US blames Hamas for attack that hurt two US aid workers in Gaza
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Iran’s Khamenei attends public event after weeks of war with Israel
Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei attended a religious event on Saturday. The video carried by state media showed dozens attending a ceremony to mark Ashura. Reports that he was in a “secure location” since the start of a 12-day air war with Israel. Top Iranian commanders and nuclear scientists were killed in the war with the Israelis.
The video carried by state media showed dozens attending a ceremony to mark Ashura, the holiest day of the Shi’ite Muslim calendar, standing chanting as Khamenei entered a hall where many government functions are held.
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Item 1 of 3 Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei attends a ceremony to mark Ashura, the holiest day on the Shi’ite Muslim calendar, in Tehran, Iran, July 5, 2025. Office of the Iranian Supreme Leader/WANA (West Asia News Agency)/Handout via REUTERS [1/3] Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei attends a ceremony to mark Ashura, the holiest day on the Shi’ite Muslim calendar, in Tehran, Iran, July 5, 2025. Office of the Iranian Supreme Leader/WANA (West Asia News Agency)/Handout via REUTERS Purchase Licensing Rights , opens new tab
For apparent security reasons, Khamenei had issued pre-taped messages during the war which started on June 13, and avoided public appearances.
On June 26, in pre-recorded remarks aired on state television , Khamenei promised that Iran would not surrender despite U.S. President Donald Trump’s calls
Reporting by Dubai newsroom; Editing by Nick Zieminski and Daniel Wallis
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Two U.S. aid workers wounded in Gaza, foundation says
The Gaza Humanitarian Foundation says two of its American aid workers were injured. The workers were in stable condition, GHF said. The foundation blamed Hamas, which has been fighting Israel on the Gaza Strip since Oct. 7, 2023. The U.N. said Gazans are at a “critical risk of famine” with 1 in 5, or 500,000, facing starvation as the war rages since Hamas attacked Israel on October 7, 2012.”Today, Palestinians in Gaza face an impossible choice: starve or risk being shot while trying desperately to reach food to feed their families,” the group said.
The foundation, which formed in May, posted on X that two militants threw grenades in Khan Younis. The workers were in stable condition, GHF said.
The incident “occurred at the conclusion of an otherwise successful distribution in which thousands of Gazans safely received food,” GHF said. “No local aid workers or civilians were injured.”
The foundation blamed Hamas, which has been fighting Israel on the Gaza Strip since Oct. 7, 2023.
“GHF has repeatedly warned of credible threats from Hamas, including explicit plans to target American personnel, Palestinian aid workers and the civilians who rely on our sites for food. Today’s attack tragically affirms those warnings,” the foundation said.
GHF said the attack won’t deter its efforts, which began on May 27 in Rafah.
“Despite this violence, GHF remains fully committed to its mission: feeding the people of Gaza safely, directly, and at scale,” the foundation said. “Attempts to disrupt this life-saving work will only deepen the crisis. We will continue to stand with the people of Gaza and do everything in our power to deliver the aid they so urgently need.”
In June, more than 100 human rights groups and international aid charities, including Oxfam, Save the Children and Amnesty International, called for the end of aid by the foundation because the locations are in combat zones.
“Today, Palestinians in Gaza face an impossible choice: starve or risk being shot while trying desperately to reach food to feed their families,” the group said. “The humanitarian system is being deliberately and systematically dismantled by the Government of Israel’s blockade and restrictions, a blockade now being used to justify shutting down nearly all other aid operations in favor of a deadly, military-controlled alternative that neither protects civilians nor meets basic needs.
Since the GHF was launched, Israeli forces have killed more than 400 Palestinians trying to collect food aid, the U.N. and local doctors say, according to a BBC report. But Israel said the new distribution system stops aid going to Hamas.
In May, GHF announced Israel will allow the resumption of aid, including 300 million meals for the initial 90 days.
Since the cease-fire between Israel and militant-run Hamas ended on March 1, Israel had frozen all supplies of food, water and medicine to the region of an estimated 2.5 million people. The United Nations said Gazans are at a “critical risk of famine” with 1 in 5, or 500,000, facing starvation as the war rages since Hamas attacked Israel on Oct. 7, 2023.
The foundation’s executive director, Jake Wood, is a decorated Marine Corps veteran, social entrepreneur and expert in crisis leadership. In 2010, he co-founded and is CEO of Team Rubicon, a nonprofit of 180,000 veteran volunteers in humanitarian roles, including disaster response.
Hamas says it responds to Gaza ceasefire proposal in ‘a positive spirit’
Hamas says it responded in “a positive spirit” to a U.S.-brokered Gaza ceasefire proposal. Hamas prepared to enter into talks on implementing the deal, which envisages release of hostages. Concerns remain over humanitarian aid, passage through Rafah crossing to Egypt. Israeli attacks have killed at least 138 Palestinians in Gaza over the past 24 hours, local health officials said.. Israeli military said troops operating in the Khan Younis area had eliminated militants, confiscated weapons. and dismantled Hamas outposts in the previous 24 hours while striking 100 targets across Gaza, including military structures, weapons storage facilities and launchers. The U.N. Security Council has called for an end to the Gaza conflict by the end of the month, but no action has been taken so far. The United Nations has called on both sides to refrain from further attacks.. The European Union and the United States have called for a ceasefire by end of July, but both sides have not yet agreed on a timetable.. Israel has said it will not accept a cease-fire that does not include Hamas disarmament.
