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A recent photo shows Palestinian patients leaving the Doctors Without Borders clinic, in the Al-Rimal neighbourhood of Gaza City. International charity Doctors Without Borders or Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) yesterday condemned a “grave blow to humanitarian aid” after Israel revoked the status it needs to operate in Gaza for refusing to share Palestinian staff lists. Israel on Thursday confirmed it had banned access to the Gaza Strip to 37 foreign humanitarian organisations for refusing to share lists of their Palestinian employees.Doctors Without Borders (MSF), which has 1,200 staff members in the Palestinian territories, the majority of them in Gaza, said in a statement that “denying medical assistance to civilians is unacceptable under any circumstances”. The medical organisation argued that it had “legitimate concerns” over new Israeli requirements for foreign NGO registration, specifically the disclosing of personal information about Palestinian staff.It pointed to the fact that 15 MSF staff had been “killed by Israeli forces”, and that access to any given territory should not be conditional on staff list disclosure. “Demanding staff lists as a condition for access to territory is an outrageous overreach,” the charity said.MSF also denounced “the absence of any clarity about how such sensitive data will be used, stored, or shared”, charging that Israeli forces “have killed and wounded hundreds of thousands of civilians” in Gaza during the course of the war. It also charged that Israel had “manufactured shortages of basic necessities by blocking and delaying the entry of essential goods, including medical supplies”.Israel controls and regulates all entry points into Gaza, which is surrounded by a wall that began to be built in 2005. Felipe Ribero, MSF head of mission in the Palestinian territories, said that all of its operations were still ongoing in Gaza.“We are supposed to leave under 60 days, but we don’t know whether it will be three or 60 days” before Israeli authorities force MSF to leave, he said. Prominent humanitarian organisations hit by the Israeli ban include the Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC), World Vision International and Oxfam, according to an Israeli ministry list.The ban, which came into effect on December 31, 2025 at midnight, has triggered widespread international condemnation.Israel says the new regulation aims to prevent bodies it accuses of supporting fighters from operating in the Palestinian territories. MSF says it currently supports one in five hospital beds in Gaza and assists one in three mothers in the territory, and urged the Israeli authorities to meet to discuss the ban. Source link
Iran’s foreign minister denounced comments yesterday by Donald Trump as “reckless and dangerous” after the US president threatened to intervene on behalf of protesters taking to the streets in the Islamic republic.“Trump’s message today, likely influenced by those who fear diplomacy or mistakenly believe it is unnecessary, is reckless and dangerous,” Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi wrote on X, insisting the protests were mostly peaceful and pointing to the US leader’s own deployment of the National Guard in US cities. Earlier, US President Donald Trump threatened to come to the aid of protesters in Iran if security forces fire on them, Reuters reported.“We are locked and loaded and ready to go,” he said in a social media post. The US bombed Iranian nuclear facilities in June, joining an Israeli air campaign that targeted Tehran’s atomic programme and military leadership. Responding to Trump’s comments, top Iranian official Ali Larijani warned that US interference in domestic Iranian issues would amount to a destabilisation of the entire Middle East.The comments came as a local official in western Iran where several deaths were reported was cited by state media as warning that any unrest or illegal gatherings would be met “decisively and without leniency”. This week’s protests over soaring inflation are so far smaller than some previous bouts of unrest in Iran but have spread across the country, with deadly confrontations between demonstrators and security forces focused in western provinces. State-affiliated media and rights groups have reported at least six deaths since Wednesday, including one man who authorities said was a member of the Basij paramilitaryaffiliated with the elite Revolutionary Guards. Trump did not specify what sort of action the US could take in support of the protests. Washington has long imposed broad financial sanctions on Tehran, in particular since Trump’s first term when, in 2018, he pulled the US out of Iran’s nuclear deal with world powers and declared a “maximum pressure” campaign against Tehran. US presidents have been wary of engaging militarily in Iran, but in June, Trump ordered airstrikes against Iranian nuclear facilities. Trump at the time ruled out sending any ground force into the Islamic Republic.State television also reported the arrest of an unspecified number of people in another western city, Kermanshah, accused of manufacturing petrol bombs and homemade pistols.The deaths acknowledged by official or semi-official Iranian media have been in the small western cities of Lordegan and Kuhdasht. Hengaw also reported that a man was killed in Fars province in central Iran, though state news sites denied this. Source link
