The United States of America called on the Israeli authorities to provide urgent clarifications regarding human rights violations committed by the Israeli occupation forces against Palestinians in the occupied West Bank, in violation of the “Leahy Law,” which stipulates a ban on supplying weapons to units that violate American standards for preserving human rights.

This came according to what was revealed by the newspaper “Israel Hayom” on Saturday evening. The purpose of the Leahy Act, which Congress passed in 1997, is to prevent the United States from engaging in serious crimes committed by foreign forces it supports, by cutting off aid to a specific unit if Washington has reliable information that the unit has committed a serious crime.

The newspaper reported, “The administration of US President Joe Biden called on Israel to provide it with urgent answers regarding a series of cases in which Israeli army units operating in the West Bank acted in violation of the ‘Leahy Law’.”

The report explained that the American request was accompanied by a warning that might result in “preventing Israeli occupation army forces operating in the occupied West Bank from receiving security assistance from the United States, if the explanations are not convincing to Washington.”

The Leahy Act stipulates that the United States provides security assistance only to military units that meet American standards for maintaining human rights. If there is a deviation from the standards, the law prohibits the supply of weapons to these units involved.

According to "Israel Hayom", Washington delivered its warning to Tel Aviv regarding the Israeli army's violations more than a month ago, and said that the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs is aware of this issue.

The report stated that "the International Law Department of the Israeli Military Prosecution and other legal bodies are in constant contact with the American side to provide answers to the cases for which Washington has asked Tel Aviv to provide clarifications."

The newspaper pointed out that Israel is required to submit its official response within less than two months, while it referred to a document confirming that “there is a high possibility that units in the Israeli army active in the occupied West Bank are involved” in violations of the Leahy Law.

About 10 days ago, the United States called on Israel to conduct an “urgent investigation” into the circumstances of the martyrdom of a 17-year-old Palestinian-American boy, who was killed by Israeli fire in the occupied West Bank.

US State Department spokesman Vedant Patel told reporters: “We continue to cooperate closely with the Israeli government with the aim of obtaining the greatest amount of information, and we have requested that an urgent investigation be opened to clarify the circumstances of his killing and determine responsibilities.”

Tawfiq Hijazi (17 years old) was killed on Friday, January 19, in Al-Mazraa Al-Sharqiya near Ramallah. The American spokesman confirmed that he was “shocked” by the killing of the Palestinian young man, who also holds American citizenship, reiterating his call to contain the escalation.

Patel added, "We were clear about the tragic escalation of violence in the West Bank, and we call on all parties to avoid escalation." He explained that the Office of Palestinian Affairs and the US Embassy in Jerusalem were in contact with the family of the young victim.

Al-Monitor newspaper said that any options for the “next day” in Gaza cannot completely ignore the presence of Hamas, at least as a very popular Palestinian faction.

The American newspaper said in a report that the success of any deal to resolve the crisis based on the Palestinian Authority assuming the reins of government in Gaza requires great cooperation and coordination between the two largest factions, namely the Fatah and Hamas movements, as both factions are in dire need of the other to get out of the bottleneck and the current impasse.

In light of the fact that the war in Gaza is nearing its end, due to the withdrawal of the Israeli army from the main areas in the Gaza Strip, and the progress of ceasefire talks, and in light of the fact that the next stage in Gaza must be permanent and not temporary to ensure that security is achieved and that the conflict does not ignite again, and with the insistence of Jordan and Egypt the two neighboring countries stressed the need to respect Palestinian rights, as the only viable solution must be the Palestinian solution, according to the newspaper.

It added that the current situation is complicated because unless Hamas is completely eliminated, which everyone, including the Americans, knows will not happen, any solution will need approval If not the direct participation of Hamas.

What makes the situation more complicated, according to the newspaper, is the popularity of Hamas, which has risen since last October 7, as an opinion poll conducted by the Palestinian Center for Policy and Survey Research, in January 2024, showed that 42% of Palestinians in Gaza said they support Hamas, compared to 38% in September 2023, while support for the movement in the West Bank reached 44%; compared to only 12% in September 2023.

The report suggested that the two Palestinian factions would become closer politically to try to find a common working platform that would contribute to improving the image of the Palestinian National Authority and support its acceptance among the Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank.

It also requires the Palestinian National Authority to make radical changes in the chain of command, accompanied by administrative and organizational reforms that address corruption and achieve agility in the performance of any new legitimate elected government, according to Al-Monitor.

While the presence of Hamas would be completely rejected, Israeli first and internationally in general, it is believed that Hamas will not demand a clear political and administrative presence, and will prefer to play a role in the shadows, ensuring its moral participation and not disrupting any solutions, according to the newspaper.

On Saturday, Israeli Channel 13 reported that the Israeli government is considering moving the Farah border crossing with Egypt to the Kerem Shalom area.

According to the source, moving the Rafah crossing to the border triangle between Israel, Gaza and Egypt aims to not allow Cairo to interfere in the management of the crossing, and not to enter into a conflict over this issue.

In addition, Tel Aviv believes that moving the crossing will allow Israel to conduct security checks and prevent border smuggling operations.

The Israeli channel pointed out that the Egyptian authorities did not deal positively with the Israeli proposal.

On the other hand, the channel said that the American administration believes that the idea of moving the crossing is good, but it needs economic support.

No statement was issued by Egypt regarding this proposal, while no official Israeli clarification was issued in this regard.

The White House announced that the US administration rejected the House of Representatives bill on providing aid to Israel without additional aid to Ukraine.

White House spokeswoman Karine Jean-Pierre said, “The administration has been working for months with a bipartisan group of senators to reach a national security agreement that secures our borders and provides support to the people of Ukraine and Israel. While the legislative text is imminent, House Republicans are coming up with the latest political maneuvers. Israel's security must be sacred, not a political game."

“We strongly oppose this stunt that does nothing to secure the border, does nothing to help the people of Ukraine defend themselves, and deprives Palestinian civilians, the majority of whom are women and children, of humanitarian assistance. Instead, House Republicans should act in a way that "Bipartisan, as the administration and the Senate do, on pressing national security issues."

US House of Representatives Speaker Mike Johnson had unveiled legislation providing new military aid to Israel worth $17.6 billion as part of its war on Hamas, without allocating aid to Ukraine, and it is expected to be approved within days.

Citizens suffocated with poisonous gas, and 4 others were arrested this evening, Saturday, during confrontations with Israeli occupation forces in the town of Beita, south of Nablus.

According to local sources, the Israeli forces stormed the town of Beita amidst gunfire, which led to the outbreak of confrontations in the area, and arrested four young men

The sources added that Beita Municipality ambulance crews dealt with six cases of suffocation with toxic gas.

Since dawn on Saturday, the Israeli forces have bombed the last two shelters for displaced people in the Gaza Strip, intensively targeting Rafah in the south of the Strip and Deir al-Balah in its centre, resulting in the death of more than 22 Palestinians, and increasing fears that Israel will expand the scope of its ground operation in the two cities crowded with displaced people.

A child was killed and others were injured in the targeting of a densely populated residential apartment in the Hassan Salama Tower in the Al-Geneina neighborhood, east of Rafah.

