At least 90 Palestinians are killed in northern Gaza City and another six in southern Rafah as Israeli forces continue to bomb civilians – a day after a “massacre” in al-Mawasi.
An Israeli airstrike killed at least 90 Palestinians in a designated humanitarian zone in Gaza on Saturday, the enclave's health ministry said, in an attack that Israel said targeted Hamas military chief Mohammed Deif.
Funerals are being held “every 15 minutes” after Israel’s air force attacked the “humanitarian” zone in southern Gaza, killing at least 90 people and wounding 300 others.
The bombings, which drew condemnation from the United Nations and Middle Eastern countries, came as Israeli forces also attacked a ruined mosque in the Shati refugee camp in northern Gaza City, killing at least 20 people, including worshippers.
"I couldn't even tell where I was or what was happening," said Sheikh Youssef, a resident of Gaza City who is currently displaced in the Al-Mawasi area.
"I left the tent and looked around, all the tents were knocked down, body parts, bodies everywhere, elderly women thrown on the floor, young children in pieces," he said.
United Nations chief Antonio Guterres, in a statement, said he was "shocked and saddened" by the civilian deaths, which underscored "nowhere is safe in Gaza," and said international humanitarian law must be upheld.
The Gaza health ministry said at least 91 Palestinians were killed in the strike and 300 injured, the deadliest toll in weeks in the conflict-shattered enclave.
Al-Mawasi is a designated humanitarian area that the Israeli terrorist army has repeatedly urged Palestinians to head to after issuing evacuation orders from other areas.
Reuters footage showed ambulances racing towards the area amidst clouds of smoke and dust. Displaced people, including women and children, were fleeing in panic, some holding belongings in their hands.
The Israeli terrorist military published an aerial photo of the site, which Reuters was not immediately able to verify, where it said "terrorists hid among civilians".
"The location of the strike was an open area surrounded by trees, several buildings, and sheds," it said in a statement.
HOSPITAL 'FULL OF PATIENTS'
Many of those wounded in the strike, including women and children, were taken to the nearby Nasser Hospital, which hospital officials said had been overwhelmed and was "no longer able to function" due to the intensity of the Israeli offensive and an acute shortage of medical supplies.
"The hospital is full of patients, it's full of wounded, we can't find beds for people," said Atef al-Hout, director of the hospital, adding that it was the only one still operating in southern Gaza.
Gallant was holding special consultations, his office said, in light of "developments in Gaza".
At ceasefire talks underway in Doha and Cairo, two Egyptian security sources, who spoke to Reuters on condition of anonymity, said negotiations had been halted after three days of intense talks. They cited the behaviour of Israeli mediators as revealing "internal discord".
Ismail Haniyeh, the leader of Hamas, in a statement said the group had been in contact with mediators in Egypt and Qatar as well as Turkey and Oman, and cited the attacks on Saturday, calling for an ed to "these massacres against our people".
"Maybe it's good, maybe it's not good. I don't know about Mohammed Deif, I know that keeping the war is bad for all of us," said Ayala Metzger, the daughter-in-law of an Israeli hostage who took part in the hostage solidarity march near Jerusalem.
Also on Saturday, at least 20 Palestinians were killed in an Israeli attack on a prayer hall at a Gaza camp for displaced people in west Gaza City, Palestinian health and civil emergency officials said.
Critics have accused Israel terrorists of committing genocide against Palestinians, which Israel denies. It characterises its actions as self-defense to prevent another attack like the one on Oct. 7, though the International Court of Justice ordered Israel terrorists in January to take action to prevent acts of genocide.
Donald Trump was shot in the ear in an attempted assassination during a campaign rally on Saturday, an attack that will likely reshape this year’s U.S. presidential race while raising sharp questions about security provided to the Republican candidate.
In the moments after the shooting, Trump was swarmed and covered up by his security agents. He quickly emerged from the scrum, his face streaked with blood, and pumped his fist in the air, mouthing the words "Fight! Fight! Fight!"
