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Ministry of Health in Gaza says staff digging graves in grounds of Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis amid siege; “No one can enter or exit the facility”: UN report. Countries and international agencies denounce a reported attack by Israeli tank fire that killed at least 9 people at a UN-run training centre housing displaced people in Khan Younis. Palestine Red Crescent Society (PRCS) reports Israeli forces have imposed a “complete curfew” around al-Amal Hospital as Israel continues its assault on Khan Younis. International Court of Justice (ICJ) will issue a decision on Friday in South Africa’s case against Israel over alleged genocide in Gaza. At least 25,700 people have been killed and 63,740 wounded in Israeli attacks on Gaza since October 7. The death toll in Israel from the October 7 Hamas attacks stands at 1,139. UK tells Israel: ‘Far more aid’ needs to enter Gaza British Foreign Secretary David Cameron says he told Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu more aid trucks must be allowed to enter Gaza and an immediate “humanitarian pause” in fighting is needed. Cameron, on a visit to the Middle East, announced Britain and Qatar are working together to get more humanitarian relief into Gaza. A first consignment of tents will be flown into Egypt on Thursday before travelling by road to Gaza. “The scale of suffering in Gaza is unimaginable. More must be done, faster, to help people trapped in this desperate situation,” Cameron said. “We have trebled our assistance for Gaza… But our efforts will only make a difference if aid gets to those who need it most. “As I said to Netanyahu … far more trucks need to be able to enter Gaza and more crossings need to open. We need an immediate humanitarian pause to get aid in and hostages out, followed by a sustainable ceasefire.” David Cameron, right, with Benjamin Netanyahu [File: Ronen Zvulun/Reuters] Click here to share on social media Israel says infiltration threat on Lebanon border ‘removed’ The Israeli military says that concerns over an infiltration threat near the settlement of Hanita on the Lebanon border are now over. “Following reports of the identification of a suspect in the Hanita area on the Lebanese border, after scans by [Israeli military] forces in the area, the fear of infiltration was removed,” the Israeli military wrote on X. The Israeli military mobilised troops and declared a state of alert in nine settlements near the Lebanese border this morning after reports that armed individuals had infiltrated the country. Click here to share on social media PRCS transports wounded to hospital after Rafah bombing The Palestine Red Crescent Society says it has transported several people to hospital who were injured by an Israeli air attack on an apartment building in Rafah city in southern Gaza. At least one person was killed in the strike, which happened at dawn in the Tal as-Sultan neighbourhood. Iran president calls for ‘cutting the lifelines’ with Israel Ebrahim Raisi says the conflict in Gaza shows the United Nations and other world bodies have lost their effectiveness. He called on Muslim countries and other nations to unite for a new “fair world order”. Raisi demanded the political and economic isolation of Israel, saying “cutting the lifelines” would be an effective way of ending “Israel’s oppression and murders”. Israel will be the “defeated party” in the war in Gaza, he added. Ebrahim Raisi meets Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan in Ankara, Turkey, on Wednesday [Handout: Murat Cetinmuhurdar/Turkish Presidential Press Office via Reuters] Click here to share on social media WATCH: Prisoners’ families allege unjust arrests and interrogated by Israeli army Since October 7, Israeli forces have arrested more than 6,000 people in the occupied West Bank and placed them in administrative detention without any formal charges or trial. Israeli forces are increasingly using a policy of arresting the family members of wanted people to pressure them to give them up. Rights groups say this is a form of collective punishment that’s illegal under international human rights law. Netanyahu vs Qatar: Relationship over Gaza not ‘problematic’ for years Stefanie Dekker Reporting from occupied East Jerusalem We need to remind ourselves that any leak from inside the Israeli Prime Minister’s office isn’t usually by chance. It’s leaked for a political reason – what that is you can only question. