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Updated On: Thu, 17 Jul 2025

16:48:05 PKT

JERUSALEM (Reuters) – Israeli forces killed at least 22 people in attacks in the Gaza Strip on Thursday, including two people who died in a strike on a church that late Pope Francis used to speak to regularly, medics and church officials said.

Eight men tasked with protecting aid trucks were reported among the dead in airstrikes that were carried out while mediators continued ceasefire talks in Doha.

A US official said this week the talks were going well but two officials from the Palestinian militant group Hamas told Reuters there had been no breakthrough as the Israeli military continued to pummel Gaza.

A man and a woman died, and several people were wounded in “an apparent strike by the Israeli army” on Gaza’s Holy Family Church, the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem said in a statement.

“We pray that their souls rest (in peace) and for an end to this barbaric war. Nothing can justify the targeting of innocent civilians,” said the Patriarchate, which oversees the church.

Photos released by the church showed its roof had been hit close to the main cross, scorching the stone facade, and that windows had been broken.

Father Gabriele Romanelli, an Argentine who used to regularly update the late Pope Francis about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, was lightly injured in the attack. TV footage showed him sitting receiving treatment at Al-Ahly Hospital in Gaza, with a bandage around his lower right leg.

“The attacks against the civilian population that Israel has been carrying out for months are unacceptable. No military action can justify such an attitude,” Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni said in a statement.

Pope Leo was “deeply saddened” by the loss of life and renewed his appeal for an immediate ceasefire, the Vatican said. The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said it was aware of reports of casualties and was reviewing the incident.

“The IDF makes every feasible effort to mitigate harm to civilians and civilian structures, including religious sites, and regrets any damage caused to them,” it said.

Israel has been trying to eradicate Hamas in Gaza in a military campaign that began after the group’s deadly attack on Israel in October 2023 and has caused widespread hunger and privation in the tiny enclave.

Palestinian medics said one airstrike on Thursday had killed a man, his wife and their five children in Jabalia in northern Gaza, and that another in the north had killed eight men who had been handed responsibility for protecting aid trucks.

Three people were killed in an airstrike in central Gaza and four in Zeitoun in eastern Gaza, medics said.

CEASEFIRE TALKS

Arab mediators Qatar and Egypt, backed by the United States, have hosted more than 10 days of talks on a proposed US 60-day truce.

As part of the potential deal, 10 hostages held in Gaza would be returned along with the bodies of 18 others, spread out over 60 days. In exchange, Israel would release detained Palestinians. The exact number is not clear.

A Hamas source with knowledge of the matter said Israel had presented new maps to the mediators, pledging to pull the army further back than had previously been offered. The source said this partially met Hamas’ demands, but was still insufficient.

Syria’s interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa promised to protect the rights of Druze citizens on Thursday as a ceasefire appeared to be holding in the country’s south following US intervention to end fighting between government forces and Druze fighters.

Overnight, the government’s troops withdrew from the predominantly Druze city of Sweida, where scores of people have been killed in days of conflict pitting local fighters against the Damascus authorities and Bedouin tribes.

The violence in Syria escalated sharply on Wednesday as Israel launched airstrikes in Damascus while pressing attacks on government forces in the south, demanding they withdraw and saying Israel aimed to protect Syria’s Druze minority.

Describing Syria’s new rulers as “barely disguised jihadists”, Israel has bombed repeatedly this year, saying it will not allow Syrian government forces to deploy into areas near its frontier.

Facing calls from Israel’s own Druze minority to shield Syria’s Druze, Israel has also seized ground in the south.

In a speech to the Syrian nation on Thursday, Sharaa said Israel had “consistently targeted our stability and created discord among us since the fall of the former regime”, accusing it of seeking to “dismantle the unity of our people”.

Reuters footage showed Syrian forces moving out of Sweida overnight. The situation in Sweida was calm on Thursday morning, according to two people in contact with residents there.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said late on Wednesday that the United States had engaged all the parties involved.

“We have agreed on specific steps that will bring this troubling and horrifying situation to an end tonight,” he said on social media.

The violence has underlined the challenges that Sharaa faces in stabilising Syria and exerting centralised rule over the country, despite his warming ties with the United States and his administration’s evolving security contacts with Israel.

