Live blog: Israel's Gantz exits Netanyahu's coalition, calls for early elex

Sunday, June 9, 2024

1743 GMT — Israeli war cabinet minister Benny Gantz has announced his resignation from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's emergency government amid a months-long war in Gaza.

"We are leaving the unity government with a heavy heart," Gantz said in a televised address.

Gantz also urged Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to hold early elections "as soon as possible".

Gantz, a former military chief, joined Netanyahu’s emergency government shortly after the Oct. 7 Hamas attack.

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1658 GMT — Israel army says senior commander resigns over Oct 7 attack

Israel's army has said that a senior commander had resigned over what he called his failure to prevent the October 7 attack by the Palestinian resistance group Hamas.

"The commander of the 143rd Division, Brigadier General Avi Rosenfeld, informed his commanders today of his intention to end his service in the (Israeli army)," said a statement by the military.

"The officer will finish his duties in the near future."

Rosenfeld wrote in a resignation letter released by the army: "Everyone has to take responsibility for their part, and I am the one responsible in Division 143."

"On October 7, I failed my life's mission: to protect the envelope," he wrote, referring to the southern Israeli communities on the border with Gaza.

1652 GMT — Yemen’s Houthis claim attacks on British destroyer, 2 ships

Yemen’s Houthi group has claimed to have targeted a British destroyer in the Red Sea and two ships in the Arabian Sea.

Houthi spokesman Yahya Saree said their fighters attacked the British destroyer Diamond in the Red Sea with ballistic missiles “in response to the Israeli attack on the Nuseirat refugee camp in the central Gaza Strip.”

The United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) has said that it had received a report of an incident 89 nautical miles southwest of Yemen's port city of Aden, adding that authorities are investigating.

1637 GMT –– Likud member Danny Danon tapped as Israeli envoy to UN

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has appointed his party member Danny Danon as the next ambassador to the United Nations.

Danon will replace Gilad Erdan, whose term has ended.

1515 GMT — Israeli settlers burn Palestinian homes, lands in West Bank

Settlers from the Israeli settlement of Homesh, near Nablus in the occupied West Bank, threw burning tires at Palestinian homes in several areas north of the village, burning a nearby agricultural land to ashes, according to Palestinian news agency Wafa.

Jewish settlers also set a house ablaze in the town of Burqa, north of Nablus in the occupied West Bank.

Since October 7, settler violence against Palestinians and their properties has increased. Attacks by Israeli soldiers and settlers have killed more than 500 people in the occupied West Bank.

1435 GMT — Hamas armed wing says 3 hostages were killed in Israeli operation in Gaza

Hamas' armed wing Qassam Brigades has said in a video posted on its Telegram channel that three hostages were killed, including a US citizen, in an Israeli military operation in which some hostages were freed.

The group did not release the names of those said to be killed, but the video showed what appeared to be three unidentifiable corpses using censor bars over their faces.

1427 GMT — Israel’s Gantz expected to resign from government: Media

Israeli War Cabinet Minister Benny Gantz is expected to resign on Sunday evening, according to Israeli media.

Last month, Gantz set June 8 as a deadline for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to draft a post-war plan in Gaza or he will leave the coalition. On Saturday, however, he delayed his planned press conference.

Gantz, a former defence minister, said early Sunday that he will give a statement to the media in t he evening amid expectations that he will announce his resignation.

1331 GMT — Israel arrests 22 more Palestinians in West Bank raids

The Israeli army has detained 22 more Palestinians in military raids in the occupied West Bank, according to prisoners’ affairs groups.

A woman and a child were among the detainees in the raids that targeted the cities of Jenin, Qalqilya, Tulkarm, Hebron, Ramallah and Jericho, the Commission of Detainees’ Affairs and the Palestinian Prisoner Society said in a joint statement.

The new arrests brought to 9,125 the number of Palestinians detained by the Israeli army in the occupied West Bank since Oct. 7, 2023, according to Palestinian figures.

1149 GMT — Pope Francis urges immediate action to aid war-hit Gaza with 'all means'

Pope Francis has urged the international community to "urgently" take action, using "all means" possible to help the people of Gaza affected by war.

"Humanitarian aid must be allowed to reach those in need, and no one can impede it," the pope said.

He noted that Saturday marked the 10th anniversary of a peace prayer he hosted in the Vatican Gardens, attended by both then-Israeli President Shimon Peres and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.

"This meeting showed that shaking hands is possible, and that to make peace, you need courage much more courage than to make war," he said.

1144 GMT — Gulf bloc condemns Israeli attack on Gaza refugee camp

Kuwait, Oman and the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) have condemned an Israeli attack that killed hundreds in the Nuseirat refugee camp in central Gaza.

At least 274 people were killed and nearly 700 others injured in Israeli bombardment of the camp on Saturday, according to local health authorities.

The Kuwaiti Foreign Ministry termed the Israeli attack as “barbaric” and a “flagrant violation of international law."

It called on the international community and the UN Security Council “to shoulder their responsibilities to stop this barbaric aggression against the Palestinian people."

1128 GMT — Gaza Health Ministry appeals to provide fuel to hospitals amid Israeli onslaught

Gaza’s Health Ministry has issued an urgent appeal to provide fuel for hospital generators in the battered Palestinian enclave.

