US releases Maduro ally in exchange for 10 Americans held by Venezuela

The United States and Venezuela reached a deal Wednesday to swap 10 American prisoners for an ally of President Nicolas Maduro, as Washington eases pressure on the leftist Caracas government while it pushes for progress on democracy.

U$A USES NARCOTICS AS COVER FOR HOSTAGE TAKING

Issued on: 20/12/2023 - 21:05Modified: 20/12/2023 - 21:03
3 min

Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro speaks during a press conference on December 4, 2023 

© Federico Parra / AFP/File

By:   NEWS WIRES

President Joe Biden made the "extremely difficult decision" to free Alex Saab, the onetime confidant of the Venezuelan socialist leader who is accused by the United States of money laundering, US officials said.

Caracas is in return releasing 10 American citizens and 20 Venezuelan political prisoners -- and returning a fugitive dubbed "Fat Leonard" who was involved in the US Navy's worst ever corruption scandal.

"Today, ten Americans who have been detained in Venezuela have been released and are coming home," Biden said in a statement, adding that he was "glad their ordeal is finally over."

Biden's statement, which did not mention the release of Saab, said that the United States was "ensuring that the Venezuelan regime meets its commitments."

The White House named four of the freed Americans as Joseph Cristella, Eyvin Hernandez, Jerrel Kenemore and Savoi Wright.

The prisoner swap comes after the United States agreed in October to ease oil and gas sanctions against Maduro's government after it struck a deal with the opposition to hold an election.

'Difficult decision'

The deal to free Saab and the US prisoners was "essentially an exchange of 10 Americans and a fugitive from justice for one person returned to Venezuela," a senior US official said.

"The president had to make the extremely difficult decision to offer something that the Venezuelan counterparts actively sought and he made the decision to grant clemency to Alex Saab," the official said on condition of anonymity.

Saab, a Colombian national whom Maduro gave Venezuelan nationality and an ambassadorial title, was arrested in June 2020 on a stopover in Cape Verde and extradited to the United States four months later.

Saab and his business partner Alvaro Pulido are charged in the United States with running a network that exploited food aid destined for Venezuela, where millions have fled a destitute economy despite oil wealth.

The pair are alleged to have moved $350 million out of Venezuela into accounts they controlled in the United States and elsewhere.

Maduro reacted furiously to Saab's extradition, suspending talks with the US-backed opposition on ending the country's political and economic crisis.

'Fat Leonard'

Meanwhile Leonard Francis, the fugitive arrested and returned by Venezuela, was a military contractor known as "Fat Leonard" who escaped house arrest in California in September 2022.

Francis, a Malaysian national, pleaded guilty in 2015 to offering some $500,000 in bribes to Navy officers to steer official work to his shipyards, carrying out work on US vessels that prosecutors say he overcharged the Navy for to the tune of $35 million.

A prisoner exchange has long been in discussions between the rival governments as the United States switches strategy to engaging Maduro.

The United States, under Donald Trump, in 2019 declared Maduro to be illegitimate following wide allegations of election irregularities and launched a campaign through sanctions and pressure to remove him.

But Maduro withstood the pressure, holding on through support from a loyal political support base and the military as well as from Cuba, Russia and China.

Over the past year new left-leaning governments in Latin America, especially in Colombia, have also broken from the tough approach on Maduro once advocated by Washington.

The US dealings with Venezuela come despite separate concern over Maduro's escalation of a long-simmering territorial dispute with Guyana over the oil-rich Essequibo region, although tensions eased last week.

The United States frequently is willing to trade high-profile prisoners for detained Americans, whose cases generate public sympathy.

Biden said he remained "deeply focused" on securing the release of US citizens including hostages held by Hamas in Gaza, and reporter Evan Gershkovich and former Marine Paul Whelan, held by Moscow on espionage charges.

(AFP)

Guatemala's Arevalo to rule 'without fear' after bid to block presidency

Panama City (AFP) – Despite a fierce campaign from Guatemala's ruling class to block Bernardo Arevalo from taking office, the president-elect told AFP he is confident he will be sworn in next month, vowing to rule "without fear."


Issued on: 20/12/2023 

Bernardo Arevalo tells AFP he is confident he will take office as Guatemala's president in January 2024 

© Gerardo PESANTEZ / AFP

Arevalo, 65, won an August presidential election after firing up voters with a promise to fight corruption in the Central American nation, but his stance has made him a target of the country's elite.

The prosecutor's office this month tried to have the results of the election overturned over counting "anomalies," the latest in a long tug-of-war that Arevalo and international observers have dubbed an attempted coup.

