The Lebanese Ministry of Health announced, on Saturday evening, that the death toll from the ongoing Israeli aggression on the country since October 8, 2023, has risen to "2,968 dead and 13,319 wounded."

The ministry said in a statement that "the Israeli enemy's raids on Lebanon on Friday resulted in 71 dead and 169 wounded."

With these dead and wounded, according to the ministry, the number of victims has risen to "2,968 dead and 13,319 wounded since the beginning of the Israeli aggression."

The ministry stated that the Israeli army launched 109 airstrikes on various areas of Lebanon on Friday, most of them in the governorates of Nabatieh, the South, Baalbek-Hermel (east), and the southern suburbs of Beirut, bringing the total number of its attacks since the beginning of the aggression to "11,876 attacks."

Today, Saturday, many world cities and capitals witnessed mass demonstrations denouncing the Israeli aggression on the Gaza Strip.

Thousands participated in demonstrations held in the Norwegian capital Aarhus, the Austrian capital Vienna, the Swedish city of Helsingborg, Odense and Aarhus in Denmark, Freiburg in Germany and the capital Berlin, Milan in Italy, Manchester in Britain and the capital London, and Cork in Ireland, in support of the Palestinian people, and to demand a ceasefire and the entry of humanitarian aid into the Gaza Strip.

The participants in the demonstrations raised Palestinian flags and banners denouncing the crimes committed by the Israeli occupation against our people.

Participants called for an end to double standards and the need to prosecute the occupation for its massacres against the Palestinian people, especially children, and denounced the genocide in the Gaza Strip.

The Arab Parliament called on the international community and the British government to bear the historical responsibility and lift the injustice that befell the Palestinian people on the tragic anniversary of the infamous Balfour Declaration, in which the British Foreign Secretary gave “what he did not own to those who did not deserve it.”

The Arab Parliament stressed in a statement issued today, Saturday, that the Balfour Declaration resulted in the violation of the inherent and inalienable rights of the Palestinian people, the displacement of the owners of the land, and the deprivation of their legitimate rights.

He stressed that the only way to achieve security, stability and peace in the region is to end the Israeli occupation and recognize the Palestinian state with Jerusalem as its capital in accordance with international legitimacy resolutions and the Arab Peace Initiative, calling on countries that have not yet recognized the Palestinian state to recognize it, and work to immediately end the occupation and provide civil protection for the defenseless Palestinian people and pressure the occupation to stop the war of genocide, forced displacement, ethnic cleansing and the systematic destruction of the lives of the Palestinian people.

He condemned the continued aggression of the occupation on the Gaza Strip and the occupied Palestinian territories, stressing that what is happening is a war of genocide, a full-fledged war crime according to international law and international humanitarian law, and a flagrant violation of international charters and norms and the Geneva Convention on the treatment of civilians during war, reiterating his support for the Palestinian people in restoring their legitimate rights, including the right of return and establishing their independent state with Jerusalem as its capital.

The Arab Parliament called on the international community, the Security Council, and international and human rights organizations to assume their responsibilities by implementing the rules of international law and international legitimacy resolutions that support the rights of the Palestinians and their right to self-determination and the establishment of their state.

Donald Trump appealed to Arab and Muslim voters in Michigan on Friday, exploiting the ongoing war in the Middle East and his increasingly inflammatory rhetoric against former Republican Rep. Liz Cheney, daughter of former Vice President Dick Cheney, in an attempt to rally support from the Arab and Muslim voting bloc that traditionally votes for Democratic candidates.

“A lot of Muslim Americans and Arab Americans have friends and family living in the Middle East, and Kamala [Harris] is campaigning with warmongers like Liz Cheney,” Trump said at a rally in Warren, Michigan, a suburb of Detroit. “They want to get the Arab American vote, they want to get the Muslim vote. So she chose Liz Cheney, whose father pretty much destroyed the Middle East. I don’t think that’s a good thing at all.”

On Friday, Trump visited members of the Lebanese community in Dearborn, Michigan, the largest Arab-majority city in the country.

Arab and Muslim voters face a tough choice in this election. Although Arab Americans tend to vote Democratic, Harris is 18 points below Joe Biden’s support level in 2020, while Trump has a narrow lead. That’s because many Arab and Muslim voters find it unconscionable to vote for Harris when the Biden administration, they say, is complicit in Israel’s bombing of Gaza and southern Lebanon.

Thus, Arab Americans find themselves in a unique and rare position in American politics these days, as election campaigns are intensifying and focused on the state of Michigan, where Arabs constitute a significant percentage of the population.

And in the hotly contested battleground of Michigan, which has a population of about 400,000 Arab Americans, that could make a crucial electoral difference.

At the rally with Arab and Muslim voters, Trump continued his attacks on Cheney, whom he called a “radical war hawk” on Thursday who should be “shot nine barrels.” Cheney’s father, Dick Cheney, was vice president under President George W. Bush and helped oversee the U.S. invasion of Iraq after previously serving as CEO of Halliburton, an arms manufacturer that made billions of dollars from the war.

Trump has now called Liz Cheney a "war hawk" while claiming she would be a coward on the battlefield.

“If you gave Liz Cheney a gun and put her in a fight facing the other side with guns pointed at her, she wouldn’t have the courage, the strength or the stamina to look the enemy in the eye,” Trump said. “That’s why I broke up with her. All she wanted to do was go to war with everybody because, like Kamala, she’s a stupid person.”

“If Kamala wins, nothing but death and destruction awaits her because she is the candidate of endless wars. I am the candidate of peace,” Trump continued. “I am peace.”

And so the former president, who in his first month in office signed an executive order banning travel from several Muslim-majority countries, made an unlikely plea: “I need every Muslim American in Michigan to get out and vote.”

