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Middle East Eye

23 Jan, 23:33

🎥 Senior Hamas commander Hussein Fayyad appeared in a video on Wednesday in Gaza despite Israeli claims he was killed last May.

In his speech, Fayyad praised Gaza’s resistance against Israel’s military assault.

The Israeli military has admitted that its claim of killing Hamas’ commander in May was based on flawed intelligence, the Israeli daily Haaretz reported.

Israel had claimed that Fayyad, a senior commander of Hamas’ Qassam Brigades, was killed in an underground operation in Jabaliya tunnel.

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Middle East Eye

23 Jan, 23:01

"After 15 months of Israel’s relentless war on Gaza, a ceasefire agreement came into effect on Sunday.

While it remains far from clear whether this moment marks the end or even the beginning of the end of the war, many in Israel see this moment as an opportunity to reflect on the country’s war goals and whether they have been achieved.

It can be said, at least for now, that Israel’s other undeclared goals have also not been achieved"

✍️ Opinion by Lubna Masara*

*The views expressed in this article belong to the author and do not necessarily reflect the editorial policy of MEE

🔗 Tap the link to read the full column
https://www.middleeasteye.net/opinion/after-promised-victory-gaza-israel-succeeded-destroying-itself?utm_source=telegram&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=social_traffic

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Middle East Eye

23 Jan, 22:30

🎥 Video footage shows the moment Israeli forces bulldozed buildings and arrested several Palestinians in Jenin days into a major assault on the city in the northern occupied West Bank.

The large-scale ground offensive began just as the Gaza ceasefire deal went into effect and is expected to last several days.

The attacks killed at least seven Palestinians and wounded 35 others, according to the Palestinian health ministry.

Palestinian Authority security forces - who have been besieging and attacking Jenin since early December - withdrew from the city as the Israeli offensive was starting.

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Middle East Eye

23 Jan, 22:01

🎥 “It was a very powerful display”

Former Israeli negotiator Daniel Levy tells Mohamed Hassan that most Israelis were in shock to see Hamas fighters in fresh uniforms re-emerge on the day of the ceasefire.

He says it completely destroyed Netanyahu’s ‘total victory’ narrative he used to justify the destruction of Gaza.

This week on The Big Picture Podcast, we sit down with former Israeli negotiator Daniel Levy to talk about what’s next for Palestinians, the political fallout in Israel and the impacts of a genocide on the world order.

🔗 Watch the full episode on our YouTube and all podcast platforms:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=daxuLyPAAfc&embeds_referring_euri=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.middleeasteye.net%2F&source_ve_path=MjM4NTE&utm_source=telegram&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=social_traffic

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Middle East Eye

23 Jan, 21:35

🎥 “Throughout all of history, neither Pharaoh nor Nimrod, who fought against God, nor Hitler, did to his people what the Assad regime did to its people.”

Palestinians returning to Yarmouk Camp in Damascus reflect on the destruction inflicted by the Assad government upon the once vibrant neighbourhood that was home to thousands of Palestinians.

After the Syrian civil war broke out, the camp was depopulated and the number of residents greatly decreased from pre-war numbers.

After years of being a battleground for clashes between opposition and pro-government groups, locals say homes in the Yarmouk camp are uninhabitable and lack necessities such as water and electricity.

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Middle East Eye

23 Jan, 21:01

🎥 A video posted on social media reportedly shows Israeli military vehicles chase a Palestinian civilian car going in reverse and apparently purposefully crash into it, during the Israeli raid in the city of Halhul in the occupied West Bank.

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Middle East Eye

23 Jan, 20:33

🎥 "Have some empathy for displaced people, whether they're in the Palisades or Palestine."

Stand-up comedian Dave Chappelle used his recent Saturday Night Live monologue, his longest ever, to wish US President Donald Trump luck and called on people to "do better".

Chappelle also recalled the late Jimmy Carter's trip to the Middle East in the process too, praising him for visiting the occupied Palestinian territories against the wishes of the Israelis at the time.

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Middle East Eye

23 Jan, 19:33

🎥 “Since the start of the prisoner exchange deal, we have been paying the price in every Palestinian city.”

Palestinians in the occupied West Bank say the Israeli checkpoints they have to pass to get to work have worsened since the ceasefire between Israel and Hamas went into effect on Sunday. Some say they are spending hours waiting in queues with little to no movement.

There are hundreds of Israeli checkpoints in the West Bank, which can turn trips that would normally take an hour into journeys that span multiple hours for the Palestinians who have to pass them on a daily basis. Meanwhile, Israeli settlers living in illegal settlements can drive on roads only meant for them and move around unaffected by the checkpoints.

The increased scrutiny at the checkpoints coincides with increased Israeli aggression in the occupied West Bank since the Gaza ceasefire. Israel has killed at least 12 Palestinians in the West Bank and injured dozens more during ongoing operation Iron Wall, which it launched on Tuesday.

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Middle East Eye

23 Jan, 18:50

🎥 Ben Jamal, leader of the UK-based Palestine Solidarity Campaign (PSC), faces charges after leading a protest for Gaza on Saturday 18 January.

Aiming to protest the BBC's coverage of the war, the PSC faced unprecedented pushback by the police, resulting in mass arrests.

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Middle East Eye

23 Jan, 16:20

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has defended Elon Musk's use of a fascist salute at a pro-Trump rally, calling him a "great friend" of Israel.

In a statement on Musk's X platform, Netanyahu said the billionaire had been "falsely smeared" by his opponents over his use of the antisemitic gesture.

"He visited Israel after the October 7 massacre in which Hamas terrorists committed the worst atrocity against the Jewish people since the Holocaust," wrote Netanyahu.

"He has since repeatedly and forcefully supported Israel’s right to defend itself against genocidal terrorists and regimes who seek to annihilate the one and only Jewish state. I thank him for this."

Musk made the gesture while thanking the audience at the end of his speech celebrating Trump’s inauguration.

The moment went viral online, with people suggesting that Musk gave a “Nazi salute”.

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Middle East Eye

23 Jan, 14:52

🎥 Video footage from Vatican News shows Pope Francis having his daily video call with members of the Catholic church in Gaza, which he has reportedly done every evening since 9 October 2023.

During the call, the pope asked how the people at the Holy Family Church are doing and what they had for dinner. About 600 people are sheltered at Gaza’s only Catholic church, seeking safety from Israel’s relentless bombardments for more than 15 months prior to a ceasefire taking effect on Sunday.

In July last year the church was bombed by Israel, which killed four displaced Palestinians sheltering in the church grounds.

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Middle East Eye

23 Jan, 13:05

🎥 “Once in ancient times in Africa… they did the wars in which each tribe danced on the mountain, and whoever danced more powerfully won.”

Addressing the Knesset on Wednesday, Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz made controversial remarks about the Palestinian Authority and Palestinians regarding the Jenin raids in the occupied West Bank.

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Middle East Eye

23 Jan, 11:59

📰 Hamas commander Hussein Fayyad, whom the Israeli military claimed to have killed last May, has appeared in a newly surfaced video, according to the Palestinian media outlet Arab48.

The footage, widely shared on social media on Wednesday, shows a man resembling Fayyad speaking at a funeral in northern Gaza, standing amid the ruins of a bombed-out building, with a group of men listening.

In his speech, he praised Gaza’s resistance against Israel’s military assault, saying, “When the strong doesn’t achieve its goals, it is defeated, but the weak, which prevented the strong from achieving its goals - it is the victor.”

He also dismissed Israel’s offensive as futile.

The Israeli military has admitted that its claim of killing Hamas’ commander in May was based on flawed intelligence, Haaretz reported.

🔗 https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/senior-hamas-commander-appears-video-despite-israel-claim-he-was-killed-gaza?utm_source=telegram&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=social_traffic

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Middle East Eye

23 Jan, 10:38

🎥 “According to the doctors’ reports, if they had been faster in providing aid, her life could have been saved.”

Iman Mohammad Abdulsalam Jaradat, a 45-year-old Palestinian mother, died on Tuesday after Israeli soldiers denied her transfer to a hospital at a checkpoint in the occupied West Bank.

According to the Palestinian Ministry of Health, Jaradat died of a heart attack after she was denied crossing at the Beit Einun checkpoint in northeast Hebron.

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Middle East Eye

23 Jan, 04:30

🎥 Palestinian journalists Saleh al-Jafarawi, Mohamed Abu Safia, and Ismail al-Dahdouh retrieved the body of a Palestinian reportedly killed by Israeli forces in Rafah, southern Gaza.

Local eyewitnesses reported that the Israeli army opened fire on people attempting to reach their homes in the al-Shaboura neighbourhood of Rafah, killing at least one Palestinian and wounding four others, despite the ongoing ceasefire in Gaza.

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Middle East Eye

23 Jan, 04:00

🎥 At least four Israelis, including an 'army officer', were injured in a stabbing operation carried out by a Moroccan national with a US green card in Tel Aviv on Tuesday evening.

Abdelaziz Kaddi, aged 29, who was identified as responsible for the stabbing, was shot dead at the scene. He was identified after he was shot, according to the Times of Israel.

Hamas said the operation “comes as a natural response hours after dozens of martyrs and wounded ascended during the occupation’s aggression on Jenin, in a clear message that blood is for blood.”

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Middle East Eye

23 Jan, 03:00

🎥 Rasmiya Abu Samra, a Palestinian woman from Rafah in southern Gaza, inspects the rubble of her house, which was destroyed by Israel’s relentless bombardment of the city.

"Our entire lives, our hard work, and our labour, all gone," she said.

When asked if she had expected this destruction, Rasmiya replied, "I never expected to find my home in such a state. I was stunned to see my house reduced to a single pile. All our dreams were gone."

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Middle East Eye

23 Jan, 02:30

🎥 According to Roya News and local sources, Israeli forces ordered Palestinians to evacuate the Jenin government hospital in the occupied West Bank city of Jenin.

Israeli forces have continued besieging and attacking two Jenin hospitals for a second consecutive day since the launch of a major assault on the northern occupied West Bank city, as Palestinian Authority (PA) forces stormed a third hospital.

Medical teams attempting to provide care have come under direct Israeli fire, while paramedics have been obstructed from reaching the dead and wounded, who remain strewn across the streets.

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Middle East Eye

23 Jan, 02:03

🎥 "We were supposed to have a meeting with the Americans on October 9th"

Javad Zarif, the Iranian vice-president for strategic affairs, has insisted at a Davos forum that his nation had nothing to do with the events on October 7. He even goes on to discuss how the military operation 'sabotaged' a potential deal renewal with the US administration at the time.

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Middle East Eye

22 Jan, 03:04

📰London’s Metropolitan Police chief, Mark Rowley, has come under fire after he told a pro-Israel group on Sunday that his force imposed unprecedented restrictions on a major pro-Palestine rally in London on Saturday that led to 77 arrests.

The Met Police chief said at an event held by the pro-Israel Board of Deputies of British Jews that they had “used conditions on the protests more than we ever have done before”, and that his team imposed “sharper and stronger conditions” on the organisers of the demonstration.

The Board of Deputies supported Israel’s war on Gaza and slammed the Labour government for imposing a partial arms embargo on Israel in September.

🔗 Click the link to read the full article ⤵️
https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/met-police-chief-accused-bias-after-address-pro-israel-group?utm_source=telegram&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=social_traffic

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Middle East Eye

22 Jan, 02:02

🎥 As TikTok faced a US ban, some questioned whether this move was truly about user privacy or an effort to suppress pro-Palestinian voices.

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Middle East Eye

22 Jan, 01:01

📰At least 66 people have been killed and 51 injured in a fire at a ski resort in central Turkey with survivors blaming the tragedy on negligence.

According to authorities, 238 guests were registered in the 12-storey luxury establishment, the Grand Kartal, located in Kartalkaya, 170km east of the capital Ankara.

The fire at a hotel, which apparently had no alarm system, broke out in the middle of the night on Tuesday.

Turkish media said the flames quickly spread to the rest of the building due to the wooden exterior cladding, with images showing large flames and black smoke escaping from the upper windows and roof. The hotel reportedly had two fire exits and stairs.

A Turkish official told Middle East Eye that the hotel was inspected in 2021 and 2024 by the Ministry of Culture and Tourism, and no deficiencies were found in those inspections.

More here ⤵️
https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/scores-killed-hotel-fire-ski-resort-central-turkey?utm_source=telegram&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=social_traffic

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Middle East Eye

22 Jan, 00:15

🎥 Video footage has emerged showing the final moments of Ahmed Nimer Obeidi’s life, as Israeli forces opened fire while he was in his vehicle in the city of Jenin, in the occupied West Bank. Obeidi was driving with children inside the car.

The Israeli military bombed and stormed Jenin on Tuesday as it launched a major assault on the northern occupied West Bank city, days after a ceasefire in Gaza took hold.

The attacks killed at least seven Palestinians and wounded 35 others, according to the Palestinian health ministry.

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Middle East Eye

22 Jan, 00:04

🎥US President Donald Trump said on Monday he is “not confident” that the ceasefire between Israel and Hamas will hold.

Trump made the comments while answering questions from reporters as he signed roughly 200 executive orders on his first day in office.

Trump added that Gaza looks “like a massive demolition site” but praised its potential due to its “phenomenal location.”

He also hinted that he might get involved in the reconstruction of the Palestinian enclave, saying that “some beautiful things can be done with it”.

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Middle East Eye

21 Jan, 23:58

🎥 Israeli security forces responded to a stabbing attack in Tel Aviv where three people were injured, with one in serious condition. According to Israeli emergency service Magen David Adom, the attacker was subsequently neutralised and killed.

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Middle East Eye

21 Jan, 23:07

📰A new public opinion poll in Turkey has revealed cautious optimism regarding US President Donald Trump’s return to the White House, while most Turks expressed strong dissatisfaction with former President Joe Biden’s performance.

The online survey of 1,336 participants across Turkey, conducted by research and consultancy firm Stracom between 15 and 18 January 2025, showed that over one-third of respondents, 35.7%, view Trump positively, while a significant 43.49% hold a neutral stance.

In contrast, 67.21%, expressed negative views about Biden’s presidency.
Despite fluctuations in their relationship during Trump’s first term, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has maintained a longstanding rapport with him.

🔗 Click the link to read the full article ⤵️
https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/turks-prefer-trump-over-biden-new-poll?utm_source=telegram&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=social_traffic

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Middle East Eye

21 Jan, 22:03

🎥Ayham Ali Jaradat, an 18-year-old Palestinian prisoner from Hebron, was among the 90 Palestinian prisoners who were released by Israeli authorities on Monday as part of the ceasefire deal.

A total of 33 Israeli captives will be released in return for 1,000 Palestinian prisoners during the first phase of the ceasefire.

Sixty-two Palestinian women were freed, of whom one is a minor, and 28 Palestinian men, including eight minors.

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Middle East Eye

21 Jan, 21:05

📰“In Gaza, time is measured in blood. Every additional hour of war increases the likelihood that someone living in Gaza will either become a victim or lose loved ones…

When the ceasefire took effect, we returned to our destroyed homes. We searched through the rubble, hoping that some fragments of our memories have survived the machinery of Zionist destruction. People will move their tents and set them up on the ruins of their homes. We will visit the graves of our loved ones.

I am not sure whether I will find the grave of my young son, Abdullah, who was killed by Israel at the start of the war and buried in a cemetery in Rafah, which we were forced to leave eight months ago. Israeli tanks and bulldozers reportedly levelled the cemetery afterwards, obliterating the graves.”

✍️ Opinion by Ahmed Abu Artema

🔗 Click the link to read the full column ⤵️
https://www.middleeasteye.net/opinion/gaza-ceasefire-losses-immeasurable-joy-act-resistance?utm_source=telegram&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=social_traffic

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Middle East Eye

21 Jan, 20:05

🎥 At least 21 Palestinians have been wounded by Israeli settlers when they attacked two villages east of Qalqilya, the Palestinian Red Crescent has reported.

According to Wafa, 12 victims suffered severe beatings, while nine others were affected by tear gas inhalation.

Footage has emerged showing settlers torching Palestinian homes in Funduq and Jinsafut.

