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Cries of grief echoed across southern Gaza’s Nasser Hospital Monday as dozens came to mourn Hossam Wafi, after the father of six was killed while attempting to get supplies to feed his family.His mother, Nahla Wafi, sobbed uncontrollably over her son, who was among 31 people killed by Israeli fire while trying to reach a food distribution site the previous day, according to the Palestinian territory’s civil defence agency.”He went to get food for his daughters — and came back dead,” said Nahla Wafi who lost a son and had relatives injured on Sunday.Hossam Wafi had travelled with his brother and nephew to a newly established distribution centre in the southern city of Rafah. “They were just trying to buy (flour). But the drone came down on them,” his mother said, as she tried to comfort four of her granddaughters in the courtyard of Nasser Hospital in Khan Yunis.Israel has faced growing condemnation over the humanitarian crisis in the war-ravaged Gaza Strip, where the United Nations has warned the entire population faces the risk of famine.-‘Go there and get bombed’-The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) said that its field hospital in Rafah received 179 cases on Sunday, including 21 pronounced dead on arrival.The ICRC said that all those wounded “said they had been trying to reach an aid distribution site”, and that “the majority suffered gunshot or shrapnel wounds”.Israeli authorities and the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, a US and Israeli-backed outfit that runs the distribution centres, denied any such incident took place.The military instead said that troops fired “warning shots” at people who approached them one kilometre away from the Rafah distribution site before dawn.A witness told AFP thousands of people gathered at the area, known locally as the Al-Alam junction, between 2:00 and 4:00 am (2300 GMT and 0100 GMT) in the hopes of reaching the distribution centre.At Nasser Hospital, Hossam Wafi’s young daughters called out for their father, kissing his body wrapped in a white shroud, before it was taken away.Outside the hospital, dozens of men stood in silence before the body, praying. Some cried as the remains were taken away, one of them holding the father’s face until he was gently pulled away.His uncle, Ali Wafi, told AFP he felt angry his nephew was killed while trying to get aid.”They go there and get bombed — airstrikes, tanks, shelling — all for a piece of bread,” he said.”He went for a bite of bread, not for anything else. What was he supposed to do? He had to feed his little kids. And the result? He’s getting buried today,” he added.- Militarised aid -The deaths in Rafah were one of two deadly incidents reported by Gaza’s civil defence agency on Sunday around the GHF centres, which the UN says contravene basic humanitarian principles and appear designed to cater to Israeli military objectives.There have been several other reports of chaotic scenes and warning shots fired in connection with the distribution sites over the past week. The UN’s humanitarian agency (OCHA) published a video of one such distribution site in central Gaza’s Netzarim corridor on Thursday.A large crowd is seen gathered around four long corridors made from metal fences installed in the middle of an arid landscape, corralling men and women into files to receive flour.The distribution site and its waiting area sit on a flattened piece of land surrounded by massive mounds of soil and sand.It is manned by English-speaking security guards travelling in armoured vehicles.Palestinians exiting the distribution area carry cardboard boxes sometimes bearing a “GHF” logo, as well as wooden pallets presumably to be repurposed as fuel or structures for shelter.In the large crowd gathered outside the gated corridors, some men are seen shoving each other, and one woman complains that her food package was stolen.Hossam Wafi’s uncle Ali said he wished Gaza’s people could safely get aid. “People take the risk (to reach the distribution site), just so they can survive.”

