Full story
Ceasefire and evacuations
Israel accepted a five-hour “humanitarian” ceasefire in the Gaza Strip, while ordering the 100,000 residents of two Gaza neighborhoods near the border to evacuate the area and warning that the IDF could launch a ground operation.
“It was not known to the Palestinian boy Mohammad Abu Jiab (16) that the moments captured by his camera's lens yesterday, Sunday, as he was diving in the sea off the coast of the Gaza Strip, would be the last in his life, before the scene of joy turned into tragedy, after he was hit by a bullet to the head fired by the Israeli occupation army”
The IDF said the “humanitarian window” was meant to allow residents to replenish supplies, running from 10:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. local time, as Israeli raids had killed 215 people in the Gaza Strip since July 8.
Offensives continued on Wednesday, with Gaza militants firing more than a hundred rockets toward Israel, and in the evening two Israeli airstrikes killed six people, including two children aged 4 and 6, in the city of Khan Younis, according to Palestinian medical services.
The Israeli Defense Minister asked Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to authorize mobilization of 8,000 additional reservists, after the army said it had already recalled 30,000 reservists since the start of the offensive.
After a meeting of Netanyahu’s security cabinet, an Israeli official said, “The idea now is to continue airstrikes and, if necessary, to enter with ground forces in a tactical and measured way.”
Children killed and investigated
Four children were killed in an Israeli bombardment in Gaza in front of journalists on Wednesday, July 16, on the ninth day of Israeli bombardments against Hamas in the Gaza Strip.
Le Monde reported that an initial Israeli missile first hit shortly after 4 p.m. (2 p.m. Paris time) a shack on the Gaza fishing port’s breakwater, and as the other boys began to run, a second strike hit the group, killing three more.
The head of Gaza’s emergency services said in total four children (two aged 10, one aged 9, the other 11) were killed and at least five others injured in these strikes, and the victims were cousins from a single fishing family, the Bakr.
Le Monde said the Israeli army issued a statement acknowledging its responsibility: “We are diligently investigating the incident in question, the text says, describing the deaths of the children as tragic but reaffirming that the targets were Hamas terrorists.”
UNICEF’s Catherine Weibel urged, “Children must be protected from violence. They should not be the victims of a conflict for which they are in no way responsible,” as the AFP report described minors killed during the fighting between Israel and Hamas.
Hunger, aid blocks, and risk
UNRWA warned that as food reserves in the Palestinian enclave run low, some families reported “eating whatever comes to hand, even if it is not fit for consumption,” while it urged that “Access to humanitarian aid must be restored.”
“At CNEWS, we respect your privacy, and it is thanks to personalized advertising that we can provide you with high-quality information, instantly and free of charge”
The UN News report said that since March 2, the Israeli army has blocked all deliveries of food, fuel, and medicines into Gaza, leaving its two million inhabitants “caught between bombs and hunger.”
It added that the World Food Programme’s food reserves in the Gaza Strip were completely exhausted, and that UNRWA said the UN agency delivered these last stocks to community kitchens expected to run out of supplies in the coming days.
The same UN News report said that 70% of the enclave has been designated as a “no-go zone” or is under Israeli army evacuation orders, while it noted that more than 170,000 tons of food stored by the UN in the region are ready to be delivered as soon as restrictions are lifted.
In UNICEF’s account of the ceasefire’s fragility, it said that since the entry into force of the ceasefire between Israel and Hamas on October 10, 2025, the situation in the Gaza Strip remains precarious, with the enclave bombed several times and at least 837 people killed, including 229 children.
