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Pope Leo XIV delivers the Christmas’ “Urbi et Orbi” (“to the City and to the World”) message from the central loggia of St. Peter’s Basilica at the Vatican, on December 25, 2025. [Isabella Bonotto – Anadolu Agency]
Delivering his first Christmas Mass address from St. Peter’s Basilica on Thursday, Pope Leo XIV evoked the plight of Gazans facing weeks of harsh winter conditions, alongside refugees and displaced persons worldwide, Anadolu reports.
“Since the Word was made flesh, humanity now speaks crying out with God’s own desire to encounter us. The Word has pitched His fragile tent among us. How, then, can we not think of the tents in Gaza, exposed to weeks of rain, and wind, and cold?” Pope Leo said.
He also drew attention to similar hardships faced by other refugees and displaced persons on every continent as well as homeless people living under “makeshift shelters.”
“Fragile is the flesh of defenseless populations tried by so many wars ongoing or concluded, leaving behind rubble and open wounds,” the pontiff said.
He cited the fragility of human life among young people forced to take up arms, saying those on the front lines “feel the senselessness of what is asked of them and the falsehoods that fill the pompous speeches of those who send them to their deaths.”
“Jesus wants us to touch human misery, to touch the suffering flesh of others. He hopes that we will stop looking for those personal or communal niches which shelter us from the maelstrom of human misfortune and instead enter into the reality of other people’s lives and know the power of tenderness,” the pope said.
Israel killed more than 71,000 Palestinians, mostly women and children, in Gaza and destroyed the enclave during its two-year war. A ceasefire was agreed upon in October but Israeli violations have continued unabated.
According to the Gaza government media office, more than 400 Palestinians have since been killed and over a thousand others injured in Israeli attacks.
This work by Middle East Monitor is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
Genocide denier and Current UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer is quoted that he supports Zionism without qualification. He also confirms that UK air force support has been essential in Israel’s mass-murdering genocide. Includes URLs https://www.declassifieduk.org/keir-starmers-100-spy-flights-over-gaza-in-support-of-israel/ and https://youtu.be/O74hZCKKdpAKeir Starmer objects to criticism of the IDF. He asks how could anyone object to them starving people to death, forced marches like the Nazis did, bombing Gaza’s hospitals and universities, mass-murdering journalists, healthworkers and starving people queuing for food, killing and raping prisoners and murdering children. He calls for people to stop obstructing his genocide for Israel.Orcas discuss Genocide-supporting and complicit Zionists. Donald Trump, Keith Starmer, David Lammy, Rachel Reeves, Angela Rayner and Wes Streeting are acknowledged as evil genocide-complicit and supporting cnuts.
This work by Middle East Monitor is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz. [SEBASTIAN SCHEINER/AFP via Getty Images]
Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz vowed on Wednesday to continue military offensives in Lebanon, Syria, Gaza and Yemen despite regional and international efforts to de-escalate and restore regional stability, Anadolu reports.
Israel “will continue its operations in Lebanon, Syria, the Gaza Strip and Yemen,” Maariv daily quoted Katz as saying during a training course for Israeli Air Force pilots, attended by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Chief of Staff Eyal Zamir.
“In Lebanon, we will continue to apply maximum force against Hezbollah; in Syria, Israel will not withdraw from Mount Hermon (Jabal al-Sheikh) and the security zone; and in the Gaza Strip, Israel remains committed to dismantling Hamas and disarming the territory,” he added.
“As for Yemen, Israel will continue its operations to prevent the Houthis from strengthening their capabilities,” he said.
Addressing its conflict with Tehran, Katz claimed that Israel had inflicted “significant damage on Iran’s nuclear and strategic capabilities.”
“I am following reports regarding Iran, which we struck strongly in cooperation with our American partners, and the security establishment is closely monitoring developments. Naturally, I cannot provide further details,” he added.
The Israeli army has launched a brutal offensive in Gaza, killing more than 71,000 people, mostly women and children, and injuring over 171,000 others since October 2023. The assault fueled regional tensions and sparked an exchange of attacks with Hezbollah in Lebanon and Yemen’s Houthis. The Israeli army also launched a 12-day war on Iran in June, which was halted under a US-sponsored ceasefire.
Tel Aviv also staged repeated cross-border raids into Syrian territory and launched airstrikes, killing civilians and destroying Syrian military sites, vehicles, weapons, and ammunition.
