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Ramallah, Jul 20 (Prensa Latina) The situation in the Gaza Strip is catastrophic and unprecedented in modern history as a result of the daily attacks and the blockade imposed by Israel, a Palestinian official source denounced today.

The director general of the Government Media Office in Gaza, Ismail Thawabta, stressed that more than two million people there are living under bombardment, hunger and deprivation of the most basic necessities of life.

He also warned of the total destruction of infrastructure, the collapse of the health sector and the severe shortage of food, water and medicine.

He also warned of the worsening famine in the territory and the failure of international efforts to bring some relief, while, he said, hundreds of aid trucks remain stranded on the other side of the border.

In the face of this situation, Al-Thawabat called for the establishment of safe and permanent humanitarian corridors under international supervision, the elimination of the politicization of aid and an end to its manipulation.

He also demanded an urgent investigation into the famine caused by Israel and the accountability of those responsible.

The official considered it necessary to lift the blockade on the Strip, and also to stop the military aggression and the policies of displacement, hunger and destruction.

In this regard, he called on the European Union to break “the cycle of political and moral complicity and take immediate and practical steps to free itself from any complicity in the genocide” against the Palestinian people.

Beijing, Jul 20 (Prensa Latina) Cuba's First Deputy Foreign Minister Gerardo Peñalver arrived here today on a working visit focused on inter-chancellery political consultations.

As part of his agenda in the Asian giant, Peñalver will meet with Executive Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs Ma Zhaoxu, as well as with other high-ranking government and Communist Party of China officials.

The program will last until Tuesday and also includes visits to places of socio-economic interest, as well as an exchange with members of the Cuban state mission here.

In an interview with Prensa Latina during his stay in China last May, Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez emphasized that the bilateral relationship is of a special nature with strategic scope and reiterated his gratitude to the Asian giant for its support to the island's development.

The head of Cuban diplomacy recalled that this year both countries celebrate the 65th anniversary of diplomatic ties, characterized by deep mutual political trust and high exchange between the respective Communist Parties, governments and organizations.

Rodriguez highlighted the growing dynamism of economic-commercial relations, as well as in the fields of culture, science, academia, sports and other multiple sectors of society.

Although diplomatic ties will be 65 years old, historical links date back to the 19th century when the first Chinese citizens arrived in the Antillean country.

On September 2, 1960, in front of more than one million Cubans, the historic leader of the Cuban Revolution, Fidel Castro, urged breaking relations with the Taiwanese government to establish diplomatic ties with Mao Zedong's People's Republic of China.

On September 28 of that year, Cuba became the first country in Latin America and the Caribbean to establish such ties with the new China, paving the way for relations between the Asian giant and the rest of the nations in the region.

Damascus, Jul 20 (Prensa Latina) The death toll after a week of violent clashes in the southern Syrian province of Sweida exceeded a thousand, according to a new balance documented today by human rights organizations.

Reports published by several media outlets detailed that 336 fighters and 298 civilians from the Druze community were killed, including 194 who were executed.

Also, 342 members of the Ministry of Defense and the General Security Service lost their lives during the clashes, in addition to 21 Bedouin tribal fighters, three of whom were civilians executed by Druze militants.

On the other hand, Israeli air strikes during the escalation resulted in the death of 15 members of the government forces. In this context, Syrian Interior Ministry spokesman Noureddine Al-Baba announced that the town of Sweida has been evacuated of all tribal fighters and that clashes in urban neighborhoods have ceased.

In turn, Interior Minister Anas Khattab said that after several bloody days, the Internal Security Forces managed to impose a ceasefire in Sweida, paving the way for the exchange of prisoners and the gradual return to stability throughout the governorate.

Amid the critical humanitarian situation in the region, the Syrian Arab Red Crescent has sent a convoy of humanitarian aid to Deraa as part of its emergency response.

The organization explained in a statement that the trucks that arrived today are in addition to seven earlier ones, bringing the total number to 17, with supplies for some five thousand displaced families from Sweida.

The government also sent a convoy of medical assistance, food and humanitarian aid to Sweida.

However, according to allegations by the authorities, Druze leader Hikmat Al-Hajri refused to allow the official government delegation to enter.

Earlier, the Syrian presidency announced an immediate and comprehensive ceasefire in response to the critical humanitarian and security situation in the country, in order to stop the bloodshed and preserve the unity of the national territory.

