At least 30 people have been killed and over 100 injured in an Israeli airstrike on a school in Deir-al Balah, central Gaza, according to the Palestinian Ministry of Health in Gaza.

The Israeli military it had launched the strike in order to destroy a Hamas command and control center inside the compound.

Most of the victims from the school arriving to Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in the aftermath of the attack were women and children, according to Dr. Khalil Al-Daqran, a spokesperson for the hospital. More than 4,000 displaced people were housed in the school, the Palestinian Civil Defense said.

The strike came soon after Israeli’s military issued fresh evacuation orders further south, in the city of Khan Younis, where Israel launched a fresh offensive earlier in the week which has killed dozens of Palestinians.

Residents in southern neighborhoods were told to leave after being warned that the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) would “forcefully operate” in the area.

Fighting has been ongoing on Gaza for months, and the renewed offensive shows Israel’s challenges in achieving its goal of eliminating Hamas. Israel said that about 100 militants had been killed during recent fighting.

The United Nations estimated that about 150,000 people fled Khan Younis on Monday alone, intensifying pressure on meager supplies of food and water, and places to seek shelter.

Signaling another campaign was imminent, the IDF wrote on Telegram it was “about to forcefully operate against the terrorist organizations and therefore calls on the remaining population left in the southern neighborhoods of Khan Yunis to temporarily evacuate to the adjusted Humanitarian Area in Al-Mawasi.”

The statement said the move was in retaliation to “significant terrorist activity and rocket fire” emanating from southern Khan Younis. It added that the location previously defined as a humanitarian area “will be adjusted.”

Al-Mawasi has come under repeated Israeli attacks, including a strike on July 14 which reportedly killed 90 people and injured 300 more.

Israel launched its military offensive in Gaza on October 7 after Hamas attacked southern Israel. At least 1,200 people were killed and more than 250 others abducted, according to Israeli authorities.

Israeli military action in Gaza has since killed 39,090 Palestinians and injured another 90,147, according to the Ministry of Health there. As of early July, nearly 2 million people had been displaced in Gaza – almost the entire population, according to figures from the UN.

Aid agencies working in Gaza have warned previously that new rounds of evacuation orders are making the delivery of emergency rations even more difficult.

“People in Gaza are exhausted, living in inhumane conditions, with no safety at all,” the UN Relief and Works Agency posted on X on Monday.

On Thursday, the IDF said it had recovered the bodies of five Israeli hostages the previous day from a tunnel in an area of Khan Younis which it had previously designated as a “humanitarian area.”

Despite the fighting, US and Israeli officials expressed optimism this week over the possibility of a ceasefire and hostage deal being reached.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Friday that the different parties are “inside the 10-yard line and driving toward the goal line.”

Israel’s Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, said he would likely dispatch a negotiation team to talks in Rome next week.

Netanyahu was in Washington this week and met with the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee, Vice President Kamala Harris, who urged him to seal an agreement.

“As I just told Prime Minister Netanyahu, it is time to get this deal done,” said Harris. “So to everyone who has been calling for a ceasefire, and to everyone who yearns for peace, I see you and I hear you.”

This is a developing story and will be updated.

France is still facing travel disruption a day after saboteurs targeted high-speed railway lines in an attack coinciding with the start of the Olympics. As operators try to get service back to normal, a key question remains – who was responsible?

Authorities are investigating what outgoing French Prime Minister Gabriel Attal called a “coordinated” effort. He said that intelligence services and internal security forces are involved in inquiries and urged caution over jumping to conclusions.

No-one has yet claimed responsibility for the attacks, but given their scale, timing and precision, it is clear they are more than just random acts of vandalism.

There are many possible culprits – the opening day of the Olympic Games is one of the most watched events in the world, a tempting target for anyone seeking to cause chaos and disruption in the limelight.

Here’s what we know.

Extensive knowledge of railways

High-speed trains connecting southwestern, northern and eastern regions of French were all impacted on Friday, in what authorities described as a methodical pattern of attacks hitting key arterial routes.

