Al Mayadeen – December 20, 2024
Day 441 of Israeli genocide in Gaza: 45,206 killed, 107,512 injured
The Israeli genocide in the Gaza Strip continues unabated, with dozens of Palestinians killed and wounded every day.
The Israeli occupation forces have killed 45,206 Palestinians, while another 107,512 have been injured since October 7, 2023, the Ministry of Health in Gaza reported on the 441st day of the ongoing Israeli genocide.
The Israeli occupation committed three massacres across the Gaza Strip in 24 hours, killing 77 Palestinians and injuring 174 others.
While some victims were transported to the few partially functioning hospitals, many remain trapped under the rubble or in areas inaccessible to ambulance and Civil Defense teams.
UN official blasts Israeli 'weaponization' of aid to Gaza
Earlier today, a senior United Nations (UN) official lambasted "Israel" for blocking off aid from the Gaza Strip, saying that Israeli policies have forced humanitarians to make "horrible decisions."
In a virtual news conference, Georgios Petropoulos, the head of the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) sub-office in Gaza, said, "Israeli authorities and military seem unwilling to open multiple access points at once," for humanitarian efforts into the Gaza Strip, which has impeded aid deliveries.
Petropoulos pointed to multiple issues that have slowed down aid deliveries, including strict Israeli restrictions on items, looting of aid in Israeli-controlled areas, and limited access via Israeli checkpoints.
"Most of the areas in which these lootings happen are under the control of the Israeli forces," he told reporters.
"Every day, as an aid worker in Gaza, you're forced to make horrible decisions. Should I let people die of starvation or the cold? Do we bring in more food to ease hunger or more plastic sheets for shelter?" Petropoulos said.
As for difficulties in reaching parts of the northern Gaza Strip, including Gaza City, the UN official pointed to massively fortified Israeli checkpoints. He said that humanitarians have no "predictable access to these Israeli checkpoints," adding that "they don't open enough and there are massive amounts of time spent simply waiting for them to decide to open."
"As humanitarians, we stand firm against being told where and how we should work in Gaza," the UN official said, in regards to the besiegements of the northernmost parts of the Gaza Strip, where tens of thousands of civilians remain.
He also explained that selective restrictions and denials of humanitarian aid to certain areas in the besieged territory indicate the "weaponization" of aid by Israeli authorities. He revealed that restrictions are being placed on the delivery of water and food to areas in the North governorate, while these same items are allowed in other areas. Petropoulos said that these denials by Israeli authorities show that aid is being used to "move" people, stressing that civilians have a right to choose where to be.
https://english.almayadeen.net/news/politics/day-441-of-israeli-genocide-in-gaza--45-206-killed--107-512
Al Mayadeen – December 20, 2024
Israeli settlers burn mosque north of Salfit in West Bank
Settlers set fire to a mosque in the village of Marda, north of Salfit in the West Bank, writing racist slogans on its walls.
At dawn Friday, Israeli settlers set fire to a mosque in the village of Marda, located north of Salfit in the West Bank.
Local sources told the Palestinian WAFA news agency that the settlers raided the eastern part of the village, set fire to the Birr al-Walidain mosque, and vandalized its walls with racist slogans.
The sources further reported that villagers managed to extinguish the flames before they could spread throughout the mosque, with the damage confined to its entrance.
Sheikh Othman al-Din, the Director of Salfit Endowments, condemned the attack on the mosque as a criminal act against a house of God. He urged the residents to remain vigilant, fearing that settlers may repeat this cowardly act.
The Ministry of Endowments and Religious Affairs also called on the international community and human rights organizations to denounce these reprehensible actions and hold those responsible accountable.
In its monthly report on violations committed by the occupation and settlers against places of worship, the Ministry of Endowments documented 20 raids on the blessed Al-Aqsa Mosque and 55 instances of the call to prayer being blocked at the Ibrahimi Mosque during November.
During the same period, occupation forces demolished the al-Shiyah Mosque in the town of Jabal al-Mukabber in occupied al-Quds, a structure that had been under construction for 20 years.
