92 m. ago Nearly 800 killed at Gaza food hubs and aid convoy routes since end of May, UN says

UN human rights office says 615 of the deaths were in vicinity of sites run by the Gaza Humanitarian FoundationMiddle East crisis – live updatesAt least 798 people have been killed while seeking food at distribution points operated by the US- and Israeli-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation and other humanitarian convoys since the end of May, the UN human rights office (OHCHR) said on Friday.The GHF, proposed by Israel as an alternative to the UN aid system in Gaza, has been almost universally condemned by rights groups for its violation of principles of humanitarian impartiality and what they have said could be complicity in war crimes. Continue reading...

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5 h. ago Almost 800 people killed in Gaza while trying to get food aid since end of May, says UN – Middle East crisis live

Majority of those killed were in the vicinity of sites run by the Israeli-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation The number of people killed by strikes in Gaza on Friday has risen to seven, according to the region’s civil defence agency, Agence France-Presse (AFP) reports.Nearly all of Gaza’s population has been displaced at least once during the more than 21-month war, which has created dire humanitarian conditions for the more than two million people living there. Continue reading...

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7 h. ago Five reported dead in Gaza after Israeli strike on school sheltering displaced people – Middle East crisis live

Separately, the Al-Awda hospital in Nuseirat said it received several casualties after Israeli forces had opened fire at civilians near an aid distribution pointMilitant fighters of the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) began handing over their weapons near the northern Iraqi city of Sulaymaniyah on Friday, marking a symbolic but significant step in the decades-long conflict between Turkey and the outlawed group.The disarmament ceremony marks a turning point in the transition of the PKK from armed insurgency to democratic politics, as part of a broader effort to draw a line under one of the region’s longest-running conflicts. Continue reading...

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60 h. ago Gaza aid workers overwhelmed by ‘mass casualty incidents’ at food distribution sites

Doctors say hundreds have been wounded by Israeli gunfire while trying to reach convoysMedical officials, humanitarian workers and doctors in Gaza say they have been overwhelmed by almost daily “mass casualty incidents” as they struggle to deal with those wounded by Israeli fire on Palestinians seeking aid.Doctors said many of the casualties they are treating describe being shot as they try to reach distribution sites run by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), a secretive US- and Israel-backed organisation that began handing out food in late May. Continue reading...

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3 d. ago Gaza health system overwhelmed by casualties at aid distributions, says Red Cross – Israel

The ICRC said ‘the scale and frequency of these incidents are without precedent’The IDF has issued a new evacuation order for the Khan Younis area in Gaza, instructing Palestinian who live there to head west as the no-go zone expands.Col Avichay Adraee, the military’s Arabic-language spokesperson, wrote on X: “Due to terror activities in the area, the IDF with its maneuvering troops and intensive firepower is expanding actions in your area.”Physiotherapists support nurses, cleaning and dressing wounds and taking vitals. Cleaners now serve as orderlies, carrying stretchers wherever they are needed. Midwives have stepped into palliative care. Continue reading...

Politics

4 d. ago Indirect talks over Gaza ceasefire continue as Netanyahu arrives in Washington

Israeli minister says meeting with Trump will focus on ‘a new Middle East’ with 60-day pause discussed in DohaMiddle East crisis – live updatesIndirect talks between Israel and Hamas over a ceasefire and hostage deal in Gaza continued for a second day on Monday, hours before a meeting in Washington between Benjamin Netanyahu and Donald Trump.Avi Dichter, an Israeli minister and member of Netanyahu’s security cabinet, said he expected Trump’s meeting with the Israeli prime minister would go beyond Gaza to include the possibility of normalising ties with Lebanon, Syria and Saudi Arabia – an ambitious project that is central to the US president’s policy in the Middle East. Continue reading...

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4 d. ago How the horror unfolded: A timeline of events 20 years on from the deadly 7/7 London bombings that killed 52

It has been 20 years since the horrific July 7 bombings in London that killed 52 people and injured nearly 800.

