International
The Israeli Army raids a hospital in northern Gaza with more than 100 patients
The Israeli army raided this Friday the Kamal Adwan hospital in Beit Lahia (north of Gaza), where there are more than a hundred people trapped, and asked patients to move to the central courtyard, according to the official Palestinian news agency, Wafa.
The Kamal Adwan is one of the few centers still operational in the north of the Strip, where three weeks of harsh Israeli offensive have left more than 700 dead and thousands of people displaced, according to data from the Gaza authorities.
The Qatari network Al Jazeera, which cites sources from the Gaza Civil Defense, assures that more than 150 patients and medical personnel are trapped in the center.
On Thursday afternoon, Israeli tanks fired at the hospital and destroyed an oxygen station, according to the media.
The Ministry of Health of the Palestinian enclave, governed by the Islamist group Hamas, denounced that the situation in the center “is catastrophic in every sense of the word,” and said that hundreds of patients, medical personnel and displaced people are detained by Israeli forces without food or medicine.
On the other hand, the military agency in charge of the management of civil affairs in Gaza (COGAT) said on Friday that last night it facilitated the transfer of 23 patients, mostly minors, from Kamal Adwan to other hospitals in the Strip, and that the center received fuel and 180 units of blood for transfusions.
Hamas denounces the assault and Israel says it evacuated patients
The Islamist group Hamas, which governs the Gaza Strip, denounced this Friday the raid on the hospital by Israeli forces, who confirmed that they had entered the center and assured that during the last few weeks they facilitated the evacuation of patients.
“The assault on the hospital (…) is a war crime and a blatant violation of international laws,” the group said in a statement, in which it asked Arab countries to take measures to stop the war, beyond issuing condemnatory statements.
For its part, the Israeli Army confirmed that it was operating inside the center, one of the few that still operated in the punished north of the Strip.
According to the military command, intelligence information indicates that there are militiamen and Hamas military infrastructure in the area.
Bombings in Yabalia and Jan Yunis
Meanwhile, the Gaza authorities estimate that a new batch of attacks against the Yabalia refugee camp has caused some 150 deaths, although rescue services have not been able to access the area due to the siege of Israeli troops.
Israel claims to have killed more than 200 fighters in its new offensive in the north of the enclave.
In the south of the Strip, at least 38 people died during the night of Thursday and this Friday morning in several Israeli bombings against homes in the town of Jan Yunis, according to the Ministry of Health of the enclave, governed by Hamas.
The deadliest attack, which left at least 28 dead, took place in the Manara neighborhood, in the south of the town.
In a video published on social networks and verified by the Qatari network Al Jazeera, it is observed that several of the victims are minors.
International
French Parliament Moves to Approve Social Media Age Limit for Minors
France’s Parliament is expected to approve legislation on Tuesday banning children under the age of 15 from accessing social media platforms, following an agreement reached Monday between lawmakers on the mechanism to enforce the measure.
The initiative is part of President Emmanuel Macron’s broader effort to strengthen online protections for minors and regulate children’s screen time before the end of his second presidential term in May 2027.
“Tomorrow, France will become the first country in Europe to establish a digital age of majority to better protect our children online,” Digital Affairs Minister Anne Le Hénanff said Monday in a post on X.
If approved, the government plans to implement the restriction in September, when students return to school after the summer holidays.
The United Kingdom has already passed similar legislation restricting social media access for users under the age of 16, although that measure is scheduled to take effect in early 2027.
Both the National Assembly, France’s lower house of Parliament, and the Senate are expected to hold final votes on the legislation Tuesday after a joint committee of seven senators and seven lawmakers reached an agreement on the bill’s final wording.
Under the proposed law, children under 15 years old would be prohibited from accessing online social media services, with limited exceptions for certain platforms, including online encyclopedias.
The legislation would make France the first member of the European Union to introduce a nationwide minimum digital age for access to social media platforms, reflecting a growing international movement to strengthen online safeguards for children and teenagers.
