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The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) have informed the UN that all Palestinians living north of the Gaza Strip must leave the area within 24 hours. UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric said, adding that it is about 1.1 million people, about half of the 2.3 million in the Gaza Strip. The spokesman called on the Israeli army to annul the decision to "prevent a situation that is already a tragedy from turning into a disaster." Israeli Energy Minister Israel Katz said Thursday he would keep Gaza without power, water and fuel until Hamas releases all its hostages. "Humanitarian aid to Gaza? No electrical switch will be turned on, no hydrant will be opened, and no fuel truck will enter until the Israeli abductees return home," Katz tweeted. The Red Cross had previously called for aid to be facilitated in the Gaza Strip, fearing that hospitals there could become morgues as electricity ran out. The death toll stands at 1,300 dead and 3,200 wounded in Israel; and 1,537 killed in Gaza and more than 6,000 injured.
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Gaza bombings, school as shelter and Blinken's encounter with a festival survivor
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The Country
Republican House Majority Leader Steve Scalise announces his resignation. / EVELYN HOCKSTEIN / REUTERS
Blockade in US Congress complicates delivery of military aid to Israel
The resignation of Steve Scalise, the Republican candidate to be speaker of the House of Representatives of the United States, plunges his party into chaos and puts the governability of the House at risk. It also blocks a bipartisan declaration of support for Israel and approval of military aid for the ongoing war against Hamas. The political stalemate adds even more pressure to the institutional crisis that the United States is going through. Congress can do nothing, even the most symbolic of gestures, until its members choose a leader. With the assistance program to Ukraine frozen, the date of November 17 is also approaching without remedy, the day on which the extension signed with the Democrats to avoid a partial closure of the Administration expires, as our colleague Iker Seisdedos, from Washington, tells us.
ACT.13 OCT 2023 - 05:48
Reuters
Israeli army orders evacuation of northern Gaza within 24 hours
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) have informed the UN that all Palestinians living north of the Gaza Strip must leave within 24 hours, which may indicate preparations for a ground entry. UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric said, adding that it is about 1.1 million people and called on the IDF to annul the decision to "prevent a situation that is already a tragedy from turning into a disaster."
"We believe that it is impossible for such a movement to occur without devastating humanitarian consequences," Dujarric added, stressing that the IDF order also applies to all UN teams and those covered by its facilities, including schools, hospitals and clinics.
ACT.13 OCT 2023 - 05:59
Relatives of Hamas abductees project their faces on UN building
This Friday morning, relatives of those kidnapped by Hamas who live in New York have projected their faces on the facade of the United Nations headquarters. "What would you do if these were your children? Your grandmother?", can be read in the video projected at the top of the building. "Hamas is holding more than 100 people hostage. We want our families back. The abduction of Israeli citizens is a crime against humanity. Bring them home now! Hamas is Daesh."
ACT.13 OCT 2023 - 04:51
EFE
Protesters call for "stop to Palestinian genocide" in front of Israeli Embassy in Mexico
A hundred people have protested in front of the Israeli Embassy in Mexico. The demonstrators carried banners with the message "Stop Israel's genocide against Palestine" and have demanded an end to the attack against Palestinian people in a demonstration in front of the Israeli Embassy in Mexico City. "We ask Israel to end the intervention of imperialism throughout the region," Yara Villaseñor, part of the Socialist Workers Movement and the Daily Left Network, said in an interview with EFE. "The independent organization of the Palestinian people is necessary because [in the conflict] there is a project that supports the conservative right and crushes the resistance of the Palestinian people," he added. During the protest, a variety of posters were displayed with demands such as: "Stop all US financial and military aid to Israel", "No to the war of extermination", "Free Palestine", with the support of flags such as Colombia, Haiti or Peru. "In Mexico, the candidate of the conservative right like Xochitl Galvez, but also progressives like Claudia Sheinbaum have declared their support for Israel," they said at the protest. Sheinbaum and Gálvez are the future official and opposition candidates for the Presidency of Mexico.
