PALESTINE

Mon 09 Oct 2023 3:17 pm - Jerusalem Time

619 Palestinian housing units were demolished during the Israeli aggression on the Gaza Strip

Israeli occupation aircraft completely demolished 619 housing units, while 5,350 housing units were partially damaged during the Israeli aggression on the Gaza Strip.


According to the government media office, 72 towers, buildings and buildings were completely demolished, while 171 housing units were damaged and rendered uninhabitable.


He pointed out that dozens of public and service facilities, mosques and bank branches were bombed.





PALESTINE

Mon 09 Oct 2023 3:09 pm - Jerusalem Time

American allegations of Iran's involvement in Palestinian Movement Hamas surprise attack on Israel

The American newspaper "Wall Street Journal" claimed on Sunday that security officials contributed to planning the surprise attack launched by the Islamic Resistance Movement "Hamas" on Saturday on the Israeli occupation forces, and gave the green light for the attack at a meeting held in Beirut last Monday, according to senior members of Hamas. And Hezbollah.


According to the newspaper, these people said that Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps officers had worked with Hamas since last August to plan air, land and sea incursions - the most significant violation of Israel's borders since the 1973 Ramadan War.


The newspaper claims that they added that the details of the operation were refined during several meetings in Beirut “attended by officers from the Iranian Revolutionary Guard and representatives of four armed groups supported by Iran, including Hamas, which controls power in Gaza, and Hezbollah, a Shiite armed group and faction.” politician in Lebanon.


It is noteworthy that US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken said on Sunday that the US administration had not seen any evidence of Tehran’s involvement in the sudden Hamas attack, and in an interview with CNN broadcast on Sunday, Blinken said: “We have not yet seen evidence that Iran directed this attack.” "Or she was behind it, but there is definitely a long relationship."


A US official involved in the alleged meetings told the Wall Street Journal: “We do not have any information at this time to confirm this account.”


In response to a question about the alleged meetings in Beirut, Mahmoud Mardawi, a senior Hamas official, said that the movement planned the attacks on its own, explaining, “This is a Palestinian and Hamas decision.”


The Wall Street Journal quotes a spokesman for Iran's mission to the United Nations as saying that the Islamic Republic supports Gaza's actions but does not direct them.


The spokesman said: “The decisions taken by the Palestinian resistance are completely independent and unshakably consistent with the legitimate interests of the Palestinian people... We are not concerned with the Palestinian response, as it is taken by Palestine itself only.”


A direct Iranian role would bring Tehran's long-standing conflict with Israel out of the shadows, increasing the risk of a broader conflict in the Middle East. Senior Israeli security officials vowed to attack the Iranian leadership if it was proven that Tehran was responsible for the killing of Israelis.


The newspaper claims that the broader plan of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard is to create a multi-front threat that can strangle Israel from all sides - Hezbollah and the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine in the north and Palestinian Islamic Jihad and Hamas in Gaza and the West Bank.


The Israeli occupation government claimed that at least 700 Israelis were killed in the attack, and Saturday's attack "shattered the country's aura of invincibility, leaving Israelis wondering how their vaunted security forces could allow this to happen," according to the newspaper.


Israel blamed Iran, saying it was behind the attacks, albeit indirectly. “We know that there were meetings in Syria and Lebanon with other leaders of the terrorist armies surrounding Israel, so it is easy to understand that they tried to coordinate,” Israel’s ambassador to the United Nations, Gilad Erdan, said on Sunday.


Hamas publicly acknowledges that it receives support from Iran, and Iranian President Ibrahim Raisi spoke on Sunday with the leader of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad movement, Ziad al-Nakhalah, and the head of the Hamas movement, Ismail Haniyeh.


Senior members of Hamas and Hezbollah said that Iran has put aside other regional conflicts, such as its open conflict with Saudi Arabia in Yemen, to devote external resources to the Iranian Revolutionary Guard to coordinate, finance and arm anti-Israel militias, including Hamas and Hezbollah, according to the newspaper’s claim.


The United States and Israel have designated Hamas and Hezbollah as terrorist organizations.


The newspaper says, “The aim of the strike was to strike Israel while it appeared distracted by internal political divisions around the government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.” Senior members of Hamas and Hezbollah said that the attack was also aimed at disrupting the accelerating talks brokered by the United States to normalize relations between the kingdom. Saudi Arabia and Israel, which Iran considers a threat.”


The newspaper points out that based on the peace agreements with Egypt and Jordan, expanding Israeli relations with the Arab Gulf states could create a chain of US allies linking three major choke points for global trade - the Suez Canal, the Strait of Hormuz, and the Bab el-Mandab, which connects the Red Sea.

ARAB AND WORLD

Mon 09 Oct 2023 2:47 pm - Jerusalem Time

Lebanon's Mikati: Priority is maintaining security, adhering to Resolution 1701, and stopping Israel’s violations

Caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati stressed, “The government’s priority is to maintain security and stability in southern #Lebanon, continue calm on the Blue Line, adhere to Resolution 1701, stop the ongoing Israeli violations of Lebanese sovereignty by air, sea, and air, and withdraw from the Lebanese territories that are still occupied.”


After following up on the situation in the south through a series of international, Arab and local contacts, he confirmed that “friendly and brotherly countries are keen to keep Lebanon safe from the repercussions of the explosive situation in the Palestinian territories, and to protect it.”


Mikati reiterated that "fortifying Lebanon in the face of stormy developments requires accelerating the election of a new president and stopping the existing political tensions. The danger threatening Lebanon does not affect a specific group or one political faction. Rather, it will have, God forbid, serious repercussions on all Lebanese and on the situation." The entire Lebanese people.


