Meanwhile, Israel issues new
forced evacuation orders in northern Gaza as air raids kill at least 11
- At least 875 killed near Gaza aid sites linked to Israeli-backed foundation: UN
- UN experts on Israel-Palestine resign after US imposes sanctions on colleague
- Church leaders, diplomats urge action against Israeli settler attacks in occupied West Bank
Live Updates
At least 30 Palestinians seeking
aid injured in shots fired by Israeli soldiers
9 minutes ago
At least 30 Palestinians have
been injured at an aid centre north of Rafah after Israeli soldiers fired at
starving people lining up for humnaitarian aid, Al Jazeera reported on Tuesday.
Nearly 900 Palestinians have been
killed by the US abd Israel backed Gaza
Humanitarian Fund, who have been distributng
food since late May, displacing human rights groups who had been working
for decades in Gaza.
Netanyahu left in precarious
position as two ultra-Orthodox parties withdraw from his coalition
44 minutes ago
A second ultra-Orthodox group has
withdrawn from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's ruling coalition
this week, leaving him holding on to power with the minimum number of seats
required, multiple news outlets reported on Tuesday.
The Agudat Yisrael faction
withdrew on Tuesday, leaving Netanyahu's coalition with 61 seats in the Knesset
out of a total of 120 seats, while the Degel HaTorah faction withdrew on
Monday.
Both groups withdrew in protest
against a bill not being drafted to exempt ultra-Orthodox Jews from military
service.
The Shas party - also an
ultra-Orthodox party - is threatening to withdraw on Thursday. If this happens,
it would lead to the collapse of the Netanyahu government and trigger
elections.
Francesca Albanese says EU
cutting trade ties with Israel would be 'seismic'
1 hour ago
Francesca Albanese, the UN
special rapporteur on Palestine, urged the European Union to suspend a trade
association agreement with Israel during its EU-Southern Neighbourhood meeting
on Monday.
The EU is Israel's largest
trading partner and investment partner, she said in a series of posts on X, and
suspending an agreement would be "seismic".
"Economic leverage is the
single most powerful tool the EU holds to end Israel’s illegal occupation and
ongoing genocide," she added.
The Italian human rights lawyer
said that "maintaining trade with an economy inextricably tied to
occupation, apartheid, and genocide is complicity" and EU leaders
"face a choice: to deepen this appalling stain, or to finally uphold the
values the Union claims to represent".
She dismissed vice-president of
the European Commission Kaja Kallas's claims that the meeting was historic,
saying, "'Historic' would be a meeting leading to the end of the genocide,
the dismantling of Israel’s forever-occupation and apartheid, and the beginning
of justice and accountability - in line with int'l law, and as per ICJ and ICC
proceedings".
Five Palestinian children killed
after Israeli air strike on Gaza's Shati refugee camp
2 hours ago
At least nine people were killed
after an Israeli air strike on the Shati refugee camp, which is located west of
Gaza City, Al Jazeera reported on Tuesday.
Five of those killed were
children.
An additional 25 people were left
injured in the attack.
Death toll in Gaza rises to
58,479
4 hours ago
The toll of Palestinians killed
in Gaza by Israeli forces since October 2023 has risen to 58,479, according to
the Palestinian health ministry. At least 139,355 others have been wounded
during that time.
At least 93 bodies, including
three that were recovered from under rubble, and 278 wounded individuals were
brought to hospitals in Gaza over the past 24 hours.
In the past day, six people were
killed and more than 29 others wounded while seeking aid in Gaza, medics have
reported.
'Biggest disaster': Gaza infants'
lives at risk amid fuel shortages
4 hours ago
Palestinian infants reliant on
incubators in Gaza are fighting for their lives amid a critical fuel shortage,
exacerbated by Israel’s increasingly stringent blockade on aid and essential
supplies.
For several days, hospitals and
humanitarian agencies in Gaza have issued urgent appeals for international
intervention to secure fuel deliveries, as shortages continue to paralyse vital
services for over two million Palestinians.
Multiple healthcare centres have
warned that operations may grind to a halt, with Israel maintaining
restrictions on fuel entering the besieged territory, further straining an
already overwhelmed healthcare system.
Mohammed Tabaja, head of the
paediatric ward at al-Helou Hospital in Gaza City, said the facility is “100
per cent dependent on the generator”.