“Many Muslim and Arab Americans have friends and family living in the Middle East,” Trump said.

The Institute for Economics and Peace estimates that violence and conflict expansion cost the global economy $19 trillion in 2023, equivalent to 13.5% of global GDP, a total increase of $157 billion over the previous year 2022, while total spending on peacebuilding and peacekeeping efforts amounted to $49.6 billion.

In its report, the Australian Institute monitored 56 conflicts around the world, the largest number since the end of World War II, and the deterioration of peaceful conditions in 97 countries, the largest number monitored by the Institute since it launched the Global Peace Index in 2008.

The Institute for Economics and Peace (IEP) is an international research institution, covering 163 independent countries and territories, home to 99.7% of the world's population.

The ranking, which is based on 23 indicators, grouped into three criteria (societal safety and security; extent of ongoing domestic and international conflict; and degree of militarization), shows that 65 countries recorded an improvement in the peace index, while 97 countries showed a deterioration.

The global economic impact of violence is defined as the money spent and the economic impact of containing, preventing and dealing with the consequences of violence.

Overall, the GPI fell by 0.56% in 2023. This is the twelfth time the average has fallen, for a total decrease of 4.5% since the index was launched. At the same time, the number of refugees and internally displaced people rose to 95 million, with 16 countries having at least 5% of the population either refugees or internally displaced people.

The Global Peace Index found that the overall impact of violence was 7.4% higher in 2023 than in 2008. Significant improvements were recorded between 2010 and 2012, after which the impact steadily increased. Since 2008, 89 countries have recorded a deterioration in the impact of violence on their economies, while 74 countries have seen an improvement.

Most affected regions

The report notes that there are significant regional differences in the economic impact of violence, with South Asia seeing the largest deterioration, while Russia and Eurasia saw the largest improvement. The deterioration in South Asia can be attributed to higher GDP losses and costs associated with conflict deaths in Pakistan.

Central America and the Caribbean was the second region to see an improvement in the economic impact of violence, driven by a significant $1 billion reduction in the economic impact of homicides in El Salvador.

The data confirms the link between peaceful societies, economic growth, stronger currencies and increased foreign investment. Iceland, Ireland, Austria, New Zealand and Singapore were the five most peaceful countries in 2023.

Yemen was the least peaceful country in 2023, followed by Sudan, South Sudan, Afghanistan and Ukraine. The index also found “growing inequality in peace,” with the gap between the most and least peaceful countries wider than ever.

Last year, Ukraine recorded the biggest deterioration in the index, falling 14 places to 157th globally.

The report said the conflict in Gaza also had a negative impact on world peace, with Israel and Palestine recording the first and fourth largest deteriorations in rankings, respectively. Ecuador, Gabon and Haiti were among the other countries that saw sharp declines.

According to the survey, “the largest increases in the economic impact of violence occurred in Palestine and Israel, where the total impact increased by 63% and 40%, respectively.” Ukraine, Afghanistan, and North Korea faced the highest economic costs of violence relative to their GDP in 2023, at 68.6%, 53.2%, and 41.6%, respectively.

Second highest death toll in 3 decades

Overall, last year saw 162,000 deaths due to conflicts and wars, the second highest toll in three decades.

The wars in Ukraine and Gaza were responsible for nearly 75% of these deaths, with Ukraine alone responsible for more than half (83,000 deaths) and Gaza seeing at least 33,000 casualties by April 2024.

Countries around the world will spend $8.4 trillion on military equipment in 2023. Globally, the economic impact of military spending will increase by 1.4% in 2023, to $116.3 billion. There has been a significant increase in military spending over the past few years, with several European countries committing to spending more in the coming years, largely due to the ongoing conflict in Ukraine. According to the survey, spending on internal security accounted for 30% of the global economic impact of conflicts and wars, at around $5.4 trillion. This includes spending on police, the justice system and prison costs. Spending on private security fell by 0.2% to $1.3 trillion. 56 Active Conflicts in the World Researchers at the Institute for Economics and Peace point out that many of the factors that precede major conflicts are usually more pronounced than they have been since the end of World War II. There are currently 56 active conflicts, the highest number since the late 1940s, with fewer conflicts settled, either militarily or through peace agreements. Regionally, North America recorded the largest average deterioration of all regions, with a decline of almost 5%, driven primarily by increases in violent crime and fear of violence in both Canada and the United States. The Middle East and North Africa, home to four of the world’s 10 least peaceful countries, is the least peaceful region in the world. Sub-Saharan Africa, the second least peaceful region, also recorded a decline in peacefulness this year. Elsewhere, Central America and the Caribbean’s average score fell slightly by 0.17%, with seven of 12 countries declining and five improving. Notably, El Salvador and Nicaragua, respectively, recorded the largest improvements globally. South America also declined (by 3.6%), driven by deteriorations in the areas of safety and security and ongoing conflict. Western Europe remains the world’s most peaceful region overall, with seven countries in the top 10, including the top three. Europe’s strength stems from relatively low internal conflict and political instability and high social and economic development, supported by long-standing efforts to develop peaceful societies at home. However, the continent last year recorded the largest annual increase in military spending since the index was created. After Western Europe, the Asia-Pacific region is the second most peaceful, with an overall score deteriorating by 0.1%.

The Israeli occupation committed 7 massacres against Palestinian families in the last 24 hours, according to statistics from the Ministry of Health in the Gaza Strip.

According to the ministry, these massacres left 55 dead and 192 injured.

She pointed out that the death toll from the Israeli aggression has risen to 43,314 dead and 102,019 injuries since October 7, 2023.

Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said on Saturday that the United States and Israel "will undoubtedly receive a crushing response" for their actions against Iran, state media reported.

Khamenei said, “The enemies, including America and the Zionist regime, should know that they will undoubtedly receive a crushing response to what they do against Iran and the axis of resistance.”

Khamenei made the comments to students ahead of the anniversary of the 1979 takeover of the U.S. Embassy in Tehran by conservative students shortly after the Islamic revolution that toppled the U.S.-backed shah.

The United States announced on Friday the deployment of new military capabilities to the region that will arrive “in the coming months” in a move that comes “in defense of Israel” and as a warning to Iran, according to a statement issued by the US Department of Defense (Pentagon) on Friday. Pentagon spokesman Maj. Gen. Pat Ryder said in a statement that Austin had ordered the deployment of several B-52 Stratofortress bombers, a squadron of fighters, tanker aircraft and naval destroyers to the Middle East. He said they would begin arriving in the region in the coming months, as the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln begins its return home.

Austin’s latest order demonstrates “the United States’ ability to deploy around the world on short notice to address evolving national security threats,” Ryder said. Austin “continues to make clear that if Iran or its partners or proxies exploit this moment to target American citizens or American interests in the region, the United States will take all necessary action to defend our people,” he added.

The USS Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier, along with three Navy destroyers, is scheduled to leave the region by mid-month and return to its home port of San Diego, a US official told The Associated Press. The Lincoln and two of its destroyers are now in the Gulf of Oman, and the third destroyer with two other warships is in the Red Sea.

When the Lincoln leaves, there won’t be an aircraft carrier in the region for a while, the official said. To make up the gap, Austin has ordered other Navy destroyers to the region. The destroyers, which are capable of shooting down ballistic missiles, will come from the Indo-Pacific or Europe, the official said.

The Israeli occupation army said, this Saturday morning, that it had bombed more than 120 targets in Lebanon and the Gaza Strip during the last 24 hours.

The occupation army claimed in its statement that these were targets of Hezbollah and Hamas.

He claimed that his forces assassinated Hezbollah's commander in Tyre, Moein Ezzedine, and the artillery commander in the same area.

The two leaders were accused of being behind 400 rocket attacks on Israel over the past month.

The wailing of tragedy that resounds from the horror of the moving pain in every house, neighborhood, and street in Gaza, Jabalia, Beit Lahia, and Beit Hanoun bleeds our hearts, explodes the pangs of pain in our depths, and shakes our souls that are tired from our feeling of our helplessness, our oppression, our lack of resourcefulness, and our insignificance among people.

In Gaza, Jabalia, Beit Lahia and Beit Hanoun, where the generals’ meat grinder has been turning for twenty-eight days, children and women are suffering their pain, hunger and grief between its teeth and the fangs of the savage crows.

Oh God! Scenes of children dying while sleeping in rooms that have become traps for airplanes, which punish and track families during their journey to Gaza, raining heavy bombs on buildings crowded with starving people, turning tender bodies into scattered limbs.

Oh God! Who will answer the mothers' wailing over their children and grandchildren?! Who will stop the boiling blood?! Who will feed the hungry mouths?! Who will heal the gaping wounds?! Who will stop the savage genocide?!

Oh God! The world’s silence tears our hearts apart, the politicians’ chatter deepens our pain, and the chatter of officials and analysts oppresses us. Their slogans and analyses have become a source of entertainment for our bleeding wounds and profiting from the blood of the victims who are being crushed between cold tactical losses and dazzling strategic victories.

The Gazans die if they hold a sit-in in their homes, or take refuge in their tents, and they die if they go to their schools, or take shelter in shelters, or hospitals to receive treatment, or even on the sidewalks of the streets soaked with blood, and with corpses being devoured by dogs!

Oh Allah..! We have no one but You to protect us, to answer the prayers of the oppressed, the hungry and the afflicted, and to stop this injustice and great destruction from our people who raise their hands in supplication to You, to save them from Hell, for they have nothing but Your mercy and Your generosity, glory be to You, You have no partner..

Stop the war of extermination now..!

The latest polls ahead of the presidential election in three days, on November 5, show that Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump are very close in their chances of winning. But in Israel, the situation is different, according to Foreign Policy magazine, which specializes in American foreign policy, as “Israel is Trump’s country, and Trump’s number one supporter is its Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu.”

However, Trump's record, his volatile personality, and his public statements about Israel during the campaign do little to justify this enthusiasm for Trump among Israelis.

“This war, which Israel has been waging for more than a year, has made Israel more dependent on the United States than at any time since the 1973 Yom Kippur War,” the magazine notes. “Israel also needs the full support of the next American president, whoever he may be. Yet Netanyahu seems willing to ignore one candidate and place all his cards and bets on another whose political instincts often conflict with Israel’s interests.”

Netanyahu has traditionally felt more comfortable with Republicans than Democrats. In the 2012 election, Netanyahu publicly favored Sen. Mitt Romney over then-President Barack Obama. Romney was treated like a president during a visit in July of that year, and Netanyahu appeared (presumably without his prior knowledge) in an ad attacking Obama. Netanyahu declined to publicly state his preference in the 2016 and 2020 U.S. elections, “but this time, he was playing favorite again,” the magazine reported.

The magazine notes that it began with a reconciliation of sorts between Trump and Netanyahu. Trump took offense to the fact that Netanyahu congratulated President Joe Biden on his election victory in 2020. For the next four years, the two men did not speak. In an interview with Time magazine last April, Trump blamed Netanyahu for the failures that enabled Hamas to launch an attack on Israel on October 7, 2023, a sharp rebuke of an Israeli leader who refused to accept any responsibility for security failures.

