Headline News

Trump administration cutting counterterror forces in Cameroon, Nigeria and Niger

17, November 2018

Trump administration cutting counterterror forces in Cameroon, Nigeria and Niger 0

The Pentagon says it is reducing its counterterrorism forces in Africa and is studying whether to make similar moves elsewhere in the world.

The stated reason for a planned 10 percent cut in the counterterrorism forces of U.S. Africa Command is to shift the military’s attention toward security threats from Russia and China. That is in line with a revamped defense strategy announced in January by Defense Secretary Jim Mattis.

The Africa reductions will amount to roughly 700 troops and their associated military support.

 The Pentagon said the reductions will not touch U.S. forces in Somalia, Djibouti or Libya. The cuts will be mainly in West Africa, where U.S. forces operate in relatively small numbers in Cameroon, Nigeria, Niger and others. Last October four U.S. soldiers were killed in Niger.
Source: AP



French Cameroun Politics: Ambazonian leaders denied bail

17, November 2018

French Cameroun Politics: Ambazonian leaders denied bail 0

A court in Cameroon Thursday rejected an application for bail for some detained Anglophone separatist leaders who were seized in Nigeria and extradited to Yaoundé in January.

The Yaoundé Appeal Court confirmed an earlier verdict by the High Court rejecting a plea by defence lawyers that secessionist leader Julius Ayuk Tabe and his fellow defendants be granted bail.

Mr Fru John Nsoh, who led the defence team, said he was not surprised by the outcome of the brief hearing and promised they would petition the Supreme Court within 48 hours.

“The Appeal Court has confirmed the verdict that was issued by the High Court, meaning they have rejected our application. I was not surprised though, and we are going to file at the Supreme Court,” Mr Nsoh said.

Their loved ones

Some family members and friends of the detainees came to the hearing with hope that their loved ones would be set free.

“It has not been easy for the family. We are in tears everyday…,” a sister of one of the detainees stated, before bursting into tears.

Mr Tabe, the president of a self-declared breakaway state of Ambazonia, and 46 other members of the secessionist movement, were held incommunicado in Yaoundé for 10 months before being granted access to lawyers recently, Mr Nsoh said.

Prior to their extradition, Mr Tabe and the co-accused had been “held in secret” at a hotel in Abuja, according to Amnesty International.

Public appearance

The human rights advocacy group said the activists were at risk of “unfair trial before a military court and the deeply disturbing possibility of torture” in Cameroon.

Thursday’s hearing was their second public appearance since they were extradited.

The suspects symbolically proclaimed the independence of the hypothetical of Ambazonia on October 1 last year.

Their subsequent deportation marked an escalation in the crisis that has rocked the two English speaking regions for nearly two years now.

Source: The East African



UK: May’s gov’t will not budge as House of Lords debate Ambazonia crisis

16, November 2018

UK: May’s gov’t will not budge as House of Lords debate Ambazonia crisis 0

As violence in the former British colony, Cameroon, escalates, the UK government has again rejected calls to give diplomatic support to the English-speaking community.

After a House of Lords debate, initiated by Lord Boateng, representatives of Britain’s Cameroonian community expressed disappointment that the UK will not rally international pressure against the Francophone Cameroonian regime.

Despite a recent Amnesty report describing the Cameroon regime’s campaign of “arbitrary arrests, torture, unlawful killings and destruction of property” in the Anglophone region of the West African nation, the UK will go no further than urging all sides to seek dialogue. British Cameroonians told ICN they had been hoping Britain would give practical support to the Catholic bishops’ conference later this month.

Since the violence began two years ago, almost half a million Anglophone Cameroonians have fled their homes, following attacks by government soldiers. The UNHCR reports that 26,000 have sought refuge in neighbouring Nigeria. According to Amnesty, 450 to 500 civilians and 185 members of the security services have been killed in the conflict. Meanwhile, UNICEF believes that 58 schools have been destroyed.

The Catholic bishops’ conference has described the regime’s actions as, “inhuman, blind, monstrous violence.”

Last month, Cameroon held an election that was judged neither free nor fair by international standards. President Paul Biya, age 85, has been in power since 1982. Of the October election, Archbishop Samuel Kleda, the president of the bishops’ conference, said: “One has the impression election results are decided before voting takes place.”

Meanwhile, Biya’s main opponent has been arrested, and joins 47 other political leaders who are being held without charge.

