For today, links to four reports from Middle East Monitor, Reuters and the Associated Press, and to commentary from Middle East Monitor; others are accessible by clicking on their initials or names below. (UKRAINE and ASSANGE entries for this date are HERE and HERE.) — MCM

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10 children lose one or two legs in Gaza every day, says UNRWA. From Middle East Monitor. An average of 10 Palestinian children a day are losing one or both legs, the Commissioner-General of the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) has revealed. “This gives you an idea,” said Philippe Lazzarini, “of the scope of the type of childhood, a child can . . . READ MORE . . .

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Israeli forces pound north and south Gaza, battle Hamas in Rafah, by Nidal Al-Mughrabi | Reuters  CAIRO — Israeli forces pounded several areas across Gaza today, and residents reported fierce fighting overnight in Rafah in the south of the Palestinian enclave. Residents said fighting intensified in the Tel Al-Sultan neighbourhood in western Rafah, where . . . READ MORE . . .

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Gunfire, lawlessness and gang-like looters are preventing aid distribution in Gaza, an official says, by Menelaos Hadjicostis | AP  LARNACA, Cyprus — Thousands of tons of food, medicines and other aid piled up on a beach in war-torn Gaza is not reaching those in need because of a dire security situation and lawlessness on the ground, a U.S. aid official said today. Doug Strope, with the U.S. Agency for International Development, said . . . READ MORE . . .

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FROM JUNE 25  Israel’s high court orders the army to draft ultra-Orthodox men, rattling Netanyahu’s government, by Tia Goldenberg | AP  JERUSALEM — Israel’s Supreme Court on Tuesday ruled unanimously that the military must begin drafting ultra-Orthodox men for compulsory service, a landmark decision that could lead to . . . READ MORE . . .

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FROM JUNE 25  The occupation army is being affected seriously by suicide, low morale and mental illness, by Aziz Mustafa | Middle East Monitor  More than 250 days since the outbreak of the Israeli aggression against the Palestinians in Gaza, the Israeli occupation army is slowly revealing the issues that are killing its troops, along with other factors which limit its ability to achieve its . . . READ MORE . . .

For today, links to five reports from Reuters, the Associated Press, and Consortium News; others are accessible by clicking on their names or initials below. (GAZA and UKRAINE entries for this date are HERE and HERE.) — MCM

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WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange returns to Australia a free man after U.S. legal battle ends, by Rick Rycroft and Rod McGuirk | AP  CANBERRA — WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange returned to his homeland Australia aboard a charter jet today, hours after pleading guilty to obtaining and publishing U.S. military secrets in a deal with Justice Department prosecutors that concludes a drawn-out legal saga. The criminal case of international intrigue came to an end in . . . READ MORE . . .

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FROM JUNE 25  WikiLeaks’ Assange pleads guilty in deal with US that secures his freedom, ends legal fight, by Mari Yamaguchi, Alanna Durkin Richer, Kimberly Esmores and Eric Tucker | AP  SAIPAN, Northern Mariana Islands — WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange has pleaded guilty to obtaining and publishing U.S. military secrets in a deal with Justice Department prosecutors that secures his liberty and concludes a drawn-out legal saga that raised divisive questions about press freedom and national security. READ MORE . . . Click HERE for June 25 report from Reuters.

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FROM JUNE 25  Stella Assange says she will seek a pardon for husband Julian, by Kate Holton and Michael Holden | Reuters  LONDON — Stella Assange, the wife of WikiLeaks founder Julian, said Tuesday they would seek a pardon after he agreed to plead guilty to violating U.S. espionage law, bringing his long-running legal saga in Britain to an end. Assange . . . READ MORE . . .

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FROM JUNE 24  JULIAN ASSANGE IS FINALLY FREE, by Joe Lauria | Special to Consortium News  He agreed to a plea deal with the United States. He left Belmarsh on Monday and is headed to Australia, WikiLeaks said. “He was granted bail by the High Court in London and was released at Stansted airport during the afternoon, where he boarded a plane and departed the UK,” WikiLeaks said in a tweet early Tuesday morning London time. Stella Assange, tweeted: . . . READ MORE . . .

For today, links to reports from Reuters and National Public Radio, and to commentary from Middle East Eye and Middle East Monitor; others are accessible by clicking on their names or initials below. (UKRAINE and ASSANGE entries for this date are HERE and HERE.) — MCM

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Israeli airstrikes kill at least 24 in Gaza City, say Gaza officials, by Nidal Al-Mughrabi | Reuters  CAIRO — Israeli forces killed at least 24 Palestinians in three separate airstrikes early today on Gaza City and the dead included a sister of Ismail Haniyeh, the chief of the militant Islamist group Hamas, Gaza health officials and medics said. Israeli tanks also pressed deeper into western areas of Rafah in the south of the enclave overnight, blowing up homes, residents said. READ MORE . . .

