Israel has started shelling a city in central Gaza where it has 'not operated before' in war
Gaza's civil defence agency and eyewitnesses reported Israeli shelling in the central city of Deir el-Balah today, after the military warned of imminent action in an area where it had not previously operated.
Yesterday, the Israeli military ordered those in the central Gaza area to leave immediately as it was expanding operations, including 'in an area where it has not operated before' in more than 21 months of war.
Between 50,000 and 80,000 people were in the area when the evacuation order was issued, according to initial estimates from the UN's humanitarian agency OCHA, with whole families seen carrying what few belongings they had on donkey carts heading south.
A resident in Deir el-Balah told AFP today that 'during the night, we heard huge and powerful explosions shaking the area as if it were an earthquake'.
He said this was 'due to artillery shelling in the south-central part of Deir el-Balah and the southeastern area'.
'We are extremely worried and fearful that the army is planning a ground operation in Deir el-Balah and the central camps where hundreds of thousands of displaced people are sheltering,' the man added.
The spokesman for Gaza's civil defence agency, Mahmud Bassal, told AFP that 'we received calls from several families trapped in the Al-Baraka area of Deir el-Balah due to shelling by Israeli tanks'.
'There are a number of wounded, but no one can reach the area to evacuate them,' he added.
The Israeli military did not provide immediate comment when contacted by AFP.
'Extremely critical'
Since the start of the war, nearly all of Gaza's population of more than two million — which is also facing severe food shortages — has been displaced at least once by repeated Israeli evacuation orders.
According to OCHA, the latest order means that 87.8% of Gaza's area is now under evacuation orders or within Israeli militarised zones.
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Mai Elawawda, communications officer in Gaza for UK-based charity Medical Aid for Palestinians, described the situation as 'extremely critical'.
'Shelling is taking place all around our office, and military vehicles are just 400 metres away from our colleagues and their families,' she said, adding that: 'Everyone is now evacuating, with most unsure where to go next.'
Pope Leo has spoken by phone to the president of the Palestinian Authority, Mahmud Abbas, about the war in Gaza and violence in the West Bank, according to the Vatican.
It was the first official conversation between the two men since Leo's papacy began.
'The Holy Father repeated his appeal for international humanitarian law to be fully respected, emphasising in particular the obligation to protect civilians and sacred places, the prohibition of the indiscriminate use of force and of the forced transfer of the population,' the Vatican wrote.
The pope emphasised 'the urgent need to provide assistance to those most vulnerable to the consequences of the conflict and to allow the adequate entry of humanitarian aid', it said.
It followed a call on Friday between the pope and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, a day after a strike by Israel on Gaza's only Catholic Church that killed three people.
On Sunday, Leo condemned the 'barbarity' of the war in Gaza and again called for a peaceful resolution.
The Holy See, which supports a two-state solution, formally recognised the state of Palestine through an agreement signed in 2015, one of the first states in Europe to do so.
In 2014, Israeli and Palestinian presidents Shimon Peres and Abbas planted an olive tree alongside Pope Francis in the Vatican gardens.
