Author: ALJAZEERA

Deir el-Balah, Gaza – Faraj al-Samouni, 39, sits in a tent in a makeshift camp in Deir el-Balah, surrounded by his family who can hardly believe he is alive after months of Israeli captivity. “My brothers didn’t recognise me when I was released,” he says. He is diminished, he lost 30kg (66 pounds) in captivity, 30 percent of his body weight. It does not matter to his mother Zahwa, 56, who sits beaming next to him, welcoming visitors, many of them families of other prisoners seeking information about their detained relatives. Faraj spent more than six months in captivity after…

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Dozens of Palestinians also injured in bombing of school in Gaza’s Nuseirat refugee camp, Government Media Office says.At least 16 Palestinians have been killed in an Israeli attack on a United Nations-run school sheltering displaced people in the Gaza Strip, the Gaza Government Media Office said, as Israel continues to pound the besieged coastal territory. In a statement on Saturday, the Government Media Office said more than 75 people also were injured in the attack on al-Jaouni school in central Gaza’s Nuseirat refugee camp. “We condemn the Israeli occupation [for] committing these ongoing crimes and massacres against civilians, children and…

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It has been nine months since the start of Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza, which has killed more than 38,000 Palestinians, injured more than 86,000, and displaced more than 1.9 million. Despite frequent words of condemnation, European leaders have done little to stop it. Worse still, many European countries continue to stand by Israel economically and militarily. As the United States is considered the biggest backer of the Israeli war machine, it is easy to discount European support. A closer look at the extent of European financial and military assistance for Israel, however, lays bare the EU’s complicity in the…

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Masoud Pezeshkian, who has pledged to open Iran to the world, decisively won a run-off and will become the country’s ninth elected president. The sole moderate candidate in the race received 53.7 percent of the votes, or 16.3m of the more than 30 million ballots cast. His rival Saeed Jalili got 44.3 percent, or 13.5m. On Saturday, Pezeshkian acknowledged “the difficult path ahead”, but extended a hand to all Iranians. “I extend my hand towards you and swear on my honour that I will not leave you alone on this path. Don’t leave me alone.” World leaders congratulated Pezeshkian on…

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At least five journalists were killed in attacks by Israeli forces in the last 24 hours in Gaza as bombings and air strikes across the besieged enclave intensified. On Saturday, Gaza’s Government Media Office said separate Israeli strikes killed three journalists in the Nuseirat refugee camp in the centre of the territory and two in Gaza City, raising to at least 158 the number of media workers killed since the current war erupted on October 7. Those who were killed in Nuseirat were identified as Amjad Jahjouh and Rizq Abu Ashkian, both from the Palestine Media Agency, and Wafa Abu…

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BREAKINGBREAKING, Pezeshkian said to be winner of run-off election with 16.3 million votes to Jalili’s 13.5 million, according to reports.Iran’s Masoud Pezeshkian, a heart surgeon and lawmaker who has promised to reach out to the West, has won the country’s presidential run-off election by beating rival Saeed Jalili, the Ministry of Interior said. “By gaining [the] majority of the votes cast on Friday, Pezeshkian has become Iran’s next president,” the ministry said. The Associated Press (AP) news agency said that a vote count offered by authorities put Pezeshkian as the winner with 16.3 million votes to Jalili’s 13.5 million after…

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