Netanyahu broke the ice last July with a visit to Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida, on July 26 (two weeks after the assassination attempt on Trump). Since then, Israeli media have reported that the two men have spoken by phone several times.

“Whatever the two men really think of each other, both find it politically useful to be seen as friends and allies,” the magazine says.

Israelis differ from their Western counterparts, who overwhelmingly favor the Democratic Party, in their support for Trump. A recent poll by Israel’s Channel 12 showed that 66% said he was their preferred candidate, compared to just 17% for Harris (another 17% did not express an opinion). By comparison, a Gallup International poll in 43 countries (but not Israel) found that 54% of respondents preferred Harris, more than double the level of support for Trump. Even in Serbia and Hungary, the two countries that support Trump the most, only 49% and 59% of those surveyed, respectively, favored him.

Ordinary Israelis may prefer Trump in part because Harris is unknown. Israelis have also shown little or no appreciation for the enormous assistance President Biden has provided since Israel launched its war on Gaza.

Trump’s popularity in Israel largely stems from his first term as president (January 2017-January 2021), when he moved the U.S. embassy to Jerusalem, recognized Israeli sovereignty over the Golan Heights, withdrew from the Iran nuclear deal, and brokered the Abraham Accords, which normalized relations between Israel and a handful of Arab states. He also presented the “Deal of the Century” plan, which gives Israel 30 percent of the occupied West Bank and makes the establishment of a viable, contiguous Palestinian state nearly impossible.

According to the magazine, “Israelis tend to see positive gestures as evidence of Trump’s love for Israel. But the record doesn’t quite bear that out. Trump has made only one visit to Israel during his term as president. Biden, by contrast, has traveled to Israel twice, including in the early days of the war in Gaza, in a strong, personal show of support days after the October 7, 2023 attack.”

In the first few months of the war between Israel and Hamas, the magazine says, “Trump spoke of the need to ‘end the war and end it quickly,’ and in a September 10 debate with Harris, he said, ‘I’m going to get it done quickly’ about the war. More recently, he has moved slightly toward supporting the war effort, telling Netanyahu in a phone call, ‘Do what you have to do.’ But Trump has never spoken of the ‘total victory,’ which Netanyahu says is Israel’s goal.”

Trump advisers have been quoted as saying that it is entirely possible that Trump will follow Biden’s approach of pressuring Israel to agree to a ceasefire and hostage deal. And since Trump appears keen to crown his Abraham Accords achievement with an agreement between Israel and Saudi Arabia, Netanyahu may find himself under pressure from the Trump administration to meet Saudi demands for progress toward a Palestinian state.

On Iran, Trump has been tough in public, but not as tough as Netanyahu would like. Trump has spoken of intensifying his “maximum pressure” campaign on Tehran, but by that he means tougher economic sanctions, not war. “He’s generally very averse to war,” one adviser recently told the Financial Times.

This illustrates (to some extent) Trump’s broader worldview, which does not align well with Israeli interests. Trump is suspicious of allies, especially those who do not pay their defense budget commitments, and are dependent on the United States.

“In the past, Israel might have been Trump’s most valued ally,” the magazine says. “Yes, it received billions of dollars in American aid, and it didn’t cost it much, but at least Israel didn’t require American troops to defend it. And its strong and effective military often served American interests.”

Israel’s wars in Gaza and Lebanon and its tit-for-tat strikes with Iran have changed that dynamic. The United States spent at least $22.7 billion on direct military aid to Israel and related U.S. operations in the region through Sept. 30, according to a study by Brown University’s Watson Institute for International and Public Affairs. Since then, the cost has soared, with Washington providing more aid amid tit-for-tat attacks between Israel and Iran. Beyond the money, the United States has at various times sent additional aircraft carriers, fighter jets, and troops to the region. Last October, Washington sent a THAAD ballistic missile defense system to Israel and 100 personnel to operate it to plug gaps in Israel’s air defenses. The United States has also been supplying Israel with vast quantities of weapons that it cannot obtain from any other country or produce domestically. In the interest of multilateralism, Biden has twice organized a coalition of Western and Arab powers to aid Israel when Iran launched missile attacks.

“The fighting will eventually end,” the magazine says, “but Israel’s dependence on the United States is likely to remain high for the foreseeable future. Israeli planners assume that it will have to significantly increase defense spending in the coming years, costs that will be difficult to cover, especially if the economic slowdown continues” as it is now.

Trump’s defenders will argue that Israel is a special case, the magazine predicts. Unlike other allies, Israel has a domestic electoral base in the United States among evangelical Christians and many Jews. In the Republican Party, support for Israel is a prerequisite.

The magazine notes that Trump will not have to face voters again if he wins next week and can do whatever he chooses. He and Netanyahu may have reconciled now because they need each other politically, but Trump is not the forgiving type and does not take challenges lightly. If the two clash over Iran, Palestinian policy or the terms of Saudi normalization, the friendship could easily collapse.

Trump’s foreign policy team is likely to include a large number of “America First” supporters who may love Israel but are loath to involve the United States in the Middle East’s endless wars, even when Israel is involved. Those among his advisers who advocate a more activist U.S. foreign policy are focused on China. Like the Biden administration, they see Iran as secondary and do not want to devote resources to the threat it poses.

Netanyahu is supposed to be more calculating and realistic than the average Israeli, whose support for Trump is genuine. The Israeli prime minister may conclude that he cannot afford to alienate Trump and that if Harris wins, she will act like Biden and continue to support Israel despite any ill will.

Regardless of who wins on Tuesday (5/11), the next four years of relations between Israel and the United States are likely to be more turbulent than those of Biden’s presidency. Biden has been a true friend of Israel and was willing to go to great lengths to help it in a crisis at great political cost. The next occupant of the White House—whether Trump or Harris—is unlikely to do the same.

