Strike on Gaza polio vaccine centre wounds four children: WHO

At Israel's founding in 1948, ultra-Orthodox men were exempt from military service in exchange for support of the secular state, but tensions escalated after a war in Gaza in 2023. The Supreme Court ruled that Haredi men were no longer exempt, leading to protests and draft orders for 10,000 Haredi men, with only 338 showing up. The story follows three Haredi teenagers - Chaim Krausz, Itamar Greenberg, and Yechiel Wais - who represent different perspectives...

In the besieged Sudanese city of El-Fasher, Nafisa Malik shelters her children from the ongoing war between the RSF and Sudan's army, causing widespread destruction and fear among residents. The army holds the city against RSF attacks, with residents seeking refuge in makeshift bunkers and underground shelters to survive the relentless bombardments. As the conflict intensifies, the city faces a humanitarian crisis, with famine declared in displacement camps and aid agencies struggling to provide assistance...

A blast in Latakia, Syria killed four people when a scrap dealer mishandled unexploded ordnance in a hardware store, injuring nine others, including four children. The explosion was described as an "accident" by the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, resulting from an attempt to dismantle the munition. The incident highlighted the ongoing danger posed by unexploded munitions in Syria from the civil war that began in 2011, with estimates suggesting that hundreds of thousands of...

Israeli forces killed at least nine Palestinians in Gaza in strikes on Saturday, despite a two-month-old truce with Hamas. The military has conducted constant strikes accusing militants of threats, while Hamas claims violations of the agreement. Mediators are struggling to negotiate a permanent end to the conflict, with Israeli forces remaining deployed in Gaza and along the Philadelphi Corridor. Full Article

A delegation of Syrian Druse recently visited Israel for a pilgrimage to a shrine, marking a rare interaction between the two countries as Israel seeks to expand its influence in post-Assad Syria. The visit, organized by Druse leader Sheikh Muwafaq Tarif, was a significant moment for the community, many of whom live in southern Syria. Israel has indicated readiness to defend the Druse population in Syria and may allow some to work in the Golan...

An airstrike conducted by joint Iraqi and U.S. forces killed a senior Islamic State leader, Abdallah Makki Muslih al-Rufay’i, in Iraq, who was considered one of the most dangerous terrorists in the world. The Islamic State has been reconstituting in Syria, carrying out numerous attacks, with affiliates in over a dozen countries across three continents, evolving its organization structure. The most deadly attacks in 2024 were linked to the IS-Khorasan affiliate based in Afghanistan, showing...