Browsing: Region
Israeli soldiers warn a man on a scooter to leave as Palestinians are evacuated Saturday from the market in the old city of Hebron while Israeli…
An Israeli airstrike has killed the head of the Hamas-led police force in the northern Gaza Strip, Brigadier-General Abdel-Nasser al-Maqadma, the Hamas-run interior ministry and medics said yesterday.Maqadma, one of at least five Palestinians killed in Israeli strikes yesterday, was also known as the governor of the northern Gaza Strip.He was killed in the Sheikh Radwan area north of Gaza City, medics said.The Israeli military said that he was also part of Hamas’s military wing.Israel has killed dozens of members of the Hamas-led police force, including senior officials, in the past months, accusing many of them of being members of the Hamas armed wing who posed imminent threats to Israel and its forces inside Gaza.Hamas says Israeli attacks on the police force and its headquarters are intended to sow chaos and anarchy in the enclave and violate the US-brokered October ceasefire.Another Israeli strike yesterday killed a Palestinian medic in the Nuseirat refugee camp in the central Gaza Strip, medics said.They added that a police officer wounded by an Israeli airstrike last week had passed away.The Israeli military did not immediately comment on the incident.An Israeli airstrike also killed two people in a house in Khan Younis, in the south of the enclave, medics said.The Israeli military said the strike targeted a fighter of the Islamic Jihad group.Later in the day, an Israeli airstrike, also in Khan Younis, killed Khaled al-Breim, a high school student, taking the death toll yesterday to at least five.Relatives said al-Breim was killed as he sought to bring sweets to distribute to relatives and friends who had flocked into his family home to offer their congratulations as he had just concluded high school and was preparing for university.The Israeli military did not immediately comment on the student’s death.The latest deaths add to a toll of more than 1,180 Palestinians, mostly civilians, killed by Israeli attacks since an October ceasefire between Israel and Hamas took effect, according to Gaza health officials.Hamas does not usually disclose its losses.The truce halted full-scale fighting but has not ended near-daily Israeli strikes.Four Israeli soldiers have been killed in Gaza over the same period. Source link
Iran said on Sunday it has halted retaliatory attacks in the region after the United States stopped its strikes on the country for the past two nights.” These attacks continued until two nights ago, but over the past two nights the Americans have stopped their attacks,” said army spokesman Mohammad Akraminia. “Since… our strategy has essentially been retaliatory, we have also halted our retaliatory operations.” Source link
Iran said on Sunday it had made progress in talks with Oman on management of the Strait of Hormuz, the strategic waterway crucial for oil and gas trade that both countries border.The latest talks come after the United States resumed attacks on Iran in an effort to end Tehran’s control of the strait, following a June memorandum of understanding aimed at ending the war that had briefly eased tensions. Foreign ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei said several rounds of negotiations were held in Iranian capital Tehran on Friday and Saturday between Iranian and Omani deputy foreign ministers.The discussions focused on “common principles and operational mechanisms” for ensuring the safe passage of shipping through the strait while respecting the sovereign rights of the two states, Baqaei said. He described the talks as “useful” and said progress had been made, adding that “technical and political consultations between the two sides were continuing”. Source link
Lebanon's army on Sunday condemned ongoing Israeli military activities in the country's south that it said were preventing its full deployment under a framework deal reached with Israel last month.’Israeli occupation forces continue their attacks and violations of current understandings and of international laws through the systematic destruction and bulldozing of homes, bombardment and sweeps with automatic weapons in several southern areas,’ an army statement said, adding that ‘the continuation of these attacks obstructs the army's full deployment according to current agreements and prevents the return of residents to their villages and town Source link
Members of the Israeli military stand guard following what locals say was an attack by Israeli settlers, in Sarra near Nablus. (Reuters) Four Palestinians and two Israeli soldiers were killed near a Palestinian village yesterday in a confrontation that added to a growing toll over recent weeks as Israeli settler violence has intensified against Palestinians in the occupied West Bank. The incident near the village of Tal, southwest of the city of Nablus, followed a sharp increase in settler attacks on Palestinian villages since the start of the year, according to figures from the UN.Israel’s military said it had received reports that Israeli civilians hiking in the area had been attacked near the village, in the so-called Area A of the West Bank. The area is under Palestinian Authority civil and security control and Israelis are officially prohibited from entering. The military said a Palestinian man took a weapon from Israeli security personnel from the nearby settlement of Havat Gilad and opened fire, wounding several Israelis before being killed. It said four Palestinians were killed in the incident.Local Palestinian officials said a large group of Israeli settlers had tried to break into two houses and were then confronted by villagers. Israeli troops set up roadblocks in the area around Tal and Nablus and said they were pursuing individuals involved in the incident. The military said it was preparing for “extensive operational activity in the sector” and had cancelled leave. “Following the recent events, and especially this morning’s attack, there is concern about escalation throughout Judea and Samaria. We are carrying out operations to prevent the area from spiraling into further violence,” Major General Avi Bluth, head of the Israeli military’s central command said in a statement. The Israeli military said it had apprehended two men in a hospital in Nablus where they had been taken after being injured while carrying out the attack. It said “they were apprehended by the soldiers and transferred to the security forces for further processing.” Palestinian officials said the Israeli military had raided the hospital and assaulted medical staff in the emergency department. Hardline Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich said Palestinian villages near Tal should be cleared of their inhabitants and new settlements built to establish security. “This is our appropriate Zionist answer to those who desire to harm our grip on the areas of our country,” he said in a statement. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he had conducted a security assessment into the incident, along with the defense minister and the military’s chief of staff.Three months before Israelis go to the polls, Netanyahu’s pro-settler government has stepped up preparations to expand settlements in the West Bank, which Israel has occupied since the 1967 Middle East war. Palestinians view it as part of their state along with Gaza, with East Jerusalem as its capital. In a separate incident, the Palestinian Authority foreign ministry said settlers had attacked a village near the West Bank city of Qalqilya, wounding two people and setting fire to trees and cars. The official Palestinian news agency Wafa also reported a number of other settler attacks in various parts of the West Bank. According to figures from the Palestinian Authority, 87 Palestinians have been killed in the West Bank this year, including 21 killed by Israeli settlers. UN figures indicate some 850 Palestinians have been wounded in the context of attacks by Israeli settlers since the start of the year. Essam Saifi, a local leader in the Palestinian Fatah party from Tal, told Reuters by phone that about 25 to 30 settlers initially attacked the eastern area of Tal and tried to break into two houses there.When residents came out to confront them, he said the settlers opened fire before leaving.Half an hour later, he said they returned and attacked the western part of the town, leading to a chaotic shootout that also involved the Israeli military. Source link
More than two-thirds of Gazans could face acute hunger by the year-end as humanitarian agencies cut aid flows due to funding shortages, a global hunger monitor said on Wednesday.The latest assessment by the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification found that acute malnutrition levels, particularly among children, had declined significantly after food supplies and nutrition services were stepped up following the October 2025 ceasefire between Israel and Hamas. However, it said those gains risk being reversed.Food consumption remains inadequate for most families, and some households resort to begging and scavenging for food, the report said. Between mid-April and the end of June, more than 1.2mn people, or about 59% of Gaza’s population, faced acute hunger — defined as crisis-level or worse — including around 212,000 people in emergency conditions, the IPC said.That level is expected to rise to more than 1.4mn people, or 67% by December. After two years of war and the displacement of nearly all of the population, the majority of Gazans depend on aid.The global hunger monitor said in December that parts of Gaza were no longer experiencing famine conditions, reversing its August finding. It now warns those gains are at risk as the scale of assistance begins to decline. Supplementary feeding programmes for pregnant and breastfeeding women halved the number of people they serve to 6,000 between January and May this year.Further aid reductions were likely due to funding shortfalls and uncertainty over aid groups’ access. Israel rejected the IPC’s August findings and has consistently rejected allegations that it pursued a policy of starvation in Gaza, though it recognised there was a food shortage at that time. It has previously said sufficient aid was allowed into the enclave during the war. COGAT, the Israeli military arm that oversees aid flows into Gaza, dismissed the IPC report as biased. It said large quantities of food, water and medical supplies had entered Gaza since the ceasefire.The Israeli government did not immediately reply to a Reuters request for comment. Aid agencies have also warned that Gaza is facing an unprecedented collapse of its water and sanitation systems. Source link
-Bahrain announced today that it had intercepted several Iranian air attacks.In a statement, the General Command of the Bahrain Defence Force said Iran continues to pursue a hostile approach through attacks targeting civilians in Bahrain. It added that the Bahrain Defence Force’s air defense systems had intercepted and destroyed several Iranian aerial attacks today. The General Command added that it remains ready to protect Bahrain and safeguard its security and stability.It also urged citizens and residents to exercise caution, avoid approaching any unfamiliar or suspicious objects that may result from the attacks, and immediately report them to the relevant authorities. The statement added that the Royal Field Engineering Unit is on full alert and prepared to safely handle and dispose of such objects in a manner that ensures public safety.The General Command of the Bahrain Defence Force stressed that targeting civilians and civilian property with missiles and drones constitutes a flagrant violation of international humanitarian law. Source link
Jordan’s military intercepted seven missiles and six drones launched by Iran on Friday, it said, as Tehran pressed its attacks on US allies in the Middle East.The military said the interceptions, performed by air defence systems and air force planes, “resulted in no casualties or material damage. Source link
Israeli attacks on southern Lebanon continued despite the agreement reached between the two sides, which was brokered by the United States and includes security arrangements and the redeployment of the Lebanese army. The Lebanese National News Agency reported that Israeli forces carried out demolition operations at dawn targeting the town of Khiam, as well as several culverts along roads linking the towns of Haddatha, Taybeh, and Kounine. In a related development, Israeli forces opened machine gun fire this morning, Friday, on the outskirts of Majdal Zoun. The death toll from the Israeli aggression against Lebanon since March 2 has risen to 4,329, with 12,233 injured Source link