Closing Summary
It is approaching 6pm in Gaza and Tel Aviv. We will be closing this blog soon, but you can stay up to date on the Guardian’s Israel-Gaza war coverage here and on the Middle East here.
Here are the latest developments:
At least 42 people were killed in attacks on districts of Gaza City in the north of the Palestinian territory on Saturday, the director of the Hamas-run government media office reported. According to initial reports in the Israeli media, the bombings were aimed at assassinating a very senior Hamas commander. Amid initial reports of tens of casualties, including some still buried under the rubble, the Israel Defense Forces said in a statement it had struck Hamas “military infrastructure sites”.
The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) said that 25 people were killed in a shelling attack that damaged its Gaza office, which is surrounded by hundreds of displaced Palestinians living in makeshift tents. The health ministry in the Hamas-run territory also said there were 50 injured in the shelling, which it blamed on Israel. Al-Mawasi had been designated as a humanitarian “safe zone” by Israel and thousands of people had fled there following Israel’s assault on the southern city of Rafah. The Israeli military said the episode was under review but that “there is no indication that a strike was carried out by the IDF” inside the safe zone. It did not provide details on the episode or say what the intended targets might have been.
An Israeli civilian was shot dead in the Palestinian town of Qalqilya in the occupied West Bank on Saturday. Israeli troops arrived in the area shortly after and were investigating what happened, the military said. It gave no further details. Israeli public broadcaster Kan reported the man was shot and killed after driving into Qalqilya. His car was later set on fire.
An Israeli drone carried out a “precise strike” in the Beqaa area in Lebanon. The IDF said the strike was carried out “in order to eliminate” a weapons supplier for Hamas.
Washington assured Tel Aviv that it will have its full support if a full-scale war breaks out with Hezbollah. The assurance came after Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu publicly accused the US of withholding weapons and ammunitions from his country earlier this week, amid a tense back-and-forth between Israeli and US officials. Tensions have been growing between Israel and Hezbollah after months of intensifying cross-border attacks in southern Lebanon and northern Israel. The Lebanese armed group has warned that there will be “no restraint and no rules and no ceilings” if war breaks out.
UN secretary-general António Guterres issued warnings over rapidly escalating tensions between Israel and Hezbollah in neighbouring Lebanon. “One rash move – one miscalculation – could trigger a catastrophe that goes far beyond the border, and frankly, beyond imagination,” he told reporters on Friday. “Let’s be clear: The people of the region and the people of the world cannot afford Lebanon to become another Gaza.”
Food has piled up at a Gaza crossing with aid agencies saying they are unable to work. Days after Israel announced a daily pause in fighting on a key route to allow more aid into Gaza, chaos in the besieged Palestinian territory has left vital supplies piled up and undistributed in the searing summer heat. More than eight months of war have led to dire humanitarian conditions in the Gaza Strip and repeated UN warnings of famine with outside aid severely restricted.
A commercial ship traveling through the Gulf of Aden saw explosions near the vessel, likely to be the latest attack by Yemen’s Houthi rebels. The apparent fire by the Houthis comes after the sinking this week of the ship Tutor, which marked what appears to be a new escalation by the Iranian-backed Houthis in their campaign of attacks on ships in the vital maritime corridor over the Israel-Gaza war.
Israel’s military offensive in the Gaza Strip has killed at least 37,551 Palestinians since Oct. 7, Gaza’s health ministry has said. A further 85,911 have been wounded. A total of 101 Palestinians have been killed and 169 wounded in the past 24 hours, the ministry said in a statement.
Pro-Palestinian protesters sprayed the University of Cambridge’s historical Senate House in red paint. “The site, used for the university’s upcoming graduation ceremonies, now reflects the Palestinian bloodshed which soaks the university’s financial records, research output, and historical legacy,” the group said.
Qatar said Friday it was pursuing efforts to “bridge the gap” between Israel and Palestinian militant group Hamas to reach a ceasefire in Gaza and release Israeli hostages held there. “We have continued our efforts without interruption over the last few days,” Qatar’s prime minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani told a news conference in Madrid with Spanish foreign minister Jose Manuel Albares.
