Summary of the day …
US envoy Amos Hochstein said on Tuesday that Washington was seeking to avoid “a greater war” following an escalation in fire between Hezbollah and the Israeli military along Lebanon’s southern frontier in recent weeks. Hochstein described the situation along the border as “serious”
Lebanon’s prime minister Najib Mikati said his nation did not seek “escalation”, but cautioned that there should be an end to “the ongoing violations of Lebanese sovereignty and the acts of systematic killing and destruction committed by Israel”. On Monday an Israeli spokesperson said they would secure the return of displaced Israelis to their homes “militarily or diplomatically”
In its latest update Israel’s military claims it continues to carry out “precise, intelligence-based, operational activity in the Rafah area, eliminating numerous terrorists”, and that it continues “operational activity” in the central Gaza Strip, where it claims to be “eliminating terrorists in close-quarters combat”. The claims have not been independently verified
At least 37,372 Palestinians have been killed and 85,452 wounded in Israeli attacks on Gaza since 7 October, Gaza’s Hamas-led health ministry has announced. It has not been possible for journalists to independently verify the casualty figures being issued during the conflict
17 people were reported killed by Israeli strikes in “two separate attacks on homes in Nuseirat accommodating displaced families who had recently evacuated from Rafah”. Al Jazeera reported “The first strike killed ten people, including women and children. Five of them were from the same family. An hour later, the second attack targeted another family’s home. The victims include not only the parents and their children, but also the grandparents.”
The UN human rights chief on Tuesday warned that the rights situation in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem, was drastically deteriorating, while there had been “unconscionable death and suffering” in Gaza. Volker Türk, UN high commissioner for human rights, said as of 15 June, 528 Palestinians, 133 of them children, had been killed by Israeli security forces or settlers since October, in some cases raising “serious concerns of unlawful killings”
The conflict in Gaza has created unprecedented soil, water and air pollution in the region, a United Nations report said on Tuesday. Israel’s official social media account accused the UN, under the leadership of secretary-general António Guterres, of becoming “a tool for Hamas propaganda”
Israeli police last night dispersed anti-government protesters from outside Benjamin Netanyahu’s house. The protest called for immediate elections and the release of the remaining hostages being held captive in Gaza. Police were criticised for the use of what protest organisers called “the illegal use of force”, with video footage appearing to show one woman being dragged by her hair as police attempted to arrest her, and reports that the eyesight of a doctor is threatened after she was struck by water cannon. Nissim Vaturi, a lawmaker in Netanyahu’s party, said anti-government protesters were “a branch of Hamas”
Here are some of the latest images from Gaza sent to us over the news wires.
Islamic Resistance in Lebanon claims to have successfully struck an Israeli tank with a drone near the UN-drawn blue line that separates Israel and Lebanon.
The national news agency in Lebanon is carrying some quotes from prime minister Najib Mikati after he spoke to US special envoy Amos Hochstein.
It quotes Mikati saying:
Lebanon does not seek escalation, and what is required is to stop the ongoing Israeli aggression against Lebanon and return to calm and stability on the southern border.
We continue to seek to stop the escalation, restore security and stability, and cease the ongoing violations of Lebanese sovereignty and the acts of systematic killing and destruction committed by Israel
The continuing Israeli threats to Lebanon will not prevent us from pursuing our endeavors to establish tranquility, which is a priority for us and all of Lebanon’s friends.
Tens of thousands of people in northern Israel and in southern Lebanon have been displaced by frequent exchanges of fire between Israel and anti-Israeli forces in Lebanon, chiefly Hezbollah.
Israel has killed more than 400 people inside Lebanon since 7 October, a toll which has included at least 80 civilians among the targeted assasinations of senior Hezbollah figures. At least 16 soldiers and 11 civilians have been killed on the Israeli side of the UN-drawn blue line which separates the two contries.
The conflict in Gaza has created unprecedented soil, water and air pollution in the region, a United Nations report said today, Reuters reported.
Explosive weapons have generated some 39 million tons of debris, the report said.
“All of this is deeply harming people’s health, food security and Gaza’s resilience,” said UNEP Executive Director Inger Andersen.
The deputy mayor of Jerusalem, Arieh King, has written to the municipal sanitation department asking for garbage removal services from the French consulate building to be suspended.
Nevertheless, the Jerusalem City Hall told AFP that garbage collection would continue at the French consulate.
“The Jerusalem municipality removes trash from all parts of the city on a professional basis and provides the best service to all its residents,” it said.
King’s letter came after the French defence minister, Sebastien Lecornu, told French media it was inappropriate to host Israeli weapons manufacturers and defence firms at an expo.
