5 Israeli soldiers killed overnight in northern Gaza, military says
The military said two other soldiers were seriously wounded.
Israeli media said the infantry soldiers were on patrol when explosive devices were detonated against them. Media said militants also opened fire on the reinforcements sent to evacuate the dead and wounded.
The deaths came roughly two weeks after Israel reported once of its deadliest days in months in Gaza, when seven soldiers were killed when a Palestinian attacker attached a bomb to their armored vehicle.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
5 hours ago
- Yahoo
Israeli defense minister shares plan to move Palestinians to closed camp
July 8 (UPI) -- Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said he has instructed the Israel Defense Forces to draw up plans to move all Palestinians in Gaza into a closed "humanitarian city" in the south of the strip, from where he hoped they would emigrate, voluntarily. The camp, constructed over the ruins of Rafah and run by unnamed international organizations, would initially house around 600,000 security-screened people but eventually become home for all 2 million residents of Gaza, Katz told a news briefing on Monday. Katz said the camp's first residents would be from the nearby Mawasi area where large numbers of Palestinians displaced from other parts of Gaza have been living in makeshift tent cities or in the open. He said that once people entered the camp they would not be allowed to exit back into Gaza and that his longstanding aspiration to encourage Palestinians to "voluntarily emigrate" to other countries should be realized. The Times of Israel said it was likely that the only organization that would be willing to get involved with the scheme was the embattled U.S.-Israel-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, currently under intense scrutiny over hundreds of deaths alleged to have occurred in and around its food distribution hubs in Gaza. International human rights lawyers and academics said Katz' plan was illegal under international law and a "blueprint for crimes against humanity." "Katz laid out an operational plan for a crime against humanity. It is nothing less than that. It is all about population transfer to the southern tip of the Gaza Strip in preparation for deportation outside the strip," Michael Sfard told The Guardian. "While the government still calls the deportation 'voluntary', people in Gaza are under so many coercive measures that no departure from the strip can be seen in legal terms as consensual. "When you drive someone out of their homeland, that would be a war crime, in the context of a war. If it's done on a massive scale like he plans, it becomes a crime against humanity," Sfard explained. Amos Goldberg, historian of the Holocaust at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, said Katz' plan amounted to displacing people from all across Gaza into "a concentration camp or a transit camp for Palestinians before they expel them." "It is neither humanitarian nor a city. A city is a place where you have possibilities of work, of earning money, of making connections and freedom of movement. There are hospitals, schools, universities and offices. This is not what they have in mind. It will not be a livable place, just as the 'safe areas' are unlivable now." Goldberg also questioned what would happen in the event that Palestinians declined to move to the camp or mounted a determined resistance. There were also concerns that Katz' plan creates a vacuum that would make possible Israeli settlement of the strip. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has consistently stated that he is not in favor of allowing in settlers, but his government is propped up by far-right ministers in his cabinet who are pushing for exactly that. In February, Katz unveiled plans to allow Gaza residents the right to resettle in any country that will accept them, following on from U.S. President Donald Trump's proposal for the United States to take control of Gaza, relocate Palestinians to neighboring countries and redevelop the strip into the "Riviera of the Middle East." Katz' proposal came soon after Netanyahu arrived in Washington for talks with Trump. Over dinner in the White House, the pair said they were hopeful of success in the current round of negotiations with Hamas for a cease-fire in return for the release of hostages still being held in Gaza. Trump has proposed a 60-day halt in hostilities in exchange for the return of 10 live Israeli hostages and the remains of 18 others who are deceased. Hamas has countered with amendments that seek U.S. guarantees of no resumption of military action at the end of the 60-day cease-fire and responsibility for humanitarian assistance operations to be returned to the United Nations and international aid NGOs.
