Sunday, December 28, 2025
type here...
Home Blog Page 1174

US playing key role in helping Israel survive: Iran president

By
IFP Media Wire
-
Ebrahim Raisi

Raisi made the remarks while addressing reporters in Tehran early Sunday upon his return from an extraordinary joint summit of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation and the Arab League in Saudi Arabia’s capital city of Riyadh.

The summit came as Israel continued its war of genocide in the besieged Gaza Strip despite growing calls to end the regime’s atrocities.

The regime waged the war on Gaza on October 7 after the territory’s resistance movements carried out the surprise Operation al-Aqsa Storm in response to Israel’s intensified crimes against the Palestinian people.

Since then, over 11,000 Palestinians, most of them women and children, have been killed in Israel’s war of genocide in Gaza.

The Iranian president said during his address to the summit, he “introduced the United States as the main culprit in these crimes [that are being committed by Israel in Gaza].”

Raisi stressed that the United States “plays the most important role both in [helping] survival of the Zionist regime and in arming and supporting it in its massacre of Palestinian women and children”.

Noting that the Islamic Republic has solid views on the issue of Palestine, the Iranian president said, “During this trip, I tried to be the voice of the Iranian nation and those people who shout the right of Palestinians in streets.”

“Since the victory of the Islamic Revolution, Iran has had clear-cut views on the right of Palestinian people, while at the same time, considering the Zionist regime as a fake and usurping regime with no identity,” he continued.

He added that the Islamic Republic considers the liberation of the occupied city of al-Quds and restoration of the Palestinian nation’s rights as the top priority of the Muslim world and a criteria for evaluating true positions of countries on this issue.

Raisi noted that explaining Iran’s viewpoints on the issue of Palestine and expounding various aspects of “Zionists’ crimes against humanity as well as war crimes and genocide” in the besieged Gaza Strip were other important goals of his participation in the Riyadh summit.

He then touched on 10 proposals and solutions that Iran offered in the summit to show the way out of the current crisis in Gaza, stressing that supporting Palestinian resistance is the sole way that leads to the liberation of the Holy al-Quds.

“In this summit, in contrast to the two-state solution that some parties proposed on the future of Palestine, we offered a totally democratic solution based on having all Palestinians, including Muslims, Christians and Jews, vote [through a referendum] to determine their fate,” Iran’s president said.

He noted that passage of time, even if it is 75 years, does not “give a usurping and occupying regime legitimacy and the right of ownership” over Palestinian territories.

Politician censures barring MPs from next year’s election

By
IFP Editorial Staff
-
Iran Parliament

Masih Mohajeri, the editor in chief of the Tehran-based Jomhouri Eslam Newspaper, wrote in an article that disqualification targeted the members of the parliament who hold critical views in order to “silence” any dissent prior to the upcoming elections due in March 2024.

“Take a look at the disqualification of those candidates who are currently in the 11th Parliament but criticize the government’s performance and those involved in the current government. This is the strangest kind of law enforcement,” Mohajeri wrote.

According to the initial results of the vetting process by the Guardian Council, eight members of Iran’s parliament, have been disqualified from running for reelection next year. Among them there are some MPs who have been critical of a Chastity and Hijab bill.

“This method means forcing the people to remain silent on the rulers’ actions; a force that even includes the representatives of the parliament, that is, those who have the right to monitor the actions of the rulers according to the Constitution,” Mohajeri further noted.

The Iranian politician stated that the move is “illegal”, explaining that in the Islamic Republic of Iran’s system, many articles of the Constitution emphasize on freedom of speech and words, gatherings, and expression of opinion.

Official says patients die in Iran due to mass migration of nurses, 3k nurses migrate

By
IFP Editorial Staff
-
Iran Surgery Nurse Doctor

Mohammad Sharifi, the Secretary General of the Nursing House, wrote on X social media platform on Sunday, “The shortage of nurses is so serious that patients are dying because of the shortage.”

“If you don’t hear such things from patients or clients, it’s because they are either not aware or have come to terms with the shortages. I am confident that patients are dying due to lack of nurses,” he added.

He said Iranian nurses, dissatisfied with their low salaries and tough working conditions, mostly choose Germany, the United States, Australia, and Canada as the new destinations to pursue their career and dreams.

He put the number of annual migrant nurses at more than 3,000.

Iranian officials have warned the country’s healthcare system will suffer a huge blow as the medical staff is migrating to foreign countries in droves.

Although no official figures have been released on the migration of medical staff in Iran, World Health Organization reports on the employment of physicians have indicated that Iran ranks high in terms of the number of migrant nurses and doctors.

UAE planning to maintain ties with Israel despite Gaza war: Report

By
IFP Media Wire
-
Pro-Palestine Rally

Abu Dhabi became the most prominent Arab nation to establish diplomatic ties with Israel in 30 years under the U.S.-brokered Abraham Accords in 2020. That paved the way for other Arab states to forge their own ties with Israel by breaking a taboo on normalising relations without the creation of a Palestinian state.

The mounting death toll from Israel’s invasion of the Gaza Strip – launched in retaliation for cross-border attacks on Oct. 7 by the Hamas group that governs the enclave – have stirred outrage in Arab capitals.

UAE President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan spoke last month with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. UAE officials have publicly condemned Israel’s actions and repeatedly called for an end to the violence.

In response to a request for comment for this story, an Emirati official said the UAE’s immediate priority was to secure a ceasefire and to open up humanitarian corridors.

The Persian Gulf Arab power, backed by its oil wealth, wields significant influence in regional affairs. It also serves as a security partner of the United States, hosting American forces.