Newly inaugurated US President Donald Trump removed an executive order signed by his predecessor Joe Biden that imposed sanctions on extremist Israeli settlers involved in violent attacks against Palestinians in the occupied West Bank.

This was among the president’s first acts after being sworn into office on Monday.

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Middle East Eye

21 Jan, 19:07

📰“There are bodies in the streets, and many people are injured, but no one can reach them”

The Israeli military bombed and stormed Jenin on Tuesday as it launched a major assault on the northern occupied West Bank city, days after a ceasefire in Gaza took hold.

The attacks killed several Palestinians and wounded 35 others, according to the Palestinian health ministry.

The bombing accompanied a large-scale ground assault by Israeli forces, which is expected to last several days, a military source told the Times of Israel.

Palestinian Authority (PA) security forces - who have been besieging and attacking Jenin since early December - withdrew from the city shortly before the Israeli offensive began.

🔗 Click the link to read the full article ⤵️
https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/israel-launches-major-iron-wall-assault-jenin-days-after-gaza-ceasefire?utm_source=telegram&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=social_traffic

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Middle East Eye

21 Jan, 18:08

🎥“You’ll see a much more virulent and a much more pronounced Christian nationalism in a second Trump administration.”

Back in July 2024, MEE’s Mohamed Hashem spoke to Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and author Chris Hedges who predicted Donald Trump’s win, and explained why a second Trump administration will be different than the first.

Watch the full interview here ⤵️
https://youtu.be/nr1VG9o1Tks?si=aXvDiMxbHgeAzIKN&utm_source=telegram&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=social_traffic

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Middle East Eye

21 Jan, 17:04

📰Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz said he “strongly condemns any attack and violence against Palestinians” and regrets the shooting of two Israeli men by a police officer during a settler attack in the West Bank on Monday, The Times of Israel reported.

“Law enforcement authorities must enforce the law and arrest and prosecute anyone who violates the law. There should be a criminal procedure and not administrative orders, and settlers should be treated the same as [people involved in] any other incident anywhere in the State of Israel,” he said.

He called on settler leaders to “condemn any violence of this kind.”

🔗Click the link to follow MEE’s live coverage of this developing story ⤵️
https://www.middleeasteye.net/live/live-wave-israeli-settler-attacks-injure-palestinians-destroy-property-west-bank-villages?utm_source=telegram&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=social_traffic

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Middle East Eye

21 Jan, 16:07

📰 “That’s not our war; it’s their war. But I’m not confident.”

Newly inaugurated US President Donald Trump has suggested the ceasefire in Gaza is unlikely to hold, as he lifts a range of sanctions his predecessor imposed on Israeli settlers in the occupied West Bank.

Asked by a journalist about the ceasefire deal that came into effect over the weekend, Trump said he was “not confident” about its long-term prospects.

He added that the enclave, which has been reduced to rubble by 15 months of Israeli bombardment, was a “phenomenal location on the sea” that could be rebuilt. “You know, everything’s good. It’s like, some beautiful things could be done with it,” he said.

🔗Click the link to follow MEE’s live coverage of this developing story ⤵️
https://www.middleeasteye.net/live/live-wave-israeli-settler-attacks-injure-palestinians-destroy-property-west-bank-villages?utm_source=telegram&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=social_traffic

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Middle East Eye

21 Jan, 15:04

📰 Israeli far-right politicians praised US President Donald Trump after he reversed US sanctions on Israeli settlers in the occupied West Bank implemented last year by his predecessor Joe Biden.

Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich thanks Trump for his “just decision”.

“These sanctions were a serious act of gross foreign intervention in Israel’s internal affairs,” said Smotrich.

Trump’s “steadfast and uncompromising support for Israel” is an expression of his “deep connection with the Jewish people and their historic rights in their homeland,” he said.
Itamar Ben Gvir, former national security minister, called the decision “historic” in a post on X.

“This is a righting of an injustice of many years, in which distorted policies were pursued by the American administration and also by local elements who confused lovers with enemies,” he said.

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Middle East Eye

21 Jan, 14:06

🎥A Palestinian university student, Duaa Azam al-Wahsh, who was released by Israel from prison as part of the first phase of the Gaza ceasefire agreement, found out her brother Ahmad Azam al-Wahsh had been killed.

Last year in February, three Palestinians, Kazem al-Zawahra, Mohammad al-Zawahra, and Ahmad Azam al-Wahsh, reportedly opened fire at motorists near occupied East Jerusalem, close to the Maale Adumim settlement in the occupied West Bank.

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Middle East Eye

21 Jan, 13:07

🎥“Even if I have to clear out the rubble one stone at a time, I would remain.”

An elderly Palestinian woman says that a tent would be enough for her to live in on the rubble of her destroyed home in Gaza.

Since the ceasefire came into force on Sunday, thousands of displaced Palestinians have begun returning to their homes, which have been mostly reduced to rubble or left as half-standing structures.

Many were hoping to find their homes still habitable, but upon arrival, they were shocked at the extent of the destruction.

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Middle East Eye

13 Jan, 14:47

📰 US President Joe Biden has pressed Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza.

Biden’s call on Sunday comes as the White House races to broker a truce before Donald Trump assumes the presidency on 20 January. Although US officials have recently expressed cautious optimism about reaching an agreement, critics argue that Biden’s approach has done little to address the underlying causes of the conflict, with many accusing Washington of prioritising Israel’s interests over genuine peace in the region.

Meanwhile, Qatar has reportedly submitted a “final” draft proposal for a ceasefire and captive release agreement between Israel and Hamas, according to a source briefed on the negotiations who spoke to Reuters on Monday.

🔗Click the link to follow MEE’s live coverage ⤵️
https://www.middleeasteye.net/live/live-trump-envoy-urges-netanyahu-reach-ceasefire-deal?utm_source=telegram&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=social_traffic

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Middle East Eye

13 Jan, 13:47

🎥 Moroccans in Tetouan protested Israel’s atrocities in Gaza by reenacting the attacks against Kamal Adwan hospital and the detention of Dr Hussam Abu Safiya.

On 27 December 2024, Israeli forces stormed the hospital, forcibly evacuating patients and medical staff and arresting over 240 people, including the hospital’s director, Dr Hussam Abu Safiya.

Several medical staff were burned alive in fires ignited during the raid, while patients and medics were stripped of their clothing and forced to leave the hospital on foot.

The Kamal Adwan hospital was northern Gaza’s last functioning hospital, but has now been rendered out of service.

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Middle East Eye

13 Jan, 12:47

🎥“Stones are falling on our heads and we are afraid for our children.”

A displaced Palestinian family from Jabalia camp says it has no other choice but to take shelter under the rubble of a destroyed home despite it being unsafe to do so.

According to the UN, 1.9 million out of Gaza’s 2.2 million population were displaced as of October 2024.

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Middle East Eye

13 Jan, 11:47

🎥 -Was anybody killed?

-Yes. My mum.

Those were the words of an injured Palestinian girl as she is being rushed to the hospital after an Israeli air strike reportedly hit a home in the Shujaiya neighbourhood in east Gaza, killing at least two people and injuring several others.

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Middle East Eye

13 Jan, 10:45

🎥 Footage reportedly shows the Israeli military launching a series of massive air strikes on various locations in southern Lebanon on Sunday.

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Middle East Eye

13 Jan, 01:01

🎥 Footage obtained by Al Jazeera appears to show displaced Palestinians sheltering at the besieged Indonesian Hospital using IV fluids to cook amid a shortage of water.

The Indonesian Hospital has been under siege for several weeks after Israeli forces have encircled the hospital, deploying dozens of military vehicles in the area.

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Middle East Eye

13 Jan, 00:02

📰 Looming over the Palestinian Authority’s battle with anti-occupation armed groups in Jenin are fears that US President-elect Donald Trump is amenable to sidelining the PA’s current leaders in a future post-war Gaza Strip in favour of the UAE and its Palestinian allies.

Those concerns led the PA to launch a bigger raid on the city of Jenin as opposed to a smaller operation in the Tulkarm refugee camp that American officials originally floated, one Egyptian official, one former senior Israeli official, and one former senior US official told MEE.

The PA’s concerns about being sidelined in the post-war Gaza Strip come amid signs that Hamas and Israel may be inching closer to a ceasefire in the decimated enclave.

The PA has been at the centre of the Biden administration’s plan for post-war governance of GAZA since the war erupted, even as Israel has rejected a role for the PA.

But Trump’s return to the White House in less than two weeks has injected new uncertainty into the PA’s future.

✍️ Sean Mathews/MEE

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Middle East Eye

12 Jan, 23:05

📰 Videos and photos have surfaced online reportedly showing a warehouse of Emirati ammunition and missiles in Wad Madani, Sudan, after the country's military captured the strategic city from the Rapid Support Forces (RSF).

On Saturday, the Sudanese military said it, along with allied armed groups, captured Wad Madani, the capital of Sudan's al-Jazira state.

For a year, the city was under the control of the RSF, the paramilitary force currently fighting the Sudanese army in a civil war that has been ongoing since April 2023.

Middle East Eye reached out to the UAE's embassy in Washington DC for comment on these videos, however, the embassy didn't respond by the time of publication.

The war in Sudan between the Sudanese army and the RSF has displaced over 11 million people, according to the UN’s International Organization for Migration (IOM), with more than eight million people on the brink of famine according to the UN.

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Middle East Eye

12 Jan, 21:49

🎥 Footage shows Palestinian youths being led in a line after being detained by Israeli forces during raids on homes in Deir Istiya.
The Israeli army has launched a fresh wave of raids in the West Bank this week.

Palestinian sources report that over 14,300 Palestinians have been detained by Israel in the West Bank since October 7, 2023.

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Middle East Eye

12 Jan, 17:38

🎥 As Syria’s new leader Ahmed al-Sharaa pushes for relief of previously imposed Western sanctions on the country, German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock says her government wants a ‘smart approach’ that would enable aid to reach Syrians and urged Syria’s neighbouring countries to ‘respect its territorial integrity and sovereignty’.

Diplomats from the Middle East and Europe have arrived in Riyadh this weekend as part of a push for stability after the fall of Assad.

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Middle East Eye

12 Jan, 16:34

🎥 A warehouse of Emirati ammunition and missiles was discovered in Wad Madani, in Sudan, after the Sudanese army captured the capital of al-Jazira state from the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) on Saturday.

Sources have previously told Middle East Eye that the UAE’s military support for the RSF ‘has kept the RSF in the fight and allowed them to sustain it, with no end in sight.’

Earlier this month, the US determined that a genocide is taking place in Sudan, perpetrated by the RSF and their leader, Mohammad Hamdan Daglo, commonly known as Hemeti.

As a result, the US sanctioned Hemeti for his role in ‘systematic atrocities’ against the Sudanese people.

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Middle East Eye

12 Jan, 15:35

🎥 Thousands took to the streets of Port Sudan and other Sudanese cities in a show of support as the Sudanese army, alongside allied armed groups, reported progress in retaking the strategic state of al-Jazira state capital of Wad Madani.

The city, under the control of the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) for over a year, has been a key battleground in the ongoing conflict since April 2023.

As the military pushes forward, hopes rise for the restoration of control over key territories.

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Middle East Eye

12 Jan, 14:34

📰 Arab and EU leaders arrived in the Saudi capital, Riyadh, on Sunday as talks began on the future of Syria following the overthrow of Bashar al-Assad.

A Saudi official told AFP these are set to include a meeting of Arab officials and a wider gathering involving Turkey, France, the EU and the United Nations.

A major topic of discussion is likely to be the lifting of sanctions on Syria, which have crippled the country’s economy for years.

Syria’s trade minister, Maher Khalil al-Hasan, told Reuters on Monday that Syria faced “a catastrophe” if sanctions were not lifted to allow the war-ravaged country to start high-level investments in industry, energy and oil. He also said US sanctions were holding up the import of wheat.

🔗 https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/arab-and-eu-leaders-meet-riyadh-discuss-future-syria?utm_source=telegram&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=social_traffic

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Middle East Eye

12 Jan, 13:30

📰 He was a relative unknown until a few weeks ago, but Ahmed al-Mansour has managed to develop a cult following in his native Egypt after Syrian rebels toppled the Assad dynasty.

An Egyptian national who first began fighting with Syrian rebels against Bashar al-Assad in 2013, Mansour has been churning out videos since the rebels captured Damascus, calling on Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi to step down after 12 years in power.

Using the hashtag “It’s your turn, Dictator”, a phrase based on the 2011 Syrian rallying cry “It’s your turn, Doctor”, Mansour has been posting near-daily content lamenting the dire political and economic conditions in the North African country.

“The state of terror that Sisi has us living in requires our initiative to reignite the revolution,” Mansour said in a video posted on X.

🔗 https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/ahmed-al-mansour-egyptian-fighter-syria-whos-causing-sisi-alarm?utm_source=telegram&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=social_traffic

2,193

Middle East Eye

12 Jan, 12:33

🎥 "I believe that there will be long-term strategic relations. Between us and Lebanon, there are very important shared interests."

Syria's new leader, Ahmed al-Sharaa, and Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati have pledged to strengthen long-lasting ties between their nations during a press conference in Damascus.

This marks the first visit to Damascus by a Lebanese head of government since the Syrian conflict began in 2011.

2,039

Middle East Eye

12 Jan, 11:31

🎥 "We are a people whose children and sons are being targeted."

Israeli strikes killed eight people, including two children, in a school-turned-shelter in the northern Gaza city of Jabalia, according to Mahmud Bassal, spokesman for Gaza's civil defence agency.

Survivors inspected the rubble and rushed the injured to Al-Ahli Hospital in Gaza City.

2,099

Middle East Eye

12 Jan, 09:35

🔴 MORNING RECAP (as of 09:35 GMT 12 January #Israel #Palestine

- At least 28 Palestinians in Gaza were killed by Israeli attacks.

- Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu's office announced that he approved a delegation of top security officials to travel to Doha and attend the ongoing talks around a possible ceasefire in Gaza.

- Israel issued new forced displacement orders for the Nuseirat camp's Block 662 in central Gaza. The Israeli military bombed the Nuseirat and Bureij camps.

- The Palestinian Authority's security forces laid siege to the Jenin refugee camp in the occupied West Bank as part of an operation against Palestinian fighters. Al Jazeera reported that the PA cut off water and electricity from the camp.

- At least four Israeli soldiers were killed in fighting in Gaza's Beit Hanoon.

- Israeli media reported that eight Israeli soldiers were wounded after an explosion in northern Jabalia on Friday, although the military did not publicise this at the time.

2,306

Middle East Eye

12 Jan, 00:30

🎥 Lebanese armed forces have been deployed to southwest Lebanon following the withdrawal of Israeli troops. A ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah mandates Israel’s pullout from southern Lebanon, and the hand over of control to the Lebanese army and UN peacekeepers.

2,771

Middle East Eye

11 Jan, 23:34

🎥 Hundreds of Israeli citizens gathered in Tel Aviv to demand a deal to release hostages held in Gaza, and to call for the resignation of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

The protest comes after a released hostage directly addressed Hamas regarding the welfare of her husband who remains in Gaza. In response, the group said that his fate lies in the hands of Netanyahu.

2,564

Middle East Eye

11 Jan, 22:34

🎥 American actress Jamie Lee Curtis compared the destruction caused by the fires in Los Angeles to the devastation in war-torn Gaza during a conference for the launch of her movie The Last Showgirl.

Last year, Curtis faced criticism after sharing a photo of Palestinian children fleeing Israeli bombs but mistakenly identifying them as Israeli children under attack from Palestinian “terror from the skies”.

2,334

Middle East Eye

11 Jan, 21:33

🎥 Retired Colonel Douglas Macgregor, speaking with former U.S. jurist Judge Napolitano, has claimed that Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi was ‘installed’ by the US to counter the Muslim Brotherhood and safeguard the interests of the US, Israel, and the West.

He added that rising public discontent over Egypt's silence on Israel's actions in Gaza has fueled concerns about the stability of el-Sisi's regime, with fears that the Suez Canal could fall into the hands of ‘enemies’ of Israel and the West, prompting discussions of further intervention.

