Posts

isreal

Israel And Hamas Reach Deal To Release Hostages And Pause Fighting 

/in , /by

According to reports from NBC, Israel and Hamas have agreed to a deal in which 50 women and children who were kidnapped and held in Gaza will be released while both sides take a pause on fighting with each other. The deal will also involve 150 Palestinian women and children being released from Israeli jails, as well as the delivery of hundreds of aid trucks. 

The US and other nations have been putting pressure on Israel and Palestine to reach a deal to stop the violence. Local officials in Gaza have stated that more than 14,000 people, including 5,000 children, have been killed from Israel’s air strikes and ground assaults. More than 1.6 million Palestinians have been displaced in what’s being called a “mounting humanitarian crisis.”

Embed from Getty Images

Israel’s government approved the deal on Wednesday with Hamas confirming the deal in a statement, claiming this is “a chance to consolidate the will of our victorious resistance. All hostages exchanged by both sides must be under the age of 19, although this detail was not mentioned by any other party.”

Hamas carried out an attack on Israel on October 7th in which some 1,200 people were killed. 

“Three Americans could be part of the first group of hostages released: two adults and a 3-year-old girl named Abigail,” a senior Biden administration official said.

The pause in fighting will last four days. Israeli drones that have been responsible for a majority of the attacks in Palestine will cease to fly, and Hamas will be consolidating the remaining hostages. 

“The deal includes an option to extend the pause in exchange for 10 hostages released per day,” the Israeli official said.

This pause also means that more fuel and supply trucks will be able to enter Gaza, as Israel has been resisting this due to the fact that it “can be used by Hamas to launch rockets and power tunnels, along with as many as 300 to 400 daily humanitarian aid trucks, according to a senior U.S. official and a source familiar with the talks in the region.”

A senior Israeli official said the “government would release 150 Palestinian women and children,” none of which are accused of killing Israelis directly.

Embed from Getty Images

According to Patrick Smith, Corky Siemaszko and Alexander Smith of NBC, “Netanyahu’s office released a list of 300 prisoners eligible for release under the agreement. On the list, 123 are teenagers between the ages of 14 and 17, held on allegations from throwing rocks and contacting banned terrorist groups, to attempted stabbings and planning suicide attacks. 

There are 33 women, ages 18 to 59, accused of crimes such as nonfatal stabbings and recruiting and transferring money for terror groups. And 144 are 18-year-old males, who appeared to fall outside the original criteria put forward by Israel, meaning it was unclear when they would be released.”

“Israel is holding more than 4,700 Palestinians, including 146 minors, in detention on what it calls security grounds,” according to the Israeli human rights group B’Tselem. 

“In addition some 1,300 Palestinians are under administrative detention — which means they are being held without trial and without having committed an offense, on the grounds they plan to break the law in the future,” B’Tselem says. 

The Red Cross will also now be allowed access to the hostages in Gaza to provide them with medicine and other supplies. 

Biden said in a statement late Tuesday he welcomed the agreement.

“First lady Jill Biden “and I have been keeping all those held hostage and their loved ones close to our hearts these many weeks, and I am extraordinarily gratified that some of these brave souls, who have endured weeks of captivity and an unspeakable ordeal, will be reunited with their families once this deal is fully implemented,” he said.

map

Thousands Of Civilians Flee North Gaza As Israeli Troops And Hamas Battle 

/in , /by

Thousands of Palestinian civilians have begun fleeing north Gaza this week as they seek refuge from Israeli air strikes and ground fighting between the troops and Hamas. Israel announced the four-hour window of opportunity they gave to residents to evacuate the area or risk being stuck among the violence, according to reports from Reuters. 

Health officials in Palestine stated that an air strike has hit refugee camp houses in Nuseirat which killed 18 people, and in Khan Younis six individuals were killed in an air strike, including a young girl. 

Embed from Getty Images

“We were sitting in peace when all of a sudden an F16 air strike landed on a house and blew it up, the entire block, three houses next to each other. Civilians, all of them civilians. An old woman, an old man and there are others still missing under the rubble,” said a witness, Mohammed Abu Daqa.

Chief Israeli military spokesperson Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari said “combat engineers were using explosive devices to destroy a Hamas tunnel network that stretches for hundreds of kilometers (miles) beneath Gaza.”

