Watch: Moment strikes hit in Damascus as reporter live on air
He could be heard saying the building was the Syrian military headquarters.
Israel launched powerful airstrikes in Damascus, damaging the defence ministry and hitting near the presidential palace as it vowed to destroy Syrian government forces attacking Druze communities in southern Syria and demanded they withdraw.
The attacks marked a significant Israeli escalation against the Islamist-led administration of interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa and came despite his warming ties with the United States and his administration's evolving security contacts with Israel.
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The Journal
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- The Journal
Israeli settler kills Palestinian teacher and activist linked to Oscar-Winning film in West Bank
ODEH HADALIN, A Palestinian teacher who was part of the crew on the Academy Award-winning documentary No Other Land, was shot dead by an Israeli settler on Monday, the film's co-directors have said. Hadalin was an activist from Masafer Yatta, a collection of hamlets located on the hills south of Hebron, which have been declared a military zone by Israel. Hadalin and other activists' efforts to prevent Israeli forces and settlers from destroying their homes was the subject of the 2024 documentary No Other Land, which won Best Documentary at the Oscars in March. He was a teaching staff member at al-Saray'a Secondary School in Masafer Yatta, and was a father of three children, the eldest of whom is 6 years old. The 31-year-old 'was shot dead by settlers… during their attack on the village of Umm al-Khair' near Hebron, the Palestinian Authority's Ministry of Education wrote on social media late on Monday. No Other Land co-director Yuval Abraham confirmed the news in a post online, stating: 'An Israeli settler just shot Odeh Hadalin in the lungs.' Abraham described Hadalin as 'a remarkable activist who helped us film No Other Land'. Palestinian journalist and activist Mohammad Hesham Huraini said that Hadalin 'has now been made martyr by the hands of a violent settler.' The attacker was identified by Israeli and Palestinian journalists as Yinon Levi, an extremist settler formerly sanctioned by the US under the Biden administration, and still sanctioned by Canada, the UK, and the European Union. In video footage from the scene of the confrontation, Levi can be seen holding a handgun and firing into the air. A bulldozer is visible in the frame behind him. Advertisement An Israeli settler just shot Odeh Hadalin in the lungs, a remarkable activist who helped us film No Other Land in Masafer Yatta. Residents identified Yinon Levi, sanctioned by the EU and US, as the shooter. This is him in the video firing like crazy. — Yuval Abraham יובל אברהם (@yuval_abraham) July 28, 2025 Huraini said that shortly after the fatal shooting, another man tried to block the bulldozer before Levi 'ran him over' and injured him. He added that several Palestinians were then taken by Israeli police 'under false arrest charges'. In a statement, Israeli police said they were investigating the incident, and that an Israeli citizen involved in the shooting had been detained at the scene and later arrested. The police did not identify the detained Israeli, although Haaretz reported that it was Levi. Four Palestinians were also detained by the Israel Defense Forces, as well as two foreign tourists, police said. Israeli news site Ynet reported that Levi was in the area carrying out construction on a new neighborhood in Carmel, and in Levi's account of the incident, he alleged that dozens of rioters from nearby Umm al-Khair threw stones at him and several other Israelis. He claimed that he opened fire on the Palestinians because he felt his life was in danger, Ynet reported. These circumstances were disputed by locals, Palestinian news sources and Haaretz, which reported that Levi's bulldozer had encroached on privately owned land of Umm al-Khair. Need more information on what is happening in Israel and Palestine? Check out our FactCheck Knowledge Bank for essential reads and guides to navigating the news online. Visit Knowledge Bank Readers like you are keeping these stories free for everyone... A mix of advertising and supporting contributions helps keep paywalls away from valuable information like this article. Over 5,000 readers like you have already stepped up and support us with a monthly payment or a once-off donation. Learn More Support The Journal
RTÉ News
4 hours ago
- RTÉ News
Gaza civil defence says Israeli strikes kill 30
Gaza's civil defence agency said that Israeli air strikes killed at least 30 people, including women and children, in the central Nuseirat district. Civil defence spokesman Mahmud Bassal said the strikes were carried out overnight and into the morning and "targeted a number of citizens' homes" in the Nuseirat refugee camp. The local Al-Awda hospital said it had received 30 bodies, including 14 women and 12 children. At the weekend, under pressure from international opinion to head off the territory's slide into famine, Israel declared a series of "tactical pauses" which began on Sunday to allow aid deliveries. According to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office, the pause in military operations covers "key populated areas" between 10am and 8pm local time every day. Designated aid convoy routes will be secure from 6am to 11pm, Mr Netanyahu's office said. Overnight, however, strikes continue. COGAT, an Israeli defence ministry body in charge of civil affairs in the Palestinian territories, said that more than 200 truckloads of aid were distributed by the UN and aid agencies yesterday. Another 260 trucks were permitted to cross into Gaza to deposit aid at collection points, four UN tankers brought in fuel and 20 pallets of aid were airdropped from Jordanian and Emirati planes, COGAT said.
