| | | | Hello. I have two reports on the Middle East for you today. In the occupied West Bank, our correspondent Lucy Williamson spoke to witnesses who have accused Israel of targeting seven civilians with no link to armed groups. And my BBC Persian colleague Jiyar Gol helps us understand the motives behind Iran’s recent series of strikes. Your newsletter also features a new cancer drug for children being trialled in the UK, protests in Russia, and the European capital where selfies are irredeemably uncool. |
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| | | AT THE SCENE |  Al-Shuhada, West Bank | | Israel accused of targeting civilians in West Bank strike |  | | The men are buried not far from al-Shuhada village. Credit: BBC | | Witnesses in the occupied West Bank have provided strong evidence that the seven men killed by an Israeli strike were not members of armed militant groups, and that no clashes with Israeli forces were taking place in the location at the time. The BBC has spoken to relatives of the men killed, people in the area at the time, and a paramedic at the scene. |  | | Lucy Williamson, BBC News |
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| Khalid al-Ahmad, the first paramedic to arrive that morning, is convinced the men were doing nothing wrong. "One of them was wearing slippers and pyjamas," he told the BBC. "Don't you think that someone who wants to resist [the Israeli occupation] would at least wear proper shoes?" Mr al-Ahmad said that after 20 years working in Jenin, he was used to scanning trauma sites for weapons or explosives, as a basic safety routine. "I would tell you if there were weapons there," he said. "Honestly, these were civilians. There was nothing relating to the resistance - no bullets, no weapons. And there was no Israeli presence at all.”
We asked the Israeli army to explain why this group of men was targeted. A spokesperson replied that soldiers had begun pursuing the "terrorists who murdered an Israeli citizen" and that the air strike targeted "a terrorist squad that hurled explosives at the forces operating in the area, putting them in danger". The IDF did not provide any more comment or information. |
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| QUESTIONS ANSWERED | | The messages behind Iran’s strikes |  | | The IRGC said it used a Kheibar Shekan (Castle Buster) ballistic missile to target "terrorist groups" in north-west Syria. Credit: Nurphoto |
| | Iran's Islamic Revolution Guard Corps (IRGC) has launched strikes on Iraqi, Syrian and Pakistani territory this week. This surge in activity is sending a message to the international community. | | | What can we make of Iran's behaviour at the moment? | | The IRGC openly states that US bases in the Middle East, as well as Israeli bases in Tel Aviv and Haifa, are within range of its ballistic missiles. In the space of only 24 hours, it gave a stark demonstration of its capabilities, launching missiles and drones at targets in three different countries. | | What was the purpose of the attack on Irbil, in Iraq? | | Four of the IRGC's missiles destroyed the home of the prominent Kurdish businessman Peshraw Dizayee. He was killed in the attack, reportedly alongside his 11-month-old daughter. The attack appeared to underscore the message that not only can the IRGC carry out precision strikes, but also that it has the ability to strike military installations near Irbil's international airport, where US and other foreign forces are stationed. The IRGC's claim to have targeted Israeli facilities in Irbil also served a domestic political purpose in Iran, following a suspected Israeli strike in Syria on 25 December that killed a senior commander. | | What about the strike on Syria? | | For this attack, the IRGC said it used a Kheibar Shekan (Castle Buster) missile, which can travel up to 1,450km (900 miles). The choice of missile and launch location suggest that Iran wants to convey to the world its ability to reach various locations in Israel, which borders Syria. | | | |
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| | | THE BIG PICTURE | | A new cancer drug kinder than chemotherapy |  | | Blinatumomab was Arthur’s only option after his chemo had failed to clear all of his cancer. Credit: BBC |
| | Some children with a specific type of leukaemia are receiving blinatumomab, a new type of drug treatment far less toxic than chemotherapy. Our health editor Michelle Roberts has met Arthur, 11, one of the first patients to try it. His family call the therapy "a little bit of sunshine". | | |
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| | FOR YOUR DOWNTIME | | No selfies, bitte | | Berliners are frowning upon front-camera snaps. | |
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| | And finally... in India | | In what sounds like a claustrophobic person’s worst nightmare, a passenger on a flight from Mumbai to Bengaluru got stuck in the plane’s toilet. The man spent more than an hour in the cubicle before an engineer opened the door once the plane landed. Here are more details about the ordeal. |
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– Jules
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