In his first televised statement after the outbreak of violence, Sharaa said protecting Druze citizens and their rights was “our priority” and rejected any attempt to drag Druze citizens into the hands of an “external party”.

“We have spent our lives facing challenges and defending our people, but we have put the interests of the Syrians before chaos and destruction,” he said.

Israeli strikes

Israel’s airstrikes on Wednesday blew up part of Syria’s defence ministry and hit near the presidential palace as it vowed to destroy government forces attacking Druze in southern Syria

“We will not allow southern Syria to become a terror stronghold,” said Eyal Zamir, Israel’s military chief of staff.

The United Nations Security Council will meet on Thursday to address the conflict, diplomats said.

“The council must condemn the barbaric crimes committed against innocent civilians on Syrian soil,” said Israel’s ambassador to the UN, Danny Danon.

“Israel will continue to act resolutely against any terrorist threat on its borders, anywhere and at any time.”

The Syrian Network for Human Rights said 193 people had been killed in this week’s violence, including six women and six children.

Sharaa faces challenges to stitch Syria back together in the face of deep misgivings from groups that fear “Islamist rule”. In March, mass killings of members of the Alawite minority exacerbated the mistrust.

Druze, followers of a religion that is an offshoot of Islam, are spread between Syria, Lebanon and Israel.

Scores of Israeli Druze broke through the border fence on Wednesday, linking up with Druze on the Syrian side.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu urged Israeli Druze citizens not to cross the border.

The Israeli military said it was working to safely return civilians who had crossed.

A senior security official in Tehran has told RT that Iran is prepared to take action unless Israel is punished and the US provides compensation for its strikes on Iran’s nuclear facilities. 

 “If the compensation for the attack on Iran’s nuclear facilities is not paid and the Zionist regime is not punished, Iran is ready to take measures to restore its historical deterrence against this regime,” the anonymous source said in an exclusive interview on Wednesday.

Addressing Washington’s request to resume nuclear talks, the official stated that Tehran had not agreed to a permanent ceasefire and considers negotiations premature.

He said that the Americans are pursuing the start of negotiations, but Iran… is in a state of temporary cessation of the conflict.

The official warned that Iranian forces remain fully prepared to respond to any further aggression, saying, “Our hands are on the trigger, but in case of any miscalculation by the child-killing regime, this time we will not wait for the enemy to fire the first shot.”

The US should “contain its proxy force in the region,” he stressed.

While the Zionist regime waged a war of aggression against Iran on June 13 and struck Iran’s military, nuclear and residential areas for 12 days, the US stepped in and conducted military attacks on three nuclear sites in Iran’s Natanz, Fordow and Isfahan on June 22.

The Iranian military forces conducted powerful counterattacks immediately after the aggression. The Islamic Revolution Guards Corps Aerospace Force carried out 22 waves of retaliatory missile strikes against the Zionist regime as part of Operation True Promise III that inflicted heavy losses on cities across the occupied territories.

Also, in response to the US attacks, Iranian armed forces launched a wave of missiles at al-Udeid air base in Qatar, the largest American military base in West Asia.

A ceasefire that came into force on June 24 has brought the fighting to a halt.

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QINGDAO, July 18 (APP):The China-SCO Local Economic and Trade Cooperation Conference was inaugurated at the Qingdao SCODA Pearl International Expo Center on Friday.

The event was hosted by the People’s Government of Shandong Province and co-organized by the Department of Commerce of Shandong Province and the Qingdao Municipal People’s Government.

Themed “Planning regional cooperation together and promoting innovative development hand in hand”, the Conference has invited nearly 300 Chinese and foreign guests to discuss SCO opportunities and jointly chart the course for cooperation.

It has further established an important platform for economic and trade exchanges between Shandong and SCO member states, injecting stronger “SCO strength” into promoting economic globalization and building an open economy.

Since 2019, the China-SCO Local Economic and Trade Cooperation Demonstration Area (SCODA) has continuously strengthened exchanges and cooperation between local governments and SCO member states. It has been fully committed to building four major centers in international logistics, modern trade, two-way investment cooperation, as well as business, tourism, and cultural exchanges, while actively advancing the construction of the China-SCO Institute of Economy and Trade.

