Algerian Army Seeks China’s Expertise in Drone Manufacturing

The Algerian army commander visits China (Algerian Ministry of Defense)
The Algerian army commander visits China (Algerian Ministry of Defense)
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Algerian Army Seeks China’s Expertise in Drone Manufacturing

The Algerian army commander visits China (Algerian Ministry of Defense)
The Algerian army commander visits China (Algerian Ministry of Defense)

Algerian Army chief Gen. Said Chanegriha discussed Tuesday in Beijing a diverse military partnership with the Chinese military industry in the field of drones and the management of defense and security systems.

On the third day of his official visit to China, Chanegriha and a delegation from the Algerian Defense Ministry held talks with high-ranking officials from the state-owned enterprise Poly Technologies specialized in the production, import and export of civil and military equipment.

Media sources said the Algerian army hopes to benefit from the knowledge and expertise of Chinese companies that supply the Chinese army with military equipment and technology, through commercial partnerships that will allow Algeria to modernize its army and to reduce dependence on its traditional supplier, the Russian military industry.

The sources also said that Chanegriha was particularly interested in the Aerospace Shenzhou Aerial Vehicle Co., which he visited.

The company is specialized in the production of various equipment related to the installation of drones and space devices.

In recent years, it achieved impressive technical progress, according to experts in the field.

Supervisors at the Algerian defense sector plan to launch a partnership with the company to develop the assembly, research and training activities of the emerging Algerian military industry in the field of drones.

The goal of this endeavor is to lead the North African and Arab Maghreb regions in the use and development of drones.

On Monday, Chanegriha met with General Liu Zhenli, Chief of Staff of China’s Joint Staff Department of the Central Military Commission.

Chanegriha highlighted the longstanding and excellent relations between Algeria and China, dating back to the revolution of November 1, 1954.

He emphasized China’s early support for Algeria’s struggle for self-determination and its recognition of the Provisional Government of the Algerian Republic in 1958.

Chanegriha underscored that the robust ties between Algeria and China reflect common solidarity for sovereignty, independence, and the recovery of sovereign rights.

He noted that these ties remain relevant in the current global landscape, emphasizing the need for justice, freedom, and cooperation in a multipolar world.



Israeli Fire Kills 30 in Gaza, Medics Say, as Attention Shifts to Iran 

Palestinians carry sacks and boxes of food and humanitarian aid unloaded from a World Food Program convoy that had been heading to Gaza City, in the northern Gaza Strip, Monday, June 16, 2025. (AP)
Palestinians carry sacks and boxes of food and humanitarian aid unloaded from a World Food Program convoy that had been heading to Gaza City, in the northern Gaza Strip, Monday, June 16, 2025. (AP)
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Israeli Fire Kills 30 in Gaza, Medics Say, as Attention Shifts to Iran 

Palestinians carry sacks and boxes of food and humanitarian aid unloaded from a World Food Program convoy that had been heading to Gaza City, in the northern Gaza Strip, Monday, June 16, 2025. (AP)
Palestinians carry sacks and boxes of food and humanitarian aid unloaded from a World Food Program convoy that had been heading to Gaza City, in the northern Gaza Strip, Monday, June 16, 2025. (AP)

Israeli gunfire and strikes killed at least 30 people across the Gaza Strip on Wednesday, local health authorities said, as some Palestinians there said their plight was being forgotten as attention shifted to the air war between Israel and Iran.

The deaths included the latest in near daily killings of Palestinians seeking aid in the three weeks since Israel partially lifted a total blockade on Gaza that it had imposed for almost three months.

Medics said separate airstrikes on homes in the Maghazi refugee camp and Zeitoun neighborhood in central and northern Gaza killed at least 14 people, while five others were killed in an airstrike on a tent encampment in Khan Younis in southern Gaza.

Eleven others were killed in Israeli fire at crowds of displaced Palestinians awaiting aid trucks brought in by the United Nations along the Salahuddin road in central Gaza, medics said.

The Israel army said it was looking into the reported deaths of people waiting for food. Regarding the other strikes, it said it was "operating to dismantle Hamas military capabilities" and "feasible precautions to mitigate civilian harm."

On Tuesday, Gaza's health ministry said 397 Palestinians among those trying to get food aid had been killed and more than 3,000 wounded since aid deliveries restarted in late May.

Some in Gaza expressed concern that the latest escalations in the war between Israel and Hamas that began in October 2023 would be overlooked as the focus moved to Israel's five-day-old conflict with Iran.

"People are being slaughtered in Gaza, day and night, but attention has shifted to the Iran-Israel war. There is little news about Gaza these days," said Adel, a resident of Gaza City.

"Whoever doesn't die from Israeli bombs dies from hunger. People risk their lives every day to get food, and they also get killed and their blood smears the sacks of flour they thought they had won," he told Reuters via a chat app.

'FORGOTTEN'

Israel has been channeling much of the aid it is now allowing into Gaza through a new US- and Israeli-backed group, the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, which operates a handful of distribution sites in areas guarded by Israeli forces.

It has said it will continue to allow aid into Gaza, home to more than 2 million people, while ensuring aid doesn't get into the hands of Hamas. Hamas denies seizing aid, saying Israel uses hunger as a weapon against the population in Gaza.

The Gaza war was triggered when Hamas-led fighters attacked Israel in October 2023, killing 1,200 and taking about 250 hostages, according to Israeli allies.

US ally Israel's subsequent military assault on Gaza has killed nearly 55,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza's health ministry, displaced almost all the territory's residents, and caused a severe hunger crisis.

The assault has led to accusations of genocide and war crimes, which Israel denies.

Palestinians in Gaza have been closely following Israel's air war with Iran, long a major supporter of Hamas.

"We are maybe happy to see Israel suffer from Iranian rockets, but at the end of the day, one more day in this war costs the lives of tens of innocent people," said 47-year-old Shaban Abed, a father of five from northern Gaza.

"We just hope that a comprehensive solution could be reached to end the war in Gaza, too. We are being forgotten," he said.