His department is responsible for
the intensive care of newborns weighing less than 1.5 kilograms, as well as
infants suffering from oxygen deprivation and congenital abnormalities, all of
whom require uninterrupted electricity.
“We have a problem in the nursery
ward: there is no uninterruptible power supply (UPS). The motor shuts down
every two hours due to the fuel shortage. When that happens, the electricity
cuts out,” he explained, noting that the hospital currently relies entirely on
generators.
UN says at least 875 Palestinian
killed near Gaza aid sites
5 hours ago
The United Nations human rights
office says it has documented at least 875 Palestinians killed over the past
six weeks near aid delivery points across Gaza, most of them in areas tied to
the Israeli- and US-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF).
Thameen al-Kheetan, spokesperson
for the UN rights office, told reporters in Geneva on Tuesday that 674 deaths
occurred near GHF distribution sites.
Another 201 people were killed
along aid convoy routes operated by the UN and other agencies, according to the
official.
“The data we have is based on our
own information gathering through various reliable sources, including medical,
human rights and humanitarian organisations,” Al-Kheetan said.
The GHF has rejected the findings
and accused the UN of spreading misinformation - an allegation the UN firmly
denies.
Israeli strikes on Lebanon kill
12, in deadliest attack since November truce
5 hours ago
Israeli strikes on Lebanon's
Bekaa Valley on Tuesday killed 12 people, the region's governor, Bachir Khodr,
told Reuters.
It marks the deadliest air
strikes since a ceasefire was agreed between Israel and Hezbollah in November.
Israel has breached the ceasefire and carried out strikes on a near-daily
basis.
A security source told Reuters
that five of the dead were Hezbollah fighters. Khodr said seven of the dead
were Syrian nationals.
Syrians often work in the
agricultural fields of the Bekaa region.
Largest displacement since 1967
taking place in occupied West Bank, says UN
6 hours ago
The UN has warned that mass
displacement in the occupied West Bank had hit levels not seen since the start
of Israel's occupation of the territory nearly 60 years ago.
It said an Israeli military
operation launched in the north of the occupied West Bank in January had
forcibly displaced tens of thousands of people, raising concerns of ethnic
cleansing.
The military operation "has
been the longest since... the second Intifada", in the early 2000s, said
Juliette Touma, spokesperson for Unrwa, the UN agency for Palestinian refugees.
"It is impacting several
refugee camps in the area, and it is causing the largest population
displacement of the Palestinians in the West Bank since 1967," she told
reporters.
The UN human rights office
meanwhile warned that mass forced displacement by an occupation force could
amount to ethnic cleansing.
Since the Israeli military
launched its operation in January, dubbed "Iron Wall", rights office
spokesperson Thameen al-Kheetan said that "about 30,000 Palestinians
remain forcibly displaced" had been displaced from the northern West Bank.
Israeli security forces had
during the same period issued demolition orders for about 1,400 homes in the
northern West Bank, he said, describing the figures as "alarming".
He pointed out that Israeli
demolitions had displaced 2,907 Palestinians across the West Bank since October
2023.
Another 2,400 Palestinians -
nearly half of them children - had been displaced as a result of Israeli
settler actions, he added, stating that the combined result was "emptying
large parts of the West Bank of Palestinians".
"Permanently displacing the
civilian population within occupied territory amounts to unlawful
transfer," Kheetan said.
Kheetan said 757 attacks by
Israeli settlers had been recorded in the West Bank during the first half of
the year, a 13 percent increase on the same period last year.
The attacks injured 96
Palestinians in June alone, he told reporters, adding that this was the highest
monthly injury toll of Palestinians from Israeli settler attacks in over two
decades.
Since October 2023, at least 964
Palestinians have been killed in the occupied West Bank, including occupied
East Jerusalem, according to the UN.
During that same period, 53
Israelis have been killed in reported attacks by Palestinians or in armed
confrontations - 35 of them in the West Bank and 18 in Israel.
Reporting by AFP
Israeli forces detain 32
Palestinians in West Bank
7 hours ago
Israeli forces detained more than
32 Palestinians during wide-scale raids across the occupied West Bank
overnight, according to the Wafa news agency.
Wafa said the raids included
house searches, vandalism of property, the setting up of military checkpoints,
and the closure of roads.
