Day: 18 March 2024

RAMALLAH: Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas congratulated on May President Vladimir Putin for winning Russia’s presidential elections.

In his congratulatory telegram, President Abbas wished Putin continued success in performing the lofty tasks entrusted to him, and achieving the goals and aspirations of him and the friendly Russian people.

The President affirmed his pride in the relations of friendship and solidarity that bring together the two countries and peoples, and his great appreciation for Russia’s support for the rights of Palestinian people.

Source: Palestine News and Information Agency – WAFA

RAMALLAH: The Minister of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates in the caretaker government, Riyad Al-Maliki, today discussed with the Singapoeran counterpart Vivian Balakrishnan efforts to stop the war of genocide waged against the Palestinian people in the Gaza Strip.

The Minister also called for the urgent need to accelerate the entry of humanitarian aid to the Strip.

During the meeting, which was held at the ministry’s headquarters in the city of Ramallah, Al-Maliki pointed out to the ongoing Israeli violations and war crimes committed against the Palestinian people in the occupied territories, coinciding with the bloodbath waged in the Gaza Strip which enters its 164th day.

Al-Maliki called for immediate and urgent international intervention to protect civilians and ensure the arrival of humanitarian needs to the Gaza Strip from its north to its center to its south.

Al-Maliki considered that Israel’s failure to comply with international legitimacy resolutions confirms that it is continuing to implement its
undeclared goals of war, “which are to displace our people from their land and transform the Gaza Strip into an unlivable place.”

The Minister further affirmed the need to pressure Israel to comply with the precautionary decision issued on behalf of the International Court of Justice, adding that a ceasefire is the only way to protect civilians and secure their humanitarian needs without hindrance.

He condemned the failure of the international community over the past years to end the occupation and establish a Palestinian state on the ground with East Jerusalem as its capital in accordance with the principle of the two-state solution.

For his part, Balakrishnan stressed his country’s support for the right of the Palestinians to establish their independent state, in accordance with the principle of the two-state solution.

Balakrishnan praised the bilateral relations between the two countries, stressing his country’s commitment to supporting Palestine in many fields, including building human and institution
al capabilities.

Source: Palestine News and Information Agency – WAFA

GAZA: At least four civilians today were shot and injured by Israeli forces live` bullets after they were targeted near al-Rashid Street in Al-Zahraa City in the central Gaza Strip.

Medical sources reported that that two children were killed in an Israeli strike that targeted a home in the city of Khan Yunis.

Ambulance and civil crews managed to transport the bodies of the two dead children to Al-Najjar Hospital in the city of Rafah.

In a related context, Israeli military tanks continue to besiege the buildings of the Shifa Complex and threaten those present in the Complex to target them directly if they move.

Local sources said that the displaced people who sought refuge inside Al-Shifa complex issued distress calls, fearing that a massacre would take place against them.

Simultaneously, Israeli military army further forced the residents of the Al-Rimal neighborhood and the displaced people in the Al-Shifa Medical Complex to leave towards the Al-Mawasi area, west of the city of Khan Yunis.

Meanwhile, th
e Israeli occupation forces detained Al Jazeera correspondent Ismail al-Ghoul from inside the Shifa Medical Complex in Gaza City after they brutally assaulted and beat him.

A fire had broken out at the gate of Al-Shifa Medical Complex, causing suffocation cases among displaced women and children inside the Complex following Israeli military incursion of the hospital this morning.

The forces also cut off communications for about 30,000 displaced people inside the Complex during the incursion.

This is the second time that the occupation forces have stormed the Shifa Medical Complex since the beginning of the aggression on the Gaza Strip on the 7th of last October.

They had stormed it for the first time on the 16th of last November after besieging it for at least a week and withdrew from the hospital in November 24 after causing massive destruction of its courtyards, parts of its buildings, medical equipment and the hospital’s electricity generator.

Source: Palestine News and Information Agency – WAFA

NABLUS: Israeli colonists tonight attacked a Palestinian home and several vehicles near the villages of Burin and Madama, south of Nablus, said local sources.

Sources told WAFA that colonists from the illegal colony of Yitzhar pelted stones at a Palestinian house located between the two said villages, shattering its windows.

Colonists further damaged several vehicles belonging to residents in the area, causing significant damage to two cars.

Sources indicated that Israeli occupation forces arrived at the scene of the attack to provide protection for the colonists and did nothing to stop the attack. forces fired live ammunition and tear gas canisters toward Palestinians in the area, however, no injuries were reported.

Source: Palestine News and Information Agency – WAFA

JERUSALEM: The Israeli occupation authorities have issued 100 deportation orders from the occupied city of Jerusalem and the blessed Al-Aqsa Mosque since October 7 of last year.

A report issued by the Wadi Hilweh Human Rights Information Center in occupied Jerusalem said that the occupation authorities have escalated deportation orders against citizens in occupied Jerusalem and within the 1948 territories.

The report said it has become a routine policy that preempts religious occasions and deprives hundreds of Palestinians of their right to worship and visit the Blessed Al-Aqsa.

According to the Center, the occupation forces issued 100 deportation decisions from Jerusalem and the Old City, including 45 deportation decisions from Al-Aqsa specifically, from October 7, 2023, until the end of last February.

Most of the orders targeted former detainees, men and women from Jerusalem and the 1948 territories, the report said, adding that the duration of the orders ranged from a renewable week up to six months.

S
ource: Palestine News and Information Agency – WAFA

GAZA: Several civilians, including children, were killed and others were injured tonight in an Israeli shelling that targeted a house in the town of Jabalia, in the northern Gaza Strip.

Eyewitnesses reported that Israeli warplanes shelled a house belonging to the al-Banna family in the town of Jabalia, killing at least eight civilians and injuring several others. The house was destroyed completely.

Since October 7, 2023, the Israeli occupation forces have launched a devastating aggression on the Gaza Strip, leaving more than 31,726 civilians killed, mostly children and women, and more than 73,792 wounded.

Thousands of victims are still trapped under the rubble.

Casualty data in Gaza are incomplete due to the intensive Israeli aggression, the repeated and complete interruption of communication and internet services, lack of fuel and devastated infrastructure, which render it difficult to document figures.

Source: Palestine News and Information Agency – WAFA