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The World Health Organization said Monday its facilities in Gaza had come under Israeli attack, echoing calls from Western countries for an immediate ceasefire as Israel expanded military operations to the central city of Deir el-Balah.WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said the Israeli military had entered the UN agency’s staff residence, forced women and children to evacuate on foot, and handcuffed, stripped and interrogated male staff at gunpoint.Earlier, more than two dozen Western countries called for an immediate end to the war, saying suffering there had “reached new depths”.After more than 21 months of fighting that have triggered catastrophic humanitarian conditions for Gaza’s more than two million people, Israeli allies Britain, France, Australia, Canada and 21 other countries, plus the EU, said in a joint statement that the war “must end now”.”The suffering of civilians in Gaza has reached new depths,” the signatories added, urging a negotiated ceasefire, the release of hostages held by Palestinian militants and the free flow of much-needed aid.Tedros, who also condemned an attack on the WHO’s main warehouse in Deir el-Balah, echoed that call: “A ceasefire is not just necessary, it is overdue,” he said on X.Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar condemned the countries’ statement, saying any international pressure should be on Hamas, while US ambassador Mike Huckabee called the joint letter “disgusting”.Key mediator Egypt, however, endorsed the message.The Western plea came with Deir el-Balah under intense shelling on Monday, after Israel’s military the day before had ordered residents to leave, warning of imminent action in an area where it had not previously operated.Between 50,000 and 80,000 people were in the area when the evacuation order was issued, according to initial estimates from the UN’s humanitarian agency OCHA.Deir el-Balah resident Abdullah Abu Saleem, 48, told AFP on Monday that “during the night, we heard huge and powerful explosions shaking the area as if it were an earthquake”.He said this was “due to artillery shelling in the south-central part of Deir el-Balah and the southeastern area”.”We are extremely worried and fearful that the army is planning a ground operation,” he added.- ‘Extremely critical’ -In their statement, the Western countries also denounced Israel’s aid delivery model in Gaza, saying it was “dangerous, fuels instability and deprives Gazans of human dignity”.The UN has recorded 875 people killed in Gaza while trying to get food since late May, when Israel began easing a more than two-month aid blockade. “We condemn the drip feeding of aid and the inhumane killing of civilians, including children, seeking to meet their most basic needs of water and food,” the statement said.UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres condemned through his spokesman the “accelerating breakdown of humanitarian conditions”, noting “the growing reports of children and adults suffering from malnutrition”.In Deir el-Balah, AFP images showed plumes of dark smoke billowing into the sky.The spokesman for Gaza’s civil defence agency, Mahmud Bassal, told AFP it had “received calls from several families trapped in the Al-Baraka area of Deir el-Balah due to shelling by Israeli tanks”.The Israeli military did not respond to a request for comment.Since the start of the war, nearly all of Gaza’s population has been displaced at least once by repeated Israeli evacuation orders.According to OCHA, the latest order means that 87.8 percent of the territory is now under evacuation orders or within Israeli militarised zones.Hamdi Abu Mughseeb, 50, told AFP that he and his family had fled northwards from their tent south of Deir el-Balah at dawn following a night of intense shelling.”There is no safe place anywhere in the Gaza Strip,” he said. “I don’t know where we can go.”Mai Elawawda, communications officer in Gaza for the UK-based charity Medical Aid for Palestinians, said the situation was “extremely critical”, describing shelling “all around our office.” – ‘Shocked and alarmed’ -The families of hostages held in Gaza since Hamas’s October 2023 attack on Israel said they were “shocked and alarmed” by reports of evacuation orders for parts of Deir el-Balah.The Hostages and Missing Families Forum demanded political and military authorities “clearly explain why the offensive in the Deir el-Balah area does not put the hostages at serious risk”.Of the 251 hostages taken during Hamas’s attack, 49 are still being held in Gaza, including 27 the Israeli military says are dead.Civil defence spokesman Bassal reported at least 15 people killed by Israeli forces across Gaza on Monday.Media restrictions in Gaza and difficulties accessing many areas mean AFP is unable to independently verify tolls and details provided by the agency and other parties.Israel’s military campaign in Gaza has killed 59,029 Palestinians, mostly civilians, according to the health ministry in the Hamas-run territory.Hamas’s 2023 attack, which sparked the war, resulted in the deaths of 1,219 people, most of them civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official figures.

