Iran rejects US claim to Hormuz as ship attacks mount600 drones head for Moscow as Russia strikes Kyiv and Kryvyi RihDeath toll passes 50 after magnitude 7.7 quake off FloresIsraeli strikes kill 11 in south Lebanon, deadliest since June truceColombia asks Trump to suspend tariffs as quake toll climbsRhine hits record low at Kaub as Hungary sinks barges to cool reactorUS readies unprecedented economic measures against IranUS boat strikes pass 200 dead as Ecuadorean fishermen describe attacksBond traders struggle to price $70bn of credit backstops behind AI buildoutAlibaba says its open AI models passed three billion downloadsDeath toll rises to 68 after Lake Kariba ferry sinkingTaliban mark five years in power as UN warns of rights crisisEU aircraft join fight against Belgium's record wildfireUS presses Netanyahu over settlers as Qusra homes are occupiedMokha port halts operations as Houthi missiles hit MaribSeoul proposes talks to end the Korean war as North rejects drillsChina-led 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Qatar of holding three of its pilotsXi calls for shift to prevention as floods batter ChinaVenezuela frees 131 more political prisonersMore Syrians in Germany lose refugee protectionAudit finds gaps in Taiwan's counter-drone defencesIndia drafts rules to open nuclear power to private firmsHichilema takes early lead as Zambian count resumesParis prosecutors open investigation into tax portal hackReport details leverage behind Situational Awareness lossesArgentina has lost 30,633 companies under MileiAt least five dead in Indiana floodingIran detains two French diplomats over alleged infiltrationCanadian petition to expel US ambassador passes 170,000 signaturesIndia raises $50bn from its diaspora and ends swap facility earlyOpaque start-ups build erotic AI industry from Cyprus and MaltaBritain's biggest EV battery plant shelves expansion as Jaguar Land Rover talks stallThird drone debris find in a day on Turkish coastsForecasters put 95 percent odds on a very strong El NiñoSecondhand booksellers suspect AI firms behind bulk ordersEtna alert lowered as Catania airport reopensFuneral held for Indigenous girl whose death sparked outback riotsIran rejects US claim to Hormuz as ship attacks mount600 drones head for Moscow as Russia strikes Kyiv and Kryvyi RihDeath toll passes 50 after magnitude 7.7 quake off FloresIsraeli strikes kill 11 in south Lebanon, deadliest since June truceColombia asks Trump to suspend tariffs as quake toll climbsRhine hits record low at Kaub as Hungary sinks barges to cool reactorUS readies unprecedented economic measures against IranUS boat strikes pass 200 dead as Ecuadorean fishermen describe attacksBond traders struggle to price $70bn of credit backstops behind AI buildoutAlibaba says its open AI models passed three billion downloadsDeath toll rises to 68 after Lake Kariba ferry sinkingTaliban mark five years in power as UN warns of rights crisisEU aircraft join fight against Belgium's record wildfireUS presses Netanyahu over settlers as Qusra homes are occupiedMokha port halts operations as Houthi missiles hit MaribSeoul proposes talks to end the Korean war as North rejects drillsChina-led perovskite solar plant outperforms silicon in three-month field testOpenAI revenue run rate passes $40bn as revenue chief departsHamas leader in Cairo as Kushner trip nearsWHO says Congo's Ebola outbreak is outpacing the responseTurkish parliament passes amnesty law for PKK membersMorocco detains scores near Ceuta as feared mass crossing fails to materialiseChina publishes ecology reports to bolster South China Sea claimsMyanmar says more than 300,000 Rohingya verified for repatriationPetrobras detects signs of oil off the mouth of the AmazonChina condemns Japanese politicians' moves at Yasukuni ShrineUS inflation cools as wages again lag behind pricesModi offers free exam coaching after youth protests in IndiaOil from grounded Russian tanker reaches Oman's coastPanama Canal cuts draught again as Mexico pitches rival corridorUkraine's idle ports cost $1.75bn as farm exports fallFormer Chinese premier Zhu Rongji diesAt least 20 killed in communal clashes in central NigeriaIran accuses Qatar of holding three of its pilotsXi calls for shift to prevention as floods batter ChinaVenezuela frees 131 more political prisonersMore Syrians in Germany lose refugee protectionAudit finds gaps in Taiwan's counter-drone defencesIndia drafts rules to open nuclear power to private firmsHichilema takes early lead as Zambian count resumesParis prosecutors open investigation into tax portal hackReport details leverage behind Situational Awareness lossesArgentina has lost 30,633 companies under MileiAt least five dead in Indiana floodingIran detains two French diplomats over alleged infiltrationCanadian petition to expel US ambassador passes 170,000 signaturesIndia raises $50bn from its diaspora and ends swap facility earlyOpaque start-ups build erotic AI industry from Cyprus and MaltaBritain's biggest EV battery plant shelves expansion as Jaguar Land Rover talks stallThird drone debris find in a day on Turkish coastsForecasters put 95 percent odds on a very strong El NiñoSecondhand booksellers suspect AI firms behind bulk ordersEtna alert lowered as Catania airport reopensFuneral held for Indigenous girl whose death sparked outback riots
Bota
Symbolic image: Israel strikes Gaza City mosque as health ministry counts 60,700 orphansSymbolic image

