Israeli strikes kill 22 in Gaza, church late pope often called is damaged
'The IDF is aware of reports regarding damage caused to the Holy Family Church in Gaza City and casualties at the scene. The circumstances of the incident are under review,' it said.
'The IDF makes every feasible effort to mitigate harm to civilians and civilian structures, including religious sites, and regrets any damage caused to them.'
Israel has been trying to eradicate Hamas in Gaza in a military campaign that began after the group's deadly attack on Israel in October 2023 and has caused widespread hunger and privation in the tiny enclave.
Palestinian medics said one air strike on Thursday killed a man, his wife and their five children in Jabalia in northern Gaza and another in the north killed eight men who had been handed responsibility for protecting aid trucks.
Three people were killed in an air strike in central Gaza and four in Zeitoun in eastern Gaza, medics said.
Arab mediators Qatar and Egypt, backed by the US, have hosted more than 10 days of talks on a proposed US 60-day truce.
As part of the potential deal, 10 hostages held in Gaza would be returned, with the bodies of 18 others, spread out over 60 days. In exchange, Israel would release detained Palestinians. The exact number is not clear.
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Daily Maverick
17 hours ago
- Daily Maverick
Command line to control room: SA's infrastructure vulnerable to cyberattacks
South Africa is rapidly digitising its infrastructure, but not necessarily legislating protections against cyberattacks at the same pace. This means we run the risk of becoming a frontline where attackers don't merely steal data, but tamper with infrastructure, and our defences are dangerously out of date. On 23 December 2015, about 23,000 residents of western Ukraine found themselves without electricity. The cause? An Advanced-Persistent-Threat (APT) — that is, a non-state actor, often a proxy for a nation-state, hacking into the power grid and turning off local substations. While that incident was later traced to a Russian-backed Advanced-Persistent-Threat, it was the first noted example of a power grid being disabled by cyberattacks. That was almost a decade ago — connectivity, and the corresponding vulnerability, has only accelerated since then. 'In today's world, you don't need to physically access infrastructure to disable it. You can disable it from a continent away. That's the terrifying shift in power we've seen in cyberwarfare,' says cybersecurity firm ESET's chief security evangelist Tony Anscombe. With more than 25 years of cybersecurity experience, Anscombe paints a picture of both a capable state and private sector where not enough attention is being devoted to the threat that cyberattacks pose. Despite producing world-class cybersecurity experts, South Africa's infrastructure is lagging — and increasingly in the crosshairs of both cybercriminals and state-aligned attackers. Prominent breaches such as those at the South African National Defence Force (SANDF), the Government Employees Pension Fund, and the National Health Laboratories Services show that this is no longer just a consumer nuisance — it's costing the country billions, and is a national security vulnerability. The 2023 SANDF breach exposed both classified data and President Cyril Ramaphosa's personal contact details — underscoring how deeply these attacks can cut. (Not) OK computer South Africa has featured prominently in cybersecurity reports over recent years, especially with regard to our continental performance — and not in a good way. South Africa's connected society and developed telecoms make it a prime target for cybercriminals. Interpol's Africa Cyberthreat Assessment Report of 2025 placed us fifth on the continent in terms of suspected scam attacks, and second in terms of cybercrime detections. This underscores both the benefits — and pitfalls — of our connectivity: we can better detect attacks, but we're also more likely to be targeted. While this offers some defensive potential, South Africa's rapid digitisation without legislative guardrails has left critical systems exposed. The infrastructure that governs water flow, power grids and chemical treatments is increasingly vulnerable to manipulation by both cybercriminals and hostile states. If this seems remote, recall that cyberattacks during the Israel-Iran conflict were used to cause actual flooding in Israeli towns. The 2010 Stuxnet virus reportedly sabotaged Iranian nuclear centrifuges. These are not sci-fi threats — they're documented precedents. And they're not limited to global players. 'We've also seen things like the Uganda water treatment system being targeted,' Check Point's global research group manager Eli Smadja said. 