International
Far-right Israeli minister will leave the Netanyahu government if his country does not resume the war after the truce
Israel’s Finance Minister, Bezalel Smotrich, announced on Thursday that his party will leave the coalition government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu if he does not commit to resume the war in Gaza “immediately after” the end of the first phase of the ceasefire agreement announced this Wednesday.
“The faction supports the demands of the party’s chairman, Minister Bezalel Smotrich, to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, to guarantee Israel’s return to war to destroy Hamas (…) immediately after the conclusion of the first phase of the agreement, as a condition for the party to remain in the governing coalition,” the far-right party Religious Zionism said today in a statement.
According to the draft agreement to which Efe had access and details provided by Israeli officers, in the first phase of the 42-day agreement, Hamas will gradually release, and in exchange for more than a thousand Palestinian prisoners, 33 hostages (alive and dead) giving priority to women still captives – also the military ones -, people over 50 years of age, those under nineteen and the sick.
It is the second phase that must initiate “a sustainable calm” in the Strip and the total abandonment of Israeli troops from the Palestinian enclave as a requirement for Hamas to release the rest of the civilians and the male military so that finally, in a third phase, it exchanges the lifeless bodies of hostages already dead.
This morning, Netanyahu’s Office accused Hamas of not wanting to comply with what was already agreed on May 27, in the draft announced then by US President Joe Biden, and of wanting to exchange “mass murderers” for hostages, despite an explicit clause that vetoes it.
Hamas, for its part, assured that it is “committed to the ceasefire agreement, announced by the mediators” and that it is Israel that is trying to “create tension at a critical moment,” in addition to asking the US government to force it to comply with the agreement.
An Israeli official confirmed today to EFE that the negotiating delegation, headed by the head of the Mossad, David Barnea, is still in Doha finalizing the details of the ceasefire agreement, announced yesterday by Qatar and which should come into force this Sunday.
Internacionales
Jalisco’s grim discovery: drug cartel mass grave found in construction site
A mass grave was discovered in a residential area under construction in the municipality of Zapopan, part of the metropolitan area of Guadalajara, the capital of the Mexican state of Jalisco.
“After analyzing the recovered remains, they correspond to 34 individuals,” said a state official during a press conference. Jalisco has one of the highest numbers of missing persons in Mexico, largely due to the activity of drug cartels.
As of May 31, official data shows that Jalisco has recorded 15,683 missing persons, according to the state prosecutor’s office. Authorities attribute most of these cases to criminal organizations, which often bury or cremate their victims clandestinely.
“The construction company notified us at the end of February after discovering some remains,” explained the official, González, adding that excavation efforts have been ongoing since then.
The Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG) operates in the region and was designated as a foreign terrorist organization earlier this year by the administration of U.S. President Donald Trump. Washington has accused CJNG and the Sinaloa cartel of being the main sources of fentanyl trafficking, a synthetic opioid responsible for tens of thousands of overdose deaths in the U.S.
Mexico has accumulated more than 127,000 missing persons, most of them since 2006, when the federal government launched a heavily criticized military-led anti-drug offensive.
International
U.S. targets families of sanctioned drug traffickers with new Visa restrictions
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced on Thursday a new visa restriction policy targeting the family members and close associates of individuals sanctioned for drug trafficking, as part of efforts to combat the spread of fentanyl.
Overdoses from this synthetic opioid remain the leading cause of death among Americans aged 18 to 44. According to official sources, more than 220 overdose deaths are reported daily in 2024, and over 40% of Americans know someone who has died from opioid-related causes.
“Today, I am announcing a new visa restriction policy (…) which will apply to close family members and personal or business associates of individuals sanctioned for drug trafficking,” Rubio said in a statement.
International
White House claims challenged as most ICE arrests in LA involve non-criminals
Nearly seven out of ten people arrested during immigration raids in Los Angeles from June 1 to June 10 had no criminal record, contradicting White House claims that the raids targeted “criminals,” according to an analysis published Wednesday by the Los Angeles Times.
Around 722 individuals were detained in the Los Angeles metropolitan area during the first ten days of June, when Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) initiated the raids, according to data obtained by the Deportation Data Project of the University of California Berkeley School of Law.
The Los Angeles Times analysis found that 69% of those arrested during this period had no criminal record, and 58% had never been charged with any crime.
These figures contradict the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), which said in a statement Tuesday that since June 6, ICE and Customs and Border Protection (CBP) launched an operation “to remove the worst criminal illegal aliens.”
DHS Deputy Secretary Tricia McLaughlin warned that the arrests are part of President Donald Trump’s promise to secure the border by deporting criminals, including drug traffickers in Los Angeles, without providing further details.
Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass criticized last week in a CNN interview that although the White House said it would target violent criminals, the raids had focused on workers.
“This wasn’t a drug den, it was a Home Depot,” Bass said, questioning the locations where raids were conducted.
Activists have also denounced the raids for targeting vulnerable workers who are easy to detain.
The Los Angeles Times analysis found that the average age of those arrested was 38, mostly men. Nearly 48% were Mexican, 16% Guatemalan, and 8% Salvadoran.
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Jalisco’s grim discovery: drug cartel mass grave found in construction site
U.S. targets families of sanctioned drug traffickers with new Visa restrictions
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