1,348

Middle East Eye

11 Jan, 20:31

"As one of the earliest pillars of the 'war on terror', Guantanamo is emblematic of institutionalised Islamophobia and continues to be deployed by US authorities to threaten Muslims and exceptionalise alleged Muslim-perpetrated violence.

As a frequently weaponised threat, Guantanamo has consistently been used by the state as a way of disciplining Muslim bodies by cultivating fear and trauma for any Muslims who resist or defy it.

When asked to define Guantanamo, a once-detained Muslim man at the prison named Nizar Sassi said this of the prison: 'If you want a definition of this place, you don't have the right to have rights.'"

✍️: Maha Hilal*

*The views expressed in this article belong to the author and do not necessarily reflect the editorial policy of MEE

🔗 Click the link to read the full column
https://www.middleeasteye.net/opinion/twenty-three-years-guantanamo-omnipresent-threat-muslims?utm_source=telegram&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=social_traffic

1,443

Middle East Eye

11 Jan, 19:34

🎥 Ilham Ahmed, co-chair of the Syrian Democratic Council, the political wing of the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), said that they are in talks with Israel and the United States to “mediate in stopping Turkish attacks on the region”.

Ahmed added that they have also urged these nations to maintain their presence until “a permanent peace process in Syria and a political process” are achieved.

1,393

Middle East Eye

11 Jan, 18:32

🎥 Israeli forces deployed bulldozers and armoured vehicles during a raid on the West Bank village of Qabatiya.

According to the Wafa news agency, Israeli soldiers stormed several neighbourhoods, raided homes and detained 15 Palestinians - including a woman. The raid was marked by heavy gunfire as Israeli forces targeted different areas of the town, leading to violent confrontations.

The Israeli military has also imposed severe restrictions on the movement of Palestinians around the city of Nablus.

Checkpoints were set up on roads connecting the occupied West Bank city to neighbouring Jenin and Tubas, causing significant traffic congestion.

These developments follow an earlier raid on Saturday morning, during which Israeli forces shot a young Palestinian man at al-Arroub refugee camp, west of Hebron.

1,525

Middle East Eye

11 Jan, 17:35

🎥 “The stars of Palestinian journalism are being targeted one by one by Israel.”

A funeral was held for Palestinian journalist Saed Abu Nabhan, who was killed by an Israeli sniper while reporting at the Nuseirat refugee camp in central Gaza.

A Middle East Eye reporter in Gaza interviewed Abu Nabhan’s mother and attended the funeral, where his colleagues paid him a heartfelt farewell.

Abu Nabhan's death brings the total number of Palestinian journalists killed in Israeli attacks on Gaza since 7 October 2023 to 203. Reports also reveal that 399 journalists have been injured and 43 others detained.

1,502

Middle East Eye

11 Jan, 16:33

📰 “The collapse of Bashar al-Assad’s regime in Syria has alarmed many regional countries, including the UAE and Egypt - but Israel is particularly concerned by this development.

An Israeli government committee has even suggested that a Syria ruled by Sunni Islamists who don’t recognise Israel’s right to exist could potentially pose a bigger threat to the country than Iran, Israel’s archenemy.

The committee was particularly unnerved by Turkey’s influence in Syria, claiming that Ankara could use the new Syrian government as a proxy force “to restore the Ottoman Crown to its former glory” - whatever that means.

The report noted that Ankara could rapidly rearm the new Syrian government, potentially triggering a direct conflict between Israel and Turkey.

But is this a realistic scenario? In short, the answer is no."

🔗 https://www.middleeasteye.net/opinion/turkey-doesnt-seek-conflict-israel-syria-heres-why?utm_source=telegram&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=social_traffic

1,597

Middle East Eye

11 Jan, 15:34

🎥 Hundreds of demonstrators rallied in Warsaw, Poland, on Friday, protesting the government’s decision not to arrest Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu if he visits Auschwitz.

On Thursday, the Polish government adopted a resolution promising senior Israeli officials can freely travel to Poland without risk of facing arrest.

This measure would include both Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former defence minister Yoav Gallant, both of whom currently face arrest warrants from the International Criminal Court.

1,669

Middle East Eye

11 Jan, 14:31

📰 Buoyed by their success, gold smugglers on the Sudanese-Egyptian border are now trafficking a wide array of goods, including fuel, weapons, and human beings.

But they have been met with a brutal response from the Egyptian military, which has deployed helicopters, snipers and heavy weapons during attacks that have left smugglers dead in remote and mountainous border regions.

While Egyptian authorities are trying to prevent the smuggling of fuel and other goods, they are turning a blind eye to the passage of gold into Egypt, which is seen as being beneficial to the country’s stricken economy.

🔗 https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/egypt-sudan-smugglers-border-battles?utm_source=telegram&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=social_traffic

1,675

Middle East Eye

11 Jan, 13:46

🔴 #BREAKING: The Sudanese army said it and allied armed groups captured the key Rapid Support Forces (RSF)-held capital of Gezira state.

A video the army shared on Saturday showed fighters claiming to be inside Wad Madani, while an army source told AFP they had "stormed the city's eastern entrance".

The city had for a year been under the control of the RSF, the paramilitary force that has fought with the Sudanese army since April 2023.

Fighting has been ongoing in Gezira state, with the army retaking much of the state.

🔗 https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/sudanese-army-says-advancing-key-rsf-held-capital-al-jazira-state?utm_source=telegram&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=social_traffic

1,602

Middle East Eye

11 Jan, 13:00

📰 The new Syrian government announced on Saturday that it had foiled an attack by the Islamic State group (IS) targeting the Sayyida Zeinab Shia shrine in the south of the Syrian capital, Damascus.

A Syrian intelligence source, quoted by the official Sana news agency, said that security forces “managed to foil an attempt by IS to carry out a bomb attack inside the mausoleum of Sayyida Zeinab”.

The source added that several people had been arrested.

🔗 https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/syrias-new-government-says-it-thwarted-islamic-state-attack-shia-shrine?utm_source=telegram&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=social_traffic

1,769

Middle East Eye

11 Jan, 11:04

🎥 Hazem Alwan, a recently released Palestinian detainee, explains he met Dr Hussam Abu Safiya at Sde Teiman prison.

Alwan stated that Abu Safiya had visible signs of torture and that his mental state was “completely shattered.”

The Palestinian man also explained that the Israeli forces used him as a human shield and that he endured torture in prison as well.

Abu Safiya was detained in late December after Israeli forces stormed the bombed-out Kamal Adwan Hospital following a nearly three-month blockade of northern Gaza.

1,852

Middle East Eye

11 Jan, 10:01

🔴 MORNING RECAP (as of 10:00 GMT 11 January #Israel #Palestine

- The Israeli military has attacked Lebanon's Bint Jbeil district, blowing up "a number of houses in the town of Aita al-Shaab", according to Lebanese media.

- The number of Palestinians killed in the first eight months of the Israeli war on Gaza is estimated to exceed 64,000, nearly 40 percent higher than the official death toll, a new study has found.

- At least 22 Palestinians in Gaza have been killed in Israeli attacks since Friday morning, according to local sources. Israeli jets carried out strikes over night in Gaza city, destroying two residential homes.

- Israeli forces have shot a young Palestinian man during a raid on the Arroub refugee camp west of Hebron in the occupied West Bank.

- The Israeli military has carried out a series of attacks across Yemen, saying it was targeting Houthi infrastructure in response to Houthi attacks on Israel.

1,834

Middle East Eye

11 Jan, 09:32

🎥 A new study published by The Lancet medical journal on Thursday estimates the number of Palestinians killed in the first nine months during Israel’s war on Gaza exceeds 64,000, nearly 40 per cent higher than official figures.

The study estimates that between 7 October 2023 and 30 June 2024, between 55,298 and 78,525 Palestinians died from "traumatic injuries".

Earlier this week, the Palestinian health ministry reported that the death toll had surpassed 46,000 since the war began on 7 October.

4,565

Middle East Eye

11 Jan, 01:04

🎥 Middle East Eye spoke to the former first minister of Scotland, Humza Yousaf, about issues surrounding the far-right "grooming gang" narrative and Elon Musk’s interference through the spreading of “disinformation.”

Tech billionaire Elon Musk, a close supporter of incoming US President Donald Trump, has spent the past week engaged in a public spat with British Prime Minister Keir Starmer over Britain’s notorious so-called “grooming gangs” scandal.

Last week, Musk accused Starmer of being "complicit in the rape of Britain" during his tenure as director of public prosecutions (DPP) for supposedly failing to address "grooming gangs."

2,298

Middle East Eye

11 Jan, 00:35

🎥 Palestinian doctor Mahmoud Abu Shahada was welcomed back by colleagues at Gaza European Hospital in Khan Younis after spending 11 months in Israeli prison.

Abu Shahada, the chief of orthopaedics at Nasser Medical Complex, was arrested by Israeli forces during a raid on the hospital last February.

According to the Institute for Palestine Studies, which tracks the targeting of medical personnel in Gaza, he faced torture and harsh treatment in custody despite clear evidence that he had no involvement in combat activities.

1,944

Middle East Eye

05 Jan, 00:09

🎥 Israeli airstrikes have intensified since this morning, devastating residential areas across Gaza. In the Sheikh Radwan neighborhood north of the Strip, families and rescue teams desperately searched for survivors and retrieved bodies from the rubble of destroyed homes.

The targeted residential block suffered massive damage. With emergency services stretched to their limits, concerns are mounting over the rising number of casualties as the airstrikes continue unabated.

🔴 LIVE UPDATES:

https://www.middleeasteye.net/live/live-five-palestinians-die-israeli-detention-over-past-24-hours?utm_source=telegram&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=social_traffic

581

Middle East Eye

04 Jan, 23:05

🎥 Israeli forces have escalated attacks across Gaza, killing dozens and injuring hundreds. Among the victims were 7 children who were killed in the bombing of the Ghoulah family home in Shejaiya, eastern Gaza City.

Residential areas in Sheikh Radwan, Abu Iskandar and Deir Al Balah were also hit, causing widespread destruction. Schools-turned-shelters, including Al Sabra school and Abu Al Helou school in central Gaza were bombed, many of the casualties were children.

🔴 LIVE UPDATES:

https://www.middleeasteye.net/live/live-five-palestinians-die-israeli-detention-over-past-24-hours?utm_source=telegram&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=social_traffic

747

Middle East Eye

04 Jan, 22:06

🎥 Workers at Cham Wings Airlines have painted the three-starred Syrian independence flag on their aeroplanes at Damascus Airport in preparation for the resumption of international flights next week. Operations were suspended following last month’s rebel takeover, but Syria’s primary airport is now preparing to resume services.

859

Middle East Eye

04 Jan, 21:18

✍️ Palestinian journalist from the occupied Palestinian territories, Younis Tirawi took to social media channel X on Saturday, sharing a quote from the Israeli Director of GIS Center at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem Adi Ben Nun.

In an interview with Ynet, Adi Ben Nun said that Israel “has hit all the systems of existence in Gaza, the water wells, the sewage system, the water infrastructure, the agricultural fields, the cattle and sheep herds.”

“Look at the Philadelphi, see what was there before—full of houses, orchards—and now it’s like the moon’s surface. Craters instead of houses.”

An Israeli military strike killed 12 Palestinians in a house in Gaza City early on Saturday, bringing the total death toll from strikes across Gaza to 62 in the past 24 hours, Palestinian medics said.

🔴 LIVE UPDATES:

https://www.middleeasteye.net/live/live-five-palestinians-die-israeli-detention-over-past-24-hours?utm_source=telegram&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=social_traffic

1,000

Middle East Eye

04 Jan, 20:35

🎥 Israeli warplanes bombed a residential block near the Saraya complex in central Gaza City, launching three rockets that destroyed four buildings and caused extensive damage to surrounding homes. Civil Defence teams are racing to locate survivors and recover the wounded.

🔴 LIVE UPDATES:

https://www.middleeasteye.net/live/live-five-palestinians-die-israeli-detention-over-past-24-hours?utm_source=telegram&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=social_traffic

1,048

Middle East Eye

04 Jan, 19:48

🎥 Israeli warplanes targeted a tent sheltering displaced people at the Abu al-Helou School in the al-Bureij refugee camp in central Gaza on Saturday evening, killing a number of civilians.

🔴 LIVE UPDATES:

https://www.middleeasteye.net/live/live-five-palestinians-die-israeli-detention-over-past-24-hours?utm_source=telegram&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=social_traffic

1,134

Middle East Eye

04 Jan, 19:07

🎥 Pro-Palestine protesters gathered outside the University Hospital of Wales in Cardiff to protest against Israel’s targeting of hospitals and medical staff in Gaza.

The Israeli military has been accused of deliberately targeting Gaza’s health system through constant attacks on hospitals, ambulances and doctors since the war on Gaza began last year.

Amnesty International has reported that Israeli forces have detained hundreds of Palestinian healthcare workers without charge or trial during this time. These workers, the organisation said, have been subjected to torture, ill-treatment and incommunicado detention.

1,262

Middle East Eye

04 Jan, 18:02

🎥 Five aid workers were killed in Gaza on Saturday when an Israeli air strike hit their vehicle on Salah al-Din Street.

Israeli forces have killed more than 45,717 people and injured 108,856 since the war on Gaza began in October 2023, according to the latest figures from the Palestinian health ministry.

The UN’s humanitarian agency, Ocha, reports that over 341 humanitarian workers have been killed in Gaza during the conflict.

1,391

Middle East Eye

04 Jan, 17:07

🎥 Video footage shows Israeli military tanks advancing near civilian homes in Aqbat Maroun neighbourhood, located between Maroun al-Ras and Bint Jbeil in southern Lebanon.

1,446

Middle East Eye

04 Jan, 16:06

🎥 Israel has disregarded urgent pleas from the UN and WHO to cease attacks on medical facilities in northern Gaza, ordering the immediate evacuation of both the Indonesian and al-Awda Hospitals.

The order has sparked fears of a level of destruction similar to that witnessed at al-Shifa Hospital.

Former CNN senior correspondent Arwa Damon’s visit to the ruins of al-Shifa in November 2024 has resurfaced, highlighting the devastating damage.

1,537

Middle East Eye

04 Jan, 15:18

🎥 ‘We are facing a sadistic and Nazi occupation’.

The Director General of Gaza’s Ministry of Health Dr. Muneer Alboursh responds as Israeli forces order the immediate evacuation of staff and patients from two of northern Gaza’s most critical hospitals.

The Indonesian and al-Awda Hospitals have been subject to repeated damage from Israeli attacks since October 2023 and house many Palestinians seeking shelter, as well as critically injured.

Dr. Alboursh says there are fears the order signals a repeat of the destruction seen at al-Shifa Hospital.

1,554

Middle East Eye

04 Jan, 14:02

🎥 Palestinian radio presenter Abdullah al-Maghari hosts the "Hadith al-Nas" (Talk of the People) radio programme as a way to be "closer to the people”, from his tent in the camp.

Battling challenges like power shortages, noisy surroundings and the devastation of war, al-Maghari takes calls from people raising their concerns, as well as reporting wider news of the war and providing entertainment for children.

1,678

Middle East Eye

04 Jan, 13:11

🎥 An Israeli soldier has posted footage of the military destroying residential buildings in northern Gaza.

In 15 months of Israel’s war on Gaza, Israeli forces have devastated the enclave’s civilian infrastructure - from residences to hospitals, schools and UN shelters.

The United Nations Satellite Centre estimates that as of 1 December 2024, nearly 70 per cent of structures in Gaza are either destroyed or damaged.

1,811

Middle East Eye

04 Jan, 12:03

🎥 “Mum, answer me, why aren’t you moving?”A Palestinian man cries for his mother at the closed doors of a morgue in Gaza.The health ministry in Gaza said on Friday that 77 people were killed in the past 24 hours, taking the overall death toll of the war to 45,658.