Today, the SCODA is increasingly becoming a gateway to the Asia-Pacific market and a hub for economic and trade cooperation for SCO member states, with its platform effect becoming more prominent.

Those who share the same aspirations are not deterred by mountains and seas. Leveraging the platform advantages of the SCODA, the Conference has strengthened exchanges with local governments and enterprises of SCO member states and deepened their coordination and cooperation in the industrial chain and supply chain.

Guests from all corners of the world gathered together to share experiences in local economic and trade cooperation and discussed innovative directions for enhancing the quality and scale of two-way trade and investment. By deepening multilateral and bilateral economic and trade exchanges among local provinces, states, and cities of various member states, the Conference has been committed to achieving a higher level of mutual benefit and win-win outcomes. It has provided a high-level cooperation platform for all parties, effectively promoting precise alignment, in-depth discussions, and practical cooperation in key areas such as economy and trade, investment, mineral resources, new energy, transportation and logistics, equipment manufacturing, scientific and technological innovation, agricultural technology, e-commerce, financial services, and international contracting projects. This effort will better expand new markets in SCO member states and along the Belt and Road Initiative, shaping new advantages for Shandong’s open development and building a new opening-up highland in the new era.

Where consensus is forged like precious stone, wisdom charts the course for a soaring future. At the conference, the Qingdao Initiative of the China-SCO Local Economic and Trade Cooperation Conference was released. It has advocated strengthening local economic and trade cooperation among SCO member states, focusing on key areas, building platform carriers, innovating cooperation models, and enhancing the level of collaboration, aiming to inject new momentum and make contributions to the high-quality development of regional economic cooperation within the SCO framework. This initiative has outlined a clear path for the high-quality development of regional economic cooperation under the SCO framework, contributing profound “SCO wisdom” to building an open, inclusive, and mutually beneficial regional economy. The opening ceremony also featured a thematic promotion event, along with in-depth dialogue salons focusing on the topics of “Silk Road E-commerce and the Development of Modern Trade” and “Financial Empowerment of Economic and Trade Development in SCO Countries”, which provided innovative approaches and development directions for exploring digital trade and building a financial support system.

 A grand event connects hearts; together, states step into a new era. The Conference has represented an important initiative by Shandong Province to build a new platform for local economic and trade cooperation under the SCO framework, marking a crucial step in solidifying, enhancing, imaging, and promoting the “SCO brand”. It is understood that during the conference, several events will also be held, including the SCO Qingdao Meeting for the Industrial and Supply Chains, the Belarus Local Economic and Trade Cooperation Promotion Conference, the SCO Industrial Park Alliance Meeting, the 2025 Shandong-Hong Kong-Macao Conference for Science and Technology Innovation Cooperation and Exchange, the SCO International Cooperation and Exchange Conference for Ocean Internet of Things Industry Development, the Qingdao Tour of SCO Business Forum Entrepreneurs, and the 4th SCO International Investment and Trade Expo.

These carefully designed activities will further elevate comprehensive, multi-level, and pragmatic local cooperation within the SCO framework to new heights, contributing to a new chapter of mutual progress, win-win cooperation, and shared prosperity among the local regions of SCO member states.

Syria’s interim president has said it is his “priority” to protect the country’s Druze citizens, after Israel vowed to destroy government forces it accused of attacking members of the religious minority in Suweida province.

In his first televised statement since Israel’s air strikes on Damascus on Wednesday, Ahmed al-Sharaa also warned that Syrians were not afraid of war.

Syrian state media reported that the military was withdrawing from Suweida under a ceasefire agreement with Druze leaders. But it is not clear whether that will hold.

More than 350 people are reported to have been killed since sectarian clashes between Druze militias and Bedouin tribes erupted in the province on Sunday.

The government responded by deploying its forces to the predominantly Druze city of Suweida for the first time Sharaa’s Sunni Islamist group led the rebel offensive that overthrew President Bashar al-Assad in December, ending 13 years of civil war.

However, the fighting escalated and government forces were accused by residents and activists of killing Druze civilians and carrying out extrajudicial executions.

The Druze religion is an offshoot of Shia Islam with its own unique identity and beliefs. In addition to Syria, there are sizeable communities of Druze in Lebanon, Jordan, Israel and the occupied Golan Heights.

