The Ministry of Health announced the death of the young man, Ahmed Sharaf Khalaf Awad (20 years old), as a result of wounds he sustained in confrontations in the town of Beit Ummar, north of Hebron.

The Israeli occupation forces attacked the mourners of the martyr Montaser Abdel Hamid Zaqeq (31 years old), who died after being critically wounded by live Israeli occupation bullets in the head, during confrontations that the town witnessed earlier.

The occupation forces tried to prevent thousands of citizens from reaching the cemetery to participate in the funeral, amid the outbreak of confrontations during which they fired live bullets, rubber-coated metal bullets, and poisonous gas towards the citizens, causing two young men to be injured by live bullets, one of which was described as serious in the head, and dozens to suffer from suffocation, including journalists.

It was later announced that the young man, Awad, died from his critical wounds.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov criticized NATO's expansionism and its attempt to expand its presence in the entire Eastern Hemisphere.

In an article published on the official website of the Russian Foreign Ministry today (Tuesday), Lavrov warned that NATO is undermining the current regional structure around the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), and creating a new hotspot of geopolitical tension in the Asia-Pacific region.

He said that Washington forms small military-political alliances under its control, such as the “Ocus” alliance, which includes the United States, Britain, and Australia, and the tripartite alliance, which includes the United States, Japan, and South Korea, in addition to the quadripartite alliance, which includes Tokyo, Seoul, Canberra, and Wellington, and engages them in practical cooperation with NATO. NATO, which deploys its infrastructure in the Pacific arena.

Lavrov explained in his article entitled “Adherence to the principles of the United Nations Charter in their entirety and their interconnectedness is a guarantee of international peace and stability,” that these efforts constitute a threat to the comprehensive regional structure based on consensus around ASEAN.

When China announced a surprise deal restoring ties between Saudi Arabia and Iran this year, it signaled Beijing's desire to be a diplomatic heavyweight in the Middle East.

The crisis in Israel and Gaza threatens to expose the limits of that ambition.

After the March Saudi-Iran agreement, which China brokered, Chinese media hailed Beijing's rising profile in a region long dominated by Washington. Wang Yi, China's top diplomat, said the country would continue to play a constructive role in handling global "hotspot issues".

But after the killings of more than 900 Israelis in coordinated assaults by the Islamic group Hamas, China's response was muted.

A foreign ministry spokeswoman repeatedly stopped short of condemning Hamas, instead calling for de-escalation and for Israel and Palestine to pursue a "two-state solution" for an independent Palestine. China's leader Xi Jinping has been silent on the issue.

"Certainly it does poke a hole in the type of propaganda ... of China being this kind of massive player in the Middle East," said Bill Figueroa, an assistant professor at the University of Groningen in the Netherlands and an expert on China-Middle East relations.

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China's neutrality has drawn criticism from U.S. and Israeli officials, with some saying it undermines Beijing's claims to be an unbiased peace broker in the region.

That should not come as a surprise, say analysts. Chinese diplomacy has long been risk-averse, and the spiraling conflict between Israel and Hamas puts its diplomats in a difficult spot, given China's historic support for the Palestinians and its rivalry with the United States.

”We have made it clear that China is highly concerned about the continued escalation of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict and urges all parties concerned to immediately cease fire and stop fighting. China is willing to maintain communication with all parties and make unremitting efforts for peace and stability in the Middle East," Wang Wenbin, a foreign ministry spokesperson, said on Tuesday.

PALESTINE SENSITIVITY

Since the end of China's nearly three years of COVID lockdowns, Xi has launched a diplomatic push aimed at countering the United States and its allies, who he says seek to contain and suppress his country.

Beijing has deepened alliances with non-Western led multilateral groups such as the BRICS bloc of nations, while hewing more closely to Russia despite its invasion of Ukraine and strengthening ties with countries in the Middle East and the Global South.

Although there is a chance to build on its Iran-Saudi success, China is unlikely to engage deeply in the current crisis.

One factor is a longstanding policy of non-interference that can sometimes clash with China's aim of acting as a great power on the global stage.

"China under Xi (Jinping) wants to be respected and admired everywhere, including in the Middle East, but it is ultimately unwilling to do what it will take to resolve the really hard regional security issues," said Steve Tsang, director of the SOAS China Institute in London. "It goes for the low-hanging fruits and basically stops there."

China has previously worked on Israel-Palestine issues.

China's special envoy on the Middle East, Zhai Jun, has engaged officials from Israel and the Palestinian Authority - which governs in the occupied West Bank - as well as the Arab League and EU in the last year to discuss a two-state solution and recognition for Palestine at the United Nations.

But China's longstanding regional relationships, including with the Palestinians, limit its options.

Some Chinese scholars recently criticized the marginalization of the Palestinians and a U.S.-led deal to normalize ties between Saudi Arabia and Israel, as root causes fueling the crisis.

"The most important external factor behind the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is the United States' attempt to enforce the Abraham Accords," wrote Liu Zhongmin, a professor at the Institute for Middle East Studies of Shanghai International Studies University, in an interview published by a Chinese media outlet. "The achievement of peace in the Middle East region and the just settlement of the question of Palestine are inseparable."

