At least 51 Palestinians killed while waiting for aid trucks in Gaza, health officials say By MOHAMMAD JAHJOUH, SAMY MAGDY and JOSEPH KRAUSS Updated 10:02 AM GMT+8, June 18, 2025 https://apnews.com/article/israel-p...d-06-17-2025-7af5503ea7d2176674fba26d34f6ef74 KHAN YOUNIS, Gaza Strip (AP) — At least 51 Palestinians were killed and more than 200 wounded in the Gaza Strip while waiting for U.N. and commercial trucks to enter the territory with desperately needed food, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry and a local hospital. Palestinian witnesses told The Associated Press that Israeli forces carried out an airstrike on a nearby home before opening fire toward the crowd in the southern city of Khan Younis. The Israeli military said soldiers had spotted a gathering near an aid truck that was stuck in Khan Younis, near where Israeli forces were operating. It acknowledged “several casualties” as Israelis opened fire on the approaching crowd and said authorities would investigate what happened. The shooting did not appear to be related to a new Israeli- and U.S.-supported aid delivery network that rolled out last month and has been marred by controversy and violence. The U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian affairs, or OCHA, said the people killed were waiting for food rations arriving in U.N. convoys. Also on Tuesday, the main Palestinian telecoms regulatory agency based in the West Bank city of Ramallah reported that Israeli strikes had cut off fixed-line phone service and internet access in central and southern Gaza. Palestinian relatives mourn over the body of a man killed in an Israeli strike, at Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis, southern Gaza Strip, Tuesday, June 17, 2025. (AP Photo/Mariam Dagga) ‘Aren’t we human beings?’ Yousef Nofal, an eyewitness, said he saw many people motionless and bleeding on the ground after Israeli forces opened fire. “It was a massacre,” he said, adding that the soldiers continued firing on people as they fled from the area. Mohammed Abu Qeshfa reported hearing a loud explosion followed by heavy gunfire and tank shelling. “I survived by a miracle,” he said. The dead and wounded were taken to the city’s Nasser Hospital, which confirmed 51 people had been killed. Later Tuesday, medical charity MSF raised the death toll to 59, saying that another 200 had been wounded while trying to receive flour rations in Khan Younis. Samaher Meqdad was at the hospital looking for her two brothers and a nephew who had been in the crowd. “We don’t want flour. We don’t want food. We don’t want anything,” she said. “Why did they fire at the young people? Why? Aren’t we human beings?” Palestinians say Israeli forces have repeatedly opened fire on crowds trying to reach food distribution points run by a separate U.S. and Israeli-backed aid group since the centers opened last month. Local health officials say scores have been killed and hundreds wounded. In those instances, the Israeli military has acknowledged firing warning shots at people it said had approached its forces in a suspicious manner. Deadly Israeli airstrikes continued elsewhere in the enclave on Tuesday. Al-Awda Hospital, a major medical center in northern Gaza, reported that it has received the bodies of eight Palestinians killed in an Israeli strike on a house in the central Bureij refugee camp. Desperation grows as rival aid systems can’t meet needs Israel says the new system operated by a private contractor, the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, is designed to prevent Hamas from siphoning off aid to fund its militant activities. U.N. agencies and major aid groups deny there is any major diversion of aid and have rejected the new system, saying it can’t meet the mounting needs in Gaza and that it violates humanitarian principles by allowing Israel to control who has access to aid. Experts have warned of famine in the territory that is home to some 2 million Palestinians. Palestinian women mourn for the relatives killed in an Israeli strike, at Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis, southern Gaza Strip, Tuesday, June 17, 2025. (AP Photo/Mariam Dagga) The U.N.-run network has delivered aid across Gaza throughout the 20-month Israel-Hamas war, but has faced major obstacles since Israel loosened a total blockade it had imposed from early March until mid-May. U.N. officials say Israeli military restrictions, a breakdown of law and order, and widespread looting make it difficult to deliver the aid that Israel has allowed in. Olga Cherevko, a spokesperson for OCHA, said on Tuesday that the aid Israeli authorities have allowed into Gaza since late May has been “woefully insufficient.” Fuel has not entered Gaza for over 100 days, she said. “The only way to address it is by sufficient volumes and over sustained periods of time. A trickle of aid here, a trickle of aid there is not going to make a difference.” Israel’s military campaign since October 2023 has killed over 55,300 Palestinians, more than half of them women and children, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry. Its count doesn’t distinguish between civilians and combatants. Israel launched its campaign aiming to destroy Hamas after the group’s Oct. 7, 2023, attack on southern Israel, in which militants killed around 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and taking another 251 hostage. The militants still hold 53 hostages, fewer than half of them alive, after most of the rest were released in ceasefire agreements or other deals.
