The Colombian president in turn accused Israel of committing a “genocide” of the Palestinians in the Gaza Strip while the United States once again lifted its veto on a UN Security Council resolution demanding a cease-fire. -immediate fire.
Le Figaro
takes stock of the latest events linked to the war between Israel and Hamas.
The Colombian president in turn accuses Israel of “genocide”
Colombian President Gustavo Petro on Tuesday accused Israel of committing a “
genocide
” of the Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, expressing his “
full solidarity
” with his Brazilian counterpart Luiz Inacio Lula Da Silva plunged into a diplomatic crisis.
“
In Gaza, there is a genocide.
Thousands of children, women and elderly people are cowardly murdered.
Lula only told the truth.
Either the truth is defended, or barbarism will destroy us
,” declared Mr. Petro on X. “
I express my complete solidarity with the president of
Brazil,” insisted the Colombian leader.
On Sunday, President Lula caused a storm by accusing Israel of committing a “
genocide
” of the Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, drawing a comparison between the Israeli offensive and the extermination of the Jews by the Nazis.
After these statements, Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz said that Lula was now persona non grata in Israel "
until he apologizes and withdraws his remarks
."
Humanitarian situation still catastrophic in Gaza
The Gaza Strip is still plunged into a catastrophic humanitarian situation on Wednesday, the day after deadly Israeli strikes against the territory and the United States' veto of a draft UN resolution demanding an immediate ceasefire.
Nearly a million and a half people, according to the UN, are massed in the city of Rafah, located in the south of the Palestinian territory against the closed border with Egypt, whose population has increased sixfold since the beginning of the war, on October 7, between Israel and Hamas.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced an upcoming offensive on the overpopulated city, targeted daily by Israeli strikes, in order to defeat the Palestinian Islamist movement in its “last bastion” and free the hostages held in Gaza.
This prospect worries the international community, while hopes of an end to the fighting are increasingly slim.
The head of the Hamas political bureau, Ismaïl Haniyeh, based in Qatar, however, arrived in Cairo on Tuesday for new discussions on a truce with Egyptian officials.
At the same time, the United States vetoed a draft UN Security Council resolution that demanded an "
immediate humanitarian
" ceasefire.
Israel's primary supporter, Washington believes that this resolution would have endangered the delicate diplomatic negotiations on the ground to obtain a truce including a new release of hostages.
The Palestinian ambassador to the UN slammed a “
dangerous
” veto, with Hamas seeing it as a “
green light
” for Israel to carry out more “
massacres
”.
US drone shot down off Yemen, Pentagon says
A US drone crashed off the coast of Yemen on Monday after being apparently hit by a missile fired by Houthi rebels, the US Department of Defense said on Tuesday.
This is the second known case of an American MQ-9 Reaper drone, which can be used for surveillance as well as attack, lost off the coast of Yemen since November.
On Monday, “
an American MQ-9 was shot down or crashed off the coast of a part of Yemen controlled by the Houthis, in the Red Sea
,” explained Pentagon deputy spokesperson Sabrina Singh.
“
Initial indications are that he was shot down by a Houthi surface-to-air missile
,” she added.
The American army also announced Tuesday that its forces and their allies had shot down ten drones fired by the Houthis off the coast of Yemen in less than five hours.
The latter say they are targeting international maritime traffic in solidarity with the Palestinians in Gaza.
These drone attacks were foiled by “American and coalition buildings and aircraft” in the Gulf of Aden and the Red Sea between Monday 8:00 p.m. and Tuesday 12:30 a.m., the US Middle East Command (Centcom) said in a statement. a press release, without specifying whether it is local time.
The press release also does not specify whether this figure includes the two Houthi drones that the French Navy announced having destroyed in the Red Sea during the night from Monday to Tuesday.
Read alsoIn Iraq and Yemen, American strikes powerless to stop attacks by pro-Iran militias