NOURNEWS- The following headlines appeared in English-language newspapers in the Iranian capital on Wednesday, October 25, 2023.
IRAN DAILY:
-- Israel faces int’l criticism over crimes against Gazans
The Israeli regime has faced international criticism and scrutiny as its intensified airstrikes have increased civilian casualties in the Gaza Strip under the pretext of self-defense and eliminating the Hamas resistance group.
Rapidly expanding Israeli airstrikes across the besieged strip killed more than 700 people in the past day as medical facilities across the territory were forced to close because of bombing damage and a lack of power, health officials said Tuesday, AP reported.
The Health Ministry in the Hamas-governed Gaza said Tuesday that 5,791 people have been killed in the territory since the outbreak of war with Israel.
The death toll includes 2,360 children. A total of 16,297 people have also been wounded in two weeks of the airstrikes in response to Hamas' surprise attack on Israel on October 7, resulting in more than 1,400 Israeli casualties and over 200 people captured, as reported by AFP.
‘Clear violations’
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Tuesday alleged violations of international law as Israel pounds Gaza, and urged an immediate humanitarian cease-fire to bring in relief, AFP reported.
“I am deeply concerned about the clear violations of international humanitarian law that we are witnessing in Gaza. Let me be clear: No party to an armed conflict is above international humanitarian law,” Guterres told a Security Council session, without explicitly naming Israel.
The Security Council session was bringing together top diplomats including Secretary of State Antony Blinken, who has previously rejected calls for a cease-fire, saying it would only allow Hamas to regroup.
The Palestinian Authority’s foreign minister on Tuesday deplored inaction by the UN Security Council to stop “massacres” in Gaza by Israel.
“The ongoing massacres being deliberately and systematically and savagely perpetrated by Israel – the occupying power against the Palestinian civilian population under illegal occupation – must be stopped,” Riyad al-Maliki told a special Security Council session.
“It is our collective human duty to stop them,” he said. “Continued failure at this council is inexcusable.”
‘Beyond the scope of self-defense’
China has condemned violence and attacks on civilians in the conflict, with Foreign Minister Wang Yi declaring Israel’s actions “beyond the scope of self-defense”.
In a Tuesday phone call with his Israeli counterpart, Eli Cohen, the Chinese foreign minister called for Israel to take effective measures to protect the safety of Chinese citizens and institutions in the Middle East, adding that “all countries have the right to self-defense, but they should abide by international humanitarian law and protect the safety of civilians”.
China will do its utmost when it comes to contributing to Palestinian-Israeli reconciliation, its foreign minister told Cohen.
China will firmly support any resolution as long as it is conducive to peace, Wang said, calling the conflict a “major choice between war and peace”, Reuters quoted the state media as saying.
In a separate phone conversation with Palestinian Foreign Minister Riyad al-Maliki, Wang said he “deeply sympathizes” with the people of Gaza, adding that they need security and efforts to promote peace, not weapons or geopolitical calculations.
‘Unrestricted authorization to kill’
Qatar’s ruling emir on Tuesday urged the international community not to grant Israel “unrestricted authorization to kill” Palestinians in its fight against Hamas, in what he called a dangerous escalation that threatens global security.
“We say enough. Israel shouldn’t be granted an unconditional green light and unrestricted authorization to kill,” Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani said in an annual speech to open the Persian Gulf state’s advisory Shura (Council), his first public comments since Qatar began its most recent efforts to mediate between Israel and Hamas.
'Fight must not be without rules'
In what was apparently a message to Israel, French President Emmanuel Macron said, “The fight must be without mercy, but not without rules” because democracies “respect the rules of war,” AP reported.
Macron added that, for example, democracies don’t target civilians.
Speaking after meeting Israel’s prime minister on Tuesday, he called for access to aid for Gaza and for electricity to be supplied to Gaza hospitals – not for making war. Macron also proposed a coalition to fight terror groups in the region “that threaten all of us.”
The French president compared the proposal to the international coalition fighting the Daesh group in Iraq and Syria. He was referring to the resistance groups in Palestine, Lebanon, and Yemen, saying they must not take the risk of opening a new front.
