28 Palestinians including children killed in Israeli airstrikes in Gaza
The children and two women were among at least 13 people who were killed in Deir al-Balah, in central Gaza, after Israeli airstrikes pounded the area starting late on Friday, officials in Al-Aqsa Martyr's Hospital said.
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Another four people were killed in strikes near a petrol station, and 15 others died in Israeli airstrikes in Khan Younis, in southern Gaza, according to Nasser Hospital.
The Israeli military said in a statement that over the past 48 hours, troops struck approximately 250 targets in the Gaza Strip, including militants, booby-trapped structures, weapons storage facilities, anti-tank missile launch posts, sniper posts, tunnels and additional Hamas infrastructure sites.
People inspect the wreckage of a petrol station destroyed in an Israeli airstrike in Deir al-Balah, central Gaza Strip, on Saturday (Abdel Kareem Hana/AP)
The military did not respond to The Associated Press' request for comment on the civilian deaths.
Hamas-led militants killed some 1,200 people in their October 7, 2023, attack on Israel and abducted 251.
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They still hold 50 hostages, fewer than half of them believed to be alive, after most of the rest were released in ceasefire agreements or other deals.
Israel's offensive has killed more than 57,000 Palestinians, more than half of them women and children, according to Gaza's health ministry.
The ministry, which is under Gaza's Hamas-run government, does not differentiate between civilians and combatants in its count.
The UN and other international organisations see its figures as the most reliable statistics on war casualties.
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US President Donald Trump has said that he is closing in on another ceasefire agreement that would see more hostages released and potentially wind down the war.
But after two days of talks this week with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu there were no signs of a breakthrough.
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Telegraph
an hour ago
- Telegraph
The Afghan schoolgirls forced to return to repression by Iran
A 17 year-old contemplates suicide. A 15 year-old is forced intochild marriage. A nine year-old cries outside her school, knowing she'll never set foot inside again. This is the reality for tens of thousands of Afghan girls in Iran who are now being deported to a Taliban-controlled Afghanistan, where their right to education has been systematically destroyed. Iran's interior ministry said it will offer online education to Afghan schoolgirls who the Islamic Regime are forcing to leave the country with their families by the end of this month. Nader Yarahmadi, the head of the ministry's immigration office, said Iran can only enrol students with ID numbers and residency documents in its school – something that some Afghans refugees do not have. But families facing deportation told The Telegraph the government's promise of online education is a baseless claim to justify their deportation. The measures are part of a broader crackdown by Iran that uses spying accusations as a pretext for mass arrests and deportations following its recent conflict with Israel. Since early June, nearly 450,000 Afghan refugees, many who arrived after the Taliban returned to power in 2021, have been deported and 5,000 children separated from their parents, according to UN agencies. Afghans in Iran have long been blamed for the economic problems, but the crackdown has become much harsher since the recent conflict with Israel. During its 12-day war, daily deportations jumped from 2,000 to over 30,000 as Iranian authorities turned public anger toward the vulnerable minority. Some 50 kilometres north of Tehran, in Karaj, nine-year-old Nafas and her family have already received a deportation order. They've packed their belongings and are set to leave for Afghanistan next week. The family fled to Iran after the fall of Kabul, as her father's job with the Western-backed government put them at risk under the Taliban. Farhad, Nafas's father, said: 'She and her sister used to memorise poems, record themselves reciting them, and send the videos to their teacher. 'But now they're both depressed. They hardly eat and cry themselves to sleep every night.' Nafas was set to start third grade (the equivalent to the UK's Year Four) this September, and her 12-year-old sister Neda was entering fifth grade. They had been looking forward to a school trip with their teacher and classmates later this month. 'They went to their school the other day to say goodbye to their teachers. It was heartbreaking. I couldn't bear to watch and had to walk away,' said Farhad. 