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Israel admits its soldiers fired at car in which Hind Rajab was killed

The Israeli military admitted on Wednesday its troops had opened fire on a car carrying five-year-old Hind Rajab and six family members in Gaza in 2024, saying it had ordered a criminal investigation into the killing. The killing of Hind and her family was one of the most high profile of a series of incidents involving civilian casualties during the first months of the Gaza conflict which prompted international outrage. Hind died after a desperate three-hour phone call to the Palestinian Red Crescent on 29 January 2024 in which she pleaded for rescue. The family’s Kia Picanto car had been hit as the family sought to flee a new Israeli offensive into Gaza City. All the other passengers were also killed. The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) repeatedly denied its troops had been present in the area near the incident, but investigations by media and others found evidence that strongly suggested nearby Israeli tanks were responsible. Palestinian paramedics dispatched an ambulance to rescue Hind and stayed on the line until contact was lost, but the ambulance too came under fire, killing two medics. The bodies of the casualties were only retrieved 12 days later when Israeli troops withdrew. The IDF also admitted Wednesday that troops had fired on the ambulance. “Following review of the findings and due to alleged failures in the coordination of the movement of the Palestine Red Crescent ambulance, it has been decided to initiate a criminal investigation of the incident by military police criminal investigation division,” the military said on Wednesday. Criminal misconduct investigations into Israeli troops over the killing of Palestinians rarely lead to convictions. The IDF published reviews on Wednesday into four other high-profile incidents in Gaza, saying it was launching a criminal investigation into the killing in near the southern city of Rafah of 15 Palestinian medics and humanitarian personnel in March 2025. Troops lying in ambush for Hamas militants initially shot at an ambulance that was trying to retrieve casualties from an Israeli offensive, then fired on a series of emergency vehicles which approached their positions, according to phone footage and the sole survivor of the shootings. The soldiers then bulldozed over the bodies and vehicles, burying them in a mass grave. UN and rescue workers were only able to reach the site a week later. “They were killed in their uniforms. Driving their clearly marked vehicles. Wearing their gloves. On their way to save lives. This should never have happened,” said Jonathan Whittall, a UN official who helped recover the bodies. The Israeli military initially said it had opened fire because the vehicles were “advancing suspiciously” without headlights or emergency signals. But it backtracked from that account after footage emerged showing the Red Crescent and civil defence teams driving slowly with their emergency vehicle lights flashing and logos visible. Munther Abed, a Palestinian paramedic who was present at the incident in which 15 of his colleagues were killed, said he hoped “those who killed ⁠my colleagues, who were like family to me, face justice, real justice”. “I want to say to the whole world, ambulances 101 is not a target and they must be protected,” he said referring to the speed dial number for the Red Crescent service in Gaza. The IDF said it had decided not to open a criminal investigation into the April 2024 airstrikes that hit a convoy of World Central Kitchen vehicles, killing seven humanitarian workers from the US-based aid group, which has distributed food in Gaza throughout the war. The aid group said at the time it had coordinated with the military over the movement of its cars. The vehicles, which had the group’s logo on their roofs visible from the air, were left incinerated and mangled, indicating a series of targeted strikes. The IDF said on Wednesday it had mistaken several individuals in the vehicles for armed Hamas military operatives, and that the convoy deviated from the previously coordinated route. But it concluded that “the decisions of the commanders did not raise reasonable suspicion of criminal misconduct”. Two officers were removed from their positions at the time and three others reprimanded. One of those killed in the strike was Australian aid worker Zomi Frankcom. The Australian government has called the deaths a “tragedy and an outrage” and pressed for full accountability and “any appropriate criminal charges”. In February this year the Australian prime minister, Anthony Albanese, said he had made it clear to Israel and its president, Isaac Herzog, that there be transparency about Israel’s then-ongoing investigation into the incident. In April this year Australia’s foreign minister Penny Wong paid tribute to Frankcom on the second anniversary of her death, saying “people like Zomi are rare and their selflessness should not only be celebrated but protected”. World Central Kitchen said it strongly disagreed with Israeli officials’ account of the airstrikes and their decision not to pursue a criminal investigation. “There has never been any excuse or justification for the attacks, and there is nothing in this account that does so. The decision is inconsistent with the full truth and deeply offensive,” it said in a statement. “At the time of the lethal attacks, the IDF knew that our team in Gaza was unarmed and posing a threat to nobody. It had full visual clarity on our clearly marked humanitarian vehicles during the extended, multiple airstrikes. It knew our team’s movements, identities and activities in advance.” The UK Foreign Office issued a statement on Thursday, saying the UK was “appalled and angry” for the families of John Chapman, James Henderson and James Kirby, three British citizens who were killed in the attack. The minister for the Middle East, Stephen Doughty, said: “For more than two years, we have pressed the government of Israel to deliver the justice and accountability that the families deserve. This is not good enough. We have raised this with the Israeli authorities today and will continue to push for urgent answers.” The military also decided not to take criminal action over the killing of four humanitarian workers from Doctors Without Borders in two separate instances in November 2023 and February 2024. Israel later effectively barred the medical charity from operating in Gaza. Dan Owen, a researcher at Yesh Din, an Israeli rights organisation, said that over the last decade only a tiny proportion of investigations had led to indictments while growing political pressure “further deters Israeli ⁠law-enforcement authorities from holding those responsible accountable, even when clear evidence does exist”. A UN report published in February described “a pervasive climate of impunity” by Israel in occupied Palestine “in relation to gross violations of international human rights law and serious violations of international humanitarian law … some constituting war crimes and possibly other international crimes”. Israeli forces say they never deliberately target civilians in Gaza and accuse Hamas of using civilians to shield its militants. The IDF said that as part of the its obligations under international law and Israeli domestic law, it examined “exceptional incidents that occurred during combat”. “For more than a thousand days, the IDF has been conducting intensive combat across numerous fronts, carrying out a wide range of military missions in an exceptionally complex operational reality,” it said in a statement. The war began in October 2023 when Hamas launched a surprise attack into southern Israel, killing 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and abducting 250. Israel’s ensuing offensives in Gaza have killed more than 73,000, mostly women and children, including more than 1,200 since a fragile ceasefire took effect in October. On Wednesday, ⁠Israeli airstrikes killed ⁠seven Palestinians. Israeli military officials told local media one strike that killed six had targeted a meeting of Hamas commanders in Gaza City. Itamar Ben Gvir, Israel’s far right national security minister, said last weekend that “targeted assassinations should be carried out in Gaza, taking down 30 to 40 every night.” “Not just those who pose an immediate threat … There are people there who are not worthy of life. They shouldn’t live. They’re not even people,” Ben Gvir told a podcast hosted by a former hostage held by Hamas in Gaza.

