Israeli strikes kill more than 60 people in Gaza, health officials say
At least 62 people have been killed in Gaza by overnight Israeli strikes, according to health officials, as the humanitarian situation worsens in the besieged strip despite renewed hope for a ceasefire.
Airstrikes began overnight on Friday and continued into Saturday morning, killing a dozen people near a displacement shelter near Palestine Stadium in Gaza City. A strike at midday on Saturday killed at least 11 people.
A displaced family in a tent was killed in an Israeli strike in al-Mawasi, southern Gaza, while they were sleeping.
Israel's war in Gaza has killed more than 56,000 people, half of whom are women and children, local health authorities say.
Famine-like conditions reign in Gaza after a two-and-a-half month blockade imposed by Israel on all food until late May, since when Israel has allowed only a dribble of humanitarian aid into the strip.
Israel launched the war in Gaza after Hamas terrorists attacked Israel on 7 October 2023, killing about 1,200 people and taking about 250 people hostage.
The latest killings come as a ceasefire in Gaza seems within reach, with Donald Trump saying on Friday that an agreement could come within a week. 'I think it's close,' the US president said. 'I just spoke to some of the people involved. We think within the next week we're going to get a ceasefire.'
Reports say Israel's minister for strategic affairs, Ron Dermer, will visit Washington next week to discuss the ceasefire, among other topics.
The recent ceasefire with Iran, which ended a 12-day conflict that Israel perceived to be a great success, might provide breathing room for long-stalled peace talks. Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister, said on Thursday: 'Along with releasing our hostages and defeating Hamas, there is an opportunity, a window of opportunity has opened and it can't be missed. Not even a single day can be wasted.'
Fighting started anew in Gaza in March, when Israel restarted its war after refusing to move to a second phase of a January ceasefire that could have led to a more permanent truce. Negotiations since then have so far been fruitless, with Hamas insisting on a total end to the war in Gaza – a demand Israel has rejected.
Since the breakdown of the March ceasefire, more than 6,000 people have been killed in Gaza. Israel, for its part, says its aim for continuing the war is to return about 50 hostages who remain in Gaza, 30 of whom are presumed to be dead. Hamas has said it is willing to free all the hostages if there is a permanent truce, but Netanyahu wants the militant group to be completely dismantled in Gaza.
The most recent US proposal for a ceasefire involved a 60-day pause in fighting and renewed talks to achieve long-term peace, in addition to the release of half of all living hostages and half of the deceased. Hamas previously requested amendments to the proposal to release fewer hostages and for a permanent truce, which was rejected by the US Middle East envoy, Steve Witkoff, at the end of May.
As ceasefire talks have languished, humanitarian conditions in Gaza have sharply deteriorated. Unicef said last week that 60% of water production facilities in Gaza were out of order and that there was a 50% increase in acute child malnutrition from April to May.
Scenes of chaos unfold every day as crowds of hungry Palestinians have had to walk miles and contend with confusing sets of rules to access food, now distributed from set points run by the private American initiative the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF).
More than 500 people have been shot dead by Israeli forces as they have attempted to get aid from GHF distribution points, with witnesses accusing Israeli soldiers of shooting directly at crowds. The Israeli military said it was investigating such incidents.
