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Israel army says intercepted missile, drone launched from Yemen

Israel army says intercepted missile, drone launched from Yemen
The Houthis control much of Yemen, including the capital Sanaa, and have proven willing to repeatedly launch missile and drone attacks at Israel from afar, despite posing a limited threat to it militarily. (FILE/AFP)
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Updated 03 January 2025

Israel army says intercepted missile, drone launched from Yemen

Israel army says intercepted missile, drone launched from Yemen
  • Israel’s emergency service provider, Magen David Adom, reported that it had treated several people who were injured or experienced panic attacks on their way to shelters

Jerusalem: Israel’s military reported that it shot down a missile and a drone launched from Yemen on Friday, the latest in a series of attacks from the country targeting Israel in recent weeks.
“A missile that was launched from Yemen and crossed into Israeli territory was intercepted,” the military said in a statement posted to its Telegram channel.
“A report was received regarding shrapnel from the interception that fell in the area of Modi’in in central Israel. The details are under review.”
Israel’s emergency service provider, Magen David Adom, reported that it had treated several people who were injured or experienced panic attacks on their way to shelters after air raid sirens sounded in the center and south of the country.
Hours later the military announced that it had also shot down a drone launched from Yemen.
The drone was intercepted before it entered Israel, the military added.
On Tuesday, Israel also said it had intercepted a missile launched from Yemen.
Much of Yemen is controlled by Iran-backed Houthi rebels, who have been firing missiles and drones at Israel — as well as at ships in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden — in what they say is solidarity with Palestinians during the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza.
The Houthis have stepped up their attacks since November’s ceasefire between Israel and Iran-backed Hezbollah in Lebanon.
Israel has also struck Yemen, including targeting Sanaa’s international airport at the end of December.


The Latest: Israeli strikes in Gaza kill at least 21 people, health authorities say

The Latest: Israeli strikes in Gaza kill at least 21 people, health authorities say
Updated 11 sec ago

The Latest: Israeli strikes in Gaza kill at least 21 people, health authorities say

The Latest: Israeli strikes in Gaza kill at least 21 people, health authorities say
  • Health authorities say Israeli strikes in Gaza killed at least 21 people. More than half of those killed late Tuesday and early Wednesday reportedly were women and children
GAZA: Israeli strikes in Gaza killed at least 21 people late Tuesday and early Wednesday. More than half of those killed were women and children, health authorities said.
Desperation is mounting in the Palestinian territory of more than 2 million, which experts say is at risk of famine because of Israel’s blockade and nearly two-year offensive. A breakdown of law and order has led to widespread looting and contributed to chaos and violence around aid deliveries.
More than 1,000 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli forces since May while trying to get food in the Gaza Strip, mostly near aid sites run by an American contractor, the UN human rights office said Tuesday.
More than 100 human rights groups and charities signed a letter published Wednesday demanding more aid for Gaza and warning of grim conditions causing starvation.
More than 59,000 Palestinians have been killed during the Israel-Hamas war, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry, which is part of the Hamas-run government and staffed by medical professionals. Its count doesn’t distinguish between militants and civilians, but the ministry says that more than half of the dead are women and children. The UN and other international organizations see it as the most reliable source of data on casualties.
Here is the latest:
Overnight strikes kill at least 21
One Israeli strike hit a house Tuesday in the northwestern side of Gaza City, killing at least 12 people, according to the Shifa Hospital, which received the casualties.
The dead included six children and two women, according to the Health Ministry’s casualty list.
Another strike hit an apartment in the Tal Al-Hawa area in northern Gaza, killing at least six people. Among the dead were three children and two women, including one who was pregnant. Eight others were wounded, the ministry said.
A third strike hit a tent in the Naser neighborhood in Gaza City late Tuesday and killed three children, Shifa Hospital said.
The Israeli military did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the strikes. It blames Hamas for civilian casualties because the militants operate from populated areas.
Human rights groups and charities demand more Gaza aid
In the letter issued Wednesday by 109 human rights and charity groups, they warned of a dire situation pushing more people toward starvation. They said they were watching their own colleagues, as well as the Palestinians they serve, “waste away.”
The letter slammed Israel for what it said were restrictions on aid into the war-ravaged territory. It lamented “massacres” at food distribution points, which have seen chaos and violence in recent weeks as desperation has risen.
“The government of Israel’s restrictions, delays, and fragmentation under its total siege have created chaos, starvation, and death,” the letter said.
The letter called for aid to be scaled up as well as for a ceasefire. `
Israel says that it has allowed the entry of thousands of trucks since May and blames aid groups for not consistently delivering goods.

