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Forums - Politics - Israel-Hamas war, Gaza genocide

SvennoJ on 24 December 2024

Israeli forces bombed another Gaza aid convoy on Sunday, UN says

Stephanie Tremblay, a spokesperson for the UN, says Israeli forces carried out an air strike on a World Food Programme (WFP) convoy in Gaza on December 22, and that at least 23 of the trucks were plundered.

Tremblay said the 66-truck convoy, which departed the Karem Abu Salem, or Kerem Shalom, crossing via the recently approved Philadelphi Corridor, was carrying food and non-food items to central Gaza.

“Despite assurances from Israeli authorities that safety conditions would be in place, an air strike occurred.  The first 35 trucks of the convoy proceeded to their destination, reaching the warehouse without losses,” the spokeswoman said.

“However, the second half of the convoy was delayed by the [Israeli military].  News of the convoy’s movement spread, exposing them to looting along the route. Ultimately, out of the 66 trucks, only 43 successfully reached the warehouse, while the remaining 23 were lost to looting.”

Earlier, we reported that Israeli forces bombed another aid convoy in central Gaza on Monday, killing four guards and wounding three others.

ICJ to rule on Israel’s aid obligations to Palestinians

The International Court of Justice says it has received a request from the UN General Assembly for an advisory opinion on Israel’s obligations to facilitate aid provided to the Palestinian people by UN agencies, other global groups and third states.

The statement comes after the General Assembly voted on Thursday to seek urgent clarification on the matter following Israel’s decision to ban the UN’s Palestinian refugee agency (UNRWA) as well as its obstruction of the work of other humanitarian groups in Gaza.

Some 137 countries voted in favour of the Norway-drafted resolution, while Israel, the US and 10 other countries voted against it.


Thousands queue for ‘very scarce’ food for hours on end in Khan Younis: UNRWA

The UN agency for Palestine refugees (UNRWA) says “thousands of displaced people queue for food for hours on end” in Khan Younis, southern Gaza.

“With supplies very scarce, many of them leave empty-handed,” UNRWA said on X. “Time is running out, while the needs continue to increase quickly and massively,” it added, calling for an immediate ceasefire.



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SvennoJ on 24 December 2024

Delivering aid to Gaza ‘has become almost impossible’, UN relief chief says

Tom Fletcher, who heads the UN’s humanitarian agency (OCHA), has urged governments to  “break the cycle of violence” and “defend humanitarian law” in Gaza and the occupied West Bank.

The UN official made the comments after visiting Jordan, Syria and Lebanon to meet aid teams, including those working in the occupied Palestinian territory. He condemned the “sustained intensity” of Israel’s violence in Gaza, saying that there is nowhere safe for civilians in the Strip, with schools, hospitals and civilian infrastructure reduced to rubble.

“We deal with tough places to deliver humanitarian support. But Gaza is currently the most dangerous, in a year when more humanitarians have been killed than any on record,” Fletcher said.

“As a result, despite the massive humanitarian needs, it has become almost impossible to deliver even a fraction of the aid that is so urgently required. The Israeli authorities continue to deny us meaningful access – over 100 requests to access North Gaza were denied since 6 October. We are also now seeing the breakdown of law and order and the systematic armed looting of our supplies by local gangs.”

The statement came amid reports of a deadly Israeli attack on an aid convoy in Gaza on Monday as well as the looting of a WFP convoy on Sunday.


Medical aid among supplies looted in Gaza

The International Medical Corps says medical supplies that were meant for field hospitals in Gaza were among the aid that was taken.

“Of the 150 pallets that International Medical Corps was transporting in the convoy, 111 were looted, while 39 made it to the destination undisturbed,” it said in a statement.


Israel deliberately attacks security guarding humanitarian, commercial trucks across Gaza

There are deliberate attacks across Gaza when it comes to the delivery of humanitarian trucks, commercial trucks to a designated point.

The Israeli military targets every mission to deliver aid in a way consistent with our reports over the past few months, where looting started to take place and the looters are heavily protected by the Israeli military.