Mark Zuckerberg buys 440-acre Strancally castle estate in Ireland

It stretches the definition of pied-à-terre but Mark Zuckerberg now has a pad in Ireland: Strancally castle. The Meta chief executive and his wife, Priscilla Chan, have bought the gothic-style mansion and its 178-hectare (440-acre) estate in county Waterford to use as a base during visits to Ireland. “Mark and his family are excited to continue caring for this historic home and look forward to spending time in Ireland, where Meta maintains its international headquarters,” a spokesperson said on Thursday. The price paid in the off-market deal is not known but the Irish Times, which first reported the sale, estimated a value between €20m (£17m) and €30m: approximately 10% of the cost of his 387ft superyacht. The castle was built in 1830 for John Keily, a former Conservative MP, and designed on a lavish scale by the architects James and George Richard Pain, with a “brisk walk of four and a half minutes” needed to go from the dining room to the kitchen, according to the book The Houses of Ireland. Michael Alen-Buckley, a co-founder of the London-based investment firm RAB Capital, and his wife, Giancarla, a scion of the family behind the Rocco Forte Hotels group, bought the estate and renovated it in the early 2000s. “We leave our home of 25 years fondly and are grateful for the opportunity we have been given to save and restore Strancally castle,” the couple said in a statement. “We are delighted that Mark and his family intend to build on our stewardship by continuing to invest in maintaining and enhancing the property and grounds as their home in a sustainable manner. We wish them and their family much happiness in this unique and blessed place.” The website of the National Built Heritage Service, an Irish state agency that protects architectural heritage, pays a barbed compliment to the castle. “The construction in sandstone and limestone ashlar augments the dour tone of the composition while providing evidence of high quality stone masonry and craftsmanship,” it says. The Blackwater valley contains other historic estates, including Ballynatray House, which the entrepreneur James Dyson bought in 2024. Further north, John Collison, a co-founder of the technology platform Stripe, bought Abbey Leix, an estate in County Laois, in 2021.

