Month After War on Gaza: Palestinian Deaths Top Russia-Ukraine War Toll

A damaged road after Israeli forces stormed the Jenin camp in the West Bank on Sunday (Reuters)
A damaged road after Israeli forces stormed the Jenin camp in the West Bank on Sunday (Reuters)
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Month After War on Gaza: Palestinian Deaths Top Russia-Ukraine War Toll

A damaged road after Israeli forces stormed the Jenin camp in the West Bank on Sunday (Reuters)
A damaged road after Israeli forces stormed the Jenin camp in the West Bank on Sunday (Reuters)

The number of deaths one month since the start of the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza reached frightening numbers as the situation becomes increasingly horrifying, portending more victims.

Israel announced the war could be extended for several months, perhaps even a year.

Palestinian sources confirmed that the number of Palestinians killed in one month exceeded the number of deaths in the Ukraine war, which reached 9,806 victims over nearly two years.

Palestinian health authorities said the death toll from Israeli strikes had exceeded 10,328, while Israel estimates their number at more than 20,000, including 4,237 children and 2,716 women, in addition to 25,956 injuries.

More than 120,000 homes were destroyed and about 1.2 million citizens were displaced.

In the West Bank and East Jerusalem, Israel killed 220 people, arrested 2,215 others, and demolished 120 homes.

According to Israeli reports, the number of deaths is more than that of the 1967 war that Israel fought against three Arab armies, with 779 deaths, including 850 civilians and 5,500 injuries.

The Israeli government evacuated 115,000 residents, while about 109,000 decided to leave from 29 settlements surrounding the Gaza Strip and 22 others on the Lebanese border.

According to the Israelis, the war began in response to Hamas attacks on Israel on Oct. 7, and the capturing of 240 Israelis and foreigners as hostages.

Israel officially declared war on Hamas to “annihilate” the movement and terminate its ability to rule and its military capabilities.

Tel Aviv admitted it had taken a new form of warfare, bombing Gaza without mercy from afar, using the air force, navy, artillery, and tanks to destroy any place where Hamas leaders or any of its armed members were located, even if it was crowded among civilians.

It claims Hamas leaders are using civilians as human shields. As a result of these claims, Israel has bombed hospitals and schools.

Three weeks into this terrible bombing, the Israeli army began a ground operation searching for Hamas leaders and kidnapped Israelis.

Israel insists that the attack has nothing to do with the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and that the movement is pursuing a brutal path in its war against Jewish civilians and even Muslim Arabs.

In response, Palestinians say Israel has been insisting on besieging the Gaza Strip for 16 years, and from time to time, launched a military operation in which it destroys the enclave, killing thousands of Palestinians and exacerbating the economic and social situation there.

They said Israel continues its occupation of the West Bank and Judaization of Jerusalem with massive settlement projects, violating the sanctity of al-Aqsa Mosque. It carries out widespread arrests and degrades prisoners.

Moreover, Tel Aviv allows settlers to carry out bloody criminal attacks on Palestinians and denies their rights.

- The hysteric Israeli response

Palestinians said the Hamas attack came within the framework of resistance to the occupation’s projects, describing the Israeli response as hysterical because Tel Aviv did not imagine Palestinians were capable of penetrating their fortified defenses and carry out a successful military attack.

They added that Israel wants to implement its old plans to destroy Gaza and deport its people to Egypt, with the hope of expelling the Palestinians from the West Bank to Jordan later.

Palestinians called the war the second Nakba, saying the Israeli army drops a thousand tons of explosives every day to implement those goals, with the support of the US administration and Western governments.

The US and the West are not fulfilling their moral and humanitarian duty to deter the Israeli war of annihilation, they stressed.



Yemeni Forces Strike Houthis on Several Fronts

Yemeni soldiers in al-Jawf. (Reuters)
Yemeni soldiers in al-Jawf. (Reuters)
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Yemeni Forces Strike Houthis on Several Fronts

Yemeni soldiers in al-Jawf. (Reuters)
Yemeni soldiers in al-Jawf. (Reuters)

Yemeni government forces intensified on Saturday their military operations against the Houthi group on several fronts, carrying out air raids and drone strikes and firing artillery at them in Marib, al-Jawf and Taiz after the militants expanded their control of the west coast, Mokha and areas overlooking the Bab al-Mandeb Strait.

Government strikes focused on Houthi positions in Mokha and the Dhubab district that directly overlooks Bab al-Mandeb. Field sources said the jets struck the Houthis around Mokha port and airport and Jabal al-Nar in an attempt to hamper their military and logistics movements.

Armed forces spokesman Staff Colonel Majid al-Nuzaili had urged civilians to avoid the Taiz-Mokha and Mokha-Dhubab roads until further notice as operations continued in the area.

Government attacks around Mokha port killed several Houthis and destroyed vehicles and weapons used by the group, said al-Nuzaili.

The attacks took place as the government forces were rearranging their deployment in southern Mokha after the battles shifted to east of Bab al-Mandeb near the border of the Lahj province.

