Browsing: Region
The UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) has expressed concern about the risk of ethnic cleansing being perpetrated by Israeli forces in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank.A UN Human Rights Officeآ reportآ released today raised concerns over ethnic cleansing by Israeli authorities in both Gaza and the West Bank, amid increased attacks and forcible transfers that appear aimed at a permanent displacement of Palestinians throughout the occupied territories.During the reporting period, from 1 November 2024 to 31 October 2025 “intensified attacks, the methodical destruction of entire neighbourhoods and the denial of humanitarian assistance appeared to aim at a permanent demographic shift in Gaza”, says the report. “This, together with forcible transfers, which appear to aim at a permanent displacement, raise concerns over ethnic cleansing in Gaza and the West Bank.”آ In the Gaza strip, the report details the continued killing and maiming of unprecedented numbers of civilians over the course of the reporting period by Israeli forces, the spread of famine, and the destruction of the remaining civilian infrastructure – imposing on Palestinians conditions of life increasingly incompatible with their continued existence in Gaza as a group.The report also says the patterns of deadly attacks witnessed in Gaza raised grave concerns that Israeli forces intentionally targeted civilians and civilian objects, and launched attacks knowing civilian harm would be excessive in relation to the anticipated military advantage. Such acts would constitute war crimes, the report underlined.It details the deaths of at least 463 Palestinians, including 157 children, from starvation in the Gaza strip. The situation of famine and malnutrition, the report notes, was a direct result of actions taken by the Israeli Government, such as the blocking of entry and distribution of humanitarian aid into Gaza. Any use of starvation of the civilian population as a method of war constitutes a war crime, it states, adding that such conduct may also constitute crimes against humanity if committed as part of a systematic or widespread attack against a civilian population, and, if carried out with intent to destroy a national, ethnical, racial or religious group in whole or in part, may also constitute genocide.In the occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem, the report details the systematic unlawful use of force by Israeli security forces, the widespread arbitrary detention and torture and other ill-treatment of Palestinians in detention, and the extensive unlawful demolition of Palestinian homes. This is “used to systematically discriminate, oppress, control and dominate the Palestinian people”, the report says. The report also points to concerning incidents of unnecessary or disproportionate use of force by the Palestinian Authority. Source link
Little Ramadan lanterns and string lights appeared on streets lined with collapsed buildings and piles of rubble in Gaza City, bringing joy and respite as Islam’s holiest month began — the first since October’s ceasefire.In the Omari mosque, dozens of worshippers performed the first Ramadan morning prayer, fajr, bare feet on the carpet but donning heavy jackets to stave off the winter cold. Palestinians gather for a mass fast-breaking iftar meal organized by the Turkish IHH Foundation, amid the rubble of destroyed buildings in Gaza City on February…
Iran and Russia will conduct naval manoeuvres in the Sea of Oman today, following the latest round of talks between Tehran and Washington in Geneva, Iranian media reported. On Monday, the Revolutionary Guards, the ideological arm of Iran’s military, also launched exercises in the strategic Strait of Hormuz, a challenge to US naval forces deployed in the region. “The joint naval exercise of the Islamic Republic of Iran and Russia will take place tomorrow (Thursday) in the Sea of Oman and in the northern Indian Ocean,” the ISNA agency reported, citing drill spokesman, RearAdmiral Hassan Maghsoudloo. “The aim is to strengthen maritime security and to deepen relations between the navies of the two countries,” he said, without specifying the duration of the drill.The war games come as Iran struck an upbeat tone following the second round of Oman-mediated negotiations in Geneva on Tuesday. Previous talks between the two foes collapsed following the unprecedented Israeli strike on Iran in June 2025, which sparked a 12-day war that the United States briefly joined. US President Donald Trump has deployed a significant naval force in the region, which he has described as an “armada.” Iranian officials have repeatedly threatened to block the Strait of Hormuz, particularly during periods of tension with the United States, but it has never been closed. A key passageway for global shipments of oil and liquefied natural gas, the Strait of Hormuz has been the scene of several incidents in the past and has returned to the spotlight as pressure has ratcheted amid the US-Iran talks. Iran announced on Tuesday that it would partially close it for a few hours for “security” reasons during its own drills in the strait. Source link