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has been under a lot of pressure domestically and internationally to do more to bring the captives home. Tens of thousands of Israelis are on the streets protesting. The reaction from Qatar to Netanyahu’s “problematic” accusation is very harsh – this seems to be serving the prime minister’s political career more than working to bring back the captives and save innocent lives. Also important to remember is Israel and Qatar have a longstanding relationship when it comes to Hamas. Over the years Qatar has brought money into Gaza – at the request and cooperation of the Israelis in particular – to try and keep the situation there from exploding, according to analysts over the years, because of the restrictions and blockade. A protester flashes a message in Hebrew reading ‘there is no time’ during a rally to release captives in Gaza [Ahmad Gharabli/AFP] Click here to share on social media Israel demolishing buildings to create Gaza buffer zone: Report The Israeli military demolished hundreds of buildings in Gaza within 1km (0.6 miles) of the fence as it seeks to create a buffer zone, The Wall Street Journal reports, citing a new Hebrew University study. The study, carried out using satellite-image analysis, shows 40 percent of the 2,824 buildings in Gaza located within 1km of the border have been razed since October 7. “Everything has been flattened. It was mostly agriculture. Now it’s a military zone, a complete no man’s land,” one soldier is quoted as saying. Near the city of Khan Younis in southern Gaza, a densely populated area that suffered intense bombardment by Israel’s military for weeks, 67 percent of buildings within 1km of Israel’s demarcation have been destroyed. The move is likely to further

At least four people have been killed and 11 wounded in an attack on Ukraine’s second largest of Kharkiv that destroyed a section of a multistorey residential building, officials say. The State Emergency Service of Ukraine says one person has been killed and another wounded in a Russian missile strike on Dnipropetrovsk region’s Pavlohrad city, while an attack on Ukraine’s capital, Kyiv, injured 20. Japan, US agree to maintain sanctions on Russia and support Ukraine Japan and the United States have said they will continue to work with each other in maintaining the sanctions against Russia and supporting Ukraine in line with an agreement the Group of Seven (G7) industrialised nations reached last year. The statements came during an hourlong meeting between visiting US Deputy Secretary of the Treasury Wally Adeyemo and Japan’s Vice Finance Minister for International Affairs Masato Kanda. The G7, comprising Japan, the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Germany, France, Italy and the European Union, had pledged in May to restrict exports to Russia that could fund its war effort in Ukraine. Japan chaired the group in 2023. Click here to share on social media Living in peace with Russia in Ukrainians’ interest: Patriarch Kirill Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia, who is seen as an ally of President Vladimir Putin, says attempts by “cynical political strategists” to drive a wedge into relations between the fraternal peoples of Russia and Ukraine “will be assessed in the court of world history”. “Today it is becoming increasingly clear that it is in the interests of the people of Ukraine to live in peace with Russia, to share a common history, culture and faith with it,” he said. The head of the Russian church was speaking at the Christmas parliamentary meetings in the Federation Council. He referred to Ukraine as “Little Russia”. Click here to share on social media EU to allow wider measures to control Ukraine grain imports The European Commission is looking into ways of allowing eastern EU member states to restrict farm imports from Ukraine as it extends trade liberalisation with Kyiv for a further year to June 2025. The EU has suspended import duties, quotas and trade defence measures for imports from Ukraine since June 2022 to support its economy after Russia’s invasion. However, cheap Ukrainian grain exports have sparked protests by governments, farmers and truckers in neighbouring countries such as Poland and Hungary. EU Trade Commissioner Valdis Dombrovskis said the commission was about to present a proposal for the new period to June 2025, taking into account the sensitivities of farm sectors in eastern member states of the bloc. Click here to share on social media Russia does not hit civilians, unlike Ukraine: Kremlin spokesperson claims The Russian missile strikes on Kyiv and Kharkiv cannot be considered a response to “the terrorist act” of the Ukrainian air attack on the Donetsk market, Dmitry Peskov told reporters. “Our military does not hit social facilities and residential areas and does not hit civilians, unlike the Kyiv regime,” the Kremlin spokesperson claimed, adding that this was what fundamentally distinguished the Russian military from the Ukrainian military. Click here to share on social media Russia says missile strikes targeted weapons factories The strikes that reportedly killed civilians and destroyed residential homes across Ukraine targeted the facilities that produce missiles, ammunition and explosives, Russia’s Defence Ministry has claimed. “This morning, the Russian Armed Forces carried out a group strike with high-precision, long-range air and ground-based weapons on facilities of the military-industrial complex of Ukraine that produce missiles and components for them, ammunition, as well as explosives,” the ministry said. “The goal of the strike was achieved. All designated facilities were hit,” it added. Click here to share on social media Russia begins installing air defence systems around St Petersburg: Report Russian authorities have begun installing S-300 air defence systems around St Petersburg, according to the independent Astra Press news outlet. The news comes five days after Ukrainian drones successfully struck military targets in the surrounding Leningrad Oblast. Astra Press reports cited a video filmed by St Petersburg residents who noticed the deployment of the S-300 air defence missile system in the region. The video posted on the Telegram channel of Astra Press appeared to show a vehicle carrying one of the systems obstructing a roadway while attempting to manoeuvre. Source:https://www.aljazeera.com/news/liveblog/2024/1/23/russia-ukraine-war-live-at-least-3-killed-in-attack-on-kyiv-kharkiv