On Wednesday evening, Lord Boateng, a former high commissioner to South Africa, told the House of Lords that the blame for the current conflict lay with Cameroon’s 1961 independence referendum. The British and French colonial powers gave the country’s English-speaking minority a choice between joining Nigeria or being absorbed by the French-speaking majority in Cameroon, rather than creating a separate Anglophone country. Since then, Boateng said, any constitutional protections for Anglophones, who make up 20% of the West African nation’s population, have been eroded.

Lord Alton told the House it was unsurprising that English speakers had objected two years ago when Francophone judges were imposed on Anglophone courts, dispensing laws they did not understand, and Francophone teachers took the place of English speakers in the Anglophone region’s schools. While condemning the violence of militant extremists, Alton said that government soldiers had responded to peaceful protests with disproportionate force.

“The International Crisis Group reports that a government helicopter hovered outside a church, shooting anglophone worshippers as they emerged from Mass,” he said.

Lord Alton urged the UK to reject the path of moral equivalence whereby it considers that both sides in the Cameroon conflict are as bad as each other. “We should not underestimate the influence that we have, but it speaks volumes that we left it to the American ambassador to express his disapproval of the Cameroonian Government’s brutal response to peaceful protests.”

Lord Judd urged the UK not to simply issue the usual calls for a cessation of violence and a negotiated settlement. He asked British ministers to give practical help to make inclusive and meaningful peace talks possible, which required diplomatic pressure to be put on the Cameroonian authorities. During the debate, several speakers noted that the UK should be working with France, its former colonial partner in Cameroon, to push the Francophone regime to seek a federal solution that would guarantee the rights of the Anglophone minority.

Lord Alton questioned how serious Britain was when it claimed to care about the democratic values and human rights desired by English speakers, led by the Catholic church. “There is nothing admirable about being even-handed in the face of the suffering of the anglophone community,” he said. “The United Kingdom should support the anglophone community’s peaceful civil society leaders in seeking genuine and inclusive talks. We need a targeted strategy for atrocity prevention and a commitment to bring to justice those responsible for human rights violations wherever they occur.”

Source: Independent Catholic News


Presbyterian Hostages Freed in S.Cameroons, But Ambazonia Conflict Carries On

16, November 2018

Presbyterian Hostages Freed in S.Cameroons, But Ambazonia Conflict Carries On 0

Kidnappers released this week the last of more than 80 hostages taken from a Presbyterian school in Cameroon amid an escalating crisis in the Central African country’s English-speaking regions.

Just over a week after being captured at gunpoint, the principal, dorm warden, and two remaining students were freed Monday, while the rest of the victims, students ages 11–17, were let go last week, Reuters reported.

The Presbyterian-run boarding school in the region’s capital, Bamenda, has been forced to shut down since the captors threatened further attacks.

The incident represents the latest of at least four school abductions over the past two months, and about a dozen over the past year, as unrest over disparities between Cameroon’s English-speaking North-West and South-West regions and the nation’s French-speaking majority turns increasingly violent. Another 11 boys had been taken from the same school the week before.

And the kidnappings, as heart-wrenching as they are, represent just a small portion of the violence that has left the Anglophone region on the brink of civil war.

An estimated 400 civilians have died in the dispute, including an American missionary caught in the crossfire last month, just weeks after moving to Cameroon. More than a quarter-million people have fled their homes and villages, and many who remain are desperate for security and resources.

Cameroon’s churches, whose cry for peace has intensified over the past few months, have suffered in the separatist conflict, with four church buildings taken over by military forces and at least 50 Christian-run primary schools, secondary schools, and hospitals affected, according to Gustav Ebai, information and communication secretary for the Council of Protestant Churches of Cameroon.

“We have failed God,” he said in an interview with CT. “There is no evil like the evil I have seen in my country.”

The instability in North-West and South-West dampened celebrations for the coastal nation’s 61st annual Presbyterian Church Day, held last Sunday.

“Given what the Anglophone community is passing through at this moment, we cannot really celebrate; feasting and enjoying ourselves while many of God’s children are being killed, living in pains, frustrated and others living as internal and external refugees,” stated Fonki Samuel Forba, moderator of the Presbyterian Church in Cameroon (PCC).

