The Latest: 20 killed at Gaza food hub; Israel continues strikes in Syria

Twenty Palestinians were killed at a food distribution center run by an Israeli-backed American organization in the Gaza Strip on Wednesday, mostly from being trampled, the group said. They were the first deaths reported at one of the Gaza Humanitarian Fund sites, although hundreds have been killed by Israeli forces on the roads leading to them, according to witnesses and health officials.

Israeli strikes across Gaza killed at least 54 others, including 14 children, according to hospital officials.

Meanwhile in Syria, government officials and leaders in the Druze religious minority announced a renewed ceasefire late Wednesday after days of clashes that have threatened to unravel the country's postwar political transition and drawn escalated military intervention from neighboring Israel.

Here's the latest:

Israel accuses the UN of ignoring Israeli suffering and refusing to condemn Hamas

Reut Shapir Ben-Naftaly, the political coordinator at Israel's U.N. Mission, told the U.N. Security Council that some of its members seem to forget Hamas' Oct. 7, 2023 attack on southern Israel that saw about 1,200 people killed and 250 taken hostage, triggering the ongoing war in Gaza.

''Instead, we're presented with a narrative that forces Israel into a defendant's chair, while Hamas, the very cause of this conflict and the very instigator of suffering of Israelis but also of Palestinians, goes unmentioned, unchallenged and immune to condemnation,'' she said.

No U.N. resolution on Gaza, either by the Security Council or the General Assembly, has condemned the Hamas militant group.

Palestinians accuse Israel of playing `Russian roulette' with their lives

The Palestinian deputy ambassador, Majed Bamya, told a U.N. Security Council meeting that ''death is now much more familiar than life'' to the 2 million people in Gaza, where no family has been untouched by the loss of loved ones.

''Every decision they are making while we speak is a life and death decision every single day, every single hour, every single minute,'' he said. ''But it is a Russian roulette with a bullet in almost every chamber. Whatever decision you make, most probably somebody is going to die.''

He held up photos of more than half a dozen children killed and severely injured in the ongoing war between Israel and Hamas.

Bamya said all paths in Gaza lead to death but the Palestinians have a responsibility and legal and moral duty to open a path to salvation.

''Israel wants that path to be leaving Gaza,'' he said.

UNICEF says the world has failed Gaza's children

More than 17,000 kids have reportedly been killed and 33,000 wounded in the ongoing war in Gaza, UNICEF's executive director Catherine Russell told the U.N. Security Council. She said each of the territory's one million children have faced immense suffering.

An average of 28 kids die daily in Gaza, ''a whole classroom of children killed every day for nearly two years,'' she said.

Malnutrition has surged, with nearly 6,000 children acutely malnourished in June, a 180% increase since February, she said. UNICEF warns these children will face lifelong impacts.

UN humanitarian chief says conditions in Gaza are ‘beyond vocabulary'

Food supplies are running out and civilians are being shot while seeking something to eat, Undersecretary-General Tom Fletcher said Wednesday.

"Civilians are exposed to death and injury, forcible displacement, stripped of dignity,'' Fletcher told the U.N. Security Council, emphasizing Israel's obligation under the Geneva Conventions to provide food and medical aid as the occupying power in Gaza.

He also challenged the council to consider whether Israel's rules of engagement incorporate all the precautions to avoid and minimize civilian casualties.

Turkey says ceasefire in Syria possible within 3-4 hours

Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan, speaking to Turkish journalists in New York, said his country was coordinating closely with neighboring nations and the U.S. special envoy to Syria, Tom Barrack, who is also the U.S. ambassador to Turkey.

The Turkish minister also said that Turkey had directly communicated with Israel through its intelligence agency, sharing its concerns over the attacks and proposing ''solutions,'' which he did not elaborate.

UN calls reports of dozens killed at ‘Israeli-militarized' food site in Gaza ‘horrific'

Stephane Dujarric, the United Nations spokesman, also described people being severely injured at the U.S.-run Gaza Humanitarian Fund sites, such as the World Health Organization report on a 21-year-old man shot and paralyzed for life while trying to collect a bag of flour at one of the hubs.

The spokesman told reporters Wednesday that the U.N. Population Fund, meanwhile, reports that domestic violence, sexual exploitation and abuse are on the rise and ''pregnant women are delivering their babies in the dark, with no electricity or no skilled care to address potential complications.''

