Israel on Tuesday intercepted a ballistic missile launched by Yemen’s Houthi militant group towards Ben Gurion International Airport near Tel Aviv, the Israeli military confirmed. The interception followed air raid sirens sounding across multiple regions of the country.Houthi military spokesperson Yahya Saree claimed responsibility for the strike, saying the group had targeted the airport using a ‘Palestine 2’ hypersonic ballistic missile. Saree had made a similar claim just hours earlier.Meanwhile, A Houthi security official, requesting anonymity to discuss sensitive matters, told AFP that “the bombing destroyed the port’s dock, which had been rebuilt following previous strikes.”The attempted strike came a day after Israel launched an airstrike on Houthi targets in Yemen’s Hodeidah port. The operation was part of Israel’s ongoing retaliation against the Iran-backed Houthis, who have been attacking vessels headed to Israeli ports and firing missiles into Israeli territory.The Houthis recently resumed deadly attacks in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden, targeting ships they accuse of having links to Israel, to put pressure on Israel to end the Gaza war.
Smoke rises over western Deir al-Balah during an Israeli offensive on Monday
The World Health Organization (WHO) says Israel’s ground offensive in central Gaza has compromised its efforts to continue working, after its facilities came under attack.
The UN agency accused Israeli forces of attacking a building housing its staff and their families in the city of Deir al-Balah on Monday and mistreating those sheltering there. Its main warehouse was also attacked and destroyed.
The Israeli military has not yet commented.
Its first major ground operation in Deir al-Balah since the start of the war with Hamas 21 months ago has displaced tens of thousands of Palestinian civilians, amid warnings of a severe hunger crisis across the territory.
The UN said on Monday it was receiving reports of malnourished people arriving at clinics and hospitals in extremely poor health, while the Hamas-run health ministry said 19 people had died from malnutrition since Saturday.
On Sunday, the Israeli military ordered the immediate evacuation of six city blocks in southern Deir al-Balah, warning that it would be operating “with great force to destroy the enemy’s capabilities and terrorist infrastructure”.
The estimated 50,000 to 80,000 people living in the affected areas were instructed to head south towards the al-Mawasi area in the south of the territory.
The UN’s humanitarian office said UN staff would remain in Deir al-Balah despite the evacuation order, spread across dozens of premises whose co-ordinates had been shared with Israel, and stressed that they had to be protected.
On Monday night, the WHO put out a statement saying it condemned “in the strongest terms” attacks on its facilities.
It said the WHO staff residence was attacked three times, and that staff and their families, including children, were “exposed to grave danger and traumatized after air strikes caused a fire and significant damage”.
“Israeli military entered the premises, forcing women and children to evacuate on foot toward al-Mawasi amid active conflict. Male staff and family members were handcuffed, stripped, interrogated on the spot, and screened at gunpoint,” it added.
“Two WHO staff and two family members were detained. Three were later released, while one staff member remains in detention.”
The WHO demanded the immediate release of its detained staff member and the protection of its other staff, who have been relocated with their families to its office in Deir al-Balah.
The WHO’s main warehouse in the city was damaged after “an attack caused explosions and fire inside”, the organisation said. The warehouse was later looted by desperate crowds, it added.
The agency did not attribute blame for the attack, but said it was “part of a pattern of systematic destruction of health facilities”.
The WHO warned that its operational presence in Gaza was “now compromised, crippling efforts to sustain a collapsing health system and pushing survival further out of reach for more than two million people”.
There has been no comment yet from the Israeli military on the attacks on the WHO’s premises or on the wider offensive in Deir al-Balah.
But Israel’s Haaretz newspaper reported on Monday that troops were operating to “establish a corridor that will cut through the city, severing it from the al-Mawasi area and preventing free movement between central Gaza refugee camps where the Israeli army has no ground presence”.
According to the UN, about 87.8% of Gaza is now covered by Israeli evacuation orders or is within Israeli militarized zones, leaving the 2.1 million population squeezed into about 46 sq km of land where essential services have collapsed.
Israeli sources say that the possible presence of Israeli hostages held by Hamas is one reason why Deir al-Balah has so far not been the target of a ground offensive. At least 20 of the 50 hostages still in captivity are believed to be alive.
Hostages’ families have expressed concern that an offensive could endanger them.
The Israeli military launched a campaign in Gaza in response to the Hamas-led attack on southern Israel on 7 October 2023, in which about 1,200 people were killed and 251 others were taken hostage.
