Anadolu Archives - CrossFireArarbia

Third Year: Israel on UN ‘Black List’ Because of Child Atrocities

CrossFireArabia
June 17, 2026

The United Nations has, for the third consecutive year, included the Israeli armed and security forces among parties that commit grave violations against children in armed conflict, according to a report.

Seen by Anadolu on Wednesday, the yet-to-be-released report, which contains data for 2025, said: “In 2025, violations against children in armed conflict reached unprecedented levels. The UN verified 38,558 grave violations affecting 24,174 children in 2025 (15,493 boys, 7,990 girls, 691 sex unknown), the highest number of children affected by grave violations since the beginning of the mandate.”

A senior UN official said on Wednesday that government forces were “the main perpetrators of grave violations against children” for the first time in the 30-year history of the Children and Armed Conflict mandate.

Among government forces, the senior UN official said the Israeli government ranked first among countries committing grave violations against children, followed by Russia.

Noting an increase of 34% and 10%, respectively, in incidents leading to the death and injury of children compared with the previous year, the report said: “The highest numbers of grave violations were verified in Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territory (12,445), the Democratic Republic of the Congo (4,114), Nigeria (2,560), Myanmar (2,203) and Somalia (2,195).”

According to the report, in 2025, 6,266 children were killed, 7,958 were injured, 6,607 were recruited into armed groups, 8,322 were denied access to humanitarian aid, and 4,573 children were abducted.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said in the report that he is “appalled by the magnitude of grave violations against children” in the Occupied Palestinian Territory and Israel.

“I am shocked by the ongoing grave violations in the Gaza Strip, and I am deeply alarmed by the escalating violence in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem,” he said.

He further pointed to the “staggering rise in attacks” carried out by Israeli occupiers and denounced the “persistent lack of accountability for these violations.” Anadolu

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Shame! Drugs Found in US Flour Bags to Gaza

CrossFireArabia
June 28, 2025

Palestinian authorities in Gaza said Friday that narcotic pills had been found inside US-dispatched flour bags in the Israeli-besieged enclave.

In a statement, Gaza’s government media office said prescription painkiller Oxycodone was found by Palestinians inside flour bags they received from US-run aid distribution points in Gaza.

“It is possible that these pills were deliberately ground or dissolved inside the flour itself, which constitutes a direct assault on public health,” it warned according to Anadolu.

The media office held Israel fully responsible for this “heinous crime” aimed at spreading addiction and destroying the Palestinian social fabric from within.

“This is a part of the ongoing Israeli genocide against the Palestinians,” it said, calling Israel’s use of drugs a “soft weapon in a dirty war against civilians.”

Israel has crafted a plan to establish four aid distribution points in southern and central Gaza, which Israeli media say aims to evacuate Palestinians from northern Gaza into the south.

The Israeli mechanism was opposed by the international community and the UN, which came as an alternative attempt by Israel to bypass the aid distribution through UN channels.

According to Gaza’s Health Ministry, at least 549 Palestinians have been killed and more than 4,000 wounded by Israeli fire near aid centers and UN food truck locations since May 27.

Rejecting international calls for a ceasefire, the Israeli army has pursued a brutal offensive against Gaza since October 2023, killing over 56,300 Palestinians, most of them women and children.

Last November, the International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant for war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza.

Israel also faces a genocide case at the International Court of Justice for its war on the enclave.

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French Nurse: Women Are Center of Life in Gaza

CrossFireArabia
March 7, 2025

Palestinian women are placed at the center of life, according to Imane Maarifi, a French nurse of Moroccan descent who spoke to Anadolu about her volunteer work in Gaza.

“Palestinians have a deep respect for women. Women are really at the center of life, and you can immediately tell that they have been raised in this respect,” Maarifi said.

She described an unexpected sense of equality, noting that she mostly ate meals prepared by men, with women prioritized in serving, and the men being served afterward, if any food was left.