Netanyahu demand for Hamas disarmament could complicate ceasefire talks
Trump to meet Netanyahu in Washington on Monday
CAIRO/TEL AVIV, July 4 (Reuters) – Hamas said it had responded on Friday in “a positive spirit” to a U.S.-brokered Gaza ceasefire proposal and was prepared to enter into talks on implementing the deal, which envisages a release of hostages and negotiations on ending the conflict.
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Hamas wrote on its official website: “The Hamas movement has completed its internal consultations as well as discussions with Palestinian factions and forces regarding the latest proposal by the mediators to halt the aggression against our people in Gaza.
“The movement has delivered its response to the brotherly mediators, which was characterized by a positive spirit. Hamas is fully prepared, with all seriousness, to immediately enter a new round of negotiations on the mechanism for implementing this framework,” the statement said.
In a sign of potential challenges still facing the sides, a Palestinian official of a militant group allied with Hamas said concerns remained over humanitarian aid, passage through the Rafah crossing to Egypt and clarity over a timetable of Israeli troop withdrawals.
Trump said on Tuesday that Israel had agreed “to the necessary conditions to finalise” a 60-day ceasefire, during which efforts would be made to end the U.S. ally’s war in the Palestinian enclave.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who is due to meet Trump in Washington on Monday, has yet to comment on Trump’s announcement, and in their public statements the two sides remain far apart. Netanyahu has repeatedly said Hamas must be disarmed, a position the militant group, which is thought to be holding 20 living hostages, has so far refused to discuss.
Israeli media cited an Israeli official as saying that Israel had received and was looking into Hamas’ response to the ceasefire proposal.
Trump expressed optimism late on Friday to reporters aboard Air Force One, who asked about Hamas’ response.
“They said they gave me a positive response? Well, that’s good,” Trump said, adding that he had not yet been briefed. “There could be a Gaza deal next week.”
An Egyptian security official told Reuters that Egypt, which along with Qatar is mediating ceasefire efforts, had seen Hamas’ response and said: “It includes positive signs that an agreement is near, but there are some demands from Hamas that need to be worked on.”
Trump has said he would be “very firm” with Netanyahu on the need for a speedy Gaza ceasefire, adding that the Israeli leader wants one as well.
ATTACKS OVERNIGHT
Israeli attacks have killed at least 138 Palestinians in Gaza over the past 24 hours, local health officials said.
Item 1 of 9 A Palestinian boy inspects the damage at an UNRWA school sheltering displaced people that was hit in an an overnight Israeli strike, in Gaza City, July 5, 2025. REUTERS/Dawoud Abu Alkas [1/9] A Palestinian boy inspects the damage at an UNRWA school sheltering displaced people that was hit in an an overnight Israeli strike, in Gaza City, July 5, 2025. REUTERS/Dawoud Abu Alkas Purchase Licensing Rights , opens new tab
Health officials at the Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis, southern Gaza, said the Israeli military had carried out an airstrike on a tent encampment west of the city around 2 a.m., killing 15 Palestinians displaced by nearly two years of war.
The Israeli military said troops operating in the Khan Younis area had eliminated militants, confiscated weapons and dismantled Hamas outposts in the previous 24 hours while striking 100 targets across Gaza, including military structures, weapons storage facilities and launchers.
Later on Friday, Palestinians gathered to perform funeral prayers before burying those killed overnight.
“There should have been a ceasefire long ago before I lost my brother,” said 13-year-old Mayar Al Farr as she wept. Her brother, Mahmoud, was shot dead in another incident, she said.
“He went to get aid, so he can get a bag of flour for us to eat. He got a bullet in his neck,” she said.
‘MAKE THE DEAL’
In Tel Aviv, families and friends of hostages held in Gaza were among demonstrators who gathered outside a U.S. embassy building on U.S. Independence Day, calling on Trump to secure a deal for all of the captives.
Demonstrators set up a symbolic Sabbath dinner table, placing 50 empty chairs to represent those who are still held in Gaza. Banners hung nearby displaying a post by Trump from his Truth Social platform that read, “MAKE THE DEAL IN GAZA. GET THE HOSTAGES BACK!!!”
“Only you can make the deal. We want one beautiful deal. One beautiful hostage deal,” said Gideon Rosenberg, 48, from Tel Aviv.
Rosenberg was wearing a shirt with the image of hostage Avinatan Or, one of his employees who was abducted by Palestinian militants from the Nova musical festival on October 7, 2023. He is among the 20 hostages who are believed to be alive after more than 600 days of captivity.
An official familiar with the negotiations said on Thursday that the proposal envisages the return of 10 of the hostages during the 60 days, along with the bodies of 18 others who had died since being taken hostage.