The perpetrators have extensive knowledge of the network, according to Axel Persson, a leader of the CGT rail union. They must have had access to very “precise information,” he added.

Employees had implemented a failsafe plan in preparation for the Olympics, allowing some passengers to use alternative lines that would slow down traffic, but at least travelers would get to their destination, Persson added. “France is disrupted but not paralyzed,” he said.

Jean-Pierre Farandou, the CEO of state-owned rail company SNCF, told journalists that cables – which are there to ensure the security of train drivers – were set on fire and taken apart but again stressed authorities “don’t know who is behind it.”

An act of protest?

France is no stranger to widespread strikes or political demonstrations that manifest into blocked transport links across the country.

The parliamentary election held just weeks ago attracted large scale protests and rallies. However, such events tend to be announced in advance and those behind them are keen to make their cause known.

Environmental activists have previously blocked traffic to bring attention to the climate crisis. But these groups have mostly staged bold and striking demonstrations focused on fossil-fuel intensive transportation, such as on airports and highways, and also make it known when they are behind such protests.

The last major act of vandalism on high-speed train lines in France was in 2008, when steel rods were placed on overhead power cables. Police arrested individuals from an alleged anarchist group from Tarnac village but 10 years later, after a lengthy investigation, they were all acquitted and cleared of sabotage.

Foreign actors?

Recently, France has been one of several countries impacted by a wave of suspected Russian sabotage attacks against infrastructure and other targets.

French President Emmanuel Macron has remained a staunch ally of Kyiv throughout the fighting. Just in May, he suggested that Ukraine should be allowed to use their weapons against targets inside Russia from which the Kremlin attacks Ukraine.

Earlier this week, French authorities detained a Russian citizen in Paris, accusing him of preparing destabilizing events during the Games. Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said Russia did not have any information on the arrest.

The most senior diplomats from China and the United States began talks in Laos on Saturday as the two global powers try to maintain lines of communication despite their deepening rivalry and regional tensions in Asia.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken is in Laos as part of a visit to Asia against the backdrop of a fierce US presidential election campaign, which has renewed regional scrutiny over what the world will look like with a new administration in the White House.

Blinken is meeting his Chinese counterpart Foreign Minister Wang Yi on the sidelines of the ASEAN foreign ministers’ meetings in Laos – the first leg of a week-long trip which also includes stops in Vietnam, Japan, the Philippines, Singapore and Mongolia.

Tension between the US and China has persisted in recent months, even as President Joe Biden’s administration has sought to stabilize rocky relations between the two global rivals.

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, as well as China’s increasingly assertive moves in the South China Sea and threats toward Taiwan, have in recent years soured the Washington-Beijing relationship.

Earlier this week the North American Aerospace Defense Command intercepted two Russian and two Chinese bombers flying near Alaska in what a US defense official said was the first time the two countries have been intercepted while operating together.

China’s continued support of Russia more than two years into Moscow’s invasion has been a persistent point of tension for the US, its allies and the Ukrainians.

When NATO leaders met earlier this month a joint declaration labeled Beijing a “decisive enabler” of Russia’s war against Ukraine, citing China as giving “large-scale support for Russia’s defense industrial base.”

The US and the European Union in recent months have accused China of bolstering Russia’s defense sector with the export of dual-use goods, and sanctioned dozens of companies in Hong Kong and mainland China for evading the extensive measures imposed on Russia. Beijing has denied supplying weaponry and maintains it keeps strict controls on such goods.

Beijing has sought to position itself as a neutral peace broker in the conflict, despite its deepening political, economic and military ties with Moscow and Chinese leader Xi Jinping’s openly close friendship with Russia’s Vladimir Putin.

Earlier this week, Wang told visiting Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba that Beijing “supported all efforts that contribute to peace” – the first time China has hosted a top Ukrainian official since Moscow’s invasion began nearly two and half years ago.

In contrast, both Putin and Russia’s top diplomat Sergei Lavrov have been greeted in Beijing multiple times since the invasion.

Kuleba also visited Hong Kong and urged the semi-autonomous Chinese city’s government to prevent Russia from using the Asian financial hub to bypass Western sanctions.

