians from Gaza to Egypt is a first stage followed by another stage, which is their expulsion of Palestinians from the West Bank to Jordan. While Cairo adopts a public position rejecting any displacement of Palestinians towards Sinai, this possibility appears to be strongly present on the US administration’s agenda, despite US officials’ public statements about rejecting displacement from Gaza.

In the same context, an informed Egyptian source told Al-Araby Al-Jadeed last week that “American and Western pressure is mounting towards Egypt regarding absorbing numbers of residents of the northern region of Gaza, amid Western and American offers to Cairo of economic concessions that will help the exhausted Egyptian economy withstand during the period.” "The next one."

While US administration officials did not publicly mention the idea of transferring the people of Gaza to Sinai, they did talk about “safe passages,” including US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan, who said in a press conference on October 10 that his country was holding talks with Israel and Egypt about providing a “safe passage.” for civilians in Gaza,” and that there are “ongoing consultations” on this issue, without explaining where this safe passage will reach.

Source: Al-Araby Al-Jadeed

Today, Thursday, the United Nations General Assembly will hold a plenary session within the resumed tenth emergency special session, which will discuss the Palestinian issue following the Israeli aggression on Gaza.

The General Assembly said that 100 countries and organizations will make statements during the meeting, including Jordan, which requested the resumption of the session in its capacity as Chairman of the Arab Group.

An emergency special session is called when the Security Council fails to take a decision after a permanent state uses its veto.

Following the Council's failure on October 18 to adopt the draft resolution proposed by Brazil, the Office of the President of the General Assembly received three letters requesting the resumption of the tenth special emergency session of the General Assembly on the situation in Palestine.

In addition, Jordan, on behalf of the Arab Group, submitted a draft resolution for adoption by the General Assembly today, calling for an immediate ceasefire and unimpeded access to humanitarian aid.

It also calls for the cancellation of the evacuation order issued on October 13 and "strongly rejects any attempts to forcibly transfer the Palestinian civilian population."

The United Nations Humanitarian Coordinator in the Palestinian Territories, Lynn Hastings, warned on Thursday that “no place is safe in Gaza,” due to the focused Israeli bombing of the Strip since October 7.

Hastings confirmed in a press statement published by Agence France-Presse that the advance warnings given by the Israeli army to citizens to evacuate the areas it intends to target in the northern Gaza Strip “do not make any difference,” adding that “there is no safe place in Gaza.”

She said: "When evacuation routes are bombed, when people in the north as well as in the south are exposed to hostilities, when the basic requirements for continuity are not available, and when there is no guarantee of return, people are left with nothing but impossible options."

Hastings added that armed conflicts, wherever they are, are governed by international humanitarian law, which means that civilians must be protected and have the basic components to survive wherever they are, whether they choose to move or stay.

In non-final statistics, the Ministry of Health announced that the death toll from the ongoing Israeli occupation aggression against the Gaza Strip has risen to more than 7,000 martyrs and more than 18,000 injured since October 7.

The Gaza Strip has been subjected to a stifling siege since 2007, but the Israeli occupation government has tightened the siege on the Strip since the start of the aggression twenty days ago, to include cutting off electricity and water, and preventing the entry of basic materials and fuel.

Oxfam said in a report that Israel is using the starvation policy as a weapon of war against civilians in Gaza, and renewed its call to allow food, water, fuel and other necessities to enter the Gaza Strip, which has been subjected to continuous aggression since October 7. The current one.

International humanitarian law strictly prohibits the use of starvation as a tool of war, and as the occupying power in Gaza, Israel is obligated under international humanitarian law to provide for the needs and protection of the people of Gaza.

The Islamic Resistance Movement “Hamas” dared to direct this painful blow to Israel to the extent that Israel and the West felt that Israel’s future was critically threatened. Can we dare to talk about a balance of power?

Western countries have mobilized their capabilities in an unprecedented manner, and expressed their willingness to provide all forms of support to Israel, and this is only because they felt that the balance of power had moved from the zero level only to minor degrees.

But for them, this is considered a long-term threat that begins with a first step. All this frantic and rapid mobilization for the sake of a resistance group confined in a cage and under microscope and control.

But how did Hamas choose to raise levels of confrontation and bet while being certain that the response from Israel would be devastating? Taking into consideration the American and western backing.

It is likely that Hamas and its allies’ reading of the timing was the result of an analysis of the international changes that began since the Russian-Ukrainian war. The Gaza war is considered the first manifestation of the tensions that began to take root in the world in the form of the Cold War, but they will certainly take new manifestations and new forms.

Russia may not be directly involved in the current conflict between Hamas and Israel. But Russia and its "allies" such as China and the BRICS group, which share a vision and strategic goals regarding the end of the unipolar system and that this system is no longer sustainable, have intentionally or unintentionally opened the way for this conflict to occur.

This conflict heralds a recalculation of the West regarding the Middle Eastern region. Russia is also now in a confrontation with NATO countries, who are prolonging the conflict with Ukraine to exhaust Russia, and in the same context they are looking to China, this quiet and dangerous competitor, and the future challenge it represents to American hegemony.

Note that Iran is the back that supports Hamas and Jihad, and according to the accusations of Israel and many Western politicians, they point the finger of blame at Iran. As it was clearly expressed by the Veteran Israeli diplomat Itamar Rabinovich  who regards the current Gaza conflict as the “first Iran-Israel war.

This opinion is supported by the extent of Israel's eagerness to drag the United States into a war against Iran, or at least to create a rift, a state of neither war nor peace, and an advanced state of hostility. As for Israel, despite the blow it received from Hamas, it achieved a goal and is trying to focus this goal on removing the specter of American and Western understandings with Iran regarding its nuclear program. Especially, under the Democratic administration, especially the Biden administration, the engineer of the nuclear agreement with Iran during the Obama era.

