World latest news. Israel, Guterres appoints committee to investigate Unrwa

"The Hamas leadership, including Yahya Sinwar, is on the run. He goes from hiding place to hiding place and is unable to communicate with his associates." Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant said this. "Sinwar," he added, "does not lead the campaign, he does not command the forces, he is busy with his personal survival tasks. The Hamas leader has turned into a fugitive terrorist pursued by soldiers. Over the past few days,' Gallant stressed, 'the soldiers have found significant material in the places where he was'.

UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres appointed a group of experts to conduct an independent investigation into UNRWA, the UN agency that provides humanitarian assistance to Palestinians. The investigation will begin on 14 February and will be conducted in parallel with that of the UN Office of Internal Oversight Services (Oios) to shed light on the allegations made by Israel regarding the involvement of UNRWA employees in the 7 October attacks in Hams. Leading the investigation will be former French Foreign Minister Catherine Colonna, who will work together with three organisations: the Swedish Raoul Wallenberg Institute, the Norwegian Michelsen Institute and the Danish Institute for Human Rights.

"We are preparing a new package of sanctions against Russia The work is in progress: it will affect many people and entities, from personal sanctions to companies from different countries participating in the circumvention of sanctions. But there is no final agreement between the member states yet, so I can't go into details, but every month there is a new package of sanctions against Russia, to punish those responsible for the aggression against Ukraine and for the economic circuit that allows Russia to continue to have the capabilities to feed the military machine." This was said by EU High Representative Josep Borrell during his visit to Warsaw.

In the EU there are, among other things, 'minimum standards' for the treatment of pre-trial detainees, which prohibit 'presenting suspects and accused persons as guilty in court or in public through the use of physical restraints. The Commission's priority is to make sure that these rights are respected correctly and effectively in practice by the member states. If necessary, the Commission will not hesitate to launch infringement proceedings if it finds violations of EU law". So says EU Financial Services Commissioner Mairead McGuinnesss, representing the Commission in the Strasbourg Chamber in the debate on the Ilaria Salis case. The EU, the Irish Commissioner continues, has issued several directives on criminal procedure that "set minimum standards for fair trials. These rights include the right to an interpreter and translation, the right to information and access to the materials of the case, in particular those essential to appeal effectively against arrest or detention, as well as the presumption of innocence". The Commission, he continues, "is aware of the bilateral contacts that take place between Italy and Hungary: they have discussed the possibility of alternative measures to Mrs Salis' detention, including the possibility of house arrest, while she awaits trial. This would be in line with the Council conclusions on alternative measures to detention adopted during the Finnish Presidency in 2019. These conclusions emphasise that non-custodial measures and sanctions should be considered, if appropriate to the circumstances of the case,' she concludes.

Joe Biden is increasingly impatient and suspicious of Benjamin Netanyahu to the point of calling him a 'bad fucking guy' when talking to his people. This was revealed by Politico, citing sources who spoke with the president. The US site published the White House's denial at the same time. 'The president did not say such a thing, nor would he,' said spokesman Andrew Bates, explaining that the two leaders have 'a decades-long relationship that is respectful in public and in private'. The US website, however, insists that Biden has been in an increasingly uncomfortable situation since the start of the conflict in Gaza, with the Israeli prime minister appearing eager to drag the US into an expanded conflict in the Middle East to ensure that American arms continue to arrive in the region, and perhaps even troops. Politico therefore emphasises how fear is growing in the democratic camp that unconditional support for Israel could be dangerously counterproductive in the run-up to the November elections, where there is a particular risk of losing the youth vote. And there is a growing, even cross-currents, "consensus that the Israel-Gaza war must end now and that Biden must stand up to Bibi," a Democratic MP explained to the American website.

Meanwhile, the population lives in ''constant fear that there will be further collapses, also because the tremors have continued. Even at the end of December there was another minor tremor, 4.2 on the Ritcher scale''. Since February last year, Pro Terra Sancta ''has helped rebuild and repair 270 houses in the Aleppo and Latakia areas'' under Assad's control, but also in the rebel-held Idlib area. In addition, ''solar panels and water heating have been provided to 200 families to cope with the electricity emergency''. And with regard to food assistance, ''a total of 430,000 meals have been distributed since February last year''. In the days of the earthquake, Pizzi recalls, Pro Terra Sancta ''distributed 6,000 meals a day, now we distribute 1,300 in the area of eastern Aleppo''. The association also works on ''psychological support for children'', providing them with ''reintegration in school, and the management of post-traumatic stress disorders. It is estimated that one in three children are still displaced and live in makeshift homes''. Another of the organisation's projects is the 'Bus of Hope' that ''with a staff of educators and psychologists goes among the rubble in eastern Aleppo to rescue children who work and have no means of support''.

