INTERNACIONAL
American family in Haiti describes ‘war zone,’ believes it will fall to gangs in a week
«It’s getting worse, it’s getting worse, it’s getting worse,» one man told Fox News Digital regarding the complete chaos that has unfolded in Haiti.
Scenes of young men running through the capital of Port-au-Prince with rifles, cars ablaze and dead bodies in the streets have plagued media reports for weeks as gang violence continues to escalate.
«We’re in a war zone,» a Haitian man under the pseudonym Jonathan told Fox News Digital.
The security situation in Port-au-Prince has become so dire that Haitians and Americans alike are running out of places to seek safe haven from gang violence.
People walk past a damaged car in the Carrefour Feuilles neighborhood, which was deserted due to gang violence, in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, on March 19, 2024. (Reuters/Ralph Tedy Erol)
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Gangs have long preyed on private residences to loot and exercise control over certain communities, often through the use of extreme violence, rape and murder. But now, explained Jonathan, no community is safe under a recent truce established by the gangs.
In eerie detail, Jonathan described how he and a neighbor learned on Monday morning that a group of gangs under a temporary truce might descend on their gated community to not only ransack the homes but to use the neighborhood roads to bypass a highway controlled by competing gangs.
Together they waited, bunkered down with their families.
«There were at least 100 guys going up and down [the street],» Jonathan said. «All with rifles.»
He and his neighbor watched as gang members forced themselves into neighboring homes to steal cars, jewelry and whatever else they could.
«When they came to my gate, I said, ‘I’m going to be next.’ I put my kids and my wife in a safe room with his kids,» Jonathan said.
«We were carrying guns,» he said. «So, I told him … anyone who comes through that wall, we’re going to have to defend ourselves.»
Jonathan said he and his neighbor engaged in a three-hour struggle with what he believed were 30 men trying to enter his home before Haitian authorities arrived at the scene.
«It’s the population that are doing their own security now,» Jonathan said, noting that the police forces are outnumbered and that vigilante justice is on the rise. «The Haitian police are doing everything … to control the area.»
Masked members of the G9 Family and Allies gang stand guard during a press conference by their leader, Jimmy Chérizier, also known as «Barbecue,» in the Delmas 6 neighborhood of Port-au-Prince, Haiti, on March 5, 2024. (AP Photo/Odelyn Joseph)
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Haiti is overloaded with a reported 200 gangs, largely residing in Port-au-Prince, and though many of these gangs are made up of a few dozen men, the larger gangs like G-Pèp and the G9 Family and Allies dominate the deadly sphere with thousands of members and hierarchical networks.
Last year, four gang leaders, including G-9 leader Jimmy Chérizier, who recently grabbed headlines under the name «Barbecue,» signed a truce to bring an end to the extreme violence and «bring peace and security to the island.»
But under the supposed truce, violence has only escalated.
For years, gang violence was centered around the Cité Soleil neighborhood, but the attack on two upscale gated communities this week showed that the violence has extended to all corners of Port-au-Prince.
«We aren’t going to hold more than one week,» Jonathan warned, saying Haiti’s only hope for overturning the gang violence is international boots on the ground.
Kenya has pledged a 1,000-strong police force under a Multinational Security Support Mission to help stop the gangs.
A woman is comforted by others at a crime scene where the bodies of several people, who were shot dead earlier in the morning amid an escalation in gang violence, were being removed by an ambulance in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, on March 18, 2024. (Reuters/Ralph Tedy Erol)
But following the abrupt resignation of interim Prime Minister Ariel Henry last week, the African nation hit a pause on the deployment until a new government is established.
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Jonathan, whose wife and children are American, has a U.S. visa. He said his sole focus is on getting his family out of Haiti.
The State Department said Wednesday it has begun utilizing government-chartered helicopter flights from Port-au-Prince to Santo Domingo in the Dominican Republic. Spokesperson Vedant Patel said the number of Americans who have filled out a form on the State Department’s website seeking assistance in Haiti is «approaching 1,600» after saying that number was around 1,000 earlier in the week.
All Americans in Haiti have been told to complete the crisis intake form so the State Department can arrange for their evacuation.
INTERNACIONAL
Pope Francis had ‘peaceful night’ in hospital, will skip Sunday noon blessing while continuing recovery
The Vatican confirmed early Sunday that Pope Francis is «still resting following a peaceful night» as he continues his recovery from double pneumonia.
The Vatican said Saturday that Francis’ medical condition «remained stable with respiratory physiotherapy alternating between non-invasive mechanical ventilation and long periods supplemental high-flow oxygenation with a good response to gas exchange.»
He had no fever or signs of elevated white blood cells, which would signal his body was still fighting an infection.
