[…] Speaking to reporters at the National Ploughing Championships as one of his last major public appearances before the end of his term in office, Mr Higgins reacted to the findings of what he described as a “very important document”.

Me Higgins said: “I believe myself that the kind of actions that are necessary now are the exclusion of those who are practising genocide, and those who are supporting genocide with armaments.

“We must look at their exclusion from the United Nations itself, and we should have no hesitation any longer in relation to ending trade with people who are inflicting this at our fellow human beings.”

Foreign doctors who have volunteered in Gaza say they have treated more than 100 children shot in the head or chest, clear evidence, they argue, that Israel is deliberately targeting minors.

In testimonies collected by the Dutch daily Volkskrant, 15 out of 17 doctors described encountering children under 15 with single bullet wounds to the head or chest. Together, they identified 114 such cases during their missions in Gaza. Many of the children died while others survived with devastating injuries.

“This is not crossfire. These are war crimes,” American emergency physician Mimi Syed told Volkskrant. She documented 18 children shot in the head or chest.

California trauma surgeon Feroze Sidhwa told the paper he initially assumed the cases were isolated until he encountered multiple boys in one hospital, all shot directly in the head. Later, when he compared notes with other international doctors, he realised it was widespread. “This is targeted fire. Someone is pulling a trigger on a child,” he said.

Forensic pathologists consulted by Volkskrant reviewed X-rays and confirmed the wounds were consistent with long-range sniper or drone fire, not shrapnel from explosions. Former Dutch army commander Mart de Kruif said the sheer number of children shot in the head or chest made the claim of “accidents” implausible.

“This is not collateral damage. It is intentional,” he said.

Israeli air strikes hit the Qatari capital Doha on Tuesday, targeting senior Hamas officials who had gathered to discuss the latest US ceasefire proposal for Gaza.

Multiple explosions were heard across the city, with smoke seen rising over the Katara district.

According to media reports, around 12 air strikes hit residential buildings.

The Israeli military confirmed it had carried out the strikes, stating it targeted the senior leadership of Hamas.

However, there was no immediate confirmation of who was hit or their condition.

A drone fired by Yemen’s Houthi rebels breached Israel’s multilayered air defenses on Sunday and slammed into the country’s southern airport, the Israeli military said, blowing out glass windows, wounding one person and briefly shutting down commercial airspace.

The damage to Ramon Airport appeared limited and flights resumed within hours. The Houthis claimed responsibility for the strike.

The attack follows Israeli strikes on Yemen’s rebel-held capital that killed the Houthi prime minister and other top officials in a major escalation of the nearly 2-year-old conflict between Israel and the Iran-backed militant group.

Israel has faced global condemnation for back-to-back strikes on the biggest hospital in southern Gaza this week, which killed at least 22 people, including health workers, emergency response crews and five journalists.

The attack on the hospital came just after 10 a.m. local time on Monday when a balcony at the Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis was hit by what appears to be a tank shell, killing a Reuters cameraman and others. Nine minutes later, as a group of rescue workers and other journalists attended to the victims, they were hit as the Israeli military fired again on the hospital – a tactic known as a “double tap.”

New video obtained by CNN reveals that this second “tap” was in fact two near-simultaneous strikes. These second and third strikes appear to have caused most of the deaths.

Intentionally attacking rescue workers, journalists and other civilians is a violation of international humanitarian law and a war crime.

On Monday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu conceded the incident was a “tragic mishap.”

But on Tuesday, the Israeli military defended the assault on the hospital, claiming that six “terrorists” had been killed in the attack, which it said was directed at a “camera that was positioned by Hamas.” The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said it was continuing to investigate “several gaps” in its understanding of what happened. It insisted that the IDF “does not intentionally target civilians.”

Lebanon has launched a plan to disarm Palestinian groups in its refugee camps, beginning with the handover of weapons from Burj al-Barajneh camp in Beirut.

The prime minister’s office announced on Thursday that the weapons transfer to the Lebanese army marks the start of a wider disarmament campaign. More handovers are expected in the coming weeks across Burj al-Barajneh and other camps nationwide.

A Fatah official told the Reuters news agency the arms handed over so far were only illegal weapons that had entered the camp within the previous day. Television footage showed military vehicles inside the camp, though Reuters could not verify what type of weapons were being surrendered.

The initiative follows Lebanon’s commitment under a US-backed truce between Israel and Hezbollah in November, which restricted weapons to six state security forces. Since the November 27, 2024, ceasefire agreement, Israel has continued attacking Lebanon, often on a weekly basis.

The government has tasked the army with producing a strategy by the end of the year to consolidate all arms under state authority.

According to the prime minister’s office, the decision to disarm Palestinian factions was reached in a May meeting between Lebanese President Joseph Aoun and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.

The U.S. special envoy to Lebanon said Monday that his team would discuss the long-term cessation of hostilities with Israel, after Beirut endorsed a U.S.-backed plan for the Hezbollah militant group to disarm.

Tom Barrack, following a meeting with Lebanese President Joseph Aoun, also said Washington would seek an economic proposal for post-war reconstruction in the country, after months of shuttle diplomacy between the U.S. and Lebanon.

Leaked Transcript Confirms Netanyahu Chose to Starve Gaza as a Method of War

Cabinet meeting minutes show how Netanyahu chose to create famine in Gaza over securing release of Israeli hostages.

The Trump administration said states and cities will not receive funding to prepare for natural disasters if they choose to boycott Israeli companies.