Connect with us

INTERNACIONAL

Foreign officials raise alarm over lack of humanitarian aid in Gaza as Israel prepares for ground operation

Published

on


Several countries have started to raise concerns about the growing humanitarian crisis in Gaza as Israel prepares for a ground invasion of the territory following a terrorist attack last week. 

U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres’s spokesperson Stephan Dujarric on Saturday told Fox News Digital that «discussions are ongoing at various levels involving all parties concerned» about humanitarian access to Gaza. On the topic of potential human rights abuses on both sides, Dujarric said, «We are always concerned about potential human rights abuses.» 

He added that the Secretary-General has been in «intense» phone contact with U.S., Israeli, Egyptian and European officials, among others, to move forward as «quickly as possible on the critical issue of humanitarian access in Gaza.»

At least 3,200 people have been killed since Hamas launched thousands of missiles into Israel last week, including at least 1,300 Israeli civilians and soldiers and 27 Americans. Palestinian health authorities say at least 2,215 Palestinians have been killed, and more than 8,700 wounded.

RUSSIA OFFERS TO MEDIATE ISRAEL-GAZA NEGOTIATIONS, PUTIN SAYS ‘NO ALTERNATIVE’ TO 2-STATE SOLUTION

The U.N.’s Guterres on Friday ahead of a Security Council meeting urged the need for humanitarian access «throughout Gaza» so that agencies could provide fuel, food and water to «everyone in need.»

Advertisement
People search for survivors after Gaza airstrike

Palestinians search for survivors of Israeli aerial bombing on Jabaliya, near Gaza City, on Wednesday. (AP/Mohammad Al Masri)

«This is a time for the international community to come together around protecting civilians and finding a lasting solution to this unending cycle of death and destruction,» he said. «Even wars have rules.» 

«International humanitarian law and human rights law must be respected and upheld, civilians must be protected, and also, never used as shields,» he added, calling for all hostages in Gaza to be released immediately.

Jordan’s King Abdullah II met with U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Friday and stressed the need for international agencies to have clear access to Gaza and support for their duties, including humanitarian corridors for medical and relief aid.  

VATICAN OFFERS TO MEDIATE ISRAEL-GAZA CONFLICT, NEGOTIATE HOSTAGE RELEASE

«His Majesty warned of any attempt to forcibly displace the Palestinians from all the Palestinian Territories or to cause their internal displacement, calling for preventing a spillover of the crisis into neighboring countries and the exacerbation of the refugee issue,» the Royal Hashemite Court wrote on social media platform X. 

Both Blinken and the king underscored the need for de-escalation in the region and an end to the hostilities while also addressing the humanitarian needs for civilians in Gaza, the U.S. State Department wrote of the meeting. 

Blinken meets with King Abdullah II

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken (L) meets with Jordanian King Abdullah II (R) as Jordan’s Crown Prince Hussein (2R) looks on at the State Department in Washington, D.C. on July 20, 2021. (Photo by Nicholas Kamm / POOL / AFP) (Photo by ) (Nicholas Kamm/POOL/AFP via Getty Images)

Israel sealed off the Gaza Strip, stopping the entry of food, water, medicine and fuel to the roughly 2.3 million residents while it continued to bombard the territory and demanding Hamas release the roughly 150 hostages its soldiers took during last Saturday’s unprecedented attack. 

Advertisement

Hamas on Saturday claimed that 13 of the reported 150 hostages they took had died during Israel’s bombing of the territory, but no agency has yet been able to verify those claims. 

Aid Convoy To Gaza Border

Aid convoy trucks loaded with supplies are seen at Cairo-Ismailia Desert Road on October 14, 2023, in Cairo, Egypt.  (Mahmoud Khaled/Getty Images)

On Friday, Israel issued a warning for residents in northern Gaza to evacuate the area within 24 hours as a «humanitarian step» that aims to «minimize civilian casualties» during its planned ground offensive into the territory. 

The United Nation’s Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs reported that the cumulative figure of displaced individuals has exceeded 338,000, «of whom over two-thirds are taking shelter in schools run by the UNRWA,» referring to the Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Relief in the Near East. 

IDF SAYS IT CONTINUED TO ATTACK HAMAS MILITARY TARGETS, HEADQUARTERS IN GAZA STRIP; HAMAS OFFICIAL KILLED

The U.S. urged Israel to delay the start of the operation to allow the 1.1 million people living in the north to relocate. President Biden and Blinken have both repeatedly stressed the need for Israel to adhere to the «rules of war.» 

The U.S. has reiterated that Hamas is responsible for the current atrocities and do not reflect the Palestinian people, who must be protected. 

Bombing near Rafah Crossing

This photo taken on Oct. 10, 2023 shows smoke rising following an Israeli airstrike at the Rafah crossing point between the Gaza Strip and Egypt. (Khaled Omar/Xinhua via Getty Images)

The Rafah crossing to Egypt had been the sole point of exit for the Palestinian people in Gaza, but Israel’s bombardment has made it impossible to continue operating the pass, Egypt’s Foreign Ministry said Friday. 

Advertisement

Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi called for access through Rafah in a speech Thursday, but he also warned against letting in large numbers of Palestinians.

NEARLY 20 GOP GOVERNORS URGE BIDEN TO ‘PROJECT AMERICAN STRENGTH’ BY ‘UNEQUIVOCALLY’ SUPPORTING ISRAEL

«The threat there is significant because it means the liquidation of this (Palestinian) cause,» el-Sissi said at a military college graduation ceremony in Cairo. «It’s important for its people to stay steadfast and exist on its land.»

The Egyptian Foreign Ministry later called the evacuation order a «grave violation» of international law. 

