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The Intercept
03-07-2025
- Politics
- The Intercept
The Israeli Plot to Extinguish the Journalists Documenting Genocide
Support Us © THE INTERCEPT ALL RIGHTS RESERVED Mourners after an Israeli airstrike killed five people, including one journalist, in Gaza on June 25, 2025. Photo: Saeed M. M. T. Jaras/Anadolu via Getty Images In partnership with On Monday, journalist Ibrahim Abu Ghazaleh was on his way to meet his friends and colleagues at Al-Baqa Cafe, an area of relative 'normalcy' near the beach in Gaza City where civilians and journalists used to meet and work. Just before he stepped inside, a missile hit the building, killing his friend Ismail Abu Hatab and injuring another, alongside more than 20 other civilians. Hatab was a Palestinian filmmaker, the founder of a TV production company, and 'a great person,' Ghazaleh said. 'He served his people and photographed everything in Gaza City, conveying the suffering through pictures.' 'In Gaza, a camera is a threat.' Israeli forces have killed hundreds of Palestinian journalists as Israel and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu continue the ongoing genocide of Gaza and the West Bank. Since October 7, 2023, the Israeli government has murdered close to 60,000 Palestinians, leaving an uncountable number vaporized, trapped under the rubble, dying of starvation, or shot while attempting to receive food. The bloodshed coincides with a ban on international media and a calculated extermination campaign to assassinate the limited number of people left to document and expose Israel's atrocities. 'In Gaza, a camera is a threat,' Ghazaleh said. 'When you witness the truth, you become a target.' In Gaza and the West Bank, Israeli soldiers consistently threaten journalists and their families. Before attacking, they warn reporters to cease reporting, pressuring them to abandon what is often the most urgent story of their lives. Last month, the Washington Post obtained audio of a threatening call from an Israeli intelligence operative to an Iranian general: 'You have 12 hours to escape with your wife and child. Otherwise, you're on our list right now.' The calls and messages journalists report receiving aren't much different. Reporters are often killed when most identifiable — while wearing their press vests. Ibrahim Abu Ghazaleh stands in front of Al-Ahli Hospital while reporting in November 2024. Photo: TKTK Ghazaleh is one of five Palestinian journalists targeted by Israeli military forces who spoke with The Intercept about how Israel's genocidal attacks on Palestinian people go hand in hand with the suppression of a free press. These reporters face a constant tension between competing urgencies: exposing the truth and protecting their personal safety. Two have since evacuated from Gaza with their families. Two are in north Gaza and continue reporting under the constant bombardment and manmade famine. One is reporting from the illegally occupied West Bank. Living through Israel's relentless attacks on civilians, and knowing they risk being targeted for their work, these reporters and a sparse set of their colleagues are those left to tell the world of the atrocities they have faced as Palestinians during the deadliest years in journalism's history. Over 230 journalists, and counting, have been killed since October 2023. At 6:05 a.m. in Gaza on October 7, 2023, Youmna El Sayed broke the news of the attack on Israel that Hamas called Operation Al-Aqsa Flood. A former Al Jazeera English correspondent and mother of four, El Sayed said she has covered all of the escalations in Gaza since 2016, including the 11-day war in May 2021, where Israel destroyed many media offices in Gaza. After October 7, she knew things would be different. 'It was very clear from the beginning that it is going to be unprecedented retaliation,' El Sayed said. In the first frantic days of Israel's assault, El Sayed documented mass civilian killings as missiles fell. She described being 'thrown by the pressure of a missile falling, and it just blows you away, with everything else. That strong sound beeping in your ears when you stop hearing anything. Wearing my very heavy vest and helmet, I kept on running and running because I was trying to escape for my life.' Then Israel began its ground invasion. El Sayed and her family had tried to escape Gaza City, but she said it was hard to find housing because many people did not want to rent apartments to journalists as they are seen as a threat. When the ground invasion came, the family was trapped in their apartment. 'I couldn't get any signal [on my phone] so I got another SIM card that was not on my name, and two days later, my husband received this call,' El Sayed recalled. 