Israeli strikes kill 22, says Gaza civil defence
The latest violence came with apparent deadlock after a week of indirect talks in Qatar between Israel and the Palestinian militant group Hamas for a ceasefire after more than 21 months of war.
Civil defence spokesman Mahmud Bassal said that ten Palestinians were killed in three separate air strikes in various part of Gaza City, in the territory's north, with 12 more people killed in attacks on the southern area of Khan Yunis.
The Israeli military said it was looking into the reports.
A military statement said that Israeli troops had destroyed "buildings and terrorist infrastructure" used by Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad militants in Gaza City's Shujaiya and Zeitun areas.
The Al-Quds Brigades, the armed wing of Islamic Jihad which has fought alongside Hamas in Gaza, released footage on that it said showed its fighters firing missiles at an Israeli army command and control centre near Shujaiya.
Media restrictions in Gaza and difficulties accessing many areas mean AFP is unable to independently verify tolls and details provided by the civil defence agency and other parties.
The vast majority of Gaza's population of more than two million people have been displaced at least once during the war, which has created dire humanitarian conditions in the territory.
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The Journal
5 hours ago
- The Journal
FactFind: What do we know about Catherine Connolly's visit to Syria in 2018?
A VISIT TO Syria by Catherine Connolly has been referenced frequently since she became the first candidate to publicly declare this week that she would run in the upcoming presidential election. The trip, which involved visits to areas controlled by the since-toppled Assad regime as a civil war still raged across Syria, has been cited as a potential source of controversy. Irish-Syrian are reported to have urged the Labour Party not to back Connolly's attempt to get on the ballot, the Irish Times reported today . While facts about the trip had been scant, Connolly answered questions from reporters about the trip at her campaign launch on Wednesday. What exactly did she say, does it tally with what we had already known, and why does it have the potential to become controversial? The facts Connolly went to Syria in June 2018, along with TDs Clare Daly, Mick Wallace, and Maureen O'Sullivan. Images of the politicians were posted on the social media channels of Syrian organisations and news outlets on 27 June that year. These images indicated that they visited the city of Aleppo, as well as the ruins of Yarmouk, a Palestinian refugee camp in Damascus that was destroyed during the civil war. Both those areas were controlled by the Assad regime during the time of the delegation's visit. Bashar al-Assad subsequently fled to Russia in late 2024, collapsing the Syrian government and ending his family's 50-year rule over the country. The new Syrian government, run by a coalition of rebels led by Islamist group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), has promised a new constitution and elections , though their first months of rule have been marred by violence . Speaking in the Dáil in July 2018, Mick Wallace said that 'a group of Independents 4 Change travelled to Syria last week'. (Connolly and O'Sullivan were in a technical group with Independents 4 Change, though were not members of the political party). Daly then confirmed 'we spent the past week with some of our colleagues in Syria'. Both TDs mentioned the visit to Aleppo, though neither mentioned Connolly by name. Nor was Connolly mentioned by name in Syrian social media posts, though she can be seen in photos taken at Aleppo. Catherine Connolly, Clare Daly, and Mick Wallace in Aleppo in 2018. In an interview with the Dublin Gazette published on 12 July, Daly is described as visiting Syria with 'other Independent TDs – Mick Wallace, Maureen O'Sullivan and Catherine Connolly – along with around 15 other people, including some who had been involved in the Irish Palestine Solidarity campaign'. Speaking to reporters on Wednesday, Connolly confirmed that she was one of four TDs who went on the trip, along with 'a number of community activists'. Who was involved Although the Ireland-Palestine Solidarity Campaign is frequently mentioned in news reports referencing the trip, it did not officially have any involvement. In a statement to The Journal , the Ireland-Palestine Solidarity Campaign said: 'The Ireland-Palestine Solidarity Campaign (IPSC) did not organise, endorse, or participate in, any trip to Syria and has no specific knowledge regarding the trip in question. 'The IPSC does not arrange fact-finding delegations to any states, nor does it engage in trips sponsored by states or quasi-state actors. We were not contacted or invited on this, or any other trip to Syria, and we have never had any contact with the former or current Syrian governments, nor with anyone acting on behalf of either.' In an email to The Journal , a spokesperson for the campaign also clarified that they were unsure if any IPSC members took part in a private capacity. They noted that people sometimes say they are part of 'the 'Irish Palestine solidarity campaign' or whatever, when what they actually mean is they're part of the wider Palestine solidarity movement in Ireland'. A spokesperson for Connolly said that the trip had been coordinated by a number of pro-Palestinian activists. Advertisement During her speech in the Dáil in July 2018, Daly indicated that the TDs all paid for themselves (none had declared the trip as a gift in their declaration of interests for that year). 