ho risolto così per il momento...

codice:
 if(isset($_FILES['mod_gallery_news']) && count($_FILES['mod_gallery_news']['error']) == 1 && $_FILES['mod_gallery_news']['error'][0] > 0) {      // file not selected
      
    }
    else {
    //if(isset($_FILES["mod_gallery_news"]["tmp_name"]) and !empty($_FILES["mod_gallery_news"])) {
      $num_files = count($_FILES["mod_gallery_news"]["tmp_name"]);
      for($i=0;$i<$num_files;$i++) {
        compress_image($_FILES["mod_gallery_news"]["tmp_name"][$i],$cartella_news."/".$_FILES["mod_gallery_news"]["name"][$i],90);
      }