Thursday, January 1, 2026
type here...
Home Blog Page 1124

Analysis shows Israel has dropped hundreds of 2,000-pound bombs on Gaza

By
IFP Media Wire
-

Satellite imagery from those early days of the war reveals more than 500 impact craters over 12 meters (40 feet) in diameter, consistent with those left behind by 2,000-pound bombs. Those are four times heavier than the largest bombs the United States dropped on Daesh in Mosul, Iraq, during the war against the extremist group there.

Weapons and warfare experts blame the extensive use of heavy munitions such as the 2,000-pound bomb for the soaring death toll. The population of Gaza is packed together much more tightly than almost anywhere else on earth, so the use of such heavy munitions has a profound effect.

“The use of 2,000-pound bombs in an area as densely populated as Gaza means it will take decades for communities to recover,” said John Chappell, advocacy and legal fellow at CIVIC, a DC-based group focused on minimizing civilian harm in conflict.

Israel has come under pressure internationally over the scale of the devastation in Gaza, with even staunch ally US President Joe Biden accusing Israel of “indiscriminate bombing” of the coastal strip.

Israeli officials have argued that its heavy munitions are necessary to eliminating Hamas, whose fighters killed more than 1,200 people and took more than 240 hostages on October 7. They also claim that Israel is doing all it can to minimize civilian casualties.

Since Oct. 7, the Israeli army has been waging a destructive war on Gaza, resulting in at least 20,057 deaths and 53,320 injuries, most of whom are children and women.

Israel has dropped more than 22,000 guided and unguided bombs on the Gaza Strip in the first six weeks of its war on the besieged enclave, a report has recently revealed.

Citing intelligence data supplied to Congress by the US administration, The Washington Post reported that weapons developed by the United States have played a central role in Israel’s brutal onslaught on Gaza, one of the most densely populated areas on Earth.

In just six weeks into the onslaught, the US supplied the occupying regime with at least 15,000 bombs, including 2,000-pound (900 kilograms) bunker busters, as well as 50,000 155mm artillery shells.

The figures suggest Israel dropped roughly one American-made bomb on Gaza for every 100 people living there.

Iranian MP reacts strongly to Russia’s support for Arab states’ stance on three Iranian islands

By
IFP Editorial Staff
-

“This is the second time that the Russians are not watching their mouths and are interfering in Iran’s territorial integrity,” said Ahmad Naderi on the X social media network.

“Russia should first be answerable for its occupation of Crimea and imposing a war on, and killing Ukrainian people,” he added.

“Kissing up to the United Arab Emirates (UAE) officials does not water down the issue of the Russians’ occupation,” he explained.

“The three islands are and will remain Iranian,” said the MP.

Earlier, Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian had, in a phone conversation with his Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov, reiterated that the three islands are “integral parts” of the Iranian territory.

Amorabdollahian said Iran “rejects any claim by any party” on the three islands.

Russia has recently sided with the United Arab Emirates in its territorial dispute with Iran over the three Iranian islands.

UN Security Council passes resolution on Gaza aid delivery as US, Russia abstain

By
IFP Media Wire
-

The resolution, which calls for steps “to create the conditions for a sustainable cessation of hostilities”, passed on Friday with 13 votes in favour, none against, and the US and Russia abstaining.

The vote came amid international calls to bring the months-long conflict to an end, as Israeli soldiers pummel Gaza with one of the most destructive campaigns in modern history and humanitarian conditions in the besieged strip reach critical levels.

More than 90 percent of Gaza’s 2.3 million residents have been displaced, and conditions under Israeli siege and bombardment have been described by UN officials as “hell on earth”.

Intense negotiations took place over the last week, with other member states searching for language that would avoid US objections that have doomed previous resolutions on Gaza in the 15-member body, where the US is one of five countries that hold a veto.

The original draft called for “an urgent and sustainable cessation of hostilities” and gave the UN increased control over aid deliveries into Gaza. The adopted resolution opts for less equivocal language on a ceasefire and maintains Israel’s control over all aid.

“This was tough, but we got there,” US Ambassador to the UN Linda Thomas-Greenfield said following the vote.

While a trickle of aid trucks have delivered much-needed assistance to Gaza, aid groups say that truly addressing the strip’s humanitarian crisis will not be possible as long as hostilities continue.

“The real problem is that the way Israel is conducting this offensive is creating massive obstacles to the distribution of humanitarian aid inside Gaza. An effective aid operation in Gaza requires security, staff who can work in safety, logistical capacity, and the resumption of commercial activity. These four elements do not exist,” UN chief Antonio Guterres told reporters following the vote.

Before the vote, Russia proposed an amendment strengthening the language around a ceasefire, saying that the draft resolution had been “neutered” by the US.

“By signing off on this, the council would essentially be giving the Israeli armed forces complete freedom of movement for further clearing of the Gaza Strip,” Russia’s UN Ambassador Vassily Nebenzia told the council before the vote.

Thomas-Greenfield accused her Russian counterpart of hypocrisy, pointing to Russia’s own destructive invasion of Ukraine that began in February 2022.