Israel’s military announces its deadliest single day for troops since the Gaza ground invasion began with 24 soldiers killed. Doctors Without Borders reports staff in Nasser Hospital say they can feel the “ground shaking” as Israeli bombardments close in. The US and the UK launch new air attacks on Houthi rebels in Yemen, hitting capital Sanaa and other areas. At least 25,490 people killed and 63,000 wounded in Israeli attacks on Gaza since October 7. The revised death toll in Israel from the October 7 Hamas attack stands at 1,139. Israeli public so far shielded from the real cost of war Andreas Krieg, a senior lecturer at King’s College London’s School of Security Studies, spoke to Al Jazeera about how Israelis might respond to news that their army suffered the most casualties in a single day since the Gaza ground invasion began. Here is a summary of what he said: The Israeli public has so far been shielded from the real cost of this war. The burden of warfare has been shifted by the Israeli military onto the civilian population in Gaza. What we see now is that as this war is coming to a stalemate, it seems the Israeli armed forces are extremely vulnerable to targeting. It also shows that Hamas has not been defeated. A single incident such as this in a fairly small country like Israel will have quite a lot of impact on the collective psyche of Israelis and put pressure on the government to bring this war to an end and potentially accelerate negotiations. Click here to share on social media Over half a million Palestinians face ‘catastrophic hunger’ The United Nations Relief Works and Agency (UNRWA) says that more than half a million people in Gaza face catastrophic hunger. In the northern part of the besieged enclave, very little aid has reached residents and displaced families there, who have begun to grind animal feed into flour. UNRWA pointed out that intense fighting, communications blackouts and access restrictions have hindered the organisation’s ability to “safely and effectively deliver aid”. Latest on Nasser Medical Complex The Health Ministry in Gaza has provided some updates on the situation at the Nasser Medical Complex as Khan Younis comes under intense Israeli bombardment. It warned that the hospital’s buildings are exposed to shrapnel, which endangers the lives of patients, medical staff and displaced Palestinians. The ministry called for an “urgent intervention” to protect both Nasser and El Amal City hospitals as well as the movement of ambulances, warning that the medical facilities were facing “extreme danger”. Click here to share on social media Risk of having pockets of famine in Gaza remains: WFP The UN’s food agency warns that “very little” food assistance has made it beyond the southern part of the bombarded and besieged territory since the start of the war. “It’s difficult to get into the places where we need to get to in Gaza, especially in northern Gaza,” said Abeer Etefa, the World Food Programme’s spokesperson for the Middle East. “The risk of having pockets of famine in Gaza is very much still there,” she added. Etefa noted that there was a “systematic limitation on getting into the north of Gaza, not just for the WFP”. “This is why we’re seeing people becoming more desperate and being impatient to wait for food distributions, because it’s very sporadic,” she said. “They don’t get it frequently, and they have no trust or confidence that these convoys will come again.” Healthcare system in Gaza is being destroyed: MSF Leo Cans, the head of mission for Palestine for Doctors Without Borders (Medecins Sans Frontieres, or MSF), has spoken to Al Jazeera about the state of the healthcare system in the Gaza Strip. Here is a summary: About 20 percent of healthcare workers are still working in the Nasser Medical Complex in Khan Younis. Most of them have had to flee because they were scared for their and their families’ lives. This is a strategy that has been used by the Israeli military to scare people, to terrorise the healthcare workers for them to leave without having to shut down the hospital. Hospitals have closed across the southern Gaza Strip, but the European Gaza Hospital in Khan Younis is still operating but is close to the front line. To get treatment is extremely complicated. Normally, five, six or seven operations are needed to stabilise a patient, but medical staff cannot do them now. So usually they do the first one, but then all the postoperative care is not there. Many patients’ conditions deteriorate during their stays in the European and Nasser hospitals, including by infection and not having the proper care. Source:https://www.aljazeera.com/news/liveblog/2024/1/23/israels-war-on-gaza-ground-shaking-in-hospital-amid-israeli-attacks