At least 59,029 people have been killed in Gaza since then, according to the territory’s health ministry.
Gaza is ‘hell on earth’ with doctors fainting from hunger, UN warns, as 1,000 estimated to have been killed seeking food
The head of the UN Palestinian Refugee Agency said on Tuesday that its staff members as well as doctors and humanitarian workers are fainting on duty due to hunger and exhaustion, Reuters reports.
Unrwa commissioner general Philippe Lazzarini said in a statement, shared by his spokesperson at a press briefing in Geneva:
Caretakers, including UNRWA colleagues in Gaza, are also in need of care now, doctors, nurses, journalists, humanitarians, among them, UNRWA staff are hungry. Many are now fainting due to hunger and exhaustion while performing their duties.
Lazzarini described the situation in Gaza as “hell on earth”, adding that nowhere was safe.
The Unrwa estimates that 1,000 starving people have been reported killed while seeking food aid since the end of May.
After talks to extend a six-week ceasefire broke down, Israel imposed a full blockade on Gaza on 2 March, allowing nothing in until trucks were again permitted at a trickle in late May.
In a post on X on Monday, Unrwa said that shortages in the Palestinian territory had caused food prices to increase by 40 times, while the aid stockpiled in its warehouses outside Gaza could feed “the entire population for over three months.”
Palestinians carry aid supplies after trucks loaded with aid entered from Israel through central Gaza, in Gaza City on 22 July 2025. Photograph: Khamis Al-Rifi/Reuters
Key events
Iran said on Tuesday that 27 inmates were still at large after an Israeli airstrike last month targeted Evin prison in the north of the capital, Tehran, local media reported, according to the Associated Press (AP)
The airstrikes were part of Israel’s 12-day bombardment of Iran that killed about 1,100 people, while 28 were left dead in Israel in Iranian retaliatory strikes.
Judiciary’s news website, Mizanonline, quoted spokesperson Asghar Jahangir as saying 75 prisoners had escaped after the strike, of which 48 were either recaptured or voluntarily returned. He said authorities will detain the others if they don’t hand themselves over.
Jahangir said the escapers were prisoners doing time for minor offences.
Amnesty International calls for war crimes investigation into Israeli strike on Iranian prison
Amnesty International on Tuesday called for a war crimes investigation into Israel’s deadly air attack on Tehran’s Evin prison during last month’s 12-day war.
The strike, confirmed by Israel, killed 79 people, according to a provisional tally by Iranian authorities.
It also destroyed part of the administrative building in Evin, a large, heavily fortified complex in the north of Tehran, which rights groups say holds political prisoners and foreign nationals.
Amnesty International, an international non-governmental organisation that campaigns to protect human rights, said in a statement that the Israeli attack “deliberate” and “a serious violation of international humanitarian law”.
The airstrikes should therefore be “criminally investigated as war crimes”, it said.
Amnesty said:
The Israeli military carried out multiple air strikes on Evin prison, killing and injuring scores of civilians and causing extensive damage and destruction in at least six locations across the prison complex.
The organisation based its assessment on what it said were verified video footage, satellite images and witness statements.
There was nothing to suggest that Evin prison could justifiably be seen as a “legal military objective”, it said.
The victims of the 23 June attack on the prison included administrative staff, guards, prisoners and visiting relatives, as well as people living nearby.
Between 1,500 and 2,000 prisoners were being held at the time in the prison.
Government offices in at least 10 Iranian provinces, including the capital, have been ordered to close on Wednesday in a bid to conserve water and electricity, as temperatures in parts of southern and south-western Iran soared above 50C (122F), Agence France-Presse (AFP) reports.
At least 10 provincial capitals recorded temperatures above 40C on Monday, including Tehran, which reached 40C for the first time this year, the meteorological agency said.
The heatwave comes amid a sharp drop in rainfall – the worst in 60 years in the capital, according to Tehran’s provincial water supply company.
The drought has seen the water levels of dams supplying Tehran drop to “their lowest level in a century”, the company said, advising people to use a tank and pump to cope with ongoing water disruptions.
Many residents across Tehran reported water outages lasting several hours in the past few days.
“The water crisis is more serious than what is being talked about,” president Masoud Pezeshkian warned on Sunday, adding that the country would “face a situation in the future for which no solution can be found” if current trends continue.