Syrian Druze and other minorities have remained suspicious of Sharaa since he took power because of his jihadist past. His Islamist group, Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), is a former al-Qaeda affiliate that is still designated as a terrorist organisation by the UN.

Their fears have been heightened by several outbreaks of deadly sectarian violence, including one in May between Druze militias, security forces and allied Islamist fighters that also prompted to Israel intervene militarily.

In his speech early on Thursday, Sharaa stressed that the Druze were “a fundamental part of the fabric of this nation”, and that he rejected any attempt for them to be dragged into the hands of what he called “an external party”.

The president said government forces deployed to Suweida had “succeeded in restoring stability and expelling outlawed factions despite the Israeli interventions”, which he said caused a “significant complication of the situation” and “a large-scale escalation”.

“We are not among those who fear the war. We have spent our lives facing challenges and defending our people, but we have put the interests of the Syrians before chaos and destruction,” he said.

Responsibility for security in Suweida would now be handed to religious elders and some local factions “based on the supreme national interest”, he added.

Sharaa ended the speech by promising that the government was “keen on holding accountable those who transgressed and abused our Druze people”.

On Wednesday, Israel’s Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, told the country’s own Druze citizens on that Israeli forces were “acting to save our Druze brothers and to eliminate the gangs of the regime”.

The Israeli military said its aircraft struck the Syrian military’s headquarters in Damascus and a military site near the presidential palace, as well as armoured vehicles on their way to Suweida, and firing posts and weapons storage facilities in southern Syria.

“We are acting decisively to prevent the entrenchment of hostile elements beyond the border, to protect the citizens of the State of Israel, and to prevent the harming of Druze civilians,” the military’s chief of staff, Lt Gen Eyal Zamir, said during a visit to the Golan Heights.

“We will not allow southern Syria to become a terror stronghold,” he warned.

The general also said there was “no room for disorder near the border fence”, after hundreds of Druze crossed the heavily fortified frontier with Syria on Wednesday.

The US Secretary of State, Marco Rubio, said it was speaking to all of the parties involved and had “agreed on specific steps that will bring this troubling and horrifying situation to an end”.

“This will require all parties to deliver on the commitments they have made and this is what we fully expect them to do,” he added, without giving any details.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR), a UK-based monitoring group, says more than 350 people have been killed since Sunday.

They include 79 Druze fighters and 55 civilians, 27 of whom were summarily killed by interior ministry and defence ministry forces, according to the group.

At least 189 members of the government forces and 18 Bedouin tribal fighters have also been killed in the clashes, it says.

It was not immediately possible to verify the SOHR’s casualty figures, but Syrian security sources also said Wednesday that the death toll was close to 300.

A fire that tore through a shopping centre in the Iraqi city of Kut has left dozens dead and injured, state media has reported.

The blaze at the mall, which had reportedly opened five days ago, broke out on Wednesday night and has since been brought under control.

Medical officials quoted by news agency AFP said said 55 people died in the fire, with rescuers still looking for missing people.

“A tragedy and a calamity has befallen us,” regional governor Mohammed al-Miyahi said, adding that legal action would be brought against the shopping centre’s owner.

Videos on INA’s news channel show flames ripping through several floors of a multi-storey building as firefighters try to douse them.

Other clips circulating on social media appear to show a small number of people on the roof during the fire, as well as the burned out insides of the centre.

A number of people were rescued from the building by firefighters, al-Miyahi told local media.

Ambulances were still taking casualties to hospitals in the city, which is about 160 km (100 miles) southeast of Baghdad, at 04:00 local time.

Firefighters are continuing to search for missing victims.

Nasir al-Quraishi, a doctor in his 50s, told AFP he lost five family members in the blaze.

“A disaster has befallen us,” he said. “We went to the mall to have some food, eat dinner and escape power cuts at home.

“An air conditioner exploded on the second floor and then the fire erupted and we couldn’t escape it.”

A medical source told the agency: “We have more than 50 martyrs, and many unidentified bodies”.

An investigation into the cause of the fire is underway, with preliminary findings expected within two days, al-Miyahi said.

“The tragedy is a major shock,” he said, adding that a “serious review of all safety measures” would take place.