'This is not what human dignity should look like. I no longer worry about my own safety in Afghanistan, I worry about what will happen to my children.' He said the girls are now on school holidays, but Nafas still walks to school and stands outside, tears in her eyes. 'She doesn't want to leave her friends, and neither does her sister,' her father said. 'They're so innocent. I feel deeply guilty that I can't give them even the most basic right: education and a chance at happiness. A nine and 12-year-old shouldn't be crying over school. They should be learning, not longing to learn.' Schoolgirls returning to Afghanistan are increasingly facing child marriage, driven by traditional rural beliefs and financial hardship. Afsaneh, 15, was forced to return to Afghanistan two months ago. Now, her family is arranging her marriage. Firouz, her brother, said Afsaneh had been doing well in school and wanted to continue her studies. Now, their father wants to marry her off to a man in his 20s. 'I've tried to stop him,' he said. 'But I have no say in the matter... Now she cries all the time.' Their father insists that in their village, if a girl is not married by her age, 'people start talking badly about her'. The girls in Iran are trapped in limbo and are struggling with the prospect of leaving their education and friends behind. Mahnaz, 17, not her real name, has considered suicide rather than face deportation. 'I've thought about killing myself,' she said. 'Dying. It's better than going to Afghanistan and falling into the Taliban's hands and with no school.' Mahnaz was born and raised in Iran and had legal documents, like her mother's family. But her life fell apart eight years ago when her father's severe drug addiction broke up the family. 'My father became severely addicted and it was very difficult,' she said. 'He beat all of us. He beat my mum. He beat me. He intentionally burned my hand when he was using drugs. The mark is still there.' Mahnaz's father attempted suicide and her mother later filed for divorce after years of abuse. But without the male head of household, their residency documents expired and became invalid. In Iran, if the father of a refugee family loses his documents, the whole family risks losing theirs. Mahnaz's father disappeared and with him, their legal status. 'When they expired, me and my mum were left alone,' Mahnaz said. 'We wanted to go to school. To study. Go to a clinic. Go to a hospital. But they wanted documents. We were stuck.' Eventually, they received new census forms, allowing Mahnaz to enroll in high school and her younger brother to continue their education. But with the census, the Islamic Republic can easily find the refugees whose legal status remains uncertain and deport them. Those fully documented by the UN for decades cannot be easily sent back. 'They gave census holders exit forms,' she said. 'We have about 20 days to see what happens to our situation.' The deadline is the end of July for the schoolgirls to leave the country, according to Iranian media. After that, families like Mahnaz face deportation to a country where the Taliban has banned girls from attending school beyond primary grades and barred women from most jobs. At the Afghanistan border, aid workers witness the daily reality of forced returns. Faraidoon Osmani, who works for the Mercy Corps humanitarian NGO at the Herat border crossing, said between 24,000 to 30,000 people arrive daily from Iran. 'The situation is very bad,' Mr Osmani said. 'The people who come, almost all of them, were forcibly expelled.' Families are being torn apart in the deportation process. 'You will see a lot of children unaccompanied at the border,' Mr Osmani said. 'Half the family stayed in Iran, half the family came to the border. Some children who are under 18 years old were also expelled.' Mr Osmani also believes that Iran's promise of online tuition is unrealistic for most returnees. 'The majority of our people live in villages and remote areas,' he said. 'Many people don't have mobile phones, let alone having the internet.' Since taking power in August 2021, the Taliban has severely limited women's rights in Afghanistan. Women now face rules that control nearly every part of their lives; from being forced to cover their faces and banned from driving, to not being allowed to talk to men or choose how they dress. In the small town outside Tehran, Mahnaz works from 9 am until 11 pm, constantly checking on their legal status while trying to support her family. She dreams of university, of helping others, of a future that seems increasingly impossible. 'I really want to continue my studies and go to university,' she said. 'I want to reach somewhere so that I can help others.'