In Marib, east of Sanaa, the forces launched air strikes and fired artillery against the Houthis on the southern, western and northern fronts.

Houthi militants ride on a pick-up truck while on patrol in Sanaa, Yemen, 12 September 2026. (EPA)

Field sources said the Houthis brought reinforcements, including dozens of military vehicles and fighters, from Sanaa to Marib, indicating that the fighting will continue and expand.

Government forces have maintained their defensive and offensive positions in Marib, which has for years been its military stronghold in the conflict against the Houthis.

The militants are seeking to use the latest escalation to open new fronts in the war and ease military pressure off the coast and al-Jawf.

In al-Jawf, the government used air raids and artillery fire to attack the Houthis east of al-Hazm city and kept up their siege against the militants inside the al-Labanat camp for the sixth straight day.

In Taiz, field sources detected Houthi mobilization in the Sameh district and the cities of al-Dimnat and Rahida.

On the border of the Lahj province, the Giants Brigades and Houthis were engaged in fighting around the al-Madaribah district.

Military sources said the brigades repelled the Houthi advance.


Iraq Closes Three Iran Crossings, Pursues Those Behind Attacks on Saudi Arabia

Travelers at the Shalamsheh border crossing between Iraq and Iran after Iraqi authorities ordered its closure as a precautionary measure following the latest drone attacks on Saudi Arabia on September 12, 2026 (Reuters)
Travelers at the Shalamsheh border crossing between Iraq and Iran after Iraqi authorities ordered its closure as a precautionary measure following the latest drone attacks on Saudi Arabia on September 12, 2026 (Reuters)
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Iraq Closes Three Iran Crossings, Pursues Those Behind Attacks on Saudi Arabia

Travelers at the Shalamsheh border crossing between Iraq and Iran after Iraqi authorities ordered its closure as a precautionary measure following the latest drone attacks on Saudi Arabia on September 12, 2026 (Reuters)
Travelers at the Shalamsheh border crossing between Iraq and Iran after Iraqi authorities ordered its closure as a precautionary measure following the latest drone attacks on Saudi Arabia on September 12, 2026 (Reuters)

Iraq closed three border crossings with Iran on Saturday, officials told AFP, after a drone attack on a Saudi Arabian pipeline that both Riyadh and Baghdad said was launched from Iraq.

An Iraqi security source and a government official told AFP that authorities ordered the closing of three border crossings with Iran.

The security source said the decision was "part of an intelligence effort to track down the perpetrators and prevent their escape... and to hinder the smuggling of drones through these crossings".

Both sources, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not allowed to speak to the media, could not specify when the crossings would reopen.

The closed crossings are Shalamsheh in Basra province, al-Shib in Missan and al-Mandali in the central province of Diyala.

Other border crossings with Iran are still open.

A security official said that "security forces found drone launchers near the Iraq-Iran border in the al-Tib" region, a remote part of Missan, close to the al-Shib crossing. A second security source gave the same account.

Military spokesperson Sabah al-Numan said the prime minister had approved "Iran's request to conduct a joint investigation into finding drone launch platforms near the Iraq-Iran border".

The government's security media cell said earlier that authorities "have started administrative and security reorganization operations at several border crossings".

It added that they had stepped up "intelligence activities" to determine "the breaches and violations that took place at these crossings".

It later announced that passengers stranded for hours at two crossings were permitted to pass.


Al-Halbousi Condemns Attacks on Saudi Arabia

Iraqi Speaker of parliament Mohammed al-Halbousi speaks with the news media as he departs the Department of State after meeting with Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, in Washington, on March 28, 2019. (AP)
Iraqi Speaker of parliament Mohammed al-Halbousi speaks with the news media as he departs the Department of State after meeting with Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, in Washington, on March 28, 2019. (AP)
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Al-Halbousi Condemns Attacks on Saudi Arabia

Iraqi Speaker of parliament Mohammed al-Halbousi speaks with the news media as he departs the Department of State after meeting with Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, in Washington, on March 28, 2019. (AP)
Iraqi Speaker of parliament Mohammed al-Halbousi speaks with the news media as he departs the Department of State after meeting with Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, in Washington, on March 28, 2019. (AP)

Speaker of the Iraqi Council of Representatives Haibat Al-Halbousi strongly condemned the attacks targeting the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia that originated from within Iraqi territory.

In a statement issued on Saturday, Al-Halbousi rejected the use of Iraq's territory or airspace to threaten Saudi Arabia's security or that of any neighboring state, describing such actions as unacceptable violations that contradict Iraq's national interests, stated foreign policy, and regional relations.

Al-Halbousi emphasized the critical need to restrict weapons exclusively to the state and its constitutional institutions under the authority of the commander-in-chief of the Armed Forces.

He stressed that enforcing state control over arms is vital to reinforcing national sovereignty, preserving domestic stability, and preventing Iraq from being drawn into wider regional conflicts.