UN chief Antonio Guterres called Monday for an independent investigation into the killing and wounding of scores of Palestinians near a US-backed aid centre in Gaza the day before.Gaza’s civil defence agency said Israeli gunfire killed at least 31 people and wounded 176 near the aid distribution site in the southern city of Rafah on Sunday, with medics at nearby hospitals also reporting a deluge of gunshot wound victims.The Israeli military denied firing at people “while they were near or within” the site.But a military source acknowledged “warning shots were fired towards several suspects” overnight about a kilometre away. “I am appalled by the reports of Palestinians killed and injured while seeking aid in Gaza yesterday. It is unacceptable that Palestinians are risking their lives for food,” Guterres said in a statement, without assigning blame for the deaths. “I call for an immediate and independent investigation into these events and for perpetrators to be held accountable.”Israel’s foreign ministry called the statement “a disgrace”, and faulted Guterres for not criticising Hamas.The Israeli government has worked with the group running the site, the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), to introduce a new mechanism for distributing aid in Gaza that has bypassed the longstanding UN-led system.The UN has declined to work with the group out of concerns about its neutrality.- ‘Bullets were chasing people’ -One 33-year-old who was present on Sunday told AFP it was “around 5 or 5:30 am, before sunrise” when the gunfire broke out at a spot known as the Al-Alam roundabout, where a crowd had gathered from the early hours of the morning to wait before heading to the GHF centre about a kilometre away.”Of course it was the Israeli army who shot live bullets,” said the witness, who declined to be named for fear of Israeli reprisals.”Thousands of people were waiting at Al-Alam roundabout… but the army fired and everyone ran away. There was fear and chaos. I saw with my own eyes martyrs and wounded in the area.”Another witness elsewhere in the crowd, 35-year-old Mohammed Abu Deqqa, said “at first, we thought they were warning shots”. “But it didn’t take long before the shooting intensified. I began to see people lying on the ground, covered in blood. That was around 5:30 am” he said. “People started running, but many couldn’t escape. The bullets were chasing people even as they tried to flee.”AFP photos taken around 5:40 am showed civilians loading bodies onto donkey carts shortly after sunrise.Gaza civil defence spokesman Mahmud Bassal said teams of rescuers arrived around 6:00 am and began assisting with the dead and wounded, though civilians and other paramedics had already taken some to Nasser hospital and a Red Cross field hospital.- ‘Warning shots were fired’ -The military on Sunday said an initial inquiry indicated its troops “did not fire at civilians while they were near or within the humanitarian aid distribution site”, and urged “media to be cautious with information published” by Hamas.But according to an Israeli military source, “warning shots were fired towards several suspects who advanced towards the troops” overnight. The incident took place “approximately one kilometre away” from the GHF distribution centre, outside of operating hours, the source said.Army spokesman Effie Defrin said Sunday that “Hamas is doing its best, its utmost, to stop us from” distributing aid, and vowed to “investigate each one of those allegations” against Israeli troops.A GHF spokesperson also accused Hamas of circulating “fake reports”, saying: “All aid was distributed today without incident.”In a video message from Nasser hospital later on Sunday morning, visiting British surgeon Victoria Rose described a scene of “absolute carnage”, saying “all the bays are full, and they’re all gunshot wounds”.The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) said that its field hospital in Rafah received 179 people, including 21 pronounced dead on arrival.The ICRC reported that all the wounded “said they had been trying to reach an aid distribution site”, adding that “the majority suffered gunshot or shrapnel wounds”.- ‘Intense force’ -GHF said that as of Monday, it had distributed more than 5.8 million meals’ worth of food from its centres.Israel has come under increasing international pressure to improve the humanitarian situation in Gaza following a more than two-month blockade on aid that was only recently eased.The UN has warned the entire population is at risk of famine, and has also reported recent incidents of aid being looted, including by armed individuals.Talks aimed at reaching a ceasefire have so far failed to produce a breakthrough.Civil defence spokesman Bassal said 14 people were killed on Monday in an Israeli strike on a house in Jabalia, in the north.Asked for comment, the army said only that “strikes were conducted toward terror targets in northern Gaza”.The Israeli military also issued an evacuation order for parts of Khan Yunis on Monday.The health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza says at least 4,201 people have been killed in the territory since Israel resumed its offensive on March 18, taking the war’s overall toll to 54,470, mostly civilians.Hamas’s 2023 attack on Israel resulted in the deaths of 1,218 people, also mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official figures.