Scotsman
3 hours ago
- Scotsman
Why Palestinians in Gaza are protesting with photos of Israeli children killed by Hamas
Gaza Youth Committee founder Rami Aman says many people in Gaza do not support Hamas, only want peace and mourn for the Israeli children who have been killed, as well as their own Sign up to our daily newsletter – Regular news stories and round-ups from around Scotland direct to your inbox Sign up Thank you for signing up! Did you know with a Digital Subscription to The Scotsman, you can get unlimited access to the website including our premium content, as well as benefiting from fewer ads, loyalty rewards and much more. Learn More Sorry, there seem to be some issues. Please try again later. Submitting... We in Gaza love life and want to see an end to this war. We love others living their lives too and most people in Gaza do not support Hamas, despite its claims that it has the backing of the people and that it constitutes the majority. This is the wrong image. People have been demonstrating against Hamas's rule for many years. We also appreciate receiving Scotland's love and support for the Palestinians, some of whom are football fans who follow the derby matches between Glasgow Rangers and Celtic. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad For years, the Israeli army has been killing thousands of Palestinians in Gaza, saying this is necessary to eliminate Hamas. However, there have been credible claims – from people like the former European Union foreign affairs chief Josep Borrell – that Benjamin Netanyahu's government actually provided funding for Hamas, helping to build its headquarters and offices and purchasing everything necessary to ensure its rule. Netanyahu needed Hamas to win the support of Israeli voters under the pretext of protecting them from danger. His government is always trying to show the people in Gaza as criminals who dream all the time of killing Jews and teach our children nothing but hatred. This is not true. Hatred is born of wars and killing only creates killing. Two men in Gaza hold photographs of two-year-old Omer Siman Tov and nine-month-old Kfir Bibas, who both died as a result of the October 7 attack on Israeli by Hamas | Picture courtesy of Gaza Youth Committee Solidarity with all Israelis The Hamas movement knows very well that, in the event of elections in Gaza, only a few thousand people would vote for it. Hamas began to lose the sympathy of the people in Gaza years ago, but the media does not show that. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad The Israeli army has now killed more than 60,000 people in Gaza, wounded hundreds of thousands, and destroyed our future, but it will not be able to eliminate our humanity and our rights. Amid the ongoing devastation in Gaza, the Gaza Youth Committee launched a courageous and compassionate campaign called 'We Live Together, We Die Together', signalling a bold departure from entrenched narratives of division. This initiative extends heartfelt messages of solidarity to all Israelis, regardless of faith or background. We mourn with every Jewish, Christian, and Muslim family that has lost a child in this war. Our pain does not blind us to the suffering of others, and we are against the killing of children, whether Palestinian or Israeli. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad Despite living under siege, enduring hunger, death, and displacement, the youth of Gaza remain steadfast in their belief in peace. We have not turned away from our responsibility to speak for peace, even when the world turns away from us. We at the Gaza Youth Committee appreciate everyone who carries pictures of our children and commemorates them and does not consider them to be just numbers. We saw many Israelis holding photographs of Palestinian children killed in the war. So we decided to tell them that we are also with you, that we want to end the war and stand in solidarity with every family that lost a child by protesting in Gaza with pictures of Israeli children, like Ariel Bibas, four, and his nine-month-old brother, Kfir, killed by Hamas. Palestinian children line up to receive a hot meal at a food distribution point in Nuseirat in the Gaza Strip on June 30 (Picture: Eyad Baba) | AFP via Getty Images Not superheroes, not terrorists This campaign is in keeping with the legacy of earlier efforts. In May 2018, 50 of our committee members gathered at Gaza's eastern border and released 150 white doves, each carrying a message of peace for Israelis. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad One key organizer, who participated in that event, has since lost three children and eight family members in an Israeli airstrike. Still, he has not lost faith in the transformative power of reconciliation and human dignity. We at the Gaza Youth Committee have always been trying to network school students in Gaza with others in European schools so that people there know the truth about their lives. Some people believe we are superheroes, others that we are terrorists. The majority do not seem to believe we are ordinary people. We always try to convey Gaza's true message and call on people in other countries not to believe those in the Israeli media who want to make us appear as terrorists. We held many meetings between the Palestinians in Gaza and the Israelis, to the point that the Hamas government arrested me more than once. In 2020, I was jailed for six-and-a-half months after holding a meeting between more than 300 Israelis and ten people from Gaza. It is important that these messages come out of Gaza, carried by brave young men who declare their commitment to peace on behalf of the large number of Palestinians who completely reject all the killing because they are the people who suffer most through the loss of their dearest children. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad Smoke rises after Israeli attacks on areas east of the Tuffah neighbourhood in Gaza City on June 18 (Picture: Bashar Taleb) | AFP via Getty Images Partners for peace This war must stop for the sake of the lives of the innocent victims who have died since October 7, and the whole world must know that all the residents of Gaza want an end to the war, the release of the hostages, and the opening of the Rafah crossing to allow people to receive medical treatment. People who want to leave in search of a new life and those stranded outside Gaza who want to return to what remains of their homes should be allowed to do so. We also need new Palestinian elections. We in the Gaza Youth Committee consider ourselves partners with every person who wants to end the war, release the hostages, and open a political path to peace in all Palestinian territories. We do not want anyone to be the next victim; we want everyone to be the next hope.
