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The European Union's High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Josep Borrell, has urged Israelis and Palestinians to implement the resolution "clearly" adopted by the UN General Assembly in favour of an immediate ceasefire in the Gaza Strip. "I urge the parties to implement the resolution," Borrell stressed. The General Assembly of the international organization approved the resolution for the ceasefire on Tuesday night with great support, with 153 votes in favor, 10 against and 23 abstentions. Meanwhile, the Israeli offensive in Gaza, now more focused on the south of the enclave, has caused more than 18,600 deaths, according to the Gazan authorities, controlled by Hamas. On the other hand, the Israeli army announced on Wednesday that Hamas killed nine Israeli soldiers in an ambush in the northern Gaza Strip, in one of the worst attacks that the Israeli army has suffered since the beginning of the offensive in Gaza.
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El País
Israel continues its bombardment of southern and northern Gaza despite calls for restraint
Flouting international calls for restraint, the Israeli military continued its bombing campaign on Gaza on Thursday, focusing the latest attacks on the south of the enclave. Overnight, Israeli troops shelled Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip, next to the Egyptian border, and Jabalia in the north. The Israeli government said Wednesday that, despite international calls for a truce and the ceasefire resolution overwhelmingly passed by the U.N. General Assembly, it would continue its war against Hamas with or without international support.
According to the Palestinian news agency Wafa, the attack in Rafah on at least two houses has killed 27 people, although there is no confirmation from the Strip's Ministry of Health.
Also in the early hours of the morning, the Qatari news channel reported "dead and wounded" in an Israeli attack in Jabalia, at the al-Minbar mosque in the refugee camp.
ACT.14 DEC 2023 - 07:57
El País
U.S. National Security Adviser Meets Saudi Government Before Traveling to Israel
US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan met on Thursday in Riyadh with Saudi Crown Prince and Prime Minister Mohammed bin Salman, with whom he discussed the humanitarian response for Gazans and the "ongoing efforts to create the conditions for a lasting peace between Israelis and Palestinians". as reported by the White House.
In a statement, Washington reports that, on the humanitarian side, Sullivan and Bin Salman have discussed "efforts to increase the supply of aid", which it describes as "critical". Without elaborating, he reports that the prince and the security adviser discussed efforts to achieve lasting peace.
On the other hand, Sullivan and Bin Salman discussed bilateral relations between the United States and Saudi Arabia, especially in areas of cooperation such as security, trade and technology.
The U.S. National Security Adviser is scheduled to travel to Israel on Thursday, on a visit that will last until Friday and in which he will meet with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, members of the war cabinet and President Isaac Herzog, with whom he hopes to discuss the latest developments in the region. (Agencies)
ACT.14 DEC 2023 - 07:18
El País
U.S. destroyer thwarts another attack by Yemen's Houthis on a commercial ship in the Red Sea
The U.S. Central Military Command, which deals with the Middle East region, reported on Thursday a new attack on a cargo ship in Red Sea waters by Yemen's Houthi rebels. According to the U.S. military command, the incident occurred on Wednesday when a Marshall Islands-flagged cargo ship, the Ardmore Encounter, was attacked by the Houthis, who tried to board the ship from small boats. The U.S. destroyer USS Mason, which received the emergency call from the commercial vessel, intervened, shot down a drone launched at the freighter and allowed it to continue on its course.
In a message posted on X, Central Command explains that Houthi rebels attacked the Ardmore Encounter and tried to board it at first. At around 8.30 a.m. Sanaa time (6.30 a.m. in mainland Spain) the destroyer USS Mason received a distress call. When the boarding attempt failed, "a couple of missiles were fired at the ship from Yemeni territory controlled by the Houthis, which failed," the U.S. military command said. In its response to the freighter's call, the USS MAson shot down a drone also launched from the Houthi area against the destroyer itself, so the US military claims that they acted "in self-defense", without any injuries or damage to either ship.
"The Ardmore Encounter was able to continue on course without major incident," the U.S. military concludes.
ACT.14 DEC 2023 - 06:39
EFE
Image of the vigil outside the White House by Biden administration workers in favor of a ceasefire in Gaza. / HUMEYRA PAMUK / REUTERS
Biden administration workers call for ceasefire outside the White House
A group of about 30 White House workers held a vigil Wednesday to demand that the Biden administration support a permanent ceasefire in the Gaza Strip. The protesters, who wore masks and sunglasses to hide their identities, carried signs reading "ceasefire" and "President Biden, your staff demands a ceasefire," according to images of the protest shared by U.S. media on social media. Former State Department official Josh Paul, who publicly resigned in protest of the U.S. government's response to the conflict in Israel and the Gaza Strip, also participated in the vigil.
