Middle East

Israeli forces gun down 5 Palestinian youths in violent raids across West Bank

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Israeli forces have gunned down five more Palestinian youths in violent attacks across the occupied West Bank as Gaza-based resistance groups continue a major operation against the regime.

Three of the victims were shot and killed during Israeli forces’ raids near the Qalandia checkpoint in the central part of the occupied territory on Sunday, the official Palestinian Wafa news agency reported.

Local sources said confrontations broke out near the checkpoint, during which the regime’s forces opened direct fire at Palestinian youths, killing three and injuring eight others.

According to Wafa, a fourth youth, identified as Mohammed Abdel-Rahman Zghayyar, was killed by Israeli forces after they shot him in the chest during a separate attack in the northern West Bank city of al-Khalil, also known as Hebron.

Separately, another young Palestinian man lost his life at the entrance to the town of Beita, south of the city of Nablus also in northern part of the West Bank.

Ahmad Jibril, the head of the Palestinian Red Crescent Emergency and Ambulance Department, said paramedics transferred the youth with a critical gunshot wound to hospital, where he was pronounced dead shortly after.

More than 200 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli forces so far this year across the occupied territories, most of them in the West Bank.

The United Nations has described 2023 as the deadliest year for Palestinians in the West Bank since it began keeping track of fatalities almost two decades ago.

Sunday’s fatalities came after on Saturday, the regime’s forces killed six Palestinian youths, including a 13-year-old child, during attacks across the occupied West Bank.

The new bloodshed also occurred amid Operation al-Aqsa Storm, the biggest to be carried out by Palestinian resistance groups against the occupying regime in years, which began a day earlier.

It has featured heavy rocket barrages and surprise attacks by resistance fighters against Israeli forces and settlers in the occupied territories. So far, more than 700 Israelis have died as a result of the operation and thousands of others been injured.

Resistance leaders have described the operation as a decisive answer to the Israeli regime’s unabated campaign of bloodshed and destruction against Palestinians.

Middle East

'Best way for enemy to prevent further loss of its forces is to admit defeat'

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The secretary general of the Gaza-based Islamic Jihad resistance movement says the best way for Israel to prevent more of its forces from being taken captive or killed is to own up to its defeat in the face of the Palestinian resistance.

Ziad al-Nakhala made the remarks in a televised speech on Sunday, which was the second day of Operation al-Aqsa Storm, the biggest military operation against the occupying regime in years.

Israeli media outlets say more than 700 Israeli settlers and troops have been killed as a result of the operation and over 2,100 Israelis have been injured. Meanwhile, unofficial estimates indicate that approximately 750 Israeli soldiers and settlers are missing.

“[The number of] the enemy’s prisoners of war, including soldiers and settlers that we have captured in Gaza, [amounts to] dozens and more. In fact, I can say that their number is far higher than this,” Nakhala said, adding, “The Islamic Jihad alone has more than 30 enemy captives.”

“The enemy’s cabinet should surrender to this fact and [know that] the shortest way to prevent more of its forces from being taken captive or killed is to admit defeat,” the Islamic Jihad’s leader said.

His remarks came after in early Sunday, the spokesman for the military wing of Hamas resistance movement, which is also based in Gaza, said the number of Israelis taken captive in the ongoing operation against the regime was far more than “dozens” that had been claimed by Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

“Today, you talked about dozens of prisoners and we reassure you, Netanyahu, that your prisoners are many times more than this number, and you must keep track of your soldiers well,” said Abu Ubaida, the spokesman for al-Qassam Brigades.

‘Enemy is broken’

Elsewhere in his remarks, Nakhala said the Palestinian operation laid bare the enemy’s weakness and rendered it paralyzed.

“It became obvious [through this operation] that the enemy can be defeated, and in fact, it is broken, and [this is why it] sought the United States’ help from the early hours of the operation,” he said.

The leader of Islamic Jihad noted that the enemy forces’ performance since the beginning of the operation, including their captivity by resistance fighters and abandoning their weapons, “serves as a clear testament to the fact that their army is much weaker than many people in the world believe.”

Addressing the resistance fighters, Nakhala said, “You have gained the world’s attention and hit the global headlines under the toughest circumstances, because you possess the will power and have humiliated an enemy that is armed to the teeth.”

