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Egypt proposes detailed ceasefire plan in Gaza

The proposal, reported by several news outlets, outlines a multi-stage cessation of hostilities that would eventually see the full withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza and a unified Palestinian government overseeing the enclave.

The plan includes several exchanges of captives. The first stage would see Hamas and armed Palestinian groups release all civilian captives being held in Gaza in exchange for a negotiated number of Palestinians being held in Israeli prisons. The result would then be a truce and pause in fighting of between seven and 10 days.

Then during the second stage, Hamas would free all female Israeli soldiers being held captive, and Israel would again free additional Palestinian prisoners. The second stage would include an additional pause in fighting of one week.

The last stage would include a final exchange of captives – Hamas would release the remaining captives and Israel would release more detained Palestinians. This would take place after “negotiations [are] held for a period of one month”, and this phase would also see Israel pulling its forces back to the Gaza border and also continue to cease all aerial campaigns on the Strip.

Hamas would also cease any armed actions against Israel.

The plan was presented to Israel, Hamas and the US on Monday. Egypt’s proposal would also see Cairo, alongside Doha and Washington, engage in negotiations to create a technocratic government to head both occupied Gaza and the West Bank.

The proposal is the most extensive and detailed ceasefire plan since the war on Gaza began in October, however, it appears unlikely to gain traction from either of the warring parties.

Israel’s war cabinet is due to discuss the proposal on Monday evening, but a western diplomat told the Associated Press that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s cabinet is not likely to accept the proposal in its entirety.

Netanyahu has also vowed to press on with the military campaign on Gaza, with the stated goal of eliminating Hamas.

“We are expanding the fight in the coming days… this will be a long battle and it isn’t close to finished,” he said.

At the same time, several Egyptian officials told Reuters that both Hamas and Islamic Jihad rejected the proposal that they both relinquish their power in Gaza.

The news of the ceasefire plan comes as the death toll in Israel’s war on Gaza continues to surpass what was already an unprecedented height. As of the time of writing, the number of Palestinians killed in Gaza was 20,674, with more than 8,000 of those killed being children.

An additional 54,536 have been wounded by Israeli attacks.

Israel’s actions in Gaza echo Srebrenica, Rwanda massacres: UN rapporteur

“It is not that different from other massacres of civilians if you look closer. Genocide is a process, not a single act. It must be prevented but in Gaza – as in Sebrenica and Rwanda before – the world is just letting it happen,” Albanese wrote on X.

She was responding to a post which included a UN press release on unlawful killings in Gaza City at the hands of Israeli forces, which raises alarm about possible war crimes.

The Srebrenica massacre was the July 1995 killing of more than 8,000 Bosniak Muslims in and around the town of Srebrenica during the Bosnian War, while Rwanda saw the 1994 genocide in which more than 1 million people are estimated to have perished.

Israel has pounded the Gaza Strip since a cross-border attack by the Palestinian group Hamas on Oct. 7, killing more than 20,674 Palestinians, mostly women and children, besides displacement and a trail of destruction.

The death toll from Hamas’s attack on Israel stands at 1,200.

Hamas leader says fighters smashing Israeli army, will not surrender

Yahya Sinwar

In a public message on Monday, Yahya Sinwar said that members of the Hamas military wing, known as al-Qassam Brigades, were engaged in a “fierce” fighting with Israeli forces in Gaza and were “smashing” the regime’s occupation army.

“Al-Qassam Brigades are fighting a fierce and unprecedented battle against the Israeli occupation forces,” Sinwar added.

Stressing that the brigades are “smashing the Israeli army and will continue to do so,” the Hamas leader stated they “will not submit to the conditions of the occupation.”

Sinwar outlined the military wing’s achievements after two-and-a-half months of Israeli aggression on Gaza, saying 5,000 Israeli soldiers and officers have been killed and wounded since the ground operations began in late October.

The Hamas leader underlined that one-third of Israeli forces, around 1,660, were killed, while the rest had been permanently disabled or seriously wounded.

“Palestinian fighters, who are using … snipers, anti-tank missiles and explosive devices, have completely destroyed or partially damaged at least 750 Israeli armored vehicles, including tanks,” Sinwar underscored.

Sinwar’s remarks come amid reports of renewed talks between Gaza-based resistance groups and Israel over a ceasefire agreement.

The Israeli regime has recently proposed another temporary pause in fighting during which a group of Israelis could be released from Gaza in exchange for the release of some Palestinian prisoners.

Hamas has stressed that no prisoner exchanges will take place unless an agreement is reached to permanently end the Israeli war and allow humanitarian aid into Gaza.

