International
A Jewish incursion into the Esplanade of the Mosques of Jerusalem incites the crisis in the Middle East
About 1,400 Jewish settlers broke into the Esplanade of the Mosques of Jerusalem on Tuesday morning, where the Al Aqsa mosque is located, the third most sacred place in Islam, stoking a regional conflict that threatens to destroy the negotiations for a ceasefire in Gaza.
Qatar, one of the main mediators, warned on Tuesday that the irruption of the settlers puts at risk the efforts being made to revive the negotiations, in question since the death of the former political leader of the Islamist group Hamas, Ismail Haniyeh, in an attack in Tehran attributed to Israel.
Some of the settlers hoved flags of Israel and prayed in the place despite having it banned since, according to the status quo in force since 1967 – when Israel occupied East Jerusalem – the enclosure is reserved exclusively for the cult of Muslims, while Jews can only enter as visitors.
Also Jordan, which administers the place, and Egypt, another of the key negotiators for a truce in Gaza, condemned the episode.
The settlers, who entered the esplanade escorted by the Police and in an organized way, agreed in groups of 100, but the tensions with the Muslim faithful caused the Police to reduce the exportives to 50.
Its access was given on the occasion of the Jewish feast of Tisha b’Av, a solemn day of commemoration of the destruction of the First and Second Temples, 2,000 years ago.
The Israeli Minister of National Security, the far-right and settler Itamar Ben Gvir, was present in one of those groups. It is the third time that the minister has come to this place of worship on key dates to claim the right of Jews to pray in it, causing the anger of the Palestinian population.
“We have made significant progress in Israel’s sovereignty here. Our policy is to allow Jewish prayer,” Ben Gvir said from the place in a message on the social network X.
As is usually the case with the visits of the anti-Arab minister, the office of the Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, had to issue a statement to detach itself from his action.
“This morning’s event on the Temple Mount is an exception to the status quo,” the text states, reiterating that the Israeli policy on the sacred place “has not changed” and that there is no “private policy” of Ben Gvir about the place, since legislating on it “depends on the Government and its leader.”
The Esplanade of the Mosques is called by the Jews Temple Mount and is its most sacred place. The Grand Rabbinate of Israel prohibits Jews from praying in that place, and stipulates that their prayers be performed only on the adjacent Wailing Wall.
This happens in the middle of the diplomatic offensive to achieve a ceasefire agreement in Gaza that allows to alleviate the suffering of the almost two million Gazans who live between bombings and hunger, subjected to constant evacuation orders and with hardly any access to running water, electricity or basic medical services.
On Monday, the United States, the United Kingdom, France, Germany and Italy asked Israel and Hamas to close the ceasefire agreement as soon as possible and urged Iran not to attack Israeli territory.
According to The Times of Israel, the Islamic republic may not carry out its retaliation for the death of the former political leader of Hamas, Ismail Haniyeh, in an attack in Tehran attributed to Israel, but only if the negotiations for a ceasefire are successful.
The country, however, would launch an attack with its allies (in particular the Shiite group Hizbulah) if it perceives that Israel is lengthening the process or if the negotiations fail, according to the media.
This Thursday is scheduled a meeting convened by the mediators to try to relaunch the negotiations, which were called into question after Haniyeh’s death.
The Islamist group has said that it will not attend the new appointment, and called for the implementation of what has already been agreed (the draft truce announced by the United States at the end of May) instead of continuing with the negotiations.
Almost 40,000 people have died and 92,240 have been injured in the Palestinian enclave since the beginning of the war, according to the latest figures from the Gazati Ministry of Health.
Meanwhile, Israeli attacks have left much of the territory uninhabitable and increasingly corner civilians, hundreds of thousands of whom are crowded in the increasingly small “humanitarian” area of Mawasi, west of Jan Yunis.
International
A report blames the Secret Service for the security failures in the Trump attack
An internal report of the US Secret Service published this Friday concluded that the security failures committed by the elite body, in charge of monitoring presidents and top-level political figures, are responsible for the attack suffered by former President Donald Trump last July, in which he was injured in an ear.
The internal review carried out as a result of the event – one of the many investigations that are being carried out on the incident – concluded, among other things, that the agents who were watching the former governor (2017-2021) while offering a rally in Butler (Pennsylvania) did not have the technical capacity to communicate with the local police.
Nor to detect drones on the day of the rally, says the report, which also clarifies that the agents did not previously talk about how a complex of warehouses that surrounded the place should be protected.
On July 13, Trump was shot in the ear while participating in a rally. The shooter, a 20-year-old who was later shot down by Secret Service agents, managed to shoot from a roof about 140 meters from the former president, although outside the security perimeter.
The strong criticism that arose after what happened caused the resignation of the director of the Secret Service, Kimberly Cheatle, who described the attack as “the most significant operational failure of the Secret Service in decades.”
The scrutiny on the agency has increased in recent days after last Sunday Trump, apparently, had also been at risk of a second murder attempt while playing golf in Florida, at the hands of a man who was wandering for hours the area armed with an AK-47 rifle and equipped with a telescopic sight, without firing shots.
At a press conference today, the current acting director of the Secret Service, Ronald Rowe, said that Trump is currently receiving “the highest level of protection possible,” a security equal to that of President Joe Biden and candidate Kamala Harris.
Thus, last Sunday, at the golf course owned by Trump in West Palm Beach (Florida) “there were elements of snipers who were present” and “a complete counterattack team that was there nearby.”
