JERUSALEM, June 3 – Three Israeli soldiers were killed in the northern Gaza Strip, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said in a statement on Tuesday.

The three, Lior Steinberg, Ofek Barhana, and Omer Van-Gelder, were fighters from the 9th Battalion of the Givati infantry brigade, the statement said.

Israel’s state-owned Kan TV News reported that on Monday evening, the soldiers were escorting an IDF fire truck that entered the city of Jabaliya to put out a fire in an armored personnel carrier (APC) following a technical malfunction.

As the troops were returning to Israeli territory, the convoy, which included an APC and four Humvee military trucks, entered an area where explosive devices had been planted, according to the channel.

One of the vehicles was directly hit, killing the three soldiers and moderately wounding two others.

XINHUA

GARISSA, Kenya, June 3 – Kenyan authorities have reported that security forces killed four al-Shabab terrorists Monday in Garissa County, in the country’s northeastern region bordering Somalia.

“The success followed a meticulously planned intelligence-led operation. The militants were first spotted by a surveillance drone, after which SOG (Special Operations Group) units tracked and engaged them. A fierce exchange of fire ensued, resulting in four terrorists being eliminated,” police said in a statement.

AK-47 rifles, a machine gun, ammunition, and communication radios were recovered during the operation in Najo and Guracho areas of Garissa County, according to the statement.

“The SOG, in close collaboration with other security agencies and the local community, remains unwavering in its mission to safeguard the lives and security of Kenyans,” the statement added.

XINHUA

ANKARA, Turkiye – A 5.8-magnitude earthquake shook the Mediterranean coastal town of Marmaris on Tuesday, Turkiye’s disaster management agency said. At least seven people were injured while trying escape homes in panic.

The Disaster and Emergency Management Presidency said the earthquake was centered in the Mediterranean Sea and struck at 02:17 a.m. It was felt in neighboring regions, including in the Greek island of Rhodes, waking many from their sleep, Turkiye’s NTV television reported.

Marmaris’ governor, Idris Akbiyik, told the station that seven people were being treated for injuries after jumping from windows or balconies in panic but there was no immediate report of any serious damage.

Turkiye sits on top of major fault lines and earthquakes are frequent.

In 2023, a magnitude 7.8 earthquake killed more than 53,000 people in Turkiye and destroyed or damaged hundreds of thousands of buildings in 11 southern and southeastern provinces. Another 6,000 people were killed in the northern parts of neighboring Syria.

AN-AP

CAIRO, June 2 – Israeli fire killed at least three Palestinians and wounded dozens of others near an aid distribution site operated by the U.S.-based Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, local health authorities said on Monday.

The Israeli military said it was aware of reports of casualties and the incident was being thoroughly looked into.

It said in a statement that troops operating overnight in Rafah, which is under full Israeli military control, in the southern Gaza Strip, had fired warning shots “to prevent several suspects approaching them”, adding the incident took place about a 1 km away from the aid distribution site.

The GHF, a private group sponsored by the United States and endorsed by Israel, said there had been no fatalities or injuries at its distribution site or the surrounding area.

Reuters could not independently verify what took place.

The reported incident was the latest in a series underscoring the volatile security situation that has complicated aid delivery to Gaza, following the easing last month of an almost three-month Israeli blockade.

On Sunday, Palestinian and international officials said at least 31 people were killed and dozens wounded near the same site, one of several operated by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation in Rafah.

REUTERS

MAIDUGURI – At least nine people were killed in a blast at a bus park in northeastern Nigeria, blamed on a bomb planted by suspected militants who have stepped up attacks in Borno state, a local lawmaker and residents said.

Borno has been the heartland of an Islamist insurgency for the past 16 years, which has killed thousands of Nigerians and driven tens of thousands from their homes.

Villagers from Mairari village in Borno’s Guzamala district were waiting for transport when a bomb detonated on Saturday, killing at least nine people, said Abdulkarim Lawan, the lawmaker for the area.

Lawan, who is also speaker of Borno state assembly, said Mairari village was now largely deserted due to frequent attacks by Boko Haram and Islamic State West Africa Province, who are also increasingly using improvised explosives.

“Terrorists who have been monitoring their movements planted IEDs at the local bus stop, which exploded while they were waiting to board commercial vehicles back to their destinations,” he said.