Israel waged the war on Gaza on October 7 after Hamas carried out Operation Al-Aqsa Storm against the occupying entity in response to the Israeli regime’s decades-long campaign of death and destruction in Palestine.

The Israeli aggression has so far killed at least 20,674 Palestinians, most of them women and children. Another 54,536 individuals have been wounded while many bodies remain trapped under rubble.

Around 80 percent of Gaza’s 2.3 million residents have been displaced to southern Gaza, with tens of thousands crammed in UN schools or taking refuge in makeshift tents.

The Tel Aviv regime has imposed a “complete siege” on the territory, cutting off fuel, electricity, food and water to the more than two million Palestinians living there.

Iranian Christians mark birth of Jesus Christ

Every year Christians celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ on this day worldwide.

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Iranian military advisor killed in Israeli raid in Syria 

Syria Damascus

The advisor, who has been identified as Seyyed Razi Mousavi, was a veteran member of Iran’s Islamic Revolution Guards Corps, IRGC.

The attack happened in the Zeynabiyeh neighborhood, a suburb of the Syrian capital Damascus.

Seyed Razi Mousavi was a companion of martyred commander of IRGC Quds Force General Qassem Soleimani.

The Zionist regime has carried out huge numbers of air attacks against Syria over the past years. Syria has condemned the attacks as a violation of its sovereignty and has complained to the UN several times.

Iranian military personnel are in Syria on an advisory mission at the request of the Syrian government.

Iran rejects US accusation of role in Indian Ocean tanker attack

Nasser Kanaani

Speaking to reporters at a weekly press conference on Monday, Kanaani refuted the Pentagon’s story that a drone launched from Iran struck a chemical tanker in the Indian Ocean early on Saturday.

“The accusations leveled by the US are endless,” he said, hitting back at the US government as the main culprit for the war crimes against Gaza and the main party responsible for the Israeli strikes on Palestinians.

“The US is basically in no position to bring accusations against other sides. We reject those allegations,” Kanaani stated.

The spokesman added such accusations are made with the purpose of pointing the blame on others and covering up Washington’s blatant support for the Zionist regime. “The US government has attracted the world nations’ public hatred with its measures and support for the Israeli regime.”

The spokesman further described Iran as a main country ensuring the security of international maritime routes, saying the Islamic Republic has always acted responsibly and played a significant role in the security of maritime industry and international trade.

A Pentagon spokesperson alleged on Sunday that a one-way attack drone fired from Iran has struck the Liberia-flagged, Japanese-owned, and Netherlands-operated chemical tanker in the Indian Ocean, 200 nautical miles from the coast of India.

Kanaani also said that the United Kingdom is not legally and morally in a position to level accusations against Iran and other regional states.

“The Israeli regime’s officials have named UK Foreign Secretary David Cameron as their best friend; thus, the UK and this politician say things that the Israeli regime expects them to.”

Regarding the Gaza war, he added the UK is considered an accomplice, he said, arguing that the role of the European country in establishing the fake regime and providing it, which is the most hated terrorist entity in the region, with unlimited support, as well as London’s stance in the last two months are examples of ignoring their responsibility, so they should be held accountable for their past and recent wrongdoings.

The spokesperson also decried a recent joint statement from several Arab countries and Russia about three Iranian islands in the Persian Gulf as an action against Iran’s sovereignty and territorial integrity.

The contents of the joint statement of the 6th Arab-Russian Cooperation Forum about the three Iranian islands in the Persian Gulf amount to action against Iran’s sovereignty and territorial integrity and are unacceptable from Tehran’s viewpoint, Kanaani said.

Slamming those claims as a violation of international law on the respect for the sovereignty of nations, the spokesman added, “We’ve (always) had and (still) have no qualms about Iran’s territorial integrity in dealing with any side. Iran has rejected the contents of that statement and has voiced its protest in blunt terms.”

The spokesman emphasized that the Foreign Ministry takes serious and appropriate diplomatic measures and reactions when it comes to defending the country’s national interests and territorial integrity.

In the final statement of the 6th Arab-Russian Cooperation Forum, held in the southern Moroccan city of Marrakech on December 20, the participants supported peaceful solutions and initiatives to resolve what they called the conflict on the three islands through bilateral negotiations or the International Court of Justice.

The Foreign Ministry of Iran has condemned the “baseless contents” of the statement, saying those three islands are an inseparable part of Iran’s national territory and will belong to Iran forever.

Pope deplores ‘desperate humanitarian situation’ in Gaza in Christmas message

During his address at St. Peter’s Basilica in the Vatican, the pontiff offered his consolation to the people of Gaza, the entire region and the Christian communities.

