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Gaza Humanitarian Foundation says two of its US aid workers injured in Gaza

Gaza Humanitarian Foundation says two of its US aid workers injured in Gaza
FILE PHOTO: Palestinians gather to receive food cooked by a charity kitchen, amid a hunger crisis, as the Israel-Hamas conflict continues, in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip, January 2, 2025. (Reuters)
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Updated 05 July 2025

Gaza Humanitarian Foundation says two of its US aid workers injured in Gaza

Gaza Humanitarian Foundation says two of its US aid workers injured in Gaza
  • GHF says two Americans in stable condition after grenade attack
  • Gaza officials say dozens killed by Israeli military in 24 hours

JERUSALEM: The Gaza Humanitarian Foundation said on Saturday that two American aid workers had suffered non-life-threatening injuries in a targeted attack at a food distribution site in Gaza.
The US- and Israeli-backed GHF said in a statement that the injured Americans were receiving medical treatment and were in a stable condition.
“The attack – which preliminary information indicates was carried out by two assailants who threw two grenades at the Americans – occurred at the conclusion of an otherwise successful distribution in which thousands of Gazans safely received food,” the GHF said.
In addition to aid workers, the GHF employs private US military contractors tasked with providing security at their sites.
It was not immediately clear who was behind the attack. The Israeli military had no immediate comment when contacted by Reuters.
Gazan authorities separately reported dozens of Palestinians had been killed by the Israeli military in the past 24 hours, including near aid distribution sites.
The Hamas-run interior ministry in Gaza on Thursday had warned residents of the coastal enclave not to assist the GHF, saying deadly incidents near its food distribution sites endangered hungry Gazans.
The GHF began distributing food packages in Gaza at the end of May, bypassing traditional aid channels, including the United Nations which says the US-based organization is neither impartial nor neutral.
The GHF has said it has delivered more than 52 million meals to Palestinians in five weeks, while other humanitarian groups had “nearly all of their aid looted.”
Since Israel lifted an 11-week aid blockade on Gaza on May 19, the UN says more than 400 Palestinians have been killed while seeking aid handouts. A senior UN official said last week that the majority of people killed were trying to reach aid distribution sites of the GHF.
Footage released by GHF has shown at least one aid site to be overrun with no clear distribution process. Palestinians have described the sites as chaotic.
According to Gaza’s health ministry, at least 70 people have been killed in the territory by the Israeli military in the last 24 hours, including 23 near aid distribution sites.
The ministry did not specify where or how exactly they had been killed.
Over 57,000 Palestinians in Gaza have been killed in Israel’s war against Hamas, according to the Gaza health ministry, launched after the militant group’s surprise attack on Israel in October 7, 2023.
Hamas-led militants killed around 1,200 people in that attack and took another 251 hostages into Gaza. There are 50 hostages still held in Gaza, of which 20 are believed to be alive. 


Israel army urges evacuation of southern Lebanon villages ahead of strike

Updated 9 sec ago

Israel army urges evacuation of southern Lebanon villages ahead of strike

Israel army urges evacuation of southern Lebanon villages ahead of strike
AFP

“The army will attack military infrastructure belonging to the terrorist Hezbollah,” Adraee wrote on X

JERUSALEM: The Israeli army urged residents of various areas of southern Lebanon to evacuate Thursday ahead of imminent air strikes on Hezbollah targets.
“The army will attack military infrastructure belonging to the terrorist Hezbollah in various areas of south Lebanon in the near term, in response to its prohibited attempts to rebuild its activities in the region,” the military’s Arabic-language spokesman Col. Avichay Adraee wrote on X.

Israeli forces destroy two Palestinian homes near Hebron

Israeli forces destroy two Palestinian homes near Hebron
Updated 33 min 13 sec ago

Israeli forces destroy two Palestinian homes near Hebron

Israeli forces destroy two Palestinian homes near Hebron
  • Demolition was in Al-Tayaran neighborhood in the town of Al-Dhahiriya
  • Town has previously been targeted by Israeli settlers, who destroyed water and electricity networks and prevented pupils from getting to school

LONDON: Israeli forces demolished two homes belonging to Palestinians in a town in Hebron, in the southern occupied West Bank, as part of an ongoing policy of settlement expansion in the area.

The two homes of 100 sq. meters each and belonging to the Abu Sharkh family, housed 12 people and were in the town of Al-Dhahiriya, south of Hebron.

Israeli forces stormed Al-Tayaran neighborhood in the town before proceeding with the demolition. Akram Abu Sharkh, a resident, said that Al-Dhahiriya has been targeted by Israeli settlers, who have destroyed water and electricity networks and prevented pupils from getting to their schools.

He said that settlers conduct nightly “provocative patrols” near the town, use drones that emit loud noises and blare Jewish horns to instill fear among the residents, according to the Wafa news agency.

Israeli forces have installed a metal gate at the town’s northern entrance, one of four that separate the villages from Hebron, restricting Palestinians’ movement and their ability to tend crops and graze sheep, the Wafa added.

