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Gaza Civil Defense Says Israeli Attacks Kill 26 Near Two Aid Centers

Smoke rises to the sky following an Israeli airstrike in the Gaza Strip, as seen from southern Israel, Friday, July 18, 2025. (AP Photo/Leo Correa)
Smoke rises to the sky following an Israeli airstrike in the Gaza Strip, as seen from southern Israel, Friday, July 18, 2025. (AP Photo/Leo Correa)
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Gaza Civil Defense Says Israeli Attacks Kill 26 Near Two Aid Centers

Smoke rises to the sky following an Israeli airstrike in the Gaza Strip, as seen from southern Israel, Friday, July 18, 2025. (AP Photo/Leo Correa)
Smoke rises to the sky following an Israeli airstrike in the Gaza Strip, as seen from southern Israel, Friday, July 18, 2025. (AP Photo/Leo Correa)

Gaza's civil defense agency on Saturday said Israeli attacks killed 26 people and wounded more than 100 near two aid centers in the south of the Palestinian territory.

Agency spokesman Mahmud Basal told AFP that 22 were killed near a site southwest of Khan Yunis and four near another center northwest of Rafah, blaming "Israeli gunfire" for both.

One eyewitness said he headed to the Al-Tina area of Khan Yunis before dawn with five of his relatives to try to get food when "Israeli soldiers" started shooting.

"My relatives and I were unable to get anything," Abdul Aziz Abed, 37, told AFP.

"Every day I go there and all we get is bullets and exhaustion instead of food."

The Israeli military said it was "looking into" the claims when contacted by AFP.

Media restrictions in Gaza and difficulties in accessing many areas mean AFP is unable to independently verify tolls and details provided by the agency and other parties.

The war in Gaza, sparked by militant group Hamas's deadly attack on Israel on October 7, 2023, has created dire humanitarian conditions for the local population.

The more than two million people who live in the densely populated coastal territory are facing severe shortages of food and other essentials, and doctors have reported a spike in acute malnutrition.

Deaths of people waiting for handouts in huge crowds near aid distribution centers have become a regular occurrence, with the Palestinian authorities blaming Israeli fire.

The civil defense agency reported that nine people were shot and killed near the same aid point in the Al-Shakoush area northwest of Rafah on Friday.

The US- and Israel-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, which took over the running of aid distribution in late May, said 20 people died in Khan Yunis on Wednesday.

But it blamed "agitators in the crowd... armed and affiliated with Hamas" for creating "a chaotic and dangerous surge" and firing at aid-seekers.

The previous day, the UN said it had recorded 875 people killed in Gaza while trying to get food, including 674 "in the vicinity of GHF sites", since it began operating.

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Arab World

Netanyahu Says Israel to Remain in South Lebanon Until Hezbollah Disarms

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks during the graduation ceremony of the Israel Defense Forces officers' course at a military base near Mitzpe Ramon, southern Israel, 25 June 2026. (EPA)
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks during the graduation ceremony of the Israel Defense Forces officers' course at a military base near Mitzpe Ramon, southern Israel, 25 June 2026. (EPA)
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Netanyahu Says Israel to Remain in South Lebanon Until Hezbollah Disarms

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks during the graduation ceremony of the Israel Defense Forces officers' course at a military base near Mitzpe Ramon, southern Israel, 25 June 2026. (EPA)
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks during the graduation ceremony of the Israel Defense Forces officers' course at a military base near Mitzpe Ramon, southern Israel, 25 June 2026. (EPA)

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Friday that Israel would remain in south Lebanon until Hezbollah disarms, shortly after the announcement in Washington of a framework agreement with the United States and Lebanon.

"The most important thing is, first of all, that Israel remains in the security zone in southern Lebanon. This is a major achievement, and we will maintain it as long as Hezbollah has not disarmed," Netanyahu said in a pre-recorded video shared with Israeli media shortly after the trilateral framework agreement was announced.

The agreement is the result of five rounds of talks in Washington aimed at ending decades of hostilities and weeks of fighting between Israel and Hezbollah in southern Lebanon.

The agreement "begins to put in place a framework for lasting peace and security," US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said at the signing ceremony.

In his video statement, Netanyahu added that Israel's military would also allow the Lebanese army to take control of territory in two areas.

"We are implementing two pilot areas, both at the army's recommendation. One is entirely outside the security zone and south of the Litani River, while the other is north of the Litani," a river in south Lebanon.

Netanyahu added that Lebanese civilians displaced from the so-called "security zone" that Israeli forces established in south Lebanon won't be allowed to return home.

"We are maintaining the original security zone at all times, outside the range of anti-tank fire. We are not allowing Hezbollah to enter it, nor are we allowing the civilian population to enter," Netanyahu said.

Hezbollah drew Lebanon into the broader Middle East war on March 2 with rocket fire at Israel intended to avenge the killing of Iran's supreme leader Ali Khamenei in US-Israeli strikes.

Israel then launched devastating air strikes and an invasion that Lebanon says have killed more than 4,200 people.

Under US pressure, Lebanese officials began direct talks with Israel in April in Washington, and a truce was announced on April 17 that ultimately failed to stop the fighting.

A new ceasefire was declared this month, with Tehran insisting that its deal with Washington to end the broader conflict launched by the United States and Israel in late February must include Lebanon.

