GAZA CITY: Israeli airstrikes across Gaza killed at least 17 people early Friday including children, hospital workers said, as the new U.S. ambassador to Israel made his first public appearance in Jerusalem.
Among the dead were 10 people in Jabaliya, including eight from the same house, according to the Indonesian Hospital, which received the bodies. In the southern city of Khan Younis, seven people were killed, one of them a pregnant woman, according to Nasser Hospital, where the bodies were brought.
The strikes came a day after more than two dozen people died in Gaza as Israel ramps up attacks, pressuring Hamas to return the hostages and disarm.
U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee on Friday appeared at the Western Wall, the holiest Jewish prayer site in Jerusalem’s Old City. Huckabee inserted a prayer into the wall, which he said was handwritten by U.S. President Donald Trump. "Those are his initials, D.T.,“ said Huckabee while showing the note to the media.
In his first act as ambassador, Huckabee said Trump told him to take his prayer and pray for the peace of Jerusalem, he said. Huckabee also said every effort was being made to bring the remaining hostages held by Hamas home. A one-time presidential hopeful, Huckabee has acknowledged his past support for Israel’s right to annex the West Bank and incorporate its Palestinian population into Israel but said it would not be his “prerogative” to carry out that policy.
During his first term, Trump recognized Jerusalem as Israel’s capital over Palestinian objections and moved the embassy from Tel Aviv. Palestinian seek the eastern part of the city that Israel captured in the 1967 Mideast war as their future capital.
Huckabee's arrival comes at a pivotal time in the 18-month war, as international mediators including the U.S. are trying to get a broken ceasefire back on track.
Israel is demanding that Hamas release more hostages at the start of any new ceasefire and ultimately agree to disarm and leave the territory. Israel has said it plans occupy large “security zones” inside Gaza.
Khalil al-Hayya, head of Hamas’ negotiating delegation, said Thursday the group had rejected Israel’s latest proposal along those lines. He reiterated Hamas’ stance that it will return hostages only in exchange for the release of more Palestinian prisoners, a full Israeli withdrawal from Gaza and a lasting truce, as called for in the now-defunct ceasefire agreement reached in January.
Hamas currently holds 59 hostages, 24 of whom are believed to be alive.
The war began when Hamas-led militants attacked southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, killing some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and abducting 251. Most of the hostages have since been released in ceasefire agreements or other deals.
Israel’s offensive has since killed over 51,000 Palestinians, mostly women and children, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry, which does not distinguish between civilians and combatants. The war has destroyed vast parts of Gaza and most of its food production capabilities. The war has displaced around 90% of the population, with hundreds of thousands of people living in tent camps and bombed-out buildings.
On Thursday, aid groups raised the alarm over Israel’s blockade of of Gaza, where it has barred entry of all food and other goods for more than six weeks. Thousands of children have become malnourished, and most people are barely eating one meal a day as stocks dwindle, the United Nations said.
Israel's Defense Minister says the blockade is one of the “central pressure tactics” against Hamas, which Israel accuses of siphoning off aid to maintain its rule. Aid workers deny there is significant diversion of aid, saying the U.N. closely monitors distribution. Rights groups have called it a “starvation tactic.”
Israeli strikes kill at least 17 in Gaza and Huckabee makes first appearance as US ambassador
https://arab.news/m3q27
Israeli strikes kill at least 17 in Gaza and Huckabee makes first appearance as US ambassador
- On Thursday the civil defense agency reported the deaths of at least 40 residents in Israeli strikes
Former Iranian economy minister calls for Iranian control over Strait of Hormuz
- Ehsan Khandouzi: ‘This policy is decisive if implemented on time. Any delay in carrying it out means prolonging war inside the country’
It was not immediately clear whether Khandouzi was echoing the establishment’s decision or sharing his personal opinion.
“This policy is decisive if implemented on time. Any delay in carrying it out means prolonging war inside the country,” Khandouzi posted on X on Tuesday.
