The Prime Minister of Israel, Benjamin Netanyahu, visited the Beeri and Kfar Azza kibbutzim behind closed doors this Saturday for the first time since the massacre committed by Hamas last weekend against its residents, a direct trigger of the current war in Gaza.

Netanyahu has examined the homes destroyed both by the raids of Hamas militiamen and by the rockets of his militias launched from the Gaza Strip and has met with the Israeli military in the area, including the commander of the Parachute Brigade, Colonel Ami Biton, reports the Yedioth Aharonoth.

In his meeting with the military, broadcast from his office, Netanyahu told the soldiers that “the continuation of the offensive (against Hamas) is underway. Are you ready for the next phase?” among the prospects of a possible large-scale ground incursion into the Gaza Strip, the first since the 2008 Operation Cast Lead.

Netanyahu's visit took place amid a new rocket alert in the center of the country, in towns such as Petah Tikva, Yehud-Monoson and Or Yehuda.. Likewise, Hamas has announced a new attack against the Ben Gurion international airport and a new barrage of rockets towards Ashdod and Ashkelon, with no reports of casualties so far.

The Israeli Government has been the subject of harsh criticism from the opposition, which has denounced the complete lack of preparation of the authorities in the face of the unprecedented attack by Hamas.

Right now, Israel is under an emergency government thanks to the agreement between Netanyahu and the now minister without portfolio Benny Gantz, who has also visited the southern towns and promised to do everything possible to find those missing and kidnapped by Hamas.

“I know it takes time and that reality is difficult and indescribable. “We will invest every effort possible in every possible channel,” Gantz said.

The Egyptian authorities refused this Saturday to allow foreigners residing in the Gaza Strip to enter their country through the Rafah border crossing if humanitarian aid is not allowed to enter the Palestinian enclave, on the brink of a humanitarian catastrophe.

According to sources from the Egyptian television Al Qahera News, close to the Intelligence of this country, Egypt refused to allow the crossing of foreigners who are in Gaza, a request that several countries have made, after an agreement was not reached. agreement so that aid could come in for the 2.2 million people overcrowded in the strip.

According to testimonies cited by this same medium, an undetermined group of foreign citizens waited for several hours at the border crossing without obtaining any response from the Egyptian authorities.

In fact, this Saturday the Egyptian authorities began to place cement blocks around the border with Gaza and reinforce security due to fear of attacks or possible attempts to enter Egypt from the Strip, according to Egyptian security sources who requested the anonymity, although the Government of Egypt did not officially comment on this action.

The coordinator of the Spanish community in Gaza, Salah al Sousi, said that Spain would be preparing the evacuation to transfer just over 250 people of Spanish nationality who are in the Gaza Strip, although this information could not be confirmed with the Spanish consulate in Jerusalem or with the Spanish Embassy in Cairo.

Egypt's decision is motivated by its fear of a mass exodus, after yesterday Israel gave an ultimatum to the Gazan population to move from the north of the Strip to the south, which could lead to scenes similar to those that were experienced in the 2009 Gaza war, which lasted three weeks and led many Palestinian citizens to try to storm the border in search of refuge.

Rafah is the only exit from the Gaza Strip that is not controlled by Israel and the only route for humanitarian aid to enter the enclave.

Egyptian authorities have reported in recent days that the area around the Rafah crossing has been bombed by Israel, causing disruptions in operations at the border crossing, although Cairo says it maintains that the crossing remains open to “traffic.” without giving more details.

An individual has scaled the monument to the victims of the Smolensk air disaster, in the center of Warsaw, and is threatening to blow himself up, according to several Polish media reports this Saturday, on the eve of the general elections this Sunday.

“Currently, for security reasons, Pilsudski Square and the adjacent area are closed to traffic. Police officers are at the scene,” the Polish capital's police announced on their social networks.

According to the Onet information portal, the individual, whose motives are currently unknown, is carrying a backpack and holding an unidentified object in his left hand that could be a detonator.

According to an eyewitness interviewed by the Wiadomosci newspaper, anti-terrorist police have been deployed to the nearby Sofitel hotel and a negotiator is communicating with the individual via megaphone.

