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A Palestinian was martyred and six others were wounded as a result of gunfire and raids carried out by the Israeli occupation army in the southern Gaza Strip on Monday.Medical sources reported the martyrdom of a Palestinian by Israeli occupation forces in the Al-Mawasi area west of Rafah, south of the Gaza Strip.The sources pointed out that five Palestinians were wounded, one of them in critical condition, from shelling by an Israeli drone strike west of Khan Younis in southern Gaza, while a sixth Palestinian was wounded by Israeli gunfire in Al-Qassam Street in the center of the city.Israeli vehicles fired east of the city amid continuous artillery shelling, while occupation fire hit the tents of the displaced in the area of the Austrian cemetery, west of Khan Younis. Israeli occupation boats also fired towards the shore of the Rafah Sea, south of the Strip.The number of victims of the Israeli occupation’s aggression on the Gaza Strip has risen since October 7, 2023, to 73,786 martyrs and 174,771 wounded. Source link
The Palestinian Commission of Detainees and Ex-Detainees Affairs (PCDEA) warned Sunday of the ongoing abuses against inmates languishing inside the Israeli occupation’s jails.In a statement, PCDEA stressed that those Palestinian inmates are plagued by complex living and health conditions amid persistent vengeance policies against them, thus aggravating their travails and threatening their lives. Three prisoners there are suffering from deteriorating health conditions in Ofer Prison, the statement cautioned, clarifying that among them is an elderly inmate who is reeling from chronic illnesses and traces of bruises he seemed to have incurred during his detention. The statement warned that those prisoners are sorely in need of medical treatment, as patients are deprived of receiving medication, coupled with the proliferation of cutaneous diseases that pose a threat to their health. Those inmates are deprived of sanitation tools, alongside numerous other punitive actions, the statement continued, calling for urgent intervention to provide essential medical care, particularly to patients and elderly inmates. The commission stressed that assaults and medical negligence must stop, indicating that humanitarian conditions should be improved inside these jails to ensure their rights are protected based on international and humanitarian rules and standards. At the end of last February, the Palestinian Prisoners’ Club said the aforementioned prison had been mired in Israeli repression and starvation policies, stressing that the Israeli occupation had pursued novel repression techniques, including weapons that cause burns to the body. Source link
Saudi Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Eng. Waleed bin Abdulkarim Al Khereiji has met in Riyadh with European Union Special Representative for the Gulf Region Luigi Di Maio.The meeting discussed the latest regional and international developments of mutual interest. Source link
In the markets of old Dubai, saffron, cumin, pistachios and almonds from Iran still fill the stalls, as if the two shores of the Gulf were not separated by war.Last month, the United Arab Emirates announced the suspension of trade and financial exchanges with Tehran, which has responded to American attacks by targeting the US-allied country and tightening its grip on the strategic Strait of Hormuz.But in old Dubai, where Iranian merchants are firmly established, they do not believe there will be a break in the ties forged over decades between the UAE's financial hub and southern Iran.Since the start of the war, certain Iranian products have become scarcer, and others have seen their prices soar, says Morteza Asaadi, who runs the grocery store his father founded in 1963. Most traditional foodstuffs, such as nuts or zereshk — small red berries used in Persian cuisine — remain available, however.’It's just coming. How? I don't know, but it's coming,’ he said.Two wholesalers interviewed by AFP on condition of anonymity said they are still sourcing from Iran, notably via Omani ports. ‘We can't export from the Emirates anymore, but we can still bring in certain goods,’ one of them said.In Yasser's saffron shop, the precious spice arrives by air from Mashhad, in northeastern Iran, thanks to the resumption of air links after a brief interruption.- Dubai's Iranian community Dubai is home to a large Iranian community, estimated at several hundred thousand people, which has contributed to the emirate's commercial development and weathered the various periods of tension with Tehran.After the US tightened its sanctions against the Islamic republic in 2012, ‘those in Dubai managed to convince their partners in Abu Dhabi that the trade, regardless of the sanctions, needed to continue because it was contributing to the UAE economy,’ Mehran Haghirian of the London-based Bourse & Bazaar Foundation think tank told AFP. In 2024, the UAE was the main entry point for goods into Iran, accounting for more than 30 percent of imports, worth $21 billion. It was also Iran's third-largest customer, absorbing nearly 12 percent of its exports, worth more than $7 billion, according to the World Trade Organization. Dubai is an important financial hub for Iranian businesses, with Washington accusing it of being a key node in financial networks used to circumvent sanctions. As part of its policy of economic pressure on Iran, the United States announced new measures at the end of August targeting Iran's trading partners, and sanctioned the director of the Dubai branch of Iran's Bank Melli. Source link