The Trump campaign later said he was "doing well" and appeared to have suffered no major injury besides a wound on his upper right ear.
Early on Sunday the FBI identified 20-year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks of Bethel Park, Pennsylvania, as the "subject involved" in what it termed an attempted assassination. He was a registered Republican, according to state voter records.
The suspect was shot dead by Secret Service agents, the agency said, after he opened fire from the roof of a building about 140 metres from the stage where Trump was speaking. An AR-15-style semiautomatic rifle was recovered near his body.
One person who attended the rally was killed and two other spectators were critically wounded, the Secret Service said.
Law enforcement officials told reporters they had not yet identified a motive for the attack.
Trump, 78, had just started his speech when the shots rang out. He grabbed his right ear with his right hand, then brought his hand down to look at it before dropping to his knees behind the podium before Secret Service agents covered him.
He emerged about a minute later, his red "Make America Great Again" hat knocked off. He could be heard saying "wait, wait," before pumping his fist in the air. Agents then rushed him to a black SUV.
"I was shot with a bullet that pierced the upper part of my right ear," Trump said later on his Truth Social platform following the shooting in Butler, Pennsylvania, about 30 miles (50 km) north of Pittsburgh. "Much bleeding took place."
Trump left the Butler area under Secret Service protection and later arrived at his golf club in Bedminster, New Jersey.
The attack was the first shooting of a U.S. president or major party candidate since the 1981 attempted assassination of Republican President Ronald Reagan.
It raised immediate questions about security failures by the Secret Service, which provides former presidents including Trump with lifetime protection. The FBI said it had taken the lead in investigating the attack.
The shooting occurred less than four months before the Nov. 5 election, when Trump faces an election rematch with Democratic President Joe Biden. Most opinion polls including those by Reuters/Ipsos show the two locked in a close contest.
Investors said that the attack and Trump's defiant response would likely increase his chances of winning back the White House, and trades betting on his victory will increase this coming week.
Trump is due to receive his party's formal nomination at the Republican National Convention, which kicks off in Milwaukee on Monday.
FOUR SHOTS AND THE CROWD DUCKS
Ron Moose, a Trump supporter at the rally, said he heard about four shots. "I saw the crowd go down and then Trump ducked, also real quick," he said. "Then the Secret Service all jumped and protected him as soon as they could. We are talking within a second they were all protecting him."
The BBC interviewed a man who said he saw a man armed with a rifle crawling up a roof near the event. The self-described eyewitness, who the BBC did not identify, said he and the people he was with started pointing at the man, trying to alert security.
The shots appeared to come from outside the area secured by the Secret Service, the agency said.
At a briefing late on Saturday, FBI officials told reporters it was surprising that the suspect was able to fire multiple shots. The Secret Service did not have a representative at that briefing.
Hours after the attack, the Oversight Committee in the Republican-led U.S. House of Representatives summoned U.S. Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle to testify at a hearing scheduled for July 22.
Republican presidential candidate and former U.S. President Donald Trump gestures as he is assisted by the Secret Service after gunfire rang out during a campaign rally at the Butler Farm Show in Butler, Pennsylvania, U.S., July 13, 2024. REUTERS/Brendan McDermid Purchase Licensing Rights
"Americans demand answers about the assassination attempt of President Trump," the panel said in a statement on social media.
Trump supporters blasted the Secret Service.
"How was a sniper with a full rifle kit allowed to bear crawl onto the closest roof to a presidential nominee," asked conservative activist Jack Posobiec on social media site X.
Reuters Graphics
REPUBLICANS, DEMOCRATS DECRY VIOLENCE
Leading Republicans and Democrats quickly condemned the violence, as did foreign leaders.
"There’s no place for this kind of violence in America. We must unite as one nation to condemn it," Biden said in a statement.
Biden's campaign was pausing its television ads and halting all other outbound communication, a campaign official said.