The Prime Minister continued, "In these difficult circumstances that the region is going through, it is no longer acceptable for internal tensions and divisions to continue over issues that have been overtaken by imminent events and potential repercussions. Let the positions of incitement and incitement stop, and let all wills unite in a phase that is, without exaggeration, one of the most dangerous phases that Lebanon is going through." “The region is the most uncertain in terms of expectations, options and possibilities.”


Regarding the Palestinian file, the caretaker Prime Minister said, “What is happening inside the Palestinian territories is an inevitable result of the Israeli enemy’s approach against the Palestinian people and their rightful demands. The solution to this conflict open to blood begins with the international community assuming its responsibilities in pressuring Israel to force it to return to the peace option with its considerations.” “The well-known Arab Peace Initiative, which was issued by the Beirut Summit in 2002, and anything other than that is a further spiral of violence that will not benefit anyone.”

PALESTINE

Mon 09 Oct 2023 2:10 pm - Jerusalem Time

Israeli prison admin. continues to impose retaliatory measures against Palestinian detainees

The Palestinian Prisoners' Club said on Monday that the occupation prison administration continues to implement retaliatory measures against detainees in all prisons.


According to the latest developments documented by the Prisoners’ Club, the Ofer Prison administration today cut off electricity and water to the detainees’ sections, and in Nafha Prison, they withdrew the tools that the detainees use for cooking, completely isolated the sections from each other, and prevented them from going out to ( Al-Fura) prison yard.


In the Negev prison, the prison administration transferred all Gaza detainees outside the prison without knowing the destination to which they were transferred. The prison administration also deliberately cut off electricity and water to the detainees’ sections from time to time, and this was recorded in most prisons.


The Prisoner's Club added that sick detainees were denied transfer to prison clinics.


Earlier, and over the past two days, the occupation prison administration implemented a series of other retaliatory measures, which included closing sections in all prisons, withdrawing the limited number of television stations available to detainees, increasing jamming devices, stopping visits to detainees’ families, and extending the detention of detainees from 96 hours, to 8 days, and prevented from meeting with a lawyer, during the first four days of detention.


According to the Prisoners’ Club, raids were also recorded in a number of prisons, including “Naqab,” “Megiddo,” and “Damoun,” where female detainees are held.


The day before yesterday, the repressive forces stormed the detention section of the “Damoun” prison, using poisonous gas, cutting off their electricity, isolating the female detainees’ representative, Marah Bakir, and transferring her to the “Jalama” prison.


In light of this, the female detainees decided to take protest steps by returning meals and rejecting the so-called “number” procedure.


In Megiddo prison, the repressive forces stormed the sections, isolated them from each other, and took away the electricity.


The Prisoners' Club warned against aggression against detainees or harming them. He renewed his call on all international human rights institutions to play their necessary role at this current stage.


The number of detainees in the occupation prisons is more than 5,250, including 39 female detainees, 170 children, and more than 1,300 administrative detainees.

PALESTINE

Mon 09 Oct 2023 2:07 pm - Jerusalem Time

Israeli death toll rises to 800 due to attacks Palestinian armed wing of Hamas

The number of Israeli deaths due to attacks by the Al-Qassam Brigades, the armed wing of Hamas, rose to 800.


According to the Hebrew channel Reshet Kan, the death toll is likely to rise, especially since many areas have not yet been regained control.


She indicated that the number of wounded approached 3,000.

PALESTINE

Mon 09 Oct 2023 1:42 pm - Jerusalem Time

Palestinian Health Minister makes appeal to the international community

The Palestinian Minister of Health, Dr. Mai Alkaila, today, Monday, called on the international community to take urgent action to curb the occupation’s aggression against treatment centers, cars and ambulance crews in the Gaza Strip.


She added: The occupation deliberately bombs hospitals and ambulances and kills and injures crews, and this is a major and clear violation of all international laws and norms.



PALESTINE

Mon 09 Oct 2023 1:38 pm - Jerusalem Time

Israel continues closure of Barta'a military checkpoint exacerbating the suffering of patients

Today, Monday, the Israeli occupation forces continue to close the main gate, the “military checkpoint,” linking the town of Barta’a, which is isolated behind the apartheid wall, which exacerbated the suffering of citizens, especially the sick.


According to local sources, the occupation forces closed the Barta'a military checkpoint in both directions, which is considered the only outlet for the people of the village and its neighboring ruins, to communicate with Jenin Governorate and its towns.


The sources confirmed that there is a shortage of supplies and food supplies in the town after merchants were prevented from entering them, in addition to chronic medical cases that are not allowed to go to Jenin Hospital except with a permit, and only for chronic medical cases, indicating that the danger threatens students in universities and schools as a result of this siege.



OPINIONS

Mon 09 Oct 2023 1:35 pm - Jerusalem Time

Western hypocrisy on the Gaza uprising is disgusting

Jonathan Cook- translation for "Al-Quds" dot com

Jonathan Cook- translation for "Al-Quds" dot com

Opinion Writer

When bombed by Israel, the besieged Palestinians in the Gaza Strip will receive no more compassion from the West than in previous times. The expression “Israeli response” will once again be used to justify their immense suffering.


The current outpouring of sympathy for Israel should make anyone with a little heart shudder. Not because it isn’t horrible to see Israeli civilians dying and suffering in such large numbers. But because the Palestinian civilians of Gaza have regularly suffered, for decades, Israeli aggressions which cause them much greater suffering, without ever arousing even a fraction of the concern currently expressed by politicians or Western public opinions.