Armed settlers attacked olive pickers west of Salfit this Saturday morning.

Farmer Youssef Al-Deek said that the settlers of the pastoral colonial outpost established on the citizens’ lands in Kafr Al-Deek attacked the olive pickers in the “Khalat Al-Haramiya” area west of the town, shouting, cursing and threatening them, and tried to force them to leave their lands and prevent them from picking the olives.

Al-Deek pointed out that during the past week, the settlers stole 30 bags of olives and agricultural equipment, in addition to grazing their livestock among the trees and provoking the farmers, in an attempt to prevent citizens from reaching their lands and taking care of them.

It is noteworthy that agricultural lands in the Salfit Governorate are exposed to daily attacks by settlers and occupation forces, which escalated during the olive season in an attempt to force citizens to leave them in favor of the settlements.

During the annual olive harvest season, Palestinian lands are subjected to repeated attacks by settlers and the occupation army, and farmers constantly face obstacles and arbitrary practices that prevent them from accessing their lands, which leads to huge material losses and increases their daily suffering under the burden of the occupation.

It is expected that farmers will not be able to reach 80,000 dunums of land planted with olives, due to the terror of the settlers under the protection of the occupation army, which will lead to the loss of about 15% of this year’s season’s crop.

Al Arabiya channel reported on Saturday that a meeting will be held today between leaders of the Fatah and Hamas movements to discuss the future of the Gaza Strip.

The Fatah delegation includes the movement's deputy chairman, Mahmoud Al-Aloul, and Central Committee members Azzam Al-Ahmad and Rawhi Fattouh.

The Hamas delegation is headed by Khalil Al-Hayya, the movement's head in Gaza, and is accompanied by other figures.

The bilateral meeting will be held under the auspices of the Egyptian Intelligence.

Rocket barrages were launched on Saturday morning at the city of Haifa and its surroundings, as well as the Upper Galilee.

According to the Israeli army, it monitored the launch of 10 missiles at Haifa and its bay area, noting that some of them were intercepted while others fell in open areas.

He pointed out that he monitored the launch of 5 other rockets towards the Upper Galilee, some of which were intercepted and others fell in open areas.

Later, a number of drones were launched over the same areas.

According to Israeli sources, a plane exploded in a factory in the Akhziv area of the Western Galilee without causing any injuries.

One of the four planes that infiltrated those areas was intercepted, and the other exploded in several other locations without any injuries being reported.

The Israeli occupation forces arrested, at dawn and on Saturday morning, a group of citizens during raids and incursions carried out in several areas in the West Bank.

The young man, Jihad Abu Hamdan, was arrested after the occupation forces stormed Balata camp in Nablus.

Meanwhile, a young man was arrested when the occupation forces stormed several areas in Qalqilya Governorate.

The occupation forces stormed various areas of Hebron, Bethlehem and Jenin, without any arrests being reported.

A number of Palestinians inside Israel were injured, including three with moderate injuries and eight with minor injuries, on Saturday morning, as a result of missile shrapnel, following a direct hit on a residential building by a missile and the fall of missile shrapnel at the western entrance to the city of Tira in the southern triangle area.

According to the Red Star of David, its crews provided first aid to 11 injured people, including a young man (17 years old) and a young woman (28 years old) in moderate condition, a young man (21 years old), a boy (16 years old), a young woman (22 years old) and a young man (20 years old) in light condition, all of whom were suffering from rocket shrapnel, in addition to many cases of panic.

The injured were quickly transferred to Meir and Beilinson hospitals for further treatment.

Medical crews and fire and rescue teams were called to the site of the direct injury, and worked to rescue those trapped in the building, which was destroyed on its upper floor, as reported by the Arab 48 website.

This comes after sirens sounded in dozens of towns in the Tel Aviv area and the southern triangle, following the launch of rockets from Lebanon.

The Israeli army said that 3 shells were fired from Lebanon towards the center of the country and the southern triangle area, and interceptions were carried out and a missile was detected falling in the area.

The Israeli war machine has been continuing its aggression against the Gaza Strip for more than a year, leaving more dead and wounded.

Three citizens were killed when a group of them was bombed while they were near the headquarters of the Workers' Union in the Al-Safawi neighborhood, north of Gaza City.

Israeli warplanes launched intensive raids on several homes in the Nuseirat camp in the central Gaza Strip, which led to the death of a group of citizens.

Various areas of the Gaza Strip were subjected to a series of air strikes and artillery shelling.

A source close to Lebanese Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri told Al Jazeera on Friday that an agreement had been reached with US envoy to Lebanon Amos Hochstein in Beirut on the terms of an agreement to be implemented within 60 days.

The terms include - according to the same source - a comprehensive ceasefire in both Lebanon and Israel, and the withdrawal of all unofficial military presence to the north of the Litani River.

The source added that after implementing these provisions, indirect negotiations between Israel and Hezbollah regarding the Blue Line will be revived, noting that any "points promoted in the Israeli media" were not discussed with Lebanon.

On the other hand, Reuters quoted an American official as saying that Washington did not propose that Lebanon declare a unilateral ceasefire.

Lebanon's caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati denied that the United States had asked Beirut to declare a unilateral ceasefire.

The Lebanese denial came after Reuters published a report - quoting a senior Lebanese political source and a high-ranking diplomat - stating that Hochstein had asked Lebanon this week to declare a unilateral ceasefire with Israel.

The Israeli Broadcasting Corporation reported, on Friday evening, that mediators are putting pressure on Hamas to obtain a positive response after the latest proposal presented to it.

According to the channel, the answer at the present time seems negative from Hamas.