His inauguration is set for January 14, and the Constitutional Court last week ordered Congress to "guarantee" the swearing-in.

"The slow-motion coup d'etat that had been taking place has been blocked," Arevalo told AFP during an interview while on a visit to Panama on Tuesday.

"What the prosecution has done is fabricate cases, acting on lies without any basis.

"That doesn't mean they won't keep trying, but they won't succeed. There is no doubt that we will take office," said the sociologist, the son of Guatemala's first democratically elected president who ruled over half a century ago.

Nevertheless, he is considered an outsider, and a threat to those in power who benefit from corruption in a country where 60 percent live below the poverty line, analysts say.
'Corrupt network'

Guatemala is ranked 30th out of 180 countries by Transparency International, which lists nations from most to least corrupt.

Carmen Aida Ibarra, of the social movement ProJusticia, said Arevalo has been seen as a threat to a "corrupt network" in which "mayors, lawmakers, businessmen" and other civil servants are involved in the awarding of public contracts.

Edie Cux, director of the NGO Citizen Action, said the corrupt elite were "themselves linked to organized crime," and were using the prosecutor's office as an "instrument."

Attorney General Consuelo Porras, senior prosecutor Rafael Curruchiche, and Judge Fredy Orellana have led efforts in recent months to have Arevalo's Semilla (Seed) party suspended and annul the election.

All three officials have been officially deemed as corrupt and undemocratic by the US Justice Department.

"We will ask for the resignation of the prosecutor (Porras). And there will be an election of judges next year," said Arevalo.

'Democracy is at stake'

Arevalo will take office with what he describes as an "extremely fragmented" Congress, with 16 parties sharing 160 seats.

He acknowledged there would be "difficulties, since these political-criminal elites, at least for a time, will continue to be entrenched in some branches of the State."

Under outgoing President Alejandro Giammattei, several prosecutors fighting graft have been arrested or forced into exile. He also cracked down on critical journalists.

Guatemalan President-elect Bernardo Arevalo told AFP he would set up a national anti-corruption commission to tackle graft, "a systemic problem that will require action in different areas of the State" 

© Gerardo PESANTEZ / AFP

Arevalo vowed to ensure "there are no exiles" and create a culture that "rejects and combats the normalization of corruption."

He told AFP he would set up a national anti-corruption commission to tackle graft, "a systemic problem that will require action in different areas of the State."

"It must be understood as a sustained and gradual struggle. We are not going to finish it, we will start it."

He said his victory had "awakened hope in Guatemalans of the possibility of change."

"But people know that it is not a task that can be solved overnight. We will start a process to recover public institutions," he added.

"Democracy is at stake."

© 2023 AFP

Ireland takes UK to European court over 'Troubles' amnesty law

Dublin (AFP) – Ireland announced legal action Wednesday against the UK government in the European Court of Human Rights over a law granting immunity to combatants in the Northern Ireland conflict.


Issued on: 20/12/2023 - 

The UK legislation proposes immunity from prosecution for British soldiers and security personnel from the time of 'The Troubles' in Northern Ireland 

© THOPSON / AFP/File

The contentious legislation, passed by the UK parliament in September, creates a truth and recovery commission offering amnesty to British security personnel and paramilitaries if they cooperate with its enquiries.

It has been condemned by families of those who died during the three decades of violence over British rule in Northern Ireland, known as "the Troubles", that began in the late 1960s.

All Northern Irish political parties and the Irish government in Dublin oppose the legislation, while Europe's leading rights watchdog, the Council of Europe, has also expressed "serious concerns".

Deputy Prime Minister Micheal Martin said Ireland had consistently argued the legislation is "not compatible" with Britain's obligations under the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR).

"The decision by the British government... (to) pursue legislation unilaterally, without effective engagement with the legitimate concerns that we, and many others, raised left us with few options," he said.

"The British government removed the political option, and has left us only this legal avenue."

Martin added he had "used every opportunity to make my concerns known" and urged London to pause the legislation.

Taoiseach (prime minister) Leo Varadkar told reporters in Dublin that the court would be asked to carry out a judicial review of the legislation.

"We informed the British government of that this morning."

Contentious

Ireland will pursue the case in the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg, which oversees the ECHR and is recognised by 46 states including Britain and Ireland.

Martin noted incorporating the convention into Northern Ireland law was a "specific and fundamental requirement" of the 1998 Good Friday peace accords.

Ireland's Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Micheal Martin said they had 'no option'

 © Adrian DENNIS / AFP

That largely ended the Troubles, which saw more than 3,500 people killed.

