Metro
Israel hits Gaza after rocket attack as Jerusalem tensions spike
Israel carried out its first airstrike on the Gaza Strip in months early Tuesday, in response to a rocket fired from the Palestinian enclave after a weekend of violence around a Jerusalem holy site.
The army also said its special forces had made five arrests overnight in the occupied West Bank, which has seen a string of deadly Israeli raids since several recent fatal attacks against the Jewish state.
The latest tensions have focused on the highly contested Al-Aqsa mosque compound, known to Jews as the Temple Mount, in Jerusalem’s Israeli-annexed Old City.
Palestinian worshippers gathering there for Ramadan prayers have been outraged by visits by religious Jewish under heavy Israeli police protection — as well as restrictions on their own access.
The violence, coinciding with the Jewish Passover festival as well as the Muslim holy month, has sparked fears of a repeat of last year’s events, when similar circumstances sparked an 11-day war that levelled parts of Gaza.
On Monday, warning sirens sounded after a rocket was fired into southern Israel from the blockaded enclave, controlled by the Islamist group Hamas, in the first such incident since early January.
The Israeli military said that the rocket had been intercepted by the Iron Dome air defence system.
Hours later, the Israeli air force said it had hit a Hamas weapons factory in retaliation.
Hamas claimed to have used its “anti-aircraft defences” to counter the raid, which caused no casualties, according to witnesses and security sources in Gaza.
Deadly attacks
No faction in the crowded enclave of 2.3 million inhabitants immediately claimed responsibility for the rocket.
But it comes after weeks of mounting violence, with a total of 23 Palestinians and Arab-Israelis killed, including assailants who targeted Israelis in four deadly attacks.
Those attacks claimed 14 lives, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally.
The rocket fire also followed a weekend of Israeli-Palestinian violence in and around the Al-Aqsa mosque compound that wounded more than 170 people, mostly Palestinian demonstrators.
Diplomatic sources said the United Nations Security Council was to meet Tuesday to discuss the spike in violence.
Israeli police said they had refused to authorise a march Jewish nationalists had planned around the walls of the Old City.
A similar parade last year, following a similar wave of violence, was interrupted by rocket fire from Gaza which in turn triggered the 11-day war.
This month has also seen violence in the West Bank.
The Palestinian Red Crescent said Tuesday it had treated 72 people following a demonstration in the village of Burqa, against a march by Israeli settlers demanding the re-establishment of a nearby settlement evacuated in 2005.
The Red Crescent said four people had been directly hit by tear gas canisters and seven had been hit by rubber-coated bullets.
Regional Arab disquiet
Incidents at the Al-Aqsa mosque compound, the holiest site in Judaism and the third-holiest in Islam, have triggered repeated rounds of violence over the past century.
Jews are allowed to visit the site at certain times, but they are prohibited from praying there.
The latest spike in violence has strained Israel’s diplomatic relations with some Muslim countries and drawn wider international concern.
On Tuesday, the United Arab Emirates summoned Israel’s ambassador to convey “strong protest and denunciation” of events at Al-Aqsa, particularly “attacks on civilians” and “incursions” by Israeli security forces.
The UAE only established ties with Israel in 2020. Jordan, custodian of east Jerusalem’s holy sites, had already summoned Israel’s charge d’affaires on Monday.
United States Secretary of State Antony Blinken called both Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas and Israeli Foreign Minister Yair Lapid on Tuesday.
Blinken’s calls followed State Department spokesman Ned Price announcing the previous day that the US had “urged all sides to preserve the historic status quo” at the Al-Aqsa compound and avoid “provocative” steps.
Abbas stressed his complete rejection of any changes to the legal and historical status quo, the official Palestinian news agency WAFA said.
Lapid meanwhile said he emphasised to Blinken “Israel’s responsible and measured efforts in the face of riots by hundreds of Islamic extremists.”
Hamas has vowed to defend Al-Aqsa’s status as “a purely Islamic site”.
But analysts have said in recent weeks that the movement does not want a war at present, partly because its military capacities were degraded by the last one.
They say Hamas is also wary that a new conflict could prompt Israel to cancel thousands of work permits lately issued to residents of impoverished Gaza.
But Islamic Jihad, another Palestinian faction that Israel says has thousands of fighters and rockets in the enclave, warned Monday that it will not be forced “into silence” over events in Jerusalem.
It was a night of sorrow and devastation in Ibadan, the Oyo State capital, as a horrific multiple-vehicle crash along the Ibadan axis of the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway claimed at least five lives and left eight others injured in a fiery chain collision involving trucks, tankers, and smaller vehicles.
The accident occurred at about 10:00 p.m. on Friday around the Satguru Maharaji Ji Village axis, just before the Ibadan Toll Gate, throwing the busy highway into chaos as flames and thick smoke engulfed the scene.