Benjamin Netanyahu claimed that it is Hamas that is responsible for civilian casualties, but that “we will do every effort to avoid them.” He added, “It could be a long war.”
Israel said on Tuesday it had killed dozens of Hamas fighters overnight in strikes on Gaza but that its war to destroy them, which involves bombarding and blockading the Palestinian enclave, would take time.
Lebanon won’t initiate war
A prominent Lebanese Christian politician allied with Hezbollah said Tuesday that Lebanon would not initiate a war with Israel but would defend itself if attacked.
The comments by Gebran Bassil, head of the Free Patriotic Movement of former president Michel Aoun, came as sporadic clashes continue on the Lebanese border between Hezbollah and armed Palestinian groups in Lebanon on one side and Israeli forces on the other.
“No one can drag us into war unless the Israeli enemy attacks us, and then we will be forced to defend ourselves,” Bassil said after a meeting with Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri, another Hezbollah ally. Bassil also spoke by phone to Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah on Monday. “All the Lebanese agree that they do not want war, but that does not mean that we should allow ourselves to be attacked without a response.”
Warning of backfire
In rare comments on an active foreign policy crisis, former US president Barack Obama said some of Israel’s actions in its war against Hamas, like cutting off food and water for Gaza, could “harden Palestinian attitudes for generations” and weaken international support for the regime, Reuters reported.
Obama said on Monday any Israeli military strategy that ignores the human costs of the war “could ultimately backfire”.
It was not clear whether Obama had coordinated his statement with US President Joe Biden, who served as his vice president for eight years.
-- Raisi: Muslim states’ united stance could have prevented Israeli crimes
Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi said that a united stance of Islamic countries could have prevented the aggression of the Israeli regime against Palestinians.
The Iranian president made the remarks in a meeting with Saudi Arabia’s new ambassador in Tehran, Abdullah bin Saud al-Anzi, on Tuesday.
Referring to Israel’s 75-year oppression against the defenseless and innocent people of Palestine, Raisi said that lack of a united position by Islamic countries has led to the continuation of the killing and aggression against Palestinians.
The president also described Iran and Saudi Arabia as two important countries in the region, saying that expansion of relations between the two countries will be effective in developing and strengthening regional cooperation and solving the problems of the region and the Islamic world.
Saudi Arabia and Israel have been seeking to normalize relations. But following the regime’s onslaught on the Gaza Strip, Riyadh reconsidered its foreign policy priorities, putting US-backed plans to normalize ties with Israel on ice.
During a meeting with the new Tunisian ambassador in Tehran, Imad al-Rahmuni, the Iranian president expressed appreciation for the positions of the Tunisian government in rejecting normalization with Israel and emphasized the importance of the unity of Islamic countries in securing the interests of Muslim nations.
Raisi said that the tragedy and crimes that are taking place in Gaza are a shame for those countries that are seeking normalization with Israel.
The UAE, Bahrain, Sudan, and Morocco signed US-brokered normalization agreements with Israel in 2020, drawing condemnations from Palestinians who slammed the deals as “a stab in the back of the Palestinian cause and the Palestinian people.”
Iranian president also held a separate meeting with Brazil’s new ambassador to Iran, Eduardo Ricardo Gradilone Neto. Raisi said that sending humanitarian aid, stopping Gaza bombardments and lifting the siege on the Palestinian territory and the realization of the rights of the Palestinian nation should be the priorities of the UN Security Council.
Brazil currently holds the United Nations Security Council presidency.
-- A pictorial of death and destruction
After maintaining a blockade on the Gaza Strip for nearly 16 years, Israel has now left a trail of death and destruction in the Palestinian territory under the pretext of battling Hamas fighters. Israel’s relentless airstrikes have flattened thousands of Palestinians homes, badly damaged several hospitals and destroyed the coastal enclave’s infrastructure. According to the Gaza Health Ministry, at least 5,800 Palestinians have been killed in the Israeli bombardment since October 7 when the conflict flared up. These photos, all captured by AFP, illustrate the dire situation faced by the people of Gaza amid Israel’s ongoing attacks.
-- Employment rises in Iran with economic growth: Minister
Iran’s minister of economic affairs and finance on Tuesday said one of the advantages of economic growth in the last two years is that it has been accompanied by an increase in employment.