Poland holds general elections this Sunday, in which 30 million Poles are called to decide whether to revalidate the Government led by the ultra-conservative Law and Justice party (PiS) for a third consecutive term.

In the Smolensk air disaster, a plane carrying the Polish president, Lech Kaczynski – twin brother of the current deputy prime minister and president of the PiS, Jaroslaw Kaczynski – among other senior officials, crashed near that Russian city in 2010.

The Louvre in Paris, the most visited museum in the world, was evacuated this Saturday and had to close its doors for fear of a terrorist attack.

The decision was taken after the museum received written threats, as reported by the institution itself.. The evacuation took place late in the morning, after a normal day in which the Louvre opened its doors at 9:00 a.m.

“Dear visitors, for security reasons, the Louvre museum closes its doors today, Saturday, October 14. Money will be refunded to people who have booked a visit for this same day. We appreciate your understanding,” the Louvre shared on X (formerly Twitter).

The measure is a response to “bomb threat messages”, according to a police source cited by French television TF1/LCI.. “There is an investigation underway,” he added.

According to the French press, up to 15,000 visitors have had to evacuate. The Louvre welcomed almost 8 million people in 2022 and is one of the main world tourist attractions.

France is currently on high alert after a “terrorist attack” this Friday in which a young Chechen Islamist killed a teacher inside a high school in Arras (north), in Pas-de-Calais, and where two other people were injured.

Likewise, President Emmanuel Macron confirmed that an attempted attack also occurred this Friday in the metropolitan area of Paris, when a man carrying a kitchen knife was detained near an institute when he left a mosque in Limay.

In the midst of this situation, the French presidency reported this Saturday that up to 7,000 soldiers from operation 'Sentinelle' will be deployed throughout the country until this Monday in response to the raising of the terrorist alert.

Since 2012, jihadist attacks in France have killed 272 people and injured 1,200, especially in 2015 and 2016.

More information soon.

Israel's land military incursion into the Gaza Strip to recover the more than 150 hostages taken by Hamas last Saturday will cause a real humanitarian drama for both sides, as Francisco Gan Pampols, Lieutenant General of the Israeli Army, warned this Saturday. Land already removed.

In an interview on TVE's Channel 24 Hours, Gan Pampols revealed some details about this ground offensive by the Israeli Army. “It is likely to be costly in time, in lives and, above all, in infrastructure.”. It is not a typical operation,” he stated in this regard.

As this lieutenant general explained, “there is no localized adversary, there is no continuous front, there are no units that are going to confront each other, but it is going to be a completely irregular war in which all types of weapons will be used.” systems, weapons, improvised devices, tunnels, abundance of explosive traps and mines and snipers,” he listed.

For this reason, “we will initially see many ground and air fire actions, because Israel is going to try to minimize the possible casualties that this action will cause, because sooner or later we have to get out of the armored vehicles and we have to start acting foot, this is going to be a house-by-house, room-by-room operation.

Regarding the Israeli hostages kidnapped by Hamas who are hidden in the Gaza Strip, Gan Pampols has said that “they are the most valuable bargaining chip that Hamas has”, so “it is going to be very difficult, not to mention say impossible, find them and be able to rescue them alive.

The lieutenant general of the Army has also referred to the surprise attack by Hamas on Israel, and the possible influence of Iran in the conflict. According to Gan Pampols, Hamas managed to attack on this scale “through deception, making Israel believe that it was not an adversary to be considered.”

“As for sophistication, the ability to maintain secrecy…. Hamas does not have it on its own, another country must have provided it,” Gan Pampols continues before pointing out the rapprochement that Iran has had with Hamas after the Syrian conflict.. Therefore, “it is very likely that Iran had something to do with it,” he stated.

The president of the United States, Joe Biden, stumbled again this Friday when he climbed a short set of stairs to the stage of an event in which he participated in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

The president appeared to lose his balance while climbing three metal steps with railings just as he walked toward the stage. Quickly, he grabbed the railing, regained his balance, gesturing to the audience to be applauded after saving the fall, and finally went up the stairs to begin his speech.

The event aimed to promote $7 billion in investments in new hydrogen production centers, a program called Bidenomics.

