Israeli Hostilities
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Israel’s ‘responsibility’ as ‘occupying power’ to restore order, safety in Gaza: UN
It is Israel’s responsibility – as the occupying power in the Gaza Strip – to restore public order and safety in Gaza so aid can be delivered, the UN spokesperson Farhan Haq said.
“As the occupying power, it is incumbent upon the Israeli authorities to restore public order and safety as far as possible and facilitate safe humanitarian access so that assistance reaches civilians in need,” Haq said.
The risk of crime has “effectively prevented humanitarian access” to critical areas, including Karem Abu Salem (Kerem Shalom), he also said.
Haq’s position was in response to the Israeli military announcing on Sunday that there would be a daily daytime pause in its attacks along a key road in southern Gaza that the UN and aid groups use to access the Kerem Abu Salem crossing from Israel.
Occupied West Bank casualty figures
At least 552 Palestinians have been killed and more than 5,200 wounded in attacks by Israeli forces and settlers across the occupied West Bank since October 7.
Israeli forces have also made at least 9,300 arrests in the same period.
Former Mossad chief says Netanyahu has no vision
Former Mossad chief Tamir Bardo has been quoted as saying on Israel’s Channel 12 that PM Netanyahu has no strategy and no vision for the future.
“All he cares about is staying in power, and he is leading us to disaster. The absolute victory he is talking about will result to more soldiers losing their lives.
“Netanyahu doesn’t hear, doesn’t see, doesn’t think, and he only cares about himself and doesn’t think about the state and he leads us to disaster. All that matters to him is that he remains at the head of the government.”
Cuba joins South Africa’s genocide case against Israel at the ICJ
Cuba has decided to join South Africa’s case at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) over Israel’s alleged genocide in the Gaza Strip, the Cuban Foreign Ministry has announced in a statement.
The ministry said Cuba wants to “contribute as much as possible … to put an end to the genocide committed against the Palestinian people”.
“Israel, with total impunity, protected by the complicity of the US government, ignores its obligations as an Occupying Power under the Fourth Geneva Convention,” the ministry said.
“Genocide, apartheid, forced displacement and collective punishment have no place in today’s world, nor can they be tolerated by the international community. Justice and respect for the UN Charter and international law must prevail,” it added.
Countries including Chile and Spain have also joined South Africa in its case against Israel for alleged genocide in its war on the Palestinian people in Gaza.
Israeli military helicopter comes under surface-to-air missile attack in Rafah: Monitors
Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) fighters participating in the battle for Rafah city fired a surface-to-air (SAM) missile at an Israeli helicopter on Friday, the Institute for the Study of War (ISW) and the Critical Threats Project (CTP) say in their latest joint battlefield report.
The US-based defence think tanks said the helicopter was evacuating Israeli casualties from Rafah when it was targeted by PIJ fighters armed with a Russian model SA-18 Grouse portable missile launcher.
Elsewhere in the Gaza Strip on Friday, Palestinian fighters fired multiple mortars, rockets and rocket-propelled grenades at Israeli forces deployed along the Netzarim Corridor in central Gaza, in Rafah in the south, and at the Karem Abu Salem (Kerem Shalom) border crossing with Israel.
Three rockets were also launched from the Nuseirat area of central Gaza towards Israeli territory on Friday, the ISW/CTP said, adding that all three fell in open areas.
Children starving to death as hunger spreads in Gaza
UN agencies are warning that over one million Palestinians in Gaza could face severe starvation by mid-July.
The hunger crisis is intensifying as Israel continues to block humanitarian aid from entering the region.
The Israeli blockade has left Palestinian parents desperately struggling to keep their children alive.
Israeli military claims ‘no indication’ its troops attacked al-Mawasi tent camp
The Israeli military has claimed there is no evidence that it is responsible for Friday’s deadly attack on a tented camp in the al-Mawasi area of southern Gaza, which has killed 25 people and injured 50 more, the AFP news agency reports.
“An initial inquiry conducted suggests that there is no indication that a strike was carried out by the [Israeli military] in the humanitarian area in al-Mawasi. The incident is under review,” a military spokesman told AFP.
A statement published by the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) described “high-calibre projectiles” landing “within metres” of its office in the encampment, which it said was surrounded by displaced Palestinians living in tents.
The ICRC did not specify who it believed had fired on the camp.
One survivor of the attack told Al Jazeera fire was “consuming” them “from every direction”.
“We had just eaten and were about to sleep and take some rest, and the next we knew was the sound of resounding explosions destroying our places. We find ourselves alone not knowing what to do. We still can’t process what happened,” the survivor said.
At least 45 killed by Israeli attacks across Gaza
A series of deadly Israeli military attacks across Gaza killed at least 45 Palestinians on Friday, the Reuters news agency reports, citing Palestinian Ministry of Health figures.
The largest death toll occurred in the al-Mawasi area, near Rafah in southern Gaza, where an attack by Israeli tanks on a tented camp killed at least 25 people and wounded 50.
In nearby Khan Younis, an Israeli strike also killed three people, including a father and son, according to medical sources.
In Gaza City, northern Gaza, an Israeli air strike on the Shati refugee camp killed 10 people and wounded 17 others. A separate strike on a municipal building in Gaza City also killed five people.
The cause of the final two deaths has not been specified.
UN chief says war in Lebanon would be ‘worst-case scenario’ for region
Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said that the UN continues to support any diplomatic effort to end the violence in Gaza and avoid any spillover into Lebanon.
The UN has about 10,000 peacekeepers in Lebanon and the secretary-general said they are working around the clock to try to de-escalate tensions in the region.
The Secretary-General also said that an all-out war between Hezbollah and Israel would be a worst-case scenario and one that he has worried about for quite some time, but now more than ever.
The secretary-general knows that the best way to avoid any spillover into Lebanon is for Israel’s war on Gaza to end. And that’s why he again called for a cessation in hostilities that would lead to a permanent ceasefire, and one that he says is the only durable solution.
Israeli tanks push deeper into western Rafah as warplanes and artillery pound the city where an armoured vehicle was destroyed by a Hamas-planted improvised explosive device.
Israel bombs Gaza as fears grow of wider war
GAZA STRIP (AFP) - Israel bombed the Gaza Strip where one hospital reported at least 30 dead Friday (Jun 21) and as exchanges of fire and threats over the Lebanon border raised fears of an even wider war.
After further cross-border fire between Israel and Lebanon's powerful Hezbollah movement, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres warned the clashes must not turn Lebanon into "another Gaza".