Speaking in a weekly press conference, Ehsan Khandouzi added that according to the latest report by the Statistical Centre of Iran, 907,000 people have been added to the country’s workforce in the year to September 22, IRNA reported.
Iran’s unemployment rate has decreased by one percent, to 7.9 percent, the minister added.
Khandouzi went on to say that the increase in revenues earned from oil exports is among the reasons for foreign exchange (forex) market’s stability.
“The government’s economic headquarters plans to control the forex market and the Central Bank of Iran (CBI) can do the job,” he noted.
The incumbent government has given priority to promote economic diplomacy and boost relations with neighboring states, with the aim of increasing trade and investment and minimizing the impacts of sanctions on the economy, said the minister.
When the effects of sanctions wear off, Iran will enjoy a higher position and will have more bargaining power in talks with Western countries, such as in the negotiations on the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), Khandouzi concluded.
-- Iran’s gas industry in dire need of $25b investment: MP
Iran’s gas industry needs $25 billion in investments, which is not included in the draft bill of the Seventh Five-Year Development Plan that has been submitted to Parliament, said an MP.
Ebrahim Najafi, a member of the Civil Committee of the Parliament of Iran, told Mehr news agency that the country’s energy imbalance has not been addressed by the government plans for the next five years.
In the field of oil, we need to invest more than $100 billion, he added.
Despite the launch of some refineries in the country, the MP said, practically they could not compensate for our energy shortages, so we need to invest in infrastructure.
The exploitation of Phase 11 of South Pars by the Ministry of Oil was an innovative measure by the incumbent government, which took office two years ago, noted the lawmaker, explaining that it took 20 years for foreign contractors to fulfill their promise to operate this phase, but it was still not implemented.
“All other countries are extracting from their joint gas fields; of course, we invested for boosting extraction because the government is not able to provide the required financial resources,” Najafi said.
We need to use private sector investment, he added, noting, “We must negotiate with foreigners but the priority is with the domestic private sector.”
“In the past, we have always faced a drop in gas pressure in winters, as this pressure drop created problems for people during the cold days and even caused us to import gas from neighboring countries. But with the operation of Phase 11, the gas extraction capacity has been increased, which can help us in solving the gas imbalance,” he concluded.
-- Potentials of Persian Corridor as transit hub
The issue of corridors and transit ports in Iran is so important that all capacities should be used to attract investment for their development.
The transit potential of Iran’s territory is very important for Central Asian countries because to boost their trade and export opportunities, they need access to world oceans, Press TV wrote.
Iran, being situated among three continents, is known as the connecting bridge between the East and the West, where land and air routes passing through the country can bring Central Asia closer to the West and the Persian Gulf countries by a shorter route.
But the transit potential of Iran can only be used in conjunction with regional partnership.
One of the important axes of Iran’s 7th development plan is the development of corridors, which foresees annual transit of at least 50 million tons of goods through Iran.
Transit of goods from Iran in the past years, including at the height of crises, has stood at five million tons. According to experts close to the Ministry of Roads and Urban Development, the transit of about 12 to 13 million tons of goods from Iran is tenable.
This figure can reach 23-24 million tons with new marketing methods, but for higher numbers, it is necessary to develop infrastructure and solve international challenges, including banking problems.
Transportation infrastructure has a significant impact on business productivity and costs. For example, better port and back-border connections can reduce the costs of connecting to distribution networks or transporting raw materials. Hence, having an effective and efficient logistics system is the foundation of a flourishing economy and success in attracting foreign investment.
Iran's logistics performance index (LPI) ranking in 2018 was 64, which declined to 123 in 2023. To improve it, the country needs to use all capacities to develop transit corridors and ports.
On Monday, Iran’s Minister of Roads and Urban Development Mehrdad Bazrpash was expected to sign a contract for the construction of a part of the North-South corridor in southern Armenia during his visit to Yerevan.
The International North–South Transport Corridor (INSTC) was established by Iran, Russia and India in September 2000, and subsequently expanded with the admission of 13 countries.
The INSTC connects India to the Caspian Sea, Russia, and northern Europe through Iran. By bypassing the Suez Canal, the route is 40% shorter and 30% cheaper than traditional routes in terms of distance and time.
