International
Hamas and Fatah bring positions closer on future management of the Gaza Strip
The Palestinian Islamist group Hamas and Fatah, the main governing party of the Palestinian National Authority (ANP), brought positions closer to positions on a future management of the Gaza Strip when the conflict with Israel ends, which preserves the unity of Palestine during its meetings yesterday and today in Cairo.
Egyptian sources close to the negotiations, where the Arab country participates as a mediator, told EFE that both Fatah and Hamas “showed more flexibility and positivity” for the establishment of the so-called “Community Support Committee”, the organization that would govern the Belt, affiliated with the ANP and would administer the territory with the presence of independent figures in its ranks.
“The Community Support Committee will be formed by a presidential decree of Palestinian President Mahmud Abbas and will be responsible for the administration of the Strip. It will be affiliated with the ANP and will include independent figures,” the source remarked.
Preventing the separation of the West Bank from Gaza
In this sense, he indicated that the meeting that both groups, which faced in a Palestinian “civil war” in Gaza in 2006 when the Islamist group won the elections in the enclave and took control of the area, sought at all times to achieve “unity” of the Palestinian forces and avoid a separation of the West Bank from the Gaza Strip.
“The meetings are a purely Palestinian matter, and Egyptian efforts are aimed at uniting the Palestinian ranks and alleviating their suffering,” the source said.
Yesterday, Friday, delegations from both groups met in Cairo to discuss the future administration of the Gaza Strip and analyze the negotiations with Israel for a ceasefire.
Egyptian security sources close to the negotiations also told EFE that a delegation from the Israeli Mossad and Shin Bet (military intelligence) was expected to arrive in Cairo to address with the mediators of Egypt, Qatar and the United States Hamas’ responses to the proposals for a truce.
Truces
Hamas has already indicated to Egypt that it is willing to enter into a series of “brief truces”, under the premises that the movement accepted on July 2 based on the proposal of US President Joe Biden, on the condition that “Washington provides US guarantees to the movement, that Israel withdraws from the axis of Philadelphia, Netzarim and Rafah after a first truce that will not exceed 28 days.”
The Egyptian source indicated that the Arab country and Qatar, another key mediator, agree with the US assessment of the situation in Gaza after the death of its leader, Yahya Sinwar, since with that, “Israel has achieved much of its objectives in Gaza, allowing a serious entry into the ceasefire.”
The next day, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that he would be willing to accept a two-day truce in the Gaza Strip, in exchange for releasing four hostages, if he had received such a proposal from the mediators.
Israel bombs Lebanon and causes 71 new deaths
A total of 71 people were killed and 169 were injured, in the last 24 hours, due to Israeli bombing, bringing to 2,980 the total number of deaths since the conflict began just over a year ago, the Ministry of Public Health of Lebanon reported.
The ministry said that 109 aviation bombings were recorded in the same period of time in various areas of Lebanon, most in Nabatie (57), the South (26), and Baalbek-Hermel (24), bringing the total number of bombings to 11,876, according to a statement.
Israeli bombings left 52 dead yesterday in Baalbek alone, a place that is home to Greco-Roman ruins that are a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Known as the City of the Sun, the historic Baalbek, had received its first total evacuation order this week by Israel, which has intensified bombing in the area, threatening some of the best preserved Roman vestiges in the world.
Although the Israeli bombings on Lebanon started almost simultaneously with the conflict in Gaza, in response to the launch of missiles by Hizbula, the Lebanese Shiite group, the situation took a radical change with the intensification of the attacks just over a month ago.
Almost 1.2 million people were displaced by the conflict from the areas where the violence is most intense, the South and the Beeka Valley, areas of Shiite majority.
Israel attacks more than 120 “targets” in Gaza and Lebanon
The Israeli Army attacked more than 120 “targets” of the Islamists of Hamas in Gaza and Hizbula in Lebanon, where it also killed two commanders, according to a military statement, after a deadly day in the Palestinian enclave in which medical sources recorded more than 80 deaths.