The ministry also said in a statement that at least 108,583 people had been wounded in Israel’s war on Gaza since 7 October.
IG : salah_97ib

1,821

Middle East Eye

04 Jan, 11:05

🎥 UN human rights chief Volker Turk, addressing the UN Security Council on Friday, said that Israel’s claims of Hamas using hospitals to launch attacks are “often vague” and “appear to be contradicted by publicly available information.”

Turk called for “independent, thorough, and transparent investigations” of all Israeli attacks on medical facilities and personnel, as well as claims on alleged misuse of facilities.

1,772

Middle East Eye

04 Jan, 10:02

🎥 White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre refused to comment on the arrest of Doctor Hussam Abu Safiya, stating that she didn’t have any information.

When asked if she believed that arresting doctors in hospitals violates human rights and international law, she responded, “I want to be super mindful because you’re asking me about a specific incident that has occurred, and I just want to ensure that I have all of the information.”

Israeli forces detained Abu Safiya on 27 December after storming Kamal Adwan hospital in northern Gaza. Several rights groups have warned there are “alarming indications” of torture and abuse against the Palestinian doctor.

1,921

Middle East Eye

04 Jan, 09:40

🎥 A video posted on social media shows Israeli soldiers using a heavy machine-gun to shoot at the pillars of a building in northern Gaza, whose residents had been forced to flee, until it collapses in what Israel Genocide Tracker is calling a 'disturbing trend.

1,858

Middle East Eye

04 Jan, 03:01

🎥 France's Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot expresses his hope for a "sovereign, stable and peaceful" Syria as he visited Damascus for talks on behalf of the European Union.

Barrot arrived in the Syrian capital on Friday, AFP journalists said.

German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock joined him later, a ministry source told AFP, for talks on behalf of the European Union.

2,205

Middle East Eye

04 Jan, 02:02

📰 For the past several weeks, Maryam Kamalmaz has been relentlessly scouring social media and WhatsApp groups, searching for any news about the whereabouts of her father, who disappeared more than seven years ago in Damascus, Syria.

Eight months ago, Maryam, 39, and her family were told by the US government that her father, Syrian-American psychotherapist Majd Kamalmaz, was likely dead as a result of his detention at the hands of the Bashar al-Assad government.

“Even though there was no body, there was no DNA, there was nothing. It was just word of mouth that [the US] believed he had passed,” Maryam told Middle East Eye.

But now she has returned to a state of uncertainty after the Syrian rebels launched an 11-day shock offensive that brought down the decades-long rule of the Assad family on 8 December.

🔗 https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/syrian-diaspora-seeks-closure-assad-removal-offers-chance-rebuild?utm_source=telegram&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=social_traffic

2,055

Middle East Eye

04 Jan, 01:00

🎥 An Israeli air strike reportedly targeted a weapons and ammunition depot near the town of Tall al-Shahim in southern Syria.

On 10 December, just days after the collapse of Bashar al-Assad's government in Syria, Israel launched its most extensive aerial military campaign against a neighbouring country.

Dubbed "Bashan Arrow", the operation involved 350 Israeli Air Force combat aircraft striking 320 strategic targets across Syria, from Damascus to Tartus.

The targets included airbases, MiG-29 fighter jets, Scud missile batteries, unmanned aerial vehicles, radar installations, and naval ships, among other critical infrastructure.

The offensive destroyed over 70 per cent of Syria’s strategic military assets, leaving the country vulnerable to fragmentation and foreign influence.

1,991

Middle East Eye

03 Jan, 05:02

🎥An Israeli air strike in the central Gaza Strip killed at least eight people, including members of committees that help secure aid convoys, said Al-Aqsa Martyrs hospital.

Israel’s ongoing war on Gaza has killed at least 45,581 Palestinians and wounded 108,438 since 7 October 2023, according to the Health Ministry.

The latest figures were reported after 28 additional deaths were confirmed in the past 24 hours.

317

Middle East Eye

03 Jan, 04:03

📰Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu has approved a delegation to resume Gaza ceasefire negotiations in Doha, Qatar, even as Israel continues to rule out a permanent end to the war, according to reports.

Hamas and Israel were in negotiations in December to reach a ceasefire deal, but the Palestinian group accused Israeli negotiators of putting forward “new conditions” that delayed reaching a deal.

The US and Israel have long insisted Hamas is an obstacle to a ceasefire, but analysts and regional officials say Netanyahu has shown little interest in striking an agreement.

Throughout 2024, the US insisted that the late Hamas chief Yahya Sinwar was the main obstacle to a ceasefire. However, more than two months after Sinwar was killed in a firefight with Israeli soldiers, a ceasefire remains just as elusive.

🔗 Read more here ⤵️
https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/israel-sending-negotiators-to-resume-qatar-gaza-ceasefire-talks?utm_source=telegram&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=social_traffic

550

Middle East Eye

03 Jan, 03:05

🎥 Palestinians in the occupied West Bank react to Al Jazeera’s suspension, a day after the decision was announced.

Yesterday, the Palestinian Authority ordered the suspension of broadcasts by the Qatar-based channel.

Al Jazeera is already banned from broadcasting in Israel amid a long-running feud with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government.

670

Middle East Eye

03 Jan, 02:03

📰 Writer Avi Ashkenazi of Israeli Maariv newspaper wrote in an article that “the entire northern Gaza Strip looks like an island of ruins,” in what he defines as “IDF’s amazing tactical successes”.

The article, originally written in Hebrew, details how the IDF has deprived the people in Jabalia, northern Gaza of the underground infrastructures to cause the “terrorists to move above.”

A 2024 analysis of hundreds of video clips released by the Israeli military has uncovered evidence that Israeli air strikes on Gaza over the past year have been far from precise, leading to “devastating levels of civilian harm”.

In October 2024, British war monitor Airwars reviewed hours of footage of Israeli strikes on the enclave, geolocating them and matching them to incidents where Palestinians had publicly reported that civilians had been harmed.

832

Middle East Eye

03 Jan, 01:01

🎥Israel is on "the frontline of this battle" against "radical Islam," says government spokesman David Mencer during an online press conference, as he comments on the New Orleans deadly attack which the FBI said it was carried out by a "terrorist."

Israel’s ongoing war on Gaza has killed at least 45,581 Palestinians and wounded 108,438 since 7 October 2023, according to the Health Ministry.

The latest figures were reported after 28 additional deaths were confirmed in the past 24 hours.

The true death toll is likely much higher, with an estimated 10,000 bodies trapped beneath the extensive rubble caused by Israel’s continuous bombing over the past 15 months.

844

Middle East Eye

03 Jan, 00:05

📰An 18 year old Palestinian American youth, Kareem Badawi from Baton Rouge, Louisiana was hit and killed in the attack on Bourbon Street in New Orleans that has claimed the lives of at least 15 people.

“With great sadness and sorrow and with hearts content with God’s will and destiny, I announce the news of the death of my son, Kareem Belal Badawi, who passed away early this morning as a result of the tragic incident in New Orleans. We ask God to have mercy on Kareem and grant us patience and strength to overcome this noble affliction,” Kareem’s father Belal Badawi said in a post on Facebook.

The suspect of the attack was a US citizen named Shamsud-Din Jabbar, who drove a truck into a crowd of New Year’s Eve revellers in New Orleans early on Wednesday morning.

The suspect killed at least 15 and injured dozens before being shot in an exchange of gunfire with police. Two homemade bombs, or improvised explosive devices (IEDs), were found in the attacker’s truck, the FBI said.

933

Middle East Eye

02 Jan, 23:04

🎥 “You call these safe areas? We came here on the basis that this is a safe area, but we came here for nothing. There is no safe area.”

Israel’s air strikes on the designated “humanitarian zone” in al-Mawasi, Gaza, have killed at least 12 Palestinians. Since dawn on Thursday, Israeli air strikes across Gaza have killed 52 Palestinians.

1,004

Middle East Eye

02 Jan, 22:04

🎥 Israeli forces have raided the occupied West Bank city of Bethlehem, detaining one man from the Ras al-Ein neighbourhood near the Church of the Nativity and another from the Karkafa area in the city centre, according to the Wafa news agency.

1,279

Middle East Eye

02 Jan, 21:08

🎥 Pro-Palestinian Japanese students held a protest outside the Israeli embassy in Tokyo to show solidarity with Gaza.

1,589

Middle East Eye

02 Jan, 20:04

🎥 Israeli forces are heavily shelling the vicinity of the Indonesian Hospital in northern Gaza, where some medical workers and displaced Palestinians are seeking shelter, a doctor inside the non-functioning facility told Middle East Eye.

“There is currently heavy artillery shelling and gunfire from quadcopter drones in the vicinity of the hospital,” Dr Rawia Tambour told MEE in a recorded audio message, as sounds of blasts could be heard in the background.

“Israeli military vehicles are advancing towards the hospital,” she added.

The Indonesian Hospital, one of the largest health facilities in northern Gaza, has been out of service for weeks due to ongoing direct Israeli attacks and the siege

1,557

Middle East Eye

02 Jan, 19:03

🎥 Footage reveals the immense scale of destruction in Jabalia in the northern Gaza Strip, following a relentless Israeli bombardment campaign on the area.

Since 6 October 2024, the Israeli military has conducted a deadly offensive in Jabalia, killing and trapping thousands of Palestinian civilians.

The Israeli military claims the operation aims to prevent Hamas from regrouping.

Israel’s war on Gaza has, thus far, resulted in the deaths of at least 45,553 people and the injury of 108,379 others.

1,543

Middle East Eye

02 Jan, 18:03

📰 Elon Musk has demanded the release from prison of Tommy Robinson, a far-right activist currently serving an 18-month prison sentence in the UK.

On Thursday morning, Musk used his X platform to call for Robinson’s release, describing a libelous documentary by the English Defence League (EDL) co-founder as “worth watching”.

Musk, who owns X and is part of US President-elect Donald Trump’s team, shared the documentary with his followers and in a quick succession boosted and promoted posts from other far-right accounts.

🔗 Read more:
https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/musk-calls-release-far-right-pro-israeli-british-activist-tommy-robinson?utm_source=telegram&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=social_traffic

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Middle East Eye

02 Jan, 16:45

📰 The commander of Israel’s 252nd Division has been accused by his own troops of “contempt for human life” leading to unnecessary deaths of soldiers and a push for ethnic cleansing in northern Gaza.

Soldiers speaking to Haaretz said Brigadier General Yehuda Vach’s conduct had led directly to the deaths in August of eight soldiers in Zeitoun, a southern neighbourhood of Gaza City.

“He sent the soldiers in there without the necessary preparations on the ground and without ensuring that there were no bombs there,” one said. “A supply convoy either drove over a bomb or they were hit by an anti-tank missile.”

Vach had already developed a reputation for brutality in Gaza, with Israeli media reports citing discomfort from his own troops about his attitudes and actions.

🔗 Read more: https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/israeli-generals-contempt-human-life-led-widespread-deaths-gaza?utm_source=telegram&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=social_trafficRead

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Middle East Eye

02 Jan, 15:02

🎥 The Palestinian Authority (PA) suspended the broadcasting of Al Jazeera TV on Wednesday.

The PA accused Al Jazeera of publishing “inciting material,” according to the Palestinian news agency Wafa.

The ban would be in effect in the occupied West Bank, where the PA is currently in power. In May 2024, Israel also implemented a ban on Al Jazeera’s website in the country after raiding its office in East Jerusalem and confiscating its equipment.

1,864

Middle East Eye

02 Jan, 14:02

🎥 An Israeli air strike on a tent encampment sheltering displaced Palestinians in southern Gaza killed at least 10 Palestinians, including women and children, early Thursday.

Medics said that 15 people were also wounded in the attack on a tent in al-Mawasi area, a so-called “humanitarian zone.”

On Wednesday, the Palestinian health ministry reported that at least 45,553 Palestinians have been killed and 108,379 wounded in Gaza since 7 October 2023.

Israeli forces have killed at least 17,400 children in Gaza, including 1,091 infants, 238 of whom were born and died during the ongoing war, according to Palestinian officials and Gaza’s government media office, as reported by Al Jazeera.

This equates to one child killed every 30 minutes, with thousands more likely buried under the rubble.

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Middle East Eye

02 Jan, 13:02

🎥 Israel’s former defence minister, Yoav Gallant, announced his resignation from the Knesset on Wednesday in a televised statement nearly two months after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu dismissed him from his post.

In his statement, Gallant cited a law being promoted by the Israeli government that would exempt draft-age ultra-Orthodox men from the country’s mandatory military service.

On 5 November, Netanyahu fired Gallant from his post as defence minister, citing a lack of mutual trust that had grown since Israel launched its wars on Gaza and Lebanon.

Gallant, a member of Netanyahu’s Likud party since 2019, was replaced by Foreign Minister Israel Katz.
Netanyahu’s Likud party since 2019, was replaced by Foreign Minister Israel Katz.

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Middle East Eye

02 Jan, 12:05

🎥 Palestinians were seen scrambling for food under heavy rain at a food disruption point in Khan Younis in southern Gaza on Wednesday.

Omar Brahma, a food aid worker, stated that 20 containers of food are prepared daily, yet is still not enough amid Israel’s blockade on the besieged strip.

Since the war began more than a year ago, Israel has imposed a siege on Gaza, restricting the entry of essential supplies such as food, water, electricity, medicine and tents.

Figures from the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) show that the entire population of Gaza, around 2.2 million people, is undergoing extreme levels of acute food insecurity.

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Middle East Eye

02 Jan, 11:01

Thousands of Israeli soldiers have ceased serving in combat roles due to mental distress since 7 October 2023, the Israeli army reported on Thursday.

The army also revealed a rise in suicides among soldiers, from 17 in 2023 to 21 in 2024 – the highest annual total since 2011. Of the 21 soldiers who took their own lives in 2024, 12 were reservists, seven were on compulsory duty, and two were career soldiers.

According to the data, suicide is the second-leading cause of death in the Israeli army, following operational duty and surpassing illnesses and accidents.

Meanwhile, more than 82,000 Israelis left the country in 2024 as the government pressed ahead with its brutal war on Gaza, official data revealed on Tuesday, according to Israeli outlet Ynet News.

Although the bureau did not state specific reasons for the exodus, previous reports have linked the departures to Israel’s ongoing wars in Gaza, Lebanon, Syria and now Yemen.

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Middle East Eye

02 Jan, 03:03

🎥 Newly surfaced surveillance footage reportedly shows Israeli forces directly targeting an ambulance in northern Gaza.

According to reports, the incident took place on 19 October 2024 and resulted in the deaths of everyone in the ambulance except for a little girl, who was found later.

Israeli forces have killed more than 1,150 health workers and detained 300 since the war on Gaza began, according to the Palestinian Health Ministry.

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Middle East Eye

02 Jan, 02:01

🎥 A displaced Palestinian plays the oud next to his rain-drenched tent in a Gaza camp.

Displaced families in Gaza are struggling to survive as winter storms wreak havoc on their tents and shelters. Soaked blankets, freezing winds and relentless rain have made life unbearable for those crammed into makeshift shelters.

Yesterday heavy rain in Gaza caused extensive damage and flooded over 100 tents in Khan Younis, south of the enclave, according to the UN refugee agency for Palestinians (Unrwa)."Displaced people, already living through the unlivable due to the war, are now battling heavy rainstorms," Unrwa said on X on Tuesday.

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Middle East Eye

01 Jan, 15:34

📰 Healthcare workers and social media users from around the globe are demanding the immediate release of Dr Hussam Abu Safiya, the director of the Kamal Adwan hospital in northern Gaza, who is currently being detained by Israel’s military.

Doctors, medical professionals and regular civilians have taken to social media this week to share their support for Abu Safiya, using the hashtag “FreeDrHussamAbuSafiyeh”, as well as amplifying demands for Israel to stop attacking Gaza’s hospitals in its war on the besieged enclave which began in October 2023.

A petition was started on the Change.org platform.

“Healthcare is not a crime. Deliberately attacking hospitals, medical staff, and patients is,” the petition statement read.

🔗 Read more:
https://www.middleeasteye.net/trending/doctors-world-israel-release-kamal-adwan-hospital-director?utm_source=telegram&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=social_traffic

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Middle East Eye

01 Jan, 14:32

🎥Heavy rainfall flooded the medical tents at Nasser Medical Complex, forcing patients to be relocated to the main building for safety.

