By Lyndal Rowlands

      Pro-Palestinian protests around the world – from Johannesburg to Washington, DC – call for an end to Israel’s attack on Gaza.

    An overnight Israeli army strike on a house in Rafah killed 14 Palestinians, including a two-year-old girl.

    Israeli bulldozers enter Jenin in the occupied West Bank.
   At least 23,843 people have been killed and more than 60,317 wounded in Israeli attacks on Gaza since October 7. The revised death toll in Israel from the October 7 Hamas attacks stands at 1,139.

    Anti-US armed groups in Iraq claim new attack on Syria bases

    US-opposed forces in Iraq have claimed new attacks, this time on two US bases in Syria, marking the latest in an intensifying series of strikes.
The Islamic Resistance in Iraq umbrella group aligned with Iran said it used drones to target two US bases, one in al-Omar oil field in the Deir Az Zor province and another in the area of the al-Khadra village in northeastern Syria. There were no immediate reports of casualties or damage.
“The Islamic Resistance emphasises it will continue attacks on enemy strongholds,” it said in a short statement, adding like previous attacks these are aimed at opposing the American presence across the region and Israel’s US-backed war on Gaza.
 There have been more than 130 attacks on US military assets in Iraq and Syria since the start of the war. Dozens of American soldiers have been wounded but none killed so far.

    ‘Cultural genocide’: Gaza’s heritage sites under fire

by Indlieb Farazi Saber

    An ancient harbour dating back to 800 BC, a mosque that was home to rare manuscripts, and one of the world’s oldest Christian monasteries are just a few of at least 195 heritage sites destroyed or damaged since Israel’s war on Gaza began on October 7.
Gaza, one of the world’s longest inhabited areas, has been home to a pastiche of people since at least the 15th century BC, according to historians. Empires – including the ancient Egyptians, Assyrians and Romans – have come and gone.
Wiping out the cultural heritage of a people is one of the many war crimes South Africa alleges against Israel in a lawsuit that was heard this past week at the International Court of Justice.
Read the full story here.

    ‘Is it not time for Iran to have nuclear bomb?’

    A state television presenter asked Iran’s nuclear chief whether it was time for the country to develop its first nuclear weapon in light of the war on Gaza and Israel’s repeated threats.
“Now that we are certain the Zionist regime is armed with nuclear weapons, with its prime minister directly threatening the Islamic Republic, is it not time for Iran to have a nuclear weapon as well, or at least conduct a nuclear test?” the presenter asked Mohammad Eslami, head of the Atomic Energy Organisation of Iran.
Eslami said Iran follows an “active deterrence” approach, but “having weapons of mass destruction is never a part of Iran’s security-defence doctrine” – especially since Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei previously issued a religious ruling forbidding nuclear arms.
 Tehran maintains it will never seek a nuclear weapon, but it is now enriching uranium to 60 percent, which is a step lower than the more than 90 percent required for a bomb.

    ‘No one will stop us’: Israeli PM pledges to prosecute Gaza war

    Embattled Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu insists no court or military foe can stop Israel from achieving its aim of destroying Hamas.
“No one will stop us – not The Hague, not the Axis of Evil and no one else,” he told a televised news conference, referring to the Iran-aligned “axis of resistance” groups in Lebanon, Syria, Iraq and Yemen.
“It is possible and necessary to continue until victory and we will do it,” he added, saying most Hamas battalions in Gaza have been “eliminated”.
 Netanyahu is under growing domestic pressure to bring home captives who have now been held in Gaza for 100 days, with thousands rallying in Tel Aviv to call for their release.

    Yemen rebels vow ‘strong and effective response’ after US attacks

    Houthi rebels responded defiantly after the US military hit a radar site in Yemen a day after dozens of US and UK strikes.
“This new strike will have a firm, strong and effective response,” Houthi spokesman Nasruldeen Amer told Al Jazeera, adding there were no injuries or “material damage”.
Mohammed Abdulsalam, another Houthi spokesman, said the strikes, including one overnight that hit a military base in the capital Sanaa, had no significant impact on the group’s ability to prevent Israel-affiliated vessels from passing through the Red Sea and Arabian Sea.
 President Joe Biden said the United States sent a private message to Iran about the Houthi attacks. He did not elaborate, telling reporters, “We delivered it privately and we’re confident we’re well-prepared”.