Palestinians mourn for victims, who were killed in Israeli airstrikes, at Al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza City, June 10, 2025.
GAZA, June 11, 2025 – Israeli strikes on Wednesday afternoon and evening killed 10 Palestinians, including minors, across the war-battered Gaza Strip, according to WAFA correspondent.
He said that Israeli fighter jets targeted tents sheltering displaced people in the Tabaria camp, west of Khan Younes, claiming the lives of four, including a minor, and injuring others.
He added that the slain people and the casualties were rushed to the field Specialized Kuwaiti Hospital.
Meanwhile, another airstrike targeted a house on the Old Gaza Street in Jabalia, claiming the lives of three civilians, including two minors, and injuring others.
In the meantime, a combat drone conducted a strike targeting the vicinity of Abu Sarar Circle in the Nuseirat refugee camp in the central Strip, killing three civilians and injuring others.
Ultra-Orthodox Jewish men block a highway during a protest against army recruitment in Bnei Brak, Israel, Thursday, June 5, 2025. AP
JERUSALEM – Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government faces a major test on Wednesday after the opposition submitted a bill to dissolve the government, with his ultra-Orthodox coalition partners threatening to support the measure and force early elections.
The ultra-Orthodox parties are furious that the government has failed to pass a law exempting their community from mandatory military service, an issue that has bitterly divided the Israeli public during the war in the Gaza Strip.
While many expect a last-minute compromise, the vote is the most serious challenge to Netanyahu’s government since Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, attack, the biggest security failure in Israel’s history.
The opposition submitted a bill to dissolve the Knesset, Israel’s parliament. In response, coalition members submitted numerous bills, packing Wednesday’s schedule and buying time for last-minute negotiations.
The dissolution vote, if it is not pulled, is expected to take place late at night. Separately, Argentina’s President Javier Milei will address the Knesset on Wednesday.
Even if the bill passes, it could take weeks or months for new elections to be called. If the bill fails, another vote for dissolution cannot be brought again for at least six months. The opposition could pull the bill if there isn’t enough support and submit it again in the coming weeks.
Netanyahu’s coalition includes two ultra-Orthodox parties, and both would need to support the dissolution bill for it to pass. On Tuesday, top Haredi rabbis issued a religious decree emphasizing their stand against military service, which complicates the Haredi politicians’ ability to negotiate.
Military service is mandatory for most Jews in Israel, but the politically powerful ultra-Orthodox, who make up roughly 13% of Israeli society, have traditionally received exemptions if they are studying full-time in religious seminaries.
The ultra-Orthodox, also known as Haredim, or “God-fearing” in Hebrew, say that integrating into the army threatens their traditional way of life.
Israel is engaged in the longest active war in the country’s history, which has stretched its military to the breaking point. The Haredim’s widespread refusal to serve, and threats to topple the government during wartime, have enraged many Israelis, especially those who have served multiple rounds of reserve duty.
Since the start of the war, 866 Israeli soldiers have been killed.
A Palestinian youth, who was injured last night while trying to get access to humanitarian aid, is treated at the al-Shifa Hospital, in Gaza City, Wednesday, June 11, 2025. AP Photo
DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip – The Palestinian death toll from the 20-month Israel-Hamas war has climbed past 55,000, the Gaza Health Ministry said Wednesday.
The ministry doesn’t distinguish between civilians and combatants, but has said that women and children make up more than half the dead.
It’s a grim milestone in the war that began with Hamas’ attack into southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, and shows no sign of ending. Israel says it only targets militants and blames civilian deaths on Hamas, accusing the militants of hiding among civilians, because they operate in populated areas.
The ministry says 55,104 people have been killed since the start of the war and 127,394 wounded. Many more are believed to be buried under the rubble or in areas that are inaccessible to local medics.
The Health Ministry is part of Gaza’s Hamas-run government, but staffed by medical professionals who maintain and publish detailed records. Its tolls from previous conflicts have largely aligned with those of independent experts, though Israel has questioned the ministry’s figures.