Regarding Israel Iran war, a source familiar with U.S. internal discussions said Trump and his team were considering options including joining Israel in strikes against Iranian nuclear sites. Sergei Markov, a former Kremlin adviser, has said the conflict - though opposed by Russia - could yield some benefits to Moscow including higher oil prices, more appetite from China for Russian oil because of difficulties sourcing Iranian oil and a reallocation of U.S. military resources away from Ukraine. Reuters
Israeli attacks kill 140 in Gaza in 24 hours, medics say, as focus shifts to Iran By Nidal Al-Mughrabi June 18, 2025 REUTERS/Dawoud Abu Alkas Summary CAIRO, June 18 (Reuters) - Israeli gunfire and strikes killed at least 140 people across Gaza in the past 24 hours, local health officials said, as some Palestinians in the strip said their plight was being forgotten while attention shifted to the air war between Israel and Iran. At least 40 of the total number killed in the past day died as a result of Israeli gunfire and airstrikes on Wednesday, Gaza's health ministry said. The deaths included the latest in near daily killings of Palestinians seeking aid in the three weeks since Israel partially lifted a total blockade on the territory.
At least 20 killed in Damascus church bombing attack, dozens wounded The blast in Dweil’a on the outskirts of Syria’s capital was carried out as people were praying inside the Mar Elias Church. A Syrian man reacts inside Mar Elias Church after the attack [Omar Sanadiki/AP] Published On 22 Jun 2025 A suicide bomber in Syria has carried out an attack inside a church filled with people, killing at least 20 people and wounding dozens more, according to the Syria’s Ministry of Health and security officials. The explosion in Dweil’a on the outskirts of Damascus took place as people were praying during mass inside the Mar Elias Church on Sunday. No group immediately claimed responsibility, but the Syrian Interior Ministry said a fighter from the ISIL (ISIS) group entered the church and fired at the people there before detonating himself with an explosives vest, echoing some witness testimonies. The death toll reported was a preliminary one. “Rescue teams from the Syria Civil Defence continue to recover bodies from the scene,” a statement on Telegram said on Sunday. Official state agency SANA, citing the Health Ministry, said that at least 50 others were wounded. Some local media reported that children were among the casualties. The attack was the first of its kind in Syria in years, and comes as the fledgling interim government led by President Ahmed al-Sharaa is trying to win the support of minorities. As al-Sharaa struggles to exert authority across Syria, there have been concerns about the presence of sleeper cells of groups like ISIL (ISIS) in the country recovering from nearly 14 years of devastating civil war that killed hundreds of thousands and displaced millions. Syria has made significant inroads back into the international fold since al-Sharaa became president in January 2025, with both the United States and the European Union lifting sanctions from the era of ousted President Bashar al-Assad. ‘He was shooting at the church’ A witness who identified himself as Rawad told The Associated Press that he saw the attacker, who was accompanied by two others who fled as he was driving near the church. “He was shooting at the church … he then went inside the church and blew himself up,” he said. Security forces and first responders rushed to the scene. Panicked survivors wailed, as one woman fell to her knees and burst into tears. Syrian Information Minister Hamza al-Mostafa condemned the blast, calling it a “terrorist” attack. “This cowardly act goes against the civic values that bring us together,” he said in a post on X. “We will not back down from our commitment to equal citizenship … and we also affirm the state’s pledge to exert all its efforts to combat criminal organisations and to protect society from all attacks threatening its safety.” The United Nations Special Envoy for Syria Geir O. Pedersen condemned “in the strongest possible terms the terrorist attack at St. Elias Church” and expressed “his outrage at this heinous crime.” His statement also noted “that the Syrian interim authorities have attributed this attack to ISIL and (he) calls for a full investigation and action by the authorities.” Turkiye’s foreign ministry said the “treacherous” attack aimed to disrupt efforts to achieve stability and security in Syria. France’s foreign ministry also condemned the “despicable” attack. France “expresses its full solidarity with the Syrian people, who hope that Syria will find its way back to peace,” the ministry said in a statement. Photos circulated by the Syria Civil Defence showed the church’s interior area in ruins, with pews covered in debris and blood. Responders and members of the Syria Civil Defence inspect the damage in the church [Firas Makdesi/Reuters] Source: News Agencies Al Jazeera English: © 2025 Al Jazeera Media Network
Hey war mongering sheeple! I think trouble is coming, but Trump the president for peace and MAGA will fix it for you!