ACT.14 DEC 2023 - 07:06
EP
Israeli army kills three Palestinians in Jenin
The Israeli army killed three Palestinians early Thursday after attacking the West Bank city of Jenin with a drone, which has been the scene of clashes since Tuesday, when Israeli forces began an operation that has resulted in more than a dozen deaths and hundreds of arrests. The drone was launched at a group of people in a neighborhood in the eastern part of the city, injuring at least six other people, the Palestinian news agency Wafa reported.
ACT.14 DEC 2023 - 01:59
Luis Pablo Beauregard
Protesters calling for a ceasefire in Gaza block a highway in Los Angeles. / DAVID SWANSON/REUTERS
Anti-War Rally Blocks Los Angeles Freeway
The war in Gaza has crept into Los Angeles' rush hour. A group of Jewish demonstrators closed one of the main arteries of the city of Los Angeles on Wednesday to demand a ceasefire in the Middle East. The youths, wearing T-shirts that read "not in our name," jumped onto Interstate 110, which crosses the city from north to south. The protest sparked tense moments in a transit-obsessed city. State police arrested about 75 people after a two-hour blockade.
The protest began minutes after 9 a.m. at a point on the freeway in downtown Los Angeles. A dozen vehicles slowed down southbound, bringing hundreds of drivers to a complete halt as they traveled through the six lanes of the road. This caused a blockage of several kilometers that affected other important roads that cross the city. Map apps showed a huge cherry-colored knot at that time of the morning.
ACT.14 DEC 2023 - 01:55
El País
U.S. reluctant to sell M-16 rifles to Israel amid risk of them ending up in the hands of extremist settlers
The United States is delaying approval of the sale of more than 20,000 M-16 assault rifles to Israel over concerns that they will end up in the hands of extremist settlers in the West Bank, Axios reported on Wednesday.
Early in the war, in October, Israel asked the U.S. for the rifles to set up "civilian response teams" in Israeli towns near the borders with Gaza, Lebanon and Syria. These "teams" would be made up of residents of the border areas and would be trained by the Israeli police to respond in the event of an attack like the one by Hamas on October 7, in which more than a thousand Israelis were killed and more than 200 were kidnapped. Washington gave its preliminary support to the sale once it obtained assurances from the Israeli government that these weapons would not end up in the hands of Jewish settlers in the West Bank.
The U.S. concern is that the Interior Ministry, which is responsible for the program, is in the hands of the far-right Itamar ben Gvir, who is close to the extremist settler movement. Since 7 October, settler violence in the West Bank has skyrocketed, with Palestinian authorities reporting that more than 260 Palestinians have been killed in the violence. Last week, the U.S. sanctioned several extremist settlers, banning them from traveling to the United States, and has repeatedly urged Israel to crack down on the violence.
ACT.13 DEC 2023 - 21:04
El País
Enlargement | Netanyahu will meet tomorrow in Tel Aviv with US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will meet on Thursday in Tel Aviv with US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan, who is traveling to the Middle East in the midst of the first diplomatic and public clash between the two administrations. As announced by the prime minister's office in a message from X, Sullivan will also meet with Israeli President Isaac Herzog and the country's Defense Minister Yoav Gallant.
ACT.13 DEC 2023 - 20:31
El País
Smoke during an Israeli bombardment in northern Gaza, in an image taken from Israel. / MENAHEM KAHANA / AFP
What has happened in the last few hours?
This is the latest news on the war in Gaza, at 20:00 p.m. on Wednesday, December 13:
Israel assures after the UN vote and Biden's criticism that the war in Gaza will continue "with or without international support". Hamas resists and kills nine soldiers in an ambush in the same northern neighborhood where it already troubled the troops in 2014.
Lazzarini, director of UNRWA: "The situation is inhumane and civil order is breaking down." The Palestinian people "feel abandoned by the international community and betrayed because it does not act in the face of one of the worst humanitarian catastrophes of our time," the director of the UN Agency for Palestinians (UNRWA), Philippe Lazzarini, said today at the Second Global Forum for Refugees.
