Prince William calls for an end to the war in Gaza as soon as possible

Prince William, heir to the British throne, called on Tuesday for an end to the fighting in the Gaza Strip as soon as possible. 

The statement from his Kensington Palace office stopped short of calling for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza as the House of Commons prepares to vote on the issue on Wednesday.

“Sometimes, when we are faced with the sheer scale of human suffering, the importance of lasting peace is highlighted,” William said.

It is unusual for members of the royal family to say anything about highly controversial issues such as the war in Gaza for fear of being drawn into political discussions. But William used cautious language that focused on universal humanity rather than taking sides.

In his statement, he referred to the "heavy human cost" since the Hamas-led attack on October 7 in the Gaza envelope and the "urgent need to increase humanitarian support to Gaza."

The United Nations warns of the worsening problem of malnutrition in parts of Gaza in light of the obstruction of the passage of aid shipments to the Strip. 

Dismantling the "most harmful" hacking group in the world

The authorities of a number of countries announced on Tuesday that the international police "Interpol" had dismantled the "Lockbit" electronic hacking group, which was described as "the most harmful" in the world.

Dismantle the hacking group FBI director warns of Chinese hackers trying to "sabotage" vital American infrastructure

Britain's National Crime Agency said: "After the group's network was hacked, the agency took control of LookBet's services, undermining its entire criminal enterprise."

She explained that the ransomware targeted "thousands of victims around the world" and caused losses estimated at billions of euros.

"We have hacked the hackers," said the agency's director general, Gram Bigger, while announcing the dismantling of Lockbit at a press conference in London.

According to the United States, the Lockbit network collected more than $120 million in ransom money in total.

For its part, the Paris Public Prosecutor's Office said that Lockbit is one of the most active hacking organizations in the world, with more than 2,500 victims, including more than 200 in France, including "hospitals, municipal councils and institutions of different sizes."

A message on the Lookbit website said, “This site is now under the control of law enforcement authorities,” noting that the National Crime Agency in Britain took control of the site in cooperation with the US Federal Bureau of Investigation and agencies from several countries.

“We can confirm that Lookbet services have been disrupted due to an international police operation, which is ongoing,” the message added.

In November 2022, the US Department of Justice described the Lockbit program as “the most active and harmful in the world,” as the program targeted vital infrastructure and large industrial groups, and ransom demands ranged between 5 million euros and 70 million.

According to a website affiliated with the US authorities that was based on federal police data in mid-June, the group carried out more than 1,700 attacks against victims in the United States and in other countries, Australia, Canada, and New Zealand in particular.