Week in Pictures: From Israeli strikes in Damascus to floods in Mexico
Zainab Abu Haleeb, a five-month-old Palestinian girl diagnosed with malnutrition, receives treatment at Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis, southern Gaza Strip. Amid the ongoing Israeli blockade on humanitarian aid, child hunger has surged across the territory. According to the United Nations agency for Palestinian refugees, one in every 10 children screened at their Gaza clinics is now suffering from malnutrition. [Hussam Al-Masri/Reuters]
Published On 20 Jul 2025 20 Jul 2025
From a devastating overnight fire at a major shopping centre in Kut, Iraq, to deadly clashes in Bangladesh, here is a look at the week in photos. Security personnel evacuate belongings from the Syrian Defence Ministry building in Damascus, which was severely damaged by multiple Israeli air raids. [Ghaith Alsayed/AP Photo] A group of individuals gathers on the beach at Petit-Fort-Philippe in Gravelines, near Calais, France, awaiting their chance to board an inflatable dinghy. Their goal: to cross the English Channel and reach the United Kingdom, even as authorities announce stricter migration controls. [Gonzalo Fuentes/Reuters] A wounded Palestinian Christian woman arrives at al-Ahli Arab Hospital following an Israeli attack on the Church of the Holy Family in Gaza City. The Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem confirmed that Israel's attack on the church resulted in at least three deaths. The assault left 10 others injured. The patriarchate has urged international leaders to intervene and bring an end to the war on Gaza. [Dawoud Abu Alkas/Reuters] Vendors wait for customers next to the boot of their car, stuffed with homemade crisps and bread, in Havana, Cuba. [Jorge Luis Banos/AP Photo] Mourners gathered in Najaf, Iraq, to pay their last respects at the funeral of victims who perished in a devastating overnight fire at a major shopping centre in Kut city. Officials report that at least 61 people lost their lives in the massive blaze that engulfed the hypermarket in Kut. [Alaa Al-Marjani/Reuters] Soldiers atop an armoured vehicle after deadly clashes at a National Citizen Party rally in Gopalganj, Bangladesh. Four people were killed and more than 50 injured in violence between security forces and backers of ousted Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina. [Anik Rahman/Reuters] A man observes a car following flooding in the aftermath of heavy rains in Zapopan, Mexico. [Michelle Freyria/Reuters] Palestinian landlord Saber Asaleyeh, 74, examines his scrapyard where vehicles were burned during an overnight Israeli settler attack in the occupied West Bank village of Burqa, east of Ramallah. Israeli settlers set fire to Palestinian land and vehicles in the village shortly after diplomats and church leaders urged an end to settler violence. [Nasser Nasser/AP Photo] Revellers run alongside La Palmosilla's fighting bulls during the seventh running of the bulls at the San Fermin festival in Pamplona, Spain. Daring runners clad in traditional red and white sprint mere inches from the bulls' horns, willingly embracing danger in Pamplona's legendary celebration. Thousands of spectators crowd balconies and line wooden barricades along the course, while millions more witness this visceral spectacle via live television broadcasts. [Miguel Oses/AP Photo]
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Al Jazeera
14 hours ago
- Al Jazeera
Gaza family's battle for survival as hunger and heat deepen despair
After they were forcibly displaced multiple times during Israel's war on Gaza, the Sobh family has taken refuge in a coastal camp west of Gaza City. Street vendor Fadi Sobh, 30, describes his tent as 'unbearably hot during summer'. His 29-year-old wife, Abeer, collects seawater because clean water is in short supply. The children bathe in turns, standing in a metal basin as their mother pours saltwater over them. Nine-month-old Hala cries when the salt irritates her eyes, while her siblings bear the discomfort without complaint. Abeer feeds Hala water from a baby bottle. On good days, she has lentils to grind into powder and mix with the water. 'One day feels like one hundred days, because of the summer heat, hunger and the distress,' she says. Fadi travels to a nearby soup kitchen, sometimes with one of his children. 'But food is rarely available there,' he said. The kitchen operates roughly once a week, never meeting demand. Often, he waits an entire day only to return home with nothing 'and the kids sleep hungry, without eating'. Abeer sometimes goes to aid trucks near the Zikim crossing alone or with Youssef, one of her children. The crowds are mostly men – stronger and faster than she is. 'Sometimes I manage to get food, and in many cases, I return empty-handed,' she said. When unsuccessful, she begs those who secured supplies. 'You survived death thanks to God, please give me anything,' she pleads. Many respond kindly, offering her a small bag of flour to bake for the children. During the hottest hours of the day, the six children stay in or near the tent. Their parents encourage them to sleep through the heat, preventing them from using energy and becoming hungry and thirsty. As temperatures drop, the children go outside. Some days, Abeer sends them to ask the neighbours for food. Other times, they search through Gaza's ruined streets, sifting through rubble and rubbish for anything to fuel their makeshift stove. After spending the day seeking life's essentials – food, water, and cooking fuel – the family occasionally gathers enough for Abeer to prepare a meal, usually a thin lentil soup. More often, they have nothing and go to bed hungry. Abeer says she is growing weaker, frequently feeling dizzy while searching for food. 'I am tired. I am no longer able,' she said. 'If the war goes on, I am thinking of taking my life. I no longer have any strength or power.'