Rescue efforts are under way in southwestern China’s mountainous Yunnan province after at least 47 people were buried in a landslide. State news agency Xinhua reported that the disaster struck just before 6am (22:00 GMT on Sunday) in the village of Liangshui, beneath the town of Tangfang in Zhenxiong County. (Al Jazeera) Authorities said rescuers were trying to find victims buried in 18 separate houses. Xinhua showed footage of men in orange jumpsuits and hard hats picking their way though piles of concrete blocks and twisted steel. There was snow on some of the rubble and on buildings that were still standing. The cause of the landslide was not immediately known. end of list Authorities said about 500 people had been evacuated. The landslide hit Liangshui Village in Yunnan province [Video obtained by Reuters] Landslides are common in Yunnan, a remote region of China where steep mountain ranges rise up into the Himalayan Plateau. China has experienced a string of natural disasters in recent months and Yunnan is among several provinces in the country’s southern region currently experiencing a cold wave and bitter temperatures near or below freezing. The landslide comes just more than a month after a 6.2 magnitude earthquake struck the northwest between the Gansu and Qinghai provinces, killing at least 149 people and triggering heavy mudslides. Nearly 1,000 people were injured and more than 14,000 homes were destroyed. Source:https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2024/1/22/landslide-buries-47-people-in-chinas-southwestern-yunnan-province

A huge fire engulfed a shopping centre in Peshawar’s Saddar area in the early hours of Monday which was brought under control after 13 hours of continuous operation, Geo News reported citing rescue officials. The rescue officials said that 36 vehicles including water browsers and 130 firefighters were present at the shopping centre to control the fire. They added that the operation would take some time as the blaze was massive. The Time Centre Plaza, which is a two-storey building, has about 200 shops including mobile phones, UPS and other electronics shops. According to the rescue team, the fire engulfed the entire building, causing a loss of millions of rupees. Moreover, the houses that were located near the shopping centre were evacuated. The rescue officials added that teams from different districts — Khyber, Nowshera, Mardan and Charsadda — were called to the site of the incident to help in the process. Corps Commander Peshawar Lieutenant General Hasan Azhar Hayat is overseeing the operation. The rescue team said that the fire destroyed hundreds of shops. The rescue spokesperson said that the emergency call was received at 12:45am last night, adding that according to the local people, the fire was started due to a short circuit. “Four shopkeepers who had entered the market were rescued during the fire,” said the spokesperson, adding that the condition of some of the rescue officials injured during the rescue operation is “critical”. Source:https://www.thenews.com.pk/latest/1150277-fire-engulfs-peshawars-two-storey-building

At least 190 people killed and 340 wounded in Gaza over the last 24 hours. Dozens reported killed in the besieged southern city of Khan Younis as Israeli forces target hospitals, ambulances, and schools where thousands of civilians are sheltering. Dr Ahmed al-Moghrabi, head of plastic surgery and burns at Khan Younis’s Nasser Hospital, says there is “bombing all around us”. At least 25,295 people have been killed and 63,000 wounded in Israeli attacks on Gaza since October 7. The death toll in Israel from the October 7 Hamas attack stands at 1,139. Photos: Palestinians displaced from Khan Younis arrive in Rafah Smoke rises during an Israeli ground operation in Khan Younis, January 22, 2024 [Ibraheem Abu Mustafa/Reuters] Palestinians fleeing Khan Younis, due to the Israeli ground operation, arrive in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip, January 22, 2024 [Ibraheem Abu Mustafa/Reuters] Palestinians fleeing Khan Younis, due to the Israeli ground operation arrive in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip, January 22, 2024 [Ibraheem Abu Mustafa/Reuters] Palestinians fleeing Khan Younis, due to the Israeli ground operation [Ibraheem Abu Mustafa/Reuters] Click here to share on social media ‘When my father was alive’: Children of Gaza recount losing their fathers A group of children in Gaza narrated the tragic circumstances after they lost their fathers as a result of Israeli bombing of camps in the central Gaza Strip last month. “When my father was alive, I used to sleep in his arms. I was sad for all those who were killed,” Abdel Shafee Hussein, whose father was killed on December 15 while he had a meal with his family. Kenza Ihsan said she lost her father as he tried to find flour. “We are four people, my mother and three children. The conditions are difficult. There is no food or water. We demand an end to the war, and we do not want anything else,” the girl said. Another child, Karam Hussein, said: “My mother asked my father to bring food and a rug because of the cold. My father