Category: News

JERUSALEM — Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Monday he would not stop the war in Gaza “now,” with renewed efforts toward a ceasefire underway.

Speaking at a press conference in Jerusalem 14 months into the war against Hamas, he said “if we end the war now, Hamas will return, recover, rebuild and attack us again — and that is what we do not want to go back to.”

Netanyahu reiterated that he had set the goal of “the annihilation of Hamas, the elimination of its military and administrative capabilities” to prevent future attacks but said that the objective was not yet complete.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on October 23 that Israel had “managed to dismantle Hamas’s military capacity” and eliminated its senior leadership.

With those successes, he said, it was time to “get the hostages home and bring the war to an end with an understanding of what will follow.”

In recent days, there had been signs that months of failed ceasefire and hostage release negotiations might be revived and achieve a breakthrough.

Qatar, a main mediator, said on Saturday there was new “momentum” for negotiations created by the election of Donald Trump in the United States.

A source close to the Hamas delegation said at the same time that Turkiye as well as Egypt and Qatar had been “making commendable efforts to stop the war,” and a new round of talks could begin soon.

On Sunday, the prime minister met with the families of hostages held in Gaza and said that Israel’s wars on Hezbollah and Hamas would facilitate negotiations for their release.

Protesters, including relatives of the hostages, have repeatedly called for a deal to free the captives and accused him of prolonging the war.

The war in Gaza was sparked by Hamas’s October 7, 2023 attack which resulted in the deaths of 1,208 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official data.

During the attack, militants also kidnapped 251 hostages, 96 of whom remain in Gaza, including 34 who the military says are dead.

Israel’s retaliatory offensive in Gaza has killed at least 44,758 people, mostly civilians, according to data from the Hamas-run health ministry that is considered reliable by the UN.

AN-AFP, Dec 9, 2024

RAMALLAH, Dec. 9 — Two Palestinians were killed in an Israeli bombing in the northern West Bank city of Tubas on Monday, said the Ramallah-based Palestinian Health Ministry.

The ministry, in a press statement, identified the victims as Khalil al-Masri, 26, and Adi Daraghmeh, 32.

Tubas Governor Ahmed al-Asaad told Xinhua that Israeli forces killed the two young men near a house and detained their bodies after withdrawing from the city.

The Palestine Red Crescent Society reported that the Israeli army prevented its workers from approaching the targeted site and transporting the wounded.

Meanwhile, Israeli army spokesperson Avichay Adraee said in a press statement that during the army’s operation to arrest wanted persons and dismantle militant infrastructure in Tubas, the Air Force attacked and killed some gunmen spotted in the area.

Adraee added that Israeli forces confiscated M-16 weapons, two pistols, and a hand grenade from the gunmen.

Since the onset of the ongoing Israeli-Palestinian conflict on Oct. 7, 2023, about 810 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli gunshots and bombings across the West Bank, according to the Palestinian Health Ministry.

XINHUA

JERUSALEM, Dec. 9 — Seven Israeli soldiers have been killed in the past two days in Lebanon and the Gaza Strip, Israel’s military said on Monday.

In southern Lebanon, two commanders and two soldiers were killed on Sunday as an explosion caused the collapse of a building.

The troops were in an underground structure when the building collapsed. The military said they were on an operation to search the area for Hezbollah militants.

The military added it was checking whether the explosion was caused accidentally by explosives put there earlier by another Israeli force.

Although a ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah went into effect on Nov. 27, Israeli troops remained in southern Lebanon and operated to prevent Hezbollah from deploying and to remove threats.

Under the ceasefire agreement, Israel is required to withdraw from southern Lebanon within 60 days.

On Monday, three soldiers were reported killed in the northern Gaza Strip. The three “have fallen during combat,” the military said in a statement.

Israel has been conducting a large-scale offensive against Hamas in Gaza, following a Hamas attack on Israel’s southern border on Oct. 7, 2023, in which about 1,200 people were killed and approximately 250 taken hostage.

XINHUA

NEW YORK, Dec. 9 — An earthquake with a magnitude of 5.7 jolted Mid-Indian Ridge at 17:25:22 GMT on Monday, the U.S. Geological Survey said.

The epicenter, with a depth of 10.0 km, was initially determined to be at 9.25 degrees south latitude and 66.75 degrees east longitude.

XINHUA

ADDIS ABABA, Dec. 9 — The Ethiopian government has expressed keen interest to further penetrate the fast-growing Chinese coffee market as China becomes one of the top destinations for Ethiopian coffee export.

The call was made by officials at the Ethiopian Coffee and Tea Authority (ECTA) during discussions with Chinese business representatives who are interested in the East African country’s coffee, the ECTA said in a statement issued Monday.

During the discussion, ECTA officials and Ethiopian coffee exporters underscored the Chinese market’s growing importance to Ethiopian coffee exporters, as China becomes one of the top 10 importers of Ethiopian coffee.

Amid the rapid rise in Ethiopia’s coffee exports to China in recent years, officials and coffee exporters said the increasing number of consumers and growing popularity of Ethiopia’s coffee among the Chinese people are propelling Ethiopia’s coffee export market.

In the past three years or so, the amount of coffee Ethiopia exports to China has been growing at an average rate of 27 percent annually, according to recent data from the authority, attributing the surge to a significant increase in Chinese coffee buyers who import coffee directly from Ethiopia.

Ethiopia, renowned for its coffee production, earned 1.43 billion U.S. dollars from coffee exports in the last Ethiopian fiscal year, which ended on July 7, 2024. The East African nation aims to increase this figure to 2 billion dollars during the current 2024/2025 fiscal year.

Regarded as the origin of Arabica coffee, Ethiopia is one of Africa’s largest producers and exporters of the commodity. Coffee production is dubbed as the backbone of the country’s agriculture-led economy. Widely recognized for its rich coffee quality and flavors, ranging from winy to fruity and chocolatey, the country’s coffee is in high demand across the globe.

XINHUA

NEW YORK, Dec. 9 — An earthquake with a magnitude of 5.1 jolted Near Coast of Northern Chile at 16:27:01 GMT on Monday, the GFZ German Research Centre for Geosciences said.

The epicenter, with a depth of 27.4 km, was initially determined to be at 20.29 degrees south latitude and 70.21 degrees west longitude.

XINHUA

ANKARA — President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Monday pledged to reopen a border post on Turkiye’s southern frontier with Syria to facilitate the return of refugees after the ouster of Bashar Assad.

“In order to ease the traffic at the border, we’re opening the Yayladagi border gate,” Erdogan said, referring to a crossing on the westerly edge of the frontier that has been closed since 2013.

Turkiye, which has a long border with Syria, is home to nearly three million refugees who fled their homeland after the start of the civil war in 2011, with many hundreds flocking to cross the frontier in the wake of Assad’s departure in order to finally return home.

Although not directly involved in the militant operation that ousted Assad, Turkiye has expressed support for the move and said it hoped the strongman’s removal would allow the refugees to return home.

“The strong wind of change in Syria will be beneficial for all Syrians, especially the refugees.

As Syria gains stability, voluntary returns will increase and the 13-year longing of the Syrians for their homeland will come to an end,” he said.

AN-AFP, Dec 9, 2024

HOUSTON — A man was shot and a suspect has been arrested on Monday morning following juveniles fighting near Spring High School in the Houston area of Texas, authorities said.

The fight happened in the parking lot of a Burger King across from Spring High School, the Harris County Pct. 4 Constable’s Office said.

Authorities did not reveal the victim’s age or condition. It wasn’t immediately known if those involved were students of the school, and an investigation is underway.

XINHUA