International
Israeli bombings in the north and south of Gaza cause fifty deaths
The latest Israeli attacks and bombings along the Gaza Strip have caused the death of at least 51 people, most of them civilians, both in Gaza City (north) and in the southern area of Rafah.
Israeli fighter planes bombed a house belonging to the Al Shawa family last night, in the Al Rimal neighborhood, in Gaza City, where rescue teams recovered the lifeless bodies of three people, including those of a child and a woman, under the rubble.
As Palestinian sources reported to the WAFA news agency today, the victims and several injuries were transferred to the Al Ahli Arab Hospital, the last hospital in operation in Gaza City after the Israeli military siege left the Al Shifa inoperative in March.
Other bombings in the neighborhoods of Zaytun, south of Gaza City, and against a residential building in the center of the city, caused the death of another Gazan, as well as an indeterminate number of injuries.
In Rafah, one fisherman died and another was injured, according to Palestinian medical sources, while in the center of the enclave several Gazans were injured in attacks against the refugee camps of Nuseirat and Bureij.
According to the latest figures provided on Thursday by the Ministry of Health of the Government of Hamas, more than 34,300 Palestinians have already died in Gaza, 75% women and children.
One of those little ones is a Gaza baby rescued from her mother’s womb, who died in an Israeli airstrike perpetrated in Rafah last weekend.
After five days of struggle to stay alive, he has finally died, as confirmed this Friday by a family member.
Over the weekend, 16 other children were killed in Rafah, where Israel is expected to start a ground offensive.
A member of the Hamas political bureau asked the 18 signatory countries yesterday on Friday of a joint statement demanding the Islamists the “immediate” release of the 133 hostages, to also pressure Israel to accept a truce in the Gaza Strip.
Your sons and daughters are no more valuable than our sons and daughters,” the head of political and international relations of the political bureau of Hamas, Basem Naim, to which EFE had access, said today in a message.
Today, a delegation of the Egyptian Intelligence service is scheduled to arrive in Israel, in an attempt to revive the stagnant truce negotiations mediated by Cairo, Qatar and the United States, Egyptian security sources told EFE last night.
From Geneva, UN rapporteurs demanded that Israel allow the arrival in Gaza of the Freedom Flotilla that it plans to sail this Friday from Istanbul with 5,500 tons of humanitarian aid.
Diplomats have warned that the safe transit guarantee of this initiative is part of Israeli international obligations to prevent genocide in Palestinian territory.
“Israel must comply with international law, including the recent orders of the International Court of Justice, to ensure the unhindered arrival of humanitarian aid,” they said in a statement.
Israel warned on Friday that any arrival of aid to Gaza other than by air, land border crossings or the port of Ashdod will constitute a “provocation,” after being asked by EFE about the administrative blockade that the Freedom Flotilla – a civilian initiative organized by human rights activists – says it is suffering in Istanbul.
International
Mexico requests extradition of ‘Mini Lic’ for murder of journalist Javier Valdez
The Mexican government has requested the extradition of Dámaso López Serrano, a former high-ranking member of the Sinaloa Cartel, who is accused of masterminding the 2017 murder of Mexican journalist Javier Valdez, the Attorney General’s Office announced on Tuesday.
López Serrano, known as “Mini Lic,” was arrested last Friday in Virginia, United States, on charges of fentanyl trafficking, a crime he committed while on parole.
“This is the key issue for us, he [López Serrano] is the mastermind of this murder. The rest of the perpetrators are already processed and in jail, he was the one missing,” said Attorney General Alejandro Gertz.
“We immediately made the extradition request,” the official added during the routine morning press conference of President Claudia Sheinbaum.
Valdez, an award-winning reporter specializing in drug trafficking and correspondent for AFP and the newspaper La Jornada, was murdered on May 15, 2017, in front of the office of his magazine Riodoce in Culiacán, the capital of Sinaloa state.
“Mini Lic” was originally arrested in 2017 when he voluntarily turned himself in to U.S. authorities and pleaded guilty to trafficking methamphetamine, heroin, and cocaine. In 2022, he was released on parole.
