International

The Israeli Army again besieges Jan Yunis’ Naser and Al Amar hospitals

The Israeli Army again besieged the Naser and Al Amal hospitals this Sunday, both in the city of Jan Yunis, in the south of the enclave, with “intense bombings and gunfire” around both medical centers, denounced the Palestinian Red Crescent.

Dozens of armored vehicles surround both hospitals and carry out excavation work in the surroundings, Palestinian sources indicate.

The new siege of the two main hospitals of Jan Yunis, which were already besieged for more than twenty days in February, occurs when Israeli troops carry out for the seventh consecutive day a hard military operation at the Shifa hospital in Gaza City, where they claim to have arrested 480 “terrorists.”

The Palestinian Red Crescent, which manages the Al Amal hospital, pointed out that Israeli armored vehicles are demolishing buildings and structures around the hospital and warned about the “extreme danger” run by their teams, which can neither enter nor leave the hospital.

A member of the Red Crescent emergency operating room, Amir Subhi Abu Aisha, died from a drone attack by Israeli troops while working in the hospital and had to be buried in the courtyard of the center, the organization reported.

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Eyewitnesses cited by the official Palestinian agency Wafa also reported aerial bombardments on the southern and eastern flanks of the Naser medical complex, the most important in the southern Strip, as well as in the nearby neighborhood of Batn as Samin, in Jan Yunis.

“The continuous artillery bombardments relentlessly hit the buildings, in addition to helicopter and drone fire, which caused the death of several civilians and other wounded,” Wafa said of the attacks on the Naser, which houses thousands of Palestinians displaced by the hard fighting in the center and south of the enclave.

He also assured on Sunday that he had arrested about 480 members of Hamas organizations or Islamic Jihad, in addition to having located “numerous weapons and terrorist infrastructure,” in the Shifa hospital in Gaza City, which is experiencing its seventh consecutive day of military siege today.

“The forces continue the precise operational activities in the area of the Shifa Hospital while avoiding damage to civilians, patients, health workers and medical equipment,” said a military statement.

The Ministry of Health of the Strip, controlled by Hamas, reported yesterday that five wounded who were treated at that center died as a result of the siege of Israeli troops, which began on Monday, and are in addition to the 13 intensive care patients who died in recent days due to lack of electricity and medical treatment.

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Health also reported that 240 patients and relatives had been arrested by Israeli forces and a dozen health personnel; while the Israeli Army indicated that it had interrogated more than 800 suspects – it assures that 480 are “terrorists” – and killed 170 alleged fighters.

“We will end this operation only when the last terrorist is in our hands, alive or dead,” said last night the commander-in-chief of the Southern Command of the Israeli Army, Major General Yaron Finkelman, who praised the success of the “bold and impressive” operation.

The Army also pointed out that on the last day, its fighter planes attacked about 65 targets in the north and center of the Gaza Strip, including “a tunnel used to carry out attacks, military complexes where armed terrorists operated and additional military infrastructure.”

Both in the center of the Gaza Strip and in the Jan Yunis area, in the south, where fighting has not stopped for more than three months, the troops “eliminated several terrorists” on the last day by sniper fire.

“The troops also located and carried out a selective raid against a drone manufacturing laboratory belonging to terrorist organizations,” he added about the operations in the central area.

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While in the Jan Yunis area, engineering forces attacked a projectile launch pit and fighter jets destroyed Hamas’ military infrastructure, including a complex used as a meeting point for militiamen.

The Israeli Army also reported on Sunday that during the early morning it bombed the Baalbek area, in northeastern Lebanon, where it attacks for the third time since the beginning of hostilities because it claims that there is military infrastructure of the Shiite militia Hizbulá, which responded with the launch of a stun of 50 rockets.

“This morning, fighter jets of the Israel Defense Forces attacked a weapons manufacturing site in Hizbulah, in the Baalbek area,” a military statement said.

It is the third time in two months that Israeli aviation has reached that point in Lebanon, more than 100 kilometers from the border, where he assures that Hezbollah has, among other military infrastructure, its air defense system; although most of the crossfire has been concentrated since October 8 in the communities bordering the divider.

The Army pointed out that Hizbulah carried out more than 50 launches to northern Israel in response, most of which were intercepted and the rest fell in depopulated areas.

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At least 84 Gazans have died in the Gaza Strip in the last 24 hours from Israeli attacks, including 19 who died yesterday in an attack on a group of people waiting for a humanitarian convoy in Gaza City, bringing the total number of fatalities in the war to 32,226.