Floodwaters in northern Gaza City, southern Khan Younis and central Deir al-Balah have risen above 30cm, damaging belongings and leaving displaced families exposed to the cold, the Palestinian Civil Defence reported.

More than 1,500 tents have been flooded and rendered unusable in Gaza after days of rain, while hundreds of others have been affected by lower water levels of less than 30cm.

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Middle East Eye

01 Jan, 13:33

🎥Freed Palestinian prisoner Ibrahim Freihat has returned to his hometown of al-Yamoun in Jenin, in the occupied West Bank, after spending 17 years in Syrian prisons, including the notorious Sednaya prison.

Freihat said he had lost all hope during his imprisonment and never expected to be released. Now, after 17 long years, he is finally reunited with his family.

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Middle East Eye

01 Jan, 12:35

📰“As the success or failure of the hostage deal between Israel and Hamas hangs in the balance, the internal tensions within Zionism have reached unprecedented levels.

There has never been a previous instance where the issue of Israeli hostages became such a political matter within Israeli society.

While Zionist elites once masked their crimes with diplomatic finesse, today’s leadership exudes arrogance and disregard for Israel’s fragile standing.

The question remains: can Palestinians leverage this arrogance to their advantage?”

✍️Abed Abou Shhadeh*
*The views expressed in this article belong to the author and do not necessarily reflect the editorial policy of MEE

🔗 Click the link to read the full column ⤵️
https://www.middleeasteye.net/opinion/zionism-new-obsession-total-victory-destroy-israel?utm_source=telegram&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=social_traffic

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Middle East Eye

01 Jan, 11:37

🎥“This opening comes while we are grieving the destruction and burning of Kamal Adwan Hospital and the destruction of the Indonesian Hospital.”

Al-Nasr Eye Hospital reopens in Gaza City on Tuesday, more than a year after Israeli forces destroyed it.

Abdulsalam Sabah, director of al-Nasr Eye Hospital, stated, “Emergency services will operate 24/7, as well as various surgical services and short stay daily care services in the hospital.”

A recent report released by the UN Human Rights Office exposed the catastrophic destruction of Gaza’s healthcare system between 12 October 2023 and 30 June 2024, detailing 136 strikes on 27 hospitals and 12 medical facilities.

According to the Palestinian health ministry, Israel has killed more than 1,150 health workers and detained 300 since the war on Gaza began.

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Middle East Eye

01 Jan, 10:36

🎥A field hospital set up at the Nasser Medical Complex in Khan Younis, southern Gaza, was flooded due to heavy storms on Tuesday.

According to the UN refugee agency for Palestinians (Unrwa), heavy rain caused extensive damage and flooded over 100 tents in Khan Younis.

“Displaced people, already living through the unlivable due to the war, are now battling heavy rainstorms,” Unrwa said on X on Tuesday.

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Middle East Eye

01 Jan, 09:32

🎥“We’ve been trying to reach the north of Gaza 140 times in the last 2 months. Every time, it’s been denied.”

After two months of continuous requests, UN Ocha staff were able to reach Jabalia in northern Gaza as Israel continued its attacks on the area.

Jonathan Whittall, head of Ocha Opt, stated that people in the north don’t have any access to any food, water or sanitation, adding that humanitarians “need to be able to reach people wherever they are.”

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Middle East Eye

01 Jan, 08:46

🎥A new report by the UN Human Rights Office published on Tuesday found that Israeli attacks on and around hospitals in Gaza have destroyed the Palestinian enclave’s health system.

OHCHR spokesperson Jeremy Laurence said, “Israel’s pattern of deadly attacks on and around Gaza’s hospitals pushed the healthcare system to the brink of total collapse.”

The report exposes the catastrophic destruction of Gaza’s healthcare system between 12 October 2023 and 30 June 2024, detailing 136 strikes on 27 hospitals and 12 medical facilities.

These attacks killed doctors, nurses, medics and civilians, with the deliberate targeting of hospitals potentially constituting a war crime.

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Middle East Eye

01 Jan, 07:01

🎥 B’Tselem has published a video showing what they allege to be an Israeli settler attack that took place on Saturday, 21 December 2024, in the South Hebron Hills.

In the footage, a group of teenage Israeli settlers enters the village with their faces covered and proceeds to throw rocks at people, buildings, and even a dog on the property.

According to B’Tselem, the settlers left only after hearing the residents calling the police.

Police officers arrived 30 minutes later, after the settlers had already left, documented the damage, suggested the residents file a complaint at the police station, and then departed.

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Middle East Eye

01 Jan, 06:01

📰 Hossam Madhoun worked for 30 years as a theatre-maker and writer in Gaza City before Israel began its devastating onslaught on the Palestinian enclave in October 2023.

“The theatre movement in Gaza is deprived of exchanging with the world, especially in the last 17 years with the Israeli blockade,” he tells Middle East Eye from Cairo, where he now lives with his family.

Before the Israeli blockade in 2006, Theatre for Everybody - the company Madhoun co-founded with his friend and co-artistic director Jamal al-Rozzi - toured Europe, staging productions for adults and children in France, Belgium, Luxembourg and elsewhere.

Since then, it has been more challenging, but the show went on: in 2009, he began collaborating with Az Theatre, a company based in London and run by Jonathan Chadwick, launching workshops and productions together.

🔗 https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/gaza-theatre-maker-hossam-madhoun-navigates-egypt-life?utm_source=telegram&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=social_traffic

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Middle East Eye

01 Jan, 05:04

🎥 Displaced Palestinians, including children, queue up for food in the rain at a school-turned-shelter in Gaza City.

Many shelters and displacement camps in Gaza are struggling due to the rain and cold weather, with UNRWA reporting that heavy rain has caused extensive damage and flooded over 100 tents in Khan Younis.

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Middle East Eye

01 Jan, 04:03

📰 “We send a message to the world to look at us with mercy, and just end this genocidal war”

Rainstorms uprooted and flooded scores of displacement tents in the Gaza Strip on Tuesday, worsening the already deteriorating living conditions for many Palestinians as a suffocating Israeli siege continues to bar the entry of makeshift shelters.

At least 100 tents were extensively damaged from the heavy rain overnight in Khan Younis, according to the UN agency for Palestinian refugees, Unrwa.

The Palestinian Civil Defence in Gaza, a search-and-rescue group, said they received hundreds of distressed calls from displaced Palestinians asking for help to save their children amid the flooding of tents and shelters.

🔗 https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/rainstorms-uproot-gaza-tents-leave-children-freezing-hungry?utm_source=telegram&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=social_traffic

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Middle East Eye

01 Jan, 03:03

🎥 “The tent doesn’t meet our needs. It doesn’t protect us from the cold, the rain, or the wet conditions.”

Displaced Palestinians in Gaza describe living in tents damaged by rain and cold weather.

Since 7 October 2023, approximately two million displaced people have been forced to live in makeshift tents that fail to meet basic living standards after their homes were destroyed by Israeli forces. These fragile structures offer little protection against the cold winter or harsh frost.

Heavy rain in Gaza has caused extensive damage and flooded over 100 tents in Khan Younis, south of the enclave, according to the UN refugee agency for Palestinians (Unrwa).

1,443

Middle East Eye

31 Dec, 03:02

🎥 The son of Dr. Hussam Abu Safiya urgently appealed to the international community to take action for the release of his father, the director of Kamal Adwan Hospital, which was raided by Israeli forces on Friday.

Dr. Hussam Abu Safiya is believed to be detained at Israel’s notorious Sde Teiman prison, known for its poor treatment of prisoners.

On Saturday, the Israeli military said that it was holding Abu Safiya on suspicions of “being a Hamas terrorist operative,” without providing any evidence.

1,642

Middle East Eye

31 Dec, 02:20

📰 “The news of the death of former United States President Jimmy Carter on 29 December 2024 at the age of 100 has ushered in an avalanche of memories in many people in my age group - students of the 1970s who remember his presidency with a mixture of nostalgia, bitter awakening and historic turning points in American and world history.

Carter did not dramatically change my politics. But he did help change the historical course of my homeland, Iran, and I daresay American history after his troubled one-term presidency from 1977 to 1981.

Both the Iranian Revolution of 1977-1979 and the dramatic Iran hostage crisis of 1979-1981 happened on Carter’s watch. And it was also when I happened to arrive in the US"

✍️Opinion by Hamid Dabashi

🔗 https://www.middleeasteye.net/opinion/jimmy-carter-peanut-farmer-changed-course-history?utm_source=telegram&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=social_traffic

1,417

Middle East Eye

31 Dec, 01:45

📰 Russia and Ukraine swapped more than 300 prisoners of war on Monday, in an exchange brokered by the UAE ahead of New Year’s Eve, officials from all three countries said.

The two sides have exchanged hundreds of captive soldiers since Russia began its military assault on Ukraine in February 2022, in one of the few areas of cooperation.

“On 30 December, as a result of the negotiation process, 150 Russian servicemen were returned from territory controlled by the Kyiv regime. In return, 150 Ukrainian army prisoners of war were handed over,” the Russian defence ministry said.

🔗 Read more:

https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/uae-brokers-massive-russia-ukraine-prisoner-swap-new-years?utm_source=telegram&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=social_traffic

1,290

Middle East Eye

31 Dec, 01:15

🎥 Deputy chairman of Hezbollah's executive council, Ali Daamoush, has ‘reassured’ the people of Lebanon that funding for the ‘sheltering and restoration phase’ is being secured.

In a statement in Beirut's southern suburbs, Daamoush thanked Iran’s ‘unique’ leader Ali Khamenei, and the government and people of Iraq, as well as other ‘brotherly countries’ who have extended a ‘helping hand’ to Lebanon.

The statement comes a month after Lebanon’s ceasefire with Israel.

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Middle East Eye

31 Dec, 00:35

🎥 Armed volunteers in Damascus say they have taken to the streets to “protect” their neighbourhoods.
The Syrian capital saw significant amounts of looting and unrest following the fall of the al-Assad regime.

Clashes also erupted last week in several cities across Syria between Assad supporters and the new government.

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Middle East Eye

31 Dec, 00:01

🎥 For the first time since the overthrow of Bashar al-Assad's government in early December, Syrian Christians gathered to celebrate Christmas Eve services this year.

In an interview with Middle East Eye, priest Seeraj Deeb said: “This is the first Christmas and New Year celebration we can truly say is free from the shadow of dictatorship.”

Deeb added: “We hope and pray, in this time of Christmas and renewal, that we transition, just as we moved from red [flag] to green [flag], from bloodshed to peace. We hope that the New Year will bring with it the true peace symbolised by the colour green.”

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Middle East Eye

30 Dec, 23:30

🎥 Palestinians forced to live in tents in Gaza are grappling with flooding and destroyed shelters after severe weather hit the area. With temperatures dropping, hundreds of thousands are trying to stay warm in makeshift shelters.

Displaced Palestinians - particularly in Deir al-Balah, al-Mawasi and Khan Younis in southern Gaza - endured a gruelling night as their tents were flooded with rainwater and battered by strong winds.

“The children were soaked in water at night,” one displaced Palestinian woman said, explaining how the heavy rain and harsh weather have rendered the tents uninhabitable. “All night long, we have been holding on to our tents to cover ourselves. Where could we possibly go?"

🔴 LIVE UPDATES:

https://www.middleeasteye.net/live/live-israel-kills-least-58-palestinians-24-hours?utm_source=telegram&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=social_traffic

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Middle East Eye

30 Dec, 23:00

🎥“You are putting me on trial for your racism”

Writer and activist Mohammed el-Kurd tells MEE’s Mohamed Hassan about the hurdles that Palestinians must jump through to be seen as sympathetic victims in the eyes of Western media outlets.

He says not only Palestinians, but all Arabs and Muslims, are expected to prove their moral worth against accusations of racism, misogyny and homophobia before they’re deemed worthy of being listened to.

This week on The Big Picture Podcast, we sit down with Mohammed el-Kurd to talk about the language of occupation and genocide, and flipping the script on mainstream media narratives.

🔗Watch the full interview on Youtube here ⤵️
https://youtu.be/6-0J-RNilGk?utm_source=telegram&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=social_traffic

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Middle East Eye

30 Dec, 22:30

🎥 The director of Gaza’s last functioning hospital is being held at Israel’s notorious Sde Teiman prison, recently released detainees have said.

Hussam Abu Safiya hasn’t been seen in public since Israeli forces stormed the bombed-out Kamal Adwan Hospital.

All medical staff, patients and their relatives were taken out of the hospital at gunpoint, forced to strip down to their underwear and transferred to an unknown location.

The last photo of Abu Safiya showed him walking alone towards a row of Israeli tanks that had amassed outside the facility.

🔴 LIVE UPDATES:

https://www.middleeasteye.net/live/live-israel-kills-least-58-palestinians-24-hours?utm_source=telegram&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=social_traffic

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Middle East Eye

30 Dec, 22:01

📰The director of Gaza’s last functioning hospital is being held at Israel’s notorious Sde Teiman prison, where abuse - including torture, murder and rape - is rife, recently released detainees have said.

Hussam Abu Safiya has not been seen in public since Friday, when Israeli forces stormed the bombed-out Kamal Adwan Hospital.

On Sunday, several former detainees at Sde Teiman, a military prison in Israel’s Negev desert, said the director and other medics from Kamal Adwan were being kept there.

Calls are growing for Israel to release Abu Safiya, with the World Health Organization (WHO) saying it was “appalled” by the raid and MedGlobal, a humanitarian NGO providing healthcare in disaster areas, demanding his immediate release.

🔗 Click the link to read the full article ⤵️
https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/gaza-war-kamal-adwan-hospital-chief-held-israel-sde-teiman-prison?utm_source=telegram&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=social_traffic

1,263

Middle East Eye

30 Dec, 21:02

📰Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will be placed in a fortified underground hospital to protect him from potential rocket attacks after undergoing prostate surgery.

Earlier on Sunday, the Israeli Premier undertook surgery to remove his prostate at the Hadassah Medical Centre in Jerusalem.

His office said in a statement that Netanyahu was later moved to an underground, fortified recovery ward for his own safety.

Netanyahu will now remain in the fortified recovery ward underground for a few days due to fears for his life.

Israeli media reported that Justice Minister Yariv Levin would temporarily serve as acting prime minister during the procedure. Defence Minister Israel Katz was authorised to convene the security cabinet if needed.

🔗Click the link to follow MEE’s live coverage ⤵️
https://www.middleeasteye.net/live/live-israel-kills-least-58-palestinians-24-hours?utm_source=telegram&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=social_traffic

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Middle East Eye

30 Dec, 20:31

📰 “This place, Netzarim, is an axis of death, not just a checkpoint”

Ahead of its invasion of Gaza in late October 2023, the Israeli military forced more than one million Palestinians in northern Gaza to head south under heavy bombing.

The military promised safety in the south and stated that the relocation would be temporary.

However, the hundreds of thousands who complied have been bombed in the south, including those in schools, makeshift tents, hospitals, and other shelters.

Meanwhile, Israeli troops invaded the so-called Netzarim Corridor, a 6km stretch of land south of Gaza City that divides the strip into northern and southern parts.

Displaced Palestinians trying to return to northern Gaza risk arbitrary death or enforced disappearance at the Israeli-occupied military checkpoint 👉

🔴 Tap the link to follow live updates from Israel's war on Gaza:

https://www.middleeasteye.net/live/live-israel-kills-least-58-palestinians-24-hours?utm_source=telegram&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=social_traffic

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Middle East Eye

28 Dec, 23:13

📰 British-Palestinian Associate Professor of Surgery and Plastic & Reconstructive Surgeon, Dr. Ghassan Abu-Sittah, shared a powerful image on X, formerly known as Twitter, depicting the final moments before the arrest of Kamal Adwan Hospital director Dr. Hussam Abu Safiyeh.

“Last photograph of Dr. Hussam Abu Safiyeh as he walked towards the Israeli tank,” Dr. Abu-Sittah captioned.

