Palestinian officials say Israeli strikes have killed 22 people in northern Gaza
Deir al-Balah (AP): Israeli strikes on northern Gaza have killed at least 22 people, Palestinian medical officials said.
The Gaza Health Ministry's emergency service said that 11 women and two children were among those killed in the strikes late Saturday on several homes and buildings in the northern town of Beit Lahiya. It said another 15 people were wounded and that the death toll could rise.
There was no immediate comment from the Israeli military.
Israel has been waging a massive air and ground offensive in northern Gaza for the last three weeks, after saying that Hamas had regrouped there. Hundreds of people have been killed and tens of thousands of Palestinians have fled to Gaza City in the latest wave of displacement in the yearlong war.
Israel is still carrying out daily strikes across Gaza, even as it wages war with the Hezbollah group in Lebanon. On Saturday, Israeli warplanes attacked Iran — which backs both Hamas and Hezbollah — in response to an Iranian ballistic missile attack earlier this month.
The cascading conflicts have raised fears of an all-out regional war pitting Israel and the United States against Iran and its proxies, which also include the Houthi rebels in Yemen and armed groups in Syria and Iraq.
Israel's retaliatory offensive has killed more than 42,000 Palestinians, according to the local Health Ministry. It says more than half of those killed were women and children.
The offensive has devastated much of the impoverished coastal territory and displaced around 90 per cent of its population, often multiple times. Hundreds of thousands of people have crowded into squalid tent camps along the coast, and aid groups say hunger is rampant.
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The Hindu editor urges Gujarat Police to drop FIR against journalist Mahesh Langa
Gandhinagar: Suresh Nambath, editor of The Hindu, has called on the Gujarat Police to withdraw the FIR against senior assistant editor Mahesh Langa, who has been charged with possessing confidential documents related to the Gujarat Maritime Board (GMB). This is the second FIR against Langa, who was already in judicial custody for a separate case involving alleged Goods and Services Tax (GST) fraud.
The latest FIR was lodged at the Sector-7 police station in Gandhinagar on October 22, following a complaint from the GMB. The first FIR was filed based on a complaint by the Directorate General of GST Intelligence (DGGI).
Nambath expressed concern over the charges against Langa in a series of posts on X, stating, “Journalists are required to process documents, including those of a confidential nature, in the line of their work. To file charges against them for possession of such documents is to undermine their journalistic work and fundamental rights and to subvert the public interest. We urge the Gujarat Police to drop the charges relating to the possession of classified documents against Mahesh.”
He also highlighted that the FIR filed against Langa was not publicly accessible, as it had been classified under the “sensitive” category. “This is completely unacceptable,” Nambath asserted.
In response, Gandhinagar SP Ravi Teja Vasamsetty clarified that the FIR was filed based on the GMB's complaint, stating, “It is our duty to investigate the claims.” He added that the FIR had been submitted to the court and that Langa's family could obtain it from there. Vasamsetty confirmed that no further actions had been taken against Langa at this time.
