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Israel claims to have killed senior Hamas weapons expert
In its latest operational update, Israel’s military has claimed to have killed a senior Hamas figure, and said it is continuing operations in Rafah.
In a statement the IDF said:
Following IDF intelligence, IAF aircraft eliminated the terrorist Muhammad Salah, who was responsible for projects and development in Hamas’ weapons manufacturing headquarters. Salah was part of a project to develop strategic weaponry for the Hamas terrorist organisation, and he commanded a number of Hamas terrorist squads that worked on developing weapons.
The statement continued “IDF troops are continuing intelligence-based, targeted operations in the Rafah area”. It also said troops were operating in “central Gaza”.
The claims have not been independently verified.
Key events
Unrwa chief says world should ‘push back’ against Israel’s attempts to have it disbanded
The head of the United Nations Palestinian refugee agency (Unrwa) on Monday called to push back against efforts by Israel to have the organisation disbanded.
“Israel has long been critical of the agency’s mandate. But it now seeks to end Unrwa’s operations, dismissing the agency’s status as a UN entity supported by an overwhelming majority of Member States,” UNRWA chief Philippe Lazzarini said at a meeting of the agency’s advisory commission.
“If we do not push back, other UN entities and international organizations will be next, further undermining our multilateral system,” Reuters reports he added.
An Israeli court has extended the detention of Rasha Hirzallah, a journalist working for the Palestinian news agency Wafa. She is to be detained until 11 August.
She was initially told she would be detained for 72 hours in early June.
The Committee to Protect Journalists records that as of 24 June, 108 journalists and media workers have been among those killed during the war since 7 October 2023. 103 of them were Palestinian, two were Israeli, and three Lebanese. In May 2024 Benjamin Netanyahu’s Israeli government banned the Al Jazeera news network from operating in Israel.
An Israeli commission investigating suspected wrongdoing in government purchases of submarines and missile boats from Germany issued a warning to prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday.
Reuters reports the panel notified Netanyahu that based on evidence gathered thus far, it could ultimately determine that he had used his position as prime minister between 2009 and 2016 to greenlight the purchases without due process.
Opponents of Netanyahu have frequently accused him of wishing to prolong the war against Hamas by refusing to do a hostage release and ceasefire deal because it acts as a distraction against accusations of corruption levelled against him.
A statement from the prime minister’s office said that “History will prove that prime minister Netanyahu was right on this issue … and made the right decisions for the security of Israel.”
This image sent to us over the news wires shows the funeral of Palestinian doctor Hani al-Jaafarawi, Gaza’s ambulance and emergency teams chief, after he was reportedly killed overnight in an Israeli strike on al-Daraj clinic in Gaza City.
Peter Beaumont
Peter Beaumont in Jerusalem has this latest news story for the Guardian
Israel’s prime minister has said the most intense phase of the assault against Hamas in Gaza is coming to an end, freeing up forces to move to the Lebanese border, where escalating exchanges of fire with the militant group Hezbollah have increased fears of a wider war.
In his first public interview with a Hebrew-language network outlet during more than eight months of conflict, Benjamin Netanyahu also walked back on his commitment to a US-backed ceasefire proposal with Hamas, instead suggesting a far more limited offer.
Netanyahu made the remarks on Israel’s rightwing Channel 14 as the top US military officer warned of the risk that Iran would be drawn into a wider war with Hezbollah, threatening US forces in the region.
“We will have the possibility of transferring some of our forces north, and we will do that,” Netanyahu said in the interview, which was frequently interrupted by applause from the studio audience.
He said he hoped a diplomatic solution to the crisis could be found but vowed to solve the problem “in a different way” if needed. “We can fight on several fronts and we are prepared to do that,” Netanyahu added.
The prime minister said the offensive in Gaza would have to continue with “mowing” operations – targeted strikes aimed at preventing Hamas from regrouping.
Read more here: Intense phase of Israel’s war with Hamas near end, says Netanyahu
Israel claims to have killed senior Hamas weapons expert
In its latest operational update, Israel’s military has claimed to have killed a senior Hamas figure, and said it is continuing operations in Rafah.