Doctors on Saturday reported that Francis was in stable condition, with no mention of him being critical, and signaled once again continued improvement. Their upbeat assessment came a day after a respiratory crisis that resulted in him being put on noninvasive mechanical ventilation.
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Pope Francis waves from the central loggia of St. Peter’s basilica during the Easter ‘Urbi et Orbi’ message and blessing to the City and the World as part of the Holy Week celebrations, in the Vatican on March 31, 2024. (Tiziana Fabi/Pool/AFP/Getty)
Doctors were cautious however and kept his prognosis as guarded, meaning he wasn’t out of danger. He was eating and drinking and continued his respiratory physiotherapy, and spent 20 minutes in his private chapel down the hall on Saturday, the Vatican said.
Nuns pray for Pope Francis in front of the Agostino Gemelli Polyclinic, where the Pontiff has been hospitalized since Feb.14, in Rome, Saturday, March 1, 2025. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth)
The 88-year-old pope though had a «good response» in his gas exchange levels even during the «long periods» he was off the ventilator mask and only using high-flow supplemental oxygen, the Vatican said.
For the third weekend in a row, Francis cancelled the appointment delivering the Angelus prayer at noon Sunday. The Vatican instead planned to distribute the prepared text as Francis continued his recovery.
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The pope, who had part of one lung removed as a young man, has lung disease and was admitted to Gemelli on Feb. 14 after a bout of bronchitis worsened and turned into a complex pneumonia in both lungs.
A woman takes pictures as it rains in St Peter’s Square at The Vatican, Saturday, March 1, 2025. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth)
Francis’ hospitalization has come as the Vatican is marking its Holy Year, drawing pilgrims to Rome from all over. They are walking through the Holy Door at St. Peter’s Basilica and also making pilgrimages to the hilltop Umbrian town of Assisi, to pray at the home of Francis’ namesake, St. Francis.
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Francis was supposed to have presided Saturday over a Holy Year audience in the Vatican’s auditorium for the staff of the Gemelli hospital and other healthcare workers. They came as planned and completed the pilgrimage, while Francis continued his recovery at the hospital.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
INTERNACIONAL
Israel agrees to Trump envoy’s temporary Gaza ceasefire extension proposal as first phase expires: reports
Israel has agreed to a temporary ceasefire extension proposal from President Donald Trump’s envoy to the Middle East, Steve Witkoff, for the period around the Muslim Ramadan and Jewish Passover, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said Saturday night.
The news came as the first temporary ceasefire agreement expired at midnight local time.
Netanyahu’s office said the temporary ceasefire extension was agreed to after they realized more time was needed to figure out a permanent ceasefire solution.
Under the extension proposal, half of the hostages and the remains of dead hostages still in Gaza will be released, with the remaining released once a permanent ceasefire is established.
HAMAS RELEASES MORE HOSTAGES IN EXCHANGE FOR MORE THAN 600 PALESTINIAN PRISONERS AS PART OF CEASEFIRE DEAL
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, right, meets with U.S. envoy to the Middle East, Steve Witkoff, in Jerusalem. (Ma’ayan Toaf, GPO)
«According to the agreement, Israel can return to fighting after the 42nd day if it feels that the negotiations are ineffective,» Netanyahu’s office noted of the first temporary ceasefire’s phase one.
Hamas has «so far remained firm in its refusal of this framework» necessary for a permanent ceasefire, Israel said, according to the Jerusalem Post. Hamas has made similar accusations against Israel.
Emaciated Israeli hostages Ohad Ben Ami, left, Eli Sharabi and Or Levy, who were held hostage by Hamas in Gaza since Oct. 7, 2023, are taken by terrorists to a stage before being handed over to the Red Cross in Deir al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip, Feb. 8, 2025. (AP/Abdel Kareem Hana)
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«Israel will immediately enter negotiations on all details of Witkoff’s framework,» if Hamas agrees, the Israeli government said.
If a new ceasefire deal is not agreed to, fighting is set to resume on Sunday.
Witkoff’s proposal said: «There is no possibility of bridging the gaps between the parties’ positions to end the war and that additional time is needed for negotiations on a permanent ceasefire,» the Post reported.
Hamas terrorists gather to watch the handover of three Israeli hostages to a Red Cross team in Deir el-Balah, central Gaza, Feb. 8, 2025. (Majdi Fathi/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
A total of 38 hostages were released during the 42-day ceasefire phase one that began in mid-January in return for around 2,000 Palestinian prisoners.
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Reuters reported that Hamas posted a video Saturday that said hostages that remain in Gaza will only be released through another swap for Palestinian prisoners, which was part of the original phased ceasefire agreement framework.
Ongoing permanent ceasefire talks primarily held in Cairo have stalled.
Reuters contributed to this report.
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