The West's hypocrisy in the face of Palestinian fighters who kill and injure hundreds of Israelis and hold dozens more hostage in communities around and inside the besieged Gaza Strip is striking. This is the first time that the Palestinians imprisoned in the coastal enclave of Gaza have managed to launch an attack in Israel on a scale that vaguely reflects the savagery that has regularly befallen them since they were put into cage, more than 15 years ago, when Israel began its land, sea and air blockade in 2007.


Western media describe as "unprecedented" the manner in which the Palestinians in Gaza managed to escape from their open-air prison and go on the attack, as well as Israel's most abject failure intelligence since the Yom Kippur war, where it was also caught off guard, exactly 50 years ago.


Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu accused Hamas, which nominally runs Gaza's open-air prison, of starting "a cruel and evil war." But the truth is that the Palestinians didn’t “start” anything. They managed, after decades of struggle, to find a way to cause some damage to their executioner.


Inevitably, for the Palestinians, as Netanyahu also noted, “the price to pay will be heavy,” especially for civilians. Israel will inflict on the prisoners the harshest punishment for their impudence. You will see the lack of compassion and concern that the Occident will show towards the many Palestinian men, women and children that Israel will still murder. Their immense suffering will be obscured and justified by the expression “Israeli response”.


The real lessons

All current analysis that focuses on Israeli intelligence “mistakes” distracts from the real lesson to be learned from these rapidly evolving events.

No one really cared about the Palestinians in Gaza subjected to the Israeli blockade which deprived them of basic necessities. The few dozen Israelis held hostage by Hamas fighters pale in comparison to the two million Palestinians held hostage by Israel in an open-air prison for nearly twenty years.


Who was concerned when it became known that the Palestinians in Gaza were being subjected to a "starvation diet" by Israel, which allowed in only a small amount of food, just enough so that the population did not die entirely? made of hunger?


Who cared that Israel bombed the coastal enclave every two or three years, killing hundreds of Palestinian civilians each time? Israel calls this “mowing the lawn.” The destruction of large areas of Gaza, in order to return the enclave to the Stone Age, as Israeli generals have boasted, has become an official strategy known as the “ Victim "Dahiya" Doctrine.”


Who was alarmed when Israeli snipers shot at nurses, young people and people in wheelchairs who came to protest the Israeli siege? Several thousand people had to have amputations because these snipers were ordered to shoot protesters in the legs or ankles.

Western concern over the deaths of Israeli civilians at the hands of Palestinian fighters is heartbreaking. Haven't hundreds of Palestinian children died over the past 15 years during Israel's repeated bombing campaigns on Gaza? Do their lives not matter as much as those of Israelis – and if not, why?

After so much indifference for so long, it is hard to bear to see the horror suddenly spilling over into Western governments and media because the Palestinians have finally found a way – similar to Israel's inhumane policies towards them, suffered for decades – to respond effectively.


The masks fall and everyone sees that what tries to pass off as moral concerns in Western capitals is in reality pure racism.


Hypocrisy incarnate

Volodymr Zelenskiy, the Ukrainian president, embodies this hypocrisy. Last weekend, he posted a lengthy tweet condemning Palestinians as “terrorists” and offering Israel his unwavering support.

He affirmed that “Israel’s right to defend itself is indisputable,” adding: “The world must be united so that terrorism does not succeed in subjugating or suppressing life anywhere and at any time.”

Such an inversion of reality leaves you speechless. Palestinians cannot “subjugate life” in Israel. They do not have this power, although a few have managed to escape their cage for a short time. It is Israel that has subjugated the lives of Palestinians for decades.


It appears that not all forms of “terrorism” are equal in the eyes of Zelenskiy or his patrons in Western capitals. Certainly not the state terrorism of Israel which has made the lives of Palestinians an ordeal for decades.

Why does Israel have the “indisputable right” to “defend itself” against the Palestinians whose territory it occupies and controls? Why does Russia not have the same right to “defend itself” when it strikes Ukrainian cities in “response” to Ukrainian strikes aimed at liberating its territory from Russian occupation?


Israel, by far the strongest warring party, is devastating Gaza “in response,” as the BBC says of the latest Palestinian attack.

How will Zelenskiy or his ministers condemn Moscow when it fires missiles “in response” to Ukraine’s strikes on Russian territory? If Palestinian resistance to the Israeli occupation of Gaza is terrorism, as Zelenskiy claims, then isn't Ukrainian resistance to the Russian occupation also terrorism?


Nowhere to escape

Israel is so used to being covered by its allies that it allows itself to tell bigger and bigger lies. Last weekend, Netanyahu told Palestinians in Gaza to “leave immediately” because Israeli forces were preparing to “act with all necessary force.”

But Netanyahu knows well, as do his Western accomplices, that the population of Gaza has nowhere to flee. Nowhere to hide. The Palestinians are locked in Gaza and Israel is besieging them by land, sea and air.

The only Palestinians capable of “leaving Gaza” are the armed factions who escaped from the prison to which Israel keeps the key, and who are accused of being “terrorists” by Western politicians and media. The Western governments so horrified by the Palestinian attack on Israel are the same ones that remain silent when Israel cuts off the electricity to the prison that is Gaza, again in pursuance of its so-called “response.”

The collective punishment of the two million Palestinians in the Gaza enclave, who depend on Israel for electricity because Israel surrounds them and controls every aspect of their lives, is a war crime.

Strangely, Western officials understand that it is a war crime when Russia bombs power plants in Ukraine and thus cuts off electricity. They are clamoring for Russian President Vladimir Putin to be brought before the International Criminal Court in The Hague. So why are they unable to see that Israel is doing the exact same thing in Gaza? 


