Gaza is facing a man-made drought as its water systems collapse, the UN’s children agency has said.
“Children will begin to die of thirst … Just 40% of drinking water production facilities remain functional,” Unicef spokesperson James Elder told reporters in Geneva, according to Reuters.
It comes a day after Unicef said more than 5,000 children were diagnosed with malnutrition in the Gaza Strip in May.
The agency said according to data from Unicef-supported nutrition centres in the Gaza Strip, this represents a nearly 50% increase on April, and a 150% increase from February when the ceasefire was in effect and aid was entering Gaza.
Key events
Summary
As we approach mid-afternoon in Israel and Iran, here is a round-up of today’s news so far.
Foreign ministers from the UK, France and Germany are meeting their Iranian counterpart Abbas Araqchi in Geneva on Friday aiming to create a pathway back to diplomacy over its nuclear programme.
Araqchi has said he will not speak to the US as it is a “partner to Israeli crime against Iran”.
French foreign minister Jean-Noël Barrot had spoken to the US secretary of state Marco Rubio ahead of the meeting in Geneva.
It came as strikes from Iran overnight on Beersheba targeted Microsoft’s office. Seven people were reported as suffering minor injuries while fleeing the area.
Israel’s military carried out numerous attacks on Iran overnight, including one on Tehran’s weapon’s research and development institute. The Israeli Defence Force (IDF) said 60 fighter jets took part in a wave of strikes.
An Iranian nuclear scientist has reportedly been killed in a strike on a building in Tehran, according to Israel’s national broadcaster Kan.
Israel’s defence minister Israel Katz warned against Lebanon’s terror group Hezbollah intervening on Iran’s side of the conflict.
Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said the Middle East is “plunging into an abyss of instability and war”.
Turkey’s president Erdogan warned the war could have a “harmful” migration impact on Europe, as he spoke to German chancellor Friedrich Merz.
The British government is organising charter flights out of Tel Aviv for British citizens. It has ordered them to register with the Foreign Office.
The conflict in Palestine continues.
At least 43 people in Gaza were killed on Friday by Israeli forces, according to Gaza’s civil defence force.
The death toll includes 26 near an aid distribution centre.
Unicef has warned Gaza is facing a man-made drought as its water system collapses. About 40% of drinking water production facilities are operational, a spokesperson told reporters.
At least 43 Palestinians killed on Friday – Gaza officials say
Rescuers in Gaza have said at least 43 people have been killed in the area on Friday by Israeli forces, including 26 near an aid distribution centre.
Mohammad al-Mughayyir, director of medical supply at the Hamas-run civil defence agency in Gaza told Agence France-Presse: “43 martyrs have fallen as a result of the ongoing Israeli bombardment on the Gaza Strip since dawn today, 26 of whom were waiting for humanitarian aid.”
British government to organise charter flights out of Israel
The British government is looking to provide charter flights out of Israel, with UK citizens in the region told to register their presence with the Foreign Office, Downing Street has said.
PA Media reports the government is working with the Israeli authorities to arrange transport out of the region as the crisis deepens. Prime minister Sir Keir Starmer has urged all sides to reach a diplomatic outcome.
A government spokesperson added: “We are advising British nationals to continue to register their presence in Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories, to be contactable with further guidance on these flights.
“The foreign secretary will shortly announce that the government is working with the Israeli authorities to provide charter flights from Tel Aviv airport once airspace reopens.”
Thousands of people joined a protest against Israel in Tehran on Friday after weekly prayers, chanting slogans in support of their leaders, images on state television showed.
“This is the Friday of the Iranian nation’s solidarity and resistance across the country,” the news anchor said, according to Agence France-Presse.
Footage showed protesters holding up photographs of commanders killed since the start of the war with Israel, while others waved the flags of Iran and the Lebanese militant movement Hezbollah.
Saudi Arabia and Qatar have issued warnings to Israel about the targets of their airstrikes in Iran.
