Central, southern Gaza remain under attack
- Five killed, 17 wounded in Israeli attacks on two homes in Nuseirat refugee camp while reports say Israeli forces used explosives to destroy buildings in the centre of Rafah.
- Gaza officials say 15,694 children killed and 17,000 are without parents after 250 days of Israel’s war on Gaza.
Blinken discusses Israel’s war on Gaza and ceasefire prospects
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said that some of the amendments proposed by Hamas to the United States’ proposal for a truce in Gaza are not “workable”, but efforts to reach an agreement are continuing.
Fires at 15 Israeli sites after 150 missiles launched from Lebanon
Fires have broken out in 15 locations in the occupied Golan Heights and Upper Galilee after 150 rockets were launched from Lebanon at northern Israel, Israeli daily Maariv reports.
More than half of crop land in hungry Gaza is damaged, UN says
More than half of Gaza’s agricultural land, crucial for feeding the war-ravaged territory’s hungry population, has been degraded by conflict, satellite images analysed by the UN show.
Using images taken between May 2017 and 2024, United Nations Satellite Centre (UNOSAT) and the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) found that 57 percent of Gaza’s permanent crop fields and arable lands essential for food security had shown a significant decline in density and health.
“This deterioration is attributed to conflict-related activities, including razing, heavy vehicle movement, bombing, and shelling,” UNOSAT said, adding that the decline marked a 30 percent increase in damaged agricultural land since it published its last analysis in April.
G7 summit to discuss Gaza ceasefire
G7 leaders are meeting in Italy for a three-day summit to discuss global affairs.
US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan said President Biden will push G7 allies to back continuing Gaza ceasefire negotiations and press Hamas to accept the UN-backed ceasefire plan.
Israeli drone kills at least one in Gaza City’s Zeitoun
Our colleagues on the ground are reporting that an Israeli attack on Kashku street in Gaza City’s Zeitoun neighbourhood using a drone has killed a Palestinian and injured many others.
Israel ‘responds to calls for a ceasefire by shedding blood’
Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has applauded Spain’s PM for his stance on the ongoing Gaza crisis.
“I congratulate my dear friend, Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez, for his stance on Gaza, on behalf of myself and my nation,” Erdogan said in an address at a business forum in the Spanish capital, Madrid, adding that Sanchez “has been etched in the hearts of our Palestinian brothers”.
“The genocide that has been going on in Gaza for 250 days hurts everyone with a conscience.”
Last month, Spain formally recognised Palestine as a state, with Sanchez saying it was a “historic move towards justice and the only route to achieve peace”.
Erdogan also took aim at what he called Israel’s “spoiled attitude”, saying the Netanyahu government “responds to calls for a ceasefire by shedding blood”.
“No country with a conscience can accept this,” Erdogan said.
