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
Trump urges Putin to reach peace deal
On Monday, U.S. President Donald Trump reiterated his desire for Russian President Vladimir Putin to “reach a deal” to end the war in Ukraine, while also reaffirming his willingness to impose sanctions on Russia.
“I want to see him reach an agreement to prevent Russian, Ukrainian, and other people from dying,” Trump stated during a press conference in the Oval Office at the White House.
“I think he will. I don’t want to have to impose secondary tariffs on Russian oil,” the Republican leader added, recalling that he had already taken similar measures against Venezuela by sanctioning buyers of the South American country’s crude oil.
Trump also reiterated his frustration over Ukraine’s resistance to an agreement that would allow the United States to exploit natural resources in the country—a condition he set in negotiations to end the war.
International
Deportation flight lands in Venezuela; government denies criminal gang links
A flight carrying 175 Venezuelan migrants deported from the United States arrived in Caracas on Sunday. This marks the third group to return since repatriation flights resumed a week ago, and among them is an alleged member of a criminal organization, according to Venezuelan authorities.
Unlike previous flights operated by the Venezuelan state airline Conviasa, this time, an aircraft from the U.S. airline Eastern landed at Maiquetía Airport, on the outskirts of Caracas, shortly after 2:00 p.m. with the deportees.
Interior Minister Diosdado Cabello, who welcomed the returnees at the airport, stated that the 175 repatriated individuals were coming back “after being subjected, like all Venezuelans, to persecution” and dismissed claims that they belonged to the criminal organization El Tren de Aragua.
However, Cabello confirmed that “for the first time in these flights we have been carrying out, someone of significance wanted by Venezuelan justice has arrived, and he is not from El Tren de Aragua.” Instead, he belongs to a gang operating in the state of Trujillo. The minister did not disclose the individual’s identity or provide details on where he would be taken.
International
Son of journalist José Rubén Zamora condemns father’s return to prison as “illegal”
The son of renowned journalist José Rubén Zamora Marroquín, José Carlos Zamora, has denounced as “illegal” the court order that sent his father back to a Guatemalan prison on March 3, after already spending 819 days behind barsover a highly irregular money laundering case.
“My father’s return to prison was based on an arbitrary and illegal ruling. It is also alarming that the judge who had granted him house arrest received threats,” José Carlos Zamora told EFE in an interview on Saturday.
The 67-year-old journalist was sent back to prison inside the Mariscal Zavala military barracks on March 3, when Judge Erick García upheld a Court of Appeals ruling that overturned the house arrest granted to him in October. Zamora had already spent 819 days in prison over an alleged money laundering case.
His son condemned the situation as “unacceptable”, stating that the judge handling the case “cannot do his job in accordance with the law due to threats against his life.”
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