“The Israeli occupation commits 8 massacres against families in the Gaza Strip, including 84 martyrs and 106 injured during the last 24 hours,” said the Ministry of Health of the enclave, controlled by Hamas, in its latest count.

The total number of injuries since October 7, when the war broke out, rises to 74,518, while the Ministry has more than 7,000 bodies that are still trapped under the rubble, according to the source.

The Commissioner General of the UN Agency for Palestinian Refugees (UNRWA), Philippe Lazzarini, said on Sunday that Israel has informed the UN that it will not approve more humanitarian convoys aimed at the north of the Gaza Strip, where famine is already a reality.

“Despite the tragedy that is unfolding under our surveillance, the Israeli authorities informed the UN that they will no longer approve any UNRWA food convoy to the north,” Lazzarini said in a statement.

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The commissioner recalled that UNRWA, which provides services to almost 6 million Palestinians in different countries and is the main humanitarian actor in the Gaza Strip, is in the middle of the war “the main sustenance” for more than 2 million internally displaced persons in the enclave and the only one that can proportional “vital assistance” in the north.

“This is outrageous and makes it intentional to obstruct assistance to save lives during a man-made famine. These restrictions must be lifted,” Lazzarini shouted.

International

U.S. Senate Rejects Budget, Bringing Government Closer to Shutdown Amid DHS Dispute

The U.S. Senate voted on Thursday against a budget proposal in a move aimed at pressuring changes at the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), following the killing of two civilians during a deployment of immigration agents in Minneapolis.

All Senate Democrats and seven Republican lawmakers voted against the bill, which requires 60 votes to advance, pushing the country closer to a partial government shutdown that would cut funding for several agencies, including the Pentagon and the Department of Health.

The rejection came as Senate leaders and the White House continue negotiations on a separate funding package for DHS that would allow reforms to the agency. Proposed measures include banning Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents from wearing face coverings and requiring them to use body-worn cameras during operations.

The vote took place just hours after President Donald Trump said he was “close” to reaching an agreement with Democrats and did not believe the federal government would face another shutdown, following last year’s record stoppage.

“I don’t think the Democrats want a shutdown either, so we’ll work in a bipartisan way to avoid it. Hopefully, there will be no government shutdown. We’re working on that right now,” Trump said during a Cabinet meeting at the White House.

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International

Trump Says Putin Agreed to One-Week Halt in Attacks on Ukraine Amid Extreme Cold

U.S. President Donald Trump said on Thursday that he secured a commitment from Russian President Vladimir Putinto halt attacks against Ukraine for one week, citing extreme weather conditions affecting the region.

“Because of the extreme cold (…) I personally asked Putin not to attack Kyiv or other cities and towns for a week. And he agreed. He was very pleasant,” Trump said during a Cabinet meeting broadcast by the White House.

Trump acknowledged that several advisers had questioned the decision to make the call.
“A lot of people told me not to waste the call because they wouldn’t agree. And he accepted. And we’re very happy they did, because they don’t need missiles hitting their towns and cities,” the president said.

According to Trump, Ukrainian authorities reacted with surprise to the announcement but welcomed the possibility of a temporary ceasefire.
“It’s extraordinarily cold, record cold (…) They say they’ve never experienced cold like this,” he added.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky later commented on the announcement, expressing hope that the agreement would be honored.

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International

Storm Kristin Kills Five in Portugal, Leaves Nearly 500,000 Without Power

Storm Kristin, which battered Portugal with heavy rain and strong winds early Wednesday, has left at least five people dead, while nearly half a million residents remained without electricity as of Thursday, according to updated figures from authorities.

The revised death toll was confirmed to AFP by a spokesperson for the National Emergency and Civil Protection Authority (ANPEC). On Wednesday, the agency had reported four fatalities.

Meanwhile, E-Redes, the country’s electricity distribution network operator, said that around 450,000 customers were still without power, particularly in central Portugal.

Emergency services responded to approximately 1,500 incidents between midnight and 8:00 a.m. local time on Wednesday, as the storm caused widespread disruptions.

The Portuguese government described Kristin as an “extreme weather event” that inflicted significant damage across several regions of the country. At the height of the storm, as many as 850,000 households and institutions lost electricity during the early hours of Wednesday.

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Several municipalities ordered the closure of schools, many of which remained shut on Thursday due to ongoing adverse conditions.

Ricardo Costa, regional deputy commander of the Leiria Fire Brigade, said residents continue to seek assistance as rainfall persists.
“Even though the rain is not extremely intense, it is causing extensive damage to homes,” he noted.

In Figueira da Foz, a coastal city in central Portugal, strong winds toppled a giant Ferris wheel, underscoring the severity of the storm.