The shopping had opened just five days ago, AFP reported.

It has been named as the Corniche Hypermarket Mall in the centre of Kut by local media.

ANKARA: President Tayyip Erdogan risks losing support among nationalist Turkish voters in making peace with Kurdistan Workers Party militants, whose burning of weapons last week was dismissed by some as a stunt.

A backlash to Erdogan’s call on Saturday for wide parliamentary support for the process underlines the challenge he faces in balancing nationalist and Kurdish demands, with a failure to do so potentially jeopardizing the plan’s success.

Erdogan’s own future is also at stake: his term runs out in 2028 unless parliament backs the idea of early elections or a change in the constitution to extend a 22-year rule in which he has raised NATO member Turkiye’s profile on the world stage. He insists that personal political considerations play no role.

“The doors of a new powerful Turkiye have been flung wide open,” he said on Saturday of the symbolic initial handover of arms.

While his AKP party’s far-right nationalist coalition partner MHP drove the peace process, smaller nationalist parties have condemned it. They recalled his years condemning the pro-Kurdish DEM party as being tied to the 40-year PKK insurgency that the PKK now says is over.

Erdogan’s comments about “walking together” with DEM drew a cool response from the pro-Kurdish party itself, with DEM lawmaker Pervin Buldan saying there was no broad political alliance between it and the AKP.

AKP spokesperson Omer Celik reaffirmed the president’s nationalist credentials in response to a request for comment on his statement, saying the process “is not give-and-take, negotiation, or bargaining.”

Parliament is convening a commission tasked with deciding how to address Kurdish demands for more autonomy and the reintegration of fighters complying with the February disarmament call of jailed PKK leader Abdullah Ocalan.

The nationalist opposition IYI Party is refusing to take part, with its leader Musavat Dervisoglu describing the peace process at the weekend as a betrayal after a conflict which has killed more than 40,000 people.

“We will not allow the Republic to be destroyed, we will not allow the Turkish homeland to be divided, we will not surrender to betrayal,” he said.

Umit Ozdag, head of the opposition Victory Party, also sought to stir nationalist passions, slamming the commission as a bid to legitimize the PKK and dismissing the event where 30 PKK members burned their guns as a “barbecue party.”

“You don’t just burn 30 rifles and call it a day. Weapons are surrendered, and PKK members interrogated one-by-one.”

A senior Turkish official said the gun burning was an “irreversible turning point.” It is part of a five-stage process culminating in legal reforms and social reconciliation by early 2026, according to another Turkish source.

NUMBER CRUNCHING

While those parties could not derail the peace process alone, Erdogan, a shrewed political operator, is likely to closely monitor public reaction as the commission starts its work.

A private June survey by the Konda pollster seen by Reuters showed that only 12 percent of respondents believe the PKK, designated as a terrorist group by Turkiye and its Western allies, has abandoned the insurgency that it launched in 1984.

It also showed potential candidates for the opposition CHP, now subject to a wide-ranging legal crackdown, beating Erdogan in head-to-head votes in an election.

Erdogan critics say the peace process is aimed at drawing Kurdish support for a new constitution that would both boost their rights and allow him to be a candidate in 2028. He says reform is needed because the constitution is outdated rather than for any personal reasons and he has not committed to running again.

It is unclear whether the commission will propose constitutional change, but such changes require the support of 400 MPs in the 600-seat assembly with the potential for a referendum if more than 360 MPs vote in favor. The AKP-MHP alliance has 319 seats, while DEM have 56.

Any move to hold early elections would also require 360 votes, but that — and the peace process itself — would depend on keeping DEM on board.

After meeting the justice minister on Wednesday, DEM’s Buldan said she had insisted that PKK disarmament proceed in lock-step with legal changes.

“The minister expressed commitment to ensuring the process proceeds legally and constitutionally,” she said, adding that there was no specific timeline for disarmament.

DEVELOPING STORYDEVELOPING STORY,

‘A tragedy and a calamity have befallen us,” the Wasit province governor says.

At least 60 people have been killed and several more are missing in a huge fire at a hypermarket in Kut city in eastern Iraq, the city’s health authorities and two police sources have told the Reuters news agency.

