Israel kills 40 in Gaza as UN chief urges end to ‘horrific violence’

GAZA, Sept 13 (Agencies): Israel's Military continued to pound Gaza, killing 40 more Palestinians as international condemnation mounted over an Israeli attack that killed at least 18 people at a United Nations-run school, including six aid workers.
At least six Palestinians were killed and others injured this evening in a series of Israeli airstrikes on the Nuseirat Refugee Camp in central Gaza.
Reports indicate that the fatalities occurred when Israeli warplanes targeted the home of the Shahin family in the Refugee Camp. In addition, two other homes belonging to the Ajez and Sha'er families were targeted by Israeli bombardment.
Meantime, five people, including three children, were injured when another Israeli airstrike hit the home of the Al-Hour family in the camp.
Earlier in the day, three people were killed in a strike on the Hassan family's home in the Bir Na'ja area in Northern Gaza.
Two others were killed in drone attacks South of Khan Younis, while three more were injured in a strike targeting civilians in the town of Abasan, East of Khan Younis.
Additionally, a body was recovered near the Karm Abu Salem Border Crossing and taken to Nasser Medical Complex in Khan Younis.
Israel's war on Gaza has killed 41,118 Palestinians and wounded 95,125 others, a conservative estimate, with 10,000+ believed to be buried under the debris of bombed homes.
Meanwhile, Chinese Defence Minister Dong Jun said Friday that "negotiation" was the only solution to conflicts such as the wars in Gaza and Ukraine as he addressed a global gathering of military officials in Beijing.
Top military representatives from Russia, Myanmar, Pakistan, Singapore, Iran and Germany are among more than 500 delegates in Beijing for the Xiangshan Forum, dubbed China's answer to the annual Shangri-La meeting in Singapore.
The three-day forum comes as Beijing increasingly presents itself as a mediator in global conflicts, including by sending envoys to the Middle East, brokering a temporary ceasefire in north Myanmar and last year, facilitating a historic rapprochement between Saudi Arabia and Iran. On Ukraine and Israel-Palestine, China presents itself as a more neutral actor than the United States.
Dong told the opening ceremony: "To resolve hotspot issues such as the crisis in Ukraine and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, promoting peace and negotiation is the only way out."
"There is no winner in war and conflict, and confrontation leads nowhere," Dong said.
"The more acute the conflict, the more we cannot give up dialogue and consultation. The end of any conflict is reconciliation," he added, calling on all countries to promote "peaceful development and inclusive governance".
Topics for discussion at the forum include US-China relations, security in Europe and Asia, and the challenges of defence in a multipolar world.
In his speech, Dong urged against "the proliferation of national security concepts" to ensure "new technologies can better benefit the whole mankind"-a likely reference to the United States's efforts to block Beijing's access to advanced technology.
West Bank reporters 'attacked' by Israeli army: UN experts
Journalists in the occupied West Bank are being "attacked and harassed" by Israeli forces, according to two United Nations experts, who accused Israel of trying to prevent reporting on alleged "war crimes".
At the end of August, Israel launched a large-scale offensive across the northern West Bank, fighting Palestinian militants and leaving widespread destruction.
Israeli troops "fired live ammunition at journalists or their vehicles" in three incidents in the cities of Jenin and Tulkarm this month "while they were reporting on military operations and civilian casualties", UN special rapporteurs Irene Khan and Francesca Albanese said in a statement.
Israeli forces in their offensive have targeted Jenin, Tulkarem and their refugee camps, where armed groups are particularly active.
Four reporters were hurt despite wearing clearly marked press jackets, the report said.
AFP witnessed one of the incidents, in Jenin on September 3.
"We strongly denounce the attacks and harassment of journalists in the illegally occupied West Bank, which are nothing but crude attempts by the Israeli army to block independent reporting on potential war crimes," the experts said.
Since October 2023, 29 journalists have been detained by Israeli forces in the West Bank, while three have been arrested by the Palestinian Authority, according to the statement.
"It is deeply disturbing to see Israeli soldiers in the West Bank replicating the same disdain for the safety of journalists as in Gaza in blatant violation of international law," Khan and Albanese said.