Ruby Chen, 55, the father of 19-year-old American-Israeli Itay, who is believed to have been killed after being taken captive, urged Netanyahu to return from meeting Trump with a deal that brings back all hostages.
Itay Chen, also a German national, was serving as an Israeli soldier when Hamas carried out its surprise attack, killing around 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and taking 251 hostage.
Israel’s retaliatory war against Hamas has devastated Gaza, which the militant group has ruled for almost two decades but now only controls in parts, displacing most of the population of more than 2 million and triggering widespread hunger.
More than 57,000 Palestinians have been killed in nearly two years of fighting, most of them civilians, according to local health officials.
Reporting by Alexander Cornwell in Tel Aviv, Nidal al-Mughrabi and Menna Alaa El Din in Cairo, Hatem Khaled in Gaza, Howard Goller in New York and David Brunnstrom and Trevor Hunnicutt in Washington; Editing by Alex Richardson, Philippa Fletcher and Rosalba O’Brien
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Israeli military says intercepted missile launched from Yemen
Sirens were activated across several areas in Israel in accordance with protocol. Israel threatened Yemen’s Houthi movement with a naval and air blockade if it the Iran-aligned group persists with attacks on Israel.
Sirens were activated across several areas in Israel in accordance with protocol, it said.
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Israel threatened Yemen’s Houthi movement with a naval and air blockade if it the Iran-aligned group persists with attacks on Israel, in what it says is solidarity with Gaza.
Since the start of the war in Gaza in October 2023, the Houthis have been firing at Israel and at shipping in the Red Sea, disrupting global trade.
Most of the dozens of missiles and drones they have launched have been intercepted or fallen short. Israel has carried out a series of retaliatory strikes.
Reporting by Menna Alaa El-Din; Editing by David Gregorio
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US officials accuse Hamas of attacking two aid workers in Gaza
Two American aid workers injured at Gaza food distribution site. US State Department blames “Hamas terrorists” for the attack. Israeli military earlier accused what it called “terrorist organisations” of sabotaging the distribution of aid in Gaza. At least 70 people have been killed in the territory by the Israeli military in the last 24 hours, including 23 near aid distribution sites. Hamas-run interior ministry in Gaza on Thursday warned residents of the coastal enclave not to assist the GHF, saying deadly incidents near its distribution sites endangered hungry Gazans. The GHF bypasses traditional aid channels, including the United Nations, which says the US based organisation is neither impartial nor neutral. The latest bloodshed in the decades-old Israeli-Palestinian conflict was triggered in October 2023, when Hamas attacked southern Israel.
The US and Israeli-backed GHF said in a statement that the injured Americans were receiving medical treatment and were in a stable condition with non-life-threatening injuries.
“The attack which preliminary information indicates was carried out by two assailants who threw two grenades at the Americans occurred at the conclusion of an otherwise successful distribution in which thousands of Gazans safely received food,” the GHF said.
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US State Department spokesperson Tammy Bruce blamed “Hamas terrorists” for the attack.
“This act of violence against the people actually bringing relief to Gazans lays bare the depravity of Hamas,” she said in a post on X.
“GHF has contributed over 62 MILLION MEALS – nothing will stop these courageous aid workers. We are praying for the rapid recovery of the injured Americans.”
The Israeli military earlier accused what it called “terrorist organisations” of sabotaging the distribution of aid in Gaza.
GHF, which began distributing aid in Gaza in May, employs private US military contractors to provide security at their sites.
Gaza has seen an escalation in violence as efforts continue to reach a ceasefire agreement. Hamas on Friday said it had responded positively to a US-brokered deal and was prepared to enter talks. US President Donald Trump is scheduled to meet Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday.
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KILLINGS NEAR AID DISTRIBUTION SITES
Gazan authorities reported at least 70 people have been killed in the territory by the Israeli military in the last 24 hours, including 23 near aid distribution sites. The ministry did not specify where or how exactly they had been killed.
The Israeli military had no immediate comment on the reports.
In a statement on Friday, the military said troops had killed 100 militants in Gaza in the past week, and that it had “operational control” over 65% of Gaza after an offensive against Hamas fighters in the north.
The Hamas-run interior ministry in Gaza on Thursday warned residents of the coastal enclave not to assist the GHF, saying deadly incidents near its distribution sites endangered hungry Gazans.
The GHF bypasses traditional aid channels, including the United Nations, which says the US based organisation is neither impartial nor neutral.
Since Israel lifted an 11-week aid blockade on Gaza on May 19, the UN says more than 400 Palestinians have been killed while seeking aid handouts. A senior UN official said last week that the majority of people killed were trying to reach aid distribution sites of the GHF.
The latest bloodshed in the decades-old Israeli-Palestinian conflict was triggered in October 2023, when Hamas attacked southern Israel, killing around 1,200 people and taking 251 hostages, according to Israeli tallies.
Gaza’s health ministry says Israel’s retaliatory military assault on the enclave has killed over 57,000 Palestinians. It has also caused a hunger crisis, internally displaced Gaza’s entire population and prompted accusations of genocide and war crimes. Israel denies the accusations.
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Published By: Rivanshi Rakhrai Published On: Jul 6, 2025
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