But the US has faced accusations of a double-standard over its position on Gaza, with critics saying that the US has spent months railing against Russia for violations of international law in Ukraine while providing Israel with weapons and diplomatic support, even as it faces similar accusations over its conduct in Gaza.

The US vetoed a UNSC resolution calling for a ceasefire earlier this month, and was one of the few dissenting votes when the UN General Assembly passed a ceasefire resolution by an overwhelming margin last week.

Earlier this week, the UN called for an investigation into allegations of the killing of unarmed Palestinians by Israeli troops in the strip, and hospitals, UN schools, medical workers, mosques, and churches have also been targeted.

Israel has said that it is working to dismantle Hamas, the Palestinian armed group that governs Gaza and launched a deadly attack on southern Israel on October 7 that killed more than 1,000 people, most of them civilians, and took more than 240 captive.

More than 20,000 Palestinians, most of them women and children, have been killed since the current round of fighting began.

Hamas announced the UN Security Council resolution on Gaza is “an insufficient step”, given that it did not include an international resolution to stop the war.

In a statement released on its official website, Hamas said the UN resolution “does not meet the requirements of the catastrophic situation” created by Israel, “especially since it did not include an international resolution to stop the genocidal war waged by the terrorist occupation entity against our Palestinian people in the Gaza Strip”.

Hamas has repeatedly called for Israel to end its military operation in Gaza.

Hamas also slammed the position of the United States, which abstained from the UNSC vote.

“During the past five days, the American administration has worked hard to empty this resolution of its essence, and to issue it in this weak formula,” the statement read.

“It is the duty of the UN Security Council to oblige the occupation to bring aid in sufficient quantities into all areas of the Gaza Strip, especially the areas of the northern Gaza Strip,” Hamas added, claiming that Israel has caused “daily massacres” in northern Gaza and created conditions for starvation.

335k kids in Gaza Strip at high risk of preventable death due to food insecurity: UNICEF

By
IFP Media Wire
-

In the coming weeks, “at least 10,000 children under five years will suffer the most life-threatening form of malnutrition, known as severe wasting, and will need therapeutic foods”, according to UNICEF.

“This means for many families in Gaza, the threat of dying from hunger is already real,” UNICEF added.

The UNICEF statement comes after the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) reported Thursday that approximately all of Gaza’s 2.2 million residents are now facing acute hunger. The entire population of the Gaza Strip is classified in a state of crisis, according to IPC.

That’s the highest share of people facing catastrophic levels of acute food insecurity that the IPC initiative has ever classified for any given area or country, the report stated.

“Many adults go hungry so children can eat,” according to IPC, calling for humanitarian access to be restored throughout the region to enable the rapid delivery of life-saving aid.

UNICEF also announced it is particularly concerned about the nutrition of more than 155,000 pregnant women and breastfeeding mothers, as well as more than 135,000 children under the age of 2, given their specific nutrition needs.

The organization added that “the IPC has emphasized that these conditions do not have to persist. Yesterday’s warning of famine in the coming weeks and months can still be averted. But we must act now”.

Since Oct. 7, the Israeli army has been waging a destructive war on Gaza, resulting in more than 20,000 deaths and over 53,000 injuries, most of them children and women. It has caused immense damage to infrastructure and an “unprecedented humanitarian catastrophe”, according to Palestinian and international organizations.

Sources say US wants $300 billion of Russian assets for Ukraine

By
IFP Media Wire
-
White House

The administration of US President Joe Biden “is quietly signaling new support” for taking over $300 billion in Russian foreign exchange reserves that were blocked by Western nations after the start of the Ukraine conflict, according to unnamed American and European officials interviewed by the newspaper.

Some US officials have expressed concerns that such a drastic move would undermine the country’s credibility as a major financial hub. However, the Biden administration, in coordination with the G7, is now “taking another look” at whether it could sidestep Congressional approval to use the funds, the daily reported.

Talks among officials, bankers, and lawyers are said to have gathered steam in recent weeks, with Washington reportedly pressing several of its allies to come up with a strategy by February 24 to mark the second anniversary of the start of the Ukraine conflict.

No final decision has been made on the matter, according to the newspaper. Debates are ongoing on the details and whether the frozen funds would be sent directly to Ukraine – notorious for its rampant corruption – or used in some other way to help Kiev, it added.

John Kirby, National Security Council coordinator for strategic communications, said it was “too soon to say” when asked if the White House was contemplating the move.

The discussions come after the US Congress shelved talks on a new $60 billion assistance package for Kiev until next year. White House officials have warned that Washington is rapidly running out of authorized funds to funnel to the embattled country.

Moscow has repeatedly denounced the freezing of its funds abroad, warning that any seizure would be “illegal” and in violation of “all possible rules”.

Turkey captures hundreds for alleged Daesh links

By
IFP Media Wire
-

The arrests took place simultaneously across 32 provinces as part of ‘Operation Heroes-34’, he said on X (formerly Twitter) on Friday, with most of the suspects apprehended in Ankara, Istanbul, and Izmir.

Yerlikaya’s post included footage showing heavily-armed authorities kicking in doors and handcuffing men whose faces were blurred out. The individuals’ names have not been released as of Friday.