The Ministry of Health in Gaza reported that 14 people, including women and children, were killed in an Israeli air strike that targeted a house in Rafah.

Local sources confirmed renewed Israeli raids on the eastern areas of Rafah this evening, adding that the raids also targeted Gaza City.

During the last 24 hours, the Ministry of Health in Gaza said that the Israeli forces committed 12 massacres against families in the Gaza Strip, leaving 107 dead and 165 wounded.

Tens of thousands of displaced people have arrived in Rafah in the past few days, carrying their belongings in their hands and dragging children on carts since Israel intensified its aggression against Khan Yunis in the southern Gaza Strip last week.

The Israeli army had previously declared Rafah a “safe zone” and ordered the residents of the north to flee there. According to the United Nations, the number of displaced people in the Egyptian border city is more than 1,300,000.

For its part, the Palestinian Red Crescent Society reported that the Israeli forces targeted a house adjacent to the society’s headquarters and its affiliated Al-Amal Hospital in Khan Yunis, after a series of attacks targeted the society as the Israeli army intensified its aggression against the city.

The association added that 11 displaced people took refuge in its headquarters and were injured as a result of the occupation forces throwing smoke bombs at them.

Meanwhile, local sources confirmed the arrival of 3 decomposed bodies to the Nasser Medical Complex of martyrs who died during the Israeli bombing west of Khan Yunis, and the Civil Defense had not previously been able to recover them.

Al-Rimal neighborhood

In the northern Gaza Strip, 9 killed and 31 wounded were transferred to the Baptist Hospital in Gaza since this morning.

The Israeli aircraft also launched a raid near Al-Shifa Medical Complex in the northern Gaza Strip.

Two Palestinians were killed and 8 were injured in the bombing of a house near the Maatouq Junction in the Al-Rimal neighborhood in Gaza City.

Two Palestinians were killed and 3 others were injured by Israeli sniper bullets stationed at the Al-Nasr neighborhood intersection, west of Gaza City.

For its part, the Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Observatory published a video clip of the body of a young Palestinian man who was executed by the Israeli sniper while he was searching for food near the Palestine Stadium in Gaza City.

The scenes showed a number of cats gathering over the body of the killed thrown on the ground, while the Euro-Mediterranean Observatory confirmed that its teams monitor on a daily basis cases of sniping of Palestinians by the Israeli forces in different areas of the Gaza Strip.

Since last October 7, the Israeli aggression has resulted in the death of 27,238 Palestinians, while the number of wounded has reached 66,452.

Osama Hamdan, a leader in the Hamas movement, confirmed that the movement, since the beginning of the aggression, has been open to discussing any initiatives or ideas that lead to stopping the barbaric aggression against Palestinian people.

Hamdan said in a press conference, Saturday evening, in keeping pace with the developments of the ongoing Israeli occupation against the Gaza Strip, that the movement has received the general framework proposal that was circulated at the Paris Quartet meeting, and we affirm that the leadership discussion and consultation about it is based on the basis of the negotiations reaching a complete end to the Israeli aggression against our Palestinian people and complete withdrawal of the occupation army from the Gaza Strip.

He stressed that his movement seeks to stop the hand of this criminal enemy, which has killed civilians, including children, women and the elderly, and destroyed the civil structure and human life in the Gaza Strip, and continues its war in the West Bank and Jerusalem, and against our heroic prisoners in prisons.

Hamdan added: We confirm that our study of the proposal is also based on lifting the siege that has been ongoing on the Gaza Strip for 17 years, providing shelter for the displaced, rebuilding what was destroyed by the occupation, completing a serious prisoner exchange deal, and practical international recognition of the right of our people to self-determination and establishing their independent, fully sovereign state with Jerusalem as its capital.

He appreciated the efforts made by the brothers in Egypt and Qatar to reach a sustainable ceasefire agreement in Gaza on the path to ending the Nazi aggression that continues against the Palestinian people.

Hundreds of Israelis demonstrated, on Saturday, in the cities of Haifa and Rehovot, against the government of Benjamin Netanyahu, demanding “to hold early elections now” and to return prisoners detained in the Gaza Strip, according to Hebrew media.

Yedioth Ahronoth newspaper said that hundreds of Israelis participated in the demonstration against the government at the Horev Junction in Haifa, demanding early elections.

The demonstrators also demanded the release of prisoners detained in the Gaza Strip, according to the same newspaper.

Participants carried banners reading: “Elections now” and “Save the prisoners.”

In the city of Rehovot, dozens demonstrated in front of the Weizmann Institute of Science and chanted against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, according to Yedioth Ahronoth.

It is expected that the pace of demonstrations against the government and others demanding the release of prisoners detained in the Gaza Strip will increase on Saturday evening, especially in the cities of Tel Aviv and Jerusalem.

Israelis demonstrate almost daily to demand early elections and the release of prisoners in Gaza, but the main demonstrations are organized on Saturday.

Israeli officials estimate that there are about “136 hostages still being held in the Gaza Strip” since Hamas launched an attack on Israeli military points and settlements around the Strip on October 7.

On October 7, the Palestinian resistance factions, led by Hamas, captured at least about 239 people in towns and cities surrounding Gaza, and exchanged dozens of them with Israel during a temporary humanitarian truce that lasted 7 days and ended in early December.

On the other hand, Palestinian prisoners’ institutions reported that, under the truce, Israel released 240 Palestinian prisoners from its prisons, including 71 female prisoners and 169 children.

More than 118 hours have passed and the fate of the Palestinian Red Crescent team that went out to rescue the little girl Hind is still unknown, according to Red Crescent statements.

On Saturday, the Red Crescent Society appealed to the international community to intervene immediately to pressure the occupation authorities to reveal the fate of the child Hind and the rescue crew.

Last Monday, an ambulance crew from the Red Crescent went out to rescue the two girls, Layan, 15 years old, and Hind, 6 years old, after they were surrounded by tanks and soldiers of the occupation army, inside a vehicle in which they were with their family members.

A number of Palestinian Red Crescent crews said, on Tuesday, during a video clip posted on the “X” platform, that the location of the accident was in Gaza City, near the “Fares” gas station, west of the city.

The Red Crescent also announced the martyrdom of the child Layan, when she was "talking on the phone with its crew asking for help, while Hind remained trapped inside the vehicle surrounded by occupation tanks and soldiers."

For her part, the child's mother narrated the circumstances of the accident that resulted in the death of her relative, the child Layan, and the disappearance of her daughter.

The child's mother, Hind, said in statements reported by Al Jazeera that she let her daughter go with her uncle's family, consisting of 6 members, in the car for fear of violent occupation air bombardment.

She explained that she was in constant contact with the two girls to check on them before she received the news of the martyrdom of Layan and family members.

The US says it hit more than 85 Iran-linked targets in Syria, Iraq in retaliation for attack that killed American soldiers.

