Crime
Hamas Health Ministry Puts Gaza War Death Toll At 3,785
At least 3,785 people have been killed in the Gaza Strip since Israel began bombarding the coastal enclave, the Hamas-controlled health ministry said Thursday.
Some 1,524 children and 1,000 women are among those killed in the relentless Israeli air strikes, the ministry said, adding another 12,493 people have been injured.
Meanwhile, Palestinians in war-torn Gaza on Thursday eagerly awaited aid trucks promised in a deal struck by US President Joe Biden with Egypt and Israel, as the army struck more Hamas targets.
The war — sparked by the bloody October 7 Hamas attack on Israel that officials said has claimed more than 1,400 lives — has set off fury across the Middle East against Israel and its Western allies.
“The pace of death, of suffering, of destruction… cannot be exaggerated,” UN humanitarian chief Martin Griffiths said about the situation in the crowded territory of 2.4 million people.
There are fears of worse to come if Israel launches an anticipated ground invasion to destroy Hamas and rescue Israeli and foreign hostages, whose known number Israel on Thursday revised up to 203.
Biden, on a flying visit to meet Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his war cabinet on Wednesday, reiterated strong US support for its long-time ally but also stressed the need to address the plight of Palestinian civilians.
He said he had agreed a deal for an initial 20 trucks carrying relief goods to pass through the shuttered Rafah crossing from Egypt into Gaza, with the first deliveries expected Friday at the earliest.
“We want to get as many of the trucks out as possible,” Biden told reporters on Air Force One as he flew home, while warning that “if Hamas confiscates it or doesn’t let it get through… then it’s going to end”.
Amid the flaring crisis, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres headed to Egypt on Thursday, where President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi also hosted Jordan’s King Abdullah II.
The pair, whose countries were the first Arab states to normalise relations with Israel in 1979 and 1994, condemned the “collective punishment” of Gazans and warned about the conflict spreading.
“If the war does not stop”, it threatens “to plunge the entire region into catastrophe”, a statement from the Jordanian royal court read.
Sisi and Abdullah — seen as key mediators between Israel and the Palestinians — had been due to have four-way talks with Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas and Biden.
But Amman cancelled the summit.
Desperate to escape
More than 100 trucks carrying aid goods have been queued for days on the Egyptian side of the Rafah border crossing, the only entry or exit point to Gaza not controlled by Israel.
Cairo has so far kept it closed, pointing to repeated Israeli strikes near the checkpoint and voicing fears that Israel may be hoping to permanently drive Palestinians out and into Egypt’s Sinai desert.
On the Gaza side, scores of people were again waiting, desperate to flee, but careful to keep about 100 metres (300 feet) away in case of new Israeli bombardment.
“We’re ready with our bags,” said one man who only gave his name as Mohammed, 40, and who said he works for a European institution.
He said he had been waiting “for three days with my family, in a house 10 minutes away from the crossing” but had received no information so far.
Majed, 43, who said he works with a German organisation, told AFP: “I came on my own this morning and, in case the crossing opens, I’d get my wife and children — they’re ready.”
Israel united
Biden, who was due to address the nation on Thursday about the Gaza and Ukraine conflicts, announced the aid truck deal after what he called “blunt” talks in Israel and a phone call with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi.
Israel consented to the deal while pressing on with its military campaign.
Its army reported Thursday that it had destroyed hundreds more Hamas targets, including missile launch site and tunnels, and that “more than 10 terrorists were eliminated”.
Israel has stressed it must destroy Hamas after the worst attack on its soil which, the army said Thursday, had claimed 1,403 lives since the surprise onslaught on October 7 including at least 306 soldiers killed in battles to reclaim overrun villages and kibbutzim.
Biden, the first US president to visit Israel during war time, strongly backed Israel but warned it not to overreact, cautioning that Washington made mistakes as it sought to avenge 9/11.
UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak on Thursday became the latest foreign leader to make a solidarity visit to Israel, meeting Netanyahu and President Isaac Hertzog.
He backed Israeli action but also stressed the need for getting aid into Gaza, before jetting to Saudi Arabia for talks with Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.
Netanyahu called Israel’s fight-back a “just war”, adding: “I’ve never seen the people of Israel as united — more united — than they are now,” he said.
But intensifying cross-border fire between Israel and the Iran-backed Hezbollah movement in Lebanon is stoking fears of a potential second front.
As tensions mounted, the United States and UK on Thursday advised their citizens to leave Lebanon while flights were still available.
Hospital strike
The Arab world has been united in anger and condemnation of Israel since a deadly strike hit a Gaza hospital compound on Tuesday.
Both sides in the war have traded blame for the bloody carnage, but neither the provenance of the strike nor the death toll could be immediately or independently verified.
The strike left scores of bodies and charred cars at the Ahli Arab hospital compound in northern Gaza, AFP images showed.
Hamas accused Israel of hitting the hospital during its massive bombing campaign and Gaza’s health ministry put the death toll at 471.
Israel blamed a misfired Islamic Jihad rocket, a claim backed by Biden who said the US Defense Department had concluded that “it’s highly unlikely that it was the Israelis. It would have had a different footprint”.
The Israeli military has pointed to the absence of a large impact crater typical of its air strikes and said fuel from the errant rocket had exploded.
A senior European intelligence source told AFP that he believed a maximum of 50 people were killed.
Israeli army spokesman Jonathan Conricus has also disputed Hamas’s figure of 471 dead, asking “where are all the bodies?”
Hamas has dismissed Israel’s position, saying its “outrageous lies do not deceive anyone”.
It also slammed the United States, accusing it of being complicit in the ongoing strikes on Gaza.
AFP
A National Youth Service Corps member, Jennifer Elohor, who was brutalised by Anambra security operatives, otherwise known as “Agunechemba”, at a corpers lodge in Oba, Idemili Local Government Area of the state, has recounted her harrowing experience.
In a video that went viral on Tuesday, the operatives armed with guns stormed the corps members’ lodge, accused them of being Internet fraudsters, although they knew they were corps members. They were seen beating the female corps member despite her cries for help.
The incident has continued to generate widespread reactions across the state, with stakeholders, civil society organisations, human rights groups, and lawmakers condemning the action of the vigilante group, with many demanding justice for the victim and calling for sanctions against the vigilante team.
Elohor, who narrated her ordeal in an interview with a media personality, Aprokoking, shared online on Wednesday, said the Anambra State operatives broke into her residence, assaulted her, and forcefully took her and some of her colleagues away.
This is just as the Anambra State Government has tendered a public apology to the victim and anyone who had suffered abuse or harassment in the hands of Agunechemba personnel.
The corps member said the incident occurred on July 13, around 5pm, at the lodge where she and other corps members were residing.
She said she and her colleagues were indoors when suddenly they heard a violent knock on their door.
She said, “At first, we thought it was our neighbours’ door because it’s a three-storey building with several flats. But the knock became louder and more aggressive, so I decided to check. Before I could reach the door, it was kicked open.
“A masked man armed with a gun stormed into the room without any form of identification or uniform.
“At first, I thought it was an armed robber until he ordered all of us to come outside. I tried to explain that we were corps members and even suggested showing our NYSC identity cards. My colleagues also presented theirs, but the men ignored us. The intruders ransacked our room, seized our phones and laptops, and became violent.
“They pushed us downstairs, almost shoving me down the staircase. They kept asking what gave me the right, as a woman, to challenge them. It was when we got outside that we saw their vehicle and discovered they were from the Anambra Vigilante Group.”
She further claimed that when they requested to call their lodge proprietor or NYSC officials to notify them of where they were being taken to, the vigilante members became more brutal and violent.
