The blockade of the United States Congress by the Republican opposition has once again hit the foreign action of the leading world power, this time in the war between Hamas and Israel. Washington does not have an ambassador in Jerusalem, Oman, the United Arab Emirates

Under the still immense and widespread shock in his country over the attacks carried out by Hamas and the clamor from broad sectors in favor of the unity of its leadership in one of the most traumatic moments in Israel's history, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the centrist leader Benny Gantz, have agreed to form an emergency government to confront the war with the jihadist group.

The pact of the two leaders, who joined in a coalition against the coronavirus crisis in 2020 and then divorced acrimoniously, involves the creation of the so-called “war management cabinet” that will be formed by the two together with the current one. Minister of Defense, Yoav Gallant.

The incorporation of the former Minister of Defense and head of the Israeli Army who leads a party in which another former head of the Tsáhal, Gadi Eizenkot, is also a member, aims to send “a message of firmness in difficult times for our people,” according to official sources.. What there is no doubt is that the new Government has much more experience in military issues.

The Government formed at the end of 2022 with the Likud, two ultra-Orthodox parties and two other ultra-nationalists will be joined by five ministers from Gantz's faction, which in fact is the union of his centrist list (with some center-left politicians) and the conservative party of the former Likud Minister Gideon Saar.

Israel continues bombing the Gaza Strip while Hamas attacks spread panic among the Israeli population El Mundo

However, it is worth remembering that the second most voted party in Israel led by the former prime minister and head of the opposition, the centrist Yair Lapid, remains on the sidelines. In the joint statement, Netanyahu and Gantz agreed to reserve a position for him in the new command room.

The emergency cabinet in the war against Hamas will be made up of Netanyahu, Gallant and Gantz while Eizencot and Minister Ron Dermer (Bibi's trusted man) will act as observers in the restricted forum. In this way, the far-right minister Itamar Ben Gvir loses relevance in security matters and especially in this crisis – already minimal in itself.

In his speech with Gallamt and Gantz, Netanyahu denounced that Israel fights with a “cruel enemy” and added: “Hamas is Daesh. “We will crush and eliminate him like the world crushed and eliminated Daesh.”

The formation of the new cabinet does not mean that Israel will relax the enormous pressure, based on bombs and civil restrictions, on Hamas and Gaza. With Gantz and Eizenkot, who like many in the center left demand a tough offensive against the perpetrators of Saturday's massacres that they compare to Daesh, the cabinet will feel more legitimized externally and internally to toughen the offensive and make difficult decisions as a ground operation in the Gaza Strip.

In this way, the war started by Hamas has definitively buried the controversial judicial reform proposal launched in January by the Minister of Justice, Yariv Levin, which unleashed an unprecedented division in Israel with more than 40 consecutive weeks of protests and damage palpable in the economy, internal cohesion (with effects on the reservist corps) and the deterrence capacity. As expected, Netanyahu and Gantz agreed not to promote bills or decisions unrelated to the management of the war.

“Large scale” bombing

Meanwhile, on the fifth day of the war sparked by Hamas' surprise attack on Saturday, exchanges of fire continue, with rockets launched from Gaza hitting the city of Ashkelon and even Tel Aviv.. and with continued Israeli aerial bombardment against the Gaza Strip, “on a large scale,” as reported by the Israeli armed forces and confirmed by witnesses in Gaza.

A rocket hit the Barzilai hospital in Ashkelon, located 10 kilometers north of the Gaza border, causing only material damage.. The fighter jets bombed this Wednesday the Islamic University of Gaza which, according to Israel, was a place to train experts in military espionage and to develop and produce weapons, in addition to hosting conferences aimed at raising financing for the Islamist organization, says a statement from the Army, reports Efe.

In the Gaza Strip, official figures report 1,055 dead, more than 5,000 injured, and three schools and more than 500 residential buildings destroyed.

