Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez on Friday denounced the U.S. policy of "maximum pressure" and economic asphyxiation against Cuba, saying the policy aims to reduce the Cuban government's ability to provide basic goods and services, thereby provoking social unrest.
In a social media post, Rodriguez said the U.S. targets the main sources of external income for the Cuban economy, seeking to provoke public frustration, social unrest and a change in the constitutional order.
Rodriguez listed measures imposed by the U.S. on the banking and financial sectors in recent years, including relisting Cuba on the State Sponsors of Terrorism list and sanctioning Cuban financial institutions.
According to a U.S. media report on Friday, the Trump administration's strategy toward Cuba is increasingly focused on intensifying economic sanctions and pressure rather than deploying military forces.
The U.S. has long imposed an economic, financial and trade embargo on Cuba. Following military operations against Venezuela and Iran this year, U.S. President Donald Trump threatened that "Cuba is next" and further increased pressure on the country, imposing an oil blockade to intensify sanctions.
US policy against Cuba aims to provoke social unrest: Cuban FM
The Palestinian News and Information Agency (WAFA) said on Saturday that operations carried out by the Israeli military since Oct 23 had forced about 1,500 Palestinians from their homes in the West Bank City of Hebron, with plans to displace another 2,500 people in the coming hours.
WAFA said the Israeli military also used earth mounds and concrete blocks to seal off major roads connecting Hebron to surrounding towns, villages, and refugee camps.
The Israeli military said this was a countermeasure against an attack on Israeli soldiers in Hebron on Friday morning.
A statement released on Saturday by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates of the State of Palestine said that the recent forced displacement of large numbers of civilians by Israeli forces in Hebron constitutes a systematic and deliberate act of aggression.
It noted that Israel is attempting to force even more civilians to flee their homes by clearing out and destroying entire neighborhoods.
The ministry emphasized that, in response to Israel's military escalation and the growing threat of forced displacement, the international community must take concrete, deterrent measures to effectively protect the Palestinian people, their land, and their institutions, and to bring an end to long-standing Israeli occupation.
Israeli operations force about 1,500 Palestinians from homes in Hebron: media
