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INTERNACIONAL

Christian leader in Lebanon urges US, allies to intervene to stop Hezbollah

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The head of a political party and a Christian coalition group in Lebanon is calling on the U.S. and its Western allies to step in and deploy deterrent forces to permanently dismantle Hezbollah.

In an interview with Fox News Digital, Ibrahim Mrad, president of the Universal Syriac Union Party and secretary general of the Lebanese Christian Front, said now is the time for the U.S., the U.K. and Germany to send troops in coordination with the United Nations and, alongside the Lebanese army, finally dismantle the terrorist group propped up by Iran.

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«If that [were] to be delayed, the Mullah could get, again, more power, and that will be, again, impossible [to dismantle Hezbollah],» Mrad said through a translator in reference to the leaders of the Islamic Republic, which is headed by Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

Mourners raise their hands and chant slogans during a funeral procession for Hezbollah fighters killed in an Israeli strike in the southern suburb of Beirut, Lebanon, Sept. 21, 2024.  (Associated Press)

ISRAEL WARNS IT WILL GO AFTER LEBANON DIRECTLY IF CEASE-FIRE WITH HEZBOLLAH COLLAPSES

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Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz claimed early last month that Hezbollah had been «defeated» in Lebanon after just over a month of targeted hits focused on destroying the terrorist group’s strongholds in southern Lebanon and in the capital city of Beirut, chiefly in the Dahiyeh suburb.

A shaky 13-point cease-fire was then agreed to late last month between Israel and Hezbollah that largely ended the strikes, though intermittent attacks have since been levied by both sides.

But reports this month suggested that U.S. intelligence officials believe that Hezbollah, backed by Iran, has not made any move to dismantle its military operations in Lebanon — a key pillar of the agreement — and that it will likely look to rebuild its forces and stockpiles. 

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Lebanese Christian Syriac Catholic scouts carry a statue of the Virgin Mary during a procession marking the month of the Virgin Mary in a Christian dominated neighbourhood of Beirut on May 27, 2016. The Syriac Catholic Church belongs to the See of Antioch and extends it roots back to the origins of Christianity in the Levant. 

Lebanese Christian Syriac Catholic scouts carry a statue of the Virgin Mary during a procession marking the month of the Virgin Mary in a Christian dominated neighbourhood of Beirut on May 27, 2016. The Syriac Catholic Church belongs to the See of Antioch and extends it roots back to the origins of Christianity in the Levant.  (Photo by PATRICK BAZ/AFP via Getty Images)

U.S. intelligence reportedly showed that Hezbollah was continuing to recruit to its ranks even as it was taking heavy hits from Israel through November. It was also reported to be attempting to rearm itself through domestic production as well as smuggling efforts through Syria, though it is unclear how these efforts have been impacted by the deteriorating situation in the neighboring nation over the last week.

The Christian Front, led by Mrad, said during a meeting at its headquarters in Beirut’s Achrafieh neighborhood earlier this month that it does not believe the cease-fire between Israel and Hezbollah will hold. It is therefore urging the Lebanese members of Parliament to request the deployment of international forces amid «the anticipated failure of the cease-fire agreement.»

Ibrahim Mrad

Ibrahim Mrad, president of the Universal Syriac Union Party and secretary general of the , Dec. 6, 2024. 

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Mrad explained to Fox News Digital that while, by his estimate, roughly 70% of the country does not back Hezbollah, the government and the army are not strong enough to completely dismantle the terrorist group or to prevent it from posing a future threat to Israel, a situation that risks a repeat of past failures. 

Previous international agreements under U.N. Resolution 1559, signed in 2004, and Resolution 1701, signed in 2006, called for the disarmament and dissolution of all militia groups and for the deployment of U.N. and Lebanese forces to the south of the country to stop Hezbollah from gaining a hold in the areas bordering Israel. Both resolutions failed to be realized.

