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Iran-Israel war: latest developments
Iran-Israel war: latest developments

News24

time12 hours ago

  • Politics
  • News24

Iran-Israel war: latest developments

Ahmad Al-Rubaye/AFP Israel and Iran exchanged fire again on Thursday, the seventh day of the war between the longtime enemies. Here are the latest developments: Hospital strike A hospital in southern Israel was hit as Iran fired 'dozens' of missiles, officials said, with impacts also reported in two Israeli towns close to commercial hub Tel Aviv. The Soroka Hospital in Beersheba was left in flames, and its director, Shlomi Codish, said 40 people had sustained injuries. 'Several wards were completely demolished, and there is extensive damage across the entire hospital,' he said. Iran said the main target of its missile attack was not the hospital but a nearby military and intelligence base. READ | Israel sirens sound as missiles shot from Iran, countries evacuate citizens from conflict The International Committee of the Red Cross, citing international law, stated that 'hospitals must be respected and protected.' UN rights chief Volker Turk urged restraint from both Iran and Israel, saying it is 'appalling to see how civilians are treated as collateral damage in the conduct of hostilities'. Meanwhile, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Tehran would pay a 'heavy price'. Israel threatens Khamenei Speaking in Beersheba after the hospital strike, Netanyahu said Israel was "committed to destroying... the threat of a nuclear annihilation" as well as Iran's ballistic missile capabilities. His defence minister, Israel Katz, said Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei "can no longer be allowed to exist". "Khamenei openly declares that he wants Israel destroyed - he personally gives the order to fire on hospitals," Katz told reporters. Such a man can no longer be allowed to exist. President Donald Trump said Tuesday that the United States was aware of Khamenei's location but would not kill him "for now". Iraq's top Shiite cleric Grand Ayatollah Ali Sistani warned that any targeting of Iran's "supreme religious and political leadership" would have "dire consequences on the region". Trump mulls joining Trump said on Wednesday he was considering whether to join Israel's strikes and that Iran had reached out seeking negotiations on ending the conflict. 'I may do it, I may not do it,' Trump told reporters. 'I can tell you this, that Iran's got a lot of trouble, and they want to negotiate.' READ | Netanyahu warns Iran will 'pay a heavy price' for hospital strike as Trump mulls US action Iran and European diplomats said nuclear talks would be held in Geneva on Friday, bringing together top diplomats from Britain, France, Germany and the European Union, as well as Tehran's Abbas Araghchi. The Wall Street Journal reported Trump has told aides he has approved attack plans but is holding off to see if Iran will give up its nuclear programme. A key Iranian government body, the Guardian Council, warned against any US involvement in the war, threatening a 'harsh response' if 'the criminal American government and its stupid president... take action against Islamic Iran'. Tehran ally Moscow said any US military action 'would be an extremely dangerous step', while pro-Iran groups in Iraq threatened retaliatory attacks. A senior US diplomat, Tom Barrack, warned the Iran-backed Lebanese group Hezbollah against getting involved in the war, which he said in Beirut 'would be a very, very, very bad decision'. Nuclear sites, missile launchers The Israeli military said it struck an 'inactive nuclear reactor' in Arak in overnight raids on Iran that also saw the uranium enrichment facility in Natanz targeted again. It said the strike on the Arak site was carried out 'to prevent the reactor from being restored'. Netanyahu told Israeli public broadcaster Kan that Israel had destroyed 'more than half' of Iran's missile launchers since Friday. He said: I said that we're changing the face of the Middle East, and now I say we're changing the face of the world. Iran's Revolutionary Guards said more than 100 'combat and suicide' drones were launched at Israel on Thursday. Arrests Iranian police announced the arrest on Thursday of 24 people accused of spying for Israel and 'trying to disturb public opinion and to tarnish and destroy the image of the sacred system of the Islamic Republic of Iran', according to a statement carried by Tasnim news agency. Authorities in both Israel and Iran have announced arrests for espionage and other charges since the war began on Friday. Norway-based NGO Iran Human Rights said at least 223 people have been arrested nationwide on charges related to collaboration with Israel, cautioning that the actual figure was likely higher.

