The Latest: 20 killed at Gaza food hub; Israel continues strikes in Syria

Twenty Palestinians were killed at a food distribution center run by an Israeli-backed American organization in the Gaza Strip on Wednesday, mostly from being trampled, the group said. They were the first deaths reported at one of the Gaza Humanitarian Fund sites, although hundreds have been killed by Israeli forces on the roads leading to them, according to witnesses and health officials.

Israeli strikes across Gaza killed at least 54 others, including 14 children, according to hospital officials.

Meanwhile in Syria, government officials and leaders in the Druze religious minority announced a renewed ceasefire late Wednesday after days of clashes that have threatened to unravel the country’s postwar political transition and drawn escalated military intervention from neighboring Israel.

Here's the latest:

Reut Shapir Ben-Naftaly, the political coordinator at Israel’s U.N. Mission, told the U.N. Security Council that some of its members seem to forget Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023 attack on southern Israel that saw about 1,200 people killed and 250 taken hostage, triggering the ongoing war in Gaza.

“Instead, we’re presented with a narrative that forces Israel into a defendant’s chair, while Hamas, the very cause of this conflict and the very instigator of suffering of Israelis but also of Palestinians, goes unmentioned, unchallenged and immune to condemnation,” she said.

No U.N. resolution on Gaza, either by the Security Council or the General Assembly, has condemned the Hamas militant group.

The Palestinian deputy ambassador, Majed Bamya, told a U.N. Security Council meeting that “death is now much more familiar than life” to the 2 million people in Gaza, where no family has been untouched by the loss of loved ones.

“Every decision they are making while we speak is a life and death decision every single day, every single hour, every single minute,” he said. “But it is a Russian roulette with a bullet in almost every chamber. Whatever decision you make, most probably somebody is going to die.”

He held up photos of more than half a dozen children killed and severely injured in the ongoing war between Israel and Hamas.

Bamya said all paths in Gaza lead to death but the Palestinians have a responsibility and legal and moral duty to open a path to salvation.

“Israel wants that path to be leaving Gaza,” he said.

More than 17,000 kids have reportedly been killed and 33,000 wounded in the ongoing war in Gaza, UNICEF’s executive director Catherine Russell told the U.N. Security Council. She said each of the territory's one million children have faced immense suffering.

An average of 28 kids die daily in Gaza, “a whole classroom of children killed every day for nearly two years,” she said.

Malnutrition has surged, with nearly 6,000 children acutely malnourished in June, a 180% increase since February, she said. UNICEF warns these children will face lifelong impacts.

Food supplies are running out and civilians are being shot while seeking something to eat, Undersecretary-General Tom Fletcher said Wednesday.

"Civilians are exposed to death and injury, forcible displacement, stripped of dignity,” Fletcher told the U.N. Security Council, emphasizing Israel’s obligation under the Geneva Conventions to provide food and medical aid as the occupying power in Gaza.

He also challenged the council to consider whether Israel’s rules of engagement incorporate all the precautions to avoid and minimize civilian casualties.

Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan, speaking to Turkish journalists in New York, said his country was coordinating closely with neighboring nations and the U.S. special envoy to Syria, Tom Barrack, who is also the U.S. ambassador to Turkey.

The Turkish minister also said that Turkey had directly communicated with Israel through its intelligence agency, sharing its concerns over the attacks and proposing “solutions,” which he did not elaborate.

Stephane Dujarric, the United Nations spokesman, also described people being severely injured at the U.S.-run Gaza Humanitarian Fund sites, such as the World Health Organization report on a 21-year-old man shot and paralyzed for life while trying to collect a bag of flour at one of the hubs.

The spokesman told reporters Wednesday that the U.N. Population Fund, meanwhile, reports that domestic violence, sexual exploitation and abuse are on the rise and “pregnant women are delivering their babies in the dark, with no electricity or no skilled care to address potential complications.”

Additionally, a survey by one of the U.N.’s partners found that more than 80% of people with disabilities have lost wheelchairs, hearing aids, walkers and many other devices during the war in Gaza, Dujarric said.

Secretary-General Antonio Guterres reiterates his call for “an immediate de-escalation of violence and urgent measures to restore calm and facilitate humanitarian access,” U.N. spokesman Stephane Dujarric said Wednesday.

The U.N. chief is ’alarmed” at the escalating violence in Sweida, a Druze-majority area which has reportedly caused hundreds of deaths including civilians and injured and displaced many more, Dujarric said.

Dujarric said in response to a question that videos showing government forces attacking civilians “are shocking and highly, highly disturbing.” He said that’s why Guterres is eager to follow up with the government on its call for an investigation and its commitment to accountability for those responsible.