Additionally, a survey by one of the U.N.'s partners found that more than 80% of people with disabilities have lost wheelchairs, hearing aids, walkers and many other devices during the war in Gaza, Dujarric said.

UN chief condemns Israel's stepped-up airstrikes in Syria and all violence against civilians

Secretary-General Antonio Guterres reiterates his call for ''an immediate de-escalation of violence and urgent measures to restore calm and facilitate humanitarian access,'' U.N. spokesman Stephane Dujarric said Wednesday.

The U.N. chief is 'alarmed'' at the escalating violence in Sweida, a Druze-majority area which has reportedly caused hundreds of deaths including civilians and injured and displaced many more, Dujarric said.

Dujarric said in response to a question that videos showing government forces attacking civilians ''are shocking and highly, highly disturbing.'' He said that's why Guterres is eager to follow up with the government on its call for an investigation and its commitment to accountability for those responsible.

The secretary-general also condemns ''Israel's escalatory airstrikes on Sweida, Daraa and in the center of Damascus'' and reports that Israel is redeploying troops in the Golan, Dujarric said.

Key governing partner of Netanyahu quits

A key governing partner of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Wednesday it is quitting the government, leaving him with a minority in parliament.

The Shas ultra-Orthodox party said it was leaving over disagreements surrounding a proposed law meant to grant wide military draft exemptions to its constituents.

A second ultra-Orthodox party quit earlier this week over the same issue.

Leading a minority government would make governing a challenge for Netanyahu. But Shas said it wouldn't work to undermine the coalition once outside it and could vote with it on some laws. It also wouldn't support its collapse.

The political turmoil comes as Israel and Hamas are negotiating on a U.S.-backed ceasefire proposal for Gaza.

Fearing for their relatives, Druze in Israeli-controlled territory cross into Syria

Members of the Druze minority in the Israeli-controlled Golan Heights were seen crossing into Syria on Wednesday, fearing for their relatives' fate as clashes raged between Syrian Druze and government forces.

Waving the community's multicolored flag, a procession of people from the minority marched into Syria. Israeli forces were seen nearby.

Once in Syrian territory, Druze were seen reuniting with their loved ones. Israel captured the Golan Heights from Syria in the 1967 Mideast war, separating many Druze families from their relatives in Syria.

Residents said they felt they had to do something in the face of harsh images emerging from the clashes.

''It's hard for us to stand here, not doing anything,'' said Majd Shaer, who said he has relatives in Syria.

Syrian media reports a new ceasefire agreement has been reached

A new ceasefire agreement has been reached to end days of fighting between Syrian government forces and Druze armed groups in the southern city of Sweida, Syrian state-run news agency SANA reported Wednesday, citing an unidentified Interior Ministry official.

The report said ''security checkpoints have been deployed in the city, and it has been fully integrated into the Syrian state.'' There was no immediate statement from Druze officials. A previous ceasefire agreement reached the day before quickly fell apart.

The clashes in Sweida province initially broke out between members of local Bedouin tribes and Druze militias. Government security forces deployed to restore order, but also began clashing with the Druze factions, with allegations that government-affiliated forces had looted and burned civilian houses and carried out summary executions.

U.S. ‘very concerned' by Israel-Syria violence

The U.S. is '' very concerned'' about the latest surge in Israel-Syria violence and has been in touch with both sides in an effort to restore what had been a fragile ceasefire between the two countries, Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Wednesday.

''We're very concerned about it, we want it to stop,'' Rubio told reporters at the State Department after signing a civilian nuclear agreement with the foreign minister of Bahrain.

Rubio said he had just been on the phone with ''relevant parties'' and that he hoped to have an update later.

Turkey criticizes Israeli airstrikes on Damascus

Turkey's Foreign Ministry said Wednesday's strikes on the Syrian capital were an a attempt to sabotage Syria's efforts to achieve peace, stability and security, and called for support for Syria's efforts to restore order across the country.

''The Syrian people have a historic opportunity to live in peace and integrate with the world,'' the ministry said. ''All stakeholders who support this opportunity should contribute to the Syrian government's efforts to restore peace.''

Omer Celik, spokesman for President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's ruling party, also affirmed Turkey's support to Syria.

''Israel's attacks pose a security threat to the entire region and the world,'' Celik wrote on the social media platform X.