Jerusalem Islamic Waqf reported that almost 60,000 worshipers flocked to Al-Aqsa Mosque and its compounds to perform Isha and Taraweeh prayers on the first day of the Holy month of Ramadan, amid tightened Israeli restrictions imposed on the gates and the mosque’s perimeter. It added that they came from various neighborhoods across occupied Jerusalem, as well as the 1948 lands, alongside a limited number of West Bank residents who had successfully crossed the military barricades surrounding the Holy City. According to local sources, occupation soldiers maximized restrictions on entry, preventing young people from approaching Al-Aqsa through the Gate of the Chain prior to Isha and Taraweeh prayers. Source link
The UN human rights chief expressed alarm yesterday following reports of more than 50 civilians being killed in drone strikes in Sudan in two days in the last week. At least 57 civilians were killed between Sunday and Monday, including at least 15 children, in separate drone attacks in four states across Sudan, according to the UN. UN human rights chief Volker Turk said the killings were a reminder of the devastating consequences of drone warfare in Sudan, with civilians and civilian infrastructure targeted. Some 28 civilians were killed on Sunday in an alleged Sudanese Armed Forces drone strike on Al Safiya market in Sudari locality, North Kordofan, the UN said. The next day 26 civilians were killed in West Kordofan in an alleged SAF drone strike at a displacement shelter in Al Sunut. Source link
Switzerland’s Foreign Minister Ignazio Cassis (R) shakes hands with Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi during a bilateral meeting between Switzerland and Iran, in Geneva, Switzerland on…
A Palestinian child died after stepping on a mine near an Israeli military camp in the occupied West Bank yesterday, the Palestinian Red Crescent said, with an Israeli defence ministry source confirming the death. “Our crews received the body of a 13-year-old child who was killed after a mine exploded in one of the old camps in Jiftlik in the northern Jordan Valley,” the Red Crescent said in a statement. A source at Cogat, the Israeli defence ministry’s agency in charge of civilian matters in Palestinian territories, confirmed the death to AFP and identified the boy as Mohammed Abu Dalah, from the village of Jiftlik. Israel’s military had previously said in a statement that three Palestinians were injured “as a result of playing with unexploded ordnance”, without specifying their ages. It added that the area of the incident, Tirzah, is “a military camp in the area of the Jordan Valley”, near the village of Jiftlik and close to the Jordanian border.“This area is a live-fire zone and entry into it is prohibited,” the military said. Israel has occupied the West Bank since 1967. The village of Jiftlik as well as the nearby Tirzah base are located in the Palestinian territory’s Area C, which falls under direct Israeli control. Much of the area around the nearby border with Jordan —which Israel signed a peace deal with in 1994 — remains mined. In January, Israel’s defence ministry said it had begun demining the border area as part of construction works for a new barrier it says aims to stem weapons smuggling. Source link
A man checks lamps displayed at a shop as Palestinians prepare for the holy fasting month of Ramadan in Jerusalem’s Old City. Palestinians walk through Jerusalem’s Old City as they prepare for the holy fasting month of Ramadan, yesterday. Source link
Administrator of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) Alexander De Croo affirmed that the scale of destruction in the Gaza Strip is unimaginable and that the human losses are immense. “Heavy, emotional day in Gaza. The scale of destruction is beyond imagination, the human toll immense. Yet the resilience of the Palestinian people is just as clear,” De Croo said on X platform.He added that the UNDP is on the ground assisting Palestinian people and helping to kick-start early recovery, noting that more needs to be done. The death toll from the Israeli aggression on the Gaza Strip has risen to 72,063 martyrs and 171,726 wounded since Oct. 7, 2023. Source link
The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has condemned the Israeli occupation authorities’ decision to register lands in the occupied West Bank as “state property” under their control, describing the move as an attempt to impose a new legal and administrative reality that undermines prospects for peace and stability in the region.In a statement issued Monday, the Saudi Ministry of Foreign Affairs affirmed that Israel has no sovereignty over the occupied Palestinian territories, stressing that such measures constitute a flagrant violation of international law and relevant international resolutions.The Ministry reiterated the Kingdom’s categorical rejection of these illegal practices, emphasizing that they undermine the two-state solution and represent an infringement on the legitimate rights of the brotherly Palestinian people to establish their independent and sovereign state along the June 4, 1967 borders, with East Jerusalem as its capital. Source link