Borrell urges the implementation of the ceasefire in Gaza requested by the UN General Assembly. "The UN General Assembly has clearly spoken out in favour of an immediate humanitarian ceasefire in Gaza," Borrell said in a message on the social network X. "I urge the parties to implement the resolution," Borrell stressed.
More than 18,600 people have been killed in the Gaza Strip since October 7 as a result of Israeli attacks, according to the Gazan Ministry of Health. In addition, 50,594 people were wounded, the Hamas-controlled Gazan Health Ministry said in a statement.
Los medios estadounidenses aseguran que Israel está inundando los túneles de Hamás bajo Gaza. Las Fuerzas Armadas de Israel han comenzado a inundar los túneles de Hamás debajo de Gaza con agua de mar, de acuerdo con una nota exclusiva del diario The Wall Street Journal, que cita fuentes oficiales a condición de anonimato.
Gaza se enfrenta a un “desastre de salud pública”. La oficina humanitaria de Naciones Unidas ha alertado del colapso humanitario en la Franja y la propagación de enfermedades causadas por el hacinamiento. “Tenemos una fórmula de libro de texto para epidemias y un desastre de salud pública”, ha declarado Lynn Hastings, coordinadora Humanitaria de la ONU para el Territorio Palestino Ocupado.
ACT.13 DIC 2023 - 20:02
El País
El jefe de Hamás dice que cualquier tipo de acuerdo sobre Gaza sin la milicia palestina es un "engaño"
El líder de Hamás, Ismail Haniyeh, ha asegurado en un discurso televisado que cualquier acuerdo sobre una pausa humanitaria o alto el fuego en Gaza que no cuente con la participación de la milicia islamista es un "engaño".
"Estamos abiertos a discutir cualquier idea o iniciativa que pueda terminar la agresión [israelí] y abrir la puerta a poner en orden el hogar de los palestinos, tanto en Cisjordania como en la franja de Gaza”, ha añadido. La Asamblea General de la ONU aprobó este martes, por una mayoría abrumadora, una resolución no vinculante a favor de un alto el fuego en el enclave. El Gobierno de Israel, sin embargo, ha insistido en que seguirá librando la guerra contra Hamás a pesar de las presiones "internacionales".
ACT.13 DIC 2023 - 19:50
El País
Ampliación | Netanyahu asegura que Israel seguirá librando la guerra contra Hamás a pesar de las "presiones internacionales"
El primer ministro israelí, Benjamín Netanyahu, ha asegurado que el ejército israelí seguirá luchando en Gaza a pesar de la presión internacional para un alto el fuego. "Continuaremos hasta el final, hasta la victoria, hasta que Hamás sea aniquilado", ha dicho a sus soldados durante una visita a unas instalaciones militares donde interrogan a detenidos en la Franja. "Digo esto ante el gran dolor pero también ante las presiones internacionales. Nada nos detendrá", ha añadido.
Israel, abiertamente enfrentado a su principal aliado, Estados Unidos, pierde apoyo en la esfera internacional después de que la Asamblea General de Naciones Unidas reclamara de forma mayoritaria —aunque en una votación no vinculante— un alto el fuego en el enclave.
Lee aquí la información completa.
ACT.13 DIC 2023 - 19:24
El País
Biden recibe a familias de rehenes estadounidenses aún retenidos en Gaza
El presidente de Estados Unidos, Joe Biden, ha recibido a familias de rehenes estadounidenses que siguen retenidos en Gaza, según han informado fuentes oficiales. Se trata del primer encuentro cara a cara entre el mandatario y las familias de los rehenes capturados durante el ataque de Hamás del 7 de octubre. Antony Blinken, el jefe de la diplomacia estadounidense, también estaba presente. Según John Kirby, portavoz del Consejo de Seguridad Nacional, aún hay ocho estadounidenses retenidos en la Franja. (AFP)
ACT.13 DIC 2023 - 18:42
Invasión de Gaza
‘Podcast’ | Gaza: el apoyo de los israelíes a una masacre que no ven
Antonio PitaElsa Cabria
El ejército israelí bombardea Gaza, con el apoyo masivo de la población de Israel, tal como muestran las encuestas. La gente cuestiona al Gobierno de Benjamin Netanyahu, pero la invasión de la Franja la percibe como inevitable. De los 18.000 palestinos muertos en los ataques, se habla poco en los informativos. Y en las redes israelíes circulan canciones y vídeos burlándose de ellos, algunos grabados por los propios soldados. Nos lo cuenta Antonio Pita, corresponsal de EL PAÍS en Oriente Próximo.
