Wednesday, June 5, 2024
450 GMT — A resumption of mediated talks between Israel and Hamas on a hostage-release deal would not mean a suspension of the Gaza war, Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant has said.
"Any negotiations with Hamas would be conducted only under fire," Gallant said in remarks carried by Israeli media.
1430 GMT — Gaza at risk of diseases this summer from piled-up waste, NGO warns
Gaza faces unprecedented disease outbreaks this summer caused by piles of uncollected waste rotting in the heat, fuelling further misery for residents already suffering from food shortages, according to Action Against Hunger.
Fenia Diamanti, project coordinator of emergencies at the non-governmental organisation, said that managing rubbish is one of its main concerns, since it can't be removed from the war-torn territory and nor do inhabitants have access to dumps.
"This amount of solid waste all over the strip causes multiple hygiene and sanitation problems," Diamanti said.
"We fear diseases that never appeared in the strip before are going to appear and that will affect the entire population, especially in the summer when temperatures are going to rise."
1405 GMT — Israel war causes ‘catastrophic damage’ to environment in Gaza: UN
Israel’s ongoing war on Gaza has caused catastrophic damage to the natural environment in the enclave, the UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) has said.
"The war in Gaza has upended millions of Palestinian lives and caused catastrophic damage to the natural environment that they depend upon for water, clean air, food and livelihoods," UNRWA said in a statement.
"Restoring environmental services will take decades and cannot even start until a ceasefire," it added.
1352 GMT — Islamic authorities in Jerusalem condemn Israeli ‘assaults’ on Al Aqsa
Islamic authorities in Jerusalem have condemned "assaults" by Jewish settler groups on the Al Aqsa Mosque complex in occupied East Jerusalem.
In a statement, the authorities highlighted that these violations occurred as part of celebrations marking the so-called Jerusalem Day, in reference to Israel’s occupation of East Jerusalem in 1967.
Palestinians accuse Israel of intensifying efforts to Judaize East Jerusalem, including the Al Aqsa Mosque, and erasing its Arab and Islamic identity.
1257 GMT — Hezbollah targets Israel's Iron Dome in Ramot Naftali
Lebanese armed group Hezbollah has said it had targeted Israel's Iron Dome air-defence system in Ramot Naftali with a guided missile.
In West Jerusalem, there was no immediate comment from the Israeli military spokesperson's office.
1214 GMT — Israel establishes military unit to protect settlements near Gaza
The Israeli army has said it has established a military unit to protect Israeli towns adjacent to Gaza.
"The ceremony for the establishment of the Gaza Envelope LOTAR (counter-terrorism) Unit in the Gaza Division took place this week (Monday)," a military statement said.
"The Unit's force will consist of reserve soldiers, veterans of elite units who live in the communities near Gaza or its surroundings and will be on standby for activation in the area," it added.
1118 GMT — Israel must 'await response' after military adviser’s killing in Syria: Iran
Iran's top military commander has warned that Israel "must wait for a response" following the killing of a military adviser in northern Syria earlier this week.
Israel "will pay for the blood" of IRGC serviceman Saeid Abyar, General Hossein Salami, the chief of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard (IRGC), said in a statement published by state media.
"The child-killing Zionist criminals should bear in mind that they wiokll pay the price for the pure blood shed in this crime. They (Zionists) should await (Iran’s) response," the IRGC commander warned.
1111 GMT — Israel court approves temporary ban on Al Jazeera, citing national security
An Israeli court upheld a 35-day ban on Al Jazeera operations in Israel imposed by the government on national security grounds and a minister said he hoped to extend the ban for another 45 days when it runs out on Saturday.
Israeli authorities raided a Jerusalem hotel room used by Al Jazeera as its office on May 5 and said they were shutting the operation down for the duration of the Gaza war, accusing the broadcaster of encouraging hostilities against Israel.
Al Jazeera rejected the accusations as a "dangerous and ridiculous lie" that put its journalists at risk. Wednesday's court ruling retroactively approved a 35-day ban until June 8.
1105 GMT — Palestinian death toll continues to mount in Israel's war on Gaza
More than 36,586 Palestinians have been killed and 83,074 have been injured in Israel's military offensive on Gaza since October 7, 2023, the Gaza health ministry said in a statement.
0900 GMT –– Israel steps up Gaza offensive amid renewed truce efforts
Israel announced a new military campaign in central Gaza where Palestinian medics said dozens of people had been killed in air strikes, complicating expected talks between mediators to try to finalise a ceasefire deal.
