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Gaza’s civil defence agency said Israeli forces killed at least 72 people on Thursday, including 21 who had gathered near aid distribution sites as famine looms after more than 20 months of war.Civil defence spokesman Mahmud Bassal told AFP that six people were killed while waiting for aid in the southern Gaza Strip and 15 others in a central area known as the Netzarim corridor, where thousands of Palestinians have gathered daily in the hope of receiving food rations.The Israeli army told AFP that its troops in Netzarim corridor — a strip of land militarised by Israel that bisects the Palestinian territory — had fired “warning shots” at “suspects” approaching them, but that it was “not aware of any injured individuals”.The army did not comment on the incident reported in the south.In northern Gaza, Bassal said that nine separate Israeli strikes killed another 51 people, updating earlier tolls provided by his agency.Bassam Abu Shaar, who witnessed the shooting incident in the Netzarim area, said thousands of people had gathered there overnight in the hope of receiving aid at the US- and Israeli-backed distribution site when it opened in the morning.”Around 1:00 am (2200 GMT Wednesday), they started shooting at us,” he told AFP by phone, reporting gunfire, tank shelling and bombs dropped by drones.Abu Shaar said that the size of the crowd had made it impossible for people to escape, with casualties left lying on the ground within walking distance of the distribution point, which is run by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation.”We couldn’t help them or even escape ourselves,” he said.At least 300 Palestinians have been killed in recent weeks while trying to reach aid distribution points in Gaza, which is suffering from famine-like conditions, the Hamas-run territory’s health ministry has said.Israeli restrictions on media in the Gaza Strip and difficulties in accessing some areas mean AFP is unable to independently verify the tolls and details provided by rescuers and authorities in the Palestinian territory.In early March, Israel imposed an aid blockade on Gaza amid a deadlock in truce negotiations, only partially easing restrictions in late May.After Israel loosened its blockade, the privately run Gaza Humanitarian Foundation began distributing aid, but its operations have been marred by chaotic scenes.UN agencies and major aid groups have refused to cooperate with the foundation — which has the support of Israel and its ally the United States — over concerns it was designed to cater to Israeli military objectives.

A French court is set to deliver a long-awaited ruling in July on the release of pro-Palestinian Lebanese militant Georges Ibrahim Abdallah, who has been imprisoned for 40 years for the 1982 killings of two foreign diplomats.The Paris appeals court, initially set to deliver its verdict in February before postponing, will now announce its decision on July 17 after re-examining the request on Thursday.”I told the judges, either you release him or you sentence him to death,” his lawyer Jean-Louis Chalanset told the media after the closed-door hearing.Abdallah, 74, was sentenced to life in prison for his involvement in the murders of US military attache Charles Robert Ray and Israeli diplomat Yacov Barsimantov.He has been eligible for release for 25 years, but has seen multiple requests for his freedom denied.The United States, a civil party to the case, has consistently opposed his release but Lebanese authorities have repeatedly said he should be freed from jail.In November 2024, a French court ordered his release conditional on Abdallah leaving France.But France’s anti-terror prosecutors, arguing that he had not changed his political views, appealed the decision which was consequently suspended.Abdallah has always insisted he is a “fighter” who battled for the rights of Palestinians and not a “criminal”. The appeals court said in February the decision to postpone was prompted by the unresolved question of whether Abdallah had proof that he had paid compensation to the plaintiffs, something he has consistently refused to do.His lawyer said on Thursday he presented documents showing some 16,000 euros ($18,360) in Abdallah’s prison account “at the disposal of civil parties”.First detained in 1984 and convicted in 1987 over the murders, the 74-year-old is one of the longest serving prisoners in France — most convicts serving life sentences are freed after less than 30 years. 