He said:
Measures such as transferring water from other places to Tehran will not solve the problem fundamentally
Gaza is ‘hell on earth’ with doctors fainting from hunger, UN warns, as 1,000 estimated to have been killed seeking food
The head of the UN Palestinian Refugee Agency said on Tuesday that its staff members as well as doctors and humanitarian workers are fainting on duty due to hunger and exhaustion, Reuters reports.
Unrwa commissioner general Philippe Lazzarini said in a statement, shared by his spokesperson at a press briefing in Geneva:
Caretakers, including UNRWA colleagues in Gaza, are also in need of care now, doctors, nurses, journalists, humanitarians, among them, UNRWA staff are hungry. Many are now fainting due to hunger and exhaustion while performing their duties.
Lazzarini described the situation in Gaza as “hell on earth”, adding that nowhere was safe.
The Unrwa estimates that 1,000 starving people have been reported killed while seeking food aid since the end of May.
After talks to extend a six-week ceasefire broke down, Israel imposed a full blockade on Gaza on 2 March, allowing nothing in until trucks were again permitted at a trickle in late May.
In a post on X on Monday, Unrwa said that shortages in the Palestinian territory had caused food prices to increase by 40 times, while the aid stockpiled in its warehouses outside Gaza could feed “the entire population for over three months.”
Palestinians carry aid supplies after trucks loaded with aid entered from Israel through central Gaza, in Gaza City on 22 July 2025. Photograph: Khamis Al-Rifi/Reuters
The Roman Catholic church’s most senior cleric in the Holy Land said on Tuesday that the humanitarian situation in Gaza was “morally unacceptable”, after visiting the war-torn Palestinian territory, Agence France-Presse (AFP) reports.
Latin Patriarch Pierbattista Pizzaballa told a news conference:
We have seen men holding out in the sun for hours in the hope of a simple meal.
It’s morally unacceptable and unjustified.
Nick Maynard
Prof Nick Maynard is a consultant surgeon at Oxford university hospital who has been travelling regularly to Gaza for 15 years. He is currently volunteering with Medical Aid for Palestinians (MAP) at Nasser hospital in Gaza.
I’m writing this from Nasser hospital in southern Gaza, where I’ve just finished operating on another severely malnourished young teenager. A seven-month-old baby lies in our paediatric intensive care unit, so tiny and malnourished that I initially mistook her for a newborn. The phrase “skin and bones” doesn’t do justice to the way her body has been ravaged. She is literally wasting away before our eyes and, despite our best efforts, we are powerless to save her. We are witnessing deliberate starvation in Gaza right now.
This is my third time in Gaza since December 2023 as a volunteer surgeon with Medical Aid for Palestinians. I experienced mass casualty events and raised the alarm about malnutrition back in January 2024. But nothing has prepared me for the sheer horror I’m witnessing now: the weaponisation of starvation against an entire population.
The malnutrition crisis has become catastrophic since my last visit. Every day I watch patients deteriorate and die, not from their injuries, but because they are too malnourished to survive surgery. The surgical repairs that we carry out fall to pieces, patients get terrible infections, then they die. It is happening repeatedly, and it is heartbreaking to watch. Four babies have died in the last few weeks in this hospital – not from bombs or bullets, but from starvation.
Families and staff do their best to try to bring in what they can, but there simply isn’t enough food available in Gaza. For infants, we have virtually no baby formula. Children are being given 10% dextrose (sugar water), which has no nutritional value, and often their mothers are too malnourished to breastfeed. When an international colleague tried to bring baby formula into Gaza, Israeli authorities confiscated it.
You can read more of Nick Maynard’s piece here: I’m witnessing the deliberate starvation of Gaza’s children – why is the world letting it happen?
Regarding the possibility of reimposing international sanctions on Iran, state media quoted the country’s deputy foreign minister Kazem Gharibabadi as saying on Tuesday that the Iranian government feels the “snapback” mechanism lacks any legal ground, Reuters reports.
He was speaking ahead of a meeting on Friday with three European states known as the E3 – Britain, France and Germany.
The E3 have said that if no progress is reached by the end of August over Iran’s nuclear programme, they will invoke a “snapback” mechanism – a process that would reimpose UN sanctions on Tehran that were lifted under a 2015 deal in return for restrictions on Iran’s nuclear programme.