Houthis tighten grip on Red Sea shippingSaudi Arabia has shut down its East-West pipeline, after the vital oil conduit came under aerial attack in the widening Middle East war, threatening to send energy prices even higher. The world’s largest crude oil exporter said it temporarily closed the pipeline as a precaution after a drone attack that both Baghdad and Riyadh said had originated in Iraq, where Iranian-backed militias operate. Iraq dismissed a military commander yesterday in response to the attack. The 1,200km pipeline running across the Arabian Peninsula has served as the main route out for global supplies of Middle East oil for the past six months while the Strait of Hormuz has been largely shut by war. It has been moving 4-5mn barrels per day, amounting to 4-5% of global supply, sparing Saudi Arabia the brunt of the disruption that has crippled other Gulf oil and gas exporters. There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the strikes. Satellite images showed black smoke rising from an area of the pipeline south of Medina. The attack resulted in some injuries and damage that was being assessed, the Saudi Foreign Ministry said without detailing the impact on exports. US President Donald Trump, visiting Ireland to attend a golf tournament at one of his resorts, said Iran was probably to blame. Oil prices shot up over the past week and the retail price of diesel in the United States surged past a record $6 a gallon, as the United States and Iran both fired on tankers and the Iran-aligned Houthis in Yemenadvanced along the Red Sea, potentially extending disruption to another major oil route. Washington now faces a dilemma over whether to help the Saudis fight the Houthis, risking further expansion of the war. Source link
An Israeli airstrike on Sunday killed at least two Palestinians in a vehicle and wounded 13 others in the Gaza Strip, medical staff said.The strike in the Tel Al-Hawa neighbourhood in western Gaza City, left the vehicle mangled, according to footage circulated on social media. Local medical staff told Reuters that they urged people to provide information that could help identify the two people who were killed and whose bodies were dismembered by the explosion. The Israeli military said the strike targeted two Hamas leaders without giving further information. Source link
Two Palestinians were martyred and several others injured in an Israeli airstrike on Gaza City.The Palestinian Red Crescent Society reported that two Palestinians were martyred and 13 others injured when an Israeli drone strike targeted a civilian vehicle on Al-Quds Street in Tal Al-Hawa neighbourhood, southwest of Gaza.A girl was injured by Israeli army gunfire in Beit Lahia in the northern Gaza Strip. Israeli helicopters opened fire northeast of central Gaza, while Israeli artillery shelled areas south of Khan Younis in southern Gaza.Israeli military vehicles opened fire east of Al-Tuffah neighborhood in eastern Gaza, while Israeli warships fired toward the city’s coastline.The overall death toll from Israel’s genocidal war on the Gaza Strip since October 7, 2023, has risen to 73,783, with 174,738 others injured. Source link
An understanding between Iran and Oman establishes a basis for reopening the Strait of Hormuz but does not provide for its immediate reopening, an Iranian source told the semi-official Tasnim news agency Saturday, as Tehran prepared for talks with Gulf states.The source said the arrangement would be a step towards Iran exercising sovereignty over the strait and that reopening depended entirely on the United States meeting Tehran’s conditions.Separately, a senior Iranian official said a meeting planned for Monday in Oman would offer an opportunity to discuss the blockaded waterway and other regional issues, but was not expected to produce a signed agreement on Hormuz.Iran has been negotiating for months with Oman, which controls the opposite bank of the strait, over an arrangement governing shipping through it. Oman has long said the negotiations have the support of other Gulf Arab countries.Tehran announced on Friday that it planned to attend Monday’s meeting. Oman has not officially announced the gathering, while other regional states have largely remained silent. Bahrain said Saturday it would not attend meetings with Iran.The senior Iranian official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the meeting had been called at Oman’s initiative.Iran still seeks an agreement allowing it to collect fees from ships using the strait, a proposal Oman rejects, the official said.About a fifth of global oil supplies passed through Hormuz before the United States and Israel attacked Iran in February, launching the war.Global oil prices have surged over the past week after US and Iranian forces both fired on tankers in the strait. Iran’s Houthi allies in Yemen have also advanced near another crucial oil shipping route, the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, on the opposite side of the Arabian Peninsula. Related Story Source link
Kuwait has strongly condemned the targeting of a pipeline in Saudi Arabia’s Riyadh and Madinah regions by drones launched from Iraqi territory, resulting in injuries and material damage.In a statement issued Saturday, Kuwait’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs described the attacks as a blatant violation of the Kingdom’s sovereignty and a breach of international law and international humanitarian law, as well as a threat to the security of energy supplies.The Ministry said the attacks constituted a dangerous escalation that could undermine the security and stability of the region, stressing the importance of the Iraqi government taking the necessary measures to ensure that its territory is not used as a launch point for such attacks and working to halt them and prevent their recurrence.The Ministry reiterated Kuwait’s full solidarity with Saudi Arabia and its support for all measures taken by the Kingdom to safeguard its sovereignty, security, stability and interests. Related Story Source link
The Sultanate of Oman has condemned the targeting of a pipeline in Saudi Arabia’s Riyadh and Madinah regions, reaffirming its firm rejection of such attacks and the targeting of vital and civilian facilities, regardless of their motives or circumstances.In a statement issued Saturday, Oman’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs renewed the Sultanate’s solidarity with Saudi Arabia and its support for all measures aimed at protecting its territory and vital facilities and safeguarding its security and stability.The ministry stressed the need to respect the sovereignty and territorial integrity of states and avoid anything that could threaten the security and stability of the region. It called on all parties to exercise wisdom and restraint in dealing with these developments, prioritize dialogue and address their underlying causes through political and diplomatic means. Related Story Source link