Israeli forces have destroyed vast areas of Gaza, displaced about 90% of its population and in recent weeks have transformed more than half of the coastal territory into a military buffer zone that includes the now mostly uninhabited southern city of Rafah.
A 2½-month blockade imposed by Israel when it ended a ceasefire with Hamas raised fears of famine and was slightly eased in May. The launch of a new Israeli- and U.S.-backed aid system has been marred by chaos and violence, and the U.N. says it has struggled to bring in food because of Israeli restrictions, a breakdown of law and order, and widespread looting.
Israel accuses Hamas of siphoning off aid, but the U.N. and aid groups deny there is any systematic diversion of aid to militants.
Hamas has suffered major setbacks militarily, and Israel says it has killed more than 20,000 militants, without providing evidence. The militants still hold 55 hostages — less than half of them believed to be alive — and control areas outside of military zones despite facing rare protests earlier this year.
Palestinians carry bags containing food and humanitarian aid packages delivered by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, a U.S.-backed organization, in Rafah, southern Gaza Strip, Tuesday, June 10, 2025. AP
GAZA – The Gaza civil defense agency said Israeli forces opened fire on people waiting to enter a US-backed food distribution center on Wednesday, killing 31 and wounding “about 200.”
“We transported at least 31 martyrs and about 200 wounded as a result of Israeli tank and drone fire on thousands of citizens… on their way to receive food from the American aid center,” civil defense spokesman Mahmud Bassal told AFP.
The Israeli army did not immediately respond to an AFP request for comment.
Restrictions imposed on media in the Gaza Strip and the difficulties of access on the ground mean AFP is not able to independently verify the death tolls announced by the civil defense agency.
Bassal said thousands of Palestinians had been gathering since 2 am (2300 GMT Tuesday) in the hope of reaching the US and Israeli-backed food distribution center.
“Israeli tanks fired several times, then at around 5:30 am intensified their fire, coinciding with heavy fire from drones targeting civilians,” he said.
Mohammad Abu Salima, head of Gaza City’s Al-Shifa hospital, told AFP it had received the bodies of 24 people killed while waiting to enter the aid center and was treating 96 who had been wounded.
Al-Awda hospital, in Nuseirat camp in central Gaza, said in a statement that it had received seven bodies and was treating 112 people who had been wounded in the same incident.
There have been a series of deadly shootings since the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) first opened aid distribution points in the Palestinian territory on May 27, as Israel faced mounting international condemnation over the humanitarian conditions.
People walk on Tartous city beach, northwest of Syria, along the Mediterranean sea at sunset, July 18, 2008. REUTERS /File Photo
DAMASCUS, June 11 – Syria’s Islamist-led government has decreed that women should wear burkinis or other swimwear that covers the body at public beaches and swimming pools, while permitting Western-style beachwear at private clubs and luxury hotels.
The tourism ministry decision issued this week marks the first time the Damascus authorities have issued guidelines related to what women can wear since Bashar al-Assad was toppled in December.
During the Assad family’s iron-fisted rule of Syria, which was shaped by a secular Arab nationalist ideology, the state imposed no such restrictions, though people often dressed modestly at public beaches, reflecting conservative norms.
The new requirements were set out in a wider decree dated June 9 and which included public safety guidelines for beaches and swimming pools ahead of the summer, such as not spending too long in the sun and avoiding jellyfish.
It said that beachgoers and visitors to public pools should wear “appropriate swimwear that respects public decency and the feelings of different segments of society”, requiring “more modest swimsuits” and specifying “the burkini or swimming clothes that cover the body more”.
Women should wear a cover or a loose robe over their swimwear when moving between the beach and other areas, it said.
Men should wear a shirt when not swimming, and are not allowed to appear bare-chested “in the public areas outside the swimming areas – hotel lobbies or … restaurants”, it said.
The decree added that “in public areas outside the beaches and swimming pools”, it was preferable to wear loose clothing that covers the shoulders and knees and to avoid transparent or very tight clothing.
It offered an exception for hotels classed as four stars or above, and for private beaches, pools and clubs, saying “normal Western swimwear” was generally permitted, “with adherence to public morals and within the limits of public taste”.
