The Israeli military says it has killed the leader of a Palestinian militant group that took part in the October 7, 2023, terror attacks on southern Israel.

The company helped design and run a controversial Israeli-backed group that supplanted the work of the United Nations to deliver aid to the Gaza Strip.

JERUSALEM (AP) — Israel signed defense contracts worth nearly $15 billion last year, surpassing its all-time record, the country’s defense ministry said Wednesday, even as international outrage mounts over the war in Gaza. Over half the deals were with European countries.

A CNN investigation into a deadly incident near an aid distribution site in southern Gaza on Sunday points to the Israeli military opening fire on crowds of Palestinians as they tried to make their way to the fenced enclosure to get food.

At least one Palestinian was killed and 30 others injured in the Israeli strike on tents in Khan Younis on Sunday, medics say.

French President Emmanuel Macron spoke recently of “double standards” in international politics. Germany’s Friedrich Merz questioned Israel’s military goals in Gaza.

People across the war-ravaged Gaza Strip marked the start of one of Islam’s most important holidays with prayers outside destroyed mosques and homes, with little hope the war with Israel will end soon.