Armenia announced Friday it was recognising the State of Palestine, the latest country to do so during the war in Gaza, saying it was against “violence towards civilian populations.” Shortly after the former Soviet republic announced the recognition, Israel’s foreign ministry said it summoned Yerevan’s ambassador for a “severe reprimand”.
In photos: Palestinians search through rubble after Israeli strikes in Gaza City.
Earlier on Saturday, the director of the Hamas-run government media office said at least 42 people were killed in the strikes on districts of Gaza City, in the north of the Palestinian territory.
The Israeli military said IDF fighter jets struck two Hamas military infrastructure sites in the area.
Israeli drone carries out 'precise strike' in Lebanon
An Israeli drone carried out a “precise strike” in the Beqaa area in Lebanon, the IDF have said.
The military said the strike was carried out “in order to eliminate” a weapons supplier for Hamas.
It comes after the UN secretary general António Guterres said he was profoundly concerned by escalating tensions between Israel and Lebanon’s Hezbollah and that UN peacekeepers are working to calm the situation and prevent miscalculation.
Tens of thousands of people have already fled their homes following Israeli strikes in south Lebanon.
Updated
Food piles up at Gaza crossing as aid agencies say unable to work
Days after Israel announced a daily pause in fighting on a key route to allow more aid into Gaza, chaos in the besieged Palestinian territory has left vital supplies piled up and undistributed in the searing summer heat.
More than eight months of war have led to dire humanitarian conditions in the Gaza Strip and repeated UN warnings of famine with outside aid severely restricted.
Desperation among Gaza’s 2.4 million population has increased as fighting rages, sparking warnings from aid agencies that they are unable to deliver aid including vegetables.
Israel says it has let supplies in and called on agencies to step up deliveries.
“The breakdown of public order and safety is increasingly endangering humanitarian workers and operations in Gaza,” the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, known as OCHA, said in a briefing late Friday.
“Alongside the fighting, criminal activities and the risk of theft and robbery has effectively prevented humanitarian access to critical locations.”
The United States sanctioned an extremist Israeli group last week, accusing it of blocking convoys and looting and burning trucks trying to deliver humanitarian aid to Palestinian civilians in Gaza.
NGO Doctors Without Borders said on Friday that six trucks with 37 tons of supplies, mostly essentially medical items, have been held up at the Egyptian part of Kerem Shalom since 14 June.
“This is incomprehensible and unacceptable,” it said in a statement.
“It’s like asking a fireman to watch a house filled with people burn down, and preventing him putting out the fire.”
More now on those air strikes on Gaza City.
Dozens of Palestinians have been killed in two densely populated locations.
According to initial reports in the Israeli media, the bombings were aimed at assassinating a very senior Hamas commander.
Amid initial reports of tens of casualties, including some still buried under the rubble, the Israel Defense Forces said in a statement it had struck Hamas “military infrastructure sites”.
The strikes hit the Al-Shati neighbourhood, known as Beach camp, and Al Tuffah district, which were both struck by significant explosions, killing at least 42 people according to Ismail Al-Thawabta, the director of the Hamas-run government media office.
Emergency services had earlier described large numbers of casualties, many of whom were taken to Al Ahli hospital.
Footage shared by social media users showed a scene of substantial destruction in the al Shati neighbourhood, streets thick with dust and smoke and a rising column of smoke.
Pro-Palestinian protesters spray University of Cambridge building in England
Pro-Palestinian protesters have sprayed the University of Cambridge’s historical Senate House in red paint.
The Palestine Action group said in a statement on its website that students, in collaboration with the pro-Palestinian group, had sprayed the building.
“The site, used for the university’s upcoming graduation ceremonies, now reflects the Palestinian bloodshed which soaks the university’s financial records, research output, and historical legacy,” the group said.
BREAKING: Cambridge students, in collaboration with Palestine Action, spray historic hall red demanding the University of Cambridge divest from genocide pic.twitter.com/FUDaIJXe99
— Palestine Action (@Pal_action) June 22, 2024
At least 42 killed in Israeli attacks, head of Gaza's media office says
At least 42 people were killed in attacks on districts of Gaza City in the north of the Palestinian enclave on Saturday, the director of the Hamas-run government media office has said.
One strike on houses in Al-Shati, one of the Gaza Strip’s eight historic refugee camps, killed 24 people, Ismail Al-Thawabta told Reuters. Another 18 Palestinians were killed in a strike on houses in the Al-Tuffah neighborhood. He said they were Israeli strikes.
