International
About 21,000 children are missing in the Gaza Strip, according to Save the Children
About 21,000 children are missing in the Gaza Strip, many of them trapped under the rubble, presumably dead, or in unidentified mass graves, according to a report published on Monday by the Save the Children organization.
“It is almost impossible to collect and verify information in the current conditions of Gaza,” says the child aid organization, which estimates that about 17,000 children are currently alone, orphaned or separated from their parents, in the face of the constant forced displacement.
According to the Ministry of Health of Gaza, controlled by Hamas, more than 15,800 children have died since the war began in October, about thirty minors have died of hunger and 3,500 are at risk of death from malnutrition.
In total, more than 37,600 people have died in the enclave, 70% of them women and children, according to the Gaza Health.
Save the Children assures that more than 14,000 children have died in the Gaza Strip since October; about 4,000 are missing under the rubble, and a number to be determined, in mass graves.
“Thousands of missing Palestinian children are trapped under the rubble, buried in unmarked graves, damaged to the point of not being able to be recognized by explosives, detained by Israeli forces or lost in the chaos of the conflict,” the organization says.
“Every day we find more unaccompanied children and every day it is more difficult to help them. We identify separated and unaccompanied children and try to locate their families, but there are no safe facilities for them; there is no safe place in Gaza,” they add.
Save the Children also recalls that at least 33 children died in the Hamas attack in Israel on October 7, in which about 1,200 people died and 250 were kidnapped.
The organization indicated that in the occupied territory of the West Bank, about 250 Palestinian children are also missing, many of them in illegal detention.
“Families are tortured by uncertainty about the whereabouts of their loved ones. No parent should have to dig between debris or mass graves to try to find their child’s body. No child should be alone, unprotected in a war zone. No child should be arrested or taken hostage,” said Jeremy Stoner, director of Save the Children in the Middle East.
Stoner has requested an independent investigation into the situation of the missing children in Gaza and for those responsible to be held accountable.
According to UN data, Israel has dropped 75,000 tons of explosives – the equivalent of six nuclear bombs – which, in addition to having destroyed 65% of the structures of the Strip, leaves minors in a very vulnerable situation because they are seven times more likely to die in an explosion.
International
Uribe requests freedom amid appeal of historic bribery conviction
Former Colombian President Álvaro Uribe on Monday requested that the Supreme Court restore his freedom while he appeals the historic 12-year house arrest sentence he received for bribery and procedural fraud.
Uribe, the most prominent figure of Colombia’s right wing, was convicted last week by a lower court for attempting to bribe paramilitary members into denying his ties to the violent anti-guerrilla squads.
Since Friday, the 73-year-old has been under house arrest at his residence in Rionegro, about 30 km from Medellín. The judge justified the measure by citing a risk of flight.
However, Uribe’s defense team rejected that argument and formally petitioned the court to immediately lift the detention order, claiming it lacks legal basis.
Uribe, a dominant force in Colombian politics for decades, is now the first former president in the country’s history to be convicted and placed under arrest, found guilty of witness tampering and obstruction of justice to prevent links to paramilitary groups.
He has repeatedly denounced the trial as politically motivated, blaming pressure from the leftist government currently in power.
His political party, Centro Democrático, has called for nationwide protests on August 7 in support of Uribe, who remains popular for his hardline stance against guerrilla groups.
Uribe has until August 13 to submit his written appeal. The case will then move to the Bogotá High Court, which has until October 16 to uphold, overturn, or dismiss the sentence. If the deadline passes without a decision, the case will be archived.
International
U.S. Embassy staff restricted as gunfire erupts near compound in Port-au-Prince
The poorest country in Latin America and the Caribbean is currently engulfed in a deep political crisis and a wave of violence driven by armed groups — a situation that an international security mission led by Kenya is attempting to stabilize.
Due to the worsening security conditions, the U.S. government has suspended all official movements of embassy personnel outside the compound in Port-au-Prince, the U.S. State Department announced Monday in a security alert posted on social media platform X.
“There are intense gunfights in the Tabarre neighborhood, near the U.S. Embassy,” the alert reads, urging the public to avoid the area.
Tabarre is a municipality located near Port-au-Prince International Airport, northeast of the Haitian capital.
According to a July report by the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, at least 3,141 people were killed in Haitibetween January 1 and June 30 of this year.
International
Israel says 136 food aid boxes airdropped into Gaza by six nations
The Israeli military announced on Sunday that 136 boxes of food aid were airdropped into Gaza by the United Arab Emirates, Jordan, Egypt, Germany, and Belgium.
“In recent hours, six countries conducted air drops of 136 aid packages containing food for residents in the southern and northern Gaza Strip,” read the statement, which added that the operation was coordinated by COGAT, the Israeli defense body overseeing civil affairs in the occupied Palestinian territories.
The Israeli military emphasized that they will “continue working to improve the humanitarian response alongside the international community” and reiterated their stance to “refute false allegations of deliberate famine in Gaza.”
The announcement comes as UN agencies warn Gaza faces an imminent risk of famine. More than one in three residents go days without eating, and other nutrition indicators have dropped to their worst levels since the conflict began.
The agencies also noted the difficulty of “collecting reliable data in current conditions, as Gaza’s health systems —already devastated by nearly three years of conflict— are collapsing.”
Meanwhile, Gaza’s Hamas-run Health Ministry reported on Sunday that hospitals in the enclave recorded six deaths from hunger and malnutrition on Saturday, all of them adults.
Uribe requests freedom amid appeal of historic bribery conviction
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Uribe requests freedom amid appeal of historic bribery conviction