Kissinger Warns Trump: Defeating Daesh Could Lead to Iranian Empire

TEHRAN (Tasnim) – Former US secretary of state Henry Kissinger has warned the Trump administration that Iran should not be allowed to fill the power vacuum that will be created when the Daesh (ISIL or ISIS) terrorist group is defeated.

 “In these circumstances, the traditional adage that the enemy of your enemy can be regarded as your friend no longer applies. In the contemporary Middle East, the enemy of your enemy may also be your enemy. The Middle East affects the world by the volatility of its ideologies as much as by its specific actions,” he wrote in an article last week for CapX, News Week reported.

“The outside world’s war with ISIS can serve as an illustration. Most non-ISIS powers—including Shiite Iran and the leading Sunni states—agree on the need to destroy it. But which entity is supposed to inherit its territory? A coalition of Sunnis? Or a sphere of influence dominated by Iran?

“The answer is elusive because Russia and the NATO countries support opposing factions. If the ISIS territory is occupied by Iran’s Revolutionary Guards or Shiite forces trained and directed by it, the result could be a territorial belt reaching from Tehran to Beirut, which could mark the emergence of an Iranian radical empire,” he wrote.

The statement by Kissinger came as in Iraq, Baghdad's forces have liberated the northern city of Mosul from the terror group and are close to ousting Daesh from all of its population centers. In Syria, Syrian and Kurdish forces have recaptured almost half of the eastern Syrian city of Raqqa, which became the de facto ISIS capital after the militant group rose to prominence in mid-2014.

The United States launched a campaign of airstrikes against Daesh in August 2014 after the terrorist group overran the key Iraqi city of Mosul and parts of the country's north and west.

The US-led coalition of 68 nations has been conducting airstrikes against what are said to be the positions of Daesh terrorists inside Syria since September 2014 without any authorization from the Damascus government or a UN mandate.

That is while Iran and Syria are accusing the US of supporting Daesh. In a recent move to support the terrorist group, the US military forces attacked a military base captured by Hashid al-Shaabi forces near al-Tanf, an area on Iraq-Syria border.

According to reports, 47 forces were killed in the US strike by artillery fire and smart bombs on Monday.

The military alliance has repeatedly been accused of targeting and killing civilians. It has also been largely incapable of fulfilling its declared aim of destroying the Daesh Takfiri terrorist group.

(First published on August, 09, 2017)

Israeli army plants new fake Hamas atrocity story

News Desk - The cradle 

Israeli journalists are becoming increasingly wary of claims made by the Israeli army and rescue services surrounding 7 October

The Israeli military is seeking to manipulate Israeli journalists to plant false stories of Hamas atrocities in the media.

On 28 November, Israeli journalist Yishai Cohen published video of an interview in which an Israeli soldier claimed that dead “Babies and children were hung in a clothes line in a row,” in Be’eri, a settlement near Gaza that was attacked by Hamas on 7 October. 

Cohen later deleted the video, as the claim could not be confirmed, but the video garnered hundreds of thousands of views on the social media site X during the eight hours it was online. Other X users continued to share the clip after Cohen deleted the post.

One X user criticized Cohen, writing, “How do you upload such a video online without having 100% certainty? Why is everything here amateurish and crooked?”

Cohen, a journalist for the Hebrew language Kikar HaShabbat news website, explained his mistake, saying the interview was offered to him by the Israeli army spokesperson. 

“I did not know the interviewee before. A representative of DoC was present in all the filming and approved the broadcast,” he said.

“After posting the promo, there were complaints, so I immediately deleted it within minutes. And yet, even this morning, the IDF [army] spokesman refrained from claiming that this was a false story. By the way, the interviewee insists that the story is accurate and there was even another witness to this.”

Haaretz journalist Amir Tibbon criticized Cohen for taking the soldier’s word, and not confirming the story, especially as only one child was killed in the area in the kibbutz in question. 

In response, Cohen explained that, “I admit that I didn't think it was necessary to check the truth of a story brought by a lieutenant colonel, a general officer of the Gaza division, and also accompanied by a representative of the DoC. Why would an army officer make up such a horrific story? I was wrong.”

Cohen was among the Israeli journalists who debunked the previous claim that Hamas had beheaded 40 babies during the 7 October surprise attack. 