A daring escape

There are two immediate and opposing lessons to be learned from what happened in Gaza. The first is that the human mind cannot be caged indefinitely. The Palestinians of Gaza have never stopped imagining new ways to free themselves from their chains.

They built a network of tunnels, most of which were spotted and destroyed by Israel. They fired rockets which were invariably shot down by increasingly sophisticated interception systems. They protested en masse against the heavily fortified fences, topped with pylons, with which Israel surrounded them, before being shot down by snipers.

Today they staged a daring escape. Israel will subject the enclave to massive bombings, only “in response”, of course. However, the Palestinians' thirst for freedom and dignity will not be diminished.


Another form of resistance, undoubtedly even more brutal, will emerge. And the main culprits for this violence will be Israel and the West which so generously supports the Jewish state, because Israel refuses to stop martyring the Palestinians whom it forces to live under its thumb.


The second lesson is that the lenient support Israel enjoys from its Western patrons does not encourage it to realize the aforementioned fundamental truth. The rhetoric of its current government, made up of fascists and Jewish supremacists, is undoubtedly particularly detestable, but there is, in any case, a broad consensus among Israelis of all political persuasions that we should not stop oppressing Palestinians.


This is why the so-called opposition will not hesitate to support the military shelling of the besieged Gaza enclave, and to kill even more Palestinian civilians to "teach them a lesson", the lesson being that the Palestinians must accept , once and for all, to be treated as inferiors and to live in prison.


The “good Israelis” – opposition leaders Yair Lapid and Benny Gantz – are already in talks with Netanyahu to join him in an “emergency unity government.”


What “urgency”? The urgency of dealing with Palestinians who demand the right not to live as prisoners in their own homeland.


Israelis and Westerners can continue their mental acrobatics to justify the oppression of Palestinians and deny them any right to resistance. But their hypocrisy and duplicity are not lost on the rest of the world.

PALESTINE

Mon 09 Oct 2023 1:34 pm - Jerusalem Time

Governor of Ramallah provided shelters for dozens of Gazan workers expelled by Israel

Today, Monday, the Governor of Ramallah and Al-Bireh, Dr. Leila Ghannam, secured the security of dozens of workers in the Gaza Strip, who were expelled by the occupation from their workshops and workplaces within the 1948 territories.


Dr. Ghannam confirmed that the workers were secured, and all their needs of housing, food and drink were provided, noting that they are now among their people, after their employers left them and the occupation expelled them without shelter.


She indicated that the Ramallah and Al-Bireh Governorate and the governorate’s institutions will fulfill their full duty towards our people, in light of the difficult situation that our people are experiencing in all their places of residence.


For their part, the workers confirmed that last night the occupation launched a massive arrest campaign among their ranks, harassed them, and expelled them to the cities of the West Bank, and prevented them from taking their belongings.

PALESTINE

Mon 09 Oct 2023 1:29 pm - Jerusalem Time

Armed Wing of Hamas: Recent bombing of Gaza led to four Israeli prisoners deaths

The spokesman for the Al-Qassam Brigades, Abu Ubaida, said on Monday, October 9, 2023, that the occupation’s bombing tonight, and today, on the Gaza Strip, led to the killing of 4 Israeli prisoners, and the martyrdom of their captives, who were Al-Qassam members.


The occupation escalated its aggression and war against the Palestinian people, launching hundreds of raids successively in the last hours on all governorates of the Gaza Strip.


The Ministry of Interior in Gaza confirmed that most of the targets were residential towers and buildings, civil and service facilities, and many mosques. The raids left martyrs and injuries, most of whom were women and children.





PALESTINE

Mon 09 Oct 2023 1:23 pm - Jerusalem Time

Raisi: Iran approves Palestinians' “self-defense” against Israel

Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi said his country fully supports Palestinian resistance against Israel.


In a statement Sunday, a day after the Gaza-based resistance group Hamas launched what it calls "Operation Al-Aqsa Deluge" against Israel, Raisi said Iran was bringing its support for the “self-defense of the Palestinian nation”.


According to the latest report, at least 700 Israelis have been killed in this conflict, while the number of deaths on the Palestinian side stands at 370, according to official sources.


Iran's president accused Israel and its allies of "compromising the security" of countries in the region, saying they must be held accountable.


He called on Muslim countries to support the Palestinian nation, stressing that oppression and injustice, insults against Palestinian women and prisoners and the desecration of the Al-Aqsa Mosque "will not last."


He added that the "Zionist enemy," referring to Israel, should realize that "the equation has changed" and that the Palestinians are "in a winning position."


In a statement released after Raisi's statements, Hamas claimed that the Iranian president had given his support to the Palestinians during a telephone conversation with the movement's leader, Ismail Haniyeh.


Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Nasser Kanaani congratulated Hamas on Saturday for "opening a new page of resistance," saying it demonstrated Israel's "fragility."


He said the latest operation had once again proven that Israel's invincibility was "pure pretension," adding that Israel "has always faced failure and humiliation" whenever it he attempted to carry out an operation in the Gaza Strip.


Major General Yahya Rahim Safavi, top military adviser to Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, also expressed Iran's support for Palestinian resistance.


“We will remain alongside the Palestinian mujahideen until the liberation of Palestine and Al-Quds,” the former head of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) declared on Saturday.


On Saturday evening, thousands of people took to the streets of Tehran to celebrate the operation carried out by the Palestinians against Israel.


The largest gathering took place in Palestine Square in central Tehran, where onlookers danced and lit fireworks.