At least 27,238 people have been killed and 66,452 wounded in Israeli attacks on Gaza since October 7 

Regional tensions

• The US military says it hit more than 85 Iran-linked targets in Iraq and Syria in retaliation for the deaths of three American soldiers in a drone attack in Jordan.
• The overnight air raids killed at least 18 Iran-aligned fighters, according to the UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. The death toll could not be independently verified, and US officials only said the attack resulted in causalities.
• The White House said it informed Iraq before carrying out its air raids inside the country. The Iraqi military called the attack “a violation of Iraqi sovereignty”, adding it could “lead Iraq and the region into dire consequences”.

Human impact and fighting

• Almost all of Gaza’s 1.2 million children are in need of mental health support, UNICEF said.
• The agency also said about 17,000 children in Gaza are unaccompanied or have been separated from their families during the conflict.
• More than one million displaced Palestinians fear a new Israeli military onslaught after the Israeli defence minister pledged to attack Rafah, an area once described as a “safe zone”.
• The United Nations said 112 Palestinians were killed and 148 injured between Thursday and Friday afternoon in Gaza.
• Palestinian officials said at least 27,131 people have been killed and 66,287 wounded in Israeli attacks on Gaza since October 7. The revised death toll in Israel from the October 7 Hamas attacks stands at 1,139.

Diplomacy

• Osama Hamdan, a senior Hamas official in Beirut, said the multistage proposal that officials from Qatar, Egypt, Israel and the United States put forward this week is unacceptable because it does not include a permanent ceasefire in Gaza.
• US Secretary of State Antony Blinken will travel to Israel, the occupied West Bank, Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Qatar, and is expected to push for the release of captives held in Gaza and a pause in hostilities.
• Germany’s foreign minister warned Israel over its planned military offensive in Rafah, the dpa news agency reported.
• The US has announced new sanctions and charges targeting the Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).
• Some 800 European and US officials have written a letter to their governments denouncing Israel’s war on Gaza as “one of the worst human catastrophes of this century”.

Occupied West Bank

• Two Palestinian men in their 20s were hospitalised after being beaten by Israeli forces during a raid near the city of Jenin in the occupied West Bank, the Wafa news agency reported.
• Israeli raids were also reported in the Balata refugee camp east of Nablus, in the towns of Rujib and Burqa in the Nablus governorate, Tubas city, northeast of Nablus, in the villages of Beit Tamar and al-Aruj, located east of Bethlehem.

SOURCE: AL JAZEERA AND NEWS AGENCIES

By Miranda Cleland

A US federal judge has urged the president to reconsider the country's unconditional military support for Israel, marking the latest blow to his beleaguered administration

This week, a US federal judge in California concluded it is "plausible" that Israel's military campaign against Palestinians in the Gaza Strip amounts to genocide and "implored" President Joe Biden and his top officials to consider the impacts of their "unflagging" support for Israel. 

The tide is turning. Between this ruling, the International Court of Justice's provisional measures ordering Israel to stop killing Palestinians, protesters interrupting Biden's public events to demand a ceasefire, and more American voters pledging they will not vote to re-elect him in November, pressure is mounting on the Biden administration to cut off the flow of weapons and money to Israel.

The judge in Oakland, California, heard testimony last week from Palestinian and Palestinian-American plaintiffs, who described in excruciating detail how Israeli forces had killed their loved ones, destroyed their homes and bombed the Gaza they knew beyond recognition. 

Plaintiffs asked the judge to order the Biden administration to stop sending weapons that Israel would use to kill even more of their family members. The final witness, Jewish history and Holocaust scholar Barry Trachtenberg, testified that Israel's actions against Palestinians constituted a textbook case of genocide.

Trachtenberg stated in his testimony how rare it is that government and military officials so clearly express their intent to commit genocide. 

The judge agreed, and noted that "statements made by various officers of the Israeli government indicate that the ongoing military siege in Gaza is intended to eradicate a whole people and therefore plausibly falls within the international prohibition against genocide".

The court ultimately dismissed the case on jurisdictional grounds, relying on precedent that the judicial branch cannot rule on foreign-policy decisions made by the executive branch. 

So what's next? Usually, a dismissed case is considered a loss for the plaintiffs. Not here. 

Building pressure

This case, filed by the Center for Constitutional Rights on behalf of Palestinian human rights organisations Defense for Children International - Palestine and Al-Haq, alongside Palestinians in Gaza and the US, was historic from the onset. It remains a tool to build pressure on the Biden administration and hold US leaders accountable for their role in Israel's genocide. 

For too long, the US has unconditionally sent billions of dollars in taxpayer-funded weapons, warplanes and other military assistance to Israel. Americans have had enough, and so has the rest of the world. 

The US has provided Israel with about $158bn (in non-inflation-adjusted dollars) in bilateral assistance and missile-system funding since World War II, making it the largest recipient of US funding abroad.

Palestinian families in Gaza cannot afford for the US to send one more dollar to the genocidal Israeli regime. Every dollar of unconditional military funding - every tank shell, joint direct attack munition kit and warplane - sent by the US is used to destroy Palestinian life and the ability for families to build a future.

Just after Biden fast-tracked the sale of tank shells to the Israeli military late last year, 12-year-old Dunia Abu Mohsen was killed by an Israeli tank-fired shell as she slept in her bed at Nasser Hospital in southern Gaza. Dunia was in the hospital recovering from an Israeli air strike in late October that killed her family and injured her leg so severely it had to be amputated. 

Dunia's story follows an arc that has become representative of the Palestinian child's experience in Gaza. Israeli forces displaced, bombed, orphaned, maimed and killed Dunia, all in a matter of weeks. She is one of more than 10,000 Palestinian children in Gaza killed by Israeli forces in the past four months. 

It is past time for the US to stop arming the Israeli military. The push to cut off US support for Israel is stronger than ever

If Dunia were still alive, she might have been one of the million Palestinian children in Gaza on the edge of famine. She might have eaten grass, drank dirty water and shivered at night, like many Palestinian families living in tents with nowhere else to go. If Dunia had survived, she might have grown up to become a doctor and helped Palestinian children living with lifelong disabilities, like she dreamed. 

It is too late for Dunia. Had Biden acted as soon as Israeli forces started raining bombs down on Gaza, there is no doubt in my mind that she would still be alive. She could have lived, and it is the moral failure of the Biden administration that she did not. 

The federal judge in California understood this. I sat in the courtroom and watched him listen intently to the testimony of each plaintiff, especially those who described the shame and guilt they felt as their tax dollars paid for the annihilation of their families. I believe his shock at the US-backed Israeli military brutality was genuine, leading to his strong rebuke of the Biden administration's "unflagging support".

It is past time for the US to stop arming the Israeli military. The push to cut off US support for Israel is stronger than ever, and as the judge noted: "It is every individual's obligation to confront the current siege in Gaza."

International newspapers and news websites highlighted Israel's disregard for the International Court of Justice's decision regarding the Gaza Strip, and the reality in the West Store of incursions, security harassment, and settler violence.

The French website "Media Part" saw that "the Israeli massacre in the Gaza Strip continues, and nothing is on the horizon to curb it, despite the decision of the International Court of Justice calling on Israel to do everything in its power to prevent any act of genocide."