Around 1,200 deaths from that time remain under investigation, according to the UK government.

Its law -- formally called the UK Northern Ireland Troubles (Legacy and Reconciliation) Act 2023 -- has been welcomed by groups representing British veterans from the period.

They argue former soldiers have been subjected to unfair prosecutions.

Last year British soldier David Holden received a three-year suspended sentence for killing a man at a checkpoint in 1988, shooting him in the back.

Last week, a judge in Northern Ireland said "Soldier F" -- the only British soldier charged over the 1972 Bloody Sunday killings of 13 civilians -- would stand trial for murder.

But Ireland's legal action will likely prove contentious in Britain, where the ECHR is increasingly attacked by right-wing elements within the ruling Conservatives.

They want Prime Minister Rishi Sunak to withdraw the country from the convention over protections it offers to refugees and asylum-seekers arriving in the UK.

The UK government's Northern Ireland Office said it "profoundly regrets" the Irish government's decision to "bring this unnecessary case against the UK".

"The decision comes at a particularly sensitive time in Northern Ireland," Northern Ireland Secretary Chris Heaton-Harris said in a statement.

"It did not need to be taken now, given the issues are already before the UK courts."

Heaton-Harris said the UK government would "continue robustly" to defend the legislation.

"The overriding purpose of the Legacy Act is to enable more victims and survivors to obtain more information faster than can be achieved under current legacy mechanisms," he said.

"We cannot afford further delay in the provision of effective legacy outcomes -- both for families and wider society."

© 2023 AFP

Polish state media bosses sacked, populists occupy TV buildings

Warsaw (AFP) – Poland's pro-EU government on Wednesday launched a reform of state media and sacked their management, as right-wing lawmakers staged a sit-in to protest the changes and public broadcasts were interrupted.


Issued on: 20/12/2023 - 

Police officers entered the headquarters of Polish public television 

© Wojtek Radwanski / AFP

The shakeup comes a week after Prime Minister Donald Tusk took power and after eight years of rule by the right-wing Law and Justice (PiS) party.

PiS politicians denounced the media reshuffle as "illegal", while their ally, the country's president, called on the government to "respect Poland's legal order".

State-owned media under the PiS were regularly accused of biased reporting, transmitting government propaganda and launching verbal attacks on the opposition.

The culture ministry said in a statement the chairmen and boards of the state-owned television, radio, and news agency had been removed in a bid to restore the "impartiality" of public media.

Shortly after the announcement, state news channel TVP's regular broadcast was suspended, with only the television logo visible on TV screens.

The TVP Info news channel's website also went offline.

Opposition protests

On Tuesday, the new ruling bloc had adopted a resolution calling for the restoration of the "impartiality and reliability of the public media".

But PiS lawmakers largely boycotted the parliamentary vote, staging a sit-in in the state television buildings that continued through the night into Wednesday.

And on Wednesday, President Andrzej Duda weighed in.

"In connection with the culture ministry's actions today regarding public media, I call on Prime Minister Donald Tusk and the cabinet to respect Poland's legal order," he wrote on X.

Attached, was a letter to Tusk in which he said that "a parliament resolution does not have the force of law".

'What we are seeing is the first step towards a dictatorship,' Morawiecki told reporters 

© Wojtek Radwanski / AFP

Tusk immediately tweeted back, saying: "as I already informed you, today's actions are -- in accordance with your intention -- aimed at restoring legal order and common decency in public life.

"You can count on our iron determination on this matter," he added.

Following the changes in state media management, PiS chairman Jaroslaw Kaczynski was seen entering the state television building.

Kaczynski is the party's most prominent politician and for eight years was widely regarded as Poland's de facto leader.

"There is no democracy without media pluralism or strong anti-government media, and in Poland these are the public media," he told reporters on Tuesday evening.

'Partisan discourse'

Kaczynski said PiS politicians could continue the protest on rotating shifts.

Former prime minister Mateusz Morawiecki, also present in the building, said "a forcible intrusion" of the new management was taking place in state-owned television.

"What we are seeing is the first step towards a dictatorship," Morawiecki told reporters.

On Wednesday, an AFP reporter also saw police enter the television building.

A former culture minister in the PiS government said the state media reshuffle was "illegal".

"This is clearly an attack on free media, it is a violation of the law," Piotr Glinski told AFP.

The PiS government was frequently criticised by the opposition and non-profits alike for trying to stifle independent media and limit freedom of expression.

Global media watchdog Reporters Without Borders (RSF) in 2020 said "partisan discourse and hate speech are still the rule within (Poland's) state-owned media, which have been transformed into government propaganda mouthpieces."