This work by Middle East Monitor is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
Genocide denier and Current UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer is quoted that he supports Zionism without qualification. He also confirms that UK air force support has been essential in Israel’s mass-murdering genocide. Includes URLs https://www.declassifieduk.org/keir-starmers-100-spy-flights-over-gaza-in-support-of-israel/ and https://youtu.be/O74hZCKKdpAKeir Starmer objects to criticism of the IDF. He asks how could anyone object to them starving people to death, forced marches like the Nazis did, bombing Gaza’s hospitals and universities, mass-murdering journalists, healthworkers and starving people queuing for food, killing and raping prisoners and murdering children. He calls for people to stop obstructing his genocide for Israel.Orcas discuss Genocide-supporting and complicit Zionists. Donald Trump, Keith Starmer, David Lammy, Rachel Reeves, Angela Rayner and Wes Streeting are acknowledged as evil genocide-complicit and supporting cnuts.
This work by Middle East Monitor is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan makes a speech during the meeting with Provincial Heads at AK Party Congress Center in Ankara, Turkiye on December 24, 2025. [TUR Presidency / Murat Kula – Anadolu Agency]
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Wednesday said Israel has failed to honor its commitments and deliberately obstructed humanitarian aid deliveries to Gaza, pledging that Turkiye would increase its support for Palestinians in the coming period, Anadolu reports.
“Israel is not keeping its word and is constantly creating difficulties and obstacles to the entry of humanitarian aid with fabricated excuses,” Erdogan said, addressing the Justice and Development (AK) Party’s extended provincial heads meeting in Ankara.
Erdogan said: “Even though a ceasefire has been established in Gaza since Oct. 11, hardships continue in residential areas that Israel has turned into rubble.”
He stressed that Turkiye would step up its assistance to Palestinians.
“During the blessed three months, we will increase our aid to Palestine. As Turkiye, we will not back down, we will not remain silent, we will not forget, and we will never leave Gaza alone,” Erdogan said.
Erdogan said the suffering of Gaza’s population has deepened further with colder weather and the onset of rainfall.
He said images of tents submerged by heavy rain and babies and children suffering from hypothermia due to extreme cold were being watched with heartbreak across Turkiye.
“According to the agreement, 600 aid trucks were supposed to enter Gaza daily. However, Israel does not keep its word even on such a humanitarian issue,” Erdogan said.
Despite these obstacles, he added: “We are nevertheless trying to stand by our oppressed brothers and sisters in Gaza.”
Erdogan said the 19th Turkish aid ship, carrying 1,300 tons of humanitarian supplies, reached Egypt’s El-Arish Port last week, noting that the total amount of aid Turkiye has sent to Gaza over the past two years has approached 105,000 tons.
Highlighting urgent needs in Gaza, Erdogan said residents require medicine, food, clothing, and fuel for heating. “Above all, Gaza needs hope, solidarity, and moral support. That is why we will pray a great deal,” he said.
Turkiye’s broader humanitarian stance
Positioning Turkiye’s Gaza policy within a broader humanitarian framework, Erdogan said the country has consistently come to the aid of those in distress.
“From the Caucasus to the Balkans, from Africa to Asia, whoever has been in distress, we have rushed to their aid. This was the case yesterday, it is the case today, and it will never change tomorrow,” he said.
He emphasized that Turkiye supports peace, and will not tolerate injustice.
“Everyone should know that, as in the past, we are in favor of peace and calm today as well. But this does not mean that we consent to injustice or remain silent in the face of oppression. Never,” he said.
“Throughout our history, we have always been a land of refuge for the oppressed. Without looking at religion, language, or origin, we opened our doors to those who were crushed, humiliated, subjected to oppression and massacres,” Erdogan stressed.
“Whether in the Eastern Mediterranean, the Aegean, or anywhere else, we neither infringe on anyone’s rights nor allow our own rights to be violated,” Erdogan said.
He also stressed that Turkiye would not allow the rights of Turkish Cypriots to be usurped, adding that agreements, signatures, or political messaging would not alter Ankara’s stance.
Turning to domestic security, Erdogan said Turkiye’s push for a “terror-free Turkiye” has begun to ease pessimism beyond its borders, adding that Arab, Kurdish, Turkmen, Sunni, and Shia communities are looking to the future with renewed hope.
