International
Israel’s offensive is based on Yabalia and the Army orders the evacuation of more areas of Rafah
The Israeli military offensive continues to focus this Monday in Yabalia, a city in the north of the Gaza Strip where troops have resumed their activity in the face of the return of Hamas.
In addition, his artillery extends through the central and east neighborhoods of Rafah, at the southern end of the enclave, which Israel ordered to be evacuated two days ago.
Some 360,000 people have already fled Rafah since the first evacuation order issued by the Israeli Army, according to estimates by the UN Agency for Palestinian Refugees (UNRWA).
“People don’t know where to go. Everyone in Rafah, even in the areas where the evacuation has not yet been ordered, is leaving. On the street, they ask each other what is the best place to get around,” a displaced gazati in the Tal al Sultan neighborhood, in the west of the city, told EFE.
In Rafah, “fear and confusion” reign, since people are reluctant to travel to what Israel has designated as a “humanitarian zone” for them, in the coastal area of Mawasi, where hundreds of thousands of people live crowded in makeshift shops on the beach, without drinking water or sanitation.
This Monday, the evacuation orders have been extended to two new areas of the center of the population, already more in the western half of the city, where humanitarian aid has not entered for almost a week since Israel keeps the steps of Kerem Shalom and Rafah closed, which connects the enclave with Egypt.
In the last few hours, at least eight people have died in the city, one of them minor, whose lifeless bodies arrived at the Kuwaiti hospital of the Rafah governorate.
“There is no place to go. There is no security to move without a ceasefire,” UNRWA claimed.
In Yabalia, the attacks have reached homes both in the refugee camp and in the city, where ambulance services rescued at least twenty bodies and treated dozens of wounded.
“The occupation forces attacked the ambulances in the Yabalia camp, where we could not reach a large number of victims,” denounced the director of emergency services in northern Gaza.
For its part, the official Palestinian agency Wafa, citing testimonies from residents, indicated that Israeli forces “surrounded and assaulted” the shelter centers, forcing hundreds of people to move west of the city.
“The Israeli forces try to advance towards the center of the field and shoot everything that moves around them, while the gifts fly intensely over the area at a low altitude,” he explained.
After ordering the evacuation of two large neighborhoods of Yabalia on Saturday, the Israeli Army resumed its military offensive on that city in northern Gaza on Sunday, one of the first places it attacked harshly in October when the war began.
“The occupation forces are now trying to besiege and break into the six shelter centers located to the east of the camp. There are shots with drones and snipers, forcing the displaced to leave without knowing where to go,” a resident of Yabalia explained to EFE by phone, who did not want to give his name for safety.
The same source also reported strong armed clashes between Palestinian militias and Israeli troops inside the camp, so the Israeli Army has had to ask for reinforcements.
As has happened with Zeitun, a neighborhood of Gaza City, Israeli forces have resumed their military activity in those parts of the northern Gaza Strip, by detecting – according to information from the intelligence services – that Hamas troops have returned to the area and are being regrouped.
The Israeli offensive against the Gaza Strip since October 7 has caused the death of 35,034 citizens, most of them children and women, in adde of 78,755 injured and 10,000 missing people who are estimated to be trapped under the rubble.
In the last 24 hours, the Israel Air Force attacked 120 military targets from Hamas in the Gaza Strip, while its ground troops operate in Rafah, in the south, and in Zeitun and Yabalia, in the north, the Army reported.
The 162ndª Division fights in the east of Rafah, south of the Gaza Strip, where they say they killed several Hamas fighters, located and confiscated weapons found in a school and destroyed military infrastructure.
“The Air Force attacked several Hamas targets, including underground sites and a building where the agents met,” the Army said.
Meanwhile, the 99th Division maintains its offensive activity in Zeitun, a southern neighborhood of Gaza City where Hamas was also regrouping, and where troops today “roaned a weapons depot at the home of a Palestinian operational.”
A foreign United Nations employee died today in Rafah in an Israeli attack against a humanitarian convoy, the Government of Hamas in the Gaza Strip said on Monday.
“This afternoon, the Israeli occupation army killed a foreign employee and injured another foreign employee in Rafah (southern Gaza Strip), where they were attacked while traveling in a vehicle with the United Nations flag and the United Nations badge,” Gaza authorities said in a statement.
The UN confirmed on Monday that one of its employees died and another was injured in Gaza when the vehicle they were in was hit by a projectile, allegedly Israeli, while they were on their way to the European Hospital this morning.
The two victims, whose nationality has not been confirmed, worked for the Department of Security and Protection (DSS), according to a statement from the organization.
