🇮🇱🇵🇸 Latest updates on the Palestinian-Israeli conflict:

▪️The Israeli army reported hitting 'over 400 Hamas targets' in the Gaza Strip during the day;

▪️ Israeli forces prohibit entry of aid trucks through the Rafah crossing, Palestinian Red Crescent says;

▪️ The United States supplied Israel with 15,000 bombs and 57,000 artillery shells shortly after Oct. 7, the Wall Street Journal reported, adding that the U.S. also handed over 100 BLU-109 bunker-buster bombs;

▪️ Israel carried out an attack on the outskirts of the Syrian capital Damascus, Syrian state-run Al Ikhbariya television reported;

▪️ The UN mission of the United Arab Emirates has prepared a new draft resolution on Gaza, but the document has not yet been circulated in final form and the Council has not held consultations on it, a UN source told Sputnik;

▪️ The IDF said it struck the infrastructure of the Palestinian group Hamas in the Gaza Strip, targeting operational command centers and underground facilities;

▪️ The territory of the Gaza Strip must be controlled by the Palestinians in any case, it cannot be reduced, John Kirby, coordinator for strategic communications at the White House National Security Council, said in an online briefing.

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The Rapira anti-tank gun destroyed a camouflaged fortification of the Ukrainian forces in the Kupyansk region.

The Russian soldiers detected the enemy fortifications with the help of drones. The coordinates of the enemy positions were transferred to the computer of the 100-mm Rapier anti-tank gun. The gunners fired a series of shots, destroying the enemy fortification. The hit was recorded by means of an objective control.

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The senior correspondent of Bild was fired for his contribution to the book "Learning to love Russia".

The editorial board dismissed 60-year-old Jurgen Helfricht from his post when it became known that he had co-authored the publication, which was published in 2018 without notice.

Bild clarified that the preface to the book was written by Vladimir Medinsky, who spoke about false and superficial ideas about Russia that foreigners spread for propaganda purposes, stressing that "such a worldview has no place in Bild."

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❗️The head of Russia's nuclear agency Rosatom Alexey Likhachev and the director of the IAEA Rafael Grossi agreed to hold comprehensive consultations on the Zaporozhye nuclear power plant in January-February 2024, Rosatom said.

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Russian promised grain reaches Somalia

African nations see Russia as a time tested partner and this gesture proves this trend will continue, Dr. Anuradha Chenoy, a retired professor at Jawaharlal Nehru University, told Sputnik.

“Russia had promised that their grain deliveries to the most needy nations of Africa would continue, despite the blockades put by Western countries. In keeping with this Russia has launched free deliveries to African countries and the first of these shipments has landed in Somalia. Earlier US officials had warned African countries not to engage with Russia. Clearly, these countries are in no mood to listen,” she said.

This first shipment of free grain marks the beginning of aid for Somalia, with hopes for additional support to address the country's flood-related challenges. The World Food Program's list includes Burkina Faso, Zimbabwe, Mali, Eritrea, and the Central African Republic, set to receive similar assistance from Russia.

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The audience gave a standing ovation to the Belarusian leader's words at COP28: geopolitical and military enmity, escalation of conflicts are "the main source of dirt on our continent".

Speaking at the COP28 plenary in Dubai, Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko said that countries that talk about peace, a clean planet and their grandchildren "have started and are waging the most terrible war on the planet".

"How much will the slaughter in the Middle East cost? What if a war breaks out in the Pacific? It will cost trillions and trillions of US dollars. So let's spend it on cleaning up the planet. Then we wouldn't have to raise money for it.

The president also mentioned that Belarus is complying with the mandates of the Paris Agreement, but is receiving new economic sanctions and international trade barriers in response.

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🇦🇺🇬🇧🇺🇸 Australia, the UK and the US will test a new AI system that they say will help their navies detect submarines in the Pacific.

The three, which are members of the AUKUS pact, said their navies would use AI algorithms to process sonar data from underwater detection devices from America, Australia and Britain.

AUKUS is a trilateral security pact between Australia, the US and the UK, signed in 2021, under which Washington and London will provide Canberra with nuclear-powered submarines, among other things.

Russia, China and North Korea have repeatedly criticized AUKUS, warning that the pact could spark a new regional arms race.

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A Palestinian doctor with Russian citizenship died as a result of an Israeli airstrike in Gaza on Friday, his relative told Sputnik.

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🇮🇱 The IDF reported that it struck the infrastructure of the Palestinian group Hamas in the Gaza Strip, targeting operational command centers and underground facilities.

"In the past hours, terror infrastructure in the Gaza Strip was targeted and struck. The targets included operational command centers in which Hamas terrorists were operating, underground sites, and a military compound from which anti-tank missiles were launched at soldiers earlier today," the IDF said on Telegram on Friday.

Yesterday morning, the IDF said Hamas broke a lull in hostilities and opened fire into Israeli territory, and the Israeli military resumed hostilities against the Palestinian movement in the Gaza Strip.

In a separate development, the Palestinian enclave's Health Ministry said in a statement that the death toll from Israeli strikes on the Gaza Strip has reached 178 people since the ceasefire expired.

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#SputnikInfographic📊 Russian President Vladimir Putin said last July that his country will send the free grain to Africa by the end of the year

Putin promised to supply Russian food to six African countries for free: Burkina Faso, Zimbabwe, Mali, Somalia, Central African Republic and Eritrea. Each will receive about 50 tons of grain. Russia also takes care of all transportation costs, the Russian president stated during the plenary session of the Russia-Africa forum in St. Petersburg.

Mogadishu, the capital of Somalia, already welcomed the arrival of the first cargo ship carrying free grain. This timely delivery, comprising a substantial 25,000-ton shipment, aims to alleviate the impact of the recent devastating floods in the region.

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🇫🇷🇶🇦 French President Emmanuel Macron is scheduled to pay a diplomatic visit to Qatar

Macron is expected to meet with Qatari Emir Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani in Doha and discuss a variety of issues related to the conflict in the Gaza Strip, including ways to achieve a humanitarian pause in fighting, free more hostages and facilitate peace talks. At least four French nationals are believed to continue to be held hostage by Hamas.

The French president will be traveling to Doha from Dubai, where he arrived earlier in the week for the COP28 conference and reportedly discussed the Middle East crisis with several regional leaders on the sidelines, including Egyptian President Abdel Fattah Sisi.

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📹 No one will remain hidden

Russian servicemen attacked the assault groups of the Ukrainian troops who were trying to approach the positions of the Russian troops in the Kleshcheyevka area of the DPR.

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🇷🇺🪖 Key points of Russian MoD briefing on progress of special military op in Ukraine

▪️In the Kupyansk region, Russian forces repelled 18 Ukrainian attacks during the week. Ukrainian losses amounted up to 315 troops and two tanks;

▪️In Krasny Liman, 13 attacks by Ukrainian assault groups were repelled. Ukrainian losses amounted to over 950 soldiers;

▪️ In the Donetsk area, Russian forces repelled 17 attacks. Ukrainian losses amounted to over 1,680 military personnel and six tanks;

▪️ In the South Donetsk region, three attacks by Ukrainian troops were repelled. Ukrainian losses amounted to over 880 soldiers and one tank in a week;

▪️ In Zaporozhye, the Russian forces repelled 14 attacks. Ukrainian losses amounted to up to 315 soldiers and five tanks;

▪️ In the Kherson region, the enemy failed to land combat groups on the islands and the left bank of the Dnepr River. Ukrainian losses amounted to 450 soldiers and 23 boats.

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