The coastline retreats by up to 7 metres each year, according to a government report. Turquoise waves splash against the white sand beaches of the Bijagos archipelago, where locals fear rising sea levels will swallow their islands whole.Off the Atlantic coast of tropical Guinea-Bissau, the Unesco World Heritage Site is home to colonies of sea turtles, hippos, sharks, manatees, and nearly 850,000 migratory birds.The archipelago hosts several sacred sites as well as artisanal fisheries relied upon by some 25,000 inhabitants. Made up of 88 islands and islets — of which only about 20 are permanently inhabited — the archipelago stretches more than 10,000 square kilometres.“Every year, we lose up to 2 metres of the beach,” said Antonio Honoria Joao, administrative assistant and community organiser at Guinea-Bissau’s Institute for Biodiversity and Protected Marine Areas (IBAP). He was in Bubaque, one of the archipelago’s most populated islands with nearly 5,000 inhabitants. Joao said the island was “in danger”.“Fifty years ago, the beach was very wide,” he said, strolling along the sliver of remaining shoreline littered with wrecked canoes and collapsed sections of wall. The coastline retreats by up to 7 metres each year,…
The Government Media Office in the Gaza Strip stated that 2025 witnessed a near-total collapse of the humanitarian and health systems in the Strip as a result of the direct and deliberate targeting by the Israeli occupation of all aspects of life during its campaign of genocide. The office said in a press conference Thursday that the Israeli occupation forces targeted hospitals and medical personnel, schools and universities, mosques and places of worship, shelters and centers for displaced persons, ambulance teams, civil defense, and journalists, in addition to systematic policies preventing the entry of food, medicine, and fuel. This led to the deaths of thousands of children, women, and elderly people, and threatened the lives of hundreds of thousands with hunger and disease. It emphasized that the Palestinian people in Gaza enter 2026 burdened with deep wounds and accumulated suffering, the result of one of the most heinous acts of genocide in modern history, perpetrated by the Israeli occupation and lasting for two consecutive years, amidst widespread aggression, a suffocating siege, systematic starvation, and the complete destruction of all aspects of life. The office noted that 2025 was exceptionally harsh on Palestinians, with more than 2.4 million people subjected to policies of systematic killing, ethnic cleansing, and forced starvation. The occupation forces reduced the cities and towns of the Gaza Strip to rubble, destroying infrastructure on an unprecedented scale and razing entire residential neighborhoods, forcibly displacing more than two million people. It also highlighted the deaths of more than 71,000 Palestinians who reached hospitals, in addition to more than 171,000 wounded and injured, and the presence of approximately 9,500 missing persons under the rubble and destroyed buildings, all in full view of the international community. The government office stressed that, as 2026 begins, the next phase must be one of ending the aggression and genocide, and a serious transition towards comprehensive humanitarian recovery. This includes the reconstruction of the Gaza Strip on just and sustainable foundations that guarantee the dignity of the Palestinian people and their right to a safe and dignified life. It emphasized that urgent priorities also include ending the siege, a complete withdrawal from the Gaza Strip, the full and permanent opening of all crossings for humanitarian aid, relief supplies, fuel, and medical materials, and ensuring the freedom of movement of citizens without restrictions. It called for launching a genuine reconstruction process that includes rebuilding homes, infrastructure, health, educational, and service facilities; supporting the devastated health sector; enabling relief organizations to carry out their work; securing the basic needs of displaced persons; and guaranteeing their safe and dignified return to their homes. The office concluded by emphasizing the need to hold the Israeli occupation accountable for its crimes under international law and to end its policy of impunity. It reiterated its call to the leaders of the Arab and Islamic world, the international community, the United Nations, and all humanitarian and human rights organizations to take urgent and effective action to end the suffering and put a stop to the ongoing crimes against the Palestinian people in the Gaza Strip. Source link
