When Hamas rockets crossed the Gaza border in the early hours of Friday to Saturday and the terrorists' attack on the Israelis materialized, tension was activated in the southern part of Lebanon.

There, 3,500 soldiers carry out a United Nations peacekeeping mission, which tries to guarantee that there are no Israeli troops in Lebanese territory, with a presence even on the blue line, the border established by the UN to separate both countries in 2000.. Now, all those soldiers, commanded by the Spanish Division General Aroldo Lázaro Sáenz, work concerned to reestablish peace.

Because this Sunday they have detected “several rockets fired from southeastern Lebanon towards territory occupied by Israel in the general area of Kafr Chouba, and artillery fire from Israel towards Lebanon in response,” as they have made public on the Twitter account of The mission.

For this reason, the neutral forces of the United Nations are from the beginning “in contact with authorities on both sides of the blue line” with the objective of “containing the situation and avoiding a more serious escalation.”. Although the mission asks both parties for restraint and to contact them to activate the “de-escalation mechanisms so that there is no rapid deterioration in security conditions”, the situation seems critical.. It is not in vain that the mission's spokespersons recognize that, although they maintain their positions, some soldiers are already working from shelters “for their own safety.”

Baptized in Spanish as Operation Free Hidalgo, the UN Security Council extended the mandate of these security forces in the territory on August 31 for one more year.. They aim to guarantee the cessation of hostilities between Israel and Lebanon as well as achieve the deployment of Lebanese troops on the Blue Line.

Spain has commanded the mission since last February 5 and of the 3,500 men that make up the force, 650 are national soldiers. On September 29, the National Engineers unit participated in a control of the Blue Line to guarantee safety.

Dmitro Chubenko wears a patch on his uniform that is not common among Ukrainian troops. It shows the scale of justice because it belongs to the Kharkiv Prosecutor's Office. He opens the padlock of a lot where the weeds have been covering the weapons of the

50 years and 15 hours after the Egyptian and Syrian surprise attack against Israel that began the Yom Kippur War, the armed wing of the Islamist group Hamas has launched the largest offensive by land, sea (infiltration of dozens of its members in Israeli towns ) and air (launching thousands of projectiles against large areas including central Tel Aviv and Jerusalem) since taking control of the Gaza Strip in 2007. As on October 6, 1973, Israel has been monumentally surprised by an attack that has led its Army to raise its state of alert this Saturday to that of preparation for war.. The number of victims and hostages in Israel suggests that Hamas' “unprecedented” operation will be responded to by an “unprecedented” retaliation operation.

At the moment, health authorities have confirmed that at least 200 Israelis have died and more than 900 have been injured due to the impact of Palestinian projectiles and especially the attack by militants who entered Israel.

The head of the Shaar Negev regional council, Ofir Lipstein, was shot dead by the attackers. The fundamentalist group, which justifies its attack in the “defense of the Al Aqsa Mosque”, affirms that it managed to kill and kidnap dozens of Israelis (military and civilian) in a simultaneous armed action that has the support of the second most important group in Gaza, Islamic Jihad. In Israel, they admit that there are Israelis – dead and alive – in the hands of armed groups in Gaza.

The armed wing of the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas, which controls the Gaza Strip, has released a video showing three men dressed as civilians, visibly frightened, captured by its fighters. “Scenes of the al Qassam Brigades capturing several enemy soldiers in the 'Al Aqsa Flood' battle,” indicated a phrase that appeared on a black background at the beginning of the video.. As confirmed by the Israeli Army, Hamas has not only kidnapped civilians but also several soldiers.

“There are numerous terrorists here! I have never seen anything like this. Where are our soldiers?” a resident of the city of Sderot told us on the phone with fear and anger, who, like other Israeli towns bordering the Palestinian enclave, has had a violent awakening. Shots and projectiles from Gaza militias have broken the calm of Shabbat and the last day of the Jewish holiday of Sukkot.

Rockets launched from Gaza towards Israel. SAID KHATIB AFP

“Hamas made a serious mistake this morning and launched a war against Israel. Troops are fighting the enemy at any location. The State of Israel will win this war,” said Defense Minister Yoav Gallant.

Before promising that “Hamas will pay a very high price for its terrorist attack”, announcing airstrikes against targets of the Palestinian group that began mid-morning and ordering a broad mobilization of reservists, the Israeli Army sent numerous troops to Sderot and several agricultural towns. in the face of the infiltration of dozens of militiamen into its streets and also to prevent kidnappings of citizens and soldiers, alive or dead.