ACT.13 OCT 2023 - 04:40
The Country
On the left, a pro-Palestine protest and on the right, a pro-Israel protest, both in New York (USA), on October 12, 2023. /REUTERS
War protests generate tension at Columbia University
Columbia University in New York has had to close its campus to the public after Thursday's tense demonstrations. Hundreds of students have participated in two simultaneous pro-Israel and pro-Palestine protests. Supporters of the Palestinians, many of whom wore masks to hide their identity, held flags and banners that read: "Free Palestine" and "To exist is to resist." About 30 meters away, pro-Israel students held the Star of David flag and showed images of Israeli hostages kidnapped by Hamas. Other campuses around the city have also seen strong demonstrations following Hamas's attack on Israel over the weekend and the Israeli military response in Gaza.
The protests in the city have been largely peaceful, but the passionate opinions displayed and the anxieties they produced are proof of the shock in New York following the attacks that have killed thousands. "I feel very discouraged," Caroline Smith, 23, a Columbia student, told The New York Times. The woman said ten members of her family live in Israel and that the pro-Palestine demonstration made her feel "very disturbed." Some events, such as a demonstration in Times Square last weekend where protesters cheered rocket attacks on Israel, have heightened tensions between the Jewish community and the pro-Palestinian leftist movement that has gained influence in recent years.
ACT.13 OCT 2023 - 04:12
EFE
HRW Says Israel Has Used White Phosphorus in Attacks on Gaza and Lebanon
The organization Human Rights Watch (HRW) has denounced that Israel has used white phosphorus, an internationally banned weapon, in military operations against Gaza and Lebanon, and has warned of the serious risks it poses to the civilian population, according to a statement. HRW said it verified videos taken on October 10 in Lebanon and October 11 in Gaza that "showed multiple explosions in the air of white phosphorus fired with artillery over the port of Gaza City and two rural locations on the Israel-Lebanon border."
ACT.13 OCT 2023 - 03:25
The Country
Egypt wants to avoid being splashed by the crisis
British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak spoke Thursday with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi "to understand the broader regional landscape and underline the importance of supporting civilians to leave Gaza," according to a statement released by the British government. U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, who is in the Middle East, is scheduled to meet with Egyptian authorities.
Egypt is the only country besides Israel that shares a border with the Strip, and fears a large displacement of people into its territory if the situation continues to escalate or if an Israeli ground invasion is launched. It has so far refused to allow Palestinians trying to flee Israel's bombardment to enter its territory.
ACT.13 OCT 2023 - 02:18
EFE
Hamas member says 'too early' to talk about hostage release
The release of the more than one hundred hostages estimated to be captured by Hamas in the Gaza Strip is a matter that "it is too early to talk about without first stopping the aggression" on the Gaza Strip, Osama Abu Khaled, of the Hamas members office, told EFE. He also assured that the organization is "making contacts with all interested parties to stop the aggression," without providing further details.
ACT.13 OCT 2023 - 01:35
Associated Press
Iranian foreign minister warns war could open on 'other fronts'
Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian warned that "in light of the continued aggression, war crimes and siege of Gaza, it is a real possibility to open other fronts." Amirabdollahian made the remarks to the press as he landed in Beirut, where he was received by representatives of Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad along with Lebanese officials. This morning, the Iranian minister conveyed a similar message in Iraq after a meeting with Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani.
ACT.13 OCT 2023 - 00:52
The Country
Israel has dropped 6,000 bombs since Hamas attack
The Israeli air force said Thursday in its X account that in the last five days they have dropped 6,000 bombs in Gaza, "against Hamas targets," an acronym in Arabic for "Islamic Resistance Movement", the Palestinian militia. According to The Washington Post, that number is more than the U.S. launched during any month of the entire U.S. air campaign against the Islamic State.
ACT.13 OCT 2023 - 00:27
EFE
Von der Leyen and Metsola travel to Israel on Friday in solidarity with Hamas victims
The president of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, and the president of the European Parliament, Roberta Metsola, are scheduled to travel to Israel on Friday to show solidarity with the victims of the terrorist attacks of the Islamist group Hamas.
"The President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, and the President of the European Parliament, Roberta Metsola, will visit Israel on Friday to express their solidarity with the victims of Hamas terrorist attacks and meet with Israeli leaders," the EU executive said in a statement.
ACT.12 OCT 2023 - 23:37
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