A LIMIT TO RISK TAKING

Condemning Hamas could also put China at odds with Russia and Iran.

"It is unclear who is behind Hamas, and it very possibly is China’s partner(s)," said Yun Sun, Director of the China Program at the Stimson Center in Washington. "Russia benefits in the sense that the U.S. will be distracted, and Iran is a likely candidate. For China to denounce the attack also means China will be obligated to take actions if and when the culprit is named.”

Although China is one of the few countries with leverage over Iran - it has nearly $400 billion of planned investments in the country in the coming decades - there is skepticism in Israel that Beijing will step up.

"China doesn't use its voice, its heft on the international stage to change things for the better," said Tuvia Gering, a China researcher at the Institute for National Security Studies in Israel.

The Asian giant's oil imports and investments in the Middle East, including telecoms and infrastructure as part of Xi's Belt and Road Initiative, means Beijing desires peace, but there are clear limits to Xi's willingness to take risks.

"China is very successful in a stable environment in the Middle East when it's possible to broker reconciliation agreements between Saudi Arabia and Iran," said Jean-Loup Samaan, Senior Research Fellow at the Middle East Institute of the National University of Singapore.

"But when it comes to conflict management, that's a very different situation," Samaan added. "And I don't think China ever wanted to play that role."

The United States’ top general on Monday warned Iran not to get involved in the crisis in Israel and said he did not want the conflict to broaden, as Lebanese armed group Hizbollah fired a salvo of rockets into northern Israel.

The White House on Monday said that Iran was complicit in Hamas’s attack on Israel, even though the US has no intelligence or evidence that points to Iran’s direct participation.

Asked what his message for Iran was, General Charles Q Brown, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said: “Not to get involved.”

Israeli shelling on Lebanon killed at least three Hizbollah militants on Monday, and Israel said one of its officers was killed during an earlier cross-border raid claimed by Palestinians in Lebanon.

The death toll from the unprecedented attack by the Palestinian militant group Hamas has reached at least 900, with dozens more taken hostage. More than 600 people have been killed in Gaza, Palestinian authorities said.

The United Nations Office for Humanitarian Affairs said on Tuesday that about 200,000 people, or nearly ten percent of the population, have fled their homes in Gaza since the attacks began, and are vulnerable to lack of drinking water and electricity due to the blockade.

Office spokesman Jens Laerke said in a press conference in Geneva, “The pace of displacement has escalated significantly throughout the Gaza Strip, as the number has exceeded 187,500 people since last Saturday, and most of them are taking shelter in schools.”

He added that more displacement is expected as the war waged by Israel in the Gaza Strip continues.

A World Health Organization spokesman said that the organization had recorded 13 attacks on health facilities in Gaza since the start of the Israeli war at the beginning of this week, adding that the medical supplies that were stored in the Strip had already run out.

At dawn on Saturday, Hamas and other Palestinian factions in Gaza launched Operation “Al-Aqsa Flood,” in response to “the continuing attacks by Israeli forces and settlers against the Palestinian people, their property, and their sanctities, especially Al-Aqsa Mosque in occupied East Jerusalem.”

On the other hand, the Israeli army launched Operation Iron Swords and continues to launch intensive raids on many areas in the Gaza Strip, which is inhabited by more than two million Palestinians who suffer from deteriorating living conditions as a result of an ongoing Israeli siege since 2006.

On Monday evening, the Ministry of Health in the Gaza Strip announced that the death toll of Palestinian martyrs had risen to 687, including 140 children and 105 women, as a result of the continuous Israeli raids for the third day, while Hebrew media reported that the number of Israeli deaths in the confrontation with the Palestinian factions reached 900, and the wounded 2,616. .

Today, Tuesday, settlers attacked olive pickers in Yanun, part of the Aqraba lands, south of Nablus.

According to local sources, a group of settlers attacked farmers and olive pickers on lands classified as B, opened fire on them, and forced them to leave the Yanun Valley area, without causing any casualties.

The sources added that the region is witnessing an escalation in settler attacks in Yanun, which is surrounded by several settlements and settlement outposts.

Iran's powerful military had helped Hamas, the group which controls the Gaza Strip, to plot a multi-prong attack on Israel, the most deadly in several years, a Wall Street Journal report said.

Iran helped to plan Palestinian terror group Hamas's unprecedented attack on Israel and gave approval for the assault at a meeting in Lebanon's capital Beirut last week, senior members of Hamas and Hezbollah, another Iran-backed group, told the Wall Street Journal.

Officers of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), the country's most powerful military, had been working with Hamas since August to devise their multi-prong attack on Israel by land, air and sea, they said.

Israel's attack was discussed during several meetings in Beirut that were attended by IRGC officers and representatives of four Iran-backed terror groups, including Hamas and Hezbollah. Hamas control the Gaza Strip while Hezbollah is a Shiite terror group and political faction in Lebanon, the Wall Street Journal reported.

Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian had attended at least two of the meetings since August, according to Hamas and Hezbollah members.