According to Gaza health sources, 232 Palestinians have been killed and more than 1,000 wounded either in fighting in Israel in the offensive that Hamas launched under the name “Al Aqsa Storm” or in retaliatory airstrikes in Gaza in a wide operation that the Israeli Army has dubbed “Iron Swords”. Israel has also ordered the state electricity company to cut supplies to the Gaza Strip.

More than ten hours after its penetration, armed clashes continued in some Israeli towns, with testimonies from residents calling television stations to ask for help in a low voice due to the presence of hooded men near their homes and some cases of kidnappings.

“The terrorist group Hamas will pay dearly for its cowardly attack,” military sources told EL MUNDO while unprecedented images of Israeli military jeeps driven by Hamas on the streets of Gaza were released.

The anti-terrorist unit of the Israeli Police has mobilized in response to the seizure of several buildings in southern Israel by armed Palestinians from Gaza. “At the moment, we have about 20 hot spots of activity (in reference to infiltrations),” said Police Chief Inspector Kobi Shabtai.

Palestinians ride an Israeli military jeep EFE/EPA/HAITHAM IMAD

“We had already warned the enemy, who cursed the prophet in the courtyards of the Al-Aqsa mosque. We have decided to put an end to all the crimes of the occupation. The time for not being accountable is over,” declared the head of Hamas's armed wing, Mohamed Deif, announcing that his group launched 5,000 projectiles in the first hours.. Likewise, he asked to expand the fronts against Israel in clear reference to a possible intervention by other groups from Lebanon and Syria.. All of them, also supported with weapons and financing by Iran.

In an appeal to Palestinians in the West Bank, East Jerusalem and Israel, Hamas armed wing spokesman Abu Obeida said: “Today is your chance. You must now go to all the places where the occupation is. “The enemy is collapsed.”

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called an emergency meeting at the Defense Ministry headquarters in Tel Aviv this afternoon in response to a long-planned attack by Hamas.. Its execution now almost inevitably leads the parties not to further escalation but to war.. “We are in a war. This is not just another offensive.. Hamas launched a bloody surprise attack against the State of Israel and its citizens,” Netanyahu declared before adding: “I ordered a broad mobilization of reservists and counterattack with a strength and reach that the enemy has never known.”

Criticism in Israel is directed towards the Army for not having known how to prevent or at least contain the lethal penetration of dozens of militiamen from Gaza, largely with vans, and towards the Government due to the greatest crisis in the history of Israel as a result. of the judicial reform proposal. The unprecedented division in Israel has not only hit its society, including the Army with protests including reservists, but also its deterrence capacity against Iran, Hamas or the Lebanese group Hezbollah.. In a statement, this Shiite group sent “congratulations for the heroic action (of Hamas). “This operation is a decisive response to the ongoing crimes of the occupation and the ongoing damage to the Holy Sites.”

The head of the opposition and former Israeli Prime Minister, Yair Lapid, has offered his bitter rival Netanyahu the formation of a “professional emergency government”. “The State of Israel is at war. It will not be an easy or short war. It has strategic implications that we have not seen in many years. “There is a great risk that it will turn into a war in multiple scenarios,” he said after meeting with Netanyahu.

Hamas Israel attack October 2023

“Terrorists are trying to enter my house”. Terror took over Ayelet Hachim this Saturday as she told Channel 12 the moments after the Gaza attack at dawn. “I hear their voices and they knock on the door. “I am with my two small children,” Hachim said from his home in Be'eri, near the Gaza Strip.. It is one of the testimonies that have been collected in the international press, which echoed from early in the morning of the 'Al Aqsa Storm operation' launched by land, sea and air by the Al Qasam Brigades, the armed wing of Hamas.

A shower of 5,000 rockets surprised Israeli citizens who were trapped in their homes, in cities and towns in the south of the country, at the mercy of armed Palestinian militant commandos who shot indiscriminately at the civilian population.

The citizens of the area themselves called the media to explain their situation hiding in their homes or in shelters.. “I've been in the shelter for more than two hours with my one-week-old baby, while my house is burning,” a resident told Channel 13.

Other images that have spread like wildfire on social media are those of attendees at a music festival held in the middle of the desert, who were surprised by Palestinian militiamen who launched a ground incursion into southern Israel.. “They came from all directions, it was a battlefield,” a witness tells the newspaper 'Haaretz'. Videos show hundreds of people fleeing in terror across the countryside, running or driving by car.. Relatives of attendees are desperately trying to locate them by sharing their photos on social media.