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FROM JUNE 24  A look back at the start of the Zionist movement and its founder. Reported by Rund Abdelfatah and Ramtin Arablouei | NPR  Throughline, NPR’s history podcast, goes back to the late 19th century to meet the people who organized the modern Zionist movement. Click HERE to listen and read.

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Hunger ‘worse than bombings’ for starving Palestinians, by Lubna Masarwa and Rayhan Uddin | Middle East Eye  JERUSALEM / LONDON  As part of a policy that amounts to collective punishment of civilians, the Israeli military has used starvation of the population as a weapon of war, according to independent UN investigators. The hunger crisis peaked in March, with dozens of children dying of malnutrition and residents being forced to eat grass as . . . READ MORE . . .

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Israel is forcibly disappearing future Palestinian generations, by Ramona Wadi | Middle East Monitor  It is estimated that around 21,000 Palestinian children are missing in Gaza, either buried under rubble or in mass graves, estranged from their families, detained or disappeared by Israel. The colonised are deprived of their voice, and the silence of colonised children is eerily loud, once the facts . . . READ MORE . . .

For today, links to reports from Reuters, the Associated Press, National Public Radio, and  Le Monde; others are accessible by clicking on their initials below. (GAZA and UKRAINE entries for this date are HERE and HERE). — MCM

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WikiLeaks’ Assange set to be freed after U.S. espionage charge plea deal, by Alasdair Pal and Sarah N. Lynch | Reuters  SYDNEY / WASHINGTON — WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange is due to plead guilty on Wednesday to violating U.S. espionage law, in a deal that will set him free after a 14-year British legal odyssey and allow his return home to Australia. Assange, 52, has agreed to plead guilty to a single criminal count of . . . READ MORE . . .

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WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange stops in Bangkok on his way to a U.S. court and later freedom, by Jintamas Saksornchai, Alanna Durkin Richer and Eric Tucker | AP  BANGKOK — A plane carrying Julian Assange landed today in Bangkok for refueling, as the WikiLeaks founder was on his way to enter a plea deal with the U.S. government that will free him and resolve the legal case that spanned years and continents over the publication of a trove of classified documents. A chartered flight . . . READ MORE . . .

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FROM June 24  WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange strikes plea deal with the U.S. Reported by Carrie Johnson | NPR  The plea deal with the U.S. government brings to an end to a years-long international saga over Assange’s handling of national security secrets. He is preparing to plead guilty to a single count of . . . Click HERE to listen and read article.

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WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange enters into a plea deal with the U.S. government. Reported by Carrie Johnson and Steve Inskeep | NPR  He will plead guilty to a single charge and is expected to return to Australia. The move brings an end to a years-long international saga over his handling of national security secrets. Click HERE to listen and, later, read.

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Julian Assange to be freed after surprise guilty plea deal, by Florian Reynaud | Le Monde  We were still waiting for the umpteenth British court hearing in the middle of summer to prevent Julian Assange’s extradition to the U.S. But to everyone’s surprise, the Australian whistleblower reached an agreement with the U.S. justice system and is expected . . . READ MORE . . . Click HERE to read in French.

NOTE: AN APPARENT TYPO IN ONE OF THE TRANSLATIONS HAS BEEN CORRECTED.

Two passages from the first chapter of the Gospel of Luke in the New Testament of the Bible, chosen by Philip Beyer, a retired archdeacon of the Episcopal Church’s Diocese of Florida, appear below in English, Latin American Spanish, French, and European Spanish translations. His reflection* on them for this date, HERE, is from weekly visits to a  prison in that state, but it and the words of scripture might fit all those who “sit in darkness and in the shadow of death.” — MCM

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By the tender mercy of our God, the dawn from on high will break upon us, to give light to those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace. — Luke 1:78-79

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A causa de la entrañable misericordia de nuestro Dios, con que la luz de la aurora nos visitará de lo alto; para alumbrar a los que habitan en tinieblas y en sombra de muerte; para encaminar nuestros pies por caminos de paz.  — Lucas 1:78-79

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Car notre Dieu est plein de compassion et de bonté, et c’est pourquoi l’astre levant viendra pour nous d’en haut, pour éclairer tous ceux qui habitent dans les ténèbres et l’ombre de la mort, et pour guider nos pas sur la voie de la paix.  — Luc 1:78-79

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Por la entrañable misericordia de nuestro Dios, con que nos visitó desde lo alto la aurora, para dar luz a los que habitan en tinieblas y en sombra de muerte; para encaminar nuestros pies por camino de paz.  — Lucas 1:78-79

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* Beyer did 30 of them for this month in the May, June and July issue of Forward Day by Day / Día a Día, publications of the Forward Movement, based in Cincinnati, OH.