The West and Israel have realized that the mere doubts about the balance of terror in the region, as some hostile countries began issuing threats of war with Israel, showed the extent of their willingness to defend it, restore things to normal, maintain Israel’s position as a force to be reckoned with, and remove all the threats it may face.

The bigger and broader picture is what major countries like Russia and China might think, who see this war as an opportunity to express their ability to maneuver and put the West in similar to Russian position in its war with Ukraine. Where Western countries pushed Ukraine into war with Russia to weaken the latter and remove it from the scene to protect the future of American hegemony, and this is a legitimate motive for a power like the United States. Can we doubt here, even a little, that Israel was the target of the Russian reaction? The latter chose Israel, this central element of Western hegemony, to send a warning to the West that if Russia were exposed to a fateful reality, America’s allies in the region would not be immune from Russia and its allies.

At the end of this scene, it can be said that the West's calculations will be different from now on and that what happened before the war on Gaza will not be the same as after it.

President Biden on Wednesday ramped up his response to Arab concerns about Israel’s airstrikes in Gaza, saying there must be “a vision of what comes next” after the war, calling directly for a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and stressing that Israel must minimize civilian casualties regardless of whether it poses a “burden.”

“Hamas is hiding behind Palestinian civilians, and it’s despicable — and, not surprisingly, cowardly, as well,” Biden said. “This also puts an added burden on Israel while they go after Hamas. But that does not lessen the need for us to operate in line with the laws of war. Israel has to do everything in its power.”

He sought to signal to Arab leaders in the region that he has an agenda for the Middle East that goes beyond Israel’s destruction of Hamas and includes a Palestinian state. “When this crisis is over, there has to be a vision of what comes next,” Biden said. “And in our view, it has to be a two-state solution. And it means a concentrated effort from all parties — Israelis, Palestinians, regional partners, global leaders — to put us on a path toward peace.”

In the aftermath of Hamas’s deadly attacks on Israeli civilians Oct. 7, Biden fiercely embraced Israel, traveled to Tel Aviv and emphasized the Jewish state’s right to hit back hard. But in recent days, he has increasingly responded to rising discontent in the Arab world over Israel’s devastating barrage of airstrikes and its comprehensive siege of Gaza, an enclave of roughly 2 million people.

Global calls increase for pause in Israel-Gaza violence

Arab leaders have called on Biden to more forcefully address the humanitarian crisis unfolding in Gaza, where Israel has cut off food, fuel, electricity and water, and the hospital system has collapsed. Palestinian health authorities say Israel’s aerial bombardment of Gaza has killed more than 6,500 people, many of whom are children.

Arab leaders have also called on Biden to urge Israeli restraint and to signal that he has a vision beyond the current conflict that addresses the needs of Palestinians as well as Israelis. That pressure culminated in Biden’s comments Wednesday, which punctuate a steady change in tone regarding the Israel-Hamas conflict in recent days.

The president sharply denounced Israeli settlers who have attacked Palestinians in the West Bank in recent days. Hamas runs the Gaza Strip, while the Palestinian Authority governs the Israeli-occupied West Bank, which has seen a more aggressive settler movement under Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

“I continue to be alarmed about extremist settlers attacking Palestinians in the West Bank that are pouring gasoline on the fire,” Biden said, noting that the attacks are happening in areas recognized by Israel as Palestinian-controlled. “This was a deal. The deal was made, and they’re attacking Palestinians in places they’re entitled to be. It has to stop. They have to be held accountable, and it has to stop now.”

The current crisis was ignited when Palestinian gunmen from Hamas broke through a sophisticated Israel-Gaza border fence and killed more than 1,400 Israelis by hunting down civilians in their homes and cars, burning people alive and taking scores of people hostage into Gaza. Israel is expected to launch a ground invasion of Gaza shortly, which could usher in an even deadlier phase of the war.

Violence quietly mounts in West Bank

Biden immediately condemned the Hamas attacks as “sheer evil,” suggesting they echoed centuries of antisemitic violence endured by Jews. But as Secretary of State Antony Blinken shuttled frenetically between Middle Eastern countries in the aftermath of the assault, the White House quickly realized it had to more directly address growing Arab fury over civilian suffering in Gaza to maintain support in the region, according to administration officials who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss internal thinking.

“The [Arab] public is reacting very viscerally,” said Paul Salem, president and CEO of the Middle East Institute. “That’s something that spurred the administration, after their initial 9/11 reaction, to then also say, ‘Respect the laws of war, protect civilians and allow for humanitarian aid.’ All of that is pretty straightforward, and it relates to reducing anger in the Arab world and wider Muslim world.”

Source: Washington Post

The war of annihilation that Israel is waging against the Gaza Strip faces a “complex” of estimates of time and results, and when and how it will end. And the reality of the ground advance to storm Gaza.

Russian expert Vladimir Vorsobin believes that the Palestinian-Israeli conflict has entered a decisive stage and threatens the world with a third world war.

He told the newspaper "Komsomolskaya Pravda" that the possible scenarios for ending Israel's war on Gaza identify 4 ways out that will spell the end of the war:

1 - The first way out... “terrible”: It consists of trying to realize the dream of the Israeli extreme right by wiping out Gaza with bulldozers. In other words, the deportation of the entire population, and the deaths of hundreds of thousands of civilians and thousands of Jewish soldiers.

This probability is low. Israel's allies have no interest in colluding in such a crime. This scenario includes a certain regional military conflict with the entire Arab world, and the subsequent outbreak of a third world war.

2 - The second way out... “Very bad”: If the ground operation continues for several months, and Gaza is turned into rubble, at least by blowing up Gaza’s basements and tunnels, where there are weapons depots and military factories, then civilians will be forced to flee. But fewer of them die according to the aforementioned first scenario.