Israel’s defence minister said Thursday that Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei “can no longer be allowed to exist”, just days after reports that Washington vetoed Israeli plans to assassinate him.The comments from Defence Minister Israel Katz came after the Soroka Hospital in the southern city of Beersheba reported 40 people injured following a fresh salvo of Iranian missiles.”Khamenei openly declares that he wants Israel destroyed — he personally gives the order to fire on hospitals,” Katz told journalists in the city of Holon near Tel Aviv.”Such a man can no longer be allowed to exist.”When asked about Khamenei on a visit to Beersheba on Thursday, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said: “I have made it clear that no one is immune.But he added: “In war, I believe one must choose words carefully and execute actions with precision.”A senior US official told AFP on Sunday that President Donald Trump had “found out that the Israelis had plans to hit Iran’s supreme leader”.”President Trump was against it and we told the Israelis not to,” said the US official, speaking on condition of anonymity.Netanyahu has neither confirmed nor denied the claim.In a television interview on Monday, he did not rule it out, saying that killing the 86-year-old cleric who has ruled Iran since 1989 would “end the conflict” between the two countries. Trump wrote on Tuesday that the United States knew Khamenei’s location but would not kill him “for now”.Israel launched strikes on Iran last Friday in what it said was an 11th-hour move to prevent it from acquiring nuclear weapons.It has since hit hundreds of targets, including military commanders, top nuclear scientists and military and nuclear facilities.- ‘Regime change’ -The movements of the supreme leader, who has not left Iran since he took power, are subject to the tightest security and secrecy.Netanyahu has not said publicly that Israel is trying to topple him, only that regime change could be a result of its military action. Iranians “understand that the regime is much weaker than they thought — they realise it, and that could lead to results,” he told a press conference on Monday. French President Emmanuel Macron has said that any attempt at forcing change through military action would result in “chaos”, while both China and Russia have demanded that Israel cease fire.Iran denies seeking to develop a nuclear weapon and reports citing US intelligence officials this week have cast doubt on Israeli claims that it has accelerated efforts to produce one.Iran has been enriching uranium to 60 percent — far above the 3.67-percent limit set in a 2015 nuclear deal, which Trump abandoned, but still short of the 90-percent threshold needed for a nuclear warhead.Israel has maintained ambiguity on its own nuclear arsenal, but the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute says it has 90 nuclear warheads.

Israel increasingly appears eager to oust the clerical leadership that has ruled Iran since the 1979 Islamic revolution but is taking a gamble given the Iranian opposition is divided and there is no guarantee new rulers would be any less hardline, analysts say.By striking targets other than nuclear or ballistic facilities, such as Iran’s IRIB broadcaster, expectations have grown that Israel has goals beyond degrading Iranian atomic and missile capabilities and eyes removing supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.But while President Donald Trump has warned “we know” where Khamenei “is hiding”, what would follow his removal after over three-and-a-half decades in power is shrouded in uncertainty and risk.European leaders are haunted by the aftermath of the US-led invasion of Iraq in 2003 and the NATO-led intervention in Libya in 2011.They resulted in the removal of dictators Saddam Hussein and Moamer Kadhafi but also in years of bloody mayhem in both countries.”The biggest mistake today is to seek regime change in Iran through military means because that would lead to chaos,” French President Emmanuel Macron said at the end of the G7 summit in Canada.”Does anyone think that what was done in Iraq in 2003… or what was done in Libya the previous decade was a good idea? No!” Macron said.Analysts say ousting Khamenei and his fellow clerical leaders risks creating a vacuum that could be filled by hardline elements in the Revolutionary Guards (IRGC) ideological force or the Iranian military.”Israel’s strikes seem more focused on regime change than non-proliferation,” said Nicole Grajewski, fellow at the Carnegie Endowment.”Of course Israel is targeting ballistic missile and military related facilities but they are also targeting leadership and symbols of the regime like the IRIB,” she told AFP.”If the regime were to fall, the hope would be for a liberal and democratic government.”However, there is a strong likelihood that other powerful entities like the IRGC could emerge as the replacement,” she said.- ‘No organised alternative’ -Among the highest-profile opposition figures is the US-based Reza Pahlavi, the son of ousted shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi.He has declared that the Islamic republic is “on the verge of collapse”, accusing Khamenei of “hiding underground” like a “frightened rat”.Pahlavi has long called for the restoration of the warm relationship that existed between his late father and Israel, to reverse the Islamic republic’s refusal to recognise the existence of Israel. Monarchists would like such a rapprochement to be termed the “Cyrus Accords” after the ancient Persian king credited with freeing the Jews from Babylon.But Pahlavi is far from enjoying universal support inside Iran or among exiles.The nationalism of supporters and his ties with Israel are divisive, especially after he refused to condemn the Israeli air strikes on Iran. Another major organised group is the People’s Mujahedin (MEK), whose leader Maryam Rajavi told the European Parliament on Wednesday: “The people of Iran want the overthrow of this regime.”But the MEK is despised by other opposition factions and regarded with suspicion by some Iranians for its support of Saddam Hussein in the Iran-Iraq war.”Part of the challenge in thinking about alternatives to the Islamic Republic in case it collapses is that there is no organised, democratic alternative,” said Thomas Juneau, professor at the University of Ottawa.He said that while Reza Pahlavi is the opposition leader “who has by far the most name recognition both in and out of Iran”, his supporters “tend to exaggerate his support inside the country”.”The only alternative — and this is among the worrying scenarios — is a coup d’etat by the Revolutionary Guards or changing from a theocracy to a military dictatorship.”- ‘Unpredictable scenario’ -Analysts also warn that a potential — and often overlooked — factor for future instability could be Iran’s complex ethnic make-up.Large Kurdish, Arab, Baluch and Turkic minorities co-exist alongside the Persian population.”There will also be an effort to capitalise on ethnic divisions by hostile countries,” said Grajewski.Analysts at the US-based think tank Soufan Center said that with the survival of the Iranian regime now viewed as a “strategic failure”, the prospect of an “Iraq 2.0″ is looming.”The post-regime-change scenario remains unpredictable and could trigger regional destabilisation on a scale greater than Iraq, with global ramifications,” they said.

