INTERNACIONAL
Pope Francis dead at 88, Vatican says
Pope Francis, Bishop of Rome and Supreme Pontiff of the Catholic Church, who worked to instill progressive influences on the global church while maintaining unity with conservatives amid years of turmoil, died Monday morning, Vatican camerlengo Cardinal Kevin Farrell announced.
He was 88 years old.
«Dearest brothers and sisters, with deep sorrow I must announce the death of our Holy Father Francis. At 7:35 this morning, the Bishop of Rome, Francis, returned to the house of the Father. His entire life was dedicated to the service of the Lord and His Church,» Farrell announced.
«He taught us to live the values of the Gospel with fidelity, courage and universal love, especially in favor of the poorest and most marginalized. With immense gratitude for his example as a true disciple of the Lord Jesus, we commend the soul of Pope Francis to the infinite merciful love of the One and Triune God.»
U.S. Vice President JD Vance had just met with the pope on Sunday.
«I just learned of the passing of Pope Francis. My heart goes out to the millions of Christians all over the world who loved him. I was happy to see him yesterday, though he was obviously very ill. But I’ll always remember him for the below homily he gave in the very early days of COVID. It was really quite beautiful. May God rest his soul,» Vance said early Monday morning in a post on X.
Pope Francis meets with U.S. Vice President JD Vance and his delegation during an audience at Casa Santa Marta on April 20, 2025, in Vatican City, Vatican. (Vatican Media via Vatican Pool/Getty Images)
The pope preached frequently on the Catholic virtues of mercy, kindness and humility. He did not shy away from controversy, and American presidents, including Donald Trump and Joe Biden, were not immune from his views.
Less than a month into President Donald Trump’s presidency, the pontiff criticized the Republican’s plans for the mass deportations of migrants, stressing that the forceful removal of people simply for their immigration status deprives them of their inherent dignity and «will end badly.»
In a strongly worded letter to U.S. Catholic Bishops, the pope appeared to counter remarks made by Vice President JD Vance — who had recently converted to Catholicism — after he suggested Americans should care for family, communities and the country before caring about others.
«Christian love is not a concentric expansion of interests that little by little extend to other persons and groups,» the pontiff wrote. «Worrying about personal, community or national identity, apart from these considerations.»
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Pope Francis meets with bishops, priests, deacons, consecrated persons, seminarians and pastoral workers in Our Lady of Perpetual Help Cathedral in Nur-Sultan, Kazakhstan, on Sept. 15, 2022. (Reuters/Pavel Mikheyev)
Pope Francis in 2015 became the first pontiff to ever address a Joint Meeting of Congress where he spoke on a range of topics including immigration, family, the death penalty, climate change, extremism, religious freedom and the refugee crisis.
He joined American bishops and urged American leaders to abolish capital punishment and said Congress has a «role to play» in addressing global warming.
In 2022 he questioned then President Biden’s conscience on abortion in an interview during which he described the commander-in-chief’s religious identity and views on abortion as incoherent. «A month after conception, the DNA of the fetus is already there and the organs are aligned. There is human life,» the pontiff said in the interview with Spanish-language outlet Univision.
He also weighed in on candidates Trump and Harris during the election campaign, where he bashed them both, saying, «Both are against life, be it the one who kicks out migrants, or be it the one who kills babies,″ he said, according to the Associated Press.
Just weeks before President Trump’s second inauguration, he appointed Cardinal Robert McElroy to be the Archbishop of Washington. McElroy had been critical of Trump’s immigration policies during his first term as president.
Born Jorge Mario Bergoglio in 1936 to Italian immigrant parents in Argentina, Francis made history as the first pope from the Americas — as well as the first Jesuit to hold the office.
He was elected pope in 2013 after the almost unprecedented retirement of his predecessor, Pope Benedict XVI.
Bergolio’s father, Mario, was an accountant for the railway industry, and his mother, Regina, was a homemaker and caregiver for her five children.
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Pope Francis, born as Jorge Mario Bergoglio, is shown here with his family. From left to right, standing, brother Alberto Horacio, Jorge Mario Bergoglio, Oscar Adrian and sister Marta Regina, sitting, sister Maria Elena, mother Regina and father Mario Jose Francisco. (API/Gamma-Rapho via Getty Images)
Throughout his early years, the future pope worked a number of menial jobs. He labored briefly in the stocking factory where his father was an accountant before moving on to other opportunities, including jobs as a bar bouncer and janitor.