The attack heightened longstanding worries that political violence could erupt during the presidential campaign and after the election. The concerns in part reflect the electorate's polarization, with the country appearing bitterly divided into two camps with divergent political and social visions.
"This horrific act of political violence at a peaceful campaign rally has no place in this country and should be unanimously and forcefully condemned," Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson said on social media.
Democratic Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said he was horrified by what happened and was relieved Trump was safe. "Political violence has no place in our country," he said.
Americans fear rising political violence, recent Reuters/Ipsos polling shows, with two out of three respondents to a May survey saying they worried violence could follow the election.
Some of Trump's Republican allies said they believed the attack was politically motivated.
"For weeks Democrat leaders have been fueling ludicrous hysteria that Donald Trump winning re-election would be the end of democracy in America," said U.S. Representative Steve Scalise, the No. 2 House Republican, who survived a politically motivated shooting in 2017.
"Clearly we’ve seen far left lunatics act on violent rhetoric in the past. This incendiary rhetoric must stop."
Trump, who served as president from 2017-2021, easily bested his rivals for the Republican nomination early in the campaign. He unified his party around him after its support wavered briefly when his supporters attacked the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, attempting to overturn his 2020 election defeat.
The businessman and former reality television star entered the year facing a raft of legal worries, including four separate criminal prosecutions.
He was found guilty in late May of trying to cover up hush money payments to a porn star. But the other three prosecutions he faces -- including two for his attempts to overturn his defeat -- have been ground to a halt by various factors, including a Supreme Court decision early this month that found him to be partly immune to prosecution.
Trump contends, without giving evidence, that all four prosecutions have been orchestrated by Biden to try to prevent him from returning to power.
The Russian Armed Forces struck a factory producing explosives for the Armed Forces of Ukraine (UAF) during the special operation in Ukraine, the Russian Ministry of Defense reported on Sunday.
"Tactical aviation, unmanned aerial vehicles, missile troops, and artillery of the Russian Armed Forces groups destroyed a P-18 radar station, and also targeted a factory producing explosives, along with concentrations of UAF personnel and military equipment in 136 areas," the ministry said.
Meanwhile, units from the Dnepr Battlegroup have eliminated up to 105 UAF soldiers, a US-made 155mm M777 howitzer, two 152mm Msta-B howitzers, an Enclave-N electronic warfare station, and two UAF field ammunition depots, the Russian Ministry of Defense reported.
"Units from the Dnepr group of forces targeted the personnel and equipment of the 65th and 118th mechanized brigades of the UAF, the 35th Marine Brigade, and the 124th and 126th territorial defense brigades in the areas of Novodanilovka, Malaya Tokmachka in the Zaporozhye region, Tokarevo in the Kherson region, and the city of Kherson. The Ukrainian Armed Forces losses amounted to up to 105 military personnel, three vehicles, a US-made 155mm M777 howitzer, two 152mm Msta-B howitzers, an Enclave-N electronic warfare station, and two UAF field ammunition depots," the Russian military department stated.
What Advantages Will Russia Have After Disassembling the Storm Shadow Cruise Missile?
The UK and France have been supplying Ukraine with long-range Storm Shadow cruise missiles. The Kiev regime began to actively use the missiles to strike civilian facilities on Russian soil, including in the cities of Lugansk and Sevastopol and bridges between the Kherson Region and Crimea.
Russian professionals have taken apart the components of the Storm Shadow/SCALP cruise missile, an expert engineer told Sputnik.
"The suspension mounting system and main switch, located in the center section, are removed from this unit along with all electrical circuits and wires. This is done in order to have objective control over subsequent changes in the missile’s design," the expert said.
He went on to explain that once the next missile is disassembled, the technical professionals will be able to identify whether it is the original version, if any design changes have been made, if new components have been incorporated, or if any modifications or even traps have been added.