Iraq’s top Shiite Muslim cleric Grand Ayatollah Ali Sistani warned against targeting Iran’s leadership and said that the Iran-Israel war could plunge the whole region into chaos.Sistani said in a statement Thursday that any targeting of Iran’s “supreme religious and political leadership” would have “dire consequences on the region”.He warned that such action against the Shiite-led Islamic republic could spark “widespread chaos that would exacerbate the suffering of its (the region’s) people and severely harm everyone’s interests”.Sistani urged the international community to “make every effort to end this unjust war and find a peaceful solution” to concerns about Iran’s nuclear programme.Sistani, an Iranian, is the highest religious authority for millions of Shiite Muslims in Iraq and around the world, with the power to mobilise a huge following in Iraq.Despite his Iranian roots, Sistani is seen as a key figure in Iraq’s recent history and has been known for pushing back against Tehran’s growing clout in the country.Israel’s Defence Minister Israel Katz said Thursday that Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei “can no longer be allowed to exist” after an Israeli hospital was hit during an Iranian missile attack.Earlier this week, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu did not rule out plans to assassinate Khamenei.US President Donald Trump had earlier said his country would not kill Khamenei “for now”, but demanded Tehran’s “unconditional surrender” and warned he was weighing military action in the conflict.Israel launched a surprise attack Friday targeting Iran’s military and nuclear sites and killing top commanders and scientists, saying it is acting to prevent Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon, an ambition Tehran denies.The assault has prompted Iran to retaliate with barrages of missiles on Israel, with residential areas in both countries suffering too.Iraq’s National Security Adviser Qassem al-Araji urged the European Union on Thursday to exert pressure on Israel to stop the war, ahead of a meeting between Iran and European powers.With warnings of all-out regional war intensifying, fears are growing over an intervention by Iran-backed Iraqi factions, mostly against American interests in the region.- ‘Destruction’ -Akram al-Kaabi, the leader of the pro-Iran group, Al-Nujaba, warned the United States against going after Khamenei.”If you harm a hair” of Khamenei’s head “you and your allies will be under our fire,” Kaabi said in a statement.”No soldier or diplomat will be spared,” Kaabi said. “Every person holding your nationality in our region, as well as all your direct or indirect interest will be a legitimate target,” he added.The powerful faction Kataeb Hezbollah said that Trump “made a mistake” when he spoke of Khamenei and warned the US president of “unprecedented calamities and destruction” if he goes into war in support of Israel.In Lebanon, Iran-backed militant group Hezbollah warned against threatening Khamenei, describing it as “an act of recklessness and foolishness” that would have “grave consequences”.It “constitutes an offence to hundreds of millions of believers”, added the group, which suffered heavy blows in its latest confrontation with Israel last year.

