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“Where have you been? Where was everybody?” The questions were being screamed at soldiers on a highway by a man stricken with grief. 

His brother had only a week left to go in the army, but was killed on Sunday in a shootout with Hamas on Israeli soil.

The entire country wants those questions answered. Where was the army when Israelis needed them most as Hamas swept into their cities and homes and wreaked such murderous havoc?

Read more: ‘At least 260 bodies’ recovered from music festival – latest updates

There is a sense of powerlessness, bewilderment and fear among Israelis and it is astonishing to witness. Something seems to have shifted, fundamentally.

For Israelis living in one of the world’s most dangerous neighbourhoods there were two things they could rely on. Their military and their intelligence agencies.

Israelis have always believed their generals and spymasters would keep them safe and most of all manage the Hamas menace.

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That was, it turns out, delusional and complacent and the country is paying the price for such hubris.

Israeli soldiers look at the remains of a police station which was the site of a battle following a mass infiltration by Hamas gunmen from the Gaza Strip, in Sderot, southern Israel October 8, 2023. REUTERS/Ronen Zvulun
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Israeli soldiers look on at the remains of a police station in Sderot, southern Israel

Read more:
‘Up to 700’ Israelis dead in Hamas attacks

‘Terrorists are in my bedroom’

Hamas has always improved its capability aided by outside help. It was only a matter of time before it would reach a step change in capability.

It’s not yet clear quite how Hamas was able to raise its game so spectacularly though.

Israel-Hamas War: Watch special programme on Sky News tonight at 9pm

In a moral sense they have plumbed new depths, seizing as hostages the elderly, the infirm, women and children and parading them in harrowing videos. In what may be the worst outrage of the last day or so, there are also reports of at least 260 bodies at the site of a music festival.

Young people from around the world were dancing celebrating music and peace when Hamas fighters appeared in jeeps, on motorbikes and in the air in paragliders and began the slaughter. Some have been dragged back to Gaza joining scores of other hostages.

Explosions in Gaza City
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Explosions in Gaza City

Israel has been caught unawares and found wanting. It will want to reassert the power of its deterrence. It cannot afford not to but it faces a perilous challenge.

Taking on Hamas in the densely populated Gaza Strip has never been straightforward.

But this time there is an added complication. Hamas has taken scores of Israelis hostage. They will be spread across Gaza used as human shields. That is a new challenge Israel has not had to face on this scale before.

What else has the metamorphosed Hamas in store for its enemy both in Gaza and in Israel? How many more cells of Hamas fighters remain on the loose on Israeli soil like the ones that killed the young man’s brother?

Hamas seems more resourceful, better trained, better armed and far better at strategy. When the Israeli tanks and newly mobilised troops go into Gaza can they expect more surprises?

The balance in military power feels like it has shifted dramatically in little over 24 hours. Israel will need to address that. Does it have what it takes?

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Palestinian man forced to abandon loved ones trapped beneath rubble after IDF warning

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Palestinian man forced to abandon loved ones trapped beneath rubble after IDF warning

It was in the evening that the bombing started to intensify.

Salah Jundia, his father and brothers huddled together in their home in Shujaiyya, just east of Gaza City, trying to work out what to do.

It was too risky for them to leave at night. There were a lot of them too. Extended family living across four storeys. They decided they would wait until after dawn prayers.

The explosion tore through the building just before 5am, collapsing one storey on to the next.

The remains of where the family lived - where loved ones were trapped beneath the rubble
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The remains of Salah Jundia’s home in Shujaiyya, just east of Gaza City

Salah Jundia
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Salah Jundia

Jundia says he survived because pieces of bedroom furniture fell on top of him.

Then he looked for his father and brothers.

“I found one of them calling for help. I removed the rubble covering him with my hands. Then I saw another brother covered in rubble but he was dead,” he told Sky News.

Jundia added: “My father was also dead. My other brother was also dead. We got them out and that is when I saw that the whole building had collapsed.”

Over the next few hours, they scrambled to rescue who they could.

One of the child victims of the attack on the home in Gaza City
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One of the child victims of the attack on the home near the Gaza City

One of the child victims of the attack
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Another one of child victims of the attack

An aunt and uncle and one of their children, Shaimaa. Uncle Imad and his son Mohammad. The bodies of Montasir and Mustaf.

Jundia says he could hear cries for help, but they were coming from deep in the rubble and were impossible to reach.

The rescue teams on site – civil defence they are called – did not have the kit to clear through three floors of 500 square metres, 30cm slabs of concrete.

