After more than a year of war in Gaza, and an extended conflict in Lebanon for several weeks, the election of Donald Trump as head of the United States this Wednesday, November 6 could change the situation. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Donald Trump have already spoken by telephone and agreed to cooperate for Israel’s security. Benjamin Netanyahu also welcomed his victory, congratulating him on having achieved “the greatest comeback in history”. Hamas, for its part, has declared that it will judge the new American president Donald Trump based on his policies towards the Palestinians.
Information to remember
⇒ Netanyahu and Trump discussed the “Iranian threat”
⇒ UNRWA chief pleads for rescue of agency before UN General Assembly
⇒ Iraq says its territory will not be used to launch attacks
Israeli strikes on southern suburbs of Beirut
A series of Israeli strikes targeted the southern suburbs of Beirut, a stronghold of Lebanese Hezbollah, on Wednesday, shortly after an evacuation order from the Israeli army. The strikes were heard in the capital, and black columns of smoke rose from the affected areas, according to AFPTV images.
Nine in number and targeting six neighborhoods, according to the National Information Agency Ani, the strikes began shortly after the broadcast of a pre-recorded speech by the new leader of Hezbollah, Naïm Qassem. The Israeli army had previously appealed to residents of two areas of the southern suburbs to evacuate, saying they were “close to Hezbollah installations and interests”. “Recently, in an intelligence-based strike, the Israeli army struck command centers, weapons storage facilities and terrorist infrastructure in the Dahieh area (suburb in Arabic, Editor’s note),” declared the Israeli army.
Gaza: end of polio vaccination campaign
“The booster vaccination campaign against polio in the Gaza Strip ended yesterday, with a total of 556,774 children under the age of ten having received a second dose of polio vaccine,” the official said. WHO in a joint statement. For the UN agency, this is a “remarkable result given the extremely difficult circumstances” while thousands of children are in “inaccessible areas” of the north of the Gaza Strip, where the Israeli army launched a major offensive a month ago.
Netanyahu and Trump discussed the ‘Iranian threat’
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and US President-elect Donald Trump discussed the “Iranian threat” to Israel’s security during a telephone exchange on Wednesday, Benjamin Netanyahu’s office announced.
“The conversation was friendly and cordial. The prime minister congratulated Donald Trump on his election victory and the two (leaders) agreed to cooperate for Israel’s security. They also discussed the Iranian threat,” he said. Palestinian Hamas and Lebanese Hezbollah at war against Israel, the same source said.
Iraq says its territory will not be used to launch attacks
Iraqi authorities assured Wednesday that Iraq will not be used to launch “attacks” in an explosive regional context in the Middle East, where Iran is threatening to retaliate for the latest strikes carried out by Israel on its territory. The American media Axios, relying on an “Israeli intelligence” source, had recently indicated that Iranian reprisals could start from “Iraqi territory”.
“Reports reporting the use of Iraqi territory to launch attacks or responses to attacks are nothing but false pretexts,” the Iraqi government’s Security Council said in a statement.
UNRWA, which is experiencing “its darkest hour”, must be saved, pleads its head to the UN
A week after Parliament passed a law banning UNRWA activities in Israel, Israel notified the UN on Monday of the “cancellation” of its agreement with the agency dating from 1967, the year of the start of Israel’s occupation of the Palestinian territories in the West Bank and Gaza, as well as East Jerusalem, where UNRRA has provided essential assistance to Palestinian refugees for decades – education, health, social services, food aid…
The United Nations agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) is experiencing “its darkest hour”, its head warned before the UN General Assembly, calling on member states to save it. “Without intervention from member states, UNRRA will collapse, plunging millions of Palestinians into chaos,” said Philippe Lazzarini, asking member states of the Assembly, which created UNRRA in 1949, to “ prevent the implementation of the law against UNRRA” passed by the Israeli parliament. “Today, I ask Member States to act to defend Palestinian refugees and UNRRA,” insisted Philippe Lazzarini, referring in particular to the “more than 650,000 boys and girls from Gaza”, “an entire generation” who risks being “deprived of the right to education”.
Hamas says its stance on Trump will depend on its policy towards the Palestinians
Hamas, at war with Israel in the Gaza Strip, has said it will judge new US President Donald Trump based on his policies towards the Palestinians. “Our position vis-à-vis the new American administration will depend on its positions and its behavior in practice towards the Palestinian people, their legitimate rights and their just cause,” the Palestinian Islamist movement said in a statement. In addition, a Hamas official told AFP on Wednesday that the United States’ “blind support” for Israel must “end.”
Arms embargo request: Egypt joins Turkey’s appeal to the UN
Egypt, bound by a peace treaty with Israel, joined Turkey’s call, supported by 52 countries, urging the UN to stop arms deliveries to that country, citing concerns over to their use against the Palestinians. An Egyptian Foreign Ministry statement released Tuesday evening said Cairo’s inclusion in the appeal is part of “international efforts to pressure Israel to cease its continued violations of international law and of international humanitarian law.
It also aims to end “Israeli violations” against the Palestinian people and protect civilians, the statement said. Signatories include Saudi Arabia, Brazil, Algeria, China, Iran and Russia, and two organizations, the Arab League and the Organization of Islamic Cooperation.