The corridor combines trade in three western, eastern, and central routes with road, rail, and sea routes.
The INSTC’s western route passes through Russia, South Caucasus, and Iran. The middle axis reaches India through the ports of Saint Petersburg and Astrakhan in Russia and Amirabad, Astara, Anzali and Chabahar in Iran. The eastern axis passes through Russia, Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan and Iran.
Long beaches, special transit, and geographic location, and easy access to the sea and other countries can make Iran one of the highways of trade, with several international corridors already passing through the country.
As part of its “Look East” roadmap, Tehran is increasingly focused on strengthening relations with Russia and India.
Since the outbreak of the Ukraine war, the strategic importance of the INSTC has become especially important for Moscow and Tehran, which are both under Western sanctions, because of its importance in accelerating the process of de-dollarization and neutralizing the embargos.
President Ebrahim Raisi has also underlined his government’s plans to build the Chabahar-Zahedan railway and connected the Oman Sea and the Persian Gulf to Europe.
The development of Chabahar port, the establishment of the Makran Coastal Development Organization, and the Special Plan for the Development of Makran are some of Iran’s plans to become a regional transit hub.
Iran’s ports in the north and south have the capacity to move 270 million tons of goods annually. This capacity can strengthen the country’s economic diplomacy.
One of the development opportunities is tied to the development of Chabahar port, which has been facing challenges for several years.
In 2016, India Ports Global Limited (IPGL) and Arya Ports of Iran signed a contract for the development of Chabahar Shahid Beheshti Port. The Indian company committed to providing 85 million dollars for the development of Chabahar port along with granting a credit line of 150 million dollars. Since 2023, India has deployed six gantry cranes worth $25 million for the development of Shahid Beheshti Port, but progress has been slow.
Tehran needs to use all capacities, including investment by other foreign operators.
Experts say China is a potential candidate despite developing the Gwadar port in Pakistan near Chabahar. They cite the local people’s opposition to the project due to its military nature to believe that the Chinese are potentially amenable to investing in Chabahar.
A full operationalization of the INSTC is estimated to bring Iran about $20 billion in annual revenues and reduce the country’s dependence on oil earnings.
KAYHAN INTERNATIONAL:
-- U.S. Hindering Iran’s Relief Aid to Gaza
Iran’s Deputy Foreign Minister for Legal and International Affairs Reza Najafi said Tuesday that the U.S. and the Zionist regime are the main obstacles to reaching humanitarian supplies to Gaza.
Speaking to reporters here, Najafi said the only way to dispatch supplies to Gaza is through Egypt. He touched on the U.S. veto of a resolution fielded by Brazil at the UN Security Council, saying the veto is not anything new and Washington has repeated it numerous times over the past 75 years.
-- Ministry: Russia, Iran Firming Up Ties
Russia and Iran are firming up bilateral relations in a “trusting” atmosphere, Russia’s foreign ministry said early on Tuesday after its chief, Sergei Lavrov, was received by Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi during a visit to Tehran. “In a traditionally trusting atmosphere, current aspects of the bilateral agenda were substantively discussed with an emphasis on further building up the entire complex of multifaceted Russian-Iranian partnership,” the ministry said in a statement. Lavrov discussed energy and logistics projects with Iranian Foreign Minister Hussein Amir-Abdollahian.
-- U.S. Rushes Planeloads of Arms to Israel
The U.S. has expanded its military deployments across the Middle East in support of Israel’s brutal assault on the Gaza Strip, even as one historian has warned that the occupation entity is carrying out a “textbook case of genocide” in the besieged enclave.
Israeli historian Raz Segal’s claim was reported in Jewish Currents. He condemned the latest bombing of Gaza.
Open-source information gathered by Haaretz newspaper reveals that close to 80 U.S. military and dozens of leased civilian aircraft are hauling equipment in a massive weapons airlift to Occupied Palestine and Cyprus. At least 62 U.S. and Israeli transport aircraft had landed in the occupying territories by Sunday night.
Fighter squadrons and special forces are in place in Jordan. Twenty aircraft offloaded cargo from NATO depots at British military bases in Cyprus.