In the 2023 report, RSF also said the PiS government "has multiplied its attempts to change the editorial line of private media and control information on sensitive subjects."

© 2023 AFP

French health minister resigns over contentious immigration law


Issued on: 20/12/2023 - 

04:25

© FRANCE 24
Video by: Clovis CASALI

France's Health Minister Aurelien Rousseau resigned as the government of President Emmanuel Macron on Wednesday sought to quell a party revolt over the passing of tough new immigration legislation backed by the far right. Following 18 months of wrangling over one of the flagship reforms of Macron's second term, the French parliament passed the controversial legislation endorsed by Marine Le Pen's National Rally (RN) Tuesday. Expected to address the reform in a television interview on Wednesday evening, Macron "will need to explain why he thinks this law was so important to pass," FRANCE 24's Clovis Casali said.

Fiercely contested immigration law is a 'shield that we needed', Macron says

French President Emmanuel Macron defended the adoption of a controversial new law toughening immigration in a televised interview on Wednesday, facing down critics who say he conceded too much to the far right in getting the law passed.


Issued on: 20/12/2023
F

rench President Emmanuel Macron shown during an interview with the "C a vous" TV show filmed at the presidential palace on December 20, 2023. 

© Ludovic Marin, AFP

By: FRANCE 24

France has always welcomed and will continue to welcome foreigners, in particular asylum seekers and students, President Emmanuel Macron said in an interview with the "C à vous" television programme, his first public remarks since the contested immigration reform was voted into law shortly before midnight on Tuesday.

The law was the necessary result of a compromise, Macron said, noting that he doesn't agree with all aspects of the legislation. "Political life consists of crises, of agreements and of disagreements," he said.

The controversial new rules – including migration quotas, making it harder for immigrants' children to become French citizens and delaying migrants' access to welfare benefits – were added to the bill to win the support of right-wing lawmakers for its passage.

The bill also makes it easier to expel illegal migrants while back-peddling on plans to ease residency permits for workers in labour-deprived sectors.

These measures and others caused unease among Macron's more left-leaning lawmakers, and dozens either abstained or gave it the thumbs-down in Tuesday's vote.

Macron faced cracks within his ruling alliance after parliament passed the bill, including the resignation of his health minister, Aurélien Rousseau.

Although Marine Le Pen's far-right National Rally party endorsed the bill in a move some media dubbed the "kiss of death", Macron insisted that he had not "betrayed" the voters who rallied behind him to keep Le Pen from power when he faced her during his 2022 re-election bid.

"It is a shield that we needed," Macron said of the law in his interview on Wednesday. The new legislation is “very clearly” aimed at discouraging illegal immigration.

This law "will allow us to fight against what nourishes the National Rally party", Macron said, notably fears over migration.

France has an "immigration problem", Macron acknowledged, while stressing that the country is not "overwhelmed by immigration".

(FRANCE 24 with Reuters and AFP)

UK teens found guilty of killing trans girl

Manchester (United Kingdom) (AFP) – Two British teenagers were found guilty Wednesday of the "disturbing" murder of a 16-year-old transgender girl who died in a "frenzied and ferocious" knife attack.

Issued on: 20/12/2023 - 

Murdered teenager Brianna Ghey's mother Esther said she was pleased her daughters' killers would spend a long time behind bars 

© Oli SCARFF / AFP

Brianna Ghey, who was born male but lived as a female, was stabbed 28 times in her head, neck, back and chest in Warrington, northwest England, in February.

Her body was discovered by dog walkers in a park.

During the trial, the court heard how the pair -- a boy and a girl now aged 16, who cannot be named because of their ages -- discussed killing Ghey in the days and weeks before she died.

The case drew international attention and shock in Britain, given the young age of the pair arrested.

A jury of seven men and five women convicted the two after a four-week trial at Manchester Crown Court.

"I will have to impose a life sentence," judge Amanda Yip warned the two defendants. A sentencing date has not yet been confirmed.

"What I have to decide is the minimum amount of time you will be required to serve before you might be considered for release," the judge added.

An application from the media to be allowed to publish the names of the defendants will be heard on Thursday morning.
Violence

The court heard how one of the accused, girl X, had downloaded an internet browser app that allowed her to enjoy watching videos of the torture and murder of real people, in "red rooms" on the "dark web".

The girl developed an interest in serial killers, making notes on their methods, and admitted enjoying "dark fantasies" about killing and torture, the court was told.