When his conservative South Korean party bowed to show remorse for ex-president Yoon Suk Yeol’s disastrous martial law decree, Kim Moon-soo sat alone and resolute in symbolic non-apology.The moment catapulted the labour activist-turned-lawmaker to fame that he now hopes to harness to become South Korea’s next president.”He’s essentially a presidential candidate that social media gave …

S. Korea’s conservative contender Kim Moon-soo emerges from Yoon’s shadow Read More »

Israeli forces on Monday blocked an international media tour in the occupied West Bank, preventing journalists from entering the village of Oscar-winning Palestinian director Basel Adra who decried worsening Israeli violence.Adra’s film “No Other Land” chronicles the forced displacement of Palestinians by Israeli troops and settlers in Masafer Yatta, an area in the southern West Bank that Israel declared a restricted military zone in the 1980s.Journalists from AFP and other international media travelled to Tuwani at the invitation of Adra, who lives in the village, and co-director Yuval Abraham, seeking to draw attention to a spate of house demolitions and violent incidents in recent weeks.At the entrance to Tuwani, the journalists as well as a Palestinian Authority delegation were blocked by Israeli forces, who said they had a warrant to set up a one-day checkpoint.Abraham called the roadblock a “good example” of what he said was Israeli authorities’ involvement in attacks against Palestinians in Masafer Yatta.Adra said the violence was “getting worse and worse”.”Settler violence increased, the demolitions carried out by Israeli soldiers and authorities against our homes and schools and properties is increasing in very crazy and high numbers,” he told AFP.An Israeli officer who refused to give his name told AFP the force was at the entrance to Tuwani to “keep the public order”.”There were violent clashes between settlers, Jews, Arabs, journalists, and to prevent these violent clashes, we decided not to allow passage today,” the officer said.Adra said that last week, settlers had entered the nearby Palestinian hamlet of Khallet al-Dabaa, which was bulldozed by the Israeli army in early May, with the Israelis harassing the residents who remained despite the destruction.To Abraham, blocking the media tour was a “good example of the relationship between settler violence and the state”.”These police officers and soldiers that are here now to prevent the international media, not only do they not come to prevent the settler violence, often they partake in it,” the Israeli co-director told AFP.Israel has occupied the West Bank since 1967, and violence there has soared throughout the Gaza war, which broke out in October 2023.The West Bank is home to about three million Palestinians, but also some 500,000 Israelis living in settlements that are illegal under international law.Since the start of 2025, attacks by Israeli settlers have left at least 220 Palestinians injured, the UN’s humanitarian agency OCHA has said.According to the Palestinian health ministry, Israeli forces or settlers have killed at least 937 Palestinians in the West Bank since the Gaza war began.Attacks by Palestinians and clashes during military raids in the West Bank over the same period have killed 35 Israelis, including soldiers, according to official figures.Abraham said he had been trying to hold on to hope that the film’s success would bring change on the ground.”Unfortunately, the world now knows, but there is no action,” he said.

Iran said Monday it will not accept a nuclear agreement that deprives it of what it called “peaceful activities”, a reference to uranium enrichment, as it pressed the United States for guarantees it would drop sanctions.Uranium enrichment has remained a key point of contention between the foes in talks to seal a nuclear deal, ongoing since April, with Iran defending what it says is its pursuit of a civil nuclear programme but with the US side calling it a “red line”.Speaking in Cairo, where he met the UN nuclear watchdog’s chief Rafael Grossi, Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said: “If the goal is to deprive Iran of its peaceful activities, then certainly no agreement will be reached.”Araghchi insisted that Iran has “nothing to hide” on its nuclear programme.”Iran has a peaceful nuclear programme… we are prepared to provide this assurance to any party or entity,” he said.The remarks came after Grossi of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) on Monday called for more transparency from Iran following a leaked report that showed Tehran had stepped up uranium enrichment.- ‘Full explanation of activities’ -The IAEA report showed that Iran has ramped up production of uranium enriched up to 60 percent — close to the roughly 90 percent level needed for atomic weapons.”There is a need for more transparency — this is very, very clear — in Iran, and nothing will bring us to this confidence (besides) full explanations of a number of activities,” Grossi said ahead of meeting Araghchi.Grossi added that some of the report’s findings “may be uncomfortable for some, and we are… used to being criticised”.Iran has rejected the report, warning it would retaliate if European powers that have threatened to reimpose nuclear sanctions “exploit” it.”Some countries are trying to abuse this agency to pave the way for escalation with Iran. I hope that this agency does not fall into this trap,” Araghchi said of the IAEA.Iran meanwhile pushed for the United States to drop sanctions that have crippled its economy as a condition for a nuclear agreement with President Donald Trump’s administration.Araghchi said on Saturday that he had received “elements” of a US proposal for a nuclear deal following five rounds of talks mediated by Oman.