“The Armed Forces eliminated (yesterday) two commanders of Hizbulá responsible for firing more than 400 projectiles against Israel in October” in the Tyre area, a military statement detailed today.
The dead in Gaza
The number of deaths from the war in Gaza increased this Saturday to 43,314, after at least 55 deaths in the last 24 hours, according to the Ministry of Health of the strip, dependent on Hamas and which put the total number of injured since October 7, 2023 at more than 102,000.
International
ACLU seeks emergency court order to stop venezuelan deportations under Wartime Law
The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) on Friday asked two federal judges to block the U.S. government under President Donald Trump from deporting any Venezuelan nationals detained in North Texas under a rarely used 18th-century wartime law, arguing that immigration officials appear to be moving forward with deportations despite Supreme Court-imposed limitations.
The ACLU has already filed lawsuits to stop the deportation of two Venezuelan men held at the Bluebonnet Detention Center, challenging the application of the Alien Enemies Act of 1798. The organization is now seeking a broader court order that would prevent the deportation of any immigrant in the region under that law.
In an emergency filing early Friday, the ACLU warned that immigration authorities were accusing other Venezuelan detainees of being members of the Tren de Aragua, a transnational criminal gang. These accusations, the ACLU argues, are being used to justify deportations under the wartime statute.
The Alien Enemies Act has only been invoked three times in U.S. history — most notably during World War II to detain Japanese-American civilians in internment camps. The Trump administration has claimed the law allows them to swiftly remove individuals identified as gang members, regardless of their immigration status.
The ACLU, together with Democracy Forward, filed legal actions aiming to suspend all deportations carried out under the law. Although the U.S. Supreme Court recently allowed deportations to resume, it unanimously ruled that they could only proceed if detainees are given a chance to present their cases in court and are granted “a reasonable amount of time” to challenge their pending removal.
International
Dominican ‘False Hero’ Arrested for Faking Role in Nightclub Collapse That Killed 231
A man identified as Rafael Rosario Mota falsely claimed to have rescued 12 people from the collapse of the Jet Set nightclub in Santo Domingo—a tragedy that left 231 people dead—but he was never at the scene.
Intelligence agents in the Dominican Republic arrested the 32-year-old man for pretending to be a hero who saved lives during the catastrophic incident, authorities announced.
Rosario Mota had been charging for media interviews in which he falsely claimed to have pulled survivors from the rubble after the nightclub’s roof collapsed in the early hours of April 8, during a concert by merengue singer Rubby Pérez, who was among those killed.
“He was never at the scene of the tragedy,” the police stated. The arrest took place just after he finished another interview on a digital platform, where he repeated his fabricated story in exchange for money as part of a “media tour” filled with manipulated information and invented testimonies.
“False hero!” read a message shared on the police force’s Instagram account alongside a short video of the suspect, in which he apologized: “I did it because I was paid. I ask forgiveness from the public and the authorities.”
Central America
Nicaraguan Exiles to Mark 7th Anniversary of 2018 Protests with Global Commemorations
The Nicaraguan opposition in exile announced on Thursday that it will commemorate the seventh anniversary of the April 2018 protests against the government of President Daniel Ortega and his wife, Rosario Murillo, with events in Costa Rica, the United States, and several European countries.
The commemorative activities—which will call for justice for the victims, as well as freedom and democracy for Nicaragua—will include religious services, public forums, cultural fairs, and other public gatherings, according to official announcements.
In April 2018, thousands of Nicaraguans took to the streets to protest controversial reforms to the social security system. The government’s violent response quickly turned the demonstrations into a broader call for the resignation of President Ortega, who is now 79 and has been in power since 2007.
The protests resulted in at least 355 deaths, according to the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR), although Nicaraguan organizations claim the toll is as high as 684. Ortega has acknowledged “more than 300” deaths and maintains the unrest was an attempted coup d’état.
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Dominican ‘False Hero’ Arrested for Faking Role in Nightclub Collapse That Killed 231
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