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Washington: US President Joe Biden held a telephonic conversation with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday, with both leaders affirming the need to ensure the continued flow of humanitarian aid and relief materials into Gaza.

The White House shared a statement saying that President Biden called up Netanyahu to discuss developments in Gaza and in the surrounding region.

“The leaders affirmed that there will now be a continued flow of this critical assistance into Gaza,” the White House statement said.

Meanwhile, President Biden welcomed the first two convoys of humanitarian assistance since Hamas’s Oct 7 terrorist attack.

According to the statement, the aid has crossed the border into Gaza and is being distributed to Palestinians in need.

Moreover, Biden expressed appreciation for Israel’s support in helping to accommodate the release of two American hostages.

The Israel Defence Forces (IDF) confirmed on Saturday the release of two US citizens, who were being held hostage by Hamas.

The two Americans released were identified as Judith Tai Raanan and her 17-year-old daughter, Natali Raanan, both from Chicago, according to CNN.

Their family members said they had been visiting relatives in Nahal Oz, a farming community in southern Israel, and were released on “humanitarian grounds” due to the mother’s poor health.

Moreover, the two leaders discussed ongoing efforts to further secure the release of all the remaining hostages, including US citizens, taken by Hamas.

They also discussed the way to provide safe passage for US citizens and other civilians in Gaza who wish to depart, according to the statement.

“The President and the Prime Minister agreed to stay in close touch,” the White House statement added.

As Israel continued to pound Hamas in Gaza, at least 14 trucks laden with items for humanitarian relief entered the Strip through the Rafah crossing on Monday, CNN reported.

These aid trucks were sponsored by the Egyptian Red Crescent and the United Nations.

An official with the Palestinian Red Crescent Society in Gaza confirmed to CNN that these trucks have been admitted and are currently being offloaded to proceed to the Gaza storage facilities of UNRWA, the United Nations agency for Palestinian refugees.

Earlier on Saturday, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken emphasized on Friday that facilitating the movement of aid into Gaza was among his top priorities over the past week. He noted that they worked diligently with the governments of Israel and Egypt. 

ANI

Buenos Aires: Economy Minister Sergio Massa produced a big surprise by finishing first in the opening round of Argentina’s presidential election, reflecting voters’ wariness about handing the presidency to his chief rival, a right-wing populist who upended national politics and pledged to drastically diminish the state.

Massa’s victory over Javier Milei, a chainsaw-wielding economist and freshman lawmaker, came despite the fact that on his watch inflation has surged into triple digits, eating away at purchasing power of salaries and boosting poverty. Still, he wasn’t punished in Sunday's voting.

With nearly all balots counted early Monday, Massa had 36.7% of the vote and Milei had 30%, meaning the two will go to a Nov. 19 runoff. Most pre-election polls, which have been notoriously unreliable, had given Milei a slight lead over Massa. Former Security Minister Patricia Bullrich, of the main center-right opposition coalition, got 23.8% to finish third in the field of eight candidates.

Massa has been a leading figure in the center-left administration in power since 2019. He successfully focused messaging on the way Milei’s proposals to slash the size of the state — from halving the number of government ministries to deep spending cuts — would affect everyday life for Argentines, said Mariel Fornoni of the political consulting firm Management & Fit.

That “had a significant impact and evidently instilled more fear than anything else,” Fornoni said.

Andrei Roman, CEO of Brazil-based pollster Atlas Intel, whose latest survey had been one of few putting Massa ahead, said one key to the result was lower abstention than in the primary elections held in August. Around 78% of the electorate voted Sunday, some eight points higher than in the primaries that Milei won.

Milei, a self-described anarcho-capitalist who admires former U.S. President Donald Trump, built a groundswell of support while calling for elimination of the Central Bank, replacement of the local currency with the U.S. dollar, and a purge of the corrupt establishment that he called the “political caste.”

His radical proposals and fiery, profanity-laden rhetoric caused some Argentines to vote for Massa, even if less than enthusiastically. Cristian Ariel Jacobsen, a 38-year-old photographer, said he voted for Massa to prevent Milei’s “project that puts democracy at risk.”

A sense of apprehension was evident on the streets of Argentina in the days before the election. People with any disposable income snapped up goods in anticipation of a possible currency devaluation, recalling that the government devalued the peso by nearly 20% the day after the August primaries. Argentines also bought dollars and removed hard currency deposits from banks as the peso accelerated its already steady depreciation.

Massa’s campaign this year follows another eight years ago, when he finished a disappointing third place and was knocked out of the running. This time, he will have his shot in the runoff. That contest will determine whether Argentina will continue with a center-left administration or veer sharply to the right.

Massa, 51, finished first in Sunday’s vote despite inflation surging to 140% on his watch and the currency tanking. He told voters that he inherited an already-bad situation exacerbated by a devastating drought that decimated the country’s exports, and reassured them that the worst was past.

He focused much of his firepower in the campaign’s final days on warning voters against backing Milei, painting him as a dangerous upstart. He argued that Milei’s plans could have devastating effects on social welfare programs, education and health care. The health, education and social development ministries are among those Milei wants to extinguish.

Right-wing support was split between Milei and two other candidates, whereas Massa had already consolidated nearly all support from the left, Atlas Intel’s Roman said.

Massa sent a signal Sunday night that he would seek to appeal to members of other parties for the runoff.

“I’m going to call for a government of national unity — a government of national unity built on the foundation of summoning the best individuals, regardless of their political affiliation,” he said.

He also could find common interest with other longserving public servants, many of whom have bristled at Milei's candidacy and the threats it posed.

Milei, who turned 53 on election day, has characterized Massa and others as part of the entrenched and corrupt establishment that brought South America’s second-largest economy to its knees.