A volunteer from United Hatzalah rescues service, Asher Moskowitz, had claimed he was at the Shura military base when bodies were arriving. He claimed that “Most of the bodies from Kfar Aza were burned, but what I saw with this body— it was relatively complete, but hard like a rock, and on its stomach was the sign of a heating element, like a half a circle or a big chain.”

Moskowitz continued by saying that someone from Chevreh Kadishah [the Israeli military organization that prepares bodies for burial] told him that “based on the signs on the body, it looks like they put him inside the oven alive,” and that “they found the baby dead inside the oven.”

However, the Jerusalem Post went on to report that no journalists have been able to verify the claim, including Cohen of Kikar HaShabbat news website. Cohen tried to confirm the story with the Israeli military, another rescue service called Zaka, the Shura military base, and other sources, but was unable to. Haaretz journalist Chaim Levinson also investigated the claim and said, “I checked. Did not happen.”

Israel has sought to fabricate Hamas atrocities to justify its bombing and ground campaign in Gaza, which has killed some 15,000 Palestinians, including some 5,000 children.

In the wake of the 7 October Hamas attack on military bases and settlements surrounding Gaza, Israel has claimed Hamas killed 1,200 Israelis. Hamas killed many Israeli civilians and soldiers during the attack, however, Israeli forces also killed many Israelis as collateral damage. To stop the Hamas attack and prevent its fighters from taking captives back to Gaza, the Israeli army used overwhelming firepower, including from tanks, Apache helicopters and armed drones. 

Increased possibility of a ceasefire with the withdrawal of the Ukraine war from the agenda of the West

Strategic Council Online—Interview: An analyst of international issues said even though Russia's victory in the Ukraine war will mean the defeat of NATO and its credibility in Europe, the course of the war has now reached such a stage that the Westerners have no choice but to put pressure on Ukraine for a ceasefire and implement a peace agreement.

Seyyed Reza Mirtaher told the Strategic Council on Foreign Relations that the developments of the last few months in the war in Ukraine, especially the apparent failure of offensives that Ukraine had promised in advance and which the West believed would be very successful, have now created a situation where the West is said to want to convince Kyiv to start negotiations with Russia to reach a ceasefire.

Mirtaher said while referring to Western media reports about secret negotiations between Washington and Kyiv to convince Ukraine to negotiate a ceasefire and accept some of its terms.

He pointed to the US focus on the war between the Zionist regime and Hamas after the “Al-Aqsa Storm” operation in the Gaza Strip. He added that “this situation has naturally reduced the attention of the Biden government officials to the war in Ukraine, and this is a trend that is also happening in Europe at the same time. The coming into power of some leaders in Slovakia and the deterioration of relations between Ukraine and Poland have caused these two countries to cut off their military aid to Ukraine, and now we are witnessing a kind of gap between European countries in terms of continuing to send military and economic aid to Ukraine”.

This expert on international issues, recalling that the United States, as the world’s first military power, has sent tens of billions of dollars in arms aid to Ukraine, described the situation as complex for the European countries that had significantly reduced their military budgets in the post-Cold War environment, and have limited arms reserves and ammunition.

Mirtaher said that under such a situation, where no clear fate is predicted for the war, we are witnessing a significant decrease in public support for the continuation of aid to Ukraine among Western countries.

Referring to President Zelensky’s criticism of the decrease in attention to Ukraine after the war in Gaza and saying that the West has forgotten Ukraine, Mirtaher continued that from a military point of view, almost from June onwards, when counter-attacks against Ukraine began, within the last five-six months, the Ukrainians were practically unable to achieve significant military gains, and despite the massive arms assistance from the West, the result on the battlefield was disastrous. Now, the Russians claim that the Ukrainians have suffered at least 70,000 casualties and that at least half of the Western military equipment sent to Ukraine has been destroyed.

He stated that now, on the eve of the winter season, the power and potential of Ukraine’s counter-attacks have been reduced to a large extent. This situation has created an opportunity for the Russians to reorganize and consolidate their military and defense lines in the conflict areas to prepare for more effective military strikes, which is considered another weakness for Ukraine.

