Strikes across Gaza kill at least 92 as Israel prepares to ramp up its offensive

Update Strikes across Gaza kill at least 92 as Israel prepares to ramp up its offensive
People search for survivors in a crater at the site of an Israeli strike at a UNWRA school housing displaced Palestinians at the Bureij camp for refugees in the central Gaza Strip on May 6, 2025. (AFP)
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Updated 07 May 2025
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Strikes across Gaza kill at least 92 as Israel prepares to ramp up its offensive

Strikes across Gaza kill at least 92 as Israel prepares to ramp up its offensive
  • Two Israeli airstrikes on Wednesday targeted an area in central Gaza, killing at least 33 people and wounding 86, including several children
  • This came as Netanyahu said Wednesday there is “doubt” about the survival of three hostages previously believed alive in Gaza

DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip: Israeli strikes across Gaza killed at least 92 people, including women, children and two journalists, officials said Wednesday, as Israel prepares to ramp up its campaign in the strip, with the devastating war now entering its 20th month.
Two Israeli airstrikes on Wednesday targeted an area in central Gaza, killing at least 33 people and wounding 86, including several children, though the actual death toll is likely higher, according to health officials.
The Israeli military had no immediate comment on the strikes.
This came as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Wednesday there is “doubt” about the survival of three hostages previously believed alive in Gaza.
The statement was a day after US President Donald Trump said only 21 of 24 hostages believed alive had survived.
The news sent families of remaining captives in Gaza into panic.
The new bloodshed Wednesday comes days after Israel approved a plan to intensify its operations in the Palestinian enclave, which would include seizing Gaza, holding on to captured territories, forcibly displacing Palestinians to southern Gaza and taking control of aid distribution along with private security companies.
Israel is also calling up tens of thousands of reserve soldiers to carry out the plan. Israel says the plan will be gradual and will not be implemented until after Trump wraps up his visit to the region later this month.
Any escalation of fighting would likely drive up the death toll. And with Israel already controlling some 50 percent of Gaza, increasing its hold on the territory, for an indefinite amount of time, could open up the potential for a military occupation, which would raise questions about how Israel plans to have the territory governed, especially at a time when it is considering how to implement Trump’s vision to take over Gaza.
The Israeli offensive has so far killed more than 52,000 people in Gaza, many of them women and children, according to Palestinian health officials who do not distinguish between combatants and civilians.
Israel blames Hamas for the death toll, saying it operates from civilian infrastructure, including schools.
Strikes target crowds in Gaza City
Wednesday’s strikes included two attacks on a crowded market area in Gaza City, health officials said.
Footage posted online reportedly showed the aftermath with men found dead, including one still seated in a chair inside a Thai restaurant, used by locals as a gathering spot, and several children lying motionless on the ground, covered in blood.
Journalist Yahya Sobeih, who freelanced for several local outlets, was among those killed, according to Gaza’s media office. He had recently shared a photo on Instagram of his newborn daughter.
Victims of the blasts, some with severe injuries, were taken to nearby Al-Shifa Hospital, Gaza health ministry spokesperson Zaher Al-Wahidi told The Associated Press.
Another local journalist, Nour Abdu, was killed while covering an attack early Wednesday morning at a school turned shelter in Gaza City, the media office said. That strike killed 16 people, according to officials at Al-Ahli Hospital, while strikes in other areas killed at least 16 others.
And an attack Tuesday night on a school sheltering hundreds of displaced Palestinians killed 27 people, officials from the Al-Aqsa Hospital said, including nine women and three children. The school has been struck repeatedly since the war began.
In Bureij, an urban refugee camp, paramedics and rescuers rushed to pull people out of a blaze after a large column of smoke and fires pierced the dark skies above the school shelter.
Trump jars Israelis with remark on hostage figures
The war began when Hamas-led militants attacked southern Israel, killing 1,200 people and taking about 250 hostages.
Trump on Wednesday said his administration will soon have more to say on a plan for Gaza — which may include a new push for a ceasefire between Hamas and Israel, the release of hostages and an influx of aid to Palestinians.
“You’ll be knowing probably in the next 24 hours,” Trump told reporters in the Oval Office.
He had stunned many in Israel a day earlier when he declared that only 21 of the 59 hostages remaining in Gaza are still alive. Israel previously insisted the figure stands at 24, although an Israeli official said there was “serious concern” for the lives of three captives. The official said there has been no sign of life from those three, whom the official did not identify. He said that until proven otherwise, the three are considered to be alive. The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive details related to the war, said the families of the captives were updated on those developments.
The Hostages and Missing Families Forum, a group representing the families of the captives, demanded from Israel’s government that if there is “new information being kept from us, give it to us immediately.” It also called for Netanyahu to halt the war in Gaza until all hostages are returned. “This is the most urgent and important national mission,” it said on a post on X.
Since Israel ended a ceasefire with the Hamas militant group in mid-March, it has unleashed fierce strikes on Gaza that have killed hundreds and captured swaths of territory. Before the truce ended, Israel halted all humanitarian aid into the territory, including food, fuel and water, setting off what is believed to be the worst humanitarian crisis in 19 months of war.
Key interlocutors Qatar and Egypt said Wednesday that mediation efforts were “ongoing and consistent.” But Israel and Hamas remain far apart on how they see the war ending. Israel says it won’t end the war until Hamas’ governing and military capabilities are dismantled, something it has failed to do in 19 months of war.
Hamas says it is prepared to release all of the hostages for an end to the war and a long-term truce with Israel.
The US-Houthi deal does not appear to cover Israel
Against the backdrop of the plans to intensify the campaign in Gaza, fighting has also escalated between Israel and Iranian-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen.
The Houthis fired a ballistic missile earlier this week that landed on the grounds of Israel’s main international airport. Israel responded with a series of airstrikes over two days, whose targets included the airport in Yemen’s capital, Sanaa.
The Houthis have been striking Israel and targets in a main Red Sea shipping route since the war began in solidarity with the Palestinians. On Tuesday, Trump said the US would halt a nearly two-monthlong campaign against the Houthis in Yemen, after the rebel group agreed not to target US ships.
Israel does not appear to be covered by the US-Houthi agreement.
The Israeli official said the deal came as a surprise to Israel and that it was concerned by it because of what it meant for the continuation of hostilities between it and the Houthis.