The secretary-general also condemns “Israel’s escalatory airstrikes on Sweida, Daraa and in the center of Damascus” and reports that Israel is redeploying troops in the Golan, Dujarric said.

A key governing partner of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Wednesday it is quitting the government, leaving him with a minority in parliament.

The Shas ultra-Orthodox party said it was leaving over disagreements surrounding a proposed law meant to grant wide military draft exemptions to its constituents.

A second ultra-Orthodox party quit earlier this week over the same issue.

Leading a minority government would make governing a challenge for Netanyahu. But Shas said it wouldn’t work to undermine the coalition once outside it and could vote with it on some laws. It also wouldn’t support its collapse.

The political turmoil comes as Israel and Hamas are negotiating on a U.S.-backed ceasefire proposal for Gaza.

Members of the Druze minority in the Israeli-controlled Golan Heights were seen crossing into Syria on Wednesday, fearing for their relatives’ fate as clashes raged between Syrian Druze and government forces.

Waving the community’s multicolored flag, a procession of people from the minority marched into Syria. Israeli forces were seen nearby.

Once in Syrian territory, Druze were seen reuniting with their loved ones. Israel captured the Golan Heights from Syria in the 1967 Mideast war, separating many Druze families from their relatives in Syria.

Residents said they felt they had to do something in the face of harsh images emerging from the clashes.

“It’s hard for us to stand here, not doing anything,” said Majd Shaer, who said he has relatives in Syria.

A new ceasefire agreement has been reached to end days of fighting between Syrian government forces and Druze armed groups in the southern city of Sweida, Syrian state-run news agency SANA reported Wednesday, citing an unidentified Interior Ministry official.

The report said “security checkpoints have been deployed in the city, and it has been fully integrated into the Syrian state.” There was no immediate statement from Druze officials. A previous ceasefire agreement reached the day before quickly fell apart.

The clashes in Sweida province initially broke out between members of local Bedouin tribes and Druze militias. Government security forces deployed to restore order, but also began clashing with the Druze factions, with allegations that government-affiliated forces had looted and burned civilian houses and carried out summary executions.

The U.S. is “ very concerned” about the latest surge in Israel-Syria violence and has been in touch with both sides in an effort to restore what had been a fragile ceasefire between the two countries, Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Wednesday.

“We’re very concerned about it, we want it to stop,” Rubio told reporters at the State Department after signing a civilian nuclear agreement with the foreign minister of Bahrain.

Rubio said he had just been on the phone with “relevant parties” and that he hoped to have an update later.

Turkey's Foreign Ministry said Wednesday's strikes on the Syrian capital were an a attempt to sabotage Syria’s efforts to achieve peace, stability and security, and called for support for Syria’s efforts to restore order across the country.

“The Syrian people have a historic opportunity to live in peace and integrate with the world,” the ministry said. “All stakeholders who support this opportunity should contribute to the Syrian government’s efforts to restore peace.”

Omer Celik, spokesman for President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s ruling party, also affirmed Turkey’s support to Syria.

“Israel’s attacks pose a security threat to the entire region and the world,” Celik wrote on the social media platform X.

Israeli jets struck the Syrian Defense Ministry's headquarters in central Damascus in the second such attack Wednesday.

The strike, which came hours after a drone strike on the same site in the capital, caused significant damage.

Israel has launched a series of strikes targeting Syrian government forces in the southern Sweida province. The Israeli government says it’s to support the Druze community.

Syrian state media reported that there were a “number of wounded” people in the strike, without giving details. The building is located close to the busy Ummayad Square.

Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said that they will escalate their attacks against the Syrian government with “painful blows”.

Syria’s Defense Ministry had earlier blamed militias in the Druze-majority area of Sweida for violating a ceasefire agreement that had been reached Tuesday, causing Syrian army soldiers to return fire. The Druze have accused government forces and allies of sectarian attacks, looting, and beatings during their ongoing military operation.

Hundreds of members of the Druze community from Majdal Shams and Druze villages in northern Israel have gathered along the border fence with Syria, trying to enter the country to support Druze armed groups as they continue to clash with Syria's government forces.

Videos widely circulated on social media showed that many Druze were able to cross into Syria, where the majority of the roughly 1 million Druze worldwide live.

Meanwhile, hundreds of the Syrian Druze community gathered on the other side of the fence, though it was not immediately clear if they were demonstrating or trying to cross the border. The Israeli military said dozens have tried to cross into Israel. Tensions intensified when several Syrian Druze protesters stood atop a tractor waiving Druze flags and Israeli troops responded by lobbing tear gas, forcing them to shortly retreat.

