Headline

Israel, Hamas Trade Blame After Strikes Kill 13 In Gaza

Published

1 month ago

October 19, 2025

Gaza’s nine-day-old ceasefire came under strain Sunday after the Israeli army said it launched air strikes in response to attacks it claimed were carried out by Hamas militants against its forces.

Hamas, however, maintained it was adhering to the truce, with one official accusing Israel of devising “pretexts” to resume its own attacks.

Later on Sunday, the military said in an online briefing that it launched strikes after attacks in Rafah, southern Gaza, and in the northern town of Beit Lahia, warning, “There is a possibility of more strikes.”

Gaza’s civil defence agency, which operates under Hamas authority, said at least 13 people had been killed across the territory. The Israeli military said it was looking into the reports of casualties.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu earlier instructed security forces to take “strong action against terrorist targets in the Gaza Strip,” his office said in a statement, accusing Hamas of “a ceasefire violation.”

The Defence Minister, Israel Katz, then warned that the group would “pay a heavy price for every shot and every breach of the ceasefire,” adding Israel’s response would “become increasingly severe.”

The uneasy truce in the Palestinian territory, brokered by US President Donald Trump and taking effect on 10 October, brought to a halt more than two years of devastating war between Israel and Hamas.

The deal established the outline for hostage and prisoner exchanges and was proposed alongside an ambitious roadmap for Gaza’s future, but it has immediately faced challenges in implementation.

“Earlier today, terrorists fired anti-tank missiles and opened fire on IDF (army) forces” in Rafah, the military said in a statement.

“The IDF responded with air strikes by fighter jets and artillery fire, targeting the Rafah area,” the statement said.

Palestinian witnesses told AFP clashes erupted in the southern city of Rafah in an area still held by Israel.

One witness, a 38-year-old man who asked not to be identified by name, said that Hamas had been fighting a local Palestinian gang known as Abu Shabab, but the militants were “surprised by the presence of army tanks”.

“The air force conducted two strikes from the air,” he said.

‘Security illusion’

National security minister and right-wing firebrand Itamar Ben Gvir urged the army to “fully resume fighting in the Strip with all force.”

A statement from Izzat Al-Rishq, a member of Hamas’s political bureau, reaffirmed the group’s commitment to the ceasefire and said Israel “continues to breach the agreement and fabricate flimsy pretexts to justify its crimes.”

Hamas’s armed wing insisted on Sunday that the group was adhering to the ceasefire agreement with Israel and had “no knowledge” of any clashes in Rafah.

Under Trump’s 20-point plan, Israeli forces have withdrawn beyond the so-called Yellow Line, leaving them in control of around half of Gaza, including the territory’s borders but not its main cities.

Hamas, in turn, has released 20 surviving hostages and is in the process of returning the remaining bodies of those who have died.

The war, triggered by Hamas’s October 7, 2023, attack on Israel, has killed at least 68,159 people in Gaza, according to the health ministry in the Hamas-run territory, figures the United Nations considers credible.

The data does not distinguish between civilians and combatants but indicates that more than half of the dead are women and children.

Hamas’s 2023 attack on Israel resulted in the deaths of 1,221 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official Israeli figures.

Rafah crossing closed

On Sunday, Israel identified the latest two bodies returned overnight as Ronen Engel and Thai farmworker Sonthaya Oakkharasri.

Engel, a resident of Nir Oz kibbutz, was abducted from his home aged 54 and killed during the October 7 attacks, with his body taken to Gaza.

He was a photojournalist and volunteer ambulance driver for Magen David Adom, the Israeli equivalent of the Red Cross, in the southern Negev region.

A farmworker at the Beeri kibbutz, Oakkharasri, was also killed in the attack on Israel. He had a seven-year-old daughter.

Israel returned the bodies of 15 Palestinians to Gaza on Sunday, bringing the total number handed over to 150, the health ministry in the Hamas-run territory said.

The issue of hostage bodies still in Gaza has become a sticking point in the ceasefire implementation, with Israel linking the reopening of the main gateway into the territory to the recovery of all of the deceased.

Relief agencies have called for the Rafah crossing from Egypt to be reopened to speed the flow of food, fuel and medicines.

Hamas has so far resisted disarming and, since the pause in fighting, has moved to reassert its control over Gaza.

The group has said it needs time and technical assistance to recover the remaining bodies from under Gaza’s rubble.

Netanyahu’s office said reopening Rafah would “be considered based on how Hamas fulfils its part in returning the hostages and the bodies of the deceased, and in implementing the agreed-upon framework,” it said.