In a statement the IDF said:
Following IDF intelligence, IAF aircraft eliminated the terrorist Muhammad Salah, who was responsible for projects and development in Hamas’ weapons manufacturing headquarters. Salah was part of a project to develop strategic weaponry for the Hamas terrorist organisation, and he commanded a number of Hamas terrorist squads that worked on developing weapons.
The statement continued “IDF troops are continuing intelligence-based, targeted operations in the Rafah area”. It also said troops were operating in “central Gaza”.
The claims have not been independently verified.
Director of Gaza’s ambulance and emergency department killed by Israeli strike – reports
An Israeli airstrike at a medical clinic in Gaza City killed the director of Gaza’s ambulance and emergency department, the territory’s health ministry has said.
Reuters reports the health ministry said the killing of Hani al-Jaafarawi brought the number of medical staff killed by Israeli fire since 7 October to 500. At least 300 others have so far been detained.
Overnight the Palestinian news agency Wafa reported that two medical staff had been killed in a strike on the al-Daraj clinic. Additionally it reports that one Palestinian civilian was killed in an Israeli strike to the south-east of Gaza City.
The claims have not been independently verified. It has not been possible for journalists to independently verify the casualty figures being issued during the conflict.
Al Jazeera reports that on its Telegram channel, the Al-Quds Brigades has claimed an attack on Israeli ground troops operating inside Rafah.
The claims have not been independently verified.
Here are some of the latest images sent to us over the news wires from Israel and Gaza.
Haaretz reports that another anti-government demonstration has blocked a highway in Israel.
It quotes the protesters as saying:
When hostages are abandoned in Gaza, the north is set on fire and another war is about to break out, the government is forsaking all of our lives.
Traffic was blocked on route 2, with the movement calling for a general strike in Israel to force Benjamin Netanyahu’s government to either strike a hostage release deal with Hamas or call an election.
Palestinian news agency Wafa has reported that Israel has detained at least 59 Palestinians near Ramallah in the Israeli-occupied West Bank.
Wafa reports Israeli forces “also detained dozens of young men and interrogated them on the ground before releasing them”.
The detentions took place during raids on Silwad, east of Ramallah, and Kafr Nimah, to the west of the city.
Israel has detained thousands of Palestinians from the Israeli-occupied West Bank since the 7 October attack, adding to thousands that were in Israeli detention prior to that date.
B’Tselem, the Israeli information centre for human rights in the occupied territories, said in a 23 June update that, according to the latest figures released by Israeli security forces, “At the end of March 2024, the Israel Prison Service (IPS) was holding 8,611 Palestinians in detention or in prison on what it defined [as] ‘security’ grounds, including 1,141 from the Gaza Strip. At that time, the IPS was also holding 1,556 Palestinians, 7 of them from the Gaza Strip, for being in Israel illegally.”
This chart from B’Tselem indicates that detention levels in 2023 and 2024 have reached levels not seen since 2008, including a vast increase in “administrative detainees”.
Germany’s foreign minister Annalena Baerbock has announced she is to visit Lebanon, describing the situation there as “worrying”.
Israel and anti-Israeli forces including Hezbollah have repeatedly exchanged fire over the UN-drawn blue line that separates the two countries since 7 October. Tens of thousands of people in northern Israel and southern Lebanon have been displaced from their homes by the violence.
Over 400 people, including at least 80 civilians, are reported to have been killed inside Lebanon by Israeli military action. At least 25 people, including civilians, have been killed inside Israel. It has not been possible for journalists to independently verify the casualty figures being issued during the conflict.
Israel’s military has reported that overnight it has repeatedly struck at target inside Lebanon.
It claims to have struck “a Hezbollah military structure” and “Hezbollah operational infrastructure sites”. The claims have not been independently verified.
It says that as a result of “an anti-tank projectile attack in the area of Metula” two members of Israeli forces have been injured.
Greece’s foreign minister said on Monday that threats by Lebanon’s Iran-backed Hezbollah against Cyprus were unacceptable and the EU would stand by member states against all such threats.
