International

At least 25 Palestinians killed in Gaza in the last few hours in Israeli attacks

At least 25 people died in Israeli attacks in different parts of the Gaza Strip throughout the night and early hours of Wednesday, according to the rescue services of the Civil Defense of the enclave.

The group’s spokesman, Mahmud Basal, confirmed that at least 11 Palestinians, including nine women, lost their lives in a bombing of a family home east of Jan Yunis, in the south of the enclave.

Palestinian media also report that a fisherman lost his life in an Israeli attack when he was at sea off the coast of Jan Yunis, near the one designated as a “humanitarian area” by Israeli forces.

In addition, nine other people, six of them women, died in another attack last night against the house of a university professor in the town of Yabalia, in the north of the Strip.

And in the Nuseirat refugee camp, in the center of the enclave, at least four people were killed in a bombing of a residence, Civil Defense said.

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Since the Israeli war began in Gaza, more than eleven months ago, at least 41,000 people have lost their lives and more than 94,000 have been injured in Israeli attacks against the Palestinian enclave, according to the latest data from the Gaza Ministry of Health, controlled by Hamas.

The Israeli Army has also intensified its incursions into the occupied Palestinian territory of the West Bank.

At least five people died last night in an airstrike near the town of Tubas, in the northeast of the occupied West Bank, as confirmed today by both the Palestinian Red Crescent and the Ministry of Health of the Palestinian National Authority, which governs small parts of the territory.

According to Israeli forces, the attack was directed against a cell of armed militiamen, and they framed the operation as part of their offensive against Palestinian militias in the northern West Bank, which began last week.

The official Palestinian news agency, Wafa, has specified that the attack took place near a mosque. All the dead were between 18 and 24 years old.

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In addition, two other people were killed last night in a rail in Tulkarem, according to the Palestinian Ministry of Health.

On the other hand, an Israeli in his 20s is in critical condition after being run over near a Jewish settlement in the southern occupied West Bank, the emergency service Magen David Adom (MDA) said on Wednesday.

The Israeli Army confirmed the event and said that its forces eliminated the alleged attacker, whom they described as a “terrorist.”

International

Iran Reports 201 Dead, 747 Injured After U.S. and Israeli Strikes

The Iranian Red Crescent Society reported Sunday night (local time) that at least 201 people were killed and 747 injured following attacks carried out by Israel and the United States against the Islamic Republic.

A spokesperson for the humanitarian organization said more than 220 rescue teams have been deployed across affected areas and that relief operations are continuing without interruption. The official highlighted the difficulty of treating the large number of wounded and the urgent need for additional resources in impacted provinces.

Out of Iran’s 31 provinces, 24 have reported damage, according to a statement carried by the Isna news agency. This marks the first overall casualty toll released by Iranian state-affiliated media since the launch of the offensive.

Among the dead are 85 schoolgirls from a school in the southern city of Minab, according to the country’s judiciary. “The number of martyrs at the Minab girls’ school has risen to 85,” the local prosecutor’s office said, as quoted by the judiciary’s website, Mizan Online.

Iranian President Masud Pezeshkian described the attack as a “savagery” that “constitutes a new black page in the record of countless crimes committed by the aggressors.”

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Meanwhile, the international community continues to monitor the situation closely amid concerns about possible further reprisals and the broader impact on Middle East stability, energy markets, and global security.

AFP noted that it was unable to independently verify the casualty figures or the circumstances surrounding the events.

International

Pope Leo XIV Urges End to ‘Spiral of Violence’ in Middle East

Pope Leo XIV on Sunday called for an end to the “spiral of violence” in the Middle East, following military strikes by the United States and Israel against Iran and subsequent retaliatory bombardments in the region.

“Faced with the possibility of a tragedy of enormous proportions, I urge the parties involved to assume their moral responsibility and stop the spiral of violence before it becomes an irreparable abyss,” the pontiff told the crowd gathered in St. Peter’s Square at the Vatican.

Speaking during the Angelus prayer, the U.S.-born pope said stability and peace cannot be achieved through threats or weapons. “Stability and peace are not built with reciprocal threats or with arms that sow destruction, suffering and death, but only through reasonable, sincere and responsible dialogue,” he declared.

The leader of the world’s 1.4 billion Catholics also called for diplomacy to “regain its role” amid escalating tensions.

In addition, the pope urged Afghanistan and Pakistan to urgently resume dialogue after several days of clashes between the two countries.

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International

Security Council to Hold Emergency Meeting on Middle East Crisis

UN Secretary-General António Guterres on Saturday condemned the “military escalation in the Middle East” following attacks by the United States and Israel against Iran and Tehran’s retaliatory strikes, just hours before an urgent meeting of the UN Security Council.

“I call for the immediate cessation of hostilities and de-escalation,” Guterres said in a statement.

The Security Council is scheduled to meet on Saturday at 21:00 GMT (4:00 p.m. in New York) to address “the situation in the Middle East,” the United Nations announced.

The meeting, during which Guterres will deliver remarks, was convened at the request of France, Bahrain, Colombia, Russia and China, according to a diplomatic source.