The probability of this scenario is moderate. According to the Russian expert, it will be very difficult for the Israeli army to achieve such a crushing defeat of Hamas on the ground.

3 - The third way out... “bad”: which is carrying out the ground operation, but ending without controlling Gaza. The Arab countries are assuming responsibility for the reconstruction of Gaza and its future. Hamas is not losing its face, but it may lose its strength. As for Israel, it will not achieve its declared goals of destroying Hamas and Gaza's underground infrastructure, but it will save the lives of many.

This probability is low. Israeli public opinion will consider this a betrayal and will not believe the disappearance of Hamas from Gaza.

4 - The fourth way out... “the best of all”: There will be no ground operation, and on the condition that Hamas gives up its weapons after destroying the tunnels, and the people of Gaza return home... The Jews, who do not trust this fragile peace, are building a second wall and preparing for war. It is coming, even if it is far away, but it is inevitable.

The possibility of this scenario, unfortunately, is almost negligible, according to the estimates of the Russian expert, Vladimir Vorsobin.

Source: Al- ghad

With the killing of journalist Doaa Sharaf, the number of journalists killed in the Gaza Strip since the beginning of the Israeli aggression rises to 24.

Journalist Doaa Sharaf and her child were killed today, Thursday, as a result of a series of raids launched by the Israeli occupation warplanes on the Gaza Strip, amid the continuation of the Israeli aggression against the Strip by targeting journalists and their families, since October 7, following the “Al-Aqsa Flood” operation.

Israeli fighters jets launched several missiles targeting the journalist's house in the Al-Zawaida area in the central Gaza Strip, killing her and her child.

The occupation aircraft carried out a violent bombardment on the areas of Tal Al-Hawa, Al-Jawzat, and Al-Nafaq Street in Gaza City last night and at dawn today, and another raid targeted the vicinity of Yarmouk Stadium in the center of the city.

On Wednesday evening, the occupation army targeted the family of Al Jazeera correspondent in Gaza, Wael Al-Dahdouh, in the house they took refuge in in the south of the Strip, after the occupation claimed that it was a safe area, which led to the martyrdom of his wife, son, 6-year-old daughter, and his month-old infant grandson. One, as well as the martyrdom of 8 people from his family.

The occupation army's raids on the Gaza Strip continue, resulting in the death of 6,546 Palestinians, including 2,704 children, 2,704 women, and 295 elderly people, and the injury of 17,439 others, in addition to more than 1,600 people missing under the rubble, amid the loss of the civil defense equipment necessary to rescue them.

Only 2% of the food needed has been brought into Gaza since the blockade was imposed

Oxfam said that Israel is using the starvation policy as a weapon of war against civilians in Gaza, and renewed its call to allow food, water, fuel and other necessities to enter the Gaza Strip, which has been subjected to continuous aggression since the seventh of this October.

Oxfam confirmed, based on an analysis of United Nations data, that only 2% of the food supplies that were arriving in the Gaza Strip had been entered since the imposition of the comprehensive blockade on October 9, and that no commercial food commodities had entered despite a small amount of food aid being allowed to enter. .

Oxfam pointed out that although 62 trucks loaded with aid were allowed to enter southern Gaza through the Rafah crossing over the weekend, only 30 trucks contained food supplies, and not necessarily exclusively in all cases.

Before the aggression, 104 trucks were delivering food supplies to the besieged Gaza Strip daily, at a rate of one truck every 14 minutes, while we are now talking about the entry of only one truck every three hours and 12 minutes since last Saturday.

Oxfam's Regional Director for the Middle East and North Africa, Sally Abi Khalil, said: The situation is absolutely horrific! Where is humanity? Millions of civilians in Gaza are being subjected to collective punishment in full view of the world. There can be no justification for using starvation as a weapon of war. "World leaders cannot continue to sit and watch. They must act, and act now."

Oxfam added: "With every day, the situation is getting worse. Children are suffering from severe trauma due to the continuous bombing, and their drinking water is contaminated or rationed, and soon families may not be able to feed their children either. How much are the residents of Gaza expected to bear?"

Oxfam said that it has become painfully clear that the humanitarian situation unfolding in Gaza matches exactly what the United Nations Security Council Resolution 2417 unanimously condemned in 2018 prohibiting the use of starvation as a tool of war against civilians, declaring that any prevention of humanitarian access is a violation of the law. International.

Not only food, clean water has run out, as estimates indicate that there are now only three liters of clean water available per person, while the United Nations confirms that at least 15 liters per day is necessary as a minimum per person in high-intensity humanitarian emergencies. .

A spokesman for the United Nations Agency for Palestinian Refugees (UNRWA) indicated that some of the food aid allowed to enter, such as rice and lentils, is useless because people do not have clean water or fuel to prepare it.

Oxfam explained that the air strikes led to the destruction or damage of many bakeries and supermarkets in the Strip. Those that are still operating cannot meet the demand for fresh bread and are also at risk of closure due to a lack of necessities such as flour and fuel. Today, the only working wheat mill in Gaza has become useless due to a power outage.

The power outage also disrupted food supplies by affecting the ability to cool, irrigate crops, and operate crop incubators. More than 15,000 farmers have lost their crop production, 10,000 livestock farmers cannot obtain sufficient fodder, and many have lost their animals.

Oxfam said the blockade, along with air strikes, had paralyzed the fishing sector, with hundreds of people who depend on fishing losing access to the sea.

Oxfam urged the United Nations Security Council and United Nations member states to take immediate action to prevent the situation from deteriorating further, and called for an immediate ceasefire, and to provide fair and unrestricted access to humanitarian aid in the entire Gaza Strip, in addition to all necessary supplies of food and water. Medical supplies and fuel to meet the needs of the population.