This expert on international issues called the outbreak of war in Gaza a breathing space in the international environment for Russia, as a result of which, the attention of governments and countries has been diverted from the war in Ukraine to Gaza and added that Russia, while during the war in Gaza, took the political and diplomatic initiative to some extent in international institutions, with a new movement, strongly weakened Ukraine’s position in the final round. The combination of these factors has led some Western countries to conclude that they should pressure the Ukrainians in the context of talks for a ceasefire and peace.

Mirtaher reminded that in the US, as the leading supporter of Ukraine, there is a significant dispute between the Republicans in Congress and the White House, and explained that before this, the Republicans had many protests about the considerable quantity and quality of the American military aid to Ukraine and wanted limited and conditional delivery of aid. “During the recent Gaza war, the Biden administration presented a $106 billion aid package to Congress, of which $14.3 billion is allocated to the Zionist regime and $61.7 billion to Ukraine. In a strange move, the Republicans independently passed the aid bill to the Zionist regime in the House of Representatives. Thus, contrary to the threat made by the Biden administration and the White House that Biden would veto the bill if passed independently, they took it forward.”

He continued that if this independent aid bill to the Zionist regime goes to the Senate, it will not be approved due to the majority of the Democrats in the Senate. If it is approved, Biden will veto it, as he promised. Therefore, now inside the US, there is a kind of dispute between the Republicans and the White House in the field of sending simultaneous military aid to the Israeli regime and Ukraine. Basically, the Republicans do not want the US aid to Ukraine to continue with the current situation.

Stating that for the first time in American history, the White House will veto the issue of providing aid to the Zionist regime, Mir Taher said that the Biden administration’s insistence that the war in Gaza and Ukraine should be viewed in the framework of a package and a single approach. Now, it has become a significant challenge inside the United States and the domestic political environment of this country, and it has made the Ukrainian government more disappointed with the United States. These conditions do not create a positive perspective for the Western-oriented government of Kyiv to continue the war with Russia. Sooner or later, they will conclude that they have to negotiate for peace with Russia in the current situation.

According to this expert on international issues, in this situation, there will be no discussion about the return of Crimea to Ukraine, and most likely, the Russians want to preserve their land gains, which includes about 100,000 square kilometers of Ukrainian territory.

Mirtaher said that the primary goal of the US was to weaken Russia, in general significantly weakening its economy by imposing about 13,000 sanctions on this country. After that, the US sought to weaken Russia’s military power and limit the national forces of this country in the war process. In any case, Russia’s victory in the Ukraine war will mean the defeat of NATO and its credibility in Europe Because NATO has not been able to stop Russia’s advances, and we will see a change in the geostrategic balance in Europe. Of course, this issue is not pleasant and tolerable for Westerners. But despite the desired goals of the West, the course of the war has now reached such a stage that the Westerners have no choice but to put pressure on Ukraine for a ceasefire and to implement a peace agreement.

Iran Objects to Israel’s Presence at COP28 in UAE

TEHRAN (Tasnim) – Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian expressed Iran’s opposition to the Zionist regime’s participation in the 28th United Nations Climate Change conference, underway in the United Arab Emirates.

 In a telephone conversation on Thursday, the Iranian foreign minister and his Emirati counterpart Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan talked about the latest developments in Gaza following the second extension of a ceasefire after weeks of deadly Israeli strikes on Palestinians.

The senior Emirati diplomat also briefed the Iranian foreign minister on the United Arab Emirates’ plans to host the 2023 United Nations Climate Change Conference, known as COP28.

The 28th United Nations Climate Change conference is being held from November 30 until December 12 at Expo City in Dubai.

Expressing gratitude to President of the United Arab Emirates Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan for inviting Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi to COP28, Amirabdollahian outlined Iran’s views about the conference.

The Iranian foreign minister called into serious question the presence of Israeli representatives in the conference in Dubai against a backdrop of the Zionist regime’s most recent war crimes and genocidal atrocities in Gaza.

Pointing to the extension of a temporary ceasefire in Gaza, Amirabdollahian stressed the need for collective efforts to fully stop the Zionist regime’s war crimes and pave the way for the massive delivery of humanitarian aid supplies to people of Gaza.

The UN Security Council is expected to adopt an effective resolution in favor of the Palestinian people, he underlined.