In a statement on Wednesday, the military said it had “destroyed 130 tunnel shafts so far. Combat engineers fighting in Gaza are destroying the enemy’s weapons and are locating, exposing and detonating tunnel shafts,” it said.

“It is … important to make Israel understand that it is against (its) interests to see every day the terrible image of the dramatic humanitarian needs of the Palestinian people. That doesn’t help Israel in relation to the global public opinion,”  U.N. Secretary General Antonio Guterres told Reuters.

Embed from Getty Images

Palestine officials have said that over 10,500 people have been killed with 40% of them being children. “The level of death and suffering is hard to fathom,” UN health agency spokesperson Christian Lindmeier said. 

A senior Israeli official told reporters in Washington late on Tuesday that “Israel has no intention of reoccupying the Gaza Strip or controlling it for a long time. We assess that our current operations are effective and successful, and we’ll continue to push. It’s not unlimited or forever.”

One witness who’s currently sheltering with her young children in an improvised tent discussed what it’s like for those who remain stuck in the northern Gaza city: 

“The situation is getting worse day after day. There is no food, no water. When my son goes to pick up water, he queues for three or four hours in the line. They struck bakeries, we don’t have bread.” 

“Thousands of Palestinians fleeing from the north wearily made their way in a long line past wrecked and bomb-scarred buildings,” witnesses said.

coast guard

Philippines Officials Accuse Chinese Coastguard Of Intentionally Colliding With Vessels

/in , /by

This Monday, officials from the Philippines accused the Chinese coastguard of “intentionally” colliding with their vessels that were on a resupply mission in a part of the South China Sea, according to reports from Reuters. 

Both China and the Philippine’s blamed each other for the collisions, with the most serious one being this past Sunday; no one was harmed luckily.

China stated that the Philippine boats “bumped dangerously with Chinese fishing vessels” and coastguard vessels. On Monday, China’s embassy in Manila stated that they “called on the Philippines government to stop causing trouble and provocation at sea and to stop smearing China’s reputation with groundless attacks,” according to Reuters.  

On the Philippine’s end, officials from their coastguard, foreign ministry, defense ministry, national security council, and armed forces have condemned the Chinese coast guard for their actions and handling of the collisions. 

Embed from Getty Images

US national security adviser Jake Sullivan told his Philippine counterpart, Eduardo Ano, that they have the US’s support, emphasizing that they too believed China’s actions were “dangerous and unlawful.”

Gilberto Teodoro, the Philippines Defense Secretary, stated in a news conference that “Chinese Coast Guard and maritime militia vessels, in blatant violation of international law, harassed and intentionally hit [Manila’s supply boat and coastguard].” 

“This is a serious escalation of the illegal activities conducted by the Chinese government in the West Philippine Sea in complete disregard of any norm or convention of international law,” Teodoro said.

Teodoro also emphasized “the support of our allies and like-minded nations such as the United States, Japan, Australia, Germany, Canada, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom and European Union in condemning China’s aggression and expansionist actions.”

Aid Groups In Afghanistan Struggle With Recovery Efforts After Massive Earthquake Kills More Than 2,000

/in , , /by

International aid groups in Afghanistan are struggling to allocate resources and recovery efforts after the nation was hit with a massive earthquake that has left more than 2,000 people dead and many more injured.

Read more
melting

Swiss Glaciers Have Lost 10% Of Their Volume In The Last Two Years

/in , /by

Swiss glaciers have lost 10% of their volume in two years, a report has found. The analysis from the Swiss Academy of Sciences have credited climate change as the reasoning behind the accelerated melting. 

The scientists have claimed that the burning of fossil fuels is the main cause of the unusually hot summers and winters with low snow levels that we’ve experienced in recent years. The overall hotter temperatures have led to glaciers all over the world experiencing accelerated melting. 

Embed from Getty Images

According to the report, the volume lost in the Swiss glaciers between the summers of 2022 and 2023 equates to the volume lost between 1960 and 1990. 

The analysis also found that 4% of Switzerland’s total glacier volume disappeared last year, which marks the second biggest annual decline on record. The largest decline on record was in 2022 with a 6% drop. 