The website wrote that what it called "political negativity" trumped international law in Israel's war on Gaza, and wondered about the fate of international law, and who would protect the weak, whether countries or individuals, after this.

According to the Intercept website, the International Court of Justice’s ruling “did not deter Israel from continuing to commit atrocities in Gaza, thanks to American support,” noting that since the issuance of the Hague ruling, the Israeli army has killed about 900 Palestinians and wounded 1,490.

Last week, the International Court of Justice ordered Israel to take all measures within its power to prevent its forces from committing acts of genocide, and to take measures to improve the humanitarian situation of Palestinians in Gaza, in a case brought by South Africa.

The New York Times focused its investigation on the West Bank, noting that the reality it is experiencing is one of the consequences of the war on Gaza, and this reality - according to the newspaper - is represented by more incursions, settler violence, and security harassment at checkpoints, the number of which has increased across the West Bank. It made moving between its cities a nightmare.

On the other hand, the newspaper "Politico" revealed that Israel faces another European danger, which is the possibility of being expelled from this year's edition of the Eurovision contest because of its war on Gaza.

The newspaper focused on the speed with which Russia was expelled from the competition after its invasion of Ukraine, noting calls to prevent Israel’s participation in this year’s edition, led by artists from Finland, Ireland and Iceland. Some of them threatened to boycott if Israel participated.

As for the Washington Post, it highlighted the nightly American bombing of the sites of Iraqi groups accused of being loyal to Iran, and described this bombing as “an escalation in the long-term confrontation between Washington and Tehran.”

In the same context, the Wall Street Journal quoted Mike Merloy, former Assistant Secretary of Defense, as reducing the feasibility of American bombing of Iraqi sites.

Source: Al Jazeera

Hundreds of thousands of British supporters of Palestine participated in a massive demonstration today, Saturday, in the capital, London, to demand an immediate end to the war against Gaza that the Israeli occupation launched four months ago.

The participants also called for the need to stop arms exports to Israel after it killed more than 27,000 Palestinians in the Gaza Strip.

This major event is organized by the “Palestine Solidarity Campaign,” the “Palestinian Forum in Britain,” the “Stop the War Coalition,” the “Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament,” “Friends of Al-Aqsa,” and the “Islamic League in Britain.” These organizations united under a unified banner to support the Palestinian cause.

Pressure exerted by the London Metropolitan Police failed to convince the organizers of the demonstration not to demonstrate in front of the government headquarters, which is the usual end for all marches, as the organizers of the demonstration deliver many speeches summarizing the most important demands that prompted them to demonstrate, which are intended to send direct messages to the government headquarters.

The London Police confirmed that the pro-Palestine march in London will end near the government headquarters in Downing Street, after it had previously refused to allow the expected 300,000 demonstrators to organize a march in Whitehall.

The police took a hesitant stance towards allowing the pro-Palestinian demonstrators to participate with hundreds of thousands of demonstrators, as they may not be able to provide enough security personnel in the capital.

Just hours before the decision to approve the demonstration route, the Metropolitan Police said the "volume and frequency of marches" were causing serious disruption, and they did not support a request to extend the march to Whitehall.

Ben Jamal, director of the Palestine Solidarity Campaign, who has been negotiating with police over the marches, said the shift came at a meeting on Thursday evening.

However, a request to hold two marches to end the demonstration was rejected, including one in Trafalgar Square, as the Metropolitan Police claimed they had fewer resources than in previous march days to monitor the protests.

Jamal said he was concerned this would make the protest less safe, but that march organizers would try to control the crowds.

He explained that previous claims that police were unable to consult with “local stakeholders” such as government offices and commercial businesses about the Whitehall endpoint no longer appeared to be a factor in the Underground analysis.

He continued: "We said that people would go to Whitehall anyway, as this was the end of the previous demonstrations." He added: "They will not agree to a second phase and we have made it clear that this will increase the risks. Their justification was that they do not have the resources necessary to manage the two phases."

Jamal had claimed that the capital police yielded to government pressure to restrict the marches, which began after the start of the war in Gaza on October 7.

Deputy Assistant Commissioner Matt Ward, who is leading the police operation, said: “We respect people's right to protest, but other Londoners and visitors have rights too.”

He added: "I understand the cumulative impact of repeated protests since October on businesses, residents and those wishing to travel to the West End."

He continued: “Balancing competing rights may be difficult, but we will do so independently, impartially and always within the law.”

The French investigative website Mediapart said that despite the International Court of Justice’s decision calling on Israel to do everything in its power to prevent any act of genocide, nothing can stop the massacre in Gaza. This raises questions about the authority of international courts and governmental institutions.

How can this situation be explained, which could spark anger and incomprehension and reinforce accusations of double standards directed at Western countries, between supporting Ukraine and indifference to Palestine? Are there other ways to put an end to massacres and endangering an entire people in the name of the state's right to defend itself? What can states, NGOs and ordinary citizens do? Is the United Nations doomed to incompetence? What is the place of international law in this context? Mediapart asks.

The International Court of Justice (ICJ) is the judicial body of the United Nations, and it suffers from the same weaknesses as the United Nations, says the French website, referring to the question posed by public law professor Mathilde Philippe Guy in her book: Can we judge Putin? […] The International Court of Justice has no coercive means of making its decisions enforceable. For this it must rely on the United Nations Security Council. However, this “world policeman” consists of fifteen members, including five permanent members (China, the United States, France, the United Kingdom, and Russia), who have veto power that allows them to oppose any decision. Israel has already completely ignored a 2004 International Court of Justice ruling that declared the separation wall built in the West Bank illegal.

As legal specialist Matti Alexiano points out in the European Journal of International Law blog, the compliance rate with ICJ decisions is around 50%, but has declined in recent years as the court has ruled on more controversial and higher-stakes cases. Complying with an ICJ ruling can enhance a state's reputation on the international stage, which is particularly important for those who value their status as law-abiding actors. But compliance is also expensive. It often requires countries to modify behavior that they deem to be politically or economically beneficial, according to Matti Alexiano.

However, the recent decision of the International Court of Justice is a “historic” step, “Mediapart” quotes Johan Sofi, a lawyer and former international prosecutor and former legal head of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) in Gaza, who explained that even if it is temporary Because the merits of the case will not be decided until several years later, it obscures “some of the arguments that challenge the reality of the seriousness of the situation.”

Moreover, a conviction on the merits, even without a direct effect, would have a potentially significant impact. Johann Sophie continued: “If Israel is condemned, for several years, for violating the 1948 Genocide Convention, it will be a very powerful symbolic shift. It will be difficult for certain countries to continue to support Israel unconditionally, for example by sending weapons. The fact that there is a serious risk of genocide means that all states parties to the Genocide Convention have a duty to prevent it.”

The website also quotes Julia Pinzautti, an assistant professor at Leiden University (Netherlands), as saying that this is especially important for countries that supported Israel and provided it with military assistance.

Mediapart pointed out that, in contrast to the International Court of Justice, the International Criminal Court does not depend on the United Nations, but both are located in The Hague (Netherlands) and have jurisdiction over the crime of genocide. The ICC, which entered into force in July 2002, is governed by the Rome Statute signed in 1998, which has so far been ratified by 124 countries. Another major difference from the ICJ is that the ICC is a criminal court: it judges individuals, not states, its decisions are binding on the parties, and they have tangible consequences.