International humanitarian law strictly prohibits the use of starvation as a tool of war, and as the occupying power in Gaza, Israel is obligated under international humanitarian law to provide for the needs and protection of the people of Gaza.

The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said that the humanitarian crisis in Gaza has reached an unprecedented level.

UNRWA warned that it would be forced to halt all operations by tonight unless fuel was allowed into Gaza immediately.

The office said hospitals were stopping work due to lack of fuel, water, medical supplies and staff. Fuel is being severely rationed for a select number of vital facilities. Standby generators are not equipped for continuous operation and may malfunction.

The office added that food stocks are running out. The World Food Program estimates that current supplies of basic foodstuffs in Gaza are sufficient for about 12 days. However, the stock in stores is expected to last only five days.

The office added that Palestinians resort to drinking well water, which contains an extremely high percentage of salts and poses immediate health risks. Health partners have also detected cases of smallpox, scabies and diarrhea due to poor sanitary conditions and consumption of water from unsafe sources.

The office stated that local authorities reported that more than 40 percent of all housing units in the Gaza Strip were destroyed or damaged.

This came as the exchange of shelling and gunfire continued on the border with Lebanon between the Israeli army and Hezbollah fighters.

Rocket shells were fired from Lebanon towards the Israeli city of Kiryat Shmona, and Israeli reports stated that they landed in open areas, while an Israeli vehicle was targeted with an anti-armor missile, while the Israeli occupation bombed what it claimed were groups of fighters and sources of fire in southern Lebanon.

The Israeli army spokesman stated that 6 "cells" were targeted on the border with Lebanon during the last 24 hours. This comes as the exchange of shelling and gunfire continues in the border areas of southern Lebanon, between the Israeli army, Hezbollah fighters, and Palestinian factions.

In recent days, Hezbollah has claimed responsibility for targeting Israeli military sites and towns with anti-armor shells and missiles, and announced the martyrdom of a number of its fighters, while the Israeli army is launching artillery, drone and helicopter bombardments, targeting Hezbollah fighters and sites.

Big failure and shock. This is the most prominent conclusion in all Israeli media and assessments, after the sudden Hamas attack, on the morning of Saturday, October 7, on towns and army bases on the Gaza border and the beginning of the “Al-Aqsa Flood” battle.

What happened was unprecedented in the history of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, and it shattered the Israeli military doctrine, which is based on deterrence, early warning, transferring the battle to “enemy” territory, and quick resolution.

The Hamas attack also demonstrates the failure of the Israeli political doctrine towards dividing the Palestinian people, weakening the Palestinian Authority, and claiming that maintaining the division and the Hamas state in Gaza is beneficial to Israel, and that Israel has the freedom to do what it wants in the West Bank, expand settlement and impose a fait accompli by informally annexing areas. “C” and the continued abuse and killing without deterrence.

War in the context of political rift

This war comes in a different context that Israel has never witnessed before, especially in terms of the rift within Israeli society, the sharp disagreements between the military establishment and the government, and a significant decline in the confidence of the Israeli street in the government and its president. In fact, the military and security establishment repeatedly warned the prime minister of the repercussions of the political rift. On the army's readiness for any upcoming war, it expressed concern about the phenomenon of refusal to volunteer for the reserve forces, and claimed that it had begun to affect the fundamental nerve of the army's capabilities and training. This rift will affect the management of the current war and its political and economic implications.

Historically, military failures or successes have had significant repercussions on the political scene in Israel. This is how the security and military leadership turned into political stars after the 1967 War, corresponding to the beginning of the end of the Labor Party’s rule after Israel’s failure in the October War of 1973. Thus, the military failure in the Second Lebanon War in 2006 marked the beginning of the political end for former Prime Minister Ehud Olmert.

Netanyahu is fully aware of this and is following up on the accusations directed against him personally after the army’s failure in the south. After the shock of the Hamas attack, clear and direct accusations were not long in coming to hold Netanyahu personally and his government responsible for the major failure, and to link that with the results of the government’s plan to restrict the elimination of society and the army.

Fuzzy war aims

Since the beginning of the war, the political and military leaders and the media in Israel have declared that the war on Gaza is an “existential war” and that it is a “war on the homeland,” and that they will not accept that the war ends without eliminating the Hamas movement. Declaring these goals and describing the war as existential, in addition to the desire for revenge and restoring Israeli society’s confidence in itself and the army, together constitute an Israeli justification for the attack on Gaza and its people, and announcing the abolition of any barriers or controls for the army forces.

Israel is aware that eliminating Hamas in Gaza is not an easy matter and removing it as a political and military actor from the Palestinian people means destroying the Gaza Strip. Therefore, the official war goals set by the mini-government were more vague and less severe, and were defined as “destroying Hamas’ military and administrative capabilities.”

Managing the war and achieving its political goals requires, from Israel, putting the internal house in order, politically, security-wise and economically, dealing with the home front, and broad diplomatic support, especially American support.

Putting the internal house in order politically

As part of Netanyahu’s attempts to absorb popular anger and sharp criticism, control the collapse of cohesion in society, and attempt to raise collective morale, and in preparation for the next military phase, Netanyahu headed to expand the government and establish a national emergency government, in partnership with the “Official Camp” party led by Benny Gantz, the former Minister of Security. The former chief of staff, and Gadi Eisenkot, the former chief of staff and owner of the Dahiya doctrine. This does not negate Netanyahu’s narrow goals in forming an emergency government, including preventing the collapse of the government, his need for military men at his side in making military decisions, and legitimizing these decisions and the next steps in the war, especially since the security positions of Gantz and Eisenkot do not differ from the positions of the Israeli security consensus.

