Il Congresso USA sblocca gli aiuti per Ucraina, Israele e Taiwan🗞️ Rassegna del 22/04/2024

Israele

Israele - Iran

(New York Times) Israel Strikes an Iranian Military Base, but Damage Appears Limited

• The Israeli military struck Iran early on Friday in retaliation for an aerial attack on Israel last weekend, according to two Israeli and three Iranian officials, but the strike appeared to be limited in scope and the reaction from both Israel and Iran was muted.
• Iranian officials said that the strike had hit a military air base near the city of Isfahan, in central Iran, and that it had been carried out by small drones. They said the drones might have been launched from inside Iran, whose radar systems had not detected unidentified aircraft entering Iranian airspace.
• The Israeli military declined to comment. A senior U.S. official said that Israel had notified the United States through multiple channels shortly before the attack. All the officials spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the matter publicly.
• Addressing reporters at a meeting of foreign ministers from the Group of 7 nations in Italy, Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken said the United States had “not been involved in any offensive operations” in Iran. But he declined to comment further and would not even confirm the Israeli strike, referring instead to “reported events.”
• Early Saturday, there was an air attack on a base used by an Iranian-backed armed group, Harakat al Nujaba, in Iraq’s Babylon Province, according to an arm of Iraq’s security forces, the Popular Mobilization Forces. A hospital said at least three people were wounded in the explosion there.
• There was no claim of responsibility for the strike on Saturday at the base used by Harakat al Nujaba, which is part of Iraq’s security apparatus. The U.S. military, which has carried out strikes on Iranian-backed armed groups in Iraq in the past, said in a statement that it had not participated in any strikes in Iraq.

Gaza:

(New York Times) Deadly Israeli Airstrikes Again Hit Rafah

• Israeli airstrikes on the southern Gaza city of Rafah on Saturday killed several civilians, including women and children, according to Palestinian state media, sending more fear through an area where over one million displaced Palestinians are crowded into tents and temporary quarters.
• The airstrikes hit two family homes, killing 10 residents, and missiles and artillery also struck other areas of Rafah and the surrounding area, according to the Wafa news agency.
• President Biden and other world leaders have urged Israel not to invade Rafah because it would make an already dire humanitarian crisis even worse.
• But Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has not heeded those calls and claims a ground offensive is necessary to “complete the elimination of Hamas’s battalions” and to destroy its tunnel networks.

Cicgiordania

(New York Times) Palestinians Go on Strike in West Bank to Protest Deadly Israeli Military Raid

• Palestinians in the West Bank on Sunday went on a general strike to protest an Israeli military raid at a refugee camp a day earlier in which at least 10 people were killed, in an episode that illustrated the continuing unrest in the territory.
• The military called the raid a counterterrorism operation and said the 10 killed were militants, a claim that could not be immediately verified.
• However, the Palestinian Ministry said that the Israeli operation in Nur Shams was responsible for the deaths of at least 14 people, including a 15-year-old boy. The Fatah party, which dominates the Palestinian Authority, labeled the operation a “heinous” crime and called on residents of the occupied territory to protest the raid.

Palestina

(New York Times) The Palestinian Authority’s president threatens to reconsider relations with the United States.

• The Palestinian Authority’s president, Mahmoud Abbas, said the Ramallah-based government would reconsider its relationship with the United States after Washington vetoed a resolution before the United Nations Security Council that would have urged the General Assembly to recognize Palestinian statehood, a longstanding goal of Palestinian leaders.
• The resolution had recommended to the U.N. General Assembly that “the State of Palestine be admitted to membership of the United Nations,” according to diplomats. It is currently considered a “nonmember observer state.”
• The Palestinian envoy to the United Nations, Riyad Mansour, said that the resolution was part of an effort to assert its right to self-determination. The United States, the only nation among the Council’s 15 members that wielded its veto power, said the recognition of a Palestinian state must come as part of a negotiated settlement with Israel to end the 75-year-old conflict. Britain and Switzerland abstained from the vote.

Israele

(New York Times) Netanyahu says sanctions against a unit of Israel’s military would be a ‘moral low.’

• Israeli leaders have lashed out over reports that the U.S. State Department plans to impose sanctions on at least one unit of the Israeli military for alleged human rights violations in the occupied West Bank, with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu calling it an “absurd” idea that he would work to avert.
• Mr. Netanyahu, a conservative, added that his government would “act by all means” against any such move, which Axios said will focus on the Netzah Yehuda battalion.
• The battalion, which has been accused of violent incidents against Palestinians, was established for ultra-Orthodox Jewish males whose strict religious observance demands full gender separation. It also has attracted other Orthodox soldiers, including hard-line nationalists from the West Bank settler movement.
• “The Netzah Yehuda battalion is an inseparable part of the Israel Defense Forces. It is subject to military law and is responsible for operating in full compliance with international law,” he added in a post Saturday night on X.
• On Saturday, Axios reported that the Netzah Yehuda battalion would face sanctions under the so-called 1997 Leahy Law that bans foreign military units accused of committing human rights violations from receiving U.S. aid or training. The State Department did not immediately respond to requests for comment from The New York Times.