Some 800,000 inhabitants of Sweida are facing dramatic conditions due to shortages of basic commodities, food, medicines and a serious lack of milk for children.

UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk declared that the bloodshed and violence must stop in Sweida, and called for building “a new Syria that works for all its citizens, equal in dignity and without discrimination”.

🟢⚫️🔴♦️🟩 Hamas, Palestinian Islamic Jihad Movement, Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine, Palestinian National Initiative, and Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine - General Command: —

In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful

Press statement issued by the Palestinian Factions regarding the war of starvation and genocide against our people in the Gaza Strip

The Palestinian factions are following with deep concern and comprehensive popular mobilization the systematic genocide crime that our steadfast people in the Gaza Strip are subjected to, embodied in the war of starvation, widespread bombing, and comprehensive siege, carried out by the zionist occupation government led by the criminal Netanyahu, with direct and blatant support from the American administration, and shameful international complicity and suspicious silence from the European Union and international community institutions.

Our people are entering their twenty-second month in confronting this comprehensive, open war, which has gone beyond bombing, killing, and destruction, to include the use of starvation and medical and humanitarian siege through the deliberate prevention of food and medical aid, in a desperate attempt to subjugate them and break their will.

What the Strip is subjected to is considered a war crime according to international laws and norms, and a crime against humanity by all standards, surpassing in its brutality, criminality, and sadism the crimes of Nazism and Fascism. In the face of these continuous crimes, we affirm the following:

1. We hold the war criminal Netanyahu and his fascist government fully responsible for the policies of genocide and the war of starvation they are practicing against more than two million Palestinians, in an organized crime that constitutes a blatant violation of international humanitarian law and the Geneva Conventions.

2. We hold the American administration, as the primary partner and sponsor of the criminal Netanyahu's government, fully responsible for the continuation of this brutal aggression, and for the failure of the negotiation process due to the absence of any serious pressure on the occupation government to stop its crimes.

3. We denounce the suspicious international silence, especially from the European Union, and consider that the United Nations' inability and the international community's inaction encourage the occupation to continue its crimes against our besieged people in the Gaza Strip.

4. We affirm that these crimes clearly reveal the intentions of the occupation government, which does not seek calm or agreement, but rather aims to empty the land and impose a project of extermination and forced displacement.

5. We warn that the continuation of this approach may negatively affect the negotiation process and open the door to escalation possibilities, holding the "israeli" government and its supporting countries responsible.

6. We appeal to the masses of our Palestinian people wherever they are, our Arab and Islamic nation, and the free people of the world, to intensify popular, political, and media efforts and massive, pressing movements to stop this ongoing crime, end the unjust siege, and break the extermination project carried out by the occupation state with American support and international inaction.

7. We call on all solidarity activists with our Palestinian people around the world to intensify their actions and unite their efforts to pressure their governments to stop their support and complicity with Netanyahu's fascist government, and to work towards ending the policies of extermination and starvation practiced against our people, and achieving justice and freedom for Palestine.

8. In light of this tragic scene, we renew our pledge to the masses of our people that, while we feel your pain and suffering, we will continue our efforts to end them, and we will proceed with the option of comprehensive resistance until the siege is broken, the aggression is stopped, and our people's goals of liberation, return, and independence are achieved.

The Islamic Resistance Movement Hamas Palestinian Islamic Jihad Movement Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine Palestinian National Initiative Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine - General Command

Sunday: 25 Muharram 1447 AH Corresponding to: July 20, 2025

https://t.me/PalestineResist/80291

The "moderate Islam" which America demands is an Islam that is devoid of soul, an Islam of just praying and fasting, an Islam of rites and rituals only. The Islam that America demands is an Islam that is devoid of Jihad, devoid of fighting, devoid of resistance. The Islam that America demands is an Islam that does not recognize Jihad, that denies the verses of Jihad, considering it exclusively only to the time of the Prophet (SAW).

The "moderate Islam" that America demands is one that begs acceptance and normalization from the International Community while accepting humiliation and obedience. The "moderate Islam" that America demands is an Islam that separates religion from politics; rather, it seperates religion from society.

