A father mourns 2 sons killed in an Israeli strike as hunger worsens in Gaza

Hatem Al-Nouri shows a photo of his children Amir, 4, right, and Omar, 8, second from right, accompanied by their brothers, as he talks about when the two were killed in an Israeli strike while waiting to receive nutritional supplements at a medical clinic, during an interview at his home in Deir al-Balah, Gaza Strip, Friday, July 11, 2025. (AP)
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Hatem Al-Nouri shows a photo of his children Amir, 4, right, and Omar, 8, second from right, accompanied by their brothers, as he talks about when the two were killed in an Israeli strike while waiting to receive nutritional supplements at a medical clinic, during an interview at his home in Deir al-Balah, Gaza Strip, Friday, July 11, 2025. (AP)
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Updated 12 July 2025
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A father mourns 2 sons killed in an Israeli strike as hunger worsens in Gaza

A father mourns 2 sons killed in an Israeli strike as hunger worsens in Gaza
  • Hundreds of Palestinians have been killed in Gaza in recent weeks while trying to get food, according to local health officials

DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip: Three brothers in the Gaza Strip woke up early to run to a local clinic to get “sweets,” their word for the emergency food supplements distributed by aid groups. By the time their father woke up, two of the brothers had been fatally wounded by an Israeli strike and the third had lost an eye.

The strike outside the clinic on Thursday in the central city of Deir Al-Balah killed 14 people, including 9 children, according to a local hospital, which had initially reported 10 children killed but later said one had died in a separate incident.

The Israeli military said it targeted a militant it said had taken part in the Hamas attack that ignited the 21-month war. Security camera footage appeared to show two young men targeted as they walked past the clinic where several people were squatting outside.

Hatem Al-Nouri’s four-year-old son, Amir, was killed immediately. His eight-year-old son, Omar, was still breathing when he reached the hospital but died shortly thereafter. He said that at first he didn’t recognize his third son, two-year-old Siraj, because his eye had been torn out.

“What did these children do to deserve this?” the father said as he broke into tears. “They were dreaming of having a loaf of bread.”

Violence in the West Bank

In a separate development, Israeli settlers killed two Palestinians in the occupied West Bank, according to the Palestinian Health Ministry. It said Seifeddin Musalat, 23, was beaten to death and Mohammed Al-Shalabi, 23, was shot in the chest in the village of Sinjil near the city of Ramallah. Both were 23.

The military said Palestinians had hurled rocks at Israelis in the area earlier on Friday, lightly wounding two people. That set off a larger confrontation that included “vandalism of Palestinian property, arson, physical clashes, and rock hurling,” the army said. It said troops had dispersed the crowds, without saying if anyone was arrested.

Palestinians and rights groups have long accused the military of ignoring settler violence, which has spiked — along with Palestinian attacks and Israeli military raids — since the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas attack on Israel.

A ‘sharp and unprecedented’ rise in malnutrition

Hundreds of Palestinians have been killed in Gaza in recent weeks while trying to get food, according to local health officials. Experts say hunger is widespread among the territory’s 2 million Palestinians and that Israel’s blockade and military offensive have put them at risk of famine.

The deputy director of the World Food Program said Friday that humanitarian needs and constraints on the UN’s ability to provide aid are worse than he’s ever seen, saying “starvation is spreading” and one in three people are going for days without eating.

Carl Skau told UN reporters in New York that on a visit to Gaza last week he didn’t see any markets, only small amounts of potatoes being sold on a few street corners in Gaza City. He was told that a kilogram (2.2 pounds) of flour now costs over $25.

The international aid group Doctors Without Borders said it has recorded a “sharp and unprecedented rise” in acute malnutrition at two clinics it operates in Gaza, with more than 700 pregnant and breastfeeding women, and nearly 500 children, receiving outpatient therapeutic food.

“Our neonatal intensive care unit is severely overcrowded, with four to five babies sharing a single incubator,” Dr. Joanne Perry, a physician with the group, said in a statement. “This is my third time in Gaza, and I’ve never seen anything like this. Mothers are asking me for food for their children, pregnant women who are six months along often weigh no more than 40 kilograms (88 pounds).”

The Israeli military body in charge of civilian affairs in Gaza says it is allowing enough food to enter and blames the UN and other aid groups for not promptly distributing it.

