Gaza

Today's news: Xi Jinping in Macau for the 25th anniversary of the handover of the former Portuguese colony to China. Rice (and wheat) stocks in India have reached record levels. According to Rsf, the Israeli army killed at least a third of the reporters killed in 2024. The Indonesian president wants to pardon 44,000 prisoners, among them opponents from Papua province.

Israeli attacks on the "party of God" have damaged a medieval castle and a Shia shrine in Shamaa, a village near Tyre. The site is dedicated to Shamoun al-Safa, who is none other than the first pontiff of Christianity, and still bears traces of a chapel. To be certain if ancient relics are inside, Israeli forces have to pull back.

This morning the Holy Father met with the president of the Palestinian National Authority for half an hour, the first time in three years. A Vatican press release underlines the “very serious humanitarian situation in Gaza". For the vicar of the Custody, prospects for a ceasefire and a celebration of peace are “very different from last year," even if "great concern" remains for Lebanon and Syria.

While the ceasefire with Israel is holding tenuously, reports emerge from the areas hardest hit by the war. The agreement came on the day of a Marian feast, just as it did in 2006. The damage caused by the heavy bombardment in the last hours before the truce came into effect. A nun from Nabatyeh: ‘The entire city is dead, our school will not be able to reopen until February’.

Today's news: in Pakistan, Khan's party suspends protest after overnight police raid with massive arrests. Up to 40% higher prices for vegetables in Malaysia due to bad weather conditions. In Japan 4,000 sites used as disaster relief centres are located in environmentally hazardous areas. UN mission reports more than 250 cases of arbitrary arrests among journalists at the hands of the Taliban in Afghanistan.

Backed by President Biden, the US-brokered ceasefire plan between Israel and Hezbollah is awaiting the green light from the Netanyahu government. The deal would see Hezbollah's Al-Radwan force pull back north of the Litani and Israel's total exit from Lebanese territory, followed by the return of displaced populations and a five-member commission to supervise the process.

The Moldovan-Israeli rabbi killed in Dubai was a member of a Hasidic group that, although not the largest, is known for its outreach. It boasts nearly 5,000 emissaries (shluchim) who run about 3,500 institutions, including Chabad houses. For Israeli activist, defining the rabbi’s death as an act of anti-Semitism is limiting. His movement is "very important", but with critical issues.

For the Jordanian scholar, the plan that led to normalisation with Israel ‘seems dormant’ but remains a valid ‘basis’. The Middle East is a different reality today compared to the Tycoon's first term. The ‘zero conflict’ policy pursued by Riyadh privileges the economic sphere and opens up dialogue with Tehran. The centrality of the Palestinian issue to stop conflicts.

Negotiations for a 60-day suspension of the fighting, followed by the implementation of resolution 1701, continue on difficult tracks. Among the obstacles is the military doggedness of the Jewish state against the cedar country. Another of Hezbollah's historic leaders, Mohammed Afif, was the victim of a targeted attack. According to World Bank estimates, more than 100,000 homes have been destroyed in the last two months.

Card Zenari remembers the founder of Mar Musa on his seventieth birthday. The monastery remains his “most living” legacy. The tragedy of the missing is compounded by that of refugees and the displaced, the ongoing war, and last year’s devastating earthquake. Increasingly frequent, Israeli raids have cut links with Lebanon which are an “umbilical cord". Pope Francis’s proclamation of the martyrs of Damascus is a “breath of fresh air”.

In the ‘favourable’ climate created by the war, the Israeli authorities yesterday demolished the Al Bustan Centre, in the neighbourhood close to the Suleiman Walls. An area that for years they have wanted to clear of Arab families in order to expand the infrastructure of the tourist park that is bringing to light all the remains of ancient Jewish Jerusalem.

The changes ordered by the emir cover seven ministries, including the posts of deputy prime minister and minister of state for defence (and intelligence). Elected seats in the Shura Council have been abolished while new Qataris will be eligible for appointment. A foreign ministry spokesperson calls "inaccurate" reports that Qatar will no longer mediate, but Hamas’s presence in the emirate appears to be on hold.