Since Sunni Islamist-led rebels overthrew Assad, fliers have appeared urging women to cover up, but the government has issued no directives ordering them to observe conservative dress codes.
A temporary constitution passed earlier this year strengthened the language on the role of sharia (Islamic law) in Syria.
Interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa, who led an al Qaeda group before cutting ties with the jihadist network, has sidestepped interviewers’ questions on whether he thought Syria should apply sharia, saying this was for experts to decide.
KIEV, June 11 – At least three people were killed and 60 others injured in Russian drone strikes on Ukraine’s second-largest city Kharkiv early Wednesday, Kharkiv regional governor Oleg Synegubov said.
Nine children, aged between 2 and 15 years old, were among those injured, Synegubov said on Telegram.
He further said the attacks sparked fires in the Slobidskyi and Osnovianskyi districts and damaged residential high-rise buildings, private homes and public transportation infrastructure.
Kharkiv Mayor Ihor Terekhov reported that 17 Shahed-type combat drones targeted the city in less than 10 minutes overnight.
Search and rescue operations at the strike sites were ongoing as of Wednesday morning.
CAIRO, June 11 – Arab League (AL) Secretary-General Ahmed Aboul-Gheit said Wednesday that a joint decision by five Western countries to sanction two Israeli ministers is “welcomed.”
Israeli Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir and Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich have been put on a travel ban by Australia, Canada, New Zealand, Norway and Britain for repeatedly inciting violence against Palestinians in the West Bank, said a joint statement by the five countries’ foreign ministers on Tuesday.
According to an AL statement released Wednesday, Aboul-Gheit described the ban as “significant” to holding officials in the government of the occupying country accountable for engaging in “an obvious incitement of violence” and condoning Israeli settlers who attack Palestinians in the West Bank with impunity.
He said the sanction uncovers the criminal acts of far-right government officials committing war crimes and widespread violations of international humanitarian law in both the West Bank and the Gaza Strip.
The action is an important step toward rebalancing the international stance on war crimes against Palestinians and taking practical measures to hold the perpetrators accountable, said the statement.
Police officers stand guard behind police vehicles as flames rise during a the second night of riots, in Ballymena, Northern Ireland, June 10, 2025. REUTERS
LONDON, June 11 – Police in Northern Ireland said on Wednesday they arrested five people on suspicion of riotous behaviour following a second night of disorder in the town of Ballymena.
Rioters attacked police and set homes and cars on fire on Tuesday night following a protest over an alleged sexual assault. The police statement said 17 officers were injured in the riots.
JERUSALEM/ISTANBUL – Brazilian activist Thiago Avila, who was detained aboard the Gaza-bound aid ship Madleen, has begun a hunger and water strike, the Israeli human rights organization and legal center Adalah said Tuesday.
Israeli forces seized the vessel in international waters early Monday, detaining 12 activists from several countries while they were attempting to reach the Gaza Strip with humanitarian aid to challenge an Israeli blockade.
The activists included citizens from Brazil, France, the Netherlands, Germany, Sweden, Spain and Türkiye.
Four activists were deported from Israel on Tuesday, including Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg, while the remaining eight, who refused to sign deportation orders, are being held at Givon Prison in Ramla, Israel.
The eight appeared before a Ramla detention court Tuesday, facing deportation orders issued by Israel’s Interior Ministry, Adalah noted.
Adalah’s legal team, consisting of attorneys Hadeel Abu Saleh, Lubna Toma and volunteer lawyer Afnan Khalifa, argued during the five-hour hearing that Israel’s interception of the Madleen, part of the Freedom Flotilla Coalition aiming to break Gaza’s blockade, violated international law.
The team contended that the activists were forcibly brought to Israel from international waters, labeling them “illegal infiltrators” without legal basis, Adalah said.
The lawyers condemned Israel’s blockade of Gaza as an unlawful act of collective punishment aimed at starving civilians and violating interim measures issued by the International Court of Justice in South Africa’s genocide case against Israel. They asserted the activists acted within their legal rights to deliver humanitarian aid to Gaza, where residents face famine risks.