Risking their lives for food

Israel ended a ceasefire and renewed its offensive in March. It eased a 2 1/2 month blockade in May, but the UN and aid groups say they are struggling to distribute humanitarian aid because of Israeli military restrictions and a breakdown of law and order that has led to widespread looting.

A separate aid mechanism built around an American group backed by Israel has Palestinians running a deadly gantlet to reach its sites. Witnesses and health officials say hundreds have been killed by Israeli fire while heading toward the distribution points through military zones off limits to independent media.

The military has acknowledged firing warning shots at Palestinians who it says approached its forces in a suspicious manner.

The Israeli- and US-supported Gaza Humanitarian Foundation denies there has been any violence in or around its sites. But two of its contractors told The Associated Press that their colleagues have fired live ammunition and stun grenades as Palestinians scramble for food, allegations denied by the foundation.

The UN Human Rights Office said Thursday that it has recorded 798 killings near Gaza aid sites in a little over a month leading up to July 7. Ravina Shamdasani, a spokesperson for the office, said 615 were killed “in the vicinity of the GHF sites” and the remainder on convoy routes used by other aid groups.

A GHF spokesperson, speaking on condition of anonymity in line with the group’s policies, rejected the “false and misleading stats,” saying most of the deaths were linked to shootings near UN convoys, which pass by Israeli army positions and have been attacked by armed gangs and unloaded by crowds.

Israel has long accused UN bodies of being biased against it.

No ceasefire after two days of Trump-Netanyahu talks

Hamas-led militants killed some 1,200 people in their Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israel and abducted 251. They still hold 50 hostages, less than half of them believed to be alive, after most of the rest were released in ceasefire agreements or other deals.

Israel’s offensive has killed over 57,000 Palestinians, more than half of them women and children, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry. The ministry, which is under Gaza’s Hamas-run government, doesn’t differentiate between civilians and combatants in its count. The UN and other international organizations see its figures as the most reliable statistics on war casualties.

US President Donald Trump has said he is closing in on another ceasefire agreement that would see more hostages released and potentially wind down the war. But there were no signs of a breakthrough this week after two days of talks with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the White House.

 


Israel and Hamas agree to first phase of Gaza peace plan

 Israel and Hamas agree to first phase of Gaza peace plan
Updated 09 October 2025
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Israel and Hamas agree to first phase of Gaza peace plan

 Israel and Hamas agree to first phase of Gaza peace plan
  • A number of hostages will be released
  • Aid will be allowed into Gaza

WASHINGTON/CAIRO: US President Donald Trump said on Wednesday that Israel and Hamas had reached a long-sought deal for a Gaza ceasefire and hostage release under his plan for ending the two-year-old war in the Palestinian enclave.

Just a day after the second anniversary of Hamas’ attack on Israel that triggered Israel’s devastating assault on Gaza, indirect talks in Egypt yielded an agreement on the initial stage of Trump’s 20-point framework.

The deal, if implemented, would bring the two sides closer than any previous effort to halt a war that had evolved into a regional conflict, drawing in countries such as Iran, Yemen and Lebanon, and reshaping the Middle East.

“I am very proud to announce that Israel and Hamas have both signed off on the first Phase of our Peace Plan,” Trump said on Truth Social.

“This means that ALL of the Hostages will be released very soon, and Israel will withdraw their Troops to an agreed upon line as the first steps toward a Strong, Durable, and Everlasting Peace,” Trump added.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a written statement, referring to the hostages held by Hamas: “With God’s help we will bring them all home.” He said he would convene his government on Thursday to approve the agreement.

Hamas confirmed it had reached an agreement to end the war, saying the deal includes an Israeli withdrawal from the enclave and a hostage-prisoner exchange. But the group called on Trump and guarantor states to ensure Israel fully implements the ceasefire, it added in a statement.

Trump said earlier that a deal was almost done and that he may travel to Egypt this weekend, possibly leaving as soon as Saturday.

“All Parties will be treated fairly!” he said on Truth Social. “This is a GREAT Day for the Arab and Muslim World, Israel, all surrounding Nations, and the United States of America, and we thank the mediators from Qatar, Egypt, and Turkiye, who worked with us to make this Historic and Unprecedented Event happen.

Successful completion of the deal would mark the biggest foreign policy achievement so far for a president who took office in January promising to quickly end the wars in Gaza and Ukraine, only to be confronted with obstacles and complexities he had apparently not foreseen.

Senior envoys from the US, Qatar and Turkiye had joined the talks, apparently adding momentum to discussions launched on Monday in the Egyptian resort town of Sharm el-Sheikh.

