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January 2024

January 1st, 2024 is the 87th day since the genocide in Gaza began

Today January 1, 2024 is the 87th day since the genocide in Gaza began. Battles rage in central and southern Gaza after Israel announces it is pulling some troops from the ground invasion. At least 21,978 people have been killed and 57,697 injured in Israeli attacks on Gaza since October 7. The revised death toll from the October 7 attack in Israel stands at 1,139. Palestinian Health Minister Mai al-Kaila tells Al Jazeera only nine hospitals continue to operate in Gaza, without enough medical supplies or electricity. Iran deploys a warship to the Red Sea after the US Navy attacks and kills Houthis trying to commandeer a commercial vessel. Trita Parsi, the executive vice president at the Quincy Institute, a think tank that promotes diplomacy, has accused US officials of backing Israel’s plans to ethnically cleanse and re-annex the Gaza strip. “Wonder why Biden doesn’t condemn this, mindful of his justified opposition to Russia annexing Ukrainian territory?” Parsi wrote in a social media post.

Death toll in Gaza from ongoing Israeli war surges to 21,978
Anadolu Agency: The deaths of Palestinians from the nearly three-month devastating Israeli onslaught on Gaza has reached 21,978, the Health Ministry in the besieged enclave said Monday. Ashraf al-Qudra, spokesman for the ministry, made the statement as Israel's deadly onslaught on Gaza enters its 87th day. He noted that the number of injured in Gaza has also risen to 57,697, nearly 70% of them women and children. Read More

US strikes kill 10 Huthi rebels attacking ship in Red Sea
Yeni Safak: The US military said Sunday its Navy helicopters fired at Iran-backed Huthi rebel boats off Yemen that were attacking a cargo ship, with Yemeni sources reporting 10 rebels killed. The clash in the Red Sea marked a deadly escalation since the United States set up a multinational naval task force in early December to protect the vital shipping lane against Huthi attacks. The rebels -- who say they are acting in solidarity with Palestinians in the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza -- have repeatedly fired drones and missiles at passing ships in the straits through which 12 percent of global trade passes. Read More

Istanbul rally honors Turkish soldiers killed in Iraq, stands with Gaza
Daily Sabah: Thousands of people gathered on Monday in mosques in Türkiye’s top metropolis Istanbul for Gaza as it suffers under Israeli bombardment and to condemn terrorism weeks after PKK attacks martyred a dozen Turkish soldiers in northern Iraq. The event titled "Mercy for our martyrs, support for Palestine, curse on Israel” in mosques during the morning prayers was organized by the Turkish Youth Foundation (TÜGVA) and the National Willpower Platform. Read More

Turkish Armed Forces add new UAV to reconnaissance capabilities
TRT World: The BAHA, an autonomous sub-cloud unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) developed by Turkish defence company HAVELSAN, entered the inventory of the Turkish Armed Forces. HAVELSAN, a software and systems company in the defence sector, has been developing unmanned land, air and sea vehicles within the scope of its "digital unity" concept, introducing unmanned systems such as the BARKAN unmanned ground combat vehicle and the BAHA unmanned aerial vehicle in the same year to address future operational needs domestically and internationally. Read More

December 2023

December 31th is the 86th day since the genocide in Gaza began

Today December 31 is the 86th day since the genocide in Gaza began. There has been no respite from Israel's air raids, artillery fire or ground fighting with Hamas in the Gaza Strip, to the despair of Palestinians surviving the onslaught. At least 100 people killed, 286 wounded in Israeli attacks on homes in central Gaza in the past 24 hours, health ministry says. The Israeli war cabinet will meet to discuss captive-prisoner exchanges as Netanyahu vows to continue the war. President Biden’s administration again bypasses Congress on weapons sales to Israel. At least 21,672 people killed and 56,165 injured in Israeli attacks on Gaza since October 7.