For today, links to six reports from the Anadolu Agency, Reuters, Common Dreams, the Associated Press, and National Public Radio, and to commentary from Middle East Eye; others are accessible by clicking on their names or initials below. (UKRAINE entry for this date and a LUKE entry are HERE and HERE.) — MCM

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Decimated Gaza ‘living hell’ for over 2M people, says UNRWA chief, by Beyza Binnur Donmez | Anadolu Agency  GENEVA — Gaza has been decimated and become a “living hell” for more than 2 million people, the head of the UN agency for Palestinian refugees said today. “In the last nine months,” said Philippe Lazzarini,” we have witnessed unprecedented failures of humanity in . . . READ MORE . . .

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Israel kills senior Gaza health official, tanks push deeper into Rafah, by Nidal Al-Mughrabi | Reuters  CAIRO — An Israeli air strike at a medical clinic in Gaza City killed the director of Gaza’s Ambulance and Emergency Department, the enclave’s health ministry said, while Israel’s military said the strike had killed a senior Hamas armed commander. The ministry said the . . . READ MORE . . .

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Over 20,000 children missing in Gaza, mith ‘unknown number’ in mass graves: report, by Jake Johnson | Common Dreams  The humanitarian group Save the Children estimated today that around 21,000 kids are missing in the Gaza Strip as Israel’s military continues its assault on the enclave, reducing much of the Palestinian territory to rubble. Roughly 4,000 kids are likely buried under that debris, according to Save the Children, while at least 17,000 are . . . READ MORE . . .

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Netanyahu says he won’t agree to a deal that ends the war in Gaza, testing the latest truce proposal, by Tia Goldenberg and Samy Magdy | AP  TEL AVIV — The viability of a U.S.-backed proposal to wind down the 8-month-long war in Gaza was cast into doubt today after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he would only be willing to agree to a “partial” cease-fire deal that would not end the war, comments that sparked an uproar from families of hostages held by Hamas. .   . READ MORE . . .

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Israel talks of winding down its most intense fighting in Gaza. Reported by Hadeel Al-Shalchi and Steve Inskeep | NPR  Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant is in Washington this week, and will continue conversations while Israel fights on two fronts — in Gaza and on the border with Lebanon. Click HERE to listen and, later, read.

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Israel braces for potential ICC arrest warrants against Netanyahu, Gallant, by Abdelraouf Arnaout | Anadolu Agency  JERUSALEM — Israel is preparing for potential arrest warrants by the International Criminal Court against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Yoav Gallant. On Sunday, the Hague-based court reposted a notice in Hebrew, Arabic, and English explaining its procedures. READ MORE . . .

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Why Ilan Pappe’s new book on the Israel lobby is a must-read, by Peter Oborne | Middle East Eye  No review has yet been published of Professor Ilan Pappe’s magnificent and passionate new book on the Zionist lobby. This silence is no surprise. Even a passing reference to the lobby is liable to lead to charges of antisemitism and potential career destruction. READ MORE . . .

For today, links to six reports from Agence France-Presse, CNN, Tass, and the Kyiv Independent, and to an editorial from Kyiv Post; others are accessible by clicking on their names or initials below. (GAZA entry for this date and a LUKE entry are HERE and HERE.) — MCM

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Kremlin warns U.S. of ‘consequences’ after deadly Crimea strike. From AFP.  Authorities in Moscow today warned Washington that it would face “consequences” following a deadly Ukrainian strike on annexed Crimea that was said to have been carried out with U.S.-supplied long-range missiles. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov called Sunday’s strike on the city of Sevastopol “barbaric” and accused the United States of “killing Russian children.” READ MORE . . . Click HERE and HERE for reports from CNN and Tass..

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Russian strike in eastern Ukraine kills 4, wounds 34. From AFP. A Russian strike on the eastern Ukrainian town of Pokrovsk today killed four people and wounded dozens more including two children aged 12 and 13, the governor of the Donetsk region, said. According to the governor, Vadym Filashkin, Russian forces fired two . . . READ MORE . . .

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Russian weekend attacks on Kharkiv kill 4, injure around 70, by Daria Shulzhenko and news desk | The Kyiv Independent Russian troops launched missile and drone attacks against multiple Ukrainian regions overnight on Saturday, targeting critical energy infrastructure. Ukraine’s Energy Ministry said energy transmission systems were attacked in the southern and western regions of Ukraine. In Kharkiv three persons were reported killed on Saturday and one on Sunday. READ MORE . . .

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Russian troops wipe out large Western-supplied armament depot in Ukraine operation. From Tass. MOSCOW — Russian troops destroyed a large Ukrainian army logistics center of Western-supplied armament over the past day in the special military operation in Ukraine, Russia’s Defense Ministry said today in a broader statement. READ MORE . . .

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Russia cynically places military sites close to civilian areas in Crimea. From Kyiv Post. Russian milbloggers have criticized the Russian Defense Ministry and Crimea’s occupation authorities for allowing Russian forces to deliberately place legitimate military targets near civilian areas in Crimea in an attempt to deter Ukrainian strikes,the Institute for the Study of War (ISW) reports. On Sunday . . . READ MORE . . .