Biden, 80, is a frequent sufferer of such incidents, and has been filmed tripping while getting off Air Force One, and this spring, he fell to the ground after tripping on a bag of sand at a Coast Guard Academy graduation. .

Biden remains willing to run again in the presidential elections in 2024, where he will presumably face Donald Trump again.

Joe Biden will turn 81 in November. Already in 2021, when he was elected president, he was the oldest occupant of the White House in history. If he were re-elected, he would finish his second term at 86 years old.

The Israeli Army continued bombing Gaza on Friday night and early Saturday morning, where it attacked a post with dozens of militiamen from the elite corps of the armed wing of the Islamist group Hamas and the operations headquarters for its aerial activity, where it killed its top commander, Merad Abu Merad, considered one of those responsible for directing last Saturday's infiltration.

“Last night, Israeli warplanes carried out large-scale attacks throughout the Strip,” including on a point “where there were dozens of Hamas terrorist targets and terrorist operatives from Nukhba,” an elite unit of the al-Qasam Brigades. which was “one of the main forces” that a week ago “led the ground infiltration” into Israel, a military spokesman said.

According to him, “dozens of terrorists” died in the attack, to which was added another air offensive early this Saturday against the operations headquarters from where Hamas managed the group's air actions, which these days of offensive were seen in the use and attacks with drones or even in the movement of militiamen who managed to enter Israel with paragliders.

In the attacks against this position, “Israeli fighter jets killed Merad Abu Merad, who was the head of the Hamas air apparatus in Gaza, and who was largely responsible for directing the terrorists during last Saturday's massacre.” , when Hamas launched a land, sea and air offensive against Israel that caught the country off guard and sparked war.

The nighttime bombings occurred while alarms continued to be raised about the launch of rockets from the Strip towards neighboring Israeli communities, while Israel is accumulating troops on the perimeter of the enclave and there is speculation that a ground incursion operation could be imminent.

Israeli troops began this Friday to make localized raids to find the at least 130 hostages inside Gaza, and according to the Israeli press, they would have found bodies of captives. Some 1,400 people have been killed in Israel and more than 3,400 are injured.

A key commander in the attack also falls

The Israeli Army also reported this Saturday the death of Ali Qadi, a commander of the Hamas raid force known as Nujba and considered the main executor of last Saturday's ground attack against southern Israel that triggered the current conflict. .

The Israeli Air Force has specified on its X account, formerly Twitter, that the attack was carried out by a drone based on intelligence data provided by the Shin Bet.

The Israeli military adds that Ali Gedi was detained in 2005 after the kidnapping and murder of Israeli civilians and was released as part of the Gilad Shalit prisoner exchange in 2011.

Eight days of war with thousands of dead

All of this occurs while the eighth day of armed conflict begins, which has already resulted in more than 1,900 deaths in Gaza and 7,700 injured by Israel's air attacks, which have left an unprecedented landscape of devastation, with a large number of residential buildings. and civil infrastructure also destroyed.

This Friday, the Army ordered the evacuation of civilians from the north of the Strip and Gaza City, which are 1.1 million people, half the population of the enclave, while the Strip deepens into a rampant humanitarian crisis due to the siege. total of Israel that prevents the entry of food, water, electricity and other products.

This left hospitals with extreme shortages of medicines and medical supplies, while the wounded continue to arrive.

This Friday's bombings claimed the lives of 70 people in an attack against three convoys with civilians evacuating to the south. Most of the dead were women and children, Hamas denounced.

This Saturday, the Israeli Army assured that it tries to “minimize damage to non-combatants” during its bombings, and alleged that “terrorists hide under tunnels located under houses in Gaza City and civilian buildings.”

He also denounced that Hamas tried to prevent the movement of civilians to the south.

King Mohamed VI highlighted this Friday that Morocco is “a successful model of coexistence where Moroccans, Muslims and Jews, cultivate cordial understanding and respect for other religions and cultures.”

In his annual speech before the two parliamentary chambers on the occasion of the inauguration of the legislative year, the monarch recalled that the foundations of the Sunni Malikite rite, the Muslim aspect that is professed in Morocco, is based on “the right middle, moderation and openness to the other, tolerance and interreligious and intercivilizational coexistence”.