Dozens have been killed in the hostilities sparked by a series of tit-for-tat attacks and kidnappings.

The U.S. Ambassador to Israel, Mike Huckabee, briefly attended the court proceedings of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Wednesday, saying he wanted to support the embattled Israeli leader in his ongoing corruption trial.

Huckabee’s visit to the courthouse was a rare act of involvement in his host country’s internal affairs. It comes after President Donald Trump condemned the trial as a “witch hunt.”

Speaking in Tel Aviv, Huckabee said the visit was a matter of “representing what the president has said repeatedly.”

Netanyahu is on trial for fraud, breach of trust and accepting bribes in three separate cases.

“The president has made his position very clear,” Huckabee said ahead of his visit to the courthouse. “It’s a personal thing for him. He considers the Prime Minister a friend.” After the visit, Huckabee reposted Trump’s call for the trial to be thrown out and added the comment: “My conclusion? Trump is right…again.”

The Israeli army said Wednesday that it struck near the entrance to the Syrian Ministry of Defense in Damascus, as clashes continued in the southern Syrian city of Sweida after a ceasefire between government forces and Druze armed groups collapsed.

Israel has launched a series of airstrikes on convoys of government forces in southern Syria since the clashes erupted and has beefed up forces on the border. It has said it is acting to protect the Druze religious minority.

The Druze religious sect began as a 10th-century offshoot of Ismailism, a branch of Shiite Islam. More than half the roughly 1 million Druze worldwide live in Syria. Most of the other Druze live in Lebanon and Israel, including in the Golan Heights, which Israel captured from Syria in the 1967 Mideast War and annexed in 1981.

Gaza’s Health Ministry and witnesses said GHF workers used tear gas against the crowd outside one of its food distribution hubs, causing a panic. The ministry said that it was the first time people have been killed by a stampede at the aid sites.

“They used stun grenades and pepper spray against us. They had aid inside, but they intentionally did not distribute it to let people crowd outside,″ said Abdullah Aleyat, who was at the GHF site on Wednesday morning.

Omar Al-Najjar, a resident of the nearby city of Rafah, said people were gasping for air, possibly from tear gas.

The injuries were “not from gunfire, but from people clustering and pushing against each other,” Al-Najjar said as he carried an injured stranger to a hospital.

The sites are inside Israeli military zones protected by private American contractors, and Israeli troops surround the sites.

The United Nations human rights office and Gaza’s Health Ministry said Tuesday that 875 Palestinians in the enclave have been killed while seeking food since May, with 674 of those in the vicinity of aid distribution sites run by GHF.

Druze from Syria and Israel protest on the Israeli-Syrian border, in Majdal Shams in the Israeli-controlled Golan Heights, Wednesday, July 16, 2025, amid the ongoing clashes between Syrian government forces and Druze armed groups in the southern Syrian city of Sweida. (AP Photo/Leo Correa)

In this photo released by the Syrian official news agency SANA, smoke rises from an Israeli airstrike that hit the Syrian Defense Ministry in Damascus, Syria, Wednesday, July 16, 2025. (SANA via AP)

FILE - Boxes and bags of humanitarian aid delivered by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, a U.S.-backed organization approved by Israel, are seen in Khan Younis, southern Gaza Strip, on May 29, 2025. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana, File)

Palestinians wait for donated food at a community kitchen in Gaza City, in the northern Gaza Strip, Monday, July 14, 2025. (AP Photo/Jehad Alshrafi)

Israeli soldiers stand guard as Syrian Druze protest near the Israeli-Syrian border, as seen from the town of Majdal Shams in the Israeli-controlled Golan Heights, Wednesday, July 16, 2025, amid ongoing clashes between Syrian government forces and Druze armed groups in the southern Syrian city of Sweida. (AP Photo/Leo Correa)

Syrian Druze protest near the Israeli-Syrian border, as seen from the town of Majdal Shams in the Israeli-controlled Golan Heights, Wednesday, July 16, 2025, amid the ongoing clashes between Syrian government forces and Druze armed groups in the southern Syrian city of Sweida. (AP Photo/Leo Correa)

Syrian Druze protest near the Israeli-Syrian border, as seen from the town of Majdal Shams in the Israeli-controlled Golan Heights, Wednesday, July 16, 2025, amid the ongoing clashes between Syrian government forces and Druze armed groups in the southern Syrian city of Sweida. (AP Photo/Leo Correa)

Syrian Druze protest near the Israeli-Syrian border, as seen from the town of Majdal Shams in the Israeli-controlled Golan Heights, Wednesday, July 16, 2025, amid the ongoing clashes between Syrian government forces and Druze armed groups in the southern Syrian city of Sweida. (AP Photo/Leo Correa)

A group of Buddhist monks and their rescue dog are striding single file down country roads and highways across the South, captivating Americans nationwide and inspiring droves of locals to greet them along their route.

