Today, Monday, the Israeli occupation army issued evacuation orders to citizens from several areas in Shuja'iyya, east of Gaza Governorate.

Local sources reported that the occupation issued evacuation orders in the Shuja'iyya area and a number of surrounding areas east of Gaza.

The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) said in a report that forced evacuation orders issued by the occupation army have become a daily occurrence for the citizens of the Gaza Strip, who are forced to leave in order to save their lives.

UNRWA indicated that 83% of the Gaza Strip was placed under evacuation orders or classified by the occupation army as "prohibited areas."

According to the latest statistics, the number of displaced people in the Gaza Strip has reached about two million, including 1.7 million living in the Al-Mawasi area west of the southern Gaza Strip in appalling living conditions, according to a previous statement by the international humanitarian aid organization "Oxfam".

A fire broke out a short while ago in the central medicine warehouse of Al-Awda Hospital in Jabalia, north of the Gaza Strip, after the occupation warplanes bombed the area around it.

The hospitals in the northern Gaza Strip (Indonesian, Al-Awda and Kamal Adwan) have been under a continuous and tight siege for nearly two months, during which the entry of medicine, food, medical staff, ambulances, or any other services has been prohibited.

Kamal Adwan Hospital has been under heavy and continuous bombardment for three days, with 91 patients inside.

The Ministry of Health in Gaza announced today, Monday, that the death toll in the Gaza Strip has risen to 45,317, the majority of whom are children and women, since the start of the Israeli occupation aggression on October 7, 2023.

It added that the number of injuries has risen to 107,713 since the beginning of the aggression, while thousands of victims are still under the rubble.

It pointed out that the occupation forces committed 5 massacres, which resulted in the death of 58 citizens and the injury of 86 others.

1. The official spokesman for the Palestinian security forces, Brigadier General Anwar Rajab, announced the martyrdom of First Sergeant Mahran Qadous, a member of the Palestinian police, from the village of Iraq Burin, today, Monday, after he was targeted by gunfire by outlaws, while performing his national duty in the Jenin camp.

Brigadier General Rajab said that this heinous crime that targeted a member of the security establishment, who is the second martyr since the launch of the "Protect the Nation" campaign, will only increase the security forces' determination and resolve to confront anyone who tries to threaten the security of the nation or rebel against the rule of law.

He stressed that the hand of justice will reach anyone who dares to tamper with the security of our people, and there will be no leniency with this deviant group that is outside the law.

He stressed that the security services will continue, with all their might, to work to impose order, eliminate chaos and protect the security of our people, no matter the sacrifices.

He called on all citizens to stand united with the security services, and provide full support and cooperation in pursuing these criminals, to ensure security and stability in our beloved country.

It is noteworthy that the martyr, First Assistant/Saher Farouk Jumaa Arhail, a member of the Presidential Guard, was martyred yesterday, Sunday, while performing his national duty, after he and his colleagues were exposed to treacherous gunfire by outlaws in Jenin camp.

A citizen was injured today, Monday, by a settler's bullets, claiming that he attempted to carry out a stabbing operation near the Hizma checkpoint, northeast of occupied Jerusalem.

According to local sources, the nature of the citizen's injury is unknown.

Israeli reports claimed that the Palestinian attacked a soldier, after which an armed settler opened fire on him, "neutralizing" him.

The Israeli occupation army continues its tight siege of Kamal Adwan Hospital in the town of Beit Lahia, north of the Gaza Strip, for the third consecutive day, with 91 patients inside, amidst appeals for the necessity of intervention to save the patients and medical staff, and provide them with medical supplies and food.

According to medical sources, the occupation's drones dropped bombs on the hospital's grounds and roof this morning, Monday, which once again threatens fuel and oxygen supplies.

The same sources explained that 91 patients are still in the hospital, including the elderly, children and women, and the services provided to them are minimal, due to the ongoing and severe siege that has been imposed on them for nearly two months, during which the entry of medicine, food, medical teams, ambulances and any other services has been prevented.

It pointed out that yesterday, the occupation tanks and bulldozers suddenly approached the western gate of the hospital, amidst a heavy hail of bullets, which penetrated the intensive care unit, the maternity ward, and the specialized surgery ward, and some bullets exploded inside the wards, which created a state of fear and panic among the patients.

It noted that the occupation targeted one of the generators, which led to it being completely out of service due to the fire, and there were also attempts to target the fuel tank, amid continuous shelling of surrounding homes and buildings.

It is noteworthy that the occupation army launched violent raids on the Martyr Kamal Adwan Hospital, since yesterday evening, Saturday, after demanding its evacuation without providing the means to evacuate the patients.

On a daily basis, the occupation targets the Martyr Kamal Adwan Hospital, which resulted in the martyrdom and injury of a number of medical personnel and citizens in its vicinity, and caused damage to electricity generators and hospital departments.

On October 5, the occupation forces invaded the northern Gaza Strip again, amid bloody shelling, a tight siege, and the prevention of the entry of food, water, and medicine.

The occupation continues to commit crimes of genocide and ethnic cleansing in the town of Beit Lahia, and Kamal Adwan Hospital is a last resort for the sick and injured in the north, who have not found an alternative that provides them with the minimum medical and humanitarian services.

Despite this, the medical staff inside the hospital, consisting of two doctors at most and a small number of nurses, continues to perform their humanitarian duty, and they have refused to obey the army’s multiple orders to evacuate its buildings and leave the governorate, despite the ongoing crimes against them.

It is noteworthy that "Kamal Adwan" was the largest hospital in the northern governorate, providing its services to more than 400 thousand people, while it operates today amidst non-existent conditions and capabilities due to the occupation's direct targeting of it since October 2023, as it continues to launch intensive raids on its surroundings, in addition to blowing up buildings and residential blocks next to it, which resulted in damage to its buildings, and the deaths of martyrs and wounded inside or outside the hospital.

The hospital bears the name of one of the leaders of the Palestinian revolution and the most prominent symbol of the Fatah movement, the martyr Kamal Adwan, who was assassinated by the Israeli Mossad along with the leaders Muhammad Yusuf al-Najjar (Abu Yusuf al-Najjar) and Kamal Nasser, on April 10, 1973, in the Lebanese capital Beirut, for their prominent activity in the Palestinian resistance.

Israeli police arrested two female protesters on Monday while they were taking part in a protest in West Jerusalem, calling for a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip and a prisoner exchange deal.

Haaretz newspaper said that the police arrested "two demonstrators demanding a hostage deal while they were protesting in front of Minister Ron Dermer's house.

The newspaper explained that a number of Israeli women participated in the demonstration organized by the "Women's Protest Association," where they raised banners, some of which read, "Hostage Agreement and Ceasefire Now."

The Israeli opposition accuses Netanyahu of obstructing reaching an agreement to preserve his position and government, as extremist ministers, including National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir and Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, threaten to withdraw from the government and bring it down if he accepts an end to the war.

The Israeli occupation continues its aggression on the Gaza Strip, by land, sea and air, since October 7, 2023, which resulted in the martyrdom of more than 45,259 citizens, most of whom are women and children, and the injury of more than 107,627 others. Thousands of victims are still under the rubble and in the streets, amid massive destruction and famine that killed dozens of children and elderly people.

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

The Jerusalem Governorate reported that dozens of settlers stormed Al-Aqsa Mosque in successive groups from the Al-Maghariba Gate, carried out provocative tours, and performed Talmudic rituals in its courtyards.

Since the beginning of the comprehensive Israeli aggression against our people in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank, in October 2023, the occupation forces have tightened their measures at the gates of Al-Aqsa Mosque and the entrances to the Old City.

In the same context, the occupation police summoned a number of Al-Aqsa Mosque guards for investigation at their centers.

Yesterday, the so-called extremist "Temple" groups called for extensive raids on Al-Aqsa Mosque during the Jewish "Hanukkah" holiday on the 25th of this month.

Today, Monday, the Israeli occupation authorities forced a Jerusalemite to demolish his house in the Al-Bustan neighborhood in the town of Silwan, south of the blessed Al-Aqsa Mosque.

The owner of the house, Hisham Aqil, stated that the occupation municipality notified him of the demolition of the house under the pretext of “building without a permit,” which prompted him to demolish his house himself, in order to avoid the high costs imposed by the occupation municipality if its machinery carried out the demolition.

Aqil said that the building had been standing for 11 years, and that one of his relatives had been living in it with his family of four before it was demolished.

The bloodshed has not stopped, while the war of extermination stands on the threshold of its fifteenth month, with no signs on the horizon indicating its cessation, while the global conscience is in a deep sleep, and closes its eyes to the crimes that exceeded what happened in World War II, which is what the Commissioner-General of UNRWA, Philippe Lazzarini, indicated yesterday when he said: “All wars in the world have rules except the war on Gaza, in which the rules were broken and laws were suspended.” He warned against “the world getting used to the war that the Gaza Strip is being subjected to, which has affected all elements of life, and from which schools and hospitals were not spared.”

All this is happening in front of the eyes and ears of the free world, which never ceases to call for respect for freedoms, human rights, and children’s rights to education and life, without all these calls constituting a motive for a serious global movement that stops the killing of children and women, and provides food and relief aid, while all UN reports confirm that the situation in Gaza is catastrophic, that all roads in Gaza lead to death, and there are no safe areas, and that those who do not die from the bombing die of hunger or cold in the shadow of low temperatures that have caused the death of many infants.

We were encouraged by the decisions of the International Court of Justice, as well as the decisions issued by the International Criminal Court to bring the perpetrators to justice, although the first steps that should be taken after filing charges against the perpetrators are to work to prevent them from continuing their crimes. However, for the massacre to continue without the slightest attention to the decisions issued by the highest international judicial platforms, this expresses a grave and profound imbalance, not only in global policies, but in the international justice system, and it is not justified by the saying “the court does not have an army to implement its instructions.” What is the benefit of directing charges at the perpetrators, if they remain immune from accountability, and continue their crimes without accountability that deters them from their crimes, the horror of which the international judiciary has acknowledged, and demanded that they be stopped quickly?!