Trump sent his son-in-law Jared Kushner and special envoy Steve Witkoff, and Israel was represented by Israeli Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer, a close confidant of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Despite the hopes raised for ending the war, crucial details are yet to be spelled out, including the timing, a post-war administration for the Gaza Strip and the fate of the Palestinian militant group Hamas.

Gaza authorities say more than 67,000 people have been killed and much of the enclave has been flattened since Israel began its military response to the Hamas cross-border attack on Oct. 7, 2023. Around 1,200 people were killed and 251 were taken hostage back to Gaza, according to Israeli officials, with 20 of the 48 hostages still held believed to be alive.


US targets Chinese companies over drone components used by Hamas, Houthis

US targets Chinese companies over drone components used by Hamas, Houthis
Updated 09 October 2025
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US targets Chinese companies over drone components used by Hamas, Houthis

US targets Chinese companies over drone components used by Hamas, Houthis
  • 10 China companies in sanctions list for facilitating the purchase of components allegedly found in weaponized Houthi drones
  • 5 more companies also sanctioned after components were found in weaponized drones operated by Hamas

WASHINGTON: The United States said on Wednesday it was adding 15 Chinese companies to its restricted trade list for facilitating the purchase of American electronic components found in drones operated by Iranian proxies including Houthi and Hamas militants.

Ten companies in China were placed on the Commerce Department’s Entity List for facilitating the purchase of components found in weaponized unmanned aircraft systems operated by proxies including Yemen’s Houthi militants, according to a post in the Federal Register.

Five additional Chinese companies were listed after information that around October 7, 2023, Israel Defense Forces recovered numerous weaponized unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) operated by Iranian proxies including Hamas, the post said, and the debris showed multiple US-origin electronic components.

Hamas-led militants staged an attack in Israel that day that killed 1,200 people, according to Israeli tallies, and triggered the war in Gaza.

In all, the Commerce Department’s Bureau of Industry and Security is adding 29 entries to the list.

Arrow China Electronics Trading in Shanghai and other Chinese cities and Arrow Electronics (Hong Kong) are among the companies being placed on the list over US components for weaponized drones operated by Iranian proxies like the Houthis.

Both companies are subsidiaries of Centennial, Colorado-based Arrow Electronics, a components distributor which says it had global 2024 sales of $28 billion.

The companies have been and are continuing to operate in compliance with export regulations and the law, according to a statement from the US-headquartered company.

“We are in discussion with BIS concerning these listings and will provide further details as soon as they become available,” Arrow spokesperson John Hourigan said in the statement. “In the meantime, we will work to minimize supply chain disruptions to our partners.”

The US also added another Chinese company to the list for being part of an illicit network that obtains and supplies UAV and other components to front companies of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps’ Quds Force (IRGC-QF).

Companies are placed on the Commerce Department’s Entity List for activities deemed contrary to US national security and foreign policy interests. Licenses are required to export to companies on the list, and are likely to be denied. 


Palestinian man shot dead by Israeli settler in West Bank near Ramallah

Palestinian man shot dead by Israeli settler in West Bank near Ramallah
Updated 09 October 2025
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Palestinian man shot dead by Israeli settler in West Bank near Ramallah

Palestinian man shot dead by Israeli settler in West Bank near Ramallah
  • Palestinian Red Crescent Society says 26-year-old Jihad Mohammed Ajaj was hit by several bullets
  • The settler stopped Palestinian vehicles on a main road before opening fire, says the head of local town council

LONDON: A 26-year-old man was killed on Wednesday evening when an Israeli settler opened fire on a group of Palestinians in the occupied West Bank, east of Ramallah.

Jihad Mohammed Ajaj was shot on a main road between the towns of Deir Jarir and Silwad. He was taken to the Palestine Medical Complex in Ramallah but could not be saved, the Palestinian Wafa news agency reported.

Fathi Hamdan, the head of Deir Jarir Council, said the settler had stopped Palestinian vehicles on the road before shooting at a group of people who approached him.

The Palestinian Red Crescent Society said Ajaj was hit by several bullets, and two other people were wounded, one in the groin and the other in the abdomen.

Attacks by Israeli settlers in the occupied West Bank have increased sharply since October 2023. They have blocked roads used by Palestinians, targeted private and commercial properties, and sabotaged agricultural land in a number of places over the past two years.

