International
European leaders call for an end to the war in Gaza after the death of Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar
The President of France, Emmanuel Macron, said on Thursday that the death in an Israeli operation of the leader of Hamas in Gaza, Yahya Sinwar, is a “turning point” of the war, which should lead to the release of all hostages and the end of the conflict.
“This day is a turning point in addition to a military success for Israel. This opportunity must be taken so that all hostages are released and to finally stop this war,” he said at a press conference after the summit of EU heads of state and government.
Macron thus defended “ending military activities” and called for “accepting a ceasefire in Gaza” and “opening a political perspective for Israelis and Palestinians.”
Israel’s guarantees for the security of Palestine
The French president also stressed that “after the end of the war in Gaza, Israel will have to be given guarantees for its security” and also defended the need to “reform the Palestinian Authority” and “move towards the two-state solution.”
“An immediate ceasefire is necessary, urgently multiplying humanitarian operations, which are still at their lowest point, and moving forward to stop the violence perpetrated by settlers against Palestinians in the West Bank,” he added.
Born in a refugee camp in Jan Yunis, a city in southern Gaza, Sinwar was elected leader of Hamas in Gaza in 2017 after arbilling a reputation as a bitter enemy of Israel and on August 6 – after the murder in Tehran of the then head of the political bureau, Ismail Haniyeh – he was chosen to occupy the highest position in the organization chart of the Islamist group.
He represented the hardest and most belligerent line of the group and is considered by Israel the mastermind of the attacks of October 7 against Israeli territory in which some 1,200 people died and another 250 were taken hostage, which made him the most wanted man by Israel.
Borrell: Sinwar was “an obstacle” to the ceasefire
For his part, the high representative of the European Union (EU) for Foreign Policy, Josep Borrell, said on Thursday that the leader of Hamas, Yahya Sinwar, who was killed on Wednesday in an Israeli operation, was “an obstacle” on the way to the “urgently needed ceasefire and the release of all hostages.”
“He was a terrorist on the European Union list responsible for the horrible attack of October 7 (2023). Violence must be stopped, hostages must be released and the suffering of Palestinians must be stopped,” Borrell said in a message in X.
In the same vein, the Italian Prime Minister, Giorgia Meloni, said that after the death of the leader of Hamas “a new phase has to begin.”
“It is time for all hostages to be released, for the ceasefire to be proclaimed immediately and for the reconstruction of Gaza to begin,” the president said,” the Italian leader continued.
Regarding Sinwar’s death, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said that the attack of October 7 last year “was horrible and inhuman” and that “someone who is militarily responsible for Hamas’ activity, of horrible crimes, has lost his life.”
Von der Leyen says that this coup weakens Hamas
In the opinion of the President of the European Commission, Ursula Von der Leyen, the death of the top leader of Hamas “significantly weakens” the organization.
“Sinwar was the leader of a terrorist organization, the terrorist organization of Hamas and was basically the brain behind (the attack) of October 7 with the deaths, massacres, rapes and kidnappings. His death certainly weakens Hamas significantly,” Von der Leyen said at the press conference after the European summit held today in Brussels.
The acting Belgian Prime Minister, Alexander De Croo, said that “it is very difficult to understand what Israel’s goal is” in the war. “We see that they are able to eliminate targets in an almost surgical way, but not every time, because there are already 42,000 dead in Gaza” and he said he was “perplexed.”
After more than a year of war in Gaza, Israel killed Sinwar yesterday in a military operation in the Rafah area, in the southern Strip, the country’s authorities confirmed today.
Apart from the death of the Hamas leader, European leaders approved some conclusions in which they were “deeply alarmed by the dramatic military escalation in the Middle East” and called for an “immediate ceasefire,” both in Gaza and in Lebanon.
European leaders call for an end to the war
They also condemned Israel’s attacks on the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNFIN) in Lebanon and noted that “all actors have an obligation to take the necessary measures to ensure the safety of United Nations personnel.”
At the same time, the EU insisted that Israel “has the right to defend itself,” but that “international law must be respected.”
They also condemned “in the most energetic terms” Iran’s attacks on Israel on October 1 and its actions to “destabilize the East through the Middle East, through terrorist and armed groups, including the Houthi, Hezbulah and Hamas rebels.”
European leaders insisted on their call for the release of living Israeli hostages, as well as the entry of humanitarian aid into Gaza and Lebanon.
