Liberia reverses stand on Gaza ceasefire – Newstrends
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Liberia reverses stand on Gaza ceasefire

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1 year ago

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Liberian President George Weah

Liberia reverses stand on Gaza ceasefire

LIBERIAN Information ministry on Tuesday said President George Weah has intervened to reverse the country’s vote against a UN resolution calling for a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip.

The Liberian foreign ministry has requested the UN General Assembly to reverse its ‘NO’ vote and register a new vote in favour of ceasefire.

Liberia was the only African state and one of only ten countries of the 193-member UN General Assembly to reject the United Nation’s Dec. 12 call for an immediate humanitarian ceasefire between Israel and Hamas.

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A total of 153 countries supported the resolution.

The ministry said the Liberian diplomats responsible for voting did so without the backing of Weah, who as president has the final say over Liberia’s foreign policy.

“Weah has always stood on the side of peace across the world,” it said in a statement.

Before the UN vote, Weah had written to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in November asking him to “exercise restraint and consideration for civilians who are the real victims of the ongoing crisis.”

The former international soccer star is due to step down as president after losing a re-election bid in November.

Liberia reverses stand on Gaza ceasefire

(Reuters/NAN)

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Over 330 dead as Israel unleashes ‘hell fire’ on Gaza

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7 hours ago

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March 18, 2025

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Over 330 dead as Israel unleashes ‘hell fire’ on Gaza

Israel vowed on Tuesday to continue fighting in Gaza until the return of all hostages as it unleashed its most intense strikes since a ceasefire, with the health ministry in the Hamas-run territory reporting more than 330 people killed.

Hamas accused Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of deciding to “resume war” after an impasse in truce negotiations, and warned that the return to fighting could be a “death sentence” for hostages still alive in Gaza.

The strikes were by far the biggest and deadliest since a truce took effect on January 19. Hamas has not responded to the strikes so far.

Netanyahu warned Hamas this month of consequences it “cannot imagine” if it does not free hostages still in Gaza, and Israeli media said Israel had drafted plans to ramp up pressure on Hamas under a scheme dubbed the “Hell Plan”.

The White House said Israel consulted US President Donald Trump’s administration before launching the wave of strikes, which the health ministry in Gaza said killed mostly women and children.

Netanyahu’s office said the operation was ordered after “Hamas’s repeated refusal to release our hostages, as well as its rejection of all of the proposals it has received from US Presidential Envoy Steve Witkoff and from the mediators”.

“Israel will, from now on, act against Hamas with increasing military strength,” the statement said.

“We will not stop fighting as long as the hostages are not returned home and all our war aims are not achieved,” Defence Minister Israel Katz said.

Apart from the release of the remaining hostages, Israel’s other main war aim is to crush Hamas.

In a statement, Hamas said: “Netanyahu and his extremist government have decided to overturn the ceasefire agreement.

“Netanyahu’s decision to resume war is a decision to sacrifice the occupation’s prisoners and impose a death sentence on them,” it said.

A Hamas official said the group was “working with mediators” to stop the strikes, adding that the movement had “adhered to the ceasefire”.

‘Fire of hell’

In Khan Yunis in the southern Gaza Strip, AFP footage showed people rushing stretchers with wounded people, including young children, to the Nasser Hospital. Bodies covered with white sheets were also taken to the hospital’s mortuary.

Mohammed Jarghoun, 36, was sleeping in a tent near his destroyed house in Khan Yunis when he was woken by huge blasts.

“I thought they were dreams and nightmares, but I saw a fire in my relatives’ house. More than 20 martyrs and wounded, most of them children and women.”

Ramez Alammarin, 25, described carrying children to hospital southeast of Gaza City.

“They unleashed the fire of hell again on Gaza,” he said of Israel, adding that “bodies and limbs are on the ground, and the wounded cannot find any doctor to treat them.

“They bombed a building in the area and there are still martyrs and wounded under the rubble… fear and terror. Death is better than life.”

Families of Israeli hostages in Gaza pleaded with Netanyahu to “stop the killing and disappearance” of their loved ones, and called for a protest in front of the premier’s residence.

