
Gaza civil defence reports 26 killed near aid centres in Israeli attacks
Agency spokesman Mahmud Basal stated that 22 died near a site southwest of Khan Yunis and four near another centre northwest of Rafah, attributing both incidents to 'Israeli gunfire.'
One witness, Abdul Aziz Abed, 37, described attempting to collect food before dawn with relatives when 'Israeli soldiers' opened fire.
'Every day I go there and all we get is bullets and exhaustion instead of food,' he told AFP. The Israeli military said it was 'looking into' the claims.
Media restrictions and access difficulties in Gaza prevent independent verification of casualty figures.
The war, triggered by Hamas's October 2023 attack on Israel, has left Gaza's 2 million residents facing severe shortages of food and essentials, with doctors noting rising malnutrition cases.
Deaths near aid centres have become frequent, with Palestinian authorities blaming Israeli forces. The civil defence agency reported nine killed near Rafah's Al-Shakoush area on Friday.
The US- and Israel-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, managing aid since late May, said 20 died in Khan Yunis on Wednesday but accused 'agitators... affiliated with Hamas' of inciting chaos.
The UN recorded 875 deaths while seeking aid, including 674 near GHF sites. A ceasefire demand by Hamas includes unrestricted aid access. - AFP
Hashtags

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles


The Sun
6 minutes ago
- The Sun
Indian police arrest man operating fake embassy near Delhi
NEW DELHI: Police in India have arrested a man accused of running a fake embassy from a rented house near New Delhi and duping job seekers out of money with promises of overseas employment. Harsh Vardhan Jain, 47, was operating an 'illegal West Arctic embassy by renting a house' in Ghaziabad, Uttar Pradesh, which neigbhours the capital, local police said. Jain, according to police, claimed to be the ambassador of fictional nations 'like West Arctica, Saborga, Poulvia, Lodonia'. He allegedly used vehicles with fake diplomatic plates and shared doctored photos of himself with Indian leaders to bolster his claims. 'His main activities involved acting as a broker to secure work in foreign countries for companies and private individuals, as well as operating a hawala (money transfer) racket through shell companies,' the police said in a statement following his arrest earlier this week. He is also accused of money laundering. During a raid on Jain's property, police said they recovered $53,500 in cash in addition to doctored passports and forged documents bearing stamps of India's foreign ministry. AFP was unable to reach Jain or his representatives for comment. Westarctica, cited by the police as one of the countries Jain claimed to be representing, is a US-registered nonprofit 'dedicated to studying and preserving this vast, magnificent, desolate region' of Western Antarctica. In a statement, it said it had appointed Jain as its 'Honorary Consul to India' after he had made a 'generous donation'. 'He was never granted the position or authority of ambassador,' it added. - AFP


The Star
2 hours ago
- The Star
Hong Kong police investigate Cambodian scam farm link to missing girl
Hong Kong police are investigating whether a teenage girl who went missing for several weeks had been involved in cross-border scam farm activities, with mobile phone traces showing she had been in Cambodia before she was found safe. Hong Kong identity card holder Wu Peishan, 17, had left her hometown of Haifeng in Guangdong province on July 1 for a leisure trip to Beihai, Guangxi, accompanied by friends, her father told mainland Chinese media. He called her directly on July 5 after failing to reach her by other methods. At first, she claimed to be in Shenzhen, but later admitted she was in Beihai. On July 9, a friend told her mother that she had been out of contact for two days, sparking their concern, reports said. The teenager's phone location on July 5 showed she was in Vietnam, according to a police insider. The parents found that the girl's phone location on July 7 was Svay Rieng, a border province in southeastern Cambodia. This was reportedly the location of the last available signal. The worried parents filed police reports in both Hong Kong and Haifeng. Her father also posted a US$5,000 reward on Southeast Asian social media platforms, seeking information on her whereabouts in Cambodia. On July 13, someone reached out claiming to have seen her inside a scam compound near the Cambodian border. After reportedly dispatching contacts to investigate the area, her father said there was no trace of her. On Wednesday, a Hong Kong police source said the girl had been located safely in Cambodia and was currently under the care of Chinese authorities in the country. Arrangements for her return were pending. The Post learned that the family, originally from Haifeng, had resident status in Hong Kong. The teenager had returned to the mainland several years ago to live with her mother. Hong Kong police had launched a 'request for police assistance' investigation after receiving calls from the parents, the source said. The Kowloon West regional crime unit is handling the case. - SOUTH CHINA MORNING POST


The Star
2 hours ago
- The Star
Security forces fired indiscriminately during Bangladesh protest: report
FILE PHOTO: Jamaat-e-Islami activists condemn the July 16 attack in Gopalganj on National Citizen Party leaders by supporters of the ousted Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, during a protest in front of Baitul Mukarram National Mosque in Dhaka, Bangladesh, Thursday, July 17, 2025. - AP DHAKA: Security forces fired indiscriminately during clashes involving supporters of ousted premier Sheikh Hasina this month, killing at least five people, human rights activists said Friday (July 25). The clashes erupted in Hasina's hometown of Gopalganj after members of her Awami League party tried to foil a rally by the National Citizens Party (NCP), made up of many students who spearheaded the uprising that toppled her government last year. The Bangladesh-based human rights group Ain O Salish Kendra (ASK) said that it had "identified at least two gross violations of constitutional rights". "The law enforcement agencies fired at civilians indiscriminately, and the right to hold a peaceful assembly was not upheld," Abu Ahmed Faijul Kabir, senior coordinator at ASK, told AFP. Locals in Gopalganj told ASK that clashes erupted soon after NCP concluded its rally, with a crowd throwing bricks at the party members and security personnel. "Though some carried Molotov cocktails, they were not armed with firearms," ASK said. Those killed were not part of the demonstrations, the report quoted family members as saying. The organisation said the military declined to comment on its findings. The non-profit also said authorities had made "mass arrests during combing operations, including in areas that had not been involved in the clashes, including that of 18 children." Some of the children were imprisoned under the anti-terrorism law, the report added. The interim government under Muhammad Yunus has formed an inquiry commission to investigate the violence. - AFP