Closing summary
It is coming up to 2.30pm 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 is a recap of the latest developments:
Protests aimed at pressuring the Israeli government to reach a hostage deal with Hamas began across Israel on Sunday, with demonstrators blocking roads and picketing at the homes of government ministers. The demonstrators took to the streets, blocking rush hour traffic at major intersections across the country. They briefly set fire to tires on the main Tel Aviv-Jerusalem highway before police cleared the way. Another Palestinian official, with knowledge of the ongoing ceasefire deliberations, said Israel was in talks with the Qataris. “They have discussed with them Hamas’ response and they promised to give them Israel’s response within days,” the official told Reuters on Sunday. Israel’s government made no immediate comment on the timing of its deliberations.
In Gaza, Palestinian health officials said at least 15 people were killed in separate Israeli military strikes on Sunday. An Israeli airstrike on a house in the town of Zawayda, in central Gaza, killed at least six people and wounded several others, while six others were killed in an airstrike on a house in western Gaza, the health officials said. Tanks deepened their raids in central and northern areas of Rafah on the southern border with Egypt. Health officials there said they had recovered three bodies of Palestinians killed by Israeli fire in the eastern part of the city.
Hamas is waiting for a response from Israel on its ceasefire proposal, two officials from the Palestinian group said on Sunday. This comes five days after it accepted a key part of a U.S. plan aimed at ending the nine-month war in Gaza. “We have left our response with the mediators and are waiting to hear the occupation’s response,” one of the two Hamas officials told Reuters, asking not to be named.
Lebanon’s Hezbollah movement fired another 20 rockets at northern Israel, leaving one person injured there, the latest cross-border attacks launched in solidarity with Gaza’s Palestinian militant group Hamas. Hezbollah said that “in response to the attack and assassination that the Israeli enemy carried out”, it had targeted “one of the main bases” in northern Israel, west of Tiberias, with “dozens of Katyusha rockets”.
At least 38,153 Palestinians have been killed and 87,828 injured in Israel’s military offensive on Gaza since Oct. 7, Gaza’s health ministry said on Sunday.
Reformist candidate Masoud Pezeshkian has won Iran’s runoff presidential election, beating hardliner Saeed Jalili by promising to reach out to the west and ease enforcement on the country’s mandatory headscarf law after years of sanctions and protests squeezing the Islamic Republic.
The British Royal Navy destroyer HMS Diamond was returning to Portsmouth on Saturday after six months in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden helping to protect shipping from attacks by Yemen’s Houthi rebels. The warship shot down nine drones and a Houthi missile, sailing nearly 44,000 miles (71,000km) and spending 151 days at sea, the Ministry of Defence (MoD) said.
Hezbollah claims attack on Israeli military base
Lebanon’s Hezbollah movement fired another 20 rockets at northern Israel, leaving one person injured there, the latest cross-border attacks launched in solidarity with Gaza’s Palestinian militant group Hamas.
Amid the Gaza war, Israel and Iran-backed Hezbollah have exchanged almost daily cross-border fire and the attacks and rhetoric have escalated over the past month, sparking fears of a full-scale war.
While the exchanges have been largely restricted to the border areas, Israel has repeatedly struck deep inside eastern Lebanon, including on Saturday in a strike that killed a Hezbollah operative.
Early on Sunday, air raid sirens again sounded across northern Israel and the army then reported that 20 rockets were fired, some of which were intercepted by air defence systems.
One person was wounded by shrapnel in Kfar Zeitim near Tiberias, about 30 kilometres (over 18 miles) inside Israel, local police said, adding they were in stable condition.
Hezbollah said that “in response to the attack and assassination that the Israeli enemy carried out”, it had targeted “one of the main bases” in northern Israel, west of Tiberias, with “dozens of Katyusha rockets”.
At least 15 Palestinians killed since dawn, say Gaza health officials
In Gaza, Palestinian health officials said at least 15 people were killed in separate Israeli military strikes on Sunday.
An Israeli airstrike on a house in the town of Zawayda, in central Gaza, killed at least six people and wounded several others, while six others were killed in an airstrike on a house in western Gaza, the health officials said.
Tanks deepened their raids in central and northern areas of Rafah on the southern border with Egypt. Health officials there said they had recovered three bodies of Palestinians killed by Israeli fire in the eastern part of the city.
The Israeli military said on Sunday its forces had killed 30 Palestinian gunmen in Rafah during close combat and airstrikes in the past day.
Hamas says it's waiting for Israeli response on ceasefire proposal
Hamas is waiting for a response from Israel on its ceasefire proposal, two officials from the Palestinian group said on Sunday. This comes five days after it accepted a key part of a U.S. plan aimed at ending the nine-month war in Gaza.