On March 17, 2023, for example, it issued an arrest warrant for Vladimir Putin and his Commissioner for Children’s Rights, Maria Lvova-Belova, on charges of deporting Ukrainian children to Russia. Even if the implementation of the International Criminal Court’s decisions depends on the good faith of the countries that Vladimir Putin will visit, last July, the Russian president was forced to abandon a trip to South Africa, for fear of being arrested.

Mediapart continued to clarify that in 2009 and 2014, the United Nations Security Council condemned Israel’s disproportionate use of force in Gaza and called for an end to it. But since the start of the Israeli operation launched in the wake of the Hamas attack on October 7, 2023, the Authority has shown the extent to which it is, despite the heavy losses among Palestinian civilians, unable to put itself into action.

In apparent contradiction, in response to Vladimir Putin’s aggression against Ukraine, Western countries and their allies imposed a package of international sanctions on Russia, affecting transportation, energy, services, raw materials, and financial assets. No such decision was taken with regard to Israel, despite the flagrant violations of international law. In Gaza and the occupied territories, and the horrific human and material losses of the operation carried out by the army of the Hebrew state, “Mediapart” explains.

Last Thursday, Washington imposed sanctions on only four Israeli settlers under a presidential decree issued by Joe Biden, targeting acts of violence committed in the occupied West Bank. The US administration is considering expanding these financial sanctions and visa bans to include other people involved in similar acts.

For the rest, the more general sanctions hypothesis does not spark any high-level political or media dialogue. In Europe, only a few political voices have spoken out on this topic. In mid-December, the leader of the “Proud France” party, Jacques-Lec Mélenchon, called for the imposition of “economic sanctions” on Israel, explaining that “these sanctions will not be sanctions against the Israelis, but rather against the government that is leading them to this massacre in Gaza.” In Belgium, the head of the Socialist Party, Paul Magnet, called in mid-January for “economic sanctions,” Mediapart notes.

Source: Sama News

German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock said that she was "shocked" by Israeli statements regarding the possibility of military movement towards the city of Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip, stressing that this "would not be justified."

This came in an interview with a German news website, published on Saturday, in which it touched on statements by Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant regarding the military movement towards Rafah.

Burbock expressed her shock when she heard Gallant's statements.

She added: "Moving now in Rafah, the last and most crowded place, as the Israeli Defense Minister announced, will simply not be justified."

She pointed out that the majority of those in Rafah are women and children, and added: "Let us imagine that they are our children."

On Thursday, the Israeli Defense Minister said, in a statement, that “we are achieving our mission in (the city of) Khan Yunis (south of Gaza), and we will also reach Rafah.”

Birbock stressed that reaching a humanitarian truce in Gaza is their top priority.

She continued: "At the same time, we are not giving up working for a lasting peace perspective. Because Israel will not live in safety unless the Palestinians live in safety within their state."

Berbock added: "This state cannot exist unless the Israelis are able to live in safety."

Yesterday, Friday, the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Volker Türk, warned that Israel’s statements about military action towards the Palestinian city of Rafah were “worrying and raise the alarm” for more than 1.5 million Palestinians, ordering them to go there.

Since October 7, 2023, the Israeli army has been waging a devastating war on Gaza that, as of Saturday, left “27,238 killed and 66,452 injured, most of them children and women,” according to the Palestinian authorities, and caused “massive destruction and an unprecedented humanitarian catastrophe,” according to the Palestinian authorities and United nations agencies.

On Saturday evening, Israeli forces stormed the town of Arraba, south of Jenin.

According to local sources, the Israeli forces stormed the town of Arraba, and confrontations subsequently broke out, but no casualties were reported.

In the same context, the Israeli forces set up several surprise military checkpoints south of Jenin.

The Israeli soldiers also stopped citizens' vehicles, searched them, and checked their occupants' cards, which led to the obstruction of movement on the road linking Ya'bad and its neighboring villages, the towns of Arraba and Ya'bad, and the Jerba area between Qabatiya and Sanur.

The Palestinian Prisoners' Club said that the number of Palestinian detainees in the West Bank has risen to 6,500 since October 7, 2023, after the Israeli army arrested 12 Palestinians during its storming of several governorates last night.

It added that the statistics include those who were arrested from homes, through military checkpoints, those who were forced to surrender themselves under pressure, and those who were held hostage.

It pointed out that the Israel continues to "carry out the crime of enforced disappearance against Gaza detainees, 120 days after the aggression and genocide."

The Israeli forces continued to detain Mrs. Basil Khaled Abu Hamid (28 years old) from the city of Yatta, south of Hebron, who is in her fourth month of pregnancy. She was arrested from her home as a hostage two days ago, with the aim of pressuring her husband to surrender himself, who was later arrested after surrendering himself.

The Prisoner's Club explained that the Israeli authorities maintained the arrest of Abu Hamid despite the surrender of her husband, Bakr Nabil Abu Rajab, who is an ambulance driver in the Red Crescent, and his brother Musa, who is also an ambulance driver, was arrested.

According to the data available until yesterday, Israel transferred her to the so-called “Hasharon Prison Crossing,” which constituted a station for the abuse of Palestinian female prisoners, and this escalated after the aggression against Palestinian people on the seventh of October, according to the testimonies of many female prisoners, who were visited by lawyers and by female prisoners who were released.

The Prisoner's Club indicated, in a statement today, Saturday, that Israel continues to escalate the arrest of citizens as hostages, including women, which constitutes a crime in addition to the number of crimes and violations that have escalated in an unprecedented way since the beginning of the aggression, noting that Hebron Governorate, its towns and camps have witnessed wide arrest operations. 

It is noteworthy that since the aggression on the Gaza Strip, cases of arrest in the West Bank have reached about (6,500), including more than (215) women, noting that the data regarding cases of arrest of women include women from the territories occupied in 1948, while Israel continued to detain 71 female prisoners. 

The Prisoner's Club renewed its continuous and permanent demand for international human rights institutions to restore their necessary role and stop the escalating crimes against male and female prisoners in the occupation prisons, at a time when Israel continues to carry out the crime of genocide in Gaza.

On Saturday evening, settlers attacked farmers in the Ein al-Auja community, north of Jericho, and stole their sheep.

Citizen Farhan Ghawanmeh reported that a group of colonialists stormed the Ain Al-Auja community, assaulted a number of farmers, including Ahmed Rashaida, and seized 10 heads of sheep.

He added that these colonists brought with them a truck to transport the sheep they had stolen.

The British Economist magazine says that the Middle East is currently experiencing a frightening period, but after death and hell peace may come, adding that there is a modest but increasing possibility of turning the disaster into an opportunity, as the administration of President Joe Biden is working hard to achieve this.

The magazine explained in a long report that prominent American figures are moving these days between Washington and European and Middle Eastern capitals for a direct goal, which is to secure a long humanitarian pause in the fighting in Gaza, lasting for a month or two, and allowing the exchange of hostages, Another, more ambitious goal is to transform this pause into a permanent ceasefire and secure a regional peace agreement.