On Thursday, Wang also met with foreign ministers from Southeast Asia, South Korea and Japan, as well as Lavrov.

Wang told Lavrov that, in the face of a turbulent international situation and external interference and resistance, “China is willing to work with Russia… to firmly support each other and safeguard each other’s core interests,” according to a statement from China’s foreign ministry.

Lavrov hailed Russia and China for “jointly upholding a fair and just international order” and “injecting positive energy into the construction of a multipolar world.”

“Russia will work with China to support the central role of ASEAN and prevent sabotage and interference by foreign forces,” Lavrov said, according to the statement.

ASEAN, a grouping of 10 Southeast Asian countries, has increasingly found itself nervously eyeing the growing tensions between China and the US in recent years.

Regional scrutiny

Among the countries Blinken will visit on his trip are the Philippines and Japan, both of which have a mutual defense treaty with Washington.

The Philippines has tacked closer to the US since the election of President Ferdinand Marcos Jnr. against a backdrop of increasingly violent clashes between Manila and Beijing in the South China Sea.

Before speaking with Wang on Saturday, Blinken urged Southeast Asian countries to work together to address challenges – including Beijing’s “escalating and unlawful actions taken against the Philippines in the South China Sea” – at a meeting with ASEAN foreign ministers.

But he also applauded Manila’s diplomacy with Beijing over the contentious issue, noting that the Philippines on Saturday completed unimpeded a resupply trip to troops stationed on a navy ship grounded at the hotly contested Second Thomas Shoal.

Such resupply missions had been the source of months of escalating tensions between the Philippines and China, which reached an interim deal last week to smooth deliveries.

“We are pleased to take note of the successful resupply today of the Second Thomas Shoal, which is the product of an agreement reached between the Philippines and China,” Blinken said.

“We applaud that and hope and expect to see that it continues going forward.”

During his presidency, Biden has pushed to deepen relations with the Philippines, Japan and South Korea, another mutual treaty ally, with Blinken a mainstay on the diplomatic circuit.

Beijing has bristled at such efforts, seeing it as part of Washington’s campaign to encircle China and contain its rise.

Asia is therefore watching closely for what might come next, especially given recent bombshell developments in the US election campaign.

Republican candidate Donald Trump, who recently survived an assassination attempt, has often viewed Washington’s alliances more transactionally than Biden does. His running mate JD Vance has advocated halting military aid to Ukraine in favor of focusing on Taiwan’s defense.

Meanwhile the Democratic Party’s campaign was upended by Biden’s decision not to seek re-election, and Vice President Kamala Harris becoming the party’s presumptive nominee.

US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin will hold a trilateral meeting with his Japanese and South Korean counterparts in Tokyo on Sunday local time, the first of its kind in 15 years, a senior US defense official said.

The trilateral meeting came nearly one year after President Joe Biden held the first stand-alone summit with Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol at Camp David in August 2023. Following the summit, Kishida announced that annual recurring summits will be held among several of the nations’ highest officials, including the ministers of foreign affairs, defense, and national security advisers, along with the financial, industry, and commerce ministers.

“We’ve made enormous progress, trilateral since the Camp David summit, with early warning missile data sharing real time with a trilateral exercise plan,” the US senior defense official said.

According to the defense official, Secretary Austin is expected to announce the US intends to reconstitute US Forces Japan (USF-J) as a joint force headquarters to serve as a counterpart to Japan’s Joint Operations Command (J-JOC). Details of this implementation will be figured out in working groups led by US Indo-Pacific Command. There is no intention to integrate Japanese forces into the US commands, according to the official.

“The intent here is for USF-J to become a standalone three-star joint force headquarters. Eventually separate and apart from 5th Air Force,” the official said.

“We view this as a historic announcement among the strongest improvements to our military ties in 70 years. Bottom line is that this is a transformative change. And that’s because when this transition is complete, USF-J will have a direct leadership role in planning and leading US forces in both peace time and potential crises. And they’ll be doing that side by side with Japanese forces like never before.”