In the last quarter of an hour of the administration about to leave, there is a lot that can be done, starting with getting Netanyahu to remove the obstacles to the deal that his opponents, Lapid, Gantz and Lieberman, agree he is obstructing its completion in order to prolong the life of his government and prevent the disintegration of his coalition.. and ending with putting an end to the horrific tragedy of the residents of Gaza who carry their wounds and walk to hospitals that are out of service, while they continue to say goodbye to their children who are being killed while they sleep in the houses that are being destroyed over their heads and in the displacement tents where the cold stings their souls.

Will the Biden administration take a decisive step in the coming days, like the one it took in Lebanon, to stop the massacre, by reaching a deal that opens the door to the release of prisoners and detainees, and stops the killing of more children in Gaza, whose pictures shook the Pope with his statements that angered the perpetrators, simply for expressing his noble feelings towards the victims by saying: “What is happening in Gaza is not a war, but an injustice that breaks hearts.”

December 21, 1995 was a special and great day for Bethlehem. On this day, a new phase in the life of Bethlehem in particular and Palestine in general began, as it witnessed the entry of the Palestinian National Authority into the city of birth and its capital. It was a great challenge for us in terms of religious ceremonies and Christmas celebration arrangements. We only had about two days to prepare for Christmas from a religious, spiritual and organizational perspective, and to welcome the immortal President Yasser Arafat with all the challenges, meanings and messages it entailed. That day marked the beginning of the embodiment of a long-awaited Palestinian dream, after years of sacrifices and challenges. And here we are today, preparing for Christmas after thirty consecutive years, characterized by increasing challenges year after year, from the peak of spiritual, social and national joy and happiness, to the peak of sadness and pain. Will we allow hope to fade in the face of this torrent of children’s blood, destruction and displacement? Christmas arrangements carry two dimensions, a spiritual dimension and a rights dimension, just like the entry of the Palestinian Authority, which also carried two dimensions: national and rights.

Over the course of those thirty years, preparing for Christmas arrangements, we have faced many problems and challenges, which increased every year, bringing with them joy mixed with hope, along with sadness mixed with hope. This is the land of hope and will not be the land of despair. Anyone who follows the content of these arrangements will find that they document historical rights that must be cooperated to preserve. From the departure of the procession of His Beatitude the Patriarch from Jerusalem to Mar Elias, where the Mayor of Beit Jala, the parish priest, and the dignitaries of the city and the parish are waiting to welcome and greet him, considering it the historical borders of the city of Beit Jala, to accompanying him to the area of Rachel’s Tomb, where he is received by the priest of the Bethlehem parish, the deputy mayor, and the parish institutions, in addition to the president, members, and priest of the Beit Sahour parish, to confirm the warm welcome and that Bethlehem begins from there, everyone sets off, accompanied by the Palestinian police, to Manger Square, passing by the scouts and the huge local and international crowds. It has been customary for years now for the Patriarch to get off his vehicle and walk on foot to Manger Square, where he is received there by the Mayor of Bethlehem, the governor, the police chief, and the commander of the region, in a symbolic and essential image that bears the confirmation of very important rights. His Beatitude will then walk with them, followed by dignitaries, notables, believers and attendees to the church courtyard where the monks will receive him with prayers that begin their rituals from there, passing through the Church of the Nativity and arriving at the Church of Saint Catherine. Based on the great importance that His Holiness Pope Francis attaches to Jerusalem, Bethlehem and the Holy Land, he bestowed upon its Patriarch the rank of Cardinal, which is one of the highest ecclesiastical and administrative ranks in the Catholic Church, to tell the whole world that Jerusalem, Bethlehem, Palestine and the Holy Land are the mother of churches.

Over the course of those thirty years, during which Bethlehem began a new life under the Palestinian National Authority, which constitutes the nucleus of the Palestinian state that the people, all believers, and free people of the world aspire to on the path to achieving just and comprehensive peace, President Yasser Arafat came to Bethlehem among a human flow that the governorate had never witnessed before, and began the annual tradition of his attendance at the Christmas Mass. His words still ring in my ears when he used to say to me: You pray Christmas once, but I pray Christmas three times, referring to his participation in the holiday with the three sister churches: the Latin, the Orthodox, and the Armenian. President Mahmoud Abbas continues on this path in word and deed, and participates in Christmas prayers three times.

Words and gestures that some may find simple, but on the contrary, they are profound and very important on the Christian, national and international levels. Unfortunately, in the thirtieth year of that launch, we find Bethlehem under siege, groaning under the economic burden and the absence of tourism. Groaning in sadness over the killing and displacement taking place in Gaza, groaning over the killing, siege and suffering taking place in the West Bank and Jerusalem in all areas of life. This year’s birth is the saddest of those thirty years. The streets are empty, hearts are extinguished, minds are wandering, hopes are fading, rights are lost, and the life of the Palestinian people is absent from the agenda of decision-makers and influencers in this world. A year that witnesses the most dangerous challenge in the history of this land, as many forces have begun to spread corruption, trying to undermine rights, sow plots and sedition, and sow the seeds of division, as if the Palestinian people lack that.

The year 1995 witnessed the beginning of the embodiment of the Palestinian dream and right, this embodiment that was supposed to grant peace to the region and all its inhabitants, but that step did not please the enemies of peace, who worked hard and with great malice to destroy it, so that today, in the thirtieth year, we have reached a stage where the dream and right are almost fading away. However, with one hand and with the blessings of the birth of the Prince of Peace, let us transform the sacrifices and challenges into a new starting point towards a better future. Let us be careful, let us be gentle like doves but wise like serpents, for the danger is great, and a right that is lost is difficult to restore. What has been achieved must be preserved and not lost.

The year 2025 is the Jubilee Year, when Pope Francis will open the Jubilee Year door in the Vatican on the occasion of Christmas, announcing the start of the Jubilee Year, sending hope, peace and love to a world filled with wars, killing and destruction. Let the war stop, let the killing stop, let people return to their homes and children to their parents who remain, for these are the most basic human rights. Let the pilgrims and pilgrims return to Bethlehem and Jerusalem, praying, supporting and backing them, so that hope remains in life, brought by the birth of the Prince of Peace to this land two thousand and twenty-five years ago.

Yes, in the land of Christmas, for the second year, Christmas celebrations are forcibly absent. There is no Christmas tree decorated, no celebrations held, and no manifestations of the holiday. Not in Bethlehem, the birthplace of Christ, peace be upon him, nor in Jerusalem, the Via Dolorosa. This absence and the limitation of celebrations to rituals, rites, and religious prayers is due to the massacres and genocide committed against our people, not only in the steadfast Gaza Strip, but extending to the entire geography of the homeland. Our people, like all peoples, want to participate in the Christmas celebrations. In fact, they are the main arena and center in the world for these celebrations, as delegations, visitors, and pilgrims come to Bethlehem from abroad to participate in these celebrations and light the Christmas tree. But there are those who confiscate the joy of our people, and do not want children to have joy and smiles on their faces on this holiday. How will the children of Palestine rejoice and be happy, when more than 16,000 Palestinian children have been killed by the continuous Israeli raids and bombardment, some of whom have been killed by hunger, malnutrition, and lack of milk?

Yes, while the eyes of the world are directed during Christmas to Bethlehem, the birthplace of Jesus Christ, the city, its streets and alleys appear almost empty of tourists for the second year in a row, and the Christmas tree, decorations and lights are absent from Manger Square in Bethlehem, while the genocidal war perpetrated by the Israeli occupation in the Gaza Strip continues.

In the press conference held in the Bethlehem Municipality, Saturday 12-21-2024, for the glorious Christmas holidays, the Mayor of Bethlehem, Anton Salman, said, “Bethlehem is the capital of Christmas, and in this glorious Christmas season, the candle of hope is lit again, calling on the peoples of the world to adopt the values of Christmas; peace, justice and love. Our message is clear and evident: despite the pain and injustice, we remain a living people who love peace, adore life and cling to their roots in this holy land, so that we may remain witnesses to Christmas and salvation, carrying a message of hope and peace, believing in the justice of heaven that will inevitably come, despite the hatred, injustice and persecution that beset our time.”

The two cities that were most clearly and significantly affected after the aggressive war launched by Israel on the Gaza Strip, since October 7, 2023, especially in the tourism sector and its associated commercial and economic movement, hotels, restaurants, and oriental antiques shops, are Jerusalem and Bethlehem, as the two cities suffered from isolation, and tourism stopped completely, and no pilgrims, visitors, or tourists came to them. In addition, these two cities were besieged, and Jerusalem turned into a military barracks. Fixed and mobile military checkpoints, and an unprecedented security and police presence. Bethlehem had checkpoints placed at its entrances, and its villages were separated from each other, and it was separated from the city of Bethlehem by more checkpoints and gates. Anyone who wants to reach Bethlehem thinks a hundred times before coming to it, as the occupation checkpoints and gates are subject to the moods of its soldiers, so the Palestinian citizen does not know when those checkpoints will open and when they will close, as well as those gates that are controlled by the moods of the soldiers.

The tourism sector in these two cities received a severe blow from which it has not recovered, as the "Corona" pandemic, from March 2020 until mid-2022, paralyzed the tourism movement in particular, and the commercial and economic movement in a very large way, and now came the battle of October 7, which has been ongoing for 443 days, and the two cities are in a state of almost complete commercial and economic paralysis.

In this regard, the Palestinian Minister of Tourism, Mr. Hani Al-Hayek, said, “Since the aggression of October 7, 2023, the tourism sector has suffered huge losses estimated at more than one billion dollars, of which about 600 million dollars were lost by Bethlehem alone, in addition to indirect losses. The unemployment rate has also risen to more than 36%, and the poverty rate has increased, as about 30% of Bethlehem’s population has no source of income.

