Israeli strikes kill 31 in Gaza, health officials say
The Israeli military meanwhile said it killed a senior Hamas militant last month who had held a hostage in his home.
Advertisement
The 21-month war triggered by Hamas' October 7 attack is raging on after two days of talks between US president Donald Trump and Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu ended last week with no sign of a breakthrough in negotiations over a ceasefire and hostage release.
Twelve people were killed by strikes in southern Gaza, including three who were waiting at an aid distribution point, according to Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis, which received the bodies.
Shifa Hospital in Gaza City also received 12 bodies, including three children and two women, after a series of strikes in the north, according to the hospital's director, Dr Mohammed Abu Selmia.
Al-Awda Hospital in central Gaza reported six killed and eight wounded in strikes in the built-up Nuseirat refugee camp.
Advertisement
The Israeli military says it targets only militants and tries to avoid harming civilians. It blames civilian deaths on Hamas because the militants operate in densely populated areas.
The military said a June 19 strike killed Muhammad Nasr Ali Quneita, who it said had taken part in the October 7 attack and held hostage Emily Damari, a dual Israeli-British citizen, in his home at the start of the war.
There was no comment from Hamas nor independent confirmation.
Thousands of Hamas-led militants stormed into Israel that day, killing some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and abducting 251 people, most of whom have since been released in ceasefire agreements or other deals. The militants are still holding 50 hostages, less than half of them believed to be alive.
Advertisement
Israel's retaliatory offensive has killed more than 58,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza's Health Ministry, which has said women and children make up more than half of the dead.
It does not distinguish between civilians and militants in its tally.
The ministry is part of the Hamas-run government and is led by medical professionals. The United Nations and other experts consider its figures to be the most reliable count of war casualties.
Separately, three Israeli soldiers were killed in northern Gaza, according to the military. A military official, speaking on condition of anonymity in line with regulations, said on Monday that they died in an explosion in their tank, apparently after it was hit by an anti-tank missile, though the incident was still being examined.
Advertisement
Israel's air and ground war has destroyed vast areas of Gaza and driven some 90% of the population from their homes. Aid groups say they have struggled to bring in food and other assistance because of Israeli military restrictions and the breakdown of law and order, and experts have warned of famine.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Independent
32 minutes ago
- The Independent
‘It's a concentration camp': Everything we know about Trump's new ‘Alligator Alcatraz' in the Florida Everglades
The name given by Donald Trump and his allies to Florida 's new barebones immigrant detention camp is ghoulish enough: 'Alligator Alcatraz'. Critics, however, argue that it is nothing less than a concentration camp on American soil, designed to round up disfavored minorities even if they have committed no crimes. Rapidly built and opened in the space of just two weeks on a remote and rarely used airstrip in Florida's reptile-rich Everglades, the camp is intended to hold up to 5,000 people arrested by U.S. immigration authorities while they await deportation. Numerous detainees, their families, and their lawyers have already alleged inhumane and unsafe conditions, including maggoty food and overflowing toilets. Polling suggests that almost half of all Americans disapprove of the facility, with only 26 per cent of independent voters being in favor. So what exactly is Alligator Alcatraz, and what will happen to the so far 700-odd people detained there? Surrounded by alligators and pythons Long before his 2024 election victory, Donald Trump and his team were drawing up plans to deport millions of people every year — and hold them in vast new detention camps while their cases were processed. Alligator Alcatraz is a preview of that potential future. Rather than being the federal government, it's actually a project of Florida's Republican governor — and former Trump election rival — Ron DeSantis, who invoked emergency powers to seize the land last month. Who funded this remains unclear. DeSantis has said he will be reimbursed by the federal government, and Trump's homeland security secretary, Kristi Noem, has said it will be "largely funded" by FEMA. Yet in court filings, the U.S. Justice Department has claimed that "not implemented, authorized, directed, or funded Florida's temporary detention center" — despite the fact that immigration enforcement is handled by the federal government. Regardless, Republicans have made no secret of their rationale. "You don't need to invest that much in the perimeter," claimed Florida's attorney general James Uthmeier. "If people get out, there's not much waiting for them other than alligators and pythons." And yes, 'Alligator Alcatraz' is now its official name. It's even emblazoned on road signs that lead to the facility. 