International
Israel shifts the spotlight to the West Bank with a large-scale raid and kills 9 Palestinians
After Gaza and Lebanon, today we begin, with God’s help, to change the security situation in Judea and Samaria (the biblical name for the West Bank),” Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich announced on Tuesday.
Shortly before, the Army began a large-scale raid in Yenin, in the north of the occupied territory, which so far has claimed the lives of nine Palestinians and injured 35 others.
Just two days after the ceasefire in the Gaza Strip came into force, the attention of the armed forces has been diverted to the West Bank: dozens of excavators have accessed Yenin and its refugee camp with Israeli troops, and drone attacks and shots from Army helicopters have been recorded.
In an unusual move, the office of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu publicly announced the start of the operation, dumbled “Iron Wall”: “We are acting systematically and decisively against the Iranian axis wherever it sends its weapons, in Gaza, Lebanon, Syria, Yemen and Judea and Samaria.”
Interviewed by the official Palestinian news agency, Wafa, the director of the Government Hospital of Yenin, Wissam Bakr, regretted that the speed with which the morning rounding was unfolding did not correctly count the number of injured, which was constantly evolving.
Videos recorded in the city and its refugee camp show how Israeli excavators advance through the streets, razing the roads.
In one of them, an old man crosses the street carrying a bag while the shots hit near his feet. In another, a nurse who walks with another man down the street has to run away when someone opens fire on them.
In the channels of the Palestinian Red Crescent emergency service, the announcements of the transfer of the shot wounds from different areas of the city to the hospitals became a constant as the afternoon progressed.
“The occupation forces (Israel) prevent our teams from reaching the wounded inside the refugee camp when we receive the reports,” the group said this morning.
Following the announcement of the offensive, the Islamist group Hamas today urged both Palestinian civilians and their militiamen to respond to the Israeli army and counterattack.
“We call on the masses of our people in the West Bank and their revolutionary youth to mobilize and intensify the clashes against the occupying Army at all points, and to work to thwart the extensive Zionist aggression against the city of Yenin,” the group said in a statement.
Hamas also accused the forces of the Palestinian National Authority (PNA), in the hands of the secular Fatah party, of having abandoned Yenin to allow the operation of Israeli troops instead of defending the Palestinians.
The security forces of the ANP (which governs in small parts of the West Bank) concluded on Friday a 42-day operation in Yenin that ended in the death of police, militiamen and civilians, and which from the Palestinian factions was seen as a demonstration of power of the ANP to demonstrate to Israel its ability to manage security in Gaza after the ceasefire.
The Palestinian Islamic Jihad, one of the predominant movements in the Yenin camp, also assured that Netanyahu is trying to “save his shaken government coalition” with the operation in the West Bank, after having “failed” in Gaza.
On Saturday, when there were still hours left for the ceasefire to take effect, the Israeli Army warned that it was preparing to increase its presence in the West Bank with up to seven companies, on the occasion of the release of Palestinian prisoners contemplated by the agreement, in exchange for the hostages.
Among Netanyahu’s radical partners (such as the former Minister of National Security, Itamar Ben Gvir, or the head of Finance, Smotrich) the release of Palestinian prisoners earned the agreement qualifications as “disastrous” or “dangerous”.
The support of at least one of them is essential for Netanyahu to maintain the current government coalition, so, in view of Ben Gvir’s resignation, the prime minister met with Smotrich up to five times to prevent him from leaving the Executive.
Numerous Israeli media reported that Netanyahu put on the table to increase the Israeli presence in the West Bank as a condition for Smotrich not to leave the coalition. When the Executive voted this Friday for the agreement, Smotrich voted against it, but did not leave the Government.
Internacionales
Jalisco’s grim discovery: drug cartel mass grave found in construction site
A mass grave was discovered in a residential area under construction in the municipality of Zapopan, part of the metropolitan area of Guadalajara, the capital of the Mexican state of Jalisco.
“After analyzing the recovered remains, they correspond to 34 individuals,” said a state official during a press conference. Jalisco has one of the highest numbers of missing persons in Mexico, largely due to the activity of drug cartels.
As of May 31, official data shows that Jalisco has recorded 15,683 missing persons, according to the state prosecutor’s office. Authorities attribute most of these cases to criminal organizations, which often bury or cremate their victims clandestinely.
“The construction company notified us at the end of February after discovering some remains,” explained the official, González, adding that excavation efforts have been ongoing since then.
The Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG) operates in the region and was designated as a foreign terrorist organization earlier this year by the administration of U.S. President Donald Trump. Washington has accused CJNG and the Sinaloa cartel of being the main sources of fentanyl trafficking, a synthetic opioid responsible for tens of thousands of overdose deaths in the U.S.
Mexico has accumulated more than 127,000 missing persons, most of them since 2006, when the federal government launched a heavily criticized military-led anti-drug offensive.
International
U.S. targets families of sanctioned drug traffickers with new Visa restrictions
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced on Thursday a new visa restriction policy targeting the family members and close associates of individuals sanctioned for drug trafficking, as part of efforts to combat the spread of fentanyl.
Overdoses from this synthetic opioid remain the leading cause of death among Americans aged 18 to 44. According to official sources, more than 220 overdose deaths are reported daily in 2024, and over 40% of Americans know someone who has died from opioid-related causes.
“Today, I am announcing a new visa restriction policy (…) which will apply to close family members and personal or business associates of individuals sanctioned for drug trafficking,” Rubio said in a statement.
International
White House claims challenged as most ICE arrests in LA involve non-criminals
Nearly seven out of ten people arrested during immigration raids in Los Angeles from June 1 to June 10 had no criminal record, contradicting White House claims that the raids targeted “criminals,” according to an analysis published Wednesday by the Los Angeles Times.
Around 722 individuals were detained in the Los Angeles metropolitan area during the first ten days of June, when Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) initiated the raids, according to data obtained by the Deportation Data Project of the University of California Berkeley School of Law.
The Los Angeles Times analysis found that 69% of those arrested during this period had no criminal record, and 58% had never been charged with any crime.
These figures contradict the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), which said in a statement Tuesday that since June 6, ICE and Customs and Border Protection (CBP) launched an operation “to remove the worst criminal illegal aliens.”
DHS Deputy Secretary Tricia McLaughlin warned that the arrests are part of President Donald Trump’s promise to secure the border by deporting criminals, including drug traffickers in Los Angeles, without providing further details.
Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass criticized last week in a CNN interview that although the White House said it would target violent criminals, the raids had focused on workers.
“This wasn’t a drug den, it was a Home Depot,” Bass said, questioning the locations where raids were conducted.
Activists have also denounced the raids for targeting vulnerable workers who are easy to detain.
The Los Angeles Times analysis found that the average age of those arrested was 38, mostly men. Nearly 48% were Mexican, 16% Guatemalan, and 8% Salvadoran.
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