‘Hell will break loose’

Brokered by Qatar, Egypt and the United States, the initial phase of the ceasefire took effect on January 19, largely halting more than 15 months of fighting in Gaza triggered by Hamas’s October 7, 2023 attack on Israel.

That first phase ended in early March, and the two sides have been unable to agree on the next steps.

Mohammed Zaqut, head of the health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza, said “at least 330 deaths” had been recorded, “most of them Palestinian women and children”.

He said there were “hundreds of wounded, dozens of them in critical condition”.

Israel ordered all schools near the Gaza border to shut, amid fear of attack.

US envoy Witkoff told CNN on Sunday he had offered a “bridge proposal” that would see five living hostages, including Israeli-American Edan Alexander, released in return for freeing a “substantial amount of Palestinian prisoners” from Israel jails.

Hamas had said it was ready to free Alexander and the remains of four others.

Witkoff said Hamas had provided “an unacceptable response” and “the opportunity is closing fast”.

White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt confirmed that Trump’s administration had been consulted ahead of Israel’s operation.

“As President Trump has made it clear, Hamas, the Huthis, Iran, all those who seek to terrorise not just Israel, but also the United States of America, will see a price to pay — all hell will break loose,” she said.

Yemen’s Huthis, part of Iran’s “axis of resistance” against Israel and the United States, vowed to escalate its attacks in the Red Sea in solidarity with Hamas.

Deadlock

During the first phase of the truce, Hamas released 33 hostages, including eight deceased, and Israel freed around 1,800 Palestinian detainees.

Since then, Hamas has consistently demanded negotiations for the second phase.

Former US president Joe Biden had outlined a second phase which would involve the release of remaining living hostages, the withdrawal of all Israeli forces left in Gaza and the establishment of a lasting ceasefire.

Israel, however, seeks to extend the first phase until mid-April, insisting any transition to the second phase must include “the total demilitarisation” of Gaza and the removal of Hamas, which has controlled the territory since 2007.

The talks have been deadlocked, and Israel has cut aid and electricity to the territory.

Hamas’s October 7, 2023 attack resulted in 1,218 deaths on the Israeli side, mostly civilians, while Israel’s retaliatory response in Gaza has killed at least 48,572 people, also mostly civilians, according to figures from the two sides.

Of the 251 hostages seized during the attack, 58 are still held in Gaza, including 34 the Israeli military says are dead.

Both Russia and China warned against an escalation in Gaza.

 

Over 330 dead as Israel unleashes ‘hell fire’ on Gaza

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International

Trump revokes security details for Biden’s children

Published

14 hours ago

on

March 18, 2025

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Former US President Joe Biden and US President Donald Trump

Trump revokes security details for Biden’s children

US President Donald Trump said Tuesday he is withdrawing Hunter Biden’s government bodyguards, extending his campaign of political retribution to Joe Biden’s son.

Trump announced the same measure against Ashley Biden, the former president’s daughter with former first lady Jill.

In a post on his Truth Social platform, Trump asserted that Hunter Biden’s security detail is composed of as many as 18 people, calling it “ridiculous.”

He said Hunter Biden was currently on vacation in South Africa and noted he had recently suspended US aid to the country over alleged rights violations.

“Please be advised that, effective immediately, Hunter Biden will no longer receive Secret Service protection. Likewise, Ashley Biden who has 13 agents will be taken off the list,” Trump wrote.

Federal law grants Secret Service protection to former presidents and their spouses, but only to their children if they are under age 16.

Nonetheless, protection is often extended for a period of time to adult children.

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A Secret Service spokesperson, when queried about Trump’s action, told AFP: “We are aware of the President’s decision to terminate protection for Hunter and Ashley Biden.”

“The Secret Service will comply and is actively working with the protective details and the White House to ensure compliance as soon as possible.”

Hunter Biden has been a target of Republican ire for years, with the animosity intensifying after his father pardoned his gun and tax crime convictions shortly before leaving office in January.

On Monday, Trump declared that the pardon and others issued by Biden were void, an unprecedented move with unclear legal founding.