Additionally, settlers desecrated the Khirbet Marah al-Baqar Mosque in the town of Dura in the al-Khalil Governorate.
The occupation forces also damaged the Abu Bakr al-Siddiq Mosque in Nur Shams camp, as well as the Shuhada Mosque in Tulkarm camp.
They demolished a prayer hall for the Arab al-Ara'ra community near the town of Jaba', east of occupied Al-Quds, and a section of the Abu Bakr al-Siddiq Mosque in the Far’a camp in the Tubas Governorate.
Senior US delegation in Syria for talks with HTS ‘terrorists’
A senior delegation of US diplomats has arrived in Syria to speak directly to the representatives of Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) which is designated a terrorist group by Washington.
A State Department spokesperson said the US officials will speak with HTS rulers about “their vision for the future of their country and how the United States can help support them”.
The delegation includes top State Department official for West Asia Barbara Leaf and Daniel Rubinstein, who is being put in charge of engagement on Syria. The trip comes a week after Secretary of State Antony Blinken said the US had been in direct contact with HTS.
“It’s important to have direct communication,” Blinken told Bloomberg. “It’s important to speak as clearly as possible, to listen, to make sure that we understand as best we can where they’re going and where they want to go. So we’ll be looking at pursuing that in the coming days.”
This is the first formal US diplomatic mission to Damascus since 2011 when Takfiri terrorists from around the world trickled into Syria and unleashed a brutal war on the country.
The period saw the US intensify its sanctions on Syria which culminated in the ouster of President Bashar al-Assad this month.
The US closed its own embassy in Damascus in February 2012, with the Czech Republic representing US interests in the country.
In a statement issued last week, the US said it would be prepared to recognize Syria’s new government if certain conditions were met.
Much has been made of Jolani’s position - or lack thereof - on Israel, which has bombed more than 500 targets in Syria since the ousting of Assad. Israel has also made new land grab inside Syria including what it calls its "buffer zone" in the Golan Heights, which the regime illegally occupies under international law.
Throughout the intensified Israeli aggression, HTS and other Takfiri groups have stood by and watched.
Observers say the fact that Jolani told the UK newspaper The Times that Syria would not threaten Israel may very well be a bid to secure recognition from the West, especially the US, leading to the decisions being made in Washington now.
HTS has roots in al-Qaeda. The US has also set a $10 million bounty on HTS leader Abu Mohammed al-Jolani who is now presented by his real name Ahmed al-Sharaa.
Sharaa on Monday met with the UN envoy for Syria, Geir Pederson, and a day later with a German delegation. French diplomats returned to their embassy in Damascus, raising the tricolor flag for the first time since 2012.
In 2020, the EU accused HTS of unlawfully detaining, torturing and murdering civilians living in areas under the group's control and said this may amount to war crimes or crimes against humanity.
US doubles troops in Syria
Meanwhile, the Pentagon has disclosed it secretly doubled the number of US troops in northeast Syria from 900 to 2,000 soldiers before militants began their swift takeover of the country.
The figures were revealed on Thursday due to “sensitivity from a diplomatic and operational security standpoint”, Pentagon Press Secretary Patrick Ryder explained during a briefing.
The US military has for long stationed its forces and equipment in northeastern Syria, with the Pentagon claiming that the deployment is aimed at preventing the oilfields in the area from falling into the hands of Daesh terrorists.
The United States regularly conducts airstrikes in Syria under the pretext of fighting terrorism.
The former Damascus government maintained that the deployment was meant to plunder the country’s natural resources. Former US president and current president-elect Donald Trump admitted on several occasions that American forces were in the Arab country for its oil wealth.
https://www.presstv.ir/Detail/2024/12/20/739396/US-doubles-occupation-forces-in-Syria,-may-send-delegates-to-meet-with-HTS-chief
Al Mayadeen – December 20, 2024
Israeli army preparing for a long stay in Syria: Israeli media
Israeli media reported that political leaders in Israel have instructed the military to prepare for an extended presence in Syrian territory.
