23 h. ago My cousin Ziyad loved his family, Gaza’s candies and life. A bomb ended all that on Friday night | Ghada Ageel

When Israeli strikes killed 45 members of my family, Ziyad rushed to try to save them – this time, he was the victim. I write of him to defy the darknessMy cousin Ziyad was too young to die. He was sleeping at home in Khan Younis refugee camp when the bombs fell just before midnight on Friday. After they heard the explosion, my cousins Mohammed and Moatsem ran to save him, they told me, but he had already died in his bed. He was 44.Ziyad was a social worker for Unrwa, working with vulnerable families in Gaza’s refugee camps. Every summer when I visited Gaza from my home in Canada, he would buy my little son candies from Asa’ad’s shop – now gone with Asa’ad (who was killed in October 2023) – insisting that Gaza’s candies were the best in the world. Everyone in Khan Younis knew him for his calm presence, gentle spirit and warm smile. He was always ready to help – the words “no” or “I can’t” were never part of his vocabulary. The night before he was killed, he visited the wounded and s...

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23 h. ago Dozens of my family have been killed by Israel in Gaza, and now Ziyad, too. Only one thing gives me solace | Ghada Ageel

My cousin smiled at everyone, bought my son candies, rushed to help when the bombs fell. All that ended on Friday nightMy cousin Ziyad was too young to die. He was sleeping at home in Khan Younis refugee camp when the bombs fell just before midnight on Friday. After they heard the explosion, my cousins Mohammed and Moatsem ran to save him, they told me, but he had already died in his bed. He was 44.Ziyad was a social worker for Unrwa, working with vulnerable families in Gaza’s refugee camps. Every summer when I visited Gaza from my home in Canada, he would buy my little son candies from Asa’ad’s shop – now gone with Asa’ad (who was killed in October 2023) – insisting that Gaza’s candies were the best in the world. Everyone in Khan Younis knew him for his calm presence, gentle spirit and warm smile. He was always ready to help – the words “no” or “I can’t” were never part of his vocabulary. The night before he was killed, he visited the wounded and sick, including my uncle, Kamal. Co...

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38 h. ago Eleven killed in Gaza school shelter as Israel continues bombing campaign

Wave of airstrikes claim at least 25 lives while Arab negotiators make new ceasefire proposalAt least 25 people have been killed in Israeli airstrikes across Gaza, including 11 in the bombing of a school turned shelter, the strip’s civil defence agency said, as Israel’s war against Hamas in the besieged Palestinian territory grinds on despite a new ceasefire proposal from Arab mediators.Intense Israeli bombings hit several areas of Gaza on Wednesday, killing 11 in a school sheltering displaced people in al-Tuffah, a neighbourhood of Gaza City. The strike ignited a huge fire that claimed most of the casualties, said a civil defence spokesperson, Mahmoud Bassal. Continue reading...

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38 h. ago Children in school shelter among 25 killed in wave of Israeli strikes on Gaza

Israel launches wave of airstrikes as Arab negotiators make new ceasefire proposalAt least 25 people have been killed in Israeli airstrikes across Gaza, including 11 in the bombing of a school turned shelter, the strip’s civil defence agency said, as Israel’s war against Hamas in the besieged Palestinian territory grinds on despite a new ceasefire proposal from Arab mediators.Intense Israeli bombings hit several areas of Gaza on Wednesday, killing 11 in a school sheltering displaced people in al-Tuffah, a neighbourhood of Gaza City. The strike ignited a huge fire that claimed most of the casualties, said a civil defence spokesperson, Mahmoud Bassal. Continue reading...

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3 d. ago Humanitarian agencies reject Israel’s claim Gaza medic killings caused by ‘professional failures’

Army announces results of its investigation, saying it had found ‘professional failures’

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3 d. ago Gaza rescue service dismisses Israeli probe into killing of medics as a 'fabricated investigation'

The main Palestinian rescue service in Gaza has condemned Israel’s probe into the killings of 15 medical workers last month, calling it a “fabricated investigation.”

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4 d. ago ‘My work is a scream for help’: Gaza’s artists document life under fire

Work illustrating the war’s brutality but also the resilience of four Palestinian artists, is being exhibited at the Darat al Funan in JordanBasel El Maqousi says he is amazed to be alive at the end of each day. Living in Gaza, where more than 64,000 Palestinians have been killed by Israel’s assault, and with the tally rising still, his amazement returns, he says, with each morning light.“The war began and life stopped. There is no work or art, we just try to run from one place to another, searching for salvation from the bombing and killing that pursues us. We walk quickly to search for water and food, and running has become the master of all times,” he says. Continue reading...

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4 d. ago Israel sacks deputy commander after it admits 'professional failures' over the killings of 15 Gaza aid workers by IDF troops

An Israeli investigation into the killings of 15 Palestinian medics last month in Gaza by Israeli forces said Sunday it found a chain of 'professional failures'

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4 d. ago Israeli military admits ‘operational misunderstanding’ after troops killed 15 Gaza medics

‘Poor night visibility’ was also blamed for the deaths of the aid workers following an investigation by Israel Defense Forces (IDF)

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9 d. ago Hamas blames Israeli strike after ‘losing contact’ with American hostage Edan Alexander

Palestinian group claims Israel is ‘deliberately trying to kill’ captive soldier

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1 week ago IDF unit involved in killing of Palestinian paramedics led by general with ‘contempt for human life’

Golani troops were under command of reservist Armoured 14th Brigade, part of division led by Brig Gen Yehuda VachThe Israel Defense Forces (IDF) unit involved in the killings of 15 Palestinian paramedics and rescue workers in the Gaza Strip last month was under the command of a brigade led by a notorious Israeli general previously accused by some of his own troops of having “contempt for human life”.The IDF has confirmed that troops from Golani, one of the army’s five infantry brigades, opened fire on two convoys of ambulances in Rafah on 23 March and dug a mass grave to cover the bodies of those killed until the corpses could be retrieved by a UN team six days later. It has disputed allegations from two witnesses who exhumed the bodies and newly released postmortem results that found several of those killed had close-range gunshot wounds to the head and chest and were discovered with their hands or legs tied. Continue reading...