EU’s von der Leyen warns of ‘escalating campaign of threats’ as Romania destroys naval drone – as it happened

And, on that note, we will be closing the blog for today. European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen criticised “an escalating campaign of threats” against the European Union, after Romania discovered a naval drone “loaded with explosive” near its Neptun Deep platform in the Black Sea (13:50). Romanian defence minister Radu Miruță said the decision was taken “to protect the lives of the several hundred people working on the platform and to secure the critical infrastructure” (12:33). Miruță added that Romanian officials confirmed with Kyiv that the vessel was “not of Ukrainian origin,” strongly suggesting Russian involvement amid heightened tensions in the region. Separately, A heavy Russian missile and drone bombardment has killed at least 15 people in and around Kyiv in one of the most intense aerial attacks on Ukraine’s capital since the start of the war (9:35). The attack highlighted Ukraine’s vulnerability to ballistic missiles as Kyiv continues to call on the US and European partners to supply them with more interceptors (14:21, 14:54). If you have any tips, comments or suggestions, email me at jakub.krupa@theguardian.com. I am also on Bluesky at @jakubkrupa.bsky.social and on X at @jakubkrupa.

Israel’s Ben-Gvir posts video of gallows site for hanging Palestinians

Israel’s far-right national security minister, Itamar Ben-Gvir, has posted a gloating video of the construction of a gallows complex where Palestinians convicted of terror offences – but not Jewish extremists accused of similar crimes – will be hanged. Ben-Givr, who has previously attracted international sanctions and condemnation for his activities, said the new execution site would be equipped with viewing booths for families of victims to watch the hangings. He posted the video on social media of a visit he had made to the unidentified location, where he can be seen pointing at foundations being laid and boasting it was where “terrorists will be executed”. Photographs in the Israeli media showed a bulldozer and heavy construction work in a cordoned-off area, reportedly close to a prison. “I promised to worsen the conditions of terrorists in prisons – we kept it,” said Ben-Gvir in the video. “I promised to pass the Death Penalty for Terrorists law – we did. And now the death row and hanging facility are also starting to take shape.” Reports of the construction of the gallows, which will execute only Palestinians convicted of terror offences in the military courts system, and not Jewish extremists, follows the passage of a new law earlier this year. The law requires military courts to apply the death penalty as the only available sentence, unless the court finds special circumstances allowing for life imprisonment. Jewish Israelis are in effect protected from the death penalty by a provision that applies the law only to murder committed with the “intent to deny the existence of the state of Israel”. Ben-Gvir, who himself has convictions for incitement to racism, interfering with a police officer performing his duty, and support for a terrorist organisation (Meir Kahane’s banned Kach movement), has served as Israel’s national security minister since 2022 except for a two-month gap last year. One of the main drivers of Israel’s new death penalty law, Ben-Gvir has a long history of extremist statements and provocations. He celebrated his 50th birthday in May with the gift of a birthday cake decorated with the iced image of a noose. The death penalty law, one of two passed by Israeli MPs this year, has drawn widespread international condemnation since it passed the Knesset by 62 votes to 48 over allegations that it is fundamentally discriminatory. “It also dismantles fundamental safeguards to prevent the arbitrary deprivation of life and protect the right to a fair trial, and further empowers Israel’s system of apartheid, which is maintained by scores of discriminatory laws against Palestinians,” said Erika Guevara-Rosas, a senior director at Amnesty International, when the law was passed. Ben-Gvir in recent months became the subject of sanctions by France and Ireland in addition to UK sanctions imposed on him last year, attracted widespread criticism only days ago for advocating a policy of punitive killings in Gaza of 30-40 people a night. “I think we should be doing 30 to 40 targeted assassinations per night,” Ben-Gvir said. “Not just those who pose an immediate threat. There are people there who don’t deserve to live … They are not even people.” The French foreign minister, Jean-Noël Barrot, on Wednesday called Ben-Gvir’s comments “unacceptable and inhuman”, while the German chancellor, Friedrich Merz, said he strongly condemned “the inhumane appeals made by minister Ben-Gvir, which violate international law”. The UN secretary general, António Guterres, ecalled Ben-Gvir’s comments “appalling”, “outrageous”, “dehumanising” and “dangerous”. The video emerged amid growing wider international condemnation of Israel’s behaviour, including the issuing of new tenders for the massive E1 settlement block outside Jerusalem, which was denounced by the UK foreign secretary, Ed Miliband, as an “unacceptable and destructive act” that risked separating the West Bank from East Jerusalem. He summoned Israel’s charge d’affaires in protest. “The UK has been clear privately and publicly in our opposition to E1 and our support for a two-state solution as the only way to ensure long-term security and peace for both Palestinians and Israelis,” Miliband said. “All settlements damage that prospect and are a flagrant breach of international law.”