'It was someone who identified himself as an [Israel Defense Forces] officer. He first identified my husband's full name, and he said, 'We know who you are, take your wife and kids and leave your home, otherwise your lives will be in danger in the upcoming hours.'' The call was not unique. Mohammed Mhawish, a journalist born and raised in Gaza City who was reporting for Al Jazeera, said that he was one of the few journalists covering his area for the network when he began receiving threatening calls. On December 6, he said, 'I received [another] call from a military officer saying, 'You have to leave the house or we're going to bomb it.'' He was living in a three-story building with several of his family members and others trying to find refuge under bombardment. Youmna El Sayed reports for Al Jazeera with the rest of the bureau from the Al Tabaa Tower when a drone missile hit Palestine Tower, a 14-story building behind them in central Gaza City, in October 2023. ' The next morning, on December 7th, at around 7:30 in the morning, the house collapsed in milliseconds,' Mhawish said. 'It was targeted by an Israeli warplane. I made it, but I lost family, people I loved, who are very close to my heart. I even lost neighbors to that attack and people who were only passersby at the moment.' 'The only thing I could do to protect my children is make them promise me they would never look at the ground. Even if you didn't, you could smell the decomposed bodies.' After El Sayed's husband received the call, ' the first thing I did was call our bureau chief in Jerusalem and confirm it was a direct threat,' she said. 'For the first time, it was not me in danger because I was in the field or in an unsafe area. I was a danger to my children, to my family. I waited for any of the other families [in our building] to receive any calls, and they didn't at all. None of them.' Two days later, the Israeli army surrounded El Sayed's home. 'The first thing they did was shoot at the windows,' El Sayed said. 'They rained the gate of the building with bullets. Then, the tank shelled the gate. Everyone in the building was screaming. It was 15 minutes of unprecedented hell. They called us on their mics and said, 'You have five minutes to leave the building.'' El Sayed said her family left everything and drove away while Israeli soldiers shot at them. They traveled on foot across what Israel called a 'safe corridor,' stretching seven kilometers from the north to the south, where no cameras were allowed. She described corpses strewn across the ground, where the Israeli army had barred ambulances from picking them up. 'I did not want my children to go through that trauma, but it was the only solution left to save their lives,' she said. 'The only thing I could do to protect them, is make them promise me they would never look at the ground. Even if you didn't, you could smell the decomposed bodies. I could see the formula [bottles] and the bags of children and families killed. We were instructed that whoever falls is not even to be lifted off the ground. It was, to this extent, dehumanizing.' El Sayed and Mhawish were lucky just to survive. Hassan Hamad, a 19-year-old journalist whose work frequently appeared on Al Jazeera, received a text from an Israeli officer saying Hamad and his family would be 'next' if he did not stop filming. On October 6, 2024, Israel struck his home in the Jabalia refugee camp and killed him. 'We either speak about it or we're gonna be erased,' said Mhawish. 'I kept filing stories through the voice [recordings] on my iPhone at the moment as I lived through it: the shortage of medical treatment, the collapse of supplies and food, and the rates [of killings] that were taking place across the city in northern Gaza.' Mohammed al-Sawwaf, like so many Palestinians from Gaza, has lost dozens of relatives to Israel's brutal assault. An award-winning filmmaker and founder of Alef Multimedia Company, al-Sawwaf is from a family of journalists: His father founded Falasteen, one of the largest circulating daily newspapers in Gaza. Al-Sawwaf recalled being a child witnessing the First Intifada, a multi-year protest and revolutionary movement when Palestinians rose up against the Israeli occupation between 1987 and 1993. 'I also witnessed the imprisonment of my father and most of my male relatives in Israeli prisons from my childhood until they were killed by Israeli bombs in November and December 2023,' he said. Al-Sawwaf said that in November 2023, with no prior warning, his family home was targeted in an Israeli attack. He believes the Israeli military was waiting for the whole family to be inside the building before bombing it. The attack killed his parents, two of his four brothers, their children, and several other family members. Al-Sawwaf and his two surviving brothers, Montaser and Marwan, continued their reporting of the genocide. Montaser was a videographer for Anadolu Agency who helped Al-Sawwaf with projects, and Marwan was a sound technician and film producer for Alef in the same month, not long after the short-lived ceasefire of November 2023, Israel bombed the house where the brothers were sheltering, killing Montaser and Marwan. In total, al-Sawwaf has lost 47 relatives. Montaser and Marwan al-Sawwaf assist their brother, Mohammed, on a film project about the students of Gaza as a part of the Al-Fakhoura scholarship for university education in 2021. 