
France says it intercepted drones targeting Israel prior to Iran ceasefire
"I can confirm that the French army intercepted less than 10 drones in the last few days during the different military operations conducted by the Islamic Republic of Iran against Israel, either by ground-to-air systems or via our Rafale fighter jets," Lecornu said during a parliamentary debate on the situation in the Middle East.
Lecornu said Iran had launched some 400 ballistic missiles and 1,000 drones towards Israel during the 12-day conflict.
Israel started attacking Iran on June 13, saying it aimed to destroy its arch-enemy's nuclear capabilities. Its strikes wiped out a senior echelon of Iran's military command and killed several nuclear scientists. Iranian authorities said 610 people were killed and nearly 5,000 injured in the country.
Tehran's retaliatory missiles killed at least 28 people in Israel and damaged hundreds of buildings, until a ceasefire came into effect on Tuesday.
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BBC News
37 minutes ago
- BBC News
Gaza truce talks on verge of collapse, Palestinian officials say
Negotiations between Israel and Hamas in Qatar on a new Gaza ceasefire and hostage release deal are on the brink of collapse, according to Palestinian officials familiar with the details of the senior official told the BBC that Israel had "bought time" during Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's visit to Washington this week and deliberately stalled the process by sending a delegation to Doha with no real authority to make decisions on key points of include the withdrawal of Israeli troops and humanitarian aid he left the US on Thursday, Netanyahu had maintained a positive tone, saying he hoped to complete an agreement "in a few days". He said the proposed deal would see Hamas release half of the 20 living hostages it is still holding and just over half of the 30 dead hostages during a truce lasting 60 days. Since last Sunday, Israeli and Hamas negotiators have attended eight rounds of indirect "proximity" talks in separate buildings in have been facilitated by Qatar's Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdul Rahman Al Thani and senior Egyptian intelligence officials, and attended by US envoy Brett mediators have relayed dozens of verbal and written messages between the Hamas and Israeli delegation, which has included military, security and political on Friday night, Palestinian officials familiar with the negotiations told the BBC they were on the verge of collapse, with the two sides deeply divided on several contentious said the most recent discussions had focused on two of those issues: the mechanism for delivering humanitarian aid in Gaza and the extent of the Israeli military has insisted that humanitarian assistance must enter Gaza and be distributed via United Nations agencies and international relief on the other hand, is pushing for aid distribution via the controversial Israeli- and US-backed mechanism run by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF).According to mediators involved in the process, there has been some limited progress on bridging the divide over this issue. However, no formal agreement has been second major sticking point is over the extent of the Israeli the fifth round of talks, Israeli negotiators reportedly handed mediators a written message stating that Israel would maintain a limited "buffer zone" inside Gaza that was between 1km and 1.5km (0.6-0.9 miles) according to a Palestinian official who attended at least two of the rounds of talks, viewed this proposal as a possible starting point for when Hamas requested and received a map outlining Israel's proposed withdrawal zones, the document contradicted the earlier message, showing far deeper military positions. The map was said to indicate buffer zones that were up to 3km deep in certain areas and confirmed a continued Israeli presence in vast swathes of covered all of the southern city of Rafah, 85% of the village of Khuzaa east of Khan Younis, substantial parts of the northern towns of Beit Lahia and Beit Hanoun, and eastern neighbourhoods of Gaza City, such as Tuffah, Shejaiya and officials saw the map as a bad-faith manoeuvre by Israel, further eroding trust between the officials accused the Israeli delegation of deliberately stalling to create a positive diplomatic backdrop for the Israeli prime minister's recent visit to Washington."They were never serious about these talks," one senior Palestinian negotiator told the BBC. "They used these rounds to buy time and project a false image of progress."The official also claimed that Israel was pursuing a long-term strategy of forced displacement under the guise of humanitarian alleged that Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz's plan to move Palestinians to a "humanitarian city" in Rafah was part of a broader effort to permanently relocate them."The goal of concentrating civilians near the Egyptian border is to pave the way for their expulsion either across the Rafah crossing into Egypt or out through the sea," the official Monday, Katz briefed Israeli reporters that he had instructed the military to prepare a plan for a new camp in Rafah that would initially house about 600,000 Palestinians - and eventually the whole 2.1 million to the plan, the Palestinians would be security screened by Israeli forces before being allowed in and not permitted to both domestically and internationally, have condemned the proposal, with human rights groups, academics and lawyers calling it a blueprint for a "concentration camp".With the talks at a critical juncture, the Palestinian side is calling on the US to intervene more forcefully and pressure Israel to make meaningful such intervention, mediators warn, the Doha negotiations could collapse is a scenario that would further complicate regional efforts to reach a durable ceasefire and avert a broader humanitarian catastrophe in in Doha say there is still a narrow window for compromise, but that the situation remains fragile."This process is hanging by a thread," one regional official said. "Unless something changes dramatically and quickly, we may be heading towards a breakdown."The Israeli military launched a campaign in Gaza in response to the Hamas-led attack on southern Israel on 7 October 2023, in which about 1,200 people were killed and 251 others were taken least 57,823 people have been killed in Gaza since then, according to the territory's Hamas-run health ministry.