- ‘With or without a deal’ -Both Araghchi and Grossi met Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, who praised the US-Iran talks and called for “de-escalation in order to prevent a slide into a full-fledged regional war”.On Monday, Iranian foreign ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei told a news conference: “We want to guarantee that the sanctions are effectively lifted.””So far, the American side has not wanted to clarify this issue,” he said.The US envoy in the nuclear talks said last month that Trump’s administration would oppose any Iranian enrichment.”An enrichment programme can never exist in the state of Iran ever again. That’s our red line. No enrichment,” Steve Witkoff told Breitbart News.Following a phone call with Witkoff the day before about the ongoing nuclear talks, Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty urged a peaceful solution and a nuclear-weapon-free Middle East, saying in Monday’s press conference that “the region is already experiencing enough problems and crises”.He warned that military confrontation would create “a state of chaos from which no one will be spared”.Iran has vowed to keep enriching uranium “with or without a deal” on its nuclear programme.The United States has sent Iran a proposal for a nuclear deal that the White House called “acceptable” and in Tehran’s “best interest” to accept, US media reported on Saturday.The New York Times, citing officials familiar with the diplomatic exchanges, said the proposal calls on Iran to stop all enrichment and suggests creating a regional grouping to produce nuclear power.Iran has held five rounds of talks with the United States in search of a new agreement to replace the deal with major powers that Trump abandoned during his first term in 2018.

A man yelling “free Palestine” used incendiary devices to torch protesters rallying in support of Israeli hostages, injuring at least eight people in the US state of Colorado on Sunday.The FBI said it was investigating the incident as a “targeted terror attack” and identified the suspect as 45-year-old Mohamed Sabry Soliman. He was booked into the county jail just before midnight on multiple felony charges, according to county records. His bond has been set at $10 million.Police in the city of Boulder said it was too early to determine a motive for the attack, which took place shortly before 1:30 pm (1930 GMT) at a demonstration outside a mall.The Anti-Defamation League, a Jewish activist group, said the “violent antisemitic attack” occurred at Sunday’s “Run for Their Lives” event, a weekly gathering of the Jewish community in solidarity with hostages seized during Hamas’s October 7, 2023, attack on Israel, sparking the war in Gaza.FBI agent Mark Michalek told reporters the attack happened at a “regularly scheduled weekly peaceful event.””Witnesses are reporting that the subject used a makeshift flamethrower and threw an incendiary into the crowd,” he said, adding that “the suspect was heard to yell: ‘Free Palestine!'”Boulder Police said that eight victims, four men and four women aged between 52 and 88, were transported to hospitals.Boulder Police Chief Steve Redfearn told reporters that “at least one victim was very seriously injured, probably safe to say critical condition.”The suspect was also injured before being taken into custody, Redfearn said.- Molotov cocktails -In one video that purportedly shows the attack, a shirtless man holding clear bottles in his hands is seen pacing as the grass in front of him burns.He can be heard screaming “End Zionists!” and “They are killers!” towards several people in red T-shirts as they tend to a person lying on the ground.Other images showed billowing black smoke.Boulder resident Alexis Cendon said he felt “very, very scared” after hearing about the attack near his workplace.Sunday’s attack occurred during the Jewish holiday of Shavuot. It comes almost two weeks after the fatal shooting of two Israeli embassy staffers outside a Jewish museum in Washington, where a 31-year-old suspect, who shouted “Free Palestine,” was arrested.Boulder Police Chief Redfearn insisted it was “way too early to speculate motive,” but FBI chief Kash Patel described the attack as “a targeted terror attack.”Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser labeled it “a hate crime.””People may have differing views about world events and the Israeli-Hamas conflict, but violence is never the answer to settling differences,” Weiser said.White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller posted on X that the suspect was a foreign national who “illegally overstayed (his) visa.”Fox News and CBS both cited US officials as saying Soliman was an Egyptian national.  The White House said President Donald Trump had been briefed on the incident.- ‘Burning the streets’ -Israel’s top diplomat Gideon Saar condemned Sunday’s “terrible antisemitic terror attack targeting Jews in Boulder.”Israeli Ambassador to the United Nations Danny Danon also voiced outrage.”Terrorism against Jews does not stop at the Gaza border — it is already burning the streets of America,” he said in a statement.US Secretary of State Marco Rubio also described the Boulder incident as a “targeted terror attack,” while Attorney General Pam Bondi termed it “a horrific anti-Semitic attack.”Lawmakers on both sides of the political aisle expressed revulsion.”Tonight, a peaceful demonstration was targeted in a vile, antisemitic act of terror,” top Senate Democrat Chuck Schumer said in a statement. “Once again, Jews are left reeling from repeated acts of violence and terror.”Several organizations also decried the violence.”This is an attack on all of us — and we will not stay silent,” the Israeli-American Council said in a statement.

