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Leaning on crutches that he never imagined would replace his leg, 51-year-old Palestinian Tawfiq al-Sheikh walks slowly through the corridors of Hamad Hospital in Al Zawaida, central Gaza. His hope is to reclaim a semblance of his life before the Israeli assault, aided by a prosthetic limb that now supports his daily struggles. Al-Sheikh told QNA that he lived a normal life before the war, recalling the airstrike that hit his street at the start of the conflict. The blast led to an above-knee amputation and a long recovery, culminating in his referral to Hamad Hospital for prosthetic fitting. Getting the artificial limb, he said, helped him walk again and resume his life, even if partially. Al-Sheikh expressed gratitude to the hospital and the State of Qatar for their support, noting the care he received from rehabilitation to prosthetic installation. It changed his life, from someone disabled and dependent to someone who can function in society again. Established in northern Gaza in 2019 with funding from Qatar Fund for Development, Hamad Hospital is a leading center for rehabilitation and prosthetics. It offers free services to Palestinians suffering from amputations, neurological injuries, and spinal trauma. In May, the hospital sustained severe damage from Israeli shelling, halting its operations entirely. In October, the hospital announced the opening of a new branch in southern Gaza to expand access to medical and rehabilitation services for the wounded and disabled. Ahmed al-Absi, head of the prosthetics department at the hospital, told QNA that the unit provides artificial limbs, assistive devices, and spinal orthotics. After repairs in March, the department resumed operations and began receiving complex amputation cases, many resulting from Israeli strikes and high-impact weaponry. Since reopening, the department has fitted around 100 prosthetic limbs, focusing on above-knee and double amputations. Patients undergo full rehabilitation to adapt to their new limbs, restoring mobility and dignity in the face of war's lasting scars. Head of the Prosthetics Department at Hamad Hospital Ahmed al-Absi revealed that the facility has served over 5,000 cases since its establishment, with an annual average of 120 to 150 prosthetic fittings. Despite material shortages, the department resumed operations in March and is currently following up on 135 amputation cases in need of prosthetic limbs. **media[381394]** Al-Absi emphasized that many patients require reintegration into daily life, noting that rehabilitation marks the beginning of recovery and social reintegration. He cited numerous success stories, including students returning to school and employees resuming work after receiving prosthetics. He stressed the high quality of limbs provided by the hospital, which significantly aid patients in adapting and participating in society. However, he warned of severe challenges, particularly the critical shortage of prosthetic materials, which have not entered Gaza since 2023 due to Israeli restrictions. He said they are facing major difficulties, in a month or two, their stock will be depleted. Al-Absi urged relevant authorities to supply prosthetic limbs and the necessary materials to meet the growing demand, especially as the number of amputees in Gaza continues to rise due to ongoing conflict. In parallel, Assistant Undersecretary at the Palestinian Ministry of Health in Gaza, Dr Maher Shamia said that around 6,000 amputation cases have been registered during the Israeli assault, most requiring urgent and long-term rehabilitation programs. Speaking to QNA, Shamia noted that Gaza now records the world’s highest rate of child amputations relative to population size, according to a WHO report published in early October. Children account for approximately 25% of all cases, while women represent 12.7%, figures that reflect the deep humanitarian toll on thousands of wounded individuals and their families. He stressed the urgent need for rehabilitation and psychosocial support, particularly for children facing permanent disabilities at a young age. Shamia called on international and humanitarian organizations, as well as health and rehabilitation institutions, to intensify efforts and expand emergency interventions to meet the needs of the wounded and ensure access to adequate care in line with the scale of the humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza. The Strip continues to endure a humanitarian crisis following the Israeli offensive, which left more than 170,000 injured amid a near-total collapse of the healthcare system, widespread shortages of medicine and medical supplies, and the destruction of hospitals. The Rafah border crossing remains closed, preventing patients from seeking treatment outside Gaza despite ceasefire agreements.