As well as speaking to Israel, the UAE has worked to moderate public positions taken by Arab states so that once the war ends there is the possibility of a return to a broad dialogue, said the four sources, who asked not to be identified because of the sensitivity of the matter.

Sheikh Mohamed met in Abu Dhabi on Thursday with Qatar’s Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani to discuss calls for an immediate humanitarian ceasefire, amid Qatari-brokered talks for the release of a limited number of hostages in return for a break in the fighting.

“The UAE and Qatar stand firm in urging the need to advance de-escalation efforts and secure a just, lasting, and comprehensive peace in the region,” Sheikh Mohamed wrote on social media after their discussions.

Despite closer economic and security ties with Israel forged over the past three years, Abu Dhabi has had little apparent success in reining in the Gaza offensive, which has led to the death of more than 11,000 people, according to Palestinian officials. Hamas killed around 1,200 people in its surprise attack on Israel and some 240 hostages were taken, Israeli authorities have confirmed.

Amid the impasse, the UAE has grown increasingly frustrated with its most important security partner Washington, which it believes is not exerting enough pressure to end the war, the four sources added.

Anwar Gargash, diplomatic adviser to the UAE president, said this week that Washington needed to end the conflict swiftly and initiate a process to resolve the decades old Israeli-Palestinian issue by addressing refugees, borders and East Jerusalem.

The UAE has publicly expressed concern that the war now risks igniting regional tensions and a new wave of extremism in the Middle East.

Speaking on Oct. 18 at the UN Security Council, where the UAE holds a rotating seat, ambassador Lana Nusseibeh stated that Abu Dhabi had sought via the Abraham Accords with Israel and the United States to deliver prosperity and security in a new Middle East through cooperation and peaceful co-existence.

“The indiscriminate damage visited upon the people of Gaza in pursuit of Israel’s security risks extinguishing that hope,” she added.

A senior European official told Reuters that Arab states had recognised now that it was not possible to build ties with Israel without addressing the Palestinian issue. Israel’s foreign ministry declined to comment for this story.

The UAE continues to host an Israeli ambassador and there was no prospect of an end to diplomatic ties, which represented a longer-term strategic priority by Abu Dhabi, the sources continued.

The accord was motivated, in part, by shared concerns over the threat posed by Iran, as well as a broader economic-driven realignment of Abu Dhabi’s foreign policy. The UAE sees Iran as a threat to regional security, although in recent years it has taken diplomatic steps to de-escalate tensions.

Israel and the UAE have developed close economic and security ties in the three years since normalisation, including defence cooperation. Israel supplied the UAE with air defense systems after missile and drone attacks on Abu Dhabi in early 2022 by the Iran-aligned Houthi movement in Yemen.

Bilateral trade has exceeded $6 billion since 2020, according to Israeli government data. Israeli tourists have thronged hotels, beaches and shopping centres in the UAE, which is an OPEC oil power and a regional business hub.

“They (UAE) have gains that they don’t want to lose,” said one of the sources, a senior diplomat based in the Middle East.

Even prior to the Oct. 7 attack, however, Abu Dhabi was concerned by the failure of Israel’s right-wing government to curb expansion of Jewish settlements in the West Bank and repeated visits by right-wing religious Israelis to the compound that houses the Al Aqsa mosque, the third-holiest site in Islam. The compound, revered by Jews as a vestige of their two ancient temples, has long been a flashpoint of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

None of four sources ruled out that the UAE could downgrade or sever its ties if the crisis escalated.

Sources added that the displacement of the Palestinian population from the Gaza Strip or the West Bank into Egypt or Jordan was a red line for Abu Dhabi.

James Dorsey, a senior fellow at the National University of Singapore, said the war in Gaza had discredited the notion that economic cooperation on its own could build a stable region.

“The new Middle East was being built on very fragile ground,” he told Reuters.

Israel has rejected international calls for an immediate ceasefire: Netanyahu has stated there would be no halt to its attack until hostages are returned. His government has pledged to destroy Hamas, which is classified as a terrorist organization by the United States and the European Union.

While criticising Israel’s conduct of the war, Abu Dhabi has also condemned Hamas for its attack. The UAE sees the Palestinian armed group as a threat to the stability of the Middle East and beyond.

“Hamas is not their favourite organisation,” one of the sources said, adding, “It is Muslim Brotherhood after all.”

The UAE has led the charge against Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood, the oldest Islamist organisation in the Arab World.

It helped Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi topple Mohammed Mursi of the Muslim Brotherhood in a military takeover in 2013 that followed mass protests against his rule. The UAE provided Egypt with billions of dollars in support following Mursi’s ouster.

Abu Dhabi also abandoned Sudan’s former President Omar Hassan al-Bashir in 2019, ultimately leading to the fall of the Muslim Brotherhood’s grip on power there after it had dominated Sudanese politics for decades. The UAE had previously pumped billions of dollars into Sudan’s coffers.

Protesters in several countries rally in support of Palestine

By
IFP Media Wire
-
Pro-Palestine Rally
Protesters holding placards and flags take part in the 'National March For Palestine' in central London on November 11, 2023.

Major cities, including New York, London, Paris, Baghdad, Karachi, Berlin and Edinburgh, witnessed large marches on Saturday.

Calls for a ceasefire to protect civilians in Gaza have grown more than a month into the war sparked when Palestinian group Hamas attacked southern Israel on October 7.

Israeli authorities have put the fatalities at about 1,200, and say more than 240 people were taken captive.

Israel’s non-stop attacks in Gaza have killed more than 11,000 people in 34 days, including more than 4,500 children.