The Israeli military released a brief statement saying: “A short while ago, IDF fighter jets struck two Hamas military infrastructure sites in the area of Gaza City.”
It said more details would be released soon.
Updated
The latest photos coming through the wires show Palestinians taking shelter in a Unrwa school in Khan Younis after an airstrike to a neighbouring house.
The UN has said it is Israel’s responsibility to restore public order and safety in the Palestinian territory so humanitarian aid can be delivered, amid warnings of imminent famine.
More than 37,500 Palestinians killed since 7 October, health ministry says
Israel’s military offensive in the Gaza Strip has killed at least 37,551 Palestinians since Oct. 7, Gaza’s health ministry said on Saturday.
A further 85,911 have been wounded.
A total of 101 Palestinians have been killed and 169 wounded in the past 24 hours, the ministry said in a statement.
Updated
Likely Yemen Houthi rebel attack targets ship in Gulf of Aden
A commercial ship traveling through the Gulf of Aden saw explosions near the vessel, authorities said Saturday, likely the latest attack by Yemen’s Houthi rebels attempting to target the shipping lane.
The apparent fire by the Houthis comes after the sinking this week of the ship Tutor, which marked what appears to be a new escalation by the Iranian-backed Houthis in their campaign of attacks on ships in the vital maritime corridor over the Israel-Gaza war.
Meanwhile, US officials reportedly order the USS Dwight D Eisenhower, the aircraft carrier leading America’s response to Houthi attacks in the Red Sea, to return home.
The Houthis, who have held Yemen’s capital Sana’a since 2014, have not claimed the attack. But it can take them hours or even days to acknowledge their assaults.
The Houthis have launched more than 60 attacks targeting specific vessels and fired other missiles and drones in their campaign that has killed four sailors.
The captain of the ship targeted late Friday saw “explosions in the vicinity of the vessel,” the British military’s United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations centre said.
On Israel’s northern border, doctors prepare underground hospital units, people flee their homes and in rural kibbutz tension hangs in the air, as tensions escalate between Israel and Hezbollah.
Read the full story here:
US assures Israel of full support if war with Hezbollah breaks out
Washington has assured Tel Aviv that it will have its full support if a full-scale war breaks out with Hezbollah, according to a CNN report that quoted an unnamed senior Biden administration official.
The in-person pledge was reportedly made this week when US National Security adviser Jake Sullivan and US secretary of state Antony Blinken met Israeli National Security adviser Tzachi Hanegbi and Israel’s Minister of Strategic Affairs Ron Dermer in Washington DC.
The source said that the US would offer Israel military assistance but not deploy ground troops.
The assurance comes after Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu publicly accused the US of withholding weapons and ammunitions from his country earlier this week, amid a tense back-and-forth between Israeli and US officials.
Tensions have been growing between Israel and Hezbollah after months of intensifying cross-border attacks in southern Lebanon and northern Israel. The Lebanese armed group has warned that there will be “no restraint and no rules and no ceilings” if war breaks out.
Israeli shot and killed in West Bank, IDF says
An Israeli civilian was shot dead in the Palestinian town of Qalqilya in the occupied West Bank on Saturday, Israel’s military has said.
Israeli troops arrived in the area shortly after and were investigating what happened, the military said. It gave no further details.
Israeli public broadcaster Kan reported the man was shot and killed after driving into Qalqilya. His car was later set on fire, it reported.
Violence in the West Bank, already on the rise before the Israel-Gaza war, has further escalated, with stepped-up Israeli military raids and street attacks.
'One miscalculation' on Lebanon-Israel border could ‘trigger catastrophe’, Guterres warns
UN secretary-general António Guterres has warned that the world cannot “afford Lebanon to become another Gaza” as tensions between Israel and the Hezbollah group in neighbouring Lebanon intensify.
“One rash move – one miscalculation – could trigger a catastrophe that goes far beyond the border, and frankly, beyond imagination,” he told reporters on Friday. “Let’s be clear: The people of the region and the people of the world cannot afford Lebanon to become another Gaza.”