What applies to Bethlehem applies to the city of Jerusalem. Commercial and economic activity there is almost paralyzed, and many merchants are closing their shops, as they have come to feel that closing their shops saves them the expenses incurred by opening them, such as electricity, water, services, taxes, maintenance, and various expenses.

We do not know whether the upcoming holidays for our Palestinian people, Islamic and Christian, will be able to enjoy security, peace, freedom and independence, in light of an unjust international community that is complicit in our people, as it has not moved a finger in the face of the crimes of genocide and ethnic cleansing committed against this people. Even the leaders and officers of the occupying state, headed by Moshe Ya’alon, the former Minister of War and Chief of Staff, said that there are acts of ethnic cleansing being practiced in the northern Gaza Strip, and that the Israeli army is not the most moral of the world’s armies. Meanwhile, the commander of the 252nd Division said that on the Netzarim axis, there is what is known as the corpse line, where the bodies of Palestinians are thrown and left to be devoured by dogs. A reserve officer said that the soldiers and commanders are acting like armed militias, and are killing civilians on their own, without referring to any laws or instructions.

We ask all countries of the world, especially those that always talk about freedom, democracy, justice, human rights, children's rights, women's rights, and the right of peoples to self-determination: Where is Palestine and its people in all these statements and values that you promote, and we discover that they are nothing but a set of lies, deception, and misleading? The war of extermination that is being waged against our people in the Gaza Strip, targeting children, women, buildings, centers, and civil institutions, and the bodies of Palestinians that are being devoured by dogs, have not convinced you to take action to stop these crimes, destruction, and starvation. Is this because you consider our Arab and Islamic peoples, according to your racist and supremacist theories of what is known as the "end of history" or the "clash of civilizations", to be barbaric, uncivilized peoples, and therefore we do not deserve to live, but rather we must be eliminated, so that what you call peace and stability may prevail in the world?

Finally, I say: How many Christmas, Easter, Eid al-Fitr and Eid al-Adha will our Palestinian people experience while they are under the last occupation in the world that is robbing them of their land and their right to live in security and stability in a free homeland where their children enjoy the freedom to play, move and celebrate holidays with joy and without fear?!

No Christmas tree is decorated, no Ramadan decorations are hung in the place of the Prophet Muhammad’s Night Journey, peace be upon him, and no Christmas tree is decorated and lit in the cradle of the Arab Christ, peace be upon him. The children of Gaza are in a state of constant terror and fear, as the bullets and bombing of the occupation’s aircraft sow terror, fear and death among them.

The Israeli Foreign Ministry did not wait long to respond harshly to the Pope's statements in which he described the killing of children in an Israeli raid on the Gaza Strip, saying that "this bombing is not war but brutality," adding in a low tone with a lot of emotion: "I want to say this because it touches my heart."

The Israeli Foreign Ministry was not pleased that the Pope expressed what was in his heart or conscience, so it issued a shocking and terrifying statement, describing the Pope’s statements as “particularly disappointing, because they are disconnected from the real and realistic context of Israel’s war against jihadist terrorism, a multi-front war imposed on it since October 7.” Then the Foreign Ministry concluded its shocking and terrifying statement with a strict and decisive warning: “Enough with the double standards and targeting of the Jewish state and its people.”

In confirmation of this position or any Israeli positions that fall under it, the occupation forces prevented the Patriarch of Jerusalem from entering the Gaza Strip on Christmas Eve, as part of an Israeli policy that has been in place since October 7 to prevent the press, international bodies and figures from visiting the Strip and seeing the atrocities taking place there.

This swift, aggressive and shocking Israeli position was preceded by the position of the Israeli Minister of Diaspora, Amichai Chikli, which he presented in an article he published in Italian newspapers, attacking the Pope because of a book the latter had published in which he stated that international experts indicated the possibility that the atrocities taking place in Gaza might bear the features of genocide. The aforementioned minister confirmed that what was mentioned in the book was a disregard for the concept of genocide, as if this minister wanted to say that there is no genocide except that which befell the Jewish groups, and that there is no pain that can be understood and felt except by the Jewish groups alone.

It goes without saying that the statement of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the statements of the Minister are nothing but an assault on reality, and a re-presentation of it with religious and cultural concepts that find receptive ears in certain Western circles. Saying that the conflict is religious and that the Jewish groups are the most deserving of life and that they monopolize history, its making and its narration, and take on the roles of victim and hero in it at the same time, and that what is happening in Palestine is a conflict between the stray light and the prevailing terrorism, is nothing but a confusion of the cards and a frightening of the media platforms, people of opinion and the elite. The important thing in all of this is that Israel has reached the point of attacking the Pope, belittling his opinion, correcting his words, and responding to him without the slightest deterrent or restraint. Why not, when it had desecrated the Church of the Nativity in 2002, and directed many insults and humiliations at various Christian places and symbols? Although I personally am cautious about giving the conflict a religious character, Israeli madness and extremism are pushing things to that. The bankruptcy of secular, socialist, and leftist Zionism in general has pushed new generations of Israelis to throw themselves into the arms of religious narratives that provide extremely seditious answers to people who have created extremely bad conditions for them and for other peoples of the region. They are fueled in this by another Western madness that sees in returning to literal interpretations of the Old and New Testaments better final answers than in the versions of secularism and its multiple layers from the fifteenth century to the present day.

On the other hand, US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan gave us a surprise statement about two weeks ago during his recent visit to Tel Aviv, in which he said that Americans and Jews sanctify human life, and therefore he believes that Israel’s killing of Palestinian civilians is justified because Hamas is using them as human shields, and therefore Hamas is responsible for their killing.

Thus, Jake Sullivan was able to simply satisfy his conscience and the Western and American conscience in particular by saying that killing civilians is justified as long as they are dependent on terrorism, and that they lose their right to protection as long as they have accepted to be transformed into human shields, meaning that they bear responsibility for their killing or torture, but Americans and Jews sanctify human life, a statement that reflects a great deal of confusion, ignorance, and a desire for cheap courtesy, selling positions, and providing free services. It is clear that Sullivan desires or is paving the way for him to assume a new and important position after leaving this administration. The man's ignorance stems from the fact that Americans are a mixture of different races and cultures, and do not have a single identity. The idea of "Americanization" has not been able to dissolve these nationalities or cultures, which explains the large number of lobbies and pressure groups. Americans have a common interest, not a common nationality, on the one hand. On the other hand, Jews are also multiple groups and conflicting cultures, but Sullivan, for legitimate reasons of interest, brings all of this together to decide that all of these sanctify human life. It is clear that if we put this statement on the historical and moral standard, we would find that it is a blatant lie. The Pope's statements and Sullivan's statements reflect this harsh and difficult test that Western civilization faces with all its claims and statements, and explain to us many of the manifestations and Western reactions that fall into a deep abyss not only of moral deterioration, but also of potential security risks.

There is a huge difference between the Pope’s statements and Sullivan’s statements, and despite that, we Palestinians who are suffering from all this madness, extremism, double standards, and weak and absent positions continue to live. We have no choice but to continue to live, certain that there is a God who manages the universe, and that neither Israel nor anyone else manages this vast universe.

White House National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan said Sunday evening that the Biden administration is concerned about a weakened Iran seeking to acquire a nuclear weapon, adding that he is briefing President-elect Donald Trump's team on the danger.

Washington says Iran's influence in the Middle East has suffered setbacks after Israeli attacks on Lebanon's Hezbollah and the subsequent fall of President Bashar al-Assad's regime in Syria.

Sullivan told CNN that Israeli strikes on Iranian facilities, including missile production plants and air defenses, had reduced Tehran's conventional military capabilities.

"It's not surprising that there are voices in Iran saying, 'Maybe we should now pursue a nuclear weapon, maybe we should rethink our nuclear doctrine,'" Sullivan added.

uranium enrichment

Iran says its nuclear program is peaceful, but it has expanded uranium enrichment since Trump, during his first term, withdrew from an agreement between Iran and Western countries that aimed to curb Tehran's nuclear ambitions in exchange for easing sanctions on Tehran.

Sullivan said there was a risk that Iran would abandon its pledge not to possess nuclear weapons.

"This is a risk that we are now vigilant about. I am personally working to brief the new president's team on this risk," he added, stressing that he is also consulting with Israel on the issue.

Trump, who takes office on January 20, may resume a hardline policy toward Tehran by tightening sanctions on Iran's oil sector.

Sullivan said Trump would have the opportunity to continue diplomatic efforts with Tehran, given Iran's "weakened state."

"He may change his position this time, given the situation Iran finds itself in, and actually reach a nuclear agreement that limits Iran's nuclear ambitions in the long term," he added.

President-elect Donald Trump has expressed his willingness to meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin as soon as possible, stressing his ability to end the Russian war against Ukraine and his ability to quickly end wars in the Middle East. However, Trump has sparked widespread controversy over his threat to regain American control of the Panama Canal, his ideas that carry a new perspective on foreign policy, and his trade threats that raise concerns and send messages that his next term will not be peaceful, and that he will implement his “America First” agenda without many of the barriers that restricted his first term.

In his first major rally since winning the presidential election, Trump spoke for more than an hour on Sunday at an event for young conservatives in Phoenix, Arizona. Thousands of conservative activists applauded as the president-elect took the stage amid a display of fireworks, smoke and patriotic songs. They chanted the name of the incoming president, who told them, “I stand before you today and I can proudly say that the golden age of America has arrived.” He pledged that his “dream team” of cabinet and government appointees would work to bring prosperity to the U.S. economy, close U.S. borders and fight drug trafficking.

Meeting with Putin

Trump noted that Russian President Vladimir Putin has expressed interest in meeting with him about the war with Ukraine, saying, “President Putin wants to meet with me as soon as possible, so we have to wait and we have to end this terrible war.” The president-elect hinted that U.S. military aid to Ukraine may continue after he takes office. NATO and the European Union are working to find ways to maintain support for Ukraine while Trump seeks a quick solution to end the war and bring the parties to the negotiating table.