'Their deaths drained my desire for life,' al-Sawwaf said of his brothers. 'I still feel immense injustice, as we continue to endure suffering without accountability. Yet, I am still trying to rise and continue our work and mission.' Al-Sawwaf was injured in the bombing, too, leaving him paralyzed for months after the attacks. Two days after he was brought to Al-Awda Hospital in December 2023, it was besieged for the first time by Israeli forces. Two doctors overseeing his case were killed, and al-Sawwaf said he barely escaped. With little to no medical supplies, water, or food, al-Sawwaf has still not received proper care. Constant bombing, collapsed medical infrastructure, hunger, and thirst: Journalists in Gaza are forced to live through the same brutal conditions they cover. Mhawish experienced something similar in December 2023, after his family's house was toppled. Most of the hospitals in northern Gaza were already under siege, so he spent the next month trying to recover from his injuries until he could resume reporting. The Story Ghazaleh, now 26, has been reporting since he was 16. 'I have documented many massacres and offensive shellings on Gaza City since the genocide began,' he said. He was sheltering in Gaza's Indonesian Hospital in November 2023, he said, when 'the Israeli army advanced on the hospital and we were holding our breath whilst reporting on what was happening. There were so many sick and wounded who were sheltering in the hospital, and we were forced to leave or become martyrs ourselves.' Ghazaleh said he had to leave his laptop and camera equipment behind. He later found them vandalized and broken. His family moved to the Jabalia refugee camp, where, he said, 'many fellow journalists were targeted or directly threatened to stop their coverage of northern Gaza.' 'Documenting the truth has become a moral duty before it is a profession.' Israeli forces bombed the camp too, and Ghazaleh and his family have since been displaced over 12 times. Several of his friends, including Hossam Shabat, a journalist who worked for Al Jazeera Mubasher, have been killed. Shabat, along with five other journalists in north Gaza, was put on a 'hit list' by Israel in October 2024, and he received threatening phone calls to stop his reporting before Israeli forces targeted his car and killed him on March 24, 2025, claiming without evidence that he was a sniper for Hamas. 'The journalist here does not have protection,' Ghazaleh said, 'but despite the danger, we cannot back down because documenting the truth has become a moral duty before it is a profession.' In the West Bank, where Israeli settlers, emboldened by the ongoing genocide, have increased their violence against Palestinians, 24-year-old freelance journalist Mojahid Nawahda was reporting in Nablus when Israeli forces arrested him. Mojahid Nawahda reports on the Israeli occupation raids on September 7, 2024, in Jenin, north of the West Bank. He was detained before the October 7 attacks, on July 19, 2022. 'They vandalized and broke my camera equipment, and I was interrogated for 75 days at the al-Jalma Investigation Center,' Nawahda said. He was then held in Megiddo Prison for a year under 'indescribable and unbearable conditions,' without any form of due process. The prison is often compared to 'hell,' with several testimonials including reports of torture and sexual abuse. Upon his release, Nawahda resumed reporting on the occupied West Bank, where previous ceasefires in Gaza have not applied. The Palestinian Prisoners Society reported that over 17,000 people, including medical workers and journalists, have been arrested in the West Bank. Settlers have been responsible for many of the daily attacks on Palestinian journalists. In Nablus and Jenin, Nawahda said, Israeli soldiers fired tear gas bombs at him and other reporters on May 27. Meanwhile, under the protection of Israeli soldiers, settlers attacked their colleague Issam al-Rimawi in Ramallah. Again, on June 30, Israeli soldiers fired at journalists in Jenin while they were reporting on the demolition of Palestinians' homes in the Tulkarm refugee camp, part of a large-scale project Israel approved to build more illegal settlements across the West Bank. 'I am now always working on reports about the camps of the northern West Bank, specifically that the occupation has evacuated and displaced the people of these camps and is now blowing up and demolishing their homes,' Nawahda said. 'I like my city because it is always steadfast in the face of this occupation despite everything. People here reject the existence of the occupation and always do anything to get it out of the city. However, things are getting worse in the West Bank. The occupation is still working to demolish homes, close roads, and attack journalists and civilians.' 