Iran’s Oil Ministry and Foreign Ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Gaza rescuers say 30 killed by Israel fire
- Civil defense spokesman says 11 people were killed and more than 100 wounded “after the occupation forces opened fire and launched several shells... at thousands of citizens”
GAZA: Gaza’s civil defense agency said 30 people were killed by Israeli fire in the Palestinian territory on Wednesday, including 11 who were seeking aid.
Civil defense spokesman Mahmud Bassal told AFP that 11 people were killed and more than 100 wounded “after the occupation forces opened fire and launched several shells... at thousands of citizens” who had gathered to queue for food in central Gaza.
In early March, Israel imposed a total aid blockade on Gaza amid deadlock in truce negotiations, only partially easing restrictions in late May.
Since then, chaotic scenes and a string of deadly shootings have occurred near areas where Palestinians have gathered in hope of receiving aid.
The civil defense agency said another 19 people were killed in three Israeli strikes on Wednesday, which it said targeted houses and a tent for displaced people.
When asked for comment by AFP, the Israeli military said it was “looking into” the reports.
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 UN humanitarian office OCHA said on Monday that its partners “continue to warn of the risk of famine in Gaza, amid catastrophic levels of acute food insecurity.”
The civil defense agency reported that at least 53 people were killed on Tuesday, as they gathered near an aid center in the southern city of Khan Yunis hoping to receive flour.
After Israel eased its blockade, the US- and Israel-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) began distributing aid in late May, but its operations have been marred by chaotic scenes and dozens of deaths.
In a statement on Tuesday, the organization said that “to date, not a single incident has occurred at or in the surrounding vicinity of GHF sites nor has an incident occurred during our operating hours.”
UN agencies and major aid groups have refused to cooperate with the foundation over concerns it was designed to cater to Israeli military objectives.
The Hamas attack which triggered the war resulted in the deaths of 1,219 people, according to Israeli official figures.
The Gaza health ministry said on Tuesday that 5,194 people have been killed since Israel resumed major operations in the territory on March 18, ending a two-month truce.
The overall death toll in Gaza since the war broke out has reached 55,493 people, according to the health ministry.
Ship collision off UAE coast due to navigational misjudgment: Ministry of Energy
DUBAI: Tuesday’s collision between two ships in the Sea of Oman was due to a ‘navigational misjudgment by one of the vessels’, the UAE’s Ministry of Energy and Infrastructure said on Wednesday, citing preliminary information.
The oil tanker named Adalynn, flying the flag of Antigua and Barbuda, and the vessel named Front Eagle, flying the flag of Liberia, collided and caught fire approximately 24 nautical miles (44.448km) off the coast of the UAE, the ministry said in a report by state news agency WAM.
Harrowing images of dark fleet tanker ADALYNN (IMO #9231767) post collision. pic.twitter.com/Y1FUBNNtis
— Ed Finley–Richardson (@ed_fin) June 17, 2025
The incident caused minor surface damage to the outer hulls of both ships, a small oil spill, and a fire that broke out in the fuel tank of one of the ships. No injuries were reported among the crew members of either vessel, the ministry added.
UAE coastguard personnel evacuated 24 crew members from the Adalynn to the port of Khor Fakkan.
A technical investigation was underway in coordination with relevant international bodies, the ministry noted.
Use of US bunker-buster bomb looms over Iran conflict
- The GBU-57 is a 30,000-pound warhead capable of penetrating 200 feet underground before exploding
- It is missing from Israel’s arsenal despite its stated goal of preventing Iran from building a nuclear bomb
WASHINGTON: A powerful American bunker-busting bomb is the only weapon capable of destroying Iran’s deeply buried nuclear facilities, making it President Donald Trump’s weapon of choice if he chooses to militarily back Israel.
The GBU-57, a 30,000-pound (13,607 kg) warhead capable of penetrating 200 feet (61 meters) underground before exploding, is missing from Israel’s arsenal despite its stated goal of preventing Iran from building a nuclear bomb.
