𝐀𝐭 𝐋𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐭 𝟗𝟓 𝐊𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐝 𝐢𝐧 𝐆𝐚𝐳𝐚 𝐚𝐬 𝐈𝐬𝐫𝐚𝐞𝐥𝐢 𝐅𝐨𝐫𝐜𝐞𝐬 𝐁𝐨𝐦𝐛 𝐂𝐚𝐟𝐞, 𝐒𝐡𝐨𝐨𝐭 𝐀𝐢𝐝 𝐒𝐞𝐞𝐤𝐞𝐫𝐬

At least one journalist was killed and another was injured

 

by Dave DeCamp, Antiwar. com, Jun 30, 2025

 

Medical sources told Al Jazeera on Monday that Israeli attacks killed at least 95 Palestinians in Gaza throughout the day as Israeli forces bombed a seaside cafe and gunned down more desperate people who were seeking aid.

According to the Palestinian news agency WAFA, an Israeli airstrike hit the Al-Baqa Cafe in Gaza City, killing 33 people and injuring 50 others. Among the dead was journalist Ismail Abu Hatab, bringing the total number of Palestinian journalists killed since October 7, 2023, to 227, according to WAFA’s count.

Another journalist, Bayan Abu Sultan, was wounded in the attack, and photos and videos of the aftermath show her standing outside the cafe covered in blood. Ali Abu Ateila, a survivor of the airstrike, told The Associated Press that the cafe was struck when it was crowded with women and children.

Journalist Bayan Abu Sultan, after the Israeli airstrike on the Al-Baqa Cafe in western Gaza City on June 30, 2025 (Majdi Fathi via Reuters Connect)

“Without a warning, all of a sudden, a warplane hit the place, shaking it like an earthquake,” Ateila said. The cafe was one of the few businesses that continued to operate in Gaza and was frequently crowded as Palestinians went there to charge their phones and use the internet.

The AP also reported that at least 22 people were killed by Israeli fire while attempting to get aid in different areas of Gaza. The Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis said it received 11 bodies of Palestinians who were killed while returning from an aid site operated by the US and Israeli-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) in the area. Another Palestinian was killed near an aid site in Rafah.

Gaza’s Health Ministry said that another 10 people were killed at a UN warehouse in northern Gaza. The latest aid-related killings come after a report from the Israeli newspaper Haaretz revealed that Israeli troops are being ordered to fire on unarmed Palestinians attempting to reach GHF distribution sites to drive them away or disperse them, even though they pose no threat.

Israeli forces also launched heavy attacks on the Zeitoun neighborhood in Gaza City on Monday, with residents reporting that the IDF bombed four schools that were sheltering displaced people, and at least 10 Palestinians were killed in the area. “Explosions never stopped; they bombed schools and homes. It felt like earthquakes,” Salah, a 60-year-old father of five children from Gaza City, told Reuters. “In the news we hear a ceasefire is near, on the ground, we see death and we hear explosions.”

 Unimpeded Mass Murder, Safari Style

Badri Raina

 

 

The Wire, 27 June 2025

The genocidaires of the past gave no food packets; they only killed. Trump and Netanyahu do both at once.

Palestinians inspect the damage at a school used as a shelter by displaced residents that was hit by Israeli military strike and killed at least 36 people, in Gaza City, on Monday, May 26, 2025. Photo: AP/PTI

You just may have noticed that a new ingenious modality of mass murder has been in operation in Gaza.

Call it game-hunting, safari style.

Recall how when some royals used to be taken on a tiger shoot, a bait would be tied to a tree so a big cat could be drawn to it for the dignitary’s  convenient aim.

So now, dangerously famished Palestinian children, women, old folk on spindly legs are got the better of by being drawn to the bait where ostensibly benevolent patrons are ready to hand out food packets.