Palestinians say that no corner of the strip is safe from Israeli bombardment. More than 70 percent of Gaza’s 2.3 million residents have been displaced.

Israelis rally in Tel Aviv asking for release of Hamas-held hostages

By
IFP Media Wire
-
Israel Hostages

Many of the protesters on Saturday were friends and family members of the captives and demanded their immediate return.

“Mr Prime Minister, cabinet members, do not talk to me about conquering, do not talk to me about flattening [Gaza]. Do not talk at all. Just take action … bring them home now,” Noam Perry, whose father was abducted from the town of Nir Oz, told the crowd at the protest.

“They ask us who our rage is directed at and it is all of humanity … but mainly, those who are responsible for us, those who have a contract with us,” said Jack Levy, another demonstrator.

More than 240 people, including Israeli soldiers and civilians as well as foreigners, were abducted during an attack on southern Israel on October 7 that authorities say killed about 1,200 people, mostly civilians.

A few hundred Israeli left-wing activists, both Arab and Jewish, held a separate demonstration near the Ministry of Defence in Tel Aviv, calling for a ceasefire despite an ongoing crackdown on anti-war voices and protests.

Demands for a ceasefire have been growing from citizens around the world as well as world leaders.

Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has rejected the idea of any ceasefire “without the return of our hostages”. The United States has advocated instead for “humanitarian pauses” to allow civilians to flee and for aid delivery.

More than 11,000 Palestinians, including more than 4,500 children, have been killed in Gaza since Israel launched a campaign of air strikes on October 7, followed by a devastating ground offensive that has brought the fighting to some of Gaza City’s main hospitals.

In remarks on Saturday, Netanyahu ruled out a role for the Palestinian Authority (PA) government in Gaza once the war against Hamas is over.

“There will have to be something else there,” he stated when asked whether the PA, which has partial administrative control in the occupied West Bank, may govern Gaza after the war.

“There won’t be a civilian authority that educates their children to hate Israel, to kill Israelis, to wipe out the state of Israel,” Netanyahu added.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said last month that the PA should retake control of the Gaza Strip from Hamas, with international players potentially filling a role in the interim.

EU says no Ukrainian victory against Russia in sight

By
IFP Media Wire
-
Russia Ukraine War

Delivering a video address to the Congress of the Party of European Socialists (PES) in Malaga, Spain, on Saturday, Borrell declared that the Ukraine conflict “is lasting much too long”, while admitting that Kiev would not be able to face the Russian military without Western support.

EU nations that have “the necessary means to help” should also have the political will to continue to support the bloc’s Ukraine aid policy, and potentially even expand it, Borrell stated. The diplomat also cautioned that the EU may even need to step in to replace US aid, should it diminish.

Although the EU and its members have spent almost twice as much as the US on total military, financial, and humanitarian aid to Ukraine, Washington remains Kiev’s single largest military sponsor by a wide margin, according to Germany’s Kiel Institute for the World Economy.

The US alone has spent around $45 billion on military aid for Ukraine, followed by Germany with $18.2 billion, data showed. However, the Pentagon warned earlier this week that it potentially had only $1 billion remaining for Ukraine military aid, and would have to ration arms packages from now on.

In his address on Saturday, Borrell insisted that “we must remain united and get ready for a longer conflict, longer than Russia thought.” He claimed that Russian President Vladimir Putin had expected to end the conflict in “a few weeks,” but had been unsuccessful.

Moscow reacted to Borrell’s remarks by pointing to his apparent change in tone. Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova noted in a Telegram post that the EU foreign policy chief had declared following a visit to Kiev in April 2022 that “this war will be won on the battlefield”. He now says Ukraine will not be able to defeat Russia in the near future, Zakharova added, wondering if the EU was leaning towards considering Moscow as the victor in the standoff.

Borrell himself, however, stated during the PES congress in Malaga that the conflict should be one “that Russia will never be able to win”.

Recent reports have indicated growing concern among Kiev’s Western backers about the outcome of the fighting. On Friday, NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg claimed that a Russian victory would be a “tragedy” that would leave the US-led bloc “vulnerable”. He also insisted it was in NATO’s interests to continue supporting Kiev.

Gazans being “choked” by bombardment and siege: UN

By
IFP Media Wire
-
Gaza War

Lazzarini said that the continuous bombardment of Gaza, “together with the siege, are choking Gaza and its people”.

He continued that more than 700,000 women, children, and men now live in UNRWA schools and shelters.

“Basic services are crumbling. Everything is running out – food, water, medicine, and fuel. “

He added UNRWA staff were still operating some 150 UNRWA shelters, stating,“They keep one-third of our health centers open and manage mobile clinics. They deliver medicines to hospitals.”

Lazzarini said that Gazans feel de-humanized and abandoned. He asked the summit to support efforts “to reach a humanitarian ceasefire, with strict adherence to international humanitarian law.”

He also added that a meaningful and continuous flow of humanitarian aid is essential, but claimed that “the logistics and the verification of trucks by Israel are extremely cumbersome. They only allow a limited number of trucks into Gaza.”

“We must increase the volume of aid and use other crossings, including those within Israel, like Kerem Abu Salem.”

A significant number of Arab leaders attended the emergency gathering in Riyadh on Saturday, titled the Joint Arab Islamic Extraordinary Summit in Saudi Arabia’s Riyadh.

The Arab-Islamic summit hosted by Saudi Arabia has called for an end to the war in Gaza and rejected justifying the war in the besieged strip as Israeli self-defence.

The summit on Saturday condemned “Israeli aggression on the Gaza Strip, war crimes and barbaric and inhumane massacres by the occupation government”, a final communique said.