Unlimited Western support

On the diplomatic side, there was no need in this war for Israel to enlist international support, especially from the United States, its president, and its friends in Europe. All of them mobilized directly and voluntarily to support Israel and adopted its narrative and position. The American administration immediately mobilized to stand by Israel and announced its unlimited support, diplomatically, militarily, and economically. This support does not only reflect a political position, but also indicates American concern about Israel's military situation and the extent of the damage. In this context, we place the United States' decision to send the largest and most modern aircraft carrier to the Israeli coast, and to open an air bridge to transport weapons, even though we are still in the early days of the war and there is no shortage of equipment and weapons in Israel. These decisions reflect unconditional American political and military support, and a true partnership in managing the war, but they may also be an indicator of American concern for Israel’s security, and express the extent of the Israeli failure, as Israeli deterrence is no longer sufficient to prevent any security development on other fronts, nor is it sufficient. The verbal deterrence of the United States, but there is a need to strengthen it with practical steps.

The beginnings of internal crises

Historically, the Israeli tribe unites in times of crises and wars, but this unity begins to erode and crack with the passage of time and increasing losses, human, material, and financial, especially in the event of failure to achieve military achievements. However, in the current war, criticism and crises began to rise after a relatively short period of time from the beginning. War, not to mention directly accusing Hamas of responsibility for the major failure on the day of the attack.

As the war on Gaza entered its third week, signs of disagreements and cracks began to emerge in the management of the war and within the government. The most prominent are the differences between the military level and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu over the management of the war and field steps, including starting the ground war and dealing with the northern front. We see a state of distrust among the business sector in the government’s management of the economic file, and resentment among the displaced from the southern region due to the deterioration of living conditions and the performance of the ministries.

At the beginning of the third week of the war, the Israeli media began speaking clearly about the existence of serious differences in the military decision-making process in Israel. This began with information about a dispute between Netanyahu and the Minister of Defense regarding the proposal of the Minister of Defense and the Army Command to launch a pre-emptive strike on the northern front, that is, directing a strike at Hezbollah, before the start of the ground battle in Gaza, to prevent it from initiating military action if the ground battle begins. After that, information began to filter out about broader disagreements over the management of the battle and Netanyahu’s attempts to delay the ground campaign, even if that was because of the US administration’s request to try to reach some deal on the issue of prisoners, or because of the need for the United States to arrange its military cards in the region. Then the media made it clear that there is a crisis of confidence between Netanyahu and the military leaders, which is hindering the start of the ground battle.

The crises are not limited to Netanyahu's lack of confidence in the army leaders and the Minister of Security. Rather, there are signs of political disagreements within Netanyahu's government, such that a number of Likud Party ministers have begun to sense the political consequences of the major military failure on Netanyahu's government and the Likud Party, and they see holes in the ship of this government, so they take the initiative to... Disconnecting their political fate from Netanyahu’s fate has apparently been decided. The Ynet website published on Monday that at least three ministers are studying the issue of continuing their path in the government and the possibility of resigning from the government, which indicates the fragility of the current political situation and the decline of the government. Netanyahu's position, especially in light of his full responsibility for the major failure on October 7th.

It is expected that the political rifts and differences within the political and military establishment will widen as the war continues, and may expand, not only because of the major failure and military administration, but also as a result of the government’s confusion in managing civilian files, including the economic file, the file of dealing with the home front, and the large numbers of civilians. IDPs.

Netanyahu is in a clear security, military and political dilemma, and with him the Israeli government. After the first weeks of the war and the space that was given to the government to deal with and manage the crisis, voices of criticism have begun to grow louder in recent days, and a crisis of confidence is unfolding between the political and military establishment, between the business sector and the government, and between the displaced and the relevant ministries. . With the lengthening of the war and the possibility of its expansion, and the increase in material and human losses, these crises will increase and deepen, and their title will be clear, which is Netanyahu and his government.

Despite the major military failure and shock, and similar to previous cases, Israel is moving away from asking the real difficult questions that contributed to this situation, the most important of which are the question of the occupation, the question of the siege of Gaza, and Israel’s strategy to weaken the Palestinian Authority and preserve Hamas’ authority in Gaza. Not to mention the great illusion that economic aspects and a slight improvement of people's daily lives can be an alternative to nationalist demands, that is, the doctrine of economic peace or economic calm in the case of Gaza, which can replace the need for a comprehensive and just solution to the Palestinian issue.

In the current atmosphere in Israel, no one has asked these questions, neither the media, nor analysts, nor politicians, and everyone is just talking about the need to use the maximum levels of violence without any deterrent or restrictions, that is, adopting the security solution to the maximum extent, even though these solutions have failed over the years. The Israeli-Palestinian conflict, as well as in the experiences of other peoples.

Source: Arab 48

The Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement, “Israel rejects with disgust the Turkish President’s dangerous statements regarding the terrorist organization Hamas.”

Tel Aviv sharply attacked Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Wednesday, accusing him of incitement, following statements he issued earlier today, stressing that the Hamas movement is not a “terrorist organization” but rather constitutes “a liberation group that protects its land.” .

The Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement, “Israel rejects with disgust the Turkish President’s dangerous statements regarding the terrorist organization Hamas.”

It stated that “Hamas is a hateful terrorist organization worse than ISIS. It brutally and deliberately kills children, women, and the elderly, takes civilians hostage, and uses its own people as human shields,” the statement said.

The Israeli Foreign Ministry added, "Even the Turkish president's attempt to defend the terrorist organization, and his inflammatory words, will not change the atrocities that the whole world has witnessed, and the unambiguous truth: Hamas = ISIS."

During a speech he delivered to members of the Justice and Development Party in Parliament, Erdogan announced the cancellation of all his plans to visit Israel, due to its “inhumane” war on the Gaza Strip, saying, “We had a plan to visit Israel, but it was cancelled. We will not go.”