The legal team demanded the activists’ immediate, unconditional release and their return to the Madleen to complete their mission of delivering aid to Gaza before returning to their home countries.
They argued that Israel lacks jurisdiction, as the vessel was intercepted in international waters, rendering the detentions and deportation orders unlawful, according to the center.
The detained activists reported being “kidnapped” and forcibly brought to Israel, emphasizing that their sole aim was to break the Israeli siege and deliver aid to Gazans, Adalah said.
They also complained of unhygienic conditions while in detention, including bed bugs and undrinkable tap water.
Israeli authorities asked the court to keep the activists detained until their deportation under Israel’s Entry Law, which allows up to 72-hour detentions for those refusing voluntary departure.
The center reiterated its call for the activists’ immediate release and return to their home countries, expecting a court decision soon.
The Israeli army, rejecting international calls for a ceasefire, has pursued a brutal offensive against Gaza since October 2023, killing nearly 55,000 Palestinians, most of them women and children.
Last November, the International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant for war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza.
Israel also faces a genocide case at the International Court of Justice for its war on the enclave.
HOUSTON, United States – The Trump administration is planning to send up to 9,000 undocumented migrants to the US detention facility in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba as early as this week, the Washington Post and Politico reported Tuesday.
Officials told the news outlets that foreign nationals under consideration for transfer to the facility include migrants from Belgium, Britain, France, Germany, Haiti, Ireland, Lithuania, the Netherlands, Poland, Türkiye and Ukraine.
Since February, the US has held approximately 500 migrants at Guantanamo, but sources with knowledge of the transfer said the facility is being prepared for medical screenings for 9,000 individuals to determine if they are healthy enough to be sent to there.
Guantanamo Bay’s notorious history dates back to the aftermath of the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks on the US, where a large number suspected terrorists were sent after being captured by the US military.
President Donald Trump announced in January that he planned to use the detention facility to transfer undocumented migrants. The transfers could start as soon as Wednesday, with the plan that detainees would be housed at Guantanamo Bay temporarily before being deported to their countries of origin.
The move is part of the president’s crackdown on illegal immigration with the push for Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) raids to net more arrests and deportations of undocumented migrants.
“Under President Trump’s leadership, we are looking to set a goal of a minimum of 3,000 arrests for ICE every day,” White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller told Fox News last month, adding the administration planned to increase those numbers.
The official reason for the transfers is to free up bed space at detention facilities in US mainland states, and documents obtained by Politico and the Washington Post state that the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) may not notify the countries of the detained migrants in advance of their transfer to Guantanamo Bay.
A majority of the transfers are from US-friendly and European nations, which has alarmed some US diplomats, and some US State Department officials who work with European issues are reportedly trying to persuade DHS to abandon the plan.
“The message is to shock and horrify people, to upset people,” one State Department official told Politico. “But we’re allies.”
The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) filed a lawsuit aiming to prevent the government from transferring detainees to Guantanamo. That case is still pending.
“Defendants are using the threat of detention at Guantanamo to frighten immigrants, deter future migration, induce self-deportation, and coerce people in detention to give up claims against removal and accept deportation elsewhere,” ACLU attorneys said in a statement.
“The government has identified no legitimate purpose that is served by holding immigrant detainees at Guantanamo, rather than at detention facilities inside the United States.”
BRUSSELS – The European Parliament’s Left group condemned Israel’s detention of French-Palestinian lawmaker Rima Hassan and other activists onboard the Gaza-bound Madleen aid ship.
“European institutions must protect elected representatives from illegal detention and take immediate action to stop the genocide of Palestinians in Gaza,” the group said Tuesday in a statement.
The humanitarian mission, which aimed to deliver aid to Gaza, was intercepted by Israeli forces in international waters. The activists were taken to the port of Ashdod before being transferred to a detention center at Ben Gurion Airport in Tel Aviv.
Israeli authorities accused the crew of entering Israeli territory illegally and pressured them to sign documents acknowledging the alleged violation, which would result in expulsion and an entry ban.
