Latest news with #Israeli-backed
Hindustan Times
2 hours ago
- Politics
- Hindustan Times
‘Great Israeli conspiracy': Iran says Israel's bid to assassinate foreign minister Abbas Araghchi failed
Iranian authorities have claimed to have thwarted an Israeli-backed assassination attempt on foreign minister Abbas Araghchi, just days before his scheduled diplomatic mission to Geneva amid escalating hostilities between Iran and Israel. The development was announced by Mohammad Hossein Ranjbaran, an adviser to Araghchi, who stated that Iranian intelligence agencies uncovered and neutralised what he described as a 'major Israeli conspiracy' aimed at killing the top diplomat in Tehran. The alleged assassination attempt comes as Foreign Minister Araghchi prepares to meet with his British, French, and German counterparts in Geneva on Friday. 'If it were not for the security measures of the 'unknown soldiers of the homeland' (Iran intelligence team), perhaps a few days ago the great Israeli conspiracy against him would have been carried out in Tehran, which, thank God, failed,' Ranjbaran posted on X. The term 'unknown soldiers of the homeland' is commonly used in Iran to refer to its intelligence and security operatives. Abbas Araghchi's advisor further said that Iranian security concerns had intensified after it was announced that Araghchi would lead talks with the European 'troika.' He warned that threats to the minister's life remain ongoing. 'Yes, there certainly was and still is such a threat. Nevertheless, Seyed Abbas Araghchi considers himself a soldier of the motherland more than the head of the diplomatic service,' Ranjbaran's post read. Despite the alleged plot, Araghchi has proceeded with his travel plans and is currently en route to Geneva. His adviser said the minister remains unfazed by the threat. 'He seeks martyrdom,' Ranjbaran wrote. The Geneva meeting is being closely watched by international observers. European Union foreign policy chief Josep Borrell and British foreign secretary David Lammy are among the key figures expected to attend. The diplomatic push comes as the military conflict between Israel and Iran enters its second week, with Israeli airstrikes targeting Iranian military and nuclear infrastructure and Tehran responding with missile attacks. Speaking ahead of the talks, Lammy said, 'A window now exists within the next two weeks to achieve a diplomatic solution.' Iranian officials, meanwhile, have reiterated that such security threats—whether real or perceived—will not distract them from pursuing their broader strategic and diplomatic goals.
Express Tribune
9 hours ago
- Health
- Express Tribune
Gaza rescuers say Israeli fire kills 72
An injured man sits on the rubble of a building destroyed by an Israeli strike in Beit Lahia, Gaza. PHOTO:AFP Gaza's civil defence agency said Israeli forces killed at least 72 people on Thursday, including 21 who had gathered near aid distribution sites as famine looms after more than 20 months of war. Civil defence spokesman Mahmud Bassal told AFP that six people were killed while waiting for aid in the southern Gaza Strip and 15 others in a central area known as the Netzarim corridor, where thousands of Palestinians have gathered daily in the hope of receiving food rations. The Israeli army told AFP that its troops in Netzarim corridor — a strip of land militarised by Israel that bisects the Palestinian territory — had fired "warning shots" at "suspects" approaching them, but that it was "not aware of any injured individuals". The army did not comment on the incident reported in the south. In northern Gaza, Bassal said that nine separate Israeli strikes killed another 51 people, updating earlier tolls provided by his agency. Bassam Abu Shaar, who witnessed the shooting incident in the Netzarim area, said thousands of people had gathered there overnight in the hope of receiving aid at the US- and Israeli-backed distribution site when it opened in the morning. "Around 1:00 am (2200 GMT Wednesday), they started shooting at us," he told AFP by phone, reporting gunfire, tank shelling and bombs dropped by drones. Abu Shaar said that the size of the crowd had made it impossible for people to escape, with casualties left lying on the ground within walking distance of the distribution point, which is run by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation. "We couldn't help them or even escape ourselves," he said. At least 300 Palestinians have been killed in recent weeks while trying to reach aid distribution points in Gaza, which is suffering from famine-like conditions, the Hamas-run territory's health ministry has said. Israeli restrictions on media in the Gaza Strip and difficulties in accessing some areas mean AFP is unable to independently verify the tolls and details provided by rescuers and authorities in the Palestinian territory. In early March, Israel imposed an aid blockade on Gaza amid a deadlock in truce negotiations, only partially easing restrictions in late May.
