LONDON (AP) — “Today’s report speaks to the lack of competence, understanding and fundamental failure to perform the most basic duties of care. We paid the price for systematic dishonesty, institutional indifference and neglect.” — Natasha Elcock of Grenfell United, a group of survivors and bereaved family members of the fire.
“The simple truth is that the deaths that occurred were all avoidable and that those who lived in the tower were badly failed over a number of years and in a number of different ways by those who were responsible for ensuring the safety of the building and its occupants. — Grenfell Tower Inquiry chairman Martin Moore-Bick.
"I want to start with an apology on behalf of the British state to each and every one of you and indeed to all of the families affected by this tragedy. It should never have happened. The country failed to discharge its most fundamental duty, to protect you and your loved ones, the people that we are here to serve and I am deeply sorry. — UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer.
"Whilst the publication of the second phase of the inquiry is an important step on this journey, it is not the end. Those responsible must now be immediately held to account for their systematic dishonesty, corporate greed, institutional indifference and neglect.'' — London Mayor Sadiq Khan.
“I can’t pretend to imagine the impact of such a long police investigation on the bereaved and survivors, but we have one chance to get our investigation right. We will be thorough and diligent in our investigation while moving as swiftly as possible. We owe that to those who died and all those affected by the tragedy.” —Metropolitan Police Deputy Assistant Commissioner Stuart Cundy.
“Construction companies gamed the system to maximize their profits. A system of semi-privatized building control put commercial interests ahead of regulatory duties. Firefighters and fire control staff were put in an impossible position, forced to respond to a fire in a high rise building effectively wrapped in petrol. Again and again, residents and firefighters warned of the dangers of combustible cladding but were ignored. — Matt Wrack, Fire Brigades Union (FBU) general secretary
“Maybe I will die without having justice." —Karim Khalloufi, brother of Khadija Khalloufi, who died at Grenfell Tower.
Relatives of the deceased and people directly affected by the Grenfell Tower fire, sit in front of a photo montage of the those who died, as they react to the final report into the fire being released in London, Wednesday, Sept. 4, 2024. The report on the Grenfell Tower fire in which 72 people were killed in June 2017, says decades of failure by government and industry made the high-rise a "death trap". (AP Photo/Frank Augstein)
Israeli airstrikes killed at least 18 people in the Gaza Strip on Thursday, including three children and two high-ranking officers in the Hamas-run police force, according to Palestinian and hospital officials.
One strike early Thursday hit a tent in an Israeli-declared humanitarian zone known as Muwasi, where hundreds of thousands of displaced people are sheltering in tents during the cold and rainy winter.
Another strike killed at least eight Palestinians in the central Gaza Strip. The dead were members of local committees that help secure aid convoys, according to Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital, which received the bodies. An Associated Press reporter at the hospital confirmed the toll.
There was no immediate comment from the Israeli military on the strikes.
Israel’s offensive has killed over 45,000 Palestinians in Gaza, according to local health officials, who say women and children make up more than half the fatalities. The officials do not distinguish between civilians and combatants in their tally.
The war was sparked by Hamas-led militants' Oct. 7, 2023 attack into Israel. They killed some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and abducted around 250 that day. Around 100 hostages are still inside Gaza, at least a third of whom are believed to be dead.
Here's the latest:
JERUSALEM -- The Israeli military has claimed responsibility for a nighttime raid in Syria last September in which it says dozens of commandos destroyed a top-secret Iranian-led missile factory.
Israeli military spokesman Lt. Col. Nadav Shoshani said Thursday that Iran, working with its Syrian and the Hezbollah allies, planned to build hundreds of precision guided missiles per year at the factory that could be transferred to Lebanon. He said the facility was located in western Syria around the town of Masyaf near the Lebanese border.
He said Israel had been monitoring the underground facility for several years, but decided to strike at a time when Israel was at war with Hezbollah and the factory was becoming operational.
“This facility posed a clear threat to the state of Israel and this is why we had to take action,” he said.