Islamic State suicide bombing in Damascus church kills 22 and injures 63 Evening attack is first major atrocity by Islamist terror group in Syria since President al-Assad was deposed William Christou 23 Jun 2025 Islamic State (IS) targeting a church in Damascus has killed 22 people and wounded 63, Syrian state media have said. The attack on Sunday night was the first major IS operation and the first suicide bombing in Syria since former Syrian president Bashar al-Assad was toppled in December and replaced by an Islamist-led government. A man affiliated with IS entered the Greek Orthodox Saint Elias church in the old Christian quarter of Damascus during prayers, opened fire and then detonated an explosive vest while inside the church, Syria’s interior ministry said. Eyewitnesses inside the church reported a second gunman who did not blow himself up, but also shot at the 150 or so worshippers present. “People were praying safely under the eyes of God,” said Fadi Ghattas, who said he saw at least 20 people killed. “There were 350 people praying at the church.” Videos of the church’s interior show splintered pews overturned by the force of the blast and the bloodied corpses of congregants splayed out across the church. Nearby residents reported hearing a large blast and then the sound of sirens as security forces attempted to establish a cordon around the area and civil defence personnel headed towards the church. Issam Nasr, who was praying at the church, said he saw people “blown to bits”. “We have never held a knife in our lives. All we ever carried were our prayers,” he said. The attack came after months of low-level IS activity and propaganda, as the group attempted to exploit the security vacuum created after the fall of Assad to reconstitute itself. Syrian officials have said the group was able to seize weaponry and ammunition left by fleeing Assad regime soldiers to bolster its caches. The blast on Sunday killed 20 people and damaged the interior of Saint Elias’s church, splintering pews and scattering debris. Photograph: Mohammed Al Rifai/EPA The Syrian government, led by former leaders of the Islamist rebel group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), have been carrying out anti-IS raids throughout the country since taking power. While still a rebel group, HTS had been fighting IS in areas under its control, viewing it as a source of instability and radicalisation for rival rebel groups. Since the fall of the Assad regime, IS has attempted to use the apparent moderation of the former Islamist rebels who now lead the country as a recruitment tool for disaffected Islamist fighters. IS social media channels and propaganda published pictures of the Syrian president, Ahmed al-Sharaa, meeting the US president, Donald Trump, in Riyadh in May, describing it as an apparent betrayal of his jihadist roots. Syrian authorities have stressed religious minorities will be protected under their rule. Security personnel usually are posted at each entrance of the city’s Christian quarter, inspecting cars as they come in. The Syrian minister of information, Hamza al-Mustafa, said: “This cowardly act contradicts the values of citizenship that unite us all. We, as Syrians, emphasise the importance of national unity and civil peace, and call for strengthening the bonds of fraternity between all components of society.” A clergyman walks among debris at the scene of a suicide bombing at the Saint Elias church in Damascus, Syria on 22 June. Photograph: Mohammed Al Rifai/EPA The Damascus municipality said security services were investigating the circumstances of the bombing. Syria’s foreign ministry described the event as a “desperate attempt to undermine national coexistence and to destabilise the country”. A statement from the office of the UN special envoy for Syria, Geir Pedersen, said he was outraged at the “heinous crime” and condemned it in the “strongest possible terms”. The office added that the envoy also called for “a full investigation and action by the authorities”. Though nominally in power of most of Syria, the country’s new government has struggled to extend its control on the ground over the country. Syria is still full of militias, some of them more radical than others. The country’s defence ministry is in the process of folding militias into a unified national army and disarming those who refuse to join its ranks. Since the territorial defeat of the so-called caliphate of IS in Syria, it has been mostly the US-backed, Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) that have been leading the anti-IS fight. Cooperation between the SDF and the new Syrian government in fighting IS has been growing but is still in its infancy. The US, as well as the other members of the anti-IS coalition in Iraq and Syria, have cited the resurgence of IS in Syria as one of their key concerns for the country.
