Member of the Political Bureau of the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas), Khalil Al-Hayya, said that the Israeli occupation thwarted an agreement to release civilian and foreign detainees, and at the same time warned of a major Israeli massacre being prepared.

Speaking to Al Jazeera, Khalil Al-Hayya added, “We were on the verge of an agreement to release the civilian and foreign detainees, but the occupation evaded and returned to square one.” He explained that the occupation is using this file in a malicious, despicable, and immoral way to prolong the war and calm Israeli public opinion.

He stressed that the movement's direction is clear in the file of prisoners detained in Gaza by releasing them in exchange for Palestinian women and children, but the occupation places obstacles in an evasive attempt and is not harmed by the resistance's periodic announcement of the killing of an additional number of detained prisoners.

Lies and excuses

He pointed out that the occupation uses a stream of lies as a pretext to prolong its killing of the people of Gaza, indicating that it resorts to destruction with the aim of displacing the Palestinian people from their land by displacing the residents of the northern Gaza Strip to the south and then abroad at a later stage.

He expressed his confidence that the Palestinian people will thwart the displacement plans, along with all free people, and added, "We are rooted in our homeland."

Al-Hayya warned that the occupation is preparing the stage for more killings and crimes after cutting off communications and the Internet, and said that the world has failed resoundingly in the face of the values and morals that it calls for from time to time, at a time when the occupation does not pay attention to international values, decisions, or laws.

Gaza hospitals

The senior Hamas leader denied what the Israeli military spokesman said about Gaza's hospitals, and said that hospitals and places of refuge and displacement are open to the media and international organizations so that they can see the occupation's lies and slander.

He added that the occupation wants to use these lies as a vehicle to destroy the Al-Shifa Medical Complex and the more than 60,000 displaced people in it, warning of a major massacre taking place under the cover of darkness.

However, Al-Hayya expressed his confidence in the Palestinian resistance in Gaza, and said that it is lurking and waiting for him and is capable of inflicting on him heavy losses that will lead to shame and disgrace, stressing that Hamas’s priority is “protecting our people and stopping the aggression.”

He said that the American administration gave the green light to the occupation, and stressed that it is morally, politically and humanely responsible for all crimes and does not clearly tell him, “Enough killing and blood.”

He stressed that the more the occupation failed in the face of resistance strikes, the more it killed civilians. He continued that the more the occupation army lost its soldiers, vehicles, and military armor, the more it killed and destroyed children and women.

Source: Al Jazeera

An opinion poll published by the American newspaper The New York Times on Sunday showed that the most likely Republican candidate in the upcoming presidential elections is former President Donald Trump, who is ahead of President Joe Biden in 5 out of 6 key states, amid Trump’s appearance in court tomorrow, Monday.

The poll conducted by the New York Times with the Siena Institute reported that the Republican billionaire is ahead of his Democratic rival in voting trends in the states of Nevada, Georgia, Arizona, Michigan, and Pennsylvania, which Biden won in 2020, while Biden is expected to win in the state of Wisconsin.

The results of this poll are not conclusive, but it shows that the general trend is not in favor of Biden.

67% of those surveyed saw that the country is moving in the wrong direction, while 59% did not agree with how Biden is exercising his role as president, while 71% supported the idea that he is “too incapable of being an effective president” when he is eighty years old.

Biden's popularity is declining among young voters and minorities, as the newspaper said that the demographic groups that supported Biden by an overwhelming margin in 2020 are now more fragmented, especially communities of Latin and African origin.

Biden's election campaign questioned these results, as campaign spokesman Kevin Munoz said that they would win next year's elections by focusing on work, not by worrying about the results of a poll.

Meanwhile, Trump will appear tomorrow, Monday, in court to give testimony during a civil trial in New York in which he faces charges of fraudulently inflating his wealth to enhance his real estate empire.

Trump underwent two hearings related to the investigation into this case, and in excerpts from his first testimony, he described the proceedings as “the largest witch hunt in the history of our country,” led by Democratic New York State Attorney General Letitia James.

New York Judge Arthur Engoron has proven fraud in Trump's organizations, and now he must rule on whether other violations of financial laws were committed, and issue his decision on the amount of the possible fine, after the prosecution requested fines of up to $250 million.

The judge said that the New York State Attorney General's Office, which filed a civil complaint, provided conclusive evidence that between 2014 and 2021, Trump and his children overstated their companies' assets from $812 million to $2.2 billion in Trump's annual financial statements.

Trump will have to deal with a very crowded judicial agenda during the Republican Party primaries, as he is expected to appear next March before the federal judiciary in Washington, on charges of conspiring to overturn the result of the 2020 presidential elections. But so far, Trump’s trials have not affected his dominance in the polls. opinion, and he regularly attended hearings in New York to benefit from them in the media.

Source: The French channel

This Sunday evening, Israeli soldiers and settlers continued their aggression against our people, their sanctities, and their property.

In occupied Jerusalem, the Israeli forces arrested four citizens from Bab al-Amud Square in the Old City and the town of Issawiya, north of the city.

Local sources reported that the occupation forces arrested the two young men, Uday and Qusay Zahida, after assaulting them in Bab al-Amoud Square. They also arrested the two young men, Wahib Alyan, and Hafez Derbas in Issawiya after raiding their homes.

In Ramallah, settlers attacked citizens and their vehicles north of the city.

Local sources reported that a group of settlers attacked citizens and their vehicles with stones, on the road connecting the cities of Ramallah and Nablus, near the “Eli” settlement established on citizens’ lands north of Ramallah, which led to material damage to the vehicle of citizen Ali Salahat.

In Nablus, settlers destroyed a vehicle after throwing stones at it while it was passing on the street connecting the cities of Nablus and Ramallah.

Local sources reported that a number of settlers attacked the vehicle of the young man, Iyad Atta Daraghmeh, and smashed its windows, at a time when dozens of settlers were blocking the road between Nablus and Ramallah, in the vicinity of the villages and towns of Al-Lubban Al-Sharqiya, Al-Sawiya, Qabalan, and the Zaatara checkpoint, south of Nablus.

Settlers attacked the guard of the Sebastia water well, northwest of Nablus.

The mayor of Sebastia, Muhammad Azem, said that about 15 settlers attacked the water well that feeds villages northwest of Nablus and parts of the city, and tried to attack the guard present in the area, in an attempt to kill him.

The Israeli occupation forces arrested a young man from the village of Al-Lubban Al-Sharqiya, south of Nablus.

Local sources reported that the occupation soldiers who set up a checkpoint at the entrance to the village arrested the young man, Mahmoud Abdel Nasser Nobani (25 years old), after stopping the vehicle he was traveling in and searching the passengers’ phones.

Dozens of settlers, protected by Israeli forces, participated in a provocative march near the town of Qabalan, south of Nablus.

Local sources reported that dozens of settlers set off from the “Rahalim” settlement established on citizens’ lands south of Nablus, raising occupation flags towards the entrance to the town of Qablan, with protection from the occupation army.

In Salfit, on Sunday, Israeli occupation bulldozers uprooted 70 old olive trees from the lands of the village of Haris, west of the city.

Citizen Nasser Daoud reported that the bulldozers uprooted and cut down approximately 70 long-lived olive trees belonging to the heirs of Fawaz Daoud, whose ages ranged between 100-120 years, planted on an area of 20 dunums in the “Al-Safra” area adjacent to the “Refafa” settlement.

Daoud pointed out that the occupation forces prevented them from entering the land to pick olives several days ago, noting that the area has been subjected to repeated attacks by settlers and Israeli forces for some time, including acts of sabotage, the demolition of stone chains, and attacks on the owners of the land.

Israeli bulldozers closed the northern entrance to the city of Salfit with earth mounds.

Local sources said that Israeli army had previously closed the entrance for several weeks with an iron gate, before closing it today with earth mounds, tightening its grip on the city of Salfit, which has been subjected to a series of strict military measures, closures and restrictions in all its towns and villages since the beginning of the occupation’s aggression against our people a month ago. .

In Bethlehem, clashes broke out tonight with Israeli army after the closure of shops in the village of Husan, west of the city.

Husan Village Council Director Rami Hamamra said that the confrontations were concentrated in the Al-Muteena area at the eastern entrance, during which Israeli army fired bullets and tear gas and sound bombs, but no injuries were reported.

Hamamra added that Israeli army took observation posts from some rooftops after seizing them and turning them into military barracks.

The Israeli forces prevented citizens from picking olives in the village west of the city.

The head of the Husan Village Council, Jamal Sabateen, said that tIsraeli army prevented citizens from reaching their land in the “Wadi Al-Ghuwait” area to pick olives, and threatened them not to come again, otherwise they would put their lives in danger.

It is noteworthy that Israeli army yesterday prevented citizens from the city of Beit Jala, west of Bethlehem, from reaching their land in the Al-Makhrour area in the west to pick olives, knowing that settlers had stolen olives in that area a few days ago.

Husan Village Council Chairman Jamal Sabateen said that Israeli army stormed the Al-Muteena area at the eastern entrance, fired poison gas and sound bombs, and forced shop owners to close their doors at gunpoint.

Sabateen added that Israeli army seized the rooftops of houses and turned them into observation points in

Al-Muteena area, where the house of Samir Mahmoud Zaoul and Muhammad Hamamra was known.