Referring to Friday’s meeting in Istanbul, Gharibabadi said:
We will express our position regarding the E3’s comments on the snapback mechanism, which we think lacks any legal ground.
Nonetheless, our effort will be to see if we can find common solutions to manage the situation.
The three European countries, along with China and Russia, are the remaining parties to the 2015 nuclear deal – from which the US withdrew in 2018.
Gharibabadi added:
It has been seven years that the nuclear deal is not being implemented by the Europeans following the U.S. departure from it. How can they argue that Iran is not following the deal when they themselves have not done so?
Tehran denies seeking a nuclear weapon and says its nuclear programme is solely meant for civilian purposes.
A severe heatwave sweeping Iran has disrupted water and electricity supplies in much of the country, with reservoir levels dropping to their lowest point in a century, state media said on Tuesday, Agence France-Presse (AFP) reports.
At least 18 of the country’s 31 provinces, including Tehran, have been affected by the extreme temperatures, which began on Friday and expected to ease gradually by Thursday, according to meteorological authorities cited by state television.
15 people killed by Israeli strikes in Gaza, defence agency says
Gaza’s civil defence agency said Israeli strikes killed 15 people in the Palestinian territory on Tuesday, as the military expanded ground operations to the central city of Deir al-Balah, Agence France-Presse (AFP) reports.
Agency spokesperson Mahmud Bassal told AFP that Israeli strikes on the al-Shati camp west of Gaza City killed at least 13 people and wounded more than 50.
Most of Gaza’s population has been displaced at least once during 21 months of conflict and the al-Shati camp, on the Mediterranean coast, hosts thousands of people displaced from the north in tents and makeshift shelters.
Bassal said two more people were killed inDeir al-Balah, where the Israeli army said it would expand its ground operations, having ordered the evacuation of much of the area.
Palestinians mourn their relatives killed from an Israeli army bombardment of Gaza, at Shifa hospital in Gaza City on 22 July 2025. Photograph: Jehad Alshrafi/AP
The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (Ocha) estimated that between 50,000 and 80,000 people were living in the area, which until now had been considered relatively safe. About 30,000 were living in displacement sites.
AFP footage from central Gaza showed a large plume of smoke rising over Deir al-Balah on Tuesday while a surveillance drone was heard buzzing overhead.
Ocha said nearly 88% of the entire Gaza Strip was now either under evacuation orders or within Israeli militarised zones, forcing the population of 2.4 million into an ever-shrinking space.
French foreign minister Jean-Noel Barrot on Tuesday urged Israel to allow foreign press into the besieged Palestinian territory of Gaza, as warnings of famine mount after 21 months of war, Agence France-Presse (AFP) reports.
He told France Inter radio in an interview from eastern Ukraine:
I ask that the free and independent press be allowed to access Gaza to show what is happening there and to bear witness.
He spoke after the AFP news agency warned that the lives of Palestinian freelance journalists it was working with in Gaza were in danger and urged Israel to allow them and their families to leave the occupied coastal territory.
Asked if France would help evacuate these stringers, Barrot said France was “addressing the issue”.
He said:
We hope to be able to evacuate some collaborators of journalists in the coming weeks.
Barrot urged an “immediate ceasefire” after Israel on Monday expanded military operations to the central city of Deir al-Balah.
He said:
There is no longer any justification for the Israeli army’s military operations in Gaza.
This is an offensive that will exacerbate an already catastrophic situation and cause new forced displacements of populations, which we condemn in the strongest terms.
Death toll in Iran from 12-day war rises to 1,062, government says
At least 1,062 people died in Iran in its 12-day war with Israel last month, government spokesperson Fatemeh Mohajerani said on Tuesday, Reuters reports.
There were 102 women and 38 children among the dead. The previous official death toll was 935.
Yemen’s Houthi rebelslaunched two attackstargeting Israel’s main airport, the latest on Tuesday, with the Israeli army intercepting both, a day after striking the rebel-held Yemeni port of Hodeida, Agence France-Presse (AFP) reports.
Israel has repeatedly struck Houthi-held parts of Yemen after the Iran-backed rebels began targeting the country with missile and drone attacks, claiming solidarity with Palestinians over the Gaza war.
The Houthis targeted Ben Gurion International airport “using a ‘Palestine 2’ hypersonic ballistic missile”, according to military spokesperson Yarya Saree, who had hours earlier claimed a similar attack on the airport.
