🌏 Israel And Hamas' Seven-Day Truce Collapses, Miss Nicaragua Became A Symbol Of Resistance And More

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The temporary pause in fighting between Israel and Hamas collapsed on Friday Dec. 1, with Israel resuming its airstrikes in Gaza and killing nearly 200 Palestinians within two days.

The weeklong temporary pause expired in the early hours of Friday, with Israel and Hamas accusing each other of violating the terms of the temporary truce.

Qatar, which mediated the pause with Egypt, seemed to single out Israel, saying “the continued bombing of the Gaza Strip in the first hours after the end of the pause complicates mediation efforts and exacerbates the humanitarian catastrophe.”

It said that it was working to renew the truce.

Israeli warplanes pounded Khan Younis and Rafah, in the south of the Gaza Strip, which Israel had previously said was a safe area, where tens of thousands of Palestinian civilians are sheltering.

Videos and photos on social media showed massive plumes of smoke rising across the Gaza Strip and devastating scenes of injured civilians and children bidding farewell to their dead parents.

On Friday, Hamas said it had targeted Tel Aviv, but there were no reports of casualties or damages there, according to Reuters.

On Saturday, the militant group fired hundreds of rockets into Israel, but most of them were intercepted by Israel’s Iron Dome defense system.

Israel again dropped leaflets in Khan Younis, ordering civilians there to evacuate further towards the south to Rafah, near the border with Egypt.

“They told us, ‘Gaza City is a war zone,’ Now it’s Khan Younis. Yesterday they were saying, ‘Evacuate the east of Khan Younis.’ Today they say ‘Evacuate the west,'” Nader Abu Warda, a Palestinian man who fled Jabalia in Gaza City at the start of the war, told Al Jazeera.

“Where are we going now – into the sea? Where are we going to put our children to bed?” he said.

A Hamas official told Al Jazeera on Saturday Dec. 2 that it is no longer open to negotiations on prisoner exchanges and will not resume talks until Israel stops its attacks and frees all of the Palestinians it has jailed in Israeli prisons.

At least 15, 207 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza by Israel’s airstrikes and ground offensive since Oct. 7.

In Israel, the official death toll stands at about 1,200, the number from Hamas’ surprise attack on Oct. 7.

More On The Israel–Hamas War

• During the truce, Israeli forces opened fire on Palestinians trying to return home in Gaza.
• Palestinian families reunited after Israel released 240 women and children it jailed and families in Israel also reunited after Hamas released 69 hostages as part of the deal.
• The Palestinians released included Ahed Tamimi, the young woman activist who slapped an Israeli soldier in 2017, who was arrested in recent Israeli raids on the West Bank.
• A Palestinian boy in Gaza shared a touching video capturing his reaction to the temporary truce.
• The four-day temporary pause had been extended twice, once by two days and again by another day, although Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel will “fight until the end”.
• Meanwhile, a former Israeli prime minister admitted that Israel built the tunnels under Al-Shifa during an interview on CNN and the anchor was shocked.
• Pope Francis has condemned the violence in Gaza, saying it has gone beyond war and is “terrorism”.
• Hundreds of people in Taiwan held a protest in support of Palestine and to call for a permanent ceasefire.

Also Happening Around The World

🇦🇷 Argentina has elected this far-right leader known as “the madman” as its new president.

🇳🇱 In a huge upset, the far-right “Dutch Donald Trump” has won the Netherlands’ election.

🇸🇴 Somalia has been hit by its worst flood in 100 years, right after its worst drought in 40 years.

Miss Nicaragua won Miss Universe for the first time and it unexpectedly became a symbol of resistance.

On Saturday, November 18, 23-year-old Sheynnis Palacios became the first Nicaraguan to win the Miss Universe title.

She won the beauty pageant in a dress inspired by the Nicaraguan flag, which depicts blue and white stripes and the country’s coat of arms at the center.

Her victory was celebrated throughout the country and led people to take to the streets waving the Nicaragua flag.

But actually, raising the Nicaraguan flag is seen as a symbol of resistance in the country and has not been done en masse in a long time.

That’s because the country has been ruled by president Daniel Ortega for the past 17 years, turning the country into a dictatorship.

Under his rule, the government has cracked down on independent news outlets and suppressed political opposition, according to human rights groups.

Activists are calling Palacios’ win “a beacon of unity and hope”, as she comes from a low-income background like many in the country.

Following her win, the Nicaragua government allegedly tried to prevent Palacios’ from boarding a plane back to Nicaragua.

The order was later lifted, according to a Nicaraguan journalist, and the government issued an official statement congratulating Palacios on November 19.

Palacios has not voiced a political opinion about the Nicaraguan government.

She dedicated her win to “all the girls around the world, her inner child, her family, and her country’s more than 6 million people.”

In a historic moment, Nepal has registered its first ever same-sex marriage.

On Wednesday Nov. 29, Maya Gurung and Surendra Pandey became the first same-sex couple to officially register their marriage in the country.

Gurung is a transgender woman and Pandey is a man.

They have been together for almost 10 years, and held a wedding ceremony in 2017.

In June, Nepal became the world’s first least developed country to legalize same-sex marriage and the second in Asia, after Taiwan.

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