He eventually sought a career as a chemical technician, receiving a diploma in chemistry from the secondary school Escuela Técnica Industrial N° 27 Hipólito Yrigoyen. He also worked briefly in a food laboratory. However, his career in chemistry was short-lived.
He entered the priesthood at the Diocesan Seminary of Villa Devoto in Argentina. Francis was ordained a priest in 1969 and made his final profession with the Society of Jesus, also known as the Jesuits, in 1973. The same year, he was appointed as a provincial for the order.
His appointment as provincial was concurrent with the Dirty War, a period of intense state-led persecution of left-wing leaders and political dissidents. Bergolio experienced constant threats to his own safety as he worked to hide or aid in the escape of government targets, including many Catholic faithful.
Pope Francis’ is a fan of Argentina’s San Lorenzo Futbol Club. (API/Gamma-Rapho via Getty Images)
During that time, two Jesuit priests under his supervision were disappeared by the government, drugged and left barely alive in a field five months after their kidnapping. Pope Francis has said he was forced to negotiate with the regime for their release.
Bergolio would spend the next two decades bouncing from position to position at the direction of his superiors. He served as a professor of theology, seminary instructor, rector, doctoral student and parish priest.
In 1992, Pope John Paul II appointed Bergolio as titular Bishop of Auca and as an auxiliary bishop of Buenos Aires. This was done at the request of Cardinal Antonio Quarracino, Archbishop of Buenos Aires, who consecrated him to the episcopacy.
Bergoglio proved vital to the nation’s Catholic community, and he was quickly raised to the dignity of Coadjutor Archbishop of Buenos Aires, serving alongside Quarracino and taking over the archdiocese entirely after his death the following year.
Bergoglio was given the crimson hat of a cardinal by Pope John Paul II in 2001.
In 2013, after the resignation of Pope Benedict XVI, Bergoglio was elected to the papacy, selecting the pontifical name «Francis» after St. Francis of Assisi — a choice that set the tone for the rest of his papacy.
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Newly elected Pope Francis, Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio of Argentina appears on the balcony of St. Peter’s Basilica after being elected by the conclave of cardinals, at the Vatican on March 13, 2013. White smoke rose from the Sistine Chapel chimney, and the bells of St. Peter’s Basilica rang out, signaling at the time that the Roman Catholic cardinals had elected a pope to succeed Benedict XVI. (Tony Gentile/Reuters)
Pope Francis’s teachings as a priest, bishop, cardinal and pope were deeply influenced by his Jesuit vocation — viewing each person as a unique creation of God, with whom they can have a personal relationship. His ministry and leadership were committed to keeping doors open and making the church approachable to the public.
It was not only American politics that he had strong opinions of.
He faced criticism for specific remarks he made against Israel’s military operation in Gaza, calling the humanitarian situation in the Palestinian enclave «very serious and shameful.» During that same speech, he condemned the growth of antisemitism throughout the world, Reuters reported. He also called for an end to the war in Ukraine and expressed concerns over climate change.
In 2023, seemingly looking to strike a balance, he formally allowed Catholic priests to give same-sex couples a blessing, which was seen as being a radical shift in church policy, the Associated Press reported at the time.
Pope Francis is also remembered for living a life of intense simplicity, denying himself a lavish papal apartment in the Vatican upon his election, and opting instead for a two-room suite in the Domus Santa Marta, a residence built by Pope John Paul II.
Pope Francis celebrates the traditional rite of the washing of feet at the Casal del Marmo juvenile penitentiary on April 6, 2023, in Rome, Italy. On Holy Thursday, Pope Francis went to the outskirts of Rome to celebrate the Mass of the Lord’s Supper at the Casal del Marmo juvenile penitentiary, where he carried out the traditional rite of the washing of the feet of twelve of the young people there. (Vatican Media via Vatican Pool/Getty Images)
In contrast to his immediate predecessors, Pope Francis eschewed ornate robes or luxurious clothing. His outfit rarely consisted of more than a plain, white cassock tied with a papal fascia.
Pope Francis even dressed down his Ring of the Fisherman — a piece of gold jewelry worn by popes to signify their office — by having it made with silver and only wearing it for ceremonies.
Francis’s tenure continued the ongoing efforts to investigate decades of sexual abuse claims against priests across the world, including in the United States, with Francis vowing transparency in 2019.
«Transparency is now being implemented at the highest level,» said Archbishop Charles Scicluna, the Archbishop of Malta and Adjunct Secretary of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, after Francis gave legal authorities access to documents about sexual abuse cases and abolished the «pontifical secret» of the cases.
