International

Armed settlers attack Palestinian villages as Iranian threat plans over Israel

Armed settlers attacked ten villages in the occupied West Bank on Saturday, leaving more than a dozen Palestinians wounded by bullets, after a 14-year-old Israeli teenager was found dead near a settlement; the escalation occurs while Israel remains on alert to the Iranian threat of attacking the Jewish State.

According to medical sources of the Palestinian Red Crescent, more than a dozen Palestinians were wounded by bullets today – five in the village of Al Mughayir, where yesterday a 25-year-old Palestinian died in a first attack by settlers along with law enforcement forces – and another five in the village of Duma, northeast of Ramalla.

At least three more were beaten, and one Palestinian was injured with rubber bullets in widespread attacks – with burning of homes and destruction of cars – according to a count by the Israeli NGO Yesh Din in eight other villages: As Sawiya, Qusra, Beitin, Silwad, Sinjil, Beitillu, Turmusaya and Beit Furik.

The Palestinian Prime Minister, Mohamad Mustafa, today condemned the attacks of Jewish settlers in the occupied West Bank and said in a statement that they will “not deter” Palestinians from “remaining in their land.” With the start of the war in Gaza, these attacks have increased to more than 700 since October, according to OCHA.

These attacks occurred after a search device found this afternoon with a drone the lifeless body, near the outpost of Malachei HaShalom (illegal settlement also under Israeli law) of the 14-year-old settler Benjamin Achimeir, who disappeared yesterday at 6:00 in the morning when he went out to herd sheep.

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The Israeli Army reported that the violence and clashes “had ended” tonight and announced more military and police presence in the West Bank, according to a statement.

According to the text, members of the Israeli security forces were also injured in the clashes that lasted for hours, and the Army reported the use of “anti-riot dispersal means” to end the altercations.

The Israeli Minister of Defense, Yoav Gallant, today asked Israelis via X that they will not take “justice in their own hands” and to let “the security forces act quickly in the search for the terrorists.”

“Acts of revenge will make the mission of our soldiers difficult. Justice should not be taken by its own hands,” he said in reference to the search operation to find the person responsible for the death of the Jewish teenager, who the authorities believe is Palestinian.

The Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, sent his condolences to the family, in what he called an “atrocious murder,” and assured that those responsible will be punished as “anyone who damages the citizens of the State of Israel.”

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Meanwhile, the Army said it was still on “high alert” to protect itself from “new Iranian aggressions,” as the Israeli military spokesman, Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari, said today in a statement shortly after the capture by Iran of a freighter in the Persian Gulf, to which he made no reference, was known.

The Israeli Foreign Minister, Israel Katz, did confirm the participation of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard in the hijacking of the ship, linked to the company ‘Zodiac Maritime’ owned by an Israeli billionaire, and asked the European Union to declare that Persian military corps a “terrorist organization.”

Hours later, the Ministry of Defense claimed to have increased security measures.

The capture has further increased tension in the Middle East, and especially in Israel, which awaits a reprisal attack after the bombing of the Tehran consulate in Damascus on April 1, which claimed the lives of half a dozen Iranians.

Despite the official alert, the population has hardly altered their behavior at all: the bars are still full and, tonight, a large demonstration has been called in Tel Aviv against the Netanyahu Government and for the return of the hostages from the Gaza Strip.

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The Palestinian Islamist group Hamas informed on Saturday the intermediaries of Egypt and Qatar, who have been working for months to try to achieve a truce in the war in Gaza, its rejection of the latest proposal, mediated by the United States, which it received last Monday and calls for a “permanent ceasefire.”

“In Hamas we reaffirm our adherence to our demands and the national demands of our people,” Hamas said in a statement, in which it reiterated its four requirements for an agreement: a permanent ceasefire, the withdrawal of the Israeli “occupation army” from all Gaza, the return of displaced people from the northern of the Strip, and a greater entry of humanitarian aid and the beginning of reconstruction.

“We also confirm our willingness to close an agreement,” the statement says, through “a serious and real exchange of prisoners between the two parties.”

According to leaks to the Israeli media and sources close to the negotiations in Cairo contacted by EFE, the last agreement on the table included six weeks of ceasefire, and a first exchange of 40 hostages for about 900 Palestinian prisoners; a hundred of them with long sentences.

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International

Football Fan Killed in Clashes After Colombian League Match

Fans of Cúcuta Deportivo and their traditional rivals Atlético Bucaramanga clashed outside the stadium following their local league match on Tuesday, leaving one supporter dead and several others injured.

The deceased fan was stabbed, according to a senior police official in Cúcuta who confirmed the cause of death in a video statement. Local media reported that the victim was a supporter of the visiting team, Atlético Bucaramanga.

The match ended in a 2-2 draw. Authorities had banned the entry of Atlético Bucaramanga’s organized supporters into the stadium in an effort to prevent disturbances.

Despite the restrictions, violence broke out in the surrounding areas after the game. Among the injured were three police officers, an institutional source told AFP.

The incident adds to a series of recent violent episodes linked to Colombian football. The most recent occurred in December, when supporters of Atlético Nacional and Independiente Medellín clashed in the stands and on the pitch, leaving 59 people injured.

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International

Missing Spanish Sailor Rescued After 11 Days Adrift in Mediterranean

The man had departed from the port of Gandía, on Spain’s eastern coast, with the intention of reaching the southern Spanish town of Guardamar del Segura, a journey of about 150 kilometers, a spokesperson for Spain’s maritime rescue service told AFP.

Search boats and aircraft were deployed on January 17, but the operation was called off on January 22 after efforts proved unsuccessful. Alerts were then issued to vessels navigating the area in case they spotted any signs of the missing sailor.

As hopes were fading, a surveillance aircraft from the European Union’s border agency Frontex spotted the sailboat on Tuesday, along with a person signaling for help, approximately 53 nautical miles northeast of Bejaia, Algeria.

A nearby vessel, the Singapore-flagged bulk carrier Thor Confidence, carried out the rescue and is expected to bring the man to an end to his ordeal when it arrives on Thursday in the southern Spanish port city of Algeciras.

Maritime rescue services shared images on social media showing a small white sailboat drifting at sea and secured alongside the much larger ship.

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It remains unclear how the sailboat ended up hundreds of kilometers off its intended route or how the man managed to survive for so long alone in open waters.

International

Rubio Says U.S. Could Participate in Follow-Up Russia-Ukraine Talks

The United States could join a new round of talks this week aimed at ending Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on Tuesday.

Teams from Kyiv and Moscow met last Friday and Saturday in Abu Dhabi in their first publicly acknowledged direct negotiations to discuss the peace initiative promoted by former U.S. President Donald Trump.

“They are going to hold follow-up talks again this week,” Rubio told the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. “There could be U.S. participation.”

However, Rubio suggested that Washington’s role may be more limited than during last week’s discussions, which included Steve Witkoff, the president’s special envoy, and Jared Kushner, Trump’s son-in-law.

The secretary of state indicated that progress may have already been made on security guarantees for Ukraine, one of Kyiv’s key demands in any agreement with Moscow after nearly four years of Russian invasion.

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“There is one remaining issue that everyone is familiar with, and that is the territorial claim over Donetsk,” Rubio said, referring to the eastern Ukrainian region that Russia wants Ukraine to cede.

“I know that active efforts are underway to see whether the positions of both sides on this issue can be reconciled. It remains a bridge we have not yet crossed,” he added during the hearing.

Rubio acknowledged that the territorial question would be particularly difficult for Ukraine to resolve.