According to Israeli assessments, until the elections in the United States, which will be held next Tuesday, there will be no progress.

She pointed out that the head of Mossad informed the families of the kidnapped that Hamas' response will arrive early next week.

An Israeli military vehicle overturned on Friday, carrying the commander of the northern region in the Israeli army, Uri Gordin, and the commander of the West Bank, Avi Balut, during a tour on the border with Lebanon.

According to the occupation army, Jordan suffered bruises and was transferred for treatment, and his condition is minor, before he resumes his military activity.

Avi Balut was not injured in the incident.

The Israeli Broadcasting Corporation "Kan 11" reported on Friday evening that Israel has raised its alert level to repel a possible Iranian attack soon.

According to the Hebrew Authority, Israel has changed its defense plan regarding a sensitive strategic facility, which has not been disclosed, due to the possible Iranian response.

According to the same sources, Israel does not yet have estimates of the manner, size, and timing of the Iranian response, which is expected to coincide with the start of the US elections next Tuesday.

Israeli sources believe that if there is no direct response from Iran, the response will come from Iraq or Yemen.

The governor of Baalbek-Hermel in eastern Lebanon, Bashir Khodr, reported that the Israeli raids on the district this afternoon resulted in 39 dead , in addition to wounded and missing persons.

The Israeli army announced, on Friday evening, that it had assisted the Shin Bet in assassinating Izz al-Din Kassab, a member of the Hamas political bureau and the official in charge of the national relations file.

An Israeli army statement said that aircraft, with precise intelligence guidance, raided a vehicle in which Kassab was traveling and he was eliminated.

He explained that Kassab is considered an important power center in Hamas, as he was responsible for the organization's strategic and military relations with the rest of the factions and had the authority to make military decisions. He also ordered the implementation of offensive plans against Israel, according to the statement.

The statement added: Kassab was one of the last members of the political bureau who remained alive inside the Gaza Strip, where his assistant Ayman Ayyash was killed with him.

Hamas mourned Kassab and Ayyash in a statement, and confirmed that they were among its leaders.

She said that Kassab is a member of the National Relations Office and a member of the Follow-up Committee for the National and Islamic Forces in the Gaza Strip, while Ayyash is a member of the Follow-up Committee for the Forces.

In a move that reflects its continued commitment to supporting the Palestinian people, the United Arab Emirates has brought in 12 new relief aid trucks into the Gaza Strip through the Beit Hanoun crossing in the north of the Strip and the Kerem Shalom crossing in the south of the Strip, in coordination with the United States Agency for Near East Refugee Aid (UNERA). The trucks carry approximately 150 tons of food, medicine and humanitarian supplies, covering the urgent and pressing needs of approximately 30,000 residents of the Strip.

His Excellency Sultan Mohammed Al Shamsi, Assistant Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Development for Development and International Organizations, stressed that the UAE always stands by the Palestinian people, having provided more than 40,000 tons of aid to date. Al Shamsi pointed out that the UAE will continue to cooperate with the United Nations and international partners to ensure that aid reaches Gaza safely and effectively, with the aim of alleviating the humanitarian crisis and ensuring immediate, sustainable, unhindered and widespread access to the population of the Strip.

More than a year after the brutal war on Gaza and the widespread destruction it caused to infrastructure and health facilities, the United Arab Emirates continues to provide relief and humanitarian support to support the residents of the Strip through its comprehensive humanitarian initiatives. It supports international, Arab and regional demands for an immediate end to the war and the return of the displaced, and works to secure the basic needs of the population, including water, food and treatment.

One of the most prominent Emirati efforts in Gaza is Operation “Birds of Goodness,” which contributed to airdropping food aid to inaccessible areas. The amount of aid dropped from the skies of Gaza to date has reached 3,623 tons. On another level, Operation “Gallant Knight 3” succeeded in delivering 104 relief convoys carrying more than 20,000 tons of urgent humanitarian aid and 4 ships carrying more than 18,000 tons of aid, including medicines, food and tents, in addition to carrying out 259 flights carrying 5,340 tons of aid.

Water supply

In terms of infrastructure, the UAE has made efforts to restore water networks, re-operate wells and tanks, combat water pollution, and provide a healthy environment, as infrastructure suffers from a severe shortage, and the daily share of water per person does not exceed one liter, compared to the global average. It has concluded agreements with the Gaza Municipality and the Khan Yunis Municipality to repair water lines, re-operate damaged wells, and provide clean drinking water for residents and displaced persons, as the UAE pumps more than one million gallons of water daily to the Strip.

In Khan Younis, the UAE’s initiatives included repairing damaged water networks and maintaining wells after 70% of the networks were damaged, contributing to providing water to more than 900,000 people.

The UAE also operates 6 water desalination plants in the Egyptian city of Rafah, with a capacity of 1.2 million gallons per day, benefiting about 600,000 people in Gaza, thus contributing to meeting the basic needs of the population and the displaced.

health care

In response to the significant challenges facing the health sector in Gaza, His Highness Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, President of the UAE, launched an initiative to treat 1,000 children and 1,000 cancer patients from the Strip. Patients are transferred to UAE hospitals and hosted in the “Emirates Humanitarian City” with their companions, to receive medical care that the region lacks due to the lack of medicine and basic medical facilities. In September 2024, 350 children and cancer patients were transferred from Gaza to the Emirates Humanitarian City. The total number of beneficiaries of this initiative reached 1,917 people.

At the healthcare level, and within the framework of Operation “Gallant Knight 3”, the UAE announced in April 2024 the rehabilitation of Nasser Medical Complex in Khan Yunis. This project aims to provide medical services to the residents of southern Gaza, numbering about one and a half million, by restoring the hospital’s efficiency and providing the necessary equipment to provide the necessary medical care.