Escucha aquí el episodio de Hoy en EL PAÍS.
ACT.13 DIC 2023 - 17:20
El País
Lazzarini, director de la UNRWA: “la situación es inhumana y el orden civil se está desbaratando”
El pueblo palestino “se siente abandonado por la comunidad internacional y traicionado porque esta no actúa ante una de las peores catástrofes humanitarias de nuestros tiempos”, ha asegurado hoy en el II Foro Global para los Refugiados el director de la Agencia de la ONU para los Palestinos (UNRWA), Philippe Lazzarini. “Ellos ven ahora que las vidas humanas no son tratadas por igual, que los derechos humanos no son universales, y eso va a tener repercusiones muy graves”, ha alertado el representante de la UNRWA, la agencia que más muertos ha sufrido en un solo conflicto desde la creación de Naciones Unidas (más de 130 desde el 7 de octubre).
Lazzarini, quien acaba de visitar Gaza, ha descrito la situación en la Franja de “infernal”. “En los refugios de la UNRWA las familias están en espacios diminutos, separados unos de otros por mantas, y eso es para los que tienen suerte”, ha descrito Lazzarini, quien asegura que la población civil palestina “está hambrienta y desesperada”. “La sola llegada de un camión (con posible ayuda) hace que las multitudes se alboroten”, ha relatado el jefe de la UNRWA, y ha explicado que familias enteras de seis o siete miembros se ven obligadas a veces a pasar un día entero compartiendo una botella de agua o una simple lata de atún. “No exagero, la situación es inhumana y el orden civil se está desbaratando, los palestinos han llegado al límite de la resistencia humana soportando condiciones insoportables”, ha lamentado.
Los trabajadores de la propia UNRWA, ha añadido, comparten esa misma situación: muchos llevan a sus hijos a sus lugares de trabajo “para velar por su seguridad, o para que si murieran, lo hicieran juntos”, ha admitido. “A veces les pregunto cómo pueden aguantar, un colega me contó recientemente que varios días se retira a un rincón para llorar”, describió Lazzarini a los asistentes al foro de Ginebra, ciudad donde tiene su sede central la Agencia de la ONU para los Refugiados (ACNUR).
Lazzarini también ha utilizado su turno de intervención en el foro global para denunciar el uso de lenguaje “deshumanizador y peyorativo” en medios de comunicación y redes sociales contra los palestinos. “Estoy horrorizado por las campañas de calumnia hacia los palestinos y hacia quienes les dan protección, deben ayudarnos a resistir ese odio y a desmentir todas esas acusaciones que se repiten”, ha declarado Lazzarini. EFE
ACT.13 DIC 2023 - 16:52
Guerra entre Israel y Gaza
Israel asegura tras el voto de la ONU y las críticas de Biden que seguirá la guerra en Gaza “con o sin apoyo internacional”
Luis de Vega
In the last few hours, Israel has had a difficult time on the military front and the diplomatic front. The nine Israeli soldiers killed in the same ambush on Tuesday in the Shujaiya neighbourhood of northern Gaza show that, in the third month of the war, the Palestinian armed resistance continues to seriously confront the occupying troops. Among those killed was a lieutenant colonel, the highest-ranking military officer to lose his life during the ground incursion, with intense battles raging in both the north and south of the Palestinian enclave. That attack made Tuesday one of the worst the army has seen in the Gaza Strip in the current war. It also took place as Israel, openly at odds with its main ally, the United States, is losing support in the international arena after the United Nations General Assembly overwhelmingly called for a ceasefire, albeit in a non-binding vote.
Read the full information here.
ACT.13 DEC 2023 - 16:42
Borrell urges implementation of ceasefire in Gaza requested by UN General Assembly
The High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Josep Borrell, has urged the implementation of the resolution "clearly" approved by the UN General Assembly in favour of an immediate ceasefire in the Gaza Strip.
"The UN General Assembly has clearly spoken out in favour of an immediate humanitarian ceasefire in Gaza," Borrell said in a message on the social network X. The head of EU diplomacy recalled that 153 countries, including 17 EU member states, voted in favour of the resolution, while 10 voted against and 23 abstained. "I urge the parties to implement the resolution," Borrell stressed.