Smoke after Israeli airstrike on Beirut suburb

Smoke rises after an Israeli airstrike on Dahiyeh, in the southern suburb of Beirut, Lebanon, Monday, Nov. 25, 2024.  (AP Photo/Bilal Hussein)

«We know now, in this situation, the Lebanese army couldn’t implement Resolution 1559 to force Hezbollah to [drop] their arms,» Mrad told Fox News Digital through a translator. «That’s why our demand for help is from the United Nations. They could come in and implement those two resolutions … [but] we want Americans and Germans and the British to be present in these forces.»

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Fox News Digital could not immediately reach the State Department for comment on whether the U.S. has been approached by Lebanon about a request to deploy U.S. troops. 

Concerns in Beirut that the cease-fire will fail coincided with threats levied this week by Israel’s defense minister that Jerusalem will no longer distinguish between Lebanon and Hezbollah should the terrorist group break the agreement. 

UN convoy

A convoy of United Nations Interim Force In Lebanon vehicles travel through the area of Marjayoun in southern Lebanon Dec. 4, 2024, during a cease-fire between Israel and Hezbollah.  (Getty Images)

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When asked about the warning issued by Katz last week, the Lebanese Christian leader said this approach would be a «mistake» that could turn the tide against Jerusalem.

«If they do that, then the Lebanese people will be against Israel. As I said before, most of the people are against Hezbollah now, not against Israel,» he said.

«If they target [civilians], that will be a mistake,» he added, noting he did not believe Jerusalem will actually begin pursuing non-Hezbollah targets.

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Otro polémico gesto de Nicolás Maduro: entregó 180 mil hectáreas expropiadas por Hugo Chávez al movimiento Sin Tierra de Brasil

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Con el objetivo de aumentar la producción de alimentos, Nicolás Maduro entregó este jueves 180 mil hectáreas agrícolas expropiadas durante la era de su predecesor, Hugo Chávez, al Movimiento Sin Tierra (MST) de Brasil.

La adjudicación de esta importante extensión de tierras ocurrió en el marco del proyecto agroproductivo «Patria Grande del Sur», orientado a fortalecer la producción agroecológica y la soberanía alimentaria en la región, según indicó el líder del régimen venezolano.

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Y, en la misma línea, agregó: «Buscamos producir alimentos orgánicos a gran escala para nuestro pueblo, para el norte de Brasil y para exportar al mundo».

El plan en la hacienda «La Vergareña», que fue estatizada en 2008 como resultado de una serie de expropiaciones que, según estimaciones privadas, alcanzaron unas nueve millones de hectáreas en el país, contempla el cultivo de caraotas, maíz, yuca, plátano, ñame, sorgo, hortalizas y frutas, además de la cría de gallinas ponedoras, ganado porcino y vacuno.

«Creo en la unión de los pueblos, por eso es que le he pedido al Movimiento Sin Tierra de Brasil recibir estas 180 mil hectáreas de las mejores tierras de Venezuela para dirigir un proyecto suramericano», dijo Maduro en cadena nacional respecto del predio, ubicado en el estado Bolívar (sur) y productivo en el momento de su expropiación, que es más grande que Isla Margarita, uno de los principales destinos turísticos del país caribeño.

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«(Son) tierras bien buenas para producir, es uno de los rescates más importantes que hubo en su momento y ya hemos avanzado tremendamente para activar todos los planes productivos», añadió el mandatario, en alusión a las expropiaciones que el gobierno denominó «rescates».

Por su parte, Roxana Fernández, del MST, indicó que buscan reforzar «la soberanía alimentaria» en Venezuela, que en los años más duros de recesión vivió una aguda escasez de alimentos, algo que expertos atribuyeron a los férreos controles estatales, hoy flexibilizados, además de las expropiaciones.


«Es un acto de reafirmación de compromiso de MST con el pueblo venezolano de hacer en estas tierras de la antigua Vergareña un modelo y un ejemplo para el mundo», apuntó Fernández.

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El MST -originalmente Movimiento de los Trabajadores Rurales Sin Tierra- fue fundado en 1984 como una organización social y política integrada por campesinos y sus familias en busca de tierras para los pobres en Brasil, convirtiéndose en un movimiento muy controvertido.