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1 week ago Fed chair Jerome Powell blames Trump tariffs for failure to cut US interest rates this year – business live

Rolling coverage of the latest economic and financial newsUS dollar has worst first half in more than 50 years amid Trump tariffsSainsbury’s has recorded its strongest growth since last summer after its Argos chain recorded a big step up in sales as shoppers sought out paddling pools and fans during recent hot weather.The retail group said Argos, its catalogue shop, was able to achieve growth of 4.4% in the three months to 21 June, up from 1.9% in the previous quarter. Comparable group sales, excluding fuel, rose 4.7% on a year earlier.Companies have now expanded production slightly for the fourth month in a row, order intake has ceased to fall, and slightly longer delivery times also indicate that demand is picking up a bit.Against the backdrop of numerous uncertainties - US tariffs, the crisis in the Middle East, and Russia’s ongoing war against Ukraine - this can certainly be seen as a sign of resilience. Continue reading...

Politics

1 week ago Israel launches waves of Gaza airstrikes after new displacement orders

Scores of Palestinians reported killed as senior Netanyahu adviser due to arrive in Washington for ceasefire talks Middle East crisis – live updatesIsrael ramped up its offensive in Gaza on Monday, with new displacement orders sending tens of thousands of people fleeing the north of the devastated territory and waves of airstrikes killing about 60 Palestinians, according to local officials and medical staff.The violence in Gaza came as a senior adviser to Benjamin Netanyahu, Israel’s prime minister, was due to arrive in Washington for talks on a new ceasefire, a day after Donald Trump called in a social media post for a deal to end the 20-month war and free 50 hostages held by Hamas. Continue reading...

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1 week ago 22 Palestinians killed in Gaza as Israeli forces fire on crowds at food aid sites, medics say

Witnesses and medics in Gaza say Israeli forces have killed at least 22 people and wounded 20 others when they fired on crowds returning from a food aid site

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1 week ago Trump says he is ‘not offering Iran anything’ as country says US must rule out airstrikes before talks resume – Middle East crisis live

Iranian deputy foreign minister says it has been told US wants to talk but president says he is not speaking to them and repeats claim that its nuclear facilities have been ‘obliterated’France, Germany and the UK have condemned “threats” against the head of the UN nuclear watchdog, Rafael Grossi, after Iran rejected its request to visit nuclear facilities bombed by Israel and the US.Tehran has accused Grossi, head of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), of “betrayal of his duties” for not condemning the attacks on Iran’s nuclear sites, and Iranian lawmakers this week voted to suspend cooperation with the agency.France, Germany and the United Kingdom condemn threats against the director general of the IAEA Rafael Grossi and reiterate our full support to the agency.We call on Iranian authorities to refrain from any steps to cease cooperation with the IAEA. Continue reading...

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1 week ago Iran says it has ‘serious doubts’ over Israel’s commitment to ceasefire – Middle East crisis live

Iran’s armed forces chief of staff says it is ‘ready to respond with force’ if attacked again; Iran says airstrikes on Evin prison killed at least 71 Gaza’s civil defence agency said Israeli attacks have killed at least 14 people, including three children, so far on Sunday.Civil defence spokesperson Mahmud Bassal told the Agence France-Presse (AFP) news agency that 13 people were killed in airstrikes at four locations around the Gaza Strip, and another from Israeli gunfire near an aid distribution centre. Continue reading...

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1 week ago Donald Trump reiterates calls for ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas – Middle East crisis live

US president says online ‘make the deal in Gaza’ and ‘get the hostages back’ as he says he believes a ceasefire can be reached within a weekDuring the 12-day war, Israeli airstrikes killed at least 627 civilians and injured nearly 4,900 others in Iran, according to official figures.The war on Iran – cast as a preemptive attack for self-defence – was launched by Israel and later joined in by the US. Continue reading...

