In the Middle East, an American aid organization in Gaza says 20 Palestinians died in a crowd surge at one of its distribution sites today.

It's the first time the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation has reported deaths at one of its locations.

The injured were rushed to a hospital in the southern city of Kahn Yunus.

The GHF says 19 people were trampled and one was fatally stabbed.

It blames Hamas for stirring chaos but provided no evidence.

Witnesses say guards caused panic when they closed the gates to the site,

trapping the crowd in a narrow entrance. Each one of them was standing with their weapons

and standing watching us, firing pepper spray at us,

while we were suffocating, and they pushed us down.

Also today, Gossans mourned the lives lost in the latest round of Israeli air strikes.

Health authorities say at least 50

poor people were killed across the territory, including more than a dozen children. Israel says

it targets only Hamas fighters and blames them for operating in residential areas.

Meantime, in Israel, a second vital partner in Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's

coalition is quitting the government, leaving him with a minority in parliament. The ultra-Orthodox

Shah's party said today, it's against a proposed law that would require its supporters to serve in the

military. They've long been exempt from

military service. Shaz says it would not push to dissolve Netanyahu's government, but it's

the second ultra-Orthodox party to quit this week over the same issue of military service.

Ukrainian officials say at least 15 people were injured after Russia launched attacks

overnight on four cities.

That included Venetia in western Ukraine, where firefighters were still battling blazes by morning.

...