Hamas warned late Saturday that the closure of the crossing would cause “significant delays in the retrieval and transfer of remains.”

AFP

Headline

US: Four Killed, 10 Others Wounded In California Shooting

Published

11 hours ago

November 30, 2025

Editor

Four people were confirmed dead and 10 others injured after a shooting at a family gathering in California, United States on Saturday night, according to US police, who described the attack as a “targeted incident.”

The incident occurred inside a banquet hall in Stockton, northeast of San Francisco, shortly before 6:00 pm, spokesperson for the San Joaquin County Sheriff’s Office, Heather Brent, told reporters during a news briefing.

Brent said the victims, ranging from “juveniles to adults,” were rushed to nearby hospitals, noting that details about the shooting remained limited.

“What we have confirmed at this time is that there was a banquet hall where a family was celebrating. We have 14 victims of this shooting. Four of those are deceased,” Brent said.

“Early indications suggest that this may be a targeted incident. Investigators are exploring all possibilities at this time.”

The sheriff’s office posted on social media that detectives were “working to determine the circumstances leading up to this tragedy.”

“We are urging anyone with information, video footage, or who may have witnessed any part of this incident to contact the San Joaquin County Sheriff’s Office immediately,” the post added.

Authorities said no suspect had been identified at the time of the report.

California Governor Gavin Newsom was briefed on the development, his office said in a social media statement.

Data from the Gun Violence Archive shows there have been 504 mass shootings in the United States so far this year, including the Stockton attack.

(AFP)

Headline

FULL LIST: US To Review Green Cards From 19 ‘Countries Of Concern’ After Washington Shooting

Published

2 days ago

November 29, 2025

Editor

The Trump administration announced on Thursday that it will review the immigration status of all permanent residents, or “Green Card” holders, from Afghanistan and 18 other countries following the attack on National Guard troops in Washington, D.C.

U.S. officials identified the suspect in Wednesday’s shooting as a 29-year-old Afghan national who previously worked alongside American forces in Afghanistan.

The individual was granted asylum earlier this year, not permanent residency, according to AfghanEvac, an organisation that assists Afghans resettled in the United States after the Taliban takeover in 2021.

“I have directed a full-scale, rigorous reexamination of every Green Card for every alien from every country of concern,” said Joseph Edlow, director of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), on X.

The review follows a June executive order from President Trump classifying 19 countries as “of Identified Concern.”

The order banned entry for nearly all nationals from 12 countries, including Afghanistan. The full list of these countries is:

Afghanistan

Myanmar

Chad

Congo-Brazzaville

Equatorial Guinea

Eritrea

Haiti

Iran

Libya

Somalia

Sudan

Yemen

A partial travel ban applies to seven additional countries, though some temporary work visas remain allowed: Burundi, Cuba, Laos, Sierra Leone, Togo, Turkmenistan, and Venezuela.

Headline

Romanian Defence Minister Quits After Admitting Error In Academic Record

Published

2 days ago

November 29, 2025

Editor

Romania’s defence minister resigned on Friday after saying he made a “mistake” on his CV about his university education, as controversy swirled over alleged lies on his resume.

Ionut Mosteanu – who has admitted to writing on his CV that he graduated from a university he never attended – said he did not want the row “to distract” the NATO member at a time when it and Europe are “under attack from Russia”.

Romania has repeatedly seen drone fragments fall on its soil since Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022, and reported a number of drone incursions.

On Tuesday, a drone crashed in eastern Romania, which borders Ukraine.

Romania has also accused Moscow of “hybrid attacks”, including meddling in presidential elections last year that were subsequently annulled.

“Today, I resigned from my position as minister of national defence,” Mosteanu said in a Facebook post, adding he wanted the country to be focused on its “difficult mission”.

“Romania and Europe are under attack from Russia. Our national security must be defended at all costs,” he added.

Mosteanu had come under pressure after a media investigation published on Thursday revealed that he wrote in a CV that he graduated from a university which he did not actually attend.

That same day he apologised for what he called “a mistake”.

“In a CV I quickly put together in 2016 using a template I found online, there is a mistake that I admit embarrasses me. I didn’t pay much attention to these details at the time,” he said on Facebook.

Mosteanu was appointed defence minister in June of this year, when a new pro-European government was formed after months of political turmoil.

Prime Minister Ilie Bolojan said in a press release that he would propose economy and tourism minister Radu Miruta take over the defence portfolio in the interim.

AFP