In Jenin, citizens suffocated as a result of inhaling poisonous gas, during confrontations with the Israeli occupation forces in the village of Zabuba, west of the city.

Fatah Secretary Hussein Jaradat said that confrontations broke out after Israeli army stormed the village adjacent to the separation and apartheid wall, during which poison gas bombs were fired, causing a number of citizens to suffocate, while Israeli army intensified their military presence in the vicinity of villages and towns west of Jenin. On Jenin Street - Haifa.

Today, Sunday, settlers set up a mobile home “caravan” in the Tuqua Wilderness, southeast of Bethlehem.

The director of the Office of the Wall and Settlement Resistance Commission in Bethlehem, Hassan Barijiyah, reported that a group of settlers set up a “caravan” in the “Danyan” area, bringing the total number of caravans installed to five caravans, with the aim of establishing a settlement outpost.

Brijiyeh added that the settlers, under the protection of the occupation forces, are exploiting the current circumstances as a result of the aggression on the Gaza Strip since the seventh of this month, to impose illegal facts on the land, especially since it is private land.

In Hebron, Israeli occupation forces stormed the town of Idhna, west of the city.

Local sources said that the occupation forces stormed the town and deployed in several neighborhoods, raided a number of homes, and fired sound and lighting bombs in the area.

Former Deputy Prime Minister: 

- Prolonging the Israeli war on the Gaza Strip harms the interest of Washington’s allies.

- Netanyahu will be held accountable by the Israelis after the war ends.

- After the October 7 operation, no Israeli is reassured about his life.

Former Deputy Prime Minister Marwan Muasher said on Sunday that the American administration undoubtedly wants to eliminate the Hamas movement and agrees with Israel on that, indicating that this is a slogan that is not easy to achieve, recalling Israel’s attempt to eliminate Hezbollah in 2006, but it was unable to do so. that.

Al-Muasher added in his interview with the “Voice of the Kingdom” program that the American administration’s position on the war on Gaza is clear, meaning that it is against the current ceasefire in the Gaza Strip, given that the ceasefire will not lead to the elimination of Hamas from the point of view of this administration, and from the point of view of Israel. .

Muasher wondered: Is Hamas being eliminated through barbaric aerial bombardment? This is a retaliatory process that will not achieve the goals that Israel says it seeks to achieve.

He stated that the Arab position demands an immediate ceasefire and a permanent cessation, indicating that the issue is not only related to the entry of aid and granting a short-term truce for the sake of the entry of humanitarian aid only.

The death toll from the ongoing Israeli aggression on the Gaza Strip rose to 9,770 martyrs, including 4,800 children and 2,550 women, in addition to 24,000 Palestinians suffering various injuries. According to Gaza Ministry of Health spokesman Ashraf Al-Qudra.

“There must be pressure to stop the war completely, and then we talk about the day after the war. The longer the war lasts, the greater the global pressure to stop it. We must focus on the causes of the war that came about because of the Israeli occupation, which is the longest in history and needs to be addressed,” according to Muasher.

He said that it is quite clear that the American and Arab positions did not meet in the Amman ministerial meeting, as no joint statement was issued.

“Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi spoke about the Jordanian and Arab positions, and Blinken spoke about the American position, and it is quite clear that these two positions did not meet,” according to Muasher.

Regarding the file of displacement of Palestinians; Muasher believes that the American administration is not in favor of displacement, but it may be almost convinced that this is what Israel seeks.

“We used to say in the past that mass displacement from the past and the world would not accept this, but after the Syrian crisis and the Russian-Ukrainian war we saw millions displaced from Ukraine and Syria and the world accepted this, so we cannot say that the displacement scenario is an unrealistic scenario; rather, it is A realistic scenario for the racist Israeli state and displacement for them by sending Palestinians from the Gaza Strip to Egypt, and from the West Bank to Jordan with such clarity and simplicity,” according to Muasher.

Al-Muasher said: “The American administration realizes that displacement will harm its allies in Jordan and Egypt.”

“The Israeli narrative that says, ‘If I want to eliminate Hamas, I have no other choice but to bomb civilians,’ unfortunately this narrative is met with belief and acceptance in Western societies, especially in the current American administration,” according to Muasher.

Regarding the pro-Palestinian demonstrations around the world, Muasher said: “Today we began to see very large demonstrations in a number of European capitals, and yesterday the demonstration that took place in Washington in front of Congress was the largest demonstration in support of the Palestinian cause in the United States.”

Muasher believes that the demonstrations around the world and in Washington have not had an immediate impact yet, but they will undoubtedly have an impact in the medium and long term. Because the progressive wing of the American Democratic Party supports the Palestinian issue, and is growing, but has not yet reached a critical mass that enables it to reverse the American decision regarding the Palestinian issue.

“I believe that after 5, 10, or 15 years, the democratic wing will be able to change the American decision,” according to Muasher.

Regarding prolonging the Israeli war on Gaza, Muasher said that prolonging the war harms the interest of Washington’s allies. Because prolonging the war makes the issue of displacement real, and not an emotional issue, but on the other hand, Netanyahu wants to prolong the war, because the moment this war ends, he will be held accountable by the Israeli people, just as Golda Meir was held accountable, and as Moshe Dayan was held accountable after the October War.

He pointed out that the October War of 1973 lasted only 3 weeks, after which the Israelis formed an investigation committee and placed the blame on Golda Meir and Moshe Dayan.

“Today, 80% of the Israeli people place the blame on Netanyahu, but in order for this to be translated into action, and not just for an opinion poll, an investigation committee must be formed, and this committee will place the blame on Netanyahu, and he knows that very well, and I have no doubt that Netanyahu is witnessing the end of “His political life,” according to Muasher.

Regarding the Al-Aqsa flood battle, which began on October 7, 2023, Al-Muasher said, “After the Hamas operation on October 7, no Israeli is reassured about his life.”

He continued: “The question today is whether that fear will translate into an increase in the number of demonstrators who want to topple Netanyahu?”

Muasher believes that the Israelis have become more stringent regarding the Palestinian issue, and not more flexible, after the battle of the “Al-Aqsa Flood.”

He pointed out that the current government coalition in Israel does not want to withdraw from the occupied Palestinian territories and establish an independent Palestinian state, and he has expressed this more than once.

He stressed that Jordan is doing everything it can and its first priority is to stop the war permanently, not a temporary truce.

He said that Jordan and Egypt have interests that require them to have a direct and strong effort to resolve the Palestinian issue on Palestinian soil, not on Jordanian or Egyptian soil.

Regarding the peace agreements between Arab countries and Israel, he said, “The United States reduced the peace process to the Abrahamic Accords and wanted to sign the largest possible number of normalization agreements. Perhaps this will create an atmosphere of regional peace that will help in the future resolve the Palestinian-Israeli conflict.”

He said: “No one will agree with any proposal that does not address the issue of the Israeli occupation

Palestinian media said that the Israeli occupation carried out, on the evening of Sunday, November 5, 2023, more than 100 violent and unprecedented raids on the Gaza Strip, and also targeted the vicinity of the Shifa Medical Complex with heavy bombing, at a time when the Palestinian Ministry of Communications and Information Technology and the Telecommunications Company said The Palestinian Authority, on Sunday, said that Israel cut off all types of communications services from the Gaza Strip, the third cut in about 10 days.

This came in two separate statements issued by the ministry and the telecommunications company, coinciding with the intensity of the Israeli bombing of the Gaza Strip on Sunday evening. The ministry said: “The occupation disconnects international communications routes for the third time, and cuts off all communications and Internet services from the entire Gaza Strip.”

Opposition leader in Israel, Yair Lapid, said on Sunday evening, October 5, 2023, that “Israel is no longer a safe place, is not a moral state or a regional power, and has not won the war unless it returns the kidnapped,” declaring his support for an exchange deal with Hamas to release the prisoners it has held. Whatever its size.

This came during his visit to the protest tent set up by the families of Hamas prisoners in Tel Aviv, where she said: “We will support any deal, regardless of its implications and repercussions.”

Lapid indicated that he told Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that "the opposition will support every step, every deal, no matter how far-reaching, and that the main important thing is the return of the kidnapped."

While the opposition gives importance to the return of the prisoners who were detained by the resistance during Operation Al-Aqsa Flood at the dawn of October 7, the government led by Netanyahu believes that the priority is to defeat Hamas and destroy Gaza, even if that is at the expense of the Israeli prisoners.

The prisoners were killed by bombing

On Saturday, the Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades, the military wing of the Palestinian Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas), announced that more than 60 of its prisoners were missing due to Israeli air strikes on the Gaza Strip.

Al-Qassam spokesman Abu Ubaida said that 23 bodies of Israeli prisoners were still missing under the rubble.

He also added in a post on Telegram: “It seems that we will never be able to reach it due to the continued brutal aggression of the occupation against Gaza.”

Israelis demonstrate almost daily to pressure the government to take the necessary measures to release prisoners detained in Gaza, but Saturday's demonstration appeared to be the largest.

For his part, the Israeli "Walla" website said that Gal Hirsch, who is responsible for dealing with the issue of Hamas prisoners, was met upon his arrival at the people's demonstration in Tel Aviv Square with chants of "Shame, shame", and received severe criticism because of the government's behavior regarding... By releasing the prisoners.

