At least 39 people killed in Israeli strikes across northern Gaza, officials say
Deir al-Balah (Gaza Strip), Jun 22: At least 39 people were killed by Israeli air strikes across northern Gaza on Saturday, according to Palestinian and hospital officials.
Fadel Naem, director of the al-Ahli Hospital in Gaza City, told The Associated Press that more than three dozen bodies arrived at the hospital. The Palestinian Civil Defense, an emergency group active in Gaza, said it pulled approximately the same number of bodies from a building hit by an Israeli strike in an eastern neighbourhood of Gaza City.
The group said its emergency workers were also digging for survivors at the site of another strike in Shati refugee camp, west of Gaza City.
Israel said Saturday that its fighter jets struck two Hamas military sites in the Gaza City area but did not elaborate further.
The deaths come a day after at least 25 people were killed in strikes on tent camps and 50 wounded near the southern city of Rafah. Israel said Saturday that it was continuing to operate in central and southern Gaza and has pushed ahead with its invasion of Rafah, where over a million Palestinians had sought refuge from fighting elsewhere.
Most have now fled the city, but the United Nations says no place in Gaza is safe and humanitarian conditions are dire as families shelter in tents and cramped apartments without adequate food, water or medical supplies.
A separate Israeli strike Saturday in Lebanon's eastern Bekaa Valley killed a member of the military wing of al-Jamaa al-Islamiya, or the Islamic Group, a Sunni Muslim faction closely allied with Hamas, according to the group. The member was the seventh killed by Israeli strikes in Lebanon since the war began.
The Israel-Hamas war erupted on Oct 7 when Hamas group who stormed southern Israel killed about 1,200 people and took some 250 others hostage. Israel has responded by bombarding and invading the enclave, killing more than 37,400 Palestinians there according to Gaza's Health Ministry, which does not distinguish between combatants and civilians in its count.
Also Saturday, Israel's army said an Israeli man was fatally shot in the northern West Bank town of Qalqilya, where Israeli forces fatally shot two Hamas members Friday, the latest flare of violence in the territory since the Israel-Hamas war erupted.
At least 549 Palestinians in the territory have been killed by Israeli fire since the war began, according to the Palestinian Health Ministry, which tracks the killings. Over the same period, Palestinians in the West Bank have killed at least nine Israelis, including five soldiers, according to UN data.
Israeli nationals are prohibited from entering Qalqilya and other areas of the West Bank that fall under the under the control of the Palestinian Authority.
In April, the death of a 14-year-old Israeli settler sparked a series of settler attacks on Palestinian towns in the territory. The army said a Palestinian was later arrested in connection with the killing.
On Saturday, the Palestinian Health Ministry said a 12-year-old Palestinian boy died from his wounds after being shot by Israeli forces in Ramallah last week. Commenting on the shooting, the Israeli army said its forces raided al-Amari refugee camp near Ramallah to arrest a suspect Friday and then opened fire on a group of Palestinians who were pelting them with stones.
Israel said Saturday that it was investigating a separate incident into conduct of its soldiers after a video surfaced online showing an injured Palestinian being transported on the hood of an Israeli armoured car in the northern West Bank.
The army said the man in the video was a wanted suspect and injured during an exchange of fire between Palestinian Hamas group and Israeli forces near the city of Jenin. The man was being transported to a Red Crescent ambulance situated nearby, it said. The army said the conduct in the video didn't “conform to the values” of the army.
Israel captured the West Bank, along with the Gaza Strip and east Jerusalem, in the 1967 Mideast war. The Palestinians seek those territories as part of their hoped-for independent state.
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Rare Kalyani Chalukya-era stepwell discovered in Karnataka’s Gadag district
Gadag: A centuries-old stepwell from the Kalyani Chalukya period is discovered into public in Sudi, a remote village in Karnataka’s Gadag district. The Nagakunda Pushkarani, dating to the 10th-11th century CE, is undergoing extensive restoration under the Department of Archaeology, Museums and Heritage’s ‘Adopt a Monument’ scheme.
The stepwell was focal point of community life and craftsmanship under the reign of Akkadevi, sister of Chalukya king Jayasimha II. It shows the dynasty’s mastery of architecture and water management. Its interior walls are carved with the precision of temple façades, setting it apart from most surviving stepwells in southern India, linking it stylistically to examples in Gujarat and Rajasthan.
After centuries of neglect left its sculptures weathered and its waters dry, the site is now being revived by the Deccan Heritage Foundation India in partnership with Heritage Matters, the Gandipet Welfare Society and the Water Literacy Foundation according to a report published by The HIndu. Work includes structural repairs, removal of invasive vegetation, dredging, stone resetting and landscaping, alongside the restoration of an adjacent mantapa with a large Ganesha idol.
Heritage architect B. Sarath Chandra noted, the project is as much about functionality as aesthetics, with water recharge efforts already underway. Funded by Gandipet Welfare Society founder Rajashree Pinnamenni, the restoration is slated for completion by late 2025, followed by a second phase linking the stepwell to the Jodu Kalasadagudi temple through landscaped pathways.
The report mentions that officials say the revival of Nagakunda Pushkarani could not only reintroduce Sudi’s Chalukya heritage to a wider audience but also serve as a model for conserving other lesser-known monuments across Karnataka.