Reuters
3 hours ago
- Reuters
US aware of reported death of American after beating by Israeli settlers
WASHINGTON, July 11 (Reuters) - The U.S. State Department said on Friday it was aware of the reported death of a U.S. citizen in the Israeli-occupied West Bank after reports emerged of Israeli settlers fatally beating a Palestinian American. Palestinian news agency WAFA, citing the local health ministry, said Saif al-Din Kamel Abdul Karim Musallat, aged in his 20s, died after he was beaten by Israeli settlers on Friday evening in an attack that also injured many people in a town north of Ramallah. Relatives of Musallat, who was from Tampa, Florida, were also quoted by the Washington Post as saying he was beaten to death by Israeli settlers. "We are aware of reports of the death of a U.S. citizen in the West Bank," a State Department spokesperson said, adding the department had no further comment "out of respect for the privacy of the family and loved ones" of the reported victim. The Israeli military said Israel was probing the incident in the town of Sinjil. It said rocks were hurled at Israelis near Sinjil and that "a violent confrontation developed in the area". Israel has expanded and consolidated settlements in the West Bank as part of the steady integration of these territories into the state of Israel in breach of international law, the U.N. human rights office said in March. Settler violence in the West Bank, including incursions into occupied territory and raids, has intensified since the start of Israel's war in Gaza in late 2023. Israel's military offensive has killed over 57,000 Palestinians in Gaza, according to Gaza's health ministry, and led to accusations of genocide at the International Court of Justice and of war crimes at the International Criminal Court. Israel denies the accusations and says it is fighting in self-defense after the October 2023 Hamas attack that killed 1,200 people, according to Israeli tallies. Israeli killings of U.S. citizens in the West Bank in recent years include those of Palestinian American journalist Shireen Abu Akleh, Palestinian American teenager Omar Mohammad Rabea and Turkish American activist Aysenur Ezgi Eygi. The United Nations' highest court said last year Israel's occupation of Palestinian territories and settlements there were illegal and should be withdrawn as soon as possible.


Times
4 hours ago
- Times
Nearly 800 Palestinians killed near Gaza aid sites in six weeks
Almost 800 Palestinians have been killed near aid sites in Gaza over the past six weeks, according to the United Nations, most of them near locations run by a divisive Israeli and American-backed group. Of the 798 Palestinians who died, 615 were killed 'in the vicinity of the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) sites, and 183 presumably on the route of aid convoys,' said Ravina Shamdasani, spokeswoman for the OHCHR, the UN human rights office. The GHF, which hires armed contractors to dispense aid, has seen executives quit and consultants pull out over the casualties and allegations that the group serves the interests of an Israeli plan to relocate Palestinians to southern Gaza, and from there possibly to other countries. Shortly after the UN's announcement, the Israeli military issued instructions to soldiers from 'lessons learnt' following a review of the incidents. The European Union said on Friday that it was contemplating action against Israel after finding that it had breached international law. 'Our aim is to really improve the situation on the ground [in Gaza], because the humanitarian situation is untenable,' said Kaja Kallas, the EU foreign policy chief. Britain has already suspended a trade agreement with Israel and sanctioned two extremist government ministers over the offensive that started in March, after a ceasefire unravelled. • The five obstacles to a Gaza ceasefire deal Earlier in the week, the EU and Israel agreed a deal to bring more food and fuel into the territory and open up more border crossings. It is not clear, however, when the agreement will come into effect or how much more aid it will provide. Israeli media have previously reported that troops were instructed to fire at aid seekers as a form of crowd control, if they showed up early to the sites or stayed after they closed. The Yediot Ahronoth newspaper claimed on Friday that Israel's navy had also fired shells at crowds in several incidents. It quoted the military acknowledging the actions, but saying the intent was not to harm civilians. Earlier, Haaretz, another Israeli daily, cited soldiers saying they were ordered to open fire on aid seekers who had assembled near the sites too early, or stayed behind. Witnesses have said that they came under fire from soldiers, tanks and navy gunboats. The GHF is meant to ensure that Hamas does not commandeer aid, but it has been shunned by the UN and other aid agencies who say its methods place aid seekers in danger. • IDF defies Netanyahu's plan for 'humanitarian city' in Gaza The US hopes to mediate another ceasefire soon to end the war, which started in October 2023 after Hamas attacked Israel, killing more than 1,100 people and taking more than 200 hostages. More than 56,000 Palestinians have been killed since, according to the Gaza health ministry. The ministry is run by Hamas, but its death tolls are seen as generally reliable by the UN.