On the eastern side of Route 60, which divides the West Bank, Israeli settlers have continued the expansion of an illegal outpost. Activist Osama Makhamreh told Wafa that settlers established the outpost in mid-August, and that it consists of three tents pitched on Palestinian private land plots in the Huwara area, east of Yatta.


Turkiye warns Cyprus’ Israeli air defense system could destabilize island

Turkiye warns Cyprus’ Israeli air defense system could destabilize island
Updated 18 September 2025

Turkiye warns Cyprus’ Israeli air defense system could destabilize island

Turkiye warns Cyprus’ Israeli air defense system could destabilize island
  • The officials said Cyprus’ ongoing armament efforts would threaten peace and stability on the island and may lead to “dangerous consequences”
  • Turkiye regards the deployment of the Israeli system as a security threat

ANKARA: Turkiye is closely monitoring Cyprus’ reported procurement of an Israeli air defense system, Turkish officials said Thursday, warning that the move could destabilize a “fragile balance” on the divided island.
Turkish defense ministry officials expressed concerns over reports suggesting that an Israeli-made Barak MX integrated air defense system had been delivered to Cyprus.
The officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity in line with government regulations, said Cyprus’ ongoing armament efforts would threaten peace and stability on the island and may lead to “dangerous consequences.”
The Mediterranean Island has been split along ethnic lines since 1974 when Turkiye invaded in the wake of a coup that aimed to unify the island with Greece. Only Turkiye recognizes a 1983 Turkish Cypriot declaration of independence in the island’s northern third where Turkiye continues to maintain more than 35,000 troops.
The Israeli ground-based system is capable of simultaneously intercepting missiles, drones and aircraft from as far as 93 miles (150 kilometers) away. Its deployment would mark a significant upgrade to Cyprus’ defense shield, which had until recently only consisted of Soviet-era weapons, such as the BUK M1-2 missile system.
Cyprus’ defense minister, Vasilis Palmas, said in an interview with The Associated Press last year that bolstering the country’s defense capacity is critical for the island nation, which is located close to the war-torn Middle East.
Turkiye regards the deployment of the Israeli system as a security threat.
In 1997, Cyprus’ plans to deploy Russian-made S-300 air defense missiles triggered a standoff with Turkiye, which threatened military action. The tensions de-escalated after Cyprus agreed to transfer the missiles to Greece.
The defense officials said that Turkiye remains committed to safeguarding the security of the Turkish Cypriots, adding, without elaborating, that all kinds of measures were being taken to ensure their safety.


Lebanon health ministry says two killed in Israeli strike in Baalbek

Lebanon health ministry says two killed in Israeli strike in Baalbek
Updated 18 September 2025

Lebanon health ministry says two killed in Israeli strike in Baalbek

Lebanon health ministry says two killed in Israeli strike in Baalbek
  • Lebanon’s official National News Agency reported that the strike was carried out by “an Israeli drone“
  • Israel frequently launches strikes in Lebanon, saying it is targeting Hezbollah

BEIRUT: An Israeli strike on the eastern city of Baalbek killed at least two people late on Wednesday night, Lebanon’s health ministry said.
Lebanon’s official National News Agency reported that the strike was carried out by “an Israeli drone.” Israel frequently launches strikes in Lebanon, saying it is targeting Hezbollah, despite a ceasefire that brought its most recent war with the group to a halt in November.
Baalbek, a millennia-old city and home to a set of UNESCO World Heritage-listed Roman temples, sits in the Bekaa Valley, which is close to the Syrian border and has been a stronghold for Hezbollah.
Under pressure from the United States and fearing an escalation of Israeli strikes, the Lebanese government is now moving to disarm Hezbollah.
The group, which previously dominated Lebanese politics and was thought to be better armed than the military, was severely weakened by the war with Israel.
According to Beirut, the Lebanese army must complete its disarmament of Hezbollah in areas near the Israeli border within three months.


Shooting at Israeli-run border crossing with Jordan kills 2, medics say

Shooting at Israeli-run border crossing with Jordan kills 2, medics say
Updated 18 September 2025

Shooting at Israeli-run border crossing with Jordan kills 2, medics say

Shooting at Israeli-run border crossing with Jordan kills 2, medics say
  • Two men, around 60 and 20 years old, were killed and that the attacker had been neutralized
  • Jordanian state media said authorities were aware of a “security incident”

The Israeli military has received a report of a shooting at the Allenby Crossing between the Israeli-occupied West Bank and Jordan, and details of the incident were under investigation, the military said on Thursday.
Israeli ambulance service said two people were seriously wounded, while Israeli media reported that two alleged assailants were killed.
The Allenby Bridge is a crucial crossing for trade between Jordan and Israel.
In September 2024, a gunman from Jordan killed three Israeli civilians at the Allenby Crossing before being shot dead by security forces, an attack that shut the crossing for two days.