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Israel Commits To Further Gaza Raids Amidst United Nations Debate On Ceasefire

(CTN NEWS) – Israel’s military conducted a “targeted raid” overnight in northern Gaza and pledged to continue ground operations in the coming days.
Meanwhile, the United Nations General Assembly convened to discuss a proposed resolution for a humanitarian ceasefire.
Video footage released by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) showed tanks and armored vehicles, including a bulldozer, moving along a road near a fence in northern Gaza.
The tanks fired artillery, resulting in some visible destruction in the vicinity.
Speaking to CNN, IDF spokesperson Peter Lerner described the raid as “a clear and sweep operation intended to create better conditions for potential ground operations.”
He also noted that the IDF had “engaged the enemy, neutralizing terrorists who were planning anti-tank guided missile attacks against us.”
IDF spokesperson Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari later confirmed that Israel’s military would continue conducting raids in Gaza over the coming days.
These ground incursions are aimed at targeting Hamas militants, preparing for a potential full-scale invasion, and neutralizing explosive devices and reconnaissance posts.
The raid occurred against the backdrop of a worsening humanitarian crisis in Gaza, exacerbated by daily airstrikes and an Israeli blockade that restricts access to life-saving fuel.
Power shortages have crippled healthcare services, and hundreds of thousands of civilians have been displaced from their homes due to the ongoing bombing campaign.
According to data released by the Palestinian Ministry of Health in Ramallah, gathered from sources in the Hamas-controlled enclave, Israeli strikes have claimed the lives of over 6,850 people in Gaza, including numerous children, since October 7.
International pressure is mounting on Israel to allow urgently needed aid into Gaza.
The United Nations and several regional countries have called for an immediate ceasefire, while others advocate for a “humanitarian pause” in the hostilities.
However, the international community has not yet reached a consensus on addressing the crisis, nearly three weeks after it was ignited by Hamas’ brutal terror attacks on October 7, resulting in over 1,400 casualties in Israel and more than 200 people kidnapped.
Riyad Mansour, head of the Palestinian Permanent Observer Mission to the United Nations, posed a stark question to UN diplomats as he recounted the stories of Palestinians killed in Gaza.
“Almost all the casualties are civilians,” Mansour emphasized. “Is this the war that some of you are defending?”
UN member states are now preparing to vote on a draft resolution presented by Jordan on behalf of Arab states.
The resolution calls for a “cessation of hostilities,” the release of hostages, and the rejection of “any attempts at forced transfer of the Palestinian civilian population.”
However, General Assembly resolutions, while politically significant, are non-binding.
Jordan’s Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi addressed diplomats at the General Assembly, asserting that “collective punishment is not self-defense.”
His statement received rare applause inside the chamber as he emphasized caring about the lives of all civilians, regardless of their background.
Gilad Erdan, the Israeli ambassador to the UN, criticized the resolution under discussion by the Assembly, characterizing requests for a ceasefire as attempts to restrict Israel’s ability to eliminate a significant threat to its citizens.
The United States has also rejected proposals for a ceasefire, instead advocating for “humanitarian pauses” to facilitate the delivery of essential aid to Gaza.
The US has affirmed its full support for what it views as Israel’s “imperative” to defend itself.
Additionally, the European Union called for humanitarian “pauses” in Gaza following a meeting in Brussels but stopped short of explicitly endorsing a ceasefire.
Hellfire On Hamas
Israel has expressed its commitment to eradicating Hamas, the militant group in control of Gaza, and has consistently mentioned that its ongoing blockade of the territory will be followed by a ground operation.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, in a televised address on Wednesday, declared that the timing for such action would be determined by Israel’s War Cabinet.
Netanyahu stated, “We are raining down hellfire on Hamas,” while claiming that Israel has “already eliminated thousands of terrorists – and this is only the beginning.”
The prime minister also acknowledged, for the first time, that he will need to provide answers regarding the intelligence failures that allowed the deadliest terrorist attack in Israeli history.
He pledged a comprehensive examination of these failures after the current conflict.
According to Israel’s internal security agency, the Shin Bet, they believe they have killed “scores” of senior figures within Hamas’ military hierarchy since the initiation of airstrikes on Gaza more than two and a half weeks ago.
It’s important to note that CTN cannot independently verify Israel’s assessments, and Hamas has not commented on claims regarding the number of combatants killed in Israeli operations.
