January 25, 2024

*) Israeli bombardment targets children in Gaza refugee camp The Israeli army has carried out an airstrike on the Nuseirat refugee camp in central Gaza which killed four children. The children’s bodies were found in the debris of houses, the Palestinian news agency WAFA reported. It added that the Israeli military continued its attacks from the air and ground on the Khan Younis region in southern Gaza. *) Israel shells two hospitals in Gaza's Khan Younis The Palestinian Health Ministry in Gaza has accused the Israeli army of shelling two medical facilities of Nasser and al Amal hospitals in Khan Younis. A ministry spokesman said Israeli forces blocked roads to the two facilities and prevented ambulance dispatches there, leaving facilities “at severe risk." *) Zelenskyy says Russia 'playing' with lives of Ukraine POWs Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has said that Russia was "playing with the lives of Ukrainian prisoners". This comes after Moscow accused Kiev of downing a military plane carrying dozens of its own captured soldiers. Ukraine did not deny the targeting of the plane. Moscow said 74 people — 65 of them Ukrainian prisoners of war — were killed when a military transport plane was shot down in the western Belgorod region. *) Mali gold mine collapse kills scores of workers More than 70 people have been killed after a tunnel collapsed at a Malian gold mining site, local sources say. Mali's Ministry of Mines in a statement on Tuesday had announced the death of several miners but did not give precise figures. Gold mining sites are regularly the scene of deadly landslides and authorities struggle to control artisanal mining of the precious metal. And finally… *) Largest NATO military exercise since Cold War kicks off The US Navy dock landing ship Gunston Hall has left the port to mark the first movement for the largest NATO exercise since the Cold War, American officials say. Some 90,000 troops from the United States and fellow NATO allied nations are due to join. More than 50 ships from aircraft carriers to destroyers, more than 80 fighter jets, helicopters and drones and at least 1,100 combat vehicles will take part. The Steadfast Defender 2024 drills will run through May.