In their flowing saffron and ocher robes, the men are walking for peace. It's a meditative tradition more common in South Asian countries, and it's resonating now in the U.S., seemingly as a welcome respite from the conflict, trauma and politics dividing the nation.

Their journey began Oct. 26, 2025, at a Vietnamese Buddhist temple in Texas, and is scheduled to end in mid-February in Washington, D.C., where they will ask Congress to recognize Buddha’s day of birth and enlightenment as a federal holiday. Beyond promoting peace, their highest priority is connecting with people along the way.

“My hope is, when this walk ends, the people we met will continue practicing mindfulness and find peace,” said the Venerable Bhikkhu Pannakara, the group’s soft-spoken leader who is making the trek barefoot. He teaches about mindfulness, forgiveness and healing at every stop.

Preferring to sleep each night in tents pitched outdoors, the monks have been surprised to see their message transcend ideologies, drawing huge crowds into churchyards, city halls and town squares across six states. Documenting their journey on social media, they — and their dog, Aloka — have racked up millions of followers online. On Saturday, thousands thronged in Columbia, South Carolina, where the monks chanted on the steps of the State House and received a proclamation from the city's mayor, Daniel Rickenmann.

At their stop Thursday in Saluda, South Carolina, Audrie Pearce joined the crowd lining Main Street. She had driven four hours from her village of Little River, and teared up as Pannakara handed her a flower.

“There’s something traumatic and heart-wrenching happening in our country every day,” said Pearce, who describes herself as spiritual, but not religious. “I looked into their eyes and I saw peace. They’re putting their bodies through such physical torture and yet they radiate peace.”

Hailing from Theravada Buddhist monasteries across the globe, the 19 monks began their 2,300 mile (3,700 kilometer) trek at the Huong Dao Vipassana Bhavana Center in Fort Worth.

Their journey has not been without peril. On Nov. 19, as the monks were walking along U.S. Highway 90 near Dayton, Texas, their escort vehicle was hit by a distracted truck driver, injuring two monks. One of them lost his leg, reducing the group to 18.

This is Pannakara's first trek in the U.S., but he's walked across several South Asian countries, including a 112-day journey across India in 2022 where he first encountered Aloka, an Indian Pariah dog whose name means divine light in Sanskrit.

Then a stray, the dog followed him and other monks from Kolkata in eastern India all the way to the Nepal border. At one point, he fell critically ill and Pannakara scooped him up in his arms and cared for him until he recovered. Now, Aloka inspires him to keep going when he feels like giving up.

“I named him light because I want him to find the light of wisdom,” Pannakara said.

The monk's feet are now heavily bandaged because he's stepped on rocks, nails and glass along the way. His practice of mindfulness keeps him joyful despite the pain from these injuries, he said.

Still, traversing the southeast United States has presented unique challenges, and pounding pavement day after day has been brutal.

“In India, we can do shortcuts through paddy fields and farms, but we can’t do that here because there are a lot of private properties,” Pannakara said. “But what’s made it beautiful is how people have welcomed and hosted us in spite of not knowing who we are and what we believe.”

In Opelika, Alabama, the Rev. Patrick Hitchman-Craig hosted the monks on Christmas night at his United Methodist congregation.

He expected to see a small crowd, but about 1,000 people showed up, creating the feel of a block party. The monks seemed like the Magi, he said, appearing on Christ’s birthday.

“Anyone who is working for peace in the world in a way that is public and sacrificial is standing close to the heart of Jesus, whether or not they share our tradition,” said Hitchman-Craig. “I was blown away by the number of people and the diversity of who showed up.”

After their night on the church lawn, the monks arrived the next afternoon at the Collins Farm in Cusseta, Alabama. Judy Collins Allen, whose father and brother run the farm, said about 200 people came to meet the monks — the biggest gathering she’s ever witnessed there.

“There was a calm, warmth and sense of community among people who had not met each other before and that was so special,” she said.

Long Si Dong, a spokesperson for the Fort Worth temple, said the monks, when they arrive in Washington, plan to seek recognition of Vesak, the day which marks the birth and enlightenment of the Buddha, as a national holiday.