There are at least 242 Israelis who were captured by Hamas on October 7, during an attack it carried out on the “Gaza envelope” area. It also killed more than 1,538 Israelis and wounded 5,431, according to official Israeli sources.

While since October 7, the Israeli army has killed 9,488 Palestinians, including 3,900 children and 2,509 women, and injured more than 24,000 people. 145 Palestinians were killed, and about 2,040 were arrested in the West Bank, according to official Palestinian sources.

The Ministry of Interior in the Gaza Strip announced, on Sunday, that more than 1,600,000 Palestinians have been displaced from their homes as a result of the Israeli war on the Strip, which has been ongoing since last October 7.

Iyad Al-Bazum, spokesman for the Ministry of the Interior in the Gaza Strip, said during a press conference in Gaza, “More than 1.6 million Palestinians were displaced from their homes as a result of the Israeli aggression on the Gaza Strip.”

The displaced are staying in shelters, including hospitals, schools, churches and health care centres.

Palestinian families in shelter centers lack the most basic necessities of life, in light of the Israeli war on the Gaza Strip.

Al-Bazm continued: “Israeli army targets shelter centers and hospitals to displace the residents of Gaza City.”

He pointed out that "Israeli army has intensified its use of internationally banned white phosphorus bombs in the past two days."

This Sunday evening, settlers destroyed a vehicle after throwing stones at it while it was passing on the road connecting the cities of Nablus and Ramallah.

Local sources reported that a number of settlers attacked the vehicle of the young man, Iyad Atta Daraghmeh, and smashed its windows, at a time when dozens of settlers were blocking the road between Nablus and Ramallah, in the vicinity of the villages and towns of Al-Lubban Al-Sharqiya, Al-Sawiya, Qabalan, and the Zaatara checkpoint, south of Nablus.

Today, Sunday, Israeli bulldozers uprooted 70 old olive trees from the lands of the village of Haris, west of Salfit.

Citizen Nasser Daoud reported that the bulldozers uprooted and cut down approximately 70 long-lived olive trees belonging to the heirs of Fawaz Daoud, whose ages ranged between 100-120 years, planted on an area of 20 dunums in the “Al-Safra” area adjacent to the “Refafa” settlement.

Daoud pointed out that Israeli forces prevented them from entering the land to pick olives several days ago, noting that the area has been subjected to repeated attacks by settlers and Israeli armed forces for some time, including acts of sabotage, demolition of stone chains, and attacks on the owners of the land.

By Sara Sharif

When Hamas launched its lightning attack, the “Al-Aqsa Flood,” on October 7, some were quick to suspect that the “Moscow-Tehran” axis was behind it. In the following weeks, Iran was the center of accusation by Israel and the West. But in recent days, Russia has reappeared on the political scene.

What is Russia's position on the war on Gaza? What role are you trying to play? What are its goals?

Russian appearance in the war

The first Russian appearance, in a way that carries implications in the Gaza War, was when a Hamas delegation, headed by the movement’s international relations official, Musa Abu Marzouk, met with representatives of the Russian Foreign Ministry. Although the delegation did not meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin, or Kremlin officials, it gave indications that something was moving behind closed doors, and that the Gaza war was having an impact on the region, especially since Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Ali Bagheri Kani visited Moscow and met his counterpart. The Russian, before the latter met with the Hamas delegation. At that time, they claimed that the meeting was to discuss bilateral cooperation on unspecified international security issues.

Hamas' statement praised the efforts of Putin and the Russian Foreign Ministry to end what the movement called "Israel's crimes supported by the West." However, the official Russian news agency TASS reported that the discussion focused on the release of foreign hostages from Gaza, in addition to the evacuation of Russian and foreign citizens from the Strip.

On October 14, the Russian embassy said that 16 Russian citizens were killed as a result of the Hamas attack on Israel, while eight others are still missing. According to TASS, at least one Russian-Israeli citizen is being held in Gaza.

The Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs, in a statement, condemned the meeting and said: “Israel considers the invitation of senior Hamas officials taken by Moscow to be an obscene step that supports terrorism and legitimizes the atrocities committed by Hamas terrorists. We call on the Russian government to expel Hamas terrorists immediately.”

Moscow has a relationship with all parties, including Israel, the Palestinian Authority, Hamas, and Iran, which qualifies it to play a vital role. But the truth is that this advantage puts Russia in a complex position, between preserving its interests and achieving its goals, and balancing between parties that are linked by mutual hostility. What is Russia's position on the war on Gaza? What role are you trying to play? What are its goals?

According to Al-Monitor, the tense relations between Russia and Israel have become more tense following the riots that took place in Dagestan, southern Russia, on October 29, when hundreds of rioters stormed an airport to search for Israelis arriving on a flight from Tel Aviv. Israel condemned the incident and asked Moscow to protect Israeli citizens and Jews in Russia.

Russia defended its decision to host Hamas members in Moscow, saying it was important to maintain relations with both sides of the conflict between Israel and Hamas.

Meanwhile, Khaled Meshaal, the political leader of Hamas abroad, claimed in an interview with Russian television that Russia intends to use the attack of last October 7, against Israel, as educational material in its military academies. He added: “Russia benefited from our attack, because we distracted "The attention of the United States on it and on Ukraine." It was clear that both Hamas and Russia portrayed the meeting completely differently.

Moscow and the conflicting parties

Moscow has a relationship with all parties, including Israel, the Palestinian Authority, Hamas, and Iran, which qualifies it to play a vital role. But the truth is that this advantage puts Russia in a complex position, between preserving its interests and achieving its goals, and balancing between parties that are linked by mutual hostility.

Russia has an important relationship with Israel, which has developed over the past decades. After the Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022, while the West lined up against Moscow, Israel offered to act as a mediator and refused to send lethal weapons to Ukraine, according to Al-Monitor.

As for Russia's relationship with Hamas, over the years, some Russian-made weapons, such as anti-tank missiles and anti-aircraft missiles, have arrived in Gaza, via Iran. Moscow also maintains contact with the Palestinian Islamic Jihad movement, whose Secretary-General, Ziad al-Nakhalah, visited Moscow in February 2021.

As for the Palestinian Authority, it maintains friendly relations with Russia, and the President of the Palestinian Authority, Mahmoud Abbas, visited Russia several times, most recently in late 2021.

Russia's position on the Gaza war

Although there are Western and Ukrainian accusations against Russia that it incited Hamas to attack last October 7, as the head of Ukrainian Defense Intelligence, Kirilo Budanov, said that Russia recently supplied Hamas with weapons without providing evidence of that, there is no evidence of involvement. Russia incited the attacks of last October 7, launched by Hamas, also according to Al-Monitor.

But the Hamas movement was able to circumvent Western sanctions by transferring millions through Russian cryptocurrency exchanges based in Moscow, and this was revealed by the American “Time” magazine.

In the same context, the American Carnegie Center states that allegations that Russia transferred weapons to Hamas are still unproven, but it has at the very least facilitated material support for the movement through cryptocurrencies.

As for the declared Russian position, Russia did not specifically condemn the Hamas attacks on October 7. Instead, Russian officials called on both sides to lay down their arms, and reaffirmed their support for the establishment of a Palestinian state. In the UN Security Council, a Russian resolution calling for a ceasefire and the release of all hostages was voted down, because it did not condemn Hamas.

In their speeches and public appearances, Russian officials have repeatedly criticized Israel's treatment of the Palestinians. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on October 28 that the Israeli bombing of Gaza contravenes international law. Putin likened the siege imposed by Israel on Gaza to Nazi Germany's siege of Leningrad during World War II, one of the most painful events in Russian history, during which hundreds of thousands of Russian civilians were killed.

What does Moscow want?

Moscow's movements towards all parties, and during the war, with the aim of achieving a set of goals that Russia seeks to achieve. As long as it concerns the Middle East, Russian goals will not be very ambiguous, the most prominent of which are:

Moscow sees its relationship with Hamas as part of a Middle East strategy aimed at strengthening its position in the Global South, an effort that has long included building relationships with both Israel and its enemies.

The first Russian goal: strengthening Russia’s position in the Middle East, while Moscow sees its relationship with Hamas as part of a Middle East strategy that aims to strengthen its position in the global South, an effort that has long included building relations with both Israel and its enemies, which was confirmed by a study of Carnegie Research Center.

The study added that some believe that Moscow's relationship with Hamas aims to try to sow chaos in the Middle East, but the truth is that Russia is afraid of the spread of terrorism from it, as terrorists have targeted Russia repeatedly over the years, and it has something to lose from chaos.

The second goal: is to attack the West, as Russian President Vladimir Putin sought to blame the West for the crisis in the Middle East. In a statement, Putin said that "the ruling elites in the United States" and "its followers" are behind the killing of Palestinians in Gaza, and are behind the conflicts in Ukraine, Afghanistan, Iraq and Syria. On October 10, Putin said that the war constituted a "clear example of the failure of American policy in the Middle East," according to Reuters.