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Pope Francis meets President Donald Trump during his first term in the Private Library of the Apostolic Palace with his wife, Melania, his daughter, Ivanka Trump and her husband, Jared Kushner. (Vatican/Pool/Galazka/Archivio Grzegorz Galazka/Mondadori via Getty Images)
He continued Benedict’s work to root malicious clerics out of the Church hierarchy «with the wrath of God,» appointing task forces and establishing victim aid groups.
Pope Francis proved frustrating for a wide variety of conservatives, liberals, traditionalists and progressives.
His gentle — at times vague and confusing — language on key social issues, such as sexuality and divorce, frustrated conservatives hoping for a more aggressive champion of Catholic moral teaching.
In July 2017, a group of Catholic clergy and academics sent Pope Francis a «Filial Correction» document alleging seven serious theological mistakes made by the pontiff in public statements. The document’s assertions proved controversial within the Catholic Church and the document was never explicitly addressed.
Conversely, his refusal to back down from traditional church teachings on abortion, gay marriage, women’s ordination and priestly celibacy frustrated progressives hoping for a more modern church.
Echoing his time as a prelate in Argentina, Pope Francis was at times criticized from both sides of the aisle for his heavy hand enforcing Catholic unity on national and international levels.
Traditionalists voiced intense opposition to his apostolic letter «Traditionis custodes,» which restricted the celebration of the traditional Latin mass in an attempt to squash increasingly separatist conservative movements within the Church.
Pope Francis meets with then-President Joe Biden during an audience at the Apostolic Palace on Oct. 29, 2021 in Vatican City. (Vatican Media via Vatican Pool)
He similarly shut down discussion of many social issues that progressives have sought to reform.
In 2019, Pope Francis told a nun asking him to approve the ordination of women that «if the Lord didn’t want a sacramental ministry for women, it can’t go forward,» adding, «We are Catholics, but if anyone wants to found another church they are free [to do so].»
The hyper-progressive leadership of the Catholic Church in Germany was a target of his ire after the country’s clerical leaders attempted an upheaval of traditional teachings regarding gender and sexuality. The Vatican issued a series of letters, approved by Pope Francis, accusing the German church of risking separation from the Catholic Communion.
The conflict with German bishops encapsulated his papacy’s recurring themes of authority and unity, best exemplified in a passage from his «Letter to the Pilgrim People of God in Germany.»
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Pope Francis delivers a speech during the Holy Mass with newly appointed Cardinals. (Stefano Costantino/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images)
In the letter, Pope Francis wrote, «The universal Church lives in and of the particular Churches, just as the particular Churches live and flourish in and from the universal Church. If they find themselves separated from the entire ecclesial body, they weaken, rot and die. Hence, the need always to ensure that communion with the whole body of the Church is alive and effective.»
Pope Francis visited dozens of countries, including the United States and Cuba in 2015, and went as far afield as Papua New Guinea, as well as visits to predominantly Muslim countries including Egypt, Morocco and Jordan.
Pope Francis struggled with health complications throughout his reign.
The pontiff dealt for many years with sciatica, a nerve condition that caused immense pain in his leg and at times hindered his ability to walk.
In 2021, Pope Francis was hospitalized for an intestinal surgery that removed 13 inches of his colon.
In March 2023, Francis was again taken to the hospital after experiencing intense chest pain and difficulty breathing. He was treated for a respiratory infection and released after antibiotic treatment.
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Pope Francis is welcomed as he arrives at the Apostolic Prefecture on Sept. 1, 2023 in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia. According to the Vatican, the trip was Pope Francis’s 43rd Apostolic Journey abroad and the 61st country he visited as Pope. (Vatican Media via Vatican Pool/Getty Images)
In June of the same year, the pope was brought back for another abdominal surgery to repair an incisional hernia. He was released after making a full recovery.
He took a fall at his residence and suffered a contusion on his right arm in January 2025.
In February, he was once again hospitalized after a bout of bronchitis.
Following Pope Francis’ death, the Vatican has entered a time of sede vacante — in English, «empty seat.»
The Associated Press, Reuters and Fox News’ Annie Butterworth contributed to this report.
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Attorneys in Colorado are claiming that the state’s court e-file system is requiring them to certify they won’t share personal information to assist ICE or federal immigration enforcement.
Multiple attorneys on X reported an electronic notification citing the Protect Civil Rights Immigration Status Act, a state law passed in 2025 that prohibits collection or disclosure of information pertaining to immigration status in health care, education and government.