AsiaOne
9 hours ago
- Health
- AsiaOne
As death toll rises, Gazans make life-risking journeys to seek food, World News
GAZA/CAIRO — Like thousands of other Palestinians in Gaza, Hind Al-Nawajha takes a dangerous, miles-long journey every day to try to get some food for her family, hoping she makes it back alive. Accompanied by her sister, Mazouza, the mother-of-four had to duck down and hide behind a pile of rubble on the side of the road as gunshots echoed nearby. "You either come back carrying (food) for your children and they will be happy, or you come back in a shroud, or you go back upset (without food) and your children will cry," said Nawajha, 38, a resident of Beit Lahiya, in northern Gaza. "This is life, we are being slaughtered, we can't do it anymore." In the past two days, dozens of Palestinians have also been killed by Israeli fire as they tried to get food from aid trucks brought into the enclave by the United Nations and international relief agencies, Gaza medics said. On Thursday (June 19), medics said at least 51 people were killed by Israeli gunfire and military strikes, including 12 people who tried to approach a site operated by the US-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) in the central Gaza Strip, the latest in near-daily reports of killings of people seeking food. The Israeli military said there were several attempts by "suspects" to approach forces in the area of Netzarim in the central Gaza Strip, in a manner that endangered them. It said forces fired warning shots to prevent suspects from approaching them, and it was currently unaware of injuries in the incident. In an email, GHF criticised Gazan health officials, accusing them of regularly releasing inaccurate information. GHF said that Palestinians do not access the nearby GHF site via the Netzarim corridor. It did not address questions about whether GHF was aware that such an incident had occurred. Thirty-nine people were killed, meanwhile, in separate Israeli airstrikes in the northern Gaza Strip, medics said. One of those strikes killed at least 19 people, including women and children, in a tent in Shati refugee camp in Gaza City, they added. Another strike killed at least 14 people and damaged several houses in Jabalia, in the north of the enclave, medics said. There was no immediate comment from the Israeli army on those attacks. In recent days, the Israeli military said its forces had opened fire and fired warning shots to disperse people who approached areas where troops were operating, posing a threat. It said it was reviewing reports of casualties among civilians. Sleeping by the road Israel has been channelling much of the aid it is now allowing into Gaza through a new US and Israeli-backed group, the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, which operates a handful of distribution sites in areas guarded by Israeli forces. The Gaza health ministry said hundreds of Palestinians have been killed trying to reach GHF sites since late May. The United Nations rejects the GHF delivery system as inadequate, dangerous and a violation of humanitarian impartiality rules. Israel says it is needed to prevent Hamas fighters from diverting aid, which Hamas denies. On Wednesday, the GHF said in a statement it had distributed 3 million meals across three of its aid sites without an incident. The Gaza war was triggered when Palestinian Hamas militants attacked Israel on Oct 7, 2023, killing 1,200 people and taking 251 hostages, according to Israeli tallies. Israel's subsequent military assault on Gaza has killed nearly 55,600 Palestinians, according to Gaza's health ministry, while displacing almost the entire population of more than 2 million and causing a hunger crisis. The Norwegian Refugee Council warned on Thursday that more than 1 million people were without adequate shelter, saying equipment such as tents and tarpaulins had been blocked by Israel from entering since March 1. Nawajha returned empty-handed on Wednesday from her journey to find food, flopping down exhausted on the dusty ground outside the tent in Gaza City, where she has been displaced and sheltering with her family. She and her sister have been camping by the road for the past 20 days. They say they try to force their way into the distribution site where trucks carrying aid arrive, but are often outmuscled by men, who sometimes fight over sacks of flour coming off UN trucks. "(When) there is no food, as you can see, children start crying and getting angry," said Nawajha. "When we are for three, four kilometres or more on our legs... Oh my... our feet are bruised and our shoes are torn off." [[nid:719244]]
New Straits Times
9 hours ago
- New Straits Times
As death toll rises, Gazans make life-risking journeys to seek food
LIKE thousands of other Palestinians in Gaza, Hind Al-Nawajha takes a dangerous, miles-long journey every day to try to get some food for her family, hoping she makes it back alive. Accompanied by her sister, Mazouza, the mother-of-four had to duck down and hide behind a pile of rubble on the side of the road as gunshots echoed nearby. "You either come back carrying (food) for your children and they will be happy, or you come back in a shroud, or you go back upset (without food) and your children will cry," said Nawajha, 38, a resident of Beit Lahiya, in northern Gaza. "This is life, we are being slaughtered, we can't do it anymore." In the past two days, dozens of Palestinians have also been killed by Israeli fire as they tried to get food from aid trucks brought into the enclave by the United Nations and international relief agencies, Gaza medics said. On Thursday, medics said at least 51 people were killed by Israeli gunfire and military strikes, including 12 people who tried to approach a site operated by the U.S.