He advised congregations in the PCC—the largest local English-speaking denomination, with over a million members—to keep observances low-key and to use the occasion to raise awareness about those impacted by the recent violence.

More than 100 PCC pastors are believed to have fled the two regions as conditions worsen; in Bamenda, some residents fear that even traveling or attending typical gatherings could put them at risk of attacks. Ebai told CT that in many villages, the pastors were the last to leave.

PCC leaders have helped coordinate counseling for displaced families who have moved in with friends or fellow church members in safer regions. Millions are in need of humanitarian aid as a result of the conflict. Those who are left in the Anglophone region tend to be the poorest and neediest—the ones without means to flee elsewhere.

“… [M]uch emphasis should be laid on raising Mission Work Fund to enable the Church continue to attend to our displaced pastors and brethren affected by the armed conflict that has brought sorrow and suffering upon many,” Forba stated. “As we keep on praying and trusting that soon the Lord would turn our mourning to rejoicing and the flourishing of life in absolute peace and justice, remain inspired.”

The escalating violence in the Anglophone regions coincided with a tense election held last month, which re-elected 85-year-old President Paul Biya for his seventh term in office; he has ruled since 1982.

Though Cameroon’s two languages and corresponding cultural differences date back to British and French colonial rule, the conflict has emerged more recently as English speakers in North-West and South-West began to protest against discrimination from the French majority in the national government about two years ago.

The Anglophones—who represent 3 million people and approximately a fifth of the nation’s population—defended their place in local schools and courts in particular. Their protests eventually spurred an intense separatist movement when Biya responded by sending an elite military unit to the area.

Because the education system has become a major point of contention between the two sides, the armed separatists have burned or taken over more than 100 schools in western Cameroon in the past year.

Many Cameroonians suspect an unfair election and worry that there will not be a peaceful resolution for the English-speaking regions under Biya, since the affected areas are also a political stronghold for his opposition.

“Before, during, and after the presidential elections that just ended in Cameroon, Christians, and many believers of other faiths, prayed for this country. They prayed like they never did before,” wrote Buma Kor Dickson, a Christian publisher based in Yaoundé.

“The fact is that Cameroonians on both sides prayed for change, but the answer is still to come. God is not done with Cameroon, yet!”

At Presbyterian Church Bastos, in the capital city of Yaoundé, Emmanuel Basam urged Christians to continue praying for peace, calling to mind the Presbyterian schools and hospitals threatened by attacks to the west.

For over a year, Basam has addressed the Anglophone-Francophone conflict in his preaching, including sermons on loving your enemies, seeking unity, and praying for God to heal the land.

The national Protestant council adopted Deuteronomy 19:10 as a theme verse earlier this year: “Do this so that innocent blood will not be shed in your land, which the Lord your God is giving you as your inheritance, and so that you will not be guilty of bloodshed” (NIV). Now, they have focused their prayers on restoration, based on 2 Corinthians 13:11: “Strive for full restoration, encourage one another, be of one mind, live in peace. And the God of love and peace will be with you” (NIV).

Ebai has urged churches to use the global coverage and attention around the recent kidnappings as an opportunity to double-down on their message, condemning the current violence and calling for peaceful discussion.

“We need to communicate it at all levels, at every church, every sermon, every Sunday,” he said. “If you are praying without action, how do you expect God to use you?”

Seeing the conflict as a humanitarian crisis, Christian denominational leaders have taken the initiative to promote dialogue between the government and the secessionists, Christian leaders told CT. Many of their own have fled the region for safer cities, or even left the country for neighboring Nigeria, as the threat of violence grew more severe.

Ebai, whose family is from South-West, has taken in 15 relatives and visits family in the region at least once a month. Four of his cousins, including two in the military, have died in the fighting.

Presbyterian, Episcopalian, and Catholic clergy in the majority-Christian nation have partnered with Muslim leaders to offer to work as mediators, but officials feared political motives behind their efforts, Catholic newspaper La Croix reported.

Earlier this year, Amnesty International condemned the indiscriminate killings, attacks, and abductions suffered by ordinary people living in North-West and South-West.

American missionary Charles Wesco numbers among the civilian victims. The Baptist pastor and father of eight was killed on October 30, less than two weeks after his family moved from Indiana to outside Bamenda.

“We deplore the death of the missionary,” Edward Njini, pastor of Nkwen Baptist Church in Bamenda, told Religion News Service. “It is unfortunate they fired the guns and he was killed. I don’t think he was a target.”