“It is absolutely unacceptable to make threats against the sovereign state of the EU,” Reuters reports Greek foreign minister George Gerapetritis told the media on arrival in Brussels for a monthly foreign ministers meeting.
“We stand by Cyprus and we will all be together in all kinds of global threats coming from terrorist organisations.”
Last week Hezbollah chief Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah warned of a war “without rules or ceilings”, saying “Opening Cypriot airports and bases to the Israeli enemy to target Lebanon would mean that the Cypriot government is part of the war, and the resistance will deal with it as part of the war.”
Cypriot president, Nikos Christodoulides, responded to the Hezbollah threat by saying “Cyprus is not part of the problem. Our role, as manifested, for example, through the humanitarian corridor, is recognised not only by the Arab world but by the entire international community.”
The UK maritime trade operations agency (UKMTO) said on Monday it has received a report of an incident 246 nautical miles southeast of Yemen’s Nishtun.
Reuters reports UKMTO added that authorities are investigating the incident.
Yemen’s Houthis have repeatedly attacked shipping which it claims is linked to Israel. It says it is doing so in support of Palestininians while Israel’s assault on Gaza continues.
The EU deployed a maritime mission to the area earlier this year, and the US and UK have carried out strikes inside Yemen intended to reduce the Houthi capability to target shipping.
Welcome and summary
Hello and welcome to the Guardian’s continuing coverage of the Israel-Gaza war and the wider Middle East crisis.
Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said that fighting in Gaza is entering a less intense phase, which would allow Israel to deploy more forces to the north, close to Lebanon.
“After the intense phase is finished, we will have the possibility to move part of the forces north. And we will do this. First and foremost for defensive purposes. And secondly, to bring our [evacuated] residents home,” Netanyahu said in an interview with Israel’s Channel 14.
His comments came as the top US general said that an Israeli offensive in Lebanon has the potential to increase the risk of a broader conflict that draws in Iran and Iran-aligned militants.
Air force Gen Charles Brown, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said “Hezbollah is more capable than Hamas as far as overall capability, number rockets and the like. And I would just say I would see Iran be more inclined to provide greater support to Hezbollah,” Brown.
More on that in a moment, first here’s a roundup of the day’s other main news.
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Israel’s defence minister has flown to meet senior Biden administration officials in Washington for what he has described as “critical” talks over the twin conflicts with Hamas in Gaza and Hezbollah in Lebanon. Yoav Gallant, accompanied by the Israel Defense Forces’ deputy chief of staff, will meet the US defence secretary, Lloyd Austin, as well as the secretary of state, Antony Blinken, and Joe Biden’s special envoy, Amos Hochstein.
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Israel’s Iron Dome anti-missile batteries risk being overwhelmed in the opening strikes of any significantly escalated conflict with Hezbollah. The assessment delivered by US officials late last week, echoing recent analysis by experts in Israel and the United States, comes amid fears that a war with Hezbollah could be a far more dangerous undertaking than the devastating 2006 second Lebanon war, when Israeli bombing caused huge destruction in Lebanon.
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Israeli troops tied a wounded Palestinian man, Mujahed Azmi, to a military vehicle during a raid in the occupied West Bank city of Jenin, the army said Sunday, admitting that soldiers had violated operational procedures. Footage of the incident, which occurred on Saturday, has gone viral and shows Azmi, a Jenin resident strapped horizontally to the bonnet of a military Jeep being used as a human shield as it passes through a narrow alley.
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Eight Palestinians were killed on Sunday in an Israeli airstrike on a training college near Gaza City being used to distribute aid, Palestinian witnesses said, as Israeli tanks pushed further into the southern city of Rafah. The strike hit part of an industrial college run by the UN Palestinian refugee agency Unrwa, the witnesses said. Unrwa and the Israeli military did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
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The EU’s foreign affairs chief has called for an independent probe into a shelling which damaged the office of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) in Gaza. In a post on social media, Josep Borrell said the EU condemned the shelling which also “led to dozens of casualties”. The ICRC reported on Saturday that heavy-calibre projectiles “landed within metres” of its office and residences, killing at least 25 people. “An independent investigation is needed and those responsible must be held accountable,” Borrell said.
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