The Israeli forces announced that they had eliminated Shadi Barud, the deputy head of Hamas’ Intelligence Directorate, who they allege played a significant role in planning the October 7 attacks.
This information came in a joint statement from the IDF and Shin Bet, the Israeli Security Agency.
The Israeli military also indicated that intelligence reports suggest that airstrikes have killed Hamas rocket commander Hassan Al-Abdullah, who, according to the army, was in charge of rocket units in the Khan Younis area of Gaza.
The IDF and ISA released footage they claim shows the strikes that killed Barud, depicting at least two damaged buildings in Gaza appearing to collapse.
Hamas has not commented on this assertion.
Flattened Neighborhoods
Israel’s retaliatory airstrikes targeting what it refers to as Hamas “terror infrastructure” have resulted in extensive destruction across the densely-populated 140-square-mile Gaza Strip, which had long been described as an “open-air prison” by human rights organizations prior to the current conflict.
New satellite images captured by Maxar on October 21 reveal substantial devastation in northern Gaza, with entire neighborhoods reduced to rubble in eastern Beit Hanoun and similar destruction near the Al Shati Refugee Camp, Atatra, and Izbat Beit Hanoun.
The IDF had advised civilians to vacate the densely populated northern section of the Palestinian enclave, where the bombardment has been particularly intense.
However, airstrikes have also persisted in the south, and a CNN producer in Gaza reported that “there is no safe area.”
During a press conference, Gaza’s health ministry spokesperson, Ashraf Al-Qidra, stated that 12 hospitals had become inoperative since the commencement of Israel’s aerial campaign, and 101 medical personnel had lost their lives.
Al-Qidra accused Israeli forces of deliberately causing a collapse of the healthcare system by obstructing the entry of fuel and essential medical supplies into Gaza.
Israel has cited concerns that Hamas diverts fuel shipments for military purposes as the reason for restricting fuel deliveries.
On Wednesday, Al Jazeera reported that its Gaza bureau chief, Wael Al-Dahdouh, tragically lost his wife, son, daughter, and grandson in what it characterized as an Israeli airstrike.
The explosion struck a house in the Nuseirat refugee camp in the central Gaza Strip, where the family had sought refuge after being displaced.
According to the family’s statement, a total of 12 members of the Al-Dahdouh family perished in the blast, including nine children.
The IDF informed CTN that it had conducted an airstrike in the area where Al-Dahdouh’s relatives were killed, targeting what it described as “Hamas terrorist infrastructure in the area.”
The IDF added that strikes on military targets are conducted in accordance with relevant provisions of international law, with measures taken to minimize civilian casualties.
The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) reported that at least 24 journalists have lost their lives since the outset of this conflict, as of Wednesday.
Of these casualties, 20 were Palestinian, three were Israeli, and one was a Lebanese journalist.
Overcrowded hospitals on the brink of collapse are grappling with the overwhelming influx of injured individuals arriving daily.
Doctors have emphasized their dire shortage of supplies and electricity to provide proper care to these patients, as well as to other individuals reliant on oxygen supplies for survival.
Videos recorded by journalists working with CTN have shown the aftermath of airstrikes, with victims in body bags and severely injured individuals, including children, in overwhelmed hospitals.
Since October 7, a total of 1.4 million people out of Gaza’s population of over 2 million have been displaced, with nearly 629,000 people seeking shelter in UN facilities, as reported by OCHA. Half of Gaza’s population comprises children.
The UN Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) in Gaza warned that it may have to suspend aid operations within a day if fuel deliveries are not received.
Such a halt would signify the end of a “lifeline” for civilians, according to UNRWA director for Gaza, Tom White.
Aid workers would face difficult decisions regarding which life-saving assistance they can provide, including fuel for desalination plants, hospitals, and bread production that sustains the local population.
An update from the UN humanitarian office OCHA noted that at least 38 United Nations personnel have lost their lives.
Mediation Talks
In Moscow, representatives from Hamas engaged in discussions with a senior Russian foreign ministry official on Thursday, as reported by Russian state media TASS and in a statement from Hamas.
The talks reportedly revolved around the release of hostages held by Hamas and the evacuation of Russian citizens from Gaza.
The Hamas delegation expressed appreciation for the position of Russian President Vladimir Putin and the diplomatic efforts of Russian authorities, according to a statement from the militant group.
The delegation, which met with Russian Deputy Foreign Minister and Special Presidential Representative for the Middle East and Africa, Mikhail Bogdanov, included Mousa Abu Marzouk, the deputy chief of Hamas’s political bureau, and Basem Naim, another senior Hamas leader based in Gaza.
