Headline

Israel Says Hamas Must Free Three Living Hostages This Weekend, Else…

Published

10 months ago

February 14, 2025

Israel warned Thursday that Hamas must release three living hostages this weekend or face a resumption of the war in Gaza, after the Palestinian militant group said it was committed to the truce agreement.

Palestinian sources reported progress in efforts to salvage the ceasefire, which was plunged into crisis after Hamas said it would not release hostages on Saturday, citing Israeli violations.

Israel countered that if Hamas failed to free captives on schedule, it would resume military operations.

War raged for more than 15 months before the ceasefire took effect on January 19.

“We are keen to implement it (the ceasefire) and oblige the occupation to fully abide by it,” Hamas spokesman Abdel Latif al-Qanou said, adding that mediators were pushing for Israel “to resume the exchange process on Saturday”.

Hamas said it remained committed to carrying out the next exchange “according to the specified timetable”.

Israel later insisted Hamas must release “three live hostages” on Saturday under the ceasefire framework.

“If those three are not released, if Hamas does not return our hostages, by Saturday noon, the ceasefire will end,” said government spokesman David Mencer.

Hamas has previously accused Israel of holding up the delivery of heavy machinery needed to clear war debris.

On Egypt’s Rafah border crossing with Gaza, a row of bulldozers lined up waiting to enter the war-ravaged Palestinian territory on Thursday.

Egyptian state-linked media said heavy equipment and trucks carrying mobile homes were ready to enter, but Israel said later they would not be allowed to go in via the Rafah crossing.

The war damaged or destroyed around 69 percent of Gaza’s buildings, according to the UN.

Jorge Moreira da Silva, head of the United Nations’ infrastructure agency (UNOPS), said Thursday following a visit to Gaza that he had seen not only “immense human suffering”, despite the ceasefire, but also massive destruction “and an overwhelming volume of rubble.”

– ‘Power games’ –
US President Donald Trump warned this week that “hell” would break loose if Hamas failed to release “all” the remaining hostages by noon on Saturday.

If fighting resumes, Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz said, “the new Gaza war… will not end without the defeat of Hamas and the release of all the hostages”.

“It will also allow the realisation of US President Trump’s vision for Gaza,” he added.

Trump, whose return to the White House has emboldened the Israeli far right, sparked global outcry with a proposal for the United States to take over Gaza and to move its 2.4 million residents to Egypt or Jordan.

Yemen’s Iran-backed Huthi rebels threatened Thursday to launch new attacks on Israel if it and its ally the United States went ahead with Trump’s plan to move Palestinians out of Gaza.

The ceasefire’s six-week first phase has seen Israeli captives released in small groups in exchange for Palestinians in Israeli custody.

The two sides, which have yet to agree on the next phases of the truce, have traded accusations of violations, spurring concern that the violence could resume.

On Thursday for the first time since the truce began, Israel’s military said it identified a rocket launch from Gaza. The rocket landed back inside the Palestinian territory and the military later said it had struck the launcher.

Analyst Mairav Zonszein, of the International Crisis Group, said despite their public disputes Israel and Hamas were still interested in maintaining the truce and have not “given up on anything yet”.

“They’re just playing power games,” she said.

In Israel, dozens of relatives of hostages held in Gaza blocked a highway near Tel Aviv, waving banners and demanding the terms of the ceasefire be respected, an AFP photographer said.

– Trump’s plan –
Trump’s proposal for Gaza and for moving its more than two million residents to Jordan or Egypt would, according to experts, violate international law, but Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has described it as “revolutionary”.

Hamas called for worldwide “solidarity marches” over the weekend to denounce “the plans to displace our Palestinian people from their land”.

Defence Minister Katz last week ordered the Israeli army to prepare for “voluntary” departures from Gaza. The military said it had already begun reinforcing its troops around the territory.

Trump reaffirmed his Saturday deadline for the hostage release while hosting Jordan’s King Abdullah II on Tuesday.

In a phone call Wednesday, Abdullah and Egypt’s President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi said they were united in supporting the ceasefire’s “full implementation”, and in their opposition to the displacement of Palestinians.

Many Palestinians have also voiced opposition to the plan.

“Who is Trump? Is he God almighty? The land of Jordan is for Jordanians, and the land of Egypt belongs to Egyptians,” said Gaza City resident Abu Mohamed al-Husari.

“We are here, deeply rooted in Gaza — the resilient, besieged and unbreakable Gaza.”

