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People attend the funeral of the security forces who were killed in the protests that erupted over the collapse of the currency’s value in Tehran, Iran,…
A displaced Palestinian woman sits near damaged tents, amid a windstorm, in Gaza City, Tuesday. A rainstorm swept across the Gaza Strip Tuesday, flooding hundreds of tents, collapsing homes sheltering families displaced by two years of war and killing at least six people, local health officials said.Medics said five people, including two women and a girl, died when homes collapsed near Gaza City’s beach, while a one-year-old boy died of extreme cold in a tent in Deir Al-Balah in central Gaza.Tents were torn from their stakes, some flying dozens of meters before crashing to the ground. Others lay crumpled in muddy pools as families scrambled to salvage what they could. Residents tried to resecure remaining shelters, hammering in loosened pegs and stacking sandbags around the edges to keep floodwaters from pouring inside.”We didn’t realise what was happening until the wall started collapsing – an eight-metre-high wall, a strong concrete wall. Because of the speed and force of the wind, the wall fell on top of us, onto three tents,” said Bassel Hamuda, a displaced man in Gaza.”The elderly man, 73 years old, was martyred. His son’s wife was killed, and his son’s daughter was killed,” he said.Three months since a ceasefire halted major combat, Israeli forces have ordered the near-total depopulation of nearly two thirds of Gaza, forcing its more than 2mn people into a narrow strip near the coast where most live either in makeshift tents or damaged buildings.Dozens of relatives gathered at a hospital morgue Tuesday for special prayers over bodies laid on medical stretchers before the funerals.The Hamas-run Gaza government media office said at least 31 Palestinians had died since the start of the winter season from exposure to cold or the collapse of unsafe buildings damaged by previous Israeli strikes.It said about 7,000 tents were damaged in the past 48 hours, most of whose occupants have no alternative shelter.Municipal and civil defence officials said they were unable to cope with the storm because of fuel shortages and damaged equipment. During the war Israel had destroyed hundreds of vehicles needed to respond to the weather emergency, including bulldozers and water pumps.In December, a UN report said 761 displacement sites hosting about 850,000 people were at high risk of flooding, and thousands had moved in anticipation of heavy rain.UN and Palestinian officials said at least 300,000 new tents were urgently needed for the roughly 1.5mn people still displaced. Related Story Source link
Eighteen people were killed and more than 30 are missing due to a landslide in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), triggered by heavy rains. Local authorities said the landslide occurred in the village of Burutsi in North Kivu province, eastern Congo.They noted that the landslide happened after several hours of torrential rain, cutting off the main road between the main city of Goma and the provincial capital, Walikale. Local officials said they have requested assistance from the government, but the road closure to Goma has hampered the government’s ability to respond quickly, and rocks and mud have hampered the search for survivors. Source link
Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan and his Iranian counterpart, Abbas Araghchi, discussed the latest regional developments in a phone call today. During the call, both ministers emphasized the need to de-escalate regional tensions, particularly the recent developments in Iran, and stressed the importance of negotiations to defuse tensions in the region. Source link
The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) said that over 100 children have been killed in the Gaza Strip since the October ceasefire, including victims of Israeli drone and helicopter attacks. UNICEF spokesperson James Elder said in a UN media briefing via video from Gaza that “more than 100 children have been killed in Gaza since the ceasefire of early October. That is roughly one girl or boy killed every day during a ceasefire”. Referring to the ongoing Israeli bombardment of the Gaza Strip, he added that “life in Gaza remains suffocating. Survival is still conditional. Whilst the bombings and shooting have slowed during the ceasefire, they have not stopped”. Elder said that nearly all the deaths of the 60 boys and 40 girls resulted from Israeli military attacks; including airstrikes, drone attacks, tank shelling, gunfire, and quadcopter drone attacks, with a few being the result of exploding war remnants. This figure is likely an underestimate, since it is based only on deaths for which sufficient information was available, he noted. According to the latest official statistics, the death toll from the Israeli aggression on the Gaza Strip since Oct. 7, 2023, has risen to 71,424 martyrs and 171,324 injured. ( Source link