At least 44 Palestinians have been killed in Israeli military strikes in central Gaza areas since Tuesday, health officials in the enclave said.
The Israeli military said jets were striking areas in central Gaza while its ground forces were operating in the area of Al Bureij - one of Gaza's long established refugee settlements.
Residents said Israeli forces had sent tanks into Bureij and planes and tanks pounded the nearby settlements of Al Maghazi and Al Nuseirat as well as Deir al Balah.
0907 GMT –– Hundreds of illegal Israeli settlers storm Al-Aqsa Mosque to mark anniversary of East Jerusalem occupation
Hundreds of illegal Israeli settlers stormed the Al Aqsa Mosque complex to mark the 57th anniversary of the Israeli occupation of East Jerusalem.
According to the Jordan-run Islamic Endowments Department in Jerusalem, 812 settlers broke into the Al Aqsa Mosque.
Eyewitnesses told Anadolu news agency that the settlers tried to perform Talmudic rituals in the mosque's complex.
0838 GMT –– Netanyahu says Israel prepared for strong action in the north
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu toured the country's northern border with Lebanon and said Israel was prepared for strong action in the north.
"Whoever thinks that they can harm us and we will sit idly by is making a big mistake," Netanyahu said. "
We are prepared for a very strong action in the north. In one way or another we will restore security to the north."
1108 GMT —Ben-Gvir threatens ruling coalition over Gaza deal details
Israeli far-right minister Itamar Ben-Gvir has said his party would "disrupt" the ruling coalition until Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu discloses details of the prospective Gaza deal amid renewed truce efforts.
Netanyahu still holds a majority in parliament but the national security minister's post on X reveals deepening ruptures in the country's wartime coalition.
1111 GMT — Israel court approves temporary ban on Al Jazeera, citing national security
An Israeli court upheld a 35-day ban on Al Jazeera operations in Israel imposed by the government on national security grounds and a minister said he hoped to extend the ban for another 45 days when it runs out on Saturday.
Israeli authorities raided a Jerusalem hotel room used by Al Jazeera as its office on May 5 and said they were shutting the operation down for the duration of the Gaza war, accusing the broadcaster of encouraging hostilities against Israel.
Al Jazeera rejected the accusations as a "dangerous and ridiculous lie" that put its journalists at risk. Wednesday's court ruling retroactively approved a 35-day ban until June 8.
1105 GMT — Palestinian death toll continues to mount in Israel's war on Gaza
More than 36,586 Palestinians have been killed and 83,074 have been injured in Israel's military offensive on Gaza since October 7, 2023, the Gaza health ministry said in a statement.
0900 GMT –– Israel steps up Gaza offensive amid renewed truce efforts
Israel announced a new military campaign in central Gaza where Palestinian medics said dozens of people had been killed in air strikes, complicating expected talks between mediators to try to finalise a ceasefire deal.
At least 44 Palestinians have been killed in Israeli military strikes in central Gaza areas since Tuesday, health officials in the enclave said.
The Israeli military said jets were striking areas in central Gaza while its ground forces were operating in the area of Al Bureij - one of Gaza's long established refugee settlements.
Residents said Israeli forces had sent tanks into Bureij and planes and tanks pounded the nearby settlements of Al Maghazi and Al Nuseirat as well as Deir al Balah.
0907 GMT –– Hundreds of illegal Israeli settlers storm Al-Aqsa Mosque to mark anniversary of East Jerusalem occupation
Hundreds of illegal Israeli settlers stormed the Al Aqsa Mosque complex to mark the 57th anniversary of the Israeli occupation of East Jerusalem.
According to the Jordan-run Islamic Endowments Department in Jerusalem, 812 settlers broke into the Al Aqsa Mosque.
Eyewitnesses told Anadolu news agency that the settlers tried to perform Talmudic rituals in the mosque's complex.
0838 GMT –– Netanyahu says Israel prepared for strong action in the north
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu toured the country's northern border with Lebanon and said Israel was prepared for strong action in the north.
"Whoever thinks that they can harm us and we will sit idly by is making a big mistake," Netanyahu said. "
We are prepared for a very strong action in the north. In one way or another we will restore security to the north."
0613 GMT –– Explosion at Israeli military base injures nine soldiers
Nine Israeli soldiers have been injured, two of them seriously, when ordnance exploded at a military base in the south, the army said.
