At least 48 Palestinians, including women and children, were killed this Saturday in Israeli aerial bombardments against the Al Tuffah and Zeitun neighborhoods and the Al Shati refugee camp, in Gaza City, in the north of the strip, local medical sources and rescue teams confirmed to EFE.
In Zeitun, at least seven Gazans died, twenty-two in Al Shati and at least nineteen other bodies were recovered from the rubble in Al Tuffah, although the number of victims is expected to increase in the coming hours.
In videos released on social networks, injured people are seen in Al Shati completely covered in dust caused by the collapse of at least four buildings, in addition to an atmosphere of widespread panic and a multitude of debris.
The Israeli Army reported, shortly before, that it had attacked two bases of “military infrastructure of Hamas” in the capital of Gaza with fighters, in which local media point to an attempt to assassinate a senior official of Hamas.
The Islamist group Hamas lamented in a statement the “savage attack on unarmed civilians” by Israel, which it called “a continuation of the genocide of more than eight months, in flagrant contempt and defiance of all the laws and rules that prohibit attacking civilians.”
The Hebrew Army has confirmed that intense fighting against Hamas militiamen is being recorded in the center of Gaza and “selective operations” in Rafah (south).
Already yesterday, in another attack that the Israeli military command claimed to be investigating, at least 25 Gazans died and fifty were injured when tanks opened fire on tents of displaced people in the north of Rafah, in the safe area of Al Mawasi, in an incident reported by the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC).
In the last few hours, at least 101 Gazans have died, according to the local Ministry of Health, dependent on Hamas.
“The ‘Israeli’ occupation committed three massacres against families in the Gaza Strip, causing 101 martyrs and 169 injured treated in hospitals in the last 24 hours,” the Gazaz Ministry of Health said on Saturday.
Thus, the total number of deaths increased today to 37,551 and the number of wounded to 85,911, after eight and a half months of war in Gaza started after the attacks in Hamas on October 7
The Israeli Army has reported the death of Ayman Ratma, a member of both Hamas and the Lebanese Sunni group Jamaa al Islamiya, in a selective air attack on his vehicle near the city of Khiara, 40 kilometers from the border with Lebanon.
“An air force (unmanned) aircraft carried out a precise attack in the (western) area of Beqaa in Lebanon to eliminate the terrorist Ayman Ratma, a key member responsible for the supply of weapons for the terrorist organizations Hamas and Jamaa al Islamiya in Lebanon,” according to a military statement.
Israel assures that Ratma was preparing to attack in Israel “immediately” and that he had already participated in other previous attacks, without offering evidence or giving details about it.
At the moment, Hamas has not spoken about it or claimed Ratma as one of its affiliates.
The European Union (EU) condemned this Saturday the bombing that caused damage at a headquarters of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) in Gaza this Friday, during two Israeli attacks in an area near its offices, and which left at least 25 Palestinian civilians dead and 50 injured, according to the Ministry of Health of the Strip, controlled by Hamas.
The EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs, Josep Borrell, called for an independent investigation and stressed that those responsible for the attacks “will be held accountable,” as he said in a message disseminated through the social network X.
“The protection of civilians is an obligation under the Geneva Conventions. All parties to the conflict are obliged to do so,” Borrell said.
The head of European diplomacy stated that the ICRC must be able to carry out “in safe conditions” all its work, which is covered by the Geneva Conventions, and which, according to Borrell, includes humanitarian protection, assistance to victims and access to prisoners.
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.
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.”
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.
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