As soon as they rush to the bait, the guns blaze. As most are eliminated, some manage to grab a packet or two, proving to the world  how the scheme remains such a success at both ends – some get to eat, salving the qualms of those upset at being accused of allowing genocide, others swell the ranks of the dead, facilitating the grand project of ethnic cleansing.

When did the world see so clever a two-timing enterprise?

The genocidaires of the past gave no food packets; they only killed. Trump and Netanyahu do both at once. What could be smarter? And how could anyone object, not that anyone is objecting.

You see, the killings in Gaza are game-hunting; in Ukraine it is people who get killed.

Which brings home another sad reality: Curse me if you will, but as a true follower of the Sanatan Dharma, I have been having trouble reconciling Dharma with ethical indifference to the mass murder of a whole innocent population.

Nothing is closer in exclusionary genius to Hindutva than Zionism

I am unable to swallow the trick that my noble nation’s so-noble government played in the United Nations General Assembly.

Where 149 countries voted in favour of demanding an immediate ceasefire in Gaza, and the resumption of humanitarian aid operated by the United Nations, Naya Bharat abstained from voting.

Perhaps we were setting up an example of how to eat the cake and have it too: after all, nothing is closer in exclusionary genius to Hindutva than Zionism, and nobody more consequential for ensuring Viksit Bharat than Trump, Musk, the Pentagon, Silicon Valley etc.

So, at one canny stroke of turning our face away from genocide, we accomplished the feat of not annoying either of our pals, not knowing how badly this Trump fellow would behave subsequently.

But these are risks great governments have to take in the larger national interest. After all, as Vishwa Guru, the worst we can do is to take sides.

Then, did we not also abandon our so-close friends in the SCO by abstaining there as well when the organisation to which India belongs issued a statement condemning Israel for attacking Iran?

Nobody may thus accuse us of inconsistency in our extraordinary  foreign policy towards the comity of nations.

Now that I am arguing the case, I say mea culpa  for  not being able to square these cunning decisions with my Sanatana Dharma.

So, give me time and I will follow the leader whose  finesse in these matters I have thus far been too incapable of absorbing.

In the meanwhile, the Mecca/Medina Islamic world more than matches us in their brand of sagacious cynicism towards the game-hunt in Gaza.

Also Read: If Trump Turns Tyrant, Can Others Be Far Behind?

As to the fussy International Criminal Court, their warrant of arrest against the conqueror of Palestine and the elimination of innocents remains a residual pinprick from a queasy but defeated world that no longer exists.

Why these judges and prosecutors in the Hague should be receiving either the world’s attention or their salaries from honest tax-payers is a conundrum that may also be up for resolution should Trump and Netanyahu go from strength to strength, should the grand nations of Europe continue to behave with  customary sophistication, and should rising stars like Narendra Modi  show the way to  moral  fusspots whose understanding of great events and great ideas remains atavistic.

So help us god, and so may  the Palestinian lambs-to-the-slaughter know that they serve a noble and mighty purpose in their canonical sacrifice.

Badri Raina taught at Delhi University.

The Wire is now on WhatsApp. Follow our channel for sharp analysis and opinions on the latest developments.

𝐓𝐫𝐮𝐦𝐩 𝐂𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐬 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐚𝐧 𝐄𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐍𝐞𝐭𝐚𝐧𝐲𝐚𝐡𝐮’𝐬 𝐂𝐨𝐫𝐫𝐮𝐩𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐓𝐫𝐢𝐚𝐥

 𝑇ℎ𝑒 𝑝𝑟𝑒𝑠𝑖𝑑𝑒𝑛𝑡 𝑠𝑎𝑖𝑑 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑈𝑆 ℎ𝑎𝑠 '𝑠𝑎𝑣𝑒𝑑' 𝐼𝑠𝑟𝑎𝑒𝑙 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑤𝑖𝑙𝑙 𝑛𝑜𝑤 '𝑠𝑎𝑣𝑒' 𝑁𝑒𝑡𝑎𝑛𝑦𝑎ℎ𝑢

by Dave DeCampm Antiwar. com, Jun 26, 2025

In a long post on his Truth Social account on Wednesday night, President Trump called for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s corruption trial to come to an end in a strong show of support for the Israeli leader, who is wanted by the International Criminal Court for his role in war crimes in Gaza.