Earlier, photographer Muhannad al-Muqayed posted the same image on Instagram, identifying it as the last photo he captured of Dr. Abu Safiyeh before his arrest by Israeli forces.

In the photo, Abu Safiyeh is seen walking alone in his medical garb and white coat towards two Israeli tanks.

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Middle East Eye

28 Dec, 21:54

🔴 #BREAKING:

Palestinian journalist Shaza al-Sabbah was shot dead amid ongoing attacks by Palestinian Authority forces against fighters in the Jenin refugee camp in the occupied West Bank, according to several reports.

According to the director of the Jenin Hospital, Sabbah was shot in the head, and Palestinian news outlets reported that eyewitnesses saw her carrying a child at the time of the shooting.

Several Palestinian news outlets have said that a sniper with the PA security forces killed Sabbah. Middle East Eye cannot currently verify these reports.

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Middle East Eye

28 Dec, 21:02

🎥 Disturbing videos have emerged showing Palestinian officers abusing critics of the Palestinian Authority’s (PA) ongoing crackdown on anti-Israel resistance in the occupied West Bank city of Jenin.
One video shows a handcuffed and blindfolded young man being thrown into a garbage container, while security personnel assault and curse him.

Another clip depicts a detainee being slapped and beaten in the face while his head is covered with a plastic bag.

In a further disturbing video, two detainees, bound and blindfolded, are forced to face a wall with one leg raised. They are made to chant, “God is President Abu Mazen," in a scene reminiscent of tactics used by the government of former Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.

The Committee of Political Prisoners’ Families in the West Bank condemned the arrest campaign, which it said targeted individuals who expressed opposition to the security campaign on social media.

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Middle East Eye

28 Dec, 19:48

🎥 The Wafa News agency in Palestine is reporting that Israeli settlers attacked Palestinians in the occupied West Bank town of Silwad.

Pictures posted by Wafa showed three Palestinian farmers appearing bloodied after the settler attack with their cars also smashed by the settlers.

Silwad Mayor Raed Nimer told Wafa that the settlers came from an outpost erected less than a month ago in the al-Burj area.

Since the beginning of the war last October, the UN says there have been approximately 2,500 Israeli settler attacks.

1,183

Middle East Eye

28 Dec, 18:57

🎥Video footage has been released after Israel bombed Sanaa International Airport while World Health Organization Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus was waiting for his flight on Thursday, injuring one of his aircrew members.

A UN aircrew member injured during the aerial bombardment sustained serious injuries but is now recovering in a hospital, a WHO spokesperson said on Friday.

Tedros, who was in Yemen to negotiate the release of detained UN staff and to assess the humanitarian situation, will continue to work in the country until his flight can depart, the WHO spokesperson said.

1,234

Middle East Eye

28 Dec, 17:30

🎥 A patient from Kamal Adwan Hospital said Palestinians were marked with numbers on their back and chests and were forced to walk for miles semi-naked after the Israeli military attacked the hospital on Friday.

A Palestinian man, recovering from a leg injury, said Israeli forces stormed the hospital, demanding all occupants leave in their underwear and walk a long distance to a checkpoint where they were humiliated and harassed.

He added that they were left in the cold, sitting in trucks for hours still semi-naked.

Kamal Adwan has been under a suffocating Israeli siege for more than two months, receiving little to no aid, medicine, food or fuel since Israel intensified its blockade on northern parts of the enclave.

1,470

Middle East Eye

28 Dec, 16:27

🎥Libyan ministers arrived in Damascus on Saturday to meet Syria’s new leader, Ahmed al-Sharra, after the fall of the Assad government earlier this month.

Libyan Minister of State for Political Affairs Walid al-Lafiand the labour mnister and intelligence chief, Mahmoud Hamza, were scheduled for a visit with Syria’s new leader.

Libya remains divided between the UN-recognised government in Tripoli and a rival administration backed by Khalifa Haftar in the east and south

1,580

Middle East Eye

28 Dec, 14:30

📰 Israeli forces detained Dr Hussam Abu Safiya, the director of Kamal Adwan Hospital, after setting the health facility in northern Gaza on fire with doctors and patients inside.

The hospital was stormed by Israeli troops on Friday, after nearly three months of a suffocating blockade and constant air strikes.

The remaining 350 people in the hospital were taken out at gunpoint and transferred to an unknown location.

The Palestinian Health Ministry said dozens of doctors were taken to detention centres for interrogation, and Abu Safiya was among them.

Over the past three months, he has actively published dozens of videos of the Israeli attacks on Kamal Adwan hospital.

Since Israel intensified its blockade on northern Gaza in October, the hospital had been operating at minimal capacity.

🔗To read more: https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/israeli-forces-arrest-gaza-hospital-chief-after-burning-doctors-and-patients-alive

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Middle East Eye

28 Dec, 03:02

📰 If you haven’t been on Elon Musk’s X platform lately, you may have missed some of the most heated - and most frank - public debate in recent memory by incoming Trump administration officials and other conservatives on the value of the highly coveted H-1B foreign worker visas.

President-elect Donald Trump has yet to weigh in, but his advisers and supporters appear to have very conflicting opinions on whether the H-1B visas are indeed “making America great again”.

A large portion of Trump’s base is passionately opposed to greater immigration to the US, even if that means skilled labour, but some of Trump’s most high-profile appointees to his incoming administration are staunchly in favour of it, deeming it a necessity.

🔗 Tap the link to read more about the current debate:

https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/trump-base-goes-to-war-officials-over-us-visas-foreign-talent?utm_source=telegram&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=social_traffic

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Middle East Eye

28 Dec, 02:00

🎥 Palestinians searched through the rubble of destroyed buildings that were hit overnight by Israeli strikes in the Sheikh Radwan neighbourhood in Gaza City, while Palestinians at Al-Ahli hospital mourned over the bodies of their loved ones that were killed in the strike.

The Gaza Health Ministry reported on Friday that 37 people had been killed in the territory over the past 24 hours.

2,483

Middle East Eye

28 Dec, 01:01

🎥 Houthi supporters took to the streets of Sanaa in massive protests against recent Israeli airstrikes on Yemen. On Thursday, Israeli forces conducted multiple strikes on Sanaa’s airport and the nearby al-Dailami airbase. The Israeli military confirmed additional operations targeting Hodeidah, Salif, and Ras Kanatib that left six people killed and over 40 wounded.

In response, Yemen's Houthi movement announced on Friday that it had launched a ballistic missile targeting Ben Gurion Airport near Tel Aviv. The group also claimed responsibility for a drone attack in the Tel Aviv area and an assault on a container vessel in the Arabian Sea.

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Middle East Eye

28 Dec, 00:00

🎥 Families of detainees and missing Syrians assembled outside Damascus' historic Hijaz train station, holding photos of their loved ones as they called for answers and accountability for crimes committed under Bashar al-Assad's rule.

2,222

Middle East Eye

27 Dec, 23:01

📰 Al Jazeera is reporting, citing medical sources, that several medical staff members were burned to death in the fires set by Israel’s military in the Kamal Adwan Hospital on Friday.

The Palestinian health ministry in Gaza said that Israeli forces are sending dozens of medical staff from Kamal Adwan Hospital, including the medical director, to an investigation centre.

Al Jazeera is also reporting that the Israeli army is demanding Palestinians living near the hospital evacuate their buildings. If they don’t, then the buildings will be blown up.

The government media office in Gaza released a statement regarding the Israeli military raid on the Kamal Adwan Hospital in northern Gaza.

🔴 Live updates from Israel's war on Gaza:

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Middle East Eye

27 Dec, 22:00

📰 “I thought there had to be to a different story (Crusoe's) Friday could have told, had he not been silenced, and that we Palestinians should never be the Man Friday of anyone,” Refaat Alareer wrote in an essay describing the genesis of the 2014 anthology Gaza Writes Back (Just World Books).

The remarkable anecdote is just one part of a thundering collection of essays compiled in a new anthology If I Must Die (OR Books), by the celebrated literature professor and poet Alareer, who was tragically killed in an Israeli strike in Gaza City on 6 December 2023.

The book, drawn from the title of a poem of the same name that turned him from a local Gazan hero to a worldwide symbol of resistance to Israel’s murderous campaign against Palestinians, is not just a heartbreaking tribute to an extraordinary Palestinian literary figure.

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Middle East Eye

27 Dec, 20:55

📰 “Imagine the horrors that remain untold”.

A recent Haaretz column featuring testimonies from Israeli soldiers describing their conduct while on duty in Gaza - including admissions of war crimes - has sparked anger on social media.

In “Inside the minds of IDF soldiers who commit war crimes”, Israeli psychologist Yoel Elizur details testimonies from soldiers after the First Intifada (1987 -1993) and describes how the Israeli government’s rhetoric today continues to play an important role in the impunity felt by troops.

One soldier quoted in the article describes how his commander grabbed a four-year-old Palestinian boy playing outside, broke his arm and leg, and stepped on the child’s stomach three times, saying that Palestinian kids “need[ed] to be killed from the day they are born”.

🔴 Live updates from Israel's war on Gaza:https://www.middleeasteye.net/live/live-israel-kills-least-58-palestinians-24-hours?utm_source=telegram&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=social_traffic

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Middle East Eye

27 Dec, 16:13

🎥 Israeli forces stormed Kamal Adwan Hospital in northern Gaza, forcibly removing patients, the injured, medical staff and journalists.

Wafa news agency reported on Friday that the hospital - the largest medical facility in Beit Lahia, serving over 400,000 residents - was set ablaze by Israeli forces.

The director of the Palestinian health ministry confirmed to Al Jazeera that over 300 people were forced out of the hospital.

The Israeli army has issued a statement confirming it launched a raid on the Kamal Adwan Hospital, claiming the medical facility “serves as a Hamas terrorist stronghold in northern Gaza”.

1,301

Middle East Eye

27 Dec, 14:46

🎥 A doctor in Gaza says three babies have frozen to death just this week as displaced Palestinians struggle to stay warm while they grapple with the winter cold. He says they are living in tents that have “no protection from the cold.”

A huge majority of Gaza’s 2.4 million residents have been displaced in the past year during Israel’s war on Gaza.

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Middle East Eye

27 Dec, 14:04

🎥 “No one will be able to evade Israel’s long arm.”

Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu and his defence minister say Israel will not stop bombing Yemen until it destroys the Houthis and “hunts down all (their) leaders.”

The Israeli army said on Thursday that it had launched air strikes on multiple targets in Yemen, including Sanaa International Airport, three ports and two power stations, in a major offensive against the Houthi movement

1,434

Middle East Eye

27 Dec, 13:52

📰 Israeli air strikes on Gaza on Thursday night could be heard more than 64km away in southern and central Israel.

In a statement, the Israeli army linked the explosions to military activity in northern Gaza but did not specify the nature or exact target of the strikes.

The army assured Israelis that there were no security incidents affecting them.

Israel's extensive campaign on the Gaza Strip since October 2023 - denounced as genocidal by Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch and UN experts - has killed over 45,400 Palestinians, the majority of them women and children.

The Geneva-based Euro-Med Human Rights Monitor estimated that Israel dropped approximately 63,500 tonnes of bombs on Gaza between 7 October and 24 April 2024, surpassing the total bombs dropped on Dresden, Hamburg and London combined during World War Two.

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1,317

Middle East Eye

27 Dec, 13:03

🎥 A nurse at Gaza's European Hospital, Ahmed al-Zaharneh, has died due to extreme cold in his tent in al-Mawasi area, west of Khan Younis in southern Gaza.

1,340

Middle East Eye

27 Dec, 11:50

The director of the World Health Organization (WHO) has confirmed his presence at Sanaa airport in Yemen when it came under Israeli attack on Thursday

“As we were about to board our flight from Sanaa, about two hours ago, the airport came under aerial bombardment. One of our plane’s crew members was injured,” Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said on X.

“At least two people were reported killed at the airport.”

Tedros was in Yemen as part of a mission to seek the release of detained UN staff and assess the health and humanitarian situations in the war-torn country.

He said the mission concluded today, and “we continue to call for the detainees’ immediate release”.

Although Ghebreyesus did not name Israel as the attacker, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres warned that Israel’s air strikes “on Red Sea ports and Sanaa airport pose grave risks to humanitarian operations at a time when millions of people are in need of life-saving assistance”.

1,568

Middle East Eye

27 Dec, 11:32

🎥Three people are reportedly dead after the Israeli army launched air strikes on multiple targets in Yemen on Thursday, including Sanaa International Airport, military facilities and power stations. Footage released by the Houthis reportedly shows some of the destruction caused by the Israeli attack.

The Israeli army has confirmed that it carried out the air strikes

1,455

Middle East Eye

27 Dec, 10:40

🎥 “The international community can no longer ignore this.”

Turkey’s defence ministry spokesperson urges Israel to end its intervention in Syria and the atrocities against the Palestinians as soon as possible, during a press briefing in Ankara on Thursday

1,589

Middle East Eye

27 Dec, 10:00

🎥 Mourners take part in the funeral of Palestinians killed during Israeli raids in the northern occupied West Bank town of Tulkarem.

The Palestinian health ministry reported that an ongoing raid by Israeli forces in the occupied West Bank has resulted in eight fatalities, including two women.

The Ramallah-based ministry said seven were killed in the Tulkarem refugee camp and one in the nearby Nur Shams camp after the military launched a sweeping raid early on Tuesday.

1,525

Middle East Eye

27 Dec, 09:00

🎥 Videos posted online by Dr Hussam Abu Safiyyah, the director of the besieged Kamal Adwan Hospital in northern Gaza, reportedly show Israeli quadcopters dropping explosives near the hospital.

According to Dr Abu Safiyyah, five hospital staff members were killed in Israeli air raids on Thursday.

1,533

Middle East Eye

26 Dec, 19:00

📰 The killing of five journalists earlier today by Israel has raised the total number of media workers killed in Gaza since the start of the war to 201, Gaza's government media office said on Thursday.

The office strongly condemned Israel’s "targeting, killing and assassination of Palestinian journalists", adding: “We hold the Israeli occupation, the US administration, and countries involved in the crime of genocide, such as the UK, Germany and France, fully responsible for this brutal act.”

It also called on the international community and organisations to pursue legal action against Israel in international courts and hold those responsible to account.

“We also call for serious and effective pressure to stop the genocide, protect journalists and media workers in Palestine, and end the killing and assassination of journalists,” the statement added.

305

Middle East Eye

26 Dec, 18:31

🎥 This is the final video taken by Palestinian journalist Ayman al-Jadi before he and four of his colleagues were killed in an Israeli air strike. They had gathered for dinner on the same day Jadi’s wife gave birth to their first child.

508

Middle East Eye

26 Dec, 18:00

🎥 An Israeli air strike targeted the Hamada family’s home in the Tuffah neighbourhood, killing six people and injuring several others.

The victims’ bodies were transported to al-Ahli Hospital.
Journalist Ibrahim al-Khalili, reporting from the scene, said that many bodies remain buried under the rubble and need to be recovered.

677

Middle East Eye

26 Dec, 17:30

🎥 “This was a clear intention to silence the word and mute the image in Gaza,” said journalist Mohammed al-Balbisi.

Balbisi described the aftermath of an Israeli air strike that killed five Palestinian journalists in a clearly marked press vehicle outside a hospital in central Gaza.

The slain journalists were identified as Fadi Hassouna, Ibrahim al-Sheikh Ali, Mohammed al-Ladah, Faisal Abu al-Qumsan and Ayman al-Jadi.

806

Middle East Eye

26 Dec, 16:30

🔴 #BREAKING

The Israeli army on Thursday said it launched air strikes on multiple targets in Yemen on Thursday, including Sanaa International Airport, three ports and two power stations in a major offensive against the Houthi movement.

The targeted sites included Hezyaz and Ras Kanatib power stations, military infrastructure in the ports of Hodeidah, Salif and Ras Kanatib, the military added in a statement.

Yemen's Houthi rebels have launched several drone and missile attacks on Israel since the latter's devastating onslaught on Gaza in October 2023, in what the group said were acts of solidarity with Palestinians.