Israeli bombs mark new year for Gazans stuck in 2023 nightmare
Daily Sabah: With no end in sight to Israel's deadliest military offensive on Gaza, killing nearly 22,000 people, the Palestinians will leave behind a dark year on Sunday.There has been no respite from Israel's air raids, artillery fire or ground fighting with Hamas in the Gaza Strip, to the despair of Palestinians surviving the onslaught. Read More

Fresh Israeli airstrikes kill 68 Palestinians in Gaza City
Anadolu Agency: At least 68 Palestinians were killed in fresh Israeli airstrikes in Gaza City on Sunday, according to the official Wafa news agency. Israeli fighter jets carried out airstrikes on the al-Zaitoun neighborhood, leaving 48 dead and scores injured, Wafa said, citing local sources. Another 20 people were killed in airstrikes in the vicinity of Al-Aqsa University, the broadcaster said. Read More

The future looks bleak if Israel’s war on Hamas continues unabated
Middle East Monitor: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu asserted: “The war is exacting a very heavy price, but we have no choice but to continue fighting.” This woeful statement underscores Netanyahu’s blinkered determination to exact maximum carnage and an unwillingness to engage in diplomacy. Foremost, this war has forced the most exorbitant price on civilians in Gaza. The death toll, mainly comprising women and children, has exceeded 20,000. According to Middle East Monitor, there are more than 23,000 orphans in Gaza. These astounding figures merely scrape the surface of human suffering. The United Nations World Food Program (UNWFP) has warned of a looming famine as starvation permeates the Gaza Strip. Read More

Israel’s attacks on Gaza documented ‘minute by minute’ by int’l media outlets
Anadolu Agency: Thanks to international media outlets including Anadolu, it is the "first time in history" that we have a "a minute by minute" coverage of a "genocide," US-based scholar of Palestinian origin Hatim Bazian said, referring to Israeli attacks on the Gaza Strip which have killed more than 21,000 people in 12 weeks. “This is the first time in the history where we actually have a minute by minute documentation of a genocide unfolding,” Prof. Hatim Bazian, who lectures at the University of California, Berkeley, told Anadolu in an exclusive interview. Read More

December 30th is the 85th day since the genocide in Gaza began

Today December 30 is the 85th day since the genocide in Gaza began. Israel has continued its attacks across the Gaza Strip, including near hospitals and in the south of the besieged enclave where ground operations are intensifying. According to casualty figures compiled by Al Jazeera, from October 7 to December 30: 21,672 Palestinians, including at least 8,800 children and 6,300 women were killed while 56,165 (including 8,663 children and 6,327 women) were wounded in Gaza while more than 7,000 were missing. In the occupied West Bank, at least 319 Palestinians, including 83 children were killed and 3,800 were injured. In the same period at least 1,139 Israelis were killed while 8,730 were injured.

South Africa files genocide case against Israel to the ICJ
Mondoweiss: South Africa filed a case against Israel to the International Court of Justice (ICJ) on Friday, accusing Tel Aviv of crimes of genocide in the Gaza Strip since October 7. “South Africa is gravely concerned with the plight of civilians caught in the present Israeli attacks on the Gaza Strip due to the indiscriminate use of force and forcible removal of inhabitants,” the South African government said in a statement. Read More

What the international community’s silence over Israel’s colonial violence has reaped in Gaza?
by Ramona Wadi: As Israel plans to forcibly transfer Palestinians to the Sinai and expects the international community to collaborate by taking in Palestinian refugees for resettlement in host countries, the lack of action over Israel’s ethnic cleansing plans mirrors the path taken during the 1948 Nakba, when Israel was rewarded with recognition as a state after it forcibly displaced 750,000 Palestinians to replace them with settler-colonists. In real-time, and as more details of Israel’s atrocities come to light, the United Nations (UN) is merely using Gaza as a talking point from a distance, repetitively stating that the forced transfer of a civilian population constitutes an international law violation. That much is obvious – does the UN require a round of applause for stating basic facts? Read More

