Palestinian Mother Describes Torture In Israeli Jail

 Israeli occupation forces dragging a child to prison (AFP)
Israeli occupation forces dragging a child to prison (AFP)
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Palestinian Mother Describes Torture In Israeli Jail

 Israeli occupation forces dragging a child to prison (AFP)
Israeli occupation forces dragging a child to prison (AFP)

Halima Khandakji, a captive Palestinian woman tells details of her suffering during interrogation inside Israeli detention cells, saying how investigators forced her to undress, prevented her from entering the toilet and tortured her.

Khandakji, 45, is a mother of three and resides in Deir Sudan town, Ramallah District. She was detained on Feb. 12 and is still in prison.

According to a report by the Palestinian Commission of Detainees and Ex-Detainees Affairs, a lawyer has met Khandakji and listened to her complaints.

She said the Israeli police arrested her with no clear charges and transferred her to Moscovia Detention Center for interrogation.

The interrogation rounds lasted for long hours with verbal insults, she said. The occupation police threatened to keep her in detention cells and to arrest her child as a pressure to make her confess to the charges.

Khandakji also said forces handcuffed her at wall mount restraints, causing her to suffer severe aches in her back, hands and legs.

Over her nine-day stay in the Center, she said 13 detectives interrogated her before transferring her to Damon prison.

The condition of the cells in which she was detained was very bad and not suitable for humans.

The cell is very narrow and cold and its walls are made from rough concrete, which makes them difficult to lean on, she explained, adding that the mattress is thin and without any cover or pillow, and the light is kept on for 24 hours, and the bathroom smells bad.



Türkiye, Hamas Discuss Gaza Ceasefire Deal’s Second Phase, Turkish Source Says

Palestinian children play next to tents in a makeshift camp for displaced people set up on the beach in Gaza City, Tuesday, Dec. 16, 2025. (AP)
Palestinian children play next to tents in a makeshift camp for displaced people set up on the beach in Gaza City, Tuesday, Dec. 16, 2025. (AP)
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Türkiye, Hamas Discuss Gaza Ceasefire Deal’s Second Phase, Turkish Source Says

Palestinian children play next to tents in a makeshift camp for displaced people set up on the beach in Gaza City, Tuesday, Dec. 16, 2025. (AP)
Palestinian children play next to tents in a makeshift camp for displaced people set up on the beach in Gaza City, Tuesday, Dec. 16, 2025. (AP)

Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan on Wednesday ​met with Hamas political bureau officials in Ankara to discuss the ceasefire in Gaza and advancing the ‌agreement to ‌its ‌second ⁠phase, ​a ‌Turkish Foreign Ministry source said according to Reuters.

The source said the Hamas officials told Fidan that they had fulfilled ⁠their requirements as ‌part of the ‍ceasefire ‍deal, but that Israel's ‍continued targeting of Gaza aimed to prevent the agreement from ​moving to the next phase.

The Hamas members ⁠also said humanitarian aid entering Gaza was not sufficient, and that goods like medication, equipment for housing, and fuel were needed, the source ‌added.


Israel Says It Killed Hamas Financial Officer in Gaza

Buildings destroyed during Israeli ground and air operations stand in the Gaza Strip, as seen from southern Israel, Thursday, Dec. 18, 2025. (AP)
Buildings destroyed during Israeli ground and air operations stand in the Gaza Strip, as seen from southern Israel, Thursday, Dec. 18, 2025. (AP)
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Israel Says It Killed Hamas Financial Officer in Gaza

Buildings destroyed during Israeli ground and air operations stand in the Gaza Strip, as seen from southern Israel, Thursday, Dec. 18, 2025. (AP)
Buildings destroyed during Israeli ground and air operations stand in the Gaza Strip, as seen from southern Israel, Thursday, Dec. 18, 2025. (AP)

The Israeli army said Wednesday that it had identified a Hamas financial official it killed two weeks ago in a strike in the Gaza Strip.

Abdel Hay Zaqut, a financial official in Hamas's armed wing, on December 13 in the same strike that killed military commander Raed Saad, seen by Israel as one of the architects of Hamas's October 7, 2023 attack.

The Israeli army's Arabic-language spokesperson, Avichay Adraee, said on Wednesday that Zaqut was killed while he was in a vehicle alongside Raed Saad in "a joint operation by the Israeli army and the Shin Bet", Israel's internal security agency.

Zaqut "belonged to the financial department of the armed wing" of Hamas, Adraee wrote on X.

"Over the past year, Zaqut was responsible for collecting and transferring tens of millions of dollars to Hamas's armed wing with the aim of continuing the fight against the State of Israel," he said.

Hamas's leader for the Gaza Strip, Khalil al-Hayya, confirmed on December 14 the death of Saad and "his companions", though he did not name Zaqut.

The Israeli army said Saad headed the weapons production headquarters of Hamas's military wing and oversaw the group's build-up of capabilities.

Since October 10, a fragile truce has been in force in the Gaza Strip, although Israel and Hamas accuse each other of violations.

The war began with Hamas's 2023 attack on Israel, which resulted in the deaths of more than 1,200 people, most of them civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official figures.

Israel's retaliatory campaign has killed more than 70,000 people in the Gaza Strip, according to the health ministry in the Hamas-run territory, a figure the UN deems is credible.


Lebanon Central Bank Governor Expresses Reservations Over Draft Law on Deposit Recovery

 Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam heads a cabinet meeting in Beirut, Lebanon December 23, 2025. (Reuters)
Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam heads a cabinet meeting in Beirut, Lebanon December 23, 2025. (Reuters)
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Lebanon Central Bank Governor Expresses Reservations Over Draft Law on Deposit Recovery

 Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam heads a cabinet meeting in Beirut, Lebanon December 23, 2025. (Reuters)
Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam heads a cabinet meeting in Beirut, Lebanon December 23, 2025. (Reuters)

Lebanon’s Central Bank governor has expressed some reservations over a draft law allowing depositors to gradually recover funds ​frozen in the banking system since a financial collapse in 2019, a move critical to reviving the economy.

Karim Souaid described the proposed timetable for the cash component of deposit repayments as "somewhat ambitious" in a statement on Tuesday.

He suggested ‌it may ‌be adjusted without hindering ‌the depositors' ⁠rights ​guarantee "regular, ‌uninterrupted, and complete payments over time".

He also urged the cabinet to conduct a careful review of the draft law , calling for clarifications to ensure fairness and credibility before it is submitted to parliament.

The central ⁠bank governor said the draft required further refinement, ‌including clearer provisions to guarantee equitable ‍treatment of depositors ‍and to reinforce the state’s commitments ‍under the law.

The 2019 financial collapse - the result of decades of unsustainable financial policies, waste and corruption - led the state to default ​on its sovereign debt and sank the Lebanese pound.

The draft law marks ⁠the first time Beirut has put forward legislation aimed at addressing a vast funding shortfall - estimated at $70 billion in 2022 but now believed to be higher.

Prime Minister Nawaf Salam on Monday urged ministers to swiftly approve the draft legislation.

The cabinet discussed the law on Monday and Tuesday and is set to continue discussions ‌on Friday.