While four of the activists reportedly signed due to personal circumstances, eight others refused, including Hassan, denouncing the move as an attempt to legitimize an unlawful detention.
The Left group emphasized that the interception of the ship violates international law, particularly the International Court of Justice’s interim ruling from 16 months ago, which obliges Israel to ensure that humanitarian aid reaches Gaza. The group also pointed out that Hassan’s detention breaches her parliamentary immunity.
Contrary to “Israeli claims of exemplary treatment,” The Left said the activists were deprived of food and water during the 16-hour journey to Ashdod and forced to remain on the ship’s deck until nightfall.
The group also called for the immediate suspension of the EU-Israel Association Agreement, an arms embargo on Israel, and stronger diplomatic action to end the blockade of Gaza.
It urged European institutions to protect elected representatives from illegal detention and to take urgent measures to stop what it described as the “ongoing genocide of the Palestinian people.”
“They must be liberated immediately, without conditions, and we must use every lever available to us to put an end to the carnage and the genocide in Gaza,” said Manon Aubry, co-chair of The Left.
The Madleen was seized by Israeli naval forces early Monday while sailing in international waters and redirected to the port of Ashdod.
Part of the Freedom Flotilla Coalition, the aid ship had a 12-strong crew on board, including Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg and Hassan.
Other activists aboard the Madleen included Yasemin Acar from Germany, Baptiste Andre, Pascal Maurieras, Yanis Mhamdi and Reva Viard from France, Thiago Avila from Brazil, Suayb Ordu from Türkiye, Sergio Toribio from Spain, Marco van Rennes from the Netherlands and Omar Faiad, a journalist with Al Jazeera Mubasher, also from France.
Palestinians carry bags containing food and humanitarian aid packages delivered by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, a U.S.-backed organization, in Rafah, southern Gaza Strip, Tuesday, June 10, 2025. (AP
DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip – Palestinians desperately trying to access aid in Gaza came under fire again Tuesday, killing 36 people and wounding 207, the Palestinian Health Ministry said.
Experts and humanitarian aid workers say Israel’s blockade and 20-month military campaign have pushed Gaza to the brink of famine.
At least 163 people have been killed and 1,495 wounded in a number of shootings near aid sites run by the Israeli and U.S.-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, which are in military zones that are off-limits to independent media. The Israeli military has acknowledged firing warning shots on previous occasions at people who it says approached its forces in a suspicious manner.
The foundation says there has been no violence in or around the distribution points themselves. But it has warned people to stay on designated access routes and it paused delivery last week while it held talks with the military on improving safety.
A police officer stands near a body at the site of a motorcycle explosion in front of a police station at Melendez neighborhood, in Cali, Colombia, June 10, 2025. REUTERS
BOGOTA, June 10 – Eight people were killed and 28 others injured Tuesday in a wave of terrorist attacks in southwest Colombia, local authorities confirmed.
The latest terrorist attack occurred in a rural area in Jamundi, a town in western Valle del Cauca department, which claimed three lives.
Jamundi mayor Paola Castillo condemned the attack and said that officers found a cylinder on the Guachinte Bridge that exploded.
The head of the Colombian police force, Carlos Fernando Triana confirmed on the social platform X that three police officers died as a result of the wave of attacks in the city of Cali, capital of Valle del Cauca department. Two civilians were also killed and another 10 injured.
The Third Division of the Colombian National Army condemned the attacks in various towns in the southwestern departments in Colombia.
“We express our absolute support for the Colombian police, which have been a direct target of these cowardly attacks, and we reiterate our unwavering commitment to the defense and security of citizens,” it said in a statement.
The army announced that security forces have been deployed as reinforcements in the affected areas.
The body of Jose Carabali Galeano is covered in his living room, as his relatives look on, after a bomb exploded in Guachinte, Cauca Valley, Colombia, Tuesday, June 10, 2025. AP
BOGOTA, Colombia – Seven people, including two police officers, were killed in Colombia on Tuesday, as rebel groups detonated bombs near police stations in the city of Cali and the neighboring Cauca province, Colombia’s National Police said in a statement.