It also called for an end to the siege on Gaza, allowing humanitarian aid into the enclave and halting arms exports to Israel, following the meeting in Riyadh.

The leaders demanded that the United Nations Security Council adopt “a decisive and binding resolution” to halt Israel’s “aggression” in Gaza.

Originally, only the 22 members of the Arab League were expected to participate, but the meeting was later expanded to include the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), a wider association of 57 mostly Muslim-majority states to which the Arab League countries belong.

In the opening remarks, Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (MBS) called for an immediate cessation of military operations in Gaza and the release of all captives and prisoners.

“This is a humanitarian catastrophe that has proved the failure of the international community and the UN Security Council to put an end to Israel’s gross violations of international humanitarian laws, and prove the dual standards adopted by the world,” he stated.

“We are certain the only cause for peace is the end of the Israeli occupation and illegal settlements, and restoration of the established rights of the Palestinian people and the establishment of the state on 1967, with East Jerusalem as its capital,” MBS added.

Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas highlighted that besides Gaza, Israeli forces’ raids in the occupied West Bank have also escalated and called on the United States to put an end to “Israel’s aggression, the occupation, violation and desecration of our holy sites”.

“No military and security solutions are acceptable as they have all failed. We categorically reject any efforts to displace our people from Gaza or the West Bank,” Abbas continued.

Israel has not relented in its attacks on the Gaza Strip despite increasing calls for an immediate ceasefire, especially from the Arab and Islamic worlds.

The non-stop air raids and ground assaults – which came in response to the October 7 attack by Hamas which killed about 1,200 Israelis – have killed more than 11,000 Palestinians, mostly civilians.

Israel has significantly ramped up its attacks on hospitals in recent days, and the UN has announced the lives of one million children in Gaza are “hanging on by a thread”.

Netanyahu says Israel plans to exercise “security control” in Gaza

By
IFP Media Wire
-
Benjamin Netanyahu

“As for all the talk about ‘the day after’, that day will only come after Hamas is eradicated. Gaza will be demilitarized and there will no longer be a threat to Israel from the Gaza Strip,” Netanyahu said at a news conference.

He added that Israeli forces will reserve the right to act to stop any threats to Israel from the enclave.

“In order to guarantee that there will be no threat, at any time, if necessary, the Israel Defense Forces will continue to exercise security control in the Gaza Strip, guaranteeing that terrorism will not come from there, because the October 7 massacre proved forever that wherever there is no Israeli control, terrorism takes root and strikes us. This was also proven in Judea and Samaria (the Israeli names for the West Bank), which is why I will not compromise security control under any condition,” the prime minister went on to say.

When asked who will exercise civilian control in the Gaza Strip, Netanyahu stated there should be no radicals in power there.

“I want to emphasize again that security control implies the ability [for Israeli forces] to go in whenever we want to eliminate terrorists who might pop up again and start threatening Israel. I will tell you what there will not be. There will not be Hamas. There will also not be a civil authority that educates its children to hate Israel, to kill Israelis, to eliminate the State of Israel,” he continued.

Netanyahu also rejected growing international calls for a ceasefire in Gaza, saying that Israel’s battle against Hamas will continue, “with all our force, with all our might.”

Israel will “continue until the victory”, he added.

“Hamas lost its grip over the Gaza Strip. It has no safe place to hide. … All Hamas members are marked for death,” Netanyahu continued, stating, “Our forces are hitting them above the ground, and our forces are hitting them under the ground.”

Netanyahu previously unveiled his long-term plan for Gaza on Thursday, saying Israel would ensure that the territory no longer presents a threat to Tel Aviv.

“What we have to see is Gaza demilitarized, deradicalized and rebuilt,” he continued, adding “We don’t seek to conquer Gaza. We don’t seek to occupy Gaza. And we don’t seek to govern Gaza.”

The prime minister explained that no matter who governs Gaza after the war, Israel would need to establish a force that could “enter Gaza and kill the killers” at any time, to “prevent the emergence of another Hamas-like entity”.

Defense Minister Yoav Gallant also previously said Israeli forces would establish a “new security reality” in the area, but emphasized that the IDF would not be responsible for “day-to-day life in the Gaza Strip”.

Israel has launched an unprecedented military bombardment of the densely-populated Gaza enclave in retaliation for Hamas’ assault on its territory last month. Israeli officials announced on Friday that about 1,200 of its citizens – mostly civilians – died in the attack, revising downwards its prior estimates.

In excess of 11,000 people have died in more than four weeks of artillery and airstrikes in Gaza, Palestinian health officials have confirmed, with about 40% of them children.

Palestinian groups have slammed Israeli discussion of the future of Gaza as an attempt by Tel Aviv to extend its military presence there, stating the future of the enclave should be decided by the Palestinians and no one else. They have also announced the governance of the Gaza Strip is a “pure Palestinian affair”.

Israel-Palestine conflict LIVE: Palestine Red Crescent Society says Gaza’s second largest hospital out of service

By
IFP Media Wire
-
Gaza War
A Palestinian woman inspects the bodies of victims outside Gaza City's Al-Shifa hospital who were killed in Israeli bombardment.

‘There could be’ potential deal to free hostages: Netanyahu

Israel’s Prime Minister says a deal may be close to free captives held in the Gaza Strip but declined to provide details.

“We heard there was an impending deal of this kind or of that kind and then we learned that it was all hokum. But the minute we started the ground operation, that began to change,” Benjamin Netanyahu told NBC News show Meet the Press.

Asked whether there is a potential deal to free more of the hostages being held, Netanyahu replied: “There could be.”

A Palestinian official briefed on the hostage talks told the Reuters news agency that Hamas suspended negotiations because of Israel’s attack and siege on the al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza.

