CrossFireArarbia

Amidst Death, Palestinians Celebrate in Group Wedding!

CrossFireArabia
April 27, 2026

It’s day 198 of the supposed ceasefire in Gaza, yet Israel continues to violate it on a wide scale. The Israeli army continues to blow up homes and residential buildings all over the Gaza Strip and kill its people.

The recent death is of Naya Al Tanani, a child from north Gaza. She finally succumbed to her injuries after shelling by the Israeli army of the place she lived.

Her tragedy reflects what continues to happen to the Palestinians of Gaza. On Friday, 13 people were killed, including a woman and three children in addition to a number of injuries some of whom are critical.

Today, Saturday, the Israeli war machine continued bombing eastern areas of the Al Maghazi Camp in the central Gaza Strip. Media reports shows Israeli gunboats were firing on the beaches of Gaza City at the same time.

This is in addition to the fact that Israeli drones dominated the skies of Khan Younis that was also being bombed from the ground through Israeli tanks that today continue to surround the city.

Despite the violent tensions however, there was a “happy occasion” in the central city of Dier Al Balah, Friday night, when 300 brides and grooms tied the knot in a spectacular “group wedding,” the second of its kind to be held recently.

“Only the Palestinians can do this, amidst war, destruction and Israeli tanks,” one observer said definitely.

Tens of Gaza Police, in full spick and span uniforms, were there to make sure the wedding event was properly organized and went smoothly.

The Palestinian police are continually being targeted on the Gaza Strip. On Friday, a police car was hit in Khan Younis by an Israeli drone and five officers killed. Similarly, a police patrol was targeted in the Sheikh Radwan neighborhood of Gaza City where two officers were martyred.

The Gaza Police Directorate has called on the International Committee of the Red Cross to pressure the Israeli occupation to stop targeting the civilian police. Since 10 October, 2025 when the ceasefire took effect, 27 policemen were killed and tens of injured.

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Dr Marwan Asmar is a writer based in Amman and is the editor of www.crossfirearabia.com

News

Iranian Missiles Cause ‘Extensive’ Damage to US Bases Than Previously Thought – Report

CrossFireArabia
April 25, 2026

Iran has inflicted more “extensive” damage to US bases and equipment in the Middle East since the start of US and Israeli strikes against Iran on Feb. 28, NBC News reported on Saturday, citing sources.

The report said that the damages from Iran’s retaliatory strikes against US military bases in seven Middle Eastern countries were “far worse than publicly acknowledged and is expected to cost billions of dollars to repair.”

Iran has hit dozens of targets, including warehouses, command headquarters, aircraft hangars, satellite communications infrastructure, runways, high-end radar systems, and dozens of aircraft, the report said.

The Pentagon has not detailed the extent of the damage to US military bases publicly, according to the report, with US Central Command declining to comment on battle damage assessments.

According to the report, some Republican lawmakers privately expressed their dissatisfaction with senior Pentagon officials for refusing to provide information on the extent of the damage or a cost estimate for repairs.

“No one knows anything. And it’s not for lack of asking,” one congressional aide was quoted by NBC News as saying. “We have been asking for weeks and not getting specifics, even as the Pentagon is asking for a record high budget.”

The report mentioned that the damage to and cost of repairing the bases could reignite a debate over the merits of maintaining US bases in such close proximity to an adversary like Iran. Anadolu

News

Why is Iran’s FM in Oman?

CrossFireArabia
April 25, 2026

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi arrived in Muscat, Oman’s capital, on Saturday evening, leading a diplomatic delegation, according to Tasnim news agency.

Araghchi is expected to meet with senior officials in Oman to discuss bilateral relations and exchange views on regional developments.

The visit follows his trip to Pakistan, where he said in a statement that he shared his country’s “position concerning a workable framework to permanently end the war on Iran,” without providing further details.

He also expressed skepticism about Washington’s intentions.

“Have yet to see if the U.S. is truly serious about diplomacy,” he said on the US social media company X.

Pakistan has been acting as an intermediary between Tehran and Washington amid ongoing tensions following recent military escalation.

Araghchi arrived in Pakistan late Friday and met with Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif in Islamabad on Saturday, amid efforts to revive stalled peace talks between the US and Iran to end their eight-week war.

The first round was held in Islamabad two weeks ago but failed to reach an agreement to end the conflict that began on Feb. 28 and engulfed the entire Middle East. Those talks came after Pakistan brokered a two-week ceasefire on April 8, which was later extended by US President Donald Trump.

Meanwhile, US President Donald Trump on Saturday said that he has cancelled a planned trip to Pakistan by special envoy Steve Witkoff and adviser Jared Kushner.