Serbia today officially submitted a request to convene an extraordinary session of the UN Security Council due to the situation in Kosovo. Breaking the news, the media in Belgrade report that the request was submitted by the Serbian Ambassador to the UN, Nemanja Stevanovic, who handed the document to the Guyana mission, which holds the rotating presidency of the Security Council.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken arrived in Saudi Arabia today on the first leg of his Middle East tour, the fifth since the outbreak of conflict in Gaza following the Hamas attack on Israel on 7 October. At the centre of his diplomatic efforts is an attempt to reach an agreement to free the hostages in exchange for a ceasefire in Gaza and more humanitarian aid for Palestinian civilians. Blinken will also travel to Egypt, Qatar, Israel and the West Bank.

- "Our goal is a complete victory over Hamas. We will kill the Hamas leadership, so we must continue to operate in all areas of the Gaza Strip." PM Benyamin Netanyahu said this while speaking at a Likud meeting. "We must not end the war before then. It will take time: months, not years," he added.

- "Hamas has demands on hostages that we cannot accept. The exchange ratio between hostages and Palestinian detainees must be similar to the previous agreement". PM Benyamin Netanyahu said this, reiterating that he will not do a deal "at any price". In the previous deals the ratio was one hostage for 3 Palestinian detainees

Members of Fidesz, the party of Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, boycotted an emergency session of parliament that had Sweden's application for NATO membership on its agenda. The party, which holds an absolute majority in Parliament, blocked Sweden's application from July 2022, claiming that Swedish politicians told 'blatant lies' about the state of Hungarian democracy. After the Turkish parliament approved Sweden's candidacy in January, Hungary became the last of the 31 members of the Atlantic Alliance not to do so. Last month Orbav told Nato Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg that he would urge his party to ratify the candidacy 'at the first possible opportunity'.

Donald Trump called on Republicans to reject the Ukraine aid bill and new measures against illegal immigration. "Only a fool, or a radical left-wing Democrat, would vote for this horrendous border bill that is a gift to Democrats," the former president attacked in a post on the social media site Truth. "We need a border and immigration bill that is not tied in any way to foreign aid," he added.

"We are not intimidated by the threats of the Houthis. We defend merchant traffic, we do not attack anyone but we do not want to be attacked by anyone. There is free maritime traffic: if there are attacks we will respond by defending Italian merchant ships. This must be very clear. We are not intimidated by any statement by the Houthis, who are a terrorist organisation'. This was said by Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani on the sidelines of the Med Dialogues after a Houthi leader's interview with Repubblica.

Russian forces launched more than 1,500 attacks against Ukraine last week, a 25% increase over previous weeks. This was said by the Ukrainian Minister of the Interior, Ihor Klymenko, quoted by Kyiv independent. Last week, Klymenko explained, more than 570 settlements were attacked, most of them in the Zaporizhzhia region, partially occupied by Russian forces. "Last week, as a result of the Russian attacks, 12 people died and 60 were injured," the minister added.

The Hamas Ministry of Health announced the new death toll in Gaza: it is 27,478, most of them women, children and teenagers. The injured number 66,835.

The head of the French government Gabriel Attal has survived the first no-confidence motion since his appointment as premier: the text presented by the left-wing groups was not adopted - as expected - by the National Assembly, where it was voted in by 124 deputies, far fewer than the 289 needed for adoption. The motion had been tabled to denounce the absence of a vote of confidence at the end of the premier's declaration of general policy on Tuesday. Rassemblement national (88 deputies) and Les Républicains (62), had hinted that they would not support the motion. "Go and tell those who sent you that his reign has lasted far too long," Manuel Bompard, the coordinator of La France Insoumise, who with the ecologists, socialists and communists tabled the motion, declared to an almost empty chamber. For his part, Gabriel Attal denounced a 'motion of preventive censorship', filed even before the presentation of his political programme.