Palestinians drilling to try and reach the people trapped below the rubble
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Rescuers drilling to try and reach the people trapped below the rubble

Efforts to free those trapped beneath the rubble in Gaza City
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Efforts to free those trapped beneath the rubble near the Gaza City

In the afternoon, Jundia says Israel’s Defence Forces (IDF) told rescue teams to leave as they would be resuming their bombardment.

Jundia buried the bodies he had managed to pull out but he knew 15 of his family members, 12 of them children, were still somewhere inside the rubble, still crying for help.

He made a desperate video appeal, begging the Red Cross and Arab countries to pressure Israel to grant access to the site. It was picked up on a few social media accounts.

Israel won’t allow heavy equipment into Gaza. No diggers or bulldozers, nor the fuel or generators to run them.

They say it will fall into Hamas’s hands.

It was a major sticking point during the ceasefire and it is a major issue now as the bombardment continues, given the fact that hundreds if not thousands of civilians might survive if there were the equipment to extract them.

Members of Salah Jundia's family left alive after the attack
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Members of Salah Jundia’s family left alive after the attack

Salah Jundia and his family
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Salah Jundia and his surviving family

Civil defence trying to get to the Jundia family home over the next few days were halted because the IDF were in the vicinity. A family friend tried himself and was killed.

The footage that our camera teams have shot in Shujaiyya over the past two weeks shows how civil defence teams struggle to save those who are trapped and injured with the most rudimentary of equipment – plastering trowels, sledgehammers, ropes and small drills.

“The tight siege stops civil defence equipment from getting in,” says one.

They added: “So we are taking much longer to respond to these events. Time is a factor in getting these people out. So we call immediately for the necessary equipment to be allowed in for the civil defence to use.”

The IDF say they are investigating the circumstances around the Jundia family as a result of our enquiries.

In relation to the access of heavy equipment into Gaza, they say they work closely with international aid organisations to enable the delivery of humanitarian activities in accordance with international law.

The last contact Jundia had from beneath the rubble was a phone call from his uncle Ziad, three days after the strike.

“The line was open for 25 seconds then it went dead. We don’t know what happened. We tried to call, but there was no answer,” he says.

He and his family were displaced several times before they returned home to Shujaiyya – to Rafah in the south, then Khan Younis and Deir al-Balah.

Along the way, Jundia lost one brother and a nephew to Israeli bombs.

Read more:
Israeli air strike hits Gaza hospital
Red dye dumped into US embassy in Israel protest
Israel shot at ambulances over ‘perceived threat’

“We were happy and all the family came back. We went back to our house. It was damaged, but we improvised and we lived in it. We have nothing to do with the resistance. We are not interested in wars. But we have been gravely harmed,” he says.

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What does Sudan execution video tell us?

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What does Sudan execution video tell us?

On 11 April, the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) and its affiliates attacked Zamzam camp in North Darfur.

The RSF is a paramilitary organisation comprised of militias that used to be be aligned with Sudan’s government.

For exactly two years it has been been locked in a civil war with the government’s Sudan Armed Forces (SAF). Both sides have been accused of human rights abuses over the course of the conflict.

After the capture of Zamzam, the RSF claimed in a statement released on Telegram that the camp was being used as a barracks, accusing the SAF of using civilians as “human shields”.

It further claimed, “the Rapid Support Forces were able to secure civilians during the liberation operation and prevent them from being harmed”.

Satellite imagery and footage from the ground paints a darker picture, showing the execution of an unarmed man and widespread fires within the camp at the time of its capture.

Zamzam sits just to the south of Al Fashir, North Darfur’s capital city, which has been a key target of the RSF in recent months.

More on Sudan

Filming of an execution

Shortly after the RSF attack began on 11 April, a video began circulating on social media. It shows a group of gunmen standing over two unarmed men and a child.

One of the men squats in front of a gunman holding an assault rifle. The gunman shoots him at close range, killing him.

The child, less than a meter away, lies face down with his hands covering the back of his head.

A fighter films himself at the execution of an unarmed man.
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A fighter films himself while another executes an unarmed man.

While the footage does not contain much contextual information, the person filming turns the camera to his face before showing a close-up view of the dead body behind him.

Sky News has geolocated a second video showing the same man, wearing the same clothing and equipment, at another location within the camp at the time of its capture.

The footage shows the fighter with a group of gunmen celebrating as they enter a compound in the south of the camp.

Gunfire can be heard, and smoke rises from nearby as the group cheer.

An RSF patch is visible on a fighter filmed by the man present at the execution.
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An RSF patch is visible on a fighter filmed by the man present at the execution.

At one point, a uniformed fighter wearing an RSF patch can be seen, confirming that at least this individual is affiliated with the organisation.

Both videos appear to have been filmed within a short timeframe.

