Israel-Hamas war: ‘I stopped counting after the ninth person was shot in front of us’
I stopped counting after the ninth person was shot in front of us on another day of protests in the West Bank.
It was clearly a tactic by the Israel Defence Forces (IDF) to send a message – to the usual suspects who regularly hurl rocks at their vehicles and security posts – that today they weren’t going to mess around.
Even as we pulled up and put our protective equipment on, I could hear the first rounds being fired.
At that stage the road was pretty empty, there were just a few youngsters getting ready for the almost daily theatre of rock throwing followed by live fire shooting.
A man takes cover in the smoke
The most remarkable thing to me – and I’ve reported on riots and violent protests all over the world for decades – is that everyone getting ready for this exchange of rocks and bullets knows exactly what is going to happen.
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The teenagers will set tyres on fire and use slings to throw stones, and the IDF will shoot them.
Today it was mainly in the legs – on other days it’s been in the head and the chest.
I just cannot understand why anyone thinks risking one’s life to throw a stone that mainly can’t, and certainly won’t reach the target, is a good idea.
But they do, I’ve watched them, and they have done this for generations.
I very much doubt there is a better example of the cycle of violence that has overwhelmed the Middle East for decades.
And how so often it is utterly futile, and unproductive.
Israeli snipers
My cameraman Toby Nash filmed as three youths used the burnt-out hulk of a truck for cover – and to get a better angle to hurl stones.
They go forward, a sniper shoots. The injured man is helped away from the firing line, and an ambulance screeches in to pick him up.
We then watch on as another teenager at the front takes another tyre to make more smoke to cover their movements.
He skips as he crosses back, trying to outwit the snipers.
What he doesn’t know is they have another target, who had come forward from another angle.
But he didn’t get very far, he too was shot.
The ambulance crews move in.
Across the road people take cover at a petrol station, it’s where dozens come to watch all this, often with their children.
Suddenly another round is fired – this time two or three people are hit by the sniper, with the same bullet.
They weren’t even throwing stones; they were just standing watching.
Away from the violence at the check point, the streets of Ramallah echoed with echo the chants of people protesting against the actions of Israel here and in Gaza.
Two boys protesting attacks on civilians
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They’re also protesting against the countries who have given their support to Israel.
The United States and Britain are at the top of the list.
I met Palestinian activist Jamal Jomaa in the crowd. He told me this has been going on too long.
“Since 75 years we are fighting for our simple rights, like any other people in the world to have, to live in peace in our state and we didn’t find this.
“Now it’s ended up like this and it’s supported by Americans, Europeans, this is unacceptable for Palestinians,” he said.
Palestinian activist Jamal Jomaa
He continued: “You hear the people here – it’s become more clear our enemy is not just Israel, our enemy is the United States government, not people, we are appreciating every single voice that came out, especially Jewish voice for peace and all these Jewish voices standing up and saying don’t do this massacre in our names.
“These are our allies, these are the people we are allies with, not with Biden and his racist government, not with Sunak. All of them came to support genocide in Gaza. This is a shame, they should feel ashamed of themselves.”
The city centre came to a standstill. Men, women and children joined the procession as it made its way through the streets.
Many here believe Israeli soldiers will move into Gaza; all acknowledge it will lead to more violence both here in the West Bank and further afield.
A man and young boy wear matching patriotic T-shirts in the West Bank
A solution is desperately needed.
Also in the crowd is Bassam Al-Salhi, a member of the Palestinian Legislative Council.
He told me he has concerns that Israel is committing war crimes with the full support of the US, UK, France, and “all countries who came to support Israel in their war against Palestinians”.
“What we need from all of the people now is to stop this aggression against Palestinians and go through a serious process to end the occupation and implement United Nations resolutions,” he said.
The cycle of protest and violence continues. The flaming anger of Palestinians in the Arab world is burning brighter by the day.
The make-up of the crowd is always interesting – at the front there are men, in the middle there are families, and then, having decided to walk together, are groups of women.
A female protester speaks to Sky’s Stuart Ramsay
Among them was a woman who didn’t want to be named, but she agreed to speak to me about her fears.
Her anger was so passionate – and to me represented the ordinary Palestinians who aren’t involved in politics or armed resistance.
“I’ve lived all my life under occupation, now I am fearful for my children, for my co-workers,” she told me.
“I mean, this government has all the Palestinians, five million Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza, under its complete control. We are civilians, and they have the best weapons in the world to do whatever they want.”
A report into the deadly Lisbon Gloria funicular crash has said the cable linking the two carriages snapped.
The carriages of the city’s iconic Gloria funicular had travelled no more than six metres when they “suddenly lost the balancing force of the connecting cable”.
The vehicle’s brake‑guard immediately “activated the pneumatic brake as well as the manual brake”, the Office for the Prevention and Investigation of Aircraft Accidents and Railway Accidents said.
Flowers for the victims in Lisbon. Pic: AP
Pic: AP
But the measures “had no effect in reducing the vehicle’s speed”, as it accelerated and crashed at around 60kmh (37mph), and the disaster unfolded in less than 50 seconds.
Questions have been asked about the maintenance of the equipment, but the report said that, based on the evidence seen so far, it was up to date.
A scheduled visual inspection had been carried out on the morning of the accident, but the area where the cable broke “is not visible without dismantling.”
The Gloria funicular is a national monument that dates from 1914 and is very popular with tourists visiting the Portuguese capital.
The Gloria funicular connects Lisbon’s Restauradores Square to the Bairro Alto viewpoint
It operates between Restauradores Square in downtown Lisbon and the Bairro Alto neighbourhood.