Israeli media reported on Friday that the Israeli military is preparing for an extended presence in Syria.
According to Walla, "Despite pressure from European parties on Israel, political leaders have instructed the Israeli army to brace for a prolonged stay in Syrian territory."
The report also noted that no intelligence agency had predicted the rapid collapse of the former Syrian regime's army, and as a result, the Israeli military is now establishing a more significant presence in the region.
Two days ago, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu instructed the military to prepare to remain in the Syrian Mount Hermon area and the UN-patrolled buffer zone until at least the end of 2025, Israeli Army Radio reported.
Moreover, Israeli Security Minister Israel Katz said that Netanyahu conducted a security briefing on Tuesday atop the strategic Syrian Mount Hermon of the Golan Heights, which "Israel" occupied earlier this month.
"Israel" first captured the Syrian Golan Heights during the 1967 Arab-Israeli war, and later "annexed" the territory in a move that has been condemned worldwide.
Netanyahu, Katz, and senior military and security officials visited "outposts at the summit of Mount Hermon for the first time since they were seized by the military," the Security Minister's office confirmed.
"The summit of Mount Hermon serves as Israel's eyes for identifying both near and distant threats," Katz emphasized.
Netanyahu’s office confirmed that the briefing took place on the "Hermon Ridge", where the Prime Minister reviewed the military’s deployment in the area and set future operational guidelines.
Israel to dig trench in Mount Hermon to block off Lebanon
On Monday, the Israeli occupation continues its ground incursion into southern Syria, extending its control over new villages for the fifth consecutive day.
An Al Mayadeen correspondent reported that Israeli occupation forces have expanded their presence to a depth of 26 km from the slopes of Mount Hermon into southern Damascus’s countryside, along the border with Lebanon.
In the eastern sector of the occupied Syrian Golan Heights, Israeli forces have advanced approximately 12 km into Quneitra Province and its eastern countryside.
Sources informed Al Mayadeen that Israeli forces deployed engineering equipment toward the area previously known as the Beit Jinn gap on the slopes of Mount Hermon. This move is reportedly aimed at digging trenches to prevent potential links with Lebanese territories.
https://english.almayadeen.net/news/politics/israeli-army-preparing-for-a-long-stay-in-syria--israeli-med
New land grabs in Syria part of ‘Greater Israel’ scheme, says Ansarullah chief
The leader of Yemen’s Ansarullah resistance movement says the recent seizure of Syrian territories amid turmoil in the country is part of the Zionist entity’s so-called ‘Greater Israel’ scheme.
“The Israeli enemy pursues a plan called the David’s Corridor, which seeks to grab more lands and extend toward the US-occupied and Kurdish-held areas on the banks of the Euphrates River,” Abul-Malik al-Houthi said in a televised speech Thursday. 
He touched on Israel's dream of reaching the Euphrates, saying the regime sees the situation as just ripe since there is no obstacle to its inroads in Syria.
The Israeli military, he said, is destroying Syria’s military facilities which belong to the Arab nation and are necessary to confront the Tel Aviv regime’s acts of aggression.
The Ansarullah leader hit out at Syria's new rulers for not doing anything to protect strategic weapons and military premises in the country, leaving them vulnerable to Israeli attacks.
“The Israeli enemy’s destruction of Syria’s defense capabilities represents a criminal aggression, a blatant violation, and an assault on its national sovereignty,” he said.
He also warned that Israel is pursuing a plan to occupy fertile lands in southern Syria.
Houthi then took a swipe at the US and its Western allies for terming brazen and vicious Israeli aggression on Syria as “acts of self-defense,” stating that the atrocities constitute a flagrant violation of all international principles.
He pointed to Western double standards, saying the genuine self-defense by resistance factions in Gaza and Lebanon is being portrayed as terrorism.
Houthi said the chaos in Syria has enabled more Israeli land grabs amid the armed groups’ silence and inaction.
Furthermore, he said the Palestinian cause is the foremost issue of the Muslim world, and Israel poses a great threat to all people, particularly Arabs.
