GAZA, July 3 – At least 80 Palestinians, including 37 near U.S.-backed aid distribution centers, were killed in Israeli shelling and gunfire in the Gaza Strip on Thursday, Palestinian sources said.

Local sources and eyewitnesses told Xinhua that Israeli warplanes targeted the Mustafa Hafez school, which houses displaced people in al-Rimal neighborhood west of Gaza City, with one missile.

Mahmoud Basal, a spokesperson for the Civil Defense in Gaza, told Xinhua that the Israeli attack on the school killed 13 people, including children and women, and wounded several others.

Israeli aircraft targeted two gatherings of Palestinians in the towns of Jabalia and Beit Lahia, north of the Gaza Strip, killing four people, including a woman, and wounding 10 others, according to Basal.

Basal added that four people, including a woman, were killed in several airstrikes targeting homes and Palestinian gatherings in the Tuffah and Zeitoun neighborhoods of Gaza City.

Hamas-linked prisoners’ information office said in a press statement that three freed prisoners deported from the West Bank to the coastal enclave were killed in an Israeli airstrike.

Al-Shifa Medical Complex in Gaza announced in a press statement the arrival of 25 dead and dozens wounded as a result of an Israeli airstrike near a U.S.-backed aid distribution center at the Netzarim junction in the central Gaza Strip.

Nasser Medical Complex announced in a press statement the deaths of at least 24 people in Israeli airstrikes on the city of Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip, including five who were waiting for aid.

Seven others were killed and 30 wounded by Israeli army fire near a U.S.-backed aid center in the Shakoush area north of Rafah, south of the Gaza Strip, according to a brief statement issued by Red Cross Hospital.

In a statement on Thursday, the Hamas-run Gaza interior authorities warned against “dealing, cooperating, or interacting, directly or indirectly” with the U.S.-backed aid group Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, accusing the organization of being a “mass death trap” and “systematic violation of human dignity and rights.”

Over the past few weeks, Palestinians have been repeatedly targeted while waiting for food in various areas of the Gaza Strip, home to more than two million people, sparking widespread international condemnation.

Meanwhile, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said in a statement that over the past day, the air force struck approximately 150 “terror targets” throughout the Gaza Strip, including militants, underground routes, military structures, weapons, sniper posts, and additional infrastructure sites.

“The IDF will continue to operate to remove any threat posed to Israeli civilians,” it said.

On March 18, Israel resumed its military operations in the enclave. At least 6,572 Palestinians had been killed and 23,132 others injured since Israel renewed its intensive strikes, bringing the total death toll since October 2023 to 57,130, and injuries to 135,173, Gaza-based health authorities said on Thursday.

XINHUA, 3.7.2025

JEMBRANA, GILIMANUK, Indonesia, July 3 – Indonesian rescuers on Thursday temporarily halted a search for 30 people still missing after a ferry carrying 65 people sank near the island of Bali with the loss of six lives, the national search and rescue agency said.

The KMP Tunu Pratama Jaya sank almost half an hour after leaving East Java province’s Banyuwangi port on its way to Bali late on Wednesday, the agency said.

The rescuers called off the search on Thursday evening due to a “visibility problem”, Nanang Sigit, the head of East Java rescue agency told Reuters, adding that 29 people had been rescued so far.

He said the operation would resume on Friday morning, with more than 160 rescuers including police and military personnel deployed to conduct the search backed by four vessels and several helicopters.

The boat was carrying 53 passengers and 12 crew members, as well as 22 vehicles, the national agency said.

The ship was rated to carry 67 people and 25 vehicles, according to Indonesia’s transport ministry.

The search for the missing since Thursday morning had been hampered by strong currents and winds, the national rescue agency said.

Video provided by national rescue agency Basarnas showed what appeared to be the body of one person being carried to shore from a fishing boat in calm seas.

The passengers were all Indonesian, the transport ministry said.

One of the survivors, Eko Toniansyah, 25, who lost his father, told Reuters that the ferry suddenly began sinking and tilting, causing panic among all the passengers, who scrambled for life vests.
Another survivor, Bejo Santoso, 52, said strong waves had caused the ferry to sway around 30 minutes after leaving port.