On Monday, Israeli defence minister Israel Katz said “Yemen’s fate will be the same as Tehran’s” after hitting Houthi targets in Hodeida port in an attack aimed to prevent any attempt to restore infrastructure previously hit.
A Houthi security official, requesting anonymity to discuss sensitive matters, told AFP that “the bombing destroyed the port’s dock, which had been rebuilt after previous strikes.”
The Houthis recently resumed deadly attacks in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden, targeting ships they accuse of having links to Israel, to put pressure on Israel to end the Gaza war.
Reimposing international sanctions will only make the situation over Iran’s nuclear issue more complex, Iranian deputy foreign minister Kazem Gharibabadi said on Tuesday, according to state media, ahead of a meeting on Friday with three European states, Reuters reports.
The so-called E3 – Britain, France and Germany – have warned they will invoke the UN snapback mechanism to reimpose international sanctions on Iran if no progress is reached by end of August over the country’s nuclear programme.
WHO says Israeli forces attacked staff residence and main warehouse in Gaza
The World Health Organization (WHO) has said the Israeli military attacked its staff residence and main warehouse in Deir al-Balah on Monday, compromising its operations in Gaza.
The WHO said its staff residence was attacked three times, with airstrikes causing a fire and extensive damage, and endangering staff and their families, including children.
On Monday, Israeli tanks for the first time pushed into southern and eastern districts of Deir al-Balah, an area where Israeli sources said the military believes hostages may be held. Tank shelling in the area hit houses and mosques, killing at least three Palestinians and wounding several others, local medics said.
The WHO said:
Israeli military entered the premises, forcing women and children to evacuate on foot toward al-Mawasi amid active conflict. Male staff and family members were handcuffed, stripped, interrogated on the spot, and screened at gunpoint.
Two WHO staff and two family members were detained, it said in a post on X. It said three were later released, while one staff member remained in detention. Its director general, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said: “WHO demands the immediate release of the detained staff and protection of all its staff.”
Deir al-Balah is packed with Palestinians displaced during more than 21 months of war in Gaza, hundreds of whom fled west or south after Israel issued an evacuation order, saying it sought to destroy infrastructure and the capabilities of the militant group Hamas.
But the area is also the main hub for humanitarian efforts in the devastated territory and Gaza health officials have warned of potential “mass deaths” in coming days from hunger.
Israeli tank shelling killed at least 12 Palestinians and wounded dozens others in a tent encampment in western Gaza City north of the territory, local health authorities said early on Tuesday.
Medics said the tanks stationed north of Shati camp fired two shells at tents, housing displaced families, killing at least 12 people.
There has been no immediate comment from the Israeli military on the incident.
Opening summary
Hello and welcome back to the Guardian’s coverage of the Middle East.
The World Health Organization (WHO) has said the Israeli military attacked its staff residence and main warehouse in Deir al-Balah on Monday, compromising its operations in Gaza.
The WHO said its staff residence was attacked three times, with airstrikes causing a fire and extensive damage, and endangering staff and their families, including children.
On Monday, Israeli tanks for the first time pushed into southern and eastern districts of Deir al-Balah, an area where Israeli sources said the military believes hostages may be held. Tank shelling in the area hit houses and mosques, killing at least three Palestinians and wounding several others, local medics said.
“Israeli military entered the premises, forcing women and children to evacuate on foot toward al-Mawasi amid active conflict. Male staff and family members were handcuffed, stripped, interrogated on the spot, and screened at gunpoint,” the WHO said.
Two WHO staff and two family members were detained, it said in a post on X. It said three were later released, while one staff member remained in detention. Its director general, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said: “WHO demands the immediate release of the detained staff and protection of all its staff.”
Israel on Monday rejected the joint statement published by over 20 countries calling for an end to the war in Gaza, “as it is disconnected from reality and sends the wrong message to Hamas”, the foreign ministry said.
The international statement – signed by Australia, the UK, France, Canada, New Zealand and Japan among others – warned “the suffering of civilians in Gaza has reached new depths”.
Israeli tank shelling killed at least 12 Palestinians and wounded dozens others in a tent encampment in western Gaza City north of the territory, local health authorities said early on Tuesday.
Medics said the tanks stationed north of Shati camp fired two shells at tents, housing displaced families, killing at least 12 people.
There has been no immediate comment from the Israeli military on the incident.
