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Israel follows up evacuation order with air strikes on Gaza ‘safe zone’

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Israel follows up evacuation order with air strikes on Gaza ‘safe zone’

Reports of at least 16 dead with casualties pouring into hospital.

Israel’s military has launched artillery and air strikes on eastern Khan Younis shortly after demanding residents leave what it had previously designated a humanitarian zone.

The barrage of attacks early on Monday came less than an hour after the evacuation order. At least 30 people have been killed, according to health officials in Gaza.

The enclave’s population, most of which has been displaced and is in desperate need of shelter and food, has found it increasingly difficult to find security as they have been pushed into shrinking “safe zones” by Israel’s bombardment.

The military on Monday had ordered people to leave areas including the eastern part of the al-Mawasi humanitarian zone in the southern Gaza Strip, saying an operation was planned following the launch of a rocket attack towards Israel.

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“People did not even have the opportunity to evacuate,” reported Al Jazeera’s Hind Khoudary from the central city of Deir el-Balah. “The Israeli forces started their air attacks and artillery shelling in eastern Khan Younis shortly after throwing their evacuation order leaflets.”

She noted that casualties were pouring into Khan Younis’s only functional hospital – Nasser Medical Complex – and doctors were pleading for blood donations.

Israel’s military said its renewed attacks on the area, which it has repeatedly invaded during the war, were a response to Hamas operations.

In a post on X, Israel’s military accused Hamas of using civilians in eastern Khan Younis neighbourhoods as “human shields”, turning the area into a danger zone.

It called on residents, many already displaced multiple times, to “immediately” flee further west in the al-Mawasi evacuation zone.

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The order affects more than 400,000 people, according to the Palestinian Civil Defence.

Al-Mawasi has not been immune from attacks either. Earlier this month, a massive aerial attack hit the area, killing over 90 civilians, according to Gaza’s Ministry of Health.

That attack, which Israel’s military said targeted senior Hamas commanders, was described by those sheltering in the area as a “horrific massacre”, leaving women and children strewn on the tents of their floor and in pieces.

“People feel like the Israelis are playing a chess game with them, moving them from one place to another, and no place is safe,” said Khoudary.

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Israel’s wave of attacks in eastern Khan Younis comes as Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu heads to Washington to address the US Congress, which has approved billions in military aid to Israel during the war.

It also comes as Israeli negotiators prepare to restart stalled captive-prisoner exchange talks on Thursday, according to Netanyahu.

Since the war broke out, Israeli attacks in Gaza have killed 38,983 people and injured nearly 90,000, the vast majority civilians, while reducing much of the enclave to rubble. [There’s no breakdown of civilian vs non-civilian casualties; consider removing part not in bold]

The International Court of Justice (ICJ) has ruled that Israel must take steps to prevent civilian casualties and ensure the entry of humanitarian aid into Gaza, but Israel has rejected the court’s ruling.

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Middle East latest: Israeli strikes kill a family of 6 and a Hamas spokesman in Gaza

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Middle East latest: Israeli strikes kill a family of 6 and a Hamas spokesman in Gaza

Israeli strikes overnight and into Thursday killed a family of six and a Hamas spokesman in the Gaza Strip.

A strike hit the tent where Abdel-Latif al-Qanoua was staying in the Jabaliya area of northern Gaza, killing him, according to Basem Naim, another Hamas official.

Another strike near Gaza City killed four children and their parents, according to the emergency service of Gaza’s Health Ministry.

Israel ended its ceasefire with Hamas last week, launching a surprise wave of strikes that killed hundreds of Palestinians. It has vowed to escalate the offensive if Hamas does not release hostages, disarm and leave the territory.

Hamas has said it will only release the remaining 59 hostages — 24 of whom are believed to be alive — in exchange for a lasting ceasefire and an Israeli withdrawal.

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Search 'ongoing' for 4 American soldiers missing from training area in Lithuania: NATO

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Search 'ongoing' for 4 American soldiers missing from training area in Lithuania: NATO

Search efforts remain underway for four U.S. Army soldiers who went missing while training in Lithuania, leaving behind a sunken military vehicle, a NATO spokesperson clarified Wednesday, despite earlier claims that they were deceased.

NATO said the search is “ongoing” and that the fate of the missing “is still unknown,” according to a statement posted on X.

“This is still early news so we do not know the details,” NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte told reporters in Warsaw. “This is really terrible news and our thoughts are with the families and loved ones.” 

Asked Wednesday evening by reporters if he had been briefed about the missing soldiers, President Donald Trump said, “No, I haven’t.”

Few details surrounding the incident were immediately provided by U.S. officials. 

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A U.S. official would say only that the four soldiers were involved in a training accident, The Associated Press reported. The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, would not comment on the status of the soldiers.

The soldiers were conducting scheduled tactical training near Pabradė, a town north of the capital Vilnius, when they went missing, U.S. Army Europe and Africa public affairs in Wiesbaden, Germany, said in a statement. 

The missing M88 Hercules armored recovery vehicle carrying the four soldiers was later found in a body of water in a training area during a search by the U.S. Army, Lithuanian Armed Forces and other Lithuanian authorities. 

FOREIGN NATIONALS FLYING DRONES OVER US MILITARY SITES RAISES ‘ESPIONAGE’ CONCERN: EXPERT

Eurocopters Tiger of the German Army take part in Lithuanian-German military exercises at a training range in Pabrade, north of the capital Vilnius, Lithuania, on May 29, 2024. (AP Photo/Mindaugas Kulbis, File)

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The soldiers, all from the 1st Brigade, 3rd Infantry Division — a unit stationed at Fort Stewart in Georgia, went missing during the scheduled tactical training, according to the statement.

Recovery efforts are underway by U.S. Army and Lithuanian Armed Forces and civilian agencies.

Search efforts for the soldiers continue, and the 3rd Infantry Division is keeping the soliders’ families informed on the status of search efforts.

“Our thoughts and prayers are with our Raider Brigade Soldiers and Families during the search for our four missing Dogface Soldiers in Lithuania,” the division wrote in a Facebook post on Wednesday.

Further updates about the search for the missing soldiers would be provided as information becomes available, the U.S. military said.

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BUREAU OF INDIAN AFFAIRS MISSING AND MURDERED UNIT INVESTIGATING ALLEGED MILITARY BASE KILLING

The training ground in Pabradė is located less than 6 miles from the border with Belarus.

“I would like to personally thank the Lithuanian Armed Forces and first responders who quickly came to our aid in our search operations,” Lt. Gen. Charles Costanza, the V Corps commanding general, said in a written statement. “It’s this kind of teamwork and support that exemplifies the importance of our partnership and our humanity regardless of what flags we wear on our shoulders.”

Lithuania, a member of NATO, has often had tense relations with Russia, a key ally of Belarus, since declaring independence from the Soviet Union in 1990. Latvia and Estonia, the other Baltic countries that broke away from the Soviet Union, have had similarly chilly ties with Russia.

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Relations soured further over Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, and Lithuanian President Gitanas Nausėda has been one of the most outspoken supporters of Ukraine in its fight against Russian President Vladimir Putin’s forces.

Fort Stewart did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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Emmanuel Macron announces €2 billion in additional military aid for Ukraine

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French President Emmanuel Macron welcomed his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Wednesday evening in Paris to prepare a summit of the ‘Coalition of the Willing’, a group of countries ready to provide Ukraine with long-term security guarantees.

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