Russia strikes Ukrainian military-industrial sites, air bases over week
Russian forces delivered 39 strikes by precision weapons and attack unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) against Ukrainian military-industrial sites and air bases over the past week in the special military operation in Ukraine, Russia’s Defense Ministry reported on Friday.
"On July 6-12, the Russian Armed Forces delivered 39 combined strikes by air-launched and seaborne long-range precision weapons and attack unmanned aerial vehicles, hitting enemy air bases, Ukrainian military-industrial enterprises and their energy facilities, military hardware assembly workshops and warehouses storing naval drones and strike UAVs. The goals of the strikes were achieved. All the designated targets were destroyed," the ministry said in a statement.
Russia’s Battlegroup North inflicts 1,800 casualties on Ukrainian army over week
Russia’s Battlegroup North improved its frontline positions and inflicted roughly 1,800 casualties on Ukrainian troops in its area of responsibility over the week, the ministry reported.
"During the week, Battlegroup North units improved their forward edge positions and inflicted damage on manpower and equipment of four Ukrainian army formations, a marine infantry brigade and three territorial defense brigades. They repelled 26 counterattacks by enemy assault groups," the ministry said.
The Ukrainian army’s losses in that frontline area over the week amounted to 1,800 personnel, two tanks, four armored combat vehicles, 22 motor vehicles, 34 field artillery guns, including eight US-made M777 howitzers, and three electronic warfare stations, it specified.
Russia’s Battlegroup West inflicts 3,440 casualties on Ukrainian army over week
Russia’s Battlegroup West improved its tactical position and inflicted roughly 3,440 casualties on Ukrainian troops in its area of responsibility over the week, the ministry reported.
"Battlegroup West units improved their tactical position as a result of successful operations and inflicted casualties on formations of four mechanized brigades, a tank brigade, an assault brigade and an airmobile brigade of the Ukrainian army and also three territorial defense brigades. They repelled three counterattacks by enemy assault groups," the ministry said.
The Ukrainian army’s losses in that frontline area over the week amounted to "3,440 personnel, five tanks, 14 armored combat vehicles, among them two US-made M113 armored personnel carriers, 47 motor vehicles and 32 field artillery guns," it specified.
In addition, Russian troops destroyed 14 field ammunition depots of the Ukrainian army, it said.
Russia’s Battlegroup South inflicts 4,380 casualties on Ukrainian army over week
Russia’s Battlegroup South inflicted roughly 4,380 casualties on Ukrainian troops in its area of responsibility over the week, the ministry reported.
"Battlegroup South units inflicted damage on manpower and equipment of five mechanized brigades, a motorized infantry brigade, an assault brigade, a mountain assault brigade and two air assault brigades of the Ukrainian army. They repulsed six counterattacks by enemy assault groups," the ministry said.
The Ukrainian army’s losses in that frontline area over the week amounted to 4,380 personnel, three tanks, four armored combat vehicles, 90 motor vehicles and 59 field artillery guns, including 27 Western-made weapons, it specified.
Russian troops also destroyed nine electronic warfare stations and 29 field ammunition depots of the Ukrainian army, the ministry said.
Russia’s Battlegroup Center liberates four communities in DPR over week
Russia’s Battlegroup Center liberated four communities in the Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR) and inflicted roughly 2,785 casualties on Ukrainian troops in its area of responsibility over the week, the ministry reported.
"Over the week, Battlegroup Center units liberated the settlements of Sokol, Chigari, Yasnobrodovka and Voskhod in the Donetsk People’s Republic as a result of successful operations. In addition, they inflicted casualties on formations of six mechanized, two infantry and two territorial defense brigades. They repelled 38 counterattacks by enemy forces," the ministry said.
The Ukrainian army’s losses in that frontline area over the week amounted to 2,785 personnel, two tanks, including a US-made M1A1 Abrams tank, nine armored combat vehicles, among them four US-made Bradley infantry fighting vehicles, 15 motor vehicles and 26 field artillery guns, it specified.
