International
Netanyahu and the opposition are stry for the war in Gaza
In a heated debate, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu defended before the Kneset (Parliament) his strategy of “pressure, pressure and more pressure” in the Gaza Strip, where more than 38,700 people have died and thousands are missing after nine months of intense bombing.
The Palestinian Islamist group Hamas “is under pressure because we are eliminating its commanders, thousands of its terrorists, because we have entered Rafah and the Philadelphia corridor and we have them by the neck,” Netanyahu said during a parliamentary session convened by the opposition.
Netanyahu told his critics to question his strategy in the enclave, and said that pressure on him will not do anything.
He also ventured that, if it depended on the opposition, Israel would have put an end to the war “without eliminating the commanders, without controlling Rafah and the Philadelphia corridor” and with the military leader of Hamas in Gaza, Mohamed Deif, “strolling like a winner.”
Deif was the target of a harsh Israeli attack over the weekend against the humanitarian zone of Mawasi, in the south of the enclave, in which more than 90 people were killed, according to the Gaza authorities. His destiny remains uncertain.
The leader of the opposition National Unity party, Benny Gantz, responded to Netanyahu on his X account with a threatening message in which he accused him of delaying Israeli operations in Jan Yunis and Rafah (south of Gaza) for his “indecision.”
“Everything will be revealed when the protocols and decisions are evaluated by the state commission of inquiry,” said Gantz, who until recently occupied a position with the right to vote in the already dissolved Cabinet of War of Israel.
The Israeli Government has not yet ordered the creation of a state commission to investigate the security flaws that allowed Hamas to carry out a large-scale attack on Israeli soil that left 1,200 dead and more than 200 kidnapped on October 7, 2023, and which was the trigger of the current war in Gaza, and Netanyahu himself has said that he opposes an investigation until it ends.
Both Gantz and the Israeli Minister of Defense, Yoav Gallant, have asked for this commission to be formed and have criticized the president for his lack of decisions in the war.
“Benny Gantz spreads fake news again,” Netanyahu replied in a message in X in which he claimed to have taken a screenshot of his tweet to rescue him when the public discovers “who was looking for excuses to ‘stop the fighting for a year or two’ and who pressed to continue the war until victory.”
Meanwhile, the families of the Israelis kidnapped in Gaza also charged Netanyahu, who allegedly said last night at a government meeting about negotiations with Hamas that “they should not be stressed” since “the hostages are suffering, but not dying,” according to a leak published by the Ynet news portal.
“We demand that the prime minister explain himself immediately,” the Forum of Relatives of Hostages demanded in a statement, before statements that they considered “deeply hurtful,” as well as “dangerously irresponsible.”
The platform, which represents the families of the kidnapped in the enclave, took advantage of the statement to demand that Netanyahu, as he usually does, sign the ceasefire agreement with Hamas to guarantee the safe return of both the living and the deceased hostages.
Opposition leader Yair Lapid, who has repeatedly offered a “safety net” to Netanyahu in front of his far-right coalition partners to achieve a hostage release agreement, asked him not to travel to Washington to participate in a joint session of the two chambers of Congress if not to announce an agreement.
The Israeli Prime Minister is scheduled to travel to the United States in the coming days to deliver a speech to the country’s legislators, after being invited by the Democratic and Republican leaders of both chambers.
His journey will take place with the negotiations for a ceasefire in Gaza on the tightrope, after the attack on Deif in Mawasi that left 90 dead and 300 injured.
International
Meta Says Russia Seeks to Ban WhatsApp for Defending Secure Communication
U.S. tech giant Meta, the parent company of WhatsApp, said that Russia is seeking to ban the messaging app because it “challenges government attempts to violate people’s right to secure communication.”
Russian authorities have encouraged citizens to switch to state-backed applications, and in August they already blocked WhatsApp’s calling feature.
On Friday, the communications regulator Roskomnadzor claimed that the platform was being used to “organize and carry out terrorist acts in the country, recruit perpetrators, and facilitate fraud and other crimes.”
“If the messaging service does not comply with Russian law, it will be completely blocked,” the regulator warned.
WhatsApp remains one of Russia’s most widely used messaging services, alongside Telegram.
Moscow is pressuring both platforms to grant authorities access to user data upon request for investigations into fraud and activities the government labels as “terrorist.”
Human rights advocates fear the demand could be used to target critics of the Kremlin, President Vladimir Putin, or the war in Ukraine.
International
Archbishop Wenski criticizes Trump’s deportation policies, calls for stronger push for reform
The Archbishop of Miami, Thomas Wenski, has called for increased pressure on the U.S. Congress to advance comprehensive immigration reform and criticized President Donald Trump’s mass deportation policies, arguing that they “do nothing to help.”
“We need to apply more pressure on Congress so lawmakers can make the necessary changes. It is also important for the Administration to listen to our voice. We do not want to be anyone’s enemy—we are Americans,” Wenski said in an interview with EFE.
The religious leader, who heads one of the dioceses with the largest Latino and Haitian populations in the United States, issued a call to defend the rights of migrants. He also emphasized that the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) has maintained a strong and public stance in favor of migrants for decades.
International
Trump relaunches diplomatic push to finalize U.S.-Backed peace plan for Ukraine War
U.S. President Donald Trump announced on Tuesday that his diplomatic team will resume meetings with delegations from Russia and Ukraine in an effort to pressure both sides to accept the peace plan proposed by Washington to end the war in Ukraine.
As part of this new round of talks, U.S. Special Envoy Steve Witkoff will travel to Moscow to meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin. Meanwhile, Army Secretary Dan Driscoll will hold discussions with Ukrainian representatives to narrow differences on the remaining points of the agreement.
Trump also confirmed his intention to meet personally with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and with Putin, though he emphasized that such meetings will only take place “when the agreement is fully finalized or in its final stage.”
The president claimed that his administration has made “tremendous progress” toward resolving the conflict and reiterated that the war “never would have started” if he had been in the White House at the onset of the crisis.
The U.S.-backed peace plan consists of 28 points and has been revised following feedback from both sides. According to Trump, only “a few points of disagreement” remain under active discussion.
One of the most controversial aspects of the proposal is the suggestion that Ukraine cede parts of the Donbas region to Russia and limit the size of its armed forces. Kyiv is working closely with Washington to soften these clauses in search of an arrangement that does not compromise its sovereignty or security.
With this diplomatic push, Trump aims to solidify his role as the main mediator in the conflict and steer the war toward a political resolution after years of devastation, humanitarian crisis, and rising global geopolitical tensions.
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