International

The Israeli Army confirms the incursion into the Shujaiya neighborhood, in Gaza, due to the “presence” of militiamen

The Israeli Army confirmed this Friday in a statement its incursion into the Shujaiya neighborhood, in the northern city of Gaza, already besieged last December, due to the “presence” of militiamen and military infrastructure, after receiving information from its intelligence.

“Simultaneously with the entry of the troops, fighter planes attacked dozens of terrorist infrastructure sites in Hamas,” the Army details in the note about this operation that, he says, began on Thursday morning and maintained this morning.

Palestinian sources confirmed yesterday to EFE the entry of Israeli tanks into the Shujaiya neighborhood and aerial bombings that occurred in parallel, causing the death of at least seven Palestinians and leaving about thirty injured.

Before launching this operation, Israeli forces attacked other points in the northern Strip where they “eliminated dozens” of fighters who, they say, were hiding in UNRWA schools, according to their statement.

“During this past night, our planes also attacked a Hamas terrorist in an area of Deir al Balah (central Gaza), which was operating from within a humanitarian zone,” they add in the statement.

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On the other hand, Gaza medical sources reported the death of at least 11 people and more than 40 injured in the humanitarian zone of Al Mawasi, in the western part of Rafah, south of the Strip, after an Israeli bombing last night.

Most of the Gaza people who took refuge in Rafah, the city on the border with Egypt, moved to the coastal area of Al Mawasi, by order of Israel, after the start of the Israeli land invasion of this southern city last May.

The official spokesman for Civil Defense in Rafah, Ahmad Redwan, denounces that hundreds of Gaza families slept on the street last night after the incursion and attack by Israeli troops on this camp considered supposedly a safe area by Israel.

The Palestinian news agency Wafa also reports Israeli air and artillery attacks in the early hours of this morning against homes in central Gaza that left at least four civilians dead, including a woman and a child.

In almost nine months of war, the Israeli offensive has already left more than 37,700 people dead, mostly women and children, and another 86,429 injured; in addition to schools, hospitals and residential buildings destroyed.

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The Israeli Security Cabinet approved this morning to legalize five outposts (inities of illegal settlements) in the occupied West Bank and to impose new sanctions on the Palestinian National Authority (ANP) at the proposal of the Minister of Finance, the far-right, Bezalel Smotrich.

“These are measures that protect the State of Israel and convey a clear message: We will never establish a terrorist state in the Land of Israel! The actions against the State of Israel and in favor of the unilateral recognition of a Palestinian State received an appropriate Zionist response!” Minister Smotrich wrote in his X account.

The president of the Yesha Council, Israel Ganz, the body that brings together all the settlements of the occupied West Bank, welcomed this decision that assured “strengthens the State of Israel.”

“In these difficult days, when we are at war for our home, strengthening the communities in the land of our ancestors is the appropriate Zionist response,” Ganz said.

The five legalized settlements are Evyatar, Givat Assaf, Sde Efraim, Heletz and Adorayim.

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International

Peruvian presidential candidate Napoleón Becerra dies in campaign road accident

Presidential candidate Napoleón Becerra, representing the Partido de los Trabajadores y Emprendedores (PTE) in Peru, died in a traffic accident while traveling to a campaign event, local authorities confirmed Sunday.

Becerra, who also served as president of the centrist political party, ranked among the lowest in opinion polls in a crowded field of more than 30 candidates competing in the presidential election scheduled for April 12.

Recent surveys place Rafael López Aliaga at the top of voter preferences.

The accident occurred near the town of Ayacucho, in southern Peru, when the vehicle carrying the candidate overturned for reasons that remain under investigation.

“The candidate Becerra has died,” Balvin Huamani, mayor of the district of Pilpichaca, told RPP radio.

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According to Huamani, he personally transported the 61-year-old candidate to a local health center, where doctors confirmed his death.

The Jurado Nacional de Elecciones (JNE) expressed condolences over Becerra’s passing and wished a speedy recovery to the three people who were traveling with him and were injured in the crash.

International

Noboa intensifies anti-cartel crackdown as violence persists in Ecuador

A close ally of Washington, Ecuadorian President Daniel Noboa has pursued a hardline security strategy against cocaine cartels for more than two years, yet homicide, disappearance and extortion rates remain high across the country.

Between Sunday night and the morning of March 31, Ecuador’s armed forces will launch a “very strong offensive” with “advisory support” from the United States, Interior Minister John Reimberg announced Tuesday.

The government has kept details of the operation confidential and has not confirmed whether U.S. troops will be deployed on Ecuadorian soil, as has occurred at times during Noboa’s administration.

As part of the security measures, residents in the coastal provinces of Guayas, Los Ríos, Santo Domingo de los Tsáchilas, and El Oro will be subject to a nightly curfew from 11:00 p.m. to 5:00 a.m. local time for the next two weeks.

“We are in a war,” Reimberg said, urging citizens to remain indoors. “Do not take risks. Stay home and allow the security forces and our allies to do the work that must be done.”

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Although Ecuador does not produce cocaine, it has become a major departure point for drugs heading to the United States. Meanwhile, the violence associated with trafficking has increasingly affected the local population.

Bordering the world’s largest cocaine producers, Colombia and Peru, Ecuador has gone from being considered a relatively peaceful country to recording one of the highest homicide rates in Latin America—52 killings per 100,000 inhabitants—according to the **Observatory of Organized Crime.

International

Peruvian presidential candidate proposes death penalty amid crime surge

Peru is facing an unprecedented surge in crime ahead of its presidential election scheduled for April 12, with violence fueled by extortion networks and a wave of contract killings linked to organized crime.

Police data show that 2,200 homicides tied to organized crime were recorded in 2025, while extortion complaints increased by 19%, underscoring the growing security crisis in the South American nation.

Amid this backdrop, presidential candidate Álvarez has proposed reinstating the death penalty if elected, arguing that extreme measures are needed to curb the violence.

To implement the proposal, Álvarez said Peru would withdraw from the American Convention on Human Rights—also known as the Pact of San José—which the country signed in 1978. The agreement prevents member states that have abolished capital punishment from reinstating it.

Currently, Peruvian law only allows the death penalty in cases of treason during wartime.

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“We have to leave the Pact of San José and apply the death penalty in Peru because those miserable criminals don’t deserve to live,” Álvarez told AFP during a campaign stop at a market in Callao, the port city neighboring Lima.

“An iron fist against those criminals,” he added, proposing to declare hitmen as military targets.

During the campaign event, Álvarez walked through stalls selling vegetables, groceries, and fish, greeting vendors while musicians played cumbia music nearby.

The 62-year-old candidate, who spent more than four decades working in television as a comedian, is a newcomer to politics and is running for president under the País para Todos party.

Polls place him fifth in voter preference with nearly 4% support in a fragmented race featuring 36 candidates.