The US Secretary of State, Antony Blinken, has arrived in Saudi Arabia, the first stop on his fifth mission to the Middle East since the war between Israel and Hamas began. Sky News Uk reports. In Riyadh he is expected to meet with the Crown Prince, Mohammed bin Salman, and the Saudi Foreign Minister, Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud. During the tour of the region, Blinken will also visit Egypt, Qatar and Israel with the aim of advancing the talks, mediated by Cairo and Doha, to reach a truce leading to the release of the hostages still in the hands of Hamas.

Russian President Vladimir Putin will soon visit Turkey. This was confirmed by the Turkish Foreign Minister, stressing that a central topic of the talks between Putin and President Recep Tayyip Erdogan will be a new way to allow Ukrainian grain exports through the Black Sea. For Putin, this will be his first trip to a Nato country since Russia's invasion of Ukraine two years ago. Minister Hakan Fidan, who gave an interview to the private TV channel A Haber, did not mention the date of the visit, but Turkish media reported that it will take place on 12 February.

A spokesperson for the Egyptian Border Authority, quoted by the Qatari media al-Araby al-Jadeed, reported that more than 35,000 people have left the Gaza Strip for Egypt through the Rafah crossing since November. The figure includes some 2,000 sick and injured people who entered Egypt to receive medical treatment, as well as staff from international institutions, Egyptian passport holders and people with dual citizenship. Under normal circumstances, the official explained, about 15,000 people a month cross the Rafah crossing, so over a three-month period (November to January), about 45,000 people would have crossed the border.

Senegal's government restricted mobile internet access after opposition protests against President Macky Sall's decision to postpone presidential elections on 25 February. Internet access has been cut off as federal lawmakers are set to debate a bill that could extend Sall's term by another six months.

The Ministry of Communications, Telecommunications and Digital Economy stated that the network has been shut down 'due to the spread of various hate and subversive messages on social networks in the context of threats and disturbances to public order'. The measure further aggravates political tensions in the country. To justify the decision, Sall referred to a dispute between the judiciary and parliament over the ouster of some candidates and the reporting of the dual nationality of some qualified candidates.

The Palestinian Red Crescent reported on social media that Israeli forces had arrested the general manager and administrative director of the Al-Amal hospital in Khan Younis and were taking them to an 'unknown location'. Moreover, according to the organisation, hundreds of displaced Palestinians are reportedly leaving the compound after finding refuge there during "two weeks of siege" by Israeli forces.

"This morning in Gaza a food convoy, waiting to enter the north of the Strip, was hit by the Israeli navy, fortunately no one was injured". Thus on his X profile Thomas White, director of the United Nations agency for Palestinian refugees (Unrwa). Accompanying the post, White also published two photos showing the heavily damaged truck in question.

"Everything that has come from the Kremlin on the peace talks front has been disingenuous and served to cover up the escalation of the conflict. The plan we support is Ukraine's peace formula. I hope our Turkish partners remember that Vladimir Putin has an arrest warrant from the International Criminal Court hanging over him'. A European Commission spokesman said this about the Russian president's trip to Turkey in the coming days.

During his meeting in Jerusalem with his French counterpart, Stéphane Séjourné, the Israeli Minister of Foreign Affairs, Israel Katz, reported that Tel Aviv is working to find alternatives to the United Nations Agency for Palestine Refugees (Unrwa) in the Gaza Strip. This was reported by The Times of Israel, citing a note from the Israeli Foreign Ministry. Katz also asked Séjourné to press Qatar for evidence that the medicines sent to the enclave had actually reached the hostages. In mid-January, France and Qatar had entered into an agreement to buy and send medicines to Israeli hostages held by Hamas, but Israel was unable to verify that they had reached the captives.

With Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin "Netanyahu the only opening was on the reconstruction of the Gaza Strip". This was stated by Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani opening the session on growth diplomacy at the Med Dialogues. ''The hope is to reach a ceasefire as quickly as possible,'' Tajani added.

The European mission in the Red Sea "will be naval and airborne" and "we will have operational command of the mission at sea". This was said today by Foreign Minister and Deputy Prime Minister Antonio Tajani at the Med Dialogues Extraordinary expert meeting in Rome. "They will not be accompanying missions, but operational defence missions: if there is an attack, we will react," the minister added, specifying that "the rules of engagement are about military reaction to attacks with missiles or at sea".