Como mayor bans bikes in city centre after being hit ‘by one of these beasts’

The mayor of Como has set the wheels of controversy in motion for banning bikes in the walled historical centre of the lakeside city after being hit by one. Alessandro Rapinese’s ban, which comes into force in September, targets about 30 streets and means cyclists, whether on e-bikes or push bikes, will have to dismount and walk through those areas. Rapinese immediately came under fire, with resident groups and politicians from across the spectrum accusing him of waging a personal vendetta. Activists have started a petition calling for him to overturn the rule and cyclists are planning to ride their bikes through the specified streets in mid-September in protest. Defending his decision, Rapinese told Ansa: “I’ve been accused of adopting this measure because I was hit by an electric bike – certainly, that is true. People act based on their own experiences and I know what it’s like to be hit by one of these beasts.” The collision happened in June as Rapinese was leaving city hall, ironically just after his executive had met to discuss a measure restricting traffic in the centre. The culprit has not been revealed. Rapinese said the ban was necessary for public safety, especially in a place packed with tourists. The measure applies to all bikes because Italy’s highway code does not distinguish between e-bikes and traditional ones. Rented e-scooters were banned in Como’s city centre in 2022. Critics argue that some of the streets affected are the widest in the centre, offering a smooth route towards Lake Como, and that banning bikes excludes people from being able to use a low-cost, environmentally-friendly mode of transport. The measure will especially affect delivery riders and the shop owners depending on them for supplies. Some critics say the mayor should focus attention on cracking down on reckless behaviour rather than criminalising cyclists. Vincenzo Falanga, the president of Nova Como, a local civic group which has organised the bike protest, accused Rapinese’s administration of “turning individual problems into collective ones”. The Como branch of the centre-left Democratic party said: “Como deserves a mobility system that ensures pedestrian safety without penalising residents, workers and those who choose sustainable transport.” While expressing sympathy with Rapinese over the e-bike collision, Paolo Emilio Russo, a politician with the rightwing Forza Italia, said the ban was “crazy”. But Rapinese has refused to back-pedal. “In other cities, a child ends up in hospital and then the politicians take action,” he said. “Here, I didn’t even end up in hospital. I was hit by a bike, I gathered information and that’s where this measure came from.”

Without action wildfires in Europe will increase 39% even in best-case climate scenario, study finds

Wildfires are projected to burn 39% more of Europe by the end of the century even in the best-case scenario for stopping the planet from heating, a study has found, unless action is taken to manage them better. The increase in hot, dry and windy weather that leads to small fires turning into raging infernos is to engulf more of Europe as carbon pollution pushes temperatures higher. In the worst-case scenario the researchers modelled, which would see global heating reach 3.6C above preindustrial levels, the burnt area would almost triple. Improvements in fire management could moderate those increases by more than 70%, the study found, but not eradicate them entirely. “Investments into fire management could help to a certain limit, but if we go on a path of high emissions … we still see strong increases in burnt area,” said Maik Billing, an ecosystem researcher at the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK) and lead author of the study. “Fire management cannot replace climate mitigation.” The research comes as wildfires continue to ravage Europe, with large blazes hitting northern European countries such as the UK, Belgium and Germany after weeks in which France, Spain, Italy, Croatia and Greece battled monster infernos. Across the EU, this fire season is set to become the third-worst on record, behind 2025 and 2022, according to data published by the European Forest Fire Information Service on Thursday. More than 600,000 hectares have burned so far, with records broken for this time of year in Belgium, France and Slovakia. The researchers, who compared the projected annual burnt area in 2070-2100 with modelled results for the period 2000-2030, found the increase in fire weather was the biggest driver of change. In the optimistic scenario, in which global heating is capped at 1.8C, a little above the current level of 1.4C, some regions showed moderate increases in fire weather while others experienced little change. In the pessimistic scenario, however, with 3.6C of heating by the end of the century, the researchers found consistent worsening of fire weather across “virtually all of Europe”. Scientists expect current policies to result in about 2.6C of global heating by the end of the century. Using a second model, the researchers found that continued improvements in fighting fires could temper the effects of worsening fire weather, reducing burnt area by 92% in the cooler scenario compared with fixing firefighting efforts at today’s levels. The researchers used the Human Development Index as a proxy for firefighting ability, but acknowledged the rise of mega-fires made it hard to extrapolate from past experience. Improvements in fire suppression since the 1980s have reduced the number of fires and the area burnt in southern Europe, a study found earlier this month, but the enthusiastic suppression of fires, even small ones, has paradoxically increased the residual fuel load. This has allowed fires to develop to extreme levels when conditions are favourable, resulting in fewer, but more ferocious, fires. Such monster fires hit France and Spain in late July this year, forcing one-third of a million people from their homes as blazes raged with a force firefighters were unable to extinguish. Víctor Resco de Dios, a forestry engineer at the University of Lleida, who was not involved in the study, said the fire season was often accompanied by an “unproductive blame game” – isolating only one of the two key factors whose interaction results in wildfires – and that the study was a reminder to move beyond scapegoating. “The problem of wildfires wouldn’t be worsening if we were heading towards an ice age – instead of global warming,” he said. ”And it would have been largely mitigated if our landscapes were like they were a century ago, with a much smaller forest area.” • The Guardian’s climate forum 2026 – On Tuesday 20 October, join Damian Carrington, and our panel of experts – including Prof Andy Haines, Katie White MP, Asad Rehman, Shruti Suresh Gareth Thomas and Amy Fairman – for a hopeful and solutions-focused evening. Book tickets here or at guardian.live

