Israel accused of ‘extermination’ in Gaza by UN inquiry
A UN inquiry has accused Israel of carrying out a concerted policy to destroy Gaza’s healthcare system in actions that amount to war crimes and “extermination”.
Navi Pillay, a former UN high commissioner for human rights who is chairing the inquiry, said Israel has carried out “relentless and deliberate attacks on medical personnel and facilities” in the past year.
Ms Pillay will present a full report on the matter to the UN General Assembly on 30 October.
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In a statement ahead of its release, she said: “Children in particular have borne the brunt of these attacks, suffering both directly and indirectly from the collapse of the health system.”
The UN inquiry’s statement also accused Israeli forces of targeting medical vehicles, deliberately killing and torturing medical personnel, and restricting permits for patients to leave the Gaza Strip.
As an example, it cited the death of Hind Rajab, a five-year-old Palestinian girl who died in February along with six members of her family as they tried to flee fighting in Gaza.
Two medics were also killed as they tried to rescue them.
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Sky News investigates Hind Rajab’s death
Nebal Farsakh, a spokesperson for the Palestinian Red Crescent Society (PRCS), told Sky News that in her mind the deaths were not an accident.
She said: “We do not dispatch our ambulances to areas where it is considered a military area… if we get calls from these areas, we try to coordinate our safe access.”
In a statement to Sky News, the IDF said it has carried out a “preliminary inspection” into the incident and it “appears that IDF forces were not present near the vehicle or within the firing range of the described vehicle in which the girl was found”.
The IDF has repeatedly claimed Hamas militants operate from the cover of built-up areas – including around schools and hospitals – and says it will strike them when they emerge while trying to avoid harming civilians.
Hamas has denied hiding militants and command posts among civilians.
The UN inquiry’s statement comes after 27 people, including women and children, were killed in an Israeli airstrike on a school sheltering displaced people in central Gaza, according to Palestinian medics.
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The aftermath of the school strike. Pic: Reuters
The strike, which also wounded many more, happened in the city of Deir al Balah, where upwards of a million people have taken shelter.
Israeli military said it carried out a “precise” strike targeting a militant command inside the school, without providing evidence.
More than 42,000 people have been killed in Gaza since Israel began its offensive in the region following Hamas’s attack on October 7 last year, according to the Hamas-run health ministry in Gaza.
Israel’s prime minister’s office and its foreign ministry did not immediately respond to requests for comment, when asked by the news agency, Reuters.
‘Deep concern’ over Lebanon attacks
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Smoke rises from UNIFIL headquarters in Lebanon
Israel has also continued its strikes in Lebanon, where it is involved in military operations against the militant group Hezbollah.
According to the Lebanese health ministry, 18 people were killed and 92 wounded after Israeli strikes on the capital Beirut this evening.
Meanwhile, the UN said earlier today that two of its peacekeepers have been injured after an Israeli tank fired at one of its observation towers.
United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) said in a statement that Israeli forces have “repeatedly hit” UN positions in the last 24 hours.
“Any deliberate attack on peacekeepers is a grave violation of international humanitarian law,” it said.
The French foreign ministry has shared “deep concern” over the incident, while Italy’s defence minister Guido Crosetto said: “It could constitute a war crime and represented a very serious violation of international military law.”
The IDF claimed in a statement issued today: “The Hezbollah terrorist organisation operates from within and near civilian areas in southern Lebanon, including areas near UNIFIL posts.”
Donald Trump has threatened Russia with more sanctions after a series of deadly strikes across Ukraine, as he said of Vladimir Putin: “What the hell happened to him?”
The US president appeared aghast at the conduct of his counterpart in the Kremlin after drone and missile attacks in Kyiv and other Ukrainian cities left 12 people dead and dozens more injured.
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Speaking to reporters at an airport in New Jersey ahead of a flight back to Washington, Mr Trump said: “I’m not happy with Putin. I don’t know what’s wrong with him.”
“He’s killing a lot of people,” he added. “I’m not happy about that.”
Mr Trump – who said he’s “always gotten along with” Mr Putin – told reporters he would consider more sanctions against Moscow.
“He’s sending rockets into cities and killing people, and I don’t like it at all,” he said.
Ukraine said the barrage of strikes overnight into Sunday was the biggest aerial attack of the war so far, with 367 drones and missiles fired by Russian forces.
It came despite Mr Trump repeatedly talking up the chances of a peace agreement. He even spoke to Mr Putin on the phone for two hours last week.
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‘Shameful’ attacks
Volodymyr Zelenskyy has said Ukraine is ready to sign a ceasefire deal, and suggested Russia isn’t serious about signing one.
In a statement after the latest attacks on his country, he urged the US and other national leaders to increase the pressure on Mr Putin, saying silence “only encourages” him.
Mr Trump’s envoy for the country, Keith Kellogg, later demanded a ceasefire, describing the Russian attacks as “shameful”.
Three children were among those killed in the attacks, explosions shaking the cities of Kyiv, Odesa, and Mykolaiv.
Ukrainian siblings Tamara, 12, Stanislav, eight, and Roman, 17, were killed in Russian airstrikes. Pic: X/@Mariana_Betsa
Before the onslaught, Russia said it had faced a Ukrainian drone attack on Sunday. It said around 100 were intercepted and destroyed near Moscow and in central and southern regions.
The violence has escalated despite Russia and Ukraine completing the exchange of 1,000 prisoners each over the past three days.
Donald Trump says he will delay the imposition of 50% tariffs on goods entering the United States from the European Union until July, as the two sides attempt to negotiate a trade deal.
It comes after the president of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, said in a post on social media site X that she had spoken to Mr Trump and expressed that they needed until 9 July to “reach a good deal”.
The US president had last Friday threatened to bring in the 50% tariffs from 1 June, as European leaders said they were ready to respond with their own measures.
But Mr Trump has now said that date has been put back to 9 July to allow more time for negotiations with the 27-member bloc, with the phone call appearing to smooth over tensions for now at least.
Speaking on Sunday before boarding Air Force One for Washington DC, Mr Trump told reporters that he had spoken to Ms Von der Leyen and she “wants to get down to serious negotiations” and she vowed to “rapidly get together and see if we can work something out”.
The US president, in comments on his Truth Social platform, had reignited fears last Friday of a trade war between the two powers when he said talks were “going nowhere” and the bloc was “very difficult to deal with”.
Mr Trump told the media in Morristown, New Jersey, on Sunday that Ms Von der Leyen “just called me… and she asked for an extension in the June 1st date. And she said she wants to get down to serious negotiation”.
“We had a very nice call and I agreed to move it. I believe July 9th would be the date. That was the date she requested. She said we will rapidly get together and see if we can work something out,” the US president added.
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Shortly after, he wrote on Truth Social: “I agreed to the extension – July 9, 2025 – It was my privilege to do so.”
On his so-called “liberation day” last month, Mr Trump unleashed tariffs on many of America’s trade partners. But since then he’s backed down in a spiralling tit-for-tat tariff face-off with China, and struck a deal with the UK.
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Much of his most incendiary rhetoric on trade has been directed at Brussels, though, even going as far as to claim the EU was created to rip the US off.
Responding to his 50% tariff threat, EU trade chief Maros Sefcovic said: “EU-US trade is unmatched and must be guided by mutual respect, not threats.
“We stand ready to defend our interests.”
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