Live blog: Israel kills several Palestinians waiting for aid trucks in Gaza

1751 GMT — At least eight Palestinians were killed by Israeli fire as merchants and civil guards waited for commercial trucks along the eastern road of Gaza, which is designated for commercial trucks to roll on, health officials have told Reuters.

The eastern road of Gaza is known for its vital role in the movement of goods, serving as a lifeline for the locals.

The Israeli attack came after Tel Aviv announced a "tactical pause" for daytime fighting along roads leading from Kerem Shalom.

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1823 GMT — UN welcomes Israeli ‘tactical pause’ for aid deliveries in Gaza

The United Nations is welcoming Israel’s announcement of a “tactical pause” in fighting on some roads in Gaza and is hopeful this will lead to Israeli authorities lifting all obstacles to aid deliveries for all of the territory.

“As we have reiterated, humanitarian operations in Gaza must be fully facilitated, and all impediments must be lifted,” UN deputy spokesman Farhan Haq told The Associated Press on Monday. “We need to be able to deliver aid safely throughout Gaza.”

The Israeli military announced a “tactical pause” in daytime fighting along roads leading from Kerem Shalom, a main goods crossing with southern Israel, to a north-south highway in Gaza. Shimon Freedman, a spokesman for COGAT, an Israeli defence body that oversees aid distribution in Gaza, said the UN has yet to “take full advantage of the new route.”

1806 GMT — US-UK strikes on Yemen's Hodeidah, Kamaran: Houthi TV

United States and British forces have carried out at least six air strikes on Yemen's Hodeidah International Airport and four strikes on Kamaran Island near the port of Salif off the Red Sea, Al Masirah TV, the main television news outlet run by Yemen's Houthis, said.

The strikes on Kamaran mark the first time US-led coalition forces have targeted the island since airstrikes on Houthi targets began in early February.

Yemen's internationally-recognised government believes Houthis in the past have used Kamaran Island and Port Salif as sites to launch their Red Sea attacks as well as hide stockpiles of missiles and drones in its salt mines, two military sources within the government told Reuters.

The 10-kilometers of water that stretch from the port of Salif to Kamaran Island are also part of the route that ships must transit through to reach their next port of call.

1747 GMT — Gaza gov't calls world to stop Israel's ‘crime of starvation’

Gaza’s government urged the international community to pressure Israel to stop using “the crime of starvation” to pressure civilians in the enclave.

“The Israeli occupation and the US administration are using aid and food as political leverage against civilians in Gaza, perpetuating famine and worsening humanitarian conditions deliberately,” the government’s media office said in a statement.

Due to the ongoing war and Israeli-imposed restrictions that violate international laws, most of Gaza's approximately 2.4 million residents are facing famine, according to international groups.

The statement stressed that Gaza's residents “are enduring severe humanitarian conditions and a real famine, especially in Gaza City and Northern Gaza.”

It stressed that this situation "violates moral and humanitarian values and international law, exploiting the needs of children, civilians, and patients for political purposes, putting their lives at risk."

1733 GMT — UK approval of arms exports to Israel plunged at the start of Gaza war

Britain's approval of arms export licences to Israel dropped sharply after the start of the war in Gaza, with the value of permits granted for the sale of military equipment to its ally falling by more than 95 percent to a 13-year low.

The figures, which have not previously been reported, are based on information provided by government officials to Reuters and data from the Department for Business and Trade's Export Control unit.

The United States and Germany increased arms sales to Israel after the start of the war with Hamas.

However, the value of British-approved licences between Oct. 7 and Dec. 31 last year dropped to $1.09 million (859,381 pounds), government officials told Reuters. That is the lowest figure for the period between Oct. 7 and Dec. 31 since 2010.

This compares with the government approving 20 million pounds of arms sales to Israel for the same period in 2022, including small arms ammunition and components for combat aircraft, according to government data.