Drones are hovering at a very low level in these areas of Salah al-Din Street, where trucks are taking the route to deliver aid.

Looters gather around these trucks, try to hijack them, take them elsewhere and as soon as the guards intervene to prevent this from happening, the drone fires its missiles, killing the security guards who are protecting and securing trucks.

Close to 30 of these security guards have been killed in the past months and it’s causing disruption in the delivery of aid mechanism that has already been broken since the beginning of this genocidal war.


Israel provides full support for theft of aid in Gaza: Media Office

The Gaza Government Media Office says in a statement on Telegram that Israel provides full support for the theft of aid and kills security personnel to starve civilians.

Israel has killed 723 policemen and aid security personnel since the beginning of the genocide in Gaza on October 7 last year, according to the latest statistics published by the office.

The army often targets policemen guarding aid shipments, followed by attacks by protected armed gangs, and steals humanitarian aid as part of the starvation war imposed by Israel as collective punishment on the residents of Gaza.

“We condemn in the strongest terms the crimes committed by the Israeli occupation,” it said. The statement added: “We call on the international community, the United Nations, and human rights and humanitarian organisations to intervene urgently and pressure the Israeli occupation to ensure the flow of aid without any obstacles.”



SvennoJ on 24 December 2024

Rights group slams Israeli attacks on Kamal Adwan

The Palestinian Centre for Human Rights (PCHR) says that attacks on the hospital show that “genocide persists” in Gaza.

“The hospital has been targeted over 20 times in recent days by drone attacks, artillery shelling, and gunfire, causing severe damage, including the burning of [the] ICU, and injuring 20 individuals, including patients and medical staff,” PCHR said in a statement.

The group called for “immediate action to protect patients and medical personnel and to ensure the ongoing operation of the hospital in an area where thousands of residents and [displaced people] face bombardment, starvation, and deprivation of healthcare and humanitarian services”.

It also noted that the attack on the hospital was part of Israel’s “most ferocious” military offensive in northern Gaza since October 5, where “entire neighbourhoods have been wiped out” and “hundreds detained”.



Israel’s attacks on Kamal Adwan Hospital

Israeli forces have been attacking the medical facility on a near-daily basis since launching their siege on northern Gaza on October 6.

Here are some of the worst attacks:

  • December 23: Israeli forces detonated explosives near Kamal Adwan, wounding at least 20 patients and medical staff.
  • December 12: Israeli forces killed Dr Saeed Judeh, the last orthopaedic doctor in North Gaza, while he was en route from Kamal Adwan to the nearby al-Awda Hospital. On the same day, a nurse was killed while travelling to Kamal Adwan.
  • December 3-7: Israeli bombing and shelling killed seven people, including four medics and a 16-year-old boy who was in a wheelchair. The hospital’s oxygen supplies and water and fuel tanks were also damaged.
  • November 29: Israeli drone killed Dr Ahmed Al-Kahlout, the director of the hospital’s ICU, as he passed through the gate of the facility.
  • November 23: Israeli attacks wounded Dr Hossam Abu Safia, the hospital’s director.
  • November 21: Israeli attacks wounded four medical staff and two patient companions at Kamal Adwan. The hospital’s electricity generator, and its oxygen and water supply networks, were also disrupted.
  • November 13: Six Palestinians were killed and others wounded in an Israeli attack on the hospital’s gate.
  • November 3: An Israeli attack hit the third floor of the hospital, wounding six hospitalised children and damaging its water tanks.
  • October 25-26: Israeli forces raided Kamal Adwan and detained dozens of people. Of the hospital’s 70-member team, 44 male staff were detained, including an orthopaedic surgeon with MSF. Three nurses and a cleaner were wounded during the raid.


Israeli forces attack al-Awda Hospital in northern Gaza

Our colleagues at Al Jazeera Arabic are reporting Israeli artillery attacks on the third floor of the hospital, located in the besieged Jabalia refugee camp.

They also say Israeli forces are forcing wounded and sick people to leave the Indonesian Hospital in nearby Beit Lahiya. The reports come as Israeli forces continue to attack the Kamal Adwan Hospital, which is also in Beit Lahiya.