Politics

1 week ago Keir Starmer admits he was distracted by Middle East crisis and NATO summit as he vows to 'carry the can' for Labour's embarrassing welfare U

The Prime Minister spent much of the past fortnight out of the country to attend a meeting of G7 leaders in Canada , and then a NATO gathering in The Hague.

Politics

1 week ago Israeli strikes kill dozens in Gaza as Qatar calls for peace talks – Middle East crisis live

At least 49 people were killed across Gaza by Israeli strikes, health staff sayEmirates extended its cancellation of flights to and from Iran’s capital Tehran until July 5 due to the “regional situation“, it said in a statement on Saturday, Reuters reports.The Dubai-based airline said it will recommence operations to Baghdad on 1 July and Basra on 2 July. Continue reading...

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1 week ago Qatar sees ‘window of opportunity’ for Gaza truce as dozens reported killed by Israel – Middle East crisis live

At least 34 people were killed across Gaza by Israeli strikes, health staff sayIran’s foreign minister Abbas Araghchi said on Saturday that Iranians had given their “blood” during a 12-day war with Israel but “not honour”, AFP reports.“Iranians gave blood, not land; gave their loved ones, not honour; they withstood a thousand-ton rain of bombs, but did not surrender,” Abbas Araghchi said on his Instagram account, adding that Iran does not recognise the word “surrender”. Continue reading...

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1 week ago Trump says he would ‘absolutely’ consider bombing Iran again – Middle East crisis live

US president tells White House briefing he would ‘without question’ attack the country if Tehran is enriching uranium to concerning levelsWe have more on the state funeral being held in Tehran for around 60 people, including its military commanders and nuclear scientists.The proceedings started at 8.00am local time (04.30 GMT) in the capital as government offices and many businesses were closed on Saturday for the occasion, AFP reports. Continue reading...

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1 week ago ‘American death zones’: Trump admin announces $30m for Gaza aid program where dozens have been killed trying to get food

Testimony collected by The Independent from Palestinians whose family members have been killed at sites run by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation paints a picture of chaos and death

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1 week ago The Guardian view on annihilation in Gaza: the deaths mount, but the pressure has ebbed | Editorial

Israel’s attack on Iran overshadowed the ongoing carnage. Its allies are complicit in the horror; they must instead help to build a future for Palestinians“We cannot be asking civilians to go into a combat zone so that then they can be killed with the justification that they are in a combat zone.” It defies belief that the Unicef spokesperson, James Elder, should have needed to spell that out this week. And yet each day Palestinians continue to be killed while attempting to collect aid for their families from food hubs in Gaza, forced to make a lethal choice between risking being shot and letting their families slowly starve. More than 500 have died around the centres since the system was introduced – yet, with attention fixed on Israel’s attacks on Iran, there has been little to spare for recent deaths.The Israeli military has given shifting accounts of events. But soldiers told the newspaper Haaretz that commanders ordered troops to shoot at crowds that posed no threat. The Israel...

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2 w. ago Iran delivered ‘heavy slap to US’s face’, says Khamenei as he threatens further attacks on American bases – Middle East crisis live

In his first comments since the ceasefire, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said the US ‘gained no achievement’ when it joined the war with Israel against TehranIsrael’s national security minister called for a “complete halt” of humanitarian aid to Gaza on Thursday, claiming that Hamas is taking control of the supplied goods and food.Itamar Ben-Gvir says that he will “demand” Benjamin Netanyahu put a new vote to the country’s cabinet on the issue of the introduction of aid to Gaza.The humanitarian aid currently entering Gaza is an absolute disgrace. What is needed in Gaza is not a temporary halt to the “humanitarian” aid, but a complete halt to it.When I warned and warned, and unfortunately the only one who voted a month and a half ago against the introduction of the aid, it was clear to me that it would give oxygen to Hamas.With all due respect and gratitude to the president of the United States, he’s not supposed to intervene in a legal process of an independent state.I hope and suppose tha...

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