Author: Faheem al-Yacoub

The Turkish media has a “big role” in proving the use of white phosphorus by Israel in the Gaza Strip, a French lawyer has said, Anadolu Agency reports. Gilles Devers, the lawyer who advocates Palestinians’ rights at the International Criminal Court (ICC), attended a meeting in the Parisian suburb of Stains on Saturday about the complaint that was filed on Nov. 9 against Israel’s alleged war crimes. He criticized the French officials for their indifference towards what happens in the Middle East and the attacks targeting Palestinian civilians. Devers recalled that the ICC was the only judicial body where Palestine was considered…

Time to Make Hard Choices If devastation is the goal, Israel’s military campaign in the Gaza Strip has been a resounding success. More than two months after Hamas killed over 1,100 people on October 7, Israeli air and ground operations have killed some 20,000 Palestinians, many of them children, according to Gaza’s Hamas-run Health Ministry. Much of Gaza lies in ruins, with the United Nations estimating that almost 20 percent of the territory’s prewar structures have been destroyed. More than half of Gazans are experiencing severe hunger, unemployment has risen to 85 percent, and disease is spreading. But the statements…

The UK will send two Royal Navy ships and surveillance aircraft to the eastern Mediterranean in plans to “bolster security”, No 10 says. It comes after six days of violence following the surprise attack on Israel by Hamas. The aircraft will begin patrols on Friday to “track threats to regional stability such as the transfer of weapons to terrorist groups”. Three Merlin helicopters and Royal Marines are also being dispatched. The government is also arranging flights for British nationals stranded in Israel. The first plane was expected to leave Tel Aviv on Thursday, but as of Friday morning it had not yet…

Damascus International Airport was out of service again yesterday following Israeli airstrikes, hours after it had resumed operation, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) reported. “The runway of Damascus International Airport was targeted within the past 24 hours, following its recent return to service, in Israeli raids on the evening of November 26th,” the group said, citing Syrian regime media outlets. It added that the Syrian outlets have confirmed hearing explosions in Damascus and observing smoke rising in the Mezzeh, Moadamiya, and Sumaria areas. All flights to and from the country’s largest and main airport have been halted since 22 October…

Mhairi Black quoted the UN saying power “runs out tonight” in Gaza and says a ceasefire is now the “best and maybe the only way to stop to this conflict escalating beyond all control”. Rishi Sunak replies saying he wants humanitarian aid to get into Gaza, and for that to happen there has to be a “safer environment, which of course necessitates specific pauses, as distinct from a ceasefire”. He reiterates that “everything must be done to protect civilians in line with international law”.

Turkish President, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, and Spanish Prime Minister, Pedro Sanchez, on Monday discussed Israel’s over 40 days of attacks on Palestine and the Gaza Strip since 7 October, Anadolu Agency reports. In a phone call, Erdogan and Sanchez also exchanged views on steps to help ensure uninterrupted humanitarian aid to Gaza, and efforts for a permanent ceasefire, according to Turkiye’s Communications Directorate. Erdogan praised as “valuable” the Spanish government’s stance against Israel’s “illegitimate attacks” on Palestinians and its statements in favour of the recognition of Palestine. Erdogan told Sanchez that Turkiye is ready to assume all kinds of responsibilities, including as…

The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) has come under fire for mistranslating an interview of one of the Palestinian prisoners released by Israel last week in the prisoner exchange deal and temporary truce with the Resistance group, Hamas, misquoting her as supporting the group. In the interview of the released prisoner, the BBC showed her as saying in Arabic with English subtitles that “no one helped us. Only Hamas cared. Those who felt our suffering, I thank them very much”. The account of Respond Crisis Translation – a collective of language activists – on X revealed, however, that she instead said “they [Israelis] imprisoned us…

The United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) Arab States Regional Office yesterday warned that forced displacement in the Gaza Strip threatens the lives of pregnant women, leaving them “stranded, unable to access life-saving maternal services.” The UNFPA emphasised the need for pregnant women to receive healthcare services to ensure their safety and that of their children. “Access to healthcare is their lifeline! Pregnant women must have access to the healthcare services to survive,” the UN agency added in its X post. After 48 days of war, a temporary humanitarian ceasefire between Israel and Palestinian factions came into effect at 7am local…

The EU Foreign Policy chief, on Monday, said that he is “appalled” by reports that the Israeli government will allocate funds for the construction of new illegal settlements in the midst of an ongoing conflict, Anadolu Agency reports. Borrell is in Spain for the eighth ministerial forum of the Union for the Mediterranean (UfM), which commenced on Monday in Barcelona, Spain and is being attended by representatives from around 40 nations to discuss the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and lay the groundwork for future peace. Speaking at the forum, Borrell said: “In the history of the most serious conflicts, there is always a moment…

On the third day of the ceasefire between Israel and Palestinian resistance factions, tens of thousands of Moroccans took to the streets in several Moroccan cities yesterday to demand the end of normalisation with Israel and to support Palestine, especially the residents of the besieged Gaza Strip. Several photos and videos showed participants raising Palestinian and Moroccan flags, as well as images of Al-Aqsa Mosque and the war crimes Israel has committed in Gaza. Some carried small shrouds with bloodstains, to represent the more than 6,000 children who have been killed by the Israeli occupation’s air strikes in Gaza. Organised by…