The third goal: Russia is trying to play the role of peacemaker in the region, as it began trying to play a role in the United Nations, but without success, as the United Nations Security Council rejected a Russian draft resolution condemning violence against civilians, and also refused to pass the Russian resolution that called for an end to He launched the shooting on humanitarian grounds, condemned Hamas' attack on Israel, and attacks on civilians in Gaza.

China and Russia vetoed the resolution sponsored by the United States, while the United States and the United Kingdom vetoed the resolution sponsored by Russia.

Moscow's message to the Middle East is that the United States' hegemony over the region has resulted in disastrous results, especially the war between Israel and Hamas itself, and that Russia will be a much better mediator and diplomatic partner than any of the Western powers, which is the idea presented by a study by "The Conversation" Center. ".

The fourth goal: to divert attention from the war in Ukraine, and for the turmoil in the Middle East to divert Western support from Ukraine, making it easier for Russia to strengthen its regional control over parts of Ukraine. The Pentagon has reportedly decided to send tens of thousands of 155 mm artillery shells to Israel, which were originally planned to be sent to Ukraine, in addition to artillery munitions, as both Israel and Ukraine need many of the same weapons systems. So far, Pentagon officials insist that they will be able to support Ukraine and Israel at the same time. “We can do both, and we will do both,” Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said at a press conference held in Brussels on October 11, according to Time. But many analysts believe that if it comes to setting Washington's priorities, Israel will win.

As for the fifth goal, it is stopping the Israeli-Saudi normalization deal, which Washington has set as a goal in recent months. Thus, Moscow will achieve an additional victory, as it considers all regional diplomacy arising from the Abraham Accords to be an American project that marginalizes Russia.

The war also affected the American economic corridor that departs from India, due to the cessation of normalization talks between Saudi Arabia and Israel. At the same time, this situation allows for the strengthening of the Chinese “Belt and Road” initiative. On October 17, Putin praised the “Belt and Road” initiative, saying that Russia “can play a fundamental role, as a transit country between the East and the West, the North and the South,” which reflects Russia’s seizing the opportunity of war and halting the American project to achieve economic gains.

Difficult challenges

Despite Russia's list of goals and the gains it can achieve from the Gaza war, there are a set of challenges it may face.

Despite Russia's list of goals and the gains it can achieve from the Gaza war, there are a set of challenges it may face. So what is it? Can she overcome it?

If Russia increases its support for Hamas, this will likely come at the expense of deteriorating relations with Israel, and this harms Russian policy that seeks to maintain balances in the Middle East, as Russia has wanted for years to gain Arab support, but without severing relations with Israel.

According to the Foreign Policy website, Russia does not want relations with Israel to deteriorate, and despite its declared common goal with Iran to challenge US sovereignty, Russia does not seek cooperation with Tehran either. Russian diplomacy under Putin has always tried - and is still trying - to balance the rival players in the Middle East, because this increases Russian gains. Navigating through small conflagrations, rather than a large regional war, while engaging with all sides, are the rules of the game that suit Moscow best.

On the other hand, Russia wants to maintain its military presence in Syria without sending more forces (because it allocates its forces to the Ukraine war), which would increase pressure on Russian forces if the war spreads to Syria and Lebanon, and Hezbollah and Iranian militias participate in it. Taking into account the US military and security reinforcements in the region, Moscow does not want to see Iran and Israel dragged into a large-scale war in which it gets involved during its war in Ukraine.

Russia will not be able to control all the cards. If the war expands, and in light of the great American support for Israel, it may become more involved in the region, and the new war in the Middle East will expand in the presence of the great powers.

Source: raseef22.net

Citizens suffocated as a result of inhaling poisonous gas, Sunday evening, during confrontations with Israeli occupation forces in the village of Zabuba, west of Jenin.

Fatah Secretary Hussein Jaradat said that confrontations broke out after the occupation forces stormed the village adjacent to the separation and apartheid wall, during which poison gas bombs were fired, causing a number of citizens to suffocate, while the occupation forces intensified their military presence in the vicinity of villages and towns west of Jenin. On Jenin Street - Haifa.

Today, Sunday, settlers attacked the guard of the Sebastia water well, northwest of Nablus.

The mayor of Sebastia, Muhammad Azem, said that about 15 settlers attacked the water well that feeds villages northwest of Nablus and parts of the city, and tried to attack the guard present in the area, in an attempt to kill him.

Today, Sunday, settlers set up a mobile home “caravan” in the Tuqua Wilderness, southeast of Bethlehem.

The director of the Office of the Wall and Settlement Resistance Commission in Bethlehem, Hassan Barijiyah, reported that a group of settlers set up a “caravan” in the “Danyan” area, bringing the total number of caravans installed to five caravans, with the aim of establishing a settlement outpost.

Brijiyeh added that the settlers, under the protection of the occupation forces, are exploiting the current circumstances as a result of the aggression on the Gaza Strip since the seventh of this month, to impose illegal facts on the land, especially since it is private land.

It is noteworthy that the settlers shortly before closed the road leading to the wilderness in front of the citizens, assaulted them and seized their tents.

The Pope of the Vatican issued an urgent appeal to stop the war in the Gaza Strip, calling for the provision of humanitarian aid and assistance to the injured in order to alleviate the “very dangerous” situation.

Today, Sunday, Pope Francesco said to a crowd in St. Peter's Square after the Angelus prayer, "I continue to think about the dangerous situation in Palestine and Israel, where many people lost their lives... I appeal to you in the name of God to stop and declare a ceasefire."

He added, "I hope that all measures will be taken to avoid escalation of the conflict, that the wounded will be helped, and that aid will reach the residents of Gaza, where the humanitarian situation is very serious."

The Pope renewed his calls for a ceasefire and the release of detainees held by the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) following the Al-Aqsa Flood operation on October 7, with a focus on children who he said “must return to their families.”

"Let's think about the children, all the children involved in this war, in Ukraine and other conflicts: in this way their future is being killed," he added.

Humanitarian corridors: Pope Francesco called for the opening of humanitarian corridors, and said that the two-state solution is necessary to end the war between Israel and Hamas.

The Pope has previously called several times for an end to the fighting, the release of detainees, and the delivery of humanitarian aid to Gaza.

The Israeli army is waging a devastating war on Gaza for the 30th day, after the “Al-Aqsa Flood” operation. About 9,770 Palestinians were killed, including 4,800 children and 2,550 women, and more than 24,000 others were injured. In the West Bank, 151 Palestinians were killed and 2,080 were arrested, according to official Palestinian sources.

Ramallah - Palestinian opinions were divided regarding the speech of Hezbollah Secretary General Hassan Nasrallah yesterday, Friday, between supporters who saw in it a message of open support for the resistance, and others who described it as “constructive and out of time,” while analysts described it as a realistic speech to the extent possible for the party and in light of Lebanon’s internal circumstances and American threats to the region.

Despite the internet and electricity outages in the Gaza Strip, there was great interest in following the speech of the Secretary-General of Hezbollah on local radio stations arriving from the West Bank, according to what was reported by political science professor Mustafa Ibrahim, who and his family were displaced from Gaza City to Rafah in the south due to the bombing.

Ibrahim spoke to Al Jazeera Net about the amount of frustration felt by the Palestinians around him after the speech. He added, "I noticed the amount of anger here compared to the amount of expectations," and his statement reflects what most of the comments of the Palestinians were like, who felt let down and frustrated by Nasrallah's speech, after great expectations that reached the point of announcing a clear decision by the party to enter the war.

But on the other hand, Ibrahim added, “On the political level, I find it an acceptable speech at this stage of the war, especially in light of Nasrallah’s assertion that options are open in the future.” He added, "Hezbollah's occupation on the northern front is an important part of this war, which may extend for a long time. This has constituted a burden on Israel, which is trying to isolate Gaza from its surroundings and focus its aggression on it."

What was expected?

A quick review of a number of posts on social media, many Palestinians expected an “all-out war” with long-term bombardment against Israeli targets from Lebanon, while questions were raised after the speech about why Nasrallah refrained from taking this step.

Political analyst Nihad Abu Ghosh says that most Palestinians expected something identical to what happened on October 7, and that the speech would coincide with the bombing of Israeli targets, but “apart from wishful thinking, the speech was realistic and political, and Hezbollah cannot do more than that at the current stage.” 

According to Abu Ghosh, “waiting for a miracle to stop the killing in the Gaza Strip has caused the Palestinians to lose the ability to read the scene politically and focus on important points mentioned in the statement, such as emphasizing support for the Palestinian resistance as an integral part of the axis of resistance, and leaving the options open, in a clear threatening message to Israel.”

Abu Ghosh considered that the high level of expectations was due to the Palestinians feeling let down by the position of the Palestinian Authority, wondering why they did not “hold this responsibility to the Palestinian leadership, which has not provided anything so far.”

Political science professor Ayman Youssef agrees with what analyst Abu Ghosh said, saying that the scale of expectations were very high, in light of the disappointment of the Palestinian leadership, whose only speech was limited to emphasizing the role of popular resistance, despite the continuous bombing and the continued occurrence of massacres in the Gaza Strip.

Youssef considered that the most important reason for the high ceiling of expectations is the Palestinians’ link between their resistance and the so-called “axis of resistance,” which Nasrallah confirmed in his speech by talking about training and supporting Palestinian resistance factions, considering this an important part of the party’s role, amid long-term expectations. This war.

