Gaza rescuers say Israeli forces kill 60, half near aid centers

Update Gaza rescuers say Israeli forces kill 60, half near aid centers
People mourn at the morgue of Al-Awda hospital, in Nuseirat camp in central Gaza on Friday, after more than 25 Palestinians were killed heading to a food distribution center, rescuers said. (AFP)
Short Url
Updated 21 June 2025
Follow

Gaza rescuers say Israeli forces kill 60, half near aid centers

Gaza rescuers say Israeli forces kill 60, half near aid centers
  • Civil defense official says 31 people killed while gathered near aid distribution centers

GAZA CITY: Gaza’s civil defense agency said 31 Palestinian aid seekers were among at least 60 people killed Friday by Israeli forces, the latest in a string of deadly incidents near aid distribution sites.

Civil defense spokesman Mahmud Bassal told AFP that five people were killed while waiting for aid in the southern Gaza Strip and 26 others near a central area known as the Netzarim corridor, an Israeli-controlled strip of land that bisects the Palestinian territory.

Thousands of Palestinians have gathered there daily in the hope of receiving food rations, as famine looms across Gaza after more than 20 months of war.

The Israeli army told AFP that its troops in the Netzarim area had first fired “warning shots” at “suspects” approaching them.

When the individuals continued advancing, “an aircraft struck and eliminated the suspects in order to remove the threat,” the army said.

Similar incidents have occurred in that area regularly since late May, when the US- and Israel-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation opened its distribution centers, as Israel eased a two-month aid blocakde.

The privately run foundation’s operations in Gaza have been marred by chaotic scenes. UN agencies and major aid groups have refused to cooperate with it over concerns it was designed to cater to Israeli military objectives.

Elsewhere in the territory on Friday, Bassal said 14 people were killed in two separate strikes in and around the central city of Deir el-Balah, and 13 others in three Israeli air strikes in the Gaza City area.

One of those strikes, which killed three people, hit a phone charging station in the city, Bassal said.

In southern Gaza, two people were killed “by Israeli gunfire” in two separate incidents, he added.

Israeli restrictions on media in the Gaza Strip and difficulties in accessing some areas mean AFP is unable to independently verify the tolls and details provided by the civil defense agency.

The armed wing of Palestinian miliant group, Al-Quds Brigades, said on Friday it had targeted an Israeli military post in the southern city of Khan Yunis, claiming “dead and wounded” Israeli troops as a result.

Contacted by AFP, the Israeli military did not comment.

Much of Khan Yunis, like vast areas across Gaza, is under Israeli military evacuation orders.


Israeli strikes on south Lebanon kill two

Israeli strikes on south Lebanon kill two
Updated 27 sec ago
Follow

Israeli strikes on south Lebanon kill two

Israeli strikes on south Lebanon kill two
  • Two people were killed Thursday in separate Israeli strikes on south Lebanon, the Lebanese health ministry said

BEIRUT: Two people were killed Thursday in separate Israeli strikes on south Lebanon, the Lebanese health ministry said, in the latest attacks despite a ceasefire between Israel and Iran-backed Hezbollah.

The ministry said that “an Israeli drone strike targeted a car” in the Nabatiyeh district, killing one person and wounding two others.

Another strike “targeted a truck in the town of Naqura” in southern Lebanon “resulting in one martyr,” it said in a statement.

The Israeli army did not immediately comment on the incidents.

Israel has repeatedly bombed Lebanon despite a November ceasefire seeking to end over a year of hostilities with Lebanese armed group Hezbollah.

Under the agreement, Hezbollah was to pull its fighters back north of the Litani river, about 30 kilometers (20 miles) from the Israeli border, leaving the Lebanese army and United Nations peacekeepers as the only armed parties in the region.

Israel was required to fully withdraw its troops from the country but has kept them in five places it deems strategic.


Belgian court orders regional government to stop military exports to Israel

Belgian court orders regional government to stop military exports to Israel
Updated 15 min 6 sec ago
Follow

Belgian court orders regional government to stop military exports to Israel

Belgian court orders regional government to stop military exports to Israel
  • Belgian court orders regional government to stop military exports to Israel, Belga reports

BRUSSELS: A court in Brussels on Thursday ordered the regional Flemish government to stop all transit of military equipment to Israel, Belgian news agency Belga reported.

The region is home to the Antwerp-Bruges port — one of the largest in Europe.


Israel to boost defense spending by $12.5 billion amid regional conflicts on multiple fronts

Israel to boost defense spending by $12.5 billion amid regional conflicts on multiple fronts
Updated 31 min 41 sec ago
Follow

Israel to boost defense spending by $12.5 billion amid regional conflicts on multiple fronts

Israel to boost defense spending by $12.5 billion amid regional conflicts on multiple fronts
  • The budget is expected to enable the Defense Ministry to advance urgent deals critical to national security, a statement said

JERUSALEM: Israel will increase defense spending by 42 billion shekels ($12.5 billion) this year and in 2026, the finance and defense ministries announced on Thursday, citing mounting security challenges.

The budget agreement will enable the Defense Ministry to "advance urgent and essential procurement deals critical to national security," the ministries said in a joint statement.

The funding boost comes as Israel remains engaged on multiple regional fronts, including its ongoing war against Hamas in Gaza, marked by heavy casualties and widespread destruction. As well as cross-border hostilities with Hezbollah in southern Lebanon, and recent strikes with Iran last month in an unprecedented escalation between the two countries.

Israel has also intensified its airstrikes in Syria, targeting sites near the presidential palace and the defense ministry in central Damascus. Meanwhile, it has carried out a series of aerial attacks on Houthi positions in Yemen in response to Houthi attacks. 


Drone attack targets Tawke oilfield in Iraq’s Kurdistan

Drone attack targets Tawke oilfield in Iraq’s Kurdistan
Updated 17 July 2025
Follow

Drone attack targets Tawke oilfield in Iraq’s Kurdistan

Drone attack targets Tawke oilfield in Iraq’s Kurdistan
BAGHDAD: A drone attack targeted Norwegian oil and gas firm DNO's oilfield in Tawke in the Zakho Administration area of northern Iraq on Thursday, according to the Kurdistan region's counter-terrorism service.
It is the second attack on the DNO-operated field amid a wave of drone attacks that began early this week.

PHOTO GALLERY: Massive demonstrations in Aleppo in rejection of foreign intervention in Syria’s internal affairs

PHOTO GALLERY: Massive demonstrations in Aleppo in rejection of foreign intervention in Syria’s internal affairs
Updated 17 July 2025
Follow

PHOTO GALLERY: Massive demonstrations in Aleppo in rejection of foreign intervention in Syria’s internal affairs

PHOTO GALLERY: Massive demonstrations in Aleppo in rejection of foreign intervention in Syria’s internal affairs

Israel’s airstrikes blew up part of Syria’s defense ministry and hit near the presidential palace as it vowed to destroy government forces attacking Druze in southern Syria and demanded they withdraw.

People took to the streets of Aleppo in rejection of foreign intervention in Syria’s internal affairs.