A Palestinian man has died and five others have been injured after a fire broke out in a tent housing displaced people in Gaza City, Palestinian officials said.In a separate incident, a young girl was killed in another tent fire at Nuseirat refugee camp in the central Gaza Strip.According to the Palestinian news agency, the first fire erupted inside a displacement tent set up at Yarmouk Stadium in Gaza City. One person was killed and five others suffered varying degrees of burns. The injured were taken to hospital for treatment. Wafa added that the second incident involved a child who was living in a tent at Nuseirat camp. The fire reportedly broke out under similar circumstances linked to prevailing weather conditions. The UN agency for Palestinian refugees, UNRWA, said earlier this week that around 235,000 people in Gaza were affected by severe weather conditions between December 10 and 17, after a storm known as Byron caused building collapses and damage to displacement shelters. Since the onset of winter weather in December, at least 18 Palestinians, including four children, have died in weather-related incidents, according to Palestinian sources. About 90 percent of displacement shelters have reportedly been flooded, affecting families whose homes were destroyed during the conflict. Source link
Health authorities in the Democratic Republic of Congo said that there was a noticeable decrease in the number of monkeypox cases recently. They said that the weekly number of new cases declined from 2,000 a week at the outset of the outbreak, to the current pace of between 250 to 300 cases a week Source link
The Executive Committee of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) has convened an extraordinary meeting at its headquarters in Jeddah to discuss the situation in Somalia, following Israel’s announcement recognizing the self-declared region of Somaliland as an independent state. In remarks delivered on his behalf by Assistant Secretary-General for Political Affairs Yousef Al Dubaie, OIC Secretary-General Hissein Brahim Taha stressed that the unity, sovereignty, and territorial integrity of the Federal Republic of Somalia remain a firm and fundamental principle that allows no compromise or concession. He said the meeting comes at a critical moment, as Somalia faces complex challenges affecting its security, stability, and sovereignty, underscoring the collective responsibility to intensify efforts, close ranks, and stand united in support of the Somali federal government. The OIC reaffirmed its full and unwavering support for Somalia, emphasizing the country’s inalienable right to preserve its national unity, sovereignty, and territorial integrity. The organization also reiterated its categorical rejection of any attempts to impose a new political reality that could undermine regional stability and threaten security in the Horn of Africa. Source link
People walk past closed shops, following protests over a plunge in the currency’s value, in the Tehran Grand Bazaar in Tehran. – Reuters Protesters and security forces clashed in three Iranian cities Thursday, with six people reported killed, the first deaths since the cost-of-living demonstrations broke out.The protests began on Sunday in Tehran, where shopkeepers went on strike over high prices and economic stagnation, and have since spread to other parts of the country.Thursday Iran’s Fars news agency reported two people killed in clashes between security forces and protesters in the city of Lordegan, in the province of Chaharmahal and Bakhtiari, and three in Azna, in neighbouring Lorestan province.”Some protesters began throwing stones at the city’s administrative buildings, including the provincial governor’s office, the mosque, the Martyrs’ Foundation, the town hall and banks,” Fars said of Lordegan, adding police responded with tear gas.”The rioters entered the police headquarters around 1800 (local time) on Thursday… they clashed with police forces and set fire to several police cars,” Fars reported.Fars reported that the buildings were “severely damaged” and that police arrested several people described as “ringleaders”.In Azna, Fars said “rioters took advantage of a protest gathering… to attack a police commissariat”.During previous protest movements, state media has labelled demonstrators “rioters”.Earlier Thursday, state television reported that a member of Iran’s security forces was killed overnight during protests in the western city of