Trump had previously promised in his election campaign to end the war within 24 hours, but he did not explain how he would do so, especially since Putin had set strict conditions for any agreement, including rejecting Ukraine’s accession to NATO, reducing its military strength, and holding on to Russian-controlled territory inside Ukraine. Analysts believe that these demands make reaching a peace agreement difficult.

Panama Canal Restore

Trump raised a different foreign policy issue, accusing Panama of imposing excessive fees for passage through the canal, the passageway between the Atlantic and Pacific oceans. Trump said he would insist on regaining control of the canal, which the United States relinquished under a treaty signed by former U.S. President Jimmy Carter in 1977. Washington relinquished control of the waterway to Panama in December 1999.

"We are being cheated in the Panama Canal just like we are being cheated everywhere else," Trump said, noting that his new administration would try to take control of the Panama Canal, describing giving up the canal as "foolishness."

“They must treat us fairly, and if the moral and legal principles of this gesture are not followed, we will demand that the Panama Canal be returned to the United States of America, in full, quickly and without question. We will not stand idly by,” he added.

Panama's President Jose Raul Molino took to social media to say his country's sovereignty was non-negotiable, and Trump posted on Truth Social a photo of the Panama Canal with the American flag and the words "Welcome to the United States Canal."

Musk will not be president

During his speech, Trump mocked Democrats' accusation that tech billionaire Elon Musk is exerting influence over the president-elect and has become a shadow president who drives the policies of the next administration. Trump said, laughing, "There are hoaxes being woven and the new thing is that President Trump is conceding the presidency to Elon Musk. No, no, that's not going to happen... He's not going to be president. I'm safe. You know why? Because he wasn't born in this country."

According to the US Constitution's requirements for the presidency, no one can run for president if they were not born in the United States. Elon Musk was born in South Africa and became a US citizen in 2002, so he cannot become president unless the constitution is amended.

Trump announced that Elon Musk would lead the Department of Government Efficiency with businessman and former Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy, after Musk played a major role in donating millions of dollars to Trump’s campaign. Over the past week, Democrats have raised concerns that Musk is becoming more than just a billionaire spending his money to support Trump or a mere participant in the Department of Government Efficiency, but rather is working to impose his views on President Trump and control his direction. This came after Musk led a broad campaign to reject the spending bill and criticized the project on his platform “X.” Musk responded last Friday in a tweet accusing Democrats of trying to drive a wedge between him and the president-elect.

First day in the white house

The president-elect reiterated his pledge to close the southern border with Mexico and deport illegal immigrants, saying, “On my first day in the Oval Office, I will sign a historic list of executive orders to close our borders to illegal aliens and stop the invasion of our country. On the same day, we will begin the largest deportation operation in American history, larger than even President Dwight D. Eisenhower’s.”

“I’ve told Mexico and Canada that they’re going to have to step in and stop the flow of illegal immigrants and illegal drugs into our country, and they have to stop. That goes for the European Union and that goes for a lot of other places. The European Union has treated us very badly. We have hundreds of billions of dollars in deficits. They don’t take our cars, they don’t take our agricultural products, but we take their products and they have to be careful and not treat us that way, and they won’t treat us that way for long, that’s what I can tell you. Because we’re not going to let them turn the United States into a dumping ground,” the president-elect added.

“To save our economy, I will sign day one orders to end all Biden restrictions on energy production, end his crazy electric vehicle mandate, and lift the ban on natural gas exports,” he continued.

On the social side, Trump stressed the protection of far-right principles, saying: “With the stroke of a pen on Day One, we will stop the transgender madness. I will sign executive orders to end the sexual mutilation of children, and to remove transgender people from the military and from our elementary, middle, and high schools. We will ban men from women’s sports. And it will happen the next day, too.” He added: “Under a Trump administration, it will be the official policy of the United States government that there are only two sexes, male and female.”

Today, Monday, the Israeli occupation forces stormed the village of Shuyukh al-Arroub, north of Hebron, demolished a house, and shot a citizen.

According to local sources, these forces demolished a house belonging to citizen Muhammad Haroun Halayqa, which houses seven people. He explained that the occupation had notified the halt of work and construction there four months ago, under the pretext that construction is prohibited in the “Al-Bass” area.

She reported that a citizen was injured by live bullets in the thigh during the clashes that erupted after the house was demolished.

Peace Now said that settlers have established seven colonial outposts in the occupied West Bank.

The organization explained in a press release published on its website that the seven colonial outposts were established in Area B during a period ranging from two to six months in the past.

She explained that 5 of these outposts are located in a large area of land east and southeast of the city of Bethlehem, and that one of the other two colonial outposts was established east of the "Ofra" settlement in the middle of the West Bank, on lands owned by the village of "Ein Yabrud".

The other outpost is located to the north, near the Shilo settlement, south of the Adei Ad settlement outpost, which was built on lands belonging to the village of Turmus Ayya.

The organization indicated in its statement that some citizens were displaced from these areas for fear of attacks by the settlers, who later seized their homes.

The United Nations considers Israeli settlements illegal and calls for their cessation, warning that they undermine the chances of resolving the Palestinian-Israeli conflict in accordance with the principle of a two-state solution.

Settlement in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, has witnessed a significant increase since the current right-wing government headed by Benjamin Netanyahu came to power in December 2022.

According to the Wall and Settlement Resistance Commission, the occupation army and settlers carried out 16,663 attacks on Palestinian lands and properties from October 7, 2023 to October 7, 2024, taking advantage of the circumstances of war and aggression against our people in order to impose new facts on the ground.

During the same period, settlers, under the protection of the occupation army, established 29 colonial outposts, concentrated in the Hebron Governorate with 8 outposts, Ramallah with 6 outposts, Bethlehem with 4 outposts, and 3 in Nablus, in addition to paving 7 roads to facilitate the movement of settlers and connect outposts to existing settlements.

The occupation authorities legalized 11 colonial outposts and transformed them into colonies or settlement neighborhoods affiliated with existing colonies, and referred a total of 9 other outposts to legalization procedures.

Pope Francis condemned the bombing of children in Gaza as "cruelty", sparking criticism from Israel.

Pope Francis on Saturday condemned the bombing of children in Gaza as "cruelty", sparking a sharp response from Israel which accused him of "double standards".

The pontiff made his remarks a day after the rescue agency in Gaza said an Israeli air strike had killed seven children from one family.

"Yesterday they did not allow the Patriarch (of Jerusalem) into Gaza as promised," the pope told members of the government of the Holy See.

"Yesterday children were bombed. This is cruelty, this is not war," he said. "I want to say it because it touches my heart."

In a statement, an Israeli foreign ministry spokesman described the pope's remarks as "particularly disappointing", adding: "Enough with the double standards and the singling out of the Jewish state and its people."

Gaza's civil defence rescue agency reported that an Israeli air strike had killed 10 members of a family on Friday in the northern part of the territory, including seven children.

Israel's offensive on the besieged enclave continues to rock the territory more than 14 months into the war, even as international mediators work to negotiate a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas.

Francis, 88, has called for peace since Israel's war on Gaza began on 7 October 2023. In recent weeks he has hardened his remarks against the Israeli offensive.

In late November he said "the invader's arrogance... prevails over dialogue" in "Palestine", a rare position that contrasts with the tradition of neutrality of the Holy See.

In a recently published book the pope called for a "careful" study as to whether the situation in Gaza "corresponds to the technical definition" of genocide, an accusation firmly rejected by Israel.

Since 2013 the Holy See has recognised the State of Palestine, with which it maintains diplomatic relations, and it supports the two-state solution.

Oxfam, a non-governmental organization, announced that only 12 humanitarian aid trucks distributed food and water in northern Gaza in two and a half months, sounding the alarm about the deteriorating situation in the besieged Strip.

“Deliberate delays and systematic obstruction by the Israeli military have meant that only 12 trucks have been able to deliver aid to starving Palestinian civilians,” including deliveries, “out of the 34 trucks carrying food and water allowed into North Gaza Governorate over the past two and a half months,” Oxfam said in a statement on Monday.

She pointed out that "in the case of three of them, as soon as food and water were distributed to the school where residents had taken refuge, it was subsequently evacuated and bombed a few hours later."

The occupation has imposed strict control over the arrival of international aid, which is essential for the 2.4 million people of Gaza, since the beginning of the war on the Gaza Strip on October 7, 2023.

Oxfam said it and other international humanitarian organisations had been "continuously prevented" from delivering vital aid in northern Gaza since October 6, when Israel intensified its bombing.

Oxfam estimates that "thousands of people remain isolated, but with humanitarian access blocked, it is impossible to accurately count them."

“At the beginning of December, humanitarian organizations working in Gaza were receiving calls from vulnerable people trapped in homes or shelters, who had run out of food and water,” she added.

By Mamdouh Al-Sheikh

No fair-minded person denies that the global system, which was born from the womb of World War II, is a global system that has established the centrality of the West and made it codified inside and outside the Security Council. With the delay in the birth of a multilateral global system, the difference between our awareness of the extent of the West’s influence in international political reality, and our vision of the West theoretically and morally, is the difference between “what we can adopt” and “what we wish for.” The direct political assessment of what is happening in our region cannot ignore the “Western actor,” especially in light of the appalling Arab inability.

In the conflict—explicit or implicit—over Western support, which we have never received, for our just causes, questions arise: values, interests, and the extent of our accurate knowledge of the official, elite, and popular West. Exploration is not without paradoxes and shocks (and sometimes pleasant surprises), and what is happening today is an example of that.

