Category: 2. Middle East

Italian parliamentarians protested on Sunday in front of Egypt’s Rafah border crossing with Gaza, calling for aid access and an end to the war in the devastated Palestinian territory.

“Europe is not doing enough, nothing to stop the massacre,” Cecilia Strada, an Italian member of the European parliament, told AFP.

The group — including 11 members of the Italian parliament, three MEPs and representatives of NGOs — held signs reading “Stop genocide now”, “End illegal occupation” and “Stop…

Italy’s Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani said Saturday that the country does not want Palestinians to suffer, Anadolu reports.

Speaking during a visit to Sicily, Tajani said: “While efforts are being made to achieve peace in many parts of the world such as Ukraine, Libya, and the Middle East, we no longer want the Palestinian people to suffer. Let the attacks stop, let us reach a ceasefire.”

Stating that the Palestinian people…

Syrian Defense Minister Murhaf Abu Qasra announced Saturday the merger of all military units under the umbrella of the Ministry of Defense to unify the military structure within a single institutional framework, Anadolu reports.

“In light of the importance of institutional work, we stress the necessity for the remaining small military groups to join the ministry within 10 days of this announcement, as part of the ongoing unification and organization efforts,”…

Iran condemned Israeli air strikes on Yemen as “a clear war crime and an example of crimes against humanity,” according to a statement Saturday from the Foreign Ministry, Anadolu reports.

Spokesperson Esmail Beqaie denounced the strikes that have targeted ports and civilian infrastructure, stating that the assaults took place while Yemenis are already under a blockade and facing severe humanitarian conditions.

“Targeting vital infrastructure in this context…

The Palestinian resistance group, Hamas, denounced on Saturday Israeli air strikes targeting tents sheltering displaced civilians in the Mevasi area of Khan Younis in southern Gaza, calling it a “new atrocity” and a clear war crime, Anadolu reports.

The group said the attack, which resulted in fires and deaths, exposed the “fascist nature” of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government.

It described targeting and burning civilian tents as a…

At least 153 Palestinians were killed in intensified Israeli airstrikes in the Gaza Strip in the last 24 hours, a Health Ministry official said Sunday.

“Relentless Israeli strikes claimed the lives of 153 people across the enclave,” Munir al-Bursh, the director-general of Gaza’s Health Ministry, told Anadolu.

He said Israeli warplanes stepped up airstrikes since Sunday dawn, leaving 106 people dead.

“The Israeli army is practicing the most brutal forms of…

Gaza’s civil defence agency said Israeli air strikes on Sunday killed at least 33 people, more than half of them children, a day after Israel announced an expanded military campaign in the besieged territory.

Israel’s military has said the expansion of its operations is aimed at “achieving all the war’s objectives” including releasing hostages and “the defeat of Hamas”.

The intensified assault comes as international concern has mounted over worsening humanitarian conditions in Gaza due to an…

Israel signalled Sunday that it was open to striking a deal with Hamas that included “ending the fighting” in Gaza, where rescuers reported dozens killed a day after Israel stepped up its offensive.

Israel’s military has said the expansion of its campaign is aimed at “achieving all the war’s objectives” including releasing hostages and “the defeat of Hamas”.

But as the intensified operations got underway, Israel and Hamas were entering indirect talks in Qatar that the Palestinian group said…

Israel will allow a “basic amount” of food into the Gaza Strip, the prime minister’s office said Sunday, after facing mounting pressure to lift a total blockade imposed more than two months ago.

The announcement came hours after the military said it had begun “extensive ground operations” in a newly intensified campaign in Gaza, and as Israel and Hamas engaged in indirect talks on a deal to potentially halt the fighting.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said that at the military’s…

The Israeli army announced “extensive ground operations” Sunday as part of its newly expanded campaign in the Gaza Strip, where rescuers reported dozens killed in a wave of Israeli strikes.

The announcement came just hours after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu signalled Israel was open to a deal with Hamas that involved “ending the fighting” in the besieged Palestinian territory.

The military said that over the past day, troops had “begun extensive ground operations throughout the northern…