Middle East

Iraqi Islamic Resistance conducts drone attack on Haifa

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According to Al Jazeera, the Islamic Resistance group of Iraq announced today (Thursday) that it had hit a vital target in Haifa in the north of occupied Palestine with a drone.

According to the report, the Islamic Resistance has targeted the Haifa power plant in the attack.

In the past operations against targets in the occupied lands controlled by the Israeli regime, the Islamic Resistance of Iraq had warned that if the Zionist regime continues its aggression on the Gaza Strip, it would intensify its attacks against the positions of the regime.

In its genocidal campaign against the people of Gaza and the occupied West Bank, the Zionist regime has killed more than 41,000 innocent people, and wounded nearly 100,000 other people.

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Middle East

"Zionists killing machine has increased tension in region"

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Iran’s Abbas Araghchi and Netherlands Foreign Minister Caspar Veldkamp held a phone call on Wednesday evening to discuss developments in West Asia, including the Gaza war.

The Dutch foreign minister said that his country is concerned about the ongoing crisis in West Asia, and called on all sides to exercise restraint in order to prevent the further escalation of tensions.

“The Netherlands is hopeful that the cycle of violence and tension in the region is stopped and ground is laid for the delivery of humanitarian aid to the Palestinian people and their suffering comes to an end”, Veldkamp said.

The Iranian foreign minister, for his pasrt, emphasized the need for an immediate stop to the Israeli war against Palestinians in Gaza, saying “The Islamic Republic of Iran is seeking to de-escalate tensions in the West Asia region. This is while the Zionist regime’s killing machine has fueled tensions and violence in the region.”

During their phone conversation, the two foreign ministers discussed other issues including Tehran-Amsterdam relations as well as the war in Ukraine.

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Middle East

Irish FM, EU's Borrell call for sanctioning Israeli ministers

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At a meeting of EU foreign ministers in Brussels, Ireland’s foreign minister said that the Israeli regime deliberately targets civilians as well as Hamas forces with the military campaign it launched almost 11 months ago.

“This is a war against Palestinians not just against Hamas. The level of civilian casualties and dead is unconscionable,” Micheal Martin told reporters, according to media outlets. “It’s a war on the population. No point in trying to fudge this.”

Israel’s offensive in Gaza has killed over 40,000 people, according to local health officials, displaced 90% of the population and destroyed its main cities. 

Martin said a legal opinion issued by the International Court of Justice that Israel’s occupation of Gaza and the West Bank is unlawful obliges the EU to take action. The Palestinians have hailed it as “a watershed moment for Palestine, for justice and for international law.”

“It cannot be business as usual,” Martin told reporters. “It is very clear to us that international humanitarian law has been broken.”

EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell, with the backing of Ireland, urged the ministers to consider imposing sanctions on certain members of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s right-wing cabinet over their remarks about the war in Gaza.

“Some Israeli ministers have been launching hateful messages, unacceptable hateful messages, against the Palestinians and proposing things that go clearly against international law and is an (incitement) to commit more crimes,” Borrell said.

Borrell did not name the ministers, but earlier this month he criticized Israel’s Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich for suggesting that the starvation of Gaza’s population of more than 2 million people “might be just and moral” until hostages captured in the Oct. 7 attack are returned home.

Borrell said there should be “no taboos” to prevent the EU from ensuring that international humanitarian law is respected.

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Middle East

Iraq shoots down Turkish drone over northern city of Kirkuk

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Members of Iraqi security forces stand near the debris of an armed drone shot down by Iraq’s air defenses in Kirkuk, Iraq. (Photo by Reuters)

Iraqi military officials say the country’s air defense units intercepted and shot down a Turkish unmanned aerial vehicle flying in the skies over the northern oil-rich city of Kirkuk.

Brigadier General Abdul Salam, deputy commander of the Iraqi air defense, told reporters Thursday that the drone came from the direction of Sulaymaniyah and crossed into Iraqi airspace.

He said it was a Turkish drone that was shot down by the Iraqi Air Force in the Chiman area of Kirkuk.