Erdogan calls for US to stop Israel’s attack

The United States must use its influence to halt Israel’s offensive in Gaza, Turkey’s leader stated.

“The US should increase its pressure on Israel. The West should increase pressure on Israel… It’s vital for us to secure a ceasefire,” said Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

“The most important country that needs to be involved is the United States, which has influence on Israel.”

Erdogan added the US must accept Gaza as Palestinian land.

“We cannot agree with Biden if he approaches [the war] by seeing Gaza as the land of occupying settlers or Israel, rather than the land of the Palestinian people.”

Occupied West Bank under Israeli military lockdown: PLO

Palestinian cities, towns and villages remain under blockade while Jerusalem is completely cut off and turned into a military barracks, the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) says.

Severe restrictions on movement have been imposed to and from Jordan via the King Hussein/Allenby Bridge, the only connection to the outside world from the occupied West Bank, the PLO added.

‘Stay away from hospitals’: ICRC director

Robert Mardini, director-general of the International Committee of the Red Cross, says Gaza hospitals treating hundreds of wounded people cannot be targeted under any circumstances.

“Hospitals are to be absolutely protected at all times. The onus and the obligation are always on the parties of the conflict not to use hospitals as a battle zone,” Mardini told Al Jazeera.

“Even if a hospital is used by a party as a launching pad for attacks, it does not justify automatically that hospitals be targeted at a time when women, children and men are being treated. Those are sanctuaries to be protected. We reiterate our call for all parties to stay away from hospitals,” he added.

Al-Ahli only functioning hospital in north Gaza

Dr Fadel Naim, a surgeon at al-Ahli Arab Hospital, said the medical facility is the last functioning hospital in Gaza City and the northern areas.

He added the hospital is overwhelmed with casualties.

Medics and journalists among those killed in Gaza

The Palestinian fatality toll since 7 October includes:

  • At least 192 medical staff, according to the Ministry of Health in Gaza. Of them, at least 16 medical staff were killed on duty, according to the World Health Organization.
  • 101 UNRWA staff have been killed, the highest number of UN personnel killed in a conflict in the history of the organisation.
  • 18 Palestinian civil defense personnel.
  • 44 Palestinian journalists have also been killed.

Gaza’s biggest hospital is completely out of service: Ministry

The spokesman for the Ministry of Health in Gaza, Ashraf al-Qudra, has told Al Jazeera that al-Shifa Hospital is completely out of service, and cannot provide any treatment even to the patients inside the facility, due to constant Israeli attacks.

Israeli bombing has been targeting the vicinity’s external surroundings as well as anyone walking inside the courtyard and between its various buildings, and those wanting to reach the gate of the complex.

“We have deaths in the nursery after the life support machines stopped working inside the section that includes 37 other children who may be on the verge of death,” al-Qudra said.

He added that there were five deaths among the wounded as the medical teams were unable to perform surgical operations on them due to the power outage and lack of fuel.

US does not want to see firefights in Gaza hospitals: Report

The United States does not want to see firefights in hospitals in the Gaza Strip where civilians get caught in the crossfire, White House National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan has stated.

“The United States does not want to see firefights in hospitals where innocent people, patients receiving medical care, are caught in the crossfire and we’ve had active consultations with the [Israeli army] on this,” Sullivan told CBS News’s Face the Nation programme.

650 patients in danger at al-Shifa Hospital: Director general

The director general of hospitals in Gaza has warned that the lives of hundreds of patients are at risk due to the catastrophic situation at al-Shifa Hospital.

About 650 patients, including 36 children, have their lives in danger, Muhammad Zaqout said at a press conference, calling on Egypt to save their lives.

Zaqout also confirmed the presence of “about 1,500 displaced people in the al-Shifa Medical Complex”, warning that “accumulation of garbage and medical waste, lack of water, and power outages threaten everyone’s life”.

The Gaza Health Ministry has also announced the intensive care unit (ICU) in al-Shifa Hospital has been badly damaged by Israeli army bombing for a second time.

‘No place safe for children in Gaza’: UNICEF

The situation inside hospitals across the Gaza Strip is a tragedy, UNICEF spokesperson Toby Fricker has said.

Speaking to Al Jazeera from Jordan, he noted how premature babies inside al-Shifa Hospital are struggling to stay alive due to the lack of electricity and water.

“Imagine being a father or mother of those children and sort of watching helplessly. So it’s really catastrophic right now,” he stated.

“There is no safe place for children anywhere across the strip right now,” he added, highlighting the need for international actors to ensure children in Gaza are protected as the ferocious bombardment continues.

Patients forcibly evicted from hospitals facing ‘inevitable death’: Minister

Palestinian Minister of Health Mai al-Kaila stated Israeli forces “are not evacuating people from hospitals; instead, they are forcibly evicting the wounded and patients onto the streets, leaving them to face inevitable death”.

“This is not evacuation but expulsion under the threat of arms,” she said in a press release, as cited by Palestinian news agency Wafa.

“There is a catastrophe unfolding in hospitals, with patients now dying without receiving their treatments, such as children and adults with kidney failure who are perishing at home without undergoing dialysis sessions.”

She added all 3,000 cancer patients who were receiving treatment at al-Rantisi and Turkish hospitals had been abandoned to face imminent death after Israeli forces forcibly evicted them.

Netanyahu should be arrested: South Africa’s FM

In an opinion piece published in South Africa’s Sunday Times, the country’s Foreign Minister Naledi Pandor says she expects the International Criminal Court (ICC) to issue an arrest warrant for the Israeli prime minister.