The "moderate Islam" that America is satisfied with is an Islam that watches the war on Yemen without saying a word or denouncing! The "moderate Islam" that America demands is an Islam that watches the crimes of the Houses of al-Saud and al-Khalifah without denouncing or rejecting them. The "moderate Islam" that America demands is one that watches the crimes of israel without even issuing a piece of paper that denounces an operation, an act of rape, or a demolition there, and whatnot. The "moderate Islam" that America demands is an Islam that tells you not to support the oppressed in Pakistan, Syria, Palestine, Nigeria, Yemen, and so on.

The "moderate Islam" that America demands is one that does not believe in the Islamic Ummah, that does not believe in the necessity of us supporting each other, and the necessity of protecting the Islamic Republic of Iran, which is an Islamic State.

The "moderate Islam" that America demands is an Islam that differentiates between the Arabs and non-Arabs; an Islam that differentiates betweens Kuwaiti, Bahraini, Iraqi, Indian, Iranian and Turk; an Islam that doesn't believe in "Indeed the noblest of you in the sight of Allah is the most Godwary among you" (49:13).

It is an Islam that believes in Sykes-Picot and not in the Quran!

This is the Islam that America demands, which Imam Khomeini described thirty years ago as "American Islam".

As far as America's opinion about "radical Islam" is concerned, it is an Islam that America does not want; that is, the Islam that the Yazid of our time does not want. What Islam is this? In America, it is called "radical Islam".

Yes! I say again! The "radical Islam" that America rejects is the "radical Islam" against the oppression and tyranny of America. The Islam that America rejects—the Islam which calls for crying, tears, rituals, mowkibs, and the Arbaeen walk—the same Islam that calls to pick up a weapon to sacrifice souls and to stand against the enemies (of Islam).

Today, the Islam that America fights with and rejects is the Islam which believes that the religion is a religion of governance, a religion of authority; it believes in Jihad and resistance, a religion that guides society. As Shaheed Sayyid Baqir al-Sadr described it: "Islam guides life".

The genuine Islam that America rejects is the one that refuses to beg for Western laws, Western culture, and Western theories.

Today as I mention, America is playing a spiteful role and a dangerous conspiracy in misrepresenting Islam. They made ISIS, then ISIS kills. Anything now in the literature of ISIS, for example "Jihad" of ISIS is now rejected by us, the Islamic State is now rejected by us; that's how America has made it for us. "Jihad" now means shouting "Allahu Akbar" and slaughtering. Fighting for the sake of Allah means saying "Muhammad (SAW) is the Messenger of Allah," then ripping his stomach open.

This is what our understanding of Islam has become today. Any slogan that is presented by ISIS, America promotes it as if it is from Islam. As a result, some people—they could be naïve or they could have wicked intentions— they refuse EVERYTHING that ISIS says. What, then, did our religion become? It became the religion of mercy and pity only; neither fierce, confrontation, nor harshness. Who said that our religion doesn't have harshness? "And let them find severity in you, and know that Allah is with the Godwary." (9:123) Yes, against the disbelievers. "And those with him are firm with the disbelievers..." (48:29) If we are good, let there be no severity between us "merciful among themselves" (48:29). In reality, the harshness (severity) is between us and our compassion is for the faithless.

With an American-ISIS plan, the tool is ISIS. ISIS is a means, an evil tool. In all these years that have passed, Al-Qaeda, al-Nusra Front, and ISIS are just practicing aggressiveness, killing, and have changed the slogan of "Allahu Akbar" to represent slaughtering. The phrase "Allahu Akbar" now means something else, and so do other phrases such as "Jihad". If you see a long beard it means something else.

They portrayed the Wahhabis, Takfiris, and ISIS in such a way that many of us did not know how to treat this situation. As a result, the term "ISIS militias" was repeated on the TV — and we kept parroting "ISIS militias" — what did it become later? "The Popular Mobilization Militia", "Hezbollah Militias", "Houthi Militias".

In the beginning ISIS was an apparent goal, then it became a tool (of the Americans). For many of us now, and in the Arab and Islamic world — Inshallah it doesn't exist in Iraq — "Jihad" refers exclusively to ISIS; it falsely includes Hezbollah and the Popular Mobilization Units, and the media is presenting and showing them as "militias" (like ISIS). The result, therefore, is that many people in the world today reject the Popular Mobilization Units, reject Hezbollah, and reject the Islamic Republic of Iran.

The reason for this is ISIS: an evil American conspiracy to misrepresent Islam!

-Sayyid Hashim Al-Haidari