1427 GMT — Hamas slams Israel's burning of Rafah hall as 'criminal act'

The Palestinian group Hamas has condemned the Israeli forces' burning of the departure hall of the Rafah crossing, describing it as a "criminal act and brutal behaviour" that confirms Israel's "genocide in Gaza."

In a statement, the group said the Israeli act of burning the departure hall and other facilities inside the Rafah crossing, rendering it completely inoperable, "requires widespread international condemnation."

It added that Israel "bears the consequences of this crime, which resulted in cutting off Palestinians’ communication with the outside world," and urged international action to open the Rafah crossing, facilitate people travel, and facilitate the entry of humanitarian aid into the strip.

According to an Anadolu reporter, the Israeli army on Monday burned down the departure hall on the Palestinian side of the Rafah crossing, eventually disconnecting Palestinians in Gaza from the outside world.

1541 GMT — Israeli forces claim operational control over 70 pct of Rafah: Media

Israeli forces claimed that it has "operational control" over some 70 percent of the city of Rafah in southern Gaza and aims to complete its military campaign in the area within a few weeks.

“For the past 40 days, the 162nd Division has been conducting ground manoeuvres in Rafah and has achieved full operational control over about 60–70 percent of the city,” the Israeli Broadcasting Authority reported.

It also said that during the occupation of the Philadelphi Corridor, which stretched along the border between southern Gaza and Egypt, dozens of long-range rockets were detected, but their control over the area prevented the rockets from being launched from Rafah.

It also claimed that the army had discovered more than 200 tunnel openings and 25 complete tunnels in the area.

1428 GMT — Israel intercepts aerial target in north amid clashes with Hezbollah

The Israeli army said it had intercepted an aerial target in northern Israel amid a growing escalation in cross-border hostilities with the Lebanese Hezbollah group.

In a statement, the Israeli army said its air defences had intercepted "a suspicious aerial target" near the northern city of Acre after it crossed over from Lebanon.

No casualties were reported from the incident, which did not set off air raid sirens in the area, the army added.

The Lebanese side, Hezbollah in particular, has yet to comment on the incident.

1157 GMT — Seven more Israeli soldiers injured in past 24 hours, military says

Seven more Israeli soldiers have been injured in either skirmishes with Palestinian resistance groups in Gaza or during a cross-border attack with the Lebanon-based Hezbollah group in the last 24 hours.

According to Israeli army figures released on Monday, seven soldiers were injured in the past 24 hours.

1156 GMT — Norway boosts funding for UN Palestinian refugee agency

Norway said that it was increasing its funding to the UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) by $9.3 million (100 million kroner).

"UNRWA is the backbone of the humanitarian response in Gaza," Norway's minister for international development, Anne Beathe Kristiansen Tvinnereim, said in a statement.

"The war, accusations made by Israel, continuous attacks on the organisation and funds withheld by major donors, have put UNRWA in an extremely difficult financial situation," she said.

1153 GMT — Israel kills another journalist in Gaza, death toll reaches 151

Another journalist was killed by Israeli forces in Gaza, bringing the total number of media persons’ deaths to 151 since Oct. 7 of last year, local authorities have said.

In a statement, the Gaza Government Media Office identified the victim as Mahmoud Qasem, who worked for a local news website.

The statement, however, did not elaborate on how or where he was killed.

His death brings the total number of journalists killed in Gaza by Israeli forces to 151 since Oct. 7, the statement noted.

1046 GMT — Palestinian Authority at risk of collapse this summer, Norway says

The Palestinian Authority could collapse in the coming months, Norwegian Foreign Minister Espen Barth Eide has said, citing a lack of funding, continuing violence and the fact that half a million Palestinians are not allowed to work in Israel.

"The situation is extremely dire. The Palestinian Authority, with whom we work closely, are warning us that they might be collapsing this summer," Barth Eide told Reuters.

"If it collapses, you could end up having another Gaza, which would be terrible for everybody, including the people of Israel," he added.