The annual hajj pilgrimage, one of the five pillars of Islam, will start on Wednesday with well over one million Muslims from around the world expected to take part.All Muslims are expected to complete the hajj to Mecca — from which non-Muslims are strictly banned — at least once in their lives if they have the means to do so.Believers converge on the holy city for several days of rituals in which they retrace the Prophet Mohammed’s last pilgrimage.Here is a rundown of the ceremonies at what is usually one of the largest religious gatherings in the world:- White garments -Pilgrims must first enter a state of purity, called ihram, which requires special dress and behaviour.Men wear a seamless shroud-like white garment that emphasises unity among believers regardless of their social status or nationality.Women must wear loose dresses, also white, exposing only their faces and hands.Pilgrims are not allowed to argue, bicker or engage in sexual activity and are prohibited from wearing perfume, cutting their nails, or trimming their hair or beards.- Rituals begin -The first ritual requires walking seven times around the Kaaba, the large black cubic structure at the centre of Mecca’s Grand Mosque.Made from granite and draped in a heavily embroidered cloth featuring verses of the Koran, the Kaaba stands nearly 15 metres (50 feet) tall.Muslims, no matter where they are in the world, turn towards the Kaaba to pray. The structure is believed to have been first erected by Adam, the first man, and then rebuilt successively, including by Abraham around 4,000 years ago.Pilgrims next walk seven times between the two hills of Safa and Marwa.They then move on to Mina, around five kilometres (three miles) away, ahead of the main rite of the pilgrimage at Mount Arafat.- Mount Arafat -The climax of the hajj is the gathering on Mount Arafat, about 10 kilometres (six miles) from Mina, where it is believed the Prophet Mohammed delivered his final sermon.Pilgrims assemble on the 70-metre (230-foot) high hill and its surrounding plain for hours of prayers and Koran recitals, staying there until the evening.After sunset they head to Muzdalifah, halfway between Arafat and Mina, where they each gather dozens of pebbles so they can perform the symbolic “stoning of the devil”.- ‘Stoning of the devil’ -The last major ritual of the hajj is back at Mina, where pilgrims throw seven stones at each of three concrete walls representing Satan.The ritual is an emulation of Abraham’s stoning of the devil at the three spots where it is said Satan tried to dissuade him from obeying God’s order to sacrifice his son, Ishmael.After the first stoning, the Eid al-Adha feast of sacrifice begins.Sheep are slaughtered, in reference to the lamb that God provided for sacrifice instead of Ishmael, in a ceremony held at the same time around the world.Men then shave their heads or trim their hair while women cut a fingertip-length portion of their locks.The pilgrims can then change back into normal clothing, returning to circumambulate the Kaaba and complete their stone-throwing rituals before heading home.- Four other pillars -The hajj is the last pillar of Islam. The other four are: profession of the faith, daily prayers, alms-giving and fasting from dawn to dusk during the holy month of Ramadan.