International
Negotiations for the truce in Gaza will resume in Doha
Negotiations for the truce in Gaza are scheduled to resume tomorrow, Sunday, in Doha and there will be an Israeli delegation to respond to Hamas’ updated proposal, Egyptian intelligence sources told EFE today.
The source, who asked for anonymity due to the sensitivity of this issue, assured that the new round of talks will take place in Doha and not in Cairo, home of the last consultations, and in them there will be Egyptian, Qatari leaders and a delegation of the Israeli Mossad, without the participation of the Islamist group Hamas.
So far, the Qatari government has not officially confirmed that talks will resume tomorrow in its country.
The Egyptian source close to the negotiations assured that the meeting in Doha will discuss the points of disagreement between the Palestinian and Israeli parties, but it will not be to discuss all the points included in the agreement, since some have been agreed in principle.
He stressed, always according to this source, that the Israeli objections are mainly based on his desire for Hamas to reveal the names of the hostages and the figures of the dead captives.
On the other hand, a Palestinian source in Cairo also aware of the talks pointed out to EFE that the updated draft of Hamas contemplates three phases, instead of two as pointed out the day before.
The first phase provides for an exchange in different stages and a temporary ceasefire that lasts 42 days that later, in the second phase, will become a permanent ceasefire.
In the first phase, the movement conditioned the withdrawal of Israeli forces from Al Rashid Street and from Salah al Din to allow the return of the displaced and the passage of aid to the north of the Gaza Strip, as well as guarantee freedom of movement.
Hamas also offered, according to this source since the Palestinian group has not officially confirmed this information, to release 50 Palestinian prisoners for each living Israeli female soldier, although the informant did not offer more details of the rest of the hostages.
With the start of the second phase, Hamas demands a permanent ceasefire before any exchange of soldiers.
Finally, in the third phase, the proposal includes the implementation of a comprehensive reconstruction of the Gaza Strip and the end of the siege.
The mediators will try to press for both parties to reach a ceasefire, which was expected to be achieved before the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, which began on March 11.
At least 80 civilians, mostly women and children, were killed by Israeli airstrikes in the last hours in Gaza, medical and local sources told the Palestinian agency Wafa, while the Israeli Army claimed to have killed about thirty Hamas militiamen in the strip.
Waiting for the Gaza Ministry of Health to confirm the total number of fatalities this morning, about 36 people died last night in attacks on two houses in the Nuseirat camp, in the center of the Gaza Strip, sources on the ground told the Palestinian agency.
For its part, the army said it had killed 15 alleged militiamen in Nuseirat “hidden in a sie in Hamas” during an air attack, explains a military statement, which says that the attack was led by the 215º artillery regiment “based on intelligence information.”
The same regiment, the army says, conducted a second airstrike “killing a commander of a squadron of snipers from Hamas” and another militiaman.
The rest of the civilian deaths, mostly women and children, perished in the bombing of a seven-storey residential building “that housed displaced people,” according to Wafa, near the Al Shifa hospital, in Gaza City, and in another air attack on a house on Al Jalaa Street in the same city.
In addition, five other civilians died and dozens more were injured in an airstrike against a house in the Al Tuffah neighborhood, and a similar bombing caused an undetermined number of deaths and injuries in the Al Nasr neighborhood, both in Gaza City.
In turn, Wafa reported “intense air strikes” on the city of Beit Hanoun, in the north of the Strip, with bombings that also took place against an inhabited house in Rafah, south of the enclave and where more than 1.4 million displaced people take refuge.
In the center of Gaza, Israeli soldiers of the Nahal Brigade, according to the statement, killed “about 10 armed men” on the last day; and in Jan Yunis fighter planes destroyed “a weapons depot” and attacked alleged militiamen.
After more than five months of war, 85% of the Gaza population has been displaced, and 60% of the infrastructure of the Strip, according to UN estimates, is damaged or destroyed, with malnourished babies and little medical assistance due to Israeli attacks.
A Palestinian armed with a rifle was killed this Saturday by Israeli soldiers shot in a cemetery near a Jewish settlement, within the occupied Palestinian city of Hebron, according to a military statement and a video of the event.
An attacker “opened fire on a Jewish community (colony) in the city of Hebron. The terrorist has been neutralized,” said the army, which reported that soldiers comb the area in search of other possible suspects.