Hamas’s October 7, 2023 attack on Israel resulted in the deaths of 1,211 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally of official Israeli figures.

Militants also took 251 hostages, of whom 73 remain in Gaza, including at least 35 the Israeli military says are dead.

Israel’s retaliatory campaign has killed at least 48,239 people in Gaza, the majority of them civilians, according to figures from the Hamas-run territory’s health ministry that the UN considers reliable.

Headline

Benin Republic Presidency Breaks Silence On ‘Military Takeover’

Published

44 minutes ago

December 7, 2025

Editor

Benin Republic military
Military personnel in Benin on Sunday said they had ousted President Patrice Talon, but the Presidency said he was safe and the army was regaining control.

Talon, 67, a former businessman known as the “cotton king of Cotonou,” is due to hand over power in April next year after 10 years in office marked by strong economic growth and rising jihadist violence.

West Africa has seen several coups in recent years, including in Niger, Burkina Faso, Mali, Guinea, and most recently Guinea-Bissau.

Early on Sunday, soldiers calling themselves the “Military Committee for Refoundation” (CMR) said on state television that they had met and decided that “Mr Patrice Talon is removed from office as president of the republic.”

The signal was cut later in the morning.

Shortly after the announcement, a source close to Talon told AFP the president was safe.

“This is a small group of people who only control the television. The regular army is regaining control. The city (Cotonou) and the country are completely secure,” they said.

“It’s just a matter of time before everything returns to normal. The clean-up is progressing well.”

A military source confirmed the situation was “under control” and said the coup plotters had not taken Talon’s residence or the presidential offices.

The French Embassy reported on X that “gunfire was reported at Camp Guezo” near the president’s official residence in the economic capital and urged French citizens to remain indoors.

Benin has a history of coups and attempted coups.

Talon, who came to power in 2016, is due to end his second term in 2026, the constitutional maximum.

The main opposition party has been excluded from the race to succeed him, leaving the ruling party to compete against a so-called “moderate” opposition.

Talon has been praised for driving economic development but is often accused of authoritarianism.

(AFP)

Headline

JUST IN: Soldiers Announce Military Takeover Of Govt In Benin Republic

Published

2 hours ago

December 7, 2025

Editor

A group of soldiers appeared on Benin’s state television on Sunday to announce the dissolution of the government in what is being described as an apparent coup, marking yet another power seizure in West Africa.

Identifying themselves as the Military Committee for Refoundation, the soldiers declared the removal of the president and all state institutions.

President Patrice Talon, who has been in office since 2016, was scheduled to leave office next April after the presidential election. His party’s preferred candidate, former Finance Minister Romuald Wadagni, had been widely viewed as the frontrunner. Opposition candidate Renaud Agbodjo was disqualified by the electoral commission on the grounds that he did not have “sufficient sponsors.”

The takeover comes a month after Benin’s legislature extended the presidential term from five to seven years while retaining the two-term limit.

(AFP)

Headline

EU Fines Elon Musk’s X €120m For Violating Digital Content Rules

Published

1 day ago

December 6, 2025

Editor

Elon Musk’s social media platform, X, has been hit with a €120 million ($140 million) fine by European Union tech regulators for violating multiple provisions of the EU’s Digital Services Act (DSA).

This marks the first significant penalty imposed under this landmark legislation.

On Friday, the European Commission announced the fine, citing various violations by X, including misleading platform features and a lack of transparency in research practices.

Regulators pointed out that one of the violations involved the misleading design of the blue verification checkmark. This feature is now linked to subscription payments instead of identity validation, which the EU described as “deceptive and potentially harmful.”

The Commission also criticized X for not maintaining transparent advertising records and for restricting researchers’ access to publicly available data on the platform.

This ruling is likely to heighten diplomatic tensions between Brussels and Washington. U.S. officials from the Trump administration had previously condemned Europe’s regulatory approach toward major tech companies, claiming that EU policies unfairly target American firms and restrict free expression.

However, the European Commission defended its stance, stating that enforcement under the DSA is not influenced by nationality. They emphasized that the legislation is designed to promote online accountability, protect users, and ensure transparency in digital operations—standards that are increasingly becoming global benchmarks.

“The DSA does not discriminate by company origin,” the Commission argued, maintaining that the penalties reflect Europe’s commitment to protecting democratic values and responsible digital governance.

The fine marks a significant test case for the EU’s new regulatory regime and could set precedent for similar action against other platforms not in full compliance with the law.