“We will not allow any terrorists to open their eyes, for the peace and unity of our people. We will continue our battle with the intense efforts of our security forces,” the official wrote.

The government has intensified its antiterrorist operations in the last several months, following a bombing outside government buildings in Ankara in October that was attributed to the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), which is considered a terrorist group in Türkiye. The blast killed a civilian and injured two police officers and resulted in 90 arrests of suspected group members.

While IS has waned in influence in recent years since losing the territory it once controlled in Iraq and Syria, it has continued to conduct scattered strikes on both countries and has claimed responsibility for several destructive attacks in Türkiye, including a 2017 nightclub bombing that killed 39 people.

In May, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan announced that the group’s suspected leader, Abu al-Husseini al-Qurashi, had been killed in a Turkish national intelligence operation in Syria.

Last year, Turkish security forces arrested an IS commander code-named Abu Zeyd, described by the UN Security Council as “one of the senior executives of the [IS] terrorist organization.”

Entangled leopard returns to habitat after rescue operation near Tehran 

By
IFP Editorial Staff
-

A local wildlife protection official said the operation to rescue the leopard lasted several hours from the afternoon until late evening on Thursday.

For this purpose, the rescuers first anesthetized the leopard and then disentangled it from the barbed wire fence.

The animal was then safely returned to its natural habitat. Leopards of Iran are on the list of animals facing the danger of extinction.

The Persian leopard is listed as Endangered on the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List; the population is estimated at fewer than 871–1,290 mature individuals and is considered declining.

Iran FM to Lavrov: Three Persian Gulf islands inseparable parts of Iran 

By
IFP Editorial Staff
-
Amirabdollahian and Lavrov

Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian and his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov on Friday afternoon held talks on the phone about developments in southern Caucasus, the situation in Palestine and Gaza and bilateral as well as regional issues.

Amirabdollahian described as positive the trend of peace talks between the Republic of Azerbaijan and Armenia. He referred to the negative implications of interferences by some extra-regional players in the region, underlining the need to use the possibilities of the regional countries. Amirabdollahian said regional nations can play a constructive role to establish and guarantee peace between Azerbaijan and Armenia.

He reacted to some parts of the statement of the sixth session of the Russian-Arab Cooperation Forum in Morocco, saying the three Iranian islands in the Persian Gulf are inseparable parts of the Islamic Republic of Iran’s territory.

The Iranian foreign minister added that Tehran rejects any other claim in this regard.

Pointing to the good and growing ties between Tehran and Moscow, Amirabdollahian noted that respecting the sovereignty and territorial integrity of countries is a basic tenet of relations between nations and that Iran doesn’t stand on ceremony with any country when it comes to its territorial integrity and sovereignty.

Lavrov for his part spoke about the recent 3+3 group in Tehran and stressed the need for the members of the grouping to strengthen their cooperation in order to help Armenia and Azerbaijan reach a peace deal and put a regional mechanism in place to secure the implementation of the agreement.

The Russian foreign minister also underscored the important and constructive role of Iran in helping establish peace in the southern Caucasus.

Lavrov described the Tehran-Moscow ties as strategic and underlined that Russia has always respected Iran’s territorial integrity and this is the Russian Federation’s official policy, which must not be doubted at all. Lavrob said, “During the talks for preparing the final statement of the Morocco meeting, we explicitly reaffirmed our respect for the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Iran.”

Amirabdollahian and Lavrov also discussed the developments in Palestine during their telephone conversation.

President Raisi in Iran border town, meets Turkmens 

By
IFP Editorial Staff
-

President Raisi also addressed crowds of people in this border town where most people are Turkmen.

More in pictures:

Ex-MP says Iran’s foreign policy on Russia ‘naïve’ 

By
IFP Editorial Staff
-

Heshmatollah Falahatpisheh, a former chairperson of the Iranian Parliament’s National Security and Foreign Policy Committee, speaking to Entekhab news website, made the reaction after Russia sided with the United Arab Emirates (UAE) in its territorial dispute with Iran over three islands in the Persian Gulf.

Falahatpisheh said, “When the Iranian president’s entourage were counting the steps of the Kremlin, Putin’s agents were drafting a new anti-Iranian statement in Abu Dhabi,” referring to a recent trip by Raisi at the head of a high-ranking delegation to Moscow.

The former parliamentarian singled out the development as a ‘case of naivety’ in Iran’s foreign policy.

Falahatpisheh sarcastically recalled the remarks by the Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister for Economic Diplomacy Mehdi Safari after the early December trip to Russia, saying, “They received Raisi very warmly in Russia. Putin took 76 steps to come down to the car to greet the president. Despite the heavy snow, he didn’t move until the (Iranian president’s) car started moving.”

The Iranian Foreign Ministry condemned Russia’s stance in support of the UAE’s sovereignty claims over the Persian Gulf islands in the sixth Russian-Arab Cooperation Forum held in Morocco.

1...1,1231,1241,125...5,135Page 1,124 of 5,135

© All Content by IFP News ( Iran Front Page ) is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

About Us

Popular Articles

Editor Picks