In order to provide the necessary medical care and support to the sick and wounded Palestinians who were being evacuated to Egypt from the Gaza Strip through the Rafah crossing, the UAE established a floating hospital in the port of El Arish in cooperation with the Department of Health in Abu Dhabi and the Abu Dhabi Ports Group. The hospital has a capacity of 100 beds and includes operating rooms, intensive care, laboratories, a pharmacy, and a specialized medical staff including surgery, anesthesia, and emergency departments.

In December 2023, the UAE opened a 200-bed field hospital in Rafah, equipped with intensive care operating rooms and specialized clinics including pediatrics, gynecology and surgery. The hospital was a vital addition to providing urgent medical services to the wounded and sick.

The UAE crowned its efforts in supporting the people of Gaza in the medical field and child care, under the directives of His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, President of the State, by allocating $5 million to support an international campaign aimed at vaccinating hundreds of thousands of children in Gaza against polio. The first phase of the campaign was successful, with the vaccine reaching more than 560,000 children in the Strip. The UAE participated in this campaign in cooperation with the World Health Organization, UNICEF, and UNRWA.

These initiatives come within the framework of the Emirati humanitarian vision to support the residents of the Strip, alleviate their suffering, and support their continued presence in their land until the war ends and life in Gaza returns to normal.

The Israeli Shin Bet confirmed, on Friday evening, that it had arrested, in cooperation with the police, two employees of the office of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, on the background of the serious security leaks case.

According to a statement by the Shin Bet, the suspects were investigated and it was decided to detain them for the purpose of completing the investigations with them.

There is talk of serious security leaks by some employees and Netanyahu's spokesman to the foreign media.

According to the same sources, these leaks harmed the achievement of the war's objectives in Gaza.

“As for Lebanon, we are working very hard and making progress in reaching understandings about what it would take to effectively implement UN Security Council Resolution 1701,” US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said at a joint press conference with US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin and South Korean Foreign Minister Cho Tae-yeol on Thursday afternoon. “That would form the basis for a diplomatic resolution to the crisis.”

“It is critical that we ensure that we have clarity from Lebanon and Israel on what Resolution 1701 would require in order to be effectively implemented: the withdrawal of Hezbollah forces from the border; the deployment of the Lebanese Armed Forces; the authorities under which they would operate; and the appropriate implementation mechanism,” Blinken stressed.

“I can tell you that based on my recent visit to the region and the work that is underway now, we have made good progress on these understandings,” Secretary Blinken added. “We still have more work to do, but that is what is necessary to reach a diplomatic solution, including through a ceasefire.”

An American official confirmed to Al-Quds on Thursday, on condition of anonymity, that Hezbollah has become convinced of the necessity of separating any agreement on the Lebanese front from what is happening in Gaza, and that it now considers that the battle to support Gaza ended with the beginning of the war in Lebanon at the end of last September.

Regarding Israel’s war on Gaza, Blinken said at the same press conference on Thursday, “I can tell you a few things. First, we and our team are closely following Israel’s responsibilities to uphold and adhere to the letter of the law, and we have jointly sent the law (in a joint letter from Blinken and Austin on November 14) to our Israeli counterparts regarding the provision of humanitarian assistance. There has been real progress, but it is not enough, and we are working on a daily basis to make sure that Israel is doing what it needs to do to ensure that this assistance reaches the people who need it inside Gaza. It is not enough to send trucks into Gaza; it is vital that what those trucks carry is distributed effectively inside Gaza.”

“There’s another thing on this; one of the things that has been successful in recent months has been the polio vaccination campaign for hundreds of thousands of Palestinian children in Gaza. But in order to complete that campaign, we have to complete a second round of vaccinations, and those vaccinations have to be done within a certain time frame of the first round of vaccinations. It’s imperative that that be done in the coming days, and we look to Israel to facilitate that process,” Blinken added.

“Israel has made clear for many months that its strategic objectives in Gaza — to ensure that the events and horrors of October 7 are not repeated — were to dismantle Hamas’s military capabilities, its organized military capabilities, and to eliminate the leaders responsible for October 7,” Blinken said. “So those objectives have been achieved, and the focus now must be on ending the war, while ensuring that people who need help with food, medicine, and other basic humanitarian needs get the help they need.”

American officials hint that, in conjunction with the intensive American diplomatic efforts aimed at stopping the Israeli war on the Gaza Strip, prominent Arab movements have intensified during the past few days, and that these movements come in light of the escalation of violence, which reflects a growing desire to achieve a comprehensive calm that puts an end to the escalating tensions and contributes to protecting civilians and sparing the region further crises.

But experts point out that despite the importance of these American efforts, nothing has been achieved despite the passage of a full year since the war, and that the reason behind not reaching a result is that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu rejected any proposal for a ceasefire, especially before the American elections, with the aim of not giving the Democratic candidate, Kamala Harris, any political gain in front of Arab and Muslim voters.

Netanyahu's statements also indicate without a doubt that he does not want to end the war in Gaza or Lebanon, and prefers to use more force to subjugate the Palestinians and Lebanese to the Israeli vision for the future of the region.

Armed settlers attacked a number of citizens' homes in the town of Surif, northwest of Hebron, on Friday.

Abdullah Ghneimat, a member of the Surif Municipal Council, told the official news agency, WAFA, that dozens of armed settlers from the Beit Ayin settlement, built on the town’s lands, attacked, under the protection of the Israeli occupation forces, the homes of citizens in the Deir al-Nil area, and fired live bullets at them.