Turchia - Hamas

(Reuters)Erdogan meets Hamas leader in Turkey, discusses efforts for regional peace 

• Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan discussed efforts to deliver humanitarian aid to Gaza and reach a fair and lasting peace in the region during a meeting with Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in Istanbul on Saturday, his office said.
• It was the first meeting between Erdogan and a Hamas delegation headed by Haniyeh since Israel began its military offensive in the Gaza Strip.
• NATO member Turkey has denounced Israel's offensive in Gaza following Hamas' Oct. 7 attack on Israel and called for an immediate ceasefire.
• Erdogan has called Hamas a "liberation movement" while slamming the West for what he calls its unconditional support of Israel. Ankara has also imposed trade restrictions on Israel.
• In Saturday's meeting, Erdogan told Haniyeh Turkey continues its diplomatic efforts for a permanent ceasefire as well as the establishment of an independent state of Palestine, according to the statement.

Russia

(Reuters) ECB set to order UniCredit to reduce Russia business

• The European Central Bank is poised to order Italy's UniCredit (CRDI.MI) to cut back its business with Russia, two people with knowledge of the discussions said, as the regulator exerts pressure to choke off European financial ties with Moscow.
• The demands on the second-biggest European bank in Russia would be similar to what the ECB wants from Austria's Raiffeisen Bank International (RBI) (RBIV.VI) the largest Western bank active in the country, the people told Reuters, requesting anonymity because the matter is confidential.
• The ECB and UniCredit declined to comment.

(Reuters) Russian navy chief to participate in Chinese naval conference

• Russia's newly-appointed navy chief will take part in a major military conference in ally China, Russian state news agency TASS reported on Saturday, amid growing Western criticism of ties between the two countries.
• Admiral Alexander Moiseev will take part in the Western Pacific Naval Symposium (WPNS) in China's city of Qingdao, TASS reported citing the Russian defence ministry, and will also hold bilateral meetings, including with China's navy top brass.
• The visit comes after U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Friday criticised Chinese support for Russia's defence industry, saying Beijing was prime contributor to Moscow's military efforts in Ukraine through its provision of critical components for weaponry.
• Moiseev was presented at an official ceremony last month as an acting chief of the Russian navy, replacing Nikolai Yevmenov, and was later appointed on a permanent basis, against the background of several setbacks in the conflict with Ukraine.
• The event in China, Russia's main political ally globally, will take place on April 22-23. Moiseev's visit will last until April 25.

Politica internazionale

Nord America

USA:

(New York Times) House Approves $95 Billion Aid Bill for Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan

• The legislation includes $60 billion for Kyiv; $26 billion for Israel and humanitarian aid for civilians in conflict zones, including Gaza; and $8 billion for the Indo-Pacific region.
• It also contained a measure to help pave the way to selling off frozen Russian sovereign assets to help fund the Ukrainian war effort, and a new round of sanctions on Iran.
• The vote was 311 to 112 in favor of the aid to Ukraine, with a majority of Republicans — 112 — voting against it and one, Representative Dan Meuser of Pennsylvania, voting “present.” The House approved assistance to Israel 366 to 58; and to Taiwan 385 to 34, with Representative Rashida Tlaib, Democrat of Michigan, voting “present.” The bill to impose sanctions on Iran and require the sale of TikTok by its Chinese owner or ban the app in the United States passed 360 to 58.

Medio Oriente

Iraq:

(Reuters) Five rockets fired from Iraq towards U.S. military base in Syria

• At least five rockets were launched from Iraq's town of Zummar towards a U.S. military base in northeastern Syria on Sunday, two Iraqi security sources told Reuters.
• Two security sources and a senior army officer said a rocket launcher fixed on the back of a small truck had been parked in Zummar border town with Syria.
• The military official said the truck caught fire with an explosion from unfired rockets at the same time as warplanes were in the sky.
• "We can't confirm that the truck was bombed by U.S. warplanes unless we investigate it," said a military official on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the incident.
• The attacks came one day after a huge blast at a military base in Iraq early on Saturday killed a member of an Iraqi security force that includes Iran-backed groups. The force commander said it was an attack while the army said it was investigating and there were no warplanes in the sky at the time.

Africa

Nigeria:

(APN News) The US military will begin plans to withdraw troops from Niger

• The United States will begin plans to withdraw troops from Niger, U.S. officials said Saturday, in what experts say is a blow to Washington and its allies in the region in terms of staging security operations in the Sahel. The planned departure comes as U.S. officials said they were trying to find a new military agreement. 
• Relations have frayed between Niger and Western countries since mutinous soldiers ousted the country’s democratically elected president in July. Niger’s junta has since told French forces to leave and turned instead to Russia for security. Earlier this month, Russian military trainers arrived to reinforce the country’s air defenses and with Russian equipment to train Nigeriens to use.
• A separate senior U.S. State Department official, who also spoke on condition of anonymity to speak about sensitive diplomatic talks, told the AP on Saturday that Niger’s junta made a decision that they don’t want any foreign forces in the country, including the U.S. and that the security partnership was ending for the time being. The junta told the U.S. that Russia’s presence was to train Nigeriens on how to operate the equipment. The official said that the U.S. had valid concerns about some of the choices the junta was making, specifically about the potential for Russian and American troops to be colocated.