One of the attendees, Liron Ohion, who was at the party, was trapped in a burned area: “Me and three other girls have been hiding in a burned area for hours. “Anyone who can get in touch, please rescue us.”

hostage taking

The number of dead Israelis increases by the hour and already exceeds one hundred. At the moment the number of hostages that the Hamas militias have taken is unknown but it could be dozens. A resident named Yoni reported in the media 'Ynet' the possible kidnapping of his mother-in-law, his wife and his daughters. “The terrorists broke into the house,” says this Sharon resident whose wife was with her three- and five-year-old daughters visiting their mother: “The phone trace I did for my wife shows that the phone appears in Khan Yunis (Gaza). ). I'm afraid she, our two daughters and my mother-in-law are there.. None of them have responded for five hours.”

The BBC reported another testimony from a citizen shared on Facebook: “We have been told to close the doors, not to leave the safe room. We haven't even turned on the air conditioning for fear that it would indicate the presence of people in the house. My stomach is upset. I hear a lot of gunshots, despite the thick walls of the safe room. I need to go to the bathroom, but I don't dare. “I've never been so scared.”

Other citizens denounced the lack of presence of the army: “We are locked in our shelter, the army is not here. My husband is with the preparation squad fighting outside. They shoot at us in our houses, they try to enter them,” Ofir said from Sufa.

The European Union has condemned the Hamas military offensive in Israel and called for an “immediate cessation” of the attack. This Saturday, the Palestinian group Hamas began an attack with missiles and militants infiltrated into Israel, which in a few hours has caused 22 deaths and more than 500 injuries.. Israeli authorities believe that more than thirty Israeli citizens have been kidnapped during the operation.

“This horrible violence must stop immediately. Terrorism and violence solve nothing. The EU expresses its solidarity with Israel in these difficult times,” said EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell.

In a statement on the social network “inflict terror and violence against innocent citizens.”

At the same time that NATO, through spokesperson Dylan White, has spoken of “terrorist attacks”. “We strongly condemn the terrorist attacks carried out today by Hamas against NATO partner Israel.. Our thoughts are with the victims and all those affected.. “Terrorism is a fundamental threat to free societies, and Israel has the right to defend itself,” he said.

Sánchez shows his “rejection of war”

In Spain, the acting President of the Government, Pedro Sánchez, has shown his rejection of war and has called for coexistence between “peoples and religions”. The head of the Executive wanted to send a “message of harmony, coexistence, peace, rejection of war”, emphasizing that “any form of violence is fundamental.”

Meanwhile, the leader of the PP, Alberto Núñez Feijóo, has expressed his shock at the news coming from Israel and has expressed his solidarity with the victims through a publication on the social network X (formerly Twitter).. “Terrorism is everyone's enemy and must be defeated,” said the popular leader.

The president of Vox, Santiago Abascal, has expressed his support for Israel and has spoken of a “very serious terrorist attack”. Likewise, the political leader has declared his rejection of the “sowers of hate and those who, from Western politics, protect them,” according to a publication on his profile on the social network X.

The person who has highlighted her support for Palestine has been the deputy of Sumar Tesh Sidi, of Saharawi origin.. “Today and always with Palestine. There will be a lot of media manipulation, 24-hour tuis, but many of us know that Palestinians are murdered day and night and no one condemns that,” she wrote.

Also the leader of Más País, Íñigo Errejón, has demanded the “cessation of all violence” in the occupied territories in Palestine and on the border between the Gaza Strip and Israel and has made an “appeal to the State of Israel, as the main responsible , to compliance with United Nations resolutions”.

Brazil calls an emergency meeting of the UN Security Council

Brazil, which currently holds the presidency of the UN Security Council, has announced that it will call “an emergency meeting of the body” to address the situation in Israel and the Gaza Strip.

“The Brazilian government condemns the series of bombings and ground attacks carried out in Israel starting from the Gaza Strip,” the Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

“In its capacity as president of the United Nations Security Council,” a function it exercises during the month of October as a non-permanent member, “Brazil will convene an emergency meeting of the organization,” stated the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Brazil “urges all parties to exercise maximum restraint in order to avoid escalation of the situation.”

For his part, the UN special coordinator for the Middle East, Tor Wennesland, has also condemned the surprise offensive by the Palestinian militias in Gaza against Israel, expressing his concern for civilians and the kidnappings of Israelis.. “I vehemently condemn this morning's multi-pronged attack on Israeli towns and cities near the Gaza Strip, and the firing of rockets” by the Islamist group Hamas that also hit central Israel, Wennesland declared.

Meanwhile, Hamas spokesman Khaled Qadomi told Al Jazeera that the offensive launched this morning is a “war against the invaders.”. The Palestinian Islamist group launched the biggest attack on Israel in years with an unprecedented infiltration of militants into Israeli streets.

