Islam Abdel-Rahman

Palestinians in the southern governorates of the Gaza Strip staged a protest demanding immediate intervention from international organisations to secure water, as a severe thirst crisis deepens across displacement camps. "We want water! We want water!" the crowd chants, before Dr. Kamal al-Sheikh Ali, director of the displacement camps in Rafah, addresses the camera to spell out the scale of the disaster. He explains that Rafah governorate alone hosts 181 camps sheltering roughly 200,000 displaced Palestinians, while the entire population receives only 2,500 cubic metres of water per day, split between 1,500 from the Red Cross and 1,000 from the Palestinian Water Authority. The wider picture across Gaza is bleaker still: the strip's water system, which once supplied around 100,000 cubic metres a day, has collapsed to just 35,000, with per capita availability dropping from 80 litres per person per day before the genocide to less than 10 litres now, and at times as low as 2 litres, far below the global humanitarian minimum of 50 to 100 litres. Over 96% of Gaza's water is unfit for human consumption, more than 1,675 kilometres of the strip's 4,800-kilometre water and sanitation network have been destroyed by the Israeli occupation army, and 93% of households face water insecurity. Dr. al-Sheikh Ali calls on the International Red Cross, UNICEF, the Water Authority, and the United Nations to intervene immediately, warning that without a swift response, the displaced will face a catastrophe with dire consequences. The crisis is a direct result of the Israeli occupation's systematic destruction of Gaza's water infrastructure and its continued restrictions on the entry of fuel, equipment, and supplies needed to operate wells and desalination plants. mhmadalshaer11 (IG)

Biden's Middle East advisor suggests that America's war with Iran was unavoidable In a conversation with the American Jewish Committee, Brett McGurk, who was the Biden White House's top Middle East official, was asked: Was this war inevitable or was it avoidable? His answer reveals surprising overlaps between how Biden and Trump national security leaders see Iran and the Middle East. "We've been at war with Iran since 1979, and the Iranian ideology, which remains very much intact, is to get the US out of the Middle East and to eliminate Israel," McGurk says. "And as the White House point person through that [post-Oct. 7] crisis, let me just kind of very succinctly, what a day was like. Put aside the horror of Gaza and the hostages and everything going on there for a moment. "We’re under attack in the Red Sea. Anti-ship ballistic missiles flying Mach 4 trying to hit US ships and kill dozens of sailors. We're under attack in Iraq. We took a grievously wounded casualty on Christmas Day 2023 and attacks continued to escalate until we have three Americans dead in Jordan at the end of January. "Iran launched two of the largest ballistic missile attacks in history against Israel before Israel ever attacked into Iran, and all the while Iran is enriching uranium in Fordow to 60% grade as this is all going on. "I met the Iranians in Oman during this crisis. I dealt with it every day. And what Iran was doing to continue to escalate throughout that horror that was going on in the Middle East is a story that I don't think has been effectively, frankly, told. "But it gets to your question. You can dissect decisions of certain American presidents from Carter all the way through Trump. You can dissect American decision-making. You have to look at what Iran does, its policy and what it does in the region which drives so much of this mayhem. And I can criticize certain elements of the way this current campaign has been prosecuted. I think we're in a very difficult predicament now which we can talk about. "But the core of your question was this war — this war has been ongoing since 1979."

🇱🇧🇮🇱⚡️‐ Israel's ambassador brings DRONE to UN to complain about Hezbollah's FPVs: "By the time you hear it above your head, it's too late — Cheap. Precise. Deadly."

"You're f****** crazy. You'd be in prison if it weren't for me. I'm saving your a***. Everybody hates you now. Everybody hates Israel because of this." That's what a U.S. official tells Axios President Trump unloaded on Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu during a heated phone call over Israel's military actions in Lebanon. Trump was reportedly furious that Israel's moves risked blowing up U.S. diplomatic efforts in the region, at one point also asking Netanyahu: "What the f*** are you doing?"

⚡️ Dr. Adam Hamawy, the decorated former U.S. Army combat trauma surgeon has widened his lead in New Jersey’s 12th District Democratic primary. With 56% of the vote counted, Hamawy leads by roughly 2,500 votes - almost 6% - as of a few minutes

For immediate attention: The ceasefire between Iran and the US is unequivocally a ceasefire on all fronts, including in Lebanon. Its violation on one front is a violation of the ceasefire on all fronts. The US and Israel are responsible for the consequences of any violation.