Norway chairs the international donor group to the Palestinians and is a backer of the PA.

1020 GMT — Gaza death toll tops 37,347 in Israeli invasion — officials

The health ministry in Gaza said that at least 37,347 people have been killed in the territory during more than eight months of war between Israel and Palestinian fighters.

The toll includes at least 10 deaths in the past 24 hours, a ministry statement said, adding that a total of 85,372 people had been wounded in Gaza since the war began when Hamas attacked Israel on October 7.

0951 GMT — Biden adviser visits Israel to discuss growing escalation with Lebanon

US President Joe Biden's senior adviser is scheduled to arrive in Israel to discuss the growing escalation between Israel and Hezbollah.

Amos Hochstein is expected to meet with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Yoav Gallant.

Hochstein may also meet Benny Gantz, who quit the emergency government this month over disagreements with Netanyahu on post-war Gaza strategy.

Hochstein played a significant role in the maritime boundary agreement, signed in October 2022, between Israel and Lebanon.

The trip comes at the height of border clashes between Israel and Hezbollah.

0930 GMT — Gaza sees continued hostilities despite Israeli aid pause: UNRWA

Hostilities continue in Rafah and southern Gaza despite the Israeli military's announcement of "tactical pauses" in attacks to allow humanitarian aid to enter, UNRWA chief Philippe Lazzarini, told reporters in Oslo.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu criticised plans announced by the military to hold daily pauses in fighting along one of the main roads into the Palestinian enclave.

0924 GMT — Israeli army raids several areas across West Bank on Eid al Adha

Israeli forces raided several areas across the occupied West Bank and stormed Palestinians' homes, the second day of the Muslim holiday of Eid al Adha, witnesses said.

Witnesses told Anadolu that Israeli forces raided the city of Qalqilya, stormed into homes and vandalized their property.

At least one Palestinian woman, identified as Donia Dawood, was detained before the forces withdrew.

Israeli forces also raided the Aqbat Jabr refugee camp in the city of Jericho, searched several homes and harshly interrogated the residents.

0920 GMT — 2 killed, scores injured as Israel continues air strikes on 2nd day of Eid

The Israeli army continued its assault on Gaza on the second day of Muslims' major festival Eid al-Adha, killing a Palestinian child and an elderly man and injuring several others in an air strike on a home.

The Palestinian Civil Defense said in a statement that its rescue teams "removed two martyrs, a child and an elderly," as well as several injured people, from the rubble of the Muqat family home in the Sheikh Radwan neighborhood of Gaza City.

Despite the Eid al-Adha celebrations, Israeli attacks on Gaza continue, preventing people from meeting and greeting, instead focusing on collecting bodies and injured loved ones, with some searching for them under the rubble of destroyed homes.

0830 GMT — Israeli PM Netanyahu dissolves war cabinet: state media

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has disbanded Israel’s war cabinet, after a forceful request to join came from controversial far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, state media reported.

This also comes after the resignations of Ministers Benny Gantz and Gadi Eisenkot.

"The cabinet was in the coalition agreement with Gantz, at his request. As soon as Gantz left – there is no need for a cabinet anymore," Netanyahu was quoted saying by The Jerusalem Post.

0645 GMT — Israeli airstrikes on al-Bureij camp kill six Palestinians

Israeli airstrikes targeting al-Bureij refugee camp in the central Gaza killed six Palestinians and injured scores, according to WAFA news agency.

They said that Israeli warplanes targeted a house of al-Khatib family in the refugee camp, killing four people, including an infant, and injuring others.

Another air strike targeted a house of an-Najjar family in the refugee camp, resulting in the killing of two people and injuring others.

0519 GMT — The war in Gaza is wiping out entire Palestinian families, one branch at a time. This is how

Israel’s air and ground campaign in Gaza has killed hundreds of family members from the same bloodline, an unprecedented toll on the small community mostly made up of refugees and their descendants.

