International

Hamas committed crimes against humanity in the October 7 assault, according to HRW

Human Rights Watch (HRW) determined that the Islamist organization Hamas committed “numerous war crimes and crimes against humanity” in the attacks in Israel on October 7, in which almost 1,200 people were killed and 251 were taken hostage.

“The Human Rights Watch investigation concluded that the assault led by Hamas on October 7 was designed to kill civilians and take as many people as possible hostages,” said the group’s director of crisis and conflict, Ida Sawyer, in her latest report.

In the report ‘I can’t erase all the blood from my mind: the assault on Palestinian armed groups on October 7 in Israel’, HRW concludes that the Islamists committed several crimes against humanity: targeting civilians, deliberate murder of detainees, cruel and inhumane treatment, sexual and gender-based violence, hostage-taking, mutilation and looting of corpses, use of human shields and looting and looting.

The basic principle of humanitarian law is that all parties to a conflict must distinguish at all times between fighters and civilians, “who should never be the target of an attack,” HRW recalls.

In this sense, HRW stressed that 815 of the 1,195 people killed that day were civilians. And of the 251 kidnapped in the assault – of which 116 are still in Gaza, 42 of them dead – most are civilians.

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These actions were not “a late occurrence, a failed plan or isolated acts,” says the organization, which has studied to prepare the report the testimonies of victims, relatives, assistance teams and medical experts, as well as more than 280 photographs and videos of the assault.

“The Hamas authorities responded to HRW’s questions by assuring that they ordered their forces not to attack civilians and not to deviate from human rights and humanitarian law,” says HRW, who claims “to have found evidence to the contrary.”

In the videos of the assault, the militiamen are seen actively looking for civilians and killing them, being proven the intentionality of the attacks and hostage-taking, which was “planned and highly coordinated.”

HRW said it requires further investigation to prove other crimes, such as the prosecution of identifiable groups on racial, ethnic or religious grounds or the commission of rape or other acts of sexual violence.

In this regard, the organization identified crimes on the part of the militiamen such as subjecting the hostages to forced nudity or the dissemination of sexualized images without their consent, but found no verifiable information when talking with the kidnapped, their relatives or witnesses about rapes.

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HRW requested access to information about sexual violence from the Government of Israel, which did not attend to it.

HRW highlighted the commission of crimes against humanity by Israel by carrying out a collective punishment against the Gaza population after the attacks, defined by the cut of essential services and the limitation of the entry of humanitarian aid into the Strip, where from October 7 until today more than 38,700 Palestinians have been killed by the military offensive.

This punishment “aggravates the impact of the more than 17 years of illegal closure of Gaza by Israel,” a country that he accused of also committing “crimes of apartheid and persecution against the Palestinians.”

HRW called on all parties to respect humanitarian law, as well as the Palestinian militias in Gaza to “immediately and unconditionally release the civilians they hold hostage.”

“They must take disciplinary measures against members responsible for war crimes and hand over for prosecution anyone who faces an arrest warrant from the International Criminal Court (ICC),” he said.

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On May 20, the ICC’s chief prosecutor requested arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu; his Defense Minister Yoav Gallant and Hamas leaders Yahya Sinwar, Ismail Haniyeh and Mohamed Deif.

Deif was the target of an Israeli attack on Saturday in Mawasi, southern Gaza, without his death being confirmed.

International

Two killed in shooting at restaurant near Frankfurt Airport

Two people were shot dead early Tuesday at a restaurant in Raunheim, near Frankfurt Airport, according to local police.

Preliminary findings indicate that an armed individual entered the establishment at around 03:45 local time (02:45 GMT) and opened fire on the victims, who died at the scene from their injuries.

The suspect fled and remains at large, while the motive behind the shooting is still unclear, German media reported. Authorities have launched a large-scale search operation.

International

U.S. counterterrorism chief resigns over opposition to war in Iran

Joe Kent, director of the National Counterterrorism Center, announced Tuesday that he has resigned from his post, citing his opposition to the ongoing war in Iran.

In a post on X, Kent said he could not, “in good conscience,” support the conflict, arguing that Iran did not pose an imminent threat to the United States. He also claimed that the war was driven by pressure from Israel and its lobbying influence in Washington.

In a resignation letter addressed to Donald Trump, Kent alleged that at the start of the current administration, senior Israeli officials and influential figures in U.S. media carried out a disinformation campaign that undermined the “America First” platform and fostered pro-war sentiment aimed at triggering a conflict with Iran.

Kent further stated that he could not support sending a new generation of Americans to “fight and die in a war that provides no benefit to the American people and does not justify the cost in American lives.”

Since the United States and Israel launched attacks against Iran on February 28, at least 13 U.S. service members have been killed, while 10 others have been seriously wounded and around 200 have sustained minor injuries, according to a report published by The Wall Street Journal.

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International

German president warns Iran war could spread and disrupt Strait of Hormuz

The president of Germany, Frank-Walter Steinmeier, warned Monday that the war involving Iran could expand and further disrupt shipping through the strategic Strait of Hormuz. He urged a swift end to hostilities between Iran, United States and Israel.

Speaking in Panama City during a joint appearance with Panamanian President José Raúl Mulino, Steinmeier said available information suggests Iran has significant capacity to disrupt maritime traffic through the key oil route.

“Iran has considerable potential to interfere with shipping through the Strait of Hormuz,” Steinmeier said through an interpreter. “We should therefore reach an end to the hostilities as soon as possible and call on all parties involved to make that happen.”

The remarks came during Steinmeier’s visit to Panama, the first by a German president to the Central American nation.

The German leader described the possibility of the conflict spreading as “very dangerous,” saying recent developments indicate that such a scenario cannot be ruled out.

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Over the weekend, U.S. President Donald Trump urged allied nations to help ensure safe passage for ships through the Strait of Hormuz after Iran moved to block the waterway in response to U.S. strikes. However, several allies—particularly in Europe—have shown little support for the proposal.

“Some are very enthusiastic, others are not, and some are countries we have helped for many years,” Trump told reporters at the White House. “We have protected them from terrible external threats, and they’re not that enthusiastic. And the level of enthusiasm is important to me.”

Meanwhile, Kaja Kallas, the European Union’s top diplomat, said the Strait of Hormuz falls “outside NATO’s scope” and stressed that “the war involving Iran is not Europe’s war.”