Shoshani said over 100 special force soldiers took part in the Sept. 8 raid, backed by dozens of aircraft. Calling it one of Israel’s most complex operations in years, he said soldiers arrived by helicopter and entered the facility, which he said was dug deep into the side of a mountain.
In bodycam footage released by the Israeli military, special forces are seen moving through wide underground hallways and seizing documents, before a large explosion destroys the site. The video, which could not be independently verified, also showed images of what the army said was missile-manufacturing equipment.
At the time, Syrian state media reported four deaths from a series of Israeli airstrikes in the area. Shoshani said there were no Israeli casualties, and that Israel also damaged another missile-production facility in Lebanon during the war.
Israel and Hezbollah reached a cease-fire in late November, halting nearly 14 months of fighting.
JERUSALEM — Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was released from the hospital Thursday after recovering from prostate surgery Sunday.
Doctors at Hadassah Ein Kerem Hospital said Netanyahu was recuperating satisfactorily, although he still has a period of recovery ahead. Medical follow-ups will continue as usual, according to a hospital statement.
Despite doctor’s orders to remain hospitalized, the 75-year-old leader had briefly left the facility to participate in a vote in Israel’s parliament on Tuesday.
KYIV, Ukraine – Ukraine’s president says his country is poised to reestablish diplomatic ties with Syria after the fall of President Bashar Assad and sharply increase agricultural exports to Lebanon despite being engaged in an almost three-year war with Russia.
The developments came after a recent visit to those countries by Ukraine’s top diplomat and its government minister for farming, according to a statement from Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Thursday. Ukraine is aiming to build up its security and trade relations in the Middle East, he said.
Ukraine and Syria are assessing cooperation within international organizations, and Syria could this year become a “reliable partner” for Ukraine, Zelenskyy said.
The Ukrainian officials met with Syria’s new de facto authorities led by the Islamist group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham. The insurgents had ousted Assad, a longtime ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin, in early December.
Ukrainian agricultural exports to Lebanon are around $400 million a year but Zelenskyy said he hopes to at least double that.
Ukraine is a leading world producer of wheat, corn, barley, sunflower oil and other food products.
JERUSALEM — The Israeli military says it targeted a senior member of Hamas’ internal security apparatus in a strike in the Gaza Strip that Palestinian officials say killed nine other people, including three children.
The strike early Thursday hit a tent in an Israeli-declared humanitarian zone known as Muwasi, where hundreds of thousands of displaced people are sheltering in tents during the cold and rainy winter.
The military said Hossam Shahwan, a senior officer in the Hamas-run police force in Gaza, was involved in gathering intelligence used by Hamas’ armed wing in attacks on Israeli forces.
Maj. Gen. Mahmoud Salah, another senior police official, was also killed in the strike.
The military says Hamas militants hide among civilians and blames the group for their deaths in the nearly 15-month war, which was ignited by Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023 attack into Israel.
The Hamas-run government had a police force numbering in the tens of thousands that maintained a high degree of public security before the war while also violently suppressing dissent.
The police have largely vanished from the streets in many areas after being targeted by Israel, contributing to the breakdown of law and order that has hindered the delivery of desperately needed humanitarian aid.
DAMASCUS, Syria — The forces together with armed vehicles were deployed in the city of Homs Thursday to look for the militants affiliated with ousted President Bashar Assad, state media reported.
SANA, citing a military official, said that the new de facto authorities led by the Islamist group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham had set up centers in Syria’s third-largest city for former soldiers and militants to hand over their weapons, similar to other parts of Syria.
In early December, a lightning insurgency took out the decades-long rule of Assad in less than two weeks. HTS has since run much of war-torn Syria under the authority of its leader Ahmad al-Sharaa.
Officials who were part of Assad's notorious web of intelligence and security apparatus have been arrested over the past few weeks.
DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip: An Israeli strike has killed at least eight Palestinian men in the central Gaza Strip.
The dead were members of local committees that help secure aid convoys, according to Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital, which received the bodies. An Associated Press reporter at the hospital confirmed the toll.
