Dozens shot dead in Gaza, authorities say

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Business Recorder
19 minutes ago
- Business Recorder
Pope urges immediate end to ‘barbarity' of Gaza war
CASTEL GANDOLFO, (Italy): Pope Leo XIV slammed the 'barbarity' of the war in Gaza on Sunday and urged against the 'indiscriminate use of force', just days after a deadly strike by Israel's military on a Catholic church. 'I once again ask for an immediate end to the barbarity of the war and for a peaceful resolution to the conflict,' Leo said at the end of the Angelus prayer at Castel Gandolfo, the papal summer residence near Rome. The pope, who spoke by telephone with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu the morning after Thursday's strike, spoke of his 'deep sorrow' for the attack on the Holy Family Church. The church was sheltering around 600 displaced people, the majority of them children and including dozens of people with special needs. Israel expressed 'deep sorrow' over the damage and civilian casualties, adding that the military was investigating the strike. 'This act, unfortunately, adds to the ongoing military attacks against the civilian population and places of worship in Gaza,' Leo said on Sunday. 'I appeal to the international community to observe humanitarian law and respect the obligation to protect civilians, as well as the prohibition of collective punishment, the indiscriminate use of force, and the forced displacement of populations,' he added. The Israeli military on Sunday issued an evacuation order for Palestinians in the central Gaza Strip, warning of imminent action against Hamas militants. Most of Gaza's population of more than two million people have been displaced at least once during the war, which is now in its 22nd month. The pope also expressed his 'sympathy' for the plight of 'beloved Middle Eastern Christians' and their 'sense of being able to do little in the face of this dramatic situation'.


Middle East Eye
21 minutes ago
- Middle East Eye
Palestinian factions accuse Israel of genocide in Gaza
Palestinian political groups, including Hamas and Islamic Jihad, have issued a joint statement expressing deep alarm over the worsening humanitarian collapse in Gaza, calling it a 'systematic genocide' driven by starvation, relentless bombing, and a suffocating blockade. The factions accused Israel—backed by the United States and met with silence from European and international institutions—of waging a total war aimed at breaking Palestinian resistance. They warned that the scale and brutality of Israeli attacks amount to war crimes under international law and surpass previous assaults in their severity. The statement demanded that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his government be held fully responsible for policies of siege and deliberate starvation. The United States, they said, must also be held accountable for enabling the offensive by refusing to pressure Israel to halt its campaign. The factions condemned what they described as the complicity of the international community, particularly the European Union, for failing to act. They called on Palestinians worldwide, along with Arab and Islamic countries, to step up political and media efforts to 'stop the genocide' and 'end the siege' on Gaza.


Middle East Eye
21 minutes ago
- Middle East Eye
Israel blocks UN official's visa over Gaza testimony and 'bias' claims
Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar has confirmed that he blocked a visa extension for Jonathan Whittall, the head of the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) in Gaza and the occupied West Bank. Writing in Hebrew on X, Saar said the decision followed what he called 'biased and hostile conduct against Israel, which distorted reality, presented false reports, slandered Israel, and even violated the UN's own rules on neutrality'. 'Whoever spreads lies about Israel – Israel will not work with them,' he declared. Whittall recently testified on the dire humanitarian conditions in Gaza and accused Israel of using hunger as a weapon. He also criticised the so-called GHF aid distribution sites, describing them as 'created to kill'.