NUSEIRAT: Gaza’s civil defense agency and hospitals said Tuesday that Israeli forces killed at least 41 people across the territory, including 17 near an aid distribution center.
The Israeli military has pressed on with its offensive even as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu voiced support for US President Donald Trump’s plan to end the war.
Officials from Gaza’s civil defense agency — a rescue force operating under Hamas authority — said 17 people were shot dead by Israeli forces near an aid distribution site near the Wadi Gaza bridge in central Gaza.
Al-Awda hospital confirmed receiving 17 bodies and said 33 people were wounded.
“We received 17 martyrs and 33 injured as a result of Israeli forces targeting gatherings of citizens near the humanitarian aid distribution area near Wadi Gaza Bridge in the central Gaza Strip,” the hospital said in a statement.
Thousands of Palestinians congregate daily near food distribution points in Gaza, including those managed by the US- and Israeli-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation.
Since launching in late May, its operations have been marred by regular reports of Israeli forces firing on those waiting to collect aid.
An AFP journalist saw hundreds of children crowding a food distribution center in Gaza’s central Nuseirat area, where volunteers were handing out rice and other supplies.
When asked about Tuesday’s incident near Wadi Gaza Bridge, the military said it was looking into it.
Israeli restrictions on the entry of aid supplies into Gaza since the start of the war nearly two years ago have led to shortages of food and essential items, including medicine and fuel, which hospitals require to power their generators.
The civil defense added that 15 more people were killed in several strikes in Gaza City, from where hundreds of thousands have been forced to flee due to Israeli air and ground assaults.
Nine others were killed elsewhere in the territory, it said.
Media restrictions in Gaza and difficulties accessing swathes of the territory mean AFP is unable to independently verify the tolls and details provided by the civil defense and the Israeli military.
On Monday, Trump unveiled a 20-point plan for an immediate halt to the war in Gaza, which Netanyahu backed.
Hamas has yet to respond, and on Tuesday Trump issued an ultimatum to the group.
“We’re going to do about three or four days,” Trump told reporters when asked about a timeframe.
“We’re just waiting for Hamas, and Hamas is either going to be doing it or not. And if it’s not, it’s going to be a very sad end.”
Gaza civil defense says 41 killed in Israeli attacks
https://arab.news/8vk35
Gaza civil defense says 41 killed in Israeli attacks
- Israeli military has pressed on with its offensive even as Netanyahu voiced support for Trump’s plan to end war
- Officials from Gaza’s civil defense agency said 17 people were shot dead by Israeli forces near an aid distribution site near the Wadi Gaza bridge in central Gaza
Soleimani warned Al-Assad about ‘spy’ Luna Al-Shibl: Al-Majalla
LONDON: The late Iranian General Qassem Soleimani confronted Syria’s National Security Bureau chief Ali Mamlouk in late 2019 after seeing Luna Al-Shibl leaving his office. Al-Majalla magazine claims its reporters reviewed a document containing the full Arabic transcript of their exchange.
Soleimani reportedly asked, “Who is this?” and Mamlouk replied, “She is Louna Al-Shibl, the president’s adviser.”
The Quds Force commander pressed further: “I know, I know… but who is she really? Where did she work?”
According to Al-Majalla, a sister publication of Arab News, he said her former salary was “ten thousand dollars,” compared with her current salary of “five hundred thousand Syrian pounds,” before asking: “Does it make sense for someone to leave ten thousand dollars for five hundred thousand pounds? She is a spy.”
Both Soleimani and Maher Al-Assad, commander of the Syrian army’s powerful Fourth Division, had warned the ousted president’s inner circle about Al-Shibl, Al-Majalla reported.
‘Suspicious’ car crash
On July 2, 2024, Al-Shibl was involved in what officials described as a traffic accident on the Damascus-Dimas highway. She was hospitalized and died four days later.
But Al-Majalla reported that photos of her armored BMW showed only minor damage, raising immediate questions among those close to the case.
Eyewitnesses told the magazine that the crash was intentional. One said, “a car approached and rammed her vehicle,” and before her bodyguard could exit, “a man attacked her and struck her on the back of the head,” causing paralysis that led to her death.
She was first taken to Al-Saboura clinic, then transferred to Al-Shami Hospital. Several senior regime-linked figures, including businessman Mohammed Hamsho and an aide to Maher Al-Assad, were present when her condition deteriorated. One witness told Al-Majalla that when her bodyguard tried to explain what had happened, “he was arrested immediately in front of the others.”
The presidency later issued a brief statement announcing her death. Her funeral was attended only by a handful of officials. Then president Al-Assad did not attend.