The U.N. General Assembly on Tuesday approved the non-binding resolution, with a much larger result than the one harvested on Nov. 28 calling for a cessation of hostilities.
Among the countries that voted against, in addition to Israel and the United States, were some European states (Austria, Czech Republic), as well as small countries in the Pacific, Guatemala and Paraguay, while among those who abstained for the first time was Argentina, which joined the position of Italy, Germany and Ukraine.
The resolution was "minimal" and focused on calling for a ceasefire in the face of "the catastrophic humanitarian situation in the Gaza Strip and the suffering of the Palestinian population," although it also included a call for the release of all hostages, and did not mention Hamas by name. (Image: EFE)
ACT.13 DEC 2023 - 15:33
El País
Pope insists on immediate ceasefire in the Gaza Strip
Pope Francis has called for an immediate ceasefire and for all parties involved in the conflict in the Gaza Strip to resume negotiations, as well as the immediate release of all hostages, who are held by the Islamist group Hamas.
The pope launched a new appeal for peace, explaining that he follows "with great concern and sorrow the conflict in Israel and Palestine," at the end of the general audience held in the Vatican's Paul VI Hall. "I renew my call for an immediate humanitarian ceasefire. There is a lot of suffering there," he lamented.
He then encouraged "all parties involved to resume negotiations and I call on everyone to make an urgent commitment to ensure that humanitarian aid reaches the people of Gaza, who are exhausted and truly in need".
The pontiff also called for "the immediate release of all hostages who had seen hope in the truce of a few days ago and for this great suffering for Israelis and Palestinians to end." "Please, no to arms, yes to peace!" he cried at the end of the hearing.
Finally, he urged the faithful to ask for "the gift of peace for the peoples suffering from war, especially for Israel, Palestine and the martyred Ukraine" in these days leading up to Christmas. (Image: EFE)
ACT.13 DEC 2023 - 15:00
El País
More than 18,600 dead in the Gaza Strip since October 7, according to Gaza's health ministry
At least 18,608 people have been killed in Gaza since October 7 as a result of Israeli attacks, the Hamas-controlled Gazan Health Ministry said in a statement. In addition, 50,594 people have been injured. (Reuters)
ACT.13 DEC 2023 - 14:41
El País
UK imposes new sanctions on seven Hamas-linked individuals
The United Kingdom has sanctioned seven people linked to the Palestinian militia Hamas, in order to cut off their access to finances and impose travel restrictions, the British Foreign Office said on Wednesday.
The move, coordinated with the United States, is the second round of sanctions imposed by the United Kingdom on figures associated with Hamas since the Oct. 7 attacks on Israel.
Among those sanctioned are Mahmoud Zahar, a co-founder of Hamas, Ali Baraka, the Palestinian group's foreign minister, who publicly defended the Oct. 7 attacks and tried to justify the hostage-taking, and a leader of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad, a terrorist organization that was also involved in the attacks. The Foreign Ministry note adds that the sanctions target key figures in the network that has financed Hamas, including from Lebanon and Algeria.
Foreign Secretary David Cameron said today that "Hamas can have no future in Gaza. The sanctions imposed today against Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad will continue to cut off their access to funding and further isolate them," said British Foreign Secretary David Cameron.
"We will continue to work with partners to reach a long-term political solution so that Israelis and Palestinians can live in peace," he added.
Others subject to travel bans and asset freezes in the UK include: Maher Obeid, a political leader who held senior positions in Hamas; Akram al-Ajouri, Deputy Secretary-General of Palestinian Islamic Jihad; Khaled Chouman and Rida Ali Khamis, who have funneled funds to Hamas through their exchange houses in Lebanon.
ACT.13 DEC 2023 - 14:40
El País
Eli Cohen, Israeli Foreign Minister: "We will continue the war against Hamas with or without international support"
Israel will continue the war against Hamas with or without international support, Israeli Foreign Minister Eli Cohen said on Wednesday. According to Cohen, agreeing to a ceasefire in Gaza at this time would be a mistake.
"A ceasefire in the current phase is a gift to the Hamas terrorist organization, and will allow it to return and threaten the residents of Israel," he said.
Cohen also called on the international community to act "effectively and aggressively" to protect the world's shipping lanes, referring to attacks by Yemen's Hamas-aligned Houthi rebels on civilian ships in the Red Sea for allegedly having connection with Israeli interests. (Reuters)
ACT.13 DEC 2023 - 14:10