Habib Siddiqui

  “Israeli soldiers fired at an aid convoy as it returned from Northern Gaza along a route designated by the Israeli Army,” Thomas White, director of the agency in the Gaza Strip, said in a statement. “Our international convoy leader and his team were not injured but one vehicle sustained damage,” he added. AL-JAZEERA: The bodies of 34 Palestinians have arrived since Friday morning at the Shifa Medical Complex in Gaza City while 11 Palestinians died of their wounds. FOLLOW OUR LIVE BLOG: https://t.co/TQPcbC8amo   pic.twitter.com/u5Fj5oWQpo — The Palestine Chronicle (@PalestineChron)  December 29, 2023 White also stressed that “aid workers should never be a target.” Since the beginning of its aggression on Gaza on October 7, the Israeli military has hit hospitals, mosques, churches, residential buildings, and other civilian targets, acting in violation of international law.  The United Nations and other international entities and human rights groups have repeatedly st...

  At least 187   Palestinians   were killed in Gaza by   Israeli   bombardment over the past 24 hours, the Palestinian health ministry said on Friday.  That brought the total death toll in the enclave to more than 21,500 since  war  broke out on 7 October. Almost 56,000 have been wounded by Israeli attacks during that period, and 7,000 are missing - believed to be dead and buried under rubble. That means that nearly four percent of the besieged enclave's population has been killed, wounded, or missing since the war began. The United Nations Agency for Palestinian Refugees (Unrwa) said on Friday that 308 people sheltering in its facilities had been killed and 1,095 injured since 7 October.  Stay informed with MEE's newsletters Sign up to get the latest alerts, insights and analysis,  starting with Turkey Unpacked   The statement came just hours after a UN aid convoy was fired on by Israeli soldiers.  Thomas White, dire...

  Over 130 Palestinians were killed in a series of devastating Israeli airstrikes, targeting various areas across the northern and central Gaza Strip on Sunday morning, the official Palestinian news agency WAFA reported. The strikes, which mainly focused on the Al-Zaytoun neighborhood in central Gaza City, claimed the lives of 48 Palestinians and caused numerous injuries.  More airstrikes were carried out in the vicinity of Al-Aqsa University in Gaza City, resulting in the killing of at least 20 civilians. Earlier on Sunday, the Palestinian Ministry of Health in Gaza reported that, in the last 24 hours, 64 Palestinians were killed in central Gaza alone, with 186 others sustaining injuries. Israeli warplanes and artillery also targeted various locations in northern and central Gaza.  WAFA cited reports from local sources as confirming that the Israeli military carried out a fire belt targeting agricultural land belonging to the Abu Muzayid family in the town of Al-Zawaida ...

Bezalel Smotrich also wants Israeli settlements in Gaza by Dave DeCamp   Posted on December 31, 2023 Categories News Tags Gaza ,  Israel Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich has again  called for the expulsion of Palestinians  from the Gaza Strip and for the return of Israeli settlements to the enclave. “What needs to be done in the Gaza Strip is to encourage emigration,” Smotrich, leader of the extremist Religious Zionism party, told Israel’s Army Radio. “If there are 100,000 or 200,000 Arabs in Gaza and not 2 million Arabs, the entire discussion on the day after will be totally different. They want to leave. They have been living in a ghetto for 75 years and are in need,” he added. Smotrich previously  expressed support  for the idea of “voluntary resettlement” of Palestinians from Gaza to other countries around the world. Other Israeli officials have made it no secret that they hope to ethnically cleanse Gaza, including Israeli Prime Minister Benjam...

  Israeli Military Says Gaza Slaughter Will Continue for All of 2024 Over 21,000 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza so far and over 7,000 are missing and believed to be dead or dying under the rubble by Dave DeCamp   Posted on December 31, 2023 Categories News Tags Gaza ,  Israel The Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) said Sunday that it would withdraw some troops from Gaza but that it expects the brutal assault on the enclave to continue through the entire year of 2024,  The Times of Israel  reported. IDF spokesman Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari said the military was “adjusting” its “fighting methods to each area in Gaza” to prepare for a long conflict. “Tonight, 2024 will begin. The goals of the war require lengthy fighting, and we are prepared accordingly,” he said. Hagari said the IDF was taking these measures “out of the understanding that we will be needed for additional missions and continued fighting during the entire coming year.” He said that some “of the reserv...

  Bangladesh is the first of four South Asian nations to go to the polls in 2024 Mamunur Rashid/NurPhoto/Getty Images More than a billion people will head to the polls across South Asia in 2024 By  Rhea Mogul , CNN  7 minute read  Published 4:00 PM EST, Sat December 30, 2023   CNN  —  An election boycotted by the main opposition as the world’s longest serving female prime minister looks set to extend her rule. A cricket legend and former prime minister languishing in prison versus a one-time fugitive looking to make a comeback as a powerful military keeps watch. A populist leader hoping to enter his second decade in power as he pushes a popular but religiously divisive brand of politics. And an island nation recovering from its worst economic crisis in decades after protesters stormed the presidential palace. Four South Asian countries are expected to head to the polls next year, in a grand test for democracy that will see nearly 2 billion people acros...