“They beat me, tore my clothes, and even hit one of my colleagues with an iron rod for pleading on my behalf. They forced me into their vehicle, pressing my neck, slapping me, and threatening to smash our phones if we contacted anyone,” she added.
Following the outrage, the Anambra State Government, through the Special Adviser to the state governor on Community Security and leader of Agunechemba, Ken Emeakayi, while speaking to journalists on Thursday, restated that the eight personnel responsible have been identified, sacked, arrested and detained.
……As court sets September 10 for bail ruling.
Justice Emeka Nwite of the Federal High Court in Abuja has approved protection measures for witnesses expected to testify in the trial of five suspects linked to the June 5, 2022 bombing at St. Francis Catholic Church in Owo, Ondo State.
The ruling followed an ex parte application by the prosecution, led by Calistus Eze, under the Terrorism Prevention Act 2022.
The accused—Idris Abdulmalik Omeiza, Al Qasim Idris, Jamiu Abdulmalik, Abdulhaleem Idris, and Momoh Otuho Abubakar—face a nine-count terrorism charge related to their alleged ties to the East African terrorist group Al-Shabab. The attack resulted in over 40 deaths.
Prosecutor Eze emphasized the severity of the charges in support of witness protection. The defendants’ counsel, Abdullahi Muhammad, raised no objections.
Separately, Abdullahi Muhammad filed bail applications for the suspects, which the prosecution opposed. Eze argued that due to the suspects’ suspected foreign terrorist links, there was a high risk they might abscond if granted bail. He also cited concerns about potential threats to the six witnesses and doubts over the reliability of any sureties.
The prosecutor informed the court that the Department of State Services (DSS) has approved visitation rights for the suspects’ families while in custody.
During the hearing, Eze also notified the court of the Attorney General’s appointment of Senior Advocate of Nigeria Ayodeji Adedipe as the new lead prosecutor. The case file transfer is ongoing.
Justice Nwite adjourned the matter until September 10 for a ruling on the bail application.
A tragic incident has rocked the community of Amaifeke in Orlu Local Government Area of Imo State, where a 39-year-old man, Ifeanyi Odinka, allegedly stabbed his 75-year-old father, Dennis Odinka, to death following a dispute over proceeds from a land sale.
Confirming the incident, the Imo State Police Command said Ifeanyi was arrested by operatives from the Orlu Division on August 12, 2025. According to police spokesperson ASP Henry Okoye, the suspect confessed to the crime during interrogation.
“He was immediately transferred to the State Criminal Investigation Department in Owerri for further investigation and prosecution,” Okoye stated.
The gruesome killing has left residents in shock, with community members describing the incident as deeply disturbing and calling for justice to take its course.
The police have assured the public that the suspect will face the full weight of the law. They also reiterated their commitment to maintaining law and order across the state, urging residents to report any suspicious activity to the authorities.
NAFDAC : Fake Cowbell Milk in circulation
Japan designates the city of Kisarazu for Nigerians to live and work
Peter Rufai’s burial : Taribo West explodes, lashes out at NFF, LASG ‘What kind of nation is this?’
Tech Expert, Zuckerberg trains with UFC champions, Adesanya, Alexander
Organ Trafficking: Ekweremadu bags 10 years in UK prison
SAINT OBI: Between his marriage and his death
-
Health3 days agoChinese Scientists Developing Pregnancy Robots
-
Entertainment3 days ago‘Things Fall Apart’ actor Fabian Adibe dies at 82
-
News3 days agoNITDA shuts down 13.5 million social media accounts for code violations
-
Crime1 day agoFemale Corps Member Recalls Harrowing Assault by Anambra Security Forces
-
International1 day agoTrump pledges to maintain federal forces in Washington amid mounting criticism.
-
News1 day agoBREAKING: FG, state, local governments share N2.001trn July revenue
-
International1 day agoEducation: Denmark permitting use of AI for English exams from 2026
-
Politics2 days agoWhat ERGAF -Africa’s Report Reveals About Nigeria’s Lawmakers