He stressed that the new Syrian rulers have been ordered not to make any anti-Israel comments, stating that Muslims should defend Gaza just as the Europeans are backing Ukraine.
“The Muslim Ummah is viewed by its enemies as a naive, stupid and ignorant community that can be easily deceived,” Houthi said.
He said Muslim countries’ inaction has emboldened Israel to press ahead with its occupying agenda.
Houthi stressed that the Yemeni armed forces will continue their operations against Israel in support of the Palestinians and their resistance groups.
He said in the past week alone, Yemeni missile attacks have hit several Israeli targets in the occupied territories, causing great damage and chaos there.
Iran-Egypt ties poised for revival as first Iranian president visits Cairo in 11 years
By Alireza Hashemi
Masoud Pezeshkian embarked on a visit to Cairo on Thursday, marking the first visit by an Iranian president to the Arab country since 2013—a significant event against the backdrop of heightened regional tensions.
The primary agenda of the visit is participation in the D-8 Organization for Economic Cooperation, also known as Developing-8, an organization of developing Muslim nations aimed at fostering economic cooperation within the Islamic world.
However, the main significance of the Iranian president's historic visit lies in its potential to open a new chapter of cooperation between Iran and Egypt, building on strenuous efforts made over the past two years.
Regional observers are keenly watching to see if the event will pave the way for enhanced diplomatic relations between the two countries, as Pezeshkian is scheduled to meet his Egyptian counterpart, Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, on the sidelines of the summit in Cairo.
Abbas Araghchi, accompanying the president, will also meet his Egyptian counterpart to discuss bilateral and regional issues, the foreign ministry spokesman stated during Monday's press conference.
Iran and Egypt, two influential Muslim-majority countries, have experienced strained relations since the 1979 Islamic Revolution.
A key source of tension was Egypt's decision to grant asylum to the deposed West-backed Iranian dictator, Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, as well as recognition of the Israeli regime through the 1978 Camp David Accords.
Relations between the two countries saw a marked improvement after the ouster of longtime Egyptian dictator Hosni Mubarak during the 2011 Arab Spring.
Push for better ties
Under former Iranian president Ebrahim Raeisi, efforts toward fully restoring diplomatic ties gained momentum, as Raeisi and his Egyptian counterpart, Sisi, met on the sidelines of the Arab-Islamic summit in Riyadh in November 2023.
This encounter marked the first meeting between the leaders of the two countries in over a decade, following Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's visit to Cairo in 2013 to attend the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) summit.
Oman played an important role as mediator between the two countries during the Raeisi government with Sultan of Oman Haitham bin Tariq Al Said visiting Tehran in June 2023 carrying a message from Egypt.
President Raeisi's tragic death in a helicopter crash in May 2024 was followed by a snap presidential election, in which veteran lawmaker and former health minister Masoud Pezeshkian emerged as the winner.
Egypt’s Foreign Minister, Badr Abdelatty attended Pezeshkian’s inauguration ceremony in Tehran in July 2024.
In October, Araghchi visited Egypt to discuss regional issues, particularly the genocide in Gaza and Lebanon, with his Egyptian counterpart. Pezeshkian and Sisi also engaged briefly during the BRICS summit in Kazan, discussing regional issues.
Experts believe that the D-8 summit in Cairo, starting Thursday, will act as a catalyst for the formal resumption of diplomatic ties between Iran and Egypt.
Jafar Qanadbashi, an Iranian analyst of West Asia affairs, told the Press TV website that there is a strong likelihood of full diplomatic normalization and the reopening of embassies between Cairo and Tehran.
He noted that Egypt’s previous hesitance to fully restore ties with Iran was influenced by its alignment with Saudi Arabia and US policies.
However, following the China-brokered rapprochement between Iran and Saudi Arabia in March 2023, a more favorable environment for reconciliation has emerged.
Hassan Hanizadeh, a Tehran-based analyst, agreed that conditions are ripe for the appointment of ambassadors between the two countries, despite external pressures from the US and certain Arab regimes opposed to Iran's growing regional influence.