Read more ⤵️

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1,226

Middle East Eye

26 Dec, 03:45

🎥 Syria's new authorities torched a large stockpile of drugs on Wednesday, two security officials told AFP, including one million pills of captagon, whose industrial-scale production flourished under ousted president Bashar al-Assad.

Captagon is a banned amphetamine-like stimulant that became Syria's largest export during the country's more than 13-year civil war, effectively turning it into a narco state under Assad.

2,682

Middle East Eye

26 Dec, 02:45

🎥 In a video posted on social media, a Syrian man claims he was banned from holding the new Syrian flag at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium due to “what’s going on in the Middle East.”

In the video, the man is seen speaking with a stadium official, who stated that the safety officer made the decision because Syria “is too close to Israel.”

2,393

Middle East Eye

26 Dec, 02:00

🎥 An Al-Jazeera journalist interviewed a Syrian man from the border village of al-Rafid in southern Syria, whose house and olive trees were reportedly destroyed by Israeli forces.

“We will not be afraid, nor will they scare us with their weapons and armoured vehicles,” said the man, challenging Israel’s incursion into Syria.

Following the fall of the Assad government in Syria, Israel launched an invasion of Syrian territory, accompanied by hundreds of airstrikes across the country targeting military and naval assets.

2,101

Middle East Eye

26 Dec, 01:20

🎥 Israeli forces brought a Palestinian prisoner from an Israeli prison and used him as a human shield during their ongoing raid of al-Amari refugee camp south of Ramallah in the occupied West Bank, according to eyewitnesses cited by the Wafa news agency.

2,039

Middle East Eye

26 Dec, 00:50

🎥 Security camera footage shows Israeli soldiers entering a refugee camp in Nablus, in the occupied West Bank, disguised in a civilian minibus.

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Middle East Eye

26 Dec, 00:20

🎥 Footage shows the release of 54 prisoners from the Sinai Peninsula in the city of Arish following a presidential pardon.

A statement from the presidency explained that the decision was made in response to appeals from tribal leaders in Rafah and Sheikh Zuweid in northern Sinai. However, no details were provided about the prisoners or the nature of their sentences.

According to international human rights organisations, Egypt holds an estimated 60,000 political prisoners, many of whom are reportedly subjected to systematic torture and denied medical care.

1,794

Middle East Eye

25 Dec, 23:50

📰 “My hands are not stained with anyone’s blood, nor have I stolen anyone’s money,” Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi told military leaders and journalists a week after Bashar al-Assad’s fall in Syria.

With Assad gone, Sisi may now be keenly aware that he has become the most authoritarian ruler in the Arab region, with over 65,000 political prisoners languishing in his jails, thousands documented to be forcibly disappeared and torture becoming systematic state policy amounting to a crime against humanity.

In mid-December, Sisi held a briefing with military and police leaders. The meeting was not broadcast in full, and state media selected a number of excerpts that centred on two talking points: Sisi is not Assad, and Egyptians should not follow in the footsteps of Syrian rebels.

🔗 Read more:
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1,749

Middle East Eye

25 Dec, 23:20

🎥 Israeli soldiers carried out a mass detention operation early Wednesday in al-Amari refugee camp in Ramallah in the occupied West Bank. Three people were injured as Israeli forces stormed the camp and opened fire on residents.

The Palestine Red Crescent Society (PRCS) reported treating a young man who was shot in the foot during the raid. Two others were also injured - one after being run over by a military vehicle and another who was assaulted.

🔴 Live updates from Israel's war on Gaza:

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1,653

Middle East Eye

25 Dec, 22:50

📰A group of activists in New York City spread the messages of the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement during this holiday season, to remind shoppers of Israel’s ongoing war and destruction in Gaza.

In a video posted on the social media platform Instagram by the New Jersey Palestine Action channel, entitled “Tis the season to end genocide”, activists are seen hitting BDS target companies such as Starbucks, McDonald’s and Zara with stickers across neighbourhoods in Manhattan.

Activists caught the attention of shoppers with colourful stickers and coupon codes, offering discounts and free items.

But upon scanning the QR codes, customers are confronted with images from Gaza where Israel’s war continues to kill, starve and displace Palestinians.

🔗 Read more:

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1,580

Middle East Eye

09 Dec, 14:50

🎥 On Sunday, US President Joe Biden spoke about the situation in Syria, where Assad’s government fell to rebel forces early that morning.

President Biden said that while they were ready to engage with all groups in supporting the country’s transition to a new government, the US would also remain “vigilant”, saying some of rebel groups involved had “their own grim history of terrorism and human rights abuses”.

588

Middle East Eye

09 Dec, 14:12

🎥 Syria’s embassy in Russia has replaced the former national Syrian flag with the opposition flag after Assad’s government collapsed early on Sunday morning.

Russia has been closely allied to the Assad government for decades, and many credit Assad’s survival in the country’s civil war to the intervention of Russia’s air force in 2015.

Former President Assad and his family are now believed to be in Moscow, having flown out of Syria in recent days without a single address to the country as its capital Damascus fell into rebel control.

1,155

Middle East Eye

08 Dec, 18:09

Syria’s Bashar al-Assad and his family have arrived in Moscow, Sky News reported, citing Russian state media Tass.

Moscow has granted asylum to the Assad family, Tass said.

🔗 Tap the link in bio to follow live updates from Syria

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4,876

Middle East Eye

08 Dec, 07:59

📸 Syrians took to the streets in Damascus and across the country to celebrate the ousting of Bashar al-Assad.

Syrian rebels announced in a televised statement early on Sunday that they have freed Damascus and overthrown President Bashar al Assad's 24-year regime, adding that all prisoners have been released.

Assad, who had crushed all forms of dissent and jailed thousands, flew out of Damascus for an unknown destination earlier on Sunday, two senior army officers told Reuters, as rebels entered the capital with no sign of army deployments.

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5,917

Middle East Eye

08 Dec, 07:17

🎥 Statues of Hafez al-Assad, the father of Bashar al-Assad were toppled in Syria's Latakia and Damascus.

Syrians were seen celebrating and cheering as it marks the end of over 50 years of Assad leadership in Syria.

5,203

Middle East Eye

08 Dec, 05:31

🎥 A prisoner released from Syria's Sednaya Prison appears to have lost his memory from the atrocities committed in the prison.

The prison which is also known as the 'Human Slaughterhouse' is a large military prison on the outskirts of Damascus, responsible for the torture and killing of thousands of Syrian civilians.

Thousands of people were freed from the prison as opposition groups took control of the region.

8,471

Middle East Eye

08 Dec, 04:19

🎥 Thousands of people freed from Syria's Sednaya prison were seen flooding the streets in a monumental moment.

Sednaya Prison, also known as the 'Human Slaughterhouse' is a large military prison on the outskirts of Damascus, responsible for the torture and killing of thousands of Syrian civilians.

Human rights groups say the prison has been used since 2011 for the murder, torture, enforced disappearance and extermination of Syria's civilian population.

In early 2017 reports leaked that a crematorium had been used at the prison to dispose of the large number of its killed detainees.

8,528

Middle East Eye

08 Dec, 03:36

🎥 Syrians were seen celebrating and cheering at Umayyad Square in the heart of Damascus and in nearby suburbs as rebels take over major cities across the country.

Rebels have announced taking over Homs, a strategic city between Damascus and Latakia.

The Syrian army has withdrawn from much of the southern region as opposition fighters continue their lightning offensive.

It comes as unconfirmed reports suggest Syrian leader Bashar al Assad has left Syria on a plane.

4,513

Middle East Eye

08 Dec, 03:30

#BREAKING: Syrian rebels have announced that the Assad government has fallen.

🔗 Click the link below to follow our live updates from Syria
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4,359

Middle East Eye

08 Dec, 02:44

#BREAKING: Syrian rebels entered the Syrian capital Damascus on Sunday, according to multiple reports.

The rebels say they have seized the Damascus International Airport.

They have also taken over the strategic state TV and radio building in the landmark Umayyad Square, which is in the heart of the capital.

The notorious Sednaya Prison has also been liberated, they said.

More to follow...

4,134

Middle East Eye

08 Dec, 01:31

🎥 World Health Organization representative Rik Peeperkorn said that there was no official evacuation order issued before Israeli forces struck Kamal Adwan Hospital early Thursday in northern Gaza.

The Israeli military is denying that it targeted or stormed the hospital.

Gaza's civil defence said on Friday that Israeli strikes around the hospital have killed 29 people. The Israeli military has launched several attacks on this hospital in the past week, including an attack that killed the director of the intensive care unit.

3,990

Middle East Eye

08 Dec, 00:31

📰 Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the president of Turkey, has stressed the need to maintain Syria's territorial integrity.

Speaking this afternoon in Gaziantep, a southern Turkish city that hosts thousands of Syrian refugees and has acted as a base for aid workers operating in Syria, Erdogan said: "There is now a new reality in Syria, politically and diplomatically."

"Syria belongs to Syrians with all its ethnic, sectarian and religious elements," he said in a speech.

"The people of Syria are the ones who will decide the future of their own country."

Turkey backs several rebel groups in the Syrian National Army coalition, but denies helping the current rebel offensive.

A senior Turkish security source told MEE last week that Ankara actually tried to prevent the offensive to avoid further escalating tensions in the region, especially given Israel's wars on Gaza and Lebanon.

3,798

Middle East Eye

08 Dec, 00:01

🎥 Syrian opposition supporters demonstrated outside the Russian Embassy in London to protest Russia's support for the Assad regime. Waving Syrian revolution flags and chanting anti-Assad slogans, the demonstrators called for an end to Russia's military and political backing, which has been pivotal to Assad’s continued hold on power during the ongoing Syrian conflict.

🔴Live updates from Syria:

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3,360

Middle East Eye

07 Dec, 23:30

📰 Mairav Zonszein, a senior Israel analyst with the non-governmental organisation Crisis Group, took to the social media platform X, sharing a testimony from an Israeli reservist who just served 84 days in northern Gaza.

In the “chilling” testimony, she quoted the reservist saying that there are “there are no limitations” as to how Palestinians in Gaza are being treated.

“You’re better off being a dog in Gaza, since there is an explicit directive not to shoot unless your life is in danger. When it comes to Palestinians, there are no such limitations,” Zonszein wrote in the quote translated from Hebrew.
As Israel’s war on Gaza continues, at least 37 Palestinians were killed and dozens more injured by Israeli strikes across Gaza on Saturday, according to Palestinian health officials.

🔴Live updates from Israel's war on Gaza:
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Middle East Eye

07 Dec, 23:00

🎥 Protesters toppled a statue of Hafez al-Assad in the city of Jaramana, in the southern Damascus suburbs while chanting anti-Assad slogans. The statue, representing the former Syrian leader and father of the current president Bashar al-Assad, had long stood as a symbol of the Assad regime's dominance.

🔴Live updates from Syria:

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Middle East Eye

07 Dec, 22:48

🎥 "We are in the final moments of Homs' liberation, a historic event distinguishing truth from falsehood."

The Syrian armed opposition has declared victory against Bashar al-Assad's army in the city of Homs, a key battleground that could lead to the end of Assad's rule.

Ahmed Al-Sharaa, commander of the opposition operations room, also known as al-Jolani, confirmed that full control of the city is imminent.

🔴Live updates from Syria:

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1,277

Middle East Eye

07 Dec, 22:30

🎥 Syrian opposition fighters have begun their advance into Homs city in a bid to strengthen their position against regime forces. The move marks a pivotal moment in the ongoing conflict, as Homs is considered a strategic hub in the fight for control over Syria's central regions.

🔴Live updates from Syria:

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1,233

Middle East Eye

07 Dec, 22:00

📰 The Association of Detainees and Missing Persons of Sednaya Prison has issued a statement addressing reports that opposition forces intend to storm Sednaya Prison and that its guards have fled. The association clarified that no faction has surrounded the prison as of now.

The group urged families to exercise caution and avoid approaching the prison’s vicinity, warning that the area is heavily fortified with anti-personnel and anti-tank minefields, some located near the outer and inner walls.

Additionally, the association appealed to media activists to verify information before dissemination to ensure the safety of residents. It also expressed hope that efforts to liberate the prison would commence soon.

🔴Live updates from Syria:

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1,425

Middle East Eye

07 Dec, 21:30

🎥 “We are now the most expensive area in the world in terms of fish prices.”

Palestinian fishermen repair tools as they struggle with scarcity of equipment and boats, forcing them to resort to unconventional methods. This issue is making the already inflated food prices even worse in Gaza amid Israel’s ongoing war.

1,471

Middle East Eye

07 Dec, 21:02

🎥 The outskirts of Damascus witnessed a turning point as Al-Moadamiyah, located near the strategic Mezzeh Air Base, was declared free of Assad forces. In rural Damascus, celebrations erupted in Al-Kiswah, where jubilant residents climbed onto a regime tank to express their triumph.

🔴Live updates from Syria:

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1,504

Middle East Eye

07 Dec, 20:31

🎥 Dozens of Syrian soldiers crossed into Iraq through the Qaim border crossing in an operation coordinated with Iraqi forces, according to local officials and security sources cited by Reuters.

🔴Live updates from Syria:

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1,638

Middle East Eye

07 Dec, 20:01

📰 In a recent statement shared on their Telegram channel, the Syrian Military Operations Management, an alliance of opposition fighters including Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), said it is their commitment to safeguarding governmental institutions, international organisations, and United Nations offices operating within Syria.

“Based on our responsibility, and our commitment to protecting the interests of our people: We affirm that all governmental institutions, international organisations and United Nations offices operating on our soil are institutions that serve the people and we have a duty to protect and preserve them and even ensure the continuity of their work.”

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1,797

Middle East Eye

07 Dec, 19:30

🎥 “Israel’s military objectives do not justify genocidal intent.”

Amnesty International’s secretary-general Agnes Callamard spoke to Middle East Eye about the organisation’s 300-page report, released on Wednesday, finding that Israel is committing genocide in Gaza.

Identifying several examples, she explained that Israel’s conduct in Gaza cannot be explained by its goal of “destroying Hamas”, and called on the UK, US and Germany to act on Amnesty’s findings or “risk being complicit in genocide”.

1,861

Middle East Eye

07 Dec, 18:30

🎥 At least 21 Palestinians were killed in a bombing by Israeli forces that targeted a residential block in Nuseirat, central Gaza. Local sources reported that children were killed in the attack.

Multiple families were reportedly affected, and those on the ground say that ambulance and rescue workers struggled to retrieve the injured as many were trapped in narrow streets and buildings.

1,930

Middle East Eye

07 Dec, 17:28

🎥 Video footage from December 2023 shows the Israeli military targeting displaced Palestinians who took shelter in a school in Gaza.

Palestinians are seen running and screaming amid sounds of gunshots. Some of the injured were reportedly left to bleed to death.

Israel has relentlessly targeted hundreds of schools and educational facilities since 7 October 2023, killing Palestinians sheltering in the buildings. At least 70% of schools have been destroyed or damaged in Gaza by Israeli strikes.

2,233

Middle East Eye

07 Dec, 15:15

📰 Syrian rebels said they have secured most of the country's south and have started encircling the capital after capturing Sanamayn, a town just 20km from the southern entrance of Damascus.

Across Syria, President Bashar al-Assad's forces have abandoned towns and cities they fought for years to control.

Read the full story below ⤵️
https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/syrian-rebels-control-south-approaching-damascus?utm_source=telegram&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=social_traffic

2,679

Middle East Eye

27 Oct, 00:30

📹 A young Palestinian man was shot dead by the Israeli army on Saturday during armed clashes in Tulkarm, occupied West Bank.

The Palestinian Ministry of Health stated that the General Authority for Civil Affairs informed it of the death of 29-year-old Islam Jamil Odeh, who was killed by Israeli gunfire in the Al-Salam neighbourhood of Tulkarm.

Odeh's body was then taken by Israeli forces.

A video posted on social media apparently shows Odeh’s car exploding while being searched by Israeli soldiers.