Sultan of Oman, Iranian president discuss Israeli strikes, diplomatic solutions

Sultan of Oman, Iranian president discuss Israeli strikes, diplomatic solutions
Updated 6 sec ago
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Sultan of Oman, Iranian president discuss Israeli strikes, diplomatic solutions

Sultan of Oman, Iranian president discuss Israeli strikes, diplomatic solutions
  • President Masoud Pezeshkian says while Iran faces Israeli aggression, it supports diplomatic solutions
  • Sultan Haitham bin Tarik condemns damage caused by Israeli strikes on Iranian infrastructure and facilities

LONDON: Sultan Haitham bin Tariq of Oman held a phone call on Monday with Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian to offer condolences for the Iranian victims of Israeli airstrikes and discuss the latest developments.

Sultan Haitham condemned the damage caused by Israeli strikes to infrastructure and facilities, wishing a speedy recovery to the injured Iranian citizens. He stressed the need for de-escalation from both sides and called for negotiations and dialogue to prevent the ongoing conflict from deteriorating, the Oman News Agency reported.

He reaffirmed the Omani government’s commitment to activate diplomatic efforts to resolve the crisis, prevent its escalation, and establish fair and just settlements that restore normalcy.

Pezeshkian said that while his country is facing Israeli aggression, it supports diplomatic solutions through dialogue and negotiation, emphasizing the importance of adhering to international law and respecting Iran’s sovereignty, the ONA added.


38 Palestinians killed in new shootings near food distribution centers, medics say

38 Palestinians killed in new shootings near food distribution centers, medics say
Updated 16 June 2025
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38 Palestinians killed in new shootings near food distribution centers, medics say

38 Palestinians killed in new shootings near food distribution centers, medics say

KHAN YOUNIS: Gaza’s Health Ministry says 38 Palestinians have been killed in new shootings in areas of food distribution centers in the south of the territory.
The toll Monday was the deadliest yet in the near-daily shootings that have taken place as thousands of Palestinians move through Israeli military-controlled areas to reach the food centers. Witnesses say Israeli troops open fire in an attempt to control the crowds.
There was no immediate comment by the Israeli military on Monday’s deaths. It has said in previous instances that troops fired warning shots at what it calls suspects approaching their positions.


Erdogan tells Putin that Israel threatens regional security

Erdogan tells Putin that Israel threatens regional security
Updated 16 June 2025
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Erdogan tells Putin that Israel threatens regional security

Erdogan tells Putin that Israel threatens regional security

ISTANBUL: Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan accused Israel of threatening security in the Middle East, which he said cannot tolerate another war, in a phone call with Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin on Monday, his office said.
Erdogan was quoted saying: “The spiral of violence that began with Israel’s attacks on Iran has put the security of the entire region at risk, (and) that the lawless attitude of the (Israeli premier Benjamin) Netanyahu government poses a clear threat to the international system, and that the region cannot tolerate a new war.”