Iran and Israel are sworn enemies and have had no diplomatic ties since the 1979 Iranian revolution. The two sides have often accused each other of sabotage and indirect attacks.

PALESTINE

Mon 09 Oct 2023 1:00 pm - Jerusalem Time

West Bank: 15 Palestinians killed by Israeli army since the start of “Al-Aqsa deluge” operation

Official figures show that 15 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli army fire since dawn last Saturday.


Data released by the Palestinian Ministry of Health and the official Palestinian news agency Wafa, show that the Israeli army has killed 15 Palestinians in several towns and villages in the West Bank since dawn Saturday.


According to the same sources, "killed Palestinians in the governorates of Jerusalem, Hebron (south), Ramallah (center), Jericho (east), Nablus, Qalqilya and Jenin (north)."


Clashes broke out between Palestinians and the Israeli army in various places in the West Bank, notably in East Jerusalem, during which Israeli soldiers used live ammunition and tear gas.


Clashes are intensifying in the West Bank, coinciding with tensions in the Gaza Strip.


Palestinian forces and factions announced a general strike in the West Bank on Sunday and Monday and called on the population to rise up against the Israeli army.


At dawn on Saturday, the Al-Qassam Brigades, the armed wing of the Palestinian movement Hamas, announced the start of a military operation called "Al-Aqsa deluge" from Gaza, "with a first strike which targeted Israeli military sites, airports and fortifications.


For its part, the Israeli army announced that it had launched Operation "Iron Swords", affirming in a press release that its planes "began to carry out strikes in several areas of the Gaza Strip, against targets belonging to Hamas ".


The Gaza Health Ministry announced that 436 Palestinians were killed and 2,300 others injured, while the Israeli government broadcasting authority reported that at least 700 Israelis were killed and more than 2,100 others injured.


At dawn on Monday, Israeli Channel 12 announced that the toll of Israeli wounded stood at 2,315, including 365 in serious to critical condition.


Israeli newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth revealed that estimates indicate the Israeli death toll will reach 1,000 and the number of people taken prisoner will reach more than 150.

PALESTINE

Mon 09 Oct 2023 12:59 pm - Jerusalem Time

A young Palestinian was killed by Israeli army south of Hebron

A young man was martyred today, Monday, by Israeli occupation forces’ bullets south of Hebron.


According to local sources, the young man, Ahmed Khaled Abu Turki (28 years old), was martyred after the occupation army targeted the vehicle in which they were traveling in the Al-Harayeq area on the bypass road south of Hebron.



ARAB AND WORLD

Mon 09 Oct 2023 12:58 pm - Jerusalem Time

Xi Jinping: Relations between Beijing and Washington are crucial to the "future of humanity"

Chinese President Xi Jinping said on Monday that Chinese-American relations will be crucial "for the future of humanity" during a visit by a US Senate delegation headed by Democratic Majority Leader Chuck Schumer to China as part of the diplomatic rapprochement between the two powers.


"The relationship between China and the United States is the most important in the world. The way China and the United States agree to face a turbulent world will determine the future and destiny of humanity," Xi said.


In the morning, Foreign Minister Wang Yi received the American delegation.


Wang Yi said in statements that he hopes this visit will help "improve the United States' understanding of China," and will also help the two sides "manage differences more rationally, so that the relationship between the two countries returns to the sound development path."


China and the United States, which conflict on many issues, have resumed dialogue in recent months with a series of visits by high-level American officials to Beijing, while a meeting between Chinese President Xi Jinping and his counterpart Joe Biden is not ruled out.


For his part, Schumer said, "We must manage our relations responsibly," stressing that the United States "does not seek conflict," but pointed out that "it is natural for two superpowers to find themselves in competition in areas such as trade, technology, diplomacy, and others."


Schumer stated that the "first goal" is to achieve "equal opportunities for American companies and workers."


Stressed relationships

He considered that there is a priority "to hold accountable the companies that are based in China and provide the deadly chemicals that are fueling the American fentanyl crisis," just as it is to "ensure that China does not support the war that Russia is waging in Ukraine."


He continued, "Promoting human rights is also a priority."


Regarding holding a meeting between the Chinese and American presidents, Joe Biden said on Friday that it is “possible” that he will meet Xi Jinping during the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit scheduled for mid-November in San Francisco.


He explained to the media that such a meeting had not been organized, "but it is a possibility."


Despite this, bilateral relations remain tense, especially against the backdrop of trade disputes, Chinese expansion in the South China Sea, and the Taiwan issue.


"A huge disappointment"

Chuck Schumer on Monday criticized China's position on the escalating violence between Israel and the Palestinians, saying he was "very disappointed" by the Chinese Foreign Ministry's statement on Sunday.


He added, "The Foreign Ministry's statement...did not show any sympathy or support for Israel during these difficult and turbulent times."


On Sunday, Beijing called on all parties to "calm" and "immediate ceasefire," but did not explicitly condemn the Palestinian attacks that left hundreds dead in Israel, and instead called for the establishment of a two-state solution to end the violence.


But a short time later, the Chinese Foreign Ministry condemned the targeting of civilians in the recent escalation between Israel and Hamas in the Gaza Strip.


Ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning said, “China expresses its deep concern over the continuing escalation of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict,” noting that Beijing “regrets the civilian casualties caused by the conflict,” and it “rejects and condemns activities targeting civilians.”


"The world today is going through a period of turmoil and changes... The crisis in Ukraine has not yet been resolved, and war has returned to the Middle East," Wang Yi said on Monday. He also mentioned the earthquake that struck Afghanistan, which left more than two thousand dead, according to the latest toll published on Sunday.


