AnewZ Morning Brief – 21 June 2026
Start your day informed with the AnewZ Morning Brief. Here are the top stories for 20 June, covering the latest developments you need to know. ...
Israeli strikes and gunfire killed at least nine people in the Gaza Strip on Saturday, including a child and an Al Jazeera journalist, Palestinian health officials said.
Medics said four Palestinians, including two women and a child, were killed when an Israeli airstrike hit an apartment building in the Sabra neighbourhood of Gaza City. The strike destroyed the apartment and wounded several others.
The Israeli military said it had struck a militant, but did not provide further details.
In a separate incident, health officials said Israeli forces shot and killed a woman in Beit Lahiya, in northern Gaza. Another Israeli airstrike killed at least one person and wounded eight others in Khan Younis, in the south.
Later on Saturday, medics said three people were killed in an Israeli airstrike on Bureij refugee camp in central Gaza. Among them was Ahmed Wishah, a cameraman working for Al Jazeera.
Al Jazeera condemned his killing, calling it a “heinous crime”. The network said Wishah was killed around two months after his brother, Mohammed Wishah, also an Al Jazeera journalist, was killed by the Israeli military.
The Palestinian Journalist Syndicate also condemned the killing and said nearly 300 Palestinian journalists have been killed since the war began in October 2023.
The Israeli military said Wishah was a Hamas militant who posed a threat and also worked as an Al Jazeera photojournalist. It said he had served as a sniper and was killed alongside two other Hamas militants. The military did not provide evidence.
Hamas and Al Jazeera denied that Wishah had any links to the group.
Al Jazeera said Wishah was the 12th of its journalists killed by Israel in Gaza since October 2023.
An October ceasefire has halted major fighting between Hamas and Israel, but Israeli strikes have continued. Gaza’s health ministry says more than 1,010 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli fire since the ceasefire began. Militants have killed four Israeli soldiers in Gaza during the same period.
Israel says its strikes are aimed at preventing imminent attacks by Hamas and other armed groups.
Israel and Hamas remain deadlocked over the next phase of U.S. President Donald Trump’s Gaza plan, which includes Hamas laying down its arms and Israeli withdrawals.
Mediators from Egypt, Qatar and Türkiye, along with Trump’s Board of Peace envoy for Gaza, Nickolay Mladenov, have been holding talks on implementing the second phase of the plan, but no agreement has been reached, sources close to the talks said.
Israel says Hamas must give up power in Gaza, disarm and play no role in the future governance of the enclave. Hamas says full disarmament should be linked to the launch of a political process towards establishing a Palestinian state.
Hamas-led fighters killed 1,200 people during the October 7, 2023 attack on Israel, according to Israeli figures. Gaza’s health ministry says more than 73,000 Palestinians have been killed in the territory since then.
A train driver has been killed and nine people remain in a critical condition in hospital, after two trains collided near Beford in the east of England on Friday. The passenger trains heading to London collided at around 17:15 local time (1615 GMT).
Morocco captain and PSG defender Achraf Hakimi will face trial in France after an appeals court ruled there was enough evidence for the case to proceed.
Paraguay kept their World Cup hopes alive with a hard-fought 1-0 victory over Türkiye, but the celebrations were tempered by a costly red card for veteran forward Miguel Almirón.
A magnitude 5.8 earthquake struck southwest of Greece’s island of Crete on Saturday, with no immediate reports of damage.
Israel and Hezbollah have agreed to a ceasefire, a senior U.S. official has said. Hezbollah has released a statement saying Israel must leave southern Lebanon. Israel has said it agrees to the ceasefire, but has said its armed forces won't leave Lebanon and will resume hostilities if attacked.
A new film by Swedish filmmaker Mikael Silkeberg traces a cultural journey from Scandinavia to Azerbaijan. The documentary ‘The Homeland in Memory’, available to watch now on AnewZ, looks at how cultural memory in Western Azerbaijan has resisted displacement through its preservation in tradition.
ISIS has claimed responsibility for killing two Syrian soldiers in the northern provine of Aleppo, in a statement on the group's Telegram channel.
At least seven people were killed and several others injured after two roadside bombs exploded in quick succession in northwest Pakistan on Saturday (20 June), according to local police.
Russia is seeking to expand cooperation with Central Asian countries in the exploration, extraction and processing of rare earth metals, underlining the region's growing importance in the global race for critical raw materials.
Pakistan has emerged as a key intermediary in U.S.-Iran diplomacy after months of shuttle talks, draft revisions and regional coordination involving Gulf states and China. An interim understanding has been reached, but officials warn the most difficult phase of negotiations still lies ahead.
You can download the AnewZ application from Play Store and the App Store.
What is your opinion on this topic?
Leave the first comment