Fifteen international human rights organisations have called on the GHF to halt its operations in Gaza, saying it risks being complicit in war crimes. The organisations also accused the GHF of violating the principles of neutrality and independence, cornerstones of humanitarian work.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Reuters
32 minutes ago
- Reuters
U.S. strikes on Iran's nuclear sites set up "cat-and-mouse" hunt for missing uranium
VIENNA, June 29 (Reuters) - The U.S. and Israeli bombing of Iranian nuclear sites creates a conundrum for U.N. inspectors in Iran: how can you tell if enriched uranium stocks, some of them near weapons grade, were buried beneath the rubble or had been secretly hidden away? Following last weekend's attacks on three of Iran's top nuclear sites - at Fordow, Natanz and Isfahan - President Donald Trump said the facilities had been "obliterated" by U.S. munitions, including bunker-busting bombs. But the U.N. nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency, which monitors Tehran's nuclear program, has said it's unclear exactly what damage was sustained at Fordow, a plant buried deep inside a mountain that produced the bulk of Iran's most highly enriched uranium. IAEA chief Rafael Grossi said on Monday it was highly likely the sensitive centrifuges used to enrich uranium inside Fordow were badly damaged. It's far less clear whether Iran's 9 tonnes of enriched uranium - more than 400 kg of it enriched to close to weapons grade - were destroyed. Western governments are scrambling to determine what's become of it. Reuters spoke to more than a dozen current and former officials involved in efforts to contain Iran's nuclear program who said the bombing may have provided the perfect cover for Iran to make its uranium stockpiles disappear and any IAEA investigation would likely be lengthy and arduous. Olli Heinonen, previously the IAEA's top inspector from 2005 to 2010, said the search will probably involve complicated recovery of materials from damaged buildings as well as forensics and environmental sampling, which take a long time. "There could be materials which are inaccessible, distributed under the rubble or lost during the bombing," said Heinonen, who dealt extensively with Iran while at the IAEA and now works at the Stimson Center think-tank in Washington. Iran's more than 400 kg of uranium enriched to up to 60% purity - a short step from the roughly 90% of weapons grade - are enough, if enriched further, for nine nuclear weapons, according to an IAEA yardstick. Even a fraction of that left unaccounted for would be a grave concern for Western powers that believe Iran is at least keeping the option of nuclear weapons open. There are indications Iran may have moved some of its enriched uranium before it could be struck. IAEA chief Grossi said Iran informed him on June 13, the day of Israel's first attacks, that it was taking measures to protect its nuclear equipment and materials. While it did not elaborate, he said that suggests it was moved. A Western diplomat involved in the dossier, who asked not to be identified because of the sensitivity of the issue, said most of the enriched uranium at Fordow would appear to have been moved days in advance of the attacks, "almost as if they knew it was coming". Some experts have said a line of vehicles including trucks visible on satellite imagery outside Fordow before it was hit suggests enriched uranium there was moved elsewhere, though U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth on Thursday said he was unaware of any intelligence suggesting Iran had moved it. Trump has also dismissed such concerns. In an interview due to air on Sunday with Fox News Channel's "Sunday Morning Futures", he insisted the Iranians "didn't move anything." "It's very dangerous to do. It is very heavy - very, very heavy. It's a very hard thing to do," Trump said. "Plus we didn't give much notice because they didn't know we were coming until just, you know, then." The White House did not respond to a request for comment. The State Department referred Reuters to Trump's public remarks. A second Western diplomat said it would be a major challenge to verify the condition of the uranium stockpile, citing a long list of past disputes between the IAEA and Tehran, including Iran's failure to credibly explain uranium traces found at undeclared sites. "It'll be a game of cat and mouse." Iran says it has fulfilled all its obligations towards the watchdog. Before Israel launched its 12-day military campaign aimed at destroying Iran's nuclear and missile capabilities, the IAEA had regular access to Iran's enrichment sites and monitored what was inside them around the clock as part of the 191-nation Non-Proliferation Treaty aimed at preventing the spread of nuclear weapons, to which Iran is a party. Now, rubble and ash blur the picture. What's more, Iran has threatened to stop working with the IAEA. Furious at the non-proliferation regime's failure to protect it from strikes many countries see as unlawful, Iran's parliament voted on Wednesday to suspend cooperation. Tehran says a resolution this month passed by the IAEA's 35-nation Board of Governors declaring Iran in breach of its non-proliferation obligations paved the way for Israel's attacks, which began the next day, by providing an element of diplomatic cover. The IAEA denies that. Iran has repeatedly denied that it has an active program to develop a nuclear bomb. And U.S. intelligence - dismissed by Trump before the airstrikes - had said there was no evidence Tehran was taking steps toward developing one. However, experts say there is no reason for enriching uranium to 60% for a civilian nuclear program, which can run on less than 5% enrichment. As a party to the NPT, Iran must account for its stock of enriched uranium. The IAEA then has to verify Iran's account by means including inspections, but its powers are limited - it inspects Iran's declared nuclear facilities but cannot carry out snap inspections at undeclared locations. Iran has an unknown number of extra centrifuges stored at locations the U.N. nuclear watchdog is unaware of, the IAEA has said, with which it might be able to set up a new or secret enrichment site. That makes hunting down the material that can be enriched further, particularly that closest to bomb grade, all the more important. "Iran's stockpile of 60% enriched uranium may not have been part of the 'mission' but it is a significant part of the proliferation risk - particularly if centrifuges are unaccounted for," Kelsey Davenport of the Washington-based Arms Control Association said on X on Friday. The IAEA can and does receive intelligence from member states, which include the United States and Israel, but says it takes nothing at face value and independently verifies tip-offs. Having pummelled the sites housing the uranium, Israel and the U.S. are seen as the countries most likely to accuse Iran of hiding it or restarting enrichment, officials say. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office did not respond to a request for comment for this story. U.N. inspectors' futile hunt for large caches of weapons of mass destruction in Iraq, which preceded the U.S.-led invasion in 2003, showed the enormous difficulty of verifying foreign powers' assertions about hidden stockpiles of material when there is little tangible information to go on. As in Iraq, inspectors could end up chasing shadows. "If the Iranians come clean with the 400 kg of HEU (highly enriched uranium) then the problem is manageable, but if they don't then nobody will ever be sure what happened to it," a third Western diplomat said. The IAEA, which answers to 180 member states, has said it cannot guarantee Iran's nuclear development is entirely peaceful, but has no credible indications of a coordinated weapons program. The U.S. this week backed the IAEA's verification and monitoring work and urged Tehran to ensure its inspectors in the country are safe. It is a long journey from there to accounting for every gram of enriched uranium, the IAEA's standard. The above-ground plant at Natanz, the smaller of the two facilities enriching uranium up to 60 percent, was flattened in the strikes, the IAEA said, suggesting a small portion of Iran's enriched uranium stockpile may have been destroyed. Fordow, Iran's most deeply buried enrichment plant, which was producing the bulk of 60%-enriched uranium, was first seriously hit last weekend when the United States dropped its biggest conventional bombs on it. The damage to its underground halls is unclear. An underground area in Isfahan where much of Iran's most highly enriched uranium was stored was also bombed, causing damage to the tunnel entrances leading to it. The agency has not been able to carry out inspections since Israel's bombing campaign began, leaving the outside world with more questions than answers. Grossi said on Wednesday the conditions at the bombed sites would make it difficult for IAEA inspectors to work there - suggesting it could take time. "There is rubble, there could be unexploded ordnance," he said. Heinonen, the former chief IAEA inspector, said it was vital the agency be transparent in real time about what its inspectors have been able to verify independently, including any uncertainties, and what remained unknown. "Member states can then make their own risk assessments," he said.
Daily Mail
33 minutes ago
- Daily Mail
New satellite photos show secret activity at Iran nuclear site after US bombing
New satellite photos have revealed that Iran is trying to piece together its nuclear site after the US sensationally bombed it last week. Heavy machinery was seen at the Fordow site as it appeared Iran has intensified its construction and excavation of the nuclear site after US B-2 bombers struck it last Saturday in Operation Midnight Hammer. Activity was seen near the tunnel entrances and near the points where the American buster bombs struck in Trump's early-morning attack. It is unclear how much uranium was left at the site during the bomb, but officials said there is no contamination after the strikes. Earthwork also showed signs tunnel entrances might have been sealed off before the attacks, Newsweek reported. Similar construction activity was seen at the Fordow site prior to the strikes, where Iranians were seen shipping contents from the nuclear site to another location a half a mile away. Despite the extent of the damage being up to question, International Atomic Energy Agency - the UN's nuclear watchdog - said Fordow's centrifuges were 'no longer operational' and suffered 'enormous damage.' A leaked preliminary report from the Defense Intelligence Agency , a US government intelligence group, suggested there was 'low confidence' that that Middle Eastern country's program had been set back. Even Iran's Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has said the United States hit Tehran's nuclear sites but achieved 'nothing significant.' 'Anyone who heard [Trump's] remarks could tell there was a different reality behind his words - they could do nothing,' the 86-year-old Iranian leader said. The Trump Administration - including Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard - pushed back on the report. Hegseth slammed the media for diminishing the strikes, which Trump compared to Hiroshima. 'Your people are trying to leak and spin that it wasn't successful, it's irresponsible,' he said at a press conference. 'There's nothing that I've seen that suggests that what we didn't hit exactly what we wanted to hit in those locations,' he explained without offering further evidence that the uranium was destroyed. Trump has threatened to sue The New York Times and CNN for reporting on the preliminary report. The Times reported Thursday that Trump's personal lawyer Alejandro Brito had reached out to the newspaper and said the article had damaged the president's reputation. The letter demanded The Times 'retract and apologize for' the story, calling it 'false,' 'defamatory' and 'unpatriotic.' The newspaper's lawyer responded by noting that Trump administration officials had confirmed the existence of the report after The Times published its findings. 'No retraction is needed,' The Times' lawyer David McCraw said in a letter. 'No apology will be forthcoming. We told the truth to the best of our ability. We will continue to do so.' A spokesperson for CNN told The Times that the cable news network had responded to Trump's lawyer in a similar fashion. Operation Midnight Hammer marked the end of a 45-year stand-off between the United States and Iran. Trump warned Iran not to try and rebuild its nuclear program. 'I don't think they'll ever do it again,' he said while attending a NATO summit. 'They just went through hell. I think they've had it. The last thing they want to do is enrich.' But the president also didn't rule out another airstrike if necessary. When asked whether the US would strike again if Iran built its nuclear enrichment program, he replied: 'Sure.' In total, the US launched 75 precision-guided munitions, including more than two dozen Tomahawk missiles, and more than 125 military aircraft in the operation against three nuclear sites.