Video shows robots planting explosives near Kamal Adwan Hospital

Many people inside Kamal Adwan Hospital or in its vicinity have been using their phones to document the concerning events.

One video presented to us shows robots in the vicinity of the hospital leaving behind an explosive device. We were told by the person who filmed that video that there were at least four other robots in the vicinity of the hospital.

When we look at the sheer level of destruction, it’s consistent with the footage presented to us, with the fact that the Israeli military has been using these devices to blow up many of the buildings in the vicinity of the hospital.

The witness told us that much of the area around the hospital has been cleared from buildings, the infrastructure destroyed and severely damaged, impeding movement in and out of the hospital.

Many of the essential departments inside the hospital have been rendered nonoperational, because everyone is trying to stay alive and protected from all the shrapnel and bullets shot by the quadcopters or fired by the military that are piercing through the walls, injuring many of the medical staff members and patients inside.

Another video shows everyone in one corridor of the hospital, in the middle of the building, away from the windows and balconies and the rooms that are looking over the streets where these explosive devices are planted.



SvennoJ on 24 December 2024

Gaza death toll rises

At least 45,338 Palestinians have been killed and 107,764 injured in Israel’s war on Gaza since October 7 last year, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry.

In its latest daily update, the ministry said hospitals in the besieged and bombarded territory received a total of 21 bodies and 51 wounded people.


Israeli drone attack kills Palestinian near southern Gaza’s Rafah

At least one Palestinian has been killed in Israeli drone attack north of Gaza’s southern city of Rafah, according to our colleagues at Al Jazeera Arabic. The Palestinian Information Center also reported the attack, saying a quadcopter drone targeted a group of people.

Earlier, we reported that Israeli artillery shelling east of Deir el-Balah city also killed at least one person and injured a number of others.


Rescue worker killed in Israeli attack on Civil Defence centre in Gaza City

A Civil Defence statement on Telegram says another rescue worker has been injured in a direct attack on the centre of the rescue service in the Daraj area of Gaza City.

“The Israeli occupation targeted the same centre on September 25, injuring four Civil Defence members, and recently targeted the Nuseirat Civil Defence Centre and martyred four,” it said.

“This brutal Israeli attack confirms to the world that the Israeli occupation continues to kill humanitarian service providers and that it will not hesitate to target others,” the statement added.


Dozens of patients await evacuation from northern Gaza’s besieged Kamal Adwan Hospital

In the north of the Gaza Strip, there are three barely functioning hospitals.

One is the Indonesian Hospital, which has been completely evacuated yesterday. Patients alongside the medical teams were forced to leave the besieged area through military checkpoints to Gaza City.

The other two include al-Awda Hospital and the Kamal Adwan Hospital.

Medical teams in al-Awda Hospital have confirmed to us the Israeli attack on the third floor of the facility that caused significant destruction. The medical teams are still there and operating within their capacity to provide medical treatment.

In the Kamal Adwan Hospital, 65 patients are waiting for evacuation. They are completely besieged, and Israeli bombardment continues there.



SvennoJ on 24 December 2024

Clashes as Israeli forces raid occupied West Bank camps

Our colleagues at Al Jazeera Arabic are reporting that the Israeli military has deployed snipers in the Tulkarem refugee camp and is clashing with Palestinian fighters in the al-Ein refugee camp.

Israeli raids have been reported elsewhere in the occupied territory, including:

  • The town of Azzun, east of Qalqilya
  • The town of Hizma, north of occupied East Jerusalem


Israeli forces detain more than 100 Palestinians in West Bank camp

The Palestinian Prisoner’s Society says Israeli forces rounded up and interrogated more than 100 Palestinians in Fawwar camp on Monday. The operation was the Israeli military’s largest in the camp, which is located near the occupied West Bank city of Hebron, since October 7 of last year.

Footage, verified by Al Jazeera, shows dozens of people being held on the steps of a stadium. The Palestinian Prisoner’s Society says two from the group were taken into custody and the rest released.