In other developments:
In its daily update, Gaza’s health ministry said on Monday at least 130 Palestinians had been killed and more than 1,000 wounded by Israeli gunfire and military strikes across the territory in the past 24 hours, one of the highest such totals in recent weeks.
An Israeli army strike on the only Catholic church in Gaza last week has pushed the Vatican to change its tone on Israel and blame it more directly in the dragging war. The strike killed three people in the Holy Family Church in the centre of Gaza City, prompting condemnation by politicians and by religious leaders of various denominations. Pope Leo XIV on Sunday slammed the “barbarity” of the war and the blind “use of force”, denouncing “the attack by the Israeli army”.
An Israeli undercover force detained Marwan Al-Hams, a senior Gaza Health Ministry official, outside the field hospital of the International Committee of the Red Cross in the southern Gaza Strip on Monday, the ministry said. It said that Hams, in charge of field hospitals in the territory, was on his way to visit the ICRC hospital in the city of Rafah when an Israeli force “abducted” him after opening fire, killing one person and wounding another civilian nearby.
Belgian authorities said on Monday that they had briefly held and questioned two Israeli citizens who attended an electronic music festival, after pro-Palestinian groups accused them of war crimes. Prosecutors said they received legal complaints alleging that two Israeli soldiers responsible for “serious violations of international humanitarian law” in Gaza were spotted at the Tomorrowland festival near the northern city of Antwerp last week.
Syrian authorities evacuated Bedouin families from the Druze-majority city of Sweida on Monday, after a ceasefire in the southern province halted a week of sectarian bloodshed that a monitor said killed more than 1,260 people. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitor said the ceasefire was largely holding despite isolated gunfire in areas north of Sweida city, with no new reports of casualties.
US president Donald Trump was “caught off guard” by Israeli strikes in Syria last week, White House spokesperson Karoline Leavitt said on Monday, adding that he discussed the issue with Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Israel had launched strikes on the capital Damascus and the southern Druze-majority city of Sweida, saying it aimed to put pressure on the Syrian government to withdraw its troops from the region amid ongoing clashes there.
Iran has no plans to abandon its nuclear programme including uranium enrichment despite the “severe” damage caused by US strikes to its facilities, the country’s foreign minister said ahead of renewed talks with European powers. Iran is scheduled to meet Britain, France and Germany in Istanbul on Friday, to discuss its nuclear programme, with Tehran accusing European powers of scuppering a landmark 2015 nuclear deal. The meeting will be the first since Iran’s 12-day war with Israel last month, during which the United States carried out strikes against Tehran’s nuclear facilities.
Visiting US envoy Tom Barrack said Monday that disarming Hezbollah was a domestic issue, even as Washington presses the new authorities for action after the group was weakened by war with Israel. Lebanese leaders who took office in the aftermath of more than a year of hostilities, including two months of open war between Israel and Hezbollah, have vowed a state monopoly on bearing arms, while demanding Israel comply with a November ceasefire.
The Israeli military said on Tuesday it had intercepted a missile launched from Yemen toward Israel that triggered sirens across several areas in the country. The launch from Yemen follows an Israeli military attack on Houthi targets in Yemen’s Hodeidah port on Monday in its latest assault on the Iran-backed militants, who have been striking ships bound for Israel and launching missiles against it.
Iranian authorities have asked people to limit water consumption amid severe heatwaves and a water crisis across the country. Iran is experiencing its hottest week of the year, according to the national meteorological service, with temperatures exceeding 50C in some areas. On top of the extreme heat, the country is in a serious water crisis.
The first batch of three AH-64E rotary-wing Apache attack helicopters, the delivery of which had been delayed by nearly 15 month, has reached Hindon Airbase this morning.
At the same time, the news has started coming that Pakistan has deployed the Chinese-made Z-10ME attack helicopters, and a formal induction ceremony is expected soon.
The tension in the Indian subcontinent continues to simmer as New Delhi continues to maintain that Operation Sindoor against Pakistan has just been paused.
The next round between the two nuclear powers of South Asia could feature American Apache AH-64E, touted as the best attack helicopter in the world, and the new Chinese Z-10ME attack helicopters, unveiled in 2022.
The Indian Army raised its first Apache rotary wing aircraft squadron in March 2024 at Nagtalao in Jodhpur. However, the squadron remained non-operational due to repeated delays.