Advocacy groups accuse the U.S. of rushing to resupply weapons used by Israel on Gaza civilians. They argue that Washington is seeking to ensure the Zionist regime’s long-term military dominance over the Palestinians. Warnings abound that the influx risks further armed conflict in the region.
Since Israel began its bombardment of the besieged enclave, over 30 U.S. heavy transports have landed in the apartheid entity, many of them delivering advanced weaponry. Others carried officials like Secretary of State Antony Blinken, while some transported armored vehicles.
U.S. and Israeli air force planes have also flown repeatedly to Europe, probably, it is believed, to procure more arms and ammunition. A U.S. aircraft carrier strike group armed with cruise missiles is deployed near Cyprus, and Washington has ensured that missile defense systems are in place. A second U.S. carrier group is expected in the Mediterranean soon, although its destination remains uncertain.
Analysts warn that the expansive U.S. military activity enables further Israeli repression of the Palestinians. Continued unconditional aid irrespective of the
occupying regime’s actions removes incentives for restraint, they argue.
Some warn that U.S. replenishment of bombs dropped on Gaza may fuel cycles of violence, hindering de-escalation. With two carrier groups nearby, the fear is that planning for the next war has already begun.
The massive arms influx has created an even more pronounced power imbalance, enabling the occupying regime of Israel to continue to act with impunity, say analysts. While Gaza lies in ruins, Israel enjoys limitless supplies from its superpower patron.
They urge greater scrutiny over whether U.S. actions serve regional security or purely Israeli interests. Platitudes about restraint and “self-defense” ring hollow to Palestinians, they note, when American planes rush to deliver massive stockpiles of bombs to the occupation state.
-- President Raisi Raps Lack of United Stance by Muslims
Raisi made the remarks in a meeting with Abdullah bin Saud al-Anazi, Saudi Arabia’s new ambassador to Tehran, while receiving his credentials on Tuesday.
The Iranian president drew attention to the 75-year history of oppression faced by the defenseless and innocent Palestinian people at the hands of the Zionist regime.
He said the absence of a united stance among Islamic nations had allowed the unlawful entity to persistently carry out killings and acts of aggression against the Palestinian population throughout the years.
“During the recent unprecedented crimes by the Zionist regime and its Western supporters in Gaza, a united stance by the Islamic world could have, in a more effective way, prevented the Zionist regime’s oppression and aggression as well as excessive demands by its Western supporters,” Raisi said.
Elsewhere in his remarks, Raisi emphasized the necessity of efforts by diplomatic apparatuses of both Iran and Saudi Arabia to take advantage of the two countries’ capacities to strengthen mutual relations and secure the interests of regional nations and the Muslim world.
The Iranian president also censured the presence of extra-regional countries in West Asia, saying their presence in the region not only fails to solve any problems but it is itself a cause of exacerbating the problems.
Saud al-Anazi, for his part, hailed Iran-Saudi Arabia ties as “very strong” and called for strengthening mutual ties and cooperation.
“The relations between Iran and Saudi Arabia are very strong as the ties and commonalities of the two nations and countries outweigh their differences,” he said.
The Saudi ambassador to Tehran underlined that the Islamic Republic has offered assistance to his country in many fields and issues, and expressed hope for an ever increasing improvement and expansion of relations and cooperation between the two countries.
On Monday, President Raisi strongly condemned the United States and other Western countries over their unbridled support for the Zionist regime.
In a meeting with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, the president said, “What is happening in Gaza is a horrendous crime against defenseless and innocent women and children, which is being committed with the direct
and official support of the United States and other Western countries.”
Raisi touched on U.S. resident Joe Biden’s remarking during his visit to the occupied territories earlier this month, when he said, “I have long said: If Israel didn’t exist, we would have to invent it.”
“These remarks mean that the Americans are prepared to trample upon the blood of women and children, and the rubble of the Palestinian people’s homes in order to meet their [own] interests,” Raisi said.
Lavrov laid emphasis on Moscow’s commitment to implementation of all of the country’s agreements with Iran in economic, commercial, transport, energy, and cultural fields.
He said his participation in the meeting of the 3+3 regional platform was a manifestation of growing regional cooperation between Iran and Russia.