“We call on the prosecutor [of the ICC] to speed up the investigation and explore breaches of three of the four crimes under ICC jurisdiction: war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide,” Pandor wrote.

“We expect that warrants of arrest should be executed for those most responsible as per the ICC principles of command and superior responsibility,” she continued, adding that these include Netanyahu and some of his cabinet members.

South Africa is one among several countries to have condemned Israel’s bombardment of Gaza, including recalling its ambassador from Israel.

Pope Francis calls for war to end

Pope Francis has called for the fighting between Israel and Hamas in the Gaza Strip to end.

“May the weapons fall silent, they will never bring peace, and let the conflict not spread. Enough, enough brothers, enough!” he said while offering prayers at the Vatican.

The Pope also stated that the injured in Gaza should be helped and more humanitarian aid should be sent to the besieged enclave.

He added that the people taken as captives by Hamas on October 7 should also be released.

“Every human being, whether Christian, Jew, Muslim, or whatever religion, every human being is sacred, is precious in the eyes of God, and has the right to live in peace,” he continued.

Number of Palestinians killed in Israeli attacks surpasses 11,100: Health ministry

The number of deaths in the ongoing Israeli military attacks since October 7 has surpassed 11,100, including more than 8,000 children and women, the government media office in Gaza announced on Sunday.

“Due to the targeting of hospitals and the prevention of entry of any of the bodies or wounded, the Ministry of Health was unable, on Saturday, to issue accurate statistics for the numbers of dead and injured during the past hours,” the media office said in a statement.

“We recall that the occupation [forces] committed more than 1,130 massacres, and the number of casualties reached more than 11,100 dead, including more than 8,000 children and women, and the number of wounded was more than 28,000,” it added.

Al-Ahli hospital has run out of blood: Surgeon

Palestinian surgeon based in Gaza, Ghassan Abu Sitta stated al-Ahli Arab Hospital has run out of blood.

“Our wounded are dying after surgery because we can’t transfuse them,” he wrote on X.

Palestinian Red Crescent says al-Quds hospital ‘out of operation’ in Gaza

The Palestinian Red Crescent (PRCS) said al-Quds hospital in Gaza is now out of service after running out of fuel.

“The cessation of services is due to depletion of available fuel and power outages,” the PRCS announced in a statement.

“Medical staff are making every effort to provide care to patients and the wounded, even resorting to conventional medical methods amid dire humanitarian conditions and a shortage of medicine, food and fuel.”

The PRCS added it had tried to reach out for humanitarian assistance from the international community which comes a day after al-Shifa hospital, Gaza’s largest, said it would be suspending services.

Israel renews shelling of al-Shifa hospital

Israel has shelled the al-Shifa hospital on Sunday after besieging the medical facility.

The director-general of the Palestinian health ministry in Gaza made the announcement a day after the al-Shifa hospital, Gaza’s largest medical complex, shut down services because it had run out of fuel.

Israel’s security minister says ‘occupation [of Gaza] is a must’

Israeli Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir hinted at the idea of re-establishing settlements in Gaza that Israel dismantled in 2005 and said it was necessary to re-occupy the besieged enclave.

“Occupation [of the Gaza Strip] is a must. Every time our enemies lost territory, they lost the war,” Ben Gvir told Israeli news outlet Reshel Bet.

“We need to be in full control – that’s what will deter our enemies, convey a message of victory and allow the residents of [Israeli towns near Gaza] to return home,” he added.

“I’m not afraid of renewing the settlements in Gush Katif [inside Gaza].”

Several killed after UN development office in Gaza bombed

The office of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in Gaza was bombed on Saturday night, the head of the UNDP wrote on X on Sunday.

Achim Steiner said that there were reports of deaths and injuries “among those who sought safety in our compound”.

“This is wrong on every count,” Steiner continued, adding, “Civilians, civilian infrastructure & the inviolability of UN facilities must be always protected.”

Israeli attacks have already killed more than 100 staff members working at the UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA).

Palestinian cancer patients have died due to lack of treatment: Report

A number of cancer patients in Gaza have died due to a lack of the necessary medical supplies to treat them, according to a report from Al Jazeera Arabic.

The healthcare system in Gaza is in collapse, according to the health ministry in the besieged enclave.

Israel’s military is currently circling several hospitals in northern Gaza. Al-Shifa Hospital, the largest medical complex in the enclave, is currently under Israeli siege.

‘Bring them home now’: Hostage families tell Israeli government

The families of hostages held by Hamas in Gaza called on Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the Israeli government to do more to bring the hostages and missing persons home.

“We await the Israeli government to fulfill the basic contract that was broken. We already paid the price on October 7, now it’s your turn,” said a press release from the Hostages and Missing Persons Families Forum headquarters.

Families of the hostages held a rally on Saturday in Tel Aviv, Israel, which also included in attendance the former Israeli President Reuven Rivlin.

More than 200 hostages were taken into Gaza following the Hamas attack on October 7.

The families are demanding that the international community and the Red Cross ensure medical assistance for the hostages, “as they do for Hamas”, the press release added.

“Our family members are imprisoned underground in Gaza. Bring them home now,” the statement read.

“Two hundred and thirty nine innocent people went to sleep on the night of October 6 and within less than 24 hours we lost all contact with them, without a drop of information. Where is the Red Cross, the organization that is supposed to care for human rights? Why haven’t they demanded to see the condition of the infants,” said Maayan Zin, mother of Dafna (15) and Ella (8) who were kidnapped from Kibbutz Nahal Oz in Israel with their father.

Noam Perry, whose 79-year-old father, Haim Perry, was taken from his home in Kibbutz Nir Oz in Israel stated there can be no healing until the release of all the hostages.