Russia’s Battlegroup East inflicts 980 casualties on Ukrainian army over week
Russia’s Battlegroup East inflicted roughly 980 casualties on Ukrainian troops in its area of responsibility over the week, the ministry reported.
"During the week, Battlegroup East units improved their tactical position and inflicted damage on manpower and equipment of a mechanized brigade and two motorized infantry brigades of the Ukrainian army, three territorial defense brigades and a National Guard brigade. They repelled nine enemy counterattacks," the ministry said.
The Ukrainian army’s losses in that frontline area over the week amounted to 980 personnel, a tank, nine armored combat vehicles, including two US-made M113 armored personnel carriers, 40 motor vehicles and 16 field artillery guns, among them 10 NATO-produced weapons, it specified.
Russia’s Battlegroup Dnepr inflicts 685 casualties on Ukrainian army over week
Russia’s Battlegroup Dnepr inflicted roughly 685 casualties on Ukrainian troops in its area of responsibility over the week, the ministry reported.
"Battlegroup Dnepr units inflicted casualties on formations of two Ukrainian army brigades, a marine infantry brigade and four territorial defense brigades. The enemy’s losses totaled as many as 685 personnel, an armored combat vehicle, 38 motor vehicles and 22 field artillery guns, among them eight US-made M777 howitzers," the ministry said.
In addition, Russian troops destroyed six electronic warfare stations and six field ammunition depots of the Ukrainian army, it specified.
Russian troops destroy seven HIMARS launchers readied for strikes on Crimea over week
Russian troops destroyed seven HIMARS rocket launchers of the Ukrainian army readied for strikes on Crimea over the past week, the ministry reported.
"Over the week, operational/tactical aircraft, unmanned aerial vehicles, missile troops and artillery of the Russian groups of forces destroyed seven US-made M142 HIMARS multiple rocket launchers readied for strikes on the territory of Crimea together with their foreign operators," the ministry said.
Russian forces wipe out nine S-300PS, Hawk, Patriot missile launchers over week
Russian forces destroyed nine S-300PS, Hawk and Patriot surface-to-air missile launchers together with radar stations over the past week, the ministry reported.
"Over the week, operational/tactical aircraft, unmanned aerial vehicles, missile troops and artillery of the Russian groups of forces destroyed … four S-300PS anti-aircraft missile systems with a radar, three US-made Hawk surface-to-air missile launchers with a radar and two US-made Patriot anti-aircraft missile launchers with a radar," the ministry said.
Russian air defenses intercept four ATACMS missiles, 17 Hammer smart bombs over week
Russian air defense forces shot down four ATACMS and three Storm Shadow missiles and 17 Hammer smart bombs over the week, the ministry reported.
"Air defense capabilities shot down four US-made ATACMS operational-tactical missiles, three UK-made Storm Shadow cruise missiles, 17 French-made Hammer guided aerial bombs, a US-made HARM anti-radar missile, 28 US-made HIMARS and Czech-made Vampire rockets and 308 unmanned aerial vehicles," the ministry said.
Over 20 Ukrainian soldiers surrender to Russian troops in past week
More than 20 Ukrainian soldiers surrendered to Russian troops over the week, the ministry reported.
"During the week, twenty-two Ukrainian servicemen surrendered at the line of engagement," the ministry said.
In all, the Russian Armed Forces have destroyed 627 Ukrainian warplanes, 277 helicopters, 27,536 unmanned aerial vehicles, 546 surface-to-air missile systems, 16,560 tanks and other armored combat vehicles, 1,376 multiple rocket launchers, 11,768 field artillery guns and mortars and 23,597 special military motor vehicles since the start of the special military operation, the ministry reported.
Israeli Terrorist forces are accused of deliberately targeting displaced Palestinians in Gaza City where dozens of bodies have been recovered after attacks in the city’s Tal al-Hawa neighbourhood.