Europe shows its solidarity with Israel

Other European Union countries such as Germany have expressed “full solidarity” with Israel, while Italy has supported “Israel's right to defend itself” against the “brutal attack” by Hamas.

Ukraine has also shown its rejection of the Hamas military operation and has supported Israel's “right to defend itself and its people.”

For its part, the United States has declared that it “closely follows” the security situation in the allied country and stands “firmly” with Israel, according to a White House note.. “American citizens are reminded to remain alert and take appropriate measures to protect their safety,” the US Embassy said in a statement.. “Rocket and mortar fire often occurs without warning,” the note adds.

Middle Eastern governments have also condemned the Palestinian military offensive. Egypt has asked to “avoid exposing civilians to greater dangers” and has warned of the “serious consequences” that an escalation of tensions between Israel and the Palestinian territories could have for the region.

For its part, Russia has asked Israelis and Palestinians for an “immediate ceasefire”, expressing its “great concern” following the Hamas offensive against Israel.. “We call on the Palestinian and Israeli sides for an immediate ceasefire, to renounce violence and show the necessary restraint,” Russian diplomatic spokesperson Maria Zakharova said in a statement.

Meanwhile, an advisor to Iran's supreme leader, Ali Khamenei, has stated that Tehran supports the operation of Palestinian militias against Israel and has assured that it will support the Palestinians until the liberation of Jerusalem.. “We support this operation and we trust that the Resistance Front also supports it,” said Rahim Safavi, advisor to the highest authority of the Islamic Republic of Iran, according to the ISNA agency.

For the moment, the Hamas offensive has been welcomed by the Lebanese armed group Hezbollah, which valued the offensive as a “decisive response to Israel's continued occupation.”

Álvaro Uribe suffered a hard setback. After five months of analyzing his process, the Superior Court of Bogotá decided to reject the Prosecutor's Office's request to archive him due to lack of evidence to determine his guilt and he will have to go to trial.

It will be the first time, therefore, that a former president sits in the dock. Not even Ernesto Samper, who arrived at the Nariño Palace thanks to the money of the Cali cartel, should have confronted justice. Now the leader of the Democratic Center will do so for alleged witness tampering and procedural fraud.

The ruling unleashed a political storm between those who defend Uribe and his detractors.. “Álvaro Uribe has fought for our country all his life. It is regrettable that a preclusion requested by the Prosecutor's Office has not proceeded, after an exhaustive investigation process where his innocence has stood out,” former President Iván Duque wrote in his X account.

“Alvaro Uribe has finally been called to trial! Unfortunately, the same Prosecutor's Office that already tried to close the process against him will be the one that will have to present the accusation against him. That is why the right wants to keep a puppet prosecutor,” the congressman of the Historical Pact, Alfredo Mondragón, noted on social networks, words that summarize the feelings of the critics of who was a popular Head of State, between 2002 and 2008, who won their two elections, in the first round, by absolute majority.

But the process in question dates back several years, when Uribe was no longer president and sued senators Iván Cepeda and Piedad Córdoba for seeking testimonies against him among imprisoned former paramilitaries, in exchange for getting them benefits.. To general surprise, everything took a turn when Uribe went from plaintiff to accused by the aforementioned senator of bribing inmates to testify in his favor.. He would have done it through one of his lawyers, Diego Cadena, something that the former president and his defender have always denied.

The decision, which is known just three weeks before the local elections, was predictable, although the former president hoped to emerge victorious.. He had been traveling the country for weeks to promote his party's candidates and now his position will be weakened. And everything surrounding Uribe's case against Cepeda has an obvious political background and could later end up in the Supreme Court of Justice, the body that the former president wanted to avoid.

It is worth remembering that Uribe resigned from the Senate to lose the jurisdiction that covers every legislator in order for his file to be passed to the Attorney General's Office, convinced that he would receive more neutral treatment and could prove his innocence.

“There are political considerations in the process, which began in a hidden way in 2018. Since then, there has been all kinds of political and media activity, violating Uribe's procedural guarantees,” Democratic Center congressman and lawyer, Hernán Cadavid, tells El Mundo.. “After the action of the Supreme Court of Justice, which issued a 1,500-page order depriving Álvaro Uribe of his freedom in 2020, there are a large number of evidentiary gaps such as not being able to question the star witness, Juan Guillermo Monsalve, or tapping (tapping) the former president's phone for more than a month, without any evidence being found. When the process reaches the Attorney General's Office, it investigates more rigorously and listens to the people that the Court had not heard. And he concludes that there are no elements to accuse Uribe.”

From now on, a complex stage begins for the president, very active in the electoral campaign.