The regional agreement package, according to the report, will include Israel’s acceptance of a Palestinian state, Saudi recognition of Israel, Palestinian reform, and American measures to “sweeten” the deal.

Before Ramadan and before the presidential elections

The report added that Washington wants to implement the first goal before the advent of the holy month of Ramadan on the tenth of next March, and to achieve the second goal before the US presidential elections next November.

US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken warns of an “incredibly turbulent time” in the Middle East, saying: “We have not seen a situation as dangerous as the one we face now throughout the region since at least 1973.”

The report indicated that senior American officials visit the region successively. Brett McGurk, Biden's Middle East adviser, was in the region last week, and William Burns, the CIA director, was in Paris on January 28 to consult with figures from Israel, Egypt and Qatar and coordinate the hostage deal. Blinken is expected to return to Middle East again in the coming days, and Jake Sullivan, the National Security Advisor, is working to communicate with Saudi and other leaders.

Nested boxes and keys

In its report, The Economist invited readers to think of the problem as a set of overlapping squares: the key to ending the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is a “two-state solution,” with a Palestinian state alongside Israel; The key to the two-state solution is the Saudi normalization deal. The key to Saudi normalization is ending the war in Gaza. The key to ending the war in Gaza is the hostage agreement.

It said the Biden administration is now speaking more clearly about the need for a “credible, irreversible, and time-bound” Israeli commitment to a Palestinian state. It also wants an early down payment, and may want a withdrawal from some West Bank lands or a real cessation of settlements.

British Foreign Secretary David Cameron said that Britain would consider recognizing a temporary Palestinian state before reaching a final agreement, and Blinken is said to be considering such an option.

Create a contact group

The Economist added that America is considering establishing a “contact group” to pressure for reform of the Palestinian Authority, including Egypt, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, the UAE, and perhaps Turkey and Qatar.

Arab officials say Jordan could oversee security sector training, while Gulf states could help with administrative reforms. The hope in Gaza is that eventually enough former Gaza policemen - who are currently on Palestinian Authority salaries - can be retrained to take over, but the process will take several months.

Source: Economist + Aljazeera

Barbara Leaf, US Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs, said: Washington considers the prisoner exchange deal and the ceasefire in Gaza that is currently being discussed “a crucial starting point.”

   She pointed out, "The beginning of this conflict was bleak, and we are focusing on taking advantage of the opportunities provided by those who focus on achieving the Palestinian people's quest to establish a Palestinian state, which is a legitimate quest and has not yet been achieved."

She said in an interview with reporters via Zoom technology: “We are deeply involved in the efforts made to reach an arrangement for the release of the hostages, so the director of the CIA in Europe was at the end of last week to work intensively with our partner Egypt, our partner Qatar, and our Israeli partners to develop a proposal to be presented to Hamas, for the purpose of initiating a deal that would also include a truce or humanitarian truces.”

She added: "So we consider this hostage deal a crucial starting point, and there is a path that must be found in the end to lead to the establishment of a Palestinian state." She continued: “The two issues are separate, and Hamas’s use of extraordinary violence has hampered efforts to achieve this end. But in every crisis, there is still room for opportunity, and you heard President Biden, Secretary of State Blinken, and National Security Advisor Sullivan talking about this, in Ultimately, peace, stability and security for Israelis and Palestinians will be achieved through a negotiated path to the establishment of a Palestinian state, and this is something we are committed to.”

Regarding the outcome of the deliberations regarding the deal, she said: “I think they are still in the deliberations stage.”

Liv arrives in the region ahead of a tour by US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken. Liv said: “I have visited the region six times since October 7, and I am returning to the region. Our goal is to seek a sustainable solution to this conflict, and by that I do not mean putting an end to the conflict at this stage. Rather, what is more important is to look beyond what is happening, and consider “How to build a path that leads to the establishment of a Palestinian state and puts a final end to the causes of insecurity in Israel and the insecurity of the Palestinian people and the broader region as well.”

It identified 4 priorities for the US administration in the immediate term:

She said: “So our priorities in the immediate and near term are the following: First, we are fully focused on improving the dire humanitarian situation in Gaza, by working with all our partners to increase the aid reaching the residents of the Strip, and urging all possible measures to protect civilians.” She added: "Secondly, we are strongly pushing for the safe and immediate release of all hostages. Thirdly, we want to ensure that what happened on October 7 and the conflict that followed will not be repeated - whether for Israelis or Palestinians." “Fourth, we seek to ensure that the conflict does not expand, and we have focused on this through every ounce of our diplomacy since the early days of the conflict,” Liv continued. “There is no doubt that this goal is complicated by the destabilizing actions undertaken by Iranian-backed actors in various parts of the region.”

She added: “We remain focused on immediate and short-term goals, while simultaneously working with partners to launch the hard work aimed at creating a path that leads to the establishment of a Palestinian state. This is the only way to achieve a sustainable peace that benefits Israelis, Palestinians, and the region as a whole. 

The United States is committed to this region is more committed than ever before, and is committed to finding a better path that leads to achieving security, stability and prosperity for the region.”

Regarding the United States’ suspension of support for UNRWA after Israeli allegations, she said: “UNRWA provides services to the Palestinian people, including in Gaza currently, and there is no alternative to the work it does and its structure and employees in Gaza specifically.”

She added: “We had no choice but to suspend funding last week given the seriousness of these allegations, but we, other donors and the United Nations are working as quickly as possible to uncover the truth of what happened and ensure that it does not happen again. There is no doubt that we are consulting closely with the Israeli government” and other donors, countries in the region, and members of Congress.”

The Palestinian Red Crescent Society announced - today, Saturday - that it still does not know the fate of the child Hind (6 years old) and the team that went out to rescue her in Gaza City, despite the fact that more than 110 hours have passed since the event.

The association said, in a statement posted on Facebook, “More than 110 hours have passed and the fate of our colleagues Youssef Zaino and Ahmed Al-Madhoun, who went out to rescue the 6-year-old girl Hind, is still unknown.”

The Red Crescent Society appealed to the international community "to intervene immediately to pressure the Israeli authorities to reveal the fate of the child Hind and the rescue crew."

It stressed that "international humanitarian law provides for the protection of civilians and workers in the field of health care and humanitarian work."

On Monday, an ambulance crew from the Red Crescent came out to rescue the two sister girls, Layan (15 years old) and Hind (6 years old), after they were surrounded by Israeli army tanks and soldiers, inside a vehicle in which they were with their family members, according to a previous statement issued by the association.

On Tuesday, a number of the association’s crews said, in a video clip posted on the “X” platform, that the location of the accident was in Gaza City, near the “Fares” gas station (west of the city).

The association also announced, on Tuesday, the death of the child Layan, when she was “talking on the phone with the Crescent’s crew, calling for help, while Hind remained trapped inside the vehicle surrounded by Israeli tanks and soldiers.”

During the past few days, the Israli army made a significant re-incursion into several areas of the Gaza Governorate, coinciding with the implementation of military operations and intense air and artillery bombardment, and requested the evacuation of residents from several residential neighborhoods.