Saudi Arabia’s nuclear and radiological regulatory commission said on Friday that any military attacks on civilian nuclear facilities violates international law.
Meanwhile Qatar’s prime minister and foreign minister, Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al Thani, has spoken to Norway’s foreign minister Espen Barth Eide, according to Qatari state media.
During the phone call, Sheikh Mohammed expressed Qatar’s condemnation of the “repeated Israeli violations and attacks in the region”, which “undermine peace efforts and threaten to drag the region into a regional war”, Qatar news agency reported.
He also expressed the “seriousness” of Israel’s targeting of economic facilities in Iran, warning of its “disastrous” regional and international repercussions, it added.
The war between Iran and Israel could have a “harmful” migration impact on Europe, Turkey’s President Recep Erdoğan has warned.
The conflict could spark a surge in migration that would affect Europe and the region, Erdoğan said, according to AFP.
“The spiral of violence triggered by Israel’s attacks could harm the region and Europe in terms of migration and the possibility of nuclear leakage,” his office quoted him as saying in a phone conversation with German chancellor Friedrich Merz.
Are you living in Iran or Israel as the conflict continues?
We would like to hear from people who live in both countries, and those who are part of the wider diaspora in the region.
You can contact us to tell us how you have been affected, using the links below.
An Iranian nuclear scientist was killed in a strike on a building in Tehran on Friday.
Reuters has cited reports by Israel’s national broadcaster, Kan. The Israeli military has not commented.
Kan quoted an Israeli source who said initial indications showed a scientist was killed in a drone attack on an apartment in the Iranian capital.
It came as Israeli defence minister Israel Katz said on Friday that he had instructed the military to intensify attacks on “symbols of the regime” in the Iranian capital Tehran, aiming to destabilise it.
“We must strike at all the symbols of the regime and the mechanisms of oppression of the population, such as the Basij (militia), and the regime’s power base, such as the Revolutionary Guard,” Katz said in a statement.
The IDF said that more than 25 air force fighter jets attacked and destroyed more than 35 missile storage and launch facilities in Iran on Friday morning.
Gaza faces ‘man-made drought’, UNICEF claims
Gaza is facing a man-made drought as its water systems collapse, the UN’s children agency has said.
“Children will begin to die of thirst … Just 40% of drinking water production facilities remain functional,” Unicef spokesperson James Elder told reporters in Geneva, according to Reuters.
It comes a day after Unicef said more than 5,000 children were diagnosed with malnutrition in the Gaza Strip in May.
The agency said according to data from Unicef-supported nutrition centres in the Gaza Strip, this represents a nearly 50% increase on April, and a 150% increase from February when the ceasefire was in effect and aid was entering Gaza.
There’s further words of concern from Russia about the conflict in the Middle East, as the Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov has said the area was falling into an “abyss of instability and war”.
Peskov told reporters, according to Reuters that: “The region is plunging into an abyss of instability and war.”
He also said he could not predict when President Vladimir Putin would meet President Donald Trump.
Earlier on Friday (see 6.58am), he had told Sky News Russia would react “very negatively” if Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was killed.
“The situation is extremely tense and is dangerous not only for the region but globally,” Peskov said in an interview at the Constantine Palace in St Petersburg.
Russian specialists are still working at the Bushehr nuclear plant in Iran, according to the head of Russia’s nuclear energy corporation.
Alexei Likhachev said the situation at the plant in the southern port city was normal and under control amid Russia’s warnings to Israel not to attack the site, Reuters reports.
Fire erupts in southern Israel after Iranian missile strike – video
Iranian foreign minister rules out talks with US while Israeli ‘aggression’ continues
Iran’s foreign minister Abbas Araqchi has said the country’s leadership will not hold talks with the US as it is a “partner to Israeli crime against Iran”.
Reuters reports that Araqchi had told Iranian state TV: “There is no room for negotiations with us until Israeli aggression stops.”