'I felt this very strange feeling that whatever I was saying in front of the camera was not moving the world.' It can be hard, however, to keep the faith under such conditions. In a span of three months, El Sayed, the former Al Jazeera English correspondent, said her family was displaced six times, all while she continued reporting on atrocities committed against other families, the targeting of health care facilities, and the lack of menstrual products and overall aid. 'I felt this very strange feeling that whatever I was saying in front of the camera was not moving the world,' El Sayed said. ' When you're a journalist, you're not the story. You can't stand in front of the camera and say, as a mother, 'My children are suffering from diseases. My children are losing weight because there is no food. They're dehydrated because there's no water.' My 8-year-old was terrified. Every single night, she told me, 'Let's sleep very close to each other so that when the missile falls, it kills us all, and I don't become the only survivor.' Read our complete coverage In January 2024, after months of constant upheaval, El Sayed and her family evacuated from Rafah to Egypt. With his 2-year-old and pregnant wife, Mhawish left the same year in mid-April. 'It was a very difficult decision,' Mhawish said, 'you could be the story before you even file your story.' He said he had begun receiving more threats from Israeli forces, who told him, 'This time it's not going to be fun.' 'They really also indicated that I'm not gonna survive it this time,' Mhawish said. Nawahda remains in the West Bank, documenting settler violence, and al-Sawwaf and Ghazaleh are still in Gaza. Al-Sawwaf said that he's begun to recover from his injuries, but without better health care, the process is difficult. 'I still need an accurate diagnosis and MRI scans for my spine and head, tests that are unavailable in Gaza,' he said. 'Everything in Gaza is destroyed — buildings, homes, factories, infrastructure. Prices are exorbitant, with some items costing 10 times their original price. People have lost their sources of income, and many remain unemployed. How do we build again if another Israeli war will bring it down? Wars have not stopped since I was born.' Matters are worsened, Ghazaleh said, by the aid blockade imposed by Netanyahu, now stretching into its fifth month. Ghazaleh was nearly killed during an Israeli bombing attack on al-Ahli Hospital, where he'd been hospitalized due to lack of food. While Israel has claimed to allow 'dozens of aid trucks' into Gaza, Palestinian people and the United Nations have called this a gross misrepresentation. Ghazaleh noted that some of the food that does arrive is contaminated or expired. 'The markets have run out of food, and the aid that did reach [the north of Gaza] was not enough,' Ghazaleh said July 1. 'Once food arrives, some is contaminated or old, but we have no choice but to take risks and eat it because hunger is merciless. Some children have been poisoned, and some families have completely lost confidence in any truck that enters. Everything costs money, to buy tents, to buy food, which we do not have either.' The U.S.-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation started 'aid distribution centers' in May, which has resulted in over 400 civilians being killed deliberately by Israeli soldiers while trying to reach them. Others have also reported incidents of kidnappings and grenades being thrown at them. 'My friends and I went to the aid sites and it was a harsh experience,' Ghazaleh said. 'The queues stretch for kilometers, and the security is missing. I saw mothers crying from the intensity of hunger and sometimes you wait for hours, and come back with nothing.' Doctors Without Borders, which sends medical workers regularly to Gaza, has condemned the sites as 'slaughter masquerading as humanitarian aid, while a total of 170 aid groups have called for the GHF to close. The U.S., meanwhile, has spent over $20 billion in military financing, weapons sales, and transfers from U.S. weapons stockpiles to aid Israel. The psychological effects of witnessing this massacre, up close and afar, are torturous, Mhawish said. 'As Palestinian journalists, we can't separate ourselves from Gaza or the struggles that we lived, and it just adds more to the weight of the emotional toll,' he said. ' Gaza is a piece of life, and that life is being taken out of it, one soul at a time. We lost children that we were never supposed to lose. We lost parents. We lost families. We lost loved ones, only for the sake of just proving to the world over and over that we are only ordinary human beings who should be able to live.' Join The Conversation
Gulf Today
01-07-2025
- Health
- Gulf Today
Israeli forces kill 74 more Palestinians in Gaza