The king did not expressly refer in his speech to the conflict between the Islamist group Hamas and Israel, a country with which Morocco resumed its relations three years ago within the framework of the Abraham Accords promoted by the United States to strengthen ties between the Israeli State and the Arab countries.

He did speak for the first time about the earthquake that affected the Moroccan High Atlas mountains on September 8, leaving almost 3,000 dead and damaging 54,000 homes.

In this sense, he thanked the “brother and friendly countries” of Morocco for the “solidarity and assistance” given to the Moroccan people on the occasion of the earthquake that hit the region of Marrakech, after which it is now time, he noted, to rebuild the affected areas and provide basic services to its inhabitants.

The monarch highlighted that “despite the magnitude and disaster, grief and pain gave way to consolation and pride when seeing the spontaneity with which all Moroccans, as well as civil society actors, demonstrated in a thousand ways “.

During her speech, which lasted eight minutes, she also referred to the reform of the Family Code underway in Morocco, in which feminist organizations are calling for progress in women's equality.

Mohamed VI said that this reform, which should be completed in six months, is inspired by national values “that place the family and family ties in the realm of the sacred.”

“A healthy society is built on the basis of a healthy and balanced family. “If the family disintegrates, society inevitably loses its direction,” he said.

Coincident events

His speech coincided with the celebration of the Annual Assembly of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank (WB) in Marrakech and included as guests in the plenary session the director of the first organization, Kristalina Georgieva, and the president of the second, Ajay Banga, who traveled from that city to the Moroccan capital to attend.

Mohamed VI arrived at the Parliament headquarters in Rabat accompanied by his son, Crown Prince Mulay Hasan, and the monarch's brother Mulay Rachid, all dressed in the traditional yellow djellaba.

After getting out of the car, listening to the national anthem and reviewing a detachment of the Royal Guard, the king entered the building and then greeted the citizens gathered on Mohamed V Avenue from his balcony, before proceeding to give his speech, one of the three that he addresses annually to Moroccans (after this year he canceled a fourth that he gave every August 20).

Israel does not forgive. It has demonstrated this throughout 75 years of conflict and this latest episode will not be the exception.. The Hamas attacks last Saturday will have a response like never before seen. Or at least this has been recognized by its Government, whose military leaders have reiterated on several occasions that the Gaza Strip will not return to what it was.. The massive bombings that have left a desolate landscape in the Palestinian enclave are now followed by a ground offensive in which the civilian population will be affected once again. This Friday, Benjamin Netanyahu's Executive has given the population of northern Gaza 24 hours to leave the area, an impossible task in such a short time, in the words of the UN itself.. Despite this, the offensive will not stop.

More than thirty battalions and 300,000 reservists have been mobilized and made ready to act whenever the Israeli Government orders it.. “They are ready to enter the Gaza Strip,” said Army spokesperson Roni Kaplan.. Israel has asked Gazans to move to the Wadi Gaza area, south of the enclave, insisting that they will only be able to return when another announcement allows it.. Nearly 1.1 million people are seeking refuge from the start of the Israeli military occupation of the Strip.

A ground offensive supported from the air

The superiority of the Israeli Army over Hamas is increased by the enclosure of the Palestinian enclave. The Gaza Strip has a maritime façade that can be blocked by the Israeli Navy, in such a way that neither ships nor boats can enter or leave.. On the other hand, the extreme south has a land border with Egypt, permanently closed to the transit of people.. Finally, both to the north of Gaza (about 10 km wide) and to the east (40 kilometers long) are the land borders with the Hebrew State, where the military offensive could enter relatively easily with air support.

Lieutenant General Gan Pampols assures 20 minutes that one of the first steps of this Israeli operation will be to clear the infrastructure, tunnels and all the warehouses that Hamas has.. “Israel will choose areas where it can begin a penetration with heavy units, protected to avoid casualties as much as possible,” he says, although he adds that to do this they will first have to ensure that it is clean of mines, explosive traps or IEDs (devices). improvised explosives).

