International

UN denounces Israeli attacks on refugee sites in southern Gaza

Photo: UNRWA

October 17 |

The United Nations (UN) confirmed Tuesday that the occupation army’s air force has continued to attack the south of the Gaza Strip, just where it had demanded that refugees fleeing Tel Aviv’s previous incursions move to.

The attacks, denounced by the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA), have taken place over the town of Khan Yunis, despite having ordered civilians to move to that part of the Palestinian enclave, where more than 600,000 people have arrived in recent days.

According to UNRWA, the most serious problem at the moment is the lack of water and warned that “people will start dying without it”.

In this regard, UNRWA points out that the last seawater desalination plant operating in Gaza has stopped operating, increasing the risk of dehydration and disease as Palestinians begin to drink water unfit for human consumption.

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At the same time, the director of the World Health Organization (WHO) office for the Eastern Mediterranean, Ahmed al Mandhari, assured that UN humanitarian aid has been ready in Egypt for more than 72 hours awaiting distribution to the Gaza Strip and Israeli authorization.

According to al Mandhari, “We have repeatedly called for humanitarian access to the Gaza Strip through the Rafah border crossing from Egypt.” Gaza will become a “real catastrophe,” al Mandhari warned, as its water, electricity and fuel supplies will run out in less than 24 hours.

Meanwhile, UN World Food Program representative Abeer Etefa also called for “unimpeded access and a safe corridor for urgently needed humanitarian supplies” in Gaza.

Etefa stated that “we have heard from Egypt that the security situation does not allow convoys to move.”

International humanitarian organizations continue to stockpile essential supplies for the people of the Gaza Strip in Egypt as they wait for Egyptian authorities to authorize the opening of the Rafah crossing, the only one that allows access to the Palestinian territory and which is not controlled by Israel.

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The agency’s food aid shipments are at an Egyptian location near the Gaza border and are ready to be taken there as soon as the agency receives the necessary permits, he added.

The situation in the Gaza Strip is worsening just as Israel is preparing to launch a ground offensive, for which no date has been set but which seems increasingly imminent.

In fact, U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin ordered the preparation of 2,000 troops and several units with rapid deployment capability in the Middle East in case of need, the Pentagon said in a statement.

In addition, Austin approved the extension of the stay in the area of the Gerald R.Ford aircraft carrier strike group, within the sixth operations fleet of the U.S. naval forces.

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International

Football Fan Killed in Clashes After Colombian League Match

Fans of Cúcuta Deportivo and their traditional rivals Atlético Bucaramanga clashed outside the stadium following their local league match on Tuesday, leaving one supporter dead and several others injured.

The deceased fan was stabbed, according to a senior police official in Cúcuta who confirmed the cause of death in a video statement. Local media reported that the victim was a supporter of the visiting team, Atlético Bucaramanga.

The match ended in a 2-2 draw. Authorities had banned the entry of Atlético Bucaramanga’s organized supporters into the stadium in an effort to prevent disturbances.

Despite the restrictions, violence broke out in the surrounding areas after the game. Among the injured were three police officers, an institutional source told AFP.

The incident adds to a series of recent violent episodes linked to Colombian football. The most recent occurred in December, when supporters of Atlético Nacional and Independiente Medellín clashed in the stands and on the pitch, leaving 59 people injured.

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International

Missing Spanish Sailor Rescued After 11 Days Adrift in Mediterranean

The man had departed from the port of Gandía, on Spain’s eastern coast, with the intention of reaching the southern Spanish town of Guardamar del Segura, a journey of about 150 kilometers, a spokesperson for Spain’s maritime rescue service told AFP.

Search boats and aircraft were deployed on January 17, but the operation was called off on January 22 after efforts proved unsuccessful. Alerts were then issued to vessels navigating the area in case they spotted any signs of the missing sailor.

As hopes were fading, a surveillance aircraft from the European Union’s border agency Frontex spotted the sailboat on Tuesday, along with a person signaling for help, approximately 53 nautical miles northeast of Bejaia, Algeria.

A nearby vessel, the Singapore-flagged bulk carrier Thor Confidence, carried out the rescue and is expected to bring the man to an end to his ordeal when it arrives on Thursday in the southern Spanish port city of Algeciras.

Maritime rescue services shared images on social media showing a small white sailboat drifting at sea and secured alongside the much larger ship.

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It remains unclear how the sailboat ended up hundreds of kilometers off its intended route or how the man managed to survive for so long alone in open waters.

International

Rubio Says U.S. Could Participate in Follow-Up Russia-Ukraine Talks

The United States could join a new round of talks this week aimed at ending Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on Tuesday.

Teams from Kyiv and Moscow met last Friday and Saturday in Abu Dhabi in their first publicly acknowledged direct negotiations to discuss the peace initiative promoted by former U.S. President Donald Trump.

“They are going to hold follow-up talks again this week,” Rubio told the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. “There could be U.S. participation.”

However, Rubio suggested that Washington’s role may be more limited than during last week’s discussions, which included Steve Witkoff, the president’s special envoy, and Jared Kushner, Trump’s son-in-law.

The secretary of state indicated that progress may have already been made on security guarantees for Ukraine, one of Kyiv’s key demands in any agreement with Moscow after nearly four years of Russian invasion.

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“There is one remaining issue that everyone is familiar with, and that is the territorial claim over Donetsk,” Rubio said, referring to the eastern Ukrainian region that Russia wants Ukraine to cede.

“I know that active efforts are underway to see whether the positions of both sides on this issue can be reconciled. It remains a bridge we have not yet crossed,” he added during the hearing.

Rubio acknowledged that the territorial question would be particularly difficult for Ukraine to resolve.