Gaza rescuers say 43 killed by Israeli forces
GAZA CITY: Gaza's civil defense agency said Israeli forces killed at least 43 people on Friday, including 26 who had gathered near an aid distribution center, the latest in a string of deadly incidents targeting aid seekers in the Palestinian territory.
'Forty-three martyrs have fallen as a result of the ongoing Israeli bombardment on the Gaza Strip since dawn today, 26 of whom were waiting for humanitarian aid,' Mohammad Al-Mughayyir, director of medical supply at the civil defense agency in Gaza, told AFP.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Arab News
42 minutes ago
- Arab News
Violence against children hit ‘unprecedented levels in 2024'
NEW YORK: Violence against children caught in multiple and escalating conflicts reached 'unprecedented levels' last year, with the highest number of violations in Gaza and the West Bank, Congo, Somalia, Nigeria and Haiti, according to a UN report. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres' annual report on Children in Armed Conflict detailed 'a staggering 25 percent surge in grave violations' against children under the age of 18 from 2023, when the number of such violations rose by 21 percent. In 2024, the UN chief said children 'bore the brunt of relentless hostilities and indiscriminate attacks, and were affected by the disregard for ceasefires and peace agreements and by deepening humanitarian crises.' UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said he is 'appalled by the intensity of grave violations against children in the occupied Palestinian territories and Israel,' and 'deeply alarmed'by the increase in violations, especially the high number of children killed by Israeli forces. He cited warfare strategies that included attacks on children, the deployment of increasingly destructive and explosive weapons in populated areas, and 'the systematic exploitation of children for combat.' Guterres said the UN verified 41,370 grave violations against children — 36,221 committed in 2024 and 5,149 committed earlier but verified last year. The violations include killing, maiming, recruiting and abducting children, sexual violence against them, attacking schools and hospitals, and denying youngsters access to humanitarian aid. The UN kept Israeli forces on its blacklist of countries that violate children's rights for a second year, citing 7,188 verified grave violations by its military, including the killing of 1,259 Palestinian children and injury to 941 others in Gaza. The Gaza Health Ministry has reported much higher figures, but the UN has strict criteria and said its process of verification is ongoing. Guterres said he is 'appalled by the intensity of grave violations against children in the occupied Palestinian territories and Israel,' and 'deeply alarmed' by the increase in violations, especially the high number of children killed by Israeli forces. He reiterated his calls on Israel to abide by international law requiring special protections for children, protection for schools and hospitals, and compliance with the requirement that attacks distinguish between combatants and civilians and avoid excessive harm to civilians. The UN also kept Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad on the blacklist. Israel's UN Mission did not immediately respond to a request for comment. In Congo, the UN reported 4,043 verified grave violations against 3,418 children last year. In Somalia, it reported 2,568 violations against 1,992 children. In Nigeria, 2,436 grave violations were reported against 1,037 children. And in Haiti, the UN reported 2,269 verified grave violations against 1,373 children. In the ongoing war following Russia's February 2022 invasion of Ukraine, the UN kept the Russian armed forces and affiliated armed groups on its blacklist for a third year. The secretary-general expressed deep concern at 'the sharp increase in grave violations against children in Ukraine' — 1,914 against 673 children. He expressed alarm at the violations by Russian forces and their affiliates, singling out their verified killing of 94 Ukrainian children, injury to 577 others, and 559 attacks on schools and 303 on hospitals. In Haiti, the UN put a gang, the Viv Ansanm coalition, on the blacklist for the first time. Gangs have grown in power since the assassination of President Jovenel Moise in July 2021. They are estimated to control 85 percent of the capital and have moved into surrounding areas. In May, the US designated the powerful coalition representing more than a dozen gangs, whose name means 'Living Together,' as a foreign terrorist organization. Secretary-General Guterres expressed deep 'alarm' at the surge in violations, especially incidents of gang recruitment and use, sexual violence, abduction, and denial of humanitarian aid. The report said sexual violence jumped by 35 percent in 2024, including a dramatic increase in the number of gang rapes, but stressed that the numbers are vastly underreported. 'Girls were abducted for the purpose of recruitment and use, and for sexual slavery,' the UN chief said. In Haiti, the UN reported sexual violence against 566 children, 523 of them girls, and attributed 411 to the Viv Ansanm gang. In Congo, the UN reported 358 acts of sexual violence against girls — 311 by armed groups and 47 by Congo's armed forces. And in Somalia, 267 children were victims of sexual violence, 120 of them carried out by Al-Shabab extremists. According to the report, violations affected 22,495 children in 2024, with armed groups responsible for almost 50 percent and government forces the main perpetrator of the killing and maiming of children, school attacks, and denial of humanitarian access. The report noted a sharp rise in the number of children subjected to multiple violations — from 2,684 in 2023 to 3,137 in 2024. 'The cries of 22,495 innocent children who should be learning to read or play ball — but instead have been forced to learn how to survive gunfire and bombings — should keep all of us awake at night,' said Virginia Gamba, the UN special representative for children and armed conflict. 'We are at the point of no return,' she said, calling on the international community to protect children and the parties in conflict 'to immediately end the war on children.'
