The government of Nicaragua has stated that it is breaking off diplomatic relations with Israel over the ongoing genocidal war against Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, which has killed over 42,000 people, more than half of them women and children.

Nicaraguan Vice President Rosario Murillo announced the move to state media on Friday.

The Central American nation’s Congress had, earlier in the day, passed a resolution requesting Nicaragua take action to coincide with the one-year anniversary of the Gaza war.

The conflict, the Nicaraguan government said, now also “extends against Lebanon and gravely threatens Syria, Yemen and Iran.”

Murillo, who is President Daniel Ortega’s wife, said her husband instructed the government to sever diplomatic relations with the “fascist” and “genocidal” Tel Aviv regime.

İsmail Beheşti was on his way to check on his ship, the Conscience, at the Port of Istanbul. It was the end of August, and he hoped the 220-foot passenger yacht would soon be loaded with aid and volunteers, sailing for Gaza to break Israel’s illegal blockade. But as he entered the port, where the ship had been moored for months, he was physically stopped.

“The security forces did not allow me to enter the port. They kicked me out by force,” recalled Beheşti. To his great surprise, he said, the security officers told him “‘No, you are on the blacklist. We will not let you go and see your ship.’”

It was the latest roadblock for Beheşti and his fellow activists from an international coalition that has been trying since April to deliver humanitarian aid to Gaza. They had already struggled to find countries that would lend their flags to the ships in the flotilla, as such a move could be seen as antagonistic to Israel. Once they did obtain flags, the flotilla planned to depart from Turkey, which famously supported a 2010 effort to break Israel’s siege of Gaza. But now, even though the Conscience has secured a flag and the support of U.N. rapporteurs, Turkish authorities are continually blocking its departure.

The Palestinian Red Crescent Society on Friday said that all its ambulances in northern Gaza were forced to stop over the lack of fuel due to the Israeli army’s incursion and siege for the sixth consecutive day.

“Six ambulances are completely put out of service due to lack of fuel, as the Israeli occupation prevents the entry of fuel into northern Gaza,” Raed Al-Nems, Red Crescent Society’s spokesman in Gaza, told Anadolu.

He added that the halt of the ambulances paralyzed providing the ambulance service to patients and wounded people in northern Gaza.

Commenting on the situation in northern Gaza, Al-Nems said the humanitarian situation is “quickly deteriorating with the continuation of the Israeli siege. The siege is preventing the arrival of basic humanitarian, medical and relief supplies to northern Gaza,” he added.

A United Nations inquiry said Thursday it found Israel carried out a concerted policy of destroying Gaza's health care system in the Gaza war, actions amounting to both war crimes and the crime against humanity of extermination.

"Children, in particular, have borne the brunt of these attacks, suffering both directly and indirectly from the collapse of the health system," said Pillay, whose report will be presented to the U.N. General Assembly on Oct. 30.

Israel says that Gaza's militants operate from the cover of built-up populated areas including private homes, schools and hospitals and that it will strike them wherever they emerge, while also trying to avoid harming civilians.

Hamas denies hiding militants, weapons and command posts among civilians.

Sky News investigators obtained satellite images and examined Israeli army press materials, concluding that multiple military vehicles were operating in the immediate vicinity at the time of the incident, contradicting the Israeli military’s claims that no forces were present.

The channel examined satellite imagery taken on January 29, the day of the attack.

“It shows at least 15 military vehicles in the Tel al Hawa neighbourhood – where the family’s car was found. The closest military vehicle is just 300m away. One satellite image was taken at 4.31pm local time – just over an hour before the PRCS said it received approval to send an ambulance,” the report said.

“Satellite imagery taken in the days following the attack show how heavy the military presence remained, with at least 13 military vehicles seen on 7 February. A day later, on 8 February, at least nine military vehicles were seen in the area near the Islamic University in Gaza City,” the report continued.

Israel has detained American Grayzone journalist Jeremy Loffredo while he was on assignment in Israel.

According to social media posts, Loffredo was detained on Tuesday along with four other journalists who were “beaten, blindfolded, and taken to an Israeli military base.” They also had their phones confiscated. Loffredo remains in custody, while the others, including Andrey X, were released 11 hours later.

Loffredo’s last video posted on X reported the damage caused by the Iranian missile strikes on Israel’s military sites on 1 October. Social media users believe this is the reason for his detention as no local news organisations have covered the damage from the attack.

The Israel Land Authority is set to seize the land on which UNRWA’s headquarters lie in occupied East Jerusalem to build housing for illegal settlers.

According to information released today, the UNRWA headquarters are set to be converted into 1,440 housing units.

Chaos has erupted after a major nine-date speaking tour by Nelson Mandela's grandson was thrown into doubt when he did not receive a UK visa in time for his flight.

Zwelivelile Mandla Mandela has reportedly cancelled his flight to the UK, where he was due to address a series of pro-Palestine events in eight cities - Sheffield, Manchester, Edinburgh, Dundee, Aberdeen, Glasgow, Bristol and Brighton - including one alongside Labour MPs.

On 7 October 2023, the day of the Hamas-led attacks in southern Israel in which 1,139 people died and hundreds were taken hostage, Mandela said: "We support the Palestinian right to resist and call on all resistance formations to likewise support Operation Al Aqsa Flood and intensify the struggle on all fronts."

He also told the international community to "rise to the occasion and support Hamas and the Palestinian resistance in fighting their oppressor".

After Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh was assassinated by Israel in Tehran in July, Mandela eulogised him as a "great leader and an inspiration to all revolutionaries and freedom fighters of the world”.

His grandfather, Nelson Mandela, was a strong supporter of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), which was at that point considered a terrorist organisation by the US and Israel.

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In the aftermath of Israel’s war in Gaza, Blinken conducted a whirlwind trip through the Middle East, trying to negotiate humanitarian assistance for Gaza.

By the time Blinken arrived in Saudi Arabia to meet MBS, he was exhausted, journalist Bob Woodward writes in his new book, “War,” which was obtained by CNN ahead of its October 15 release.

But the crown prince, a “night owl,” kept Blinken and his team up all night before finally meeting. Woodward quotes Blinken saying, “MBS was nothing more than a spoiled child.”

“Do I want it?” MBS said and tapped his heart, Woodard writes. “It doesn’t matter that much. Do I need it? Absolutely.”

Woodward also recounts a meeting that Graham, the South Carolina senator, had with the crown prince in March.

“Hey, let’s call Trump,” Graham said to MBS while visiting with the Saudi leader in March.

Woodward also writes that the Saudi leader operates and communicates with various world leaders and government officials. Woodward says bin Salman had an aide bring over a bag with about 50 burner phones, pulling out one labeled “TRUMP 45.”

Among the others in the bag, Woodward writes, was a burner labeled “JAKE SULLIVAN.”