The Mini Ministerial Council for Security and Political Affairs discussed the proposal for a prisoner exchange deal with the Hamas movement, which was presented and discussed during the Paris meeting held a few days ago with the participation of officials from America, Israel, Qatar and Egypt.

The Haaretz website quoted sources who participated in the cabinet session as saying, “The proposed deal will extend for 142 days, while the parties related to the deal have made it clear that it will not extend for more than two months.”

A source who participated in the session stated, “According to the principles presented at the session, 35 kidnapped women, the elderly, and the sick will be released in the first batch in exchange for a 35-day ceasefire (one truce day for each kidnapped person).”

He added, "After that, there will be negotiations regarding the second batch, which will continue for 7 days. After the second batch, 100 more kidnapped will remain to be released, and for each one of them there will be a truce day. Therefore, the deal will extend to 100 days and continue for many months."

According to the same source, "The proposal raised a lot of criticism among a number of cabinet members, who opposed a long-term ceasefire and the release of the kidnapped people in batches."

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said during the cabinet session, “There are three conditions that cannot be accepted, which are: First, we cannot allow the war to stop after we started it to eliminate Hamas. Second, we will not allow the release of thousands of ‘terrorists’ this is a fact whose meaning is clear for all of us". Thirdly, we will not remove the army from the Gaza Strip.”

He added, referring to the threats of National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir to topple the government if it agreed to a deal with conditions unacceptable to him, “Our strength is in our unity. I hope everyone stays here, and if that is not the case, we will all be harmed.”

This comes at a time when Hamas has not yet submitted its response to the swap deal proposal, while the Qatari Ministry of Foreign Affairs said earlier that the movement received the ceasefire proposal in a “positive atmosphere” and that it is awaiting its response to it.

A senior Hamas official said on Friday that the movement will respond “in the near future” to a proposal that includes extending ceasefire periods in the war on Gaza and a phased prisoner exchange, noting that a permanent ceasefire represents the most important element for Hamas and that anything Another negotiable.

Israeli sources reported earlier that Tel Aviv had not received an official response from Qatar regarding Hamas' response, while it was likely that this would occur in the next few hours.

Talks are continuing, especially in recent days, regarding concluding a new prisoner exchange deal between Israel and Hamas, as a Paris meeting was recently held with the participation of officials from Washington, Qatar, Egypt, and Israel in order to push towards concluding the deal.

US Secretary of State, Anthony Blinken, will visit Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Egypt, Israel, and the occupied West Bank in a new Middle Eastern tour during which a ceasefire agreement will be pushed and a prisoner exchange deal will be concluded.

Satellite images and analysis by a United Nations center showed that 30 percent of the buildings in the Gaza Strip were completely or partially destroyed during the Israeli war on the densely populated Palestinian Strip.

The United Nations Satellite Center (UNOSAT) said, “A total of 69,147 buildings were damaged, equivalent to about 30 percent of the total buildings in the Gaza Strip.”

The center added that 22,131 buildings in the Palestinian sector were destroyed, in addition to 14,066 other buildings that were severely damaged and 32,950 were moderately damaged.

The center used satellite images taken from January 6 to 7, and compared them with six other sets of images, some dating back to before the Israeli attack.

The center stated that the largest extent of damage was in the cities of Gaza and Khan Yunis, compared to a previous analysis.

10,280 buildings were damaged in Gaza and 11,894 in Khan Yunis, compared to the previous analysis conducted by the center based on photos taken on November 26.

The analysis also showed that about 93,800 housing units in the Gaza Strip were damaged.

On the 120th day of the Israeli aggression against Gaza, 19 citizens were killed, the majority of them children and women, and others were injured, since dawn today, Saturday, as a result of the Israeli continuing aggression against the Gaza Strip.

Medical sources reported that 18 citizens, including children and women, were killed when the Israeli warplanes bombed three homes in the cities of Deir al-Balah and Rafah, in the center and south of the Gaza Strip.

A citizen also died as a result of being shot by a sniper in the Al-Nasr neighborhood in Gaza City.

The industrial, Al Jawazat and university areas west of Gaza City are witnessing violent bombardment, both from the air and by land.

The Israeli forces arrested dozens of citizens from Tal al-Hawa, and forced others to evacuate their homes and migrate to Deir al-Balah.

In an infinite toll, the toll of the aggression against the Gaza Strip since the seventh of last October has risen to 27,131 killed and 66,287 injured.

Thousands of citizens are still missing under the rubble and on the roads, and the occupation prevents ambulance and civil defense crews from reaching them.

Approximately 70 resolutions on the war on Gaza have been voted on, with the majority urging for an end to the bombardment.

Around 50 cities in the United States have ratified resolutions asking for a ceasefire in Gaza, with at least 14 passing in key swing states like Michigan, piling up more pressure on President Joe Biden, Sky News reported.

Approximately 70 resolutions on the war on Gaza have been voted on, with the majority urging for an end to the bombardment.

Reuters has reported that many of the ceasefire resolutions have been passed in Democratic-controlled states, but territories that might be pivotal in this year’s presidential election are also included.

Gabriela Santiago-Romero, a Detroit council member who voted in favor of a ceasefire resolution in Michigan’s largest city in November, said it represented “frustration” particularly in young voters and people of color.

“We want leadership that is willing to listen to us,” Santiago-Romero expressed.

As a protest to Joe Biden’s policy toward the Israeli war on Gaza and the occupation’s use of starvation as a weapon of war in Gaza, Feds United for Peace, representing employees from twenty-seven US government agencies and departments, are going on a hunger strike on Thursday, calling it a “day of fasting for Gaza” to draw attention on the ongoing war.

The federal employees will show up to their offices dressed in black or wearing Koufiyyehs or other symbols of Palestinian solidarity.

According to Reuters, former US House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi stated during a CNN interview on Sunday that she believes certain rallies in the United States calling for a ceasefire in Gaza are tied to Russia, warning that the FBI should investigate them. 

”We have to think about what we’re doing, and what we have to do is try to stop the suffering in Gaza but for them to call for a ceasefire is Mr. Putin’s message. Make no mistake, this is directly connected to what he would like to see,” she speculated.

As protesters gathered outside Nancy Pelosi’s house urging for a ceasefire of the Israeli genocide in Gaza, the former US House Speaker was caught on camera, scolding the pro-Palestinian protesters and telling them to ”go back to China,” alleging that this was the location of their ”headquarters”.

Biden says decided on response to attack on US base in Jordan

Biden revealed Tuesday that he had decided on how to respond to the recent drone strike that killed three American troops in Jordan as part of the ongoing operations against US the US occupation forces in the region for its complicity in the ongoing genocide in Gaza.

With the upcoming election adding pressure, Biden hinted at impending actions in response to the operation, though he refrained from disclosing the details of said response he pledged.

The White House issued a warning, stating that “multiple actions” were likely but offered no further information on the nature of the response.

