Mediators urge Israel, Hamas to finalise truce
- Qatar, Egypt and the United States call on Hamas and Israel to finalise an agreement that embodies the principles outlined by US President Joe Biden on May 31, 2024.
- The World Health Organization (WHO) says there are almost no health services remaining in Rafah after the city’s last partially functioning hospital, the al-Helal al-Emirati, shut down amid the ongoing hostilities.
Ambulance found destroyed in Jabalia
The Palestine Red Crescent Society (PRCS) says it has found a second ambulance destroyed in northern Gaza’s Jabalia camp, after Israeli forces partially withdrew from the territory on Thursday.
Rescuers with PRCS attempting to reach killed and injured Palestinians have regularly faced threats and attacks from Israeli forces. Since October 7, the organisation says it has lost 30 of its staff members, including 17 killed while on the job.
1,858 aid trucks entered Gaza over past week, says Israel
In its weekly summary, the Israeli army said 1,858 trucks carrying humanitarian aid had entered the Gaza Strip via the Karem Abu Salem (Kerem Shalom) and Western Erez crossings.
The numbers included 764 Egyptian trucks, 312 flour trucks by the World Food Programme and 124 Jordanian trucks.
Thirteen tankers also carried “over half a million litres of fuel” into the besieged enclave.
Israel has arrested 8,985 Palestinians in West Bank since October 7
Israeli forces have arrested at least 10 people, including a minor and several former prisoners, in their latest round of raids throughout the occupied West Bank, reports the Palestinian Prisoner’s Society.
The arrests started last night in the governorates of Jenin, Hebron, Bethlehem and Nablus, according to the group.
In total, Israel has made 8,895 arrests in the West Bank since Gaza’s war broke out, apprehending many in their own homes and at military checkpoints.
WATCH: Israeli peace activist urges end to Gaza war
Israeli activist Maoz Inon, who lost both his parents in Hamas’s October 7 attack, has said it is time to “break the cycle of revenge” and for Israel to find a “diplomatic solution” to end the war.
“While our government cares about Jewish supremacy, we care about security and safety,” he tells Al Jazeera. “The only way to reach security and safety is a diplomatic solution and to sign a peace accord between nations”.
‘Gaza is witnessing the worst of the worst levels of malnutrition’
Save the Children’s Alexandra Saieh says aid organisations fear the situation in Gaza may worsen.
“Gaza is witnessing the worst of the worst levels of malnutrition, especially child malnutrition, and it’s entirely man-made,” Saieh told Al Jazeera.
“Children in Gaza are being starved, they are being deprived of clean water and they are being deprived of adequate medical assistance. And this is all being fuelled by the systematic obstruction of humanitarian aid and the ongoing hostility. A medical point in Tal as-Sultan [Rafah], which was addressing malnutrition, had to close this past week due to [Israeli] attacks in the area.”
Of the 36,000 Palestinians killed by Israel since October 7, 15,000 are children.
Saieh said there might be “an acceleration of deaths due to malnutrition, starvation, disease and dehydration, possibly even higher than what we are already seeing, which is just the tip of the iceberg”.
“We actually fear that the situation is much worse. Back in March, the UN warned of a famine, and we have not as humanitarian organisations been given the access to stave off that famine.”
Israeli president gives ‘full support’ to captive-prisoner exchange deal
In a post on X, Israeli President Isaac Herzog has extended thanks to US President Biden, who on Friday outlined a new Gaza ceasefire and captive-prisoner exchange proposal.
Herzog pledged he would fully back the government in striking a deal to release the captives, a task he said is Israel’s “inherent obligation”.
Netanyahu is under intense pressure over the deal unveiled by Biden, which sets out a three-stage plan for a ceasefire, the return of Israeli captives in exchange for hundreds of Palestinian prisoners, full Israeli withdrawal from Gaza, and a Gaza reconstruction plan.
The families of Israeli captives and many of Netanyahu’s Western allies are urging him to go forward with the deal, but his far-right coalition allies virulently oppose it.
Israeli military claims air strikes on 30 targets
In its latest war update, the Israeli military said it is continuing “precise” operations in Rafah, where its troops have killed several armed fighters in the last day.
The military is also continuing to wage strikes from the air in central Gaza, it said, targeting military infrastructure, weapons depots and fighter cells. In total, Israeli jets struck 30 targets over the last day, according to the military update.