Covenant Law founder Ian Speir posted screenshots of an alleged electronic form that he was required to accept to access Colorado’s court filing system.
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The page in question is not public-facing and appeared to be only accessible by attorneys registered in Colorado, Fox News Digital’s review of the website revealed.
«I certify under penalty of perjury that I will not use or disclose personal identifying information, as defined by [the act] obtained from this database for the purpose of investigating for, participating in, cooperating with, or assisting in federal immigration enforcement, including enforcement of civil immigration laws and 8 U.S.C. Sec. 1325 or 1326, unless required by federal or state law or to comply with a court-issued subpoena, warrant, or order,» the message says, asking attorneys to «accept» or «decline.»
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«Colorado is now requiring lawyers in the state, as a condition of logging into its court e-filing system, to promise not to cooperate with federal authorities in enforcing federal immigration law,» Speir said in response on X.
Speir added he doesn’t practice immigration nor criminal law, and nothing in his cases would be relevant to the law. But he «cannot log into the state’s official e-filing system without saluting ‘The Resistance’.»
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«I now cannot represent my clients, file lawsuits, access cases, file documents in existing cases,» he said, adding he chose the «accept» option «under protest.»
«The bottom line here is that Colorado seems to be unlawfully coopting private attorneys across the state to further its anti-federal sanctuary policies,» Speir told Fox News Digital later Friday.
Attorney and former law professor Matt Barber added on X that the oath the state expects lawyers to take is «indefensible.»
The announcement Barber received said the the Colorado Judicial Department deployed an «updated certification process» as of March 30 to comply with the new law.
TRUMP ADMIN SUES ILLINOIS GOV. PRITZKER OVER LAWS SHIELDING MIGRANTS FROM COURTHOUSE ARRESTS
Department of Homeland Security police officers patrol around the Edward Roybal Federal Building in Los Angeles. (Frederic Brown/Getty Images)
The original implementation was paused in September amid «additional review,» the agency said in its notice.
«The majority of CCE information remains public; this requirement only impacts access to nonpublic personal identifying information as defined by statute,» the agency said in its new terms, adding that attorneys who choose to decline the agreement must complete a «brief certification» to proceed.
«Democrats going back to their Confederacy roots,» another critic quipped, citing a screenshot of the 1956 law outlining «seditious conspiracy» as opposing federal authority by force or «hinder[ing] … execution of any law of the United States.»
Fox News contributor Guy Benson added, «Big lawsuits: Now.»
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Fox News Digital reached out to the Colorado Judicial Department, Gov. Jared Polis and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security for comment.
The 2025 law, authored by Sen. Julie Gonzales, D-Denver, and Sen. Mike Weissman, D-Aurora, also prevents civil arrests of people present at courthouses and «military force[s]» from other states from entering Colorado without executive permission unless acting upon federal orders.
And it repeals requirements that applicants for college admission or driver’s licenses must sign an form pledging they’ve applied for lawful presence in the U.S.
immigration, immigrant rights, law, colorado, justice department
INTERNACIONAL
Cuba comienza a liberar presos después de anunciar un indulto para más de 2.000 personas
Cuba comenzó a liberar presos este viernes horas después de haber anunciado un indulto a 2.010 personas como «gesto humanitario» por Semana Santa, su segunda medida de este tipo en menos de un mes en medio de la presión de Estados Unidos.
De la cárcel La Lima, en el este de La Habana, salió al amanecer una veintena de detenidos. Los liberados se abrazaron y lloraron con familiares que esperaban fuera de la prisión. «Gracias al Papa», gritaron algunos de ellos que también se persignaron.
Estas liberaciones ocurren poco después de que el gobierno estadounidense alivió el bloqueo petrolero que estableció en enero sobre Cuba, al permitir esta semana el ingreso de un buque con crudo de Rusia.
El 12 de marzo, el gobierno cubano había anunciado la liberación anticipada de 51 prisioneros como muestra de «buena voluntad» hacia el Vaticano, mediador histórico entre La Habana y Washington.
Estados Unidos dijo estar al tanto de las excarcelaciones y reclamó a La Habana «la liberación inmediata de los cientos de otros valientes patriotas cubanos que permanecen injustamente detenidos», según un portavoz del Departamento de Estado.
El gobierno cubano no dio los nombres de las personas indultadas ni especificó los delitos que abarca el indulto, pero señaló que las liberaciones tienen en cuenta el tipo de crimen, la conducta en prisión, motivos de salud y el tiempo transcurrido en la cárcel.