The first batch of three helicopters was expected to arrive by May or June 2024. The first three helicopters of the six contracted are likely to be inducted in a formal ceremony on July 22. They will be deployed on the western frontier against Pakistan.
The yet-to-be-confirmed news of Pakistan deploying Z-10ME gunships has created quite a stir among observers of defense and security in the region.
The Z-10ME has been designed to challenge American Apache and the Russian Mi-28 “Havoc” helicopters. The induction of the helicopter will give Pakistan’s forces another capability to test India’s layered air-defense systems.
The Pakistan Army plans to replace its aging AH-1F/S Cobras with Chinese gunships. The Z-10 has a range of 1,120 kilometers and weighs roughly 5,100 kilos when empty. It includes a 23-millimeter caliber revolver pistol and four external hardpoints that can hold air-to-ground, air-to-air, and rocket launchers.
Up to 16 anti-tank missiles, four multiple 7-barrel rocket launchers, or two multiple 32-barrel rocket launchers can be mounted on the helicopter with the ability to employ different combinations for various missions. It can carry missiles to take out tanks and armoured vehicles.
For instance, missiles can be employed against tanks and armored vehicles, while rockets and guns can be used to inflict damage on infantry troops. The Z-10 boasts several advantages over its peer, such as the Eurocopter Tiger, due to its excellent aerodynamic design and domestically produced engine, as well as its superior handling and agility.
File Image: AH-64 Apache IAF
China has made several improvements in the export version of the Z-10ME. It is powered by the WZ-9G turboshaft engine, a significant improvement over earlier WZ-9 engines. The other upgrades are better avionics compared to earlier variants of Z-10. The system features a helmet-mounted sight, laser rangefinder, and thermal imaging sensors for nighttime operations.
Pakistan social media accounts have been speculating about laser weapons on board. While there are no known directed-energy weapons (DEWs) onboard these helicopters, the Z-10ME is reportedly equipped with laser-guided munitions.
The Z-10ME is said to feature graphene-based and ceramic composite armor panels, providing protection for pilots and engines against small arms fire. The upward-facing exhaust nozzles reduce the helicopter’s infrared signature, lowering the risk of infrared missile lock-ons.
Pakistan’s Quest For Attack Helos
In 2015, the State Department cleared a $952 million sale to Pakistan that included 15 AH-1Z Viper attack helicopters. The sale was intended to support Pakistan’s counterterrorism and counterinsurgency operations with a precision-strike, enhanced-survivability aircraft that can operate at high altitudes.
Pakistan was to utilize the gear in operations in the North Waziristan Agency, the Federally Administered Tribal Areas, and other remote and mountainous areas, operating in all-weather, day-and-night environments.
China Z-10ME
After approval, the initial delivery was expected to begin in 2017. However, the uptick in India-US ties and fallout between Washington and Islamabad resulted in the deal being in limbo. The helicopters were also spotted in the US with Pakistan Army’s livery, but the deliveries have not occurred yet.
Reports suggest that some of these helicopters were built and remain in storage at facilities like the Aerospace Maintenance and Regenerations Group (AMARG), in Tucson Arizona. Reports indicate that 9 AH-1Zs are in storage and awaiting resolution to the political tensions between the US and Pakistan.
Following the bungled deal with the US, Pakistan signed a 2018 agreement for the purchase of 20 Turkish T129 ATAK helicopters for USD 1.5 billion. However, the US vetoed the sale due to its LHTECT800-4A engines, which are built by Honeywell and Rolls-Royce.
Pakistan did receive four Mil Mi-35M attack helicopters from Russia. Pakistan had ordered four Mi-35Ms in August 2015 in a $153 million US deal, which included training, spare parts, and ground support equipment. It marked Pakistan’s first weapon purchase from Russia.
The Mi-35M is a modernized variant of the Mi-24V Hind, a popular Soviet-era attack helicopter based on the ubiquitous Mil Mi-8/17 Hip transport helicopter platform.
However, the capability gap remained as India continued to induct the Apache AH-64E and the indigenous Light Combat Helicopter (LCH) ‘Prachand’. This seemed to have prompted Pakistan to become the first export customer of the Z-10ME.
Ritu Sharma has written on defense and foreign affairs for nearly 17 years. She holds a Master’s degree in Conflict Studies and Peace Management from the University of Erfurt, Germany. Her areas of interest include Asia-Pacific, the South China Sea, and Aviation history.