Israel’s latest strikes across Gaza have also killed civilians, including a woman and an infant in Gaza City, according to the Wafa news agency.
Rescuers struggle to reach injured Palestinians in embattled Rafah neighbourhoods
We woke up today to the sound of heavy artillery bombardment in the northern part of Nuseirat refugee camp and the northern part of Bureij refugee camp.
The majority of the Israeli military operations are now concentrated on Rafah district, where there has been no let up in fighting. The military has been demolishing complete residential neighbourhoods and thrusting troops and tanks deeper into the Shaboura and Yibna neighbourhoods and close to the Tal as-Sultan neighbourhood.
Ambulances are struggling to rescue Palestinians who are injured in areas of confrontations. The vast majority of Rafah’s medical sector is out of service and they depend on field hospitals in Mawasi area, which is a long distance away.
Parents fear sick, injured children will die without evacuation
Doctors at Al Aqsa Hospital [in Deir al-Balah] are helpless, unable to provide patients with essential medical care. They say the vast majority of cases need to be evacuated for treatment abroad…but patients are unable to leave Gaza.
I saw children suffering from high rates of malnutrition, combined different kinds of disease. It was completely disturbing. This is due to the severe shortage of food supplies and deteriorating medical conditions.
Parents [of sick and injured children] express deep agony, saying they are helpless, that they can’t do anything for their kids. They are afraid they will lose their children as they situation worsens by the day.
Israeli forces arrest six family members near Ramallah
Israeli troops have stormed a family’s apartment in the town of Beitunia, 4kms (2.5 miles) from Ramallah, and arrested six relatives, reports the Wafa news agency.
Those detained include a woman and three of her brothers, all originally hailing from the Gaza Strip, according to Wafa.
In a separate raid in the town of Dhahriya, near Hebron, Israeli forces arrested two more brothers in their homes, according to Wafa.
Since October 7, Israeli troops have launched near-nightly raids on Palestinian homes in the occupied West Bank, making at least 8,975 arrests.
Israel’s raids on Jenin only fuel Palestinian resistance
Israel has intensified raids in the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem since it launched its war on Gaza on October 7.
At least 516 Palestinians have been killed in Israeli raids and shootings in the occupied West Bank in the past eight months, according to the Palestinian Ministry of Health.
The Jenin refugee camp has been the site of numerous Israeli incursions over the years. And after October 7, things have become worse for the Palestinians.
The renewed Israeli violence has only fuelled Palestinian resistance in Jenin.
Pro-Palestine book faces censorship calls in South Africa
The South African Jewish Board of Deputies has called for a ban on a book on Palestinian history, saying it is an attempt to “indoctrinate” children.
The book, From the River to the Sea, highlights the history of Palestine, including its multiethnic background and the 1948 Nakba, and celebrates key Palestinian figures and culture.
Its writer and publisher, Nathi Ngubane, says he has been bombarded with hate messages over the book, despite simply telling “the story of Palestine and their fight for freedom”.
The South African Jews for a Free Palestine (SAJFP) backed up the book, saying it is an important resource for understanding Palestinian history amid the “ongoing genocide”, and denounced calls for it to be censored.
“It is imperative that parents and educators have tools like this well-researched and expertly produced publication to counter the persistent erasure and silencing of Palestinian voices in public discourse,” the group said.
Israel has encroached on 32 percent of Gaza, Al Jazeera investigation shows
Israel has taken over some 32 percent of Gaza’s area by “systematically demolishing neighbourhoods” to create a buffer zone and a central axis dividing it, according to Al Jazeera’s Sanad fact-checking agency.
Sanad’s analysis of satellite imagery showed 80-90 percent destruction rates in the 120sq km (46sq miles) Israel has taken.
Israeli forces demolish Palestinian home near Bethlehem
Israeli forces have demolished a house in the village of al-Walaja, northwest of Bethlehem, the Wafa news agency is reporting.
The village is carved into hillside terraces and olive farms between the Israeli-occupied West Bank and occupied East Jerusalem.
In 2022, the Israeli Supreme Court froze demolition orders for 38 houses in al-Walaja, but many of its 3,000 residents fear losing their homes amid rising Israeli demolitions in East Jerusalem since October 2023.
Woman, infant among 3 killed in Israeli attack on Gaza City
We’ve been covering Israel’s attacks on the cities of Gaza and Rafah overnight.