One important piece of literature in this context is a policy paper titled “Geostrategic Factors, Not Humanitarian Considerations, Shape Public Opinion in the West” (Jerusalem Institute for Strategy and Security, November 25, 2024) by Professor Hillel Frisch, professor of political science and Middle Eastern history at Bar-Ilan University. The most important point of the paper is that, contrary to what the American “progressive” media (such as CNN) would have us believe, “the educated English-speaking public is more interested in the geostrategic aspects of the conflict than in the humanitarian plight of the Palestinians.” The Zionist researcher based his paper on Google search statistics during the war, focusing heavily on the terms “Iran” and “Israel” rather than “Gaza” and “Palestinians,” especially among the American public. This finding proves that the Western public is more focused on the danger of regional turmoil and the possibility of a wider regional war than on human rights and humanitarian issues. The powerful liberal progressive media outlets (CNN, The New York Times, The Washington Post) would have us believe that they view the conflict through a humanitarian and progressive lens. According to the Zionist researcher, these “progressive” outlets’ coverage of the humanitarian plight in Gaza is based on the assumption that the massive death toll outweighs geostrategic concerns. The researcher’s analysis of the statistics shows that “progressive and humanitarian concerns play a secondary role.” Even in November 2023, for every six searches related to Israel or Iran, there was only one search for the terms “Palestinians” or “Gaza.” If Google searchers actually focused on “humanitarian” issues, the ratio would be reversed. Western audiences focus on the danger of regional unrest and the possibility of a wider regional war, more than on human rights and humanitarian issues.. This is what one study concluded

The most important and dangerous conclusion written by the Zionist researcher is that this reflects the fact that "international politics in America is primarily the work of the elites." For Israel, these results are useful, and show that "contrary to the portrayal of the war in the leading "progressive" media, most educated English speakers around the world and America view the conflict through a realistic lens." The conclusion of the conclusions reveals the brutal nature of the researcher's moral vision, as he says that the results indicate that "Israel actually enjoys a greater degree of freedom in dealing with its enemies than is usually imagined."

The analytical methodology used by the researcher is not without weaknesses that can be examined in detail, and its author ignored reactions that contradict the statistics on which he relied (individually), and that the Gaza war actually affected the concept of the elite and its limits. After the conclusion of the study and my comment on it, and the cognitive (and moral) lessons remain, the perspective is purely Darwinian, and it reminded me of two incidents: a dialogue with the Zionist war theorist Martin van Creveld, in which he told his interlocutor that brutal crimes are part of the structure of history, and that Israel must strike the Palestinians with a terrible blow that will kill thousands to ensure Israel's security for years to come, and he stressed that this will not lead anyone to any international justice, as the West will turn a blind eye, as long as it is a crime aimed at preventing a greater crime! In the second incident, the former Secretary-General of the United Nations Boutros Boutros-Ghali strongly urged the use of lethal force against the "Arab Spring" to save the "national state", stressing that the West will forget... and the Zionist researcher, in the end, "preachs" to the Zionist decision-maker that the ceiling of brutality that the West can accept is much higher than it seems!

Dr. Ahmed Rafiq Awad: Hypersonic missiles carry clear messages warning against targeting Iranian nuclear facilities

Akram Atallah: Houthi attacks reflect a real crisis in the Israeli strategy for dealing with distant threats

Antoine Shalhat: A turning point in the conflict that goes beyond the traditional regional confrontation and an Israeli failure to deter the Houthis

Dr. Tamara Haddad: Iran is using the Houthis as a key card to improve the terms of negotiations with America, especially with Trump approaching his assumption of power

Nabhan Khreisha: The Yemeni front is a “dilemma” that hinders Netanyahu’s vision of achieving “absolute victory,” especially after his claimed achievements in Lebanon and Gaza

In light of the regional transformations, the Houthis launched a hypersonic missile attack the day before yesterday, Saturday, targeting the Israeli depth, which could put Israel before difficult options to respond in the Yemeni depth, especially since these hypersonic missiles are viewed as a preemptive Iranian threat message to Israel to dissuade it from attempts to target its nuclear facilities.

In separate interviews with “I”, writers, political analysts and specialists believe that these attacks by the Houthis are part of an indirect Iranian escalation against Israel, especially since the recent attack bypassed advanced Israeli defense systems, and opened the door to questions about the Israeli response options and the extent of its impact on the regional balance of power.

They point out that Israel faces a new strategic challenge in confronting a long-term threat, directly linked to Iranian policies, where the response options available to Tel Aviv range from intensifying air strikes against the Houthis, cooperating with the US-led international coalition, ending the war on the Gaza Strip to end the Houthi attacks, or even political negotiations with Iran to reach a broader settlement that includes sensitive files such as the Iranian nuclear program. However, the geographical distance and rugged terrain of Yemen represent an obstacle to Israel carrying out direct and effective military operations.

Writers, analysts and specialists believe that the continued Houthi attacks on Israel may come as Iranian messages aimed at improving Tehran's negotiating terms with the United States, especially with the approach of a new US administration.

Israel under Netanyahu faces multiple options in response

Writer and political analyst Dr. Ahmed Rafiq Awad believes that Israel, led by Benjamin Netanyahu, has multiple options in its response to the attacks launched by the Houthis, the latest of which was on Saturday with a hypersonic missile, noting that these options vary in terms of effectiveness and strategic impact.

Awad explains that one of the options available to Israel is to continue bombing Houthi sites using Israeli aircraft. Although this option is difficult and does not guarantee decisive results, it remains on the table. Israel may find it difficult to achieve major strategic gains through these air strikes, but it may seek to weaken the Houthis’ military capabilities.

Awad points to the second option, which is that Israel may rely on the international coalition led by the United States and the United Kingdom to intensify air strikes on Houthi sites. Indeed, there have been American strikes targeting the Houthis, which shows the coalition’s role in supporting Israel and its strategic interests.

Awad addresses the third option, which is that there should be an Israeli settlement with the Palestinians, which could be a fundamental step to end the Houthi attacks, as the Houthis have explicitly declared that their attacks will continue as long as the war on Gaza continues, which makes stopping this war and settling the situation in the Strip a logical option if Israel wants to reduce tensions with the Houthis and their allies.

The fourth option, according to Awad, is that Israel could seek a political or even military settlement with Iran that includes controversial issues, such as the Iranian nuclear program and regional influence. Such a settlement could lead to calming the situation with the Houthis, who are considered one of Iran’s most important allies in the region.

Meanwhile, Awad points out that the Houthi attacks, especially the hypersonic missiles, carry clear messages from Iran to Israel and the West, as the ballistic missile attacks, which Israeli defense systems failed to intercept, reflect the development of Iranian missiles, which have become a strategic weapon capable of bypassing traditional defense systems.

Awad believes that these messages include a warning to Israel against targeting Iranian nuclear facilities, and an emphasis on the ability of Iran and its allies to respond forcefully.

Dr. Awad stresses the difficulty of a comprehensive war breaking out between Israel and Yemen due to the great geographical distance, as more than 2,000 kilometers separate the two parties.

However, Awad points out that limited confrontations between the two sides may continue in the future, especially if Israel does not reach a settlement with the Palestinians or the Iranians.

Awad asserts that the Houthis represent a strong ally of Iran, given their ability to launch ballistic missiles and control vital waterways such as Bab al-Mandab, through which about a fifth of global trade passes. This Iranian-Houthi alliance is not as fragile as one might think, but rather represents a major strategic challenge to Israel and the Western coalition.

Awad believes that the continuation of Houthi attacks on Israel depends on the continuation of the war in Gaza, and that reaching regional political settlements remains the most effective option to calm the situation and end tensions.

Hypersonic missiles: a new and complex challenge

Writer and political analyst Akram Atallah believes that Israel faces a new and complex challenge in the form of hypersonic missiles launched by the Houthis from Yemen. Although the Israeli Arrow missile defense system, which is one of the most prominent achievements of the Israeli defense industries, has shown great effectiveness against other threats, it has failed to confront these advanced missiles, which reflects a real crisis in the Israeli strategy for dealing with distant threats.

Atallah stresses that the Houthi threat poses a new challenge to Israel that may last for a long time, especially since its regional roots are linked to Iran.

Atallah points out that Israel has achieved tangible successes in confronting it on the fronts of Gaza, Lebanon and Syria, but Yemen, despite its geographical distance and the lack of a common border with Israel, is now emerging as a new threat, especially after the Houthis launched missiles that proved their ability to bypass Israeli defense systems. This development places Israel before a different equation that requires a re-evaluation of its military and security strategies.

Atallah believes that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has options to deal with this threat, either intensifying air strikes against the Houthis with the aim of exhausting them or pushing them to surrender, or perhaps Israel seeks to mobilize countries such as the United States and its allies to strike the Houthis more effectively, or targeting Iran, as the primary sponsor of the Houthis, and it may be a strategic option to end the threat from its roots, as Netanyahu believes that the “driving head” is Iran, which is still able to influence all its allies, including the Houthis.

Atallah points out that the Houthi attacks may carry Iranian messages aimed at confirming the strength and solidity of the resistance axis, and its ability to disrupt Israeli military plans.

Regarding the possibility of a confrontation between Israel and Yemen, Atallah believes that the geographical distance makes any direct war difficult to implement, as this confrontation will remain within the framework of “remote warfare” and will depend on air and missile attacks without the ability to use ground forces or tanks, which makes it a war of limited impact.

A turning point... and a long-term Israeli goal

The writer, political analyst and specialist in Israeli affairs, Antoine Shalhat, believes that the Houthis’ launch of a missile at the Gush Dan area in Tel Aviv on Saturday, without the Israeli defense system being able to intercept it, constitutes a turning point in the conflict that goes beyond the boundaries of the traditional regional confrontation.

Shalhat explains that this development highlights Israel's failure to impose a deterrent policy against the Houthis, despite the repeated air strikes it launched on infrastructure sites in Sanaa and Hodeidah.

Shalhat points out that the Houthis' continued launching of missiles and drones and targeting ships passing through Bab al-Mandab and the port of Eilat reflects Israel's failure to stop this threat.

