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
Iranian leader warns foreign powers have “no place” in Strait of Hormuz
Iran’s Supreme Leader, Mojtaba Khamenei, said Thursday that the Persian Gulf is entering a new era marked by a “bright” future without the presence of the United States in the region.
His remarks came during the commemoration of Persian Gulf Day, amid ongoing regional tensions following recent military confrontations involving Iran, the United States, and Israel.
“Today, two months after the largest military buildup and aggression by the bullies of the world in the region and the humiliating defeat of the United States, a new chapter is being written for the Persian Gulf and the Strait of Hormuz,” Khamenei stated.
The Iranian leader insisted that the future of the region would be free from American influence and focused instead on the internal development and prosperity of Gulf nations.
“By the power and strength of God, the bright future of the Persian Gulf region will be a future without the United States and dedicated to the progress, welfare, and prosperity of its nations,” he said.
Khamenei also questioned the effectiveness of U.S. military bases in the region, arguing that they do not provide security even for Washington’s allies.
“Foreigners who come from thousands of miles away and commit evil and malicious acts have no place there except at the bottom of its waters,” he declared.
In addition, the Iranian leader defended new measures being prepared by Tehran to regulate maritime traffic through the Strait of Hormuz, including fees for vessels passing through the strategic waterway. According to Khamenei, the policies would generate economic benefits and greater stability for the region.
Regional tensions remain high following the conflict that erupted on February 28 between the United States and Israel against Iran, leading to strategic blockades in the Strait of Hormuz, a route through which nearly 20% of the world’s oil supply previously passed. The situation has disrupted maritime trade and contributed to rising global oil prices.
Central America
U.S. and Regional Allies Back Panama Amid Dispute With China
The United States, Bolivia, Costa Rica, Guyana, Paraguay and Trinidad and Tobago issued a joint statement in support of Panama’s sovereignty, arguing that China’s recent actions represent an attempt to politicize maritime trade and undermine the sovereignty of nations in the hemisphere.
“We are closely monitoring China’s selective economic pressure and recent actions affecting vessels flying the Panamanian flag,” the statement released Tuesday said. “Panama is a pillar of our maritime trading system and, as such, must remain free from undue external pressure.”
The statement comes amid growing tensions surrounding the Panama Canal and the operation of key ports linked to global trade.
At the end of January, Panama’s Supreme Court invalidated the legal framework supporting the 1997 concession that granted Panama Ports Company, a subsidiary of CK Hutchison, the right to operate the Balboa and Cristóbal terminals located on the Pacific and Atlantic entrances of the Panama Canal.
The ruling followed mounting pressure from the United States to curb Chinese influence around the strategic waterway, through which roughly 5% of global maritime trade passes.
CK Hutchison, which managed the ports for nearly three decades, rejected the court’s decision and accused Panamanian authorities of illegally confiscating its assets. The company has launched international arbitration proceedings against Panama, seeking more than $2 billion in damages.
Following the court ruling, reports emerged of increased detentions and inspections of Panamanian-flagged vessels in China, actions widely viewed as retaliatory measures.
On Wednesday, China’s Foreign Ministry dismissed the joint statement as “completely unfounded and misleading,” accusing the United States of politicizing port operations and warning that Beijing would take steps to protect its interests in Panama.
International
King Charles III Says U.S.-UK Alliance Is “Irreplaceable and Unbreakable”
King Charles III of the United Kingdom reaffirmed the strength of the British-American relationship on Tuesday during a speech before the United States Congress, describing the alliance between the two nations as “irreplaceable and unbreakable.”
The address, delivered at the Capitol, marked the first speech by a British monarch before Congress since Queen Elizabeth II in 1991 and comes at a time of political tensions between Donald Trump’s administration and the Labour government of Prime Minister Keir Starmer.
“As President Trump himself observed during his state visit to Britain last autumn, the bond of kinship and identity between the United States and the United Kingdom is invaluable and eternal. It is irreplaceable and unbreakable,” the king said.
While reflecting on the upcoming 250th anniversary of U.S. independence, which will be commemorated this year, Charles III stated that the partnership between the two countries “was born out of disagreement, but is no less strong because of it.”
The monarch emphasized the democratic values shared by both nations and noted that major global changes have occurred whenever the two allies found common ground.
“When we have found that way to agree, great changes have taken place not only for the benefit of our peoples, but for all peoples,” he said.
King Charles also quoted British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, who recently described the relationship as “an indispensable alliance.”
Concluding his speech, the monarch described the shared history of the United States and the United Kingdom as “a story of reconciliation, renewal, and an extraordinary partnership.”
He added that Washington and London have forged “one of the most consequential alliances in human history.”
“I pray with all my heart that our alliance continues to defend our shared values, together with our partners in Europe, the Commonwealth, and around the world, and that we ignore calls urging us to become increasingly isolationist,” Charles III stated.
The king ended by urging both nations to “recommit to one another in selfless service to our peoples and to all peoples of the world.”
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