In less than a week, the Israeli army has taken out Iranian military commanders and damaged numerous surface installations, raising more questions than answers.
“The regime’s missile stockpiles, launchers, military bases, production facilities, nuclear scientists, military command and control has taken a very severe beating,” said Behnam Ben Taleblu, director of the Iran program at the Washington-based think tank Foundation for Defense of Democracies (FDD), a conservative-leaning group.
“But there are still outsized questions as to how efficacious of a strike Israel had against the beating hearts of Iran’s nuclear program,” Taleblu said.
The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has reported no damage at Fordo, a uranium enrichment plant south of Tehran. Unlike the Natanz and Isfahan sites in central Iran, Fordo is buried deep underground, beyond the reach of Israeli bombs.
“All eyes will be on Fordo, which is buried under about 300 feet of rock in central Iran,” Taleblu said.
Former US Army lieutenant general and Rand Corporation defense researcher Mark Schwartz insists that “only the United States has the conventional capacity” to destroy such a site.
And by “conventional capacity,” he means the non-nuclear GBU-57 bomb.
The US military says the GBU-57 – also named Massive Ordnance Penetrator – “is designed to penetrate up to 200 feet underground before exploding,” navigating through rock and concrete.
This differs from missiles or bombs that typically detonate their payload near or upon impact.
“To defeat these deeply buried targets, these weapons need to be designed with rather thick casings of steel, hardened steel, to sort of punch through these layers of rock,” said Masao Dahlgren, a fellow working on missile defense for the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), a Washington-based research center.
The 6.6-meter-long GBU-57 also has a specialized fuse because “you need an explosive that’s not going to immediately explode under that much shock and pressure,” Dahlgren said.
Design for this bomb began in the early 2000s, and an order for 20 units was placed with Boeing in 2009.
The only aircraft capable of deploying the GBU-57 is an American B-2 Bomber, a stealth aircraft.
Some of these bombers were deployed in early May on Diego Garcia, the site of a joint UK-US military base in the Indian Ocean, but were no longer visible by mid-June, according to AFP’s analysis of satellite imagery provided by Planet Labs.
With their long-range capabilities, B-2s departing from the United States “are able to fly all the way to the Middle East to do bombing runs. That’s been done before,” Dahlgren said.
Each B-2 can carry two GBU-57 bombs, and Schwartz said multiple bombs will likely be needed.
“They’re not going to just be one and done,” he said.
Schwartz added that the air superiority Israel has established over Iran reduces the risks faced by the B-2 bombers.
Such a US intervention would come with “a lot of political baggage for America,” Taleblu said, emphasizing that the bunker-buster bomb is not the only way to address Iran’s nuclear program.
Without the GBU-57 bombs, and short of a diplomatic solution, Taleblu said Israelis could attack access to underground complexes like Fordo by “trying to hit entrances, collapse what they can, cut electricity” and take other measures that have already been taken at Natanz.
Syrian farmers pay price of worst drought in decades
- One fruit grower forced to chop down dead pear trees and use them for firewood
DAMASCUS: Syria’s worst drought in decades is taking a devastating toll on the agricultural region of Al-Nashabiyah east of Damascus.
Water reserves are down by more than 60 percent on previous years, levels in dams in March were lower than the past two years, and some areas have lost more than 70 percent of their groundwater reserves.
Farmer Mati Mohammed Nasser expects to lose his whole harvest of wheat, pears, plums and other fruit and vegetables. He usually picks about 200 kg of pears a year from trees he has raised from seedlings, but this year he will chop down the dead trees and use them for firewood.
He paid almost $2,000 to dig a deep well, but the water was only a couple of centimeters deep.
“What are we supposed to do with that?” he said. “We have lost hope. We sold everything we had and invested it into the land.”
Another farmer, Al-Nashabiyah’s deputy mayor Mahmoud Al-Hobeish, is $4,000 in debt. “People are asking for it and they know I cannot pay,” he said.