Trump-backed Gaza aid sites temporarily close after dozens killed in shootings
Trump-backed Gaza aid sites temporarily close after dozens killed in shootings

Yahoo

time18 hours ago

  • Health
  • Yahoo

Trump-backed Gaza aid sites temporarily close after dozens killed in shootings

WASHINGTON − A Gaza aid group backed by the Trump administration is on the ropes after dozens of Palestinians were shot dead while trying to collect food from its militarized checkpoints, humanitarian officials said. The group temporarily paused operations on June 4 and said it was talking to Israel's military about safeguarding civilians after a hospital reported the recent deaths of at least 48 people trying to reach an aid site. The new Gaza Humanitarian Foundation has denied anyone was injured – let alone killed – at the aid sites since they started operations on May 26. But shooting deaths and injuries have mounted among masses of Palestinians walking to the foundation's distribution points. Israel's forces "carried out warning fire" around a third of a mile from the Rafah distribution site on June 3, IDF spokesperson Effie Defrin said, "targeting a few individuals who were approaching in a way that posed a security threat." But the number of deaths and injuries exceeded "a few." Hospital workers described two shootings near a distribution site in Rafah, in southern Gaza, as "mass casualty" events. On June 1, medics received 179 wounded people, of whom 21 were dead on arrival, according to the International Committee of the Red Cross, which operates the field hospital. Another influx of 184 wounded arrived at the Red Cross field hospital June 3, the ICRC said in a statement; 19 were declared dead on arrival, and eight more died of their wounds not long afterwards. "Again, all responsive patients said they were trying to reach an assistance distribution site," the ICRC said. The Gaza Humanitarian Foundation has faced heavy criticism from established aid organizations, who alleged its closeness with Israel and militarized aid model would put civilians in harms way. With large groups of Palestinians passing by armed Israeli soldiers to collect food, "every day, they're running the risk of a mass shooting," Jeremy Konyndyk, the president of Refugees International, told USA TODAY. USA TODAY was not able to independently verify the number of people killed and wounded − or who fired the shots. A Gaza Humanitarian Foundation spokesperson confirmed operations were paused on June 4, adding the group was in discussions with the Israeli Defense Forces about how it could "enhance its security measures beyond the immediate perimeter" of the sites. While Israel blamed Hamas for the gunshot deaths and injuries, the foundation asked the IDF to "enhance" training for soldiers and "introduce measures that guide foot traffic in a way that minimizes confusion or escalation risks near IDF military perimeters," according to a statement. In an email a day earlier, the foundation said that although "aid distribution was conducted safely and without incident," the IDF was investigating whether civilians were injured at "an area well beyond" its operating area. "We recognize the difficult nature of the situation and advise all civilians to remain in the safe corridor when traveling to our distribution sites," the group said. Konyndyk said the foundation's operating model made mass shootings a 'very predictable risk.' It 'forces huge crowds of desperately hungry people to pass through IDF security perimeters in order to get to the aid distribution sites,' he said. Israel completely shut down all aid entering Gaza for nearly three months beginning in early March, accusing Hamas of stealing the supplies. As the international community warned of imminent mass starvation, the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation appeared on the scene. The group touted its distribution sites, with high fences and armed guards, as a way to prevent theft while getting food to Palestinians. Israel has also long accused the United Nations, which previously distributed most of Gaza's aid, of anti-Israel bias. But distrust of the new group bloomed among aid workers over its ties to Israel. The foundation has also been criticized for opening just four sites throughout the 2 million-person enclave, forcing Palestinians to walk long distances to receive aid. Israel said militants had opened fire on civilians trying to collect aid on June 1, blaming Hamas for "spreading rumors" and "fake news" that its soldiers were behind the gunfire. Hamas is "trying bluntly, violently to stop the people of Gaza from reaching those distribution centers," Defrin said in a video statement. The U.S. has stood behind its ally. "It is Hamas that continues to terrorize and intimidate those who seek food aid," U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee said in a June 2 statement. U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said the shootings merited an independent investigation. "It is unacceptable that Palestinians are risking their lives for food," he said in a June 2 statement. More: Chaos and criticism for Trump-backed Gaza aid plan as 47 are injured Israel dropped its aid blockade in mid-May. Humanitarian organizations say only a trickle of aid has reached its population, which is on the brink of famine. Israel has accused Hamas of looting aid – a charge refuted by the World Food Program and other aid organizations, which say starving people have raided recently arriving trucks and warehouses amid the mass food shortage. Israel launched its siege of Gaza after the Hamas attack on Oct. 7, 2023, killed 1,200 Israelis. More than 54,000 Palestinians have been killed in the conflict since, according to the Hamas-run health ministry. This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Trump-backed Gaza aid sites close after 'mass casualty' shootings