Con información de agencias.

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Netanyahu slams ‘terrorist-supporting’ UN council that accused Israel of committing sexual crimes

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The United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) is facing intense backlash from Israel over its report accusing Israel of employing sexual violence against Palestinians since October 2023. The report, entitled «’More than a human can bear’: Israel’s systematic use of sexual, reproductive and other forms of gender-based violence since October 2023» contains serious allegations against the Jewish state.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu released a statement on the report, calling the UNHRC «an antisemitic, corrupt, terrorist-supporting and irrelevant body.»

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«Instead of focusing on crimes against humanity and the war crimes committed by the Hamas terrorist organization during the worst massacre against the Jewish people since the Holocaust, the UN once again chooses to attack the State of Israel with false accusations, including outrageous and baseless allegations of sexual violence. This is not a Human Rights Council – it is a Blood Rights Council,» Prime Minister Netanyahu said in a statement.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks during a press conference in Jerusalem on December 9, 2024. (MAYA ALLERUZZO/POOL/AFP via Getty Images)

UN FINALLY RECOGNIZES THAT ISRAELI WOMEN WERE RAPED, SEXUALLY ATTACKED BY HAMAS TERRORISTS

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Multiple Israeli officials said the report constituted a «blood libel» and said it ignored the acts of sexual violence on Oct. 7. 

US Ambassador Designate to the United Nations Elise Stefanik also condemned the «baseless report» as «antisemitic and anti-Israel slander.»

«The so-called ‘Human Rights Council’ has failed to condemn the barbaric atrocities committed by Hamas terrorists against Israel including the brutal slaughter, torture, kidnapping of thousands of innocent civilians, and Hamas’ horrific use of rape and sexual violence against Israeli women and girls, yet disgracefully attacks Israel with unfounded smears,» Stefanik said in a statement. 

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Additionally, Israeli U.N. Ambassador Danny Danon called the report «another vile and distorted document from the UN.»

«This report is not even worth the paper it was printed on. Anyone who supported this false publication is complicit in whitewashing Hamas’ war crimes and trampling on the truth,» Danon said in a statement. «The UN is busy looking for ways to blame Israel instead of facing reality. History will judge you.»

United Nations Assembly

Israeli Permanent Member to the United Nations Danny Danon speaks during a session of the Security Council at the New York City headquarters. (Israel United Nations mission)

UNITED NATIONS SLAMMED FOR SILENCE OVER HAMAS RAPES, MUTILATION AND MURDER OF ISRAELI WOMEN, CRITICS SAY

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UNWatch Executive Director Hillel Neuer told Fox News Digital, «the U.N. inquiry is as objective as a Stalinist show trial, and that’s why they completely twisted the facts to falsely accuse Israel of the crimes that Hamas actually committed.»

The report documents a wide range of alleged abuses by Israeli troops, which it calls the Israel Security Forces (ISF), rather than the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), the military’s actual name in both Hebrew and English. The report also condemned how Israel was carrying out the war, saying that the destruction led to «disproportionate violence against women and children.»

Additionally, there are complaints in the report of forced public stripping. However, Israel has said that this is necessary to ensure detainees are not hiding explosives. Former IDF Spokesperson Lt. Col. Jonathan Conricus was quoted in the report as saying this in a 2023 CNN interview. Even the report acknowledges that «strip-searches for security justifications are not unlawful,» but claims that Israel’s process was not up to international standards.

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United Nations facade

A view of the United Nations Headquarters building in New York City, United States on July 16, 2024. (Jakub Porzycki/NurPhoto via Getty Images)

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Chair of the Commission Navi Pillay condemned the «deplorable increase in sexual and gender-based violence.»  She also says that Israel uses sexual violence to «terrorize» Palestinians and to create «a system of oppression that undermines their right to self-determination.»