Israel strikes Gaza City mosque as health ministry counts 60,700 orphans

3 sources

The Israeli military struck a mosque in Gaza City, saying Hamas stored weapons inside; the Hamas-run media office rejected that account. On the same day Gaza's health ministry put the number of children orphaned since October 2023 at about 60,700 and the overall death toll at 73,335. In Rafah, preparations continue for a "humanitarian city" under the Trump-led Board of Peace, a project Palestinians in the enclave view very differently.

What happened

The Israeli military struck a mosque in Gaza City and said Hamas had used the building to store weapons, according to the New York Times. The media office of the Hamas-run government rejected the account and said Israel's claims were meant to justify its attacks on mosques. Separately, Gaza's health ministry reported on its Telegram channel that roughly 60,700 children have been orphaned since October 2023: about 52,000 have lost their fathers, close to 6,000 their mothers and at least 2,700 both parents. The same ministry put the cumulative death toll at 73,335 and the number of injured at more than 174,000; the figures are not independently verified. A ceasefire brokered by Egypt, Qatar, the United States and Turkey has been in force since 10 October 2025, with Israeli forces pulled back to the so-called yellow line while retaining control of more than half of the Strip.

The view from outside

The National in Abu Dhabi reports that Palestinians in Gaza are split over the Board of Peace project, with some seeing a first chance to escape current conditions and others fearing entrenched Israeli control and permanent fragmentation. The analyst Wissam Afifa told the paper the plan amounts to an "institutionalisation of Gaza's fragmentation" and would be confined to what Israel calls the humanitarian city in Rafah. Russia's TASS foregrounds the orphan and casualty figures and stresses that Israel still holds more than 50 percent of the territory.

What could happen next

Israel granted permission last weekend for the International Stabilisation Force to operate in areas outside its military control, a step the Board of Peace envoy Nickolay Mladenov welcomed. The force, drawing troops from several countries including Morocco and Indonesia, is to secure Gaza's borders and train local police, with Israeli withdrawal tied to the peacekeepers establishing control. The humanitarian zone offering temporary housing and basic services is set to begin in Rafah in the coming weeks. Afifa argues the immediate effect will be political rather than humanitarian, while a displaced resident interviewed by The National says he will judge the plan only by results.

How the camps see it

  • Israel: The military says the Gaza City mosque was used by Hamas to store weapons and keeps control of more than half the Strip pending the peacekeepers' deployment.

  • Hamas-run authorities in Gaza: The media office denies the weapons claim and calls it a pretext for strikes on mosques, while the health ministry publishes the orphan and casualty figures.

Also involved

United States / Board of PeaceTroop contributors

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