The attack on Israel was intended while the country appeared distracted by political bickering over Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government. The strike was also aimed at disrupting US-brokered talks to normalise Saudi Arabia-Israel relations, which Iran saw as threatening, they told the publication.

The powerful Iranian military's broader plan was to create a multi-front threat "strangling" Israel from all sides -- Hezbollah and the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine in the north and Palestinian Islamic Jihad and Hamas in Gaza and the West Bank, said senior Hamas and Hezbollah members and an Iranian official.

Notably, Iran is setting aside other regional conflicts, including its open feud with Saudi Arabia in Yemen and focusing on IRGC's foreign resources toward financing and arming terror groups, including Hamas and Hezbollah, to attack Israel.

However, when Mahmoud Mirdawi, a senior Hamas official, was asked about the meetings with Iran in Beirut, he claimed it was a "Palestinian and Hamas decision".

A spokesperson for Iran’s mission to the United Nations said his country backed the actions by Hamas in Gaza, but asserted that Tehran did not direct them, the Wall Street Journal reported.

"The decisions made by the Palestinian resistance are fiercely autonomous and unwaveringly aligned with the legitimate interests of the Palestinian people," the spokesperson was quoted by Wall Street Journal as saying, on the condition of anonymity. "We are not involved in Palestine’s response, as it is taken solely by Palestine itself," he claimed.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said there was no evidence Iran was behind the latest attacks on Israel but he said there are long-standing ties between Tehran and Hamas.

Israel on Saturday launched a counteroffensive to wipe out Hamas's hideouts in the Gaza Strip, after the group launched 5,000 rockets into Israel and its members infiltrated the country by land, air and sea.

The Israeli Ministry of Finance conducted an evaluation process in light of the prevailing security conditions, in which all the ministry’s management participated. At the meeting, which was chaired by Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, estimates were presented indicating that the “iron spears” aggression would have major economic effects, and it was learned that the ministry was working on estimating them in light of the prevailing developments in recent days.

At the meeting, they focused on the need to support the war efforts and provide funds for operational institutions in order to be able to operate without budget restrictions during the days of war.

They said in the ministry that the army, security forces, police and rescue units work according to their practical needs and not according to budget restrictions. They added: "We are closely following the escalating needs of the various government ministries and are working to coordinate budgets according to operational needs."

Based on the recommendations of the Minister and the Ministry’s budget official, budgets were set to cover civilian losses resulting from the war. They said: “We work according to the required needs, and civil damages will be covered from the property tax fund.”

The World Health Organization requested, on Tuesday, the opening of a humanitarian corridor to the besieged Gaza Strip, which has been subjected to continuous Israeli aggression since last Saturday.

A World Health Organization spokesman said during a press briefing in Geneva, “Opening a humanitarian corridor is necessary to provide basic medical supplies to citizens,” noting that the organization is holding talks with various parties.

Today, Tuesday, the administration of the Rafah crossing on the Egyptian side informed the crossing crews on the Palestinian side to evacuate it immediately due to threats of bombing it.

According to the Ministry of the Interior in the Gaza Strip, today, Israeli occupation aircraft once again bombed the gate of the Rafah crossing between the Palestinian and Egyptian sides, preventing the departure of travelers from the Strip and their arrival there.

Ismail Haniyeh, head of the Hamas political bureau, said on Tuesday that his movement informed all parties communicated with it regarding the occupation’s prisoners held by the resistance, that this file will not be opened before the end of the battle, and it will only be at a price that the resistance will accept.

In a press statement, Haniyeh addressed the media reports stating that the attack was carried out with the orders and knowledge of Iran. The head of the Hamas movement said: - The battle of the Al-Aqsa Deluge is a Palestinian battle, whose decision and implementation are Palestinian, and this does not diminish our conviction of the necessity of participating and entering into this battle from all the peoples of our nation, especially the resistance forces. like he said.

He added: Our Palestinian people in the Gaza Strip prove once again that they are at the level of the Al-Aqsa deluge battle that inaugurated the liberation phase, and demonstrated their ability to withstand and challenge and their willingness to sacrifice what is precious for the sake of their freedom and dignity, and here they are thwarting the enemy’s plans to separate the people from their valiant resistance. According to him.

He continued: The destruction and brutality practiced by the fascist entity’s government against our heroic people in Gaza reflects the resounding results caused by the strikes of Al-Qassam and the resistance factions since the beginning of the Al-Aqsa deluge Battle, and that everything the enemy does will not erase the shame of the defeat that befell him, and the enemy will pay a heavy price for his crimes and terrorism. According to him.

Today, Tuesday, the Israeli occupation forces arrested a sheep shepherd in the Ain al-Hilweh area in the northern Jordan Valley.

According to local sources, the occupation forces arrested sheep herder Musab Abdel-Ghani Al-Awawda (18 years old), while he was herding livestock in Khirbet Humsa Al-Fawqa in the northern Jordan Valley.

It is noteworthy that shepherds in various areas of the northern Jordan Valley are subjected to daily attacks and violations by settlers and the occupation authorities.

Two workers at the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA), and 5 students from the Gaza Strip, were killed as a result of the continued Israeli aggression, coinciding with the escalation of displacement to shelter centers in the Strip.