Speaking to the Press TV website, he said Sisi appears open to strengthening relations with Iran due to its economic potential and regional influence.
Hanizadeh emphasized that Egypt’s strategic position as a hub between Asia and Europe, along with its large population of 110 million, presents significant opportunities for Iran.
Unified Muslim world
The D-8 summit also serves as a platform for addressing divisions within the Muslim world and offering a venue for intense diplomacy to prioritize important issues facing the Muslim world, from Gaza to Syria.
In remarks before his departure from Tehran on Wednesday, Pezeshkian underscored the importance of strengthening ties among Islamic countries to counter external threats—a reference to the Israeli apartheid regime and its Western backers.
“The closer, deeper, and more practical our relations with Islamic countries become, the more effectively we can thwart enemies' conspiracies against us and other Islamic nations," he remarked.
Qanadbashi highlighted the D-8 summit's importance for Iran, likening it to a Muslim version of the global BRICS alliance and noting that the bloc represents 13 percent of the world's population.
He emphasized that establishing a joint Islamic market could diversify Iran’s economic connections and help alleviate the effects of draconian Western sanctions.
Discussions at the summit are expected to focus on the ongoing genocide of Palestinians in Gaza, which has killed over 45,000 people, most of them children and women, since October last year.
Leaders attending the summit are expected to explore how Islamic nations can adopt a unified stance to support oppressed populations in Gaza, Lebanon, and Syria.
The pursuit of peace in Gaza is particularly relevant given Egypt's role as a mediator in ceasefire negotiations currently underway between Hamas and the Israeli regime.
Efforts to restore stability and democracy in Syria will also be a key point of discussion, particularly given Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s participation in the summit, as Turkey is a key player in post-Assad Syria.
The situation in Syria continues to be grim, days after the Bashar al-Assad government was overthrown by a cluster of militant groups backed by the Israeli regime, the United States, and some regional countries.
D-8 summit will be an ideal opportunity for leaders of Iran and Turkey to discuss events unfolding in Syria and ways to prevent the Arab country from descending into further chaos under the new ruling dispensation led by HTS militant group.
https://www.presstv.ir/Detail/2024/12/18/739334/Iran-president-Pezeshkian-trip-Egypt-Cairo-relation
Dec. 19: ‘Axis of Resistance’ operations against Israeli occupation
By Press TV Website Staff
Amid Israel's genocidal war on Gaza, which has killed more than 45,000 Palestinians so far, resistance groups in Palestine continue their operations against the Tel Aviv regime.
The major operations by the Palestinian resistance groups on Thursday, December 19, are as follows:
Al-Qassam Brigades' operations on Dec. 19:
- Sniped an Israeli soldier in the Tawam area, north of Gaza City.
- Stabbed and killed a high-ranking Israeli military officer along with three soldiers accompanying him in Jabalia camp, northern Gaza Strip. Their weapons were seized.
- Targeted the Magen military site with a 'Zouari' suicide drone.
- Al-Quds Brigades' operations on Dec. 19:
- Detonated a pre-prepared explosive device on a D9 Israeli military bulldozer in the Balawneh axis, Tulkarem, occupied West Bank.
- Targeted and destroyed the Israeli military's command and control headquarters in the "Netzarim" axis using mortar shells.
- Seized control of an Israeli military reconnaissance drone, identified as 'EVO Max,' during an intelligence mission over Khan Yunis, southern Gaza Strip.
- Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades' operations on Dec. 19:
- Sniped an Israeli soldier after a group of soldiers stormed Balata camp in the occupied West Bank.
- Martyr Omar al-Qasim Brigades' operations on Dec. 19:
- Targeted a gathering of Israeli soldiers and their military vehicles south of the "Netzarim" axis, central Gaza Strip.
- Yemeni military’s operations on Dec. 19:
- Launched two hypersonic missiles (Palestine 2) at Israeli military targets in Tel Aviv.
- Targeted an Israeli military site in Tel Aviv using a drone.