The Strip is under constant bombardment by Israeli fighters and completely isolated from the world, without electricity or fuel.. The possibility of leaving is only a hypothesis, since Egypt's Foreign Minister, Sameh Shukri, avoided answering this Wednesday the question of whether his country will open the Rafah crossing, which connects the Gaza Strip with the Sinai Peninsula. to allow the Palestinians to flee from the blockade.

“There is a complete blockade imposed and all Israeli crossings are closed to Gazans. Egypt kept the Rafah crossing open to provide humanitarian aid, food and medical supplies,” Shukri said, adding that “conflicts encourage irregular migration and flight to safer areas.” “And, of course, Europe is a center of attraction.”

France fears that the Israeli conflict will somehow extend to French territory, where there is an important Jewish community. There have been fifty anti-Semitic acts since Saturday. The Government spokesman, Olivier Véran, warned this Wednesday that Paris wants to “avoid an escalation” and prevent “the conflict from being imported” to France.. He has insisted that the Jewish community has “full protection.”

This warning comes after it is known that there are 20 detainees for the anti-Semitic attacks committed since last weekend on French soil.. Three foreigners who are going to be expelled from the country for this. The data was given by the Minister of the Interior, Gérald Darmanin, who visited a Jewish school near Paris on Wednesday accompanied by the Minister of Education, Gabriel Attal.

At the moment, security has been reinforced in about 500 sensitive places, synagogues and Jewish schools.. About 10,000 gendarmes and police are watching them, according to the Interior.. In France, anti-Semitic acts are not isolated. 90% of students of this religious denomination say they have been victims of some act or threat, according to a survey by the IFOP study center commissioned by the Union of Jewish Students of France (UEJF).

On Monday a demonstration was held in Paris in support of this population. On Thursday there are two calls in support of Palestine, but they have been prohibited by the Police Prefecture considering that they could be conflictive and, above all, end in an apology for anti-Semitism. On Tuesday, some rallies were dispersed, also under the Palestinian flag for this reason.

The New Anti-Capitalist Party, for example, is being investigated for advocating anti-Semitism and terrorism after showing its support for “the Palestinian resistance” after the Hamas attacks, which it did not condemn.. Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne recalled yesterday that “France will not tolerate any anti-Semitic act or statement.”

“We will use all means to protect our compatriots,” Darmanin recalled during his visit to the Jewish school.. The head of Education, Gabriel Attal, has indicated that “the priority today is to guarantee security in educational centers”. He cited several “totally unacceptable” situations that have occurred these days, such as the case of a class where a student drew a swastika on a blackboard against a Jewish student.

The positioning in the face of the conflict divides the political class. Emmanuel Macron and members of the Government have condemned the terrorist attacks without fissures. The left is divided, especially after the ambiguous statements of Jean-Luc Mélenchon, leader of La Francia Insumisa, on the matter. He compared the Hamas attacks to the Israeli occupation.

These words have generated discomfort within the Socialist Party, with whom it shares an alliance in the French Assembly. There is also controversy at the other extreme, where the silence and absence of far-right politicians at last Monday's demonstration has been criticized.. There were, among others, former president Nicolas Sarkozy, former prime minister Manuel Valls and the mayor of Paris, Anne Hidalgo.

Meanwhile, anguish grows over the twenty Franco-Israelis missing in Israel, of whom there has been no news since Saturday. It is feared that they are kidnapped by Hamas. For now, the French Foreign Ministry has confirmed the death of eight French citizens, although without detailing the circumstances or their identity. A flight has been organized on Thursday to begin the repatriation of French people from the country.

The Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenski, made a surprise appearance in Brussels on Tuesday to participate in the NATO Defense Ministers' meeting. The transfer, the first to the Alliance headquarters since the invasion, had not been announced for security reasons, as always happens. But what is unusual is for Zelensky to leave the country for something that those below him in the pecking order usually do.

