International
Islamic Jihad launches 20 rockets from Gaza to Israel, the largest attack in months
The terrorist group Islamic Jihad launched 20 projectiles from Gaza on Monday against several communities in southern Israel, most of which were intercepted and others fell on the ground without causing victims, according to the Israeli Army in a statement.
The attack, which the Islamists carried out from the southern city of Jan Yunis, is the largest launched from the Strip in recent months, in which the missiles that crossed the border into Israeli territory rarely reached the ten.
“We have bombed Kissufim, Ein Hashlosha, Nirim, Sofa, Holit and the settlements of the Gaza area with rocket launches in response to the crimes of the Zionist enemy against our Palestinian people,” Islamic Jihad wrote in a statement with which he claimed the attack.
The Israeli Army, for its part, said it was “attacking” the point of origin of the rocket launch in the statement in this regard.
At the same time, the Palestinian news agency Wafa reported an Israeli bombing in the town of Khuza’a, east of Jan Yunis, in which a Palestinian was killed and an indeterminate number were injured and taken to the European Hospital in Gaza.
Israel also reported that it has eliminated about twenty alleged Palestinian militiamen in its “selective incursions” in Shujaiya, a neighborhood in the southeast of Gaza City where Hebrew troops resumed their military offensive last Thursday before the return of Hamas to the area.
Since the war began, about 37,900 people have died in Gaza (mostly women and children) and almost 87,000 have been injured, according to data collected by the Ministry of Health of the Strip, controlled by Hamas.
To these are added the more than 10,000 bodies that continue under the rubble without ambulances or rescue teams having access to them.
On the other hand, the Israeli Army released Mohamed Abu Salmeya, director of the Al Shifa hospital, the largest in the Gaza Strip, after spending seven months in detention, Palestinian sources told EFE.
Abu Salmeya returned to Gaza along with at least 50 other Palestinian detainees, whose release is due to the fact that “the prisons are full,” according to the Israeli public radio Kan, although the exact number of Gaza detainees in Israeli prisons is not known.
In statements to the Qatari chain Al Jazeera after his release, Abu Salmeya denounced that the prisoners are in “tragic conditions,” defined by the lack of food, medicines, and the torture carried out against them.
“We have been subjected to severe torture and the (Israeli) occupation assaults the prisoners’ cells and assaults them almost daily,” he explained.
The former director of the largest hospital in Gaza was arrested on November 23 to be interrogated for the “terrorist activities” of the Islamist organization Hamas in the clinic, after the discovery of one of its tunnels under the center.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ordered an “immediate” investigation after the release of Abu Salmeya, seven months detained by Israel allegedly in a detention center in the Negev.
And several Israeli ministers also rejected that release.
The Minister of National Security, the far-right Itamar Ben Gvir, denounced on social network X the release of Salmeya and the rest of the prisoners as a “security negligence.”
Ben Gvir seeks a tightening of the treatment of prisoners, and in 2023 he already proposed a death penalty law only for Palestinians that was approved in first reading two months later, although he still has to receive the green light from the Knesset (Parliament).
According to lawyer Khaled Mahajneh, who visited a detainee in Sde Teman prison, in Néguez (in southern Israel), known for the harsh treatment to which prisoners are subjected, the Palestinians go so far as to remain chained and blindfolded for up to 24 hours.
On the other hand, a Palestinian child and woman died and four other people were injured during a military incursion by the Israeli Army in the Nur Shams refugee camp, on the outskirts of Tulkarem, in the occupied territory of the West Bank, the Palestinian Ministry of Health announced.
Tulkarem is one of the hottest spots in the West Bank and, so far in 2024, Israel has already killed about 57 Palestinians here, according to an EFE count, sometimes in multi-day raies with great destruction of homes and roads.
The refugee camp, the birthplace of the Tulkarem Brigade that brings together different armed factions of both Fatah and Palestinian Islamic Jihad, became this morning the scene of armed fighting between militiamen and soldiers in military vehicles and two excavators.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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