Israeli forces killed at least 74 people in Gaza on Monday with airstrikes that left 30 dead at a seaside cafe and gunfire that left 23 dead as Palestinians tried to get desperately needed food aid, witnesses and health officials said. One airstrike hit Al-Baqa Cafe in Gaza City when it was crowded with women and children, said Ali Abu Ateila, who was inside. "Without a warning, all of a sudden, a warplane hit the place, shaking it like an earthquake,' he said. Dozens were wounded, many critically, alongside at least 30 people killed, said Fares Awad, head of the Health Ministry's emergency and ambulance service in northern Gaza. The war has killed over 56,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza's Health Ministry, which does not distinguish between civilians and combatants. It says more than half of the dead were women and children. Two other strikes on a Gaza City street killed 15 people, according to Shifa Hospital, which received the casualties. A strike on a building killed six people near the town of Zawaida, according to Al-Aqsa hospital. Palestinians inspect the rubble of the Al-Aimawi family's home, destroyed by Israeli airstrikes in Al-Zawaideh, Gaza Strip, on Tuesday. AP The cafe, one of the few businesses to continue operating during the 20-month war, was a gathering spot for residents seeking internet access and a place to charge their phones. Videos circulating on social media showed bloodied and disfigured bodies on the ground and the wounded being carried away in blankets. Meanwhile, Israeli forces killed 11 people who had been seeking food in southern Gaza, according to witnesses, hospitals, and Gaza's Health Ministry. Nasser Hospital in the southern city of Khan Younis said it received the bodies of people shot while returning from an aid site associated with the Israeli and US-backed Gaza Humanitarian Fund. It was part of a deadly pattern that has killed more than 500 Palestinians around the chaotic and controversial aid distribution program over the past month. The shootings happened around 3 kilometres (1.8 miles) from the GHF site in Khan Younis, as Palestinians returned from the site along the only accessible route. Palestinians are often forced to travel long distances to access the GHF hubs in hopes of obtaining aid. A Palestinian woman mourns by the body of a relative killed in an Israeli strike on Al-Baqa cafeteria on Gaza City seafront, at the city's Al-Shifa hospital on Monday. AFP Nasser Hospital said an additional person was killed near a GHF hub in the southern city of Rafah. Another person was killed while waiting to receive aid near the Netzarim corridor, which separates northern and southern Gaza, according to Al-Awda hospital. Ten other people were killed at a United Nations aid warehouse in northern Gaza, according to the Health Ministry's ambulance and emergency service. One witness, Monzer Hisham Ismail said troops attacked the crowds returning from the GHF hub in Khan Younis. "We were targeted by (the Israeli) artillery,' he said. Palestinians carry the body of a relative killed in an Israeli strike on Al-Baqa cafeteria on Gaza City seafront on Monday. AFP Yousef Mahmoud Mokheimar was walking with dozens of others when he saw troops in tanks and other vehicles racing toward them. They fired warning shots before firing at the crowds, he said. "They fired at us indiscriminately,' he said, adding that he was shot in a leg, and a man was shot while attempting to rescue him. He said he saw troops detaining six people, including three children. "We don't know whether they are still alive,' he said. The Israeli military said it was reviewing information about the attacks. In the past, the military has said it fires warning shots at people who move suspiciously or get too close to troops including while collecting aid. Israel wants the GHF to replace a system coordinated by the United Nations and international aid groups. Along with the United States, Israel has accused the Hamas group of stealing aid and using it to prop up its rule in the enclave. The UN denies there is systematic diversion of aid. Palestinians mourn by the bodies of people killed in an Israeli strike on Al-Baqa cafeteria on Monday. AFP The Israeli military said it had recently taken steps to improve organisation in the area, including the installation of new fencing and signage and the opening of additional routes to access aid. Israel says it only targets fighters and blames civilian deaths on the Palestinian group Hamas, accusing the fighters of hiding among civilians because they operate in populated areas. The military intensified its bombardment campaign across Gaza City and the nearby Jabaliya refugee camp. On Sunday and Monday, Israel issued widespread evacuation orders for large swaths of northern Gaza. Palestinians reported massive bombing overnight into Monday morning, describing the fresh attacks as a "scorched earth' campaign that targeted mostly empty buildings and civilian infrastructure. Blood, rubble, and what appears to be a giant stuffed doll lie scattered in a café after it was hit by an Israeli airstrike that killed more than 30 people near the port in Gaza City, on Monday. AP "They destroy whatever left standing … the sound of bombing hasn't stopped,' said Mohamed Mahdy, a Gaza City resident who fled his damaged house Monday morning. Awad with the emergency and ambulance services said that most of Gaza City and Jabaliya have become inaccessible and ambulances were unable to respond to distress calls from people trapped in the rubble. The Israeli military said it had taken multiple steps to notify civilians of operations to target Hamas' military command and control centers in northern Gaza. Agence France-Presse