Gaza rubble

Palestinians walk through the rubble of buildings destroyed by Israeli airstrikes in Gaza City on Tuesday, October 10, 2023. (AP Photo/Hassan Eslaiah)

Egyptian officials have long feared that Israel seeks to make their country responsible for Palestinians in Gaza, which Egypt ruled between the 1948 and 1967 Mideast wars. Egypt has joined Israel in its blockade of the Gaza Strip since the Hamas takeover, tightly controlling entry of supplies and the exit of people.

Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan on Wednesday said that Israel’s blockade and bombing of Gaza in response to Palestinian militant group Hamas’ attack was a disproportionate response amounting to a «massacre,» even as he offered to mediate a deal between Israel and Hamas. Israel’s envoy to Ankara on Sunday said it was too early to discuss mediation.

Damage in Gaza City after Israeli airstrike

Palestinian citizens inspect damage to their homes caused by Israeli airstrikes on October 13, 2023, in Gaza City, Gaza. (Ahmad Hasaballah/Getty Images)

A senior State Department official traveling with Blinken from Jordan to Qatar told The Associated Press that the U.S. is talking to Israel, U.N. agencies and the International Committee of the Red Cross on creating safe zones within Gaza, where civilians can receive humanitarian aid. It was not clear whether the aid would enter from Israel or Egypt.

Advertisement

CLICK TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

The U.S. State Department referred to Blinken’s comments following his meeting with Saudi Arabia’s foreign minister in response to a request for comment.  

Fox News Digital’s Chris Pandolfo, Reuters and The Associated Press contributed to this report. 



Source link

Advertisement
Advertisement

INTERNACIONAL

La sentencia del escalofriante caso Pelicot en Francia: se espera que se dicte este viernes y puede haber penas de hasta 20 años de prisión

Published

on


El tribunal de Aviñón, al sureste de Francia, dictará mañana sentencia en el histórico macrojuicio sobre las violaciones bajo sumisión química a Gisèle Pelicot, con penas que pueden llegar hasta los 20 años para cada uno de los 51 acusados.

La Fiscalía pidió el pasado 27 de noviembre hasta 650 años de prisión por el total de los delitos, que incluyen tanto violaciones como agresiones sexuales contra la víctima, de 72 años, convertida en un símbolo feminista mundial por decidir que el juicio fuera público «para que la vergüenza cambie de bando».

La mayor pena solicitada, de 20 años (la máxima contemplada por la ley en Francia), es para su exmarido y cerebro del plan, Dominique Pelicot, de 72 años, quien desde el inicio del proceso reconoció todos los hechos y aseguró que su fantasía era «someter a una mujer insumisa».

Él abusó de ella y la puso en peligro de muerte de 2011 a 2020, drogándola e invitando a otros hombres a que la violaran.

Otro de los acusados, Jean-Pierre Maréchal, admitió en el juicio los delitos aunque jamás tocó a Gisèle Pelicot, sino que replicó los métodos del principal acusado con su propia esposa, quien también fue violada bajo los efectos de los ansiolíticos por ambos hombres.

La menor pena solicitada por la Fiscalía, de 4 años, es para otro hombre que solo está acusado de agresión sexual, sin cargos de violación.

Advertisement

El resto, con edades comprendidas de los 27 a los 74 años, se enfrentan a solicitudes de condenas que van de los 10 a los 20 años de cárcel por violación agravada.

Un símbolo

«Habrá un antes y un después», aseguró durante las vistas la fiscal del tribunal penal de Aviñón Laure Chabaud, sabedora de la importancia de este juicio. Por ello, pidió una «concienciación real y profunda sobre la noción de consentimiento» para los acusados y también para la sociedad.

Una mujer pasa junto a un lema que dice «Justicia para Gisele, justicia para todos» y un collage que representa a Gisele Pelicot pegado en un muro de la ciudad antes del veredicto. Foto Reuters

De hecho, en Francia el Código Penal define la violación como «cualquier acto de penetración sexual de cualquier tipo o cualquier acto buco-genital cometido contra otra persona»mediante «violencia, obligación, amenaza o sorpresa».

La noción de consentimiento no aparece en el ordenamiento jurídico francés y para que se tipifique el delito de violación debe haber penetración.

Por eso mismo las estrategias de varias defensas se basaron en tratar de elaborar argumentos enrevesados sobre qué prácticas sexuales desarrollaron sus acusados.

Las pruebas de todos los delitos están en los miles de vídeos y fotos que realizó el propio violador confeso Dominique Pelicot.

Advertisement

Los hechos que se juzgan ocurrieron entre 2011 y 2020, primero en la región de París y, a partir de 2013, en la casa a la que los Pelicot se mudaron al jubilarse, situada en Mazan, un pueblo de 6.000 habitantes cerca de Aviñón.

Dominique Pelicot contactaba a decenas hombres en internet y los invitaba a su domicilio, una vez que había drogado a su mujer con grandes dosis de ansiolíticos, que la dejaban incosnciente y cerca del coma, según los expertos médicos que declararon al inicio del juicio.

El principal acusado registraba esas violaciones, descubiertas en 2020 por la policía, después de haberlo detenido tras ser descubierto grabando bajo las faldas de unas mujeres en un supermercado de Carpentras.

Dominique Pelicot está acusado también en otros dos casos de violencia de género, uno por la violación y el asesinato de una mujer en 1991 y el otro por una tentativa de violación en 1999.

Continue Reading

LO MAS LEIDO

Tendencias

Copyright © 2024 - NDM Noticias del Momento - #Noticias #Chimentos #Politica #Fútbol #Economia #Sociedad