UNRWA confirmed in a statement on Tuesday that two of its employees were killed, in addition to five students from its schools.

It pointed out that four displaced people were injured when they were taking shelter in an UNRWA school in Gaza City, explaining that a number of displaced people in the rehabilitation center for the visually impaired were injured due to occupation raids on nearby buildings.

Today, Tuesday, the Israeli occupation forces continued to tighten their military measures in the West Bank governorates, for the fourth day in a row, by closing checkpoints and entrances to cities, towns and villages, and obstructing the movement of Palestinian citizens.

In Ramallah, the occupation forces continue to close the northern entrance to Al-Bireh in both directions, and the entrances to the villages and towns of: Kharbatha Bani Harith, Al-Nabi Saleh, Aboud, Umm Safa, and Atara in both directions, the Ofra checkpoint near Silwad, and the eastern entrances to Al-Mughayir and Burqa.

Meanwhile, these forces set up two checkpoints at the entrances to the village of Al-Mughair Al-Gharbi and Burqa Al-Rais, and impeded the movement of citizens there.

In Salfit, the occupation forces closed the iron gate at the entrance to the town of Kafr al-Dik to the west. They intensified their arbitrary measures against citizens, and impeded the movement of people leaving and entering the town, by closing the iron gate at the main entrance to the town.

At the Tayasir checkpoint, east of Tubas, the occupation forces tightened their military measures and allowed only citizens who live in the Jordan Valley to cross, causing a stifling traffic jam towards the Jordan Valley.

In Qalqilya, the occupation forces set up a military checkpoint at the entrance to the village of Kafr Laqif to the east, stopped vehicles, checked citizens’ cards, and interrogated them, which led to the obstruction of movement to and from the village.

The Prisoner's Club warned, in a statement on Tuesday, against the occupation's intention to single out detainee Kayed Al-Fafsous, who has been on a hunger strike for 69 days, and assassinate him, especially in light of the double isolation imposed on the detainees.

The club added that, in light of the collective retaliatory measures initiated by the prison administration, and the continued and multiplied aggression against detainees, there are very great and multiplied fears, especially with the cessation of visits by lawyers, and the extreme difficulties that institutions face in following up on the conditions of detainees.

The Prisoners' Club confirmed that according to the last visit he had on the fourth of this month, the detainee Fasfous was suffering from very serious health conditions, and despite all the attempts that preceded this stage to transfer him from the "Ramla Prison Clinic" to a civil hospital, the occupation insisted on detaining him. He was isolated in Ramla, the prison where the martyr Sheikh Khader Adnan was martyred, and where he remained detained until the last moments of his martyrdom.

He called on the International Red Cross and international human rights institutions to play their necessary role that is commensurate with the requirements of this stage and the state of war, and the great and multiplying risks to the fate of the detainee Fasfous, and all detainees in Israeli occupation prisons.

Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen confirmed on Tuesday that democracy has flourished on the island despite the increasing pressure exerted by Beijing, pledging that her people will remain “free” for generations to come.

“The Taiwanese people will remain a democratic and free people for generations,” Tsai said in her National Day speech.

Tsai, who was speaking in front of the Taiwanese presidential headquarters, stressed that it was her duty to "protect our national sovereignty and the democratic and free way of life" of Taiwan's 23 million people.

Taiwan is witnessing military and political pressure from China, which considers it an integral part of its territory and pledges to return it by force if necessary.

China has increased the number of warplanes carrying out sorties around the island and also penetrating its airspace.

"In the face of enormous internal and external pressure, democracy in Taiwan has grown and flourished... and we have emerged stronger," Tsai said. She added, "Protecting democracy in Taiwan means protecting the universal value of democracy."

Peace is "the only solution"

On the other hand, Tsai seemed to adopt a conciliatory tone with Beijing, as she stressed that Taiwan wants “peaceful coexistence, with free and unrestricted interactions between the two peoples on both sides of the strait.”

"We are willing to take the general consensus in Taiwan as a basis... through a process of democratic dialogue and focus on maintaining the status quo to develop with the Beijing authorities a basis that is mutually acceptable for interaction, and a path toward peaceful coexistence," she said.

Likewise, the President of Taiwan reiterated that peace “is the only option across the Strait.”

She considered that "preserving the status quo, which constitutes the greatest common denominator for all parties, is the primary key to ensuring peace."

Beijing has intensified its threats and political and economic pressure on Taiwan since Tsai came to power in 2016, which refuses to yield to any Chinese demands regarding the island.

Last year, China organized massive military exercises around the island, simulating a siege, which raised concerns in Taipei and among its main allies, including the United States.

Tsai Ing-wen, who is in her final year in office, will not be able to run again due to the two-term limit.

National elections are scheduled for next January, and Tsai's deputy, Lai Qingli, is the most likely candidate at the moment. Lai had previously described himself as a "pragmatic Taiwanese independenceist."

His rivals, Hu Yue of the Kuomintang, traditionally known for championing a rapprochement with Beijing, and Ko Wen-ji of the smaller Taiwan People's Party, are seeking to foster closer ties with Beijing.