For his part, the Emirati foreign minister expounded on his country’s regional and international efforts to ensure truce in Gaza, saying Abu Dhabi will do its utmost to guarantee the continuation of the ceasefire and broaden humanitarian aid for the people of Gaza.

US state secretary back in Israel as clock ticks on Gaza truce

News Desk - The Cradle 

The fourth visit to Israel by Washington's top diplomat since the start of the war in Gaza coincides with reports saying the White House is urging Tel Aviv to 'take greater care to protect civilians' after the truce ends

US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken arrived in Tel Aviv on 30 November, telling reporters that the current truce agreement in the Gaza Strip is “producing results” and expressing hope that it will continue to hold. 

"We have seen over the last week the very positive development of hostages coming home, being reunited with their families. And that should continue today. It's also enabled an increase in humanitarian assistance to go to innocent civilians in Gaza who need it desperately," Blinken said. 

"So, this process is producing results. It's important, and we hope that it can continue," he added. 

The comments came as the secretary was on his fourth visit to Israel since Operation Al-Aqsa Flood and the outbreak of the Gaza-Israel war on 7 October. 

Blinken’s arrival coincided with a deadly shooting operation in Jerusalem, which killed three Israelis. 

Upon being received by Israeli President Isaac Herzog, Blinken expressed condolences and condemned the “terrorism that Israel and Israelis face every single day.”

In the early hours of Thursday, Israel and Hamas agreed to a last-minute extension of the truce for 24 hours. 

The US has been working with Qatar and Egypt to maintain the fragile truce. A sixth round of prisoner exchanges was held on Wednesday, 29 November, with another round expected to occur on Thursday evening. 

Blinken also met Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and other members of the Israeli war cabinet during the visit. 

"I look forward to detailed conversations with the government of Israel about the way ahead in Gaza," Washington’s top diplomat was quoted as saying. 

The visit comes as Washington has been showing some concern over the potential resumption of Israel’s assault on Gaza, which Tel Aviv has vowed to continue after the ceasefire. 

Over 20,000 Palestinians have been killed, and around 1.8 million displaced from northern Gaza to the south in the first round of fighting. 

“Israel's looming offensive into southern Gaza” was on the agenda of Blinken’s visit to Israel. 

Washington last month said there should be no “red lines” for Israel’s response to the 7 October operation. 

However, senior US officials said this week that US President Joe Biden and others in the government are now asking Israel to “take greater care” to protect civilians and limit destruction of infrastructure. 

"We have reinforced this in very clear language with the government of Israel - very important that the conduct of the Israeli campaign when it moves to the south must be done in a way that is to a maximum extent not designed to produce significant further displacement of persons," one of the officials said. 

"You cannot have the sort of scale of displacement that took place in the north replicated in the south. It will be beyond disruptive; it will be beyond the capacity of any humanitarian support network. It can’t happen.”  

The official added that Israel has been “receptive” to the idea.

Throughout the entirety of the fighting, Israel continued bombardment of southern Gaza despite simultaneously urging civilians to evacuate there. 

Earlier in November, Israel dropped leaflets on southern Gaza telling residents to evacuate and warning them that they would be in “danger” if found near Hamas fighters. 

Moscow Dislikes New NATO-Ukraine Cooperation Program, Says Kremlin

TEHRAN (Tasnim) – Moscow dislikes a new NATO-Ukraine cooperation program that is provocative in nature, Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Thursday.

 "It is perfectly clear that NATO intends to continue interaction with Ukraine. Yes, this is what we dislike and this is what we consider as NATO actions that are quite provocative with regard to our apprehensions about security," the Russian presidential spokesman said, TASS reported.

The document signed "has no new provisions and this is not the first program of cooperation," Peskov said.

Secretary General of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization Jens Stoltenberg said after a NATO-Ukraine Council meeting of foreign ministers on November 29 that the alliance and Kiev had adopted a program of cooperation for next year that included energy security and Ukrainian army training.

A brief statement was circulated after the meeting, listing areas of cooperation between Ukraine and NATO for the future, but no practical decisions concerning military assistance to Ukraine followed.

With all eyes on Gaza, Israel quietly ups its brutal aggression in West Bank

By Maryam Qarehgozlou

Tension hangs in the air in an occupied West Bank village nestled amid rolling hills and olive groves. Out of nowhere, a deafening roar of helicopter blades resonates there, exacerbating tensions.