“We have left our response with the mediators and are waiting to hear the occupation’s response,” one of the two Hamas officials told Reuters, asking not to be named.
The three-phase plan was put forward at the end of May by US President Joe Biden and is being mediated by Qatar and Egypt. It aims to end the war and free about 120 Israeli hostages being held by Hamas.
Another Palestinian official, with knowledge of the ongoing ceasefire deliberations, said Israel was in talks with the Qataris.
“They have discussed with them Hamas’ response and they promised to give them Israel’s response within days,” the official, who asked not to be named, told Reuters on Sunday.
Israel’s government made no immediate comment on the timing of its deliberations.
Hamas, which controls Gaza, has dropped a key demand that Israel first commit to a permanent ceasefire before signing an agreement. Instead, it said it would allow negotiations to achieve that throughout the six-week first phase, a Hamas source told Reuters on Saturday.
A Palestinian official close to the peace efforts has said the proposal could lead to a framework agreement if embraced by Israel and would end the war.
Israeli protesters urging Gaza deal block roads
Protests aimed at pressuring the Israeli government to reach a hostage deal with Hamas began across the country on Sunday, with demonstrators blocking roads and picketing at the homes of government ministers.
Protests began at 6:29 am (03:29 GMT), corresponding to the time of Hamas’ Oct. 7 assault on Israel, according to Israeli media.
The demonstrators took to the streets, blocking rush hour traffic at major intersections across the country. They briefly set fire to tires on the main Tel Aviv-Jerusalem highway before police cleared the way.
Efforts to secure a hostage deal between Israel and Hamas in Gaza after nine months of war have gained momentum in recent days, with officials expressing optimism but saying “gaps” remain between the sides.
Small groups with megaphones and banners also protested outside the houses of a number of ministers and coalition lawmakers.
“Total failure! Total failure!” a small crowd yelled outside the house of cabinet minister Ron Dermer, a member of Netanyahu’s inner circle.
Some Israelis disagree with the protesters’ aims, and are pressing prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government to spurn a deal and keep fighting until all the country’s objectives have been met.
Updated
Opening summary
Welcome to our continuing live coverage of the Israel-Gaza war and wider Middle East crisis. Here’s a snapshot of the latest news.
Israel carried out deadly airstrikes in the Gaza Strip as the war entered its tenth month on Sunday, with fighting raging across the Palestinian territory and fresh diplomatic efforts under way to halt the violence.
Israel has said it will send a delegation in the coming days to continue truce talks with Qatari mediators which began recently in Doha.
But a spokesperson for Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister, said “gaps” remained with Hamas on how to secure a ceasefire and hostage release deal, Agence France-Presse reported.
Meanwhile, the fighting in Gaza continued unabated, with the Palestinian Red Crescent saying on Sunday that the bodies of six people, including two children, who were killed in Israeli strikes had arrived at al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in the central city of Deir al-Balah.
Paramedics also said on Sunday that six people had been killed in an Israeli strike on a house in a northern area of Gaza City.
On Saturday, Gaza’s Hamas-run health ministry said 16 people had been killed in a strike on a school run by the UN agency for Palestinian refugees (Unrwa) that was sheltering displaced people in Nuseirat, central Gaza.
The Israeli military said its aircraft had targeted “terrorists” operating around the al-Jawni school.
In other developments:
Hamas has accepted a US proposal to begin talks on releasing Israeli hostages, including soldiers and men, 16 days after the first phase of an agreement aimed at ending the Gaza war, a senior Hamas source has told Reuters. The militant group has dropped a demand that Israel first commit to a permanent ceasefire before signing the agreement, and would allow negotiations to achieve that throughout the six-week first phase, the source said on condition of anonymity because the talks are private.
At least 38,098 Palestinians have been killed and 87,705 others injured in Israel’s military offensive on Gaza since 7 October, Gaza’s health ministry said on Saturday.
Reformist candidate Masoud Pezeshkian has won Iran’s runoff presidential election, beating hardliner Saeed Jalili by promising to reach out to the west and ease enforcement on the country’s mandatory headscarf law after years of sanctions and protests squeezing the Islamic Republic.
The British Royal Navy destroyer HMS Diamond was returning to Portsmouth on Saturday after six months in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden helping to protect shipping from attacks by Yemen’s Houthi rebels. The warship shot down nine drones and a Houthi missile, sailing nearly 44,000 miles (71,000km) and spending 151 days at sea, the Ministry of Defence (MoD) said.