Wall Street stocks largely rose Monday as markets looked ahead to a heavy week of earnings reports following last week’s overall solid results.Both the S&P 500 and Nasdaq advanced to finished at fresh records, while the Dow edged lower.”There is obviously momentum here,” said FHN Financial’s Chris Low, who cited an improving US economic outlook …

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More than two dozen Western countries called for an immediate end to the war in Gaza on Monday, saying suffering there had “reached new depths” as Israel’s military expanded its operations to the central city of Deir el-Balah. After more than 21 months of fighting that have triggered catastrophic humanitarian conditions for Gaza’s more than two million people, Israeli allies Britain, France, Australia, Canada and 21 other countries, plus the EU, said in a joint statement that the war “must end now”.”The suffering of civilians in Gaza has reached new depths,” the signatories added, urging a negotiated ceasefire, the release of hostages held by Palestinian militants and the free flow of much-needed aid.Not long after, the head of the United Nations warned that Gazans’ “last lifelines” were collapsing.Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar condemned the countries’ statement, saying any international pressure should be on Hamas, while US ambassador Mike Huckabee called the joint letter “disgusting”.Key mediator Egypt, however, endorsed the message.The Western plea came with Deir el-Balah under intense shelling on Monday, after Israel’s military the day before had ordered residents to leave, warning of imminent action in an area where it had not previously operated.Between 50,000 and 80,000 people were in the area when the evacuation order was issued, according to initial estimates from the UN’s humanitarian agency OCHA.Deir el-Balah resident Abdullah Abu Saleem, 48, told AFP on Monday that “during the night, we heard huge and powerful explosions shaking the area as if it were an earthquake”.He said this was “due to artillery shelling in the south-central part of Deir el-Balah and the southeastern area”.”We are extremely worried and fearful that the army is planning a ground operation,” he added.- ‘Extremely critical’ -In their statement, the Western countries also denounced Israel’s aid delivery model in Gaza, saying it was “dangerous, fuels instability and deprives Gazans of human dignity”.The UN has recorded 875 people killed in Gaza while trying to get food since late May, when Israel began easing a more than two-month aid blockade. “We condemn the drip feeding of aid and the inhumane killing of civilians, including children, seeking to meet their most basic needs of water and food,” the statement said.UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres condemned through his spokesman the “accelerating breakdown of humanitarian conditions”, noting “the growing reports of children and adults suffering from malnutrition”.In Deir el-Balah, AFP images showed plumes of dark smoke billowing into the sky.The spokesman for Gaza’s civil defence agency, Mahmud Bassal, told AFP it had “received calls from several families trapped in the Al-Baraka area of Deir el-Balah due to shelling by Israeli tanks”.The Israeli military did not respond to a request for comment.Since the start of the war, nearly all of Gaza’s population has been displaced at least once by repeated Israeli evacuation orders.According to OCHA, the latest order means that 87.8 percent of the territory is now under evacuation orders or within Israeli militarised zones.Hamdi Abu Mughseeb, 50, told AFP that he and his family had fled northwards from their tent south of Deir el-Balah at dawn following a night of intense shelling.”There is no safe place anywhere in the Gaza Strip,” he said. “I don’t know where we can go.”Mai Elawawda, communications officer in Gaza for the UK-based charity Medical Aid for Palestinians, said the situation was “extremely critical”, describing shelling “all around our office, and military vehicles are just 400 metres (1,300 feet) away from our colleagues and their families”.- ‘Shocked and alarmed’ -The families of hostages held in Gaza since Hamas’s October 2023 attack on Israel said they were “shocked and alarmed” by reports of evacuation orders for parts of Deir el-Balah.The Hostages and Missing Families Forum demanded political and military authorities “clearly explain why the offensive in the Deir el-Balah area does not put the hostages at serious risk”.Of the 251 hostages taken during Hamas’s attack, 49 are still being held in Gaza, including 27 the Israeli military says are dead.Civil defence spokesman Bassal reported at least 15 people killed by Israeli forces across Gaza on Monday.Media restrictions in Gaza and difficulties accessing many areas mean AFP is unable to independently verify tolls and details provided by the agency and other parties.Israel’s military campaign in Gaza has killed 59,029 Palestinians, mostly civilians, according to the health ministry in the Hamas-run territory.Hamas’s 2023 attack, which sparked the war, resulted in the deaths of 1,219 people, most of them civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official figures.