The Israeli defence minister, Yoav Gallant, has rejected a French initiative for a tripartite commission with the US and Israel to calm tensions as concerns mount over the continuing escalation with Hezbollah in the north.
Gallant said last last week that “as we fight a just war, defending our people, France has adopted hostile policies against Israel. In doing so, France ignores the atrocities committed by Hamas against Israeli children, women and men. Israel will not be a party to the trilateral framework proposed by France.”
הצרפתים פוגעים בישראלים בצרפת?
— אריה קינג Arieh King (@arieh_king) June 18, 2024
בוא נענה להם באותה מטבע בצורה סמלית, פה בירושלים בירת ישראל. pic.twitter.com/z7c3OJK1ST
A social media account run by Israel’s foreign ministry has criticised the UN secretary-general, António Guterres.
“UN your silence speaks volumes,” it said.
Under the leadership of @antonioguterres the UN has become a tool for Hamas propaganda.
— Israel ישראל (@Israel) June 18, 2024
🔴Guterres used terminology which seemingly justified the Oct 7 attacks
🔴Guterres failed to add Hamas to the sexual violence blacklist
🔴Under Guterres' leadership, the UN has yet to… pic.twitter.com/UXwmVSaHCV
Haaretz reports that a fire has been started in an open area near Metula in northern Israel after a rocket launch from Lebanon.
At least 37,372 Palestinians have been killed and 85,452 wounded in Israeli attacks on Gaza since 7 October, Gaza’s Hamas-led health ministry has announced. It has not been possible for journalists to independently verify the casualty figures being issued during the conflict.
US envoy Amos Hochstein has said that he “had a very a good discussion” with the speaker of Lebanon’s parliament Nabih Berri. AFP reports Hochstein said:
Speaker Berri and I had a very a good discussion. We discussed the current security and political situation in Lebanon as well as the deal on the table right now with respect to Gaza, which also presents an opportunity to end the conflict across the blue line (that seperates Israel and Lebanon). A ceasefire in Gaza and, or, an alternative diplomatic solution could also bring the conflict across the blue line to an end.
Here are some images of the aftermath of Israeli strikes in Deir al-Balah as Palestinians search through the wreckage of homes.
US special envoy Amos Hochstein has met with speaker of the parliament of Lebanon Nabih Berri in Beirut.
Alarms have sounded in northern Israel after a possible drone infiltration from Lebanon. Haaretz reports it is the first time for two days there has been a warning in the north.
US envoy Amos Hochstein said on Tuesday that Washington was seeking to avoid “a greater war” following an escalation in fire between Hezbollah and the Israeli military along Lebanon’s southern frontier in recent weeks.
Hochstein described the situation along the border as “serious” and said that was why US president Joe Biden had dispatched him to Lebanon. Hochstein was in Lebanon for one day of meetings after a brief trip to Israel.
He said:
The conflict along the blue line between Israel and Hezbollah has gone on for long enough. Innocent people are dying, property is damaged, families are shattered and the Lebanese economy continues to decline. The country is suffering for no good reason. It’s in everyone’s interest to resolve it quickly and diplomatically.
The UN human rights chief on Tuesday warned that the rights situation in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, was drastically deteriorating, while there had been “unconscionable death and suffering” in Gaza.
Reuters reports Volker Türk, UN high commissioner for human rights, said “The situation in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, is dramatically deteriorating.”
He continued to say that as of 15 June, 528 Palestinians, 133 of them children, had been killed by Israeli security forces or settlers since October, in some cases raising “serious concerns of unlawful killings.”
Al Jazeera reported earlier today that Israeli security forces had detained five people near Ramallah in the Israeli-occupied West Bank.
The national news agency in Lebanon reports that US special envoy Amos Hochstein is expected to visit prime minister Najib Mikati in his Beirut home within the next hour.
Hochstein was in Israel yesterday speaking to government and opposition leaders, in an attenpt to defuse the conflict between Israel and Hezbollah forces which has displaced tens of thousands of people from northern Israel and southern Lebanon.
Here are a couple of images that have been sent to us over the news wires from the Al-Aqsa martyrs hospital in Gaza as wounded people have arrived after an Israeli strike on the Nuseirat refugee camp in Deir al-Balah which is reported to have killed 17 Palestinians.
The Times of Israel reports that the eyesight of Dr Tal Weissbach, who was volunteering as a doctor at last night’s anti-government demonstration in Jerusalem, is at risk due to damage caused by being hit by a water cannon last night.