'That's a real infrastructure breach. It wasn't publicised much, but the fingerprints were there. If they can go for Uganda, they can go for anyone.' Target-rich environment 'South Africa is actually among the most attacked countries in Africa, but also one of the most capable at detecting and reporting,' continued Smadja. 'That makes it a double-edged sword: threat actors know there's infrastructure to exploit, but defenders are watching. 'We monitor threat activity across Africa. The same techniques used in Ukraine are now being adapted here — and we've observed probes in South African infrastructure,' he said. According to Smadja, this isn't hypothetical. 'We've seen entire playbooks reused — reconnaissance activity, credential stuffing, port scanning — these are standard steps before a full-scale intrusion.' Check Point has also observed code injections targeting legacy industrial control systems. Probes into protocol vulnerabilities, particularly on outdated systems, often come from known botnets and command-and-control servers. 'South Africa's critical infrastructure is particularly attractive because it operates in a hybrid environment: old tech connected to new interfaces. That creates blind spots,' Smadja said. 'You'll often have a 1998-era controller (a system used to control industrial processes) that is remotely accessed through a 2020s web interface. That kind of mismatch is what attackers look for.' South Africa's geopolitical and economic role in the Southern African Development Community may further raise the country's threat profile. 'If you want to send a message or disrupt a region, targeting South Africa's systems — power, water, or logistics — achieves impact,' said Smadja. And not all attackers are foreign. Local ransomware gangs are increasingly mimicking the tactics of Advanced-Persistent-Threats, including delayed payloads, supply chain infiltration, and backup disabling. What this means for you If a substation is hacked, your power could be cut without explanation. If a water system is tampered with, your supply could change without warning — and you'd never know if it was a cyberattack. Even when no data is stolen, critical services can be disrupted, with no public communication or accountability. Infrastructure on the edge 'If you're going to run an industrial system, you should segment the network so that operational tech is not accessible through the corporate side. That's not always happening,' warned Anscombe. Municipal water systems show similar gaps. Check Point has recorded targeted scans and login attempts. 'We've seen reconnaissance scans and access attempts directed at water systems, power grids, logistics. These aren't random — they're calculated,' said Smadja. South Africa's current attack surface: large targets, small defences Despite solid detection capability, South Africa lacks a mandatory breach reporting regime for infrastructure. 'There needs to be an obligation to report. If an entity suffers a cyberattack, there should be a legal requirement to notify a central authority,' said Anscombe. Under the Protection of Personal Information Act (Popia), only personal data breaches must be disclosed. If a water pump is hacked, or a substation disabled, there's no legal requirement to inform the public. 'When systems go dark, people assume it is load shedding. But there is a real risk of an invisible trigger. The threats we track in Africa show real intent,' said Smadja. The law vs the reality South Africa's cyber governance remains fragmented. The Critical Infrastructure Protection Act (Cipa) addresses fences and guards, but not firewalls. The Protection of Personal Information Act protects personal data but offers little for industrial control systems that govern our infrastructure, and despite escalating cyber threats, no dedicated critical information infrastructure law exists. Oversight is split with the State Security Agency (SSA) running the cybersecurity hub without legal enforcement powers, while the Department of Communications and Digital Technologies sets policy but lacks operational control. Experts say this siloed architecture leads to regulatory paralysis. Professor Sizwe Snail ka Mtuze, adjunct professor of cyberlaw at Nelson Mandela University and a key drafter of the Cybercrimes Act, told Daily Maverick that South Africa is struggling with 'a lack of centralised legal authority on cybersecurity.' He notes, 'Right now, you've got POPIA looking at data breaches, SSA managing the hub, and DCDT working on policy, but no one really able to enforce infrastructure-specific protections.' The Information Regulator confirmed this in response to Daily Maverick's queries, warning of systemic non-compliance in the public sector. 'Public entities do not invest in compliance with POPIA as compared to private entities,' the regulator stated. 