A Palestinian man was shot dead today near the settlement town of Maaleh Adumin (West Bank) by Israeli Border Guard agents after he lunged at them armed with a knife. Military radio reported this. The agents, who were stationed at one of the entrances to the town, were unharmed.

Iran, Russia and China will organise joint naval manoeuvres in March with the aim of strengthening regional security, Iranian Navy Commander Shahram Irani said, adding that other countries have also been invited to participate in the exercise. "The most important goal of the Iranian Navy is to preserve and protect the country's interests and economic resources," the commander stressed, according to Mehr.

Israeli army Arabic spokesman Avichai Adraae called on residents of western Gaza City to leave these areas immediately for "security" reasons. In particular, Adraae pointed to the neighbourhoods of Al-Nasr, Sheikh Radwan, Shati Refugee Camp, Holot, Al-Sabra, Sheikh Ejalin and Tel Al-Hawa. "For your safety," he wrote on X, "we urge you to evacuate your area immediately and cross al-Rashid Street to the shelters in Deir al-Balah. He did the same to residents of the Khan Yunis area in the south of the Strip, urging them to go to the "humanitarian zone" of al-Mawa. In the meantime, the Id is continuing its operations in Gaza, especially in Khan Yunis where - according to the military spokesman - in combat 'dozens of terrorists who had ambushed soldiers were killed'.

"Although the emotions driving the suspension of funding are understandable, political responsibility must look beyond the emotions and consider the consequences of such a step. Defunding Unrwa would be disproportionate and dangerous. The UN General Assembly, including all EU Member States, has entrusted UNRWA with a very difficult task'. So writes the EU High Representative for Foreign Policy, Josep Borrell, in his blog.

The death toll of the drone attack that hit a base housing US troops in eastern Syria has risen to six. These were six Kurdish fighters. The US-backed, Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces said the attack hit a training camp at the al-Omar base in the eastern Syrian province of Deir el-Zor and blamed 'Syrian regime-backed mercenaries' for carrying out the attack. No casualties were reported among US troops. According to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, the toll instead rose to seven fighters killed and at least 18 others wounded.

The BBC fired a senior employee who was under observation for publicly sharing anti-Semitic posts on Facebook. British newspapers including the Telegraph and the Daily Mail reported the news. She is Dawn Queva, who uses Facebook under the name Dawn Las Quevas-Allen, and was a senior programming coordinator at BBC Three. A spokesman for the British broadcaster, contacted by the Telegraph, reported that 'the person in question is no longer employed by the BBC'.

At least 20 people died after days of torrential rains in parts of the southern Philippines, provincial disaster agencies reported on Monday. Thirteen people died in Davao de Oro province while two were missing, and seven people were killed in neighbouring Davao del Norte, disaster agency officials said.

A north-east monsoon and a low-pressure area depression brought rainfall to the southern region of Mindanao from 28 January to 2 February, causing deadly floods and landslides, data from the national disaster agency show.

- Israeli Ambassador to Moscow Simona Halperin will be summoned to the Russian Foreign Ministry. This was reported by the Russian news agency Tass. The wrath of the Russian Foreign Ministry was triggered by the diplomat's interview with the daily Kommersant in which Halperin criticised Russia's foreign policy, including with regard to the Middle East. "In connection with the Israeli ambassador's unacceptable public statements distorting Russian foreign policy approaches and historical realities, Halperin will be summoned," the ministry specified, quoted by Tass. "The ambassador speaks disrespectfully about the efforts Russia is making" to resolve the fate of the hostages still in the hands of Hamas, and "speculation about the need to change Russia's 'state schedule' borders on interference in internal affairs," the ministry argued.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov called a 'monstrous terrorist act' the missile attack by Ukrainian forces in which a bakery in Lisichansk, Lugansk region, was hit on Saturday and 28 people were killed, according to the balance provided by Moscow. This was reported by the Ria Novosti news agency.

Violent hurricane-force winds swept the seas off California, while heavy rains increased the risk of flooding from San Francisco to San Diego, as another powerful Pacific storm arrived at the state's doorstep.

On Sunday, Governor Gavin Newsom declared a state of emergency in eight counties as rain and strong winds hit much of the state.

The Seoul Central District Court has acquitted Samsung Electronics chairman Lee Jae-yong over the controversial 2015 merger of two subsidiaries, used - according to the prosecution - to consolidate control over South Korea's largest conglomerate. The ruling came three years and five months after the formal indictment for market manipulation in the discounted merger of Cheil Industries and Samsung C&T. The dropping of the conviction is a relief for the group amidst tense global economic scenarios and tough competition with Apple in smartphones and SK Hynix in the emerging field of artificial intelligence.