Military and police spokespeople blamed the attacks on the FARC-EMC, a group led by former members of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia who broke away from the group after it signed a peace deal with the government in 2016.
Authorities said the rebels placed bombs in cars and motorcycles that were parked near police stations, while also waging some attacks with gunfire and grenades. Colombia’s police said there were a total of 24 attacks on Tuesday in the city Cali and the surrounding provinces of Cauca and Valle del Cauca, in which 28 people were also injured, including 19 civilians.
The attacks on the police stations come just days after Miguel Uribe, a conservative presidential candidate, was shot during a rally in Bogota. Authorities say they are investigating who was behind the attack on Uribe, who is in a critical condition in hospital in Bogota.
Colombia’s government has struggled to contain violence in urban and rural areas as several rebel groups try to take over territory abandoned by the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia following its peace deal with the government.
Peace talks between the FARC-EMC faction and the government broke down last year after a series of attacks on indigenous communities.
The government is currently holding talks with another faction of the group, that is led by commander Luis Alberto Alban, known also as Marcos Calarca.
June 11 – Russia’s overnight drone attack on Kharkiv killed at least one person and injured another 23, the mayor of the northeastern Ukrainian city said on the Telegram messaging app on Wednesday.
Khaby Lame poses for photographers upon arrival at the premiere of the film Oppenheimer in London, July 13, 2023. AP/File
LAS VEGAS – Khaby Lame, the world’s most popular TikTok personality with millions of followers, has left the U.S. after being detained by immigration agents in Las Vegas for allegedly overstaying his visa.
The Senegalese-Italian influencer, whose legal name is Seringe Khabane Lame, was detained Friday at Harry Reid International Airport but was allowed to leave the country without a deportation order, a spokesperson for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement confirmed in a statement.
Lame arrived in the U.S. on April 30 and “overstayed the terms of his visa,” the ICE spokesperson said. The Associated Press sent a message seeking comment Tuesday to the email address listed on Lame’s Instagram account. He has not publicly commented on his detainment.
His detainment and voluntary departure from the U.S. comes amid President Donald Trump’s escalating crackdown on immigration, including raids in Los Angeles that sparked days of protests against ICE, as the president tests the bounds of his executive authority.
A voluntary departure — which was granted to Lame — allows those facing removal from the U.S. to avoid a deportation order on their immigration record, which could prevent them from being allowed back into the U.S. for up to a decade.
The 25-year-old rose to international fame during the pandemic without ever saying a word in his videos, which would show him reacting to absurdly complicated “life hacks.” He has over 162 million followers on TikTok alone.
The Senegal-born influencer moved to Italy when he was an infant with his working class parents and has Italian citizenship.
His internet fame quickly evolved. He signed a multi-year partnership with designer brand Hugo Boss in 2022. In January, he was appointed as a UNICEF goodwill ambassador.
Last month, he attended the Met Gala in New York City, days after arriving in the U.S.
Armed police in riot gear stand guard during a second night of riots, in Ballymena, Northern Ireland, June 10, 2025. REUTERS
BALLYMENA, Northern Ireland, June 10 – Rioters threw petrol bombs and other missiles at police in the Northern Irish town of Ballymena in the second successive night of disorder that followed a protest over an alleged sexual assault in the town, police and local media said on Tuesday.
Police said they were dealing with “serious disorder” in a part of the town, which is about 45 km (30 miles) from the capital Belfast, and urged people to avoid the area.
Officers responded by using water cannon against the rioters, a video posted on social media by a journalist from the Belfast Telegraph showed. Separate protests also blocked off some roads in Belfast, a Reuters witness said.
Fifteen police officers were injured, with some requiring hospital treatment, after they came under sustained attack for a number of hours on Monday when masked people broke from the protest to build barricades and attack properties.
Four houses were damaged by fire and windows and doors were smashed in other homes and businesses, in what police said they are investigating as racially-motivated hate attacks.
Hundreds of protesters gathered in Ballymena on Monday in response to a case involving two teenage boys who appeared in court earlier in the day, accused of sexually assaulting a teenage girl in the County Antrim town.
Local media reported that the charges were read to the teenagers via an interpreter.