The Guardian
7 hours ago
- The Guardian
EU risks breaking international law over Israel gas deal, say campaigners
The EU is 'trampling over Palestinian rights' and risks breaching international law, over an energy deal signed with Israel to bring more gas to Europe, a campaign group has said. A report by Global Witness shared exclusively with the Guardian concludes that the EU could be 'complicit in breaches of international law' over a 2022 energy deal linked to gas imports from a pipeline said to traverse Palestinian waters. The NGO has called on the EU to cancel all gas imports linked to the East Mediterranean Gas (EMG) pipeline and terminate the 2022 deal, which was also signed with Egypt. The spotlight on the EU's energy ties with its Middle Eastern ally comes after the European Commission concluded there were 'indications' Israel was in breach of human rights obligations over the catastrophic humanitarian consequences of its war in Gaza and rampant Israeli settler violence in the West Bank. While the EU is facing growing calls to cancel completely or in part its trade and cooperation agreement with Israel, Europe's energy relationship with Israel has attracted little attention, notably a gas deal that appears to have been automatically rolled over last month. The European Commission signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Israel and Egypt in June 2022, with the aim of 'enabling a stable delivery of natural gas to the EU'. It was sealed a few months after Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, as the EU was racing to secure alternative energy suppliers. Global Witness contends that the EMG pipeline, which runs parallel to the Gaza coastline, plays an important role in enabling gas exports to Europe from Egypt. The 56-mile (90km) pipeline transports gas from Ashkelon in Israel to Arish in Egypt, where it is then processed into liquefied natural gas for export, including to Europe. The NGO claims the EMG pipeline runs through Palestinian waters. Its work is guided by a legal opinion drafted pro bono by two barristers at the London-based Garden Court Chambers. Zehrah Hasan, a human rights barrister and co-author of the opinion, told the Guardian: 'Israel unilaterally constructed and operated the pipeline without the consent of the Palestinian authorities, and Palestine hasn't been afforded the opportunity to stipulate any financial, environmental or regulatory conditions. 'So in our view that was another example of how Israel is very likely breaching international law in its continued denial of Palestinian sovereignty. 'There's a very strong basis to contend that the EU is likely in violation of customary international law and EU law by signing and continuing the MoU.' Hasan has a Palestinian flag on her social media profile, but is said to have carried out the work in line with her regulatory duties to act independently. Israel has previously described Palestine's claimed maritime zone as 'legally invalid'. Israel's mission to the EU in Brussels and foreign ministry in Jerusalem did not respond to requests for comment. Nor did Palestine's mission to the EU. Gleider Hernández, a professor of public international law at KU Leuven, who was not involved in the study, told the Guardian that he believed Global Witness 'arrive at what is probably the correct conclusion' about a risk of breaching international law. He cautioned, however, that the analysis relied on Palestine's statehood being established. Irrespective of Palestinian statehood, he pointed to Israel's obligations as an occupying power under the fourth Geneva convention not to exploit the territory purely for its own benefit, ignoring the inhabitants. He said: 'In building a pipeline in the area concerned, Israel is probably committing an unlawful act … And then the question becomes … is the EU breaching one of its obligations vis-à-vis international law by having signed the MoU. And there, I think so … Even though the gas would not be directed to Israeli settlements in the West Bank, it would constitute a sort of toleration of Israel's misuse of its prerogatives as the occupying power.' The law professor also pointed to the landmark opinion from the UN's international court of justice (ICJ) in July 2024 that ordered Israel to end its occupation of Palestinian territories as soon as possible. In that non-binding opinion, the court called on other countries not to recognise the occupation as lawful or assist it. 