1,661

Middle East Eye

27 Oct, 00:01

📹 The Israeli army killed Ibrahim Hussam Idris Abu Safiya, son of Dr Hossam Abu Safiya, director of the Kamal Adwan Hospital, in an air strike on Jabalia in northern Gaza on Friday, 25 October 2024.

Dr Abu Safiya led the funeral prayers for his son, whose body had arrived at the hospital a short time earlier.

1,603

Middle East Eye

26 Oct, 23:31

A Canadian woman has died in a Turkish detention centre after apparently escaping from a camp in Syria from where she had been refused repatriation by her own government.

The 40-year-old, known by the initials FJ, was the mother of six children who were returned to Canada earlier this year from al-Roj camp where many families suspected of links to the Islamic State group (IS) remain detained.

According to lawyers and campaigners, Canadian officials last year refused to repatriate her from the Kurdish-controlled camp along with other Canadian women and children on the grounds that she was deemed a security risk.

In a letter to Canadian Foreign Minister Melanie Joly, Kim Pate, a senator who was part of a delegation who met FJ and other Canadians still detained in Syria last year, called for an independent investigation into her death.

“This is, clearly a very tragic outcome, both with respect to FJ’s death and the grave impact that will no doubt have on her children,” the letter said.

✍️ Simon Hooper

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Middle East Eye

26 Oct, 22:30

📹 Israel is reportedly using starvation as a weapon in northern Gaza. Since October 1, 2024, the Israeli military has blocked essential supplies and enforced a strict blockade. Following an evacuation order, those attempting to flee encounter violence, trapping many.

Gaza has faced systematic deprivation over recent decades, leading to widespread hunger and deteriorating conditions.

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Middle East Eye

26 Oct, 21:52

📹 “You entered Gaza to take revenge as much as possible, on women, on children, on everything you saw. That’s what you wanted."

During the funeral of Shoval Ben Nathan — an Israeli soldier killed in Lebanon last Wednesday — his brother, Uriah Ben Nathan, mourned his death and stated that his brother entered Gaza to “take revenge” on “women and children.”

Yedidya Efrati, a friend from Ben Nathan’s brigade, also spoke at the funeral, recalling an incident where Ben Nathan had burned down a house in Gaza “for the fun of it.”

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Middle East Eye

26 Oct, 21:00

📹 Palestinian journalist Abdulkarim al-Zubaidi recounts his arrest by Israeli forces, along with dozens of civilians, taken from Kamal Adwan Hospital in northern Gaza.

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Middle East Eye

26 Oct, 20:00

📹 Footage from inside Kamal Adwan Hospital shows the devastation after Israeli forces stormed the last operational hospital in northern Gaza, assaulting both patients and medical staff.

The raid on Kamal Adwan Hospital, located in Beit Lahia, began around 2am local time (12am GMT), shortly after Israeli fighter jets carpet-bombed residential buildings in the nearby Jabalia camp and Khan Younis in southern Gaza

2,562

Middle East Eye

26 Oct, 19:00

Northern Gaza's health system is now completely out of service following an Israeli invasion of the last operational hospital in the area on Friday, a health official said.

According to Marwan al-Homs, the director of field hospitals at the Palestinian health ministry, around 200 critically wounded patients at the Kamal Adwan Hospital are at risk of imminent death after an invasion by Israeli forces that destroyed medical supplies and detained staff.

Israeli forces stormed Kamal Adwan Hospital in Beit Lahia on Friday at around 2am local time (12am GMT).

The assault began with air strikes targeting the hospital and its courtyards, including the medical oxygen generator, according to Dr Munir al-Bursh, director general of the Palestinian health ministry.

The bombing of the oxygen supply caused the deaths of children in the hospital and wounded medical staff, Bursh said.

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Middle East Eye

26 Oct, 18:31

📹 Iranians share their reactions following Israel’s attack on several military bases in Tehran and other cities.

The Israeli army announced it had launched attacks on Iranian military targets, resulting in the deaths of two Iranian soldiers, according to a statement from the Iranian army published by the IRNA news agency.

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Middle East Eye

26 Oct, 18:06

📹 During a report on Israel’s Channel 12 News, Israeli journalist Danny Kushmaro directly participated in military activity, blowing up a building in southern Lebanon by pressing the detonator button.

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Middle East Eye

26 Oct, 15:17

There were about 110 children at the camp in Port Sudan, all of whom had fled their homes because of the war.
Sitting amid makeshift shelters made from plastic sheets, the children spoke with members of the psychosocial team from the charity Islamic Relief and described what had happened to them. They drew pictures of men with guns, men killing people, houses burning and worlds ending.
One little boy, about six or seven years old, approached Waseem Ahmad, Islamic Relief’s CEO, and asked if he had any sweets. “I could tell he was malnourished,” Ahmad told Middle East Eye. “I asked him what he had been eating and he said he’d eaten whatever he could find on the way – grass and insects.”
Ahmad gave him two sweets. The boy told him he would save one for his sister and brought Ahmed to meet her and their mother. “She said she didn’t know where her husband was,” Ahmad recalled.

🔗 Read the full story:

https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/sudan-humanitarian-workers-face-unimagined-horrors

3,508

Middle East Eye

26 Oct, 13:45

Israel launched a long-anticipated attack on Iran in the early hours of Saturday, 25 days after Iran carried out its largest-ever attack on Israel.

Contrary to earlier suggestions by Israeli politicians, the attack did not target nuclear or other strategic facilities.
Here is what we know so far.

Why did Israel attack Iran?
Since the Hamas-led attack last October and the ensuing war on Gaza, Israeli attacks on Iran and its allies have drawn Tehran into direct confrontations with Israel.

Israel said its strikes were a reply to a massive Iranian ballistic missile attack on 1 October, which Iran said it launched in response to Israel's killing of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran and Hezbollah Secretary General Hassan Nasrallah and an Iranian commander in Beirut.

🔗 Follow our live blog for more updates ⬇️

https://www.middleeasteye.net/live/live-israel-hezbollah-gaza-lebanon-beirut-hamas-war-strike

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Middle East Eye

26 Oct, 12:43

🎥: Footage shows Palestinian families being forced out of Jabalia in northern Gaza, walking between tanks and Israeli checkpoints, as the Israeli army continues what residents describe as an "ethnic cleansing" of the area.

3,782

Middle East Eye

26 Oct, 11:50

🎥: British prime minister Keir Starmer said "Iran should not respond" to Israeli strikes and urged restraint on all sides during a press conference in Samoa.

Israel's army announced it launched an attack on Iranian military targets.

Two Iranian soldiers were killed in the overnight attack, according to a statement by the Iranian army published by Iran's news agency IRNA

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Middle East Eye

26 Oct, 10:27

🎥: A video shared on Telegram channels linked to the Iranian opposition allegedly shows damage caused by Israeli air strikes on a factory south of Tehran.

Israel attacked multiple sites across Iran early on Saturday, which Iranian media outlets described as being limited in scope.

A number of explosions could be heard around the capital, Tehran. Iranian officials attributed the explosions to missile interceptions by air defence systems

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Middle East Eye

26 Oct, 03:01

🎥 A traditional Palestinian Dabke dance performance in Times Square was interrupted and shut down by the New York City Police Department, who confiscated the group’s speaker equipment.

According to the performers, police officers noticed them wearing keffiyehs and objected to their display of Palestinian cultural expression.

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Middle East Eye

26 Oct, 02:30

📰 Israel’s much-anticipated attack on Iran is taking longer than expected because Israel has had to consider adjusting to warnings from Gulf Arab states not to use their airspace in the attack, sources told Middle East Eye on Friday.

Israel’s war planning is now factoring in its jet fighters taking a circuitous route around the Arabian Gulf to attack Iran, an operation that would require extensive mid-air refuelling, one current and two former senior US officials told MEE on the condition of anonymity.

🔗 Tap to read more:
https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/gulf-states-reluctance-allow-airspace-delaying-israel-iran-strikes?utm_source=telegram&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=social_traffic

5,015

Middle East Eye

26 Oct, 02:00

🎥 A Palestinian man gathered the body parts of his family members in plastic bags after an Israeli attack on the Halawa family home in Jabalia.

The remains belonged to two young girls and their mother, whose body parts were scattered on the rooftop, though most of the mother's remains are still missing.

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Middle East Eye

26 Oct, 01:30

📰 "For a year, the global networks’ most experienced war reporters have stayed put in their hotels in Israel, watching Gaza from afar. Their human-interest stories, always at the heart of war reporting, have focused on the far more limited suffering of Israelis than the vast catastrophe unfolding for Palestinians.

That is why western audiences have been forced to relive a single day of horror for Israel, on 7 October 2023, as intensely as they have a year of daily horrors in Gaza – in what the World Court has judged to be a "plausible" genocide by Israel.”

✍️ Opinion by Jonathan Cook

🔗 https://www.middleeasteye.net/opinion/gaza-israel-kills-journalists-western-media-killing-truth-genocide?utm_source=telegram&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=social_traffic

4,491

Middle East Eye

25 Oct, 16:30

🎥 A Palestinian man is seen carrying his mother on foot as they make their journey along with thousands of others displaced from northern Gaza.

Local reporters estimate nearly half of north Gaza, which was home to over one million people before the war, have been removed from their homes so far, warning the rest could face a similar fate in coming days.

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Middle East Eye

25 Oct, 16:01

🎥 Defence editor at Al Jazeera, Alex Gatopoulos, reports on the extent of western assistance given to Israel. By using open source flight data the report shows a western supported air bridge that has been used to assist Israel in its war on Gaza and expansion of operations into Lebanon.

The report shows more than 6,000 military flights in a year, transport missions ferrying arms to Israel, and reconnaissance flights from the UK, with Israel only flying 20 percent of 1,600 surveillance missions.

Several bases were reportedly used in Europe, with flights from the UK, Germany, Italy, Cyprus and Greece.

574

Middle East Eye

25 Oct, 15:30

📰 An Israeli strike on the Lebanese town of Hasbaya has left three journalists dead and three others wounded. Among the victims were Ghassan Najar and Mohammed Rida from Al Mayadeen and Wissam Qassim from Hezbollah’s Al Manar TV.

The attack hit a compound where at least 18 journalists were staying, deemed relatively safe amid escalating strikes across southern Lebanon. Cars marked with “press” in English were parked near the building, and journalists were asleep when the strike hit around 3 am.

“The Israeli enemy is clearly scared of words,” said Al Jadeed reporter Mohammad Farhat. “We are bidding farewell to one colleague after the other due to these Israeli crimes.”

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Middle East Eye

25 Oct, 15:00

📰 The Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) movement has issued a call to boycott what it describes as “the mouthpieces of the Israeli enemy that speak Arabic.” This includes Al Arabiya, MBC, Al Hadath, Sky News Arabia, Shahid, and Lebanon's MTV network.

The call follows rising anger toward these outlets, especially after Iraqi protesters ransacked MBC’s Baghdad offices over a report linking Hamas, Hezbollah, and Iraqi factions to “terrorism.” Iraq’s media regulators then suspended MBC’s license, accusing it of violating “national values” and attacking the country’s martyrs.

The movement is urging people to stop watching these channels, pressure Arab journalist syndicates to boycott them, and uphold a stance against normalisation.

🔗 https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/bds-calls-boycott-arabic-language-channels-serving-mouthpieces-israel?utm_source=telegram&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=social_traffic

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Middle East Eye

25 Oct, 14:31

🎥 Palestinian civil defence spokesperson Mahmud Basel was seen voicing his frustration asking “when will the world wake up to what is happening” in northern Gaza.

Northern Gaza has been subject to 20 days of siege where Israeli strikes have targeted the Jabalia refugee camp.

The UN agency for Palestinian refugees, Unrwa, estimates that about 400,000 people remain in Gaza’s north, including Gaza City.

The Palestinian civil defence said this week it can no longer provide services in northern Gaza as a result of Israel’s devastating siege of the area.

1,143

Middle East Eye

25 Oct, 13:31

🎥 Big Brother UK has edited an episode of its show this week to censor the watermelon symbol on a contestant’s shirt and apologised to viewers that may have been “offended” by the pro-Palestine image.

The move came after the Campaign Against Antisemitism organisation complained that the symbol “caused significant distress among the British Jewish community, who regard it as a genocidal message”.

1,552

Middle East Eye

25 Oct, 13:01

🎥 Israel has killed three journalists in an attack on a building where they were staying in Hasbaiyya, southern Lebanon.

Footage of the aftermath of the attack shows debris across the destroyed building.

Two of the journalists were confirmed to be staff of Lebanese TV channel Al Mayadeen.

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Middle East Eye

25 Oct, 12:02

🎥 Palestinian civil defence spokesman Mahmud Basal says a large number of Palestinian citizens are still in northern Gaza, but with no access to medical, ambulance or civil defence services.

Basal says Israel is preventing crews from operating vehicles such as fire trucks and ambulances, and services in the north have 'stopped completely'.

1,725

Middle East Eye

25 Oct, 11:00

📰 Palestinian activist and journalist Aboud Battah posted a story on Instagram with the caption “thank God who saved us”, insinuating that he has been released from Israeli custody.

Israeli forces abducted Battah earlier on Friday, taking him from northern Gaza’s Kamal Adwan Hospital.

Israeli forces stormed the last operational hospital in the besieged north Gaza on Friday after bombing it and killing children inside, according to doctors and media reports.

The troops then raided the hospital around two hours later, calling on all patients, including people in intensive care, to gather in the courtyard and began detaining the young men sheltering in the hospital and interrogating them, Al Jazeera reported.

In one of his most recent videos, Battah posted a message on social media urging the world to take action to stop the “massacres and death” in Gaza.

1,931

Middle East Eye

25 Oct, 10:01

🎥 Plumes of smoke can be seen across the sky following Israeli attacks on Beirut's southern suburbs.

1,909

Middle East Eye

25 Oct, 09:01

🎥 "All those targeted were children and infants. There were no resistance fighters."

Israeli forces attacked a school shelter in Gaza's Nuseirat camp, killing at least 17 people, including 13 children, and injuring over 40 others.

Bodies of dead children were seen being transported to a nearby hospital as families mourned for their loved ones.

At least 34 people have reportedly been killed across the enclave according to medical sources on the ground.

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Middle East Eye

25 Oct, 08:01

🎥 “We were surprised that Kamal Adwan Hospital was surrounded by tanks and bulldozers, with continuous shelling of the upper and side buildings and direct shooting at the windows.”

Israel "directly" targeted Kamal Adwan Hospital in northern Gaza, the hospital's director, Hussam Abu Safia, told Al Jazeera on Thursday.

Abu Safia also stated that the attack caused severe damage to the hospital's intensive care unit.

2,395

Middle East Eye

24 Oct, 23:30

📹 Palestinian journalist Hossam Shabat has reported that seawater desalination plants in northern Gaza have ceased operations due to the ongoing Israeli siege and a critical shortage of fuel.

This development raises further concerns about the availability of clean drinking water in the besieged region, already suffering from severe humanitarian conditions.

3,280

Middle East Eye

24 Oct, 22:58

📹 Footage shows Israeli forces surrounding Palestinian women and children in northern Gaza as they continue the forced displacement of people from the north of the strip towards the south.

Since the Israeli military launched its latest offensive on 5 October, hundreds of Palestinians have been killed and tens of thousands more have been displaced from north Gaza.

3,011

Middle East Eye

24 Oct, 21:07

The activist group Jewish Voice for Peace has said Israel is conducting “a holocaust” in the Gaza Strip.

In a statement on Thursday, the group shared a statement from its Rabbinical Council.

The left-leaning, anti-Zionist group, has been critical of Israel’s offensive on Gaza for months.

The group shared images from the European ghettos and Nazi concentration camps in the 2nd World War, and compared them to the images from Israel’s war on Gaza, which has killed over 43,000 Palestinians in the past year, according to Gaza health ministry.

“Many of us have parents, grandparents and great-grandparents who survived or perished in Nazi death marches and we have all grown up in the shadow of the Nazi holocaust. The state of Israel is currently perpetrating a holocaust, the deliberate mass slaughter of Palestinian people, with weapons provided by the US,” the statement said.

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