The Herald Scotland
01-07-2025
- Health
- The Herald Scotland
Israel kills 74 in Gaza as troops fire on people seeking food
One air strike hit Al-Baqa Cafe in Gaza City when it was crowded with women and children, said Ali Abu Ateila, who was inside. 'Without a warning, all of a sudden, a warplane hit the place, shaking it like an earthquake,' he said. Read More: Dozens of people were wounded, many critically, alongside at least 30 people killed, said Fares Awad, head of the health ministry's emergency and ambulance service in northern Gaza. Two other strikes on a Gaza City street killed 15 people, according to Shifa Hospital, which received the casualties. A strike on a building killed six people near the town of Zawaida, according to Al-Aqsa hospital. The cafe, one of the few businesses to continue operating during the 20-month war, was a gathering spot for residents seeking internet access and a place to charge their phones. Videos circulating on social media showed bloodied and disfigured bodies on the ground and the wounded being carried away in blankets. Meanwhile, Israeli forces killed 11 people who had been seeking food in southern Gaza, according to witnesses, hospitals, and Gaza's health ministry. Palestinians mourn over the body of Kinan Edwan, 2 years old, killed in an Israeli army airstrike, during his funeral in Khan Younis, southern Gaza Strip (Image: AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana) Nasser Hospital in the southern city of Khan Younis said it received the bodies of people shot while returning from an aid site associated with the Israeli and US-backed Gaza Humanitarian Fund (GHF). It was part of a deadly pattern that has killed more than 500 Palestinians around the chaotic and controversial aid distribution program over the past month. The shootings happened around 1.8 miles from the GHF site in Khan Younis, as Palestinians returned from the site along the only accessible route. Palestinians are often forced to travel long distances to access the GHF hubs in hopes of obtaining aid. Nasser Hospital said an additional person was killed near a GHF hub in the southern city of Rafah. Another person was killed while waiting to receive aid near the Netzarim corridor, which separates northern and southern Gaza, according to Al-Awda hospital. Ten other people were killed at a United Nations aid warehouse in northern Gaza, according to the health ministry's ambulance and emergency service. The Israeli military said it was reviewing information about the attacks. In the past, the military has said it fires warning shots at people who move suspiciously or get too close to troops including while collecting aid. Israel wants the GHF to replace a system coordinated by the United Nations and international aid groups. Along with the United States, Israel has accused the militant Hamas group of stealing aid and using it to prop up its rule in the enclave. The UN denies there is systematic diversion of aid. The Israeli military said it had recently taken steps to improve organization in the area, including the installation of new fencing and signage and the opening of additional routes to access aid. Israel says it only targets militants and blames civilian deaths on Hamas, accusing the militants of hiding among civilians because they operate in populated areas. The military intensified its bombardment campaign across Gaza City and the nearby Jabaliya refugee camp. On Sunday and Monday, Israel issued widespread evacuation orders for large swaths of northern Gaza. Palestinians reported massive bombing overnight into Monday morning, describing the fresh attacks as a 'scorched earth' campaign that targeted mostly empty buildings and civilian infrastructure. The Israeli military said it had taken multiple steps to notify civilians of operations to target Hamas' military command and control centres in northern Gaza. The war has killed more than 56,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza's health ministry, which does not distinguish between civilians and combatants. It says more than half of the dead were women and children. The Hamas attack on October 7 2023 that sparked the war killed some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and took 251 others hostage. Some 50 hostages remain, many of them thought to be dead.