«Gracias por esta oportunidad que nos dieron», declaró a la AFP Albis Gaínza, de 46 años, quien purgaba seis años de cárcel por robo y cumplió tres.
«Hace falta que esto siga» y «suelten a más» presos, dijo Gaínza, que afirmó que no pudo dormir desde que se enteró de los indultos.
Entre los indultados hay «jóvenes, mujeres, adultos mayores de 60 años», así como «extranjeros y ciudadanos cubanos residentes en el exterior», según el texto oficial.
«Esta es una oportunidad que solo la dan una vez en la vida» y «uno ha sufrido demasiado y las madres de uno», dijo Brian Pérez, de 20 años y que cumplía una sanción por lesión.
Damián Fariñas, también de 20 años, dijo que su liberación es «una bendición muy grande» que «llena de felicidad» a su familia. A este joven le faltaban 14 meses para cumplir su pena por robo.
El indulto descarta a aquellas personas que cometieron delitos de agresión sexual, pederastia con violencia, asesinato, homicidio, drogas, hurto y robo con violencia o fuerza con la utilización de armas», así como «corrupción de menores, delitos contra la autoridad, reincidentes y multirreincidentes».
El grupo de defensa de los derechos humanos Justicia 11J consideró «especialmente preocupante la mención de los llamados ‘delitos contra la autoridad’, que incluyen figuras como atentado, resistencia y desacato».
En un comunicado, esta ONG llamó la atención de que esas figuras delictivas son usadas por las autoridades cubanas para «criminalizar» la actividad opositora.
Según Justicia 11J, Cuba tiene 775 personas detenidas por razones políticas.
Pasado el mediodía de este viernes, la ONG Cubalex, con sede en Miami, no había podido confirmar la liberación «de ningún preso político», según declaró a la AFP su directora Laritza Diversent.
Cubalex cuestionó la «falta de transparencia en este proceso» y recordó que «históricamente, el uso del indulto en Cuba ha servido como una herramienta de canje político y propaganda, más que como un acto de justicia».
El presidente Donald Trump no oculta su deseo de un cambio de régimen en Cuba, considerada por Washington una «amenaza excepcional» para la seguridad nacional de Estados Unidos por sus estrechas relaciones con Rusia, China e Irán.
El gobierno del presidente cubano Miguel Díaz-Canel anunció hace dos semanas que mantiene conversaciones con Estados Unidos.
«Hay todo un discurso y una puesta en escena» como si el indulto «no tuviera nada que ver con las negociaciones, cuando claramente sí tiene que ver», dijo a la AFP Andrés Pertierra, historiador de Cuba en la Universidad de Wisconsin, en Estados Unidos.
INTERNACIONAL
Israel prepara el terreno para una nueva ocupación permanente del sur del Líbano: cuáles son los riesgos
El ejército israelí comenzó este jueves a demoler las casas de aldeas libanesas vecinas a la frontera con Israel, en una maniobra que preanuncia una nueva ocupación permanente del sur del Líbano para crear un área de seguridad contra Hezbollah.
Las viviendas, según fuentes militares citadas por The Jerusalén Post, eran utilizadas por el grupo islámico libanés “como bases para lanzar fuego antitanque y realizar labores de reconocimiento de las fuerzas israelíes”.
“Hemos ordenado acelerar la destrucción de viviendas libanesas en las aldeas de la línea de contacto para neutralizar las amenazas a las comunidades israelíes, siguiendo el modelo de Beit Hanun y Rafah en Gaza”, dijo el ministro de Defensa, Israel Katz. Ambas ciudades palestinas fueron devastadas después de dos años de guerra contra Hamas.
Katz también ordenó destruir los puentes al sur del río Litani, el nuevo límite que las fuerzas israelíes quieren marcar para este “colchón de seguridad” que buscan crear en la zona para evitar ataques del grupo armado chiíta financiado por Irán.
Se calcula que unas 600.000 personas serán desplazadas de la zona.
Israel ya ocupó el sur del Líbano durante 18 años, entre 1982 y el año 2000.
Los riesgos de una nueva ocupación israelí permanente del sur del Líbano
Los ataques de Hezbollah contra el norte de Israel no cesan desde el comienzo de la guerra en Irán. Solo este jueves -inicio de la Pascua judía- lanzó 80 cohetes sobre territorio israelí, según la versión oficial.