“Today is historic because two-thirds of Argentines voted for change," Milei said in a speech Sunday night at his campaign headquarters. "They voted for an alternative to this government of criminals who want to mortgage our future to stay in power.”

He also has cast himself as a crusader against what he calls the sinister forces of socialism at home and abroad. He opposes sex education, feminist policies and abortion, which is legal in Argentina. He rejects the notion that humans have had a role in causing climate change.

That may have turned off some voters, said Benjamin Gedan director of the Latin America Program at the Washington-based Wilson Center.

Running as an anti-establishment candidate, Milei was the undisputed star of the campaign. So many people surrounded his vehicle as he approached his polling station that he needed a phalanx of bodyguards. Groups of supporters threw flower petals on his car.

“There was this sense of inevitability around Javier Milei in the media, but he scared too many voters and ended up with the exact same level of support he had two months ago,” said Brian Winter, a longtime Argentina expert and vice president of the New York-based Council of the Americas. “And now I think we have a really uncertain race. It’s going to be really tight.”

In his speech Sunday night, Milei appeared to try to appeal to those who may have trembled at his bombastic speeches, and regain his edge.

“We didn’t come here to take away rights; we came to take away privileges,” he said.

Whatever the results, Milei has already inserted himself and his libertarian party into a political structure dominated by a center-left and a center-right coalition for almost two decades. He was celebratory at his campaign headquarters, saying the preliminary results indicated his party gained 40 seats in the lower house of Congress and eight in the Senate.

Still, supporters outside expressed disappointment.

“I won’t lie; I feel a certain bitterness,” said Gaston Yapur, a 35-year-old coffee importer. “But, well, it’s a runoff; we mustn’t give up. He who fights isn’t defeated, and we must keep fighting the battle.”

AP

Dubai: A court in Iran sentenced two female journalists to up to seven years in prison for “collaborating” with the United States government among other charges, local reports said. Both have been imprisoned for over a year following their coverage of the death of Mahsa Amini while in police custody in Sept. 2022.

This is a preliminary sentencing that can be appealed in 20 days.

The two journalists, Niloufar Hamedi, who broke the news of Amini’s death for wearing her headscarf too loosely, and Elaheh Mohammadi, who wrote about her funeral, were sentenced to seven and six years in jail respectively, reported the judiciary news website, Mizan on Sunday.

Tehran Revolutionary Court charged them with “collaborating with the hostile American government,” “colluding against national security” and “propaganda against the system,” according to Mezan.

Hamedi worked for the reformist newspaper Shargh while Mohammadi for Ham-Mihan. They were detained in September 2022.

In May, the United Nations awarded them both its premier prize for press freedom “for their commitment to truth and accountability.”

Amini’s death touched off months-long protests in dozens of cities across Iran. The demonstrations posed one of the most serious challenges to the Islamic Republic since the 2009 Green Movement protests drew millions to the streets.

While nearly 100 journalists were arrested amid the demonstrations, Hamedi and Elaheh Mohammadi’s reporting was crucial in the days after Amini’s death to spread the word about the anger that followed.

Their detentions have sparked international criticism over the bloody security force crackdown that lasted months after Amini’s death.

Since the protests began, at least 529 people have been killed in demonstrations, according to Human Rights activists in Iran. Over 19,700 others have been detained by authorities amid a violent crackdown trying to suppress the dissent. Iran for months has not offered any overall casualty figures, while acknowledging tens of thousands had been detained.

AP

Tel Aviv: A summit of international leaders in Cairo to discuss the Gaza war ended on Saturday night without any consensus towards averting an Israeli ground invasion. No joint statement was issued as Arab and Western leaders failed to even agree on language condemning Hamas's attack on Israeli communities.

An Egyptian commentator explained that a number of countries including the United States, Great Britain and Germany refused to accept a clause calling for a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip.

Instead, the Egyptian government issued its own statement criticizing the international community for preferring to “manage the conflict and not end it permanently.”

A “temporary solutions and palliatives... do not live up to even the lowest aspirations” of the Palestinians, the statement added.

In response, Lior Haiat, a spokesperson for Israel’s Foreign Ministry said on X—formerly called Twitter—that the Hamas attack of Oct 7 was “a wakeup call to the world to fight terrorism together.”

Wrote Haiat, “The Islamist terror threat does not only endanger Israel, it endangers the states of the region and the whole world. It is unfortunate that even when faced with those horrific atrocities, there were some who had difficulty condemning terrorism or acknowledging the danger. Israel will do what it has to do and expects the international community to recognize the righteous battle.”

Earlier in the day, the first trucks delivering humanitarian aid arrived in Gaza through the Rafah border crossing with Egypt.

Israeli officials denied a New York Times report that quoted a UN official saying that trucks entering the Strip had not been checked beforehand.

“All of the equipment was checked before going into Gaza,” said Israel’s Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT). COGAT, a unit of Israel’s Defence Ministry, said that only water, food and medical equipment had been allowed in.

Rafah is the only border crossing out of Gaza controlled by Egypt, not Israel. The crossing is not equipped to handle large numbers of commercial deliveries. Commercial deliveries to the Strip from Egypt are routed through Israel's Kerem Shalom crossing, which is adjacent to the Egypt-Gaza border.

The Kerem Shalom crossing is closed for security reasons.

Israel has been striking Hamas targets in the Gaza Strip since an Oct 7 assault by Hamas that caught Israelis off-guard. Fighting raged for days as the Israel Defence Forces initially struggled to clear out the terrorists. More than 1,400 Israelis were killed, and over 4,800 more were injured. Over 200 hostages were taken to Gaza. 

ANI/TPS