Daily Mirror
an hour ago
- Daily Mirror
Iran could begin enriching uranium for nuclear bomb 'within months' in WW3 fears
The head of the International Atomic Energy Agency said US strikes had not completely destroyed Iran's nuclear sites, as Donald Trump claimed, and that they could begin enriching uranium again soon Iran could start enriching uranium again - for a possible bomb - in 'a matter of months', the head of the UN's nuclear watchdog has said. Rafael Grossi, head of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), said the US strikes on three Iranian sites last weekend had caused severe but 'not total' damage, contradicting Donald Trump 's claim that Iran's nuclear facilities were 'totally obliterated'. 'Frankly speaking, one cannot claim that everything has disappeared and there is nothing there,' Grossi said. Israel attacked nuclear and military sites in Iran on June 13, claiming Iran was close to building a nuclear weapon. The US later joined the strikes, dropping bombs on three of Iran's nuclear facilities - Fordo, Natanz and Isfahan. On Saturday Grossi told CBS News that Tehran could have 'in a matter of months... a few cascades of centrifuges spinning and producing enriched uranium'. He added that Iran still possessed the 'industrial and technological capacities... so if they so wish, they will be able to start doing this again'. The IAEA is not the first body to suggest that Iran's nuclear abilities could still continue. A leaked preliminary Pentagon assessment also found the US strikes probably only set the programme back by months. US president Donald Trump responded furiously by declaring that Iran's nuclear sites were 'completely destroyed' and accused the media of 'an attempt to demean one of the most successful military strikes in history'. For now, Iran and Israel have agreed to a ceasefire, but Trump has said he would 'absolutely' consider bombing Iran again if intelligence found that it could enrich uranium to concerning levels. In a speech on Thursday, Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said the strikes had achieved nothing significant. But its foreign minister Abbas Araghchi said 'excessive and serious' damage was done. Iran's already-strained relationship with the IAEA was further challenged on Wednesday, when its parliament moved to suspend cooperation with the atomic watchdog, accusing the IAEA of siding with Israel and the US. On Friday, Araghchi said on X that 'Grossi's insistence on visiting the bombed sites under the pretext of safeguards is meaningless and possibly even malign in intent'. Israel and the US attacked Iran after the IAEA last month found Tehran to be in breach of its non-proliferation obligations for the first time in 20 years. Iran insists that its nuclear programme is peaceful, and for civilian use only. Despite the Iranian refusal to work with his organisation, Grossi said that he hoped he could still negotiate with Tehran. 'I have to sit down with Iran and look into this, because at the end of the day, this whole thing, after the military strikes, will have to have a long-lasting solution, which cannot be but a diplomatic one,' he said. Under a 2015 nuclear deal with world powers, Iran was not permitted to enrich uranium above 3.67% purity - the level required for fuel for commercial nuclear power plants - and was not allowed to carry out any enrichment at its Fordo plant for 15 years. However, Trump abandoned the agreement during his first term in 2018, saying it did too little to stop a pathway to a bomb, and reinstated US sanctions. Iran retaliated by increasingly breaching the restrictions - particularly those relating to enrichment. It resumed enrichment at Fordo in 2021 and had amassed enough 60%-enriched uranium to potentially make nine nuclear bombs, according to the IAEA.