According to Pampols, this will be complemented by ground and air fire support, in order to create an area between Israel and Gaza “of variable depth”, which could be a couple of kilometers, in which there is absolutely nothing.

Despite the difference between both contenders and the difficulty that Hamas could have in resisting, the lieutenant general warns that advancing does not mean that they can keep the ground occupied. “Hamas very effectively uses a vast network of tunnels that in certain areas cross underneath and enter Israeli territory.”. It is what they sometimes use for infiltrations and, above all, it is what they are using now to protect themselves, because Hamas at this moment is not on the surface, but is either outside Gaza itself or underground,” explains Gan. Pampols, who considers that these tunnels will also be an element to take into account for the Israelis.

Netanyahu has already made it clear that his goal is to eliminate all Hamas militants and to do so he considers this offensive essential.. “Israel is going to occupy the Gaza Strip and then go after Hamas personnel and leaders.”. They are going to dedicate themselves to hunting them wherever they are,” says the lieutenant general. Although there is speculation that Hamas leader Ismail Haniya is in Qatar and that others could be in Lebanon or Iran, “Israel has already shown throughout history that when it sets a goal it ends up achieving it.”

An express humanitarian corridor?

Meanwhile, thousands of Palestinians have already abandoned their homes in northern Gaza in response to Israel's ultimatum. Palestinian media have confirmed the massive displacements, while images of Palestinians fleeing their homes arrive.. A large part of the displaced people are being distributed between schools of the UN agency for Palestinian refugees, UNRWA, and the homes of relatives or acquaintances in the southern area.

For Lieutenant Colonel Manuel Morato, one of the most worrying aspects of this offensive is that an Army is facing off against an armed organization that, despite being prepared, does not use fields or points that could be militarily critical, so “they will attack areas highly populated in which the consequences for the civilian population will be important”. “There is no human way to be selective. From a military point of view it is not possible to be surgical in the attack on Gaza. The population is going to be massacred,” explains the lieutenant colonel.

Despite the ultimatum, the truth is that in these days of conflict no humanitarian corridor has been established. “Not only would the corridor have to be determined physically, but also sufficient means to exit would have to be provided,” says Lieutenant Colonel. According to local media, Hamas has accused Israel of “creating confusion among citizens and damaging the cohesion of the internal front,” and urged it to “ignore the occupation's attempts within the scope of psychological warfare.” Additionally, a Hamas spokesperson denied to Fox News that its forces are preventing civilians from leaving their homes.

Both Israel and Egypt have refused to receive Palestinians. In the case of the latter, it has agreed to send humanitarian aid, but not refugees.. “A humanitarian corridor is an area where there are no fires. A No Fire Lines is painted and within that line the exit movement of certain groups is allowed,” says Gan Pampols.. Regarding the possibility that Hamas militiamen also leave, he assures that in these corridors “filters are created so that no one leaves with weapons and without identification.”

The United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) has called for an “immediate” ceasefire and has warned in the face of the Israeli ultimatum that there is “nowhere safe” to which they can flee.. “The number of dead boys and girls in Gaza increases every hour,” lamented a spokesman for the agency, James Elder, who has also called for the immediate release of minors held hostage by Palestinian militants.

Spanish soldiers between Hezbollah and Israel

While the Gaza Strip prepares for the offensive, a new front has opened in northern Israel. Bombings between the paramilitary group Hezbollah, which controls southern Lebanon, and Israeli troops threaten to destabilize the area. In this region, a Spanish contingent leads the United Nations mission to maintain peace on the border: UNIFIL (United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon).

Although there has been speculation about an intervention by Hezbollah (financed by Iran) in the current conflict between Palestinians and Israelis, military experts consulted by this newspaper believe it is unlikely that the conflict will escalate to Lebanon at the moment. In any case, the UNIFIL mission would not intervene in the conflict, since it is a peacekeeping force, not an imposition force. Therefore, the Spanish troops would not enter into combat under any circumstances and if a war started in this region this mission could even end and withdraw.

