International

Israel intensifies its offensive in Gaza and announces the death of three key figures in Hamas

Israeli troops intensified in the last hours the attacks and bombings against Gaza city, in addition to in the center and south of the Palestinian strip, and announced that they killed three key figures of Hamas in the al-Shifa Hospital, whose military siege lasts for the thirteenth consecutive day.

An operation coordinated by the Shayetet 13 flotilla, the Duvdevan unit and the Nahal brigade “carried out a selective raid on a hospital building (al Shifa) where they met the terrorists,” a military statement detailed today.

Always according to the text, the soldiers killed in the emergency room Mahmoud Halil Zakzouk, deputy commander of the rocket operations of Hamas, and in the maternity room Fadi Duyk, who helped carry out an attack in the West Bank in 2002, as well as Zakaria Najib, who had been convicted of participating in the kidnapping and murder of Israeli soldier Nachshon Wachsman in 1994.

These names are in addition to the death announced last Thursday of Raed Thabet, head of personnel and supplies of Hamas, also at the al Shifa Hospital. In total, according to Israeli military figures, more than 200 alleged militiamen have already been succumbed in this military operation, which began on March 18

In addition, about a thousand people have been arrested, and of them, about 500 would be associated with “Hamas or Palestinian Islamic Jihad,” according to Israel, which attacks this medical center for the fourth time.

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Today, the Palestinian news agency Wafa denounced “executions, arrests, torture and forced displacements” in the center, as the European-Mediterranean Human Rights Monitor already did on Wednesday, after documenting the “execution” of thirteen children – between 4 and 16 years old – by direct Israeli fire against the medical complex.

Since the beginning of the war in Gaza, almost six months ago, more than 32,700 Gazans have died and about 75,200 have been injured, more than 72% women and children, according to today’s figures from the Ministry of Health of the Government of Hamas. Another 8,000 bodies are estimated to remain under tons of debris.

Despite the destruction, the United States authorized in recent days the transfer of billions of dollars in bombs and fighter jets to Israel, according to military and diplomatic sources. A movement criticized today by the Palestinian Foreign Ministry, which says it questions the alleged US concern about the high number of civilian deaths in the enclave.

“Requesting (Prime Minister Benjamin) Netanyahu to stop killing civilians and supplying him (at the same time) with weapons is an unprecedented moral and principled contradiction,” the ministry said in a statement on social network X.

The ministry also regretted the “continuous failure” by the UN Security Council and the International Court of Justice (ICJ) to force Israel to respect its decisions, including the implementation of a ceasefire in Gaza and allowing more aid to enter the enclave.

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This week, the UN Security Council approved a resolution for a ceasefire, thanks to the abstention of the United States. The ICJ issued new provisional measures as part of the case initiated by South Africa for incitement to genocide, and demanded the Netanyahu government for the immediate, large-scale and unrestricted entry of aid in Gaza.

More than one million Gazans suffer from a lack of food of catastrophic proportions, according to a recent UN-backed food insecurity report, and famine is already imminent for more than 200,000 people in the northern Strip.

However, nothing has changed despite those international mandates, and only 159 trucks on average per day have managed to enter Gaza this March with humanitarian aid, according to UNRWA data, compared to the half a thousand that did it before the war

In Israel, thousands of people demonstrated tonight in the already known as the hostage square, in Tel Aviv, demanding an agreement from the Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, for the release of the 134 hostages that remain in the hands of Hamas since the attack on October 7.

A parallel protest, also in the area of Kaplan and Begin streets, where the Ministry of Defense is located, demanded today the end of Netanyahu’s Government and early elections.

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“It’s been) 176 days, 4,224 hours,” Shira Elbag, mother of the hostage Liri Elbag, said at the demonstration. “I hear Liri screaming! Mom, save me. Mom, it’s hurting me! 176 days (and) 4,224 hours in which I haven’t kept an eye due to the thoughts and fear of what Liri and the other hostages are living,” he added.

Negotiations for a truce in Gaza and the release of hostages are expected to resume tomorrow in Cairo, as reported today by the Egyptian channel Al Qahera News TV, citing a security source. Yesterday, Netanyahu’s Office announced that it had approved the sending of an Israeli delegation in the coming days.

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.

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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.