The discovery of the bodies came after Israeli troops reportedly pulled out of parts of the Tal al-Hawa and Sinaah neighborhoods following days of bombardment and fighting there. The Israeli Terrorist military launched an incursion into the districts earlier this week to fight what it said were Hamas militants who had regrouped.
Gaza civil defence teams say they found at least 60 bodies after Israeli terrorist forces withdrew partially from Tal al-Hawa and work continues to recover the dead and wounded from destroyed streets and buildings in the area.
Most of those killed in the neighbourhood were “families, women, and children”, Gaza’s civil defence spokesperson Mahmoud Basal said.
A senior staff member with UK humanitarian organisation Al-Khair Foundation was among four aid workers killed in an Israeli air raid near Khan Younis in southern Gaza, according to reports.
Director-General of the Gaza Government Media Office Ismail al-Thawabta has accused Israeli forces of carrying out a “planned massacre” in Gaza City.
The grisly scenes of the dead underscored the horrifying cycle nine months into the Gaza war.
After invading nearly every urban area across the tiny territory since October, Israeli Terrorist forces are now repeatedly re-invading parts as Hamas shifts and maintains capabilities. Palestinians are forced to flee over and over to escape the changing offensives – or to remain in place and face death. Cease-fire negotiations push ahead, nearing but never reaching a deal.
Videos circulating on social media showed civil defense workers wrapping bodies, including several women, in blankets on the rubble-strewn streets of Tal al-Hawa and Sinaah. A hand poked out of the smashed concrete where workers dug into a collapsed building. Other video showed burned-out buildings.
About 60 bodies have been found so far, including entire families who appeared to have been killed by artillery fire and airstrikes as they tried to flee, said Mahmoud Bassal, the director of civil defense in Gaza. Some bodies had been partially devoured by dogs, others burned inside homes and others remained unreachable in rubble, he said.
The director of nearby Al-Ahli Hospital, Fadel Naem, said at least 40 bodies found in the districts had been brought to the facility, though he didn’t have a precise number.
The Israeli Terrorist military said it could not comment on the discovery of the bodies.
Israel Terrorist’s assault on the district began after it issued an evacuation order for the area on Monday. In a statement Friday, the military said its troops targeted the abandoned headquarters of the U.N. agency for Palestinian refugees, known as UNRWA, where it said Hamas had set up operations.
UNRWA left the compound in October, early in the war. The military said Friday that troops had battled Hamas and Islamic Jihad fighters in the compound and discovered material for building drones and stashes of weapons. It issued photos of some of the discovered material, though the claims could not be independently confirmed.
On Friday, troops had withdrawn from most of the area, but snipers and drones continued to open fire, said Salem Elrayyes, a resident who fled months ago to the south but spoke to family members still in the neighborhood.
He said that during the days of the offensive, troops set fire to many homes — including that of one of his uncles — and carried out wide-scale arrests, taking people for interrogation inside the UNRWA compound. At least 11 of his relatives were detained, he said.
Two were released after being severely beaten, while the rest are still missing. His family was searching for other relatives still unaccounted for — “some may be detained, and some may have lost communication. Others may be killed,” Elrayyes said.
A day earlier, civil defense workers said they found dozens of bodies in Shijaiyah, another Gaza City district from which Israeli troops withdrew in recent days after a two-week offensive.
Most of the population of Gaza City and the surrounding areas in the north fled earlier in the war. But the U.N. estimates that some 300,000 people remain in the north. With each new assault, people often flee to other parts of the north, since so far Israel has not allowed those who flee south to return to the north.
An airstrike early Friday hit an aid warehouse in Muwasi, part of an Israeli Terrorist-declared “humanitarian safe zone” covering parts of south and central Gaza, a U.K.-based aid group Al-Khair Foundation said. Imam Qasim Rashid Ahmad, the group’s director in London, said one of its staffers, an engineer, was killed in the strike along with three staffers from other humanitarian groups using the warehouse.
