Early bird: Israel and Hamas accuse each other of violating ceasefire conditions. Another American will be released from Russia
Israel will withdraw from the ceasefire in Gaza if the militant group Hamas does not release more hostages, as it has previously committed to do. Another American, who is being held abroad, will be released today. This is Mark Fogel, who was found guilty by a Russian court in 2022 of drug trafficking and was sent to prison for 14 years.
Netanyahu threatens to resume fighting in Gaza
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has threatened to withdraw from the ceasefire in Gaza. He ordered soldiers to prepare for a renewal of fighting with Hamas, if the militant group does not release more hostages. On Tuesday, Hamas reiterated that it plans to delay the release of three more hostages after accusing Israel of failing to meet the ceasefire conditions. U.S. President Donald Trump, in this regard, stated that Israel should cancel the entire ceasefire if all approximately 70 hostages are not released by Saturday. During the first phase of the ceasefire, Hamas pledged to release 33 hostages captured in its attack on Israel on October 7, 2023. In return, Israel was to release almost 2,000 Palestinian prisoners, according to the AP agency.
Russia will release imprisoned American Fogel
Russia has released American Mark Fogel from prison, who was previously found guilty by a Russian court of drug smuggling and sentenced to 14 years in prison. The release was reportedly negotiated, among others, by the representative of the US President Steve Witkoff, who visited Moscow yesterday.
"President Trump, Steve Witkoff and the president's advisors negotiated an exchange, which represents a sign of good faith on the part of the Russians and a sign that we are moving in the right direction towards ending the brutal and horrible war in Ukraine,"
Mike Waltz, the White House adviser for national security, said.
Marc Fogel is an American teacher who was arrested at Moscow's Sheremetyevo airport in August 2021 with 17 grams of marijuana which, according to his own words, was for medical purposes, reported Ceskenoviny.cz.
Sudan is going through the worst humanitarian crisis in the world, according to the African Union
The civil war in Sudan has caused the "worst humanitarian crisis in the world", warned the African Union.
"The war has hindered access to humanitarian aid, led to food shortages and deepened hunger,"
said union chairman Mohamed Ibn Chambas.
The war between the Sudanese military government and the paramilitary rapid support forces broke out in April 2023 and according to estimates, displaced 12 million people from their homes. Hundreds of thousands of children are malnourished, noted Al Jazeera.
TikTok users wanted to occupy another Italian ski resort
The war between TikTok and Italian ski resorts escalated after this social network called on its followers to "attack" one of the mountain destinations. The reason was criticism for the fact that TikTok previously caused chaos in the Roccaraso ski resort, which was flooded with 10 thousand visitors based on online posts. They left mountains of waste in the place and obstructed regular skiers' access to the cable car. The crowd of users headed this time to Ovindoli, a small ski town in central Italy. Most of them, however, were stopped by the police on the way with the argument that they were not authorized to go further because they had not purchased ski passes, reported CNN.
Sources: AP, Al Jazeera, CNN, Ceskenoviny.cz