-- Shameless Gaza Genocide Intensifies
Rapidly expanding Israeli airstrikes across the Gaza Strip martyred more than 700 people in the past day as medical facilities across the territory were forced to close because of bombing damage and a lack of power, health officials said Tuesday.
The soaring death toll from the Zionist regime’s escalating brutal bombardment was unprecedented in the decades-long aggression. It could signal an even greater loss of life in Gaza once Israeli ground forces backed by tanks and artillery launch an invasion into the territory.
Gaza’s 2.3 million people have been under the most ruthless bombardment and running out of food, water and medicine since Israel sealed off the territory following the Oct. 7 surprise operation by Hamas on towns in southern Occupied Palestine.
On Tuesday, Israel said it had launched 400 airstrikes over the past day. The previous day, the Zionist regime reported 320 strikes. Witnesses and health officials said many of the airstrikes hit residential buildings, some of them in southern Gaza.
An overnight strike hit a four-story residential building in the southern city of Khan Younis, martyring at least 32 people and wounding scores of others, according to survivors.
The fatalities included 13 from the Saqallah family, said Ammar al-Butta, a relative who survived the airstrike. He said there were about 100 people there, including many who had come from Gaza City, which Israel has ordered civilians to evacuate.
“They were sheltering at our home because we thought that our area would be safe. But apparently there is no safe place in Gaza,” he said.
Another airstrike hit a bustling marketplace in the Nuseirat refugee camp in central Gaza, martyring several shoppers and wounding dozens, witnesses said.
Men used sledgehammers to break up concrete and dug with their bare hands through the jagged wreckage to save anyone they could – or at least recover the dead who had been buying meat and vegetables when the explosion hit.
A man buried up to his chest in rubble looked up at his rescuers with wide eyes, his face coated in dust from the blast. An oxygen mask was placed on his face as they spent 15 minutes working to free him.
Gaza’s Hamas-run Health Ministry said the attacks martyred at least 704 people over the past day, including 305 children and 173 women. More than 5,700 Palestinians have been martyred in the war on Gaza, including some 2,300 minors, the ministry said, without giving a detailed breakdown. The figure includes the toll from an explosion at a hospital last week.
Most of the Palestinians martyred since Oct. 7 were in the north and central areas of the enclave that Israel had told them evacuate, the ministry said.
The fighting has killed more than 1,400 Zionists.
As the death toll in Gaza spiraled, facilities to deal with the casualties were dwindling. A total of 46 out of 72 primary healthcare facilities, and 12 out of 35 hospitals, stopped functioning, the World Health Organization said. Palestinian health officials said the lack of electricity and fuel to power generators from the Israeli blockade, as well as damage from airstrikes, has forced many of the facilities to close.
Gaza’s five main hospitals were all filled beyond capacity, it said.
The rising toll has made it hard for Palestinians to bury the huge numbers of dead, with cemeteries being forced to excavate and reuse old plots and bury up to five bodies in one grave.
“Bodies pour in by the hundreds every day. We use every empty inch in the cemeteries,” said Abdel Rahman Mohamed, a volunteer who helps transfer bodies to Khan Younis’ main cemetery. “Some bodies arrive in pieces in bags. It’s horrible.”
Palestinian resistance groups have fired over 7,000 rockets at Zionist targets since the start of the war, Israel said, and Hamas said it fired a new barrage Tuesday morning.
The UN agency for Palestinian refugees said six of its staff were killed in bombings, bringing to 35 the death toll of its workers since the war started.
Amid fears the fighting to spiral into a wider regional war, French President Emmanuel Macron arrived in Tel Aviv on Tuesday and told top Israeli officials that he came “to express our support and solidarity and share your pain” as well as to assure Israel it is “not left alone in the war.”
In a joint news conference with extremist prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Macron stressed what he called Israel’s right to defend itself.
On Monday, Hamas released two elderly Israeli women who were among the more than 200 people Israel says were taken to Gaza during the attack.
Appearing weak in a wheelchair and speaking softly, 85-year-old Yocheved Lifshitz told reporters Tuesday that her captors treated “gently” and gave her food as well as medical treatment.