RTÉ News
6 hours ago
- RTÉ News
'We cannot keep silent' - Jewish groups speak out over suffering in Gaza
Week by week, the images on our screens have been growing ever-more harrowing. Emaciated, listless children. Desperate mothers, too weak to breastfeed their infants. Empty bowls outstretched at aid distribution centres. The scenes of acute hunger and suffering in Gaza have provoked outrage and alarm around the world. And now, a growing number of Jewish organisations are adding their voices to that chorus - including many which had previously refrained from openly criticising Israeli government policy. "Blocking food, water, medicine, and power - especially for children - is indefensible," asserts one of the largest Jewish groups in the United States, the Union for Reform Judaism. Despite being pro-Israel, the organisation suggests in a statement that the Israeli state is "culpable in this human disaster". "Let us not allow our grief to harden into indifference, nor our love for Israel to blind us to the cries of the vulnerable. "Starving Gazan civilians neither will bring Israel the 'total victory' over Hamas it seeks, nor can it be justified by Jewish values or humanitarian law." Those comments from the Union for Reform Judaism follow a statement from the American Jewish Committee, which over the weekend became the first major long-standing organisation in the US to express deep concerns about the humanitarian crisis in Gaza. While stressing it "stands with Israel in its justified war to eliminate the threat posed by Hamas", the group also said it had "immense sorrow for the grave toll this war has taken on Palestinian civilians". American Jews have long supported the state of Israel. Following the 7 October attacks, US Jews donated more than $833 million to the country, primarily through the Jewish Federations of North America, according to Ynetnews. Israel has also been the largest cumulative recipient of US foreign aid since its founding, receiving about $310 billion in total economic and military assistance (adjusted for inflation), as outlined by the Council on Foreign Relations in a recent report. While these latest statements from major US Jewish groups do not represent a shift in overall support for the state of Israel, they do reflect a growing sense of dismay and disgust at the government of Israel over the worsening humanitarian situation in Gaza. Some suggest it is a turning point. And it's not just in the US that Jews are speaking out. More than 1,000 Rabbis, spread across at least four continents, have signed a letter urging the Israeli government to allow international aid into Gaza, halt settler violence and pursue peace. It reads: "We cannot keep silent… we cannot condone the mass killings of civilians, including a great many women, children and elderly, or the use of starvation as a weapon of war." The calls are also coming from inside the house. Two major Israeli human rights organisations have now accused Israel of genocide for the first time. B'Tselem and Physicians for Human Rights Israel say they made the conclusion following detailed research and analysis of Israel's policy in Gaza. Speaking to RTÉ News, Tirza Leibowitz, the deputy director for Physicians for Human Rights Israel, cited attacks on medical facilities and staff members, plus "the denial of life conditions that are essential for the survival of a people". "Previously to say the word genocide and to bring that into the public discussion was very high risk... But for me, one of the biggest fears is being silent when atrocities are happening. We've all seen it historically." Ms Leibowitz said she hopes the report will provoke dialogue on the Gaza crisis inside Israel, but acknowledges the difficulties in drawing attention to the plight of Palestinians on a day-to-day basis. "Inside Israel, the media is not fulfilling its purpose and its role. And a lot of these pictures are being held back from the public … We are hoping that by coming out with this report, we are normalising this discussion." A spokesperson for the Israeli government described the allegation of genocide made by the rights groups as "baseless". "It simply doesn't make sense for a country to send in 1.9 million tons of aid most of that being food, if there is an intent of genocide," said spokesperson David Mencer. The International Court of Justice, in an interim ruling in early 2024 in a case lodged by South Africa, found it "plausible" that the Israeli offensive had violated the UN Genocide Convention.