An Associated Press investigation analysed 10 strikes across Gaza between October and December that killed over 500 people. Nearly every Palestinian family has suffered grievous, multiple losses. But many have been decimated, particularly in the first months of the war.

AP geolocated and analysed the strikes; consulted with weapons investigators; open data-analysts and legal experts; and drew on data by Airwars, a London-based conflict monitor.

They hit residential buildings and shelters with families inside. In no case was there an obvious military target or direct warning to those inside. In one case the family said they had raised a white flag on their building in a combat zone.

Read the full story here.

2300 GMT — Hezbollah 'escalating' its attacks against Israel — Israeli army

The Lebanese Hezbollah group has been "escalating" its attacks against Israel’s northern front, "jeopardising the future of Lebanon", the Israeli army said.

“Hezbollah has launched more than 5,000 rockets, anti-tank missiles and explosive UAVs (unmanned aerial vehicles) since the events of October 7,” army spokesperson Daniel Hagari said at a press conference broadcast by Israel’s Channel 12.

“Hezbollah’s increasing aggression is bringing us to the brink of what could be a wider escalation, one that could have devastating consequences for Lebanon and the entire region,” he said.

Hezbollah has not issued a comment on the Israeli army spokesperson's remarks.

Tensions have risen along Lebanon's border with Israel amid cross-border attacks between Hezbollah and Israeli forces as Tel Aviv presses ahead with its deadly offensive on besieged Gaza.

0145 GMT — Israel's army says it will pause daytime fighting along a route in southern Gaza to help flow of aid

Israel's military announced that it would pause fighting during daytime hours along a route in southern Gaza to free up a backlog of humanitarian aid deliveries for desperate Palestinians enduring a humanitarian crisis.

The “tactical pause," which applies to about 12 kilometres of road in the Rafah area, falls far short of a complete ceasefire in the territory that has been sought by the international community, including Israel's top ally, the United States.

The army said that the daily pause would begin at 8 a.m . (0500 GMT) and last until 7 p.m. (1600 GMT) and continue until further notice. It's aimed at allowing aid trucks to reach the nearby Israel-controlled Karem Abu Salem crossing, the main entry point, and travel safely to the Salah a-Din highway, a main north-south road, the military said. The crossing has had a bottleneck since Israeli ground troops moved into Rafah in early May.

0010 GMT — New Zealand to provide another $5M to World Food Program, UNICEF for Gaza

New Zealand will provide an additional $5 million to the World Food Program and UNICEF for humanitarian support in Gaza, the country’s foreign minister said early Monday.

"The humanitarian situation in Gaza is catastrophic," Winston Peters wrote on X.

“New Zealand will provide a further $5m to the World Food Programme & UNICEF for emergency food, sanitation and health assistance. This brings NZ’s total humanitarian support for those impacted by the Israel-Hamas conflict to $22m," he added.

2200 GMT — Yemen’s Houthis say they targeted 2 ships, US destroyer

Yemen’s Houthi group said Sunday that it targeted a US destroyer and two civilian vessels in the Red Sea and Arabian Sea with ballistic and naval missiles as well as drones.

"In support of the oppressed Palestinian people and in response to the American and British aggression against our country, the (group’s) missile and naval forces carried out two military operations in the Red Sea,” spokespers on Yahya Saree said in a televised speech.

He said the first operation “targeted a US destroyer with several ballistic missiles.”

The second operation "targeted the ship Captain Paris with a number of suitable naval missiles due to the owner's violation of the group's decision to ban entry to the ports of occupied Palestine,” said Saree.

According to Saree, "a third military operation targeted the ship Happy Condor in the Arabian Sea with several drones after the owner violated the decision to ban access to the ports of occupied Palestine.”

There has been no comment from the US regarding the Houthi statement.

For our live updates from Sunday, June 16, 2024, click here.