IDF general says US accused Israel of ‘systematic’ sexual abuse in private meeting

Israeli Defense Force Brigade General Amir Avivi said on an Israeli radio show that in private, a US State Department official accused Israel of “systematically sexually abusing Palestinian women,” which may have revealed an internal stance of the US State Department that contradicts its public comments.

“It was a meeting that shook me. We sat there, talked about the situation, and suddenly [the US State Department official] accused Israel of systematically sexually abusing Palestinian women,” Avivi said.

“This is absolutely disconnected from reality. But without hesitation, she said ‘The UN presented evidence to the Israeli government.’”

State Department spokesman Matt said the US could only confirm the reports of sexual assault after “a full, independent, credible investigation.”

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❗️ Australian police arrest 19 people for staging an unauthorised protest against an Israeli-owned ship unloading at a major Sydney port.

Many demonstrators were waving Palestinian flags and calling for a ceasefire in Gaza.

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US Vice President Kamala Harris did not rule out consequences for Israel if the Jewish state decides to launch a military operation in the southern Gazan city of Rafah.

"Let me tell you something: I have studied the maps. There's nowhere for those folks to go. And we're looking at about 1.5 million people in Rafah who are there because they were told to go there most of them … I am ruling out nothing," Harris said in an interview with ABC News.

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The Ukrainian military has changed tactics in the Kherson area, focusing on shelling civilian infrastructure, including cluster munitions, Kherson Region Governor Vladimir Saldo told Sputnik

What is known so far about the terrorist attack at Moscow's Crocus City Hall:

▪️ A Moscow court has arrested four suspects in the March 22 terrorist attack at the Crocus City Hall. Two of them have fully admitted their guilt. They face life imprisonment.

▪️ According to the latest data from the Russian Investigative Committee, 137 people were murdered, including three children.

▪️ Moscow Region's Ministry of Heal has updated the list of injured - it contains 182 more names.

▪️ The "Cranes Are Flying" campaign was held in Moscow and in other Russian cities: candlelight projections appeared on buildings and media screens in memory of those killed in Crocus City Hall.

▪️ An Armenian citizen was among those killed at Crocus City Hall, the Armenian Foreign Ministry said.

▪️ France has raised its terror alert to the highest level.

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The US is trying to maintain its hegemony and does not accept multipolarity, Jeffrey Sachs, a well-known American economist, professor at Columbia University, told Sputnik at the China Development Forum.

"The US still thinks that it runs the world. Of course this is extremely naive and extremely dangerous and it's leading to tensions everywhere," Sachs said.

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One of the accused individuals in the terrorist attack at Moscow Crocus City Hall posted photos from Istanbul on Instagram* in February, Sputnik found out.

Shamsidin Fariduni, who stands accused in the terrorist attack, shared eight posts on February 23, as per his social media account. Almost all the photos indicate the geolocation as "Aksaray, Istanbul."

Among the images published is a photo of Fariduni, along with other photos presumably captured at the Fatih Mosque.

The Basmanny Court of Moscow has remanded Fariduni in custody until May 22. During proceedings, Fariduni disclosed that he was born in 1998 in Tajikistan and is a parent to an 8-month-old child. He further stated that he was employed at a parquet flooring factory in Podolsk, Russia, and holds residency registration in Krasnogorsk, Russia.

*recognized as extremist and banned in the Russian Federation

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▪️The latest updates on the aftermath of the deadly Moscow concert hall attack

▪️The suspects in the Crocus City Hall terrorist attack brought to court

▪️France raises a terror alert to the highest level following Moscow concert attack

▪️Jeffrey Sachs explains to Sputnik why it is ‘naive and dangerous’ for the US to think it still runs the world

More stories:

▪️Israel reportedly agrees to US terms for the exchange of Palestinian prisoners

▪️Veteran pilot sheds light on the important role of Russian Aerospace Forces’ navigators

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'No one can control Gaza without Hamas' approval' - expert

Israeli security officials' secret plan to put anti-Hamas Palestinians in charge of aid to Gaza is "not practical and realistic," Ayman Yousef, a professor of political science and international relations at the Arab-American University in Palestine, told Sputnik.

"In real terms, no one can control Gaza or distribute any humanitarian assistance without the approval of Hamas or other resistance group. I think the discussion must go around a kind of maybe unified Palestinian, let's say, umbrella or unified Palestinian groups, those who control the land and those who can distribute," Yousef stressed.

Hamas is highly unlikely to "agree to this idea to find out some local leaders, not affiliated with this Palestinian militant group and some other political factions to manage or to administer over the distribution of a humanitarian aid," the professor added.

The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) previously reported that Israeli intelligence, along with representatives from Egypt, the UAE and Jordan, are "quietly" working on a plan that would put Palestinians who don't support Hamas in charge of distributing aid in the Gaza Strip. When the conflict ends, this group could become the basis for a new post-war administration in the territory, according to the WSJ.

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American entrepreneur Elon Musk announced on the eve of the US presidential election that he would no longer support the Democratic Party.

"I voted 100% Dem until a few years ago. Now, I think we need a red wave or America is toast," Musk wrote on X.

Red is the color of the Republican Party, while blue corresponds to the Democrats. "Blue waves" and "red waves" are used to describe which party is leading the election.

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"[The Crocus City Hall terrorist attack] was a monstrous, brutal, unthinkable operation 'under a false flag'. This is done by someone with someone else's hands," Margarita Simonyan, the editor-in-chief of Sputnik's parent media group Rossiya Segodnya, commented on the terrorist attack on Moscow Crocus City Hall

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📹 Russian paratrooper snipers from Kostroma disrupt the rotation of Ukrainian troops with accurate shots in the vicinity of Artyomovsk (Bakhmut).

Upon thorough evaluation and comparison of all factors influencing the shooting, the spotter provides the target designation, following which the sniper engages the enemy with precision fire.

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"Given the scale of this event, a number of international participants here, I can say that Russia is no way isolated."

Sputnik's correspondent reports on the opening of the ATOMEXPO-2024 international forum in Russia's Sirius Federal Territory

Stay tuned for more!

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Ukrainian media report explosions in Kiev amid an air raid alert.

Explosions in the capital of Ukraine are confirmed by Mayor Vitaly Klitschko who calls on residents to take shelter.

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