The agent who saw the attacker “identified a threat, an individual with a long gun, and made quick decisions and acted quickly to mitigate it.”
“He did not shoot at the former president, he was not exposed,” he said, and the arrest was a sign that “the procedures work” and “that high level of protection is working.”
Sunday’s event led several public figures, including President Joe Biden, to ask the Secret Service to receive more funds.
Precisely today the House of Representatives unanimously approved a two-party urgent legislation that would increase the protection of the Secret Service for the presidential candidates of both parties, Trump and Kamala Harris, as well as for their running mates for vice presidency.
The bill has only three pages and, if it becomes law, Trump and Harris would receive the same standard of Secret Security protection as President Joe Biden, something that according to Rowe is already happening.
In fact, it is not clear that the law will prosper because it has to go to the Senate, a chamber that is looking for additional funds for the Secret Service to be included in the provisional financing bill that Congress must approve before September 30 to avoid a government shutdown.
International
Guterres talks to Maduro and expresses his concern about post-electoral violence
The President of Venezuela, Nicolás Maduro, spoke this Friday by phone with the Secretary General of the UN, António Guterres, who expressed “his concern about post-electoral violence and accusations of human rights violations” in the Caribbean country.
The call was initiated by the Venezuelan president, Guterres’ spokesman, Stéphane Dujarric, specified in his daily press conference.
In that call, Guterres insisted to Maduro that it is necessary to “resolve any political dispute peacefully through a genuine and inclusive dialogue.”
Maduro’s response to Guterres is not known
The spokesman did not explain what was the message that Maduro transmitted, but said that he “spoke very clearly and frankly about how he sees the situation,” before which Guterrres “took note.”
In previous pronouncements, Guterres has demanded that Venezuela communicate the detailed results of the electoral minutes of the July 28 elections, which has not happened, and has regretted the lack of transparency of the Venezuelan authorities.
However, he has also recently said that the economic sanctions imposed by the United States “do not help” to resolve the situation.
Despite those words, Venezuelan Foreign Minister Yván Gil criticized Guterres last week and said that the UN Secretary General “avoids condemning the application of unilateral coercive measures (and) sides with those who sanction illegally. It is an affront to the mandate that the States have given him, all to defend the aggressors of Venezuela,” Gil said.
Asked a few days ago about whether the electoral conflict will affect Venezuela’s recognition before the UN – since Maduro and Edmundo González are fighting for victory in the elections – Dujarric clarified that the representation of the States is the responsibility of the other member states and not the secretary general.
International
The United States assures that the war is still avoidable between Israel and the Hizbulah group
The White House assured this Friday that the war is avoidable between Israel and the Lebanese Shiite group Hezbulá, despite the increase in tension and attacks in recent hours, and added that, despite the fact that the information indicates otherwise, US diplomatic efforts to appease the region continue to advance.
In a call with the press, the White House National Security spokesman, John Kirby, said that “we still believe that there is time and space for a diplomatic solution and we are confident that it is the best way to move forward. War is not inevitable in the Blue Line (which marks the division between Lebanon and Israel).”
Get a ceasefire
US President Joe Biden assured in a cabinet meeting that his entire team continues to work to achieve a ceasefire in Gaza and for residents of northern Israel and southern Lebanon to return to their homes.
“Many things do not seem realistic until we get them,” Biden said in relation to the frustrated attempts to mediate for Israel and Hamas to reach an agreement to cease hostilities in Gaza and the Palestinian militia to release the hostages.
Kirby referred to information published on Thursday by The Wall Street Journal that assures that after the recent increase in tension with Hezbula, the White House considers the possibility of a ceasefire in Gaza, the main front in the conflict between Israel and various militias linked to Iran in the region, before the November presidential elections.
“We will not lose hope and we will not stop working for it (a ceasefire that includes the release of hostages in the hands of Hamas in Gaza),” said Kirby, who reiterated that the main obstacle to an agreement in this regard is the leadership of the Palestinian group, despite recent reports in Israel that indicate that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has sabotaged an agreement for months.
The US sees the truce between Israel and Hezbula difficult
According to The Wall Street Journal, in private, White House officials assure that a ceasefire agreement “is not imminent” and “we are not sure that it will ever be achieved.”
The tension in the region returned with the attack of October 7, 2023 from Hamas in Israeli territory, neighboring Gaza, in which almost 1,200 people died.
Since then Israel has maintained a harsh offensive in the Strip that has caused an unprecedented humanitarian crisis, the murder of more than 40,000 Palestinians and more than 95,550 wounded, according to data from the Ministry of Health in Palestine.
On the northern front, Hezbulah has intensified its rocket attacks on Israel and this country today bombed the suburb of Dahye, in southern Lebanon, which left eight dead and 59 injured, the third time it does so since the beginning of the crossfire in October.
This Friday’s attack comes amid growing tension, after this week two waves of simultaneous explosions in thousands of communication devices carried by members of Hizbulá killed 37 people (some children) and injured almost 3,000 in Lebanon.
US intelligence assumes that the action was the result of a sophisticated Israeli operation to intervene in supply chains and implant explosives in the devices.
A report blames the Secret Service for the security failures in the Trump attack
Guterres talks to Maduro and expresses his concern about post-electoral violence
The United States assures that the war is still avoidable between Israel and the Hizbulah group
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