The Wafa news agency is now reporting that the bodies of three people were brought to al-Ahli Arab Hospital following an Israeli attack on an apartment belonging to the Nabi family in Gaza City’s Daraj neighbourhood.
The victims included a woman and an infant, the agency said.
Air raid sirens blare as drones infiltrate northern Israel
Sirens warning of suspected infiltration by drones have sounded in several areas along Israel’s border with Lebanon, according to Israeli media outlets.
At least two of the drones – launched by Lebanon’s Hezbollah group – were not intercepted and exploded in the Katzrin area in Israeli territory, causing a fire to break out, the station reported.
A third was intercepted in the skies over the town of Metula, it added.
If you’re just joining us
These are the main developments from overnight:
- Israeli forces carried out air and artillery attacks on Gaza and Rafah cities, killing and wounding several people, the Wafa news agency reported. The exact toll was not immediately clear.
- Save the Children warned of famine-like conditions in southern Gaza after another Palestinian child died of malnutrition, taking the death toll from hunger in the Palestinian enclave to 37.
- Pressure mounts on Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, with families of captives taking to streets demanding he accept Biden’s ceasefire proposal, while far-right ministers threaten to topple his government if he accepts such a deal.
- US CENTCOM said it foiled a Houthi missile attack targeting a US destroyer in the Red Sea. The statement came after the Houthis announced conducting six operations targeting a US aircraft carrier, a US destroyer and three vessels in the Red Sea and the Indian Ocean.
Chicago students walk out after university withholds diplomas from pro-Palestinian protesters
Students have walked out of a University of Chicago graduation ceremony in protest against the war in Gaza, after the university withheld diplomas from four graduating students who participated in a pro-Palestinian encampment.
“My diploma doesn’t matter when there are people in Palestine and in Gaza that will never walk a stage again, who will never receive a diploma. What about them? Who’s going to fight for them?” Youssef Haweh, one of the four students affected, said in a statement on Saturday.
Casualties as Israeli forces bomb Rafah, Gaza cities
The Wafa news agency is reporting that several people were killed and wounded after Israeli forces launched air and artillery attacks on the cities of Gaza and Rafah overnight.
The agency did not give an exact toll for the attacks.
It reported deaths and injuries from Israeli air raids on homes in Gaza City’s Daraj neighbourhood and Old City, as well as artillery shelling of areas near the University College in the Sabra neighbourhood.
In Rafah, it said several people were wounded and several homes destroyed when Israeli forces carried air raids on the city’s Brazil neighbourhood.
US forces foil missiles attack targeting warship in Red Sea
The US’s CENTCOM said its forces “successfully engaged” two antiship ballistic missiles fired by Yemen’s Houthis at the USS Gravely in the southern Red Sea on Saturday.
CENTCOM said the missiles’ launch did not cause any damage or injuries.
It added that its forces destroyed one Houthi drone in the southern Red Sea and observed two other drones crash into the water.
The statement comes after the Houthis announced it had conducted six operations targeting a US aircraft carrier, a US destroyer and three vessels in the Red Sea and the Indian Ocean.
October 7 survivors are suing pro-Palestinian groups. But what is the aim?
Nine survivors of the October 7 attacks on southern Israel have filed a civil suit against pro-Palestinian groups in the United States, alleging their advocacy work on college campuses constitutes “material support” for “terrorism”.
But the defendants have pushed back, warning that the case is part of a pattern of legal attacks meant to put pro-Palestinian groups on the defensive and curtail free speech at US universities.
“It is absolutely a threat to free speech and it’s a threat to free speech on any front, on any issue, not just on Palestine,” said Christina Jump, a lawyer for American Muslim
Netherlands has not transferred F-35 parts to Israel since court ruling: Minister
More from Kajsa Ollongren, who is attending the Shanghai-La Dialogue in Singapore.
The Dutch defence minister told Al Jazeera that the Netherlands has not transferred any F-35 fighter jet parts to Israel since a Dutch court ruling in February.
“The ruling says we cannot transfer parts for the F-35 from the Netherlands to Israel and since the ruling, there have been no transfers,” Ollongren said.
She added that the F-35 is an “important asset” for Israel’s air defence, “as we’ve seen when the attack happened from Iran”.
The Dutch government appealed the decision almost immediately.
“We comply, of course, by the court ruling”, Ollongren said, adding that another court is “still considering the case” and “of course, we will wait for the outcome of that court”.
s for Palestine (AMP), one of the two defendants in the case.