An organisation representing international media in Israel and the Palestinian territories Monday condemned attacks by Israeli settlers on journalists in the occupied West Bank, urging Israeli authorities to halt the "violence immediately".The Foreign Press Association (FPA), which represents hundreds of foreign journalists, said it was "appalled" by the recent attacks, especially during this year's olive harvest."Journalists, both local and foreign, have proven to be a clear target as they document an unprecedented level of unchecked violence against Palestinians during this year's olive harvest," the association said, citing two incidents involving journalists from international media outlets.The FPA said that on Saturday two employees of Reuters wearing clearly marked press vests and helmets were assaulted by masked Israeli civilians armed with clubs and rocks near the Palestinian village of Beita."A mob of dozens of settlers beat one of the employees, a female reporter, while she was already on the ground, resulting in severe injuries," the FPA said."They also attacked those who tried to help her. A Reuters security person was hit, and two Palestinian freelance journalists were injured while being chased." On October 10, settlers beat a veteran AFP photographer with sticks when filming the olive harvest in the same area.His car, along with a handful of others parked at a safe distance from the field, was stoned and then set on fire by the assailants."The photographer, who testified it was one of the worst attacks in his 30-year career, reported that Israeli forces at the scene refused to intervene, instead firing rubber bullets and tear gas at olive pickers and activists accompanying them," the FPA said.Several such incidents have occurred in the last few weeks, the FPA added."Israeli forces routinely harass and intimidate journalists, in some cases detaining them and threatening them with deportation," the FPA said."This is all part of a deepening climate of hostility toward the media by Israeli authorities," it added, urging the authorities to investigate the incidents and hold the perpetrators accountable."In particular, we urge central command head Major General Avi Bluth and police commander Moshe Pinchi to uphold their duties to ensure that journalists can work freely and safely," the association said."There cannot be press freedom in an environment in which journalists are threatened and harmed with complete impunity." When contacted by AFP, the Israeli military did not give an immediate response.An AFP journalist serves on the FPA's board of directors.Israel has occupied the West Bank since 1967, and Israeli settlements there are expanding. Some 500,000 Israeli settlers live in the Palestinian territory and some of them have also attacked farmers trying to access their olive trees almost every day this year since the season began in mid-October, according to the Ramallah-based Palestinian Authority.Almost none of the perpetrators have been held to account by the Israeli authorities. Violence in the West Bank has soared since the war in Gaza broke out in October 2023.

The Palestinian Ministry of Health announced early Monday the martyrdom of a Palestinian who succumbed to critical wounds he sustained from Israeli gunfire Sunday night in Beit Furik town, east of Nablus in the occupied West Bank.The Palestinian Red Crescent Society reported that a 19-year-old youth was shot in the chest with live ammunition during an Israeli raid on Beit Furik, noting that its team performed cardiopulmonary resuscitation while transporting him to the hospital, describing his condition as critical.Cities, towns, and refugee camps across the occupied West Bank and Jerusalem continue to witness daily raids and incursions by the Israeli occupation forces, often accompanied by confrontations, arrests, and the firing of live and rubber bullets, as well as toxic tear gas canisters targeting Palestinian civilians. The frequency and intensity of these operations have escalated since the onset of the Israeli aggression on the Gaza Strip on Oct. 7, 2023.

Four people were killed and three others were injured in an Israeli airstrike that targeted southern Lebanon. According to Lebanon's National News Agency (NNA), citing the Public Health Emergency Operations Center (PHEOC) of the Ministry of Public Health, the strike hit the town of Kafr Rumman in the Nabatieh District late Saturday, resulting in four fatalities and several injuries.Earlier, Lebanese authorities reported that one person had been injured in a separate Israeli attack on southern Lebanon. The PHEOC also said in a press release that an Israeli airstrike on the town of Kfar Sir in the Nabatieh District injured one person.Lebanon has been under Israeli aggression since October 2023. In recent days, Israel has intensified air and artillery strikes at an unprecedented pace, expanding the scope of its attacks to include the capital, Beirut. This escalation has resulted in thousands of deaths and injuries and displaced more than one million people from their homes.

A Palestinian man was injured early this morning during an Israeli raid on several neighborhoods in the city of Nablus, in the northern West Bank. Palestinian news agency (WAFA), citing security sources, reported that Israeli forces stormed the western and eastern parts of the city. Clashes erupted in the western area near An-Najah National University, during which a young man was shot in the foot with live ammunition. Israeli forces raided a house in the Khallat al-Amoud area in the east, searched it, ransacked its contents, and arrested another person, the sources added. Cities, towns, and refugee camps in the occupied West Bank and Jerusalem witness daily raids and incursions by Israeli forces. These raids are accompanied by clashes, arrests, and the firing of live ammunition, rubber-coated bullets, and tear gas at Palestinian. The frequency of these raids has increased in conjunction with the unprecedented and ongoing Israeli aggression against the Gaza Strip, which began on October 7, 2023.