The people assigned to guard her “told us they are people who believe in the Qur’an and wouldn’t hurt us.” Lifshitz said conditions were kept clean, she received medical care, including medication, and was given the same one meal a day of cheese and cucumber that her captors had.
Lifshitz and 79-year-old Nurit Cooper were freed days after an American woman and her teenage daughter were released. Hamas and other fighters in Gaza are believed to have taken roughly 220 Zionists, including an unconfirmed number of foreigners and dual citizens.
Zionist authorities were furious. Sources told Israel’s regime-owned Kan News that the interview was a “mistake”.
A 25-year-old Palestinian detainee died in Israel’s Ofer prison on Tuesday, the prison authority said. The Palestinian Detainees and Ex-Detainees Affairs Commission identified him as Arafat Hamdan.
Hamdan, who is from the town of Beit Sira in the northern occupied West Bank, had been arrested on Sunday.
“The occupation has begun a systematic assassination operation against prisoners amid a total aggression campaign against our people,” the commission said.
On Monday, Palestinian prisoner Omar Darghmeh, who Hamas claimed as a member, died in prison under unclear circumstances.
The Israeli military later dropped leaflets in Gaza asking Palestinians to reveal information on the hostages’ whereabouts. In exchange, the military promised a reward and protection for the informant’s home.
The occupying regime was also furious after UN chief Antonio Guterres has said that attacks by Hamas “did not happen in a vacuum”.
“The Palestinian people have been subjected to 56 years of suffocating occupation,” Guterres told a session of the UN Security Council.
“They have seen their land steadily devoured by settlements, plagued by violence, their economy stifled, their people displaced, and their homes demolished. Their hopes for a political solution to their plight have been vanishing.”
The remarks drew a furious reaction Gilad Erdan, Israel’s ambassador to the UN.
Israel’s pounding of the Gaza Strip has had a “catastrophic” impact on healthcare facilities, according to healthcare officials.
International organizations have also warned about the spread of water-borne diseases and scabies due to a lack of clean water in the Strip.
Heavy Israeli shelling landed close to the Al-Amal hospital in Gaza’s Khan Younis on Monday, video footage shared by the Palestine Red Crescent Society showed.
An Israeli airstrike also struck near the Al-Wafa hospital. The full extent of the damage is still being assessed.
At least 25 ambulances in the besieged enclave have been destroyed, according to the Ministry of Health.
The Zionist regime’s bombing of the al-Ahli al-Arab Hospital, which martyred at least 500 Palestinians, has left it out of service. The hospital was treating hundreds of patients.
-- Enemies Wary of Iran’s Severe Response to Wrong Acts
Defense Minister Brigadier General Muhammad Reza Ashtiani said on Tuesday that adversaries have realized that any mistaken move against Iran will draw a harsh reaction, which is why they have opted for unknown threats against the Islamic Republic,
During a visit to a research organization of the Defense Ministry, General Ashtiani said the enemies are well aware that Iran is capable of detecting, tracking and thwarting all conventional threats.
“The enemies know that if they make any mistake, they will face the Islamic Republic of Iran’s firm and decisive reaction. Thus, they have opted for unknown and new threats in their new plots against the Islamic Republic of Iran,” the defense minister added.
In comments on October 9, the spokesperson for the Iranian Foreign Ministry cautioned the Zionist regime that any act of aggression against the Islamic Republic would trigger a devastating response.
“The parties that issue threats against Iran must be mindful of their legal responsibilities. Such remarks result in accountability and they should bear in mind that Iran is never constricted in defending its rights,” the spokesman underlined, noting that Iran’s responses have always made the aggressors regret their move.
TEHRAN TIMES:
-- Biased pro-Israeli remarks trigger walkout at IPU meeting
The inaugural speech at the 147th Inter-Parliamentary Union Assembly in Luanda, Angola, drew an angry reaction from several Muslim delegations who deemed President Duarte Pacheco’s remarks in favor of the Israeli regime unjust and misleading. On Monday the president, who is wrapping up his three-year term, kicked off his speech by commenting on “Israel’s right to defend itself”, referring to the regime’s heavy and relentless bombardment of Gaza in recent days. The attacks have so far resulted in the death of more than 5,000 people, with children making up have of the casualties. Israel has also begun a “full siege” of the territory not allowing any food, water, fuel, and medicine inside Gaza. Delegations from South Africa, Iran, Kuwait, Palestine, Algeria, and some other Muslim countries reportedly walked out of the opening ceremony after a member of the Iranian delegation shouted “Israel is a terrorist entity” to protest the president’s remarks. The Parliamentary delegations returned to the ceremony once the speech was over and once again voiced their strong opposition to the rhetoric against the Palestinian Resistance.
