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Israel is withdrawing some forces from Gaza to focus on more targeted operations against Hamas in a new phase of the conflict that could drag on for "at least six months," an Israeli official told Reuters. Toppling Hamas remains a goal of the offensive in the Palestinian enclave, and according to the official, some of the five withdrawn brigades will prepare for a possible outbreak of a second front against Hezbollah in Lebanon. Just at midnight, Tel Aviv and southern Israel have been attacked with rockets launched from the Gaza Strip. Air warning sirens were activated in the Israeli city and it was possible to see the devices that were intercepted by Israeli missile defense systems. The U.S. Navy sank three vessels belonging to Yemen's Houthi rebels in an attack on the Maersk container ship Hangzhou on Sunday. According to a Houthi spokesman, 10 of their militiamen were killed in the clash. This is the first direct confrontation between the U.S. and the Houthis since the Gaza conflict began.
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Netanyahu: "The war will continue for many more months"
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El País
Nearly 5,000 Palestinians detained in West Bank since October 7, according to Palestinian sources
The number of Palestinian arrests by Israeli forces in the West Bank has approached 5,000 since the outbreak of war with Hamas in Gaza on October 7, Palestinian sources have reported. Meanwhile, Israel says it has detained only 2,250 people since then, 1,300 of whom it says are linked to Hamas.
In the last few hours, 32 Palestinians have been arrested in the West Bank, bringing the number of arrests in the area since the outbreak of the war to 4,910. Israeli raids and raids on Palestinian towns occur on a daily basis, according to the Commission on Detainees' Affairs and the Palestinian Prisoners' Club. In December, the Palestinian authorities estimated that around 8,000 Palestinians were imprisoned in Israeli prisons, including some 2,800 in administrative detention, without charge, trial or release date. (Image: EFE).
ACT.1 JAN 2024 - 15:48
Iranian destroyer Alborz arrives in the Red Sea amid tension over Houthi attacks on cargo ships
The Iranian Navy destroyer Alborz has entered the Red Sea through the Bab al-Mandab Strait in what the Islamic Republic's military has called a routine protective maneuver amid spike in tensions over attacks by the Houthi insurgency on cargo ships sailing in the area.
"Since 1988, Iranian ships have contributed to securing commercial lines in the fight against piracy, as well as other missions," military sources told Iran's semi-official news agency.
The Houthi militia, which has been at war with the Yemeni government since late 2014 and is backed by Iran, has carried out these attacks in solidarity with the Palestinian cause in the conflict between Israel and the Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas in the Gaza Strip. This fundamentalist group in fact controls about 30% of Yemen's territory and has declared the opening of "a third front" against Israel in the Red Sea.
The arrival of the destroyer comes after a meeting between the president of Iran's Security Council, Vice Admiral Ali Akhbar Ahmadian, and Houthi spokesman Mohamed Abdel Salam to "study issues of common interest and security," according to a brief statement carried by the official IRNA news agency. (Europa Press)
ACT.1 JAN 2024 - 14:36
El País
More than 150 Palestinians killed by Israeli attacks in Gaza over the past 24 hours
More than 150 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli strikes in Gaza in the past 24 hours, spokesman for the Gaza Strip's health ministry, Asharf al-Qudra, said on Monday.
Fighting continues in the enclave, where recent Israeli bombardments have left at least 156 dead and 246 wounded. The death toll since the start of the war on October 7 is close to 22,000: in total, 21,978 people have been confirmed dead since then, while 57,697 have been injured, according to the source.
There are also about 7,000 people missing under rubble, so it is believed that the total death toll could be higher, but the bodies have not yet been recovered. (Image: EFE)
ACT.1 JAN 2024 - 14:36
El País
Thousands of doses of vaccines against polio and other childhood diseases arrive in Gaza
The Palestinian Authority's Ministry of Health confirmed the arrival in the Gaza Strip on Monday of thousands of vaccines against polio, measles and other childhood diseases to alleviate the catastrophic health crisis in the Palestinian enclave. "Vaccines for children have begun to enter the Gaza Strip through Egypt," Palestinian Health Minister Mai Alkaila confirmed on Facebook, adding that there are enough vaccines to cover the needs of the population for the next eight to 14 months. The doses have been purchased by the Palestinian government or donated by UN agencies such as the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF).
"The Ministry of Health would like to thank the great cooperation shown by the Egyptian Ministry of Health in preserving the vaccines to allow their transfer, given the serious epidemic situation caused by Israel's war," the Ministry added. Israel already announced last Friday its intention to facilitate the entry of vaccines into the Gaza Strip so as not to further aggravate the critical situation of the 2.3 million forcibly displaced Palestinians, half of whom survive in overcrowded conditions in the city of Rafah, in the south of the enclave. (EP)
ACT.1 JAN 2024 - 14:17
El País
Israel withdraws some troops from the Strip and prepares a new phase of the war that will last "at least six months"
Israel is withdrawing some forces from Gaza to engage in more targeted operations against Hamas, and is partially returning reservists to civilian life to help the economy, an Israeli official has said.