went and was bombed. My uncle and his son went to search for him, and they were bombed and killed. “On the second day, we brought my father’s body from the bombing site. We were unable to bury him in the cemetery, so we buried him in the school, like 13 others. There are others who decomposed in the streets.” Click here to share on social media ‘Books buried under rubble’: Bologna book fair faces call to suspend Israel Dozens of illustrators, authors and publishers have written an open letter to call on the Bologna Children’s Book Fair (BCBF) to suspend Israel’s participation. The prominent book fair, which runs April 8-11, suspended Russia’s participation in favour of Ukraine in 2022. “Currently, there is a war on Palestine which is affecting children at such an unprecedented scale that it has been described by doctors, journalists and UN aid workers as a war on children,” reads the letter. “We, the undersigned, would like to urge BCBF to join us in taking a stand and showing the Palestinian child whose books have are buried under rubble, whose play and story times have been taken from them, whose songs are drowned out by bombs, that they are not forgotten.” Palestinians collect books from the rubble of a cultural centre following an Israeli strike in Rafah [File: Mohammed Abed/AFP] Click Reservist protest video circulating online: Israeli military The Israeli military issued a short statement saying it is investigating an incident captured on video that has been circulating in recent hours showing reservists protesting while on active duty. It says the actions seen in the video are not in line with military orders. Source:https://www.aljazeera.com/news/liveblog/2024/1/22/israels-war-on-gaza-live-bombing-all-around-hospital-in-khan-younis

UNITED NATIONS/CAIRO, Jan 19 (Reuters) – Between 10,000 and 15,000 people were killed in one city in Sudan’s West Darfur region last year in ethnic violence by the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) and allied Arab militia, according to a United Nations report seen by Reuters on Friday. In the report to the U.N. Security Council, independent U.N. sanctions monitors attributed the toll in El Geneina to intelligence sources and contrasted it with the U.N. estimate that about 12,000 people have been killed across Sudan since war erupted on April 15, 2023, between the Sudanese army and the RSF. Advertisement · Scroll to continue The monitors also described as “credible” accusations that the United Arab Emirates had provided military support to the RSF “several times per week” via Amdjarass in northern Chad. A top Sudanese general accused the UAE in November of backing the RSF war effort. In a letter to the monitors, the UAE said 122 flights had delivered humanitarian aid to Amdjarass to help Sudanese fleeing the war. The United Nations says about 500,000 people have fled Sudan into eastern Chad, several hundred kilometers south of Amdjarass. Source:https://www.reuters.com/world/africa/ethnic-killings-one-sudan-city-left-up-15000-dead-un-report-2024-01-19/

Unidentified armed men shot dead a senior official of the anti-polio programme, Dr Abdul Rahman Jan, in the Bad-e-Siya area in Mamund tehsil, Bajaur tribal district, police officials said on Friday. The officials said that the official was traveling in his car when gunmen lying in wait opened fire on his vehicle. Dr Abdul Rahman, who was working as District Polio Coordinator in Bajaur, received multiple bullet injuries. Dr Rahman was airlifted in a helicopter to the Combined Military Hospital in Peshawar but succumbed to his injuries. A cop Ilyas, who was deputed for his security, also sustained injuries in the attack. He was rushed to the District Headquarters Hospital in Khar. The police registered the case against unidentified attackers and launched an investigation, said an official. The attacks on the cops on anti-polio duty have increased in parts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, including Bajaur, over the last few weeks. Five cops were martyred and 22 wounded in a roadside blast targeting a police van in Mamund tehsil of Bajaur recently. The van was carrying cops to provide security to the anti-polio teams in Bajaur. Source:https://www.thenews.com.pk/print/1149615-anti-polio-programme-official-killed-in-bajaur

Footage and witness accounts shared with Al Jazeera reveal how Israeli forces carried out summary executions in Gaza last month. UN Women’s agency warns of “generational trauma” on Palestinians as figures show “two mothers killed every hour” in Israel’s war on Gaza. Israel raids have continued across occupied West Bank where 369 Palestinians have been killed since October 7. UN report says Israel approved only seven of 29 humanitarian aid missions to the northern Gaza Strip in the first half of January and denied 95 percent of fuel and medicine delivery attempts to the area. At least 24,762 people killed and 62,108 wounded in Israeli attacks on Gaza since October 7. The revised death toll in Israel from the October 7 Hamas attack stands at 1,139. At least 18 Palestinians killed in Israeli bombings since dawn Here are some of the latest developments taking place across Gaza: Two Palestinians killed and several