The Civil Defense in Gaza announced the deaths of four Palestinians due to partial collapses of buildings and homes already damaged by Israeli airstrikes on the Gaza Strip, coinciding with the arrival of a new weather system.The spokesman for the Civil Defense in Gaza, Mahmoud Basal, reported the deaths of three Palestinians – an elderly man, a woman, and a child – when a wall of a house damaged by previous Israeli shelling and walls of a site used as a shelter for displaced people in Gaza City collapsed. Another Palestinian woman was killed when a wall of a house damaged by previous Israeli shelling collapsed in the vicinity of Al-Thawra Street, west of Gaza City, due to the stormy weather. Strong winds and heavy rain caused the remains of several houses to collapse, while a tent belonging to displaced people fell from the roof of the Deir al-Balah municipality building in the central Gaza Strip, resulting in injuries. The winds also tore down tents belonging to displaced people in AlMawasi area of ​​Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip, exacerbating the humanitarian crisis in that region. A major storm system is hitting the Gaza Strip, with heavy rains accompanied by strong winds, which have caused the tents of displaced people in the Strip to be blown away, amid harsh humanitarian conditions, as a result of the siege and the Israeli occupationâ€s refusal to allow the entry of relief, shelter and reconstruction materials. Several residential buildings, which were inhabited by displaced people and were on the verge of collapse due to previous shelling by the occupation army, have collapsed since the beginning of winter, claiming the lives of more than 20 Palestinians, including children and women. Residents of the Gaza Strip, and the displaced people in tents in particular, have been facing a serious humanitarian disaster and tragedy since the war of genocide on Gaza, amid a lack of shelter supplies and the occupationâ€s prevention of their entry, and deteriorating living conditions, which h Source link
The Israeli entity continued its attacks on southern Lebanon on Monday. Field sources said that an Israeli drone was found to have crashed in Al Bayada, while a tank targeted the vicinity of a house on the outskirts of the town of Aitaroun with two shells.The Israeli entity’s artillery also fired flares into the skies of Aita Al Shaab. On Nov. 27, 2024, a ceasefire agreement in southern Lebanon came into effect, stipulating the withdrawal of Israeli forces from border villages and towns in southern Lebanon within 60 days. Subsequently, the Lebanese government agreed to extend the deadline until Feb. 18, 2020. However, Israeli forces remained in five locations and continue their violations, which have exceeded 7,000 aerial incursions and more than 2,400 military activities in the area of operations of UNIFIL forces in southern Lebanon. Source link
Egyptian Minister of Culture Dr. Ahmed Fouad Henno announced that the State of Qatar has been chosen as the guest of honor at the Cairo International Book Fair in 2027, noting that this selection is part of the Egypt-Qatar Year of Culture. This was unveiled during a press conference held by the Egyptian Minister of Culture to announce the events of the 57th Cairo International Book Fair, which will take place from January 21 to February 3. Henno announced that the upcoming edition of the fair will feature 1,457 publishing houses from 83 countries, totaling 6,637 exhibitors. The large participation of publishing houses in the fair reflects its established international standing, he said, pointing out that it also includes a cultural and intellectual program of 400 events, 100 book signings, and 120 artistic events, with the participation of 170 Arab and international guests and more than 1,500 intellectuals and artists. He noted that Romania is the guest of honor at this year’s exhibition, bringing with it a rich cultural program. In January 2025, the Egyptian Ministry of Culture announced that Qatar had been chosen as the guest of honor for the 58th Cairo International Book Fair, scheduled for 2027. During the press conference, Egyptian Minister of Culture Dr. Ahmed Henno stated that Romania had been selected as the guest of honor for the 57th edition in 2026, and Qatar for the 58th edition in 2027. Source link
Unrest in Iran has killed more than 500 people, a rights group said yesterday, as Tehran threatened to target US military bases if President Donald Trump carries out threats to intervene on behalf of protesters, With the nation’s establishment facing the biggest demonstrations since 2022, Trump has repeatedly threatened to intervene if force is used on protesters. According to its latest figures – from activists inside and outside Iran – US-based rights group HRANA said it had verified the deaths of 490 protesters and 48 security personnel, with more than 10,600 people arrested in two weeks of unrest. Iran has not given an official toll and Reuters was unable to independently verify the tolls. Trump was to be briefed by his officials on Tuesday on options over Iran including military strikes, using secret cyber weapons, widening sanctions and providing online help to anti-government sources, the Wall Street Journal said yesterday. Iranian Parliament Speaker Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf warned Washington against “a miscalculation”. “Let us be clear: in the case of an attack on Iran, the occupied territories (Israel) as well as all US bases and ships will be our legitimate target,” said Qalibaf, a former commander in Iran’s elite Revolutionary Guards. The protests began on December 28 in response to soaring prices, before turning against the rulers who have governed since the 1979 Revolution. Source link
Mourners hug each other during the funeral of Palestinians who, according to medics, were killed in an Israeli strike yesterday, at Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis,…