Israeli regime soldiers, clad in olive green fatigues, armed with rifles and wearing protective gear, prepare to carry out their dastardly military raid.

In a matter of seconds, the sleepy village is engulfed in chaos. Tear gas canisters are launched into a crowd of protestors, filling the air with a choking haze that obscures vision.

The sound of gunfire erupts, mingling with the cries of frightened civilians caught in the crossfire.

The flickering flames of burning barricades illuminate the scene. Debris is strewn on the streets of the densely populated neighborhood. The wall of one of the houses has a large bullet hole in it.

Amid the chaos and mayhem, young Palestinian men, with their faces masked by keffiyehs, throw stones and Molotov cocktails at the heavily-armed marauding Israeli regime forces.

Israel’s war to “root out” Palestinian resistance movement Hamas in the aftermath of the latter’s October 7 Operation Al-Aqsa Storm (also known as Al-Aqsa Flood), which killed 15,000 civilians in the Gaza Strip, is no longer confined to the besieged territory.

While all eyes are on Gaza, the Israeli regime has been tightening its grip on the occupied West Bank, carrying out deadly attacks and raids on residential areas and hospitals.

On Tuesday night, the regime soldiers raided the Ibn Sina Hospital in Jenin and destroyed the road that leads to the hospital, as revealed by multiple videos filmed by locals.

Many doctors and patients were injured in the aggression, and many houses were in the vicinity of the hospital. They also blocked the road, preventing patients from going to the hospital.

The deadliest year

Violence had already spiraled in the occupied West Bank before the Gaza war. According to the United Nations, 2022 marked the “deadliest” year for the Palestinians in the occupied West Bank and East al-Quds since it started recording in 2005.

Israeli forces had killed at least 170 Palestinians in these areas in random, indiscriminate, arbitrary raids.

This year is on track to becoming the deadliest year for Palestinians in the occupied West Bank in almost two decades as the number of fatalities has surged dramatically.

At least 371 Palestinians in the occupied West Bank and East al-Quds have been killed this year so far by Israeli regime forces and violent settlers.

According to a statement by the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), between October 7 and November 27, at least 231 Palestinians, including 59 children, were killed in the occupied West Bank.

Of those killed, 222 were killed by Israeli forces, 8 by Israeli settlers and 1 either by forces or settlers.

“The seven-week toll represents more than half of all Palestinians killed in the West Bank this year. So far, 2023 has been the deadliest year for Palestinians in the West Bank since OCHA began recording casualties in 2005,” OCHA said in the statement.

According to the organization, more than 67 percent of fatalities since early October have occurred during “search-and-arrest operations” and other operations carried out by Israeli regime forces, mainly in Jenin and Tulkarm governorates.

Late on Saturday and early Sunday, Palestinian media reported that Israeli forces shot dead five Palestinians in the city of Jenin. Three others were killed in raids elsewhere in the West Bank.

Israeli forces raided Jenin “from several directions, firing bullets and surrounding government hospitals and the headquarters of the Red Crescent Society,” Palestinian news agency WAFA reported.

According to OCHA, since October 7, Israeli forces have injured more than 3,000 Palestinians, including nearly 500 children.

Some violent raids also came amid a four-day truce between the Israeli regime and Hamas in the war-torn Gaza Strip, which also included a prisoners-for-captives swap.

“Between 24 and 26 November, Israeli forces injured 158 Palestinians, including 124 children, during confrontations near the Israeli prison of Ofer, in anticipation of the release of Palestinian detainees as part of the humanitarian pause agreement,” OCHA said.

Since the truce, mediated by Qatar and Egypt, went into effect on Friday, 150 Palestinian prisoners or abductees, all women and children, were released from Israeli prisons in four batches.

In return, Hamas released 50 Israeli captives held in the Gaza Strip.

On Tuesday, the truce was extended for an additional 48 hours. The Israeli regime released 30 Palestinians and Hamas handed over 12 more captives.

The regime denied the families of the released Palestinians to celebrate the occasion.

