Tel Aviv, June 16 (IANS/DPA) The Israeli military said that it will conduct a daily “tactical pause” in its activities in the south of the Gaza Strip to allow more aid deliveries.

The pause “will take place from 8 a.m. until 7 p.m. every day until further notice along the road that leads from the Kerem Shalom Crossing to the Salah al-Din Road and then further north,” the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said on X.

The hiatus is intended to “increase the volume of humanitarian aid entering Gaza,” the IDF added.

The route runs south of the southern Gaza city of Rafah, where Israel’s army is continuing its international operations.

Israel deems Rafah the last stronghold of the Palestinian militant group Hamas.

The Gaza war was triggered by the worst massacre in Israel’s history, with more than 1,200 dead, carried out by terrorists from Hamas and other extremist groups in Israel on October 7 last year.

According to the Hamas-controlled Health Authority, more than 37,000 people have been killed and more than 85,000 injured in the course of the Israeli offensive in the Gaza Strip.

–IANS/DPA

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Chicago, June 16 (IANS) At least nine people were injured in a shooting at a water park in Rochester Hills in the northern suburbs of Detroit, the US state of Michigan, the police said.

The incident happened around 5 p.m. on Saturday when a “random” gunman got out of a vehicle and unloaded 28 gunshots from a handgun, Oakland County Sheriff Michael Bouchard said at a news conference.

There were “nine, maybe 10, victims of varying kinds of injuries,” Bouchard said, adding that the victims were of various age groups, with the youngest identified as eight years old, Xinhua news agency reported.

The suspect was “contained” in a house half a mile from the park, Bouchard said.

The police recovered a 9-mm handgun and three magazines at the scene.

The police issued an emergency alert on Saturday evening, warning residents in Rochester Hills of an “active shooter” and urging them to “avoid the area and seek shelter”.

–IANS

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Los Angeles, June 16 (IANS) Two people were killed in a plane crash in the US state of California, authorities said.

The US National Transportation Safety Board said in a statement on social media X that it is investigating the crash of a Lockheed L12 aircraft near Chino, a city in the western end of San Bernardino County, about 55 km east of downtown Los Angeles.

The small World War II-era twin-engine plane crashed around 12:35 p.m. on Saturday near Chino Airport, Xinhua news agency reported.

The plane was found off the runway when emergency crews arrived, reported local KABC television station.

The two men who were killed were involved in a Father’s Day event at the Yanks Air Museum, said the report.

–IANS

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Rome, June 16 (IANS/DPA) Italian left-wing activist Ilaria Salis, who has been charged in Hungary for allegedly assaulting right-wing extremists, has returned to Italy.

Ilaria Salis returned to the northern Italian city of Monza with her father on Saturday evening after travelling back by car.

The Hungarian judiciary had previously released her from house arrest in Budapest.

“Yes, the nightmare is over,” Roberto Salis told journalists in Monza after arriving with his daughter, who he said was “very tired.”

“She has had a very intense period in detention,” he added.

The Hungarian public prosecutor’s office accuses the 39-year-old teacher of assaulting and injuring a group of right-wing extremists in Budapest in February 2023 together with other participants from the left-wing scene.

The Italian woman, who has denied the accusations, had been in custody since then, but was placed under house arrest after posting bail.

Last week, she won a seat in the new EU Parliament as a candidate for the Italian Alliance of the Greens and the Left and has since enjoyed immunity from prosecution. Her lawyer then applied for her release, which was granted by the Hungarian judiciary.

Following her release from house arrest, the competent court in Budapest said that it would apply for Salis’ immunity to be lifted, stating that criminal proceedings were still pending against her.

The case has been causing friction between the EU partners Hungary and Italy for some time. When Salis’ trial began in Budapest in January, she was brought into the courtroom in handcuffs and shackles, which caused outrage in her home country.

A German woman is also a co-defendant in the trial against Salis. She also denies any guilt.

–IANS/DPA

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Baghdad, June 16 (IANS) A Shiite militia in Iraq has claimed responsibility for an attack with a cruise missile on a site in Haifa in northern Israel.

The militia, known as the Islamic Resistance in Iraq, said in an online statement on Saturday that its fighters launched an attack at dawn on Saturday with a long-range al-Arqab upgraded cruise missile on “a site in Haifa”, Xinhua news agency reported.

It provided no further details about the targeted location or any resulting casualties.

The militia stressed that the attack was carried out “in solidarity with the people in the Gaza Strip” and pledged to continue its attacks on “the enemy’s strongholds.”

Earlier on Saturday, the group claimed responsibility for two drone attacks on Friday, targeting Haifa Port and Ramat David Airbase near Haifa. No details on casualties were provided in either instance.

The Islamic Resistance in Iraq has carried out multiple attacks on Israeli and US targets in the region since the outbreak of the Gaza conflict on October 7, 2023.

–IANS

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