Wesco and a fellow missionary were driving into town when their vehicle was shot; both the separatists and the government forces blame the other side for the killing.

Family members and fellow missionaries honored Wesco at a memorial service in South Bend, Indiana on Monday. They “have been praying diligently for the man that took Charles’ life,” said Randy King, a pastor who served for 30 years in Cameroon.

“But I pray as a missionary to Cameroon that I … might one day have the opportunity to meet Charles’ killer to express our forgiveness to him and in love, seek to lead him to repentance and faith in Jesus Christ as his Lord and Savior that he might also receive God’s forgiveness for what he did.”

Catholic media report that a Catholic seminarian, Gerard Anjiangwe, was also killed last month, and a priest in the South-West town of Bomaka was shot in July.

Meanwhile, Cameroon’s Far North region continues to suffer under the threat of Boko Haram terrorists. Christianity Today recently reported its November cover story from neighboring Nigeria on the relentless attacks the church there has faced from Boko Haram and militant Fulani herdsmen.

Culled from Christianity Today International(US)


Russia slams France’s ‘historical egotism’ in Africa, asserts diplomatic presence

16, November 2018

Russia slams France’s ‘historical egotism’ in Africa, asserts diplomatic presence 0

Russia has denounced France’s “egotist” behavior in Africa and has urged the country to recognize its peace efforts in the continent at the United Nations Security Council.

Speaking to the council on Thursday, Russian Deputy Ambassador Dmitry Polyanski urged France to “set aside historical complexes, egotism and parochial national interests.”

“We are pro-actively helping the CAR, knowingly with the support of the people and we would like our efforts to be duly reflected in the French draft,” said Polyanski.

The comments come after France presented a draft resolution countering a recent Russian peace initiative for the Central African Republic, arguing that any presented settlement has to be led by the African Union.

“There must be no ambiguity about the central role of the African Union initiative, as asserted in our draft resolution,” French Ambassador Francois Delattre told the council.

Furthermore, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov also denounced France’s Africa policy last week, accusing the country of illegal control over the former colony island of Mayotte, north of Madagascar.

Russian foreign minister

Russia has signaled its intent to increase influence in Africa, a move seen by France as meddling in its former colonies.

Since 2014, Moscow has signed 19 military agreements in African countries including Ethiopia, Nigeria and Zimbabwe, according to its foreign and defense ministries.

Moreover, Russian military trainers and security advisers have been sent to CAR following a bilateral deal with the government.

Last August, Russia was able to broker a preliminary peace agreement between opposing Central African militia who had convened for talks in the Sudanese capital of Khartoum.

The talks are part of ongoing negotiations seeking to address unrest in CAR after sectarian violence, specifically targeting the Muslim minority, plagued the country following the toppling of then-president Francois Bozize in 2013.

Despite an announced ceasefire between the opposing factions, the country has not yet fully emerged from its bloody past.

Source: Presstv


Southern Cameroons Crisis: IG maintains ban on AAC3

16, November 2018

Southern Cameroons Crisis: IG maintains ban on AAC3 0

The Southern Cameroons Interim Government (IG) says a ban on the so-called All Anglophone Conference (AACIII) slated for Buea the chief city in the Southern Zone of the Federal Republic of Ambazonia issued recently by Acting President Dr Ikome Sako remains valid.

In an audio message aired today by the Ambazonian Communications Secretary, Hon. Chris Anu, the IG clarified the decision to stage a 5 days ghost town operation involving the entire Southern Cameroons territory and further pointed out that Dr Simon Munzu has never been part of the Interim Government’s political calculations.

The Ambazonian Interim Government noted that the Biya Francophone regime and its acolytes were now behind the conference pushing the federalism agenda with Minister Paul Atanga Nji and Mayor Ekema Patrick both expected to deliver key note addresses during the conference mindful of their earlier opposition.

Chris Anu also said the 5 days civil disobedience campaign and a complete lockdown of the Southern Cameroons territory is to frustrate the French Cameroun government and its agents in Southern Cameroons. Cameroon Concord News gathered that the Interim Government surveillance activities conducted by the Secretary for Homeland Security have revealed that the AAC3 agenda has been adulterated and the outcome may have serious implications on the on-going Southern Cameroons revolutioN.