The Commission for Ex-Prisoners' Affairs said on Tuesday that the widespread arrest campaign launched by the Israeli occupation army in cities, villages and camps in the West Bank comes within the context of collective punishment against the Palestinian people.

The Commission explained that last night and at dawn today, the occupation carried out dozens of raids, which were accompanied by sabotage and tampering with homes, and arrested approximately 50 Palestinians, the majority of whom were freed prisoners.

The Commission confirmed that these practices demonstrate the extent of the confusion and disorientation experienced by the occupation system, and that it is trying to escape from its abject security failure through these practices, which confirm that the policy of collective punishment is one of the foundations of the work of the occupying state, and its permanent refuge that exposes its fascism and decadence.

The Commission stressed that this Zionist extremism, the criminality of the occupation army, and its implementation of daily killings and arrests will not deter the Palestinian people, nor dissuade them from continuing their struggle, until their freedom is achieved.

Today, Tuesday, settlers stormed the blessed Al-Aqsa Mosque, under heavy protection from the Israeli occupation police.

According to local sources, dozens of settlers stormed Al-Aqsa from the direction of the Mughariba Gate, and carried out provocative rounds in its courtyards.

The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Refugees (UNRWA) announced today, Tuesday, that more than 187,518 people in the Gaza Strip have been displaced from their homes, as a result of the occupation’s aggression that has continued for four days, and the number is likely to rise.

According to UNRWA's latest report on the situation in the Gaza Strip, 137,500 displaced people reside in 83 UNRWA schools in all areas of the Gaza Strip, while about 3,000 Palestinians in Gaza are still displaced in the wake of the previous escalation.

The report indicated an increasing number of displaced people seeking shelter in UNRWA schools, with the continuation of intense Israeli air strikes.

It pointed out the difficult conditions in some shelters that suffer from overcrowding and the limited availability of potable water, noting that all schools are not designated as emergency shelters, and therefore they are not prepared to receive internally displaced people.

UNRWA confirmed that every effort is being made to provide basic services to the internally displaced, and that, in coordination with the World Food Program, it distributed bread to the displaced in shelters.

It explained that 18 UNRWA facilities have been damaged since October 7, in addition to the fact that the UNRWA office in the Gaza region, where local and international employees are located, was exposed to collateral damage as a result of air strikes in the Al-Rimal area in central Gaza City.

It pointed out that UNRWA schools throughout the Gaza Strip remain closed.

On Tuesday, Addameer Foundation reported that Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Galant signed a decision on October 8th of this month that considers Palestinian detainees from the Gaza Strip “unlawful combatants.”

The organization explained that Gallant took this decision based on the “Unlawful Combatant Law” issued in 2002, where Order 3 (A-B) stipulated that detainees from the Gaza Strip be held in a camp called Sdet Yaman, which is an army camp near Beersheba, and this applies. The order is valid for 10 weeks from its date.

This is in contravention of international humanitarian law, which stipulates that detained fighters are prisoners of war.

A team of experts from the Phanagoria archaeological expedition has unveiled the remains of one of the world’s oldest synagogues within the historical boundaries of the ancient Greek city of Phanagoria, situated on Russia’s Taman Peninsula.

Phanagoria, founded by Greek settlers on the Taman Gulf’s shores in the 6th century BCE, encapsulates an expansive settlement and necropolis encompassing 900 hectares and boasting more than 700 mounds.

This city played a pivotal role as a thriving trade hub, connecting the coastal regions of the Maeotian marshes to territories south of the Caucasus mountains.

The archaeological excavation, conducted under the auspices of the Oleg Deripaska Volnoe Delo Foundation, has uncovered remarkable remnants of the synagogue’s foundations, walls, and a treasure trove of artifacts, including exquisite marble menorahs, liturgy tables, and fragments of ornate marble steles.

The synagogue’s origins trace back to the Second Temple Period (597 BCE to CE 70), a time of historical and religious significance, standing resolutely on the shores of the Black Sea for approximately five centuries. The synagogue’s existence was marred by the city’s eventual sacking and devastation at the hands of invading Huns.

Nevertheless, Phanagoria’s spirit endured, rebounding in the 7th century as the capital of Old Great Bulgaria and embracing a Byzantine affiliation.

Architecturally, the synagogue is an awe-inspiring rectangular structure measuring 21 meters in length and 6 meters in width, housing two chambers exceeding 60 square meters each. The interior, as deduced from architectural remnants, is believed to have showcased opulent marble columns, walls adorned with captivating paintings and tiles, and resplendent ornamental marble menorahs.

One of the crucial aspects of this discovery lies in the inscriptions found within the synagogue’s precincts. A stele fragment from the 5th century CE bears the Greek inscription “synagogue,” while other marble tablets, dating to 16 and 51 CE, bear inscriptions referring to a “house of prayer” and “synagogue,” respectively.

These artifacts stand as pivotal evidence, placing the Phanagoria synagogue among the world’s oldest, with its roots dating back to at least the early 1st century CE.

Historical records and depictions from the era accentuate the vibrant Jewish community’s presence within the city during the 1st century CE. Notably, amphorae and tombstones adorned with menorahs corroborate this assertion.