Earlier on Thursday, an Israeli airstrike in southern Gaza killed at least 10 people, including three children and two senior officers in the Hamas-run police.
There was no immediate comment from the Israeli military on the strikes.
Israel has repeatedly targeted the police, contributing to a breakdown of law and order in the territory that has made it difficult for humanitarian groups to deliver aid. Israel accuses Hamas of hijacking aid for its own purposes.
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — Al Jazeera has condemned the Palestinian Authority’s decision to bar it from operating in the occupied West Bank, saying the decision was “in line” with similar actions taken by Israel.
In a statement Thursday, the Qatar-based broadcaster accused the Western-backed authority of seeking to “hide the truth about events in the occupied territories, especially what is happening in Jenin and its camps.”
The Palestinian Authority, which cooperates with Israel on security matters, launched a rare crackdown on anti-Israel militants in the urban Jenin refugee camp last month. The authority has international support but is unpopular among many Palestinians, with critics portraying it as a subcontractor of the Israeli occupation.
The Palestinian Authority announced the suspension of Al Jazeera’s activities on Wednesday, accusing it of incitement and interfering in Palestinian internal affairs. The Palestinian Authority exercises limited autonomy in parts of the Israeli-occupied West Bank.
Israel banned Al Jazeera last year, accusing it of being a mouthpiece of Hamas. Israeli strikes have killed or wounded several Al Jazeera reporters in Gaza, and Israel has accused some of them of being militants. Israeli forces raided Al Jazeera’s West Bank headquarters last year, but the broadcaster has continued to operate in the territory.
Al Jazeera denies the allegations and accuses Israel of trying to silence its coverage. Its 24-hour reporting from Gaza has focused on the deaths of Palestinian civilians. It has also broadcast Hamas and other militant videos in their entirety, showing attacks on Israeli forces and hostages speaking under duress.
Palestinian children play next to a building destroyed by Israeli army strikes in the central Gaza Strip town of Khan Younis, Wednesday, Jan. 1, 2025. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)
Israeli soldiers stand in a bullet-ridden house during a tour for army personnel to observe the damage caused by the Oct. 7 Hamas onslaught at Kibbutz Kfar Aza, near the Israeli-Gaza border, in Israel, Thursday, Jan. 2, 2025. (AP Photo/Matias Delacroix)
An Israeli soldier jumps off an armoured vehicle at a staging area near the Gaza border in southern Israel, Thursday Jan. 2, 2025. (AP Photo/Tsafrir Abayov))
Palestinians prepare the body for the funeral of a man killed during an Israeli army strike in Deir al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip, Thursday Jan. 2, 2025. The strike killed at least eight men members of local committees that help secure aid convoys, according to the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital, which received the bodies.(AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)
A man reacts in grief as the body of 8-year-old Adam Farajallah is brought to Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital following an airstrike on a house in the Bureij refugee camp, in the central Gaza Strip town of Deir al-Balah Wednesday, Jan. 1, 2025. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)
A man mourns over the body of a Palestinian man killed during an Israeli army strike in Deir al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip, Thursday Jan. 2, 2025. The strike killed at least eight men members of local committees that help secure aid convoys, according to the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital, which received the bodies.(AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)
Palestinian girls collect donated food at a food distribution center in Deir al-Balah, central Gaza Strip, Thursday Jan. 2, 2025. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)
An Israeli soldier covers his ears as an artillery gunner fires into the Gaza Strip from a position in southern Israel, Thursday, Jan. 2, 2025.(AP Photo/Matias Delacroix)
A destroyed part of Gaza City as seen from southern Israel, Thursday Jan. 2, 2025. (AP Photo/Tsafrir Abayov))
Palestinians inspect the site of an earlier Israeli army strike in the Muwasi area, in Khan Younis, central Gaza Strip, Thursday Jan. 2, 2025. According to Palestinian medical officials, the airstrike killed at least 10 people, including three children and two senior police officers, in an Israeli-designated humanitarian zone in the Gaza Strip. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)