Israel reacted strongly to reports of this meeting, condemning the invitation of senior Hamas officials to Moscow.
Israel’s foreign ministry issued a statement, characterizing it as an act of support for terrorism and an endorsement of the actions of Hamas terrorists.
Israel called on Russia to expel the Hamas delegation “immediately.”
Qatar, involved in mediating negotiations involving Egypt, the United States, Israel, and Hamas, expressed optimism about a potential breakthrough in discussions to secure the release of hostages held by the militant group.
The Prime Minister and Foreign Minister of Qatar made this announcement on Wednesday.
The hostage crisis is of international concern, with the Israeli government press office revealing that 135 hostages, more than half of those held by Hamas, hold foreign passports from 25 different countries.
These hostages include 54 Thai nationals, 15 Argentinians, and 12 individuals from Germany and the United States. So far, four hostages, two American and two Israeli, have been released.
Talks continue to secure the release of the remaining hostages held by Hamas in Gaza, as stated by Qatari Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani.
US President Joe Biden stated that he had urged Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to seek the release of hostages in Gaza before any Israeli ground invasion.
However, when asked whether he had obtained assurances from his Israeli counterpart to delay a ground invasion while hostages remained in custody, Biden responded with a firm “no.”
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Trudeau’s Gun Grab Could Cost Taxpayers a Whopping $7 Billion

A recent report indicates that since Trudeau’s announcement of his gun buyback program four years ago, almost none of the banned firearms have been surrendered.
The federal government plans to purchase 2,063 firearm models from retailers following the enactment of Bill C-21, which amends various Acts and introduces certain consequential changes related to firearms. It was granted royal assent on December 15 of last year.
This ban immediately criminalized the actions of federally-licensed firearms owners regarding the purchase, sale, transportation, importation, exportation, or use of hundreds of thousands of rifles and shotguns that were previously legal.
The gun ban focused on what it termed ‘assault-style weapons,’ which are, in reality, traditional semi-automatic rifles and shotguns that have enjoyed popularity among hunters and sport shooters for over a century.
In May 2020, the federal government enacted an Order-in-Council that prohibited 1,500 types of “assault-style” firearms and outlined specific components of the newly banned firearms. Property owners must adhere to the law by October 2023.
Trudeau’s Buyback Hasn’t Happened
“In the announcement regarding the ban, the prime minister stated that the government would seize the prohibited firearms, assuring that their lawful owners would be ‘grandfathered’ or compensated fairly.” “That hasn’t happened,” criminologist Gary Mauser told Rebel News.
Mauser projected expenses ranging from $2.6 billion to $6.7 billion. The figure reflects the compensation costs amounting to $756 million, as outlined by the Parliamentary Budget Office (PBO).
“The projected expenses for gathering the illegal firearms are estimated to range from $1.6 billion to $7 billion.” “This range estimate increases to between $2.647 billion and $7 billion when compensation costs to owners are factored in,” Mauser stated.
Figures requested by Conservative MP Shannon Stubbs concerning firearms prohibited due to the May 1, 2020 Order In Council reveal that $72 million has been allocated to the firearm “buyback” program, yet not a single firearm has been confiscated to date.
In a recent revelation, Public Safety Canada disclosed that the federal government allocated a staggering $41,094,556, as prompted by an order paper question from Conservative Senator Don Plett last September, yet yielded no tangible outcomes.
An internal memo from late 2019 revealed that the Liberals projected their politically motivated harassment would incur a cost of $1.8 billion.
Enforcement efforts Questioned
By December 2023, estimates from TheGunBlog.ca indicate that the Liberals and RCMP had incurred or were responsible for approximately $30 million in personnel expenses related to the enforcement efforts. The union representing the police service previously stated that the effort to confiscate firearms is a “misdirected effort” aimed at ensuring public safety.
“This action diverts crucial personnel, resources, and funding from tackling the more pressing and escalating issue of criminal use of illegal firearms,” stated the National Police Federation (NPF).
The Canadian Sporting Arms & Ammunition Association (CSAAA), representing firearms retailers, has stated it will have “zero involvement” in the confiscation of these firearms. Even Canada Post held back from providing assistance due to safety concerns.
The consultant previously assessed that retailers are sitting on almost $1 billion worth of inventory that cannot be sold or returned to suppliers because of the Order-In-Council.
