Israeli Strikes across Northern Gaza Kill at Least 14 People, Including a Family of 5

 Destroyed buildings are seen inside the Gaza Strip from southern Israel, Monday, Jan. 13, 2025. (AP)
Destroyed buildings are seen inside the Gaza Strip from southern Israel, Monday, Jan. 13, 2025. (AP)
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Israeli Strikes across Northern Gaza Kill at Least 14 People, Including a Family of 5

 Destroyed buildings are seen inside the Gaza Strip from southern Israel, Monday, Jan. 13, 2025. (AP)
Destroyed buildings are seen inside the Gaza Strip from southern Israel, Monday, Jan. 13, 2025. (AP)

At least 14 Palestinians, including a family of five people, were killed in three separate Israeli airstrikes Monday in northern Gaza Strip, Palestinian medics said.

One strike hit a group of people in the Daraj neighborhood in Gaza City, killing at least seven people including two children, the health ministry’s emergency service said.

Two more people were killed in Jabaliya al-Balad area in northern Gaza, it said. Another five people were wounded in the strike, it said.

A third strike hit Salaheddin school, which shelters displaced families in the western part of Gaza City. The strike killed two parents and their three children, according to the Al-Ahly hospital which received the casualties.

The Israeli military did not have an immediate comment on the strikes but blames Hamas for civilian casualties, saying the fighters operate in residential areas or other civilian locations.



Iraq, UK Agree on Trade Package Worth up to $15 Billion, Defense Deal

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer (R) and Iraq's Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani (L) shake hands during their meeting in Downing Street in London, Britain, 14 January 2025. (EPA)
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer (R) and Iraq's Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani (L) shake hands during their meeting in Downing Street in London, Britain, 14 January 2025. (EPA)
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Iraq, UK Agree on Trade Package Worth up to $15 Billion, Defense Deal

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer (R) and Iraq's Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani (L) shake hands during their meeting in Downing Street in London, Britain, 14 January 2025. (EPA)
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer (R) and Iraq's Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani (L) shake hands during their meeting in Downing Street in London, Britain, 14 January 2025. (EPA)

Iraq and Britain have agreed on a trade package worth up to 12.3 billion pounds ($14.98 billion) and a bilateral defense deal, the Iraqi and British prime ministers said in a joint statement on Tuesday.

The deal, envisaging more than 10 times the total of bilateral trade in 2024, was announced after a meeting between Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani and British counterpart Keir Starmer at the latter's Downing Street offices.

It includes a 1.2-billion-pound project in which British-made power transmission systems will be used for a grid interconnection project between Iraq and Saudi Arabia, as well as a 500-million-pound plan to upgrade the Al-Qayyarah air base in northern Iraq.

A water infrastructure project by a UK-led consortium that will help provide clean water in arid southern and western Iraq is also part of the deal, the statement said. The project would be worth up to 5.3 billion pounds in UK exports.

Sudani and Starmer also signed a defense deal that "establishes the basis for a new era in security cooperation".

Sudani said earlier that the UK-Iraqi security deal would develop bilateral military ties after last year's announcement that the US-led coalition set up to fight ISIS would end its work in Iraq in 2026.

The Iraqi premier began an official visit to the United Kingdom on Monday amid historic geopolitical shifts in the Middle East.

Iraq is trying to avoid becoming a conflict zone once again amid a period of regional upheaval that has seen Iran's allies Hamas degraded in Gaza and Hezbollah battered in Lebanon during wars with Israel, and Bashar al-Assad toppled in Syria.