 
Israeli forces bulldoze property in raid on Tulkarem

The Palestinian Information Center is reporting that Israeli forces are bulldozing Palestinian property and infrastructure in their ongoing raid on the Tulkarem refugee camp. The outlet published video of the destruction in a post on X.


Israeli forces kill Palestinian man, inflict ‘massive destruction’ in Tulkarem

The Wafa news agency identified the slain Palestinian as Fathi Saeed Awda Salem and said he was killed by an Israeli sniper in the al-Hadaida neighbourhood. It reported that Israeli forces there also prevented ambulance crews from reaching Salem by opening fire on them.

The Israeli raid prompted violent clashes with fighters in the camp, with witnesses reporting huge explosions, Wafa added.

It said Israeli bulldozers also destroyed infrastructure across the camp, including schools, shops, homes, a mosque and the water network. The Israeli attacks caused a power outage and disrupted internet access, too.


Videos show destruction in Tulkarem refugee camp

The footage, verified by Al Jazeera, shows roads dug up by Israeli bulldozers as well as a house that had a wall knocked down. Another video also shows one building with smoke emanating from it.

As we’ve been reporting, Israeli forces are carrying out a large-scale raid in the occupied West Bank camp. Israeli forces have killed at least one Palestinian and inflicted “massive destruction” across the camp, according to the Wafa news agency,


Israeli forces demolish Palestinian homes northeast of Jerusalem

Sources have told our colleagues at Al Jazeera Arabic that Israeli forces demolished two houses under construction under the pretext of not having a licence in the town of Hizma, northeast of Jerusalem.

Wafa reported, citing sources, that Israeli forces also bulldozed olive trees in Hizma.



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SvennoJ on 24 December 2024

Palestinian Authority forces clash with fighters in West Bank’s Tubas: Sources

Sources tell our Al Jazeera Arabic colleagues that confrontations have broken out in the south of the occupied West Bank governorate. The fighting erupted after the security forces confiscated equipment from a house in the town of Tammun.

Various parts of the occupied West Bank have recently seen clashes between members of the Palestinian Authority (PA) security forces and local fighters.

Al Jazeera condemns incitement campaign by Fatah

Al Jazeera Media Network has condemned the incitement campaign initiated by the Fatah movement in the occupied West Bank against it and its journalists, especially against Al Jazeera correspondent Mohammad Atrash, for covering the confrontations between the Palestinian National Security Forces and Palestinian resistance fighters in Jenin.

“Al Jazeera has successfully maintained its professionalism throughout its coverage of the unfolding events in Jenin. The voices of both the Palestinian resistance and the spokesperson of the Palestinian National Security Forces have always been present on Al Jazeera’s screens,” the network said in a press release.

“The deplorable campaign puts the lives of journalist Mohammad Atrash and his colleagues at risk,” it added.

“The Network holds Fatah, Palestinian National Security Forces, and relevant institutions of the Palestinian Authority accountable for any harm that may befall Mohammad Atrash or any Al Jazeera journalists in the occupied West Bank.”


At least 15 Palestinians arrested in occupied West Bank: Prisoners’ groups

The arrests have been carried out by Israeli forces since yesterday evening, according to the Commission of Detainees and Ex-Detainees Affairs and the Palestinian Prisoner’s Society.

The groups said those arrested included former prisoners and an injured person. They added the arrests were made in the occupied governorates of Nablus, Hebron, Ramallah, Bethlehem, Qalqilya, Tubas, Tulkarem and Salfit.


Bethlehem pastor says Israel targets Muslim and Christian presence in Palestine

Munther Isaac, the pastor of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Bethlehem in the occupied West Bank, says “the situation of Christians is no different than other Palestinians”.

“They all face the threat of displacement under genocide,” he told Turkiye’s Anadolu Agency. “We never dreamed of celebrating Christmas while the genocide is going on in Gaza for more than 14 months,” the pastor stressed. “It is not possible for us to celebrate normally while Gaza is in this situation,” he added.

Isaac concluded: “Israel targets both Muslim and Christian presence in the West Bank and East Jerusalem”.