At least 25 children were among the 27 dead pulled from scorched buildings after a Bangladesh Air Force jet on a training mission crashed into a college and school campus in Dhaka, officials said on Tuesday, with 88 people being treated in hospital.
The F-7 BGI aircraft crashed soon after it took off at 1:06pm (12:06pm PKT) on Monday from the airbase in Kurmitola in the capital on a routine training mission. The military said the plane experienced a mechanical failure.
Visuals showed rescue workers scouring the charred buildings for debris as distressed family members surrounded the site.
Sayedur Rahman, special assistant to the chief adviser on health, told reporters that 27 people had died and 88 were admitted to hospital with burn injuries. Those dead included 25 children, a teacher and the pilot.
The government announced a day of mourning, with flags at half-mast and special prayers at all places of worship.
The F-7 BGI is the final and most advanced variant in China’s Chengdu J-7/F-7 aircraft family, according to Jane’s Information Group. Bangladesh signed a contract for 16 aircraft in 2011 and deliveries were completed by 2013.
The incident comes as neighbour India is still grappling with the world’s worst aviation disaster in a decade after an Air India plane crashed into a medical college hostel in Ahmedabad last month, killing 241 of the 242 people on board and 19 on the ground.
Jerusalem, Cairo, Geneva, 22 July 2025 – WHO condemns in the strongest terms the attacks on a building housing WHO staff in Deir al Balah, in the middle area of Gaza, the mistreatment of those sheltering there, and the destruction of its main warehouse.
Following intensified hostilities in Deir al Balah after the latest evacuation order issued by Israeli military, the WHO staff residence was attacked three times today. Staff and their families, including children, were exposed to grave danger and traumatized after airstrikes caused a fire and significant damage. Israeli military entered the premises, forcing women and children to evacuate on foot toward Al-Mawasi amid active conflict. Male staff and family members were handcuffed, stripped, interrogated on the spot, and screened at gunpoint. Two WHO staff and two family members were detained. Three were later released, while one staff member remains in detention. Thirty-two people, including women and children, were collected and evacuated to the WHO office in a high-risk mission, once access became possible. The office itself is close to the evacuation zone and active conflict.
WHO demands continuous protection of its staff and the immediate release of the remaining detained staff member.
The latest evacuation order has affected several WHO premises. As the United Nations’s (UN) lead health agency, WHO’s operational presence in Gaza is now compromised, crippling efforts to sustain a collapsing health system and pushing survival further out of reach for more than two million people.
Most of WHO’s staff housing is now inaccessible. Last night, due to intensified hostilities, 43 staff and their families were already relocated from several staff residences to the WHO office, under darkness and at significant risk.
WHO’s main warehouse located in Deir al Balah is within the evacuation zone, and was damaged yesterday after an attack caused explosions and fire inside – part of a pattern of systematic destruction of health facilities. It was later looted by desperate crowds.
With the main the warehouse nonfunctional and the majority of medical supplies in Gaza depleted, WHO is severely constrained in adequately supporting hospitals, emergency medical teams and health partners, already critically short on medicines, fuel, and equipment. WHO urgently calls on Member States to help ensure a sustained and regular flow of medical supplies into Gaza.
The geographical coordinates of all WHO premises, including offices, warehouses, and staff housing, are shared with the relevant parties. These facilities are the backbone of WHO’s operations in Gaza and must always be protected, regardless of evacuation or displacement orders. Any threat to these premises is a threat to the entire humanitarian health response in Gaza.
In line with the UN’s decision, WHO will remain in Deir al Balah, deliver and expand its operations.
With 88% of Gaza now under evacuation orders or within Israeli-militarized zones, there is no safe place to go.
WHO is appalled by the dangerous conditions under which humanitarians and health workers are forced to operate. As the security situation and access continue to deteriorate, red lines are repeatedly crossed, and humanitarian operations pushed into an ever-shrinking space to respond.
WHO calls for the immediate release of the WHO staff member detained today, and the protection of all our staff and its premises. We reiterate our call for the active protection of civilians, health care and its premises and for rapid and unimpeded flow of aid, including food, fuel and health supplies, at scale into and across Gaza. WHO also calls for the unconditional release of hostages.
Life in Gaza is being relentlessly squeezed, and the chance to prevent loss of lives and reverse immense damage to the health system slips further out of reach each day. A ceasefire is not just necessary, it is overdue.