Egyptian activist locks nation’s embassy gates in The Hague to protest Gaza siege

Egyptian activist locks nation’s embassy gates in The Hague to protest Gaza siege
Updated 53 min 36 sec ago

Egyptian activist locks nation’s embassy gates in The Hague to protest Gaza siege

Egyptian activist locks nation’s embassy gates in The Hague to protest Gaza siege
  • Anas Habib accuses Cairo of Rafah crossing closure that prevents aid reaching starving Palestinians

AMSTERDAM: An Egyptian activist on Tuesday locked the outer gates of his country’s embassy in The Hague to protest Cairo’s alleged closure of the Rafah crossing which has prevented aid from entering Gaza for besieged Palestinians.

Livestreaming his actions, content creator and social media personality Anas Habib locked two sets of gates at the embassy with what appears to be bike locks.

Habib said his actions were symbolic and he wanted to draw attention to the ongoing siege of Gaza that was resulting in the starvation of Palestinians.

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

“It’s been two years of us hearing this same excuse, it’s closed from their side and not ours, they couldn’t handle a lie and a siege for one second, imagine how everyone in Gaza is feeling hearing your lies every day for the past two years,” he said.

“I’ll stay standing here until the police arrive, because I won’t open it until Gaza is opened. Let them break the lock themselves,” Habib said.

There has been no response yet from the Egyptian government to Habib’s actions and the video which has gone viral on social media.

Egypt has reportedly in the past pointed out that the Rafah crossing has been closed on the Gaza side by the Israeli military.


UN urges peaceful settlement of disputes as UN chief points to ‘the horror show in Gaza’

UN urges peaceful settlement of disputes as UN chief points to ‘the horror show in Gaza’
Updated 23 July 2025

UN urges peaceful settlement of disputes as UN chief points to ‘the horror show in Gaza’

UN urges peaceful settlement of disputes as UN chief points to ‘the horror show in Gaza’
  • In urging greater efforts to pursue global peace, Secretary-General Antonio Guterres told the council: “Around the world, we see an utter disregard for — if not outright violations of — international law” as well as the UN Charter

UNITED NATIONS: The UN Security Council urged the 193 United Nations member nations on Tuesday to use all possible means to settle disputes peacefully. The UN chief said that is needed now more than ever as he pointed to “the horror show in Gaza” and conflicts in Ukraine, Sudan, Haiti and Myanmar.
The vote was unanimous on a Pakistan-drafted resolution in the 15-member council.
In urging greater efforts to pursue global peace, Secretary-General Antonio Guterres told the council: “Around the world, we see an utter disregard for — if not outright violations of — international law” as well as the UN Charter.
It is happening at a time of widening geopolitical divides and numerous conflicts, starting with Gaza, where “starvation is knocking on every door” as Israel denies the United Nations the space and safety to deliver aid and save Palestinian lives, Guterres said.
Israel denies deliberately targeting civilians and aid staff as part of its war with Hamas and blames UN agencies for failing to deliver food it has allowed in.
In conflicts worldwide, “hunger and displacement are at record levels” and security is pushed further out of reach by terrorism, violent extremism and transnational crime, the secretary-general said.
“Diplomacy may not have always succeeded in preventing conflicts, violence and instability,” Guterres said. “But it still holds the power to stop them.”
The resolution urges all countries to use the methods in the UN Charter to peacefully settle disputes, including negotiation, inquiry, mediation, conciliation, arbitration, judicial settlement, referral to regional arrangements or other peaceful means.
Pakistani Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar, who chaired the meeting, cited “the ongoing tragedies” in Gaza and between Pakistan and India over Kashmir, one of the oldest disputes on the UN agenda, that need to be resolved peacefully.
“At the heart of almost all the conflicts across the globe is a crisis of multilateralism; a failure, not of principles but of will; a paralysis, not of institutions but of political courage,” he said.
The Pakistani diplomat called for revitalizing trust in the UN system and ensuring “equal treatment of all conflicts based on international law, not geopolitical expediency.”
Acting US Ambassador Dorothy Shea said the Trump administration supports the United Nations’ founding principles of saving succeeding generations from the scourge of war and working with parties to resolve disputes peacefully.
Under President Donald Trump’s leadership, she said, the US has delivered “deescalation” between Israel and Iran, India and Pakistan, and Congo and Rwanda.
The US calls on countries involved in conflicts to follow these examples, Shea said, singling out the war in Ukraine and China’s “unlawful claims” in the South China Sea.
The war in Ukraine must end, she said, and Russia must stop attacking civilians and fulfill its obligations under the UN Charter, which requires all member nations to respect the sovereignty and territorial integrity of every other country.
“We call on other UN member states to stop providing Russia with the means to continue its aggression,” Shea said.