Netanyahu is on trial for three charges of bribery, theft, and breach of trust. “I was shocked to hear that the State of Israel, which has just had one of its Greatest Moments in History, and is strongly led by Bibi Netanyahu, is continuing its ridiculous Witch Hunt against their Great War Time Prime Minister!” Trump said.

“Bibi and I just went through HELL together, fighting a very tough and brilliant longtime enemy of Israel, Iran, and Bibi could not have been better, sharper, or stronger in his LOVE for the incredible Holy Land,” the president added.
Trump and Netanyahu at the White House on April 7, 2025 (White House photo)

Trump said that he had just learned “that Bibi has been summoned to Court on Monday” and called for the trial to be “CANCELLED, IMMEDIATELY” or for Netanyahu to receive a pardon. “It was the United States of America that saved Israel, and now it is going to be the United States of America that saves Bibi Netanyahu,” he added.

On Thursday, Netanyahu requested that the court delay his testimony and criminal trial by two weeks. His lawyer pointed to Israel’s onslaught in Gaza and its recent war with Iran to justify delaying the trial, saying the Israeli leader must devote “all his time and energy to handling top-priority diplomatic, national, and security issues, including the management of the war in Gaza and dealing with the hostage crisis.”

In a post on X, Netanyahu thanked President Trump for calling for an end to the trial. “Thank You, [President Trump]. I was deeply moved by your heartfelt support for me and your incredible support for Israel and the Jewish people,” he wrote. “I look forward to continue working with you to defeat our common enemies, liberate our hostages and quickly expand the circle of peace.”

Many members of Netanyahu’s government also thanked Trump, while opposition leaders criticized the US president’s intervention in Israel’s affairs. The Trump administration also recently appeared to help Netanyahu resolve a political crisis that threatened his hold on power.

US Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee met with ultra-orthodox politicians who were threatening to dissolve the government over the lack of a draft exemption for Haredi Jews and told them that the US would see the move as destabilizing and pointed to Iran as a justification to keep the government together. The crisis was ultimately resolved, and less than a week later, the US backed Israel’s attack on Iran.

Netanyahu’s corruption trial and his desire to remain in power are seen as some of his main motivations for continuing the genocidal war in Gaza and waging other wars in the region.

𝐈𝐦𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐚𝐥 𝐚𝐠𝐠𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐚𝐠𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐬𝐭 𝐈𝐫𝐚𝐧 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐢𝐦𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐚𝐥 𝐝𝐞𝐜𝐞𝐩𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐬

--Nasir Khan,

BBC News, 'Sir Keir Starmer has warned of a "risk of escalation" to the Middle East and beyond the region, as he calls for a return to the negotiating table after the US bombed Iranian nuclear sites overnight.'

Mr Starmer, open your eyes, if you can! Your Zionist friends in Tel Aviv attacked and carried out the most brazen aggression against Iran. Mr Trump has aided the criminal regime in Tel Aviv and attacked Iran. You should be telling your accomplices to stop the aggression against Iran and turn to peaceful resolution of whatever conflicts there might be. Iran is under attack. Iran has not turned away from negotiations. Under the cover of negotiations, Mr Trump has allowed and aided the attack on ran by Israel.
Now Mr Trump has used the military power of the mightiest war machine in the world to attack and destroy the nuclear sites in Iran. These sites were not used to produce any nuclear weapons, this was fully corroborated by the US intelligence services, as we all know. Don't put imperial lies as the commandments of truth and respect for international law!