No Difference between Netanyahu and Hitler says Erdogan, leader of NATO Member Turkey
Middle East Monitor: There is “no difference” between what Israeli Premier Benjamin Netanyahu is doing in the months-long attacks on Gaza and what Nazi leader Adolf Hitler did decades ago, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said. At a science awards ceremony in the capital Ankara, Erdogan said: “How do you [Netanyahu] differ from Hitler? These [actions] will make us look for Hitler as well. Is there anything Netanyahu does that is less than Hitler? No.” Read More

Houthis show no sign of ending Red Sea attacks: US commander
Al Jazeera: Yemen’s Houthi rebels show no signs of ending their “reckless” attacks on commercial ships in the Red Sea, the top commander of US naval forces in the Middle East says. Since Operation Prosperity Guardian was announced 10 days ago, 1,200 merchant ships have travelled through the Red Sea region, and none has been hit by drone or missile strikes, Vice-Admiral Brad Cooper said in an Associated Press interview. He said additional countries are expected to sign on. Read More

Monroe Doctrine: Two Centuries of Implacable Imperialism
By Heinz Dieterich: Latin America must forge a path toward a future where self-determination and international cooperation prevail. Since its inception in 1823, the Monroe Doctrine has been the ideological manifestation guiding the United States' foreign policy toward Latin America. Its intrinsic nature has served as an instrument of American expansion and domination in the region. From the early years of the United States' independence, the Monroe Doctrine emerged as a guiding principle. After the war against the English monarchy, the North American country adopted an expansionist approach, initially intervening in Canada and extending its influence into Latin America and the Caribbean. Read More

Scores of Palestinians killed, wounded as Israel keeps pounding Gaza Strip
Anadolu Agency: Israeli army continues incursion into central Gaza Strip with warplanes, tanks targeting refugee camps, residential buildings. Dozens of Palestinians were killed and injured in violent artillery and airstrikes launched by the Israeli army in the central Gaza Strip in the past 24 hours, according to medical sources and eyewitnesses. The Israeli army continued its incursion into the Bureij Palestinian refugee camp as part of the latest phase of its ground operations in its war that has been ongoing for 85 days. Read More

Senior Hamas leader welcomes international forces only ‘to liberate Palestine'
Anadolu Agency: A senior Hamas leader said his movement will welcome the deployment of post-war international forces to the Gaza Strip to liberate Palestine, but rejected international forces as an alternative to “Zionist occupation.”In an interview with Anadolu, Osama Hamdan said: “If the international forces want to liberate Palestine and end the occupation, they are welcome.”Read More

Israel’s Genocide Betrays the Holocaust
by Chris Hedges: Israel’s lebensraum master plan for Gaza, borrowed from the Nazi’s depopulation of Jewish ghettos, is clear. Destroy infrastrutrue, medical facilities and sanitation, including access to clean water. Block shipments of food and fuel. Unleash indiscriminate industrial violence to kill and wound hundreds a day.Read More

For peace in Palestine, Zionism must be defeated
By Antonio Minaldi: There is only one real condition for us to talk about peace in Palestine and that is for Israel to be defeated. Naturally, we are not referring to a military defeat, but rather to a diplomatic isolation and a political, but also “ethical” and “cultural” defeat.Read More

Understanding the Palestinians
by Dr Akhtar Ali Syed: What has been happening to Palestinians for decades and what they have done in reaction is completely understandable from the standpoint of psychopathology. What they are going through will naturally influence how they react. They’ve seen how other options have been turned down and exhausted. Oppressors always have more options than the oppressed. Whether they choose dialogue or dispute, the oppressed have learnt the value of their lives.Read More

Controversial decision robs Pakistan of victory in Boxing Day Test
By Syed Rifaquat Ali: A bloomer on the part of third umpire Richard Illingworth paved way for Australia to beat Pakistan In the Boxing Day Test in Melbourne by 79 runs in the ongoing ICC World Test Championship 2024-2025. Read More

December 29 is the 84th day since the genocide in Gaza began

Today December 29 is the 84th day since the genocide in Gaza began. From October 7 to December 27, Israeli occupation forces have murdered 29,124 Palestinians, of whom 11,422 were children, and 5,822 were women. Israeli soldiers also injured 56,122 people and murdered 101 journalists. The figures on the genocide in Gaza were collected by Euro-Med Human Rights Monitor (Euro-Med), a Switzerland-based independent NGO.