More than 1,000 birds found dead in three mass mortality events amid ‘significant’ H5 escalation in Australia

The South Australian premier, Peter Malinauskas, has declared a “significant escalation” in H5 bird flu in the state after the detection of three mass mortality events involving more than 1,000 greater crested terns. Malinauskas said the cause of the deaths was presumed to be H5 bird flu. State authorities were also investigating a suspected case in a little penguin found on Kangaroo Island, with the premier telling the state parliament the development was of “particular concern”. Separately, the Tasmanian government said it was investigating 28 little penguin deaths on King Island with testing under way to determine whether the birds died of H5 bird flu. Malinauskas said aerial surveillance on Wednesday detected the three mass mortality events in South Australia, all on offshore islands where H5 bird flu had been detected in recent weeks. He said more than 1,000 dead crested terns were found across Troubridge Island off the Yorke Peninsula and the Pages Islands – known as North Page and South Page – off Kangaroo Island. The deaths would represent the biggest detected mass casualty events from suspected H5 bird flu since the deadly strain arrived on the Australian mainland in June. Greater crested terns, a common Australian seabird, have been the most affected local species so far. The Pages Islands are a known breeding site for a colony of endangered Australian sea lions and long-nosed fur seals are known to visit the islands. Troubridge Island conservation park is an important breeding area for birds and home to a large colony of little penguins, as well as black cormorants and many crested terns. Malinauskas said the state’s aerial patrols, involving helicopters, planes and drones with support from field crews, were not limited to coastal sea birds. He said crews also looked for mammals, such as Australian sea lions or long-nosed fur seals, which might be affected by H5 bird flu. “Fortunately, so far, no mass mortality event … involving mammals has yet been detected or reported,” he said. He said there remained no detections in poultry or livestock. At a later media conference, the government said new cases in greater crested terns had also been detected in Flagstaff Hill, McLaren Vale, North Haven in the Adelaide area, Lucky Bay on the Eyre peninsula and Tanunda in the Barossa region. South Australia’s first confirmed case in a raven had also been detected at Port MacDonnell on the Limestone coast. Georgie Cornish, the executive director of biosecurity at the Department of Primary Industries and Regions, said the detection in the Barossa illustrates the “movement [of H5 bird flu] from [the] coast inwards”. Malinauskas said the state would continue to take “every practical and appropriate action available” to protect South Australia’s wildlife, industries and communities. He told the parliament that broad-scale vaccination of wild birds was “neither practical nor appropriate”, but said the state was considering “targeted vaccination of selected captive and managed populations of our most threatened native birds, where it is safe, feasible and likely to provide a conservation benefit”. The SA government said on Thursday it had been working with Zoos SA and Cleland wildlife park to prepare to vaccinate priority captive native species, with the vaccination of captive little penguins, orange-bellied parrots, red-tailed black cockatoos, cape barren geese and pelicans under consideration. The state government was also investigating potential opportunities to vaccinate high-priority at-risk mammals such as Australian sea lions at Seal Bay on Kangaroo Island. While there are no registered vaccines for treating H5 bird flu in mammals, the United States has undertaken experimental trials on a small number of seals. Late on Thursday, the New South Wales government also confirmed H5 bird flu in seven birds found at Narooma and Merimbula on the state’s south coast. Six of the birds were greater crested terns and one was a giant petrel. The state government said it was “progressing plans to vaccinate priority captive native species”, including regent honeyeaters and little penguins. In Tasmania, the state government said aerial surveillance on Wednesday spotted 28 dead little penguins and three dead crested terns at the Port of Grassy on King Island. The Department of Natural Resources and Environment said samples had been collected and sent for laboratory testing for H5 bird flu, with results expected “during the week”. “Tasmanians care deeply about our wildlife, and particularly our penguins, so we understand that reports like these may be distressing for the community,” a spokesperson said. They said staff planned to collect the dead birds on Thursday to reduce the risk of transmission.