They were forced to sign a commitment with several restrictions regarding celebrations, gatherings and distribution of sweets or any other expression of joy over the release of their loved ones, on order from the military affairs minister Itamar Ben-Gvir

In some cases, they said, they were taken into custody for questioning and their homes were searched.

Jawdat Bakeer, father of the released Palestinian prisoner Marah Bakeer, who spent 8 years in an Israeli jail on unsubstantiated charges, has said was taken for questioning at a police station in al-Quds and warned against the family showing any signs of joy about her release.

“We’ve just received her [Marah] but they [Israeli forces] threatened to storm the house and arrest me if we celebrate,” he told Al Jazeera.

Surging settler violence

Emboldened by Israeli forces’ near-daily violent raids on Palestinians, there has been an alarming uptick in illegal settlers’ violence and property theft against Palestinians as well.

OCHA said since October 7, it has recorded 287 settler attacks against Palestinians, resulting in Palestinian casualties and damage to their property.

“This reflects a daily average of almost six incidents, compared with three since the beginning of the year. One-third of these incidents included threats with firearms, including shootings,” it added.

On November 25 and 26, OCHA verified two settler attacks which resulted in damage to Palestinian-owned property.

“According to Palestinian eyewitnesses, a group of Israeli settlers vandalized 300 olive trees and stole agricultural equipment on the outskirts of Al Khadr (Bethlehem) and Bani Naim (Hebron) villages,” OCHA reported.

Settlers have made the past few weeks a nightmare for Palestinians living in the West Bank.

“The children are constantly scared, and they don’t play outside anymore, it’s too dangerous,” a farmer named Ayman Assad was quoted as saying by Al Jazeera.

The 45-year-old father of five said his children are no longer going to school because the Israeli army is blocking many of the roads in the area. All classes have been moved online.

OCHA said that in nearly half of all settler attacks, Israeli forces “either accompanying or actively supporting” the attacking settlers.

Forced displacement

Increased settler attacks, under the cover of the regime’s genocide in Gaza, have forced Palestinian communities to leave their homes in the past weeks over fears for their safety.

“Since October 7, at least 143 Palestinian households comprising 1,014 people, including 388 children, have been displaced amid settler violence and access restrictions,” according to the OCHA.

Settlers are taking advantage of the situation in the Gaza Strip by stepping up the abuse of Palestinians in a calculated effort to seize control of more land.

In a recent press release, Israeli rights group B’Tselem said the attacks could be in line with efforts to drive Palestinian communities and single-family farms out of their homes and land.

“[Israel] is exploiting the war to promote its political agenda of taking over more land in the West Bank,” the group stated.

“To further this goal, settler violence, backed by Israel, against Palestinians has risen in both frequency and intensity, with soldiers and police officers fully backing the assailants and often participating in the attacks. Events on the ground indicate that under cover of war, settlers are carrying out such assaults virtually unchecked, with no one trying to stop them before, during, or after the fact,” it added.

Lockdown of the territory

The Israeli military has also imposed heavy restrictions on movement between cities in the West Bank.

Media reports reveal that over the past weeks, since the regime unleashed a bombardment campaign against Gaza, Israel has enforced stringent lockdown, especially in Hebron’s H2, which Palestinians living in the area describe as the “harshest” ever imposed.

“This has never happened before where a full lockdown is implemented, even during the second Intifada (uprising),” Bassam Abu Aisha, 61, vice president of a local drivers’ union was quoted as saying.

Hebron is divided into two sectors. H1, populated entirely by Palestinians and controlled by the Palestinian Authority, accounts for roughly 80 percent of the city.

H2, where the Israeli military has full control, accounts for just 20 percent of the city. H2 is populated almost entirely by 35,000 Palestinians. Some 700 Israelis live in illegal settlements there.

Reports say residents are only allowed to leave their homes for food every two days between the hours of 18:00-19:00.

H2 residents say Israeli soldiers aim guns at anyone who goes up to their roof or even looks through their window, yelling at them to stay inside.

“It’s like we are in prison,” several residents were quoted as saying in media reports.

Widespread arrests

Over the past eight weeks, since Israel launched its aggression on Gaza, Palestinians in the occupied West Bank have experienced an intensified Israeli crackdown.

According to the Palestinian Prisoners Club, since October 7, more than 3,200 Palestinians have been arrested in the occupied territory.