Death Toll from Gaza Genocide Exceeds 29,000
Euro-Med Monitor: From October 7 to December 27, Israeli occupation forces have murdered 29,124 Palestinians, of whom 11,422 were children, and 5,822 were women. Israeli soldiers also injured 56,122 people and murdered 101 journalists. The figures on the genocide in Gaza were collected by Euro-Med Human Rights Monitor (Euro-Med), a Switzerland-based independent NGO. The catastrophe in this Palestinian territory is also accompanied by multimillion-dollar damages caused by the destruction of homes, hospitals, schools, and other infrastructure. Read More

Israeli advance on central Gaza causes new Palestinian exodus
Daily Sabah: A mounting Israeli military advance on central Gaza on Thursday pushed tens of thousands of already displaced Palestinian families to take flight again in a new mass exodus. Further south, Israeli forces struck the area around a hospital in the heart of Khan Younis, the Gaza Strip's main southern city, where residents feared a new ground push into territory crowded with families made homeless in 12 weeks of indiscriminate attacks. Read More

Palestinian resistance groups agree Gaza must have unity govt
Anadolu Agency: The five Palestinian resistance factions agreed Thursday on a national solution involving the formation of a unity government. They all rejected "solutions and scenarios for the so-called future of the Gaza Strip" after the end of the war waged by Israel.During a meeting attended by representatives of Hamas, the Islamic Jihad, the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine and the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine – General Command in the Lebanese capital Beirut, they emphasized the "necessity to stop the Israeli aggression on the Gaza Strip before achieving any prisoner exchange deal," according to a statement issued by Hamas. Read More

Israel guns for war with Lebanon and Iran
By Thomas Scripps: While the genocide in Gaza continues, Israel and its allies are looking to expand the scope of the war. Defense Minister Yoav Gallant declared earlier this week, “We are in a multi-front war. We are being attacked from seven fronts—Gaza, Lebanon, Syria, Judea and Samaria [the West Bank], Iraq, Yemen and Iran.” Read More

Hamas leader praises Palestinian steadfastness against Israeli aggression
Mondoweiss: In his first public message since October 7, Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar said that the Izz al-Din Al-Qassam Brigades are waging a fierce and unprecedented battle against Israeli occupation forces in the Gaza Strip in a letter published by Al-Jazeera Arabic on their website. Read More

‘We Will Come to You in a Roaring Flood’: The Untold Story of the October 7 Attacks
by Dr Ramzy Baroud: The dramatic, earth-shattering events in Palestine starting on October 7 have taken many people by surprise. However, attentive observers are not. Few expected that Palestinian fighters would be parachuting into southern Israel on October 7; that instead of capturing a single Israeli soldier – as done in 2006 – hundreds of Israelis, including many soldiers and civilians, would find themselves captive in besieged Gaza. The reason behind the ‘surprise’, however, is the same reason that Israel is still reeling under collective shock, which is the tendency to pay close attention to political discourses and intelligence analyses of Israel and its supporters – while largely neglecting the Palestinian discourse. Read More

The Companies Profiting from Israel’s 2023 Attack on Gaza
By American Friends Service Committee: The companies listed here have provided Israel with weapons and other military equipment used in its so-called “Swords of Iron” attacks on Gaza, the West Bank, Lebanon, and Syria during October-December 2023. Read More