'In some instances mitigation measures are not implemented, leading to repeat compromises of identified vulnerabilities.' Notably, none of South Africa's major infrastructure operators – including Eskom, Rand Water, or Transnet – reported a single high-risk data breach in the past two years, despite ongoing cyberattacks. This, combined with the Regulator's statements and the data showing cyberattacks in South Africa suggests a worrying culture of under-reporting or non-compliance. In her 15 July Budget vote speech, Minister in the Presidency Khumbudzo Ntshavheni noted: 'We are finalising consultation on the draft cybersecurity strategy' and emphasised a state investment push into advanced interception, AI, and analytics capabilities. But without a unified legal regime or enforcement authority, implementation remains uncertain. The Department of Communications and Digital Technologies and the Information Regulator of South Africa had not responded to Daily Maverick's queries by the time of publication. IoT: innovation or open door? South Africa's infrastructure future hinges on Internet of Things (IoT) — but it is being rolled out without minimum standards. Devices like smart meters and programmable logic controllers, which govern a lot of industrial processes in factories and utilities, are often installed without firmware update paths or password security. 'The problem with IoT is two-fold: there's no update mechanism, and many of these devices are built without even basic password protections,' warned Anscombe. Many were foreign-made and integrated via local vendors — increasing supply chain exposure. What must be done, and urgently Establish a national computer security incident response team with enforcement powers. Mandate disclosure of infrastructure-related cyber breaches. Pass legislation to govern Critical Information Infrastructure. Enforce cybersecurity procurement standards for public infrastructure. 'The adversary only needs one entry point. And if it's your power grid or water supply, the consequences go far beyond business disruption,' said Anscombe. DM
Mail & Guardian
21 hours ago
- Mail & Guardian
Haidar Eid on writing about Gaza: ‘Resistance means existence'
From the margin: Academic and author Haidar Eid is a refugee from Gaza and uses his writing to tell the story of oppression and genocide. In December 2023, He left his extended family behind, including his brother and sister, as well as his colleagues at the university where he worked. He has lost 65 relatives, 38 colleagues and many students since Eid said he hesitated to check his WhatsApp out of fear of learning of another loss of a loved one stuck in the throes of Israel's genocide in He refers to it as an 'incremental genocide' in his latest book, Banging on the Walls of the Tank: Dispatches from Gaza, a reference to a form of resistance through people writing their own narrative. Eid is an academic in literature and cultural studies. He used to teach at the Al Aqsa University in Gaza, Palestine, before it was turned to rubble. He obtained a PhD from the University of Johannesburg and is an associate professor at the University of Pretoria. His latest book is a collection of essays and articles he wrote and published during the Israeli onslaught on Gaza and the 'hermetic blockade' that was imposed on it since 2007. It follows his 2023 book, Decolonising the Palestinian Mind , and his 2017 publication, Worlding Post-modernism . He draws on the South African experience with apartheid to inform his framework of Israel's system of oppression of Palestinians, which he said has reached new heights of injustice and dehumanisation. 'Occupation is only one form of oppression of the Palestinian — you have occupation, you have apartheid and you have settler colonialism, and now you have genocide.' He explains in his book, which chronicles his experiences from the 22-day war in January 2009 to his reflections in October 2024 (one year after the 7 October attack) of how Israel has managed to convince the international community not to do anything. The 22-day war started on 27 December 2008 and ended on 18 January 2009 — and was the cause of the deaths of 1 300 Palestinians, including children, women, medics, journalists, foreigners and older people. Eid recalled the moment Israel launched an attack. 'It was 11:10 and I was driving past the peace headquarters in Gaza. Ten minutes after that, they attacked. Had I been 10 minutes late, you know, what would have happened? 