One big lesson from Ukraine conflict is that era of US unilateralism has ended, Hamas official says

A senior member of the Palestinian Hamas resistance movement says the international community should draw lessons from the increasingly complicated Russia-Ukraine crisis, one of which is that the era of American unilateralism is over.

“One lesson of the Russian-Ukrainian war is that the era of 'US unipolar domination' has ended. The US was not in a position to declare war on Russia because it is not the sole decision maker in international politics. Here we can talk about the future of the Zionist entity,” Hamas political bureau member, Musa Abu Marzouk, wrote in a post published on his official Twitter page.

Ukrainians in Gaza living in a constant state of anxiety

Meanwhile, the Ukrainian community in the Gaza Strip has been living in a state of panic ever since the first moments of the war.

Ashraf al-Nimr, the official in charge of the community, said he is communicating with the Ukrainian consulate in the West Bank city of Ramallah to get information about the latest developments in the Eastern European country.

He said that the Ukrainian community is one of the largest in the Gaza Strip, with more than 800 people.

“Most of the residents are doctors, pharmacists, nurses, and engineers. This community is deeply attached to its country, and it is therefore following up on all the developments. But all we can do is pray for peace,” Nimr said.

Ukraine president snubs US offer to evacuate as Russian forces close in on Kiev

Ukraine’s embattled President Volodymyr Zelensky rejects a US offer to evacuate him out of capital Kiev as Russian troops closed in on the city, insisting on staying put.

Svetlana al-Farra, a Ukrainian doctor who lives in the southern Gaza Strip city of Khan Yunis, said, “I fear for everyone. My sister told me that she took my mother to stay at one of the neighbors’ houses, while the rest of my acquaintances are taking refuge in the metro station.”

Imad al-Hassoumi also said that his 40-year-old Ukrainian wife Natalia was “very worried about her brother and aunts. Since the war broke out, she has been communicating with them all the time, and the scenes of the war there terrify her.”

In a televised speech early on Thursday, Russian President Vladimir Putin announced a "special military operation" aimed at “demilitarization” of the Donetsk and Lugansk Republics in eastern Ukraine, collectively known as Donbass.

The regions broke away from Ukraine in 2014 after refusing to recognize a Western-backed Ukrainian government that had overthrown a democratically-elected Russia-friendly administration.

Announcing the operation, Putin said the mission was aimed at “defending people who for eight years are suffering persecution and genocide by the Kiev regime.”

The United Nations Refugee Agency says more than 120,000 Ukrainians have left the country since Russia started the military campaign against Ukraine on February 24.

NATO’s expansionism left Putin no option but to move on Ukraine, says analyst

NATO’s expansionist policy and its disregard for Russia’s security concerns left President Vladimir Putin with no option but to launch military action against Ukraine, an analyst says.

Nearly 200 people have been killed so far, including civilians, three of whom were children, according to the Ukrainian health ministry.

On Friday, a senior official with the Lebanese Hezbollah resistance movement referred to the ongoing crisis as an example of Washington’s habit of betraying and abandoning its allies.

“The United States tends to change course and give up assistance, when it realizes its interests are at stake,” Safieddine highlighted.

He added that the United States and some European countries initially provoked Ukraine, but later withdrew their support and the Kiev government is confronting the Russian military campaign alone.

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