Iran has demanded a $170 million fine from the owner of a cargo ship that it seized in Gulf waters last year and accused of having ties to Israel, a judicial official said Tuesday.The Revolutionary Guards, the ideological arm of Iran's military, intercepted the MSC Aries in April of 2024 and detained its 25 international crew members.At the time, the official IRNA news agency said the Portuguese-flagged vessel was "managed by Zodiac, which belongs to the Zionist capitalist Eyal Ofer".On Tuesday, Iranian judiciary spokesperson Asghar Jahangir said charges had been filed and the case was before the courts, though no date had been set for a trial."A fine of $170 million has been demanded against its owner, of Israeli origin, accused of financing terrorism," Jahangir said.At the time, the United States denounced the seizure of the ship as an act of piracy and called for its crew to be released.Israel's foreign minister called on the European Union to designate the Revolutionary Guards a "terrorist organisation" in response.At least some of the crew were later freed.Jahangir said the ship, excluding its cargo, was valued at $170 million and claimed that Ofer -- an Israeli billionaire and shipping magnate -- was an "influential figure" within the Israeli government.The ship's seizure came months into the war in Gaza, where Israel was fighting Iran-backed Palestinian militants Hamas, whose October 7, 2023 attack on southern Israel sparked the conflict.

The Palestinian Ministry of Education and Higher Education announced that more than 21,000 students and teachers in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank have been killed since the start of the Israeli aggression on Oct. 7, 2023.In a statement on Tuesday, the ministry said that the number of students killed in the Gaza Strip since the beginning of the Israeli aggression has reached 19,932, while 30,102 have been injured. In the occupied West Bank, 148 students were killed, 1,045 injured, and 846 arrested.The ministry added that 1,037 teachers and administrators were killed and 4,757 injured in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank, while more than 228 were arrested in the West Bank.It noted that 179 government schools were completely destroyed in the Gaza Strip, along with 63 university buildings.The ministry explained that 118 government schools and more than 100 schools affiliated with the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) were bombed and vandalized.The aggression led to the removal of a total of 30 schools, along with their students and teachers, from the educational register.Meanwhile, the occupation destroyed three schools in the West Bank, while eight universities and colleges were subjected to repeated raids and vandalism.

The General Secretariat of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) denounced the Israeli Knesset's approval of legislation aimed at annexing the occupied West Bank and imposing alleged Israeli sovereignty over it.An OIC statement on Thursday said that this legislative action, coupled with another law formalizing a settlement, represents a blatant infringement of international law, pertinent United Nations resolutions, the Advisory Opinion of the International Court of Justice (ICJ), and the New York Declaration on the Peaceful Settlement of the Question of Palestine and the Implementation of the Two-State Solution.Furthermore, the OIC applauded the ICJ's Advisory Opinion, which unequivocally reiterated Israel's legal and humanitarian obligations under international law. The court's opinion emphasized the necessity for unimpeded humanitarian operations spearheaded by the United Nations and its associated bodies, particularly the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA), while also highlighting the accountability mechanisms for those perpetrating attacks against humanitarian personnel and infrastructure.The OIC asserted that the occupied Palestinian territory, which encompasses the Gaza Strip and the West Bank — including east Jerusalem, constitutes a singular geographical entity. Consequently, any claims of Israeli sovereignty over these areas are devoid of legal standing and are categorically null and void according to international law.The OIC called upon the international community, specifically the United Nations Security Council, to fulfill its obligations and take immediate and decisive action to curb these violations and transgressions. Such actions not only jeopardise the viability of a two-state solution but also threaten broader international efforts to foster justice, stability, and peace in the region.