“The living hostages can still be returned and we must not stop until they come home. My father is alive and only God knows how he endures in the underground tunnels at age 80. They are waiting for us to save them. We await the prime minister to fulfill the most basic contract he has with Israel’s citizens that was violated,” Perry continued.

Rivlin added he joins the families in the demand to return all hostages home, and urged world leaders to get information and act within all arenas to free the hostages.

The former president said he also contacted the Red Cross this week and asked them, “How should we respond to your demand to provide humanitarian aid to Gaza when you do not compel Hamas to allow you to visit all the hostages?”

Orly Gilboa, mother of 19-year-old Daniela Gilboa, who was kidnapped from a party in Re’im, Israel stated, “I’ve finished the stage of hugs and empathy. I want to see actions that will bring my daughter and the rest of the hostages home now.”

Reports say people fleeing Al-Shifa Hospital shot and killed: WHO

The WHO has announced in a post on X that there are reports that some people who fled Gaza’s Al-Shifa hospital “have been shot at, wounded and even killed”.

Director General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus also said on X, “WHO is gravely concerned about the safety of health workers, hundreds of sick and injured patients, including babies on life support, and displaced people who remain inside the hospital.”

“WHO again calls for an immediate humanitarian ceasefire in Gaza as the only way to save lives and reduce the horrific levels of suffering,” he added.

“WHO also calls for the sustained, orderly, unimpeded and safe medical evacuations of critically injured and sick patients.”

Senior Biden adviser to visit Israel, Qatar, Jordan, Saudi Arabia: Report

Brett McGurk, the Joe Biden administration’s top adviser on the Middle East, is expected to travel to Israel, Qatar, Jordan, and Saudi Arabia this week to discuss the war in Gaza and the efforts to secure the release of the hostages held by Hamas, Axios reported citing US and Israeli officials.

Axios reported that McGurk is expected to visit Israel on Tuesday, where he will meet with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Defence Minister Yoav Gallant and top intelligence officials.

The expected trip comes after US Secretary of Antony Blinken and CIA director Bill Burns have taken similar trips across the region in the past several weeks.

Israel says it struck infrastructure in Syria

Israeli’s military has announced that its fighter jets carried out strikes against “terror infrastructure” inside Syria.

Israeli officials stated the raids were carried out in response to fire directed at the Golan Heights, which borders Syria, Lebanon and Jordan, on Saturday.

“A short while ago, in response to the attack toward the Golan Heights yesterday [Saturday], IDF [Israel’s army] fighter jets struck terror infrastructure sites in Syria,” Israel’s army wrote in a post on Telegram.

UNICEF calls for protection of Gaza hospitals and children amid “deeply worrying” reports of situation in Al-Shifa

UNICEF called for the protection of hospitals and children in Gaza amid “deeply worrying reports” of the situation in the biggest hospital in the strip.

The UN agency, responsible for providing humanitarian aid to children worldwide, called for an immediate ceasefire in the Gaza Strip.

“Al Shifa hospital in Gaza is without power and we are seeing deeply worrying reports of premature babies dying in incubators,” UNICEF said in its statement released early Sunday local time.

The Hamas-controlled Ministry of Health in Gaza also reported early Sunday shelling in the vicinity of the Al-Shifa Hospital, warning that it is endangering the lives of patients and the displaced people sheltering inside.

Earlier, three newborn babies died in the Al-Shifa Hospital after it went “out of service” amid intense fighting in the area, according to the Ministry of Health in Gaza.

WHO “gravely concerned” over Al-Shifa Hospital after losing communication with contacts

The World Health Organization (WHO) says it has lost communication with its contacts in Gaza City’s Al-Shifa Hospital.

“We assume our contacts joined tens of thousands of displaced people and are fleeing the area,” it announced in a statement early Sunday.

WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus described the reports on the situation at Gaza’s biggest hospital as “deeply worrisome and frightening.”

“WHO is gravely concerned about the safety of health workers, hundreds of sick and injured patients, including babies on life support, and displaced people who remain inside the hospital,” he said in a statement on Sunday.

Several hospitals ‘directly hit’: UN

The UN has announced that several hospitals have been “directly hit” as Israel intensified its shelling and ground attacks around hospitals in Gaza City and northern Gaza.

The report by the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs in the occupied Palestinian Territories also notes:

  • Power at the Al-Shifa and the Indonesian Hospital in northern Gaza was reportedly cut off after fuel for generators ran out. Generators at Al-Quds Hospital in Gaza City failed and could not be repaired due to the bombardment and fighting.
  • Tens of thousands of people evacuated towards southern Gaza on Saturday, while hundreds of thousands of people who remain in the north are struggling to get the essentials they need to survive.
  • People are drinking water from “unsafe sources” which “raises serious concerns about dehydration and waterborne diseases”.

PRCS warns babies at al-Quds Hospital face dehydration

The Palestinian Red Crescent Society (PRCS) has said that “infants at Al-Quds Hospital are facing dehydration due to a shortage of breast milk alternatives”.

According to MSF Canada, there more than 600 patients needing medical care trapped in the besieged hospital.

The hospital’s director has stated that this includes 37 premature babies who are struggling to survive after the hospital was forced to abandon its neonatal intensive care unit.

Half a million Palestinian children affected by Israel’s bombs: Report

Around half a million Palestinian children have been affected by Israel’s bombardment of the Gaza Strip, the Euro-Med Human Rights Monitor said in a statement.

The estimated figure includes those who have been killed, injured, or whose family homes have been damaged or destroyed.