'For the record, we paid for ourselves, went where we liked and talked to whom we liked,' Daly said. On Wednesday, Connolly also stated that she had funded her own trip. Motivations Given her lack of public comments on the trip, it had until this week been unclear exactly what Connolly's motivations for going were. However, she did make comments on a previous trip to Syria taken by Daly and Wallace's in 2017. Speaking against sanctions on Syria in the Dáil in December 2017 , Connolly mentioned that previous trip taken to Syria by Daly and Wallace. 'I thank Deputies Wallace and Daly and the small number of others who accompanied them to Syria and saw for themselves the circumstances on the ground. Perhaps the Minister will listen to them. There is no propaganda here,' Connolly said. 'It is following a visit to Syria and a tremendous amount of research that we stand here tonight to say we do not support the sanctions.' The EU lifted all economic sanctions against Syria in May 2025 after the fall of the Assad government. However, Connolly on Wednesday clarified that she went on the 2018 trip 'for the purpose of fact-finding' and initially attempted to visit a refugee camp outside Beirut in Lebanon, though had been unsuccessful. Connolly said that during the trip she met 'no member of [the Syrian] government', and confirmed she had been at the refugee camp in Damascus, as well as Aleppo. 'We met the chamber of commerce,' she said. 'We had a meeting with Unicef. We went into a convent and met a nun.' She summarised, 'On no occasion had I anything to do with the government, nor did I utter one word of support for Assad.' A spokesperson said Connolly has had no contact with the Assad regime since. Christina Finn / X (Formerly Twitter) Controversy There is some controversy over the trip, as certain groups have argued that visiting areas in Syria under the Assad regime could be stage-managed propaganda. Daly denied that this was the case in her Dáil speech. What we know Photos published on Syrian social media accounts show Daly and Wallace being shown around the Yarmouk refugee camp by men dressed in military fatigues. A spokesperson for Connolly said that these were members of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine – General Command (PFLP-GP), which fought on the side of Assad during the civil war. The PFLP is now, and was in 2018 , designated a terrorist organisation by the EU. The Irish tour group was also shown around Aleppo by the pro-Assad commentator Fares Al-Shehabi, who was described as the head of the city's chamber of commerce. Al-Shehabi, who appears in photos with Connolly, had been put under sanctions by the EU for supporting the Assad regime. The year before the Irish delegation's visit, he posted on social media that a seven-year-old who said Assad was committing a Holocaust should die. He would later go on to say that anti-Assad journalists should be raped . Speaking in the Dáil the week after the trip, Daly called for the government to issue a visa to Al-Shehabi 'so that he might come to Ireland as a businessman and Sunni Muslim who believes in secular values and talk about what has happened in Syria'. A spokesperson for Connolly said that the tour and its itinerary were arranged by a travel agency that had been active in Syria for decades. Meeting with Al-Shehabi was 'not an endorsement', a spokesperson said, and Connolly 'wasn't entirely aware of who he was' at the time. The spokesperson also said that, before, Connolly only had a idea of what a refugee camp was, but the trip 'opened her eyes to the reality of displacement.' Want to be your own fact-checker? Visit our brand-new FactCheck Knowledge Bank for guides and toolkits The Journal's FactCheck is a signatory to the International Fact-Checking Network's Code of Principles. You can read it here . For information on how FactCheck works, what the verdicts mean, and how you can take part, check out our Reader's Guide here . You can read about the team of editors and reporters who work on the factchecks here . Readers like you are keeping these stories free for everyone... It is vital that we surface facts from noise. Articles like this one brings you clarity, transparency and balance so you can make well-informed decisions. We set up FactCheck in 2016 to proactively expose false or misleading information, but to continue to deliver on this mission we need your support. Over 5,000 readers like you support us. If you can, please consider setting up a monthly payment or making a once-off donation to keep news free to everyone. Learn More Support The Journal
Irish Independent
7 hours ago
- Irish Independent
Trump vents frustration at Netanyahu after Israeli strike on Gaza's only Catholic church kills three
The shelling of the Holy Family Catholic Church in Gaza also damaged the church compound, where hundreds of Palestinians have been sheltering from the 21-month Israel-Hamas war. Israel expressed regret over what it described as an accident and said it was investigating. Pope Leo XIV on Thursday renewed his call for an immediate ceasefire in response to the attack. In a telegram of condolences for the victims, Leo expressed 'his profound hope for dialogue, reconciliation and enduring peace in the region.' The pope said he was 'deeply saddened to learn of the loss of life and injury caused by the military attack,″ and expressed his closeness to the wounded priest, Rev. Gabriel Romanelli, and the entire parish. US President Donald Trump called Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to express his frustration over the strike on the church, the White House said. Netanyahu later released a statement saying Israel 'deeply regrets that a stray ammunition hit Gaza's Holy Family Church.' The church compound was sheltering both Christians and Muslims, including a number of children with disabilities, according to Fadel Naem, acting director of Al-Ahli Hospital, which received the casualties. The Catholic charity Caritas Jerusalem said the parish's 60-year-old janitor and an 84-year-old woman receiving psychosocial support inside a Caritas tent in the church compound were killed in the attack. Parish priest Romanelli was lightly wounded. 