“Doing so would acknowledge Vesak as a day of reflection, compassion and unity for all people regardless of faith,” he said.

But Pannakara emphasized that their main goal is to help people achieve peace in their lives. The trek is also a separate endeavor from a $200 million campaign to build towering monuments on the temple’s 14-acre property to house the Buddha’s teachings engraved in stone, according to Dong.

The monks practice and teach Vipassana meditation, an ancient Indian technique taught by the Buddha himself as core for attaining enlightenment. It focuses on the mind-body connection — observing breath and physical sensations to understand reality, impermanence and suffering. Some of the monks, including Pannakara, walk barefoot to feel the ground directly and be present in the moment.

Pannakara has told the gathered crowds that they don't aim to convert people to Buddhism.

Brooke Schedneck, professor of religion at Rhodes College in Memphis, Tennessee, said the tradition of a peace walk in Theravada Buddhism began in the 1990s when the Venerable Maha Ghosananda, a Cambodian monk, led marches across war-torn areas riddled with landmines to foster national healing after civil war and genocide in his country.

“These walks really inspire people and inspire faith,” Schedneck said. “The core intention is to have others watch and be inspired, not so much through words, but through how they are willing to make this sacrifice by walking and being visible.”

On Thursday, Becki Gable drove nearly 400 miles (about 640 kilometers) from Cullman, Alabama, to catch up with them in Saluda. Raised Methodist, Gable said she wanted some release from the pain of losing her daughter and parents.

“I just felt in my heart that this would help me have peace,” she said. “Maybe I could move a little bit forward in my life.”

Gable says she has already taken one of Pannakara’s teachings to heart. She’s promised herself that each morning, as soon as she awakes, she’d take a piece of paper and write five words on it, just as the monk prescribed.

“Today is my peaceful day.”

Freelance photojournalist Allison Joyce contributed to this report.

Associated Press religion coverage receives support through the AP’s collaboration with The Conversation US, with funding from Lilly Endowment Inc. The AP is solely responsible for this content.

Buddhist monks who are participating in the, "Walk For Peace," get lunch Thursday, Jan. 8, 2026, in Saluda, S.C. (AP Photo/Allison Joyce)

Aloka rests with Buddhist monks who are participating in the, "Walk For Peace," Thursday, Jan. 8, 2026, in Saluda, S.C. (AP Photo/Allison Joyce)

A sign is seen greeting the Buddhist monks who are participating in the, "Walk For Peace," Thursday, Jan. 8, 2026, in Saluda, S.C. (AP Photo/Allison Joyce)

Supporters pray with Buddhist monks who are participating in the, "Walk For Peace," Thursday, Jan. 8, 2026, in Saluda, S.C. (AP Photo/Allison Joyce)

Supporters watch Buddhist monks who are participating in the, "Walk For Peace," Thursday, Jan. 8, 2026, in Saluda, S.C. (AP Photo/Allison Joyce)

A Buddhist monk ties a prayer bracelet around the wrist of Josey Lee, 2-months-old, during the, "Walk For Peace," Thursday, Jan. 8, 2026, in Saluda, S.C. (AP Photo/Allison Joyce)

Bhikkhu Pannakara, a spiritual leader, speaks to supporters during the, "Walk For Peace," Thursday, Jan. 8, 2026, in Saluda, S.C. (AP Photo/Allison Joyce)

Buddhist monks participate in the, "Walk For Peace," Thursday, Jan. 8, 2026, in Saluda, S.C. (AP Photo/Allison Joyce)

Buddhist monks participate in the, "Walk For Peace," Thursday, Jan. 8, 2026, in Saluda, S.C. (AP Photo/Allison Joyce)

Bhikkhu Pannakara leads other buddhist monks in the, "Walk For Peace," Thursday, Jan. 8, 2026, in Saluda, S.C. (AP Photo/Allison Joyce)

Audrie Pearce greets Buddhist monks who are participating in the, "Walk For Peace," Thursday, Jan. 8, 2026, in Saluda, S.C. (AP Photo/Allison Joyce)

Bhikkhu Pannakara, a spiritual leader, speaks to supporters during the, "Walk For Peace," Thursday, Jan. 8, 2026, in Saluda, S.C. (AP Photo/Allison Joyce)

Buddhist monks who are participating in the, "Walk For Peace," arrive in Saluda, Thursday, Jan. 8, 2026, in Saluda, S.C. (AP Photo/Allison Joyce)

Buddhist monks who are participating in the, "Walk For Peace," are seen with their dog, Aloka, Thursday, Jan. 8, 2026, in Saluda, S.C. (AP Photo/Allison Joyce)