Brianna's murder led to vigils calling for better protection and support for trans teenagers 

© Niklas HALLE'N / AFP

The pair later drew up a "kill list" of four other youths they intended to harm, until Ghey had the "misfortune" to be befriended by girl X, who became "obsessed" with her, according to prosecutors.

Ghey had thousands of followers on the social media platform TikTok, but in reality was a withdrawn, shy and anxious teenager who struggled with depression and rarely left her home, the jury was told.

Deputy chief crown prosecutor Ursula Doyle said after the verdict that the case had been "one of the most distressing" cases she has ever dealt with.

"The planning, the violence and the age of the killers is beyond belief," she said.

Outside the court Ghey's mother, Esther Ghey remembered her daughter being "larger than life, funny, witty and fearless".

She said before the trial there were "moments" where she felt sorry for the defendants "because they had ruined their own lives as well as ours".

"Now we know the true nature and seeing neither display an ounce of remorse for what they have done to Brianna, I have lost all sympathy that I may have previously had for them," she said.

"I am glad they will spend many years in prison and away from society," she said.

© 2023 AFP

Ultra-right group disbanded after violent clashes in south of France

France's interior minister Gérald Darminin has announced the dissolution of the ultra-right Division Martel group following their involvement in violence and inciting racial hatred in the Drôme department last month.


Issued on: 07/12/2023 
Ultra right demonstration organised in May 2023 in tribute to the young militant, Sebastien Deyzieu who died on 9 May 1993 at an anti-American imperialism march. 

© AFP
By:RFIFollow
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Founded a year ago by former members of a previously disbanded ultra-right group, the Division Martel was officially shut down this Wednesday.

The move was announced at the French government's Council of Ministers meeting, following the group's violent clashes with police that took place at the end of November in the south of France.

On 28 November, the Minister of the Interior proposed disbanding Division Martel, the day after incidents that resembled "a punitive expedition" following the death of a teenager in the village of Crépol.

Earlier Wednesday, Gérald Darmanin confirmed on X: "This tiny group incites violence and racial hatred. It has no place in our Republic".

More extremist groups targeted

At the time of his announcement at the end of November, he also mentioned two other ultra-right-wing groups set to be dissolved, without naming them.

According to the minister's entourage, the names of the groups will be revealed shortly and their dissolution will take place speedily.

The Division Martel, was formed in 2022 and consisted of around thirty members that advocate violence "against antifascists and people of immigrant origin or presumed to be Muslim".

It also promoted "the use of violence to foster the advent of nationalist and xenophobic supremacy"

.Six remanded in custody over killing of French teenager

'Settling scores'

Darmanin proposed dissolving the group following a violent protest by the militant group in the town of Romans-sur-Isère on the night of 25 to 26 November.

They had gone to an area of the town – where several of people implicated in the stabbing to death of a 16 year-old – came from.

According to the authorities, their aim was to "settle scores".

They were blocked by the police, with whom they clashed for a prolonged period leading to the arrest and immediate sentencing of six members of the group, who are now serving between six and ten months in prison.

Darmanin also stated that "France has avoided a scenario of petty civil war because it has acted firmly," adding that teenager's death was a "despicable tragedy" but does not allow for anyone "to stand in the name of the State to dispense justice."

The Division Martelwas also involved in the planning violent attacks in the streets of Paris against supporters of North African origin during the France-Morocco football World Cup semi-final on 14 December 2022.

GAIA LIVES
Icelandic volcano eruption eases as evacuated village remains off-limits

Reykjavik (AFP) – A volcanic eruption that rocked Iceland this week diminished in intensity for a second day Wednesday, though media reports said a nearby evacuated fishing village would remain off limits for at least another week.


Issued on: 20/12/2023 -

Entry to Grindavik will remain blocked until at least December 28 while a new risk assessment is carried out 

© Viken KANTARCI / AFP


The eruption on the Reykjanes peninsula has produced spectacular lava flows, though they were now constrained to two craters, the Icelandic Meteorological Office (IMO) said in a statement Wednesday morning, down from three earlier.

"The power of the eruption has decreased with time as well as the seismicity and deformation," IMO said in its latest update.

The eruption, which opened a fissure in the ground about four kilometres long, only three kilometres (1.8 miles) from the evacuated fishing port of Grindavik,began Monday evening after a "swarm" of small tremors.

Entry to Grindavik will remain blocked until at least December 28 while a new risk assessment is carried out. The popular Blue Lagoon tourist site also remains closed.

Lava flows on the Reykjanes peninsula were now constrained to two craters, the Icelandic Meteorological Office said 

© Oskar Grimur Kristjansson / AFP

"The people of Grindavik are not going to be able to be home for Christmas," Vidir Reynisson, head of Iceland's Civil Protection and Emergency Management, told AFP.