'We were struck in the church while all the people there were elders, innocent people and children,' said Shady Abu Dawood, whose mother was wounded by shrapnel to her head. 'We love peace and call for it, and this is a brutal, unjustified action by the Israeli occupation.' The Israeli military said an initial assessment indicated that 'fragments from a shell fired during operational activity in the area hit the church mistakenly.' It said it was still investigating. The military said it only strikes militant targets, 'makes every feasible effort to mitigate harm to civilians and religious structures, and regrets any unintentional damage caused to them." Israel has repeatedly struck schools, shelters, hospitals and other civilian buildings, accusing Hamas militants of sheltering inside and blaming them for civilian deaths. Palestinians say nowhere has felt safe since Israel launched its offensive in response to Hamas' Oct. 7, 2023, attack. ADVERTISEMENT Learn more Italian Premier Giorgia Meloni blamed Israel for the strike on the church. 'The attacks on the civilian population that Israel has been demonstrating for months are unacceptable,' she said. The church is just a stone's throw from Al-Ahli Hospital, Naem said, noting that the area around both the church and the hospital has been repeatedly struck for over a week. The Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Jerusalem, which also has a church in Gaza that previously sustained damage from Israeli strikes, said the Holy Family Church was sheltering 600 displaced people, including many children, and 54 people with disabilities. It said the building suffered significant damage. Targeting a holy site 'is a blatant affront to human dignity and a grave violation of the sanctity of life and the inviolability of religious sites, which are meant to serve as safe havens during times of war,' the Church said in a statement. Separately, another person was killed and 17 wounded Thursday in a strike against two schools sheltering displaced people in the Al-Bureij refugee camp in central Gaza, according to Al-Awda Hospital. The Israeli military did not immediately comment on the strike. The Gaza Health Ministry said that over the past 24 hours, local hospitals received the bodies of 94 people killed in Israeli strikes and another 367 wounded. In the last 18 months of his life, Francis would often call the lone Catholic church in the Gaza Strip to see how people huddled inside were coping with a devastating war. Francis had repeatedly criticized Israel's wartime conduct, and last year suggested that allegations of genocide in Gaza — which Israel has rejected as a 'blood libel' — should be investigated. The late pope also met with the families of Israeli hostages and called for their release. Only 1,000 Christians live in Gaza, an overwhelmingly Muslim territory, according to the U.S. State Department's international religious freedom report for 2024. Most are Greek Orthodox. The Holy Land's Christian population has dwindled in recent decades as many have emigrated to escape war and conflict or to seek better opportunities abroad. Local Christian leaders have recently denounced attacks by Israeli settlers and Jewish extremists. There has been little visible progress in months of indirect talks between Israel and Hamas aimed at a new ceasefire and hostage release agreement, after Israel ended an earlier truce in March. According to an Israeli official familiar with the details, Israel is showing 'flexibility' on some of the issues that have challenged negotiators, including Israel's presence in some of the security corridors the military has carved into the territory. The official, speaking on condition of anonymity because they were discussing ongoing negotiations, said Israel has shown some willingness to compromise on the Morag Corridor, which cuts across southern Gaza. However, other issues remain, including the list of Palestinian prisoners to be freed by Israel and commitments to end the war. The official says there are signs of optimism but there won't be a deal immediately. Hamas-led militants killed some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, in the Oct. 7 attack and abducted 251 people, most of whom have since been released in ceasefire agreements or other deals. Fifty hostages are still being held, less than half of them believed to be alive Israel's retaliatory offensive has killed over 58,600 Palestinians, according to Gaza's Health Ministry, which has said women and children make up more than half of the dead. It does not distinguish between civilians and militants in its tally. The ministry is part of the Hamas-run government but is led by medical professionals. The United Nations and other international organizations consider its figures to be the most reliable count of war casualties.
Irish Independent
10 hours ago
- Irish Independent
‘How dare you' – former minister Alan Shatter criticised in committee on Israeli settlements bill
Former justice minister Alan Shatter has been criticised for comparing a ban on trade with Israeli settlements to TV sitcom Father Ted, with one TD asking 'how dare you' use that description.