This brings the total number of prisoners to more than 8,000, according to figures released by prisoners’ rights groups. 

The arrests are most often in response to social media posts in support of Hamas and other resistance groups but sometimes express the plight of people in Gaza, resulting in detentions of Palestinians.

Israeli authorities allege that many of these detainees are members of the resistance groups.

According to Addameer, the Palestinian prisoner rights group, conditions inside Israeli prisons have gotten much worse since the onslaught on Gaza seven weeks ago.

Palestinian prisoners are experiencing harsher conditions, such as an increase in the incidence and severity of beatings and other forms of torture, electricity being cut off, water being restricted to one hour per day, and clinics shuttered.

Since October 7, at least six Palestinians arrested in the current Israeli witch-hunt in the occupied West Bank have died in Israeli regime prisons.

“It’s a war all over, from the West Bank to Gaza to East Jerusalem, the war is on all Palestinians but in different forms,” Issa Amro, a prominent Palestinian activist who lives in Hebron, said.

Iran Urges UNSC to Ensure Lasting Ceasefire in Gaza

TEHRAN (Tasnim) – The foreign minister of Iran called on the UN Security Council and all governments to guarantee a permanent ceasefire in Gaza, prevent the expulsion of Palestinians from their homeland, and immediately deliver humanitarian aid to the people of Gaza.

 Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian was scheduled to attend a high-level meeting of the UN Security Council about the implementation of Resolution 2217 in New York on November 29.

The US government’s delay in granting visa prevented the Iranian diplomatic delegation from taking part in the meeting.

However, Iran’s UN mission is registering the text of the speech that Amirabdollahian had prepared as a document at the UN.

What follows is the text of the ministerial statement:

In the name of God, the Most Compassionate, the Most Merciful

Mr. President, Your Excellency Mr. Wang Yi the Honorable Minister of Foreign Affairs of the People's Republic of China

Distinguished Delegates

Assalamu Alyakum wa Rahmatullahi wa Barakatuhu

I am delighted to share with you in this important meeting of the United Nations Security Council some points on behalf of the Islamic Republic of Iran. 

This meeting is convening today on the 29th of November which was named 46 years ago by the General Assembly after the International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People. We take it as a good omen. Holding such a meeting to attract attentions to the ongoing humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza is of immense significance and value per se. However, such meetings will really prove fruitful only if they culminate in tangible measures to alleviate the pain and malady of the oppressed people of Palestine and ensure a permanent cessation of interminable genocide of Palestinians especially in Gaza.  

We must courageously and frankly admit that the United Nations, and in particular the Security Council, so far, has failed to fulfill their legal and moral responsibilities towards Palestinians and the question of Palestine. Such failure is greatly blamed on the unquestionable support the United States is giving to the occupying regime and preventing any effective measures to make Israel accountable. This is in fact an ethical fiasco and depreciation of conscience for the international community and the United Nations system. Notwithstanding, the main responsibility rests with the powers that adamantly prevent the Security Council from fulfilling its roles as enshrined in the UN Charter.

More than any other time, reference is made today to Resolution 2217—a resolution which is considered a small step on the right direction, even though it was approved belatedly and with poor substance. Nevertheless, this resolution needs to be strongly enforced and followed. The natural expectation of the international community was that the Security Council would take an action immediately after the start of indiscriminate attacks on Gaza and prevent the further murder of innocent humans. Who can camouflage that the all-out aggression of the occupying regime against Gaza, as one of the most densely-populated regions of the world which has been under absolute blockade for more than 17 years, as well as the killing of thousands of innocent people more than 70 percent of whom women and children, do not constitute a threat to international peace and security? The intensity and volume of the killing of civilians during 50 days of disproportionate attacks on Gaza are unprecedented. The number of children and women killed in Gaza alone far exceeds the total number of women and children killed in various conflicts across the world during the past year including the war in Ukraine. This is while the murder and suppression machine of the racist regime has killed or wounded more than 3,100 Palestinians in the West Bank in just two months as reported by the New York Times on November 25.

Who can ignore the reality that blind and indiscriminate bombardment of Gaza by 2,000-pound bombs and other prohibited weapons such as phosphorous bombs, which make no exception for hospitals, schools, mosques and churches, contain all the elements of grave international crimes including war crime, genocide and crime against humanity? How can one justify the inaction of the Security Council towards the horrible human catastrophe in Gaza?