In the capital Reykjavik, life was little affected, partly because it is some 40 kilometres (25 miles) north-east of the eruption, but also because volcanos are part of life in Iceland.

"Everybody’s excited but also very calm about it. You can't do anything about it. We're used to it. You know Iceland, it's powerful nature," said Anna Dora, a 60-year-old shopkeeper in Reykjavik.
The norm

Amid weeks of warnings from scientists, the authorities built reinforcements around the Svartsengi geothermal plant, which is just two kilometres from the eruption and supplies electricity and water to 30,000 people on the peninsula.

"I actually work at the power plant Svartsengi so I'm pretty close to it but I think it's OK. It started big but it's getting really small now, so I'm not worried about it," 37-year-old Arnar Flokason told AFP as he dropped off his child at school in Reykjavik.

Helga Gudjonsdottir, a 33-year-old office worker, also wasn't too bothered about the flow of lava, saying it was "just something that is going to be happening for the next years."

Some Icelanders have ignored government advice not to travel to the Reykjanes peninsula to see the volcanic activity 

© Maria Steinunn Johannesdottir / AFP

"It's just something that we will have to live with," she added.

"It's going to be a tourist attraction again. We are hoping to boost the economy," Lukasz Wrobel, a store manager who moved to Iceland from Poland six years ago, said.

The Icelandic government has told people not to travel to the Reykjanes peninsula to see the volcanic activity, but many have not heeded the advice.

Iceland: decreased activity around fault 

© Valentin RAKOVSKY, Laurence SAUBADU / AFP

Volcanic eruptions are not uncommon in Iceland, which is home to 33 active volcano systems, the highest number in Europe.

But the Reykjanes peninsula had not experienced an eruption for eight centuries until 2021.

Since then, eruptions have struck in 2021, 2022 and earlier this year -- all in remote, uninhabited areas. Volcanologists say this could be the start of a new era of activity in the region.

"We have had several cases of volcanic eruptions always because this is just part of who we are. The country we live in," Jakobdottir told reporters at a press conference.

© 2023 AFP

France to sanction some extremist Israeli settlers for 'unacceptable violence'

France is to sanction certain extremist Israeli settlers, Foreign Minister Catherine Colonna said on Tuesday, denouncing "unacceptable" violence against Palestinians in the occupied West Bank.


Issued on: 19/12/2023 - 

French Foreign and European Affairs Minister Catherine Colonna (R) and British Foreign Minister David Cameron give a press conference in Paris on December 19, 2023. 

AFP- MIGUEL MEDINA

By: RFI

The diplomat also urged "restraint" in meetings with senior officials in Beirut, seeking to de-escalate tensions along the Lebanon-Israel border.

France "has decided to take measures... against certain extremist Israeli settlers," Colonna said at a joint press conference with her British counterpart David Cameron, as she returned from a tour in Israel, the Palestinian territories and Lebanon.

"I was able to see for myself the violence committed by certain of these extremist settlers. It's unacceptable."

Paris had already indicated at the beginning of December that it was considering taking sanctions such as banning French territory and freezing the assets of certain settlers, and had requested that such measures be taken on a European scale.

US sanctions

The United States, for its part, took sanctions at the beginning of December against dozens of settlers who are now prohibited from entering American territory.

Settler violence has increased in intensity since the attacks perpetrated on 7 October by the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas in Israel where 1,200 people were killed and some 250 taken hostage.

The attack triggered Israel's retaliatory campaign which the health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza says has so far killed more than 19,400 people, mostly women and children.

More than 290 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli forces or settlers in the West Bank since the start of the war, according to Palestinian health officials.

Relatives and friends carry the body of Palestinian teenager Yazan Akoub during his funeral in Nablus city in the occupied West Bank, on December 3, 2023, a day after he was shot by Israeli security forces at a checkpoint near the city. 

AFP - JAAFAR ASHTIYEH

Near-daily exchanges of fire

As part of her regional tour, Colonna on Monday urged restraint in meetings with senior officials in Beirut, seeking to de-escalate tensions along the Lebanon-Israel border.

Since the Israel-Hamas conflict started, the frontier between Lebanon and Israel has seen cross-border fire, mainly between the Israeli army and Iran-backed militant group Hezbollah, which says it is acting in support of Hamas.

Colonna met with Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati and parliament speaker Nabih Berri, a key ally of Hezbollah, calling for responsibility and restraint a day after making similar appeals in meetings with Israeli officials.France says 'light must be shed' on 13 October strike on journalists in Lebanon

France's top diplomat also discussed the situation on the ground with the commander of the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL), Major General Aroldo Lazaro.