Arab News
an hour ago
- Arab News
19 injured in Israeli port after Iran missile barrage
JERUSALEM: At least 19 people were injured in the northern Israeli port city of Haifa as Iran fired a fresh barrage of missiles on Friday afternoon, authorities has been launching daily missile salvos at Israel for the past week since a wide-ranging Israeli attack on its nuclear and military facilities triggered projectile slammed into an area by the docks in Haifa on Friday afternoon where it damaged a building and blew out windows, littering the ground with rubble, AFP images foreign ministry said it struck 'next to' the Al-Jarina locations of missile strikes in Israel are subject to strict military censorship rules and are not always provided in detail to the public.A spokesman for Haifa's Rambam hospital said 19 people had been injured in the city, with one in a serious condition.A military official said that 'approximately 20 missiles were launched toward Israel' in the latest Iranian than 450 missiles have been fired at the country so far, along with about 400 drones, according to Israel's National Public Diplomacy directorate added that the country's tax authority had received over 25,000 claims linked to damage caused to buildings during the launched a massive wave of strikes on June 13, triggering an immediate retaliation from areas in both countries have suffered, while Israel and Iran have traded accusations of targeting least 25 people have been killed in Israel by Iranian missile strikes, according to said on Sunday that Israeli strikes had killed at least 224 people, including military commanders, nuclear scientists and civilians. It has not updated the toll since.
Arab News
an hour ago
- Arab News
Targeting Iran's supreme leader is madness
The idea resurfaced last week that Israel may try to assassinate Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, as if he were just another easy military target in the fierce war between Israel and Iran, which may soon involve the US. President Donald Trump made it clear he opposed Israel's move and did not support it. This issue is far more serious than just another military objective: it could become a matter of ideology and trigger deeply dangerous cycles of revenge. There have been times in history when warring parties refrained from targeting leaders and symbolic figures for reasons beyond direct military calculation. For example, Emperor Hirohito of Japan was a ruler and a sacred symbol. Documents confirm that he authorized his military leaders to go to war, invade Manchuria, and carry out the attack on Pearl Harbor, which led to America's entry into the Second World War. But during the war, and on the recommendation of Gen. Douglas MacArthur, the US government decided not to target him. He was also excluded from the list of Japanese leaders prosecuted after the allied victory and the occupation of Tokyo. That decision paved the way for reconciliation between the US and Japan, and helped the Japanese people accept the Americans. Hirohito remained emperor and respected until his death, living for another 45 years. There have been times in history when warring parties refrained from targeting leaders and symbolic figures for reasons beyond direct military calculation. Abdulrahman Al-Rashed Ayatollah Khamenei is a spiritual leader, and any harm inflicted on him would cause wounds that may never heal — regardless of how decisive the Israeli or American victories are on the battlefield. The supreme leader is a lifelong authority, not a president. He would play a vital role in bringing about peace, just as Ayatollah Khomeini did in 1988, when he unilaterally announced an end to the war with Iraq — a war we thought would end only with the complete destruction of one or both countries. We remember that no one in the Iranian regime at that time dared to call for a ceasefire with Iraq — except the supreme leader. Some people get carried away by the intoxication of war, blinded by overwhelming military power and temporary victories, only to create hatred that could last for decades or even centuries when they could have achieved victory without doing so. There is no doubt that the Israelis possess superior intelligence capabilities and overwhelming destructive power, which allow them to penetrate deep into Iran and reach its leadership's hideouts, as they have done in Lebanon and Gaza. But Iran's supreme leader cannot be equated with Hezbollah's secretary-general Hassan Nasrallah, who was assassinated last year. The difference in symbolic weight is enormous, and the consequences of a miscalculation are grave. Ayatollah Khamenei is a spiritual leader, and any harm inflicted on him would cause wounds that may never heal. Abdulrahman Al-Rashed And even if the comparison isn't entirely accurate, the execution of Saddam Hussein on Eid Al-Adha in 2006 — though he was a Baathist and not a religious or tribal leader — came at a heavy price. US generals later attempted to reconcile with Sunni forces, but failed. Washington still suffers the consequences of that event, especially with half the Iraqi population. That grave mistake could have been avoided, and the resulting rift healed, after their military victory. Israelis are capable of stunning military victories, as they achieved in 1967 and again last year — but that doesn't mean they win the larger war. We are truly on the brink of a new and critical chapter of history that will reshape what we've known and lived through over the past half century. What's needed now is the threat of force without reaching for its maximum limits — to bring about change through consensus, as much as possible. That would benefit everyone, including Israel, the US, Iran, and all the nations in the region. Both winners and losers share an interest in reducing tensions and achieving a collective peace. • Abdulrahman Al-Rashed is a Saudi journalist and intellectual. He is the former general manager of Al-Arabiya news channel and former editor-in-chief of Asharq Al-Awsat, where this article was originally published. X: @aalrashed