“I imagined, perhaps, a country with a more dominant patriarchy, but to my great surprise, that wasn’t the case,” she said.

Maarifi also observed that female workers were provided a room with a bathroom, while their male colleagues were assigned to a bare room.

“This was my first time in Palestine, and as a humanitarian worker, I was already received with great respect,” she added.

Maarifi highlighted that women in Gaza struggle to access basic materials, such as sanitary pads, while mothers always prioritize their children in all circumstances.

“What I saw among women there were mothers who couldn’t bathe every day because they preferred to use the water to bathe their children,” she said.

She also pointed to the “dire” food situation in Gaza, where constant rice consumption has led to severe digestive problems.

Maarifi noted that when mothers had access to fiber-based foods and dietary aids, they prioritized giving them to their children first.

“Of course, a mother always has that instinct, but in Gaza, under genocide, it becomes even stronger. They completely lose their sense of personal priorities — their only priority is their children,” she added.

She further emphasized that women are celebrated every day in Gaza.

“In Gaza, March 8 happens every day. Women are truly honored every single day. Maybe in the West, we should learn from them,” Maarifi concluded.

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Israel Frees 32 Palestinian Prisoners

CrossFireArabia
February 1, 2025

Thirty-two Palestinians were released from Israeli jails on Saturday as part of the fourth batch of the prisoner swap deal between Israel and Hamas.

The freed prisoners were handed over to the International Red Cross from the Ofer Prison facility near Ramallah in the central occupied West Bank, in line with the terms of the cease-fire and prisoner swap deal that took effect on Jan. 19.

According to an Anadolu correspondent, hundreds of Palestinians gathered near the Ramallah Cultural Palace to welcome the freed prisoners, waving Palestinian flags and chanting in support of the Palestinian resistance and Gaza.

Despite earlier warnings by the Israeli army, the crowd gathered to receive the prisoners, who raised victory signs in defiance of Israeli orders.

Many of the released prisoners appeared in poor health, with some barely able to walk. They were taken to hospitals in Ramallah for medical checks and treatment, the Anadolu correspondent added.

Commenting on the freed Palestinians’ poor health, the Hamas group said this confirms “the brutality” of what Palestinians prisoners endure in Israeli jails.

Hamas described these violations as “war crimes and crimes against humanity that require immediate intervention by the international community, the UN and the rights’ group.”

Meanwhile, the International Red Cross staff were ‘angry’ over the way Israel released the Palestinian prisoners on Saturday as they were led out in shackles with their hands behind their heads, according to the Israeli daily Haaretz.

Earlier, the Al-Qassam Brigades, the armed wing of Hamas, released three captives from Gaza and handed them over to the Red Cross.

A total of 183 Palestinians are expected to be released Saturday from Israeli jails, including 111 who were arrested by the Israeli army in Gaza after Oct. 7, 2023, according to the Hamas-run Prisoners’ Information Office.

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Genocide: 6 Killed in Deor Al-Balah

CrossFireArabia
January 8, 2025

Six more Palestinians were killed in Israeli overnight airstrikes on homes in Gaza City and Deir al-Balah city in the central Gaza Strip as the Israeli genocidal war continues unabated, local media reported on Wednesday morning.

The official Palestinian news agency Wafa quoted medical sources as saying that five Palestinians were killed and others injured in an Israeli airstrike on a home for the “Barghout” family in the Zeitoun neighborhood, southeastern Gaza City.

Another Palestinian was killed and others injured in an Israeli airstrike on an apartment in Deir al-Balah city, the medical sources added.

Ten more Palestinians, including six children, were injured in an Israeli airstrike on a home in the Bureij refugee camp, Wafa also reported according to Anadolu.

The Israeli army has continued a genocidal war on the enclave that has killed nearly 45,900 people, mostly women and children, since Oct. 7, 2023, despite a UN Security Council resolution calling for an immediate cease-fire.

In November 2024, the International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant for war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza.

Israel also faces a genocide case at the International Court of Justice for its war on the enclave.