QUITO, June 10 – At least eight people were shot dead Tuesday morning in Ecuador’s southwestern coastal city of Guayaquil, amid a surge in criminal violence, national police said.
The attack occurred in the Pascuales district, along the Daule highway. “Eight people were killed by gunfire,” police said in a statement, adding that officers were deployed immediately to investigate and pursue those responsible.
Local media reported that the victims were gunned down in Guayaquil’s industrial zone, near the Peca area and outside a municipal market, just as vendors were beginning their workday.
Five of the victims were motorcycle taxi drivers, according to local TV reports.
Police suggested the spike in violence may be linked to the recent seizure of four assault rifles over the weekend.
Guayaquil, one of Ecuador’s most dangerous cities, has seen a string of deadly attacks in recent days. On Sunday, four men were killed in a home in Bastion Popular. On Monday, a married couple was shot dead after dropping off their children at school in the Mucho Lote neighborhood.
The city, capital of Guayas province, has been under a state of emergency since April due to what the government calls a “grave internal disturbance.”
Ecuador has been battling a severe security crisis since President Daniel Noboa declared an “internal armed conflict” in January 2024 against organized crime groups tied to drug trafficking.
Mourners react during the funeral of Palestinians killed by Israeli fire, according to the Gaza health ministry, near an aid distribution center in central Gaza, at Al-Shifa hospital, in Gaza City, June 10, 2025. REUTERS
ANKARA – At least 54,981 Palestinians have been killed in Israel’s genocidal war on the Gaza Strip since October 2023, the Health Ministry said on Tuesday.
A ministry statement said that 54 bodies were brought to hospitals in the last 24 hours, while 305 people were injured, taking the total number of injuries in the Israeli onslaught to 126,920.
“Many victims are still trapped under the rubble and on the roads as rescuers are unable to reach them,” it added.
The Israeli army resumed its attacks on the Gaza Strip on March 18 and has since killed 4,701 people and injured 14,879 others, shattering a ceasefire and prisoner exchange agreement that took hold in January.
A Palestinian youth kicks a tear gas canister away after it was fired by Israeli forces at protesters hurling rocks, during a large-scale military raid in the old town of Nablus city in the occupied West Bank on June 10, 2025. AFP
NABLUS – Israel launched a large-scale military operation on Tuesday in the old city of Nablus in the occupied West Bank, AFP journalists reported, with the army reporting injured troops and two Palestinians “eliminated.”
Dozens of military vehicles entered the city shortly after midnight, an AFP journalist reported, after a curfew had been announced over loudspeakers the day before.
Military operations are focused on the old city, a densely populated area bordering a large downtown square where young men and boys gathered to burn tires and throw stones at armored vehicles.
The Israeli army said that one soldier was “moderately injured” and three others “lightly injured” when two Palestinians attempted to steal a soldier’s weapon.
Troops opened fire and “eliminated” both Palestinians, the army said in a statement, using a term the military often uses when killing militants.
AFPTV footage showed Israeli soldiers standing in one of the old city’s narrow streets, next to the bodies of two civilians.
Neither Palestinian medics nor the Israeli army confirmed the two deaths.
The Palestinian Red Crescent said on Tuesday that three people were injured from bullet shrapnel, four from “physical assaults,” and dozens more from tear gas inhalation.
It added that many injuries had to be handled within the old city after its ambulances were blocked from entering.
Nablus is located in the northern West Bank, a Palestinian territory occupied by Israel since 1967.
The territory’s north has been the target of a major Israeli military operation dubbed “Iron Wall” since Jan. 21.
On Tuesday, Israeli soldiers entered shops to search them and arrested several people for questioning, according to an AFP correspondent at the scene.
The correspondent added that Israeli flags were raised over the roofs of buildings in the Old City that had been turned into temporary bases for Israeli troops.
Violence has surged in the West Bank since the start of the Gaza war, triggered by the unprecedented Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israel.
At least 938 Palestinians, including fighters but also many civilians, have been killed in the West Bank by Israeli soldiers or settlers, according to data from the Palestinian Authority.
