External Affairs Minister Jaishankar meets Russian counterpart Lavrov in Saudi Arabia

Srinagar: Following an unprecedented episode of intense cross-border shelling by the Pakistan Army that directly targeted the towns of Rajouri and Poonch in Jammu and Kashmir, the Indian government is moving to construct community bunkers in these towns and other vulnerable areas along the Line of Control (LoC).

While the government has, over the past decade, supported the construction of both individual and community bunkers along the LoC and the International Border (IB), towns like Rajouri and Poonch had been excluded from such initiatives. These towns were considered safe, as previous shelling incidents were largely restricted to forward villages closer to the border.

Officials now say the latest shelling marks a dangerous shift in the pattern of cross-border hostilities.

“The nature and intensity of the attack marked a significant departure from past ceasefire violations. For the first time in years, heavily populated towns like Rajouri and Poonch were directly hit,” a senior official said.

Caught unprepared, residents in both towns had little access to protective infrastructure as long-range mortar shells struck deep inside civilian areas.

“People weren’t expecting this—these towns had never been targeted before. Without bunkers, many had nowhere to go for safety,” the official added.

In response, the government now plans to build community bunkers at strategic locations throughout Rajouri and Poonch. These reinforced shelters will offer immediate protection to civilians during any future shelling incidents.

“In areas where individual bunkers aren't viable, community shelters become essential. These will provide residents with quick access to safety in emergencies,” the official noted.

The attacks have left local communities rattled.

“This is the first time shells landed so close to our homes in Poonch town,” said Abdul Rashid, a resident. “We never thought this would happen here.”

The sudden escalation has disrupted the fragile calm along the LoC, raising concerns over a potential return to more violent confrontations in the region.

At least 56 Palestinians have been killed in Israeli strikes on the Gaza Strip after the regime's prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced the military would enter the war-battered territory "with full force".

Medical sources said at least 50 people have been killed in the Jabalia refugee camp in northern Gaza since dawn Wednesday.

The heavy airstrikes have also left more than 100 people injured, with several houses being targeted and collapsed on their residents.

Another four people were killed in a strike on the southern city of Khan Yunis, civil defense spokesman Mahmud Bassal said.

The ferocious aggression came after the release of Israeli-American Edan Alexander, who had been in Hamas captivity since October 2023, offered a brief pause in the war on Gaza on Monday.

But the strikes resumed amid fierce new criticism of Israel's tactics in the war.

"In the very coming days, we are going in with full force to complete the operation," Netanyahu was quoted as saying in a statement released on Tuesday.

"There will be no situation where we stop the war. A temporary ceasefire might happen, but we are going all the way," he added.

His remarks came after UN relief chief Tom Fletcher called on the UN Security Council to take action "to prevent genocide" in Gaza as he gave a scathing account of Israel's aggression in the territory. 

"Will you act -- decisively -- to prevent genocide and to ensure respect for international humanitarian law?" he said to UN ambassadors in New York.

Late Tuesday, the Israeli military urged civilians in several parts of northern Gaza to evacuate after it intercepted "two projectiles" fired from the territory. 

The armed wing of Hamas ally Islamic Jihad claimed responsibility for rocket fire into Israel, which has been rare in recent weeks. 

In Paris, President Emmanuel Macron said in critical remarks not typical of France that Netanyahu's actions in blocking aid to Gaza were "shameful".

Meanwhile, Russia, China and the UK have rejected Israel’s plans for distributing aid in Gaza, instead urging Tel Aviv to lift its two-month blockade on the territory.

Since the Israeli military broke a two-month ceasefire agreement with the Palestinian resistance movement Hamas in mid-March, the occupying entity has blocked the entry of all humanitarian aid, including medicine, fuel, and food supplies into Gaza, drastically worsening the humanitarian crisis in the territory, where even clean water is critically scarce.

Dozens of people, mostly children, have died from starvation. Since the aid blockade began on March 2, at least 57 children have reportedly died from the effects of malnutrition, according to the Ministry of Health.

“People are trapped in this cycle where a lack of diversified food, malnutrition and disease fuel each other,” WHO’s representative in the Occupied Palestinian Territory Dr. Rik Peeperkorn said.

“This is one of the world’s worst hunger crises, unfolding in real time,” he added.

According to a World Bank report, the current crisis in Gaza has now made nearly all of its population almost entirely dependent on humanitarian aid due to prolonged war and blockade.

Nearly all of Gaza’s population of 2.3 million has been displaced, often multiple times, since the regime launched its genocidal war on the territory in October 2023.

Over 52,900 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza in the brutal Israeli onslaught since October 2023, most of them women and children.

A Haryana-based woman travel blogger was arrested for allegedly spying and passing sensitive information to Pakistani operatives, marking the third arrest from Haryana this week after India and Pakistan agreed to a ceasefire.

Travel blogger Jyoti Malhotra, a resident of Hisar, was arrested after she confessed to sharing sensitive information with Pakistani operatives. She was booked under Sections 3 and 5 of the Official Secrets Act, 1923, and Section 152 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita Act. She has been placed under five-day police remand.

Confirming her arrest, Hisar police spokesman Vikas Kumar said that Jyoti Malhotra was taken into custody and officials are questioning her to gather more details.

An FIR was registered at Hisar Civil Lines police station based on a complaint lodged by sub-inspector Sanjay. According to the FIR, the blogger visited the Pakistan High Commission in Delhi in 2023, where she came into contact with Ehsan-ur-Rahim, alias Danish, a staffer at the Pakistan High Commission (PHC) in New Delhi.

“The woman revealed that she remained in touch with Ehsan-ur-Rahim alias Danish and during her Pakistan visit in 2023 , she met Ali Ehwan, who ensured my staying and travelling in Pakistan. Ehwan introduced her to Pakistani security and intelligence officials, where she also met with Shakir and Rana Shahbaz,” the FIR reads. 

"The blogger had saved Shakir’s name with ‘ Jatt Randhawa’ so that no one could create doubt on her. After returning from Pakistan in 2023, she remained in touch with all the operatives on encrypted platforms like WhatsApp, Telegram, and Snapchat,” the police FIR added. 

The woman blogger had visited Pakistan twice in 2023. Jyoti Malhotra ran the YouTube channel “Travel with Jo.” She is part of a network that spanned across Haryana and Punjab, with key operatives acting as agents, financial conduits, and informants.

Danish, who has since been declared persona non grata by the Indian government and expelled on May 13, 2025, allegedly introduced Jyoti to multiple Pakistani Intelligence Operatives (PIOs).

She allegedly shared sensitive information concerning Indian locations and was actively used to project a positive image of Pakistan on social media. 

Investigators say she also entered into an intimate relationship with a PIO and even travelled to Bali, Indonesia with him. During Danish’s stay in Delhi, she continued coordinating with him, further raising suspicions.