Gertz confirmed that the Mexican Attorney General’s Office had requested López Serrano’s extradition “countless times,” but Washington had declined to act on the request because he had become a “protected witness” for the U.S. government and “was providing a lot of information.”
“Now, with this situation where they themselves are acknowledging that this individual is still committing crimes, I think there are more than enough reasons for them to support us,” the prosecutor added.
The Sinaloa Cartel is one of the largest drug trafficking organizations in Mexico and was founded by Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán, who is serving a life sentence in the United States.
Culiacán has been shaken by a wave of murders since the arrest of Ismael “Mayo” Zambada, another key leader of the cartel alongside Guzmán, on July 25 in New Mexico, United States.
International
Cuba’s government stresses openness to serious, respectful U.S. relations
Cuba reiterated on Tuesday its willingness to engage in dialogue with the United States, just weeks before Republican President Donald Trump assumes office. During his first term, Trump halted the historic rapprochement between the two countries, which had been initiated just ten years earlier by Democrat Barack Obama.
“It will not be Cuba that proposes or takes the initiative to suspend the existing dialogues, to suspend the existing cooperation. Not even the discreet exchanges on some sensitive issues,” said Cuban Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Carlos Fernández de Cossío at a press conference in Havana.
“We will be attentive to the attitude of the new government, but Cuba’s stance will remain the same as it has been for the last 64 years. We are willing to develop a serious, respectful relationship with the United States, one that protects the sovereign interests of both countries,” he added.
His statements come on the occasion of the tenth anniversary of the historic rapprochement announcement between Washington and Havana.
On December 17, 2014, Cuban leader Raúl Castro (2006-2021) and Barack Obama (2008-2016) announced the beginning of a thaw in relations, which led to the restoration of diplomatic ties in 2015, after more than half a century of confrontation.
This process of thawing bilateral relations was later halted by businessman Donald Trump, who significantly reinforced economic sanctions against the communist-ruled country. The Republican will return to the White House on January 20.
Cuba, under a U.S. trade embargo since 1962, was re-listed in 2021 on the “blacklist of countries supporting terrorism,” blocking financial and economic flows to the island of 10 million inhabitants.
Subsequently, the administration of current Democratic President Joe Biden made only slight adjustments to the sanctions and also kept Cuba on this list. However, his administration resumed bilateral contacts with Havana on migration issues and the fight against terrorism.
International
Mexican government to use church atriums for gun surrender program to combat violence
The atriums of Mexican Catholic churches will be used for the voluntary surrender of weapons in exchange for economic and legal incentives as part of a plan announced on Tuesday by the government to reduce violence.
According to the Mexican government, there is a link between the illegal trafficking of weapons—almost entirely coming from the United States—and the spiral of criminal violence that has plagued the country since late 2006, when a controversial military anti-drug offensive was launched.
“The idea is to set up areas in the church atriums where people can voluntarily surrender their weapons, and in return, they will receive financial resources based on the weapon they are turning in,” explained President Claudia Sheinbaum during her regular press conference.
The left-wing leader emphasized that the program, called “Yes to Disarmament, Yes to Peace,” guarantees that those who surrender their weapons will not face any “investigation.”
“What we want is to disarm. This will be implemented next year. We also did it in Mexico City, and it had significant results,” added the former mayor of the capital, with a population of 9.2 million.
The disarmament plan is part of the government’s “comprehensive security strategy,” one of whose pillars is promoting a culture of peace, especially in regions severely affected by organized crime violence, Sheinbaum pointed out.
More than 450,000 people have been murdered in Mexico since the government launched its military-led anti-drug operation, alongside about 100,000 people who have gone missing.
Despite being a secular state, the Mexican Catholic Church has played a key role in efforts to contain violence, with priests acting as mediators between citizens and criminals. Several clergy members have been killed for this cause.
Just last week, the Catholic hierarchy called on cartels to declare a truce in their violent actions during the celebration of the Virgin of Guadalupe on December 12 and the upcoming Christmas holidays.
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