“The first two days were okay, people said it would just end. But then it started escalating and people really started panicking,” said Mehran Ataei of the Israeli bombardment of Tehran. Speaking to AFP at the Kapikoy crossing on the Turkish border, the 58-year-old Franco-Iranian, who lives in Paris, fled Tehran on the fifth day of an escalating war with Israel.As well as the ongoing bombardments, those fleeing the capital spoke of very limited internet access, problems withdrawing money after two major banks were hacked and food shortages. Standing with her was her 27-year-old daughter Lida Pourmomen. “It was really stressful because we didn’t leave together and Tuesday night was the worst night Tehran had experienced so far,” explained Pourmomen, taking up the story. “After my mum left, it felt like the sky was being torn open. I thought I might never see her again,” she said, describing chaotic scenes of explosions, smoke and the terror of not knowing if the ear-splitting sounds were air defence systems or incoming missiles.The pair had been due to fly back to Paris on Saturday but with all flights cancelled, they were stranded, repeatedly calling the French embassy for help. They eventually got through on Monday but were advised “to stay in Tehran” — advice which they ignored, although an official email advising French citizens to leave was eventually sent out Tuesday. “But there’s barely any internet access — there’s a window of two or three hours when you have access, so it’s likely most people didn’t receive the email telling them to leave,” Pourmomen said. “If we hadn’t decided on our own to leave Tehran, I don’t know what would have happened,” said her mother as they braced for the next leg of their journey — a 25-hour bus trip to Istanbul then a flight home. – ‘It became very bad’ -At the crossing, an AFP correspondent counted several dozen people arriving on Thursday morning, with a Turkish defence ministry saying there was “no increase” in numbers despite the escalating violence.”In the early days, it was just a few bombs but later it became very bad,” said a 50-year-old Iranian pharmacist living in Melbourne who did not want to give her name.She arrived in Tehran on the day the bombing started to visit her mother in intensive care, eventually fleeing the city for the Turkish border five days later. “People are really panicking. Yesterday the internet stopped and two major banks were hacked so people couldn’t access their money. And there’s not even enough food,” she told AFP. People were moving to the north where it was “a little bit better but it’s not safe really,” she said.”We had war before, but this one is terrible because you can’t predict it and it’s very brutal.”Although observers believe only the Iranian people can bring about change, the pharmacist admitted she was not optimistic. “They expect people to change the regime, but they can’t. They are very panicked and scared and the regime is very brutal,” she told AFP. And it seemed unlikely that the US would step in, despite the belligerent rhetoric from President Donald Trump. “We know (Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali) Khamenei is the source of the problem but Trump says ‘I don’t want to kill him’. If you really wanted to end the war, why say that?” she said.”Trump just pretends he wants to stop the war. This dictatorship regime is supported by the USA.”Another Iranian called Ismail Rabie, a retired 69-year-old who was trying to get back to his home in London, said the situation in Iran would not change unless Western powers really wanted it.”It all depends on America or Europe: if they want change, it will change, if they don’t, it won’t,” he said before heading off to Istanbul.

Gaza’s civil defence agency said Israeli fire killed at least 25 people on Thursday, including 15 who had gathered near an aid distribution site.Civil defence official Mohammad al-Mughayyir told AFP that 15 people were killed and 60 wounded, while waiting for aid in central Gaza’s Netzarim corridor, where thousands of people have gathered daily in the hope of receiving rations.The Israeli army told AFP it was “looking into” the reports.Witness Bassam Abu Shaar said thousands of people had gathered overnight in the hope of receiving aid at the US- and Israeli-backed distribution site when it opened in the morning.”Around 1:00 am (2200 GMT Wednesday), they started shooting at us. The gunfire intensified from tanks, aircraft and quadcopter bombs,” he told AFP by phone.He said the size of the crowd had made it impossible for people to escape the Israeli fire near Shuhada Junction, and dead and wounded were left lying on the ground within walking distance of the distribution point run by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation. “We couldn’t help them or even escape ourselves,” he said.Mughayyir said the casualties had been taken to the Al-Awda and Al-Aqsa hospitals, in north and central Gaza respectively.Dozens of Palestinians have been killed in recent weeks while trying to reach aid distribution points in Gaza, which is suffering from famine-like conditions, according to UN agencies operating in the territory.Israeli restrictions on media in the Gaza Strip and difficulties in accessing some areas mean AFP is unable to independently verify the tolls and details provided by the civil defence agency.In early March, Israel imposed an aid blockade on the territory amid a deadlock in truce negotiations, only partially easing restrictions in late May.After Israel loosened its blockade, the privately run Gaza Humanitarian Foundation began distributing aid, but its operations have been marred by chaotic scenes.UN agencies and major aid groups have refused to cooperate with the foundation over concerns it was designed to cater to Israeli military objectives.Elsewhere in Gaza, another 10 people were killed by Israeli fire on Thursday, the civil defence agency said.Three were killed by Israeli shelling of a residential building in Gaza City, while seven were killed in a strike on Al-Shati refugee camp to its west.