The fighter seen in both videos is wearing the same head covering, clothing and tactical gear. The pattern on his head covering is oriented identically in both, suggesting it has not been removed in the time between filming.

A fighter filmed at two seperate locations wearing the same head covering, clothing and tactical gear.
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A fighter filmed at two seperate locations wearing the same head covering, clothing and tactical gear.

Widespread fires

Available footage and satellite images show the RSF’s capture of Zamzam was closely followed by fires being lit across the camp.

In one video, a man in an RSF uniform can be seen driving on the camp’s main road while thick smoke rises from nearby fires.

Data from FIRMS, a NASA project that uses satellite data to detect thermal anomalies, provides a wider view.

Following the arrival of the RSF on 11 April, fires were detected across the south and east of the camp.

FIRMS data showing thermal anomalies indicating fires following the RSF capture of Zamzam.
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FIRMS data showing thermal anomalies indicating fires following the RSF capture of Zamzam.

More fires were detected in the east and south on 12 April, with areas in the north of the camp being affected on the 13 April.

Satellite imagery showing buildings on fire in Zamzam. Pic: Maxar.
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Satellite imagery showing buildings on fire in Zamzam. Pic: Maxar.

Satellite images form Maxar confirm buildings burned across the south of the camp on April 11, close to where fighters were seen.

On Tuesday, the African Union and European government’s including the UK called for an immediate cessation of the hostilities in which tens of thousands of people have been killed in the last two years.

The Data and Forensics team is a multi-skilled unit dedicated to providing transparent journalism from Sky News. We gather, analyse and visualise data to tell data-driven stories. We combine traditional reporting skills with advanced analysis of satellite images, social media and other open-source information. Through multimedia storytelling we aim to better explain the world while also showing how our journalism is done.

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Ukrainian forces ‘strike Russian brigade’ behind deadly missile attack on Sumy

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Ukrainian forces 'strike Russian brigade' behind deadly missile attack on Sumy

Ukraine’s military says it has struck the base of the Russian missile brigade behind Sunday’s devastating attack on Sumy.

A Russian assault on the city killed 35 people and injured at least 119. Children were among the dead and wounded.

The Ukrainian military has now said it has struck a base of “the 448th missile brigade of the Russian occupiers”.

In a statement on messaging app Telegram, it said the base was “hit [and] a secondary detonation of ammunition was recorded”.

“The results of the strike are being clarified,” it added.

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Aftermath of deadly Russian strike

Volodymyr Zelenskyy previously shared videos of the aftermath of Russia’s Palm Sunday attack, showing dead bodies in the middle of a street in Sumy.

The Ukrainian president said “only scoundrels can act like this” and called for “tough reaction from the world” in posts on social media.

Pic: Reuters
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The assault killed 35 people. Pic: Reuters

Meanwhile, Ukraine‘s foreign ministry said one of the children injured was a baby girl born this year, adding “even newborns are targets for Russia’s crimes”.

NATO on Tuesday reaffirmed its “unwavering” support for Ukraine as the alliance’s secretary-general visited the country.

As he met with Mr Zelenskyy at a hospital in Odesa, Mark Rutte said: “I’m here today because I believe Ukraine’s people deserve real peace, real safety and security in their country, in their homes.”

NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte and Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskiy attend a meeting, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Odesa, Ukraine April 15, 2025. Ukrainian Presidential Press Service/Handout via REUTERS ATTENTION EDITORS - THIS IMAGE HAS BEEN SUPPLIED BY A THIRD PARTY.
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NATO’s Mark Rutte with Volodymyr Zelenskyy in Odesa, Ukraine. Pic: Reuters

Mr Rutte also said he and Mr Zelenskyy had discussed the Trump administration’s peace talks with both Russia and Ukraine.

“These discussions are not easy – not least in the wake of this horrific violence – but we all support President Trump’s push for peace,” he said.

Read more:
Russia jails four journalists
Trump blames Zelenskyy for war

His comment came after Mr Trump accused Ukraine of starting the war with Russia.

Rebutting this, Mr Rutte added: “Russia is the aggressor, Russia started this war. There’s no doubt.”

It also follows Russian and Ukrainian diplomats accusing each other of violating a tentative US-brokered deal to pause strikes on energy infrastructure.

“The Ukrainians have been attacking us from the very beginning, every passing day, maybe with two or three exceptions,” Sergey Lavrov, Russia’s foreign minister, said, adding that Moscow would provide a list of Kyiv’s attacks from the past three weeks.

Andrii Sybiha, his Ukrainian counterpart, dismissed the claim saying on Saturday that Russia launched “almost 70 missiles, over 2,200 [exploding] drones, and over 6,000 guided aerial bombs at Ukraine, mostly at civilians” since agreeing to the limited pause on strikes.

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