The situation in the Gaza Strip worsens. Following the attack carried out last Saturday by the Islamic movement Hamas in various parts of Israel, after entering by air, sea and land, the Israeli Minister of Defense, Yoav Gallant, announced this Monday the total blockade of Gaza. However, the UN high commissioner for human rights, Volker Türk, has insisted that it is prohibited under international humanitarian law.

The deaths total more than 1,500 dead on both sides. In Israel there are now more than 900 after the Hamas attack, while the number of people killed in the strip is 687, including nearly 140 boys and girls.. Likewise, Hamas members carried out kidnappings during the attack of Israeli citizens and other nationalities who have allegedly been transferred to Gaza.

The number of kidnapped people could be higher

According to the latest official data, the Government of Israel estimates that the number of kidnappings since the attack began is at least 100 people.. “The numbers continue to increase and our sadness with them. Our prayers are with all the families of those kidnapped, killed or injured by Hamas,” the Israeli executive detailed in a statement.

Palestinian militants entered numerous Israeli kibbutzim and communities, where they kidnapped dozens of people. There is, however, no exact official figure.. As Europa Press reports, spokespersons for the Palestinian militias have assured that the real number of kidnapped people is higher.

The Prime Minister of Israel, Benjamin Netanyahu, has ordered the Gal Hirsch brigade to be in charge of managing the kidnapped and missing people.

Hamas has published various videos, which are already circulating on social networks, with the kidnapped people. One of them is 25-year-old Noa Argamani, who had attended the music festival where Hamas murdered nearly 260 people.

Hamas attacks in Israel are leaving numerous images that have shocked the world. True atrocities are being committed in the territory and, among them, the cruel murder of an elderly woman in the south of the region stands out.

The woman, who lived about 30 kilometers from the border with Gaza, was assaulted in her own home by a terrorist who ended up killing her. Later, the militiaman took the victim's cell phone to record the horror and post it on the woman's Facebook wall, according to Daily Mail.

It was through that same publication that the old woman's family found out about the events.. “The purest thing in the world, the light of my life, my entire world, my grandmother, cannot be real,” are the words with which Mor Bayder, her granddaughter, said goodbye to her on social networks. Bayder found out about the tragedy when, upon entering the social network, he saw the video that he described as “the nightmare of his life.”

“This morning I didn't receive my dear teacher, did you get up?” says the young woman in the publication, referring to a message that her grandmother sent her daily.. “You were persistent, not a minute after seven. “I don't understand it, my heart is in pieces,” adds Bayder in a message accompanied by numerous photographs in which he appears next to her.

According to the text, the old woman lived in the agricultural commune or kibbutz of Nir Oz, located in the south of Israel, just 30 kilometers from the border with Gaza.

“With a totally broken heart”

The publication, which has thousands of reactions, has received comments of support from many countries and has been shared by more than 3,500 users. “We are with you”, “we are sorry for what has happened” or “our heart is totally broken” are some of the words that Facebook users, whether close or not to the young woman, have wanted to dedicate to her.

Furthermore, both she and other members of her family have wanted to appear publicly on national and international television networks to narrate what happened and show in images the state in which the kibbutz was left after the attack.

“My cousin is speaking on CNN news. I'm proud of you. Let everyone know about the brutal murder of my grandmother. I barely have words left…. “You are everything to us,” Bayder expressed this Tuesday in a new post in which he also attached the aforementioned interview.

The network has shown the state of the old woman's home, the same place where she was captured and murdered.

However, this tragedy was not an isolated event.. Since the weekend, dozens of stories similar to that of Mor Bayder's grandmother have come to light daily. This Tuesday morning, the murder of an Israeli couple who managed to save their babies, 10-month-old twins, by hiding them in a hidden shelter was announced.

Eden Nimri, an international swimmer and lieutenant in the Israel Defense Forces, has also been killed by the terrorists. The events took place at the Nahal Oz military base, the same one where the Spanish Maya Villalobo was, who disappeared after an attack on the post.

The situation between Israel and Palestine has directly affected the EU for obvious reasons. In a multipolar world it is difficult to get out of these situations, but there has also been a small fire in Brussels in the last few hours.. And the one who started it was Oliver Varhelyi, the commissioner in charge of the Neighborhood, who announced already in the morning that all aid to the development of the Union for Palestine was suspended: a total amount of around 700 million euros. Since then, the leader was in the spotlight and had to be qualified by his colleagues until the final statement from the Community Executive.