Shalhat believes that this situation is pushing the Israeli security and political establishments to acknowledge the futility of current tactics, which increases pressure to find more effective solutions.

Shalhat believes that the most likely scenario for the Israeli response to these attacks is the continuation of Israeli cooperation with the United States and Britain, in line with the Israeli desire to eliminate the Houthi infrastructure.

Shalhat points out that Israel has a long-term goal, which is to overthrow the Houthi regime in Yemen.

However, according to Shalhat, this goal remains dependent on the extent of the United States’ willingness to commit to implementing it, especially in light of the need for clear American support to implement any large-scale operation.

Israel seeks to exploit the Houthi file as a means of pressuring the US administration, according to Shalhat, noting that Israel promotes the Houthi threat as a danger that goes beyond the borders of the Israeli conflict, and includes international maritime lanes in the Red Sea. Through this narrative, Israel hopes to obtain American and international support for a military operation aimed at reducing the capabilities of the Houthis, or even overthrowing their regime.

Shalhat links the Houthi attacks against Israel to the Israeli escalation against Iran, and believes that these attacks represent direct messages from Tehran, indicating that any Israeli attack on Iranian nuclear facilities will not pass without widespread reactions, including the Houthis.

Shalhat explains that Iran's provision of advanced military technologies to the Houthis, such as ballistic missiles and drones, aims to demonstrate the weakness of the Israeli defense system and target strategic sites, including the port of Eilat.

Shalhat believes that the decision to launch an Israeli war on Yemen does not fall within Israel's jurisdiction alone, but rather depends on the approval of the United States.

Shalhat explains that Israel may consider a large-scale military operation against the Houthis, but it will not do so without an American green light.

Shalhat points out that the imminent entry of a new American administration, more friendly towards Israel, may provide the appropriate conditions for implementing this scenario if the Houthi threat continues.

Shalhat believes that the future of the war with the Houthis depends largely on the American-Israeli consensus, and on Israel’s ability to benefit from the changes in the next American administration. If the Houthi threat continues, Israel may seek to carry out a military operation in cooperation with its international partners, targeting the Houthi infrastructure, in an attempt to change the balance of power in the region. However, the question of the success of these efforts remains open to regional and international developments.

The last card as a strategic arm for Iran in the Red Sea

Writer and political researcher Dr. Tamara Haddad explains that the Houthis, or what is known as "Ansar Allah", represent the last card as a strategic arm for Iran in the Red Sea region.

Haddad points out that Tehran provides the Houthis with financial, military, logistical and intelligence support, including ballistic missiles and hypersonic missiles of Iranian origin, despite what is promoted in the Yemeni media that they are locally manufactured.

Haddad points out that the Houthis benefit from intelligence information provided by Iran in cooperation with Russia, including ship traffic routes in the Red Sea, which allows them to target shipping vessels with precision.

Haddad points out that what the Houthis are doing has led to an economic crisis in the region, which has affected global maritime companies, even Chinese companies.

Dr. Haddad believes that Iran is using the Houthis as one of its main cards to improve the terms of negotiations with the United States, especially with the approach of US President-elect Donald Trump taking office in January 2025.

Haddad points out that Tehran seeks to achieve gains in any new nuclear agreement or reduction of US sanctions imposed on it, and Iran also aims to improve its negotiating position by keeping the region in a state of security tension, through supporting factions loyal to it in Iraq and Yemen.

Haddad points out that the Houthis declare their support for the Gaza Strip in light of the Israeli aggression, but this support has not made any significant change in the course of the war or stopped it. Instead, Iran is using the Houthis as a threatening message against Israel and the international community, confirming their continuation as a strong arm of Tehran in the region.

Regarding the Israeli response to the Houthi attacks, Dr. Haddad explains that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is considering several options.

The first option, according to Haddad, is to carry out direct strikes on the Houthis, but this option faces major challenges due to the geographical distance between Israel and Yemen. Haddad points out that the second option, which may be more realistic, is to use the international coalition led by the United States and Britain to launch powerful strikes on the Houthi front, ensuring that its capabilities are significantly reduced.

The third option, according to Haddad, includes Israel using sites near the Red Sea, such as some military bases in Eritrea or other areas, in order to target Houthi bases.

Haddad confirms that Israel is currently working to mobilize intelligence and logistical support from the regional and international coalition to ensure accurate strikes.

Haddad believes that the Houthi attacks on Israel using hypersonic missiles are a direct Iranian message, and this message aims to confirm Iran's ability to target the Israeli depth through its regional arms, which places Israel in front of increasing security and economic challenges.

Haddad points out that the Houthis, through their control of the Bab al-Mandab region, pose a direct threat to international navigation, taking advantage of Yemen’s mountainous terrain that allows them to hide and transport weapons easily.

Haddad pointed out that Israel, in cooperation with the United States, seeks to end all of Iran's arms in the region as part of its plan to restructure the Middle East.

Haddad explains that this plan includes eliminating the Houthis through direct military strikes and funding armed groups opposing them, similar to what happened in Syria. The plan also includes igniting a civil war in Yemen with the aim of weakening the Houthis internally.

Haddad believes that Israel will not stop at the current escalation, but rather seeks to achieve a comprehensive victory, not only in Gaza, but at the level of the region as a whole.

Haddad asserts that Israel's strategic goal is to end the Iranian nuclear project and eliminate Tehran's arms, including the Houthis, in order to enhance its regional influence and subjugate the remaining parties to accept its terms.

Haddad points out that Israel considers eliminating the Houthis a pivotal step in its plan to end the Iranian-backed “Shiite Crescent,” paving the way for reshaping the region in line with its interests.

Haddad stresses that the continuation of Houthi attacks will further complicate the regional scene, but at the same time it gives Israel an opportunity to mobilize broad international alliances to confront the Iranian threat.

Haddad stresses that the confrontation in Yemen will remain open to all scenarios, including intensive international interventions, and the creation of a new political and security environment that contributes to rearranging the region's priorities in a way that serves the powerful parties on the international and regional scene.

Two scenarios for response and excluding direct confrontation

Journalist Nabhan Khreisha points out that the exceptional event of the Houthis launching a hypersonic missile from Yemen towards Tel Aviv, bypassing Israeli air defenses, causing material damage and injuries, has prompted voices in Israel to demand a large-scale attack on the Houthis in Yemen to eliminate their threat.

Khreisha points out that implementing this scenario is more complicated than Israel's operations against Hezbollah in Lebanon or Hamas in Gaza, due to several geographical and military considerations.

Khreisha explains that the distance with Yemen is more than 1,500 kilometers, in addition to the diverse Yemeni terrain and vast area, which makes any direct Israeli military operation complex and difficult to implement compared to Lebanon or the Gaza Strip.

Khreisha stresses that any Israeli response to the Houthis will require drawing an accurate intelligence picture of Yemen, including missile sites, military technology factories, and Houthi command centers, if Israel decides to carry out operations beyond the limited air strikes that previously targeted areas such as Sanaa and Hodeidah.

According to Khreisha, the Israeli leadership believes that the Houthi missiles that hit Tel Aviv with precision and were able to bypass air defenses constitute great pressure on the security and political establishment.

Khreisha describes the Yemeni front as a "dilemma" that hinders Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's vision of achieving "absolute victory" for Israel, especially after what it claims of achievements on other fronts such as southern Lebanon and Gaza.

Khreisha believes that there are two possible scenarios for Israel's response to the Houthi threat, one of which is successive air strikes, where Israel could launch a series of air strikes in response to Houthi attacks.

The second option, according to Khreisha, is to resort to a regional and international alliance, as Israel seeks to form an alliance that includes the United States, European countries, and Arab countries such as Saudi Arabia and the Emirates, which are still at war with the Houthis, but the option of direct confrontation with Yemen is currently ruled out due to logistical and geographical challenges.

Khreisha believes that Iran may see the Israeli attacks on Yemen as part of Israeli military training to prepare for an attack on its nuclear reactors, as the distance between Israel and Yemen is close to the distance between it and Iran, and Israeli aircraft need to refuel in the air and maneuver across wide areas, which are the same challenges that Israel would face if it decided to strike Iran.

Khreisha points out that Iran, which has lost its direct confrontation with Israel in Syria and Lebanon, considers the Houthis an important arm of the “axis of resistance,” and for this reason it has provided the Houthis with advanced military technology, including hypersonic missiles and drones capable of hitting targets in the Mediterranean, in an attempt to deter Israel and prevent it from targeting Iranian nuclear facilities.

Khreisha points out that Israel believes that it cannot coexist with the Houthi threat in the long term, especially after what it considers to be “victories” it achieved in Lebanon and Gaza, and forcing Iran to retreat, but carrying out a military operation against the Houthis requires accurate intelligence information and great logistical preparation.

Therefore, Khreisha rules out that Israel will launch a unilateral war on Yemen, suggesting that it will seek to form an international and regional coalition that includes America and European countries, in addition to Saudi Arabia and the Emirates, to ensure the achievement of its goals and reduce risks.

The Israeli occupation forces shot and wounded three citizens at dawn and this morning, Monday, while arresting others.

In the West Bank and occupied Jerusalem.

In occupied Jerusalem, the Red Crescent reported that three young men were shot during the occupation forces’ storming of Qalandia camp and Airport Street, amid clashes.

In Bethlehem, the occupation forces stormed the town of Tuqu’, raided and searched dozens of homes, and arrested the following: Yassin Yousef Sabah, Ahmad Awda Allah Al-Amur, Sufyan Awda Allah Al-Amur, Adi Muhammad Al-Amur, Ahmad Issam Al-Amur, Muhammad Mahmoud Al-Amur, Sand Yousef Jabreen, Qassam Nidal Al-Amur, Muhammad Riyad Al-Amur, Muhammad Khaled Al-Amur, Ahmad Issa Jabreen, Zakaria Ahmad Jabreen, Ali Yousef Jabreen, Muhyi Ahmad Al-Amur, Samih Salim Sabah, Mamoun Salim Sabah, Ayoub Suleiman Sabah, Ahmad Ali Sabah, Muhand Sami Sabah, Mu’ayyad Abdullah Al-Amur, Muhammad Jamil Al-Amur, Munir Jamal Abdul Khalil Sabah, Hamada Yousef Al-Amur, Ahmad Kamal Al-Amur, and Daoud Hussein Al-Amur.