Ajaj is the 13th Palestinian killed by Israeli settlers this year, and the 34th since Oct. 7, 2023, Wafa said.


UN staff member released from Houthi detention in Yemen, UN spokesperson says

UN staff member released from Houthi detention in Yemen, UN spokesperson says
Updated 09 October 2025
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UN staff member released from Houthi detention in Yemen, UN spokesperson says

UN staff member released from Houthi detention in Yemen, UN spokesperson says
  • 53 UN staff remain detained by Houthis, some have been held since 2021

A United Nations staff member who was recently detained by Yemen’s Houthi authorities has been released, UN spokesperson Stephane Dujarric said on Wednesday.

“We continue to urge the de facto authorities to immediately and unconditionally release all UN and humanitarian workers who are supporting the most vulnerable people in Yemen,” Dujarric said.

He did not provide information about the timing or circumstances of the detention, which comes after nine other UN personnel were detained by Houthis.

Dujarric said 53 UN staff remain detained by Houthis, adding that some have been held since 2021.

Yemen has been the focus of one of the world’s largest humanitarian operations during a decade of civil war that disrupted food supplies. WFP says it provided assistance to 15.3 million people, or 47 percent of the population, in 2023.

WFP was among the UN offices raided by Houthis in the Yemeni capital Sanaa in August. Eleven UN personnel were detained as a result of the raid.

The raid, which followed an Israeli strike on Sanaa that killed the prime minister of the Houthi-run government and several other ministers, was condemned by UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, who described the detentions as “intolerable.”

Houthi officials said last month that the UN personnel’s legal immunities should not shield espionage activities.

The Houthi-run foreign ministry also accused the UN of bias for condemning what they called “legal measures taken by the government against spy cells involved in crimes,” while failing to denounce the Israeli attack.


Who are the prominent Palestinians held in Israeli jails?

Who are the prominent Palestinians held in Israeli jails?
Updated 08 October 2025
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Who are the prominent Palestinians held in Israeli jails?

Who are the prominent Palestinians held in Israeli jails?

JERUSALEM: A senior Hamas official said on Wednesday that negotiators from his group and Israel had exchanged lists of prisoners and hostages who would be released should a deal be reached during the ongoing Gaza ceasefire talks in Egypt.

Following are some of the most prominent Palestinian prisoners held by Israel. It is not yet clear if any of them will be released:

Abdullah Al-Barghouti: He was sentenced to 67 life terms in 2004 by an Israeli military court for his involvement in a series of suicide attacks in 2001 and 2002 that killed dozens of Israelis.  

A father of three, he was born in Kuwait in 1972. In 1996, he moved with his family to live in Beit Rima village near Ramallah in the West Bank.

Ibrahim Hamed: He was handed 54 life terms after he was arrested in 2006 in Ramallah. He is accused by Israel of planning suicide attacks that killed dozens of Israelis. 

Hamed, who had been on Israel’s wanted list for eight years before his arrest, was the top West Bank commander of the Izz El-Deen Al-Qassam Brigades, the Hamas military wing. 

Hassan Salama: Born in Gaza’s Khan Younis refugee camp in 1971, Salama was convicted of orchestrating a wave of suicide bombings in Israel in 1996 that killed dozens of Israelis and wounded hundreds more. 

He was sentenced to 48 life terms in jail. Salama said the attacks were a response to the assassination of Hamas bombmaker Yahya Ayyash in 1996. Salama was arrested in Hebron in the West Bank later that year.

Marwan Al-Barghouti: A leading member of the Fatah movement that controls the Palestinian Authority, Barghouti is seen as a possible successor to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas. 

He made his name as a leader and organizer in both of the Intifadas, or uprisings, waged by the Palestinians in the Israeli-occupied West Bank and Gaza Strip since 1987. 

He was arrested in 2002, charged with orchestrating gun ambushes and suicide bombings and sentenced to five life terms in 2004. 

Ahmed Saadat: Saadat, leader of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, was accused by Israel of ordering the assassination of Israeli Tourism Minister Rehavam Zeevi in 2001. 

Pursued by Israel, he took shelter at the Ramallah headquarters of Arafat. Under a deal with the Palestinian Authority in 2002, Saadat stood trial in a Palestinian court and was incarcerated at a Palestinian Authority jail, where he was held under international supervision. 

The Israeli military seized Saadat in 2006 following the withdrawal of the foreign monitors, and put him on trial in a military court. He was sentenced to 30 years in jail in 2008.