Israel orders evacuations in northern Gaza as Trump calls for war to end

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By Nidal Al-Mughrabi Reuters  The Israeli military ordered Palestinians to evacuate areas in northern Gaza on Sunday before intensified fighting against  Hamas , as U.S. President Donald Trump called for an end to the  war  amid renewed efforts to broker a ceasefire. “Make the deal in Gaza, get the hostages back,”  Trump  posted on his Truth Social platform early on Sunday. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was due to hold talks later in the day on the progress of Israel’s offensive. A senior security official said the military will tell him the campaign is close to reaching its objectives, and warn that expanding fighting to new areas in Gaza may endanger the remaining Israeli hostages. But in a statement posted on X and text messages sent to many residents, the military urged people in northern parts of the enclave to head south towards the Al-Mawasi area in Khan Younis, which Israel designated as a humanitarian area. Palestinian and U.N. offi...
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Powerful earthquake shakes Istanbul, dozens hurt jumping from buildings

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By Daren Butler Reuters

More than 150 people were injured when they jumped from buildings in Istanbul on Wednesday as one of the strongest quakes in years hit the city.

Many people gathered in parks and others sat on doorsteps, or stood outside their homes in the centre of Istanbul as aftershocks from the magnitude 6.2 quake on the European side of the city continued to be felt.

“It started with a big tremor all of a sudden and we felt it very strongly,” said Istanbul resident Neslisah Aygoren, sitting in a park.

“I ran straight to my dog in fear, hugged it and we waited for it to end, lying on the ground. After that, we took our belongings and went straight to the street.”

A total of 151 people were hurt and received hospital treatment after leaping from buildings in panic during the tremor but none were in a critical condition, the Istanbul governor’s office said.

It said one abandoned building collapsed in central Istanbul, but nobody was hurt there, while there was no damage to energy or water infrastructure in the city of 16 million on the European and Asian shores of the Bosphorus Strait. Some shops closed.

Two years ago Turkey suffered the deadliest and most destructive earthquake in its modern history. That 7.8-magnitude quake in February 2023 killed more than 55,000 people and injured more than 107,000 in southern Turkey and northern Syria.

Hundreds of thousands of people remain displaced, with many still living in temporary housing as a result of that quake.

The latest tremor also revived memories of a 1999 earthquake near Istanbul that killed 17,000.

The epicentre of Wednesday’s quake, which hit at 12:49 p.m. (0949 GMT), was in the area of Silivri, some 80 km (50 miles) to the west of Istanbul. It was at a depth of 6.92 km (4.3 miles), Turkey’s AFAD disaster agency said.

Transport Minister Abdulkadir Uraloglu said inspections did not reveal any damage to highways, airports, trains or subways.

President Tayyip Erdogan said on X he was monitoring the situation and his office issued advice on what people should do in the case of further quakes.



from The Times Of Earth https://ift.tt/RwAyclt

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