Furthermore, medieval historical accounts resonate with the notion that Jews formed a substantial segment of Phanagoria’s populace. Theophanes, an 8th-century Byzantine chronicler, and Ibn-Hordadbeha, a 9th-century Arabian geographer, both refer to Phanagoria as a “Jewish city.”

The expedition, led by the Institute of Archaeology of the Russian Academy of Sciences, has been systematically excavating Phanagoria since 2004, with support from the Oleg Deripaska Volnoe Delo Foundation. Comprising a team of 250 archaeologists, students, and volunteers, these excavations have spanned an impressive 7,000 square meters, unearthing the remnants of this ancient Greek city.

The city’s historical significance remains preserved in treasures exhibited in esteemed institutions like the Hermitage, and the Pushkin State Museum of Fine Arts, as well as museums in the UK and Germany.

The expedition’s findings have resonated globally, with presentations at international scientific gatherings across multiple countries.

The newly revealed synagogue stands as an emblem of the intricate interplay of history, culture, and religion. This discovery offers insights into the religious and cultural dynamics that once flourished in the region.

Maduro said in a statement on television, “The Secretary-General of the United Nations issued a statement, which we read carefully, as a warning and cautionary statement against the genocide that began against the Palestinian people in Gaza.”

Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro accused Israel of committing "genocide" against the Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, upon which Israel decided to impose an "absolute siege," prompting United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres to express his "deep concern" about the repercussions of such a step.

Maduro said in a statement on television, “The Secretary-General of the United Nations issued a statement, which we read carefully, as a warning and cautionary statement against the genocide that began against the Palestinian people in Gaza.”

In his statement, Guterres acknowledged Israel's "legitimate concerns about its security," expressing at the same time his "deep concern" about Israel's decision to impose an "absolute siege" on the Gaza Strip.

The Venezuelan president added, "We have previously witnessed massacres, brutal massacres, against the Palestinian people in the past," considering that the Palestinians are subjected to a "new apartheid" regime.

Maduro continued, "We demand a ceasefire, we demand respect for United Nations resolutions, we demand respect for the rights of peoples, and we demand the immediate start of peace negotiations so that the Palestinian people regain their legitimate rights to independence, land, and peace."

He added, "I defend the Palestinian people and defend peace."

In 2009, his predecessor, the late President Hugo Chavez, accused Israel of carrying out "genocide" in Gaza after an Israeli attack targeting the Strip at the end of 2008.

From "Arabs 48" website

Secretary of the Executive Committee of the Palestine Liberation Organization, Hussein Al-Sheikh, said on Tuesday, that the Palestinian leadership headed by President Mahmoud Abbas continues to hold intensive contacts with world leaders to stop the devastating war on the Gaza Strip.

He pointed out that the leadership demanded the entry of urgent food and medical supplies into the Gaza Strip.

Today, Tuesday, settlers forced farmers to leave their lands in the village of Kafr Ni’ma, west of Ramallah.

According to local sources, a number of settlers attacked farmers and olive pickers in the Wadi Hamad area of the village, and forced them to leave their lands.

It is reported that settlers attacked the youth village in Kafr Ni'ma, and opened fire randomly.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates said on Tuesday that Israel is committing the crime of cutting off basic needs from the Gaza Strip under the cover of international parties.

In a statement, the Ministry condemned the decision of the occupation authorities to cut off the basic needs of Palestinian citizens in the Gaza Strip and prevent access to them, including water, electricity, food, medical supplies, and fuel, in flagrant violation of international and humanitarian law, the Geneva Conventions, and the obligations of the occupying state.

The Ministry called on the UN Security Council, the Secretary-General of the United Nations, and all parties to assume their responsibilities in stopping this aggression against our people immediately, lifting all forms of collective punishment, and ensuring that basic needs reach our people in the Gaza Strip and the occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem.

It also condemned the boasting of a number of Israeli ministers with these racist positions, including the statements of the Minister of the Occupying Army, which express a state of loss of balance, in blatant disregard for the principles of human rights, with unlimited cover from a number of countries, which the occupying state exploits to commit brutal massacres against civilian citizens. Isolated people, including children, women, patients, journalists, and medical and ambulance crews.

Today, Tuesday, Israeli occupation forces arrested five citizens from the town of Abu Dis, east of occupied Jerusalem.

According to local sources in the town, the occupation forces arrested: Issa Qurei, Imran and Rad Halabiya, and his two sons, Islam and Maan, after raiding and searching their homes.

About 19 million children in Sudan are still out of school as the country's military conflict approaches its sixth month, according to UNICEF and Save the Children in a joint statement issued on Monday.

The two organizations said in the statement that of this number, about 6.5 million children lost access to school due to increasing violence and insecurity in their areas, as about 10,400 schools in conflict-affected areas closed their doors.

Meanwhile, more than 5.5 million children residing in areas less affected by the war are waiting for local authorities to confirm whether classrooms can reopen.

There are 23 million children in Sudan, nearly half of the country's total population. Even before the conflict broke out on April 15, nearly 7 million children were out of school.