Israeli army confirms killing Palestinian in occupied West Bank’s Tulkarem

The military says it has started a large operation in the occupied West Bank governorate overnight, confirming that it killed one person. The army statement said that its forces are still operating in the West Bank city.

The army said the person was killed during “face-to-face battles” with troops.

The Wafa news agency identified the slain Palestinian as Fathi Saeed Awda Salem and said he was killed by an Israeli sniper in the al-Hadaida neighbourhood.

Troops also confiscated weapons, including rifles and pistols, and arrested two wanted individuals, according to the military statement. It added that soldiers operating across the occupied West Bank arrested 18 people.


Israeli bombing kills one, critically injures another in Tulkarem refugee camp

Israeli bombing has killed one Palestinian and critically injured another in the Tulkarem refugee camp in the occupied West Bank, according to the Palestinian Ministry of Health.

The two victims arrived at the Martyr Dr Thabet Thabet Governmental Hospital, following an Israeli attack on a group of people, it said.

Israeli forces are besieging hospitals in the city of Tulkarem, amid intermittent confrontations between Palestinian resistance fighters and Israeli forces, sources told our colleagues at Al Jazeera Arabic.

Earlier today, we reported that an Israeli sniper killed another Palestinian man in the al-Hadaida neighbourhood in Tulkarem.


Death toll in Israel’s Tulkarem raid rises to two

We are receiving updates on the Israeli assault in the occupied West Bank governorate. Two Palestinians have been killed in the refugee camp in Tulkarem, according to Palestinian and Israeli officials.

Khawla Abdo, a 53-year-old woman, was killed by shelling from Israeli forces while Fathi Saeed Odeh Salem, an 18-year-old man, was shot in the abdomen and chest, the Palestinian Health Ministry said.



SvennoJ on 25 December 2024

Main events on December 24th

  • Israeli forces launched a drone strike on the headquarters of the Palestinian Civil Defence in Gaza City, killing a rescue worker and his son. Another Civil Defence member was killed in a separate attack on the northern city.
  • In southern Gaza, at least seven Palestinians, including three children, have been wounded in an Israeli drone strike on a tent housing displaced people in Khan Younis.
  • Hundreds of Palestinian Christians in Gaza City gathered at a church in the war-torn territory on Christmas Eve, praying for an end to Israel’s war, which has laid waste to the enclave and killed at least 45,338 people.
  • Eight people have been confirmed killed in Israeli attacks on Tulkarem and the Nur Shams refugee camp in the occupied West Bank, the Palestinian Health Ministry said.
  • An Israeli negotiating team has returned to Tel Aviv from Qatar after a “meaningful week” of talks on a ceasefire in Gaza, the Israeli Prime Minister’s Office said.
  • Iran’s mission to the UN has called on the world body’s secretary-general to condemn Israel after it finally admitted to assassinating former Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in the Iranian capital, Tehran, in July.
  • Lebanon’s Prime Minister Najib Mikati has called for ceasefire monitors to pressure Israel to withdraw forces from southern Lebanon and stop violating the truce agreement with Hezbollah.

 

Palestinians dying from preventable illnesses as Israel attacks hospitals, blocks aid: UN

Israeli authorities have denied 48 of 52 attempts by the United Nations to coordinate humanitarian access to northern Gaza – which is under a “near-total siege” – since December 1, while the four that received approval still faced impediments, the UN said.

In its latest Gaza situation report, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) also reported that patients with treatable illnesses were dying in the enclave because of “depleted medical supplies and lack of life-saving equipment”.

Israel has blockaded and hampered the entry of food, water, medical and other essential supplies to the Gaza Strip since launching its war on the Palestinian territory in October 2023, which has now killed more than 45,000 people.

OCHA’s latest report said the attacks “near or on” the al-Awda and Kamal Adwan hospitals in northern Gaza continued, and both facilities required urgent supplies of food and water.

On Tuesday, Israeli forces were also reported to have entered the Indonesian Hospital, also in northern Gaza, and ordered all patients, their caregivers and staff to flee. Only one doctor and an engineer now remain at the hospital, according to OCHA.