-- Russia, Iran deepening ties in ‘trusting’ atmosphere: Moscow
Russia and Iran are firming up bilateral relations in a ‘trusting’ atmosphere, Russia’s foreign ministry said early on Tuesday after its chief, Sergei Lavrov, was received by Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi during a visit to Tehran. “In a traditionally trusting atmosphere, current aspects of the bilateral agenda were substantively discussed with an emphasis on further building up the entire complex of multifaceted Russian-Iranian partnership,” the foreign ministry said in a statement on the Telegram messaging app. Lavrov, who went to Tehran shortly after an Asia trip to China and North Korea, discussed energy and logistics projects with Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir Abdollahian. Lavrov also participated in regional talks hosted by Iran, aiming to bring peace to the South Caucasus region after Azerbaijani forces last month recaptured the breakaway region of Nagorno-Karabakh and forced thousands of ethnic Armenians to flee. In addition to Lavrov, the foreign ministers of Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, and Turkey participated in the conference titled “Peace, Cooperation, and Progress in the South Caucasus”. Addressing the conference late on Monday, Iran’s foreign minister said regional countries now have a historic opportunity to move towards peace and cooperation as “the war in the South Caucasus is over”.
-- American bases in the region are under fire from resistance groups
The U.S. military bases- Al-Shadadi, Al-Tanf, and Al-Omar- came under attacks by Iraqi resistance groups in response to the Washingtonbacked Israeli war crimes in the Gaza Strip. The American military base Ain al-Asad was once again attacked on Tuesday night, according to the informed sources. Earlier on Monday, a U.S. base in the Al-Malikiyah area of Al-Hasakah was attacked by an armed drone. On Monday night, a base in the Al-Tanf region of southern Syria, which includes U.S. forces, was attacked by three armed drones. In a statement, the Islamic Resistance of Iraq announced the drone attack on the American base of Al-Malikiyah in Syria on Monday. “Our fighters targeted the U.S. Al-Malikiyah base in Syria with a drone,” announced the Iraqi group.
-- 704 Palestinians killed by Israeli airstrikes in the last 24 hours
Israel’s air raids in the last 24 hours have killed 704 Palestinians in Gaza, the Palestinian health ministry in the besieged enclave said. In the bombing raids that Israel has launched on Gaza since the Al-Aqsa Storm operation on October 7, nearly 5900 Palestinians have been martyred. Hamas initiated Operation Al-Aqsa Storm against Israel, a multi-pronged surprise attack including a barrage of rocket launches and infiltrations into Israel via land, sea, and air, which Hamas said was in retaliation for the storming of Al-Aqsa Mosque in occupied East Al-Quds and Israeli settlers’ growing violence against Palestinians. In response, the Israeli military launched Operation Swords of Iron against Gaza. Israel’s response has extended to cutting water and electricity supplies to Gaza, further worsening the living conditions in an area that has reeled under a crippling siege since 2007.
-- Global celebrities voice solidarity with Palestinians
Several celebrities and prominent figures in the entertainment industry all around the world have been using their influence to advocate for the Palestinian cause, speaking out on what is going on in Palestine and asking their followers to stand on the right side of history. In response to Israeli settler violence, the blockade of the Gaza Strip, the desecration of the Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem, as well as Israel’s atrocities against Palestinians over the decades, the Hamas resistance movement launched an attack dubbed Operation al-Aqsa Flood against Israel on October 7 from the Gaza Strip. Dumbfounded by the attack, as it was unprecedented in 75 years of the Israeli occupation of Palestine, the Zionist regime has responded to the operation by raining missiles and bombs on mostly civilian sites in the Gaza Strip. Over 4,200 Palestinians have so far been slaughtered.
--
NOURNEWS