“Turkiye has finally embarked on a path of peace, security, development, and prosperity,” he said.
Concluding his remarks, Erdogan underlined the country’s resolve: “As Turkiye, we will continue to act with dignity, wisdom, common sense and calm, in line with international law, our bilateral agreements, and our deep-rooted tradition.”
This work by Middle East Monitor is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
Genocide denier and Current UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer is quoted that he supports Zionism without qualification. He also confirms that UK air force support has been essential in Israel’s mass-murdering genocide. Includes URLs https://www.declassifieduk.org/keir-starmers-100-spy-flights-over-gaza-in-support-of-israel/ and https://youtu.be/O74hZCKKdpAKeir Starmer objects to criticism of the IDF. He asks how could anyone object to them starving people to death, forced marches like the Nazis did, bombing Gaza’s hospitals and universities, mass-murdering journalists, healthworkers and starving people queuing for food, killing and raping prisoners and murdering children. He calls for people to stop obstructing his genocide for Israel.Orcas discuss Genocide-supporting and complicit Zionists. Donald Trump, Keith Starmer, David Lammy, Rachel Reeves, Angela Rayner and Wes Streeting are acknowledged as evil genocide-complicit and supporting cnuts.
[Guardian] Exclusive: Chloë Deakin tells how she wrote to Dulwich college master to argue against Farage’s nomination as prefectSun 28 Dec 2025 06.00 GMTShare
It was 1981 and Nigel Farage was turning 17. He was already a figure of some controversy, as would become a lifelong habit, among the younger pupils and staff at Dulwich college in south-east London.
“I remember it was either in a particular English lesson or a particular form period that his name came up,” said Chloë Deakin, then a young English teacher, of a discussion with a class of 11- and 12-year-olds. “There was something about bullying, and he was being referred to, quite specifically, as a bully. And I thought: ‘Who is this boy?’”
Deakin conferred with colleagues in the staff room who corroborated accounts of harassment of fellow pupils and of Farage’s apparent fascination with the far right, including claims that he had been “goose-stepping” on combined cadet force marches.
“But initially I had heard it from boys,” she said. “I was shocked to hear that this Dulwich boy was apparently getting away with this kind of behaviour, at cadet camp etc, and I thought: ‘This is seriously out of order. It’s horrible.’”
Despite the chatter in the playground and staffroom, Farage was put on a draft list of prefects by the headteacher, David Emms, and his deputy, Terry Walsh. There was a meeting where strong views were aired, though Emms and Walsh were of the opinion that Farage was naughty, rather than being a malevolent racist.
“So when I heard that Farage’s name was on the finalised prefect list, I was appalled and that was why I wrote independently to Emms, because I felt strongly about it – I still do,” Deakin recalled.
A Dulwich college magazine, the Alleynian, shows members of the combined cadet force including a boy believed to be Nigel Farage seated on the ground (centre, reaching towards his feet). Photograph: Martin Godwin/The Guardian
Deakin’s letter of June 1981, first revealed by the Channel 4 journalist Michael Crick in a report in 2013, is uncompromising. She has never spoken before of this episode with the letter – written after Farage’s 17th birthday – emerging only as a result of her having given a copy of it to a senior teacher at the time, as was the practice at the school.
She wrote: “You will recall that at the recent and lengthy meeting about the selection of prefects, the remark by a colleague that Farage was a ‘fascist but that was no reason why he would not make a good prefect’ invoked considerable reaction from members of the [staff] common room.
“Another colleague, who teaches the boy, described his publicly professed racist and neo-fascist views, and he cited a particular incident in which Farage was so offensive to a boy in his set that he had to be removed from his lesson …
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Original article by republished form Common Dreams under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0).
Healthcare workers and allies rally to demand the release of Dr. Hussam Abu Safiya and all Palestinian healthcare workers held in Israeli jails, in New York City, on January 6, 2025. (Photo by Mostafa Bassim/Anadolu via Getty Images)
“We won’t forget him nor the 360+ health workers Israel has abducted from Gaza since October 2023,” said CodePink.
Ahead of Saturday’s one-year anniversary of Israel abducting Dr. Hussam Abu Safiya from the Gaza hospital he ran, advocates demanded the release the scores of health workers still imprisoned by Israeli occupation forces.