International
WHO to Hold New Round of Talks After Slow Progress on Pandemic Accord
Member states of the World Health Organization (WHO) made limited progress during the seventh session of the Intergovernmental Working Group (IGWG) tasked with finalizing a key annex to the global pandemic agreement, prompting negotiators to schedule another round of talks in September.
The session, which opened on July 6 and concluded last week at WHO headquarters in Geneva, focused on drafting and negotiating the annex covering the Pathogen Access and Benefit-Sharing (PABS) System, a central component of the pandemic accord.
Without the completion of the PABS annex, the global pandemic agreement cannot enter into force.
The annex had originally been expected to be finalized before May 2026, but negotiations have progressed more slowly than anticipated.
In a statement, the WHO said member states “advanced negotiations” on the PABS system while acknowledging that additional discussions are required to complete a framework capable of supporting a faster, more effective and more equitable response to future pandemics.
The organization announced that an eighth round of negotiations will take place on September 14.
Despite the limited progress, delegates succeeded in streamlining the draft text and concentrating discussions on several technical issues.
According to the WHO, negotiators focused on the contractual arrangements underpinning the PABS mechanism, the laboratory networks responsible for handling and sharing pathogens and their genetic sequence data, as well as the framework for distributing the benefits generated through the sharing of those pathogens.
The PABS system is considered one of the most important elements of the future pandemic agreement, as it aims to ensure timely access to pathogens for scientific research while establishing fair mechanisms for sharing the benefits derived from vaccines, diagnostics and other medical countermeasures developed during future global health emergencies.
International
Iran Says It Is in “Full-Scale War” as U.S. Launches Ninth Consecutive Night of Airstrikes
Iran declared on Monday that it is facing a “full-scale war” against the United States after Washington carried out another wave of overnight airstrikes, including attacks near a city that hosts one of the country’s nuclear facilities.
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said the country must prepare for the consequences of the ongoing conflict, describing the situation as a broad military confrontation.
“The reality is that today the Islamic Republic of Iran is engaged in a full-scale war,” Pezeshkian said in a statement released by the presidency. “We must be realistic and accept the natural consequences of this resistance.”
The latest U.S. strikes marked the ninth consecutive night of military operations, according to the U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM), which announced the attacks on X.
Since hostilities resumed on July 7, U.S. air operations have expanded well beyond southern Iran, reaching central and northwestern regions of the country, according to local sources.
Local authorities reported that one person was killed and several others injured in Tabriz, in northwestern Iran, more than 1,000 kilometers from the Persian Gulf.
Additional casualties were reported in the nearby city of Urmia, where several people were wounded during separate strikes.
Washington said the attacks targeted military installations. However, Iranian officials accused the United States of striking populated areas, including Bushehr, home to Iran’s only operational nuclear power plant.
Iran also reported that the Darkhovin nuclear facility, which is still under construction, was among the sites hit during the latest attacks.
U.S. President Donald Trump said on Sunday that the renewed military campaign was carried out in honor of American service members killed in recent days.
Two U.S. soldiers died on Friday during attacks on a military base in Jordan, while another service member was killed on Sunday during the controlled disposal of unexploded munitions from an Iranian drone in northern Iraq.
According to U.S. figures, 17 American troops have been killed since the conflict began on February 28.
On the Iranian side, the latest official figures released on Friday reported 50 deaths and more than 500 injuries since fighting resumed earlier this month.
A memorandum of understanding signed by Iran and the United States on June 17, which had been intended to pave the way for peace negotiations, collapsed after hostilities resumed over the strategic control of the Strait of Hormuz, one of the world’s most important energy shipping routes.
French Parliament Moves to Approve Social Media Age Limit for Minors
WHO to Hold New Round of Talks After Slow Progress on Pandemic Accord
Iran Says It Is in “Full-Scale War” as U.S. Launches Ninth Consecutive Night of Airstrikes
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