UN rights chief decries ‘horrifying’ suffering in Gaza and urges leaders to pressure Israel, Hamas

UN rights chief decries ‘horrifying’ suffering in Gaza and urges leaders to pressure Israel, Hamas
Updated 16 June 2025
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UN rights chief decries ‘horrifying’ suffering in Gaza and urges leaders to pressure Israel, Hamas

UN rights chief decries ‘horrifying’ suffering in Gaza and urges leaders to pressure Israel, Hamas
  • The UN human rights chief says Israel’s warfare in Gaza is inflicting “horrifying, unconscionable suffering” on Palestinians
  • olker Türk made the comments at the opening of the latest Human Rights Council session on Monday

GENEVA: The UN human rights chief said Israel’s warfare in Gaza is inflicting “horrifying, unconscionable suffering” on Palestinians and urged government leaders on Monday to exert pressure on Israel’s government and the militant group Hamas to end it.
Volker Türk made the comments at the opening of the latest Human Rights Council session on Monday, in a broad address that also raised concerns about escalating conflict between Iran and Israel, the fallout from US tariffs, and China’s human rights record — alongside wars and conflict in places like Sudan and Ukraine.
The United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, who has regularly spoken out about bloodshed in Gaza and called for the release of Israeli hostages held by armed Palestinian militants, used some of his most forceful words yet to highlight the Mideast violence.
“Israel’s means and methods of warfare are inflicting horrifying, unconscionable suffering on Palestinians in Gaza,” Türk told the 47-member-country body, which Israeli authorities have regularly accused of anti-Israel bias. The Trump administration has kept the United States, Israel’s top ally, out of the council proceedings.
Israel’s military campaign has killed over 55,300 Palestinians, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry. It says that women and children make up most of the dead but it does not distinguish between civilians and combatants.
“The facts speak for themselves. Everyone in government needs to wake up to what is happening in Gaza,” Türk said. “All those with influence must exert maximum pressure on Israel and Hamas, to put an end to this unbearable suffering.”
The rights chief noted an increase in civilian casualties in Ukraine, nearly 3 1/2 years after Russia’s full-scale invasion. He also denounced executions without a fair trial and “wide-scale sexual violence, including against children” in Sudan.
Without mentioning President Donald Trump by name, Türk likened the US tariffs he imposed in April to “a high-stakes poker game, with the global economy as the bank.”
“But the shockwaves of a trade war will hit Least Developed Countries with the force of a tsunami,” he said, warning of a potentially “devastating” impact on exporters in Asia, and the prospect of higher costs for food, health care and education in places.
Türk expressed concerns about US deportations of non-nationals, including to third countries, and called on authorities to respect the right to peaceful assembly.
The council session, which has been shortened by 2 1/2 days because of funding issues at the UN, is set to run through July 9. The Geneva-based council is the UN’s top human rights body.


Iran says parliament is preparing bill to leave nuclear non-proliferation treaty

Iran says parliament is preparing bill to leave nuclear non-proliferation treaty
Updated 16 June 2025
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Iran says parliament is preparing bill to leave nuclear non-proliferation treaty

Iran says parliament is preparing bill to leave nuclear non-proliferation treaty

DUBAI: Iranian parliamentarians are preparing a bill that could push Tehran toward exiting the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty the foreign ministry said on Monday, while reiterating Tehran’s official stance against developing nuclear weapons.
“In light of recent developments, we will take an appropriate decision. Government has to enforce parliament bills but such a proposal is just being prepared and we will coordinate in the later stages with parliament,” the ministry’s spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei said, when asked at a press conference about Tehran potentially leaving the NPT.
The NPT, which Iran ratified in 1970, guarantees countries the right to pursue civilian nuclear power in return for requiring them to forego atomic weapons and cooperate with the UN nuclear watchdog, the IAEA.

Israel began bombing Iran last week, saying Tehran was on the verge of building a nuclear bomb. Iran has always said its nuclear program is peaceful, although the IAEA declared last week that Tehran was in violation of its NPT obligations.
President Masoud Pezeshkian reiterated on Monday that nuclear weapons were against a religious edict by Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
Iran’s state media said that no decision on quitting the NPT had yet been made by parliament, while a parliamentarian said that the proposal was at the initial stages of the legal process.
Baghaei said that developments such as Israel’s attack “naturally affect the strategic decisions of the state,” noting that Israel’s attack had followed the IAEA resolution, which he suggested was to blame.
“Those voting for the resolution prepared the ground for the attack,” Baghaei said.
Israel, which never joined the NPT, is widely assumed by regional governments to possess nuclear weapons, although it does not confirm or deny this.
“The Zionist regime is the only possessor of weapons of mass destruction in the region,” Baghaei said.