Tehran blamed European powers on Monday for the failure of a landmark 2015 nuclear deal, accusing them of breaking commitments ahead of renewed talks in Istanbul with Britain, France and Germany.The 2015 agreement — reached between Iran and UN Security Council permanent members Britain, China, France, Russia and the United States, plus Germany — imposed curbs on Iran’s nuclear programme in exchange for sanctions relief.However, it unravelled in 2018 when the United States, during Donald Trump’s first term as president, unilaterally withdrew and reimposed sweeping sanctions.Though Europe pledged continued support, a mechanism intended to offset US sanctions never effectively materialised, forcing many Western firms to exit Iran and deepening its economic crisis.”Iran holds the European parties responsible for negligence in implementing the agreement,” said foreign ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei ahead of Friday’s talks in Istanbul with Britain, France and Germany on the deal’s future.Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi and his Turkish counterpart Hakan Fidan spoke by phone Monday to discuss the talks, Fidan’s office said, confirming the date had been set for Friday.Iran will also host a trilateral meeting Tuesday with Chinese and Russian representatives to discuss the nuclear issue and potential sanctions.The Chinese foreign ministry said Beijing would “continue to play a constructive role in pushing relevant sides to restart dialogue and negotiations, and reach a solution that takes in account the legitimate concerns of all parties”.In recent weeks, the three European powers have threatened to reimpose international sanctions on Tehran, accusing it of breaching its nuclear commitments.Germany said the Istanbul talks would be at the expert level, with the European trio, or E3, working “flat out” to find a sustainable and verifiable diplomatic solution.”If no solution is reached by the end of August… the snapback also remains an option for the E3,” said its foreign ministry spokesman, Martin Giese.A clause in the 2015 agreement allows for UN sanctions on Iran to be reimposed through a “snapback” mechanism in the event of non-compliance.However, the agreement expires in October, leaving a tight deadline.- ‘No intention of speaking with America’ -The International Atomic Energy Agency says Iran is the only non-nuclear-armed country currently enriching uranium to 60 percent — far beyond the 3.67 percent cap set by the 2015 accord.That is a short step from the 90 percent enrichment required for a nuclear weapon.Using the snapback clause was “meaningless, unjustifiable and immoral”, Baqaei told a news conference, arguing that Iran only began distancing itself from the agreement in response to Western non-compliance.”Iran’s reduction of its commitments was carried out in accordance with the provisions outlined in the agreement,” he said.Western powers — led by the United States and backed by Israel — have long accused Tehran of secretly seeking nuclear weapons.Iran has repeatedly denied this, insisting its nuclear programme is solely for civilian purposes such as energy production.Tehran and Washington had held five rounds of nuclear talks starting in April, but a planned meeting on June 15 was cancelled after Israel launched strikes on Iran, triggering a 12-day conflict.”At this stage, we have no intention of speaking with America,” Baqaei said Monday.Israel launched a wave of surprise strikes on its regional nemesis on June 13, targeting key military and nuclear facilities.The United States launched its own strikes against Iran’s nuclear programme on June 22, hitting the uranium enrichment facility at Fordo, in Qom province south of Tehran, as well as nuclear sites in Isfahan and Natanz.

Israel pounded Yemen’s Huthi-held port of Hodeida with air strikes on Monday for the second time in a month, stoking fears of escalation as it warned Yemen could face the same fate as Iran.Huthi-controlled areas of Yemen have come under repeated Israeli strikes since the Iran-backed rebels began launching missile and drone attacks on Israel, declaring they act in solidarity with Palestinians over the Gaza war.In its latest raids, Defence Minister Israel Katz said Israel struck “targets of the Huthi terror regime at the port of Hodeida” and aimed to prevent any attempt to restore infrastructure previously hit.The renewed strikes on Yemen are part of a year-long Israeli bombing campaign against the Huthis, but the latest threats have raised fears of a wider conflict in the poverty-stricken Arabian Peninsula country.”Yemen’s fate will be the same as Tehran’s,” Katz said.His warning was a reference to the wave of suprise strikes Israel launched on Iran on June 13, targeting key military and nuclear facilities.During the 12-day war, the United States carried out its own attacks on Iran’s nuclear programme on June 22, striking facilities at Fordo, Isfahan and Natanz.A Gulf official told AFP there were “serious concerns in Riyadh… that the Israeli strikes on the Huthis could turn into a large, sustained campaign to oust the movement’s leaders”.The Huthis withstood more a decade of war against a well-armed, Saudi-led international coalition, though fighting has died down in the past few years.Any Israeli escalation could “plunge the region into utter chaos”, said the official, requesting anonymity because he cannot brief the media.- ‘Heavy equipment’ -The Huthis’ Al-Masirah television reported “a series of Israeli air strikes on the Hodeida port”.A Huthi security official, requesting anonymity to discuss sensitive matters, told AFP that “the bombing destroyed the port’s dock, which had been rebuilt following previous strikes.”On July 7, Israeli strikes hit Hodeida and two nearby locations on the coast, with targets including the Galaxy Leader cargo ship, captured in November 2023, which the Israelis said had been outfitted with a radar system to track shipping in the Red Sea.A Yemeni port employee in Hodeida said the strikes targeted “heavy equipment brought in for construction and repair work after Israeli airstrikes on July 7… and areas around the port and fishing boats”.An Israeli military statement said that the targets included “engineering vehicles… fuel containers, naval vessels used for military activities” against Israel and “additional terror infrastructure used by the Huthi terrorist regime”.It said the port had been used to transfer weapons from Iran, which were then used by the Huthi rebels against Israel.The statement added that Israel had identified efforts by the Iran-backed rebels to “re-establish terrorist infrastructure at the port”.The Huthis recently resumed deadly attacks in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden, targeting ships they accuse of having links to Israel.burs-aya/dv