The general Southern Cameroons public is therefore advised not to patronize or participate in the said conference.

By Sama Ernest


French Cameroun army using helicopters and machine guns in Southern Cameroons

16, November 2018

French Cameroun army using helicopters and machine guns in Southern Cameroons 0

The Ambazonian Interim Government (IG) says French Cameroun military is using helicopters and machine guns in their strikes against Southern Cameroons civilians in rural areas, leaving huge casualties. “Troops loyal to the Biya Francophone regime in Yaoundé have resumed onslaughts against the Interim Government-controlled counties in Boyo, Manyu, Bui, Nkambe and Lebialem,” an IG representative in Bui who spoke to us on condition of anonymity said on Thursday.

According to local residents in the Bui County, Cameroon government forces are using helicopters and machine guns in their strikes. The Interim Government representative’s comments came after Cameroon government military spokesman, Colonel Badjeck announced that 30 Southern Cameroons Restoration Forces were killed in Nkambe.

Cameroon government troops have also reportedly targeted Fon palaces in Lebialem, Bafut including parts of the Western region and blamed the attacks on Ambazonian liberation forces. Local sources told Cameroon Intelligence Report that the French Cameroun army disguised as Fulani herdsmen and attack an Ambazonia camp in Nkambe. They also launched helicopter raid on Mbeme inside Kendem village in the Manyu County. There were no immediate reports about possible casualties.

On Monday, the Ambazonian Communications Secretary, Chris Anu condemned the recent military action by the Biya Francophone regime which left more than 40 innocent Southern Cameroons civilians killed and injured. Chris Anu further pointed out that the massacre of Ambazonians and the American missionary, Charles Wesco clearly points to the fact that the French Cameroun army has no respect for moral values, international rules and regulations as well as the lives of innocent Southern Cameroons civilians.

By Soter Tarh Agbaw-Ebai


Israel: Netanyahu coalition at a crossroads after Israeli defence minister quits

16, November 2018

Israel: Netanyahu coalition at a crossroads after Israeli defence minister quits 0

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu plotted his next moves Thursday after his defence minister resigned over a controversial Gaza ceasefire, throwing his coalition into crisis and raising the possibility of early elections.

After Avigdor Lieberman announced his resignation on Wednesday, Netanyahu was clinging to a one-seat majority in parliament and one of his main right-wing rivals was also threatening to pull out of the coalition.

Education Minister Naftali Bennett of the far-right Jewish Home party was demanding to be given the defence portfolio or he would withdraw his eight seats from Netanyahu’s governing coalition.

Another key coalition partner, Finance Minister Moshe Kahlon of centre-right Kulanu, reportedly told Netanyahu elections should be called as soon as possible because a stable government was needed to keep the economy on track.

Netanyahu was meanwhile seeking to contain the political fallout of his decision to accept a ceasefire deal on Tuesday that ended the worst escalation between Israel and Palestinian militants in Gaza since a 2014 war.

Lieberman said it was “capitulating to terror” when announcing his resignation and also criticised Netanyahu’s recent decision to allow Qatar to send millions of dollars in aid to the blockaded Palestinian enclave.

He formally submitted his resignation on Thursday.

Beyond that, there have been protests calling for tough action against Hamas by Israelis living near the Gaza border whose communities were targeted by barrages of rockets from Gaza this week.

A poll published on Thursday found some 74 percent of respondents were unhappy with Netanyahu’s handling of the escalation with Gaza and its Islamist rulers Hamas.

Giving further ammunition to Netanyahu’s political critics, Hamas has portrayed the ceasefire and Lieberman’s resignation as a victory.

“This government has failed to establish deterrence,” Justice Minister Ayelet Shaked, from Bennett’s Jewish Home, told army radio on Thursday.

‘Mr. Security’

Netanyahu’s political popularity is in large part due to his reputation as Israel’s “Mr. Security”, as he has often been dubbed, and he has defended his decision saying: “Our enemies begged for a ceasefire.

“In times of emergency, when making decisions crucial to security, the public can’t always be privy to the considerations that must be hidden from the enemy,” he said.

His Likud party has hit back at suggestions he will be forced to call early elections, saying Netanyahu will take over the defence portfolio at least temporarily in addition to the premiership, foreign affairs and health portfolios he already has.

