tag

Iraqi security forces announced Friday the arrest of two prominent members of the ISIS organization during a security operation in Kirkuk Governorate, northern Iraq.The Iraqi Military Intelligence Directorate stated that security forces managed, during a special operation, to apprehend two ISIS members, noting that one of the detainees was responsible for logistical tasks, while the other participated in several attacks targeting Iraqi security forces.The statement added that the operation comes as part of ongoing efforts to enhance security and stability in the governorate and to pursue remnants of the ISIS organization.Iraqi forces continue to pursue ISIS remnants and sleeper cells across various provinces of the country.

Israeli forces killed at least 16 Palestinians across Gaza Thursday and wounded dozens in the south of the enclave, local medics said, as residents reported that Gaza City suburbs were under intensifying bombardment.The Israeli military is preparing to seize Gaza City, the territory's largest urban centre, despite international calls on Israel to desist over fears that a ground offensive would cause significant casualties and displace the roughly one million Palestinians sheltering there.In Gaza City residents said families were fleeing their homes, with most heading towards the coast, as Israeli forces shelled the eastern suburbs of Shejaia, Zeitoun, and Sabra. Thursday's deaths took to 71 the number of Palestinians killed by Israeli fire in the past 24 hours, Gaza's health ministry said.The Israeli military said in a statement that it was continuing to operate throughout the enclave.The military had killed three Hamas fighters in the past day, it said, without saying how they had identified the individuals.A spokesperson for the International Committee of the Red Cross said 31 patients, most with gunshot wounds, were admitted to the Red Cross Field Hospital in the southern Gaza city of Rafah. Four of them were declared dead on arrival."Patients said they were injured while trying to reach food distribution sites," the spokesperson said, adding that since the aid hubs began operations on May 27, the hospital had treated over 5,000 "weapon-wounded patients".United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres told reporters Israel's expanded military operation in Gaza City would have "devastating consequences".Guterres also said UN-led humanitarian efforts in the devastated Palestinian enclave were being blocked or delayed and people were dying of hunger as a "result of deliberate decisions that defy basic humanity"."Starvation of the civilian population must never be used as a method of warfare. Civilians must be protected. Humanitarian access must be unimpeded," he said. "No more excuses. No more obstacles. No more lies."With the enclave in the grips of a humanitarian crisis, the Gaza health ministry said Thursday that four more people, including two children, had died of malnutrition and starvation in the enclave, raising the number of deaths from such causes to 317 people, including 121 children, since the war started.Dozens of Palestinians were admitted to Nasser Hospital in nearby Khan Younis with gunshot wounds, according to a doctor there who said soldiers had fired on a crowd of Palestinians that had gathered near an aid distribution hub.Mohammad Saqer, the head of nursing, told Reuters most of the patients had been admitted with gunshot wounds to the upper parts of the body and that many were in critical condition.The patients had reported they were shot as they sought to collect food from a distribution site in Rafah, he said.The Israeli military had no immediate comment.

The State of Qatar strongly condemned the Israeli occupation forces' incursion into the territory of the friendly Syrian Arab Republic, considering it a blatant violation of Syria's sovereignty, a flagrant breach of international law, and a challenge to the international will supporting Syria’s reconstruction, progress, and the establishment of peace in the region.In a statement issued Tuesday, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs called on the international community to take decisive action against the Israeli occupation and to compel it to stop its repeated attacks on Syrian territory and its irresponsible actions, which pose a serious threat to regional and international security.The Ministry reaffirmed the State of Qatar's full support for Syria's sovereignty, independence, territorial integrity, and the aspirations of its friendly people for security and stability.