Indian in Gaza seek evacuation as Israel bombards Hamas-ruled enclave
Jerusalem (PTI): Fearing for their life amid continuous bombardments by Israel, an Indian woman living in Gaza with her family on Tuesday sought an immediate evacuation from the war-torn Hamas-ruled enclave.
“We are facing a brutal war here and everything is being destroyed in bombarded in a matter of seconds. We are paying the price of this conflict as civilians are being targeted,” Lubna Nazir Shaboo, an Indian from Jammu & Kashmir living in Gaza, told PTI over the phone.
The Israel-Hamas conflict has entered the fourth day and it has already claimed at least 1,600 lives on both sides. This includes 788 killed and 4,100 others injured on the Gaza side.
Following the brutal attacks by Hamas militants on Saturday morning in the southern areas of the Jewish state, backed by a barrage of rockets that hit even the central parts of the country, Israeli warplanes have pounded downtown Gaza City, home to Hamas' centres of government.
“The sounds of bombardment are too scary and the whole house shakes. It is a very, very scary situation,” Shaboo said.
Shaboo, who is living with her husband, Nedal Toman, and youngest daughter, Karima, in Gaza, said the “water supply was officially cut off” in addition to electricity. Her two elder children live and study in Cairo, Egypt.
Internet connection in Gaza is also poor and only those with their limited net packs are able to establish contact with people outside. Israel's defence minister Yoav Gallant on Monday ordered a “complete siege” of the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip. “I have given an order - Gaza will be under complete siege. There will be no electricity, food or fuel [delivered to Gaza]. We are fighting barbaric [terrorists] and will respond accordingly,” Gallant said.
The Kashmiri woman said that she hadn't seen anything like this before and has currently two families living with them who had to run away after bombardment in the bordering areas of Gaza.
“We are not able to go anywhere because there is no safe place for us anywhere and the Gaza Strip is too small and it is closed from every side. There are no exit points over here,” Lubna said.
“I have already asked for help from the Representative office of India in Ramallah to help me get to a safer place along with my husband and my daughter,” she said in a video message sent to PTI. The only exit route from Gaza, the Rafah crossing with Egypt, was shut down on Monday practically closing all possibilities of escape for Gaza residents.
The Representative Office of India in Ramallah said they “are in touch and are trying to help all Indians but the situation on the ground constrains our options.” In addition, the Indian embassy in Tel Aviv is also actively looking for ways to assist all the Indians in the affected areas.
Earlier, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a nationally televised address: “We have only started striking Hamas. What we will do to our enemies in the coming days will reverberate with them for generations.”
Let the Truth be known. If you read VB and like VB, please be a VB Supporter and Help us deliver the Truth to one and all.
Real Madrid fines Valverde and Tchouaméni half a million euros each for altercation
Barcelona (AP): Real Madrid slapped players Federico Valverde and Aurélien Tchouaméni with half-a-million-euro ($588,000) fines on Friday for their altercation during practice.
The massive fines came a day after the midfielders tussled when the team trained. Valverde said in a post on social media on Thursday that no punches were thrown. But Valverde knocked his head on a table and he suffered a small cut that required a brief hospital visit.
On social media, Valverde initially called it a “meaningless fight” with a teammate and said “everything has been blown out of proportion."
His employers, however, considered it a significant enough breach of team discipline to nail both Valverde and Tchouaméni with fines that bite even the bank account of a top soccer player. The half-a-million euro penalties reflect the reputational damage the club was enduring in a chaotic end to a disappointing season.
In a statement, the 15-time European champion said its disciplinary action was concluded after both players expressed to the club “their complete remorse for what happened and apologized to one another.”
Madrid added they also apologized to their teammates, the coaching staff and club supporters, as well as showing their willingness to accept whatever disciplinary action the club deemed “opportune.”
Tchouaméni was back training with Madrid on Friday, two days before they play at Barcelona in a clasico. Madrid has to win otherwise Barcelona will be crowned La Liga champion.
After being notified of the fine, he posted a public apology to the club and its fans on social media.
“What happened this week in training is unacceptable,” Tchouaméni wrote. "I say this while thinking about the example we are expected to set for young people, whether in football or at school.
“Above all, I am sorry for the image we projected of the club.”
Valverde was not at practice due to the head knock.
Both players are set to play in the World Cup next month, with Tchouaméni playing for France and Valverde for Uruguay.
Chaotic end to a poor season
===================
The run-in between the players, who for seasons have played side by side in Madrid's midfield, came after they argued this week in previous training sessions. But tempers boiled over on Thursday. Spanish media was rife with reports that the players previously disagreed over the club's decision to let coach Xabi Alonso go after just months on the job.
It was not the only altercation involving Madrid players during training this week. Álvaro Carreras confirmed he was in a “minor” incident with a teammate. Spanish media said he and fellow defender Antonio Rüdiger got into a scuffle.
Álvaro Arbeloa, the coach who was promoted from Madrid's reserve team when Alonso was fired in January, will face tough questions on what went wrong inside the changing room when he gives a press conference on Saturday ahead of the clasico at Camp Nou.
Madrid is facing a second consecutive campaign without a major trophy amid rumors in the Spanish media that club president Florentino Pérez is considering bringing back Jose Mourinho to straighten out his underperforming team.