ℙ𝕒𝕣𝕟𝕚𝕒 𝔸𝕓𝕓𝕒𝕤𝕚 (𝟚𝟘𝟘𝟚-𝟚𝟘𝟚𝟝)

Pamenar Press

Translated by Ghazal Mosadeq

A poem by a young Iranian poet Parnia Abbasi who, along with her family, all civilians, was killed in a brutal and unlawful Israeli attack in the Sattarkhan neighbourhood of Tehran.

𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐄𝐱𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐮𝐢𝐬𝐡𝐞𝐝 𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐫

I wept for the both

for you

and for me

you blow at

the stars, my tears

in your world

the freedom of light

in mine

The chase of shadows

you and I will come to an end

somewhere

the most beautiful poem in the world

falls quiet

you begin

somewhere

to cry the

murmur of life

but I will end

I burn

I’ll be that extinguished star

In your sky

like smoke


ستاره‌ی خاموش

برای هر دو گریستم
برای تو
و خودم
ستاره‌های اشکم را
در آسمانت فوت می‌کنی
در دنیای تو
رهایی نور
در دنیای من
بازی سایه‌ها
در جایی
من و تو تمام می‌شویم
زیباترین شعر جهان
لال می‌شود
در جایی
تو شروع می‌شوی
نجوای زندگی را
فریاد می‌کنی
در هزار جا
من به پایان می‌رسم
می‌سوزم
می‌شوم ستاره‌ای خاموش
که در آسمانت
دود می‌شود.



Vaz-e Donya Poetry Journal (Iran) publishes:Excerpts from an interview with poet Parnia Abbasi (2002-2025), featured in the roundtable on poets of the Gen Z:

"I look at everything in my life in a way that allows me to write about it."
-
Parnia Abbasi: Whenever I write something, I always show it to my mother, to my friends. I ask those around me what they think. I love seeing how people react when they read my poems, their facial expressions, their response, it’s fascinating to me. Honestly, this has become a huge part of my life. I look at everything that happens to me as something I might be able to write down, to express the feeling I had in that moment through poetry. In that sense, writing brings me peace. Even if it is just a little every night. Many of these poems I never submit or publish anywhere, but when I read them myself, it feels like those feelings are alive again inside me, and that’s deeply meaningful to me.

When I joined the poetry workshop, I was busy with work and university at the same time, but honestly, the workshop mattered far more to me than school or anything else. I would get excited beforehand, preparing something to say. Getting to know poets, seeking them out—that meant more to me than most other things in life. And it still does.

President Trump Told Netanyahu To ‘Keep Going’ in Iran

 Trump said Netanyahu is a 'good man' who has been treated 'unfairly'

by Dave DeCamp, Antiwar.com  | Jun 18, 2025

President Trump said on Wednesday that he told Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in a phone call a day earlier to “keep going” with his attacks on Iran.

The president told reporters that Netanyahu, who is wanted by the International Criminal Court for his role in war crimes in Gaza, is a “good man” who has been treated “very unfairly” by his own country. “He’s a wartime president. Going through this nonsense — ridiculous,” Trump said.

Trump’s comments about Netanyahu come amid anticipation over whether or not the US will enter Israel’s war with Iran directly by launching airstrikes. The US has supported the assault by providing weapons and intelligence and intercepting Iranian missiles and drones, but so far hasn’t launched direct strikes of its own.

Trump and Netanyahu at the White House on April 7, 2025 (White House photo)

The president also said on Wednesday that “nobody knows” whether he’ll enter the war or not. When asked if he was moving closer on a decision to bomb Iranian nuclear facilities, Trump said, “You don’t know that I’m going to even do it. You don’t know. I may do it. I may not do it. I mean, nobody knows what I’m going to do. I can tell you this, that Iran’s got a lot of trouble.”

In other comments to the press, Trump said he wasn’t interested in an Israel-Iran ceasefire. “We’re not looking for a ceasefire. We’re looking for a total and complete victory. Again, you know what the victory is: no nuclear weapon,” he said.