The two organizations warned that children in Sudan will not be able to return to school in the coming months if the war continues, which will expose them to immediate and long-term risks, including displacement, recruitment by armed groups, and sexual violence.

The two agencies explained in the statement that spending on social services has witnessed a sharp decline, as teachers in almost all states have lost their salaries since the start of the armed conflict. There is a shortage of educational supplies, and educational facilities are not maintained. Although efforts are underway in a few areas to ensure that education systems in Sudan remain effective, there are significant limitations, and needs are quickly outpacing resources, according to the statement.

UNICEF and Save the Children called on the Sudanese authorities to reopen schools in safe areas, while supporting alternative learning methods in communities where it is no longer possible to open schools due to safety and security concerns.

The two organizations also called on the international community to stand in solidarity with Sudanese children and provide resources and support to ensure that millions of Sudanese children return to school, and to ensure that children affected by the conflict have the opportunity to access learning and psychosocial support in safe places.

On Tuesday, the Hamas movement called for declaring next Friday, “Friday of the Al-Aqsa Flood,” a day of general mobilization in the Arab and Islamic world and free people of the world, in solidarity with the Palestinian people and their resistance, a day to mobilize support, support and participation, and a day to expose the crimes of the occupation, isolate it, and thwart all its aggressive plans.

In a statement, Hamas also called on the rebellious youth in the West Bank and Jerusalem to go out in roaring crowds and attack the occupation forces and settlers and clash with them everywhere, emphasizing the unity of destiny and path.

A call was sent to the people of the occupied interior to mobilize and gather at Al-Aqsa and prevent settlers from storming it.

It called on the Arab and Islamic masses, and the Palestinians of the diaspora, to march towards the borders of Palestine in huge crowds to declare solidarity with Palestine, Jerusalem, and Al-Aqsa, calling on the free people of the world to mobilize and show solidarity.

Netanyahu is wrong if he believes that through his devastating bombing of the Gaza Strip, which primarily targets Palestinian civilians, and by cutting off water, electricity, fuel, and preventing food, that this and other things will make our people submit, raise the white flag, deny the resistance, and beg the occupation to lift the siege and return everything that it cut off and withholds from the Gaza Strip.

The war of annihilation carried out by the occupation army at the behest of Netanyahu and his government will only lead to an increase in the state of hostility between the Palestinian and Israeli parties, which will keep the conflict ongoing, and if it stops for periods of time, it will explode again with greater strength and determination than it is now. The continuation of the conflict will not only harm the Palestinian side, but it will also inflict heavy losses on the Israeli side, as we see now in the Al-Aqsa deluge War. Rather, the continuation of the conflict will increase these losses, and the occupying state will also pay the price as a result of its continued occupation, orgy, violations, and crimes committed against our people, their land, their holy sites, and all his property.
The continuation of the conflict also means that our people will not give up their established national rights to return, self-determination, and establishing their independent state on their national soil, with Al-Quds Al-Sharif as its capital.

If the occupation believes that it will liquidate the Palestinian resistance, led by the Hamas movement, this means that it has not benefited from the experiences of history, whether the history of our people’s continuous struggle for more than a century, or against the Balfour Declaration, or against the British Mandate, or against the Jewish colonial migration to Palestine, the land of its fathers and grandfathers. At every stage of the Palestinian national struggle, there were brigades, groups and organizations emerging from among the ranks of the Palestinian people leading the struggle to achieve Palestinian national rights. Things will not be restored except with the departure of the occupation, which the more it continues to occupy, the greater and more severe its losses will be, and in the end it will be defeated, along with all its supporters and backers, from America to the colonial West.

The experiences of the peoples have proven that the peoples are victorious in the end, no matter how long or short the time may be. Instead of the end of the occupation being defeat, it would be better for it to recognize the national rights of our people and leave irrevocably from our land and our sanctities, for the country is our country and our people will not retreat from it one iota.

Our people, who have made great sacrifices on the altar of their national cause, will not be intimidated by the massacres carried out by the occupation army in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank, including Jerusalem. These massacres, which are war crimes, shame humanity, and the fate of their perpetrators is the same as the fate of everyone who committed war crimes against humanity, and history will hold their perpetrators accountable.

Anyone looking at what happened on October 7, 2023, in the Gaza Strip, is shocked by the “invasion” into the territories occupied in 1948, attacking the settlements, and the “thickening” operation that took place by the Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades, the military wing of the Palestinian Hamas movement. The Israeli deaths and injuries number in the hundreds. The subsequent or accompanying taking of dozens of Israeli prisoners or detainees.

In the event of war and the hour of confrontation, they do not exchange blame, and pretend to be united, and this applies to the Israeli opposition, led by Yair Lapid and Benny Gantz. But once the initial hours of confrontation pass, the exchange of blame and the revelation of facts begin. In practice, what happened can be understood through a sequence that illustrates the Israeli failure, both security and politically, and explains how the government of religious Zionist extremists dragged their entity into a series of mistakes. How this government's "imaginations" revealed the reality into which Israel has been drawn, and that Israeli parties warned of the danger of this government. The sequence of events, such as what happened in the Ashkelon area, north of Gaza, can be described in several stages.