The total number of fatalities increased in recent hours to 31,553 and 73,546 injured since the start of the war in the Gaza Strip on October 7, reported the Ministry of Health controlled by Hamas, after a day of intense attacks in the central area of the enclave.
The Egyptian Foreign Ministry insisted on Saturday that Israel must open all the remaining steps that are not yet operational to introduce aid to the Gaza Strip and prevent the humanitarian situation from worsening.
“Egypt continues to do everything possible to improve the access of urgent aid to Gaza through the Rafah border crossing and through aerial launches,” Foreign Affairs spokesman Ahmed Abu Zeid said in a statement.
And he asked Israel to “remove the obstacles and restrictions it imposes on the entry of aid through land border crossings, and to put the remaining steps into operation so that more aid is entered and thus prevent the humanitarian situation in Gaza from worsening.”
International
Kristi Noem credits Trump for mass migrant deportations by mexican president
U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem claimed that Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum has deported “more than half a million” migrants due to pressure from former President Donald Trump.
During a cabinet meeting highlighting the “achievements” of Trump’s administration in its first 100 days, Noem asserted that under the Republican leader’s influence, “Mexico has finally come to the table” to negotiate on migration and fentanyl trafficking.
“The president of Mexico told me she has returned just over half a million people before they reached our border,” Noem stated, criticizing media reports that suggest the Biden administration deported more migrants than Trump’s.
“I wish those deportations were counted,” Noem added, “because those people never made it to our border—she sent them back because you made her.” She went on to thank Trump: “They never made it here because they got the message—because you were so aggressive.”
Noem has made controversial claims about Sheinbaum in the past, prompting the Mexican leader to refute them.
On April 1, Sheinbaum responded to one such statement by declaring, “The president answers to only one authority, and that is the people of Mexico,” after Noem said on Fox News that she gave Sheinbaum “a list of things Trump would like to see” and that Mexico’s actions would determine whether Trump granted tariff relief.
International
Vatican releases special “Sede Vacante” stamps ahead of papal transition
he Vatican’s post offices and select collector shops began selling special edition stamps this week to mark the period between the death of Pope Francis and the election of his successor.
Known as “Sede Vacante” stamps, they feature an image used on official Vatican documents during the interregnum between popes — two crossed keys without the papal tiara. These stamps went on sale Monday and will remain valid for postal use only until the new pontiff appears at the window overlooking St. Peter’s Square.
Until then, they can be used to send letters, postcards, and parcels. “Once the new pope is elected, the stamps lose their postal validity, but their collectible value rises,” said Francesco Santarossa, who runs a collectors’ shop across from St. Peter’s Square.
The Vatican has issued the stamps in four denominations: €1.25, €1.30, €2.45, and €3.20. Each is inscribed with “Città del Vaticano” and “Sede Vacante MMXXV” — Latin for “Vacant See 2025.”
International
Conclave to choose pope Francis’ successor could begin in early may
The conclave, which in the coming weeks must choose the successor to Pope Francis, will strictly follow a precise protocol refined over centuries.
The 135 cardinal electors, all under the age of 80, will cast their votes four times a day — except on the first day — until one candidate secures a two-thirds majority. The result will be announced to the world through the burning of the ballots with a chemical that produces the eagerly awaited white smoke, accompanied by the traditional cry of “Habemus Papam.”
The start date for the conclave could be announced today, as the cardinals are set to hold their fifth meeting since the pope’s passing. Luxembourg Cardinal Jean-Claude Hollerich suggested it could begin on May 5 or 6, following the traditional nine days of mourning. According to German Cardinal Reinhard Marx, the conclave could last only “a few days.”
Although the late Argentine pontiff appointed the majority of the cardinal electors, this does not necessarily ensure the selection of a like-minded successor. Francis’ leadership style differed significantly from that of his predecessor, Benedict XVI, a German theologian who was less fond of large public gatherings. It also marked a contrast with the popular Polish pope, John Paul II.
The Argentine Jesuit’s reformist papacy drew strong criticism from more conservative sectors of the Church, who are hoping for a doctrinally focused shift. His tenure was marked by efforts to combat clerical sexual abuse, elevate the role of women and laypeople, and advocate for the poor and migrants, among other causes.
Kristi Noem credits Trump for mass migrant deportations by mexican president
Vatican releases special “Sede Vacante” stamps ahead of papal transition
Conclave to choose pope Francis’ successor could begin in early may
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