 


Palestinian teen succumbs to wounds from Israeli gunfire near Jenin

Palestinian teen succumbs to wounds from Israeli gunfire near Jenin
Updated 22 July 2025

Palestinian teen succumbs to wounds from Israeli gunfire near Jenin

Palestinian teen succumbs to wounds from Israeli gunfire near Jenin
  • Ibrahim Majed Ali Nasr was shot by Israeli live ammunition when forces entered the town of Qabatiya, south of Jenin city
  • His killing raises the Palestinian death toll in Jenin governorate to 43 since the Israeli military assault began on Jan. 21

LONDON: A 16-year-old Palestinian died from injuries sustained earlier on Tuesday evening after being shot by Israeli forces during a raid in the northern occupied West Bank.

Ibrahim Majed Ali Nasr was shot by Israeli live ammunition when forces entered the town of Qabatiya, south of Jenin city.

The teenager was shot in the chest, suffering a life-threatening injury, while another young man was injured in the leg, according to the Palestine Red Crescent Society. Nasr was later declared dead at the hospital in Jenin.

Israeli forces raided a house, with no detentions reported, in Qabatiya on Tuesday evening.

Nasr’s killing raises the Palestinian death toll in Jenin governorate to 43 since the Israeli military assault began on Jan. 21. Dozens more have been injured or detained, the Palestine News Agency reported.


Iran: 27 inmates are still at large following Israeli airstrike

One of the buildings (C-L) in Iran's Evin prison complex in Tehran before it was heavily damaged by a fire. (AFP file photo)
One of the buildings (C-L) in Iran's Evin prison complex in Tehran before it was heavily damaged by a fire. (AFP file photo)
Updated 22 July 2025

Iran: 27 inmates are still at large following Israeli airstrike

One of the buildings (C-L) in Iran's Evin prison complex in Tehran before it was heavily damaged by a fire. (AFP file photo)
  • The New York-based Center for Human Rights had criticized Israel for striking the prison, saying it violated the principle of distinction between civilian and military targets

TEHRAN, PARIS: Iran said on Tuesday 27 inmates were still at large after an Israeli airstrike last month targeted Evin prison in the north of the capital, Tehran, local media reported.
The airstrikes were part of Israel’s 12-day bombardment of Iran that killed about 1,100 people, while 28 were left dead in Israel in Iranian retaliatory strikes.
Judiciary’s news website, Mizanonline, quoted spokesman Asghar Jahangir as saying 75 prisoners had escaped following the strike, of which 48 were either recaptured or voluntarily returned. He said authorities will detain the others if they don’t hand themselves over.
Jahangir said the escapees were prisoners doing time for minor offenses.

FASTFACT

Between 1,500 and 2,000 prisoners were being held at the time in the prison.

Iranian officials said the Israeli strike killed 71 people, but local media reported earlier in July that 80 were left dead at the time, including prison staff, soldiers, inmates and visiting family members. Authorities also said five inmates died.
It’s unclear why Israel targeted the prison. 
The New York-based Center for Human Rights had criticized Israel for striking the prison, saying it violated the principle of distinction between civilian and military targets.
Amnesty International, an international nongovernmental organization that campaigns to protect human rights, called the Israeli attack “deliberate” and “a serious violation of international humanitarian law.”
The air strikes should therefore be “criminally investigated as war crimes,” it said.
“The Israeli military carried out multiple air strikes on Evin prison, killing and injuring scores of civilians and causing extensive damage and destruction in at least six locations across the prison complex,” Amnesty said, basing its assessment on what it said were verified video footage, satellite images and witness statements.
There was nothing to suggest that Evin prison could justifiably be seen as a “legal military objective,” it said.