-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation in the central Gaza Strip, the latest in near-daily reports of killings of people seeking food. The Israeli military said there were several attempts by "suspects" to approach forces in the area of Netzarim in the central Gaza Strip, in a manner that endangered them. It said forces fired warning shots to prevent suspects from approaching them, and it was currently unaware of injuries in the incident. In an email, GHF criticized Gazan health officials, accusing them of regularly releasing inaccurate information. GHF said that Palestinians do not access the nearby GHF site via the Netzarim corridor. It did not address questions about whether GHF was aware that such an incident had occurred. Thirty-nine people were killed, meanwhile, in separate Israeli airstrikes in the northern Gaza Strip, medics said. One of those strikes killed at least 19 people, including women and children, in a tent in Shati refugee camp in Gaza City, they added. Another strike killed at least 14 people and damaged several houses in Jabalia, in the north of the enclave, medics said. There was no immediate comment from the Israeli army on those attacks. In recent days, the Israeli military said its forces had opened fire and fired warning shots to disperse people who approached areas where troops were operating, posing a threat. It said it was reviewing reports of casualties among civilians. Israel has been channelling much of the aid it is now allowing into Gaza through a new U.S.- and Israeli-backed group, the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, which operates a handful of distribution sites in areas guarded by Israeli forces. The Gaza health ministry said hundreds of Palestinians have been killed trying to reach GHF sites since late May. The United Nations rejects the GHF delivery system as inadequate, dangerous and a violation of humanitarian impartiality rules. Israel says it is needed to prevent Hamas fighters from diverting aid, which Hamas denies. On Wednesday, the GHF said in a statement it had distributed 3 million meals across three of its aid sites without an incident. The Gaza war was triggered when Hamas fighters attacked Israel on October 7, 2023, killing 1,200 people and taking 251 hostages, according to Israeli tallies. Israel's subsequent military assault on Gaza has killed nearly 55,600 Palestinians, according to Gaza's health ministry, while displacing almost the entire population of more than 2 million and causing a hunger crisis. The Norwegian Refugee Council warned on Thursday that more than one million people were without adequate shelter, saying equipment such as tents and tarpaulins had been blocked by Israel from entering since March 1. Nawajha returned empty-handed on Wednesday from her journey to find food, flopping down exhausted on the dusty ground outside the tent in Gaza City, where she has been displaced and sheltering with her family. She and her sister have been camping by the road for the past 20 days. They say they try to force their way into the distribution site where trucks carrying aid arrive, but are often outmuscled by men, who sometimes fight over sacks of flour coming off UN trucks. "(When) there is no food, as you can see, children start crying and getting angry," said Nawajha. "When we are for three, four kilometres or more on our legs... Oh my... our feet are bruised and our shoes are torn off."
Express Tribune
15 hours ago
- Politics
- Express Tribune
Israel kills at least 72 in Gaza strikes, including 21 near aid sites
An injured man sits on the rubble of a building destroyed by an Israeli strike in Beit Lahia, Gaza. PHOTO:AFP Listen to article Gaza's civil defence agency said Israeli forces killed at least 72 people on Thursday, including 21 who had gathered near aid distribution sites as famine looms after more than 20 months of war. Civil defence spokesman Mahmud Bassal told AFP that six people were killed while waiting for aid in the southern Gaza Strip and 15 others in a central area known as the Netzarim corridor, where thousands of Palestinians have gathered daily in the hope of receiving food rations. The Israeli army told AFP that its troops in Netzarim corridor -- a strip of land militarised by Israel that bisects the Palestinian territory -- had fired "warning shots" at "suspects" approaching them, but that it was "not aware of any injured individuals". The army did not comment on the incident reported in the south. In northern Gaza, Bassal said that nine separate Israeli strikes killed another 51 people, updating earlier tolls provided by his agency. Bassam Abu Shaar, who witnessed the shooting incident in the Netzarim area, said thousands of people had gathered there overnight in the hope of receiving aid at the US- and Israeli-backed distribution site when it opened in the morning. "Around 1:00 am (2200 GMT Wednesday), they started shooting at us," he told AFP by phone, reporting gunfire, tank shelling and bombs dropped by drones. Abu Shaar said that the size of the crowd had made it impossible for people to escape, with casualties left lying on the ground within walking distance of the distribution point, which is run by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation. "We couldn't help them or even escape ourselves," he said. At least 300 Palestinians have been killed in recent weeks while trying to reach aid distribution points in Gaza, which is suffering from famine-like conditions, the Hamas-run territory's health ministry has said. Israeli restrictions on media in the Gaza Strip and difficulties in accessing some areas mean AFP is unable to independently verify the tolls and details provided by rescuers and authorities in the Palestinian territory. In early March, Israel imposed an aid blockade on Gaza amid a deadlock in truce negotiations, only partially easing restrictions in late May. After Israel loosened its blockade, the privately run Gaza Humanitarian Foundation began distributing aid, but its operations have been marred by chaotic scenes. UN agencies and major aid groups have refused to cooperate with the foundation -- which has the support of Israel and its ally the United States -- over concerns it was designed to cater to Israeli military objectives.