"An explosion of munitions occurred on a military base in southern Israel. The incident is under investigation," an army statement said of the Tuesday blast. It added that the injured soldiers were receiving treatment.
Israeli media reported that the explosion took place at a base in the Negev Desert.
However, The Jerusalem Post, citing a source, reported that the explosion was likely caused by a grenade that exploded at the end of a training exercise.
0655 GMT — 70 Israeli MPs back Biden's proposed Gaza peace deal
Seventy Israeli parliamentarians or members of the Knesset backed a Gaza peace deal proposed by US President Joe Boden by signing a campaign launched by families of Israelis held hostage by Hamas.
The families will continue their efforts with Knesset members, hoping to obtain the signatures of 100 lawmakers out of the 120-member Knesset, the Yedioth Ahronoth newspaper reported.
The families announced late Tuesday that they had received signatures from 70 Knesset members urging Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to agree to a prisoner swap with Hamas.
0211 GMT — A response from Palestinian resistance group Hamas on US President Joe Biden's ceasefire proposal is still being awaited, White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan has told reporters.
"We are waiting for a response from Hamas" through the Qatari mediators, Sullivan said.
CIA Director Bill Burns will be in Doha to consult with Qatari mediators on the Gaza ceasefire proposal, Sullivan added. Qatar has been mediating on Gaza between Israel and Hamas.
Israeli hawkish PM Benjamin Netanyahu remains ambivalent and has found "gaps" in Biden's proposal while his extremists partners are averse to any truce deal with Hamas. They have threatened to break the coalition government with Netanyahu if he accepts Biden's deal.
A spokesman for Hamas meanwhile reiterated it could not agree to any deal unless Israel makes a "clear" commitment to a permanent truce and complete withdrawal from besieged Gaza.
2000 GMT — Israel kills 19 Palestinians in Gaza
Israeli shelling and air strikes have killed at least 19 people in central and south Gaza including two policemen who were helping protect humanitarian aid deliveries in the southern city of Rafah, Palestinian medics said.
Seventeen of the killings, they said, occurred in separate Israeli air strikes on the Bureij and Maghazi camps and the city of Deir al Balah in central Gaza, and by early Wednesday Israeli tanks were shelling an area just east of the Nuseirat camp, residents said.
Some told Reuters via chat app that the renewed Israeli military violence was sowing panic, with some families living in Maghazi starting to flee under tank fire, with four shells crashing near a clinic in the camp.
2106 GMT — US House supports sanctions against ICC officials
The US House has passed legislation that would sanction the International Criminal Court [ICC] for requesting arrest warrants for hawkish Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and other Israeli officials.
The 247-155 vote amounts to Congress' first legislative rebuke of the war crimes court since its stunning decision last month to seek arrest warrants for the leaders of Israel and Hamas resistance group.
The move was widely denounced in Washington, creating a rare moment of unity on Israel even as partisan divisions over the war in besieged Gaza.
The White House opposes the legislation, calling it overreach. Both the Republican and Democratic leaders of the House Foreign Affairs Committee acknowledged the bill in question is unlikely to become law and left the door open to further negotiation with the White House. They said it would be better for Congress to be united against the Hague-based court.
2110 GMT — Famine caused by Israel is possibly under way in northern Gaza
An independent group of experts has warned that it's possible that human made famine is under way in northern Gaza but that the war on Gaza and Israeli restrictions on humanitarian access have impeded the data collection to prove it.
"It is possible, if not likely,” the group known as the Famine Early Warning Systems Network, or FEWS NET, said about Israel-caused famine in Gaza.
Concerns about deadly hunger have been high in recent months and spiked after the head of the World Food Program last month said northern Gaza had entered "full-blown famine" after nearly seven months of war.
An area is considered to be in famine when three things occur: 20 percent of households have an extreme lack of food, or are essentially starving; at least 30 percent of the children suffer from acute malnutrition or wasting, meaning they’re too thin for their height; and two adults or four children per every 10,000 people are dying daily of hunger and its complications.
That is according to the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification, a collection of UN agencies, governments and other bodies that in March warned famine was imminent in northern Gaza.
2000 GMT — Egyptian, Qatari, and US delegations to meet on ceasefire negotiations
An Egyptian security delegation is set to meet with Qatari and US counterparts in Doha on Wednesday in attempt to revive Gaza truce negotiations, Egyptian State TV and state-affiliated Al-Qahera News TV channel said, citing sources.
For our live updates from Tuesday, June 4, 2024, click here.