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The Irish Sun
2 hours ago
- The Irish Sun
Iran planning to execute 30,000 in repeat of horror 1988 ‘massacre' as part of desperate crackdown, insiders fear
IRAN'S merciless regime is plotting to kill tens of thousands of prisoners in a repeat of the 1988 massacre, insiders fear. Rattled supreme leader Ali Khamenei has ordered a surge in executions - turning hangings into public spectacles in a chilling warning to dissidents. 9 Executions are often well-attended public events Credit: AFP 9 Mehdi Hassani has been executed by Iran's regime Credit: NCRI 9 Behrouz Ehsani was also killed by the regime Credit: NCRI It comes as callous mullahs yesterday hanged two political prisoners who had been jailed on trumped-up charges. Mehdi Hassani, 48, and Behrouz Ehsani, 70, were killed in cold blood for daring to oppose the barbaric regime they were forced to live under. Earlier this year, The Sun shared a Ehsani meanwhile bravely More on Iran Iran has repeatedly unleashed lethal force on its own people - especially at times of crisis - in a sickening bid to stamp out rebellion. Glaring vulnerabilities in the regime's grip on power have been exposed after Israel and the US launched a monumental effort to destroy its nuclear threat. Executions and arrests are weaponised to scare dissidents, and it is feared panicked Ayatollah Khamenei is planning a similar plot to the 1988 massacre of 30,000 political prisoners. The regime was also in turmoil that year after accepting a ceasefire with Iraq. Most read in The Sun Now, death sentences against those affiliated with the main democratic opposition, the People's Mojahedin Organisation of Iran (PMOI/MEK), are being expedited as Khamenei scrambles for control. Chillingly, state-run Fars News Agency - a mouthpiece of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps - this month issued a public call to repeat 1998's inhumane massacre as the regime fears for its survival. Dad set to be executed in Iran shares powerful audio message blasting regime from behind bars British politicians and leading human rights lawyers have urged the UK government to intervene to prevent such an atrocity. Alongside the (NCRI), they also criticised the focus on Tehran's nuclear programme, warning that it has overshadowed the worsening human rights crisis. Baroness O'Loan DBE said: "Those threatening our national security are the same individuals planning atrocities in Iran's prisons. So, we must act, now." Dowlat Nowrouzi, the NCRI's UK representative, told The Sun: "The international community's failure to hold the regime accountable for its atrocities, including crimes against humanity and genocide, has allowed the regime to enjoy impunity. "It is long overdue to hold Ali Khamenei, the Supreme Leader, and others accountable for committing these crimes. It comes as one of Iran's longest-serving political prisoners has laid bare the dire situation in a handwritten letter shared with The Sun. More than 100 armed guards raided the ward Masouri was on, beating prisoners before hauling them across the floor with handcuffs and leg shackles and bags over their heads. Masouri has been exiled to the notorious Zahedan Prison - just days after penning a haunting letter warning a massacre is looming. 9 Saeed Masouri has been in jail for 25 years Credit: NCRI 9 He shared a chilling handwritten letter from inside jail Credit: SUPPLIED 9 Four Iranian convicts hanging after a public execution in 2007 Credit: AFP 9 Pictures show a man named Balal who was led to the gallows by his victim's family He wrote: "Just as it happened in 1988, today we fear that the same path is being repeated, albeit with different language and methods. "Back then, it was called the 'Death Committee'; today, it is 'Fire at discretion'. "But this widespread repression and intensification of executions are not signs of strength—they are admissions of the regime's helplessness in the face of truth and the will of the people. "Likewise, this so-called 'fire at discretion' is nothing but an attempt to conceal the depth of infiltration, decay, and structural collapse within the ruling system—failures they now seek to compensate for by exacting revenge on the people of Iran and their prisoners." All contact between political prisoners and their families has now been cut off. Ms Nowrouzi added: "The assault on Mr. Masouri is not an isolated incident. "It is part of a broader campaign of escalating executions, arbitrary detentions, and systematic repression. "The regime, emboldened by decades of impunity and inaction, is now openly signaling its intent to repeat the horrors of 1988. "As Mr. Masouri warned in his message from prison, 'a crime is in progress,' and the world must not remain silent." Iran's calculating mullahs meanwhile are refusing to hand the bodies of slain Ehsani and Hassani back to their grieving families. How Iran is stifling critics after defeat to Israel by Katie Davis, Chief Foreign Reporter (Digital) TYRANNICAL leaders in Iran have demanded citizens act as undercover informants to turn in anyone who dares oppose the regime, insiders say. Panicked mullahs have also ordered "telecom cages" be installed around prisons as the regime Political prisoners - largely Insiders say their treatment is being weaponised