The crash involved six trucks, including gas tankers and trailer units, two Toyota Hilux vans, and two cars, according to emergency officials who described it as one of the most severe road accidents in recent times on the corridor.
Eyewitnesses said the tragedy began when one of the trucks reportedly suffered brake failure and rammed into another vehicle ahead of it, triggering a chain reaction that quickly escalated into a multi-vehicle inferno.
In moments, several vehicles were trapped in the blaze, while terrified motorists and bystanders watched helplessly as the fire spread across the expressway.
Eight persons were rescued alive with varying degrees of injuries and were immediately rushed to nearby hospitals for urgent medical attention.
Confirming the incident, the Chairman of the Oyo State Fire Service, Maroof Akinwande, said the crash was caused by brake failure which spiralled into a massive fire outbreak.
“Upon arrival, we discovered that the accident involved six trucks (gas tankers and trailer trucks) and two cars, resulting in a fire outbreak,” he said.
“Five persons were recovered dead, while eight others were rescued and handed over to the team of the Federal Road Safety Corps led by SRC Adegbite from Toll Gate, Ibadan, for further medical attention at the nearest hospital.”
Firefighters eventually brought the inferno under control after hours of operation, while security operatives and traffic officials worked to clear wreckage and restore movement on the busy expressway.
Normalcy has since returned to the road, but the tragedy has left behind a grim reminder of the dangers of mechanical failure and unsafe haulage on Nigeria’s busiest highway.
A deeply disturbing incident has left residents of Daura Local Government Area, Katsina State, in shock after a 20-year-old woman allegedly killed her 97-year-old grandmother during a family dispute.
The Katsina State Police Command confirmed that the tragic incident occurred at about 7:00 p.m. on June 12, 2026, following an argument between the suspect and her paternal grandmother at their residence.
According to preliminary investigations, the disagreement escalated into violence when the young woman allegedly struck the elderly victim on the head with a wooden chair. The blow reportedly left the nonagenarian severely injured and unconscious.
The victim was later discovered in a pool of blood after the suspect’s father reported the incident to the Sabon Garin Daura Police Station. Police operatives immediately rushed to the scene and evacuated her to a nearby hospital for urgent medical attention.
Despite efforts by medical personnel, she was confirmed dead by a doctor shortly after arrival.
The Police Public Relations Officer of the Katsina State Command, DSP Abubakar Sadiq, said the suspect was arrested in the course of investigation and had reportedly made a confession to the crime.
He added that the suspect remains in custody and will be charged to court upon the completion of investigations, assuring that justice would be served in accordance with the law.
The command also appealed for calm among residents, reiterating its commitment to a thorough and transparent investigation into the circumstances surrounding the tragic incident.
No fewer than 20 shops were razed while goods valued at over ₦200 million were destroyed after a midnight fire gutted a shopping complex in the Dugbe area of Ibadan, Oyo State.
The inferno, which started around 11:30 p.m. on Saturday, affected the Nigerian Postal Service shopping complex located beside the Dugbe General Post Office.
Eyewitnesses told our correspondent on Sunday that the fire was allegedly triggered by an accident involving a Lexus saloon car.
According to residents, the driver reportedly lost control of the vehicle while travelling from the Queen’s Cinema axis towards Iyaganku.
The vehicle was said to have rammed into a giant billboard situated in front of the Nigerian Railway Corporation station in Ibadan before somersaulting and splitting into two.
Witnesses said the rear part of the vehicle, reportedly carrying a Compressed Natural Gas tank and back tyres, detached and rolled into the shopping complex, where an explosion occurred, igniting the fire.
The blaze razed about 20 shops dealing in stationery, computer accessories and clothing materials, leaving traders counting heavy losses.
Men of the Oyo State Fire Service were, however, able to prevent the fire from spreading to the General Post Office and adjoining buildings.
The occupants of the Lexus reportedly escaped unhurt.
Although some eyewitnesses alleged that the occupants were heading towards the Ring Road area before the crash, authorities had yet to officially confirm details surrounding their identities and movement as of the time of filing this report.
When our correspondent visited the scene around 8 a.m. on Sunday, firefighters and security operatives were still at the complex battling the aftermath of the inferno as smoke billowed from sections of the affected structure.
Shop owners and residents gathered at the scene, lamenting the destruction of goods and property.
One of the affected traders, Kingsley Chioma, said the Divisional Police Officer in charge of Iyaganku Police Station assured victims that efforts were underway to apprehend the driver.
“We lost goods worth millions of naira to the fire. The DPO assured us that the driver responsible for the incident would be arrested,” Chioma said.
As of the time of filing this report, officials of the Oyo State Fire Service and the police had yet to issue an official statement on the incident.
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