Experts have also stopped measuring certain glaciers and the amount of ice it’s lost due to the fact that their decline has been so rapid. Glacier Monitoring in Switzerland (Glamos), which keeps track of 176 glaciers, just recently stopped recording data for the St. Annafirn glacier in the central Swiss canton of Uri due to the fact that it’s mostly melted at this point. 

Embed from Getty Images

Matthias Huss, the head of Glamos, stated:

“We just had some dead ice left. It’s a combination of climate change that makes such extreme events more likely, and the very bad combination of meteorological extremes. If we continue at this rate … we will see every year such bad years.” 

Small glaciers are disappearing from ice loss, and in order to stop these glaciers from melting, carbon emissions and the burning of fossil fuels must be halted. However, Huss stated that even if the world managed to “keep warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre industrial levels,” only one third of the glacier volume in Switzerland will remain. 

“All the small glaciers will be gone anyway, and the big glaciers will be much smaller. There will be some ice in the highest regions of the Alps and some glaciers that we can show to our grandchildren,” Huss stated.

earthquake

Morocco Earthquake Death Toll Nears 2,900 With Over 5,500 Injured 

/in , /by

Nearly 3,000 individuals have been reported dead after the devastating earthquake that hit Morocco last Friday. Over 5,500 people are injured as search and rescue efforts throughout the destroyed terrain continue.

Authorities are losing hope of finding any more survivors as a majority of the roads have now been blocked off, making it difficult to reach remote villages in rural mountainous areas that were likely impacted the most by the quake. 

Embed from Getty Images

According to Morocco’s Ministry of the Interior, the death toll currently is at 2,901 with 5,530 individuals injured in the nation’s deadliest earthquake since 1960.

Vehicles with rescue supplies are continuously making there way towards roads in the mountains to deliver food and tents to survivors while search teams continue to search through rubble for more people. 

Stefanie Dekker, a reporter for Al Jazeera, reported from the village of Imi N’Tala that the situation is dire:

“The village is completely flattened and devastated. The stench of death is everywhere. There are still at least 40 bodies under the rubble. Massive chunks of the mountain came down, smashing into these villages. Entire families have been wiped out.”

“One man was pointing at his home. There was a white door that remained standing, and he was telling us that that was the door to his house. He started crying about how he ran out of the door and everything collapsed around him. He lost both his sons and his wife. He was screaming because he saw his wife’s abaya under the rubble. It was heartbreaking,” Dekker said.

Embed from Getty Images

“The problem is the access to these places. There are narrow, winding roads. There are still many places that they have not been able to reach.”

Search and rescue teams from Qatar, the United Kingdom, Spain, and the United Arab emirates have been stationed throughout Morocco working with emergency teams, the military, and other officials. 

The United States and United Nations have also sent teams to the nation to help assess the damage and collaborate on response efforts. 

Head of the Menara district in Marrakesh, Abdel Wahed Chafiki, said “it is difficult to determine the total number of victims. The rugged mountainous terrain where the earthquake struck is making it a challenge to get to victims, but local authorities are continuing their relief efforts and providing assistance.”

“The army is doing [its] job to bring these people out of the ground, but also it’s very, very difficult to reach these places, so you can imagine that there is no food, but also there’s no blankets or beds where people can sleep,” said Errachid Montassir, an activist and humanitarian worker, who has been traveling with doctors to remote villages in the Atlas Mountains.

Rebuilding all that has been damaged, lost, and destroyed is going to be a long journey, as Morocco’s economy was already on the decline before the earthquake due to a lack of tourism.

class

France Is Banning Students From Wearing Abayas In Schools

/in , , , , /by

The French government announced this week that the nation’s schoolchildren will be banned from wearing abayas, a long robe-like garment often worn by Muslim women, to class, sparking major pushback and conversations regarding Islamophobia.

Read more
fires

At Least 55 Individuals Dead In Maui Due To Wildfires 

/in , /by

The wildfires in Maui have killed at least 55 people and wiped out one of their most historic towns. Hawaii emergency management records have shown that there was no indication that warning sirens sounded before individuals started running for their lives. 

Residents, instead, received alerts on their phones, TV’s, and radios, however, widespread power outages limited the reach of these warnings. 

