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Two-thirds of Israelis want Gaza ceasefire agreement: Poll

Israel Hamas Hostages

About 22 percent of respondents said they were opposed to making a deal in exchange for a ceasefire while 11 percent of respondents said they were unsure.

The poll, done on a random sample of 502 Israelis with an estimated error rate of 4.3 percent, also said that 73 percent of Israeli agree to a ceasefire only after a deal has been reached, and only 11 percent agree to a ceasefire while negotiating.

The poll also showed that 67 percent of Israelis support Israel “continuing with the current ceasefire framework in exchange for the daily release of hostages”, while 22 percent are in opposition.

It comes amid growing international pressure on Israel to pause its assault on Gaza and to allow more humanitarian aid into the besieged territory.

At least 20,000 people have been killed in the besieged Gaza Strip since Israel began bombarding the enclave more than 10 weeks ago, according to Palestinian officials. At least 8,000 children and 6,200 women are among those killed, Gaza’s Government Media Office reported on Wednesday.

The war has flattened large parts of northern Gaza and driven most of the population to the southern part of the besieged territory, where many are in crowded shelters and tent camps. Some 1.9 million Palestinians – about 90 percent of Gaza’s population – have fled their homes.

France, the United Kingdom and Germany on Sunday added their voices to calls for a ceasefire, while US President Joe Biden last week called the bombing “indiscriminate”.

Iran says UNSC resolution on Gaza positive step, but insufficient

Nasser Kanaani

Kanaani described the approval of UN Security Council Resolution 2720 on the dispatch of immediate humanitarian aid to Gaza as a positive, but insufficient move.

“It is highly regrettable that 77 days into the Zionist regime’s lunatic strikes on defenseless people in Gaza, the US government still blocks the passage of a binding resolution at the United Nations Security Council to stop the war and put an end to the Zionist regime’s war crimes and genocide in Gaza,” he said.

“It is practically impossible to send in effective humanitarian aid amid ongoing bombardments and military attacks by the Zionist regime against people who have been subject to the most unprecedented war crimes in contemporary history over the past 77 days at a time when more than 60 percent of their homes as well as urban and service infrastructure have been destroyed. And remarks made by the UN secretary general after the adoption of this resolution are based on this very bitter reality,” the spokesman explained.

“The approval of this resolution does not lessen the UN Security Council’s responsibilities, and the US government remains the one that is mainly responsible for the continuation of the Israeli regime’s brutal attacks and war crimes against Palestinian citizens in Gaza and the West Bank in Palestine,” he added.

The UN Security Council has finally adopted a resolution calling for aid deliveries to desperate Palestinian civilians in Gaza to be sped up, after the US delayed the vote for days and pushed the members to strip the text from any direct calls for a ceasefire or suspension of hostilities between Israel and Hamas.

The 15-member council backed the watered-down text in a 13-0 vote on Friday, with both Washington and Moscow abstaining. Just prior to the final vote, the US used its veto power to vote down a Russian amendment that sought to reintroduce the call for an “urgent suspension of hostilities,” instead of a vague plea to “create conditions” for eventual peace.

Veteran Iranian journalist urges Russia to apologize for stance on three Iranian islands

Lavrov Putin

“The Arab states were not expected to adopt any stance other than animosity toward Islamic Iran and alignment with the Zionist regime, but the Russian government should be held accountable for its wicked and illegal move against the Islamic Republic of Iran,” said Hossein Shiratmadari in an editorial on Saturday.

“Russian Foreign Ministet Sergei Lavrov knows about the numerous documents that signify Iran’s definite and undisputed sovereignty over the three islands,” he added.

“Accordingly, even if the Russian government’s move was an error, it smacks of betrayal, and our country’s diplomacy apparatus is expected, at least, to ask the Russian government to officially and openly apologize for its move against the territorial integrity of Islamic Iran and, given the undeniable documents which exist, emphasize Iran’s sovereignty over the three mentioned islands,” he added.

Russia has recently sided with the United Arab Emirates over the Persian Gulf islands in the sixth Russian-Arab Cooperation Forum held in Morocco.

Iran Leader: U.S. shamelessly vetoed UN resolution on ceasefire in Gaza

“The United States shamelessly vetoes the UN resolution on the stopping of Israeli bombardments and the establishment of a ceasefire in Gaza,” said Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei in a meeting with people from all walks of life from the provinces of Kerman and Khuzestan.

“What does this veto mean? It means the U.S. is an accomplice to the Israeli]l bombardments of children, women, the sick, the elderly and defenseless people,” the Leader explained.

Ayatollah Khamenei added the U-S has been disgraced as the true face of the Western-style civilization has been unmasked during the Israeli war on Gaza. He said, the Palestinians’ great victory lies in the fact that they debunked the West and the United States’ false claim of being human rights advocates.

Ayatollah Khamenei underlined that there is no difference between the Israeli regime, the United States and Britain as they are all one and the same.

He said, there is no doubt that one day the Israeli regime will be wiped off the face of the earth.

The UN Security Council passed a resolution to facilitate aid deliveries to Gaza.
The resolution, however, failed to call for a ceasefire.

Over 20,000 Palestinians have been killed in Israeli onslaught against Gaza since early October.

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

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

“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

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

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

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

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.”