“One year ago, Dr. Hussam Abu Safiya was abducted by the Israeli military along with dozens of other medical staff during a horrific raid on the Kamal Adwan Hospital in Gaza,” Dr. Yipeng Ge, a member of Doctors Against Genocide, said Friday on social media. “Free Hussam Abu Safiya. Free them all.”
Activist Petra Schurenhofer said on X: “It’s been a year since Israel abducted and illegally detained Dr Hussam Abu Safiya. And since then he has been languishing in an Israeli jail, being subjected to cruel and inhumane treatment. Don’t forget him. And don’t stop calling for his release.”
Dr. Hussam Abu Safiya was abducted by the IOF from Kamal Adwan Hospital one year ago this week.Israel has detained & tortured Dr. Abu Safiya for one whole year.We won't forget him nor the 360+ health workers Israel has abducted from Gaza since October 2023.
Abu Safiya, the 52-year-old director of Kamal Adwan Hospital, was seized on December 27, 2024 as Israel Defense Forces (IDF) troops continued their yearlong siege and raids on the facility in Beit Lahia, northern Gaza. The IDF claimed without evidence that Kamal Adwan—the last major functioning hospital in northern Gaza at the time—was a Hamas command center.
During a previous Israeli attack on Kamal Adwan, Abu Safiya’s 15-year-old son was killed in a drone strike. Abu Safiya was seriously wounded in a separate drone attack that left six pieces of shrapnel in his leg.
After his capture, Abu Safiya was first jailed at the notorious Sde Teiman prison in Israel’s Negev Desert—where dozens of detainees have died and where torture, rape, and other abuses have been reported—and then Ofer Prison in the illegally occupied West Bank.
Abu Safiya said he has endured torture by his captors—including beatings with batons and electric shocks—and suffered severe weight loss, broken ribs, and other injuries, for which he was allegedly denied adequate medical care.
A year has passed since the detention of my father, In this white coat, he walked alone amidst death, destruction, and in front of tanks—not because he was fearless, but because his oath and his humanity were greater than any fear. He refused to abandon the children and the… pic.twitter.com/8NtuIGBeYf
— Dr. Hussam Abu Safiya د.حسام أبو صفية (@HussamAbuSafiya) December 26, 2025
Israeli authorities deny these accusations. However, there have been many documented and otherwise credible reports of health and medical workers being tortured by Israeli forces—sometimes fatally, as in the case of Dr. Adnan al-Bursh, who headed the orthopedic department at al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza City.
Abu Safiya remains in Israeli custody, despite having not been charged with any crimes. Israeli courts have extended his detention multiple times under so-called “unlawful combatant” legal provisions.
In January, Abu Safiya’s mother died of a heart attack that MedGlobal, the Illinois-based nonprofit for which Abu Safiya worked as lead Gaza physician, attributed to “severe sadness” over her son’s plight.
According to United Nations agencies and other experts, Israeli forces have destroyed or damaged nearly all of Gaza’s hospitals in hundreds of attacks since the Hamas-led October 7, 2023 attack on Israel. More than 1,500 Palestinian health workers have been killed.
Last year, an independent United Nations commission found that “Israel has perpetrated a concerted policy to destroy Gaza’s healthcare system as part of a broader assault on Gaza, committing war crimes and the crime against humanity of extermination with relentless and deliberate attacks on medical personnel and facilities.”
Albina Abu Safiya, the imprisoned doctor’s wife, pleaded last week: “Save my husband before it is too late. His only ‘crime’ was saving the wounded and tending to the wounds of children.”
Keir Starmer objects to criticism of the IDF. He asks how could anyone object to them starving people to death, forced marches like the Nazis did, bombing Gaza’s hospitals and universities, mass-murdering journalists, healthworkers and starving people queuing for food, killing and raping prisoners and murdering children. He calls for people to stop obstructing his genocide for Israel.Genocide denier and Current UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer is quoted that he supports Zionism without qualification. He also confirms that UK air force support has been essential in Israel’s mass-murdering genocide. Includes URLs https://www.declassifieduk.org/keir-starmers-100-spy-flights-over-gaza-in-support-of-israel/ and https://youtu.be/O74hZCKKdpAOrcas discuss Genocide-supporting and complicit Zionists. Donald Trump, Keith Starmer, David Lammy, Rachel Reeves, Angela Rayner and Wes Streeting are acknowledged as evil genocide-complicit and supporting cnuts.