Kouhdasht.”A 21-year-old member of the Basij from the city of Kouhdasht was killed last night by rioters while defending public order,” the channel said, citing Said Pourali, the deputy governor of Lorestan Province.The Basij are a volunteer paramilitary force linked to Iran’s Revolutionary Guards, the ideological arm of the Islamic republic.Pourali said that “during the demonstrations in Kouhdasht, 13 police officers and Basij members were injured by stone throwing”.The demonstrations are smaller than the last major outbreak of unrest in 2022, which left several hundred people dead, including dozens of members of the security forces.The latest protests began peacefully in the capital and spread after students from at least 10 universities joined in on Tuesday.Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian has sought to calm tensions, acknowledging protesters’ “legitimate demands”, and called Thursday on the government to take action to improve the economic situation.”From an Islamic perspective… if we do not resolve the issue of people’s livelihoods, we will end up in hell,” Pezeshkian said at an event broadcast on state television.Authorities, however, have also promised to take a “firm” stance, and have warned against exploiting the situation to sow chaos.Local media coverage of the demonstrations has varied, with some outlets focusing on economic difficulties, and others on incidents caused by “troublemakers”.Iran is in the middle of an extended weekend, with the authorities declaring Wednesday a bank holiday at the last minute, citing the need to save energy during the cold weather.They made no official link to the protests.The weekend in Iran begins on Thursday, and Saturday is a long-standing national holiday.Iran’s prosecutor-general said on Wednesday that peaceful economic protests were legitimate, but any attempt to create insecurity would be met with a “decisive response”.”Any attempt to turn economic protests into a tool of insecurity, destruction of public property, or implementation of externally designed scenarios will inevitably be met with a legal, proportionate and decisive response.”The national currency, the rial, has lost more than a third of its value against the US dollar over the past year, while double-digit hyperinflation has been undermining Iranians’ purchasing power for years.The inflation rate in December was 52% year-on-year, according to the Statistical Centre of Iran, an official body.Iran’s economy has been struggling for years, chiefly because of US and Western sanctions over Tehran’s nuclear programme.Regional tensions led to a 12-day air war with Israel in June, further straining the country’s finances. Related Story…
Dozens of settlers stormed the courtyards of Al Aqsa Mosque on Thursday under the protection of the Israeli occupation police.Sources in Jerusalem said that groups of settlers stormed Al Aqsa Mosque in the morning through the Mughrabi Gate, under the protection of the occupation police, carrying out provocative tours in the mosque's courtyards, during which they performed public Talmudic rituals.Settler groups continue their daily incursions into Al Aqsa Mosque, except on Fridays and Saturdays, in two periods, morning and evening, as part of ongoing attempts to impose a temporal and spatial division of the mosque.2025 ended in Jerusalem with a widespread escalation in Israeli occupation violations that affected both people and places, with December being one of the most dangerous months, especially in terms of demolition operations and attacks on Al Aqsa Mosque and Jerusalemites. Source link
The Israeli occupation forces arrested 50 Palestinians, most of them former prisoners, during a large-scale campaign of arrests and field investigations in the occupied West Bank and Jerusalem.In a statement on Thursday, the Palestinian Prisoners Club said that the arrest campaign has continued since dawn today, with arrests and field investigations concentrated in the Ramallah, while the rest of the arrests were distributed across Hebron, Tubas, Tulkarm, Nablus, Jenin, and Jerusalem.The club added that the arrests were accompanied by widespread raids and abuse, attacks against the detainees and their families, as well as widespread acts of sabotage and destruction in the homes of Palestinians.The club pointed out that the occupation has adopted a number of policies in the various areas it raids, and the key to these policies is the systematic field investigation that has affected dozens of families in all governorates.The number of arrests during 2025 reached more than 7,000 in the West Bank, including Jerusalem, in addition to the field investigations that affected thousands, while about 21,000 arrests were recorded since Oct. 7, 2023, without including arrests from Gaza, which are estimated to be in the thousands. Related Story Source link