"We are trying to continue with our liaison and coordination role... in order to avoid miscalculations, misinterpretations that could be another trigger for escalation," Lazaro told reporters.

Mourners stand near the coffins of the two journalists working for Lebanon-based Al Mayadeen TV channel said to be killed by an Israeli strike on Tuesday in southern Lebanon, as they gather outside the channel's building to offer prayers ahead of their funeral, in Beirut, Lebanon November 22, 2023. 

REUTERS - AZIZ TAHER

France, which contributes some 700 troops to the UN force in south Lebanon, has condemned recent attacks on peacekeepers and their facilities.

Since the cross-border exchanges began in October, more than 130 people have been killed on the Lebanese side, most of them Hezbollah fighters but also including a Lebanese soldier and 17 civilians, three of them journalists, according to a tally by French news agency AFP.

On the Israeli side, four civilians and seven soldiers have been killed, authorities have said.

700 tonnes of aid

As concern grows over the humanitarian situation in Hamas-ruled Gaza, Colonna announced a new shipment of 700 tonnes of aid to the Palestinian territory, half of which is set to depart from the French port of Le Havre on Wednesday.

"The other half will depart next week," she told a news conference, reiterating calls for "a ceasefire... as soon as possible".

Colonna said the objective of Israel's "military operations" was "that Hamas will not be able to repeat such acts".Israel under pressure from allies, as Gaza descends into 'Hell on Earth'

But "we have reservations and differences in viewpoints" with Israel, she said.

"We ask them to act in a different way, in a more surgical manner".

Meanwhile, the UN Security Council is struggling to speak with one voice ahead of a vote expected Tuesday on a new resolution calling for a ceasefire in Gaza.

On 8 December, despite unprecedented pressure from UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, the United States blocked the adoption of a resolution calling for an "immediate humanitarian ceasefire" in the Gaza Strip.

According to diplomatic sources, a new modified text is now on the table, in an attempt to get closer to a compromise.

Despite the international push for a ceasefire, US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin vowed Monday to keep arming its ally Israel, which Washington has already provided with billions of dollars in military aid.

(with newswires)

Russia, Arab League demand UN ceasefire for Gaza

Marrakesh (Morocco) (AFP) – Russia and the Arab League called jointly on Wednesday for a UN ceasefire resolution for the Israel-Hamas war during the Russian-Arab Cooperation Forum in Marrakesh, Morocco.

Issued on: 20/12/2023 - 

Russia has joined Arab countries at a forum in Morocco in calling for a ceasefire in the fighting between Israel and Hamas militants that has killed thousands in the besieged Gaza Strip 

© FADEL SENNA / AFP

The forum, which usually focuses on diplomatic and economic ties, was dominated by the conflict in the Gaza Strip.

"We hope that the Security Council will raise its voice for a mature resolution (calling for a ceasefire)," said Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov during the meeting. "We have agreed to continue coordination within the United Nations."

The UN Security Council was set to vote later on Wednesday on a resolution calling for a pause in the conflict between Israel and Hamas in the Gaza Strip, diplomatic sources told AFP.

Israel's war in Gaza has killed more than 19,600 people, mostly women and children, according to the health ministry in the Hamas-run Palestinian territory.

On October 7, Hamas militants carried out an unprecedented attack against Israel from Gaza, killing about 1,140 people in Israel, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official Israeli figures.

Chaired by Moroccan Foreign Minister Nasser Bourita, the meeting was attended by Lavrov and diplomats from the 22-member Arab League.

"We hope that the Security Council can adopt this resolution and that there will not be a veto from a permanent member, notably the United States," said Hossam Zaki, assistant secretary general of the league.

"The Arab hope is that the United States understands that international patience is exhausted in the face of Israel's practices."

Speaking via videoconference, Arab League Chief Ahmed Aboul Gheit called for an "immediate ceasefire," adding that "anyone who opposes an immediate ceasefire in Gaza has the blood of innocents on their hands".

"The occupation is the heart of the problem and the origin of the cause," Aboul Gheit said, advocating for a two-state solution and calling for the "creation as quickly as possible of a Palestinian state within the 1967 borders".

Lavrov also said it was "urgent to create a Palestinian state" and even "accelerate the process," because "some sources say that our Western partners are trying to develop hidden projects to separate the West Bank from Gaza".

On December 8, the US vetoed a ceasefire resolution.

Wednesday's vote on a new resolution comes after two votes were delayed on Monday with members wrangling over wording, sources told AFP.