wounded in an Israeli bombing of the al-Amal neighbourhood in Khan Younis. This brings the number of victims of shelling on several areas in the city since dawn on Friday to 18. The vicinity of al-Shifa Hospital was subjected to Israeli air and artillery bombardment. The area targeted includes residential complexes. A number of the injured have not yet been recovered from the scene. Israeli forces blew up a residential square in the al-Balad area in the centre of Khan Younis. Houses and facilities were also blown up in the Bani Suheila area in the east of the city. Footage shows thick plumes of smoke rising from those areas as a result of the bombings carried out by Israel. Smoke rises over the residential areas following the Israeli attacks on Khan Yunis, Gaza on Saturday [Abed Rahim Khatib.Anadolu Agency] Click Click here to share on social media Latest figures from the occupied West Bank As Israeli raids across the occupied West Bank continue, here are the latest figures from the territory since October 7: Killed: 369 people including 98 children, three women, and seven Palestinian prisoners who died in Israeli custody Wounded: More than 4,212 Detained: At least 6,108 Click Stop the execution of captives, Israeli families demand Laura Khan Reporting from occupied East Jerusalem There’s certainly a pressure cooker on Netanyahu at the moment. Dozens camped outside his home north of Tel Aviv last night. We reached out to the families of captives and those in solidarity there – they said they’re not moving and are waiting for Netanyahu to come out and speak to them. They say he’s dragging his feet on getting captives released. The father of one of the captives is on a hunger strike, and they released a very strong statement that says they demand that Israel stop the execution of hostages. There have been weeks of protests, particularly in Tel Aviv from tens of thousands of people. Many have switched from just calling for the release of captives to demanding a ceasefire in order to release them. Many inside the Netanyahu cabinet who were handpicked by him are also saying you cannot defeat Hamas militarily in a short amount of time, you need to focus on the captives. Click here to share on social media Story of four generations of Palestinian women for the Oscars Palestine’s entry for Oscars 2024 is a movie called Bye Bye Tiberias that tells the story of four generations of women in the family of Palestinian actor Hiam Abbas. Abbas is best known for her roles in HBO’s award-winning Succession and Hulu drama Ramy, and she is using this success to tell the story of her family who were expelled from their village during the 1948 Nakba. “It’s very important to remember that we all are human beings. We all have the right to live. We all have the right to not be demolished,” she says. Latest updates on the situation in Gaza This is what our correspondents on the ground in Gaza are reporting: Intense fighting is continuing in Khan Younis and near Nasser hospital One Palestinian has been killed by an Israeli drone strike in Khan Younis The Israeli army shelled the al-Katiba area and the al-Amal neighbourhood in Khan Younis Fighting has been reported between the Israeli army and Palestinian fighters east of Jabalia in the northern Gaza Strip About 30 decomposed bodies of an entire family were recovered from under the rubble of their home in eastern Khan Younis. Their relatives lost contact with them more than a month ago Displaced Palestinians in four evacuation zones in Gaza City were ordered by the Israeli military to leave and head towards the central areas. Source:https://www.aljazeera.com/news/liveblog/2024/1/20/israels-war-on-gaza-live-israel-denied-70-of-aid-to-north-gaza-says-un

In a tit for tat response to January 16 airstrikes by Iran in Balochistan, Pakistan effectively hit terrorists in Iran’s border village of Saravan in the early hours of Thursday, killing nine foreign nationals. Pakistan launched intelligence-based operation- codenamed “Marg Bar Sarmachar” (Death to Sarmachar) at 4:48am on Thursday in a series of highly coordinated and specifically targeted precision military strikes against terrorist hideouts in Siestan-o-Baluchistan province of Iran. Sensing the high volatile situation in the region which could easily get out of hand, China became the only regional ally to step in offering mediation to cool down the situation. Ms Mao Ning, spokeswoman for the Chinese Foreign Office, said Beijing’s stand is that relations between countries should be handled in accordance with the purposes and principles of the UN Charter and international law and that the countries’ sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity should be respected and safeguarded. “Iran and Pakistan are close neighbors and countries who have influence and keep friendly relations with China. China sincerely hopes that the two sides will remain calm, exercise restraint and avoid escalation of tension,” she added. However, when the Foreign Office of Pakistan was approached with the Chinese offer, spokeswoman Mumtaz Zahra Baloch said she was not aware of any offer of mediation so far. “I am not aware of third-party mediation as you mentioned. Pakistan and Iran do have several