to deter opposition. The fight against repression has loomed large for decades in the rogue state - but the so-called 12-day war last month has made the barbaric Ayatollah more fearful than ever of being toppled. Sources inside Iran told The Sun how a direct alert has been issued to the public, urging them to report any activity linked to resistance groups of the People's Mojahedin Organisation of Iran (PMOI/MEK). Regime loyalists have been implored to act as informants - compiling detailed reports with photos, times, locations, licence plates and facial features of suspected individuals. Orders were publicised in an official government news outlet - marking a distinct shift in the paranoid regime's usual strategy of covert suppression. Insiders noted it points to the regime's growing perceived threat posed by the PMOI's grassroots operations. The PMOI has long fought for a secular, democratic Iran, and is understood to be gaining traction amid frustration with economic hardship, political repression, and international isolation. Insiders say they are instead planning to secretly bury them in a twisted bid to cover up their actions. Hassani's devastated daughter, who bravely campaigned for her dad's release, wept as she told how they had not been informed of his execution. In a harrowing video message shared with The Sun, she said: "They didn't grant him a final visit before the execution. "None of us knew, not even my father, who had told my sister to visit him on Monday. "I don't know what to say. I fought so hard. I had so much hope, so much… I still can't believe what has happened." Maryam Rajavi, president-elect of the NCRI, has called on the United Nations to take "concrete and effective measures against a regime built on executions and torture". Mrs Rajavi said: "They [Ehsani and Hassani] now join the eternal ranks of those who have given their lives in the struggle for freedom and justice. "In what appears to be a desperate act during the twilight of his rule, Khamenei has perpetrated yet another grave crime - an effort to delay the inevitable collapse of his regime. Ayatollah 'on his heels' by Katie Davis, Chief Foreign Reporter (Digital) IRAN'S merciless regime is "fully on its heels" - leaving the Ayatollah's days numbered, a former US ambassador says. But the West will not be able to topple Tehran's brutal dictatorship, Mark D. Wallace, CEO & Founder of United Against Nuclear Iran, warned. The ex-ambassador to the UN said it will be down to the Iranian people - who have suffered outrageous repression for decades - to finally end the regime's rule. Iron-fist fanatics have used violent and ruthless measures, including executions and torture, in a twisted bid to stamp out opposition and silence critics. The regime's future now appears to be hanging by a thread, however, as it sits in a "combustible state" following the obliteration of its nuclear empire by the US and Israel. Several of Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei's top military brass were wiped out in the 12-day war - leaving the barbaric ruler vulnerable. Power held by Iran's terror proxies - including Hamas in Gaza, Hezbollah in Lebanon and the Houthis in Yemen - has also been severely depleted. Wallace told The Sun: "The regime isn't just wounded, they're fully on their heels." "Far from securing his hold on power, this brutality only intensifies the outrage of the Iranian people and reinforces the determination of Iran's courageous youth to bring an end to this theocratic tyranny. "Honour to these steadfast Mojahedin who, after three years of unwavering resistance under torture, pressure, and threats, fulfilled their solemn pledge to God and the people with pride and dignity." It comes after The Sun reported how Iran's wounded regime As Israeli missiles rained down on a nearby military site on June 16, panicked inmates at Dizel-Abad Prison in Kermanshah begged to be moved to safety. But they were instead met with a hail of bullets from the regime's merciless enforcers in a "deliberate and cold-blooded act", a witness said. Meanwhile, sweeping arrests are also plaguing Iran's population - with around 700 people understood to have been detained last month with reported links to a "spy network". Iran has one of the most horrific human rights records in the world, and according to campaigners also holds the harrowing title for the highest execution rate. Official records show that the number of executions last year reached 1,000 - the highest number in 30 years and 16 percent higher than the previous. Insiders believe this year that distressing toll will be much higher. 9 Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei makes his first public appearance since the war with Israel on July 6 Credit: Getty 9 A demonstrator takes part in a protest against the Iranian government outside the Federal Building in Los Angeles, California on June 23 Credit: Reuters
The Journal
3 hours ago
- The Journal
Israel due to begin another 10-hour military 'pause' in Gaza as UN pushes for two-state talks
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The Irish Sun
4 hours ago
- The Irish Sun
No10 confirms if there will be bank holiday for Euros win after Lionesses soared to victory with penalty heroics
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