Israeli colonists on Thursday stormed the courtyards of the Al-Aqsa Mosque in occupied Jerusalem under heavy protection from Israeli occupation police.According to the Palestinian news agency (WAFA), eyewitnesses reported that dozens of colonists entered the mosque compound in groups, conducted provocative tours, and performed Talmudic rituals while being guarded by Israeli forces.Extremist colonist groups had earlier called for incursions into Al-Aqsa Mosque on Wednesday and Thursday.The holy site has witnessed a rise in such incursions since the start of the ongoing war, widely described as a campaign of genocide, marking a serious escalation and a violation of its sanctity.

Israel launched dozens of deadly strikes in Gaza Sunday, after accusing the resistance group Hamas of attacking its troops, in the worst violence since the start of a ceasefire nine days ago.Gaza's civil defence agency, which operates under Hamas authority, said at least 33 people had been killed across the territory.Hamas denied the accusations, with one official accusing Israel of fabricating "pretexts" to resume the war.In a separate statement, the Israeli military said two of its soldiers "fell during combat in the southern Gaza Strip".A security official said that Israel was also suspending the entry of aid into Gaza, blaming "Hamas's blatant violations" of the ceasefire.Israel repeatedly cut off aid to the territory during the war, exacerbating dire humanitarian conditions, with the United Nations saying it caused a famine in northern Gaza.The truce in the Palestinian territory, brokered by US President Donald Trump and taking effect on 10 October, brought to a halt more than two years of devastating war between Israel and Hamas.Palestinian witnesses said clashes erupted in the southern city of Rafah in an area still held by Israel.A statement from Izzat al-Rishq, a member of Hamas's political bureau, reaffirmed the group's commitment to the ceasefire and said Israel "continues to breach the agreement and fabricate flimsy pretexts to justify its crimes".Hamas's armed wing insisted on Sunday that the group was adhering to the ceasefire agreement with Israel and had "no knowledge" of any clashes in Rafah.Israel resumes ceasefireThe Israeli military said Sunday it had resumed enforcing a ceasefire in Gaza after carrying out dozens of strikes on Hamas targets earlier in the day. "The IDF has begun the renewed enforcement of the ceasefire," the military said in a statement."The IDF will continue to uphold the ceasefire agreement and will respond firmly to any violation of it."

US envoy Steve Witkoff, President Donald Trump's chief negotiator on the Middle East, has said that he felt "betrayed" when Israel launched a strike targeting Hamas negotiators in Qatar last month. In a CBS interview alongside Jared Kushner, Trump's son-in-law who worked with Witkoff on the brokering of a Gaza ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas, the presidential envoy said he learned of the September 9 attack in Doha the morning after it happened. Qatar is a key US ally and acted as mediator in the push to end the Gaza war. "I think both Jared and I felt, I just feel we felt a little bit betrayed," Witkoff told the CBS news programme "60 Minutes" in excerpts released Friday. The full interview is scheduled to air on Sunday. At the time, the strike halted the indirect negotiating process to end the fighting in the devastated Gaza Strip. "It had a metastasizing effect because the Qataris were critical to the negotiation, as were the Egyptians and the Turks," Witkoff said. "We had lost the confidence of the Qataris. And so Hamas went underground, and it was very, very difficult to get to them." Trump wrote on social media at the time that the decision to conduct the Doha air raid came from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Israel and Hamas ultimately accepted a 20-point peace plan presented by Trump that called for hostage and prisoner releases and a ceasefire after two years of deadly conflict. Under pressure from Trump during a White House visit this month, Netanyahu called Qatar's prime minister to apologise for the Doha strike.

Israeli occupation forces carried out an incursion today into the Quneitra countryside in southern Syria, according to the Syrian Arab News Agency (SANA). SANA reported that a unit of Israeli forces, consisting of five military vehicles, entered the vicinity of the town of Saida al-Hanout in the Quneitra countryside before withdrawing shortly afterward. The agency added that Israeli occupation forces conducted another incursion yesterday into the town of Tal al-Ahmar al-Sharqi, also in the Quneitra countryside, using four military vehicles accompanied by two tanks and a number of soldiers. The forces carried out a field deployment lasting about an hour before withdrawing toward Tal al-Ahmar al-Gharbi. The Israeli occupation continues to violate Syrian sovereignty in contravention of the 1974 Disengagement Agreement, United Nations resolutions, and international law. Syria has condemned these repeated aggressions and called on the international community to take a firm stance to halt them.