“Both Israel and the US want to Implicate Iran.”
By Mike Whitney: On Sunday, numerous articles in the western media reported that Iran had launched a drone attack on a Japanese-owned chemical tanker named the MV Chem Pluto in the Indian Ocean. Many of these articles based their reports on claims made by unidentified Pentagon sources or declassified intelligence. As of Tuesday, none of those allegations have been independently verified or proven to be true. What we know from previous experience is that elements of the national security state frequently plant fictitious stories in the media in order to garner public support for unpopular military campaigns or to demonize foreign nations for things for which they are in no way responsible. Read More

December 28 is the 83rd day since the genocide in Gaza began

Today December 28 is the 83rd day since the genocide in Gaza began. The number of Gazans killed has hit 28,110, including 21,110 bodies identified at hospitals and approximately 7,000 additional people missing, most buried under the rubble. The Euro-Med Human Rights Monitor reported, “The majority of those killed in the Israeli air and artillery attacks on the Gaza Strip were civilians, including 11,422 children, and 5,822 women.” Amounting Israeli military advance on central Gaza on Thursday pushed tens of thousands of already displaced Palestinian families to take flight again in a new mass exodus.

As Gaza death toll nears 30,000, Israeli leaders call for ethnic cleansing
by Andre Damon: On Wednesday, Gaza’s Government Media Office reported that the number of Gazans killed has hit 28,110, including 21,110 bodies identified at hospitals and approximately 7,000 additional people missing, most buried under the rubble. In a separate report, the Euro-Med Human Rights Monitor reported, “The majority of those killed in the Israeli air and artillery attacks on the Gaza Strip were civilians, including 11,422 children, and 5,822 women.” Read More

Demanding an End to Israel’s Targeted Killings of Journalists
by Phil Pasquini: To commemorate the deaths of 100 journalists and media workers along with over 20,000 Gazans who have been murdered by the Israeli military with weapons supplied by the US, an action calling attention to the ongoing genocide along with the targeted killings of journalists took place in San Francisco. Outside of the Chronicle newspaper building journalists, media workers and supporters of journalism gathered to demand a permanent ceasefire now and an end to all US aid to Israel. Read More

Israeli advance on central Gaza causes new Palestinian exodus
Daily Sabah: Amounting Israeli military advance on central Gaza on Thursday pushed tens of thousands of already displaced Palestinian families to take flight again in a new mass exodus. Further south, Israeli forces struck the area around a hospital in the heart of Khan Younis, the Gaza Strip's main southern city, where residents feared a new ground push into territory crowded with families made homeless in 12 weeks of indiscriminate attacks. Read More

UN slams Israel's unlawful killings, rights situation in West Bank
Daily Sabah: The United Nations has called on Israel to "end unlawful killings" of Palestinians amid rapidly deteriorating rights situation in the West Bank occupied West Bank. A report released Thursday demanded an immediate end to the use of military weapons and means during law enforcement operations, an end to arbitrary detention and ill-treatment of Palestinians, and the lifting of discriminatory movement restrictions. Read More

The forces behind the assault on opposition to Gaza genocide
Gabriel Black: To better understand the isolated character of the campaign to silence opposition to Israel’s genocide, it is useful to understand who is leading it. The first major group involved are a handful of multi-billionaires and economic power players whose stranglehold over the global economy positions them to control the political and cultural leadership of the major universities and other significant institutions. Read More

The Most Rich Turns Richer
Countercurrents: The world’s richest people got even richer over the past year, Bloomberg’s top-500 billionaire list, published on Wednesday, shows. Some 77% of the billionaires who made it on the list saw their fortunes grow even larger, while others experienced certain losses. Read More

December 27 is the 82th day since the genocide in Gaza began

Today December 27 is the 82th day since the genocide in Gaza began. Gaza’s health ministry says 195 people killed and 325 wounded over the past 24 hours. At least 30 people killed and many more injured in a deadly Israeli attack near al-Amal Hospital in Khan Younis. In Gaza, at least 21,110 people have been killed and 55,243 injured in Israeli attacks since October 7. More than 7,000 are missing. In occupied West Bank 313 Palestinians were killed while more than 3,450 injured. At least six Palestinians have been killed in an Israeli drone strike during a raid on a refugee camp in the north of the occupied West Bank, while Israeli forces expanded their operations across the territory. Ambulances were blocked by Israeli forces after attack on Nur Shams refugee camp near Tulkarem.