Yahoo
5 hours ago
- Yahoo
'Widespread sexual violence' took place during Hamas's 7 October attacks, report by Israeli experts says
A newly released report led by Israeli legal and gender experts presents detailed evidence alleging "widespread and systematic" sexual violence during the Hamas-led terror attack on 7 October. Warning: This story contains descriptions of rape and sexual violence The findings, published by the Dinah Project, argue that these acts amount to conflict-related sexual violence (CRSV), and assert that "Hamas used sexual violence as a tactical weapon of war". The report draws on 18 months of investigation and is based on survivor testimonies, eyewitness accounts, and interviews with first responders, morgue personnel and healthcare professionals. According to the Dinah Project, the documented patterns - such as forced nudity, gang rapes, genital mutilation, and threats of forced marriage - indicate a deliberate and coordinated use of sexual violence by operatives during Reported incidents span at least six locations, including the Nova music festival, and several kibbutzim in southern Israel. One section of the report describes victims "found fully or partially naked from the waist down, with their hands tied behind their backs and/or to structures such as trees and poles, and shot". At the Nova music festival and surrounding areas, the investigators found "reasonable grounds to believe" that multiple women were raped or gang-raped before being killed. The report's findings are consistent with earlier investigations by the United Nations and the International Criminal Court (ICC). Read more: The UN's Special Representative on Sexual Violence in Conflict previously concluded that there were "reasonable grounds to believe" CRSV took place during the attack. Significantly, the Dinah Project urges the international community to officially recognise the use of sexual violence by Hamas as a deliberate strategy of war and calls on the United Nations to add Hamas to its list of parties responsible for conflict-related sexual violence. The nature and scale of sexual violence on 7 October have been a subject of intense controversy, with some accusing parties of weaponising the narrative for political ends. This report seeks to confront what its authors call "denial, misinformation, and global silence," and to provide justice for the victims. Hamas has denied that its fighters have used sexual violence and mistreated female hostages.
Associated Press
6 hours ago
- Associated Press
Israeli report accuses Hamas of using sexual violence as a weapon of war on Oct. 7
TEL AVIV, Israel (AP) — An Israeli report released Tuesday said that Hamas used sexual violence as a 'tactical weapon of war' in its Oct. 7, 2023, attacks, building on other investigations by international and Israeli rights groups and the United Nations into the militant group's assault. The report by the Dinah Project, a team of legal and gender experts, based its findings on survivor and witness testimonies, accounts from first responders, and forensic, visual and audio evidence. It called for a shift in how conflict-related sexual violence is prosecuted, saying Hamas silenced its victims by killing them, robbing investigators of key evidence to hold the perpetrators to account. 'Most victims were permanently silenced — either murdered during or after the assaults or remain too traumatized to talk — creating unique evidentiary challenges,' the report said, calling for a more tailored legal approach to conflict-related sexual violence. The report comes as Israel and Hamas are negotiating a ceasefire for the 21-month war in Gaza, which began with the militants' surprise cross-border raid. The deal would pause the fighting in the Palestinian territory and release some of the remaining 50 hostages, more than half whom are said to be dead. Accounts of sexual violence from hostages and witnesses The report said it relied on dozens of accounts, including from one survivor of attempted rape at a music festival, 15 returned hostages, 17 witnesses and multiple first responders. In some cases, the Dinah Project carried out its own interviews, while in others it relied on publicly available testimony or published accounts. Citing accounts in Israeli and international media, it said 15 former hostages either experienced or witnessed some form of sexual assault which included physical sexual violence, forced nudity, verbal sexual harassment and threats of forced marriage. Two male hostages said they faced forced nudity and physical abuse when naked. The report said witness accounts indicated at least 15 separate cases of sexual assault, including at least four instances of gang rape. The report said its findings showed patterns in the sexual assaults that were committed, including victims found partially or fully naked with their hands tied, evidence of gang rape followed by killing, genital mutilation and public humiliation, indicating they were intentionally used as a weapon of war. Report builds on other accusations of sexual violence by Hamas A Hamas official did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the new report. Hamas has previously denied claims that its forces carried out sexual violence on Oct. 7, 2023, when militants stormed into Israel, killing 1,200 people and taking 251 hostage. In a report last year, the United Nations said there were 'reasonable grounds' to believe Hamas committed rape, 'sexualized torture,' and other cruel and inhumane treatment of women during its attack. In issuing arrest warrants for three Hamas leaders who were eventually killed by Israel, the prosecutor of the International Criminal Court said they bore responsibility for 'rape and other acts of sexual violence as crimes against humanity' during the Oct. 7 attack. Report urges a new approach to prosecuting sexual violence in conflict The report recommended that conflict-related sexual violence should be treated differently from regular sexual crimes to allow for evidence that doesn't primarily rely on testimony from victims, to account for 'the systematic silencing of victims.' It called for different forms of evidence to be admitted in any prosecution of conflict-related violence. It said joint criminal responsibility should be applied to all participants in the attack, rather than trying to link individual perpetrators to specific acts and victims. This approach would create 'a pathway to justice for victims of the Oct. 7 attack and potentially for victims in other conflict zones,' the report said. ___ Associated Press writer Fatma Khaled in Cairo contributed to this report.
