Israeli forces kill 25 in Gaza, including 12 in shelter for displaced
GAZA CITY : Gaza's civil defence agency said Israeli forces killed at least 25 people today, including 12 in a strike on a school sheltering Palestinians displaced by the war nearing its 22nd month.
Israel has recently expanded its military operations in the Gaza Strip, where the war since October 2023 has created dire humanitarian conditions and displaced nearly all of the territory's population of more than 2 million.
Many have sought shelter in school buildings, but these have repeatedly come under Israeli attacks that the military often says target Hamas rebels hiding among civilians.
In Gaza City today, civil defence official Mohammad al-Mughayyir told AFP there were '12 martyrs, the majority of them children and women, and a large number of injuries in an Israeli air strike on the Mustafa Hafez School, which shelters displaced persons, in the Al-Rimal neighbourhood'.
AFP footage showed young children wandering through the charred, bombed out building, as piles of burnt debris smouldered.
Groups of Palestinians picked through the rubble and damaged furniture that littered the floor.
Contacted by AFP, the Israeli military said it was looking into the report as well as another incident, in central Gaza, where according to Mughayyir Israeli gunfire killed people seeking humanitarian aid.
The civil defence official said the gunfire killed six people and resulted in 'a large number of injuries' among a group of Palestinians near an aid distribution site.
It is the latest in a string of deadly incidents that have hit people trying to receive scarce supplies.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu yesterday vowed to eradicate Hamas, whose 2023 attack on Israel triggered the war, even after the Palestinian resistance group said it was studying new proposals for a ceasefire from mediators.
US President Donald Trump has said the latest ceasefire push, aiming for an initial 60-day truce, had Israel's backing.
Across Gaza today, Mughayyir said artillery shelling in the northern town of Beit Lahia killed three people.
A strike on Jabalia, also in the north, killed one.
Further south, three people were killed in a strike that hit tents housing displaced people in the coastal Al-Mawasi area, Mughayyir said.
Despite being declared a safe zone by Israel in December 2023, Al-Mawasi has been hit by repeated strikes.
Media restrictions in Gaza and difficulties in accessing many areas mean AFP is unable to independently verify the tolls and details provided by rescuers.
The Israeli military did not comment on the reported incidents in Bait Lahia, Jabalia and Al-Mawasi, but told AFP in response that it was 'operating to dismantle Hamas military capabilities' and that it 'follows international law and takes feasible precautions to mitigate civilian harm'.
Hamas's Oct 7, 2023 attack that prompted the Israeli offensive resulted in the deaths of 1,219 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on Israeli official figures.
Israel's retaliatory military campaign has killed at least 57,012 people in Gaza, also mostly civilians, according to the Hamas-run territory's health ministry.
The United Nations considers its figures reliable.
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JULY 4 — The current state of international diplomacy is being shaped not by declarations etched in treaties, but by gestures and optics that straddle the line between the real and the imagined. The case of the ostensible ceasefire in Gaza is a glaring example. Negotiated under the auspices of President Donald Trump — now in his second non-consecutive term as the 47th President of the United States — the ceasefire proposal is not yet enforceable, but its influence is already far-reaching. It has changed travel plans, softened diplomatic tensions, and — perhaps most importantly — repositioned Southeast Asia's role in global diplomacy. What's unfolding is a paradox of modern diplomacy: an undeclared ceasefire that, despite not being real in military terms, is already reshaping geopolitical realities. For the upcoming Asean Regional Forum (ARF) in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, this fiction has provided a stage for reality to emerge. 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Hence, the ceasefire remains an 'ostensible' one: a hopeful diplomatic façade masking an unrelenting ground reality. Yet fiction has its uses. This very illusion of a truce has allowed diplomatic momentum to shift from crisis management in the Middle East to strategic planning in the Indo-Pacific. And it has changed the itinerary of one of the world's most powerful diplomats. Israeli bombs have not stopped falling on Gaza — particularly in Khan Younis and Rafah — and civilian casualties continue to mount. — AFP pic Rubio postpones East Asia trip — but with intent Originally scheduled to travel to Japan and South Korea in the first week of July, Secretary Rubio abruptly cancelled both visits. Officially, the reason was to focus on the Middle East. But analysts have been quick to note that this decision had additional advantages for both Japan and South Korea — especially given the domestic volatility in both countries. In Japan, Prime Minister Ishiba Shigeru is grappling with the possibility