The pope pleaded for “an end to the military operations with their appalling harvest of innocent civilian victims” and called for “a solution to the desperate humanitarian situation by an opening to the provision of humanitarian aid” in Gaza.”

“How many innocents are being slaughtered in our world! In their mothers’ wombs, in odysseys undertaken in desperation and in search of hope, in the lives of all those little ones whose childhood has been devastated by war. They are the little Jesuses of today,” he added.

Saying that his “heart grieves for the victims of the abominable attack” of Oct. 7, Francis reiterated his “urgent appeal for the liberation of those still being held hostage”.

The pope also expressed his hope that sincere and persevering dialogue with strong political will and international support can lead to resolving the “Palestinian question”.

Israel has pounded the Gaza Strip since a cross-border attack by the Palestinian group Hamas on Oct. 7, killing at least 20,424 Palestinians, mostly women and children, and injuring 54,036 others, according to local health authorities.

Around 1,200 Israelis are believed to have been killed in the Hamas attack.

The Israeli onslaught has left Gaza in ruins, with half of the coastal territory’s housing damaged or destroyed and nearly 2 million people displaced within the densely-populated enclave amid shortages of food, clean water and medicines.

Former Iranian diplomat laments Tehran’s ‘confused’ policy on Moscow

Iran and Russia Flags

Hamid Aboutalebi, Iran’s former Ambassador to Australia and a former presidential advisor, in an interview with the Tehran-based Sharq newspaper on Sunday, warned that Russia will repeat the same behavior if Iran does not change its policies.

The remarks came after Russia supported the United Arab Emirates in its territorial claim over the three Iranian islands of Abu Musa, the Greater and the Lesser Tunbs in the Persian Gulf in a Russian-Arab forum held earlier this month in Morocco.

“When we do not have a coherent and balanced foreign policy based on our national interests regarding the whole world and of course great powers and regional and extra-regional actors, we cannot expect the necessary response to such actions,” Aboutalebi said.

He said the previous Iranian administrations had a much clearer track record than the current administration which has a ‘confused’ foreign policy on the issue.

“This is why previously the Chinese backed the same claim by the United Arab Emirates, the Japanese repeated it, and the Russians supported the UAE’s claim on the ownership of the three islands not once but twice within a few months,” he expressed sorrow.

Ex-FM Zarif: All political factions in Iran furious about Russian stance on trio Iranian islands

Javad Zarif

In a ceremony on Sunday evening to mark the 21st anniversary of the establishment of Iranian economic daily Donya-ye Eghtesad in Tehran, Zarif said Russia would not put its national interests at risk for the sake of Iran, calling on Iranian officials to have a balanced approach towards Moscow.

Iranian officials are accused of leaning too much on Russia in the foreign policy realm.

“If we gave excessive concessions to Russia and sacrificed ourselves because of our wrong viewpoints, we should not expect the same behavior from Moscow,” noted the former foreign minister.

Zarif said, “Today’s world is not the world of nobleness or chivalry. If we have this basic understanding, we will neither swoon over Russia nor hate it.”

The Iranian Foreign Ministry summoned the Russian charge d’affaires in Tehran to condemn Moscow’s support for the UAE’s sovereignty claims over the three Iranian islands of Abu Musa, the Greater and the Lesser Tunbs in the sixth Russian-Arab Cooperation Forum held earlier this month in Morocco.

In the recent months this is the second time Moscow has sided with the UAE over the three Persian Gulf islands.

At least 70 killed in Israeli raid on Gaza refugee camp

The fatalities at the Maghazi camp, east of Deir al-Balah, included at least 12 women and seven children, according to early hospital figures issued late on Sunday night.

Palestinian Health Ministry Spokesman, Ashraf Al-Qudra, late on Sunday said the toll is likely to rise.

“What is happening at the Al-Maghazi camp is a massacre that is being committed on a crowded residential square,” he added.

The nearest hospital to the camp is the Al-Aqsa Hospital but health facilities have been rendered non-functional across Gaza as Israel continues to bombard the territory for a third month, killing more than 20,400 Palestinians since October 7 and displacing more than 80 percent of the 2.3 million people who live there.

The Palestinian Red Crescent published footage of the wounded from the latest strike being transported to hospitals. It announced Israeli warplanes were bombing main roads in central Gaza, hindering the passage of ambulances and emergency vehicles.

Hamas issued a statement calling the airstrike “a horrific massacre” and said it was “a new war crime”.

The Al-Maghazi camp was attacked last month as well when at least 50 Palestinians were killed.