When you are the leader(s) of a nation and your popularity is sagging and facing corruption or incompetency charges, what better way is there to boost your ego and to distract the sheeple and get them back on your side, than start a new war. ‘Make Iran Great Again’: Trump threatens regime change; Australia supports US strikes Keir Starmer backs US strike Trump’s Iran strike is a huge win for Netanyahu but the endgame is as unclear as ever
Australia abandons neutral stance on Iran strikes, backs in Trump By Olivia Ireland June 23, 2025 Donald Trump’s strikes on nuclear facilities in Iran, in a major departure from its stance just a day earlier when an unnamed government spokesperson released a statement that took a neutral position and called for peace. Foreign Minister Penny Wong on Monday confirmed Australia’s support for the US strikes, but declined to say how close Iran was to making a nuclear bomb or whether the joint US-Australia intelligence base at Pine Gap in the Northern Territory was used. Foreign Minister Penny Wong said the Austrealian government supported the US strikes on Iran.Credit: Alex Ellinghausen “We support action to prevent Iran getting nuclear weapons,” she said on Channel Nine’s Today. “These sites are specific to Iran’s nuclear program and we know that the UN nuclear watchdog has said … that Iran is enriching to almost military levels.” When Trump confirmed the strikes on the weekend, the Australian government gave a statement that reiterated Iran’s missile and ballistic missile programs were dangerous but was neutral on the US decision to attack them. “We note the US president’s statement that now is the time for peace,” the statement read. “The security situation in the region is highly volatile. We continue to call for de-escalation, dialogue and diplomacy.” The shift from neutrality to full support emphasises Australia’s close alliance to the US, echoing its stance before the Iraq and Afghanistan wars. Wong declined to say if she had seen clear evidence that Iran was on the verge of developing a nuclear bomb or if any American facilities in Australia at Pine Gap were used to help carry out the strikes. “We don’t comment on intelligence matters. We certainly don’t comment on the matters you are asking me about, the US made clear publicly these were unilateral strikes,” she told ABC News Breakfast. The opposition backed the strikes over the weekend, endorsing the US and Israeli position that they were essential to stop Iran developing nuclear weapons. Iran has said it is not developing weapons and vowed to retaliate. The Greens argue the strikes were illegal under international law. Despite other countries making clear their position a day before Australia, Foreign Minister Penny Wong said the government had not delayed taking a stance. “I don’t accept that characterisation,” she said. “These sites are specific to Iran’s nuclear program,” Wong said. “And we know what the UN nuclear watchdog has said... that Iran is enriching to almost military levels.” Coalition acting foreign affairs spokesman Andrew Hastie welcomed the government’s shift but said it had taken too long. “I’m glad to see that Penny Wong has essentially endorsed our position and I’m glad we have bipartisanship on this,” he said on ABC Radio National. “What yesterday demonstrated was that the prime minister’s flat-footed, his instincts aren’t great on this and he should have called a [National Security Committee of cabinet] meeting yesterday for an event of such significance. Instead, it’s happening this morning.” Acting Coalition foreign affairs spokesman Andrew Hastie.Credit: James Brickwood Wong confirmed on Monday that 2900 people in Iran and 1300 in Israel had registered for consular assistance from the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade. Wong said there were reports that Israeli airspace may open for a limited period, which the government would try to use to get people out while land exits are all but closed. Australia does not have personnel in Iran but has promised to help Australians who make it to the Azerbaijan border on their own. “We have advised Australians on the ground of that fact and I emphasise we are seeking to utilise this opportunity, but the situation on the ground is uncertain and fluid and risky,” Wong said. Senior minister Tanya Plibersek told Sunrise earlier on Monday that the government backed US strikes against Iran in a shift confirmed shortly afterward by Wong. “We do support the strikes,” Plibsersek said. “We certainly don’t want to see full-scale war in the Middle East. It is a very delicate and different time and we would encourage Iran to come back to the negotiating table.”