Anti-CAA movement to be revived: Akhil Gogoi
Guwahati: The movement against the Citizenship Amendment Act that rocked Assam will be revived, MLA Akhil Gogoi said on Friday.
Speaking to reporters at Nagaon, Gogoi said the leaders of the movement betrayed the people of the state while he was kept in jail.
"Now that I am out, I want to assure the people that the anti-CAA movement will resume. No (illegal) foreigner will be allowed to stay in the state," he said on the way to his constituency Sivasagar, a day after he was released from jail.
Gogoi spent nearly 19 months behind bars for his alleged role in the violent protests against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act in December 2019. He fought and won the recently-concluded assembly elections from the jail.
Gogoi alleged that the BJP-led state government was not sympathetic towards the problems of the people.
"I will raise the issues of big dams and toll gates in the state Assembly. If the government fails to give a proper response, we will have to take the path of agitation," he said.
On the way to Sivasagar, around 400 km from Guwahati, Gogoi had to stop multiple times as his supporters and locals lined the roads cheering for him.
"This outpour of people's love for a jailed person like me proves that I was wrongly confined. The BJP kept me behind bars and won a second term but this won't happen again.
In 2026, a new government will be formed. The BJP 'hatao' (remove BJP) movement starts from today," the Raijor Dal president asserted.
This was the first time that Gogoi shall be visiting Sivasagar after being elected.
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Israel strikes Gaza hospital, forcing evacuation as strikes intensify
Deir Al-Balah (Gaza), Apr 13 (AP): Israel struck a hospital in northern Gaza early Sunday, forcing patients to evacuate as attacks intensified across the Strip.
The pre-dawn strike hit Al-Ahli Hospital in Gaza City, after Israel issued an evacuation warning, according to Gaza's ministry of health. One patient died during the evacuation because medical staff were unable to provide urgent care, it said.
The hospital, run by the Diocese of Jerusalem, was attacked on Palm Sunday, which commemorates Jesus' entry into Jerusalem.
Hours later, a separate strike on a car in Deir al-Balah in central Gaza, killed at least seven people, according to staff at the morgue of the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital, which received the bodies.
Israel said it struck a command and control centre used by Hamas at the hospital to plan and execute attacks against Israeli civilians and soldiers. It said prior to the strike, steps were taken to mitigate harm, including issuing warnings, and using precise munitions and aerial surveillance.
The strikes came hours after Israel's defense minister said that military activity would rapidly expand across Gaza and that people would have to evacuate from “fighting zones.” Israel also announced Saturday the completion of the Morag corridor, cutting off the southern city of Rafah from the rest of Gaza, with the military saying it would soon expand “vigorously” in most of the small coastal territory.
Israeli authorities have vowed to pressure Hamas to release the remaining 59 hostages, 24 believed to be alive, and accept proposed new ceasefire terms.
Director of Al-Ahli Hospital, Dr. Fadel Naim, said they were warned of the attack before it was struck. In a post on X, he wrote that the emergency room, pharmacy and surrounding buildings were severely damaged, impacting more than 100 patients and dozens of medical staff.
The health ministry said the strike destroyed the ward for outpatients and laboratories and damaged the emergency ward.
Medical facilities often come under fire in wars, but combatants usually depict such incidents as accidental or exceptional, since hospitals enjoy special protection under international law. In its 18-month campaign in Gaza, Israel has stood out by carrying out an open campaign on hospitals, besieging and raiding them, some several times, as well as hitting multiple others in strikes while accusing Hamas of using them as cover for its fighters.
Last month Israel struck Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis city, the largest in southern Gaza, killing two people and wounding others and causing a large fire, the territory's health ministry said. The facility was overwhelmed with dead and wounded when Israel ended the ceasefire with a surprise wave of airstrikes.
The war started after Hamas killed 1,200 people during its Oct. 7, 2023, attack, mostly civilians, and took 250 people captive, many of whom have been freed in ceasefire deals.
More than 50,000 Palestinians in Gaza have so far been killed in Israel's retaliatory offensive, according to the health ministry there, which does not differentiate between combatants and civilians in its count but says more than half of the dead are women and children.