The UN spokesman, Farhan Haq, said that he could not even relet his nationality although “they are international personnel,” and said that the first thing will be to inform their families and governments.
“As part of their daily work, they go to different places to verify the safety conditions,” and in this case it was the European Hospital of Rafah, stressed Haq, who added that the vehicle in which he was traveling was duly identified as belonging to the United Nations fleet.
The secretary general called for “a complete investigation” into what happened, and said that he “condemns all attacks” against UN personnel.
International
Trump orders immediate U.S. nuclear testing, ending 30-year moratorium
U.S. President Donald Trump’s order to begin “immediate” testing of the country’s nuclear arsenal could, if carried out, end the nuclear testing moratorium that the United States has maintained for over 30 years.
The announcement follows Russian President Vladimir Putin’s nuclear maneuvers on October 22 from the Kremlin, which involved land, sea, and air exercises and the launch of a Yars intercontinental ballistic missile with a range of up to 12,000 kilometers.
In 1992, the U.S. Senate approved a temporary suspension of nuclear tests in August, followed by the House of Representatives in September, initially for nine months, with the goal of ending all U.S. atomic testing by September 1996.
Although then-President George H.W. Bush, a Republican, and his successor Bill Clinton, a Democrat, threatened to veto the measure, the moratorium has remained in place ever since.
The decision came after the fall of the Soviet Union, the end of the Cold War, and a political climate in which many U.S. leaders and a significant portion of public opinion believed that the country should lead global denuclearization efforts. Technological advances have also allowed the United States to verify the reliability of its nuclear arsenal without conducting atomic explosions.
From World War II until 1992, the United States conducted over a thousand nuclear tests. Until 1963, these tests were atmospheric, after which only underground tests were performed.
Although the U.S. has not conducted nuclear detonations since September 1992, it has carried out several dozen subcritical experiments. These do not trigger chain nuclear reactions or produce atomic yield but are designed to verify the safety and effectiveness of the nuclear arsenal and remain within the limits established by the 1996 Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty.
International
Brazilian president defends coordinated anti-drug operations after deadly Rio raid
Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva defended on Wednesday the integration of the country’s various police forces into an anti-drug strategy that avoids civilian casualties, commenting on Tuesday’s police operation in Rio de Janeiro that left 121 dead—the deadliest in Brazil’s history.
“We need coordinated efforts that strike at the backbone of drug trafficking without putting police, children, and innocent families at risk,” the progressive leader wrote on social media.
Lula, along with several of his ministers, emphasized that organized crime is not defeated through violent confrontations in the favelas, but by measures that decapitalize these groups and reduce their financial power.
“That was exactly what we did in August during the largest operation against organized crime in the country’s history, targeting the financial core of a major organization involved in drug trafficking, fuel adulteration, and money laundering,” he stated, referring to a recent operation against the Primeiro Comando da Capital (PCC), a major national criminal group.
Lula stressed that Brazil cannot allow organized crime to continue destroying families, oppressing citizens, and spreading drugs and violence across cities.
He added that, in a federal country like Brazil, where public security is the responsibility of regional governments, it is necessary to unify the country’s police forces.
The head of state affirmed that integrating regional and national police forces to combat organized crime will be possible with the approval of a public security bill that the government has submitted to Congress.
International
US Deputy Secretary criticizes Mexico’s call to end Cuba trade embargo at UN
U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Christopher Landau reacted on Wednesday against Mexico’s request at the United Nations to lift the trade embargo on Cuba.
Landau expressed on X that he felt “sad” as a “friend of Mexico” after Mexico’s ambassador to the UN, Héctor Vasconcelos, reiterated solidarity with Cuba and stressed the “urgent need to end the trade embargo.”
“Let’s base ourselves on reality and not fantasies. There is no trade embargo on Cuba (…) Cuba freely receives goods and visitors from many countries,” Landau wrote.
The reaction from the State Department official came after the Mexican delegation urgently requested the removal of sanctions against Cuba at the United Nations headquarters in New York, where a majority of 165 countries voted in favor of ending the embargo imposed on the island since 1960.
Seven countries voted against the proposal, and twelve abstained. The United States, Israel, Argentina, Hungary, Paraguay, and Ukraine were among those opposing the measure, but the overwhelming support left the U.S. and its allies in the minority.
Trump orders immediate U.S. nuclear testing, ending 30-year moratorium
Brazilian president defends coordinated anti-drug operations after deadly Rio raid
US Deputy Secretary criticizes Mexico’s call to end Cuba trade embargo at UN
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