Toppling Hamas remains a goal of the offensive in the Palestinian enclave, and according to the official, some of the five withdrawn brigades will prepare for a possible outbreak of a second front against Hezbollah in Lebanon.
Since launching the war in retaliation for Hamas's cross-border attack on Oct. 7, Israel has said it would wage it in three main stages. First, an intense bombardment to clear access routes for ground forces and force civilians to evacuate. The second was the invasion that began on October 27. Now that tanks and troops occupy much of the Gaza Strip, the army is moving into the third stage. "This will take at least six months and will involve intense clean-up missions against terrorists. No one is talking about doves of peace flying from Shajaia," the official said, referring to a district of Gaza devastated by fighting. (Reuters)
ACT.1 JAN 2024 - 12:18
El País
Tel Aviv rings in 2024 with rockets launched from Gaza
Rockets fired from the Gaza Strip targeted Tel Aviv and surrounding areas, as well as southern Israel, at the exact moment of the start of the New Year on Monday, according to AFP journalists. Air warning sirens were activated in the Israeli city and rockets could be seen being intercepted by Israeli missile defense systems.
Some people celebrating on a festive street sought cover next to buildings while others continued the party. "I was terrified, it's the first time I've seen missiles, it's terrifying, this is the life we live, it's crazy," Gabriel Zemelman, 26, said outside a Tel Aviv bar where he was celebrating the new year with friends. (AFP)
ACT.1 JAN 2024 - 11:31
El País
Israel Says It Killed Hamas Commander and Militants
The Israeli military has carried out more ground and air strikes at various points in Gaza, where it claims to have killed a commander of Hamas' Nukhba force, the elite corps that planned and led the surprise attack on Israel on October 7.
According to a military spokesman, a warplane attacked and "eliminated" Adil Mismah, commander of the Nukhba corps in Deir Balah, a town heavily affected by Israeli shelling in recent days, which has focused especially on the central area of the Strip. Mismah "led the terrorists who carried out the brutal attack" on Kibbutz Kissufim, one of the Israeli communities near Gaza where Hamas militants entered in their Oct. 7 attack on Israel, which left more than 1,200 dead and at least 240 people taken hostage in Gaza.
According to the army, Mismah also led other militiamen who attacked and gained access to Kibbutz Nirim or Kibbutz Beeri, the latter one of the communities that suffered one of the largest massacres, with about a hundred killed among its residents. (Image: EFE)
ACT.1 JAN 2024 - 10:43
El País
ATTACKS IN THE RED SEA
The Houthis, from militia in Yemen to threat to global trade in the Red Sea
Trinidad Deiros Bronte
The attacks on this crucial commercial artery under the pretext of solidarity with Gaza have increased the regional weight of the fundamentalist group that controls about 30% of the Arab country.
You can read the full information here
ACT.1 JAN 2024 - 08:30
El País
Israel accuses man of infiltrating Gaza war zone by pretending to be a soldier
Israeli prosecutors on Sunday filed an indictment against a man for posing as a soldier to join the Gaza war, stealing ammunition and, according to media reports, posing for a photograph on the front lines of fighting with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
In the confusion caused by the October 7 Hamas attack, dozens of soldiers and security forces spontaneously showed up at the border to help repel the invasion by the Islamist militant group. According to the indictment filed with the Tel Aviv District Court, the defendant, Roi Yifrah, had never been a member of the Israeli army, but still managed to reach the combat zone by posing as a member of an elite combat unit of Israel's domestic intelligence agency, Shin Bet.
A photo released by Channel 12 television shows a 35-year-old man, uniformed and equipped, posing with other soldiers alongside Netanyahu. An Israeli official has confirmed that Jifrah had posed with Netanyahu, but said the prime minister was never in danger.
The ruse "facilitated (Jifrah's) access to firearms, ammunition, and military and police equipment," the indictment says, adding that a stolen haul found in Jifrah's home included an assault rifle, various types of bullets, smoke grenades and holsters.
The five charges against him, including fraud and aggravated burglary, could carry a maximum penalty of 36 years in prison. But Yifrah's lawyer has argued that his client "is a doctor who ... He saved lives under fire, risking his life and eliminating terrorists." (Reuters)
ACT.31 DEC 2023 - 20:50
El País
Israel says its fighter jets have intercepted a "hostile aircraft" coming from Syria
Israeli military spokesman Daniel Hagari said on Sunday that Israeli fighter jets had intercepted a "hostile aircraft" coming from Syria, without giving any other details such as whether the aircraft was manned or not. The newspaper 'Yedioth Ahronoth' has claimed that it was a drone, in what would be the first incursion of this type of aircraft in two and a half months.
Hagari has also announced that "some military units" will be withdrawn from Gaza and demobilized "considering the military situation." "This will allow them to rest, as part of the armed forces' preparation for a continued fight, which will continue throughout 2024," he said. "They will be able to return to their families and their jobs this week. This will be a major relief for the economy. Most likely, we will need them again. That's why we need them to rest." (Agencies)
ACT.31 DEC 2023 - 20:14