of an electoral backlash in the Upper House election on July 20. Trade negotiations with the United States have stalled over issues such as tariffs on automobiles, digital services, and agriculture. A visit from Rubio, carrying the pressure of the Trump administration's new economic doctrine, could have forced Ishiba into public concessions that would weaken his domestic credibility. As Sheila Smith of the Council on Foreign Relations aptly noted, Rubio's decision to bypass Tokyo was 'fortuitous'. In South Korea, President Lee Jae-Myung faces a faltering economy. The Bank of Korea has slashed its 2025 GDP forecast to just 0.8 per cent. Rumours of a US withdrawal of 4,500 troops from the peninsula have also created anxiety in Seoul. Lee is in no position to confront the twin challenges of economic downturn and American strategic retrenchment. Rubio's decision to forgo a visit removes at least one political headache from the Korean leader's immediate horizon. Asean Regional Forum as a strategic pivot The geopolitical beneficiary of all this is the 31st Asean Regional Forum (ARF), scheduled for July 9 to 11 in Kuala Lumpur. With Rubio confirmed to attend in his dual role, the ARF has been catapulted into relevance. No longer a 'talk shop', the ARF has become the multilateral venue for serious side-bar conversations between Washington, Beijing, Tokyo, Seoul, Riyadh, Doha, and Jakarta. Rubio's presence will lend heft to the ARF, but more importantly, it reflects a US foreign policy recalibration. Under Trump's renewed leadership, Washington is taking a harder, transactional approach to alliances, but also an increasingly pragmatic stance toward regional diplomacy. The multilateral format of the ARF offers cover for difficult conversations without the bilateral optics that can inflame domestic politics. Strategic relief for Muslim-majority South-east Asia For the Group Chair of Asean — Malaysia — and for preponderantly Muslim countries like Indonesia and Brunei, the ostensible ceasefire in Gaza offers strategic relief. Since October 2023, Muslim-majority governments in South-east Asia have been under immense domestic pressure to condemn Israeli actions, suspend economic relations with Israel, and vocally support the Palestinian cause. However, as state actors, these governments must navigate a delicate balance: staying true to public sentiment while maintaining geopolitical neutrality. The proposed ceasefire, though not yet implemented, grants them a temporary reprieve. It allows Asean Muslim-majority states to shift the regional narrative back toward development, security, and digital transformation. For Malaysia, this moment is particularly consequential. As ARF host and Asean Chair, Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim has the rare opportunity to preside over an Indo-Pacific security dialogue at a time of extreme global flux. With Rubio present, the spotlight is firmly on Kuala Lumpur. This enables Anwar to reassert Malaysia's civilisational diplomacy — grounded in Islamic moderation and Asian consensus — as a bridge between the Global North and Global South. The return of Trump: Consolidating global recalibration All of this unfolds against the backdrop of Donald Trump's aggressive political reassertion. Since assuming the presidency for a second time in January 2025, Trump has pressed forward with what his aides call the 'Golden Age' doctrine. This includes the recent passage of the 'Big, Beautiful Bill', which slashes social spending while locking in tax cuts and expanding defence budgets. The US Supreme Court has also strengthened executive power, granting Trump leeway unseen since the Reagan era. On the foreign policy front, Trump has approved surgical strikes on Iranian and Houthi military targets, even as he pushes peace negotiations in Gaza. The contradictory nature of these moves — bombing while brokering — mirrors the duality of the Gaza ceasefire it self: part illusion, part strategy. It is precisely this context that makes the ARF more important. For South-east Asia, a region often caught in the crossfire of US-China rivalry, the ARF offers a rare moment of regional autonomy. With global attention diverted to the Middle East, and bilateral diplomacy in Northeast Asia on hold, Asean must seize the moment to reassert its relevance. Conclusion: Fiction with consequences The ostensible ceasefire in Gaza may be fictional in military terms, but its diplomatic impact is already deeply real. It has shifted attention from bilateral pressure points in Japan and South Korea to multilateral engagement in Southeast Asia. It has relieved Muslim-majority governments in Asean from having to respond daily to the moral outrage of Gaza. And most importantly, it has turned the Asean Regional Forum into a newly relevant stage for strategic dialogue in the Indo-Pacific. In a world where perception often precedes policy, the fiction of peace may well be the prelude to real stability. For Malaysia and the rest of Asean, this is a chance not to be missed. * Phar Kim Beng, PhD, is the Director of the Institute of Internationalization and Asean Studies (IINTAS) at IIUM, and Lutfy Hamzah is a Senior Research Fellow at IINTAS. ** This is the personal opinion of the writers or publication and does not necessarily represent the views of Malay Mail.