The Geneva-based human rights organisation reported that 6,100 children have been killed or reported missing under the rubble of buildings destroyed by Israel’s intense air and artillery attacks on the Strip, stating that chances for their survival diminishes with each passing day.

More than 15,500 children have been injured, the group reported, with dozens of them in critical condition.

Other children have suffered limb amputations, while hundreds more have suffered severe burns to their bodies, the group added.

Five Israeli soldiers killed in heavy fighting: Military

The Israeli army confirmed five soldiers were killed during battles in the Gaza Strip.

The Israeli Ynet news website cited a military statement saying four soldiers were killed in a booby-trapped tunnel in Beit Hanoun in northern Gaza while the fifth died in fighting elsewhere.

The number of Israeli soldiers killed since the start of ground operations on October 27 rose to 43.

The army is facing fierce battles from armed Palestinian groups in different areas across Gaza.

Palestinian Red Crescent says less than half its ambulances still functioning in Gaza

After more than a month of fierce fighting in the Gaza Strip, only seven out of 18 ambulances run by the Palestinian Red Crescent Society (PRCS) are still working, according to a statement from the PRCS on Saturday.

The few remaining ambulances still working are at risk of “completely ceasing operations in the coming hours” due to a lack of fuel, the statement said.

“Our teams are witnessing numerous casualties and wounded individuals, yet they face challenges reaching them due to Israeli military targeting of ambulance vehicles approaching the affected areas,” the PRCS said.

On November 4, Israel claimed responsibility for an attack on a convoy of ambulances outside Gaza City’s Al-Shifa Hospital, according to CNN at the time.

The PRCS said one of its ambulances was damaged in that attack when a shell fell near the convoy.

Israel said it had targeted the ambulance convoy because it was being used by Hamas, according to a statement from the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) at the time of the attack.

“Acts of war” in Gaza hospitals “unconscionable, reprehensible and must stop”: UN’s top humanitarian chief

The UN’s top humanitarian aid chief Martin Griffiths on Saturday condemned attacks on healthcare facilities after recent strikes in the Gaza Strip.

“Hospitals must be places of greater safety, not of war,” Griffiths wrote in a post on X.

“There can be no justification for acts of war in healthcare facilities, leaving them with no power, food or water, and shooting at patients and civilians trying to flee,” he added.

Griffiths also said that people using and working at Gazan healthcare facilities “must trust that they are places of shelter and not of war.”

At least 40 journalists killed in five weeks of conflict: Committee to Protect Journalists

The number of journalists killed in the Israel-Hamas conflict since October 7 has increased to 40, according to a statement by the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) on Saturday.

The most recent to lose his life was photojournalist Ahmed Al-Qara who was killed in a strike near Khan Younis on Friday, the CPJ said, citing the Palestinian Journalists’ Syndicate and the Cairo-based Al-Dostor newspaper.

The death toll of journalists is comprised of 35 Palestinians, four Israelis, and one Lebanese, according to the CPJ.

The journalism advocacy group announced the conflict since October 7 has been the deadliest period for journalists since CPJ starting tracking in 1992.

“CPJ is also investigating numerous unconfirmed reports of other journalists being killed, missing, detained, hurt, or threatened, and of damage to media offices and journalists’ homes,” the statement added.

Hostage negotiations are moving in a positive direction, but situation remains fluid: Qatari officials

Negotiations to release more hostages held in Gaza since the October 7 Hamas attacks are moving in a positive direction, but the situation remains fluid — and the continued bombardment of Gaza isn’t helping matters, Qatari Prime Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani said Saturday.

Qatar, a key US ally in the Middle East, has a close relationship with Hamas, and has emerged as a broker of sorts as negotiations over the release of hostages and humanitarian aid into the Gaza strip continues.

During a Saturday call, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken called on Qatar to press Hamas on allowing more dual nationals to leave Gaza — particularly US dual nationals, according to a source familiar with the call. Al-Thani told Blinken that Qatar will continue to negotiate with Hamas to make that happen.

Hostilities around Al-Shifa Hospital “have not stopped”: Doctors Without Borders

Hostilities around Al-Shifa Hospital Saturday “have not stopped”, according to Médecins Sans Frontières, also known as Doctors Without Borders.

“The ambulances can no longer move to collect the injured, and non-stop bombardment prevents patients and staff from evacuating,” the organization said in a statement.

A freelance journalist based at the hospital told CNN there were still dozens of bodies at the hospital awaiting burial, but that people feared going outside to bury them.

“The situation is very difficult and dire. After a slowdown in shelling this afternoon, the shelling and gunfire resumed, heavily targeting anything that moves,” Mustafa Sarsour stated.

Medics inside the hospital are working by candlelight, Sarsour added. Other resources are also getting scarce.

“We are running out of canned food. The food is being rationed on patients and medical crews, and I have even seen doctors and nurses giving their own food to patients. … Now the electricity is cut off, people (have) started drinking the pipe water,” the journalist continued.

The health ministry in Gaza said the hospital was under “complete siege” Saturday, and that a floor of the complex’s surgery building was heavily shelled. The ministry added three newborn babies died at the hospital after it “went out of service” due to heavy damage.

53 aid trucks enter Gaza Saturday: Palestine Red Crescent

The Palestine Red Crescent Society received 53 aid trucks packed with vital supplies —including food, water, relief items, medical equipment and medications, but no fuel — the group said Saturday.

“Since October 21, 2023, a total of 904 trucks have been received, averaging around 41 trucks per day,” the aid organization added.

“Unfortunately, the Israeli occupying authorities have not permitted the entry of fuel so far.”

1...1,1731,1741,175...5,128Page 1,174 of 5,128

© 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