The trip, just a few days after returning from Granada, where he also participated in the meeting of the European Political Community along with 50 other continental leaders, is due to the extreme concern that is plaguing Kiev these days, and not only at the prospect of a new winter of attacks and power outages. Because of the disturbing messages coming from the United States and its budget negotiations. Due to the doubts and misgivings of more and more allies, from Hungary to Poland through Slovakia, which after the recent elections plans to freeze the shipment of weapons and ammunition. And above all because of the fear that Ukrainians have that the brewing war in Gaza will end up attracting attention, not in the media, that too, but in foreign ministries around the planet, starting with Washington.

“President Zelensky, dear Volodimir, it is a great honor and privilege to welcome you back here at NATO headquarters and to return the warm welcome you extended to me when I visited Kiev just a couple of weeks ago.. Your leadership, the bravery of the Ukrainian armed forces, and the determination of the Ukrainian people continue to impress and inspire us all.. As you know, we will stand by them and provide support to Ukraine, because this is really important for all of NATO.. Your fight is our fight. Your security is our security and your values are ours. We will support Ukraine for as long as necessary,” said the Secretary General, Jens Stoltenberg, at the beginning of the meeting.

“We have very specific things to ask for. The priority is air defense systems, we need them for very specific geographical points in our territory, to save energy networks, people and the grain route. It is also important that we have long-range missiles or long-distance weapons. It doesn't matter what they are called, the problem is getting them. We need them for one reason only: to expel Russia from our land,” said the president. Likewise, he will take the opportunity to demand that Belgium stop putting obstacles in the rounds of sanctions against Russia due to its desire to protect the diamond trading business, and to insist on the need for combat aircraft.. “Long-range missiles are also important. “We especially need them to push Russia out of our territory,” Zelensky alleges.. Your third priority for defense is “artillery, artillery, artillery”. To this recurring request, Stoltenberg has responded that NATO is working to increase production, with contracts worth 2.4 billion euros, of which 1 billion have already been signed for projectiles of very specific calibers.

Three European countries have committed to delivering more than 50 F-16 fighters, but kyiv needs more and as soon as possible. Last week, in Granada, a few other European partners, including Spain, committed to supplying more weapons or defensive systems, such as the six Hawk launchers that our country has promised to send as soon as possible.. “Putin is preparing to use winter as a weapon of war, to attack the energy system, the gas infrastructure and we must avoid it,” said the Secretary General of the Alliance, also mentioning the alleged sabotage suffered by the gas pipeline that connects Estonia with Finland.

Last winter, Russia launched a bombing campaign against Ukraine's key energy infrastructure, leaving hundreds of thousands of people without access to heat, electricity or water.. And the base scenario is that the same thing is repeated now.

An eye on Israel

Alliance ministers will also keep an eye on Gaza. The president of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, reiterated this Wednesday that the Hamas attack over the weekend, which has so far left more than 1,200 Israeli dead, almost all of them civilians, is “an act of war”, and that Israel has the right to defend itself.

Among the Atlantic allies, the positions reflect a wide range of nuances, from the United States, Hungary and Poland with total support for Tel Aviv to the Turkish position, changing depending on the moment.. “Tomorrow the Israeli Defense Minister, Gallant, will also inform us about the situation. Allies condemned horrific terrorist attacks on innocent civilians in Israel over the weekend. And we await the information from the minister with interest,” Stoltenberg simply said.. The country's Foreign Minister, Eli Cohen, refused to participate in the same way yesterday in the meeting of EU ministers, but the NATO framework includes the US, which changes everything.

Zelensky, aware that a shift in international attention to the war in Gaza could jeopardize supplies and aid to his country, has come for it in person.. He knows that the highest possible profile is needed, and after having dismissed his head of Defense a few weeks ago, there is no one better than himself to convey the urgency of the situation.

That is why he has also compared the situation in both places, the Russian front and the Gaza front, urging Western leaders to go to Israel to show their support in person, just as they have done for the last year and a half in Ukraine.

They are rotting in the sun. The stray dogs come to smell them. They are face down in the brush fields, thrown in the ditch, rags along Highway 234. Three swollen and purple bodies. Naked, with your underwear down