Borno state police spokesperson Nahum Kenneth Daso confirmed the incident but said he had no details.

Bunu Bukar, a petty trader at the bus rank said on Monday the IED was tripped when passengers were boarding a mini bus, killing the nine instantly and injuring several others.

Nigeria has witnessed a rise in insurgent attacks since January, with militants targeting civilians and military bases.

AN

ISLAMABAD, June 2 – Police have claimed to have killed four terrorists in an encounter in Dera Ghazi Khan district of Pakistan’s eastern Punjab province.

According to a statement from a police spokesperson, police received intelligence information about the movement of terrorists in Kot Mubarak area of the district bordering northwest Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province.

“Police teams immediately mobilized, surrounded the area and launched an operation,” said the spokesperson, adding that the terrorists attacked the police teams using heavy weapons, leading to fierce fire exchange.

The spokesperson confirmed that four terrorists were killed in the operation, while their accomplices managed to escape under the cover of bushes and sand dunes.

Police launched a search and sweep operation in the area to bring the remaining terrorists to justice as soon as possible, said the spokesperson.

XINHUA

LONDON, June 2 – British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said on Monday that the situation in Gaza was getting “worse by the day” and that it was important to ensure the Palestinian enclave receives more humanitarian aid urgently.
“The situation is intolerable in Gaza, and getting worse by the day,” Starmer told reporters in Scotland, when asked whether the UK would take any action over the issue.

“Which is why we are working with allies … to be absolutely clear that humanitarian aid needs to get in at speed and at volumes that it is not getting in at the moment, causing absolute devastation,” he added.

REUTERS

GAZA, June 2, 2025 – Medical sources in the Gaza Strip have revealed that 41% of kidney failure patients have died since the beginning of the war, primarily due to their inability to access life-saving dialysis treatment and the destruction of vital medical infrastructure.

According to medical sources, the Israeli military destroyed the Noura Al-Kaabi Dialysis Center in northern Gaza, one of the few specialized facilities providing kidney dialysis services in the area.

“The destruction of this center is a catastrophic blow to the health system,” a medical source said, warning of dire consequences for the remaining patients. “This is a disaster with consequences we cannot yet fully comprehend.”

WAFA

GAZA June 2, 2025 – Eight Palestinians, including a child, were killed and several others wounded on Monday following a series of Israeli drone strikes across the northern and central Gaza Strip.

According to local sources, an Israeli drone targeted a group of civilians in the Al-Faluja area of Jabalia refugee camp, located in northern Gaza. The attack resulted in the killing of four people.

In a separate incident, a drone strike hit a municipal vehicle belonging to the Al-Bureij Municipality in the central part of the enclave, killing three more people.

Meanwhile, 13-year-old Mohammad Allam Abu Assi was killed by Israeli drone fire near Al-Dahdouh roundabout in southwestern Gaza City.

WAFA

BANDUNG, Indonesia – The death toll from a rockfall at a limestone quarry on Indonesia’s Java island rose to 18 on Sunday, with another seven people still missing and feared dead, a military official said.

Workers and heavy equipment were buried when rocks suddenly fell at the mining site in the city of Cirebon in West Java province on Friday morning.

The rockfall also injured at least 12 people.

“Today, we retrieved one more body, which brings the total death toll to 18 people, while seven more people are still missing,” local military chief Mukhammad Yusron said.

“We suspect the missing victims have already died.”

Rescuers have deployed excavators and rescue dogs to search for the remaining victims, Mukhammad said.

He said the search operation was challenging and dangerous due to the unstable structures of the rock.

“We must pay attention to the rescuers’ safety because there have been more rockfalls during the operation.”

The local company overseeing the mine was operating legally. Still, safety standards were lacking, according to West Java governor Dedi Mulyadi, who said he had ordered its closure following the accident.

“I have issued an order to my subordinates at the site. The company has been shut down permanently,” he said in a statement earlier this week.

Friday’s incident was the second collapse at the quarry, following an incident in February but no casualties were reported then.

Mining accidents are common across the mineral-rich Southeast Asian archipelago, especially in unlicensed sites where safety protocols are often ignored.

In July last year, at least 23 people died and 35 others were missing when a landslide hit a remote village near an illegal gold mine on the central island of Sulawesi.

In 2023 eight workers died after being trapped in an illegal gold mine in Central Java.

AN-AFP