Netanyahu launched his war of aggression against Iran under the pretext of preventing Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon, but US intelligence assessed before the attacks that Tehran was not pursuing a nuclear bomb.

𝐈𝐫𝐚𝐧’𝐬 𝐊𝐡𝐚𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐢 𝐑𝐞𝐣𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐬 𝐓𝐫𝐮𝐦𝐩’𝐬 𝐃𝐞𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐒𝐮𝐫𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐫, 𝐖𝐚𝐫𝐧𝐬 𝐔𝐒 𝐀𝐠𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐬𝐭 𝐄𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐖𝐚𝐫

 𝑇ℎ𝑒 𝐼𝑟𝑎𝑛𝑖𝑎𝑛 𝑙𝑒𝑎𝑑𝑒𝑟 𝑠𝑎𝑖𝑑 𝑖𝑓 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑈𝑆 𝑎𝑡𝑡𝑎𝑐𝑘𝑠 𝐼𝑟𝑎𝑛 𝑖𝑡 𝑤𝑜𝑢𝑙𝑑 𝑠𝑢𝑓𝑓𝑒𝑟 '𝑖𝑟𝑟𝑒𝑝𝑎𝑟𝑎𝑏𝑙𝑒 ℎ𝑎𝑟𝑚'

by Dave DeCamp , Antiwar. com | Jun 18, 2025

Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on Wednesday rejected President Trump’s demand for an “unconditional surrender” and warned the US against entering the war by launching strikes on Iran, saying the US would suffer “irreparable harm.”

Trump has also threatened Khamenei, claiming the US was aware of his location but wasn’t going to kill him for the time being. “[Trump] has threatened us. Not only does he make threats, but he also uses absurd, unacceptable rhetoric to openly demand that the Iranian people surrender to him. When a person hears such things, it’s truly surprising,” Khamenei said in a televised address.

“It isn’t wise to tell the Iranian nation to surrender. Wise people who know Iran, the Iranian people, and Iran’s history would never utter such words. What should the Iranian nation surrender to? The Iranian nation isn’t a nation that surrenders. We haven’t attacked anyone, and we definitely won’t tolerate anyone attacking us, and we will never surrender in response to the attacks of anyone,” Khamenei said.

Khamenei during his televised address (photo via his website)

The US has supported Israel’s war on Iran by providing weapons and intelligence and by intercepting Iranian missiles and drones. So far, the US hasn’t launched direct airstrikes on Iran, but Trump is considering doing so, especially against the Fordow nuclear plant, which is buried deep underground.

“Of course, the Americans who are familiar with the policies of this region know that the US entering in this matter [war] is 100% to its own detriment,” Khamenei said. “The damage it will suffer will be far greater than any harm that Iran may encounter. The harm the US will suffer will definitely be irreparable if they enter this conflict militarily.”

Iranian ballistic missiles are believed to be able to do significant damage to US bases in the region. Trump was asked on Wednesday if he would launch strikes on Iran’s nuclear program, but wouldn’t say. “I may do it. I may not do it. Nobody knows what I’m going to do,” he said.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu launched the war under the pretext of stopping Iran from advancing toward a nuclear bomb, but US intelligence agencies had assessed there was no evidence Tehran was working to make a nuclear weapon, and the US was unconvinced by new Israeli intelligence.

Israel’s attack also disrupted negotiations between the US and Iran. Trump said on Wednesday that Iran had asked for a meeting at the White House, but the claim was rejected by Tehran, as Iranian officials have said they won’t negotiate while Israel continues its attacks.

“No Iranian official has ever asked to grovel at the gates of the White House. The only thing more despicable than his lies is his cowardly threat to ‘take out’ Iran’s Supreme Leader,” Iran’s mission to the UN said. “Iran does NOT negotiate under duress, shall NOT accept peace under duress, and certainly NOT with a has-been warmonger clinging to relevance.”