A Likud spokesman said Netanyahu would continue consultations on Thursday aimed at stabilising his coalition. There has long been speculation that Netanyahu may call elections before they are due in November 2019, particularly with police having recommended charges against him in two corruption probes.

The attorney general is expected to announce in the coming months whether to pursue charges against him, and some analysts believe he would be better positioned to combat them with a fresh electoral mandate.

But Netanyahu would want to make the move at the most advantageous time and likely not with public attention focused on the Gaza ceasefire.

Qatari cash

The Gaza violence had erupted on Sunday with a botched Israeli special forces operation inside the territory that turned deadly and prompted Hamas to vow revenge.

Palestinian militants responded with rocket and mortar fire, as well as an anti-tank missile that hit a bus that Hamas says was being used by Israeli soldiers. A soldier was severely wounded in the attack.

Around 460 rockets and mortar rounds were fired from the Gaza Strip, wounding 27 people, three of them severely.

A Palestinian labourer from the occupied West Bank was killed when a rocket hit a building in the Israeli city of Ashkelon.

Israel hit back with widespread air strikes on some 160 targets in the Gaza Strip before the Egyptian-brokered truce took effect on Tuesday. Seven Gazans were killed.

The escalation came despite Netanyahu’s decision to allow Qatar to transfer millions of dollars in aid to Gaza for salaries as well as fuel to ease a chronic electricity shortage.

The cash transfers had led to calmer protests along the border after months of deadly unrest. But they also drew criticism from within Netanyahu’s own government, and Lieberman slammed them in announcing his resignation.

(AFP)


Widow of American missionary killed in S.Cameroons says she forgives her husband’s killer

16, November 2018

Widow of American missionary killed in S.Cameroons says she forgives her husband’s killer 0

The widow of a missionary killed in Cameroon last month says she forgives her husband’s killer.

Charles Wesco died October 30 after he was shot in the head during fighting between armed separatists and soldiers in the West African nation.

The Mishawaka man was sitting with his wife in a car being driven by another missionary when he was shot.

The wife says she “has no bitterness in her soul against anyone.”

Hundreds of people filled a South Bend church Monday honoring the slain missionary.

Source: wsbt.com


15, November 2018

Israeli Defence Minister Lieberman resigns 0

Israeli Defence Minister Avigdor Lieberman announced his resignation on Wednesday after a sharp disagreement over a Gaza ceasefire deal, throwing the government into turmoil.

“What happened yesterday — the truce combined with the process with Hamas — is capitulating to terror. It has no other meaning,” Lieberman told journalists.

“What we’re doing now as a state is buying short-term quiet, with the price being severe long-term damage to national security.”

The resignation came a day after Palestinian groups, including Hamas, announced an Egyptian-brokered ceasefire with Israel following the worst flare-up between Israel and the Palestinians in Gaza since the 2014 war.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s presented the decision to step back from a full-blown conflict as a unified one made by his Security Cabinet and based on the military’s recommendations. But his hardline ministers, Lieberman and Education Minister Naftali Bennett, opposed the cessation of hostilities.

Announcing his resignation on Wednesday, Lieberman told journalists the ceasefire was buying short-term quiet, with the price being severe long-term damage to national security.

He later added: “We should agree on a date for elections as early as possible.”

Lieberman also said his party was leaving Netanyahu’s coalition, leaving the Israeli premier with only a one-seat majority in parliament.

Elections are not due until November 2019, but Lieberman’s resignation increases the likelihood of an earlier vote.

Lieberman, a security hardliner, heads the right-wing Yisrael Beitenu party, which holds five seats in the 120-seat Knesset, or parliament.

Israel shoots, captures Palestinian after ceasefire

Despite Tuesday’s ceasefire announcement, the Israel military on Wednesday said it shot and captured a Palestinian who approached the Gaza perimeter fence and hurled grenades into Israel.

The IDF said it spotted the assailant with a knife and wire cutters and took him into custody after the grenades he hurled failed to explode.

The frontier was quiet overnight after the recent intensification in fighting which was sparked by an apparently botched Israeli intelligence raid into Gaza. Palestinian militants fired 460 rockets and mortars into Israel in a 24-hour period, while the Israeli military carried out airstrikes on 160 Gaza targets. Seven Palestinians, including five militants, were killed. In Israel, one person was killed in a rocket strike and three were critically wounded.

(FRANCE 24 with AFP and AP)


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