“Despite the ongoing confusion surrounding the ban, after four years, we ought to be able to address one crucial question.” Has the prohibition enhanced safety for Canadians? Mauser asks.
Illegally Obtained Firearms are the Problem
Statistics Canada reports a 10% increase in firearm-related violent crime between 2020 and 2022, rising from 12,614 incidents to 13,937 incidents. In that timeframe, the incidence of firearm-related violent crime increased from 33.7 incidents per 100,000 population in 2021 to 36.7 incidents the subsequent year.
“This marks the highest rate documented since the collection of comparable data began in 2009,” the criminologist explains.
Supplementary DataData indicates that firearm homicides have risen since 2020. “The issue lies not with lawfully-held firearms,” Mauser stated.
Firearms that have been banned under the Order-in-Council continue to be securely stored in the safes of their lawful owners. The individuals underwent a thorough vetting process by the RCMP and are subject to nightly monitoring to ensure there are no infractions that could pose a risk to public safety.
“The firearms involved in homicides were seldom legally owned weapons wielded by their rightful owners,” Mauser continues. The number of offenses linked to organized crime has surged from 4,810 in 2016 to a staggering 13,056 in 2020.
“If those in power … aim to diminish crime and enhance public safety, they ought to implement strategies that effectively focus on offenders and utilize our limited tax resources judiciously to reach these objectives,” he stated.
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News
Google’s Search Dominance Is Unwinding, But Still Accounting 48% Search Revenue

Google is so closely associated with its key product that its name is a verb that signifies “search.” However, Google’s dominance in that sector is dwindling.
According to eMarketer, Google will lose control of the US search industry for the first time in decades next year.
Google will remain the dominant search player, accounting for 48% of American search advertising revenue. And, remarkably, Google is still increasing its sales in the field, despite being the dominating player in search since the early days of the George W. Bush administration. However, Amazon is growing at a quicker rate.
Google’s Search Dominance Is Unwinding
Amazon will hold over a quarter of US search ad dollars next year, rising to 27% by 2026, while Google will fall even more, according to eMarketer.
The Wall Street Journal was first to report on the forecast.
Lest you think you’ll have to switch to Bing or Yahoo, this isn’t the end of Google or anything really near.
Google is the fourth-most valued public firm in the world. Its market worth is $2.1 trillion, trailing just Apple, Microsoft, and the AI chip darling Nvidia. It also maintains its dominance in other industries, such as display advertisements, where it dominates alongside Facebook’s parent firm Meta, and video ads on YouTube.
To put those “other” firms in context, each is worth more than Delta Air Lines’ total market value. So, yeah, Google is not going anywhere.
Nonetheless, Google faces numerous dangers to its operations, particularly from antitrust regulators.
On Monday, a federal judge in San Francisco ruled that Google must open up its Google Play Store to competitors, dealing a significant blow to the firm in its long-running battle with Fortnite creator Epic Games. Google announced that it would appeal the verdict.
In August, a federal judge ruled that Google has an illegal monopoly on search. That verdict could lead to the dissolution of the company’s search operation. Another antitrust lawsuit filed last month accuses Google of abusing its dominance in the online advertising business.
Meanwhile, European regulators have compelled Google to follow tough new standards, which have resulted in multiple $1 billion-plus fines.

Pixa Bay
Google’s Search Dominance Is Unwinding
On top of that, the marketplace is becoming more difficult on its own.
TikTok, the fastest-growing social network, is expanding into the search market. And Amazon has accomplished something few other digital titans have done to date: it has established a habit.
When you want to buy anything, you usually go to Amazon, not Google. Amazon then buys adverts to push companies’ products to the top of your search results, increasing sales and earning Amazon a greater portion of the revenue. According to eMarketer, it is expected to generate $27.8 billion in search revenue in the United States next year, trailing only Google’s $62.9 billion total.
And then there’s AI, the technology that (supposedly) will change everything.
Why search in stilted language for “kendall jenner why bad bunny breakup” or “police moving violation driver rights no stop sign” when you can just ask OpenAI’s ChatGPT, “What’s going on with Kendall Jenner and Bad Bunny?” in “I need help fighting a moving violation involving a stop sign that wasn’t visible.” Google is working on exactly this technology with its Gemini product, but its success is far from guaranteed, especially with Apple collaborating with OpenAI and other businesses rapidly joining the market.