Trump’s revocation of the security details is his latest act of apparent or explicit retribution against perceived enemies since returning to office in January.

His administration previously revoked the security clearances of former president Biden and dozens of ex-officials, as well as all employees at several law firms associated with his Democratic opponents.

Trump has also revoked security details from former secretary of state Mike Pompeo, former national security advisor John Bolton and Anthony Fauci, who led the country’s fight against Covid-19.

The White House has justified these decisions saying that people are not entitled to security protection and clearances for life.

“The individuals you’re mentioning are quite wealthy, I understand, so they can get their own private security if they wish,” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said in January.

After his first term in office from 2017 to 2021, Trump issued an order giving a six-month extension of Secret Service protection to all four of his adult children and three senior administration officials.

The measure cost taxpayers $1.7 million, The Washington Post has reported, quoting an analysis of spending records.

 

Trump revokes security details for Biden’s children

AFP

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International

Trump invokes Alien Enemies Act, deports over 200 gang members

Published

2 days ago

on

March 17, 2025

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U.S President Donald Trump

Trump invokes Alien Enemies Act, deports over 200 gang members

US President Donald Trump issued a proclamation invoking the Alien Enemies Act of 1798, accusing Tren de Aragua of “perpetrating, attempting, and threatening an invasion of predatory incursion against the territory of the United States.”

He announced that members of the gang will be deported for engaging in “irregular warfare” against the United States. The Alien Enemies Act was last used during WWII to imprison Japanese-American civilians.

On Saturday evening, US District Judge James Boasberg in Washington, DC, issued a 14-day freeze to deportations covered by Trump’s proclamation, pending more legal arguments.

After lawyers informed him that planes carrying deportees had already taken off, Judge Boasberg issued a verbal order for the planes to return, according to US media, though this command was not included in his written ruling.

According to Reuters, the written notice was filed in the court docket at 19:25 EDT on Saturday (00:25 GMT on Sunday), but it is unknown when the flights carrying the alleged gang members left the United States.

In a court filing on Sunday, Department of Justice lawyers stated that the order did not apply since the deportees “had already been removed from United States territory”.

The Justice Department has appealed the judge’s decision.

The American Civil Liberties Union, which was participating in the case against the Trump administration, stated that the court order may have been breached.

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The case presents constitutional issues because, under the US system of checks and balances, government entities are expected to follow a federal judge’s decision.

Venezuela denounced Trump’s use of the Alien Enemies Act, claiming it “unjustly criminalises Venezuelan migration” and “evokes the darkest episodes in the history of humanity, from slavery to the horror of Nazi concentration camps.”

Rights organisations blasted Trump, accusing him of utilising a 227-year-old legislation to sidestep due process.

Amnesty International USA commented on X that the deportations were “yet another example of the Trump administration’s racist targeting” of Venezuelans “based on sweeping claims of gang affiliation”.

Bukele, a Trump ally, stated that the detainees were promptly taken to El Salvador’s renowned mega-jail, the Terrorism Confinement Centre (Cecot).

The Salvadoran president stated that they will be imprisoned there “for a period of one year,” which might be “renewable.”

El Salvador’s Cecot jail is part of Bukele’s efforts to combat organised crime in the country.

Human rights groups have accused the newly built maximum-security institution, which can accommodate up to 40,000 people, of mistreating inmates.

The agreement between the United States and El Salvador is an indication of improved diplomatic relations.

El Salvador was the second country Rubio visited as the US’s top diplomat.

During that trip in February, Bukele made an initial offer to accept US deportees, claiming it would help finance the enormous Cecot facility.

The newest deportations during Trump’s second term are part of the president’s long-standing campaign against illegal immigration in the United States.

In January, Trump signed an executive order designating Tren de Aragua and MS-13 as foreign terrorist organisations.

He won over voters during the campaign, in part, by threatening to carry out the greatest deportation operation in US history.

While illegal border crossings have dropped to their lowest levels in decades since Trump took office, the Republican president has allegedly been upset by the slow pace of deportations thus far.

Trump invokes Alien Enemies Act, deports over 200 gang members

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