Tunisia, Britain to Develop Joint Counter-Terror Plan

Policemen patrol during a military operation against militants in a village some 50 km (31 miles) from the town of Ben Guerdane, Tunisia, near the Libyan border March 10, 2016. (Reuters)
Policemen patrol during a military operation against militants in a village some 50 km (31 miles) from the town of Ben Guerdane, Tunisia, near the Libyan border March 10, 2016. (Reuters)
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Tunisia, Britain to Develop Joint Counter-Terror Plan

Policemen patrol during a military operation against militants in a village some 50 km (31 miles) from the town of Ben Guerdane, Tunisia, near the Libyan border March 10, 2016. (Reuters)
Policemen patrol during a military operation against militants in a village some 50 km (31 miles) from the town of Ben Guerdane, Tunisia, near the Libyan border March 10, 2016. (Reuters)

Tunisia and Britain announced efforts to develop a joint strategy to combat terrorism and its impact.

The announcement was made during an international conference organized by the British embassy and Axiom International and hosted by Tunis. Head of Tunisia’s anti-terrorism commission (CNLCT) Mounir Ksiksi and British Ambassador Edward Oakden, as well as international experts and Tunisian government officials, attended the event.

Both parties agreed that “cyber terrorism” is the current most dangerous threat given that it preys on children and women.

They revealed a bilateral effort to establish a center for training people from scientific backgrounds to study terrorist phenomena and means to prevent them.

Ksiksi affirmed his country’s partnership with the United Kingdom’s embassy to review the domestic counter-terror strategy, which mainly relies on identifying terrorist threats against Tunisia, especially from ISIS and al-Qaeda.

He said the strategy will be implemented on ground and carried out by the military and security forces. A second part of the plan aims to prevent terrorism through protecting Tunisian society.

Tunisia and Britain have suffered from terrorist attacks in the past, Oakden ssaid, citing the Ben Guerdane battle in Tunis and the London and Manchester attacks in the UK.

Britain has boosted its counter-terrorism support for the North African country, especially after the 2015 attacks.



Israeli Missile Hits Gaza Children Collecting Water

A Palestinian woman reacts as a young man carries the body of her child killed in an Israeli strike, in front of Gaza City's Maamadani (Baptist) hospital on July 13, 2025. (Photo by Omar AL-QATTAA / AFP)
A Palestinian woman reacts as a young man carries the body of her child killed in an Israeli strike, in front of Gaza City's Maamadani (Baptist) hospital on July 13, 2025. (Photo by Omar AL-QATTAA / AFP)
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Israeli Missile Hits Gaza Children Collecting Water

A Palestinian woman reacts as a young man carries the body of her child killed in an Israeli strike, in front of Gaza City's Maamadani (Baptist) hospital on July 13, 2025. (Photo by Omar AL-QATTAA / AFP)
A Palestinian woman reacts as a young man carries the body of her child killed in an Israeli strike, in front of Gaza City's Maamadani (Baptist) hospital on July 13, 2025. (Photo by Omar AL-QATTAA / AFP)

At least eight Palestinians, most of them children, were killed and more than a dozen were wounded in central Gaza when they went to collect water on Sunday, local officials said.

The Israeli military said the missile had intended to hit an Islamic Jihad militant in the area but that a malfunction had caused it to fall "dozens of meters from the target".

"The IDF regrets any harm to uninvolved civilians," it said in a statement, adding that the incident was under review.

The strike hit a water distribution point in Nuseirat refugee camp, killing six children and injuring 17 others, said Ahmed Abu Saifan, an emergency physician at Al-Awda Hospital.

Water shortages in Gaza have worsened sharply in recent weeks, with fuel shortages causing desalination and sanitation facilities to close, making people dependent on collection centers where they can fill up their plastic containers.

Hours later, 12 people were killed by an Israeli strike on a market in Gaza City, including a prominent hospital consultant, Ahmad Qandil, Palestinian media reported. The Israeli military did not immediately comment on the attack.

Gaza's health ministry said on Sunday that more than 58,000 people had been killed since the start of the war between Israel and Hamas in October 2023, with 139 people added to the death toll over the past 24 hours.

Negotiations aimed at securing a ceasefire appeared to be deadlocked, with the two sides divided over the extent of an eventual Israeli withdrawal from the Palestinian enclave, Palestinian and Israeli sources said at the weekend.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was set to convene ministers late on Sunday to discuss the latest developments in the talks, an Israeli official said.

The indirect talks over a US proposal for a 60-day ceasefire are being held in Doha, but optimism that surfaced last week of a looming deal has largely faded, with both sides accusing each other of intransigence.

Netanyahu in a video he posted on Telegram on Sunday said Israel would not back down from its core demands - releasing all the hostages still in Gaza, destroying Hamas and ensuring Gaza will never again be a threat to Israel.