He added, "The international community must deal with all these challenges, and China and the United States must play their roles appropriately."


The Chinese Foreign Ministry, which earlier this year facilitated the rapprochement between Iran and Saudi Arabia, regularly says it wants to make its contribution to the Israeli-Palestinian peace process.


PALESTINE

Mon 09 Oct 2023 12:51 pm - Jerusalem Time

Large Palestinian crowds mourn bodies of 5 martyrs in West Bank and Jerusalem

Today, Monday, large crowds mourned the bodies of 5 martyrs who were killed by occupation bullets in Ramallah, Nablus, and Jerusalem.


Dozens of citizens participated in the funeral procession of the martyrs Yasser Al-Kasbah (17 years old) and Adam Al-Julani (16 years old), which started from the Palestine Medical Complex in the city of Ramallah.


The procession toured the streets of the cities of Ramallah and Al-Bireh, reaching the Al-Sharafa neighborhood, after which the body of the martyr Al-Kasbah was transported to the Grand Qalandiya Mosque and then to the martyrs’ cemetery in the camp to be buried, while the body of the martyr Al-Julani was transported to his birthplace in the town of Al-Ram, north of occupied Jerusalem, before a funeral prayer was performed over him. Moaz bin Jabal Mosque in the town, then he was buried in the town cemetery, amid chants denouncing the crimes of the Israeli occupation.


Later, the funeral procession for the martyr Amjad Khudair (36 years old) left the Palestine Medical Complex and was taken to Al-Ain Mosque in the city of Al-Bireh, and funeral prayers were performed over him, to be buried in the New Al-Bireh Cemetery.


In the town of Beit Annan, north of occupied Jerusalem, masses of our people northwest of occupied Jerusalem carried out the body of the martyr Muhammad Ziad Hamid (24 years old) and prayed over him in the town’s mosque before he was buried in the town’s cemetery.


In Nablus, masses of our people carried the body of the martyr Imad Jareh Adel Adili to his final resting place in the town of Beita, south of Nablus.


The funeral procession started from the town clinic, to his family’s home, where the last farewell was given to him, before prayers were offered over him and he was buried in the town cemetery.


The young man, Adili, was martyred after being shot in the neck with live bullets last night, on the bypass street near the vegetable market at the entrance to the town.


According to family sources, the martyr bled there until he was found and transferred to Rafidia Hospital, where his death was announced later.


Yesterday evening, the Ministry of Health announced the death of four young men and the injury of 13 others, by bullets from the Israeli occupation forces, at the Qalandiya military checkpoint, north of Jerusalem. They are: Yasser Thaer Sami Al-Kasba, from Qalandiya, Amjad Maher Alian Khudair, from Beitunia, and Muhammad Ziyad Hamid, From the town of Beit Anan, and Adam Al-Julani from Al-Ram.

PALESTINE

Mon 09 Oct 2023 12:40 pm - Jerusalem Time

Israeli Defense Minister orders imposition of complete siege on Gaza Strip

On Monday, Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Galant ordered the imposition of a complete blockade on the Gaza Strip.


Galant said following a security assessment session held at the Israeli army command center near the Gaza envelope: “I ordered the imposition of a complete siege on the Strip... There will be no fuel, no electricity, no water, no food... We are fighting human animals, and we will continue to fight them.” According to his expression.

PALESTINE

Mon 09 Oct 2023 12:32 pm - Jerusalem Time

Palestinian resistance bombs Tel Aviv, Jerusalem, and surrounding settlements

On Monday, the Palestinian resistance continued to fire a barrage of rockets towards Israeli cities and settlements.


Sirens sounded in Tel Aviv, Jerusalem, Ashkelon, Ashdod, Sderot, and the cover settlements.


According to Israeli sources, many cases of panic were recorded among Israelis.


The Al-Qassam Brigades, the military wing of the Hamas movement, announced that it had directed dozens of rocket salvoes towards those areas in response to targeting civilian homes in Gaza.

PALESTINE

Mon 09 Oct 2023 12:21 pm - Jerusalem Time

74 thousand Palestinians flee to UNRWA schools

The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) in the Gaza Strip said that 74,000 Palestinians were displaced to 64 of its schools and shelters, in search of safety in light of the continuing violent Israeli raids.


The UNRWA added in a statement published at dawn on Monday: “There are approximately 74,000 displaced people in 64 UNRWA shelters,” indicating that these displaced people “were forced to flee their homes overnight in search of safety.”


She said that her teams are working to "provide families with shelter and clean water, while supplies are being prepared for delivery to displaced families, including food, hygiene supplies, and cleaning materials."


The UN agency expected the number of displaced people to increase in the coming hours, "with the continuation of violent bombardment and air strikes, including on civilian areas."


UNRWA stressed "the necessity of protecting civilians, including during killings," noting its "support for calls to reach an immediate ceasefire and stop violence."


On the other hand, the agency said that one of its schools housing displaced families in Gaza was directly bombed.


She added: "The school, which houses more than 225 people, was severely damaged as a result of direct bombing, while no casualties were recorded among the displaced."


It called for not attacking "schools and other civilian infrastructure, including those housing displaced families." Eyewitnesses reported to Anadolu's correspondent that the Israeli bombing caused major damage to the "Al-Mamounia Girls Preparatory School" in Gaza City.



PALESTINE

Mon 09 Oct 2023 12:00 pm - Jerusalem Time

Four Palestinians injured of settlers' attacks north of Jericho

Today, Monday, 4 citizens were injured as a result of stones being thrown at their vehicles by settlers on the Al-Marajat Road linking the Jericho and Ramallah governorates.


