Gaza City Blast Kills 1, Injures 10, Shakes Crowded Area

FILE: A Palestinian sells socks on a stall near the rubble of his old store that has been destroyed in an Israeli air strike, ahead of Eid Al-Adha holiday, in Gaza City, on July 14, 2021. FILE/Reuters
FILE: A Palestinian sells socks on a stall near the rubble of his old store that has been destroyed in an Israeli air strike, ahead of Eid Al-Adha holiday, in Gaza City, on July 14, 2021. FILE/Reuters
TT
20

Gaza City Blast Kills 1, Injures 10, Shakes Crowded Area

FILE: A Palestinian sells socks on a stall near the rubble of his old store that has been destroyed in an Israeli air strike, ahead of Eid Al-Adha holiday, in Gaza City, on July 14, 2021. FILE/Reuters
FILE: A Palestinian sells socks on a stall near the rubble of his old store that has been destroyed in an Israeli air strike, ahead of Eid Al-Adha holiday, in Gaza City, on July 14, 2021. FILE/Reuters

One person was killed and 10 injured Thursday when an explosion tore through a house in a popular market, the interior ministry said.

It was not immediately clear what caused the explosion.

The blast in the Al-Zawiya area collapsed large parts of the house and damaged dozens of buildings and shops nearby, according to the statement.

Police explosives engineering teams continue to investigate the causes of the explosion. Civil defense teams and the police were able to control the resulting fire.

The blast shook the neighborhood on the third day of Eid al-Adha, a Muslim holiday.

The Israeli army signaled it wasn’t involved, calling the crisis an “internal” matter in Gaza, The Associated Press reported.

Gaza City already was struggling with heavy damage it sustained from an 11-day war in May between Israel and Gaza’s militant Hamas rulers. At least 254 people were killed in Gaza during the conflict, including 67 children and 39 women, according to the Gaza health ministry. Hamas has acknowledged the deaths of 80 militants. Twelve civilians, including two children, were killed in Israel, along with one soldier.

The World Bank earlier this month said rebuilding Gaza would cost $485 million, including up to $380 million to repair the physical damage alone.



Egypt Says Israel-EU Agreement Has Not Increased Aid to Gaza

Egyptian Foreign Affairs Minister Badr Abdelatty arrives for a meeting of Palestinian and Israeli foreign ministers on the sidelines of the EU-Southern Neighborhood Ministerial Meeting at the EU Council in Brussels, Belgium, 14 July 2025. (EPA)
Egyptian Foreign Affairs Minister Badr Abdelatty arrives for a meeting of Palestinian and Israeli foreign ministers on the sidelines of the EU-Southern Neighborhood Ministerial Meeting at the EU Council in Brussels, Belgium, 14 July 2025. (EPA)
TT
20

Egypt Says Israel-EU Agreement Has Not Increased Aid to Gaza

Egyptian Foreign Affairs Minister Badr Abdelatty arrives for a meeting of Palestinian and Israeli foreign ministers on the sidelines of the EU-Southern Neighborhood Ministerial Meeting at the EU Council in Brussels, Belgium, 14 July 2025. (EPA)
Egyptian Foreign Affairs Minister Badr Abdelatty arrives for a meeting of Palestinian and Israeli foreign ministers on the sidelines of the EU-Southern Neighborhood Ministerial Meeting at the EU Council in Brussels, Belgium, 14 July 2025. (EPA)

Egypt's foreign minister said on Monday that the flow of aid into Gaza has not increased despite an agreement last week between Israel and the European Union that should have had that result.

"Nothing has changed (on the ground)," Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty told reporters ahead of the EU-Middle East meeting in Brussels on Monday.

The EU's top diplomat said on Thursday that the bloc and Israel agreed to improve Gaza's humanitarian situation, including increasing the number of aid trucks and opening crossing points and aid routes.

Asked what steps Israel has taken, Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar referred to an understanding with the EU but did not provide details on implementation.

Asked if there were improvements after the agreement, Jordanian Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi told reporters that the situation in Gaza remains "catastrophic".

"There is a real catastrophe happening in Gaza resulting from the continuation of the Israeli siege," he said.

Safadi said Israel allowed the entry of 40 to 50 trucks days ago from Jordan but that was "far from being sufficient" for the besieged enclave.

EU's foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said ahead of Monday's meeting that there have been some signs of progress on Gaza aid but not enough improvement on the ground.

Israel's continued military operations and blockade have left the entire population of 2.3 million people in Gaza facing acute food insecurity, with nearly half a million at risk of famine by the end of September, a joint United Nations report said last month.