Rescheduled UN conference will
discuss Palestine recognition, says France
7 hours ago
A rescheduled UN conference this
month will discuss post-war plans for Gaza and preparations for the recognition
of a Palestinian state by France and others, the French foreign minister said
on Tuesday.
France and Saudi Arabia had
initially planned to host the conference in New York between 17 and 20 June.
"The aim is to sketch out
post-war Gaza and prepare the recognition of a Palestinian state by France and
countries that will engage in this approach," Foreign Minister Jean-Noel
Barrot said in Brussels before a meeting of EU foreign ministers.
The conference was postponed
under US pressure and after the 12-day conflict between Israel and Iran, during
which regional airspace was closed, making it hard for some Arab
representatives to attend.
The summit has been rescheduled
for 28 and 29 July, diplomats told Reuters.
French President Emmanuel Macron
was set to attend the original conference and had suggested he could recognise
a Palestinian state.
However, Macron is no longer
expected to attend, reducing the likelihood of any major announcements being
made.
- Reporting by Reuters
Opinion: Why do evangelical
Protestants hate Palestinians?
8 hours ago
Since April 2025, Mike Huckabee,
a white evangelical American Protestant and Baptist minister, has served as the
US ambassador to Israel.
A right-wing religious fanatic
and former Republican presidential candidate, Huckabee previously served as
governor of Arkansas.
He believes, as part of his
Protestant zealotry, that "there is no such thing as a Palestinian",
and that Palestinian identity is merely "a political tool to try and force
land away from Israel".
Most recently, the ambassador
described Palestinians in Gaza as "wicked, uncivilised savages" - in
keeping with the tradition of missionaries, colonists and other
"civilising" forces.
Huckabee opposes Palestinian
statehood and dismisses Israeli settler-colonialism on Palestinian land as
nothing more than urban development.
UN: 875 killed near Gaza aid
sites linked to Israeli-backed foundation
8 hours ago
The UN human rights office says
it has documented at least 875 Palestinians killed over the past six weeks near
aid delivery points across Gaza, most of them in areas tied to the Israeli- and
US-backed GHF.
Thameen Al-Kheetan, spokesperson
for the UN rights office, told reporters in Geneva on Tuesday that 674 deaths
occurred near GHF distribution sites, while another 201 people were killed
along aid convoy routes operated by the UN and other agencies.
“The data we have is based on our
own information gathering through various reliable sources, including medical,
human rights and humanitarian organisations,” Al-Kheetan said.
The GHF has rejected the findings
and accused the UN of spreading misinformation—an allegation the UN firmly
denies.
The UN has called the GHF’s aid
model as “inherently unsafe” and in breach of impartial humanitarian
principles. The foundation, which began operations in late May following an
11-week Israeli blockade, uses private US mercenaries for delivery, bypassing
the UN-led aid system Israel claims has been infiltrated by Hamas—an accusation
Hamas denies.
UN experts on Israel-Palestine
resign after US imposes sanctions on colleague
9 hours ago
Three independent UN experts
assigned to investigate human rights in Israel and the occupied Palestinian
territories have stepped down, citing personal reasons and the need for
“renewal.”
The UN Human Rights Council,
which established the Commission of Enquiry, confirmed the resignations on
Monday. The letters were submitted last week but only became public this week.
Their departure follows mounting
political pressure. Last week, the United States imposed sanctions on Francesca
Albanese, another UN-appointed expert focused on Israel and Palestine.
Israel has consistently refused
to cooperate with the commission, rejecting its legitimacy, denying entry to
investigators, and accusing the panel of bias. Despite repeated requests, the
government has blocked all access to Israeli and occupied Palestinian
territory.
Israel escalating deadly violence
against Palestinians in West Bank: UN
9 hours ago
The United Nations has warned of
a sharp rise in deadly violence by Israeli settlers and security forces
targeting Palestinians across the occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem.
“Israeli settlers and security
forces have intensified their killings, attacks and harassment of Palestinians
in the occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem, in the past weeks,”
Thameen Al-Kheetan, spokesperson for the UN Office of the High Commissioner for
Human Rights, told reporters at a briefing in Geneva on Tuesday.
Rights groups and UN agencies
have long accused Israel of enabling settler violence through military backing
and near-total impunity.
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