Six killed in Israeli strike on refugee camp in occupied West Bank
Al Jazeera: At least six Palestinians have been killed in an Israeli drone strike during a raid on a refugee camp in the north of the occupied West Bank, while Israeli forces expanded their operations across the territory. The overnight drone strike hit a group of Palestinians in the Nur Shams refugee camp next to the town of Tulkarem, the Palestinian Red Crescent Society (PRCS) and health officials said on Wednesday. Ambulances were blocked by Israeli forces after attack on Nur Shams refugee camp near Tulkarem. Read More

Israeli forces continue to prepare eastern area for a buffer zone

Gaza officials allege Israel harvesting organs from Palestinian bodies
Daily Sabah: Gazan authorities have accused Israel of harvesting organs from Palestinian dead bodies and demanded an international probe. The Gaza-based government media office said Tuesday that the examination of several bodies showed that their shapes had changed significantly due to the theft of vital organs from the corpses. It added that the Israeli army handed over bodies without their names and refused to specify from where they were detained. Read More

Hamas official calls for Palestinian elections, national unity in the ‘day after’ the war
BY AMENA AL-ASHKAR: While the U.S. and other Western governments are discussing the prospect of installing an alternative administration over the Gaza Strip in the aftermath of the current Israeli assault, possibly with the Palestinian Authority at its helm, Hamas is now launching its own alternative vision regarding Gaza’s postwar reality. This vision includes holding democratic Palestinian elections the day after the war and was shared in a wide-ranging interview with Osama Hamdan, the senior representative of Hamas in Lebanon. Read More

The Yemeni Houthis Take on the Empire
By Renee Parsons: While it is astounding that one small, feisty Arab tribe in the nation of Yemen has shown the mega-world how to creatively stand up to the Hegemon without threatening nuclear weapons, without initiating direct military conflict and yet achieve their goals – what is even more astounding is that the Houthis are not the least intimidated by the Empire’s pretentious display of empty threats and waning power. Read More

Houthis disrupt the most important maritime trading routes: Potential shock to global economy
By Mike Whitney: Yemen’s Houthi militia has shown how a small army can take on the American Empire and win. They have shown how courage, resolve and commitment to principle can act as a force-multiplier allowing a much weaker military to ‘punch above its weight’. They’ve also shown that a few well-placed missiles in key locations on the world’s most critical shipping lanes, can send tremors across the global economy and shake the “rules-based order” to its foundations. In short, the Houthis have shown that David can bring down Goliath without breaking a sweat, provided that David maintains his perch along the Bab-al-Mandab Strait. Read More

Yemen Resistance Remains Defiant as Pentagon Escalates Tensions in Red Sea
By Abayomi Azikiwe: The blanket bombing of Gaza along with the IDF raids on towns and refugee camps in the West Bank was bound to ignite solidarity efforts across the region and the world. Millions everyday engage in mass demonstrations and rallies while resistance forces in Iraq and Syria have launched attacks on U.S. military forces. In response to the declaration of the Ansar Allah Resistance Movement in Yemen that it would enforce a blockade on Israeli linked ships until the genocidal siege on the Palestinians ceased, the U.S. has pledged to protect commercial vessels traveling throughout the Red Sea. Therefore, such an initiative by Washington further exposes the false statements by the White House claiming the administration opposes the wanton slaughter of civilians, since the foreign policy trajectory of Washington and Wall Street is geared toward maintaining the occupation of Palestine. Read More

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