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UN Rights Official Says Gaza Detainees Ill-Treated, Humiliated by Israel 

Palestinians are silhouetted at sunset as they walk at a damaged section of the Al-Rashid coast road after crossing from northern to southern Gaza, Gaza Strip, 18 January 2024. (EPA)
Palestinians are silhouetted at sunset as they walk at a damaged section of the Al-Rashid coast road after crossing from northern to southern Gaza, Gaza Strip, 18 January 2024. (EPA)
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UN Rights Official Says Gaza Detainees Ill-Treated, Humiliated by Israel 

Palestinians are silhouetted at sunset as they walk at a damaged section of the Al-Rashid coast road after crossing from northern to southern Gaza, Gaza Strip, 18 January 2024. (EPA)
Palestinians are silhouetted at sunset as they walk at a damaged section of the Al-Rashid coast road after crossing from northern to southern Gaza, Gaza Strip, 18 January 2024. (EPA)

A UN human rights official on Friday called for an end to Israel's ill treatment of Palestinian detainees in Gaza, saying he had met men who had been held for weeks, beaten and blindfolded, with some released in diapers.

"These are men who were detained by the Israeli security forces in unknown locations for between 30 to 55 days," said Ajith Sunghay, a UN human rights representative told reporters by video link from Gaza, who met with released detainees in the enclave.

"There are reports of men who are subsequently released, but only in diapers without any adequate clothing in this cold weather."

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At Least 15 Killed in Suicide Bombing at Damascus Church

A Syrian man reacts inside Mar Elias church where a suicide bomber detonated himself in Dweila in the outskirts of Damascus, Syria, Sunday June 22, 2025. (AP Photo/Omar Sanadiki)
A Syrian man reacts inside Mar Elias church where a suicide bomber detonated himself in Dweila in the outskirts of Damascus, Syria, Sunday June 22, 2025. (AP Photo/Omar Sanadiki)
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At Least 15 Killed in Suicide Bombing at Damascus Church

A Syrian man reacts inside Mar Elias church where a suicide bomber detonated himself in Dweila in the outskirts of Damascus, Syria, Sunday June 22, 2025. (AP Photo/Omar Sanadiki)
A Syrian man reacts inside Mar Elias church where a suicide bomber detonated himself in Dweila in the outskirts of Damascus, Syria, Sunday June 22, 2025. (AP Photo/Omar Sanadiki)

At least 15 people were killed when a suicide bomber blew himself up at the Mar Elias Church in the Dweila neighborhood of Syria's capital Damascus on Sunday, security sources said.

Syria's interior ministry said the suicide bomber was an ISIS member. He entered the church, opened fire and then detonated his explosive vest, the ministry added in a statement.

A security source, speaking on condition of anonymity, said two men were involved in the attack, including the one who blew himself up.

Syria's state news agency cited the health ministry as putting the preliminary casualty toll at nine dead and 13 injured.

Some local media reported that children were among the casualties.

A livestream from the site by Syria's civil defense, the White Helmets, showed scenes of destruction from within the church, including a bloodied floor and shattered church pews and masonry.

Syrian Information Minister Hamza Mostafa condemned the attack, calling it a terrorist attack.

“This cowardly act goes against the civic values that brings us together,” he said in a post on X. “We will not back down from our commitment to equal citizenship ... and we also affirm the state’s pledge to exert all its efforts to combat criminal organizations and to protect society from all attacks threatening its safety.”