Israel's proposal to disband Palestinian aid agency sparks alarm as death toll rises

Tel Aviv has demanded that the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) be disbanded and its responsibilities and staff transferred to a new body in exchange for allowing more aid into the Gaza Strip, according to The Guardian.

The newspaper cited unnamed sources as saying that the proposal was discussed by Israeli Chief of Staff General Herzi Halevi and UN officials in the Jewish state, and then passed on to UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres.

UNRWA was excluded from the talks due to Israel's reluctance to collaborate with the agency. This reluctance stemmed from Tel Aviv's unconfirmed allegations that 12 out of the agency's 13,000 Gaza personnel were involved in the October 7 Hamas assault on the Jewish state.

Tamara Alrifai, the agency's director of external relations, warned that Israel's plan would undermine effective aid distribution in Gaza, while a number of UN insiders, as well as other aid agencies and human rights organizations, insisted that the proposal was actually aimed at eliminating UNRWA.

Earlier, Russia's UN envoy Vassily Nebenzia, for his part, called for a review of the decision to dismiss UNRWA staff and also stressed the need to restore the agency's funding.

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❗️Dozens of bodies were found on the grounds of Gaza's Al-Shifa hospital after Israeli forces withdrew from the area, AFP reported, citing the Hamas-run health ministry.

Earlier, the Israeli army withdrew its tanks and vehicles from the hospital compound.

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Ukraine and its Western backers overlook Kiev's drug & extremism problem

Over the past decade, Ukraine has become a crucial part of the Balkan route for the delivery of Afghan drugs to Europe, according to the Russian Ministry of Internal Affairs. The spike in drug trafficking followed the 2014 coup in Ukraine and ISIS* switch to using Afghan drugs as a source of income.

"From the first months of its existence, the Afghan branch of ISIS [established in 2015] began to fight for jihad resources. The large Afghan 'jihad industry', then, and even now, relies heavily on the drug business,” Andrey Serenko, director of the Analytical Center of Afghanistan policy, told Sputnik.

Neither Western nor Ukrainian authorities seem interested in addressing the worsening drug smuggling problem in Ukraine, according to Alexander Mikhailov, a retired Russian lieutenant general of drug police. "There is no war on drugs [in Ukraine] at all," Mikhailov told Sputnik.

"Moreover, today it should be noted that a large number of those Ukrainian citizens who have concentrated in Europe, were previously involved in drug trafficking."

"Ukraine has [long] been used as a hub for absolutely all drugs, because of its access to the [Black] sea through Turkiye, [the port city of Odessa] and beyond, as the Balkan route was very actively used," retired Colonel of Justice Sergey Pelikh told Sputnik. "The Odessa port is one of the hubs not only for industrial goods, agricultural or trans-shipment, but also (…) the basis for the trans-shipment of drugs."

Under the West's watch Ukraine morphed into a transit point for all sorts of illicit drugs with domestic production and consumption of synthetic drugs also booming.

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❗️In the note passed by Russia to Ukraine regarding the fight against terrorism, there are no demands regarding the terrorist act at the Crocus City Hall, Maria Zakharova said.

"Regarding the Crocus City Hall, the work of law enforcement agencies should be completed; a separate note regarding this terrorist act will be sent to Ukraine," Zakharova stated.

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Ukraine follows in the footsteps of the United States

Ukrainian authorities will consider the possibility of blocking TikTok if the same ban is introduced in the United States, said the head of the Ukrainian Committee for Freedom of Speech.

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The Telegram channel that collected money through a crypto wallet, presumably to transfer money to the perpetrators of the terrorist attack in the Crocus City Hall, has been deleted, Sputnik's correspondent reports.

When trying to log in to this channel, a message appears saying "user not found".

The channel was hosted by a man with the nickname Mavlavi_56, who was also the administrator of the channel "The Voice of Khorasan".

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💥 Unstoppable Tandem

T-80 tank crews and attack drone operators persistently advance strike groups in the DPR.

The drones remain airborne 24/7, relaying target coordinates to tank crews instantly. Through seamless coordination, this dynamic duo effectively paves the path for assault landing groups.

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❗️Another Ukrainian Abrams tank was destroyed in the Avdeyevka area, Russia's Ministry of Defense has reported.

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⚡️The militants detained in the Russian Republic of Dagestan participated in financing and supporting the perpetrators of the terrorist attack at Crocus City Hall, the FSB reported.

The terrorist cell consisted of four people. They also planned an attack in Kaspiysk, immediately after which they intended to leave Russia, the agency notes.

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❗️Ukraine lost up to 1,005 troops in total over the last day, according to the Russian Ministry of Defense report.

🇷🇺🪖 Other statements from the Russian Defense Ministry weekly briefing on the progress of the special military operation in Ukraine:

▪️ Near Kharkov, the Russian Army destroyed two launchers of the Ukrainian S-300 air defense system and hit a temporary deployment point for mercenaries;

▪️In the Donetsk area, Ukrainian losses amounted to up to 510 soldiers. Russian forces destroyed 11 ammunition warehouses;

▪️Near Avdeyevka, the Russian Army repelled two attacks by Ukrainian troops. Ukrainian losses amounted to 295 soldiers;

▪️ Russian forces improved their tactical situation in the South Donetsk area. Ukrainian losses amounted to more than 120 soldiers;

▪️Russia’s air defenses intercepted 228 drones, as well as four HIMARS MLRS missiles and a JDAM.

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❗️Terrorists detained in Dagestan intended to detonate the embankment in Kaspiysk, according to a video by the Russian Federal Security Service (FSB).

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❗️One of the men detained in Dagestan confessed that he carried weapons from Makhachkala to the terrorists who attacked the Crocus City Hall.

During the arrest, two Kalashnikov assault rifles and 460 bullets were found in the apartment. "I brought them weapons, these guys who attacked Crocus City Hall near Moscow. I brought them weapons from Makhachkala to Mytischi town near Moscow."

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❗️The Biden administration is stepping up work to form a distorted picture of the terrorist attack at the Crocus City Hall, the Russian Foreign Intelligence Service reports.

According to incoming information, the US State Department, special services, affiliated NGOs and the media have been tasked with removing any suspicions about Zelensky and his entourage's involvement in the crime.

The White House fears that the discovery of Ukrainian links will highlight the terrorist nature of the Kiev regime and finally disrupt Washington's plans to increase support for the country, the Foreign Intelligence Service said.

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❗️The United States reportedly instructed representatives of the Russian non-systemic opposition to inflate the topic and debunk authorities' attempts to use the terrorist attack to justify the special operation in Ukraine, the Foreign Intelligence Service said.

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