A Google spokeswoman referred to a blog post from last week in which the company unveiled ads in its AI overviews (the AI-generated text that appears at the top of search results). It’s Google’s way of expressing its ability to profit on a changing marketplace while retaining its business, even as its consumers steadily transition to ask-and-answer AI and away from search.
Google has long used a single catchphrase to defend itself against opponents who claim it is a monopoly abusing its power: competition is only a click away. Until recently, that seemed comically obtuse. Really? We are going to switch to Bing? Or Duck Duck Go? Give me a break.
But today, it feels more like reality.
Google is in no danger of disappearing. However, every highly dominating company faces some type of reckoning over time. GE, a Dow mainstay for more than a century, was broken up last year and is now a shell of its previous dominance. Sears declared bankruptcy in 2022 and is virtually out of business. US Steel, long the foundation of American manufacturing, is attempting to sell itself to a Japanese corporation.
SOURCE | CNN
News
The Supreme Court Turns Down Biden’s Government Appeal in a Texas Emergency Abortion Matter.

(VOR News) – A ruling that prohibits emergency abortions that contravene the Supreme Court law in the state of Texas, which has one of the most stringent abortion restrictions in the country, has been upheld by the Supreme Court of the United States. The United States Supreme Court upheld this decision.
The justices did not provide any specifics regarding the underlying reasons for their decision to uphold an order from a lower court that declared hospitals cannot be legally obligated to administer abortions if doing so would violate the law in the state of Texas.
Institutions are not required to perform abortions, as stipulated in the decree. The common populace did not investigate any opposing viewpoints. The decision was made just weeks before a presidential election that brought abortion to the forefront of the political agenda.
This decision follows the 2022 Supreme Court ruling that ended abortion nationwide.
In response to a request from the administration of Vice President Joe Biden to overturn the lower court’s decision, the justices expressed their disapproval.
The government contends that hospitals are obligated to perform abortions in compliance with federal legislation when the health or life of an expectant patient is in an exceedingly precarious condition.
This is the case in regions where the procedure is prohibited. The difficulty hospitals in Texas and other states are experiencing in determining whether or not routine care could be in violation of stringent state laws that prohibit abortion has resulted in an increase in the number of complaints concerning pregnant women who are experiencing medical distress being turned away from emergency rooms.
The administration cited the Supreme Court’s ruling in a case that bore a striking resemblance to the one that was presented to it in Idaho at the beginning of the year. The justices took a limited decision in that case to allow the continuation of emergency abortions without interruption while a lawsuit was still being heard.
In contrast, Texas has been a vocal proponent of the injunction’s continued enforcement. Texas has argued that its circumstances are distinct from those of Idaho, as the state does have an exemption for situations that pose a significant hazard to the health of an expectant patient.
According to the state, the discrepancy is the result of this exemption. The state of Idaho had a provision that safeguarded a woman’s life when the issue was first broached; however, it did not include protection for her health.
Certified medical practitioners are not obligated to wait until a woman’s life is in imminent peril before they are legally permitted to perform an abortion, as determined by the state supreme court.
The state of Texas highlighted this to the Supreme Court.
Nevertheless, medical professionals have criticized the Texas statute as being perilously ambiguous, and a medical board has declined to provide a list of all the disorders that are eligible for an exception. Furthermore, the statute has been criticized for its hazardous ambiguity.
For an extended period, termination of pregnancies has been a standard procedure in medical treatment for individuals who have been experiencing significant issues. It is implemented in this manner to prevent catastrophic outcomes, such as sepsis, organ failure, and other severe scenarios.
Nevertheless, medical professionals and hospitals in Texas and other states with strict abortion laws have noted that it is uncertain whether or not these terminations could be in violation of abortion prohibitions that include the possibility of a prison sentence. This is the case in regions where abortion prohibitions are exceedingly restrictive.
Following the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade, which resulted in restrictions on the rights of women to have abortions in several Republican-ruled states, the Texas case was revisited in 2022.
As per the orders that were disclosed by the administration of Vice President Joe Biden, hospitals are still required to provide abortions in cases that are classified as dire emergency.
As stipulated in a piece of health care legislation, the majority of hospitals are obligated to provide medical assistance to patients who are experiencing medical distress. This is in accordance with the law.
The state of Texas maintained that hospitals should not be obligated to provide abortions throughout the litigation, as doing so would violate the state’s constitutional prohibition on abortions. In its January judgment, the 5th United States Circuit Court of Appeals concurred with the state and acknowledged that the administration had exceeded its authority.
SOURCE: AP
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