Erdogan said, "Relations could have been different, but unfortunately this will not happen anymore. You will not find any other country whose army behaves with such inhumanity."

Erdogan pointed out that the Hamas movement is not a "terrorist organization" but rather a "liberation group that protects its land."

He stressed that the Israeli attacks on the besieged Gaza Strip "indicate criminality and mental disorder among those who carry out and support them."

He added, "Turkey has no problem with the State of Israel." But he added that Turkey never agrees "with the atrocities committed by Israel, and the way it behaves as an organization instead of a state."

He added, "Since October 7, Israel has been carrying out one of the bloodiest, most brutal and disgusting attacks in history against innocent people in Gaza."

The Turkish President pointed out that he "shook hands with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, once in his life, at the Turkish House in New York."

He said: "Our intentions were good, but he took advantage of our good intentions. We had a plan to visit Israel. It was canceled and we will not go. If he had continued in good faith, our relationship would have been different, but unfortunately that will not happen now either, because they took advantage of our good intentions."

Erdogan explained, "Parents write their children's names on their bodies."

He added: "Oh Israel, you cannot go anywhere with this mentality. Whether you receive the support of the United States, others, or the West, Washington will also lose because it does not want the world to be governed justly."

In this context, Bloomberg reports confirmed that Turkey has suspended plans for cooperation with Israel in the field of energy, while the Turkish Energy Minister canceled his visit to Tel Aviv.

Erdogan met Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for the first time last September in New York, and said, "I shook hands with this man. We had good intentions, but he took advantage of them."

Source: Arab 48

The occupation forces continued their arbitrary arrest campaigns and raids on Palestinian towns, where dozens of homes were broken into, their contents were tampered with, and their residents were subjected to field investigations after detaining them for hours.

On Thursday morning, the Israeli occupation forces launched a campaign of raids and incursions in the occupied West Bank and Jerusalem, which included confrontations in some areas and arrests of dozens of Palestinians, including 4 women from Hebron and Ramallah.

Institutions concerned with prisoners’ affairs reported that the occupation forces arrested dozens of Palestinians from the West Bank and took them for investigation by the occupation security services under the pretext of participating in armed resistance against settlers and the occupation forces.

The occupation forces continued their arbitrary arrest campaigns and raids on Palestinian towns. During the period, dozens of homes were broken into, their contents were tampered with, and their residents were subjected to field investigations after being detained for hours.

The arrests were distributed as follows: 14 detainees from the Hebron Governorate, 6 from the Nablus Governorate, 22 from Ramallah and Al-Bireh, a detainee from the Silwan neighborhood in Jerusalem, and 2 from the Bethlehem Governorate. The arrest of 15 released prisoners from the West Bank was also monitored.

The Prisoners' Club reported that the occupation forces stormed Cooper and launched a massive arrest campaign that targeted 17 Palestinians after raiding and searching their homes. T

'At the end of the afternoon, the heat caused a light mist to arise: it was the blood of the five thousand victims, the ghost of the city, evaporating in the setting sun' - Aimé Césaire

Over two weeks have passed since the beginning of Israel’s bombardment of Gaza, and the cutting off of water and electricity, of no food or medicine entering the world's largest concentration camp. Faced with the depletion of water, thousands of people have to drink seawater or contaminated water. Between lethal bombings, the destruction of hospitals, and a slow torture by starvation and thirst, almost half of the 2.3 million people in Gaza have already been forcibly displaced.

The Zionist armed forces also bombed the Al-Ahli hospital, killing hundreds of refugees in a single brutal blow.

The colonial power has ordered the eviction of the entire northern Gaza Strip, bombs those who try to go to the south and also bombs the south. Civilian casualties are more than 6,500 and keep rising. In the West Bank, over 100 Palestinians have been killed and hundreds arbitrarily detained.

''Aimé Césaire's writing seems to speak to us today about UN officials, liberal TV anchors and newspaper editors, imperialist politicians and reformist bureaucrats, whose pseudo-humanism is 'narrow and fragmentary, incomplete and biased and, all things considered, sordidly racist'.''

Historian Raz Segal, who specializes in Genocide and Holocaust studies, has written that this is a "textbook case of genocide". Both the measures taken by the Israeli regime and the rhetoric of its officials correspond strongly to the legal definitions of genocide adopted by the UN. Defense Minister Yoav Gallant has effectively proposed a genocidal program: "No electricity, no food, no water, no fuel. Everything is closed. We are fighting human animals, and we will act accordingly". Yet, why isn't the world listening?

But the world does hear and understand the meaning of Israeli actions and threats. The governments of the US, France, Italy, Germany and the UK are consciously supporting war crimes, providing Israel with all possible military, economic and political resources.

This naked fascism that outrages the world, driving thousands of people in dozens of countries to take to the streets, has the endorsement the “liberal” and “democratic” press of Europe and the US. Indeed, the media helps to create the political atmosphere favorable for the collective punishments inflicted by Israel on the Palestinians. 

But that's not all. In France, Macron initially banned marches in support of Palestine immediately after the 7 October (this has now been lifted) and, because of that peculiar obsession of French imperialism with the regulation of clothing, prohibited wearing the keffiyeh. The interior minister also launched an investigation against the New Anti-Capitalist Party for a statement in support of the Palestinian resistance and foisted alleged anti-Semitism on the France Unbowed party.

In the United Kingdom the Palestinian flag will be considered suspicious on a more or less discretionary basis, and in Australia it has been announced that police can arbitrarily stop and search people attending marches in support of Palestine.

Measures against solidarity with Palestine were also adopted in Austria and Germany as part of this anti-democratic wave, in the context of growing popular support for the Palestinian cause in Europe.