“I’ve told my people a little while ago they were getting ready to leave, and I said, ‘Nope, you’re not making an 18 hour flight to go there. We have all the cards. They can call us anytime they want, but you’re not going to be making any more 18 hour flights to sit around talking about nothing’,” Trump told Fox News via phone.

Iran has refused to hold direct talks with the US and said observations would be conveyed to Pakistan.

Some of the sticking points are said to be the Strait of Hormuz, the US blockade of Iranian ports, and Iran’s enriched uranium. Anadolu

News

Iran Detains Two Ship With Links to Israel

CrossFireArabia
April 25, 2026

Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) Navy detained two commercial cargo ships in the Strait of Hormuz, citing unauthorized operations and alleged ties to Israel, according to a report Friday.

The IRGC identified the vessels as the “MSC-Francesca” and the “Epaminondas,” both operating under the MSC shipping line, Iran’s semi-official Mehr news agency reported.

Tehran accused the ships of breaching maritime regulations, interfering with navigation systems, and endangering other vessels in the waterway.

The report said Iranian authorities said the ships were allegedly attempting to pass through the strait undetected before being intercepted and escorted into Iranian territorial waters.

Since the war initiated by the US and Israel against Iran began Feb. 28, Tehran has maintained control of the Strait of Hormuz, followed by an American naval blockade on April 13, hitting global energy supplies, mostly across Asia. Anadolu

Features

Grapes and Death in Gaza

CrossFireArabia
April 24, 2026

CROSSFIREARABIA – Ahmed Nahed Azzam had no idea that going to buy some grapes for his family to help them through the famine of summer 2025 would save his life. He didn’t then realize it would make him also, a witness to a horrific massacre that claimed the lives of 21 members of his family, including his elderly 65-year-old father and most of his children.

The 31-year-old Azzam recounted to Quds Press what happened on the tragic Monday day of 14 July, 2025, when famine and starvation had been ravaging northern Gaza for the best part of two years.

“I was sitting with my father, my seven-month pregnant wife, my son Karim, my brother’s wife Shahd, and her children, Osama and Rateb, in the garden of our house in the Tel al-Hawa neighborhood, southwest of Gaza City. It was the height of the famine. I decided to buy a kilogram of grapes and quickly left to get on my bicycle before the vendor leaves,” he recounted.

“As soon as I arrived at the grape vendor and was buying, I heard a huge explosion that shook the area. I had a terrible foreboding and sensed then my house must have been targeted, so I rushed back quickly,” he added.

“I arrived at the house to find it was up in smoke from the missile that landed on it, the smell of death and gunpowder was distinct, filling the air, a profound silence enveloped the place,” he sighed.

It was a four-story house, that sheltered about 50 people, “it had been completely leveled, burying nearly all my family members inside,” he said in a reverie, as if still fathomining what had happened.

He was overcome with grief and shock. The house had been reduced to rubble. At first, he felt completely paralyzed, unable to move his limbs. He began calling out for his father, his wife, his son Karim, and his brothers, but he received no answer, his voice hollow and echoing.

After a while Azzam gazed around and saw pieces of torn flesh, his family members scattered around the destroyed building. “Some had been thrown a considerable distance by the force of the blast,” he added, recounting neighbors soon rushed to the scene and were everywhere, retrieving the bodies of the martyrs and the wounded, one by one.

He confirmed most of the people in the house were killed, becoming martyrs in an instant. “They were soon pulled out from under the rubble and taken to the nearby Al-Quds Hospital, except for my cousin Alaa, who remained buried under layers of concrete because the building came tumbling down.

“My nine-year-old niece Judy was also pulled from the rubble but she was in a critical condition. She suffered fractures in both arms and legs, a fractured skull and forehead, damage to her left eye, and burns across much of her body.

“Initially the doctors thought Judy would soon die due to the severity of her injuries, fractures, and burns, especially on her head and eye, but she survived after being in a coma for two days,” he said.

Azzam explained Judy was the only surviving member of her family after her father, mother, and siblings were killed, and when she learned of this she was devastated.

Ten days ago, he finally arrived in Egypt, after the Israeli authorities granted him permission to leave so that Judy could be treated there since the medical system in Gaza was in complete collapse. “I hope Judy can recover here,” he continued.

Her injuries have left her with no sense of smell, her left eye is blinded and requires reconstructive surgery due to the extensive burns covering her body.

“I hardly believed that I am still alive,” Judy simply said. It is still the beginning of the road to recovery. She is in shock and still can’t get to terms with the fact that her father, mother, brothers, grandfather, uncles, aunts, and their children have gone forever.

“After my treatment in Egypt I hope to recover to return to Gaza to continue my school and help in my uncle Ahmed’s kindergarten,” she concludes as if in a determined fate.

This article written by Dr Marwan Asmar is republished her from the Hackwriters.com website