Middle East

OIC: Israeli occupation cause of conflict in occupied Palestine

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An Israeli airstrike targets an area in the besieged Gaza Strip, October 8, 2023.

The Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) has condemned Israel’s ongoing military aggression against the people in Palestine, stressing that the main cause of the latest bloody conflict is the regime’s disregard for the legitimate rights of the Palestinians.

A statement published on the OIC’s website late on Saturday said the international body is concerned about the new developments in the occupied Palestinian territories.

The OIC said the “continuation of the Israeli occupation and its failure to adhere to the resolutions of international legitimacy, and the escalation of the pace of its attacks and daily crimes against the Palestinian people, their land and sanctities, and depriving them of their legitimate rights is the main reason for instability.”

Israel has launched deadly airstrikes on the Gaza Strip, a besieged Palestinian enclave on the Mediterranean, killing scores of people, including women and children. The bombardment came after the Palestinian resistance movement Hamas launched a multi-pronged operation from Gaza into the occupied territories in what the group described as a response to weeks of violence against the Palestinians in the occupied West Bank and the continued presence of Israeli extremists in the al-Aqsa Mosque, one of Islam’s holiest sites located in the occupied city of al-Quds.

OIC’s General Secretariat, which is based in the Saudi Arabian city of Jeddah, said the organization holds Israel responsible for the escalation of violence in the occupied territories. It called on the United Nations Security Council to act to protect the Palestinians against the Israeli aggression and to support measures that could put an end to decades of Israeli occupation of the Palestinian lands.

Middle East

Hamas praises al-Aqsa Storm, vows liberation of Palestine

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Khaled al-Qaddoumi, the Hamas representative in Iran, made the statement in an interview with Press TV on Sunday.

“What has happened today is a historic moment which has been achieved by the Palestinian soldiers and Palestinian people in the confrontation of the last 74 years against the Israeli occupation,” Qaddoumi said. “Our people have waited a long time that the international community could serve any of their own legitimate rights and return any of those legitimate rights to them.”

Stressing that there is a rightist fanatic regime headed by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in the occupied territories, Qaddoumi said Hamas had sent many messages to the international community to expose the regime’s explicit crimes and torture against Palestinian people but there was no response.

“Palestinians launched Operation Al-Aqsa Storm to tell the international community that al-Aqsa and al-Quds mean Palestine and this operation has started for the liberation of Palestine; all Palestine from the river to the sea,” the Hamas official said, referring to a call for a Palestinian state extending from the Jordan River to the Mediterranean Sea, the territory controlled by the Israeli regime.  

The international community, Qaddoumi said, has left Palestine and Palestinians alone. “Our only option and our fate is to fight the Israeli regime. Today, we have started the battle of liberation of Palestine, all Palestine, and no body is able to stop it.”

On Saturday, Hamas launched its large-scale operation with a heavy barrage of rockets in response to Israel’s desecration of the Al-Aqsa Mosque and increased settler violence. 

More than 700 Israeli settlers and troops have died as a result of the large-scale operation and over 2,000 others have been injured.

Israeli media outlets have reported an approximate 750 Israeli soldiers and settlers missing so far.

Hospital officials in the Gaza Strip have recorded the death of more than 370 Palestinians and the injury of roughly 2,200 others. A large number of buildings, homes, and public facilities have also been badly damaged due to heavy Israeli bombardments.

MNA/PressTV 

Middle East

Arab League calls on UN to add Israel to ‘list of shame’

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This file photo shows Israeli forces arresting a Palestinian minor in the occupied West Bank.

The Arab League has called on the United Nations to add Israel to its annual “list of shame” of countries that commit violations against children in armed conflicts.

Assistant Secretary-General of the League Haifa Abu Ghazaleh made the appeal in a speech at the 54th Regular Session of the Human Rights Council in the Swiss city of Geneva on Sunday, under item seven of the council’s agenda concerned with the human rights situation in the occupied Palestinian territories.

In her speech, Abu Ghazaleh stressed the need to put pressure on Israel to halt its settlement expansion policies, arming settlers, violations of Islamic and Christian sanctities and its discriminatory measures against Palestinians, including seizing lands, demolishing homes and property, and stealing wealth and natural resources.  