Although not included in the conclusions, Spain and Ireland insisted on the need for the EU to verify whether Israel is fulfilling its humanitarian obligations under the partnership agreement.
International
At least 120 dead in the Gaza Strip in the last 48 hours from Israeli attacks
At least 120 Palestinians have died in the Gaza Strip in the last 48 hours from Israeli attacks and the death toll since the war began amounts to 44,176, according to the Gaza Ministry of Health, controlled by Hamas.
In the case of the injured, the ministry confirmed 205 in the last two days and in total since the war began, on October 7, 2023, they total 104,473, according to that count.
In addition, it is estimated that there are 11,000 missing people under the rubble.
Offensive in Yabalia and Beit Lahia
Although fatalities have been recorded in different parts of the Strip, in the last 40 days Israel’s offensive has focused on the northern half, especially in the cities of Yabalia and Beit Lahia, with more than 2,300 dead since then, and more than 6,000 injured.
Kamal Adwan hospital has been attacked again after an Israeli drone destroyed the electric generator, water tank and oxygen tanks in the center yesterday, where 80 patients remain.
“It seems that there are no limits to the cruelty inflicted on the Palestinians in Gaza. For more than 40 days, the northern population is besieged: surrounded, bombed, deprived of the basic means of survival and forced to flee under threats,” denounced the head of the OCHA (UN Office for Humanitarian Affairs) office for Palestine, Jonathan Whittal.
Whittal said that his teams have been trying to access Yabalia, Beit Lahia and Beit Hanun, the most affected cities, for more than a month, but that the Israeli authorities have rejected all his requests.
“The result? People are under the rubble without being rescued. The sick and the wounded cannot reach the hospitals. Drinking water and food have run out. Lives have been lost,” he said.
International
At least 10 people died at the hands of strangers in a mosque in northern Afghanistan
At least 10 people were killed in an attack by unidentified armed men in a mosque in Baghlan province, in northern Afghanistan, Taliban government sources confirmed to EFE this Saturday.
The attack in the Nahrin district of Baghlan, northern Afghanistan, took place on Thursday night, according to Taliban government deputy spokesman Hamdullah Fitrat.
“Unfortunately, before last night (Thursday night) in a mosque and on a pilgrimage during the night, ten people who stayed for worship were killed by strangers,” he said.
Sufi communities in Afghanistan often spend nights in mosques as a worship practice.
Research to identify the authors
Fitrat assured that investigations are being carried out to identify and bring the perpetrators to justice for this “horrible incident,” for which no armed group has claimed authorship.
“The Islamic Emirate strongly condemns this terrible act and considers it an unforgivable crime,” added Fitrat, who blames extremist groups.
“This act was committed by those extremist groups that have no respect for the blood of other Muslims,” he condemned.
In the last three years, since the Taliban took control of Afghanistan, ISIS-Khorasan, the Afghan branch of the jihadist group Islamic State- has claimed responsibility for a series of attacks on minorities and members of the Taliban, becoming the country’s greatest security threat.
Minority groups such as the Hazara Shiite community and Sufi practitioners have been frequent targets of violence by extremist groups that try to impose a rigid interpretation of Islam.
The Taliban de facto government has insistently denied that the Islamic State is a security threat to Afghanistan or any other country, while the regime’s secrecy and iron controls on the press have cut off the flow of information on the country’s security situation.
International
Ukraine attacks the port of Berdyansk with missiles, according to pro-Russian authorities
The Ukrainian army attacked the port of Berdiansk, in the Sea of Azov, with missiles on Saturday, according to the pro-Russian authorities of the Zaporyy region today.
“The enemy perpetrated an attack with guided missiles against the port of Berdiansk. The fires caused by the impact have been suffocated,” reported the governor imposed by Moscow, Yevgueni Balitski, on his Telegram channel.
The governor, who was recently received in Moscow by Russian President Vladimir Putin, stressed that the attack did not cause injuries among the civilian population and did not interrupt the work of the port facilities.
In turn, he assured that anti-aircraft defenses continue to be on maximum alert, since new Ukrainian attacks against the city are not ruled out.
At the end of October Kiev had already attacked the strategic port under Russian control since 2022 with a dead old woman.
The Russian army controls more than 70% of Zaporiyia and tries to take control of the rest of the region as it advances at forced marches in neighboring Donetsk.
North Korean soldiers in the Belgorod region, according to Ukraine
Ukraine claims that North Korean soldiers, who until now were only in the Russian region of Kursk, were also transferred to Belgorod, which borders the northeastern Ukrainian region of Kharkiv.