What prevents entry into war?

Academic Youssef considered that the scenarios built by the Palestinians expected Hamas and Islamic Jihad fighters to move from Lebanon, but he considered them “emotional expectations” that are not subject to the logic of politics. He said, "The decision is not in Nasrallah's hands. Lebanon cannot tolerate confrontation and destruction at the present time, and Hezbollah knows very well that the internal conditions are not prepared for war, which is what made him devote most of the speech to the internal popular base in Lebanon."

As for the Director General of the Palestinian Center for Policy Research and Strategic Studies (Masarat), Hani Al-Masry, he believed that any war that could break out now would have the price of changing the entire face of the region, which is something that neither Lebanon nor other countries can currently bear.

In an interview with Al Jazeera Net, Al-Masry considered that what was stated in Nasrallah’s speech “could establish a new phase in the region, as the speech focused on movement on the northern front, which could develop according to the course of the battles, or calm down if the aggression stopped,” and he continued, saying, “Nasrallah did not announce his entry into the war, but he did not close the door either.”

Analysts - including Al-Masry - agree that Hezbollah is not currently ready to enter a comprehensive war, but on the other hand, they do not rule out any change in the next stage, according to the changes imposed by the aggression on the Gaza Strip and the battles there and on the Lebanese border front.

Al-Masry also believes that the party has a major role at this stage without entering the war, and that the speech carried clear and direct messages to Israel, which it will take into consideration in any decision to expand the war.

He added, "Hezbollah constitutes a rear protection for the resistance, and with it the entire resistance axis. We can be certain that had it not been for that, we would have witnessed a new Nakba and the direct deportation of Palestinians from the Gaza Strip." 

But what Nasrallah is accused of, according to Al-Masry, “is not clarifying this role directly, and leaving it within the implicit meaning of the speech.”

Michael Clarke, professor of defense studies at King's College London, says that the Israeli military goal in the Gaza war, "Hamas must be destroyed," which its politicians and leaders constantly repeat, has become a national slogan that faces enormous obstacles.

Clark emphasized - in an article in the Sunday Times newspaper, in which he talked about the challenges faced by Israel's attempt to destroy the Islamic Resistance Movement "Hamas" - that the Israeli army will either have to reformulate its goal, "Hamas must be destroyed," or think of ways to achieve it that do not lead to annihilate the population of Gaza.

He explained that Israel can defeat Hamas, but destroying it will be a different matter, and this challenge is likely to increase as the Israeli campaign continues.

Israel cannot

The defense studies professor added that the most important strategic decision taken by any government is the first decision. Israel has taken action, and the broader consequences will come in due course. It will have to make a second crucial strategic decision when it looks to southern Gaza.

Clark said that "destroying Hamas" amid a stressed and suffering civilian population would require unique thinking. In such circumstances, most of the leaders of the ancient world would resort to direct massacre, but contemporary military leaders cannot do that because this war will trigger political events that Israel will find difficult to control, and it will find itself forced to develop new methods of urban warfare and combating “insurgency” if it wants. "Destroying" Hamas among this population.

An unprecedented situation

Clark pointed out that the area of the Gaza Strip, which is 360 square kilometers, makes it very small, yet 2.3 million people are trapped inside it without the possibility of escape. He said that there are no examples in modern history - neither Mosul, nor Fallujah, nor Mariupol in Ukraine, nor Grozny in Chechnya, nor Kandahar in Afghanistan, nor Saigon in Vietnam or Phnom Penh in Cambodia - provide similar situations from the battlefield. There is very little opportunity for civilians to escape, if they choose, before a superior military force attacks.

Even Berlin in 1945 gave German civilians some opportunities to escape west and throw themselves at the mercy of American and British forces rather than confront the advancing Russians.

The defense studies professor emphasized that the Palestinians in Gaza have no chance of escape, and since more than half of the northern population has bypassed the Gaza Valley, Israel will have to confront the southern battlefield, which has a population of about 1.8 million people with a density approaching 10,000 people per square kilometer.

Unless it's done quickly

Clark concluded his article by saying, “If Hamas must be destroyed, this is not possible unless it is done quickly,” adding that what complicates Israel’s position is that the Lebanese Hezbollah will enter into a direct confrontation with Israel, and if Hamas survives in any tangible way, it will win. It has a good opportunity to witness the broader war against Israel that it may have hoped to spark when it launched its attack on October 7th.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Sunday that there will be no ceasefire in Gaza without the return of Israeli prisoners held by Hamas in the Strip since last October 7.

“I want you to know that there is one thing we will not do: there will be no ceasefire without the return of our kidnappers,” Netanyahu said during a visit to Ramon Air Base.

He added, according to his office, in a written statement, “To both our enemies and our friends.

We will continue until we defeat them (Hamas). We have no alternative."

Last night, many Israelis demonstrated in front of Netanyahu's headquarters and demanded his resignation, blaming him for the failure of the occupation army in the face of the Palestinian resistance.

Some of them said that Netanyahu remaining in power poses a danger to Israel. It is noteworthy that on the seventh of last October, the Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades - the military arm of the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) - and other Palestinian resistance factions launched the “Al-Aqsa Flood” operation against the occupation. The Israeli attack has so far killed more than 1,542 Israelis and injured 5,431 of them.

The Palestinian resistance also captured 240 Israelis, and announced that it wanted to exchange them for more than 6,000 prisoners in occupation prisons. Israel continues its aggression against Gaza, bombing homes, schools, hospitals, and mosques, which led to the martyrdom of more than 9,770 Palestinians, most of them women and children, in addition to wounding 24,000 and destroying neighborhoods. In its entirety and displacing most of the population.

For more than a week, Israel has been carrying out a ground operation in the besieged sector, but it has suffered painful losses at the hands of resistance elements, with more than 30 of its officers killed and 260 wounded evacuated from the field.

Source: Al Jazeera + agencies

Dozens of settlers, protected by Israeli armed forces, participated this Sunday evening in a provocative march near the town of Qabalan, south of Nablus.

Local sources reported that dozens of Israeli settlers set off from the “Rahalim” settlement established on citizens’ lands south of Nablus, raising Israeli flags towards the entrance to the town of Qablan, with protection from Israeli army.

Ramallah - Since the start of the Israeli aggression on the Gaza Strip on October 7, there have been repeated Israeli and American statements about ending the rule of the Hamas movement in the Strip, as a primary goal of the war.

The White House announced last Wednesday that Washington is working with its partners in the region “to explore what governance in Gaza should look like in the future,” while the US State Department said, “We have made clear that Hamas cannot continue to rule and manage Gaza.”

Since 2007, the Palestinians have been living under a division in which Hamas runs the Gaza Strip, while the West Bank is run by a government formed by the Fatah movement.

In light of the projects proposed, to what extent are Hamas's alternatives in Gaza feasible? Is it possible to end the movement’s rule in the Gaza Strip? To what extent can the Palestinian Authority or Arab parties be an alternative to it in managing the sector in the future?

To answer these questions, Al Jazeera Net spoke to 3 political experts in the West Bank. Their opinions agreed that the American and Israeli aspirations were based on one scenario, which is that the war would end with the defeat of Hamas, and ruled out any other scenarios, and this has nothing to do with reality.

Other scenarios

According to Hani Al-Masry, director of the Palestinian Center for Policy Research and Strategic Studies (Masarat), talking about an alternative administration for Hamas in Gaza “is part of the war, as it is rumored that there is only one scenario, which is the defeat of Hamas and the Palestinian resistance, and in return any human being, expert or non-expert, knows that there are several scenarios for the course of the war.”

Al-Masry rules out the supposed scenario of defeating Hamas, wondering, "How can a popular movement be defeated that gained very large support after October 7, not only Palestinian, but also Arab and international support?"

Even if the unlikely scenario of “defeating the resistance” is accepted, “solutions such as a temporary administration, Arab and international forces, the return of power, or displacement are not easy to implement.”

As for the Palestinian Authority, Al-Masry believes that it is difficult to accept a return to Gaza “on the back of an Israeli tank,” adding, “It is also not easy for Israel to agree to its return, even though it is American’s preference, because what Israel wants is to re-change and rehabilitate the entire authority.”

If the authority accepts - and it is also excluded - Al-Masry says, "It will not be a representative of any Palestinian, but rather a traitor and an agent, and this applies to any other figures that the Americans and Israelis think about, because if they agree, they will be part of the Israeli-American project."

The director of the Masarat Center rules out that the Arab countries, especially Egypt and Jordan, will agree to any alternatives to managing Gaza in the current situation, “but if defeat occurs, they will agree on the basis of saving what can be saved, and here the people of Gaza will refuse to be ruled by people who do not represent them.”

Regarding his vision for the end of the current battle, Al-Masry tends to “a formula of neither victor nor loser, which allows each party to claim that it has achieved victory, because defeating either party in the military sense is impossible, and in this case the resistance is the victor, because it did not enable the other party to achieve its goals.” ".

In this case, the political analyst says, “Hamas will emerge weaker militarily but stronger politically,” meaning that “the effects of October 7 (the Al-Aqsa flood) are a strategic victory, regardless of the results of the current war, and after it, it will not be possible to ignore the Palestinian people and their cause, but rather think about how to give the Palestinians their rights.” Otherwise, things will deteriorate sooner or later.”

