International
Preliminary positive confirmation from Hamas on ceasefire proposal with Israel, according to Qatar
Hamas has given a “preliminary positive confirmation” to a ceasefire and hostage release proposal already approved by Israel, said Qatar on Thursday, which is mediating to achieve a pause in the war that has been devastating the Gaza Strip for almost four months.
“The path ahead of us is still very difficult. But we are optimistic because both parties have accepted the premises that would lead to a pause [in the fighting]. We hope to be able to announce good news in this regard in the next two weeks,” said Majed al Ansari, spokesperson for the Qatari foreign ministry.
Representatives from the United States, Qatar, Egypt, and Israel formulated a ceasefire and hostage exchange proposal over the weekend in Paris, aiming to negotiate with the Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas.
“This proposal was approved by the Israeli side, and now we have a preliminary positive confirmation from Hamas,” stated the Qatari spokesperson, Majed al Ansari.
However, a Hamas source told AFP that there is “no agreement yet on the implementation” of the proposal and that “Qatar’s statement was hasty and not true.”
Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh, in exile in Qatar, was expected to arrive in Egypt on Thursday or Friday, where he is likely to address this proposal.
A Hamas source had previously indicated that the Islamist movement, in power in Gaza since 2007, was examining a three-phase agreement proposal.
The first phase would include a six-week ceasefire during which Israel would release between 200 and 300 Palestinian prisoners in exchange for 35 to 40 hostages. Additionally, between 200 and 300 trucks of humanitarian aid could enter Gaza each day.
On October 7, Hamas fighters entered southern Israel and killed around 1,163 people, mostly civilians, and kidnapped about 250, according to the latest AFP tally based on Israeli official data.
In response to the attack, Israel launched an aerial and ground offensive to “annihilate” Hamas, classified as a terrorist group by the United States and the European Union, resulting in more than 27,000 deaths, mostly women and children, according to the Hamas health ministry.
Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant claimed that “Hamas has 10,000 dead terrorists and 10,000 who were taken out of action.”
US Sanctions Israeli Settlers
The United States imposed sanctions on a group of Jewish settlers accused of violence against Palestinian civilians in the occupied West Bank.
The violence by Jewish settlers has reached “unacceptable levels,” wrote US President Joe Biden in his executive order.
The Israeli government rejected these sanctions, stating that there is “no room for exceptional measures” against West Bank settlers.
“The vast majority of settlers in Judea and Samaria [West Bank] are law-abiding citizens, and many are currently fighting for the defense of Israel. Israel acts against all those who violate the law everywhere,” said a statement from the office of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Israeli settlers killed at least 10 Palestinians and set fire to dozens of homes in the occupied West Bank in 2023, according to the human rights group Yesh Din.
“Uninhabitable” Territory
In Gaza, witnesses reported Israeli airstrikes near Nasser Hospital in Khan Yunis on Thursday night, the major city in the southern part of the enclave where, according to Israel, some Hamas leaders operate.
Over 30,000 displaced people are taking refuge in this partially destroyed town, lacking food, water, and medicine due to Israel’s total siege, according to the Hamas health ministry.
The population is “dying of hunger,” warned Michael Ryan, director of the World Health Organization’s emergency health program, on Wednesday.
According to the UN, the war forced 1.7 million of Gaza’s 2.4 million inhabitants to flee their homes.
The situation risks worsening due to the suspension of donations from several countries to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) after Israel accused 12 of its employees of being involved in the Hamas attack on October 7.
The agency, which stated that it might be forced to cease its operations “at the end of February,” was nominated on Thursday by a Norwegian politician for the Nobel Peace Prize “for its work in providing vital support to Palestine and the region.”
International
Ecuador declares state of emergency in five provinces to combat organized crime
The Ecuadorian government has declared a state of exception in the provinces of El Oro, Guayas, Los Ríos, Manabí, and Santa Elena for 60 days to combat organized armed groups amid escalating hostilities, according to Executive Decree 250 published on Tuesday.
The Armed Forces and National Police are jointly working to “maintain sovereignty and the integrity of the state.”
With this measure, the right to inviolability of the home has been suspended, meaning security authorities are permitted to conduct inspections, raids, and searches on properties where they believe members associated with armed groups may be hiding.
Authorities will also seize “materials or instruments” that could be used to commit crimes to neutralize threats.