As chaos and devastation grips the Gaza Strip due to constant attacks by the Israeli Army, the terrorist organization Hamas has called for a global uprising by Muslims.. However, this call to 'anger' has crossed Israel's borders. In France, a Chechen slit the throat of a high school teacher shouting Allahu Akbar (God is the greatest) and there was also an attempted attack. In addition, a diplomat from the Israeli embassy in Beijing was stabbed after it was announced that this Friday would be “Jihad Day”. In Europe and the United States, security measures have already begun to be taken.

The call for Muslims to take to the streets and send a message of anger was spread by Khaled Meshal, a former Hamas leader.. “For all the scholars who teach jihad… for all those who teach and learn, this is a moment for its application,” Meshaal said. Hours later, a man broke into a high school in the city of Arras, France, slit the throat of a teacher and injured two other people.. One of the injured is the director of the educational center, while the second is a technician from the institution.. The attacker, a former student of the center, was already under surveillance by the secret services for his links to Islamist radicalism, according to the French newspaper Le Figaro.

Following the event at this French institute, the National Anti-Terrorist Prosecutor's Office (PNAT) has indicated that it is taking charge of the investigation for charges of terrorist murder, attempted terrorist murder and terrorist association to prepare attacks.. For his part, President Emmanuel Macron confirmed that an attempted attack also occurred in the Paris metropolitan area.. Apparently, a man carrying a kitchen knife was detained near an institute when he left a mosque in Limay, according to the French press.

In order to prevent new attacks, the Minister of Education, Gabriel Attal, has announced that security will be immediately reinforced in the country's educational centers.. However, the reality is that after the attack perpetrated by Hamas against Israel last Saturday, security had already been increased in 500 synagogues and Jewish schools in the country.. In addition, the anti-terrorist alert has been raised to its highest level, as reported by the French Prime Minister, Élisabeth Borne.

For her part, in Germany, the Minister of the Interior, Nancy Faeser, called a meeting to analyze the situation and reinforce security measures in the country.. In the United States, security measures have been reinforced at the Capitol, although there is no evidence of threats.

In Spain, as in France, measures were taken to reinforce security since the attack carried out by Hamas last Saturday. In cities like Madrid or Barcelona, surveillance has been redoubled in synagogues, schools, daycare centers and other Israeli buildings, in order to avoid possible attacks.. Following the call to 'anger', the Ministry of the Interior has announced that the anti-terrorist alert will remain at level 4 (on a scale of 5), as it has been until now.

Evacuation in 24 hours

Meanwhile, chaos and devastation continues in the Palestinian territories. During the early hours of this Friday, the Israeli Army announced that it was giving the population of the northern Gaza Strip a period of 24 hours to evacuate the area and move south.. However, Doctors Without Borders affirm that the evacuation period has been much shorter in some hospital centers.. “Israel has given Al Awda hospital only two hours to evacuate. Our staff is still treating patients,” reads the organization's message spread through its X account, formerly Twitter.

The evacuation order was rejected by the terrorist group Hamas, which called it “false propaganda” and “psychological warfare.”. In addition, the Islamist organization urged the population to stay and, according to Israeli forces, they were even trying to prevent people from evacuating the area by placing barriers.. After these facts became known, Israel announced that they would not be responsible for any damage that the population may suffer and that the only people to blame would be the members of Hamas.

Thousands of Palestinians have begun to leave the area due to the imminent entry of Israeli troops. However, by late afternoon the Israeli army had already begun carrying out “localized raids” into the Palestinian enclave in order to search for hostages and missing people.. So far, Israel has identified 120 people who are being held hostage by Hamas, although it is estimated that there could be more.. In addition, this Friday the news was also released that 13 of the hostages had died after the attacks carried out by Israel against the Palestinian territory, according to the terrorist organization.. However, Army spokesman Daniel Hagari has denied these facts in statements to Aljazeera.

However, despite the eviction order, the bombings do not stop. The Israeli Army announced that during the early hours of this Friday, attacks were carried out against 750 “military targets”. Hamas, for its part, launched more than fifty missiles against the Ben Gurion airport and the city of Sderot.. There was also crossfire between Israel and Lebanon and as a result of the Israeli attacks on Lebanon, one journalist died and five others were injured.. According to the latest estimates, some 1,400 people have died in Israel and more than 1,800 in the Palestinian territories.