The Iraqi Air Force said in a statement that the drone was issued a warning “according to protocol” and then shot down by air defenses. It said the drone fell on a civilian house, causing “only material losses.”

“Based on the inspection of the wreckage parts of the drone, it was found to be of the Turkish type,” it said.

Turkish Foreign Ministry spokesman Oncu Keceli said Turkish and Iraqi authorities were in “coordination” to shed light on the incident, and reiterated Turkey’s determination to “fight against terrorism.”

In a statement posted on the social media platform X, Keceli stressed cooperation between Turkey and Iraq against “terrorism,” including Iraq’s decision to list the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) militant group as a banned organization.

“Both countries are determined for this cooperation to yield concrete results on the field and for the coordination between the competent authorities to be increased,” Keceli wrote.

Turkey often launches ground and aerial strikes against what it calls PKK positions in northern Iraq. Baghdad has, on several occasions, summoned Ankara’s envoy to protest the operation.

The Kurdish militant group has long been fighting inside Turkey for autonomy.

Turkish ground and air forces frequently carry out operations against PKK hideouts inside the country as well as in northern Iraq and neighboring Syria.

More than 40,000 people have been killed during the three-decade conflict between Turkey and the militant group.

Press TV’s website can also be accessed at the following alternate addresses:

www.presstv.co.uk

Middle East

Gaza death toll in Israeli attacks increased to 40,602

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In the past 24 hours, the occupying regime of Israel committed 4 more massacres against Palestinians in Gaza Strip, the ministry added.

The ministry added that 68 Palestinians were martyred and 77 others were injured in Israeli attacks against Palestinians in Gaza Strip.

Thus, the tally of the Palestinians martyred since the outbreak of war in Gaza Strip on October 07, 2023 has increased to 40,602 and the number of wounded increased to 9,3855.

Israel waged a genocidal war on the besieged Gaza on October 7, 2023, after the Palestinian Hamas Resistance group carried out a historic operation against the occupying entity in retaliation for the regime’s intensified atrocities against the Palestinian people.

Israel has imposed a complete siege on the densely populated territory, cutting off fuel, electricity, food, and water to the more than two million Palestinians living there.

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Middle East

Germany calls on 'Israel' to end West Bank occupation

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Israel must “in the future end the occupation (of the West Bank) as quickly as possible,” deputy Foreign Ministry spokesman Christian Wagner said at a press briefing in Berlin, Anadolu Agency reported. 

The German government has repeatedly made clear that the ongoing occupation of the West Bank is a major obstacle to a two-state solution.

Meanwhile, Wagner expressed also concern over the latest escalation in the West Bank as Israel has started a new major military offensive in the occupied territories.

“We are very concerned about the situation in the West Bank,” also against the background of increasing violence, the high number of civilian deaths and the extent of rights violations, he said.

As an occupying power, Israel “has also a duty to protect the civilian population,” especially when it comes to violent settlers, Wagner added.

The Israeli army killed 11 Palestinians in early Wednesday raids in the northern occupied West Bank.

On Wednesday, the Israeli army launched a major military operation in the northern West Bank, the largest in two decades, martyring more than 30 Palestinians, according to Al Jazeera.

The occupying army said the operation aims to thwart the threat of explosive devices in the northern West Bank.

At least 670 Palestinians have since been killed, nearly 5,400 others injured and over 10,300 arrested in the occupied territory, according to Palestinian figures.

In a landmark opinion on July 19, the International Court of Justice declared Israel’s decades-long occupation of Palestinian land unlawful and demanded the evacuation of all settlements in the West Bank and East Quds.

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Middle East

Senior Islamic Jihad commander ‘Abu Shujaa’ martyred in WB

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The commander of the Tulkarm Brigade in the Al-Quds Brigades, Mohammad Jaber, known by his nom de guerre, Abu Shujaa, was martyred following hours of confrontations with the occupying Zionist regime’s forces in the Nur Shams refugee camp in the West Bank of the occupied Palestine. 