But who is Oliver Varhelyi? He is the Hungarian representative on the Commission, and has held the position of Neighborhood and Enlargement since 2019.. He is, after all, Viktor Orbán's man in Ursula von der Leyen's cabinet, although the commissioners do not serve their political formations per se.. The key with Varhelyi is that he maintains a tough speech regarding Palestine, and in the past he has already threatened to freeze some aid, for example after an educational reform they carried out.

Varhelyi is a career diplomat and lawyer, and came to the Commission without being the first choice of the Hungarian Government. Orbán then nominated László Trócsányi, but he did not pass the European Parliament's examination for the position, something that the current commissioner did.. In addition, he has considerable experience in community institutions. From 2008 to 2011 he was head of unit at the European Commission, in charge of industrial property rights in the Directorate General for Internal Market and Services and before that he had worked in the European law department at the Hungarian Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

He is not affiliated with Fidesz, but he almost fully agrees with Viktor Orbán's ideas and in fact was his eyes in Brussels as Permanent Representative of Hungary to the EU. This was the previous step, or his preparation, for the opportunity that would come to him in 2019: he was on the list to be the Hungarian commissioner after the European elections of that year and although he had to wait, he ended up getting the green light from the European Parliament.

He is no stranger to controversy; that of Palestine and aid is not the first, although it is perhaps the most relevant at a political level. But in February of this year he made headlines for calling MEPs “idiots” during an appearance on the situation in the Balkans.. In some spheres of Brussels, in fact, there is concern that it has the external 'approval' of leaders such as the Bosnian Serb Milorad Dodik or the president of Serbia, Aleksandr Vucic.. The second, however, has become a small headache for the EU and is also an ally of Orbán (and Putin).

Already this Monday, Varhelyi shared on social networks that the European Commission was blocking all development aid for Palestine due to its “brutal” attack against Israel. At first it aroused criticism in some countries, including Spain, because the issue had not gone through the Council, but it also had to be qualified on two occasions: his colleague in charge of crisis management, Janez Lenarcic, clarified that the Humanitarian aid will be maintained and then the Commission itself pointed out that what will happen will be “a review” of the existing development aid programs.

At least six people, including a five-year-old child, had to be hospitalized this Monday after an apparent chemical leak on a bullet train in northwest Japan.

The victims have suffered discomfort and burns after touching the alleged substance, which one of the passengers was carrying in a container similar to a plastic bottle.. The symptoms of all the injured are mild.

The Police are questioning the owner of the container to see if there has been any problem in the way the substance was transported, the Japanese television channel NHK has reported.

Crew members saw smoke on the train, which has been evacuated at the Sendai station (northeast).

The president of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelensky, stated in his address to the nation this Monday that he has at his disposal “very clear information that Russia is interested in provoking a war in the Middle East.”

“We see Russian propagandists gloating. “We see Moscow's Iranian friends openly supporting those who attacked Israel,” Zelensky said in his late-night address on Monday, referring to the massacre caused by Hamas members who infiltrated Israel on Saturday to kill, torture and take hostages. to hundreds of Israelis.

The Ukrainian head of state released this message after meeting with his military and foreign intelligence services. “This is of fundamental importance for us, not only for Ukraine but also for all of Europe,” Zelensky said.

The Ukrainian leader recalled that “the world wars of the past began with local aggressions,” and assured that Ukraine knows “how to confront this threat.”

“We are working on the next steps. And most importantly: we defend the need for maximum unity throughout the world,” Zelensky declared.

The president of Ukraine addressed the NATO Parliamentary Assembly held in Denmark remotely this Monday to underline the similarities he sees between the modus operandi of Hamas against Israel and the Russian Federation in its aggression against Ukraine.

Zelensky also highlighted that Iran supports both Russia and Hamas in their actions against Ukraine and Israel, and called on the parliaments and governments of the world to take strong measures against those who threaten human life and the international order.

Republican Congressman Kevin McCarthy, dismissed as speaker of the United States House of Representatives, stated this Monday that his possible return to the leadership of the institution is in the hands of his party.