Earlier this week the Israeli foreign minister, Israel Katz, said a decision on an all-out war with Hezbollah was coming soon, and Israeli generals announced that they had signed off planning for an offensive into Lebanon.
Iran-backed Hezbollah has been exchanging almost daily rocket fire with Israel since the Gaza war erupted in October, forcing tens of thousands to flee homes on both sides of the border.
Iran’s mission to the United Nations said on Friday that Hezbollah has the capability to defend itself and Lebanon against Israel, warning that “perhaps the time for the self-annihilation of this illegitimate regime has come.”
More on that soonest. In other developments:
Guterres also said it was Israel’s responsibility - as the occupying power in the Gaza Strip - to restore public order and safety in the Palestinian territory so humanitarian aid can be delivered. “Most of the trucks with humanitarian aid inside Gaza are now looted,” Guterres told reporters, adding that Israel prevented the UN from using Palestinian civil police for aid security. “There is total chaos in Gaza and there is no authority in most of the territory.”
A daily “pause” the Israeli military declared in Gaza last weekend to facilitate aid flows has had no impact on deliveries of badly needed aid, the UN’s health agency said Friday. “So overall, we the UN can say that we did not see an impact on the humanitarian supplies coming in since that, I will say, unilateral announcement of this technical pause,” said Richard Peeperkorn, the World Health Organization (WHO) representative in the Palestinian territories. “That is the overall assessment.
Witnesses whose relatives died in one of the bombardments told the AP news agency that Israeli forces fired a second volley that killed people who came out of their tents. “Two tanks climbed a hilltop overseeing Mawasi and they sent balls of fire that hit the tents of the poor people displaced in the area,” one resident told the news agency Reuters.
The Israeli military said the episode was under review but that “there is no indication that a strike was carried out by the IDF” inside the safe zone, using an acronym for the Israeli forces. It did not provide details on the episode or say what the intended targets might have been.
At least 45 Palestinians were killed in Israeli attacks across Gaza on Friday, Reuters reported. The dead included a father and son killed in an Israeli strike on Khan Younis and four municipal workers in Gaza City, with rescue workers still searching for more victims. More than 37,400 Palestinians have been killed in the Israeli onslaught.
Qatar said Friday it was pursuing efforts to “bridge the gap” between Israel and Palestinian militant group Hamas to reach a ceasefire in Gaza and release Israeli hostages held there. “We have continued our efforts without interruption over the last few days,” Qatar’s prime minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani told a news conference in Madrid with Spanish foreign minister Jose Manuel Albares.
Explosions were reported near a ship east of the Yemeni port city of Aden on Friday, Britain’s maritime safety agency UKMTO said. The agency, which did not identify the vessel, said the ship was able to continue its journey and “the crew are reported safe”.
Armenia announced Friday it was recognising the State of Palestine, the latest country to do so during the war in Gaza, saying it was against “violence towards civilian populations.” Shortly after the former Soviet republic announced the recognition, Israel’s foreign ministry said it summoned Yerevan’s ambassador for a “severe reprimand”.
Updated
25 Palestinians killed in shelling near Gaza office of Red Cross, agency says
Hello and welcome to the Guardian’s live coverage of the Israel-Gaza war and its repercussions across the Middle East.
The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) said that 25 people have been killed in a shelling attack that damaged its Gaza office, which is surrounded by hundreds of displaced Palestinians living in makeshift tents.
The health ministry in the Hamas-run territory also said there were 50 injured in the shelling, which it blamed on Israel. The ministry said Israeli shelling on Friday had “targeted the tents of the displaced in the al-Mawasi area”, which is around the ICRC base.
Al-Mawasi had been designated as a humanitarian “safe zone” by Israel and thousands of people had fled there following Israel’s assault on the southern city of Rafah.
The Israeli military said the episode was under review but that “there is no indication that a strike was carried out by the IDF” inside the safe zone. It did not provide details on the episode or say what the intended targets might have been.
Israel has previously bombed locations in the vicinity of al-Muwasi, a rural area with no water or sewage systems and where Palestinians have been living in desperate conditions.
The strike comes less than a month after an Israeli bombing triggered a deadly fire that tore through a camp for displaced Palestinians in southern Gaza, drawing widespread international outrage – including from some of Israel’s closest allies – over the military’s expanding offensive into Rafah.
Updated