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1 week ago IDF unit involved in Gaza paramedics’ killing was under command of brigade led by notorious Israeli general

Golani troops were under command of reservist Armoured 14th Brigade, part of division led by Brig Gen Yehuda VachThe Israel Defense Forces (IDF) unit involved in the killings of 15 Palestinian paramedics and rescue workers in the Gaza Strip last month was under the command of a brigade led by a notorious Israeli general previously accused by some of his own troops of having “contempt for human life”.The IDF has confirmed that troops from Golani, one of the army’s five infantry brigades, opened fire on two convoys of ambulances in Rafah on 23 March and dug a mass grave to cover the bodies of those killed until the corpses could be retrieved by a UN team six days later. It has disputed allegations from two witnesses who exhumed the bodies and newly released postmortem results that found several of those killed had close-range gunshot wounds to the head and chest and were discovered with their hands or legs tied. Continue reading...

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2 w. ago Hall of Famer Pedro Martínez says family members missing in nightclub collapse

More than 100 killed in tragedy in Dominican RepublicWorld Series champion Octavio Dotel among deadHall of Fame pitcher Pedro Martínez says that several of his family members were inside the nightclub that collapsed in the Dominican Republic this week, killing dozens.“I still have family members that are still in the [rubble] and we don’t know what happened to them,” Martínez said in a video posted to Instagram on Tuesday. Continue reading...

Society

2 w. ago Hamas calls on the UK government to remove it from list of banned terrorist groups

The Palestinian Islamist organisation, which launched deadly 7 October attacks on Israel, says it is a ‘resistance movement’ and no threat to BritainThe Palestinian Islamist group Hamas has submitted a legal filing saying that it should be removed from the UK government’s list of proscribed terrorist groups.Hamas, which carried out the 7 October 2023 attacks on southern Israel, in which more than 1,200 people, mainly civilians, were killed and a further 250 taken hostage, is arguing that it is not a terrorist group but “a Palestinian Islamic liberation and resistance movement whose goal is to liberate Palestine and confront the Zionist project”. Continue reading...

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2 w. ago Hamas calls on UK government to remove it from list of banned terrorist groups

The Palestinian Islamist organisation, which launched deadly 7 October attacks on Israel, says it is a ‘resistance movement’ and no threat to BritainThe Palestinian Islamist group Hamas has submitted a legal filing saying it should be removed from the UK government’s list of proscribed terrorist groups.Hamas, which carried out the 7 October 2023 attacks on southern Israel, in which more than 1,200 people, mainly civilians, were killed and a further 250 taken hostage, is arguing that it is not a terrorist group but “a Palestinian Islamic liberation and resistance movement whose goal is to liberate Palestine and confront the Zionist project”. Continue reading...

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2 w. ago Gaza air strike by Israel leave scores missing with at least 22 killed

Rescuers search for survivors of an Israeli strike which has left scores of Palestinians missing and a rising death toll, as the US ramps up tensions with Houthi rebels and their Iranian sponsors

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2 w. ago Gaza rescue workers say 20 people killed in Israeli strike on residential block – Middle East crisis live

Gaza’s civil defence agency says the strike resulted in ‘20 martyrs and more than 40 injured’The Gaza health ministry said on Wednesday that at least 1,482 Palestinians have been killed since Israel resumed intense strikes on the Gaza Strip on 18 March, taking the overall death toll since the start of the war to 50,846.Hamas’s October 2023 attack resulted in the deaths of 1,218 people on the Israeli side, mostly civilians, according to an Agence France-Presse (AFP) tally based on Israeli official figures. Continue reading...

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2 w. ago Gaza has become ‘a killing field’ due to Israel blocking aid, says UN secretary general – Middle East crisis live

António Guterres says ‘more than a month has passed without aid into Gaza’ as Israeli officials say there is ‘no shortage’ of aidAs calls for Lebanon’s Hezbollah to disarm gain momentum, a senior Hezbollah official told Reuters the group is ready to hold talks with the Lebanese president about its weapons if Israel withdraws from south Lebanon and stops its strikes.US-backed president Joseph Aoun, who vowed when he took office in January to establish a state monopoly on the control of arms, intends to open talks with Hezbollah over its arsenal soon, three Lebanese political sources told Reuters. Continue reading...

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2 w. ago Israel kills 15 aid workers in Gaza as Red Crescent demands international probe

The bodies of the 15 aid workers, including eight medics from PRCS, were found in a mass grave in southern Gaza after the Israeli Defence Force shot the group to death two weeks ago

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2 w. ago Gaza medic deaths just the latest in Israel’s long history of changing its story over civilian killings

After 15 Palestinian medics and civil defence workers were killed by Israeli forces late last month, Israel began a familiar pattern of denialThe Israel Defense Forces’ changing account of its killing of 15 Palestinian medics and civil defence workers is part of a long familiar pattern in high profile cases involving the killing of civilians.Often, at first, the IDF denies involvement. Sometimes – in the context of Gaza – it suggests one of Hamas’s own rockets fell short, causing the casualties. Continue reading...

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