Nine-year-old internally displaced Palestinian girl, Heba Muhanna, at Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in Deir el-Balah, central Gaza Strip, on Tuesday. Heba lost her leg, her father and five uncles in an Israeli air strike on the Nuseirat refugee camp on December 12



SvennoJ on 25 December 2024

Yemen’s Houthis threaten strikes on US interests in the Middle East

Mohammed Ali al-Houthi, the head of the Houthi Supreme Political Council, is warning the US of retaliatory strikes if its forces attack Yemen.

He issued the threat in a series of videos posted on X.

“We caution Americans against targeting Yemen. If they do not stop, we will strike US interests in the region, ignoring any red lines,” al-Houthi said in one video. “Either Israel’s attacks on Gaza and Yemen will cease, or we will target sensitive American assets to deliver our message,” he added.

The warning comes after the US’s CENTCOM published photos of its soldiers aboard the USS Harry S Truman aircraft carrier preparing ordnance for strikes against Houthi targets in Yemen. The US has been conducting attacks against what it says are Houthi military sites in Yemen in a bid to end the rebel group’s attacks on commercial ships in the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden.

The Houthis launched the campaign to ramp up pressure on Israel for a ceasefire in Gaza. The rebel group has also been carrying out missile and drone attacks on Israel as part of the campaign. Just within the hour, the Israeli military announced intercepting a missile from Yemen.

Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz has meanwhile threatened attacks on the Houthi leadership if the attacks continue.

Translation: “We say to the Americans: You are bringing the fourth aircraft carrier to Yemen, and yesterday your central command said that it is stockpiling to bomb Yemen. We tell them: You have a lesson in the three aircraft carriers that left Yemen.”


Israel says missile launched from Yemen intercepted

A missile fired from Yemen towards Israel has been intercepted, according to the Israeli military.

Sirens sounded across central Israel early on Wednesday morning after a projectile was launched from Yemen, the military said, adding that it was intercepted before it entered Israeli territory.

Air attack sirens were sounded over concerns about falling debris from the intercepted missile, the military said. The Israeli ambulance service said nine people were injured in the rush for shelters.

The alert marks the second night in a row that air raid sirens have sounded across Israel in response to the threat of incoming projectiles from Yemen, and follows a successful strike in the Tel Aviv area on December 21.


Large fragments of Houthi missile found in central Israel: Report

The Times of Israel reported large fragments of the intercepted missile were found in central Israel. One large piece, apparently more than 1 metre in length, was found in the yard of a home in Be’er Yaakov, the daily said.



SvennoJ on 25 December 2024

Syrian Christians attend first Christmas Eve service since al-Assad’s fall

Syrian Christians have attended Christmas Eve services for the first time since the overthrow of President Bashar al-Assad in early December. In Sednaya, Syria, a large crowd gathered near a historic monastery on Christmas Eve to witness the lighting of a towering tree adorned with glowing green lights.

The celebration offered a rare moment of joy in a city scarred by more than a decade of war and its infamous prison, where tens of thousands were held.

Families and friends stood by the illuminated tree, some wearing Santa hats, others watching from rooftops, while a band played festive music and fireworks lit up the sky.

“This year is different, there’s happiness, victory and a new birth for Syria and a new birth for Christ,” said attendee Houssam Saadeh.

Another, Joseph Khabbaz, expressed hope for unity across all sects and religions in Syria.

The pews of Lady of Damascus Church in Syria’s capital filled with a mixed congregation of young and old, holding candles as hymns filled the air and echoed through the church.




Syrian armed groups to unite under one army

Syrian factions agree to disband and come together to form a national army, under the new Ministry of Defence. Here’s a look at the main armed groups in Syria and why one major player is missing from the deal.



Erdogan says YPG ‘will be buried’ in Syria if it doesn’t lay down arms

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has warned that Kurdish fighters in Syria will either lay down their weapons or “be buried”, amid hostilities between Turkiye-backed Syrian rebels and other armed groups since the fall of former Syrian President Bashar al-Assad earlier this month.