The first was that the six prisoners escaped from Gilboa prison, in September 2021, and then the surprise was how the prisoners were able to defeat the technology, cameras, and prison plans described as the most complex. It became clear that the prisoners were able to access, or dismantle, the building plans and draw an escape plan, which was a blow to the saying The invincible army, and a blow to Israeli technology.

The second station was built on the escape of prisoners. The formation of the Jenin Battalion began to support the prisoners during their escape, but their recapture led to the battalion turning to be a kind of resistance, so the phenomenon expanded, forming battalions and groups, which later began to occupy the Israeli army and receive a security focus. Israel, at the expense of the Gaza Strip.

The third stage: the Israeli governments adopt a plan based on dividing the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, and helping the two authorities to keep each in its place. The authority of the Hamas movement in Gaza and the authority of the Fatah movement in the West Bank, provided that the two authorities remain weak. Israel allowed money from abroad to enter Gaza, eased the siege, allowed thousands of workers to enter from the Strip to work in Israeli projects, and encouraged and coordinated with Hamas through intermediaries for companies in the Strip to work for Israeli factories.

Israel believed that these “arrangements” were sufficient to convince Hamas to calm down. What Israel did not notice is that the suffering of civilians in Gaza does not include the armed wing. The leader of Hamas in the Gaza Strip, Yahya Sinwar, threatened at the end of May 2021, “We will burn everything green and dry” if the problem in the Strip was not solved. He revealed, at the time, that the Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades’ financial, expertise, and intelligence resources were separate from the rest of Hamas’ components in Gaza, and relied on parties including Iran and Hezbollah. But Israel bet that the priority in Gaza was the continuation of Hamas’s authority, even with its state of weakness. It did not take the threat of burning land and land seriously, and did not take into account the consequences of the presence of resources at the Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades and its armed wings separate from the rest of “Gaza’s finances.” This contributed to the Israeli army relaxing and focusing on the armed groups in the West Bank. Indeed, those targeted by Israel in Gaza were leaders of the Islamic Jihad and Hamas movements who were believed to play a role in mobilizing the West Bank. An example of this is the assassinations committed by Israel last May, and its continued threat to target the leader of the Hamas movement residing abroad, Saleh Al-Arouri, as he is responsible for armed action in the West Bank.

The fourth stop to reach October 7, the Israeli elections, November 2022, which resulted in a government that restructured security and defense in Israel, in a very strange way.

  For example, the Israeli Ministry of Defense has two ministers, one of whom is from the Likud Party, Yoav Gallant, and the second has certain powers within the ministry, Bezalel Smotrich, who came from the religious Zionist movement and has no security experience. Itamar Ben Gvir was appointed Minister of National Security, with the powers to create new forces separate from the army. Not only does Ben Gvir have security or military experience, but his recruitment into the army was previously rejected due to the nature of his behavior and positions. He has a kind of vendetta with the army leaders. Israeli opposition officials, led by former Army Minister Benny Gantz, have warned of the danger of what is happening. On November 26, 2022, he wrote on his Twitter account, “National security - or dismantling security into parts of the forces and establishing an army.” Special for Ghafir milk?” He said that what is happening is the dismantling of government powers into “fragments of ministries,” and that what is happening is “a disgrace that will lead to a security risk.” Former Chief of Staff Guy Eisenkot said that Ben Gvir's assignment of the National Security portfolio was a "sad joke." Indeed, disagreements began within the army and among the ministers in charge of security. Israeli security now has multiple conflicting heads.

The fifth station is the subject of the legal amendments that the Netanyahu government wanted to implement, which would reduce the powers of the judiciary to monitor the government and hold politicians accountable, and increase the authority of ministers in deciding whether to develop settlements and govern the West Bank and the settlements. This led to unprecedented protests in Israel, which included army officers entering the protests and many of them abstaining from serving. In fact, the Minister of Defense, Yoav Galant, was dismissed from his position last March due to his position on the protests, before he was returned to his position after about Two weeks after his dismissal, amid confusion in the Israeli security services.

The sixth station took place on June 3, which may be considered a mini-rehearsal for October 7. That day, an Egyptian policeman entered the Palestinian territories, killed three Israeli soldiers, and spent hours without the Israeli army noticing the death of its soldiers or the presence of an attacker, in a scandalous indication of sagging in this army.

In this sense, the Israelis thought, before October 7, that they had neutralized Gaza, and their government underestimated the possibilities of a Palestinian reaction to the Al-Aqsa incursions and settlement activity. At the same time, the process of leading and managing Israeli security was going through a crisis. Many soldiers were deployed in the West Bank, at the expense of the southern region. While the leadership of the military wing of the Hamas movement works silently, and conducts maneuvers that everyone thinks are close to fantasy, as the training of the Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades included storming settlements, but everyone considered them a show only. While this was going on, the morale of the Israeli army was declining, due to the political division, the exhaustion of its forces protecting settler “gangs” and their violence in the West Bank, in addition to the lack of consensus between the security leadership.

From "The New Arab"