While on the campaign trail in Florida, the 81-year-old President reiterated his commitment to avoiding a wider war in the region despite attacking Yemen, Syria, and Iraq within the span of a few days. When asked about the fear of exacerbating tensions with Iran, Biden affirmed that he was not seeking an escalation and emphasized his preference for a more measured approach.

Biden has blamed “radical Iran-backed militant groups operating in Syria and Iraq,” likely referring to the Islamic Resistance in Iraq, which announced earlier this month that they would escalate their attacks after the US conducted several raids in Iraq and assassinated a military official in central Baghdad.

Following the attack, Al Mayadeen‘s correspondent reported an increasing demand within the United States for an immediate ceasefire in the Gaza Strip.

Our correspondent affirmed that voices within the US Democratic Party have expressed their refusal to escalate the ongoing struggle and have instead called for addressing the fundamental issue, which is the ongoing war on the Gaza Strip.

Source: Defend Democracy Press

Israeli Channel 12 said that the leaders of the occupation security system previously bore responsibility for the failure of the attack of last October 7.

It added that these leaders made it clear that they would resign from their positions and leave for their homes when circumstances permit.

According to the channel, the Chief of Staff of the occupation army, Herzi Halevy, the head of the Shin Bet, Ronen Bar, and the head of the Intelligence Division of the Israeli Army (Aman), Aharon Haleva, are still hesitant about the correct time to resign.

It added that they intend to remain in their positions as long as the war on the Gaza Strip and in the north continues.

Channel 12 said that the leaders of the security forces are taking into account the issue of submitting their resignation and appointing their replacements, especially with the current political situation of the occupation, as political officials will appoint their replacements.

The three heads of the security services acknowledged responsibility for failing to warn of the attack by the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) and the Al-Aqsa Flood Battle, on October 7th.

The Israeli army suffered heavy losses during its aggression against the Gaza Strip, which forced it to withdraw several brigades from its forces in the Gaza Strip, including Battalion No. 7107, the 36th Division, and the 13th Battalion in the Golani Brigade within one month, despite many justifications in which it indicated that this step aims to strengthen Troops.

Hillel Shokin, a lecturer at Tel Aviv University, wrote an article in Haaretz newspaper, reading the meanings and connotations of the withdrawal of elite forces from the Gaza Strip, and the Israeli aspiration to begin the third phase of the war and redeploy the forces: “We will not win even if we are together as well. We have already lost the current military campaign on Gaza from Our right to a national homeland in the Land of Israel has been postponed, and the loss became clear on October 7th.

The lecturer at Tel Aviv University added, "Every additional day of ground maneuver increases failure, and when this military campaign ends, as is expected in a few weeks due to international pressure, Israel will find itself in a more difficult situation than the one it entered into."

Source: Israeli press

US President Joe Biden announced that his country's forces, according to his directives, struck facilities in Iraq and Syria - Friday - in response to targeting American bases in the region, while Baghdad denounced the strikes as a violation of sovereignty, warning of their repercussions on regional stability, which was also expressed by Iranian sources.

Biden said that the targeted facilities are being used by the Iranian Revolutionary Guard and its affiliated militias to attack American forces, adding that “our response that began today will continue at the times and places we choose,” following the attack that took place in Jordan last Sunday, which resulted in the killing of 3 American soldiers.

The American President - who participated on Friday in the ceremony to receive the bodies of the three soldiers - stressed that his country "does not seek conflict in the Middle East or anywhere else in the world," but he continued, saying, "Let everyone who might seek to harm us know that we will respond."

American forces in the Middle East are facing escalating attacks with missiles and drones against the backdrop of their support for Israel in its war on Gaza.

The US Department of Defense (the Pentagon) has counted more than 150 attacks on its forces since last October, but the Jordan attack is the first targeting that resulted in the death of American soldiers since the start of the war.

For its part, the White House said that the strikes carried out on Friday targeted 3 facilities in Iraq and 4 in Syria, stressing that "the American response began tonight and will not end tonight."

He continued, saying, "We do not seek conflict with Iran or in the Middle East, but we will not hesitate to defend our forces."

The White House stated that Washington had informed the Iraqi side in advance of these strikes, but it had not communicated with Iran since the recent attack targeting American forces in Jordan.

"A violation of Iraq's sovereignty"

For his part, Yahya Rasoul, spokesman for the Commander-in-Chief of the Iraqi Armed Forces, said that the American strikes are a violation of sovereignty and undermine the efforts of the Iraqi government, which seeks to ensure the stability of the region, as he put it.

Rasoul added that these strikes “threaten to drag Iraq and the region into undesirable consequences,” and that their consequences will be “dire” for security and stability.

He pointed out that American aircraft targeted sites in Al-Qaim district and other border areas.

Iraqi security sources reported that 3 soldiers and 2 civilians were killed and 15 people were injured as a result of the American bombing on the headquarters of the Popular Mobilization Forces in western Iraq.

The American network NBC also quoted an Iraqi security official as saying that the raids targeted a weapons store and three homes of members of the Iraqi Hezbollah Brigades in Anbar Governorate, west of the country.

On the other hand, Iranian sources told Al Jazeera that the American strikes are an open and declared aggression against Syria and Iraq and strike regional stability, as they put it.

The same sources confirmed that there are no bases for the Iranian Revolutionary Guard or the Quds Force in the areas that were bombed, and that Washington’s talk about targeting the Quds Force in Syria is “unrealistic and a rubbish in the eyes.”

Iran has repeatedly warned the United States that the continuation of the Israeli massacres in Gaza will lead to an expansion of the scope of the war regionally, while Washington confirms that it does not seek to expand the conflict, but it continues to supply Tel Aviv with thousands of tons of weapons and ammunition via an air bridge in support of what it calls “Israel’s right.” In self-defense.

Source: Al Jazeera + agencies

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said on Friday that his government is considering imposing sanctions on “extremist” settlers in the West Bank, the day after the US action against four Israeli men accused of involvement in violence in the occupied territories.

He added to reporters in Waterloo, Ontario, “We are examining how to ensure that those responsible for extremist violence or extremist settler violence in the West Bank are held accountable.”

15 citizens were killed, and a number of others were injured, as a result of Israeli warplanes bombing three homes in Rafah and Deir al-Balah in the southern and central Gaza Strip.

Local sources confirmed that the Israeli forces bombed a house housing dozens of displaced people in Rafah, belonging to the Hijazi family, and that the bombing resulted in the deaths of 12 people, including a child and an elderly woman, and the injury of 17 others.

Two citizens were also killed when the Israeli forces bombed a house for the Al-Hams family in the Al-Jeneina neighborhood, east of the city of Rafah, south of the Gaza Strip.

Local sources reported that a citizen was killed and 3 others were injured as a result of the Israeli warplanes bombing a house for the Abu Nusair family on Al-Tarzi Street in the city of Deir Al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip.

The Israeli forces continue their aggression against the Gaza Strip for the 120th day, as the toll of the Israeli aggression against the Gaza Strip has risen, since then, to 27,131 dead, the majority of whom are women and children, and the number of injured to 66,287, in an infinite toll.

Thousands of citizens are still missing under the rubble and on the roads, and the occupation is preventing ambulance and civil defense crews from reaching them.