The current offensive comes on the heels of decades of apartheid and ethnic cleansing and over 16 years of blockade against Gaza, a policy characterized as incremental genocide by Jewish historian Ilan Pappé. Economist Sara Roy coined the term de-development to describe the process of destruction of Gaza's economy by the occupation regime two decades before its blockade, and in 2016 posited that the territory had been re-engineered into an "isolated and disposable enclave." It is in effect an open-air prison in which more than 80% of the population lives in poverty and 60% suffers from food insecurity. That was before October.

Before the walls of that prison were demolished by force, dozens of peaceful marches took place between 2018 and 2019, repressed by Israeli snipers. After 60 Palestinians were massacred and more than 1700 wounded in a single day.

Just as the 1960 Sharpeville Massacre prompted the Mississippi legislature to issue a statement of solidarity with the racist South African government, some 400 members of the US House of Representatives sponsored a draft resolution in support of Israel in the midst of the current genocidal offensive. It's only criticism of Israel is to have allowed Palestinians to have “rudimentary, civilian equipment, such as bulldozers, para-gliders and rubber boats... demonstrating the importance of fully enforcing tight controls on what materials go into the Gaza Strip”.

Open calls for genocide among Israeli journalists and public figures in social networks and the media have been documented by Israeli activists. Netanyahu, whose political career has been cemented on his war crimes, had already in 2018 formulated a classic fascist credo: "The weak crumble, are slaughtered and are erased from history while the strong, for good or for ill, survive." In this offensive he has threatened to turn Gaza into a "desert island" and on Monday in the Knesset he stated that "this is a struggle between the children of light and the children of darkness, between humanity and the law of the jungle".

A similar metaphor was used last year by EU foreign policy chief, Josep Borrell, when describing Europe as a garden and the rest of the world as a jungle. Imperialists and colonialists are still today reminding us with their words and actions that they don't consider Palestinians, and most of humanity, to be fully human.

The topic of the fascistization or Nazification of the Israeli political regime and society has been raised time and again by Jewish and Israeli intellectuals, activists and artists. This has expanded from the warnings of Einstein and Arendt, among others, about the quasi-fascist and Nazi character of the Herut party, direct predecessor of Netanyahu's Likud, to the criticism of academics such as Yehuda Elkana and Yeshayahu Lebowitz, to films such as Ari Folman's Waltz with Bashir. So much so that the Israeli state has seen the need to promote a definition that classifies this genre of criticism as an expression of anti-Semitism.

In this context, it's highly symbolic that Ezra Yachim, old war criminal who took part in the 1948 Deir Yassin massacre, former member of the Zionist terrorist group Lehi, which offered to support Germany in World War II in exchange for support to expel the British from Palestine and impose its own totalitarian colony, has been sent to agitate Zionist troops in the current offensive. Yachim called on them to murder and "erase the memory of families, mothers and children".

The Martinican thinker Aimé Césaire in his seminal book Discourse on colonialism, written in 1950, had the penetrating insight that fascism had roots in the very history of European colonialism and imperialism. About the European and Christian bourgeois man of his time, he affirmed that "what he cannot forgive Hitler for is not the crime in itself, the crime against man, it is not the humiliation of man as such, it is the crime against the white man, the humiliation of the white man, and the fact that he applied to Europe colonialist procedures which until then had been reserved exclusively for the Arabs of Algeria, the coolies of India, and the niggers of Africa".

Andoni Césaire's writing seems to speak to us today about UN officials, liberal TV anchors and newspaper editors, imperialist politicians and reformist bureaucrats, whose pseudo-humanism is "narrow and fragmentary, incomplete and biased and, all things considered, sordidly racist".

The writer’s work also respond’s the question about why the genocide of Palestinians is accepted by these “humanists” and “democrats”, representatives of the “rules based order”. Bush's war crimes went unpunished, Obama even received a Nobel Peace Prize vindicating the well-intentioned crimes of US imperialism. Even Russia's imperialist crimes were accepted and tolerated without consequences when he committed them in Syria or Chechnya. 

In Ukraine they are unacceptable because they are committed against Europeans. Israel’s genocide against the Palestinians is acceptable, not only because of the geopolitical interests to which it tributes, but because it is committed against non-Europeans, non-whites. 

It's not enough to expose this ideological worldview that is at the core of the imperialist order today, to show it in all its monstrosity. We must do everything necessary to defeat it.

Auther: Simón Rodríguez Porras

The Sudanese army said on Wednesday that the resumption of negotiations with the Rapid Support Forces in the city of Jeddah on Thursday “does not mean stopping the battle for national dignity,” adding that “eliminating and defeating the rebels” is the goal of the Sudanese people, and the armed forces are committed to it to put the country on the right path. On Wednesday, the Sudanese Sovereignty Council presented a “road map to end the current war through 4 stages.”

On Thursday, negotiations will resume in the Saudi city of Jeddah between the two parties to the conflict in Sudan, the army and the Rapid Support Forces, at a time when battles are still taking place in the capital, Khartoum, and Nyala, South Darfur.

He said in a statement from the office of the official spokesman, Nabil Abdullah: “In response to a generous invitation from the two mediating countries in the Jeddah platform, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the United States of America, to resume the negotiating process with the rebel Rapid Support militia, we accepted the invitation to go to Jeddah to complete what was agreed upon.” Before, which is the full implementation of the Jeddah Declaration, to facilitate humanitarian work and return life to normal.

The Sudanese army expressed its hope that the Rapid Support Forces would adhere to what was previously agreed upon this time.

In turn, the Rapid Support Forces announced the arrival of its negotiating delegation to Jeddah in response to an invitation from Saudi Arabia and the United States to resume negotiations. She said in a statement: “We hope that the other party’s delegation came to Jeddah united and independent in its opinion from the dictates of the National Congress Party (the ruling party during the era of former President Omar al-Bashir), and we also hope that it has the necessary authorization to speak on behalf of the armed forces.”