According to local sources, a group of settlers are still present on Al-Marajat Road, attacking citizens’ vehicles with stones, causing the road to be closed and obstructing citizens’ passage.

PALESTINE

Mon 09 Oct 2023 11:49 am - Jerusalem Time

Palestine Premier: Aggression against our people cannot produce peace for Israel

Prime Minister Muhammad Shtayyeh said that the aggression against our people cannot produce peace for Israel or reassurance for the Israelis, and that the way out of the cascade of blood is to stop the aggression against our people first, and create a political horizon based on United Nations resolutions, international law, and the Arab Peace Initiative.


Shtayyeh added in his speech at the beginning of the government meeting today, Monday, in Ramallah, “For a long time, we have been telling the world that the Israeli government’s policy will lead to the detonation of the situation in the Palestinian territories, whether that is in Gaza, Jerusalem, or the rest of the Palestinian territories.”


He continued: The day before yesterday, we saw it explode in the Gaza Strip. These events and their consequences are the product of the Israeli government’s policy, which practices the ugliest forms of aggression and murder, seizing lands, and attacking holy sites, and the terrorism of the colonialists and their heinous practices that accompany them.


The Prime Minister stressed that Israel is a state of aggression and occupation, and our people have the right to defend themselves, and we have made that clear to all those who only see with one eye.


Shtayyeh indicated that President Mahmoud Abbas is conducting a regional and international movement through contacts with world leaders, whose goal is to stop the aggression against our people, stressing that the government is fully prepared to work to alleviate the suffering of our people, and will provide all possible assistance to our people in the form of medicines and other sectors.


Due to the closure of the crossings, the Prime Minister explained that communication was made with our embassy in Cairo and the brothers of the Egyptian leadership to bring in aid through the Rafah crossing, and communication was also made with the World Health Organization and UNICEF to deliver medical aid through them as well, and yesterday the door for blood donations was opened through Specialized centers in hospitals in the West Bank and Jerusalem.


He pointed out that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is following up with our embassies around the world to explain and clarify the details of the aggression and the Palestinian position, and to mobilize public opinion to curb the Israeli aggression, noting that there are massacres being committed and entire families being exterminated, and this morning UNRWA schools were bombed, and this is a very dangerous indicator.


He stressed that our Palestinian people are one, wherever they are and wherever they are, we are united by pain and united by suffering, and this pain and suffering must end, and our sovereign state on earth, with Jerusalem as its capital, and the return of refugees must be embodied.


Today, the Council of Ministers discusses: the situation in the Gaza Strip, and providing the necessary and possible needs through the relevant ministries and institutions.

PALESTINE

Mon 09 Oct 2023 11:49 am - Jerusalem Time

Austria says it is suspending aid to Palestinians after Hamas attack

Austria is suspending its aid to Palestinians, totaling around 19 million euros ($20 million) for a handful of projects, in response to Islamist group Hamas's deadly attack on Israel, Foreign Minister Alexander Schallenberg said on Monday.


Neutral Austria's ruling conservatives have adopted one of the most pro-Israel stances in the European Union in recent years. The Israeli flag has been hoisted above the chancellor's office and the Foreign Ministry after the shock Hamas assault launched from the Gaza Strip on Saturday.


We will therefore put all payments from Austrian development cooperation on ice for the time being," Schallenberg told ORF radio in comments confirmed by a spokeswoman, adding the estimate of funds and projects affected.


On Sunday, neighboring Germany debated whether it should stop aid to Palestinians following the Hamas attack, with Development Minister Svenja Schulze of the ruling Social Democrats saying the government had always been careful to check that the money was only used for peaceful ends.


Schallenberg said Austria would assess its projects before deciding how to proceed in consultation with partners within and outside the EU.

PALESTINE

Mon 09 Oct 2023 11:33 am - Jerusalem Time

UN Security Council meets on Gaza-Israel, but fails to agree on statement

The United Nations Security Council (UNSC) has met behind closed doors in an emergency session amid the war between Israel and Gaza but failed to achieve the unanimity needed for a joint statement, News.Az reports citing Aljazeera.

At least 1,100 people have already been killed since Hamas, the Palestinian group that controls the blockaded Gaza Strip, launched an assault on Israeli towns on Saturday and took hundreds of people hostage.


Israel retaliated by declaring a state of war and pounding densely-populated Gaza, killing hundreds of people.

The United States called on the council’s 15 members to strongly condemn Hamas.


“There are a good number of countries that condemned the Hamas attacks. They’re obviously not all,” senior US diplomat Robert Wood told reporters after the session.


“You could probably figure out one of them without me saying anything,” said Wood, in a reference to Russia, whose relations with the West have deteriorated sharply since its invasion of Ukraine.


The council met for about 90 minutes and heard a briefing from the UN Middle East peace envoy Tor Wennesland.


Diplomats said members led by Russia were hoping for a broader focus than condemning Hamas.

A statement needs to be agreed upon by consensus.


News.Az

PALESTINE

Mon 09 Oct 2023 11:28 am - Jerusalem Time

Gaza under ‘non-stop bombardment’

  • Israel says it struck more than 500 targets in the Gaza Strip, while fierce battles with Hamas fighters continue in several areas in southern Israel.
  • The intense bombardment has so far displaced more than 120,000 people in the besieged Palestinian enclave.
  • The Israeli army 100,000 reserve troops have amassed near Gaza, where Palestinian fighters say they are holding 130 people captive.
  • The latest death toll stands at 493 Palestinians, according to health officials, and more than 700 Israelis, according to media reports.
  • Hamas’s surprise attack came after Israeli settlers stormed the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound in recent days and a record number of Palestinians were killed by Israel in recent months.