Embed from Getty Images

According to reports, the wildfires are Hawaii’s deadliest natural disaster since the 1961 tsunami which killed 61 people, and the 1946 tsunami which killed 150 people on the Big Island. These events are what prompted the development of Hawaii’s emergency alert system which includes around 400 sirens throughout the chain of islands. 

Many survivors, however, stated in interviews that they didn’t hear any sirens of warning that would typically give them enough time to prepare and get as far away from danger as possible. 

Search and rescue operations are still currently underway, and Governor Josh Green warned that the death toll is likely to rise. 

At least three wildfires spread in Maui this week due to the dry summer and strong winds brought on by a passing hurricane. 

Lahaina was greatly impacted, and is reported to look like a gray, ash covered area filled with the bones of buildings and torched palm trees and boats. 

“Without a doubt, it feels like a bomb was dropped on Lahaina,” the governor stated. 

Embed from Getty Images

Firefighters were able to create perimeters around more of the Lahaina area and fires as well as another nearby. 

Hawaii Emergency Management Agency spokesperson Adam Weintraub told The Associated Press that “the department’s records don’t show that Maui’s warning sirens were triggered on Tuesday, when the Lahaina fire began. Instead, the county used emergency alerts sent to mobile phones, televisions and radio stations,” Weintraub said.

Maui Fire Department Chief Brad Ventura said “the fire moved so quickly from brush to neighborhoods that it was impossible to get messages to the emergency management agencies responsible for alerts.

What we experienced was such a fast-moving fire through the … initial neighborhood that caught fire they were basically self-evacuating with fairly little notice,” Ventura said.

Bobby Lee, the president of the Hawaii Firefighters Association, stated: Maui’s firefighting efforts may also have been hampered by a small staff. There are a maximum of 65 firefighters working at any given time in Maui County, and they are responsible for fighting fires on three islands — Maui, Molokai and Lanai —” he said.

Amid Multiple Protests, Israeli Lawmakers Move To Vote On Weakening Supreme Court

/in , , /by

Israeli lawmakers are gearing up to vote on the government’s overall plan to weaken the nation’s court system, despite nearly six months of protests from citizens, and waves of urgent warnings from the White House.

Read more
nato

President Joe Biden States NATO Won’t Consider Ukraine Membership Until War With Russia Ends

/in , /by

President Joe Biden was recently interviewed by CNN, where he discussed how Ukraine is not going to be able to get a membership with NATO until the war with Russia ends. 

Biden spoke with Fareed Zakaria of CNN to discuss how the US and its allies in NATO would continue to provide Ukraine, President Volodymyr Zelensky, and his forces the security and weapons needed to end the war with Russia. 

Embed from Getty Images

“I don’t think there is unanimity in NATO about whether or not to bring Ukraine into the NATO family now, at this moment, in the middle of a war,” Biden said. 

“For example, if you did that, then, you know – and I mean what I say – we’re determined to commit every inch of territory that is NATO territory. It’s a commitment that we’ve all made no matter what. If the war is going on, then we’re all in war. We’re at war with Russia, if that were the case.”

“I think we have to lay out a rational path for Ukraine to be able to qualify to be able to get into NATO,” Biden said, stating that he “refused Russian President Vladimir Putin’s demands before the war for a commitment not to admit Ukraine because the alliance has an open-door policy.”

“But I think it’s premature to say, to call for a vote, you know, in now, because there’s other qualifications that need to be met, including democratization and some of those issues,” Biden said.

Embed from Getty Images

Biden is also gearing up for a weeklong trip to Europe that will include a NATO summit in Lithuania, where the war between Russia and Ukraine, as well as Zelensky’s push for NATO membership, will be discussed. 

Biden also discussed key foreign policy challenges involving China, Saudi Arabia, and Israel, stating that he feels like Chinese President Xi Jinping wants to replace the US as the nation with the largest economy and military capacity in the world, however, he also stated that he believes the US can have a working relationship with Beijing. 

“I think there is a way to resolve, to establish a working relationship with China that benefits them and us,” Biden said. 

“And the last thing I’ll tell you, I also called him after he had that meeting with the Russians about this new relationship, etc. And I said, ‘This is not a threat. It’s an observation.’ I said, ‘Since Russia went into Ukraine, 600 American corporations have pulled out of Russia. And you’ve told me that your economy depends on investment from Europe and the United States. And be careful. Be careful,’” Biden explained.