Conditional acceptance

For his part, Professor of Media at An-Najah National University, Dr. Farid Abu Dhair, wonders about the extent to which Israel can go in the war, “especially if losses and internal crises continue.”

The speaker does not rule out that the occupation will resort, within weeks, to negotiated or diplomatic means for a ceasefire with conditions, "and therefore the idea of an Arab or international administration in Gaza may be raised, and this means surrender."

Farid Abu Dhair wondered about the extent of Hamas’ readiness to surrender and hand over Gaza to an Arab or Palestinian body under an international framework? He answered, "Absolutely not, because it set clear and specific goals for this operation, which are stopping the raids on Al-Aqsa Mosque, the issue of prisoners, and the siege on Gaza and the West Bank."

Abu Dhair does not rule out the possibility of collusion, and perhaps Arab and regional acceptance of the proposed projects. “I am not surprised. Indeed, Arab officials may have called for the end of Hamas, since the Palestinian situation has become inspiring since the Stone Intifada and an incentive to take action against injustice.”

As for the hypothesis of the Palestinian Authority accepting the administration of Gaza, the media academic says that this is possible “according to its vision of preserving the interest of the Palestinian people, saving their blood, and striving to achieve goals peacefully without bloodshed.”

The same spokesman continues, "Yes, the authority may accept to stop bloodshed and build the Gaza Strip, with Arab, European, American, and Israeli blessings behind the scenes, but within the horizon of a political solution and Palestinian national consensus, and there is sufficient factional flexibility in this regard."

In the context of his analysis, Abu Dhair believes that the next stage will witness a Palestinian agreement on a solution based on a state within the 1967 borders with East Jerusalem as its capital, “and this is an option acceptable to Hamas, the Palestinian Authority, and the Arab countries, including the normalized countries.”

After October 7, Abu Dhair sees a change in the international mood, including the European and American ones, and even within the occupying state, regarding the reasons for what happened on this day, “because the conversation is no longer Israel’s security, but rather its existence.”

Psychological

Not far from my opinion, Al-Masry and Abu Dhair, the political analyst and director of Al-Quds Open University in Bethlehem, Dr. Asaad Al-Aweiwi, does not see “the possibility of ending the Hamas movement and thus its rule.”

Al-Aweiwi adds that Hamas is “a national liberation movement firmly rooted in the conscience of the Palestinian people and an integral part of it, and it is not a tunnel or a building to be eliminated.”

Asaad Al-Awawi commented that the owners of the alternative administration project "are anticipating events, as the outcomes of the battle will settle matters, and neither the United States, Israel, nor Western powers can end the spirit of resistance among the Palestinian people, or install an administration for the Gaza Strip."

Regarding the American statements, Al-Aweiwi believes that they are part of the psychological war on the Palestinian people, and are not taken for granted, and that they are merely an attempt to defend its eroding interests in the region, adding that the United States decides alone in light of a multipolar world.

Al-Aweiwi ruled out "the involvement of any Arab country in the issue of managing Gaza after this blood that was shed and the sacrifices. The only legitimacy is for those who defend the Palestinian people and who offer blood and lives, and governance must be agreed upon by the Palestinians."

The Palestinian analyst also rules out the Authority being drawn into the box of American and Israeli projects, and does not believe that anyone in the Palestinian people would accept to go on the back of an American-Israeli tank to rule, nor would the Fatah movement accept that either.

The same analyst points out that regional powers that have interests with the resistance “are beginning to show strong positions,” pointing to the recent visit of the Hamas delegation to Russia. “Russia has a developed position that is more biased toward the Palestinian people, their cause, and their freedom than ever before.”

Al-Awewi stated that Russia and China are speaking strongly about the aftermath of the war and the necessity of ending the occupation and establishing a Palestinian state, considering that this scene comes as a result of the great sacrifices of the Palestinian people, and the convergence of the positions of its political forces to establish a state in accordance with the resolutions of international legitimacy.

Source: Al Jazeera

The Ministry of Health in Gaza announced today that the death toll has risen to 9,770 dead since the beginning of the Israeli aggression, and confirmed that 70% of the victims of the aggression are women and children, noting that during the past hours Israel has committed 10 major massacres that claimed lives.

Israeli aircraft continued to bomb civilians in the Gaza Strip, and as the war entered its 30th day, while the Ministry of Health in Gaza announced that Israel had committed 24 massacres during the past hours, resulting in the martyrdom of 243 Palestinians.

The Ministry of Health announced that the number of dead of the ongoing Israeli aggression on the Gaza Strip rose to 9,770 dead, including 4,800 children and 2,550 women, and the number of wounded reached 24,808. The Ministry’s spokesman, Ashraf Al-Qudra, confirmed that 70% of the victims of the Israeli aggression are women and children, and that The Ministry received 2,660 reports of missing persons, including 1,270 children.

Al-Qudra reported, "175 health personnel were killed, and 31 ambulances were destroyed and put out of service as a result of the Israeli aggression." He said, "Israel targeted more than 110 health institutions, which led to 16 hospitals being out of service and 32 primary care centers due to Israeli targeting and fuel exhaustion." Al-Qudra stated that "Gaza's hospitals are completely unable to provide any health service to thousands of wounded and sick people due to the cutting of medical supplies and fuel."

He continued, "The health system is facing critical hours where medical teams are holding their breath, as they work on secondary generators in Gaza and the north, as the fuel for the generators is almost running out." Al-Qudra appealed to all parties "to provide safe passage and the urgent flow of humanitarian and medical aid, fuel and medical delegations to Gaza." Al-Qudra explained, "There are no safe corridors in the Gaza Strip, which is a lie, and the occupation is using them to attack our people." He said, "There are hundreds of victims, who were forced by Israeli army to flee from northern Gaza to its south. There are a large number of victims and the bodies of martyrs on the ground, and ambulances have not yet been able to recover them." He added, "We confirm that for the third day in a row we were unable to transport the wounded to Egyptian hospitals." Because of the Israeli bombing.” He added, "Israeli army deliberately targets ambulances and prevents them from transporting the wounded to the Egyptian border."

At the level of the ground operation, it continues to confront Israeli attempts to advance along the fighting axes, announcing from time to time the loss of life and equipment among the ranks of the occupation army.

The Israeli army announced that 30 soldiers were killed and more than 250 others were injured since the beginning of the ground operation in Gaza on October 27.

On Sunday, the Iranian Tasnim News Agency quoted Defense Minister Mohammad Reza Ashtiani as saying that the United States would be severely harmed if it did not implement a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip.

Ashtiani advised the Americans, saying that they must stop the war immediately, otherwise they would be exposed to severe harm, without adding further details.

Iran considers the United States militarily involved in the war on Gaza as a result of its unconditional support for Israel following the Al-Aqsa Flood operation on October 7th.

On October 24, Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir Abdollahian revealed that Tehran had received two letters from Washington stating that it did not intend to expand the circle of war, and was calling on Tehran to exercise restraint.

Abdullahian said at the time that his country was not seeking to expand the cycle of war in the region, but that continuing to kill women and children would lead to the impatience of the resistance forces and the peoples of the region.

Iran denied its participation in Operation Al-Aqsa Flood, and US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken said that he saw no evidence that Iran was behind the attack launched by the Al-Qassam Brigades of the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) on Israel, despite the existence of relations between Hamas and Tehran, as he put it.

Source: Al Jazeera + Reuters

By Christian Shepherd and Lyric Li

Chinese leader Xi Jinping on Oct. 18 called for an immediate cease-fire in the Israel-Gaza war. Making his first remarks since the conflict began, Xi said during a meeting in Beijing with Egyptian Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly that the establishment of “an independent state of Palestine” through a two-state solution was the “fundamental way out of” the conflict. A few hours later, China expressed its “deep disappointment” with the United States for vetoing a U.N. Security Council resolution calling for a humanitarian pause in the fighting. 

It was a neat encapsulation of how Beijing is trying to promote two key diplomatic aims: Bolstering its status as a champion of developing countries at the same time it is positioning itself as a superpower to rival the United States in a multipolar world, with some notable support. The previous day, Xi hosted Russian President Vladimir Putin in Beijing. Both have made a point of diverging from the Western-led support for Israel after the attacks. 

Since the Oct. 7 attacks on Israel by Hamas, the Palestinian militant group that controls the Gaza Strip, China has been unusually ready to offer itself up as peacemaker. With Russia’s war in Ukraine, Beijing stood back for a year before releasing a proposal for a political settlement. Now, it has launched a diplomatic blitz within days of the attacks, describing itself as a “friend to both Israel and Palestine.” Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi swiftly called for an “international peace conference” to reach a solution to the Israel-Hamas conflict, and Beijing last week dispatched a senior diplomat to the Middle East. Zhai Jun, China’s special representative to the Middle East, promised to “conduct impartial conciliation and mediation.” Despite Beijing’s own long-standing concerns about terrorism, China has refrained in official statements from using that terminology when describing Hamas’s attacks. 

In another contrast with the United States and its allies, China has said that Israeli retaliatory strikes on Gaza went beyond what was acceptable under international humanitarian law. 