En tanto, Israel lanzó ataques devastadores sobre Beirut y otras zonas del país que ya causaron la muerte de más de un millar de personas y el desplazamiento de más de un millón de civiles.
Columnas de humo se levantan en un barrio de la periferia sur de Beirut después de un nuevo ataque israelí. (Foto: REUTERS/Mohamed Azakir)
Ahora, el objetivo es ocupar el área al sur del río Litani que estará controlada mediante vigilancia y potencia de fuego a través de la presencia de tropas terrestres en zonas estratégicas. Representa alrededor del 8% del territorio libanés.
“Existe un riesgo muy serio de una ocupación israelí a largo plazo del sur del Líbano. Los líderes israelíes ya declararon su intención de ampliar la presencia en la zona, al menos hasta el río Litani. Además, obligaron a cientos de miles de personas a abandonar el área y bombardeó la mayoría de los puentes que conectan la zona al sur del Litani con el resto del país. Por lo tanto, se dan todas las condiciones para que Israel implemente una ocupación”, dijo a TN el analista David Wood, especialista en temas libaneses del Crisis Group, una ONG encargada de la resolución de conflictos.
Leé también: Violencia en Cisjordania: denuncian que colonos israelíes intensificaron los ataques contra civiles palestinos
Para el analista, “la dirigencia israelí no dio una respuesta clara” sobre el tiempo de la ocupación.
“La semana pasada hubo comentarios del ministro de Defensa sugiriendo que Israel implementaría una zona de seguridad en esta área, y que podría mantener esa zona incluso después de que termine la guerra contra Hezbollah, nuevamente, por un período de tiempo indeterminado. Así que, potencialmente, Israel podría mantener una ocupación a largo plazo en el sur del Líbano”, apuntó.
Según Wood, “las consecuencias serían desastrosas si Israel instituye una ocupación a largo plazo”.
“Israel ya obligó a muchos residentes del sur a dejar atrás sus hogares y huir de sus comunidades. Estas personas ahora están atrapadas. Muchos no tienen ningún lugar a donde ir, ya que no pueden encontrar otros lugares donde vivir. Y por supuesto, además de eso, tampoco saben cuándo podrán regresar a sus hogares”, indicó.
El experto advirtió también sobre el riesgo de que una ocupacióin a largo plazo derive “en la continuación de la resistencia armada en el Líbano”.
Tropas israelíes en la frontera con el Libano. (Foto: REUTERS/Shir Torem)
“Esa resistencia armada podría provenir de Hezbollah o de otros grupos de personas, particularmente del sur, porque Israel les impide regresar a sus hogares ancestrales. Entonces podrían tomar las armas en un esfuerzo por luchar contra la continua presencia de Israel en el Líbano”, advirtió.
Pero analistas militares israelíes están de acuerdo con la ocupación.
“En mi opinión profesional, debemos permanecer en los límites del río Litani e incluso en algunos puntos del lado este, más allá del río Litani”, dijo a The Media Line el experto Gabriel Siboni, coronel de la reserva de las Fuerzas de Defensa e investigador principal del Instituto de Estrategia y Seguridad de Jerusalén.
Además, afirmó: “Necesitamos ocupar, mantener el control del territorio y purificar el área” erradicando a Hezbollah. “Israel debería permanecer en la zona hasta que creamos que ya no hay ninguna amenaza para nuestras ciudades del norte” del país.
Leé también: La Guardia Revolucionaria tomó el poder en Irán y bloqueó las decisiones presidenciales
Sin embargo, otros analistas descreen que la destrucción completa de Hezbollah sea posible.
“No creo que sea realista esperar la destrucción total de Hezbollah. No es solo un brazo iraní. También es un partido político y un movimiento de masas chiíta libanés que representa los deseos y motivaciones de los chiítas”, alertó Harel Chorev, investigador principal del Centro Moshe Dayan de Estudios de Oriente Medio y África de la Universidad de Tel Aviv.
Según afirmó, “destruirlo por completo exigiría la vida de muchos soldados y una operación extremadamente costosa, de largo alcance e inviable en todos los sentidos”.
En el sur del Líbano, muchos civiles se niegan a abandonar sus hogares. “Nosotros no vamos a irnos, no vamos a irnos de nuestras casas, porque si te vas, no vas a poder volver. Tu casa, tu fortuna y tu vida; todo lo que has acumulado a lo largo de toda la vida y tu trabajo está aquí“, resumió a EFE Mousa Gerges Alhumsi, vicealcalde del pueblo Burj al Malouk.
Líbano, Israel
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