During the round of negotiations that will resume on Thursday, the two mediating countries (Saudi Arabia and the United States) seek to establish a permanent ceasefire and hostilities throughout Sudan.

Last Sunday, the Deputy Commander of the Sudanese Army, Shams al-Din al-Kabashi, announced that he had received an invitation to resume negotiations, confirming that the army delegation would go to Jeddah.

The previous round of negotiations collapsed last June after the army delegation withdrew from the talks table, in protest against what it called the refusal of the “Rapid Support” forces to remove their forces from residential homes and public government institutions, which in turn accused the army of seeking to try to thwart the Jeddah platform and resort to a military solution. .

Government road map

In parallel, the Vice President of the Transitional Sovereignty Council, Malik Aqar, said that the government presented a road map to end the current war through 4 stages, which are the separation of forces, the humanitarian operation, and addressing the issue of war by merging the “Rapid Support Forces” and creating one army, ending with a political process. By agreeing on a constitution that determines how the country will be governed.

According to Al-Sayyadi media, the MP’s speech came when he was addressing, on Wednesday, the opening session of the conference to evaluate the “Juba Peace” agreement signed in 2020, in the city of Juba, the capital of the state of South Sudan, in the presence of the southern mediation and the parties to the agreement, the Sudanese “armed factions”, the African Union, the “IGAD” organization, and a representative. 

Source: Al-sharq Al-awsat

American billionaire Elon Musk said that the West is pushing us to “sleepwalk” towards a third world war.

This came during a discussion on the “X” platform in which businessman David Sachs and the US Republican Party presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy participated, and touched on the ongoing war in Gaza and the ongoing war between Russia and Ukraine for more than a year, according to what was reported by “Fortune” magazine.

Citing his experience dealing with the defense and intelligence communities as CEO of SpaceX as well as his frequent meetings with world leaders, Musk said he fears the current collapse in communication channels between great powers. He added that this fostered an environment of suspicion, with each side believing the other might be preparing to attack them.

The American billionaire said: “The West is pushing us to (sleepwalk) towards a third world war with one foolish decision after another.”

He continued: “Russia and China have begun conducting joint military exercises, and I do not know how many people really know about this matter.”

Musk described these Western sanctions on Russia as a “fatal mistake,” pointing out that they are responsible for pushing Russia into the arms of China, and that this matter will result in a greater conflict between a Western alliance unable to maintain the production of large quantities of weapons and a militarily strong Eastern alliance.

Musk said that the West is sending Ukrainians into something like a “meat grinder” to die fighting their “Russian cousins,” calling for an immediate ceasefire in Ukraine and the normalization of relations with Moscow in order to prevent the outbreak of World War III.

NBC News reported, citing a police source, that at least 22 people were killed and between 50 and 60 others were injured yesterday, Wednesday, in a random shooting in the city of Lewiston, in the American state of Maine.

Maine State Police and a local official had previously reported a shooting on Wednesday evening, but did not provide details. "There is a person shooting in Lewiston. We are asking people to shelter in place. Please remain inside your homes with doors closed. Law enforcement is currently investigating multiple locations," Maine State Police said on the X platform.

The Androscoggin Mayor's Office posted two photos of the suspect on Facebook, saying he was at large. The mayor asked the public's help in identifying the suspect, a bearded man wearing a long-sleeved shirt and jeans who was carrying a rifle at the shooting site. Maine Medical Center in Lewiston issued a statement saying it was “responding to numerous injuries and random shootings” and coordinating with area hospitals to receive patients.

Lewiston is part of the Androscoggin region and is located about 56 kilometers north of Portland, the largest city in Maine. The Sun Journal, citing a Lewiston police spokesman, reported that shooting occurred at three different locations.

An official in Washington said that President Joe Biden has been briefed on the incident and will continue to receive updates.

An American official told NBC News yesterday, Wednesday, that the White House supports declaring a truce for an indefinite period to allow more aid to enter Gaza and help those wishing to safely exit the Strip.

The official, whose name was not revealed, added that President Joe Biden's administration "is walking on a tightrope, as it seeks to balance the necessity of supporting Israel's right to defend itself after the sudden attack it was subjected to, and the necessity of making room for the delivery of humanitarian aid" to Gaza.

At the same time, the American official indicated that the White House is discussing with Israel “its call for a humanitarian truce,” adding that the Israelis “appear prepared to stop their negotiations to release the hostages held by Hamas, even if a final decision has not been reached.” NBC News quoted US administration officials as saying that it is not clear how long this truce will last if it is announced.

The Palestinian affairs editor of the Israeli Channel 13, Zvi Yehezkeli, said that the family of Al Jazeera correspondent in the Gaza Strip, Wael Al-Dahdouh, was the target of army bombing, stressing that they know exactly what they are hitting.

Before announcing the targeting of the Dahdouh family home, the Israeli media circulated news of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s intention to personally announce the targeting of a leader of the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas).

Yehezqili was speaking to the channel about this news, and said that there is no information yet about the target due to “the extent of the destruction that we see,” stressing that Hamas itself may not know what happened in the targeted places because it does not have the ability to reach or evacuate.

But the Israeli analyst confirmed that the targets being bombed are known to the army, adding, "For example, the target today was the family of the Al Jazeera correspondent."

A number of our colleague Al-Dahdouh's family were martyred, including his wife, daughter, son, and grandson, and the rest of his children were injured in a bombing that occurred on Wednesday evening, and many members of the family are still under the rubble.

While bidding farewell to his son Mahmoud, Al-Dahdouh considered that what happened was revenge against his children.

Source: Al Jazeera