McCarthy made these statements despite the fact that last week he announced that he would not run for re-election after he was removed as leader of the Lower House following a rebellion by the hardest wing of the Republicans. “This is a decision that must be made by the conference (the Republican parliamentary group). I will let them make whatever decision,” the congressman responded when asked at a press conference about his possible return to the front of the House.

The Republican appeared before the media to evaluate the start of the war between Gaza and Israel, and give his opinion on the steps that Democrat Joe Biden's Administration should take.

McCarthy declared that whether or not he is re-elected as speaker, the name in English by which the president of the House is known, he will continue to be a congressman making the proposals he believes are necessary.

End the “politics of appeasement”

The Republican demanded that Biden rescue the American hostages kidnapped by Hamas and end the United States' “policy of appeasement” that, in his opinion, has “emboldened terrorists.”

The US Congress has been paralyzed since last week's ouster of McCarthy as speaker of the House of Representatives.

Without an active speaker, the House cannot, among other things, approve new military aid for Ukraine in the face of the Russian invasion or for Israel in the new conflict with Gaza.

The Republicans, who hold a narrow parliamentary majority, have called several internal meetings over the next two days to try to vote for a new speaker next Wednesday. So far, only two conservatives have filed as candidates: Republican Majority Leader Steve Scalise and Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan.

The latter received public support last week from former President Donald Trump (2017-2021), who in turn does not rule out the possibility of assuming the presidency of the House for a short period of time to “unify” the Republican Party.

McCarthy, who in January made history by needing 15 votes to win the position, was removed from office by the rebellion of a small group of ultra-conservative Trump acolytes who oppose the agreements reached between Republicans and Democrats to avoid a default on the public debt or a federal government shutdown.

The Islamist group Hamas has threatened this Monday to “publicly” execute Israeli civilian hostages if Israel continues with indiscriminate bombing of the Gaza Strip without prior notice to residents.

“Any attack against innocent homes in Gaza without prior warning and alert will be met with the public execution of a hostage,” Abu Obeida, spokesman for the Al Qasam brigades, the armed wing of Hamas, said in a statement.. “The execution will be of civilian hostages, not military, and will be broadcast online,” he added.

Israel has intensively bombed the entire enclave this Monday, including the military installations of the terrorist group and the Islamic Jihad, but also civil infrastructure and residential buildings.

“The enemy does not understand the language of humanity and morality, and we will address him in the language he knows. We hold the occupation responsible before the world for this decision, and the ball is in its court,” Obeida has warned about these events. “From this hour onwards, we announce that every attack against our people will be responded to with the execution of one of our hostages, and we will broadcast it live,” he declared.

The dead at this point exceed 560 and the injured over 2,900, according to data from the Gaza Ministry of Health, but it is estimated that the number will rise in the coming hours because there are people trapped under the rubble of destroyed homes.

Likewise, several Palestinians have denounced that Israel has stopped using the method known as 'knocks on the roof' by which non-explosive devices are thrown onto the roofs of houses as a warning that they are going to bomb in a few minutes, so that the population can get out, often with just enough time.

The Hamas attack

Israel declared itself in a state of war on Saturday, after Hamas launched a multiple attack, by land, sea and air, that caught the country by surprise, on an unprecedented scale, with the launch of rockets and ground incursions on Israeli soil. , where dozens of citizens have been killed and kidnapped.

In three days of war, the dead in Israel exceeded 900 and more than 2,600 were injured by Palestinian aggression.

The historic conflict between Israel and Palestine has resurfaced after last Saturday the terrorist group Hamas carried out an unprecedented attack on Israeli soil from the Gaza Strip.. His response was forceful and, after declaring a state of war, he began bombing Hamas targets and refugee camps in Gaza.

This Monday, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) announced that they had regained control of the towns near the Strip, but also warned of the possible presence of terrorists in nearby areas.. In addition, Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant ordered a total blockade in Gaza, so the Palestinian territory will be left without food, electricity and fuel.

Late in the afternoon, Israel also announced that it would not provide advance warning of attacks on the Gaza Strip to residents of the area, something they routinely did through phone calls or text messages.. According to a military source cited by The Times of Israel, the warnings will be used “in certain circumstances.”

