Al Mayadeen- December 17, 2024
Ukraine claims responsibility for assassination of Russian general
Ukrainian authorities have claimed responsibility for the assassination of Russian Lt. Gen. Igor Kirillov, stating that it was carried out as a "special operation" by the SBU.
"The liquidation of Lt. Gen. Igor Kirillov, chief of the Russian Armed Forces’ radiation, chemical, and biological defense troops, is a special operation by the SBU," a source within Ukraine's SBU security service told AFP on Tuesday.
Ukrainian officials have confirmed their involvement in the assassination of Kirillov which took in Moscow earlier today.
Ukraine's fingerprints evident: State Duma
After announcing that Russia's security apparatus has launched an investigation into the assassination of Kirillov, the first deputy chairman of the Russian State Duma Defense Committee, Alexey Zhuravlev, announced earlier today that "All those responsible must be punished."
The Russian official further explained that "hardly anyone doubts" that this crime was carried out by Ukraine, saying, "They are proud of it, and what is most terrible is that they encourage terrorism in the West."
Furthermore, Zhuravlev also added that "the criminal nature of the Kiev regime is obvious. It is a terrorist state led by an illegitimate president [Volodymyr Zelensky] - a Nazi."
The details
A criminal investigation has been launched in connection with the incident according to the Russian Investigative Committee.
The explosion on Ryazanskiy Prospekt reportedly killed two people early on Tuesday, both military personnel, Kirillov and his assistant.
On Telegram, the committee announced that "according to the investigation, on the morning of December 17, an explosive device, planted in a scooter parked next to the entrance of a residential building, was detonated on Ryazanskiy Prospekt in Moscow. As a result, the head of the radiation, chemical, and biological defense troops of the armed forces of Russia, Igor Kirillov, and his assistant were killed."
In turn, a representative of an emergency security apparatus reported that "Video footage from the explosion site on Ryazanskiy Prospekt was seized," and that the Russian security forces were examining it.
'Fake solutions' will not end Russian op. in Ukraine: Nebenzya
Russia will pursue its objectives in Ukraine strategically as long as Western solutions to the conflict remain "fake" Russian Permanent Representative to the United Nations Vasily Nebenzya stated at a UN Security Council meeting.
He emphasized, "Russia's conditions are clear and logical, and they have nothing in common with those fake solutions that fail to eliminate the threat posed to Russia by the Kiev regime."
Nebenzya also warned that Russia would respond decisively to actions by Ukrainian authorities. "As long as this is taking place, we will continue to pursue the goal of our special military operation in a strategic manner," he said, adding, "We will respond to the Kiev regime's provocations in the same way we did on December 13."
Palestinian Information Center- December 17, 2024
Israeli genocidal war on Gaza enters day 438
In the midst of catastrophic humanitarian suffering for more than two million Palestinians — half of them children, the Israeli occupation army continued, for the 438th consecutive day, to pound and target different areas and massacre more civilians in the Gaza Strip, especially in the northern areas.
Reporters for the Palestinian Information Center (PIC) said on Tuesday that the Israeli occupation army carried out attacks on several homes, civilian targets and shelter centers in different areas of Gaza during the past 24 hours, killing and injuring dozens of citizens.
The Israeli army’s large-scale genocidal campaign in northern Gaza, especially in Jabalia and Beit Lahia, has entered day 74, where its forces continue to intensively bomb homes and shelters and attack civilians while imposing a tight siege on the entire area.
Deliberate Israeli attacks on ambulance and civil defense workers already deprived northern Gaza of any rescue services.
Local sources said that the Israeli army bombed the Kamal Adwan Hospital’s gate in northern Gaza, killing one citizen and injuring others.
Israeli warplanes also bombed a house belonging to the family of al-Da’our sheltering two displaced families in Beit Lahia, north of Gaza, killing over 15 people.
Another airstrike on civilians near the Salah Shahada Mosque in Beit Lahia claimed the lives of four people and injured several others.
Two people were also killed and others were injured in an Israeli strike near the Bilal Bin Rabah Mosque in az-Zeitoun neighborhood, south of Gaza City.
Civil defense rescuers also managed to evacuate one martyr and two wounded people after Israeli forces opened fire at citizens in al-Mawasi area in western Rafah, south of Gaza.
In central Gaza, one civilian was martyred and over 10 people were seriously injured in Israeli strikes on citizens and a civilian car in al-Hasayna area, west of an-Nuseirat refugee camp.
A warplane bombed an apartment in Palestine plaza in central Gaza, killing 10 people from the same family, including children and women, and injuring others.
More casualties were reported in other areas of Gaza following Israeli aerial, artillery and shooting attacks last night and today.
In a related context, the health ministry in Gaza said on Tuesday that the Israeli army committed three massacres in different areas of the Gaza Strip during the past 24 hours, and killed and injured at least 110 civilians, while a large number of victims are still under the rubble of bombed buildings or lying on roads.
https://english.palinfo.com/news/2024/12/17/330607/
Al Mayadeen- December 17, 2024
Israel admits 2 soldiers killed, 2 injured in Rafah, southern Gaza
Two Israeli soldiers, including a company commander, have been killed in Rafah after a building collapsed on them.