Dozens of people prepared to jump as the ferry began to sink, Santoso said.

Ferries are a regular mode of transport in Indonesia, an archipelago of more than 17,000 islands, and accidents are common as lax safety standards often allow vessels to be overloaded without adequate life-saving equipment.

A small ferry capsized in 2023 near Indonesia’s Sulawesi island, killing at least 15 people.

REUTERS

TEHRAN, Jul. 03 – Israeli fighter jets deployed to intercept missiles and drones launched from Iran in retaliation for the regime’s aggression last month unloaded their leftover munitions on the Gaza Strip.

Citing sources from the Israeli air force, the Israeli newspaper Maariv said on Wednesday that the Israeli warplanes sent to carry out operations against Iran were not only equipped with air-to-air missiles but also with air-to-surface munitions.

After completing their missions, the report said, some pilots turned to the Gaza combat control room and suggested dropping the unused munitions to “assist” the occupation forces in the northern Gaza Strip and the southern Khan Yunis governorate.

It added that the pilots’ suggestion was welcomed and “became routine,” with the Israel air force commander, Major General Tomer Bar, instructing the regime forces to expand the initiative to all the squadrons and make it a protocol.

Every day in the course of the Israeli assault against Iran between June 13 and 24, dozens of fighter jets, which were returning to the occupied lands, flew over Gaza and dropped hundreds of munitions there, according to the report.

“Instead of scrambling planes from the ground to carry out the strikes, planes that were already in the air carried out the missions,” an Israeli air force official said.

Meanwhile, the Israeli military admitted that during last month’s aggression against Iran, Gaza was hit with a wave of heavy airstrikes.

Palestinian health authorities also said more than 800 people were killed in the Israeli attacks on Gaza during the regime’s 12-day offensive against Iran.

MEHR, 3.7.2025

CHICAGO – Four people have died from gunshot wounds and 14 others have been hospitalized following a drive-by shooting in Chicago, police said Thursday. At least three were in critical condition.

The shooting happened late Wednesday in Chicago’s River North neighborhood. Several media outlets said it happened outside a restaurant and lounge that had hosted an album release party for a rapper.

Someone opened fire into a crowd standing outside, police said, and the vehicle immediately drove away.

No one was in custody, police said.

Preliminary information from police said 13 women and five men ranging in age from 21 to 32 were shot, and that the dead included two men and two women. Those shot were taken to multiple hospitals, police said.

Police said that nine people, including the two women who died, were taken to Northwestern Hospital. Five people, including the two men who died, were taken to John H. Stroger Hospital.

AP

British lawmakers voted on Wednesday to designate pro-Palestinian campaign group Palestine Action as a terrorist organisation, triggering widespread debate over the boundaries of protest and political repression. The decision comes after the group staged a direct action at a Royal Air Force base in southern England last month, damaging two aircraft in protest of Britain’s arms trade links with the Israeli occupation.

Palestine Action, which defines itself as a direct action movement, has long targeted British companies linked to the Israeli arms industry, most notably the Israeli security firm Elbit Systems. The group has referred to Elbit as its “main target” in efforts to halt what it calls the UK’s complicity in Israeli war crimes, particularly the genocide in Gaza.

According to the UK’s Labour-led government, the group has caused millions of pounds in damages through operations at a Thales factory in 2022, an Elbit site in 2023, and the more recent RAF base incident. Home Secretary Yvette Cooper argued the group’s actions crossed the line from protest to criminal violence, stating, “There is no place for violence or criminal damage in legitimate protest. We must take a zero-tolerance approach in the interests of national security.”

A complete ban on Palestine Action

Once the House of Lords approves the proscription order, which is expected to be debated on Thursday, the group will be legally banned. Supporting or being a member of Palestine Action will then constitute a criminal offense under UK terrorism law, legally equating Palestine Action to groups like ISIS and al-Qaeda.

Palestine Action has rejected the designation, calling it an “abuse of power” and an attempt to stifle dissent against London’s military partnerships with the Israeli occupation. The group has launched a legal challenge, with an urgent court hearing scheduled for Friday.