Indian Express
01-07-2025
- Politics
- Indian Express
At least 41 killed as Israeli forces strike on Gaza seafront cafe ahead of ceasefire talks
In one of the heaviest attacks in weeks, the Israeli forces killed at least 41 people at a seaside cafe near the port in Gaza City on Monday and gunfire left another 23 Palestinians dead as they desperately tried to gather food aid, health officials said. An airstrike by Israeli air forces hit Al-Baqa Cafe in Gaza City when it was reportedly crowded with women and children, stated Ali Abu Ateila who was present inside the cafe, reported Associated Press. 'Without a warning, all of a sudden, a warplane hit the place, shaking it like an earthquake,' he said. A CNN report quoted director of Al-Shifa hospital, Dr. Mohammad Abu Silmiya, who gave an update on Monday night on the casualties in the Al-Baqa Cafe strike and said that at least 41 people have been killed and 75 others remain injured. 🚚 HUMANITARIAN AID UPDATE: As part of the framework for distributing food and humanitarian aid in Gaza, carried out by the GHF in coordination with international aid organizations, the IDF is conducting ongoing assessments to improve operational response, minimize friction with… — Israel Defense Forces (@IDF) June 30, 2025 Al-Shifa hospital further stated that two other strikes in Gaza City killed another 15 people, while a building was targeted by the Israeli forces near the town of Zawaida which led to the death of six people, AP reported. Al-Baqa cafe, which is frequently visited by activists, journalists, and local residents, was a hub for people seeking internet access and a place to charge their phones. It also acted as a place to work by the Mediterranean coast. Disturbing visuals shared on social media showed blood and disfigured bodies on the ground as injured people were being taken to hospital in blankets. The attack by the Israeli military comes ahead of ceasefire talks with US President Donald Trump, as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is scheduled to visit the White House next week. Trump has called to 'Make the deal in Gaza, get the hostages back'. Meanwhile, Israel's strategic affairs minister Ron Dermer is visiting Washington this week to discuss the modalities surrounding the Gaza ceasefire and Iran.
Sydney Morning Herald
01-07-2025
- Politics
- Sydney Morning Herald
Australia news LIVE: Anthony Albanese brushes off claims Trump insulted him; RBA expected to slash rates; Trump to host Netanyahu for talks next Monday as US presses for Gaza ceasefire
Latest posts Latest posts 12.13pm Dozens reportedly killed in strike on Gaza cafe as Netanyahu agrees to meet Trump By Michael Koziol Israeli forces killed at least 74 people in Gaza overnight, with airstrikes and gunfire that left multiple dead at a seaside cafe as Palestinians attempted to reach aid, witnesses and health officials said. One airstrike hit a seaside cafe in Gaza City crowded with women and children, Ali Abu Ateila, who was inside Al-Baqa Cafe, said. 'Without a warning, all of a sudden, a warplane hit the place, shaking it like an earthquake,' he told the Associated Press. Dozens were wounded, many critically, and 30 people were killed, the head of the Health Ministry's emergency and ambulance service in northern Gaza, Fares Awad, said. It was one of only a few businesses to continue operating during the 20-month war in Gaza and was a gathering spot for residents seeking internet access and a place to charge their phones. Videos circulating on social media showed bloodied and disfigured bodies on the ground and the wounded being carried away in blankets. Israeli forces also killed 11 people who had been seeking food in southern Gaza, according to witnesses, hospitals, and Gaza's Health Ministry. It comes before Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu returns to Washington next week to meet with US President Donald Trump under the weight of heavy expectation for a new ceasefire agreement in Gaza. Trump, having helped broker a truce between Israel and Iran last week after the US bombed key Iranian nuclear facilities, has made clear that ending hostilities in the wartorn Palestinian territory is his next priority. 11.49am Trump signs executive order ending US sanctions on Syria US President Donald Trump has signed an executive order ending many US economic sanctions on Syria, following through on a promise he made to the country's new interim leader. White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said the move was designed to 'promote and support the country's path to stability and peace.' 'This is another promise made and promise kept,' she said. The executive order is meant to 'end the country's isolation from the international financial system, setting the stage for global commerce and galvanising investments from its neighbours in the region, as well as from the United States,' Treasury's acting undersecretary for terrorism and financial intelligence, Brad Smith, told reporters on Monday (Tuesday AEST) to preview the administration's action. Monday's actions do not rescind sanctions imposed on ousted former Syrian President Bashar Assad, his top aides, family members and officials who had been determined to have committed human rights abuses or been involved in drug trafficking or part of Syria's chemical weapons program. It also leaves intact a major set of sanctions passed by the US Congress targeting anyone doing business with or offering support to Syria's military, intelligence or other suspect institutions. While the Trump administration has passed temporary waivers on those sanctions, they can only be permanently repealed by law. Along with the lifting of economic sanctions, Monday's executive order lifts the national emergency outlined in an executive order issued by former US President George W. Bush in response to Syria's occupation of Lebanon and pursuit of weapons of mass destruction and missile programs, Treasury officials said. Five other previous executive orders related to Syria were also lifted. Sanctions targeting terrorist groups and manufacturers and sellers of the amphetamine-like stimulant Captagon will remain in place.