She also emphasized on the importance of ensuring international protection for Palestinians by sending international observers and UN committees and enabling them to enter the occupied Palestinian territories.

Abu Ghazaleh further called for immediate action to release Palestinian prisoners who are held under the so-called administrative detention in Israeli jails.

Back in July, a report by the director of the Palestine Center for Prisoners’ Studies (PCPS) revealed that Israeli forces have arrested as many as 570 Palestinian minors since the beginning of 2023.

The Palestinian resistance movement, Hamas, said in early June that the international community needs to intervene to end Israel’s violations against Palestinian children.

In the occupied West Bank, Hamas added, Israel keeps kidnapping and jailing minors, and in some cases even kills them, places them under house arrest or uses them as human shields.

Hamas has already called on the UN to include Israel in its annual List of Shame for its violations against Palestinian children.

Middle East

Zionist regime attacks on Gaza to complicate situation more

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In a telephone call on Sunday, Hossein Amir-Abdollahian and Hungary’s Foreign and Trade Minister Peter Siarto exchanged views on the promotion of bilateral relations and recent developments in West Asia, especially Palestine.

Referring to the repeated violations of UN resolutions, the continued occupation of Palestinian lands and the continuation of settlement constructions by the Zionist regime, the Iranian foreign minister emphasized that “the continuation of the Israeli regime’s attacks on Gaza in the current situation will complicate the situation and increase the possibility of the spread of war.”

Amir-Abdolhian also highlighted the repeated violation of international laws and the spread of warmongering policies by the Zionist regime.

The Hungarian foreign minister also pointed out that dialogue and cooperation is the right solution to resolve regional conflicts and stated that Hungary always wants to establish peace and save people’s lives in such situations.

Expressing hope for the end of this conflict in the Middle East, Siarto emphasized the need for all countries to bear responsibility and play their own parts.

In the conversation, both sides expressed their satisfaction with the positive trend of relations based on mutual trust.

MNA

Middle East

Raeisi: Steely will of Palestinians harbinger of final victory over Israel

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Iran’s President Ebrahim Raeisi says the “steely will” of the Palestinians heralds the final victory over the Israeli regime.

Raeisi made the remark in a phone conversation with Ismail Haniyeh, the head of the political bureau of the Palestinian resistance movement Hamas, on Sunday, a day after Hamas launched the large-scale Operation al-Aqsa Storm with a heavy barrage of rockets in response to Israel’s desecration of the al-Aqsa Mosque and increased settler violence.

“What happened with the glorious operation of the Palestinian fighters in the occupied territories was the realization of the 70-year-old expectation of the Palestinian nation and the Islamic Ummah,” the Iranian president said.

Raeisi said all Muslim nations would soon pray together in the al-Aqsa Mosque, the first ‘Qibla’ of Muslims.

The president praised the courageous Palestinian operation and said Muslim nations honor the dignity of the Palestinian resistance.

Haniyeh, for his part, appreciated Raeisi’s principled stance as well as the support by the Iranian government and nation for resistance.

He said although the resistance fighters lack the proportionate military equipment and facilities in comparison with those of Israel, they succeeded in disrupting the regime’s balance in the surprise operation.

Haniyeh said the achievements of Palestinian fighters in the battle against Israel were made with the support of the Islamic Ummah and Iran.

Israeli media outlets say more than 700 Israeli settlers and troops have been killed as a result of Operation al-Aqsa Storm. Over 2,100 Israelis have also been injured. The media also say by unofficial estimates approximately 750 Israeli soldiers and settlers have been missing.

 

In the wake of the Palestinian operation, a spokesperson for the Israeli military confirmed that settlers and soldiers are held captive in Gaza. But the spokesperson declined to specify any exact number.

In the Gaza Strip hospital officials have recorded the death of over 370 Palestinians and the injury of nearly 2,200 others. A large number of buildings, homes, and public facilities have also been badly damaged due to heavy Israeli bombardments.