In response to the criminal activity in the territory, the government will also establish an Anti-Criminal Investigation Force in the coming days aimed at reducing intentional homicides.
The national director of Crimes Against Life, Violent Deaths, Disappearances, Extortion, and Kidnapping of the National Police (Dinased), Freddy Sarzosa, noted that the main cause of criminal violence is linked to drug and arms trafficking.
International
Argentine president criticizes spanish PM amidst political row
Argentine President Javier Milei sharply criticized Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez, suggesting he “has more significant issues to address,” in response to comments made by Spain’s Minister of Transport, Óscar Puente, on Friday.
“The government of Pedro Sánchez has more significant issues to deal with, such as the corruption allegations against his wife, a matter that even led him to consider resignation,” stated Argentine President Javier Milei.
In this regard, the Argentine leader expressed his expectation that the judiciary would act “swiftly” in this corruption case, which he mentioned “affects the stability” of Spain and relations between the two nations.
Moreover, Milei accused Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez of “endangering” the unity of Spain by “negotiating with separatists,” harming women by “allowing illegal immigration of those who threaten their physical integrity,” and damaging the middle class through “socialist policies that only bring poverty and death.”
The Argentine presidency issued these statements in response to remarks from Spain’s Minister of Transport and Mobility, Óscar Puente, who accused Milei of “substance ingestion,” which the Argentine presidency labeled as “slander and libel.”
“I saw Milei on TV and, hearing him, I couldn’t tell in what state he was in, before or after the ingestion of whatever substances, and he came out to say that and I thought, it’s impossible that he wins the elections, he’s dug his own grave, but no,” Puente declared at a colloquium on communication and social media held this Friday in Salamanca.
International
The death toll of the devastating floods in Kenya amounts to 210
The death toll from the devastating floods caused by the torrential rains that hit Kenya since mid-March amounted to 210, while about 165,500 people have been displaced, the Kenyan Ministry of the Interior reported on Friday.
The total death toll increased after 22 more deaths were confirmed in the last 24 hours, the Ministry said in a statement collected by local media.
Likewise, the injured and missing remain at 125 and 90, respectively, and a total of 196,000 have been affected by the floods throughout the country, immersed in the long rainy season, which has especially hit the center, south and west of its territory.
To respond to this crisis, the Ministry said, the Kenyan authorities have created at least 115 camps distributed in 19 of the 47 counties of Kenya, where more than 27,500 people have taken refuge.
The Government published these data after the Kenyan Minister of the Interior, Kithure Kindiki, urged on Thursday to move all Kenyans who reside in areas vulnerable to landslides or near dams and rivers.
In a message published on social network X late on Thursday, Kindiki pointed out that all neighbors in those areas are “ordered” to “leave these areas immediately” in the next 24 hours, before a “mandatory evacuation” is launched.
“The Government has adopted adequate measures to provide temporary accommodation, as well as essential food and non-food supplies to all those who will be affected by the eviction,” the minister said.
The truth is, however, that, according to the Human Rights Watch (HRW) organization, the Government of Kenya did not act in time or respond adequately to the serious floods, despite the weather predictions it had.
In a statement released on Thursday, the NGO warned that the destruction caused by the rains “has exacerbated socioeconomic vulnerabilities” by more severely hitting the poor population, rural residents, the elderly and people with disabilities.
In the same vein, a report by the National Drought Management Authority (NDMA) published on Tuesday pointed out that the storms have aggravated the lack of food in Kenya to the point that about two million Kenyans need food aid.
Severe storms will last at least until next week, and the rains will continue to be intense during this month, according to the prediction of the Department of Meteorology of Kenya.
In recent years, the long rainy season, which runs from March to May and also affects other countries in East Africa, has been intensified by the El Niño weather phenomenon, a change in atmospheric dynamics caused by the increase in the temperature of the Pacific Ocean.
The west, center and south of the country – including the capital, Nairobi – have so far taken the worst part, and the overflow of a river on Monday especially hit Nakuru County, where at least 71 people died as a result of the tragedy.
Ecuador declares state of emergency in five provinces to combat organized crime
Argentine president criticizes spanish PM amidst political row
The death toll of the devastating floods in Kenya amounts to 210
Tec de Monterrey honors one of its students for his contribution to nanotechnology in medicine
Defense Minister commends salvadoran soldier for Central American Cross Country victory
Ecuador prison riot leaves at least 43 dead
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