Al Jazeera
a day ago
- Al Jazeera
‘A death journey' for Palestinians desperately seeking aid at GHF sites
Starvation is spreading across the Gaza Strip, and the only organisation on the ground mandated to provide food aid stands accused of grave rights violations and the targeting of civilians. The controversial United States and Israel-backed GHF took over aid distribution in Gaza in May, after Israel eased its total blockade of the Strip. Since then, the United Nations says, more than 1,300 Palestinians have been killed trying to reach food. Many have been purposefully shot by Israeli soldiers or US security contractors hired by GHF, according to testimonies from whistleblowers published in the media. Still, in desperation to get any food they can to ensure survival, thousands of Palestinians brave the GHF sites every day. Al Jazeera spoke to mothers, fathers and children who said they saw soldiers open fire on aid seekers amid chaotic scenes as hungry people scrambled for flour and milk. 'What can I do?' The struggle trying to get food from a GHF-run distribution point in Gaza is 'a death journey', said one Palestinian woman, who we are not naming for her safety. 'I need to provide for my girls,' the woman, a mother of two, said. 'I don't have anyone to support me.' In her desperation, she visits the aid sites. There, the aid retrieval process is a violent scramble where only those who dare to push deep into the crowd return with anything, she said. 'There are children who worked hard to get [aid], and men come to take it from them.' After putting herself at risk, the woman left the aid site with only rice, cooking oil and a can of tomatoes, she said. Still, 'it's a blessing from God', she added, despite having hurt her arm after being hit in the crowd. A child speaking to Al Jazeera told of how going to a GHF site was his only option. 'I am going to get food for my siblings. My father was martyred. If I didn't go to bring it, my siblings would die from hunger. What can I do?' he asked. But at the distribution site, he said he saw hundreds of starving Palestinians shot dead. 'Shooting, killing, death' A Palestinian man, Ibrahim Mekki, from the Nuseirat refugee camp in central Gaza, said he waited at least six hours and risked being shot by Israeli forces just to end up with a few bags of pasta. 'Shooting, killing, death, destruction and martyrs,' he said of the scene. 'And for what? Just to get a little food. 'It's a trap, a game … Letting you move a little, then opening fire.' Mekki said an 'enormous' number of people had congregated at the aid site he went to, but he estimated just 5 percent succeeded in retrieving anything of value. 'Look at me, what did I get? Nothing,' he said, revealing two small bags of pasta and a bag of bulgur. 'It's not enough to feed the kids for a single day. I'm forced to go back every single day to try again.' 'He died in my arms' Another man, Rakan Jneid, told Al Jazeera he saw people rushing towards aid trucks near a distribution point – and some of them were run over. 'Today, milk came in and people started fighting each other to take the milk,' Jneid said. 'The Israelis opened fire to take advantage of the situation.' Another Palestinian, Muhannad Abu Jarad, also described seeing the Israeli army 'shooting at us'. Separately, a mother of eight told Al Jazeera that her five-month-old daughter is malnourished because she was not getting enough food during pregnancy. She had already lost her fourth child to malnutrition, she said. 'My fourth kid died … He was severely malnourished. We couldn't provide food for him or provide anything for the child to eat,' she said. 'He died in my arms as I was taking him to the hospital.'
Al Jazeera
a day ago
- Al Jazeera
These Palestinians survived a visit to the GHF's deadly aid sites
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