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Israeli forces kill five Palestinians in latest attacks on Gaza

Israeli forces kill five Palestinians in latest attacks on Gaza

Since a US-brokered truce in October, Israeli attacks have killed more than 1,098 Palestinians in Gaza. Published On 12 Jul 202612 Jul 2026 An Israeli drone attack and gunfire in Gaza have killed at least five people, including a nine-year-old girl, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry. Tala Abu Matar died when Israeli gunfire targeted an encampment on the eastern side of the Al-Bureij refugee camp in central Gaza, medics said. Recommended Stories list of 4 itemsend of list Also on Sunday, a drone attack on a blacksmith’s shop in the Sabra neighbourhood of Gaza City killed at least four Palestinians and wounded another, according to officials at al-Shifa hospital where the casualties were taken. The Israeli military acknowledged striking the area, saying without elaborating that it targeted “terrorist infrastructure”. Following shooting on Friday, a Palestinian man died of wounds sustained from Israeli fire near Al-Bureij camp, said a health official. Another Palestinian succumbed to injuries from an Israeli drone strike east of Khan Younis in southern Gaza. The continued attacks in Gaza are in violation of the ceasefire agreed last October by Israel and Hamas. While fighting on the ground has mostly stopped since then, Israel has continued carrying out air strikes in Gaza, killing at least 1,098 Palestinians and wounding 3,535 during the so-called ceasefire, health ministry data shows. Since October, Israel has expanded its control over the enclave beyond the so-called “Yellow Line”, which demarcates territory occupied by Israel from the rest of Gaza under the ceasefire agreement. Last week, Gaza’s Government Media Office said Israeli forces now control about 80 percent of Gaza. Advertisement The latest ⁠violence comes as Hamas leaders visited Cairo for further talks on implementing the second phase of US President Donald Trump’s Gaza peace plan. The discussions include Hamas disarmament ⁠and Israeli army withdrawals, according to sources close to the talks, who said no breakthrough has been achieved. Since the beginning of Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza in October 2023, the health ministry said at least 73,118 Palestinians have been killed. Adblock test (Why?)

Meet the Cubans stuck in Mexico under Donald Trump’s deportation campaign

Meet the Cubans stuck in Mexico under Donald Trump’s deportation campaign

‘Like we were dogs’ For Scull Delgado, life in the US began with the famous Mariel boatlift, a 1980 exodus that saw some 125,000 Cubans pile onto small, rickety boats and sail across the Florida Strait. Many were fleeing political persecution. Others had grown desperate as a result of the island’s economic strife. Scull Delgado said he joined the boatlift to escape service in Cuba’s army. But even though the “marielitos” arrived in the US without formal paperwork, Washington agreed to accept them. The US, after all, had long opposed the island’s communist leadership. “We will continue to provide an open heart and open arms to refugees seeking freedom from communist domination and from economic deprivation,” US President Jimmy Carter said at the time. Over the following decades, Scull Delgado settled in California and got married to a US citizen. He had three children and four grandchildren. But he also got a criminal record. “I committed a crime in the ’90s,” he said, describing it as “a slip-up” for which he did time in prison. “After I got out, I didn’t get into any more problems,” Scull Delgado added. He just had to “show up every year to sign in” at US immigration offices. “That’s where they picked me up.” Immigration agents arrested him while he was signing in at the office. After nearly 46 years in the US, he was one month away from retirement — one month away from enjoying “the benefits I earned through my work”. “I do feel betrayed by Trump because he took everything away from me after I’d spent my whole life in that country,” Scull Delgado said. By November, he had been transported to Mexico, away from his home and his family. From left: Lazaro Diaz Garcia, Seul Delgado, Ricardo Scull Delgado and Ernesto Perez Chapman, four Cuban men deported from the US, say they are stuck in legal limbo in Palenque, Mexico [Ann Deslandes/Al Jazeera] Another Cuban national, 48-year-old Orlando Martinez Mendoza, was also deported in 2025. He migrated from Cuba to the US in 2015, arriving by boat. But he said immigration authorities grabbed him at a court hearing in Tennessee, where he had appeared for a speeding charge. He described being transported to three different detention centres over the course of two months in Tennessee. He was then transported out of state, to a holding facility set up in the Louisiana State Penitentiary, also known as Angola. Martinez Mendoza remembers the transfer being staged for media purposes. “They selected a group of us migrants, saying we were the biggest criminals in the country,” he said. “They took us to Angola prison in a bus with police in front and back, stopping traffic with sirens, and TV cameras rolling.” Eventually, he too was sent to Arizona and, from there, to Palenque. He said his bus came to a stop right in front of the offices for the Mexican Commission for Refugee Assistance, or COMAR. Immigration officials, he said, “dumped us right in front of COMAR like we were dogs”. The US Department of Homeland Security, which oversees federal immigration enforcement, did not reply to a request for comment for this story. It has, however, featured Martinez Mendoza on a website of its immigration-related arrests, highlighting his conviction for selling cocaine in 2018. He was subject to a deportation order after serving two years in prison. Adblock test (Why?)

Syrian parliament convenes for first time following al-Assad’s overthrow

Syrian parliament convenes for first time following al-Assad’s overthrow

President Ahmed al-Sharaa says improving the economy and strengthening public services are key priorities. Published On 12 Jul 202612 Jul 2026 Syria’s president has called on lawmakers to put “national interest above all” as the newly appointed transitional parliament convenes for its inaugural session. Members of the parliament took the constitutional oath in Damascus on Sunday, more than 18 months after longtime authoritarian ruler Bashar al-Assad was toppled by rebels led by Ahmed al-Sharaa, who is now Syria’s president. Recommended Stories list of 3 itemsend of list “I urge you to make this assembly a model of responsibility and competence, and to help foster a culture of dialogue, the rule of law and respect for institutions,” al-Sharaa said. The main role of the parliament, called the People’s Assembly, will be to draft a new constitution and lay the foundations for democracy after decades of oppressive rule under the al-Assad family that culminated in a 14-year civil war that killed more than half a million people. The 43-year-old al-Sharaa has pledged to usher in a new era for Syria, which remains in a dire economic state after years of conflict and political isolation. The country’s challenges have been compounded by periods of political and sectarian tension following al-Assad’s overthrow. Al-Sharaa stressed that improving the economy, strengthening public services and attracting international investment were key priorities for parliament. “Syria is writing a glorious history that reflects its heroism, and we ⁠face the responsibility of building both the nation and the individual,” he said. The chamber has 210 seats. Two-thirds of lawmakers were chosen last year by regional electoral colleges, while al-Sharaa appointed the remaining 70 members of parliament at the beginning of the month. Advertisement Officials say nationwide elections were not feasible because of the complex logistical challenges created by years of conflict, including inaccurate population records. Claudio Cordone, the deputy United Nations special envoy for Syria, called the parliament’s first session “a key milestone in the country’s political transition”, adding that the international community “will follow its work closely and stand ready to support” it. Adblock test (Why?)