'They attacked, and they chose the time when there were school shifts — so kids were leaving school and that's why so many children got killed; 270 people within three minutes got killed — that continued for 22 days.' Eid is also one of the founders of the Boycott Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement and he argues in his book about the movement's strength and ability to isolate Israel and grant Palestinians their basic human rights. Their three demands are: the withdrawal of Israeli troops from the Gaza Strip and the West Bank, the implementation of the United Nations resolution calling for the right of return and the end of apartheid in Israel and the end of racist laws. The BDS movement, and the global recognition of Palestinian struggles and rights, which was also signalled by South Africa's case at the International Court of Justice and the election of Zohran Mamdani into the New York State Assembly in June — a vocal supporter of Palestine's right to exist — have inspired Eid to conclude Palestine is having its South African moment. He said the Sharpeville massacre on 21 March 1960, when police opened fire on protesters, killing 69 people, was South Africa's watershed moment, which gave momentum to the global boycott and divestment movement against the country's oppressive regime, and soon, that will be the case for Gaza. Banging on the Walls of the Tank traverses the attacks that happened in 2012, 2014 and again in 2017 — when he joined the Great March of Return. He recalls in his book the losses he had to endure, including his parents, who both died in 2005, his neighbours and their children, his students and colleagues at the universities where he taught; and many of these were even before the 7 October attack. He remembered the moment he spoke to one of his students just three hours before he was killed. 'They were doing their master's and they had two little babies. They had left their house in Jabalia in the north and moved with his in-laws to a refugee camp, and then they killed him together with his in-laws and his daughters and his wife.' Visibly heartbroken as he went through the lists of people who died as a result of Israel's attack on Palestine, he said he still has the hope of returning to his village, Zarnuqa, one day. 'I'm a refugee. My parents, before 1948 they were living in a village called Zarnuqa. Both of my parents died in 2005. I was not allowed to go to the funeral because I was not in Gaza. 'My father died in January, my mother died in May, both dreaming of the day when they would return to their village. If you come now and ask my two little kids, just like this, 'Where are you from?', they would say, 'I'm from Zarnuqa.' They inherit this concept of right of return and this is what gives me hope.' He said his writing about his experiences with Israel's regime is both a tool of resistance and remembrance. 'To be able to write, it's important to give a voice to the voiceless. This is not my personal story. It's a story of every single Palestinian. 'For us, resistance means existence. Existence means resistance, it's mutual. For us to exist, we have to resist. We are resisting because we want to exist.' Eid said that as a matter of principle, he never wanted to leave Gaza; but he did so for the sake of his children. And now he watches everyday as his home disappears into the dust. He said he has 'survivor's guilt' but what is crucial for him now is to keep amplifying the story of Gaza, the resilience of Palestinians and to fight for its right to exist as a sovereign state. 'In other words, I'm using international law as a tool of struggle in my search for freedom and equality; and this way, if you noticed, when you asked me about BDS, I said: freedom, equality and justice. Equality. That's the solution to apartheid.'
The Herald
21 hours ago
- The Herald
Israeli strikes kill 22 in Gaza, church late pope often called is damaged
The Vatican did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The Israel Defence Forces (IDF) said it was looking into the matter. 'The IDF is aware of reports regarding damage caused to the Holy Family Church in Gaza City and casualties at the scene. The circumstances of the incident are under review,' it said. 'The IDF makes every feasible effort to mitigate harm to civilians and civilian structures, including religious sites, and regrets any damage caused to them.' Israel has been trying to eradicate Hamas in Gaza in a military campaign that began after the group's deadly attack on Israel in October 2023 and has caused widespread hunger and privation in the tiny enclave. Palestinian medics said one air strike on Thursday killed a man, his wife and their five children in Jabalia in northern Gaza and another in the north killed eight men who had been handed responsibility for protecting aid trucks. Three people were killed in an air strike in central Gaza and four in Zeitoun in eastern Gaza, medics said. Arab mediators Qatar and Egypt, backed by the US, have hosted more than 10 days of talks on a proposed US 60-day truce. As part of the potential deal, 10 hostages held in Gaza would be returned, with the bodies of 18 others, spread out over 60 days. In exchange, Israel would release detained Palestinians. The exact number is not clear.