 

Middle East

Zionists death toll rises to 750 as Biden declares support

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White House: Biden orders ‘additional support’ sent to Israel

The US President Joe Biden spoke with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday, CNN reported, according to Reuters.

The US Secretary of State Antony Blinken earlier said Washington would announce new assistance for Israel on Sunday after Hamas fighters rampaged through Zionist Israeli towns, with the fake regime suffering its bloodiest day in decades on Saturday.

Israel battered Palestinians with air strikes in Gaza on Sunday. Hundreds of Palestinians have been killed, many of them civilians. 

UNRWA in Gaza says 20,000 Palestinians sheltering in its schools: 

The UN agency for Palestinian Refugees, UNRWA, says over 20,000 people are sheltering in 44 of its schools around Gaza.

The agency said three of its schools suffered “collateral” damage from Israeli airstrikes. The agency also said its operations of nine water wells around the Gaza Strip were stopped early yesterday. Operations in three wells resumed today, said Hamdan. The agency’s food distribution centers, which provide for over 540,000 of Gaza residents, have been closed since yesterday.

Israeli regime intensifies airstrikes on Gaza:

After the security cabinet chaired by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu voted last night to put the regime officially at war, there was reports of intensified airstrikes on Gaza by the regime warplanes.

The health ministry in the Gaza Strip said 370 Palestinians have been killed and another 2,200 have been wounded in the Gaza Strip.

Israel confirms over 100 Zionists held in Gaza:

The government has confirmed that at least 100 Israelis are being held in Gaza, with media reports suggesting as many as 170 may be captive in the Strip, Times of Israel reported.

The Israeli regime military was engaged in a massive build-up of forces Saturday night, calling up large numbers of reservists and preparing for war as it continued to reel from one of the darkest days in the fake regime’s history.

The regime media have cited the medical sources as saying that the Zionists’ death toll has risen to 750 while over 2,048 were wounded and apparently dozens were taken hostage by the Hamas Resistance group across the border to the Gaza Strip. 

Israel’s Channel 13 has said that the number of Zionists killed has increased to 750, including both military and unarmed people. 

Major airlines canceled dozens of flights to Tel Aviv this weekend after the Palestinian Hamas Resistance movement launched a surprise large-scale attack against the Zionists regime. 

Concurrently, barrages of rockets continued to rain down on southern and central Israel, regularly sending hundreds of thousands of people running to shelters. Several people were wounded by rockets that evaded the Iron Dome defense system and smashed into towns. Some were seriously hurt.

Today, the Hebrew-language newspaper JPost wrote in a report that according to unofficial estimates, 750 Zionists have disappeared since the beginning of the Al-Aqsa Storm Operation by the Palestinian Resistance on Saturday.

The fake regime’s army is pounding Gaza with the Palestinian Ministry of Health in the Gaza Strip saying that the number of martyrs in Israeli airstrikes in the enclave increased to 572 martyrs as of Sunday afternoon.

Netanyahu security cabinet authorizes war on Gaza:

The security cabinet voted last night to put the regime officially at war, and it can carry out “significant military activities,” the Prime Minister’s Office announced. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had already said the regime was at war after Hamas fighters infiltrated southern occupied lands as part of Al-Aqsa Sorm Operation launched yesterday.

This item is being updated….

MNA

Middle East

Hamas praises ‘historic’ al-Aqsa Storm, vows liberation of Palestine

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The Palestinian resistance movement Hamas has extolled as “historic” its latest retaliatory operation against the Israeli regime in the occupied territories and vowed that the attacks on the illegal entity will continue until the full liberation of Palestine.

Khaled al-Qaddoumi, the Hamas representative in Iran, made the statement in an interview with Press TV on Sunday.

“What has happened today is a historic moment which has been achieved by the Palestinian soldiers and Palestinian people in the confrontation of the last 74 years against the Israeli occupation,” Qaddoumi said. “Our people have waited a long time that the international community could serve any of their own legitimate rights and return any of those legitimate rights to them.”

Stressing that there is a rightist fanatic regime headed by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in the occupied territories, Qaddoumi said Hamas had sent many messages to the international community to expose the regime’s explicit crimes and torture against Palestinian people but there were no response.