channels of communication. And, at this point, I am not aware of any third parties stepping forward in this context,” she responded. There has been no contact between Islamabad and Tehran since Thursday morning. While the situation remains tense, the Foreign Office and the ISPR said going forward, dialogue and cooperation was deemed prudent in resolving issues between the two neighbouring brotherly countries. The spokeswoman remarked, “Pakistan considers Iran as a close friend. We have great respect and affection for the Iranian people. Pakistan fully respects the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the Islamic Republic of Iran and the sole objective of today’s act was in pursuit of Pakistan’s own security. And it was not targeted against Iran; it was targeted against certain individuals, terrorist groups, who were having hideouts and sanctuaries inside Iran. So, we should not see it as something that is targeted against Iran. It is clearly focused and targeted against a terror outfits, which call themselves Sarmachars”. The announcement about Pakistan’s military strikes was first made by the Foreign Office five hours after the strikes. Later in the afternoon, the Inter Services Press Relations (ISPR) also released a detailed statement of Marg Bar Sarmachar including the footage of military strikes which were confirmed by Iran’s IRNA news agency. The agency confirmed that nine people were killed in the attack. Iranian Interior Minister Ahmad Vahidi said all the dead “were foreign nationals”. In her statement, Baloch said for the last several years, Pakistan had consistently shared its serious concerns with Iran about the safe havens and sanctuaries enjoyed by Pakistani origin terrorists calling themselves *Sarmachars* on the ungoverned spaces inside Iran. “Pakistan also shared multiple dossiers with concrete evidence of the presence and activities of these terrorists. However, because of lack of action on our serious concerns, these so-called Sarmachars continued to spill the blood of innocent Pakistanis with impunity. “This morning’s action was taken in light of credible intelligence of impending large scale terrorist activities by these so-called Sarmachars”, she said. Defending Pakistan’s military strikes, she explained that this action manifested Pakistan’s unflinching resolve to protect and defend its national security against all threats. “The successful execution of this highly complex operation is also a testimony to the professionalism of Pakistan’s armed forces. Pakistan will continue to take all necessary steps to preserve the safety and security of its people which is sacrosanct, inviolable and sacred”. Pakistan once again reached out to Tehran and said it fully respected the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the Islamic Republic of Iran. “The sole objective of today’s act was in pursuit of Pakistan’s own security and national interest which is paramount and cannot be compromised. As a responsible member of the international community, Pakistan upholds the principles and purposes of the UN Charter including territorial integrity and sovereignty of member states. Guided by these principles, and in exercise of our legitimate rights within international law, Pakistan will never allow its sovereignty and territorial integrity to be challenged, under any pretext or circumstances,” she added. Iran, she pointed out, was a brotherly country and the people of Pakistan had great respect and affection for the Iranian people. “We have always emphasized dialogue and cooperation in confronting common challenges including the menace of terrorism and will continue to endevaour to find joint solutions,” she said. Meanwhile, the ISPR later gave the specifics of the military strikes. “Pakistan carried out effective strikes against hideouts inside Iran used by terrorists responsible for recent attacks in Pakistan. The precision strikes were carried out using killer drones, rockets, loitering munitions and stand-off weapons. Maximum care was taken to avoid collateral damage. Hideouts used by terrorist organisations namely Balochistan Liberation Army and Balochistan Liberation Front were successfully struck in an intelligence based operation, code name ‘Marg Bar Sarmachar’. The targeted hideouts were being used by notorious terrorists including Dosta alias Chairman, Bajjar alias Soghat, Sahil alias Shafaq, Asghar alias Basham and Wazir alias Wazi, amongst others. Pakistan’s armed forces remain in a perpetual state of readiness to ensure safety of Pakistani citizens against the acts of terrorism”, said the statement. “Our resolve to ensure that the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Pakistan is respected and safeguarded against any misadventure, remains unwavering. We reaffirm our determination to defeat all enemies of Pakistan with the support of the people of Pakistan. Going forward, dialogue and cooperation is deemed prudent in resolving bilateral issues between the two neighbouring brotherly countries,” it said. The first reaction from Tehran after Pakistan’s strikes came with Pakistan’s Chargé d’affaires to Tehran called to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to explain about the incident.