'Packed into cages' The facility's construction is extremely basic — and its conditions are allegedly brutal. Detainees are kept in metal cages, with dozens of people packed into each one, housed inside gigantic heavy-duty tents in the sweltering heat. Even the staff appear to be based in temporary prefab huts and mobile trailers parked nearby. Detainees and their families have reported worm-infested food, routine medical neglect, unreliable air conditioning, and inadequate toilets that overflow and cover the floor with feces. Government officials have adamantly disputed these accusations, but have provided few details and have denied access to the media. In total, there are currently around 3,000 beds. 'They have no way to bathe, no way to wash their mouths, the toilet overflows and the floor is flooded with pee and poop,' said the wife of one 35-year-old Cuban detainee. "They eat once a day and have two minutes to eat. The meals have worms." At one point, detainees "all went on a hunger strike" in protest against the conditions, she said, adding that her calls with him were interrupted every three minutes by an automated voice saying the conversation was recorded. Lawyers have also reported being refused access and prevented from speaking to their clients. Leamsy 'La Figura' Izquierdo, a Cuban reggaeton artist arrested last week in Miami-Dade County for assault with a deadly weapon and transferred to Alligator Alcatraz, likewise told CBS News: 'There's no water to take a bath, it's been four days since I've taken a bath. "They only brought a meal once a day and it has maggots. They never take off the lights for 24 hours. The mosquitoes are as big as elephants." Another detainee said guards had taken away his Bible and told him that "here there is no right to religion". Democratic legislators who visited the camp say they're deeply concerned. While a bipartisan group was allowed to visit on July 12 — as required by state law — they were given a "sanitized" tour of still-empty areas with no detainees. Even then, their review was harsh. 'They are essentially packed into cages, wall-to-wall humans," said Florida congresswoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz. 'This place needs to be shut the hell down. They're abusing human beings." A spokesperson for the Florida state government said, "The reporting on the conditions in the facility is completely false. The facility meets all required standards and is in good working order." Who is detained there? In early July, Donald Trump claimed that the Florida facility would "handle the most menacing migrants, some of the most vicious people on the planet" — and said he wants to see similar facilities built in "many states". But what we know of Alligator Alcatraz's inmates conflicts with his description. According to The Miami Herald and Tampa Bay Times, only one-third of the 700 people currently being held there have any criminal conviction whatsoever. 250 detainees have been judged to have broken immigration law, which is a civil offence and not a criminal one. One detainee, who described the conditions as potentially "a form of torture", told CBS: "A lot of us have our residency documents and we don't understand why we're here." That fits the general pattern of Trump's detentions so far. Despite promising to prioritize "the worst of the worst", data suggests that only 8 percent of the estimated 185,000 people detained by ICE between October 1, 2024 and May 31, 2025 had been convicted of a serious crime. One-third of detainees had some kind of criminal conviction, but among that group, 75 percent had only committed low-level crimes such as traffic offenses. How long detainees will stay at Alligator Alcatraz is unclear, but immigration court proceedings can take months or years, and the Trump administration has said it will deny bail en masse. Hence, it could be a long time for some. Is it a concentration camp? Some critics believe so. Among them is the journalist Andrea Pitzer, author of One Long Night: A Global History of Concentration Camps, who made her case in a recent op-ed for MSNBC. "This facility's purpose fits the classic model: mass civilian detention without real trials targeting vulnerable groups for political gain based on ethnicity, race, religion or political affiliation rather than for crimes committed," Pitzer wrote. "We're still in the early stages of this arc, but... the history of this kind of detention underlines that it would be a mistake to think the current cruelties are the endpoint. America is likely just getting started." While the term 'concentration camp' is most associated with the Nazis, such camps have been widely used by numerous nations, including the U.K., the U.S., Spain, and the Soviet Union. Immigration lawyer Raul A. Reyes likewise argued in The Los Angeles Times that Alligator Alcatraz is a "national disgrace" that "will place detainees in life-threatening conditions". He further claimed the facility "appears intentionally designed to inflict suffering on detainees", citing supporters' "gleeful" attitude to the idea of federal detainees being eaten by alligators. The Florida Republican Party, and Uthmeier himself, are even selling Alligator Alcatraz merchandise, including baseball caps, water bottles, and beer koozies.