Two Israeli occupation soldiers, including a company commander, were killed in southern Gaza, the Israeli military admitted on Tuesday.
According to an initial investigation, the soldiers, alongside others, had entered a building in Rafah, southern Gaza Strip, which later collapsed while they were inside. Both soldiers, including the company commander of the Engineering Corps' 7107th Battalion, were killed, while two others were injured.
This comes after the Department of Rehabilitation at the Israeli Security Ministry announced that more than 13,500 Israeli soldiers have been wounded throughout the war, 1,500 of whom have been injured twice.
Israeli media, citing data tallied by the government, reported that among the injured soldiers, 287 have head injuries, 87 of which are serious, and 10 are now using wheelchairs.
The department also stated that 37% of the wounded soldiers have injuries to their limbs, primarily bone fractures.
Additionally, approximately 5,200 soldiers are experiencing mental health issues, including 3,350 dealing with anxiety, depression, and adjustment disorders, and 1,300 suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder.
PTSD, suicide: A common experience for troops in Gaza
PTSD, on the other hand, has ravaged through Israeli army ranks, with the Israeli occupation providing care for thousands of soldiers suffering from the disorder or mental health issues resulting from their experiences in the war on Gaza.
As of October, data showed that more than a third of IOF members who have been removed from combat suffer from mental health issues. The Israeli Ministry of Security's Rehabilitation Department noted that every month, over a thousand new soldiers are removed from combat for treatment, with 35% complaining about their mental state and 27% experiencing “a mental reaction or post-traumatic stress disorder.”
By the end of 2024, nearly 14,000 wounded Israeli soldiers are expected to receive treatment with 40% likely to face mental health issues. An IOF medic told CNN that some young soldiers experienced mental trauma and often cried or showed signs of emotional numbness.
The Israeli newspaper Haaretz reported that 10 soldiers took their own lives between October 7 and May 11, according to military data.
When CNN inquired about the number of suicides in the IOF since the war, Uzi Bechor, a psychologist and commander of the IOF’s Combat Response Unit, revealed it was not permitted to divulge such figures and claimed the suicide rate in the IOF was "stable".
Israel has killed roughly 13,000 students in Gaza, West Bank since October 2023
Nearly 13,000 students have been killed by Israeli forces in the Gaza Strip and the occupied West Bank since the regime launched its brutal campaign of death and destruction on the Palestinian territory more than 14 months ago.
The Palestinian Ministry of Education said more than 12,799 students have been killed and at least 20,942 others wounded in Gaza and the West Bank.
The overwhelming majority of casualties were in Gaza, the ministry said.
At least 598 teachers and school administrators were also killed, and 3,801 others were wounded.
Israeli forces have also abducted at least 538 students and 158 teachers and administrators in the West Bank.
The Israeli military forces have bombed more than 420 government schools, universities and their buildings, along with 65 affiliated with the UN’s agency for Palestinian refugees. The buildings are damaged or completely destroyed.
According to the ministry, more than 788,000 students in Gaza have been unable to attend school or university since October 7, 2023.
United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) says all of Gaza’s children have been exposed to the traumatic experiences of war, the consequences of which will last a lifetime.
“Gaza’s children have endured unimaginable horrors – they deserve an immediate ceasefire and a chance for a peaceful future,” it said.
https://www.presstv.ir/Detail/2024/12/17/739250/Israel-killed-students-Gaza-West-Bank-UNICEF
World power shifting from West to East
A top military adviser to Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei says the emerging new world order shows power is shifting from the West to the East.
“Today’s world is in a geopolitical transitional stage, and the geometry of a new world order is emerging on the global and regional scale,” Major General Yahya Rahim Safavi said.
“In this geopolitical transitional process, on the global scale, the power system is….slowly moving from the West to the East of this world,” he noted.
Safavi said that the world is moving towards “multilateralism and multipolarity”, saying “the Asian power or Eurasian power”, composed of China, India, Russia and Iran, is “emerging” in the form of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) and the BRICS in order to “confront the unilateralism of the United States and the US-led NATO military alliance, reducing the power of American dollar in global trade.
Noting that “we are living in a chaos-inflicted world and region,” Safavi said the main reason behind conflicts and wars over the past 200 years is the regional and global powers’ rivalry to gain “political, cultural and economic dominance over the world’s strategic regions.”
He stressed that the “convergence and unity” among Muslim nations and “the formation of a Muslim power pole” in the world is “the only way to save Muslim nations from the dominance of the global arrogance, particularly the US and Israel, which is “ the main cause of insecurity, war and genocide in our region and the world.”
This pole of power in the Muslim world can be achieved through Muslim countries’ recognition of the need for achieving sustainable security, regional peace and the progress and independence of the Muslim nations, Safavi said.