Israeli jets strike Syrian defense ministry headquarters again

Israeli jets struck the Syrian Defense Ministry's headquarters in central Damascus in the second such attack Wednesday.

The strike, which came hours after a drone strike on the same site in the capital, caused significant damage.

Israel has launched a series of strikes targeting Syrian government forces in the southern Sweida province. The Israeli government says it's to support the Druze community.

Syrian state media reported that there were a ''number of wounded'' people in the strike, without giving details. The building is located close to the busy Ummayad Square.

Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said that they will escalate their attacks against the Syrian government with ''painful blows''.

Syria's Defense Ministry had earlier blamed militias in the Druze-majority area of Sweida for violating a ceasefire agreement that had been reached Tuesday, causing Syrian army soldiers to return fire. The Druze have accused government forces and allies of sectarian attacks, looting, and beatings during their ongoing military operation.

Hundreds from Druze community gather along Syria-Israel border

Hundreds of members of the Druze community from Majdal Shams and Druze villages in northern Israel have gathered along the border fence with Syria, trying to enter the country to support Druze armed groups as they continue to clash with Syria's government forces.

Videos widely circulated on social media showed that many Druze were able to cross into Syria, where the majority of the roughly 1 million Druze worldwide live.

Meanwhile, hundreds of the Syrian Druze community gathered on the other side of the fence, though it was not immediately clear if they were demonstrating or trying to cross the border. The Israeli military said dozens have tried to cross into Israel. Tensions intensified when several Syrian Druze protesters stood atop a tractor waiving Druze flags and Israeli troops responded by lobbing tear gas, forcing them to shortly retreat.

Dozens have been killed in the hostilities sparked by a series of tit-for-tat attacks and kidnappings.

US ambassador pays surprise visit to Netanyahu's trial

The U.S. Ambassador to Israel, Mike Huckabee, briefly attended the court proceedings of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Wednesday, saying he wanted to support the embattled Israeli leader in his ongoing corruption trial.

Huckabee's visit to the courthouse was a rare act of involvement in his host country's internal affairs. It comes after President Donald Trump condemned the trial as a ''witch hunt.''

Speaking in Tel Aviv, Huckabee said the visit was a matter of ''representing what the president has said repeatedly.''

Netanyahu is on trial for fraud, breach of trust and accepting bribes in three separate cases.

''The president has made his position very clear,'' Huckabee said ahead of his visit to the courthouse. ''It's a personal thing for him. He considers the Prime Minister a friend.'' After the visit, Huckabee reposted Trump's call for the trial to be thrown out and added the comment: ''My conclusion? Trump is right…again.''

Israel strikes near d

efense ministry in Damascus

The Israeli army said Wednesday that it struck near the entrance to the Syrian Ministry of Defense in Damascus, as clashes continued in the southern Syrian city of Sweida after a ceasefire between government forces and Druze armed groups collapsed.

Israel has launched a series of airstrikes on convoys of government forces in southern Syria since the clashes erupted and has beefed up forces on the border. It has said it is acting to protect the Druze religious minority.

The Druze religious sect began as a 10th-century offshoot of Ismailism, a branch of Shiite Islam. More than half the roughly 1 million Druze worldwide live in Syria. Most of the other Druze live in Lebanon and Israel, including in the Golan Heights, which Israel captured from Syria in the 1967 Mideast War and annexed in 1981.

Stun grenades and pepper spray caused chaos at food distribution site

Gaza's Health Ministry and witnesses said GHF workers used tear gas against the crowd outside one of its food distribution hubs, causing a panic. The ministry said that it was the first time people have been killed by a stampede at the aid sites.

''They used stun grenades and pepper spray against us. They had aid inside, but they intentionally did not distribute it to let people crowd outside,″ said Abdullah Aleyat, who was at the GHF site on Wednesday morning.

Omar Al-Najjar, a resident of the nearby city of Rafah, said people were gasping for air, possibly from tear gas.

The injuries were ''not from gunfire, but from people clustering and pushing against each other,'' Al-Najjar said as he carried an injured stranger to a hospital.

The sites are inside Israeli military zones protected by private American contractors, and Israeli troops surround the sites.

The United Nations human rights office and Gaza's Health Ministry said Tuesday that 875 Palestinians in the enclave have been killed while seeking food since May, with 674 of those in the vicinity of aid distribution sites run by GHF.