Israeli strike in Gaza kills 25 people as US makes new push for a ceasefire
Deir al-Balah (Gaza Strip), Dec 13: An Israeli airstrike has hit the central Gaza Strip, killing at least 25 Palestinians and wounding dozens more, Palestinian medics said, just hours after President Joe Biden's national security adviser raised hopes about a ceasefire deal to end the war in Gaza.
Officials at two hospitals in the Gaza Strip, al-Awda Hospital in the north and al-Aqsa Hospital in central Gaza, reported they received a combined total of 25 bodies from an Israeli strike on a multi-storey residential building in the urban Nuseirat refugee camp on Thursday.
Palestinian medics also reported that over 40 people, most of them children, were receiving treatment at the two hospitals. The al-Aqsa Hospital said that the Israeli attack also damaged several nearby houses in Nuseirat.
There was no immediate comment from the Israeli military on the deadly strike. Israel is trying to eliminate Hamas, which led the attack on southern Israel in October 2023 that sparked the war in Gaza. The Israeli military says Hamas members hide among Gaza's civilian population.
Photos from the site showed a completely collapsed building with people walking through its mangled and charred remains, smoke rising from piles of belongings strewn over the rubble.
The bombardment came just hours after Jake Sullivan, President Biden's national security adviser, told reporters in Jerusalem that Israel's ceasefire in Lebanon has helped clear the way for another deal to end the war in Gaza. He plans to travel next to Qatar and Egypt, key mediators in the ceasefire talks, as the Biden administration makes a final push on negotiations before Donald Trump is inaugurated.
Sullivan said “Hamas' posture at the negotiating table did adapt” after Israel decimated the leadership of its ally Hezbollah in Lebanon and reached a ceasefire there. “We believe it puts us in a position to close this negotiation,” he said.
Israel's offensive has killed over 44,800 Palestinians in Gaza, more than half of them women and children, according to the Gaza Health Ministry, which does not say how many were combatants. The Israeli military says it has killed over 17,000 Hamas members, without providing evidence.
The fighting has plunged Gaza into a severe humanitarian crisis, with experts warning of famine.
Israel says it allows enough aid to enter and blames UN agencies for not distributing it. The UN says Israeli restrictions, and the breakdown of law and order after Israel repeatedly targeted the Hamas-run police force, make it extremely difficult to operate in the territory.
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1,850 missing mobile phones recovered as Delhi Police focusses on victim-centric policing
New Delhi (PTI): Delhi Police has recovered 1,850 stolen and lost mobile phones worth around Rs 4 crore in past 40 days under "Mission Reconnect", an initiative aimed at returning phones to their rightful owners in outernorth Delhi, an official said on Saturday.
The recovered phones were traced from different parts of the country, including remote areas, through technical surveillance and sustained field operations, police said, adding that the devices were handed over to their owners during a programme at the Sports Ground, New Police Lines, Kingsway Camp.
The initiative focused on a victim-centric approach and aimed at strengthening public trust through proactive policing and coordinated efforts across states, Deputy Commissioner of Police (Outernorth) Hareshwar Swami said.
As part of the programme, teams performed 'nukkad nataks' and screened awareness videos on cybercrime, drug abuse prevention, and senior citizen safety, sensitising the public about digital frauds and safety measures, officials said.
The initiative combines technology, investigation and community participation to ensure recovery of lost property and reconnect citizens with their valuables, they added.