What is the history of China’s relations with Israel and the Palestinians? 

After a brief effort to establish relations with Israel in the early years after the establishment of the People’s Republic of China in 1949, China openly sided with the Palestinians and Arab nations in the mid-1960s, when Mao Zedong’s government provided weapons and promises of unwavering support to Palestinian fighters. After Mao’s death in 1976, China began opening up to the world and softened its position. It normalized relations with Israel in 1992, beginning a period of trying to keep good relations with both sides of the conflict. Chinese diplomats would draw up proposals and call for talks but they rarely got stuck in negotiations, in line with Beijing’s claimed principle of “noninterference” in other countries’ affairs. Under Xi, who rose to lead China in 2012, that policy has gradually given way to efforts to court Arab nations and offers to mediate between Israel and the Palestinians as China’s economic footprint in the Middle East has grown. 

The president of the Palestinian Authority, Mahmoud Abbas, signed a strategic partnership with Xi in June. In exchange for Chinese aid, Abbas declared that China’s security crackdown on mostly Muslim Uyghurs has “nothing to do with human rights” and is about “excising extremism.” 

What has China said in response to the Oct. 7 attacks on Israel? 

Chinese officials have yet to directly condemn Hamas for the rampage, in which the militants massacred at least 1,400 people and abducted nearly 200, according to Israeli authorities. 

In fact, officials have avoided even mentioning the militant group that runs Gaza and instead have said that they oppose harm to civilians in what they term the “Israel-Palestine conflict.” (At least 9,061 have been killed in Gaza since the start of the war, according to the Gaza Health Ministry.) 

Their criticism of Israel, however, has been far more direct. Wang denounced Israel for “going beyond self-defense” and called for an end to “collective punishment of the Gazan people.” China’s top diplomat has also intensified rhetoric around Beijing’s preferred outcome of a two-state solution. “The Jewish nation is no longer homeless in the world, but when will the Palestinian nation return to its home?” he said in October. “The injustice to Palestine has dragged on for over half a century. The sufferings that plagued generations must not continue.” 

What is China’s interest in the Israel-Gaza war?

For decades, China stayed well away from the intractable conflicts of the Middle East, but that has changed in recent years. Beijing has tried to match its economic influence with growing political clout. That shift is partially to protect Chinese business interests but also to secure support from Arab nations for China’s efforts to reshape the world order in its favor.“ The fact that Palestine is such an emotional and hot-button political issue for the Middle East means that when China offers rhetorical support to Palestine, they’re going to speak not just to the Palestinians, but also to those other Arab countries that want to see a great power support them on this issue,” said Jonathan Fulton, a nonresident fellow at the Atlantic Council, a think tank. China has promised to send food, medicines and other humanitarian aid to Gaza through the United Nations, without giving a breakdown of what it has provided. 

How have Israel and the Palestinians responded to Beijing’s overtures? 

Beijing may have far greater economic interest in maintaining good relations with Israel, but it has long sided with the Palestinians, part of a broader stance of support for those in formerly colonized lands against perceived Western oppression. 

Israel has largely rebuffed China’s efforts to present itself as an impartial broker. “When people are being murdered, slaughtered in the streets, this is not the time to call for a two-state solution,” Yuval Waks, a senior official at the Israeli Embassy in Beijing, told reporters on Oct. 8, the day after the Hamas attacks. While Israel remains skeptical, the Palestinians have been receptive to Chinese involvement. “Palestine trusts China” and welcomes its constructive involvement in talks, Palestinian Authority Deputy Foreign Minister Amal Jadou told China’s special representative, Zhai, in a phone call earlier in October. 

Can Beijing do anything to stop the fighting?

Beijing’s readiness to speak out and actively push for a resolution to the conflict reflects new confidence in its ability to resolve regional disputes. Beijing helped put the finishing touches on an agreement under which Iran and Saudi Arabia agreed to reestablish diplomatic relations. 

The foreign minister at the time, Qin Gang, then offered to host a new round of peace talks between Israel and the Palestinians. Beyond the Iran-Saudi deal, however, Beijing’s rising interest in playing global peacemaker has had limited success. Its proposal for a peaceful settlement of the Ukraine war has gained little traction, not least because Ukraine doesn’t see it as impartial. 

The sudden disappearance of Qin and his subsequent removal from his position as foreign minister hasn’t helped spread Beijing’s intended message of stability. China’s Foreign Ministry has declined to comment on whether it will use its influence over Iran to try to restrain Hamas, and it has little experience working directly with the militant group. How does this play into China’s broader geopolitical aims? For China, the crisis is a chance to establish itself as a dealmaker in the Middle East, win ground from the United States in an area in which Beijing lacks experience, and strengthen partnerships with Russia and across the Arab world. China’s calculation might change if the fighting spreads, analysts said, but for now it appears to consider the current flare-up of violence an opportunity to strengthen its influence in the region relative to the United States. “ The way that this is playing out is not necessarily a bad thing for Beijing,” Fulton said. “If it remains a Hamas-Israel conflict, China can offer rhetorical support for the Palestinians, criticize Israel, score points on the U.S. 

while they do so, and it’s not going to affect their greater strategic interests in the region.” What informs China’s views of Israel and Hamas? To explain China’s position toward Hamas militants, Zhu Weilie, a veteran Chinese scholar of the Middle East, reaches back to the 2006 Palestinian legislative election, when the militant organization won a majority. “Hamas has its radical side, but it’s a legitimate organization in Palestine and is recognized by Arab countries,” said Zhu, a professor at Shanghai International Studies University. “It’s not up to foreigners or other countries to define it as a terrorist group.”

The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia condemned, in the strongest terms, the extremist statements issued by a minister in the Israeli government regarding dropping a nuclear bomb on the besieged Gaza Strip, which demonstrate the penetration of extremism and brutality among members of the Israeli government.

The Saudi Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement today, Sunday, that not dismissing the minister immediately from the government and merely freezing his membership reflects the height of disdain for all human, moral, religious and legal standards and values of the Israeli government.

US Secretary of State, Anthony Blinken, affirmed on Sunday Washington's rejection of forcefully displacing Palestinians from their areas, stressing that the United States is committed to working to achieve the aspirations of the Palestinians to establish their state.

“Promoting dignity and security”

He also affirmed the United States' commitment to promoting dignity and security for Palestinians and Israelis alike, and condemned "extremist violence" against Palestinians in the West Bank.

While he stressed that Washington is committed to providing humanitarian aid and resuming basic services in Gaza.

Abu Mazen's demands

For his part, the official spokesman for the Palestinian presidency, Nabil Abu Rudeina, said on Sunday that President Mahmoud Abbas informed US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken in Ramallah that there must be an immediate ceasefire and allow humanitarian aid to enter the residents of the Gaza Strip.

"genocidal war"

The Palestinian President described the war launched by Israel on the Gaza Strip since October 7 as a "genocidal war."

Abbas said, "There are no words to describe the war of genocide and destruction to which our Palestinian people are being subjected in Gaza at the hands of the Israeli war machine, without regard to the rules of international law."

Meeting in Ramallah

Blinken arrived in Ramallah on Sunday on an unannounced visit and met with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, as part of a tour of the Middle East amid escalating tensions due to the war between Israel and Hamas.

Blinken and Abbas met in the West Bank city of Ramallah, as part of Blinken's second tour in the region and the third in which he accompanied Biden since Hamas fighters launched a surprise attack on southern Israel on October 7, killing 1,400 people and taking more than 240 hostage.

Amman meeting

It is noteworthy that the foreign ministers of Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Jordan, the Emirates, Qatar and Palestine held a coordination meeting, on Saturday, with the US Secretary of State in the Jordanian capital, Amman, in the context of targeted Arab efforts to reach an end to the Israeli war on Gaza and the humanitarian catastrophe it is causing.

While Israel continues air strikes that Gaza health officials say have killed nearly 9,500 Palestinians, Blinken rejected calls for a ceasefire from Arab officials on Saturday after he unsuccessfully appealed to Israel for more limited periods of cessation of fighting the day before.

During his meeting with US Secretary of State, Anthony Blinken, on Sunday, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas linked the return of the Palestinian Authority to administering the Gaza Strip to a “comprehensive political solution” to the conflict.

Abbas, who met with Blinken for the second time since October 7, said: “The Gaza Strip is an integral part of the State of Palestine, and we will bear our full responsibilities within the framework of a comprehensive political solution on both the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and the Gaza Strip.”

As Israeli forces intensify their attack on the Gaza Strip, diplomats in the United States and the United Nations are beginning to evaluate options, “What next?” If Israel manages to overthrow the movement that runs the Strip, the challenges they face in this regard are huge.

Reuters quoted an informed source as saying that these discussions include options such as deploying multinational forces after the end of the latest escalation in the conflict in Gaza and forming a temporary administration led by Palestinians, but they exclude politicians affiliated with Hamas, granting a temporary role to fill the vacuum in security and administration to neighboring Arab countries, and temporary supervision from United Nations on the sector.

Another American source described the process as still being informally “in the process of brainstorming ideas.”