The journey is just 276m (905ft) and takes just over a minute, but it operates up a steep hill, with two carriages travelling in opposite directions.
How the disaster unfolded
At around 6pm on Wednesday, Cabin No.2, at the bottom of the funicular, “jerked backward sharply”, the report said.
“After moving roughly 10 metres, its movement stopped as it partially left the tracks and its trolley became buried at the lower end of the cable channel.”
Cabin No.1, at the top, “continued descending and accelerated” before derailing and smashing “sideways into the wall of a building on the left side, destroying the wooden box [from which the carriage is constructed]”.
It crashed into a cast‑iron streetlamp and a support pole, causing “significant damage” before hitting “the corner of another building”.
Cable failed at top
Analysis of the wreckage showed the cable connecting the cabins failed where it was attached inside the upper trolley of cabin No.1 at the top.
The cable’s specified useful life is 600 days and at the time of the accident, it had been used for 337 days, leaving another 263 days before needing to be replaced.
The operating company regards this life expectancy as having “a significant safety margin”.
The exact number of people aboard each cabin when it crashed has not been confirmed.
Britons killed in disaster
Kayleigh Smith, 36, and William Nelson, 44, died alongside 14 others in Wednesday’s incident, including another British victim who has not yet been named.
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Five Portuguese citizens died when the packed carriage plummeted out of control – four of them workers at a charity on the hill – but most victims were foreigners.
Any remaining residents in Gaza’s largest city should leave for a designated area in the south, Israel’s military has warned.
Israeli forces are carrying out an offensive on suburbs of Gaza City, in the territory’s north, as part of plans to capture it – raising concern over an already-devastating humanitarian crisis.
While Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has faced pressure to stop the attack and allow more aid in, the military has announced a new humanitarian zone in the south.
Spokesperson Avichay Adraee said Gaza City residents should head to a designated coastal area of Khan Younis.
There, he said they would be able to receive food, medical care and shelter.
On Thursday, Israel said it has control of around 40% of Gaza City and 75% of the entire territory of Gaza.
Many of the city’s residents had already been displaced earlier in the war, only to return later. Some of them have said they will refuse to move again.
That’s despite the military claiming it is within a few kilometres of the city centre, coming after weeks of heavy strikes.
But the war in Gaza has left Israel increasingly isolated in the diplomatic sphere, with some of its closest allies condemning the campaign that’s devastated the territory.
Just two weeks ago, a famine was declared in Gaza City and surrounding areas by the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification, a globally recognised system for classifying the severity of food insecurity.
A resident runs with his belongings in Gaza City. Pic: Reuters
There is also concern within Israel, where calls have grown to stop the war and secure the release of the remaining 48 hostages.
Israel believes 20 of those hostages are still alive.
Even as relatives of those hostages lead protests, Mr Netanyahu continues to push for an all-or-nothing deal to release all hostages and defeat Hamas.
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On Friday, Donald Trump said Washington is in “very deep” negotiations with Hamas to release the captives.
“We said let them all out, right now let them all out. And much better things will happen for them but if you don’t let them all out, it’s going to be a tough situation, it’s going to be nasty,” he added.
Hamas is “asking for some things that are fine”, he said, without elaborating.
A man was heard screaming in the water moments before he died after a shark attack in Sydney, witnesses have said.
Emergency services responded to reports that a man in his 50s had suffered critical injuries at Long Reef Beach shortly after 10am (1am in the UK) on Saturday.
The man, whose identity has yet to be confirmed, was brought to shore but died at the scene, authorities have said.
Two sections of a surfboard have been recovered and taken for examination, and beaches near the area are closed as drones search for the animal.
Police are liaising with wildlife experts to determine the species of shark involved.
Pic: Sky News Australia
Surfer screamed ‘don’t bite me’
Speaking to Sky News Australia, witness Mark Morgenthal said he saw the attack and that the shark was one of the biggest he had ever seen.
“There was a guy screaming, ‘I don’t want to get bitten, I don’t want to get bitten, don’t bite me,’ and I saw the dorsal fin of the shark come up, and it was huge,” Mr Morgenthal said.
“Then I saw the tail fin come up and start kicking, and the distance between the dorsal fin and the tail fin looked to be about four metres, so it actually looked like a six-metre shark.”
Mark Morgenthal said it ‘looked like a six metre shark’ in the attack. Pic: Sky News Australia
Victim was a father and experienced surfer
New South Wales Police Superintendent John Duncan said at a press conference that the victim was 57 years old, calling the incident a “terrible tragedy”.
“The gentleman had gone out about 9.30 this morning with some of his friends, about five or six of his mates,” he added. “He’s an experienced surfer that we understand.
“Unfortunately, it would appear that a large, what we believe to be a shark, has attacked him. And as a result of that, he lost a number of limbs.
“His colleagues managed to make it back to the beach safely, and a short time later, his body was found floating in the surf, and a couple of other people went out and recovered it.”
Mr Duncan added that officers “understand he leaves behind a wife and a young daughter… and obviously tomorrow being Father’s Day is particularly critical and particularly tragic”.
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Local surfer and eyewitness Bill Sakula also told reporters at the beach: “It’s going to send shockwaves through the community.
“Everyone is going to be a little bit nervous for a while.”
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Surf Life Saving NSW has deployed a drone to search for further shark activity.
Its chief executive Steve Pearce said: “Our deepest condolences go to the family of the man involved in this terrible tragedy.”
Shark attacks are very rare, with this incident widely thought to be the first in New South Wales this year.
The last time a person in Sydney was killed in a shark attack was in February 2022 – the city’s first fatal shark attack since 1963.
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