“We have compiled a list of 59 victims whose identities have been confirmed, but one body was so badly burned that it has been extremely difficult to identify,” a city health official told Reuters on Thursday.

“We have more bodies that have not been recovered, still under fire debris,” city official Ali al-Mayahi told Reuters.

Videos on social media showed flames engulfing a five-storey building in Kut overnight, where firefighters were trying to contain the fire.

The Wasjit province governor, Mohammed al-Mayahi, said the fire broke out in a hypermarket and a restaurant. Families were having dinner and shopping, he said. Firefighters rescued a number of people and put out the fire, the governor added.

Three days of mourning have been announced and an investigation has been launched. Investigation results will be released within 48 hours.

“A tragedy and a calamity have befallen us,” the governor said.

“We have filed lawsuits against the owner of the building and the mall,” INA quoted the governor as saying.

Syria’s interim president has condemned Israel for “wide-scale targeting of civilian and government facilities” after the Israeli military struck Damascus on Wednesday as it sought to intervene in clashes between the Syrian army and Druze fighters.

Israel’s strikes would have pushed “matters to a large-scale escalation, except for the effective intervention of American, Arab, and Turkish mediation, which saved the region from an unknown fate”, Ahmed al-Sharaa said in his first televised statement since the attacks.

Sharaa went on to say protecting Druze citizens and their rights is “our priority” after clashes in the southern city of Sweida left more than 350 people dead according to a war monitor.

Israel’s airstrikes on Wednesday blew up part of Syria’s defence ministry and hit near the presidential palace. A spokesperson for the Israeli military said the strike on the defence ministry had been a message to the Syrian president “regarding the events in Sweida”. The Israeli military struck Syrian tanks on Monday and has continued to conduct dozens of drone strikes on troops, killing some soldiers.

The US secretary of state, Marco Rubio, said on X that an agreement had been reached to restore calm in the area and urged “all parties to deliver on the commitments they have made”, without elaborating on the nature of the agreement.

Rubio blamed “historic longtime rivalries” for the clashes in Sweida. “It led to an unfortunate situation and a misunderstanding, it looks like, between the Israeli side and the Syrian side,” Rubio told reporters in the White House.

On Wednesday, the Syrian government and one of the three spiritual leaders of the Syrian Druze community announced a ceasefire. It was unclear if the truce would hold, however, as another spiritual leader, Sheikh Hikmat al-Hijri, vowed to keep fighting, calling the government a collection of “armed gangs”.

Syria said its army had begun to withdraw from Sweida, after the US call for government forces to leave the majority-Druze southern city. The Syrian government statement did not mention any withdrawal of other government security forces, which had deployed to the city on Tuesday with the stated aim of overseeing a previous truce agreed with Druze community leaders after days of deadly fighting with local Bedouin tribes.

Sharaa said in his televised address that those responsible for violence against Druze people would be held accountable as the Druze “are under the protection and responsibility of the state”. He added that “responsibility” for security in Sweida would be handed over to elders and local factions.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights war monitor said the 350 killed in Sweida province violence included government forces, local fighters and 27 Druze civilians killed in “summary executions”.

Diplomats said the UN security council would meet on Thursday to address the Syrian conflict.

The clashes this week pitting mostly Sunni government forces against Druze fighters have prompted fears of a wider sectarian conflict. The violence is the most serious challenge to Damascus’s rule since the coastal massacres and has threatened to further push away everyday Druze from the state.

The Syrian army entered Sweida on Sunday in an attempt to restore calm between Druze fighters and Arab Bedouin tribes. Some Druze militias have vowed to prevent Syrian government forces entering Sweida and have attacked them, leading to escalating clashes.

As government forces entered Sweida, accounts of human rights abuses began to emerge.

Israel’s attacks on Wednesday marked a significant escalation against Sharaa’s Islamist-led administration. They came despite his warming ties with the US and his administration’s evolving security contacts with Israel.

After calls in Israel to help Druze in Syria, scores of Israeli Druze broke through the border fence on Wednesday, linking up with Druze on the Syrian side, a Reuters witness said.

The Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, said the Israeli military was working to help the Druze and urged Israeli Druze citizens not to cross the border. The Israeli military said it was working to safely return civilians who had crossed.

With reporting from Reuters and Agence France-Presse