The Qatari Red Crescent issued an official statement denouncing the deliberate targeting of medical facilities in the Gaza Strip, after the Al-Quds Hospital affiliated with the Palestinian Red Crescent, as well as Al-Shifa Hospital and the Indonesian Hospital, were subjected to a missile attack near them, which resulted in the fall of dozens of martyrs, wounded and wounded, in blatant violation of international law. Humanitarian and Geneva Conventions.

The Qatari Red Crescent also renewed its condemnation of targeting ambulances that carry out their medical and humanitarian duty in transporting the wounded and injured, stressing that all medical and relief teams and facilities, ambulances, and paramedics who carry the Red Crescent or Red Cross emblem are not a target.

The Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Observatory said that Israel has sharply escalated in recent hours the war of starvation it is waging against civilians in the Gaza Strip to exacerbate the living situation, which has reached catastrophic levels, as a tool of subjugation as part of its ongoing war for the fifth week in a row.

The Euro-Mediterranean Observatory highlighted - in a statement on Sunday - that the Israeli war of starvation has taken extremely dangerous turns, including cutting off all food supplies and bombing and destroying bakeries, factories, food stores, water stations and tanks.

It pointed out that Israel has deliberately, in recent hours, focused its attacks on targeting electrical generators and solar energy units on which commercial establishments, restaurants, and civilian institutions depend to maintain the minimum possible level of operation.

It also warned that Israel's attacks included the destruction of the agricultural area east of Gaza, flour stores, and fishermen's boats, as well as supply centers for relief organizations, especially the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA), the largest source of humanitarian aid in the Strip.

Euro-Med warned of an imminent explosion in child deaths in Gaza if the world does not act quickly, as Gaza recorded during the past two days a staggering increase in the number of children with acute malnutrition who need to receive medical care.

While it is believed that malnutrition affected 70% of the children in the Gaza Strip with anemia and weak immunity before the ongoing Israeli war, the Or-Med Monitor estimates that the aforementioned number has risen to more than 90% due to the unprecedented Israeli policy.

It highlighted that children, especially newborns, and women in Gaza are disproportionately bearing the repercussions of Israel’s war, as 52,500 infants in Gaza currently face the risk of death, hunger, dehydration, and the dangers of overcrowding, at a time when there are about 55,000 pregnant women in Gaza, including 5,500 thousand births expected this month.

It said: Israel's attacks, the disruption of damaged or non-functioning health facilities, the massive levels of displacement, and the collapse of food, water and electricity supplies, severely threaten mothers and newborn babies.

It added that the risks of malnutrition were extremely high among pregnant women, which had a significant impact on children's survival and development, and as access to food and water worsened, mothers struggled to feed and care for their families, increasing the risks of malnutrition, illness and death.

In parallel, Euro-Med highlighted that only about 2% of aid and food supplies have so far been allowed by Israel to enter the Gaza Strip through the Rafah crossing with Egypt, at a time when it ignores calls from international organizations for the necessity of bringing in food, water, fuel and other necessities without restrictions.

Although a limited amount of food aid was allowed to enter, no commercial food imports were delivered, leaving the Gaza Strip's population of approximately 2.3 million people in dire need of food while imposing a collective punishment approach on them.

It pointed out that the limited food supplies entering from Egypt are being distributed primarily to displaced people and host families in the southern Gaza Strip, with only flour provided for bakeries, while preventing any food supplies from reaching Gaza City and its north.

The World Food Program estimates that current stocks of basic food commodities will be sufficient for a maximum of four days before they run out completely, at a time when trade has been paralyzed by widespread destruction, insecurity, and fuel shortages.

Euro-Med highlighted that obtaining bread in the Gaza Strip has become an existential challenge, as the only mill operating in Gaza is still unable to grind wheat due to the lack of electricity and fuel. 11 bakeries have been bombed and destroyed since October 7, and those still operating face severe challenges due to shortages of necessities such as flour and fuel.

Only one bakery contracted by the World Food Program provided bread intermittently to shelters, depending on the availability of flour and fuel, while residents queued for long hours at bakeries and were exposed to Israeli air strikes to obtain a few loaves of bread.

Euro-Med warned that the distribution of food aid to the displaced in northern Gaza has stopped almost completely over the past few days, following the intensification of ground operations by the Israeli army, threatening widespread famine, the price of which will be paid by children in particular.

Besides, access to basic foodstuffs such as flour, oil and sugar in some of the warehouses that were not destroyed is a huge challenge due to fuel shortages, damaged roads and risks resulting from air strikes.

In addition, the power outage crisis disrupted food supplies by affecting cooling and irrigation of crops, while more than 15,000 farmers lost their crop production, about 10,000 livestock keepers were unable to obtain sufficient feed, and many lost their animals.

In parallel, it is estimated that less than three liters of clean water per person is now available out of a minimum of 15 liters per day necessary for people in the most severe humanitarian emergencies.

Euro-Med said: The stock of bottled water is running out, and the cost of bottled water has already risen to the point where it has become beyond the reach of an average family in Gaza, with prices rising five-fold in some places due to the severe shortage.

It warned that in recent hours, Israel has deliberately bombed water wells and tanks and harmed the services it provides, the most recent of which was the destruction of the water well and Tal al-Zaatar tank in the northern Gaza Strip, which feed more than 70,000 people.

The Palestinian Water Authority says that water production in Gaza is now only 5% of its total normal production, and is expected to decline further, unless water and sanitation facilities are supplied with electricity or fuel to resume their activity.

Hundreds of thousands of residents of Gaza City and its north face a severe water shortage, raising fears of drought and water-borne diseases due to water consumption from unsafe sources, after most water facilities stopped in the aforementioned areas, where residents rely on a minimum of private wells and purification stations and consume... Unsafe water from agricultural wells.

Euro-Med recalled that international humanitarian law strictly prohibits the use of starvation as a means of war, and that as the occupying power in Gaza, Israel is obligated, according to international humanitarian law, to provide for the needs of the people of Gaza and protect them.

In this regard, he called for decisive international action to impose a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip and prevent further deterioration of the situation in civilian lives by providing fair and unrestricted access to basic and relief materials to the entire Gaza Strip, and making necessary supplies of food, water, medical supplies and fuel to meet the needs of the population.

Today, Sunday, Israeli occupation forces attacked farmers while they were picking olives, arrested one of them, and smashed the windows of a number of citizens’ vehicles in Nablus and Beit Jala.

In Nablus, a number of occupation foot soldiers attacked farmers in the southern area of the village of Qasra while picking olives, threw the fruits on the ground, beat them, and arrested the young man, Muhammad Ziad Odeh.

In Beit Jala, the occupation forces attacked a group of citizens' vehicles that were parked on the street near the Arab Rehabilitation Society Hospital, which led to the shattering of the glass.

It is noteworthy that the occupation forces have been closing the road near the Arab Society with earth mounds, since the 7th of last month.

The International Committee of the Red Cross said today (Sunday) that the humanitarian situation in the Gaza Strip is catastrophic and is getting worse every moment.

The committee added in a statement, a copy of which was received by Xinhua News Agency, that civilians in the Gaza Strip are bearing the heavy humanitarian cost, especially women and children, pointing out that the situation is catastrophic and is getting worse every moment.

The committee noted that what we see in Gaza has not been seen since our permanent presence in 1967, explaining that the destruction included water and wastewater infrastructure, with most of them out of service, which indicates an environmental disaster.

The International Committee said that obtaining a drop of clean drinking water or a loaf of bread in Gaza has become a dangerous journey that lasts for hours.

The committee confirmed that half of the population of the Gaza Strip was displaced to the south in light of the absence of the basic necessities of life, in addition to the dispersion of families and mothers distributing their children to displacement centers to increase their chance of survival.

Regarding the health situation, the International Committee said that Gaza's hospitals are on the verge of complete collapse, while doctors are exhausted, in addition to a scarcity of medical supplies and fuel.

The committee explained that surgeries are carried out without anesthesia and in hospital roads, calling for the need to protect hospitals, medical staff and ambulances, and for them to be life-saving places and a safe haven for those displaced there and not to be transformed into arenas of destruction and death.

The International Committee called for the necessity of protecting those who voluntarily decided to remain in their homes, and that the parties must respect and avoid civilian casualties.

It confirmed that her teams are still present inside Gaza and are doing their best to respond, noting that the surgical team specialized in war surgery that entered Gaza through the International Committee has begun its work alongside Palestinian doctors in the hospitals of the Strip.

The committee announced that it was able to bring enough medical supplies to treat 5,000 war-wounded people, and drinking water purification tablets sufficient to purify 50,000 liters of water, noting that this is a glimmer of hope, but it is far from sufficient to meet the needs.

It said that there are 60 tons of aid standing at the nearest point of the Egyptian Rafah crossing, waiting to enter the Gaza Strip in cooperation with the Egyptian Red Crescent and the Palestinian Red Crescent, calling for the necessity of stopping the escalation to prevent further human suffering and allowing the flow of medical supplies and humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip, and granting humanitarian work crews. The International Committee and the Palestinian Red Crescent have a safe space for movement and humanitarian response, and the world must not tolerate this abject failure.

The government media office in Gaza announced last night that the death toll of Palestinians had risen to 9,500 as a result of Israel's continuing attacks on the Strip, including 3,900 children and 2,509 women, while more than 24,000 others were injured.