Hamas reacted to that announcement by stating that it would publicly execute a hostage for every attack on Gaza that is carried out without prior warning to residents. “Any attack on innocent homes in Gaza without prior warning and alert will be met with the public execution of a hostage,” said Abu Obeida, spokesman for the Al Qasam brigades, the armed wing of Hamas.. “The execution will be of civilian hostages, not military, and will be broadcast online,” added Obeida.. These statements clash with those later reported by the Aljazeera network, which, citing a senior Hamas official, reported that the group would be willing to reach a possible truce with Israel having “achieved its objectives.”

Bombed targets

During the night of last Sunday and the early hours of this Monday, the Israeli Army bombed some 500 Hamas targets in Gaza. According to a military spokesman, “seven Hamas command centers and one Jihad command center were destroyed; as well as numerous multi-story buildings, including the residence of Ruhi Mashtaa, secretary of Hamas and part of the organization's decision-making group.” “.

Aljazeera reported that these bombings were also accompanied by attacks on the Jabalia and al-Shati refugee centers, whose victims have been transferred to the Al-Shifa hospital.. The Gaza Health Ministry, controlled by Hamas, also reports that attacks on ambulances have occurred.

The group claimed for its part that it had launched about 120 missiles towards Ashdod and Ashkelon, located in southern Israel.. This attack occurred after terrorists fired rockets towards Tel Aviv and Jerusalem, where air raid sirens were activated again after 48 hours of silence, according to CNN.. Explosions due to interceptions by the Israeli anti-missile system, called Iron Dome, were also heard in the cities.

In Israel, where military service is mandatory for both men and women, it has been decided to arm the civilian population. As reported by the Minister of National Security, Itamar Ben Gvir, an “emergency” order has been activated so that the Firearms Licensing Division allows civilians without criminal or medical records to carry firearms.

The numbers of deaths and injuries are not exact, but so far it is estimated that around 900 people have died and more than 2,500 are injured in Israel.. In Palestine the number of deaths amounts to 550, while the number of injured is approximately 2,900.. It is also worth noting that Israel has attacked several border points in southern Lebanon by air and land, as reported by the Army of that country.. After the cross attacks in said area, six people have been injured.

Two missing Spaniards

Along with the deceased and the injured, the situation of the missing is also worrying.. The Islamic Resistance Movement holds more than one hundred Israelis hostage, as well as citizens of other countries. As confirmed this Monday by the Spanish Minister of Foreign Affairs, José Manuel Albares, two Spaniards are “affected” after the attacks on Israel. Albares refused to give more information in this regard for security reasons, but diplomatic sources later reported that the whereabouts of these two citizens are unknown and that their families have not heard from them.. It is currently unknown whether they were among those killed, injured or kidnapped by Hamas.

Those Spaniards are Maya Villalobo Sinvany, 19, and Iván Illarramendi Saizar, 46.. The woman, of Andalusian origin and with dual nationality, was doing her military service at the Nahal Oz base, near the border with Gaza, when the attack began.. Illarramendi, a native of the Guipuzcoan town of Zarautz, lives with his wife in the Kissufim kibbutz, also located near the Gaza Strip.

The role of Lebanon and Iran

In this context, during the afternoon of this Monday, the Lebanese Government stated that the Hezbollah militia party promised “not to interfere” in the conflict between Israel and the Hamas terrorists, unless Israel decided to “harass” Lebanon.. As indicated in an interview given to the newspaper Asharq al Awsat by the Lebanese Foreign Minister, Abdullah abú Habib, Hezbollah had promised not to take further action after having fired projectiles against Israel.. The country responded to the attacks and as a consequence three members of the Lebanese Islamist group died. Following these deaths, Hezbollah attacked two military targets of the Israeli army.

Iran's role in this escalation of the conflict is yet to be determined, although there is speculation that the country could be linked in some way due to its ties to both Hamas and Hezbollah. On Monday morning, Iran's mission to the UN denied that the country was related to the attack.. “We strongly and without doubt support the cause of Palestine; however, we are not involved in the Palestinian response, which has been taken only by Palestine,” they stated.. The Iranian government later threatened to respond in a “destructive” manner should any “stupid” moves against Tehran be made.

However, Israel is not convinced that Iran was unaware of the attack.. According to the Minister of Strategic Affairs, Ron Dermer, to the Bloomberg agency, there is “some evidence” that they were aware of this. “Did they know this beforehand? At first we didn't think they knew. Now there is some evidence that they might have known. We are working to verify this evidence,” said the politician.