Maduro flown to New York City en route to jail to face US federal charges
The Times of Israel is liveblogging Sunday’s events as they unfold.
All 40 people who perished in a New Year’s fire at a Swiss ski resort bar are identified, with half of them under the age of 18.
A heavy pall of grief hung over Crans-Montana, the site of the fire, as more than a thousand mourners walked in silence through the resort to remember those killed and injured in the tragic blaze at the Le Constellation bar.
After days of agonizing uncertainty for loved ones, local police today finish identifying the fire’s 40 fatalities. Their ages ranged from 39 to two who were aged just 14.
Police said the victims included 21 Swiss nationals, nine French nationals, including one Franco-Swiss person, and one triple national of France, Israel and Britain, Charlotte Niddam.
Also among those who died are six Italians, including one Italian-Emirati, one Belgian woman, one Portuguese woman, one Romanian man and one Turkish man.
The bar’s owners are under criminal investigation.
Sources who spoke to a UK-based Arabic newspaper claim Israel flew drones and deployed explosives in support of an armed militia that engaged in a gunfight with Hamas operatives in Gaza City’s Tuffah neighborhood this morning.
The self-styled “Popular Defense Forces” militia is based on the Israeli-controlled side of the Gaza ceasefire line, called the Yellow Line, and late last month seized part of Tuffah that is adjacent to the line on the territory’s Hamas-controlled side, forcing residents to flee, according to Asharq al-Awsat.
This morning, members of the militia marched toward the Sanafour Junction but were ambushed by Hamas and other operatives in a residential area, Asharq al-Awsat reports, citing area sources close to Hamas.
The junction lies on the major Salah al-Din Road, on the Hamas-controlled side of Tuffah.
The gunfight lasted 20 minutes before the militia retreated behind the Yellow Line, the sources tell Asharq al-Awsat. No casualties were reported. The outlet says this was the first case of open warfare between Hamas and rival gangs in the area.
Sources cited by Asharq al-Awsat claim that Israeli drones flew overhead during the clash, and that after the clash, Israel launched drone strikes and deployed “vehicles packed with tons of explosives that were detonated in batches to blow up what remained of the houses in the area.”
The IDF does not immediately respond to a request for comment, including on whether the anti-Hamas militia coordinated with the military before crossing the Yellow Line.
Anti-Hamas militias in Gaza have stepped up their activity since the Israel-Hamas ceasefire took effect on October 9. During that time, Hamas has put to death people it accused of collaborating with Israel.
The Ynet news site reported in July that the Popular Defense Forces was one of the Fatah-linked, anti-Hamas militias that were being supported by Israel and the Palestinian Authority in Gaza. The militia’s leader, Rami Helles, is reportedly a Fatah operative from a family at odds with Hamas.
He is an ally of the most prominent Gaza militia, reportedly backed by Israel, Abu Shabab. Helles issued a eulogy for that militia’s leader and namesake, Yasser Abu Shabab, when he was killed early last month, reportedly as a result of an internal dispute.
The Popular Defense Forces militia has killed at least two Palestinians over the past 10 days or so, Asharq al-Awsat says. It’s unclear from the report in what circumstances they were killed.
Elliot Abrams, the veteran Republican foreign policy official who served as US President Donald Trump’s Venezuela envoy during his first term, delivers a blunt critique of Trump’s plans for the South American nation following the US capture of Nicolas Maduro, saying that the US won’t be able to run the country or take possession of its vast oil reserves.
Abrams was an © The Times of Israel





















Toi Staff
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Gideon Levy
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