United Nations experts, appointed by the UN Human Rights Council, have expressed concern over the decision. In a statement, they urged the UK to reconsider, warning that classifying acts of property damage without intent to harm life as terrorism could set a dangerous precedent for protest rights and international law.

Activists still mobile on the ground

Despite mounting legal and diplomatic scrutiny, Palestine Action continues its campaign. On Tuesday, the group said its activists blocked access to an Elbit site in Bristol and occupied the rooftop of a subcontractor in Suffolk, which they claim is involved in the arms supply chain to the Israeli occupation.

The proscription vote also included two far-right organisations: the neo-Nazi group Maniacs Murder Cult and the Russian Imperial Movement, a white supremacist group advocating for a new Russian imperial state. All three groups were voted on collectively, meaning lawmakers had to approve or reject them as a package.

This comes after Palestine Action had secured an urgent High Court hearing set for Friday in a critical legal bid to stop the UK government from designating it a terrorist organisation, a move civil liberties groups warn would mark a dangerous escalation in the suppression of political dissent.

During an emergency hearing on Monday, the High Court ruled that co-founder Huda Ammori will be permitted to seek “interim relief” on Friday, potentially freezing the implementation of the order before it comes into effect.

Civil society silenced

Ammori’s legal team has argued that the government acted unlawfully by failing to provide her with reasons for the proscription or an opportunity to respond before moving to curtail her civil rights. In their submission, they also criticized the government’s lopsided consultation process, which involved the Israeli government and arms manufacturers but excluded key civil society organisations such as Liberty, Amnesty International, and the European Legal Support Center.

All three have now submitted witness statements in support of Palestine Action, warning that the proposed use of anti-terror legislation amounts to an authoritarian abuse of power.

“These sweeping powers are being deployed not to prevent violence, but to suppress legitimate political protest and resistance to war profiteering,” said one legal observer.

The Home Office justified the proposed ban just three days after Palestine Action took responsibility for a high-profile disruption of military aircraft at RAF Brize Norton, which resulted in five arrests. Cooper cited what she described as “a long history of unacceptable criminal damage” as grounds for invoking counter-terror powers, drawing criticism for conflating property damage with terrorism.

AL MAYADEEN, 2.7.2025

PARIS, July 2 – France reaffirmed on Wednesday its condemnation of Iran’s detention of two French citizens, who have been held for three years.

The pair, Cecile Kohler and her partner Jacques Paris, are being held in a “totally arbitrary manner,” the French foreign ministry said in a statement following a report from AFP that the two had been charged with spying for Israel’s Mossad spy agency.

If the report is confirmed, the charge is “totally unfounded,” a diplomatic source said, adding the pair was innocent.

France in May filed a case at the International Court of Justice against Iran for violating the right to consular protection, a bid to pressure Iran over the detention of Kohler and Paris, who have been held since May 2022.

Iran’s Revolutionary Guards have detained dozens of foreign and dual nationals in recent years, often on espionage-related charges. Rights groups and Western countries accuse Tehran of using foreign detainees as bargaining chips, which Iran denies.

REUTERS

The United States is maintaining a significant military presence in Syria, with the Trump administration expressing optimism about the country’s future despite continued instability.

Around 1,500 US military personnel are still stationed in Syria as the Trump administration maintains an optimistic outlook on the country’s future despite ongoing regional instability and unresolved strategic challenges, according to Chief Pentagon Spokesman Sean Parnell who made the remarks on Wednesday.

“Right now, we’ve still got about 1,500 troops in Syria, but we’re not going to comment for further on force posture there, but we’re optimistic about the future in Syria, as the president [Donald Trump] has already said before,” the Pentagon chief explained.

US Special Envoy Thomas Barrack, in an interview with Turkish broadcaster NTV on June 2, said Washington plans to downsize its military footprint in Syria by consolidating operations at a single base in al-Hasakah province as part of a wider policy shift that includes closing seven other sites across the country.

AL MAYADEEN, 2.7.2025