“Palestinians launched Operation Al-Aqsa Storm to tell the international community that al-Aqsa and al-Quds mean Palestine and this operation has started for the liberation of Palestine; all Palestine from the river to the sea,” the Hamas official said, referring to a call for a Palestinian state extending from the Jordan River to the Mediterranean Sea, the territory controlled by the Israeli regime.  

The international community, Qaddoumi said, has left Palestine and Palestinians alone. “Our only option and our fate is to fight the Israeli regime. Today, we have started the battle of liberation of Palestine, all Palestine, and no body is able to stop it.”

On Saturday, Hamas launched its large-scale operation with a heavy barrage of rockets in response to Israel’s desecration of the Al-Aqsa Mosque and increased settler violence. 

More than 650 Israeli settlers and troops have died as a result of the large-scale operation and over 2,000 others have been injured.

 

Israeli media outlets have reported an approximate 750 Israeli soldiers and settlers missing so far.

Hospital officials in the Gaza Strip have recorded the death of more than 370 Palestinians and the injury of roughly 2,200 others. A large number of buildings, homes, and public facilities have also been badly damaged due to heavy Israeli bombardments.

The retaliatory operation by Hamas is the largest after the 11-day Israeli war against Gaza in May 2021, which took place after weeks of violence against Palestinians in al-Quds and a brutal crackdown on worshipers at the al-Aqsa Mosque, as well as attempts to steal their land in the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood. At least 260 Palestinians, including over 60 children, were killed during the offensive as resistance fighters retaliated. The regime was eventually forced to announce a ceasefire brokered by Egypt.

 

Middle East

Raeisi hails Palestinian op. for making Islamic Umma proud

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In the phone call on Sunday afternoon, Raeisi praised the courageous and victorious operations of the Palestinian Mujahideen in the occupied territories and considered the authority, dignity and pride of the Palestinian resistance to be the pride of the Islamic Ummah.

Stating that the unwavering will of the Palestinian nation and the mujahidin on the path towards God promises the final victory of the Palestinians over the usurping Zionist regime, the president clarified, “What happened with the victorious operation of the Palestinian mujahidin in the occupied territories is the materialization of the 70-year long-awaited dream of the Palestinian nation and the Islamic nation.”

“God willing, we will soon say prayers together in Al-Aqsa Mosque,” he asserted.

Ismail Haniyeh, for his part, tanked the Islamic Republic and the Iranian nation on behalf of the Palestinian Mujahideen and the Palestinian nation for support to the Palestinian resistance.

The head of Hamas’s Political Bureau further presented a report on the various aspects of the Al-Aqsa Storm operation, cited the aggression and insult of the Zionist enemy to the holy area of the Al-Aqsa Mosque and the Palestinian worshipers as one of the main reasons for carrying out the operation.

Haniyeh said that in the ongoing battle, despite the lack of equipment and facilities, the Palestinian Mujahideen were able to disrupt the order in the Zionist regime by their surprise large-scale operation.

Haniyeh stressed, “What has been achieved on the battlefield against the Zionist enemy has been thanks to blessings of God, the support of the Islamic Ummah, and the Islamic Republic of Iran is at the top of all, and God willing, it will end up with the final victory of the Palestinian nation.”

Raeisi’s phone conversation with Islamic Jihad secretary general:

In the telephone conversation with Ziyad Nakhala, president Raeisi said that “What happened in the occupied territories and in the battle with the usurping Zionist regime was a huge and unique event in the past 70 years, and you really made the Islamic nation happy with this innovative and victorious operation.”

Raeisi went on to state that the Zionist regime is collapsing and the Resistance Front is conquering the apex of victory, and clarified, “We consider the final victory of the Palestinian nation to be a divine promise, and the Iranian nation is always standing by the freedom-loving and independent nations, and the Palestinian freedom-loving nation is at the top of them.”

The Secretary General of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad, for his part, expressed his sincere thanks on behalf of the Palestinian people for the support of the Leadership, government and people of Iran in the telephone conversation.

Nakhala presented a report on the achievements of the resistance forces in the occupied territories and the situation of the Zionist enemy, saying, “With the help of God, these blessed days and these victories will continue with strength, and the Palestinian nation is steadfast in the path of resistance.

MNA