PALESTINE

Mon 09 Oct 2023 10:59 am - Jerusalem Time

Israeli settlers demolish parts of a Palestinian house south of Nablus

Today, Monday, settlers demolished parts of a house in the town of Qasra, south of Nablus.


According to local sources, settlers from the “Esh Kodesh” settlement, established on the town’s lands, infiltrated a house located in the southern area of the town at dawn today, and demolished parts of its walls, explaining that the house is owned by a Palestinian from the town of Kafr Qasem in the 1948 territories.


The sources indicated that this is the third time that the house has been subjected to attacks, as settlers burned it months ago and stole equipment from inside it.

PALESTINE

Mon 09 Oct 2023 10:53 am - Jerusalem Time

Thailand announces 12 killed and 11 kidnapped of its citizens in Israel

Today, Monday, October 9, 2023, the Thai Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced that 12 people were killed, 8 were injured, and 11 others were kidnapped, in the attack carried out by Hamas in the “Gaza envelope” and Israeli towns in the south.


“We are working to help all Thai citizens in Israel,” Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Kanchana Patarachuk said in a statement to reporters.

PALESTINE

Mon 09 Oct 2023 10:49 am - Jerusalem Time

Israeli courts hold detention extension sessions for a number of detainees of southern governorates tomorrow

The Occupation Prisons Administration decided to hold detention extension sessions tomorrow, Tuesday, in the Beersheba Court, for a number of detainees in the southern governorates.


The Prisoner's Club said that detention extension sessions are scheduled to be held for a number of detainees, who are prohibited from meeting with lawyers.


It is noteworthy that the Israeli police have been pursuing Palestinian workers inside the 1948 territories and arresting them since the beginning of the aggression against our people in the Gaza Strip.


The General Federation of Palestinian Trade Unions called on citizens who have lost contact with their working children within the 1948 territories to report to one of the Federation’s branches, so that it can communicate with the relevant authorities, such as the International Labor Organization, the Red Cross, and other relevant institutions, to secure their return.

PALESTINE

Mon 09 Oct 2023 10:25 am - Jerusalem Time

Israeli Settlers storm Al-Aqsa Mosque

Today, Monday, settlers stormed the blessed Al-Aqsa Mosque, under heavy protection from the occupation police.


According to the Islamic Endowments Department in Jerusalem, dozens of colonists stormed Al-Aqsa from the Mughrabi Gate side, and carried out provocative tours of its courtyards.


The occupation forces tightened their military measures at the Al-Aqsa gates, and obstructed the entry of worshipers since the morning hours.

ARAB AND WORLD

Mon 09 Oct 2023 10:23 am - Jerusalem Time

20 Kurdish security forces were killed as a result of Turkish strikes in Syria



20 members of the Kurdish security forces were killed as a result of a Turkish bombing that targeted their center in northeastern Syria after midnight on Sunday - Monday, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. Turkey intensified its cross-border air strikes against Kurdish targets in northeastern Syria and northern Iraq in response to an attack in Ankara that led to the injury of two policemen on Sunday 10/01. A branch of the Kurdistan Workers' Party, which Ankara and its Western allies classify as a "terrorist organization," claimed responsibility for the first attack targeting the Turkish capital since 2016.


About 20 people were killed on Sunday night - Monday, as a result of air strikes carried out by a Turkish Air Force warplane, which targeted a training center affiliated with the Internal Security Forces (Asayish), in Gujarat, in the Malikiyah countryside, in Al-Hasakah Governorate.


The Internal Security Forces announced at dawn on Monday, “A warplane belonging to the brutal Turkish occupation state targeted a center for our forces (...), which led to the martyrdom of a number of members of our forces and the injury of others,” without providing additional details.


Turkey launched strikes on Kurdistan Workers' Party positions in northern Iraq since Sunday, January 10, when two policemen were injured following the suicide attack in Ankara.


Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan later confirmed that the perpetrators of the attack had trained in Syria, pledging to respond.



PALESTINE

Mon 09 Oct 2023 10:09 am - Jerusalem Time

Al Karama crossing operates today until 3:30 pm

The General Administration of Crossings said that the Karama crossing east of Jericho was operating today, Monday, in both directions.


The Crossings and Borders Administration explained that the crossing will operate in both directions until three in the afternoon.


Yesterday, Sunday, the Israeli occupation authorities retracted their decision to open the “Al-Karama” crossing, which was scheduled at eight in the morning until four in the afternoon.


The occupation authorities closed the Karama crossing in both directions since last Saturday morning, and its work was limited only to the movement of pilgrims returning to the homeland.

PALESTINE

Mon 09 Oct 2023 10:05 am - Jerusalem Time

Israeli Haifa University expels Palestinian students based on social media posts

The University of Haifa in the 1948 territories expelled a number of Palestinian students, under the pretext of their posts on social media, without even requesting a hearing or clarification.


The University of Haifa suddenly sent notices via e-mail to students, to each student individually, without clarifying the posts as a result of which these notices were sent. It also asked them to vacate their homes in university housing.


Student reactions continued, condemning and denouncing this decision, considering what happened as revenge against all Palestinian students.


Lawyer Uday Mansour said on behalf of the male and female students who went to the Adalah Legal Center, “This dismissal is illegal, especially since the students were not summoned and listened to, before these decisions were taken, and according to the university’s internal instructions, the rights of students cannot be infringed without there being A prior procedure, which enables them to express their position, explain their justifications, listen to the allegations against them and defend their position, especially when the matter falls within the category of freedom of expression.”