Following al-Assad’s ouster on December 8, Ankara has repeatedly insisted that the Kurdish YPG militia must disband, asserting that the group has no place in Syria’s future. The change in Syria’s leadership has left the country’s main Kurdish factions on the back foot.

“The separatist murderers will either bid farewell to their weapons, or they will be buried in Syrian lands along with their weapons,” Erdogan told lawmakers from his ruling AK Party in parliament on Wednesday. “We will eradicate the terrorist organisation that is trying to weave a wall of blood between us and our Kurdish siblings,” he added.


Turkiye views the YPG militia – the main component of the United States-allied Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) – as an extension of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) militia, which has waged a rebellion against the Turkish state since 1984.

The PKK is designated a terrorist organisation by Turkiye, the US and the European Union. Ankara has repeatedly called on its NATO ally Washington and others to stop supporting the YPG.

Al Jazeera’s Sinem Koseoglu, reporting from Istanbul, said this is not a surprising statement by Erdogan “as it is the official rhetoric of the Turkish government”. Since the YPG is considered “the Syrian branch of the PKK, Ankara believes that they should either lay down arms, or they should fight and they will be defeated,” Koseoglu said.

Earlier, Turkiye’s defence ministry said the armed forces had killed 21 YPG-PKK fighters in northern Syria and Iraq.

SDF commander Mazloum Abdi acknowledged last week the presence of PKK fighters in Syria for the first time, saying they had helped battle ISIL (also known as ISIS) fighters and would return home if a total ceasefire was agreed with Turkiye, a core demand from Ankara.

He denied any organisational ties with the PKK.

Erdogan also said Turkiye would soon open its consulate in Aleppo, adding that Ankara expected an increase in traffic at its borders in the summer of next year as some of the millions of Syrian migrants it hosts begin to return to their homes.



SvennoJ on 25 December 2024

Palestinian choristers mark a sad Christmas from Bethlehem to Gaza

Reporting from a musical choir performance in Bethlehem, the birthplace of Jesus, Al Jazeera’s Nida Ibrahim says Palestinians are marking a sad Christmas.

A local choir from Bethlehem and Hebron is singing along with Palestinians in Khan Younis from a band called Gaza Birds Singing via an internet connection, she said. Displaced teachers and music students in the besieged Gaza Strip formed the band during the war to use music as a way to cope with the difficulties amid the ongoing genocide.

“It was a difficult technical initiative to merge between the singers here and the ones in Gaza; it took more than one hour. The band in Gaza has had to move from the al-Mawasi area in Khan Younis to another area to look for a better internet connection so they could make this musical event work,” Ibrahim said.

“They say they cannot physically meet, but at least virtually they will be singing together. They are sending a message from Bethlehem, Hebron and Gaza, to the world that they are one nation, but they cannot meet.

“They are not singing Christmas carols … one of the songs is called ‘Give us a Childhood’. They want peace. They want to live their childhood. They are marking yet another Christmas with their people undergoing a genocide.”


Gaza’s Christians attend mass after three churches destroyed, parishioners killed

Ismail al-Thawabta, a spokesman for Gaza’s Government Media Office, is quoted by the Palestinian Information Center (PIC) as saying that the Israeli targeting of the Christian community in the Gaza Strip is part of a “systematic policy aimed at eliminating the diverse human and historical presence” in the besieged enclave.

He said that Israeli forces had killed three percent of Gaza’s Christians during the war and destroyed three churches in the Gaza Strip in a “flagrant violation of all international norms and covenants that guarantee the protection of places of worship”.


Pope Francis denounces ‘extremely grave’ situation in Gaza, seeks release of captives

Pope Francis has denounced the “extremely grave” humanitarian situation in Gaza and appealed for the freeing of Israeli captives held by Hamas in his traditional Christmas address at the Vatican.

“I think of the Christian communities in Israel and Palestine, particularly in Gaza, where the humanitarian situation is extremely grave. May there be a ceasefire, may the hostages be released and aid be given to the people worn out by hunger and by war,” he said.