In Qalqilya, the occupation forces arrested the two brothers, Ghassan and Thaer Hassanein, after raiding their family's home in the Shuraim neighborhood in the center of the city.

In Nablus, the occupation forces arrested the freed prisoner Younis Sabri Al-Fani, after raiding his family’s home and searching it in the village of Kafr Qallil.

These forces also raided a number of houses in the village, searched them, and wreaked havoc.

In Ramallah, the occupation forces arrested the young man, Muqdad (35 years old), after raiding his house in the town of Birzeit.

A number of citizens were killed and injured at dawn on Monday as the Israeli occupation continued its aggression on the Gaza Strip for the 444th consecutive day.

In the latest developments: Two citizens were killed and 19 others were injured, one of them seriously, when an occupation drone bombed a group of citizens in the Mawasi area of Rafah city, in the southern Gaza Strip.

Meanwhile, two citizens were killed and several others were injured in an occupation bombing that targeted a civilian vehicle in the Al-Mawasi area, west of Khan Yunis Governorate.

A citizen was also killed when the occupation targeted the home of the Al-Jundi family in the Al-Shaaf area, east of Gaza Governorate.

Al-Awda Hospital received 4 martyrs and 3 injuries as a result of the Israeli occupation's aggression on the new camp area, northwest of the Nuseirat camp in the central Gaza Strip.

A citizen was also killed and others were injured when the occupation forces fired live bullets at a school housing displaced persons northwest of the camp.

The occupation forces carried out bombing operations against residential buildings in Beit Lahia, north of the Gaza Strip, coinciding with gunfire from military vehicles stationed in the Saftawi area, in addition to continuous air strikes north and south of the Gaza Strip.

The occupation forces also blew up a number of houses in Jabalia camp, north of the Gaza Strip.

The Israeli occupation committed a new massacre tonight in the Al-Mawasi area west of Khan Yunis in the southern Gaza Strip, where Israeli warplanes targeted several tents for displaced people near the British Hospital, resulting in the death of 5 citizens and the injury of dozens with varying injuries, according to an incomplete toll.

Eyewitnesses reported that the bombing caused huge fires in the tents that were housing displaced families, amid screams and cries for help from the residents.

The Israeli occupation continues its aggression on the Gaza Strip, by land, sea and air, since October 7, 2023, which resulted in the death of more than 45,259 citizens, most of whom are women and children, and the injury of more than 107,627 others, and thousands of victims are still under the rubble and in the streets.

The inevitable must happen, as the "king" has become naked except for his lies, evasions and tricks, to buy more time to prolong the life of his government, and to maintain the cohesion of his coalition, which is about to collapse with the first drop of ink that his pen sheds on the white paper to stamp the deal agreement. This is what he is trying to avoid until his last breath, because in that would be the end of his kingdom, and the dispersion of his group; those who provided his government with the elixir of life, with a guarantee of silence on their plans, through which they are trying to achieve their nightmares in Palestine, and beyond Palestine, which is what their statements, maps and raids reveal, which left no stone unturned in Gaza and Lebanon, and destroyed all the potential of the Syrian force while it was in its strongholds, without responding with even a single shot, and before the appropriate time and place came to respond to the aggression, as is the usual literature of the regime that has only mastered chatter and talk.

The noose is tightening around the fox, as the leaders of the Israeli opposition, Gantz, Lapid and Lieberman, issued a unified warning to the fox to stop his tricks and go immediately, without procrastination, to conclude a final deal, not a partial one, as he no longer has anything to do in Gaza.

The fox's mission in Gaza is not over yet, as it focuses on killing more children, bombing hospitals, and hitting shelters, which is what made the Pope of the Vatican lose his usual calm, after the scenes of killing children shook his feelings, when he described what is happening in Gaza as "injustice that bleeds the heart, and not a war against armies."

Stop the genocide now..!

Dr. Rafat Sayed Ahmed: What is happening now is just a game to buy time and is not an indication that the end of the war on Gaza is near

Aziz Al-Assa: Reaching a truce in the coming few days is an urgent need for the two major parties in the United States

Dr. Hossam Al-Dajani: Recent political developments greatly support the possibility of reaching a prisoner exchange deal

Wadih Awawdeh: Reports related to the deal contain exaggerations and some of them aim to meet internal Israeli needs

Thaer Abu Ras: Netanyahu is caught between the hammer of American pressure and the anvil of the extreme right, and this explains his hesitation in making decisions

Osama Al-Sharif: Netanyahu is monitoring the internal scene and seeking to secure his government coalition after reaching a ceasefire

There has been much talk recently about an imminent agreement regarding a prisoner exchange deal between the Israeli occupation state and the Palestinian resistance in Gaza, through mediators, which has revived hope in the souls of the people of the Gaza Strip that the war of extermination, whose woes they have tasted in death, terror, destruction, hunger and displacement, will soon end, as has never happened to any people on the face of the earth.

But the deal, as it seems, is stuck at a station it will not leave, the station of procrastination and stalling by the head of the occupation government, Benjamin Netanyahu, who is, as some analysts see it, between the pressures being exerted on him on the one hand by the incoming US President Donald Trump, who wants to start his term in the White House without any troubles, but rather with achievements that he attributes to himself, even if they began during the term of his predecessor Joe Biden, who is preparing to leave, and on the other hand, his partners in the ruling far-right coalition, Ben Gvir and Smotrich, and others.

Writers and analysts who spoke to Al-Quds considered what is happening to be a game of buying time by Netanyahu, and not an indication of the imminent end of the war on the Gaza Strip, as long as his government is not exposed to real pressures that force it to stop the war.

They attributed the delay in completing the deal to the Israeli government’s hesitation and inability to make a final decision, and its fear of the day after the war. Some believed that the Israeli government played a role in exaggerating these reports that talk about an imminent agreement, with the aim of easing internal pressure from the Israeli street and the families of the prisoners, especially with the escalation of external pressure on Israel.

Israel does not face a real threat to stop the war

The director of the Jaffa Center for Studies and Research in Cairo, Dr. Rifat Sayed Ahmed, considered that what is happening now is just a game to buy time, and not an indication that the end of the war on the Gaza Strip is near.

He stressed that Netanyahu does not face a real threat, and that the Israeli extremist government is not under pressure to make any deal at the present time.

Ahmed explained that Israel is working to exploit the transitional period between the current US administration and the next administration led by Trump, as it aims to buy time until next January, the date when Trump officially assumes the presidency.

He pointed out that this Israeli strategy is not affected by any external pressures, whether Arab, regional, or international.

He added: "Netanyahu continues the policy of killing and refusing to make deals, which reflects the lack of seriousness in ending the aggressive war on Gaza."

Ahmed considered that Netanyahu is playing with the time factor in coordination with the US administration, hoping that there will be a possible deal after the new administration takes office, pointing out that this waiting may be accompanied by more killing and destruction of Palestinians, especially innocent civilians.

Sayed Ahmed concluded by saying: “What we are witnessing now is nothing but buying time, not an end to the conflict or war.”

Ensuring absolute security for Israel

For his part, Jerusalemite political analyst Aziz Al-Assa said that reaching a truce in the coming few days represents an urgent need for the two main parties in the United States.

He explained that the current ruling Democratic Party seeks to end the war in Gaza in a way that preserves Israel's security, which strengthens its position in the upcoming presidential elections, while the Republican Party, which will soon assume power, is interested in discussing the post-aggression file on Gaza in a way that guarantees absolute security for Israel.

He added: The party coming to power (the Republican Party) is also concerned with discussing the issue of what comes after the aggression on Gaza, in a way that preserves absolute security for Israel.

Al-Assa stressed that between these and those American goals stands the strong and solid Palestinian will, which has proven its presence in the military field, and which has been sealed with the blood of nearly fifty thousand martyrs - most of whom are children, women and the elderly - and almost four times that number of wounded, disabled and missing. It will have the final say at the negotiating table.

He explained that in all cases, the most important strategic question remains: What about the day after the cessation of aggression on the Gaza Strip? This is a question that will be answered after the end of the first stage, and what measures will be taken on the ground, in terms of the precise and serious implementation of what is signed by all parties.

Israel and the Question of the Day After War

Al-Assa said: “On the ground, there is something that dispels these plans, according to the deception, procrastination and breaches enjoyed by the Israeli right-wing government, in comparison to what it did in Lebanon after the ceasefire agreement, pointing out that this is due to the fact that this government, which raised a dual slogan of “subjugating the Palestinian people and achieving absolute victory over them,” lives with an obsession that worries it, and even makes it revolve around itself in a state of extreme fear and anxiety about the day after the war, when the Gaza Strip emerges victorious with its steadfastness and refusal to surrender - according to the Israeli vision - despite the destruction and the smell of death spread everywhere by the Israeli occupation forces, which has stigmatized Israel and its leadership with the shame of genocide and ethnic cleansing.

He stressed that the threat to all cities of the occupying state, which is still coming from Yemen, adds a security and political burden on the shoulders of the occupying government, which cannot be ignored.

He pointed to the state of security, economic, political - and to some extent social - confusion that the occupying state will suffer from the day after the war, which will burden the Israeli leadership that promised its society an absolute victory that will make the Israeli sleep in honey happily and contentedly.

The stick concluded by stressing that the current right-wing government will squander any solution unless it is imposed on it and forced by the American sponsor to accept it.

Israel and the United States' Priorities

In turn, political analyst Dr. Hossam Al-Dajani said that recent political developments greatly support the possibility of reaching a prisoner exchange deal.