Arab World

Tunisian Rights Activist Sentenced to 25 Years in Prison

Tunisian rights activist Sihem Bensedrine. (Getty Images)
Tunisian rights activist Sihem Bensedrine. (Getty Images)
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Tunisian Rights Activist Sentenced to 25 Years in Prison

Tunisian rights activist Sihem Bensedrine. (Getty Images)
Tunisian rights activist Sihem Bensedrine. (Getty Images)

Prominent Tunisian rights activist Sihem Bensedrine told AFP on Friday that she had been sentenced to 25 years in prison on charges including falsifying part of a transitional justice commission's final report.

"Of course, this is a decision that has nothing to do with justice. It has to do with a totalitarian regime that wants to erase the legacy of the IVD," Bensedrine said, referring to the Truth and Dignity Commission of which she was president.

Bensedrine, 75, said she would lodge an appeal. She had been placed in pre-trial detention for over six months following her arrest in August 2024.

Prosecutors accused Bensedrine of falsifying the commission's final report, among other charges.

Bensedrine said she had been targeted by "officials who are holding the state hostage" in order to "settle scores" and "discredit our work".

Human Rights Watch said in a statement "Bensedrine has for decades been harassed, jailed, and pushed into exile for her human rights work. Her sentence would keep her in prison until she's 100 years old."

The Paris-headquartered International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH) has said the charges against Bensedrine were "groundless".

The commission's final report, published in 2020, called for "dismantling a system of corruption, repression and dictatorship" within state institutions.

Arab World

Key Points from the US-Lebanon-Israel Agreement

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and others watch, seated from left, Israel's Ambassador to the US Yechiel Leiter, counselor Dan Holler, and Lebanon's Ambassador to the US Nada Hamadeh, sign a framework agreement, described as a first step toward peace following months of conflict between Israel and the Lebanese group Hezbollah, at the State Department, Friday, June 26, 2026, in Washington. (AP)
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and others watch, seated from left, Israel's Ambassador to the US Yechiel Leiter, counselor Dan Holler, and Lebanon's Ambassador to the US Nada Hamadeh, sign a framework agreement, described as a first step toward peace following months of conflict between Israel and the Lebanese group Hezbollah, at the State Department, Friday, June 26, 2026, in Washington. (AP)
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Key Points from the US-Lebanon-Israel Agreement

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and others watch, seated from left, Israel's Ambassador to the US Yechiel Leiter, counselor Dan Holler, and Lebanon's Ambassador to the US Nada Hamadeh, sign a framework agreement, described as a first step toward peace following months of conflict between Israel and the Lebanese group Hezbollah, at the State Department, Friday, June 26, 2026, in Washington. (AP)
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and others watch, seated from left, Israel's Ambassador to the US Yechiel Leiter, counselor Dan Holler, and Lebanon's Ambassador to the US Nada Hamadeh, sign a framework agreement, described as a first step toward peace following months of conflict between Israel and the Lebanese group Hezbollah, at the State Department, Friday, June 26, 2026, in Washington. (AP)

Washington on Friday released text of a trilateral framework between Lebanon, Israel and the United States aimed at ending hostilities that have been a violent second front of the Middle East war.

The following are highlights of the 14-point agreement signed in the US capital:

- 'Lasting peace' -

Israel and Lebanon, with US support, "affirm their shared goal of achieving lasting peace and security," the agreement begins.

The neighboring states "declare their intent to conclusively end the conflict, address its underlying causes, and to therewith formally conclude any state of war between them."

- 'Verified disarmament' -

The framework determines to make "irreversible progress" towards resolving all issues between Israel and Lebanon, while doing so is to be achieved through "direct bilateral talks, with the mediation and support of the United States."

The Lebanese Armed Forces (LAF) "will restore effective sovereignty over all Lebanese territory, pending the verified disarmament of non-state armed groups and dismantlement of associated infrastructure."

This will enable the Israel army to "progressively redeploy out of the Lebanese territory."

The framework will set out the steps and verification mechanisms to advance this process.

- Pilot zones -

The LAF will "gradually assume full and effective security responsibility in pilot zones, which will serve as the mechanism for phased and verified redeployments of the Israeli army and the deployments of the LAF."

Two initial zones have been agreed to by both sides, and future pilot zones will be agreed by mutual consent.

Upon confirmation of the disarmament of non-state armed groups, notably the Iran-backed Hezbollah, the LAF will assume full security responsibility in these zones.

"Internationally supported reconstruction efforts will begin, and Lebanese civilians will be able to safely return to these areas under the exclusive control of Lebanese state authorities," the agreement states. "The United States intends to work closely with both countries to verify and support this process."

- Working groups -

Lebanon's government under the deal reaffirms its commitment to restoring full sovereignty over its territory.

It will "rebuild the State's monopoly on the use of force, achieve the complete and verified disarmament of all non-state armed groups, and ensure that such groups will have no military or security role and no armed capabilities anywhere in Lebanon."

Lebanon asks for the support of international and particularly Arab partners, under the leadership of the United States, to do this.

Israel and Lebanon also are to establish "working groups to draft the full comprehensive peace and security agreement" between them, the framework says, and "immediately establish complementary tracks of ongoing direct engagement, facilitated by the United States."

- 'No territorial ambitions' -

Israel for its part states that its military actions in Lebanon "are solely a consequence of the attacks, threat posed by, and hostile intent of non-state armed groups, particularly Hezbollah."

"Termination of this threat," notably through disarmament of such non-state groups and "additional security arrangements to be agreed upon between the two countries," will eliminate any future necessity for Israeli military action or presence in Lebanon, it said.

It also stressed that "the Government of Israel declares that it has no territorial ambitions in Lebanon."