«For decades, the head of the Inquiry, Navi Pillay, has been the world’s leading champion of the 2001 UN ‘Durban Declaration’ slander that a Jewish state is a racist state. Inquiry members have referred to the ‘Jewish lobby’ controlling social media and then complained that antisemitism is ‘always raised as a diversion,’» Anne Bayefsky, Director of the Touro Institute on Human Rights and the Holocaust and President of Human Rights Voices told Fox News Digital.

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The commission claims that sexual violence, including rape, is part of the IDF’s «standard operating procedures towards Palestinians.»

Bayefsky alleges the commission «ignored hundreds of thousands of submissions which challenged their conclusions… They have also refused to hear testimony from NGOs that would have contradicted the veracity of their pre-determined end product.»

«The Independent International Commission of Inquiry is an independent body mandated by the Human Rights Council, over which the secretary-general has no authority,» Secretary-General António Guterres’ spokesperson Stéphane Dujarric told Fox News Digital. «The secretary-general has spoken out repeatedly at the horrors we have seen in this conflict. He  continues to be deeply alarmed by the humanitarian situation in Gaza and reiterates his call for all parties to respect international humanitarian law and international human rights law. He underlines that there needs to be accountability.»

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Un terremoto sacude Nápoles en plena noche y la gente huye hasta por las ventanas

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Un terremoto de magnitud 4,4 en la caldera volcánica de Campi Flegrei sacudió la zona de Nápoles durante la noche, provocando que la gente, asustada, saliera a las calles, generando algunos daños y dejando a una persona herida.

El sismo, que se produjo a la 1:25 a. m. del jueves, fue el más fuerte en la zona en 40 años, junto con uno de la misma magnitud que la azotó en mayo del año pasado.

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Los coches fueron alcanzados por la caída de escombros. Foto: Reuters

Los bomberos de la ciudad de Bagnoli rescataron a una persona de entre los escombros después de que el sismo provocara el derrumbe de un techo. La persona resultó ilesa.

Algunas personas en la misma ciudad tuvieron que salir por las ventanas para escapar de sus casas debido a los daños causados por el temblor. Los coches fueron alcanzados por la caída de escombros y aparecieron grietas en algunos edificios.

La primera ministra, Giorgia Meloni, monitoreaba este jueves constantemente la situación en estrecho contacto con el secretario de Gabinete, Alfredo Mantovano, el ministro de Protección Civil, Nello Musumeci, y el jefe del Departamento de Protección Civil, Fabio Ciciliano, informó la oficina de la premier.

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La zona de Campi Flegrei actualmente está siendo afectada por el fenómeno conocido como bradisísmo, o levantamiento del suelo, y ha habido una serie de terremotos durante el último año.

«Recientemente, la tasa de elevación del suelo se ha triplicado, pasando de 1 a 3 centímetros al mes», declaró a ANSA Francesca Bianco, directora del departamento de volcanes del Instituto Nacional de Geofísica y Vulcanología.

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«Lo ocurrido anoche no es inesperado: se observa una mayor intensificación de la crisis bradisísmica en comparación con 2023, pero no hay evidencia de magma superficial, lo cual sería un indicio típico de una erupción inminente», agregó.

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Desarrollo urbano en una zona volcánica

El ministro de Protección Civil, Nello Musumeci, nombró a un comisionado especial para la zona de Campi Flegrei para que se encargue de las medidas de prevención de riesgos. El ministro se ha quejado de cómo se ha permitido el desarrollo urbano en la zona volcánica durante décadas.

El alcalde de Nápoles, Gaetano Manfredi, afirmó que el último terremoto fue «una importante prueba de resistencia para el patrimonio arquitectónico de esta parte de la ciudad».

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Bomberos inspeccionan el campanario de una iglesia. Foto: EFEBomberos inspeccionan el campanario de una iglesia. Foto: EFE

«El hecho de que no haya daños estructurales significa que existe una buena capacidad sísmica», continuó al término de una reunión sobre la situación en la prefectura.

«Es obvio que ahora debemos continuar trabajando en esta vulnerabilidad. Debemos continuar con los controles, porque la única solución para vivir con bradisismo es contar con estructuras seguras, y debemos trabajar en ello», añadió.

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