The text's latest version calls for a "suspension" of the conflict, said the sources.

© 2023 AFP

In wartime Israel, peace campaigners fear mounting crackdown

Tel Aviv (AFP) – Clutching an olive branch, 24-year-old Roni keeps a wary eye out for the police as she leads a small ceasefire march through the heavily guarded streets of Tel Aviv.


Issued on: 20/12/2023 - 

Peace activists now try to get past police curbs by holding vigils or smaller rallies 

© AHMAD GHARABLI / AFP

She and her friends say they have been arrested, harassed and received death threats following similar demonstrations against Israel's onslaught of the Gaza Strip after Hamas's bloody October 7 attack.

"It's almost impossible to call for peace in Israel right now," the activist said, glancing over her shoulder. "You have to be very careful."

Civil rights groups say Israeli authorities have launched a sweeping crackdown on internal dissent since the war began, including the interrogation of hundreds of anti-war activists and charges of terror offences.

Hamas's cross-border attack killed about 1,140 people in Israel, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on the latest official Israeli figures, with around 250 hostages taken back to Gaza.

Israel's retaliatory assault has killed at least 19,667 people in Gaza, mostly women and children, according to the health ministry in the Hamas-run territory.

But as global peace demonstrations and international diplomacy build pressure on Israel to minimise civilian casualties, it has become harder than ever for Israelis to challenge their government.

"What we're seeing now is unprecedented in its scope," said Noa Sattath, the head of ACRI, Israel's oldest civil rights group. "The silencing of dissent is overwhelming."
'Zero tolerance'

Following the onset of the conflict, Israel's police chief Kobi Shabtai declared a "zero tolerance" policy for protests in support of Gaza, even threatening to send anti-war demonstrators to the besieged territory.

Shabtai said Israel cannot allow "all sorts of people to come and test us", in a clip posted online.

Israel's police force told AFP that while it "firmly upholds the fundamental right to freedom of speech, it is also imperative to address those who exploit this right to incite violence, promote obscenity, engage in hate speech, issue threats, or create public safety concerns, especially during times of war against a cruel terrorist organisation."

But rights groups say police are using their powers to target peaceful activists, especially among Israel's Arab minority, which makes up around a fifth of the population.

Israel has now killed more than 19,667 Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, most of them women and children, officials in the Hamas-run territory say 

© Bashar TALEB / AFP

The Adalah legal centre, dedicated to safeguarding the rights of Palestinian citizens of Israel, said it had followed the cases of almost 300 arrested since the start of the war.

In most instances police tried to extend their detention, it said.

Adalah said police had repeatedly denied permits for anti-war rallies, detained protest leaders ahead of marches, and cracked down on demonstrators with "brutal force".

Authorities have charged scores of Palestinian citizens of Israel with "supporting terrorist organisations" or "incitement to terrorism", it said.

"The state interprets any support for Gaza as support for terror," the group's head Hassan Jabareen told AFP. "It's like living under a military regime."

- Neighbourhood watch –

But it's not just the authorities that anti-war campaigners have to watch out for. They've faced intense backlash from fellow citizens too.

Opinion polls suggest the Israeli public became more hawkish than at any point in the last two decades after the Hamas attack.

Israel's peace activists are in a minority, and feel dangerously exposed.

Opinion polls suggest the Israeli public became more hawkish than at any point in the last two decades after the October 7 Hamas attack 

© FADEL SENNA / AFP

"People tell us holding these protests is shameful right now," said Roni, who asked to withhold her last name after being called a traitor and receiving death threats online.

Even old friends from her hometown have sent abusive messages. One seen by AFP said: "I hope you and your family get raped" and taken to Gaza.

Under pressure from police and the public, activists have had to tone down their demonstrations and find ways to skirt around restrictions.

Roni's group does not have a name, believing it is safer to stay anonymous. They hold vigils or smaller rallies, and usually avoid bringing Palestinian flags which can spark aggressive reactions.

Before the war, Roni said her group could stage bolder demonstrations against causes contrary to the right-wing government's stance.

But the mood has now changed drastically.

She said she was among 18 people arrested at a November 9 demonstration in Jaffa. Social media footage verified by AFP shows police manhandling protesters and confiscating their signs.

"To even be on the streets we've had to moderate what we say," Roni explained. "You can't be seen to be sympathising with Gaza now."

In a state where calling for peace can be taken as an act of rebellion, a simple message often works best, Roni said.

Still clutching her olive branch, she marches towards the defence ministry, chanting: "Stop the war."

© 2023 AFP