BreakingNews.ie
36 minutes ago
- BreakingNews.ie
‘Everybody will follow' Irish ban on Israeli settlements trade, committee told
A ban on trade between Ireland and illegal Israeli settlements will prompt other countries to follow suit, a committee has heard. Irish-Palestinian woman Fatin Al Tamimi, who is vice-chairwoman of the Ireland Palestine Solidarity Campaign, said Ireland passing the Bill would give Palestinians hope. Advertisement 'Ireland, the world is watching. Please do your best to (do) the right thing, to pass this occupied territories Bill and give the Palestinians hope. 'When Ireland starts, everybody will follow on because it's a legal obligation, it's a moral obligation for all countries, including Ireland. 'It is important for Ireland to start, and then everybody will follow.' Israeli, Palestinian and Jewish representatives, including former justice minister Alan Shatter, appeared before TDs and senators on Tuesday to discuss the draft laws. Advertisement Maurice Cohen, chairman of the Jewish Representative Council of Ireland, said the Bill was 'performance politics dressed as principle' that does not help Palestinians. Describing himself as a Dublin-born Jew, he said that criticism of Israel was not antisemitism, but 'when criticism becomes a campaign and becomes law… we have to pause'. He said the support for the Bill was done in 'good faith' but was not a plan for peace. He said 'selective outrage' was not foreign policy and double standards do not serve peace efforts. Advertisement 'This Bill, in tone and in consequence, isolates moderates and powers extremes and undermines the credibility that Ireland has built as a voice for reason and reconciliation in the field of peacebuilding.' Natasha Hausdorff, a barrister with Ireland Israel Alliance, said the Bill would create 'a government-required partial boycott of Israel'. She said this would force US companies based in Ireland to violate federal anti-boycott laws that could see them given fines or prison sentences. Both Mr Shatter and Ms Hausdorff said they did not accept Israeli settlements on Palestinian lands are illegal. Advertisement Ireland 'How dare you': Alan Shatter criticised in committ... Read More Labour TD Duncan Smith said that as Mr Shatter, Ms Hausdorff and Mr Cohen had not recognised that Israeli settlements on Palestinian lands were illegal, it 'heavily' caveated their evidence. 'I think that's a fundamental point here, in terms of this entire hearing (with Israeli/Jewish representatives), is that there is that fundamental disagreement. 'So we diverge at the very start with all witnesses on this.'
The Guardian
41 minutes ago
- The Guardian
The Guardian view on the children of Gaza: when 17,000 die, it's more than a mistake
On Sunday, an Israeli strike killed six Palestinian children – and four adults – as they queued for water in a refugee camp. The deaths of children may be the most terrible part of any war. It is not only the suffering of the innocent and powerless, and the unimaginable pain of surviving parents – as dreadful as those are – but the knowledge of lives ended when they had barely begun, of futures that should have stretched long into the distance severed in an instant. As shocking as Sunday's deaths were, they are commonplace in Gaza: a classroom-worth of children have been killed each day since the war began. What marked them out was that so many deaths happened at once and publicly; and that Israel's military felt obliged to acknowledge its responsibility – though without any great contrition. It claimed that a 'technical error with the munition' caused it to miss its intended target and added that it 'regrets any harm to uninvolved civilians'. What does this bloodless, bureaucratic language have to do with the bloody deaths of six already traumatised children? These deaths were not a mistake. They were a tragedy – like those of the 10 children killed days before, as they queued outside a clinic. The Israeli military said, again, that it regretted any harm to civilians. And yet the bodies of children pile up. Children killed as they sheltered in former schools; children killed as they fled Israeli forces; children killed as they slept at home. Gaza's ministry of health says that more than 17,000 of the 58,000 Palestinians killed are children. Israel says that it seeks to minimise harm to civilians. The death toll belies that and Israeli intelligence sources told reporters last year that at times they were permitted to kill up to 20 civilians to take out even junior militants – with the preference being to attack targets when they were at home, because it was easier. Those six thirsty children should not have needed to queue for water due to what the UN calls a human-made drought. Human Rights Watch believes that thousands of Palestinians have died due to Israel's deliberate pattern of actions to deprive them of water, which it alleges amounts to the crime against humanity of extermination as well as acts of genocide. Those 10 hungry children should not have required nutritional supplements, but Israel continues to choke off aid and civilians are starving. Unrwa says that a tenth of the children screened in their clinics are malnourished. Tens of thousands of children have been seriously injured; many are amputees. As of February last year, around 17,000 had been identified as unaccompanied or separated from their families. The very young are among those least able to cope with hunger and disease. How many will survive this conflict? How many will be able to remain in Gaza? How many will be able to live anything like a normal life one day? How many will see only vengeance or despair ahead of them? Meanwhile, Israeli parents call for the hostage release and ceasefire deal that must end this conflict, and which Benjamin Netanyahu has resisted. Allies, including the EU and Britain, remain complicit in this war. They should ask themselves what they would do if their children faced for even one day what those in Gaza have endured for month after month. The children of Gaza have the same rights as children anywhere – to water, to food, to shelter, to education, to play, to hope, to joy. To life. Yet on Sunday, Israel killed Abdullah Yasser Ahmed, Badr al-Din Qarman, Siraj Khaled Ibrahim, Ibrahim Ashraf Abu Urayban, Karam Ashraf al-Ghussein and Lana Ashraf al-Ghussein. They were children. They were loved.