He added that the settlers broke the windows and glass of three houses belonging to the Ghneimat family with stones, and set fire to the surrounding area. If it were not for the vigilance of the citizens, the fire would have destroyed those houses.

It is noteworthy that the citizens in that area are constantly exposed to attacks by the colonists, with the aim of forcibly displacing them from their lands and seizing them for the benefit of colonial expansion.

In less than four days, the US presidential elections will be held, and with them the presidency of Joe Biden, the forty-sixth US president (46), will practically end, regardless of who wins, whether it is the Democratic candidate, Kamala Harris, or the Republican, Donald Trump, knowing that Biden will not leave the White House as US president until January 20, 2025.

According to experts, the United States and much of the rest of the world are in a much worse position than they were when he took office (January 20, 2021). While President Biden is frequently hailed by members of the foreign policy establishment as a successful foreign policy leader, his tenure has been marked mostly by deepening U.S. involvement in foreign conflicts that show no signs of ending anytime soon.

“US policies under Biden have only served to fuel destabilizing conflicts, and the president has shown no inclination to end any of the wars Washington currently supports,” Daniel Larison, a columnist for Responsible Government, writes in the magazine.

“The Biden presidency has shown the world how corrupt American foreign policy is, and most other countries will not forget what the restored American ‘leadership’ has done in the foreseeable future,” Larison adds. “Biden ran on a promise to end America’s forever wars, but after the chaotic withdrawal from Afghanistan, he spent much of his presidency doing his best to involve the United States in conflicts where no vital American interests were at stake.”

Experts believe that the risk of great-power conflict has risen significantly under Biden, as he has pursued a policy of containment and competition with China that the United States cannot afford, while U.S.-Russian relations have sunk to new lows over Ukraine. In the Middle East, Biden has enabled Israel’s 13-month-old genocidal campaign in Gaza, backed its invasion of Lebanon, and supported its attacks on Iran. He has helped Israel sow chaos across the region and committed the United States to a new, open-ended, illegal war in Yemen.

Those who scrutinize Biden’s behavior believe that the president’s ideological fixation on Israel has led to an untenable policy of unconditional support that has fueled, and continues to fuel, the slaughter of civilians in Gaza and created one of the worst man-made famines in modern times. The president’s aversion to serious diplomatic engagement has meant that the United States has continued the disastrous economic wars against Iran, Venezuela, and North Korea that Trump launched. Biden’s refusal to re-enter the Iran nuclear deal has ensured that no progress has been made in negotiations with Tehran.

“It now seems clear that the administration’s efforts to secure a ceasefire in Gaza were a face-saving exercise, a smokescreen, so the United States could claim it was doing something to end the war while continuing to arm the Netanyahu government up to its neck,” Larison says. “The United States has not even pretended to care about a ceasefire in Ukraine, and on almost every front, the Biden administration’s response has been more militarization. The Biden administration has brought the United States closer to direct conflict with Iran thanks to Washington’s support for Israel. The United States and Iran could still be at war in the next few months.”

“It would be bad enough to enter an unnecessary war to support an ally, but to do so when the client is also killing and starving civilians is inexcusable,” Larison adds. “US support for the wars in Gaza and Lebanon is a strategic and moral disaster, and Biden should not be let off the hook for putting the US in that position.”

Even if the United States and Iran avoid war again, observers say, it is a measure of how dangerous the administration's policy was that it came so close to the possibility of war with Iran.

“Washington also bears no real responsibility for the atrocities and crimes committed by our leaders, by all accounts,” Larison says. “It is doubtful that Biden administration officials will face legal or personal consequences for their role in these atrocities. Regardless, Americans and others should remember that Biden and his administration were willing accomplices in mass starvation and genocide. Their complicity should never be forgotten, and they deserve all the shame the world has to offer them.”

The result of Biden’s decisions, strategic analysts acknowledge, is that US military foreign policy is already worse than it was before. The administration’s limited diplomatic efforts have been consumed by the president’s obsession with giving Saudi Arabia, for example, a security guarantee in exchange for normalization with Israel. Biden has done serious damage to the reputation and interests of the United States, they say, and will likely be remembered as one of the two worst foreign policy presidents of the past 50 years, along with George W. Bush (Jr.). Biden’s foreign policy legacy is fueling the flames of war and destroying innocent lives.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu tried to defend himself in the case of accusations that have been circulating in recent days against his office of deliberately leaking dangerous and sensitive security information.

According to the Israeli Broadcasting Authority, Netanyahu resorted to issuing a statement on Friday afternoon in which he tried to accuse others of being behind dangerous leaks without holding them accountable, at a time when an attempt is being made to distort his office, as he said.

Netanyahu said: It was no coincidence that the prime minister demanded the immediate lifting of the gag order on the investigation, and the ongoing blackout was aimed at distorting my office.

He added: While the Prime Minister's Office did not have any leaks, there were in fact dozens of leaks.

He continued: The media in Israel and abroad published details about the negotiations to recover the kidnapped, from secret meetings in the cabinet and other sensitive forums, and this without questioning anyone, and I wonder why?

The issue addresses the fear of secret information being transmitted in unacceptable ways, which has caused unprecedented tensions between the military and political levels.

Earlier today, Israeli opposition leader Yair Lapid responded to posts about the issue, saying: “The issue is about the heart of the close relationship between the security establishment and the prime minister and his entourage.”

"The prime minister is trying, as usual, to distance himself from the matter and place the responsibility on others, but the facts are the opposite: he is personally responsible for every paper, word or piece of information that leaves his office," Lapid added.

He continued: "We have strong enemies from outside, but the danger coming from within the house and from the most sensitive decision-making centers shakes the foundations of the confidence of the citizens of Israel in the management of the war, and in dealing with the most sensitive issues."