Mr. President    

Now the Security Council and its member are posed to a very severe test. Under circumstances in which the besieged and occupied Gaza is under the most savage military attacks and has lost more than 16,000 of its children of whom 6,000 are minors and 4,000 are women, and under circumstances in which more than half of northern Gaza has been reduced to rubble, nothing other than guaranteeing a complete cessation of the criminal attacks of Israel can partly compensate the moral shame of the international community before the people of Palestine and the Muslim world. 

One must be alert that humanitarian pause, while being partly fruitful, is not turned into a tool for cleaning the past crimes and create an opportunity for perpetrating new murders.  

Mr. President

The Palestine tragedy as a human, moral and legal issue with global dimensions, did not begin as of October 7. The occupier regime and its supporters and defenders should not be permitted to distort the reality and spread lies and disinformation aimed at marginalizing and overshadowing the long reality of occupation, suppression, humiliation and genocide of a nation for more than eight decades. Violence and conflict in the Middle East have never been a choice of the people of Palestine and the nations of the region. Violence is a commodity imposed on our region as the result of the occupation and racial megalomania of the Zionist ideology. The continued and suppressive occupation which began as of 1920 was institutionalized in 1948 and caused forced displacement of one million Palestinians and was later expanded through force and military coercion, and continues to date through the seizure and confiscation of Palestinian lands and expansion of illegal settlements. All these reflect and represent a racist and narcissistic mentality which regards no human rights for the people under occupation. Murdering and exterminating the people of Palestine should not become normalized. This is a legal and moral obligation and duty in accordance with the joint article one of the four Geneva conventions of 1949 and the Genocide Convention of 1948. Perpetrators must not be allowed to play the victim and evade accountability and responsibility before the international community and keep on genociding the Palestinian nation by resorting to and misusing the crimes committed by others decades ago in another continent against the Jews and by accusing critics of anti-Semitism. The legitimate and legal resistance of the Palestinian nation to achieve the right to self-determination as well as defending human rights and human dignity of Palestinians are an entitlement admitted in the UN Charter and international law. And no person, state or organization cannot depose Palestinian of such an entitlement. Branding the legitimate struggle of the people of Palestine for their self-determination right as terrorism is the blatant and deliberate violation of the UN Charter and the peremptory norms of international law and is Immoral and reprehensible.

Mr. President

Distinguished colleagues

The Islamic Republic of Iran, within the framework of its principled policy of opposing aggression and use of force in international relations as well as occupation, racism and racial discrimination, and in line with its responsible policy to safeguard regional and international peace and security, continues to support the legitimate and lawful movement of the Palestinian nation to eliminate occupation and apartheid imposed on Palestine.

Under the present conditions, what needs be the priority of the UN Security Council and all governments is to guarantee a permanent ceasefire in Gaza, prevent the expulsion of Palestinians from their homeland, and immediately deliver humanitarian assistance such as food and medicine to the people of Gaza and reconnect electricity and fuel.

All Palestinians, including seven million refugees and Palestinians living in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, are directly and indirectly mourning their lost loved ones. The majority of the population of Gaza has lost their houses and properties during the Israeli attacks. The world cannot remain indifferent to this obvious cruelty, which is a gross violation of human rights and humanitarian rights and constitutes an example of the most severe international crimes. Impunity of the designers, perpetrators and accomplices of these atrocity crimes is a license and incentive for repeating such crimes. Based on this, the trial and administer of justice for the perpetrators of these crimes should be placed high on the agenda of the international community. Governments that for decades have presented themselves as self-proclaimed claimants of human rights and humanitarian rights, and have greatly utilized international mechanisms as a tool to tarnish and smear developing states, under the pretext of violating human rights - on very small scales and incomparable to what happened in Gaza - have failed in the test of honesty and true belief in their claims. Hypocrisy and double standards in relation to human rights will distort the rule of law in international relations and prepare the ground further for criminals and violators of international law.

This is not something to be appreciated by any responsible and peace-seeking state.

With the hope of liberation of the people of Palestine from the yoke of the occupation and suppression of occupiers.

I thank you for your attention.