A ministry statement warned that failure to provide fuel to hospitals would mean “certain death” for patients amid ongoing Israeli attacks on the territory.

“We appeal to the international community and its humanitarian organisations to supply fuel for hospital generators,” the ministry said.

1048 GMT — Israeli army claims to target Hezbollah sites in southern Lebanon

The Israeli army has said that it conducted attacks targeting the Hezbollah group in three areas of southern Lebanon.

In a statement, the army said Israeli "fighter jets launched raids on targets of the Hezbollah organization in southern Lebanon on Saturday night."

It said one of the targets of the attacks was a piece of infrastructure in the Aitaroun area, as well as a "military structure" in the Rab Thaleen area.

1030 GMT — Gaza hospital records scores of malnourished children

A hospital in northern Gaza has recorded 50 Palestinian children suffering from malnutrition in just one week.

Hossam Abu Safiya, director of the Kamal Adwan Hospital, reported the figure in a statement issued.

"The health system in Gaza is a target of the (Israeli) occupation, but we are trying to resume medical services at a minimum despite fuel shortages,” he said.

He noted that “the situation is catastrophic,” stressing that "the spectre of famine looms over Gaza.”

Due to the ongoing war and Israeli-imposed restrictions, essential resources like food, water, medicine, and fuel are scarce.

1003 GMT — Nuseirat refugee camp death toll rises to 274 — health ministry

Gaza's Health Ministry says at least 274 Palestinians have been killed during the Israeli operation, targeting the Nuseirat refugee camp in central Gaza to rescue 4 Israeli hostages.

The ministry said around 700 people were wounded in Saturday’s operation.

0957 GMT — Over 37,000 Palestinians killed in Gaza offensive: ministry

The Gaza Health Ministry reports that the death toll has risen to 37,084 Palestinians killed and 84,494 injured in Israel's military offensive on Gaza since October 7.

0320 GMT — 'Collective agony can and must end now' — UN relief chief

The UN relief chief has voiced concern about an Israeli attack on the Nuseirat refugee camp in central Gaza, which left 210 victims dead and more than 400 injured.

"Today, Nuseirat refugee camp is the epicentre of the seismic trauma that civilians in Gaza continue to suffer.

The images of death and devastation following Israel's military operation there prove that each day this war continues, it only grows more horrific," Martin Griffiths said in a statement.

Griffiths reiterated that nowhere is safe in Gaza and health care in the besieged enclave "is hanging by a thread."

"And even as four hostages are reunited with their families, we are reminded that scores are still being held captive. All of them must be released. All civilians must be protected. This collective agony can and must end now," he added.

0030 GMT — Over 200 killed in Israeli 'complex war crime' in central Gaza

The military wing of Hamas says Israel carried out a 'complex war crime' in the Nuseirat refugee camp in central Gaza, and that would harm Israeli captives.

The spokesperson of the Qassam Brigades, Abu Obaida, said in a statement on Telegram, "What the Zionist enemy carried out in the Nuseirat area in the middle of Gaza is a complex war crime, and the first to be harmed by it were its prisoners."

He added, "By committing horrific massacres, the enemy was able to free some prisoners, but at the same time, it killed some of them during the operation".

Abu Obaida warned that such operation will endanger the Israeli captives held in Gaza impacting their conditions and lives.

On Saturday, Israeli forces rescued four hostages held in Gaza while over 200 Palestinians were killed in air strikes in the same area, according to Palestinian officials in the enclave, in one of the bloodiest Israeli assaults of the war.

0005 GMT — US resumes aid deliveries to Gaza from temporary pier

The United States has resumed aid deliveries to Gaza from a temporary pier, the country's military said, after the structure suffered storm damage and underwent repairs in a nearby port.

"Today at approximately 10:30 am (Gaza time) US Central Command (USCENTCOM) began delivery of humanitarian assistance ashore in Gaza. Today, a total of approximately 492 metric tons (~1.1 million pounds) of much needed humanitarian assistance was delivered to the people of Gaza," CENTCOM said on social media platform X.

The pier was repaired in the Israeli port of Ashdod before being brought back to the Gaza coast and reestablished on Friday.

2100 GMT — Colombia to suspend coal sales to Israel over Gaza war

Colombian President Gustavo Petro announced that his government will suspend coal exports to Israel while it continues its war on besieged Gaza.

"We are going to suspend coal exports to Israel until the genocide stops," the leftist leader wrote on X.

In May, Petro -- who describes Israel's campaign in Gaza as "genocidal" -- announced Colombia would sever ties with Israel over the conflict and open an embassy in Ramallah in the Palestinian territories.

He also said that Bogota would stop purchasing weapons made by Israel, one of the main supplier s of the South American country's security forces.

2030 GMT -- Thousands rally across Israel to demand hostage swap deal with Palestinian factions

Thousands of Israelis held a protest in Tel Aviv’s downtown, demanding a hostage swap deal and the dismissal of Benjamin Netanyahu's government, the Israeli broadcasting authority reported.

Demonstrations were also held at Haifa, Kfar Saba, Caesarea, Ra'anana, and Karkur junctions.

For our live updates from Saturday, June 8, 2024, click here.