Abu Shujaa was martyred alongside four of his companions after Israeli occupation forces surrounded the building they were in, Al Mayadeen’s correspondent reported.

The Israeli occupation forces launched a large-scale aggression against the camp on Wednesday evening, as part of the intensive aggression against the West Bank, the largest since 2002.

Deploying dozens of military vehicles and bulldozers, the Zionist regime’s forces commenced extensive demolition operations in the streets and infrastructure of the camp.

According to Israeli media, at 4 am, the occupation forces besieged several Resistance fighters, including Abu Shujaa, inside a building in Nur Shams.

Confrontations broke out, during which the occupation forces fired an Energia rocket at the building, however, confrontations continued.

By the end of the armed confrontation, Abu Shujaa and four others with him were martyred.

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Middle East

China urges end to foreign occupation of Syria, Israeli strikes

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China’s deputy permanent representative to the United Nations has called on Israel to cease its illegal attacks on Syria, urging foreign forces to also end their military presence in the Arab country. 

Speaking at a UN Security Council briefing on the situation in Syria on Wednesday, Geng Shuang emphasized the importance of upholding Syria’s sovereignty and territorial integrity.

He said that a stable political process in Syria cannot be achieved without a favorable security environment. 

Beijing, he added, supports the Damascus government’s intensified efforts against terror and calls on the international community to join forces in line with international law and Security Council resolutions to combat terrorists operating in Syria. 

Geng further said that unilateral sanctions and the illegal plundering of Syria’s resources “must be stopped immediately” as the measures have seriously weakened the country’s ability to recover economically and develop socially.

Syria has been gripped by foreign-backed militancy since March 2011, with Western states and their regional allies aiding terrorist groups that are wreaking havoc there.

Syrian forces, backed by Iran and Russia, have managed to win back control of almost all regions of the Arab country.

However, Syria’s northern parts are still controlled by militants and foreign occupation forces.

China urges donors to guarantee humanitarian projects in Syria

Also in his remarks, the Chinese envoy pointed to the humanitarian situation in Syria, saying thanks to the joint efforts of Damascus and the UN, the cross-border relief mechanism has been in stable operation in the Arab country.

He further called on donors to continue their aid commitments and to guarantee that humanitarian projects throughout Syria are adequately funded.

Meanwhile, Geng noted that China supports UN Special Envoy for Syria Geir Pedersen’s efforts to continue to work with all parties in line with a Syrian-owned and Syrian-led political process.

Addressing Wednesday’s meeting via video-link, Pedersen said Syria has not been spared from the current escalating tensions across West Asia, citing Israel’s deadly aerial assaults in Homs, Hama, and Dera’a provinces.

He also raised concerns about a surge of attacks by the Daesh terrorist group in Syria, calling for an immediate and sustained de-escalation of hostilities and a cooperative approach to countering terror outfits. 

Middle East

Iran calls for global action to stop Israeli crimes in Gaza

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In reaction to the Zionist regime’s invasion on the West Bank, Nasser Kan’ani called for the responsible international bodies to stop the Israeli genocide against Palestinians.

The brutal attack of the criminal Zionist regime on the Palestinian cities and refugee camps in the north of the West Bank, the brutal destruction of urban and municipal infrastructures, and even the armed and violent entry into the medical centers and hospitals indicate the continuation of its genocidal war in Gaza Strip, and malicious intention of the apartheid Zionist regime to expand the scope of crime and massacre against the Palestinian citizens, Kan’ani emphasized.

He went on to say that the escalation of the Zionist regime’s military attacks on the West Bank, and the holy Al-Aqsa Mosque clearly indicate the sinister and racist intentions of this fake regime for the entire geography of Palestine and the Palestinian citizens.

Lauding the resistance of the heroic nation of Palestine and the Palestinian Islamic Resistance Group against the war machine of the criminal Zionist regime in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank, Iranian foreign Ministry spokesman called on the responsible international bodies, especially the United Nations Security Council, to take necessary actions for stopping the genocidal war of the child-killing of Israeli regime against Palestinians.

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