One person died and four others were injured in an attack by Russian forces on the Donetsk region. Vadym Filashkin, head of the regional military administration, made this known in a Facebook post, Ukrinform writes. "On 4 February, the Russians killed a resident of the Donetsk region - in Toretsk. Four other people were injured," he wrote.

In front of thousands of jubilant people, the president of El Salvador , Nayib Bukele, last night celebrated his electoral victory with more than 85% of the vote', which secured him an unprecedented second term in office not foreseen by the Constitution, and that of the Nuevas Ideas party (58 seats out of 60), claiming that 'we will be the first country in history to have a single party in a democracy, with a completely pulverised opposition'. When the Supreme Electoral Tribunal (Tse) had counted just 31% of the votes Bukele, from the balcony of the National Palace in the capital's historic centre, proclaimed himself 'the absolute winner'.

'There is no polarisation here,' he assured, 'and 85 per cent of Salvadorans voted to follow the path we took in the first term in full freedom and full democracy,' emphasising among the best initiatives taken, the state of emergency introduced 22 months ago by which many civil rights of citizenship were suspended. 'You have seen,' he continued, 'how El Salvador has gone from being the most insecure country in the world to the safest. Now wait until you see what we will do in the next five years'. 'Never,' he concluded, 'has a political project in El Salvador won with the number of votes that we got today', and for us this is 'a milestone in the history of democracies'.

'Italy will be a target if it participates in the aggression against Yemen '. This was explained by Mohamed Ali al-Houti, one of the leaders of the Yemeni Houtis, in an interview with Repubblica. The European Union has indeed announced a new defensive military mission in the Red Sea. "We advise the Europeans to increase the pressure on those responsible for the horrors in Gaza. Our operations are aimed at stopping the aggression and lifting the siege. Any other justification for escalation by the Europeans is unacceptable,' he continued. Italy will take part. 'Italy will become a target if it takes part in the aggression against Yemen,' the Yemeni leader further emphasises.

Antony Blinken had a telephone conversation with British Foreign Secretary David Cameron who informed him of his meetings in Israel and the West Bank. This was reported by US State Department spokesman Matthew Miller. Blinken and Cameron discussed efforts to reach an agreement on the Hamas hostages as well as the situation in the Red Sea and international actions against the Houthis.

US House Speaker Mike Johnson rejected the deal just passed in the Senate on border security and Ukraine claiming that 'should it reach the House, it will already be dead'. "This agreement," he wrote on X, "is perhaps even worse than we expected and will not even come close to ending the border catastrophe created by the president.

The Australian government reported that writer Yang Jun was given a suspended death sentence today in China , in what was described as 'heartbreaking news'. The government in Canberra, said Foreign Minister Penny Wong, is "appalled" by the developments, assuring a response "in the strongest terms". Yang, who has been detained since 2019 on charges of breaching national security regulations, had been on trial for some time, but the verdict and sentencing have been subject to repeated delays since the closed-door proceedings began on 27 May 2021.

Navy ship Vulcan, which set sail a few days ago from the port of al Arish in Egypt , docked at the Fornelli dock in the port of La Spezia with 60 Palestinians, children in need of specialised medical care and their carers on board.

The US Senate made public a bipartisan agreement on the bill for aid to Ukraine , Israel and Taiwan and funds for the migrant crisis at the southern US border. The $118 billion deal includes stricter rules on asylum claims, the condition that the Republicans had set to give the green light for the other aid.

If passed by Congress, it would be the most aggressive border security and immigration law in decades. In fact, the agreement includes a crackdown on asylum applications and the deportation of those who do not qualify. The House's go-ahead is not a foregone conclusion, however, because while the Republicans have obtained a strengthening of the anti-immigrant measures, opposition to sending more aid to Ukraine has increased among Grand Old Party members.

"The deal on the kidnapped hostages in Gaza is not around the corner". American security adviser Jake Sullivan said this in an interview with Abc news, stressing that "the ball is now in Hamas' hands". "These kinds of negotiations usually proceed slowly until they suddenly accelerate. And so it's difficult to establish a precise timetable as to when they will get there or even if they will get there," the official explained.

What happened on 4 February 2024