He explained that Donald Trump's rise to power, along with the ceasefire agreement in Lebanon and what happened in Syria, showed the Israeli military establishment's awareness of the futility of military action as a means of liberating Israeli prisoners.

Al-Dajani pointed out that the arrangement of priorities for Israel and the United States in the next stage, where the Iranian nuclear program file, the annexation plan in the West Bank, and the promotion of the Abrahamic peace are at the forefront of the political scene, affects other issues and pushes towards concluding a deal.

He added: "The increasing pressure from the families of Israeli prisoners on their government is an additional factor that reinforces this trend."

Information about progress in negotiations

Al-Dajani confirmed that the leaked information indicates some progress in the negotiations, as Israel is demanding a list of the names of the living prisoners, while the resistance is stipulating a one-week truce to list the names or obtain the full list without announcing their fate.

Al-Dajani explained that the political changes internally and externally pushed the negotiations forward, despite the obstacles placed by Israel on the negotiating table, such as its rejection of the temporary truce and its insistence on searching the displaced and revealing the names of the prisoners.

"Despite Israel's attempt to buy time, the mediators are working diligently to push the process forward, which increases the chances of achieving the deal," he said.

Al-Dajani stressed the importance of popular pressure from Israeli society on Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to push him to overcome the challenges of the extreme right, which seeks to thwart any progress in the negotiations, which is necessary to complete the deal.

Relieving internal pressure from the Israeli street

Israeli affairs expert Wadih Awawdeh said, "From the beginning, he was skeptical about the credibility of the reports related to the prisoner exchange deal, stressing that these reports contain exaggerations and rumors, and some of them aim to meet internal needs."

He added: "The Israeli government played a role in exaggerating these reports with the aim of easing internal pressure from the Israeli street and the families of the prisoners, especially with the escalation of pressure on Israel.

Awawdeh pointed out that there is a large gap between the Palestinian and Israeli positions on some key points in the deal, such as the number of prisoners to be released, the fate of the Palestinians who will be exiled, in addition to Israel’s commitment to complete the second round of the deal and not back down from it. He also mentioned that there are internal doubts in Israel about whether Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will continue with this humanitarian deal or back out of it at the last moment.

Israeli fear of the scene of the released Palestinian prisoners

Awawdeh explained that there is a fear within the Israeli government, especially among Netanyahu, that the image of Palestinian prisoners who will leave the occupation prisons with their heads held high may be “unbearable,” in light of the optimistic statements about the victories and gains that have been achieved.

He said: "The release of hundreds of Palestinian prisoners in one batch could change the picture significantly and leave an impact on the Israeli, Palestinian and global consciousness, which contradicts the desires of Netanyahu, who seeks to appear as the "Churchill of Israel" and ensure his historical status.

He added: "Netanyahu may seek to postpone the deal repeatedly until he finds a major event that will help him pass the deal, balancing the image that may be established about the Palestinians and the prisoners."

He pointed out that the Israeli project includes normalization with Saudi Arabia and striking Iran, which makes the deal a postponed issue until the president changes in the White House, considering that any talk about a real deal will remain within the framework of chatter until this change occurs.

Pressure from the Trump administration on Israel

For his part, Thaer Abu Ras, a researcher specializing in American and Israeli affairs, said that the Israeli government's hesitation reflects its inability so far to make a final decision regarding moving toward a prisoner exchange deal.

He explained that there is tremendous pressure being exerted on Israel by the Trump administration to push it to accept the deal, as Trump wants the deal to start during Biden's term, but to continue and be completed in his next presidential term, so that it is recorded as a political achievement for him with the release of detainees holding Israeli or American citizenship from Gaza.

Abu Ras pointed out that Netanyahu realizes that it is not in his interest to anger Trump, but at the same time he faces strong opposition from his allies on the far right, such as Itamar Ben-Gvir and Bezalel Smotrich, who refuse to cease fire or end the war without achieving tangible political gains.

He explained that these allies are pushing towards building settlements in the Gaza Strip, specifically in the north of the Strip, as a symbolic step towards returning to Gaza.

Disagreements over Palestinian prisoners hinder deal

Abu Ras added: Netanyahu finds himself between the hammer of American pressure and the anvil of the demands of the extreme right, which explains the state of hesitation that dominates his decisions.

He stressed that this hesitation is primarily aimed at buying time rather than reflecting an approach to a clear end to the crisis, especially with Trump's insistence on achieving a political accomplishment through the prisoner swap deal.

Abu Ras pointed out that the issue of Palestinian prisoners remains a major obstacle to completing the deal.

He explained that Israel is demanding the deportation of prominent leaders such as Marwan Barghouti, Abbas al-Sayed and Abdullah Barghouti to third countries, such as Qatar, which Hamas rejects. Researcher Abu Ras confirmed that the pending issues and current differences reflect an Israeli attempt to buy more time in light of the pressure of the Trump administration to complete the deal.

Netanyahu delays improving terms of deal

In turn, Jordanian analyst Osama Al-Sharif said that the decision is up to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who is trying to procrastinate while seeking to improve the terms of the deal.

He pointed out that Netanyahu is closely monitoring the Israeli domestic scene, especially his partners in the government coalition, and he is seeking to ensure the survival of this coalition after reaching a ceasefire.

Al-Sharif explained that it is not unlikely that Netanyahu will try to jump forward and enter into new electoral calculations if his current government collapses.

He pointed out that Netanyahu is fully aware that there is a specific date set by the next US President, Donald Trump, to complete the deal, and this date is very close, only days away, not weeks.

The Jordanian analyst said: "From here, the agreement becomes a matter of time, and Netanyahu is thinking about what comes after the agreement and how he can circumvent it after achieving it."

He pointed out that this includes thinking about his future options regarding Gaza, and the day after the deal.

Al-Sharif added: "Even completing the deal will not be in the interest of Hamas or the people of Gaza in general, even if a ceasefire is reached, explaining that the challenges will remain, whether in terms of reconstruction or improving living conditions, which requires a clear vision and international will to support the sector.

Channel 12 reported that the military censorship allowed the publication of details of a failed rescue attempt for a prisoner in Gaza about a year ago.

According to the channel, "About a year ago, a special military force set out on a mission to free the captive Noa Argamani (whom the army announced last June that it had recovered along with 3 Israeli captives after a military operation in the Nuseirat camp). The special unit's fighters thought they were going to rescue Argamani, but it later turned out that the intelligence information they had obtained was wrong, and that the captive in the place was a captive named Saher Baruch."

She added: "The fighters reached the building, opened the entrance door, and immediately at the first moment the gunmen opened fire on them with a heavy barrage of bullets, and the rescue operation suddenly turned into an operation to evacuate the wounded, as a number of members of the special unit were seriously injured during the confrontation."

After that, the channel says: "The fighters returned after many hours, and at that time the Military Intelligence Service (Aman) received intelligence information that shocked everyone, as it turned out that the person who was in the building was not Noa Argaman, but the prisoner Sahar Baruch, who was captured from his home in Be'eri."

She continued: "During the rescue operation and the fierce battle that took place inside the building, Sahar was killed by a gunshot to the head, and to this day, it remains unclear whether he was killed by the militants or was accidentally hit by the forces' fire."

The channel quoted the Baruch family as saying, "The military pressure may lead to the deaths of the prisoners. We hope that no more deaths of this kind will occur, and that all the prisoners will return as soon as possible through a deal."

US President-elect Donald Trump made a number of controversial statements on Sunday that clearly reflect the extent of the difference in US domestic and foreign policies with outgoing Democratic President Joe Biden.

On the foreign policy front, Trump said he would stop what he described as chaos in the Middle East, stop the war in Ukraine, and prevent the outbreak of World War III, without explaining how he would do all of that.

Trump reiterated his previous statement that the events of October 7 (Operation Flood of the North) and the war between Russia and Ukraine would not have happened if he were President of the United States.

Since October 7, Israel has been waging a genocidal war on the Gaza Strip, with full American support, in which more than 153,000 Palestinians have been killed and injured, most of them children and women, and more than 11,000 have gone missing, amidst massive destruction and famine that has killed dozens of children and elderly people.

Trump threatened earlier this month that if the captives in the Gaza Strip were not released before his inauguration on January 20, there would be “hell” in the Middle East, saying officials would be “hit harder than anyone in the long and storied history of the United States of America has ever been hit. Release the captives now.”

The Commissioner-General of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA), Philippe Lazzarini, confirmed today, Sunday, that all the rules of war are being violated in the Gaza Strip, which has been subjected to an ongoing Israeli genocide for more than 14 months.

In a post on the X platform, Lazzarini said: “All wars have rules, but all these rules have been violated in Gaza. Attacks on schools and hospitals have become commonplace, and the world should not get used to this.”

"The ceasefire in Gaza is long overdue," he added.

Houthi military spokesman Yahya Saree said they had succeeded in thwarting an American-British attack on Yemen.

Saree revealed that they shot down an F-18 aircraft while trying to confront American and British aircraft, and they also targeted the aircraft carrier USS Harry Truman and a number of its destroyers.

He stressed the group's readiness for any "American or British foolishness," warning against aggression against Yemen.

Today, Sunday, settlers established a new colonial outpost in the Qaoun Plain, west of the village of Bardala in the northern Jordan Valley.

The official in charge of the settlement file in the Tubas Governorate and the Northern Jordan Valley, Moataz Basharat, reported that a number of settlers brought an agricultural tractor, a water tank, fodder, and about 30 heads of cattle, and began building a new outpost west of Bardala.

He added that the settlers established the outpost near a military checkpoint of the occupation forces, which was established about two months ago.

There are more than 8 colonial outposts spread throughout the northern Jordan Valley, most of which are agricultural, through which the settlers seize thousands of dunams of pastoral land, assault Palestinian shepherds, steal their livestock, and raid their tents, in an attempt to force them to leave the pastures.