“Some soldiers from the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea were transferred to the border of the Belgorod region,” the head of the Central Intelligence Department of the National Security and Defense Council, Andrí Kovalenko, wrote on Telegram.
The senior Ukrainian official stressed that “they are not in the Kharkiv region,” as some US media had reported based on Ukrainian sources.
The Kremlin rules out a second onde of mobilization
For its part, the Kremlin today ruled out a second wave of mobilization of reservists to fight in Ukraine with a view to the fourth year of fighting in the neighboring country.
“Our citizens very actively sign contracts with the Ministry of Defense,” Dmitri Peskov, presidential spokesman, told the official agency RIA Novosti.
Peskov stressed that volunteers carry out courses in which they are instructed “consciously,” so “now there is no need to talk about mobilization.”
“There are many, hundreds who sign contracts every day,” he added.
The Kremlin has refrained from declaring a new partial mobilization after the first one in September 2022 caused great popular discontent and the exodus of hundreds of thousands of military-age men.
1,000 days of combat
Fighting in Ukraine reached 1,000 days this week with Russian forces advancing in forced marches in the Donbas, although Moscow has not yet been able to expel Ukrainian troops from the Kursk region.
Ukraine hopes to slow down the current Russian offensive with Western authorization to use American and British long-range missiles against targets in Russian territory, which Kiev used against the Bryansk and Kursk regions.
Russia responded on Thursday by launching an Oreshnik hypersonic ballistic missile at an arms factory in the Ukrainian region of Dnipro.
In addition, on Friday, Russian President Vladimir Putin announced that there will be more launches and announced the mass production of those new generation missiles capable of circumventing any Western missile shield.
At least 120 dead in the Gaza Strip in the last 48 hours from Israeli attacks
At least 10 people died at the hands of strangers in a mosque in northern Afghanistan
Ukraine attacks the port of Berdyansk with missiles, according to pro-Russian authorities
Tec de Monterrey honors one of its students for his contribution to nanotechnology in medicine
Defense Minister commends salvadoran soldier for Central American Cross Country victory
Ecuador prison riot leaves at least 43 dead
-
International3 days agoThe US claims that China has rejected a meeting between its Defense chiefs in Laos
-
International4 days agoEtruscan artifacts targeted in black market scheme uncovered in Umbria
-
International4 days agoIran expands uranium stockpile to near weapons-grade levels
-
Tecnología4 days agoAI chip industry shifts focus as Nvidia faces new competition
-
International3 days agoOne-week preventive detention for Princess Mette-Marit’s son of Norway for rape
-
International3 days agoThe next attorney general Matt Gaetz manages to stop the report on his sex scandal
-
International3 days ago85% of Haiti’s capital has fallen into the power of gangs, according to UN reports
-
International2 days agoIMF: Spain’s economy remains resilient despite devastating floods
-
International2 days agoPutin warns of escalation, suggests strikes on western weapon suppliers
-
International2 days agoZelenski urges global action after russian ballistic missile strike
-
International2 days agoElon Musk plans sweeping cuts to U.S. bureaucracy and spending
-
International2 days agoLebanon reports deadly airstrikes: 40 killed in Bekaa, 12 in southern regions
-
International23 hours agoTrump appoints new members to his government cabinet
-
International23 hours agoTrump chooses the members of his government in charge of health and epidemics in the US
-
International2 days agoTrump appoints Pam Bondi as future U.S. attorney general
-
International2 days agoMatt Gaetz withdraws from attorney general nomination amid political tensions
-
International23 hours agoThe Venezuelan Prosecutor’s Office investigates María Corina Machado for supporting a law approved in the US House of Law
-
International23 hours ago
Government paves the way for ‘Gordo Dan’, from the “armed arm of Milei”, to be a candidate
-
International1 hour agoThe number of dead and the number of injured in the Israeli attack on downtown Beirut rises to 20
-
International1 hour agoUkraine attacks the port of Berdyansk with missiles, according to pro-Russian authorities
-
International1 hour agoControlled detonation of a suspicious package next to the US Embassy in London
-
International1 hour agoAt least 10 people died at the hands of strangers in a mosque in northern Afghanistan
-
International1 hour agoAt least 120 dead in the Gaza Strip in the last 48 hours from Israeli attacks
-
International1 hour ago“The Bukele recipe is not applicable to Santiago,” says its elected mayor, Mario Desbordes