'Thus the construction of [the pipeline] very well may be a breach of the obligations identified by the court also with respect to third actors such as the EU,' he said. The situation, he added, 'did not become unlawful in 2024', but 'the international court simply recognised the situation of illegality that had been in existence for some time before then'. As to whether the EU should have signed the agreement in 2022, he said: 'I would have said don't do it.' Barry Andrews, an Irish centrist MEP, who chairs the European parliament's development committee, told the Guardian via email: 'Given Israel's persistent illegal occupation of Palestine, the legal warnings of the international court of justice in its advisory opinion issued last year and the ongoing genocide in Gaza, the EU risks being in breach of its international legal obligations by continuing with this energy cooperation.' Sign up to This is Europe The most pressing stories and debates for Europeans – from identity to economics to the environment after newsletter promotion He called for an urgent review of the MoU 'with a view to suspension, reaffirming our commitment to upholding international law and human rights'. Sarah Biermann Becker, a senior investigator at Global Witness, said: 'Since Russia's invasion of Ukraine, the EU has tried to position itself as a defender of human rights, but its continued business with Israel exposes a deplorable double standard.' She accused the EU of 'pursuing a gas deal that tramples over Palestinian rights' and which 'effectively helps bankroll Israel's genocide on Gaza'. The ICJ is considering the charge that Israel has committed genocide, and the UN's special rapporteur on human rights in the occupied Palestinian territories, Francesca Albanese, has used the term since January 2024. The criticism of the energy deal comes before an EU meeting on 15 July when foreign ministers expect an update from the EU's foreign policy chief, Kaja Kallas, on her talks with Israel's government. Kallas said she would talk to her Israeli counterpart about the findings of the unprecedented review of the EU-Israel association agreement. Since the EU found 'indications' of human rights violations, Israel has ramped up its offensive, adding to the death toll that now stands at more than 57,000 people, mostly civilians. The retaliatory war was launched after Hamas militant attacks on 7 October 2023 killed 1,219 people and took 251 hostage. Since then nearly the entire 2.3 million population of Gaza has been displaced and the territory reduced to ruin. The MoU was due to be extended automatically in mid-June this year. The European Commission did not respond to repeated questions about the agreement. Announcing the trilateral deal in June 2022, the European Commission president, Ursula von der Leyen, said she was 'grateful that Israel will increase its supply of energy to the EU'. Israel's then energy minister, Karine Elharrar, hailed the agreement as historic and said it enabled Israel 'for the first time to export Israeli natural gas to Europe'. It was, she said, 'another step towards positioning Israel as a natural gas superpower' and 'a diplomatic lever'. Between 2020 and 2024 nearly 9bn cubic metres of LNG was exported from Egypt to Europe, according to Global Witness analysis of Rystad Energy data. Spain, Italy and France were the top importers of the gas, buying around half, worth $9bn. The campaign group argues that most Israeli gas to Egypt goes via the EMG pipeline, as it is the most direct route with the biggest capacity. While it is not possible to trace the exact molecules from Israel to the EU, Global Witness contends that additional gas from Israel to Egypt enables exports to the EU. The MoU shows an intention, the NGO states, 'to further support and enable the export of Israeli gas to the EU'. Gas flows have continued largely uninterrupted during the massive upsurge in violence. Israel suspended operations at two gas fields supplying Egypt and Jordan last month, hours after launching surprise airstrikes against Iran. Operations were resumed nearly two weeks later.