Shelling The Aid Seekers: Israel's 'Humanitarian' Project In Gaza
Shelling The Aid Seekers: Israel's 'Humanitarian' Project In Gaza

Scoop

timea day ago

  • Politics
  • Scoop

Shelling The Aid Seekers: Israel's 'Humanitarian' Project In Gaza

It's official. If not, it ought to be. Israeli forces freely butcher Palestinians in Gaza of all stripes, standing and states of desperation. They do so casually or indifferently or maliciously. True, they might get the odd militant here and there, but the supposedly professional Israeli Defense Forces is rather good at killing civilians. In what is becoming an almost daily occurrence, Israeli security personnel are slaughtering those seeking humanitarian aid from facilities that are obscenely restricted and appallingly located. What is unclear in the process is how devastating Palestinian militias armed and supported by the Israelis have been in pushing up the mortality count. In one incident on June 17, Israeli tanks – not exactly a light form of population control – fired into a crown scrounging for aid from trucks in Gaza. The resulting death toll was impressively outrageous: 59 killed. A further 14 were also killed by IDF gunfire and air strikes in the enclave, taking the death toll for June 17 to 73. On this occasion, Israel's normally mendacious publicity arm in the IDF seemed to concede that the firing had taken place. It followed that yet another cleansing review would take place. According to Reuters, a witness by the name of Alaa interviewed at Nasser Hospital saw the following spectacle of gore: 'All of a sudden, they let us move forward and made everyone gather, and then shells started falling, tank shells.' The IDF breezily stated that it was 'aware of reports regarding a number of injured individuals from IDF fire following the crowd's approach. The details of the incident are under view. The IDF regrets any harm to uninvolved individuals and operates to minimise harm as much as possible to them while maintaining the safety of our troops.' The previous day, 34 people awaiting to collect food were killed by IDF personnel near an aid centre operated by the Israeli- and US-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, a body whose dubious credentials never cease to amaze. Eyewitnesses in the crowd, including Heba Jouda and Mohamed Abed, recall Israeli troops firing on Palestinians massed around 4 a.m. at the Flag Roundabout prior to the scheduled opening of the Rafah food centre. The roundabout is located some hundreds of metres from the GHF centre, and has been the site of numerous shootings. 'Fire was coming from everywhere,' stated Jouda, a worn figure who has made the harrowing journey to the aid centre a number of times. 'It's getting worse by the day.' The International Committee on the Red Cross (ICRC) confirmed receiving 200 people at its field hospital located in the Al-Mawasi area near Rafah. Up till that point, the ICRC stated that it had been 'the highest number received by the Red Cross Field Hospital in one mass casualty incident.' Carrie Garavan, a British Red Cross nurse working at the field hospital, notes the daily flow of casualties into the facility, most of whom have been queuing for food. 'We are having mass casualty incidents almost every day, sometimes twice a day.' The GHF, for its part, is lukewarm to the fattening butcher's bill. None of the shooting incidents, claimed a spokesperson to The Associated Press, 'have occurred at our sites or during operating hours.' Implying that those seeking aid were responsible for their own demise, the spokesperson went on to explain that they had moved 'during prohibited times … or trying to take a shortcut.' How irresponsible of them. In oral evidence given to the UK Foreign Affairs Committee on June 16, Anna Halford, the Médecins Sans Frontières emergency coordinator for Gaza, found it 'difficult to overstate at what point this is neither a humanitarian enterprise nor a system.' The entire Israeli aid effort in Gaza, as things stood, 'was basically lethal chaos.' Prior to the current lethal order of aid distribution, 400 to 500 community-level points were functioning for those seeking food. Kitchens cooking hot meals and bakeries supplying bread were plentiful. The numbers currently operating had plummeted to four. Halford's picture of what is being provided is grisly. The rations are only of the dry variety. There is an absence of clean water and cooking fuel, with no cooking gas entering the enclave since March 2. Substitute kerosene has proven woefully inadequate, causing those using it burns. Food is cooked on broken wooden pallets, salvaged plastic taken from piles of rubbish or turned up cardboard boxes. As for the justification given by Israel for the imposition of such onerous, cruel restrictions to the provision of aid – the deviation and theft of aid by Hamas or allied forces - Halford, speaking on behalf of MSF, was sharp in rebuke. While no aid system could ever guarantee against some deviation or theft of supplies, Israel had never offered any evidence to back its claims. 'It is a strawman; it is a specious and cynical position meant to undermine a humanitarian system that was actually functioning.' And that is precisely the point of the current, sanguinary exercise.

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