Prof Hagai Levine, a leader in the White Coats activist group, told the paper “According to witnesses, Dr Weissbach did not pose any threat and did not participate in any violent actions. Her injury was caused by the illegal use of force by the police.”
Other footage from the protest has emerged which appears to show police dragging one woman by the hair as they attempt to arrest her.
עוד רגע אלים מאותו מעצר, השוטרים תופסים אשה מהשיער וגוררים אותה תוך כדי מעצר https://t.co/p7lz94szRO pic.twitter.com/28VTtM5fpu
— Bar Peleg (@bar_peleg) June 18, 2024
In its latest update Israel’s military claims it continues to carry out “precise, intelligence-based, operational activity in the Rafah area, eliminating numerous terrorists”, and that it continues “operational activity” in the central Gaza Strip, where it claims to be “eliminating terrorists in close-quarters combat”.
Yesterday the health authority in Gaza raised the death toll of those killed during Israel’s military operations to more than 37,347, and claimed that 85,372 have been wounded since 7 October.
17 Palestinians reported killed by double Israeli strike on Nuseirat refugee camp
Reporting from Deir al-Balah in central Gaza, Hani Mahmoud of Al Jazeera has said that it has been “another bloody night across central Gaza”.
He reports 17 people were killed in “two separate attacks on homes in Nuseirat accommodating displaced families who had recently evacuated from Rafah”.
He said “The first strike killed ten people, including women and children. Five of them were from the same family. An hour later, the second attack targeted another family’s home. The victims include not only the parents and their children, but also the grandparents.”
Al Jazeera has been banned from operating inside Israel by Benjamin Netanyahu’s government.
Overnight Israel’s military reported that warning sirens that sounded in kibbutz Sufa, which is close to the border with Gaza in southern Israel, were a “false identification”.
Local media sources report that a number of people have been killed in the Gaza Strip overnight in separate Israeli strikes on the Nuseirat refugee camp after a night described as “heavy bombardment”. Palestinian news agency reports seven people were killed, although some sources have put the number higher.
In addition Al Jazeera reports that two people have been killed “in an Israeli bombing on al-Rashid street in central Gaza.”
The claims have not been independently verified. It has not been possible for journalists to independently verify casualty figures being issued during the conflict.
Likud MK compares anti-government protests in Israel to 'a branch of Hamas'
A lawmaker from Benjamin Netanyahu’s Likud party has likened people protesting against the government in Israel to “a branch of Hamas”.
The Times of Israel reports that MK Nissim Vaturi, speaking on a radio station, said “there are a few branches of Hamas – the fighting branch of wicked terrorists who murder children, and the branch of the protests.”
Anti-government protesters converged on Jerusalem on Monday, calling for new elections in an effort to replace the prime minister. Discontent is mounting about the conduct of the war in Gaza and anti-government groups have called for a week of daily protests.
People were injured and multiple arrests were made at last night’s demonstration outside Netanyahu’s Jerusalem home.
Opening summary
Hello and welcome to the Guardian’s live coverage of the Israel-Gaza war.
Two key Democrats in the US Congress have agreed to support a major arms sale to Israel that includes 50 F-15 fighter jets worth more than $18bn, the Washington Post has reported, citing three unnamed officials.
Representative Gregory Meeks and Senator Ben Cardin have signed off on the deal under heavy pressure from the Biden administration after the two lawmakers had for months held up the sale, the Post reported.
“Any issues or concerns Chair Cardin had were addressed through our ongoing consultations with the [Biden] administration, and that’s why he felt it appropriate to allow this case to move forward,” Eric Harris, communications director for the senate foreign relations committee, told the Post in a statement.
Meeks told the paper that he had been in close contact with the White House and had urged them to pressure Israel over humanitarian efforts and civilian casualties. He said the F-15s would not be delivered until “years from now,” according to the Post.
More on that soonest. In other key developments:
Benjamin Netanyahu dissolved the Israeli war cabinet that had been overseeing the conflict in Gaza, rebuffing far-right allies who had been seeking seats, and apparently moving to solidify his grasp on decision-making over the fighting with Hamas in Gaza and Hezbollah in Lebanon. The prime minister announced the move to ministers on Monday, saying the war cabinet had been established as part of an agreement in which the moderate politician Benny Gantz and his National Unity party joined an emergency coalition last year, and was no longer needed now Gantz had left government
News of the disbandment came as thousands of Israelis protested against Netanyahu’s government on Monday over the Gaza war and failure to negotiate the release of scores of hostages still held in the Palestinian territory. Protesters travelled to Jerusalem to rally outside the Israeli parliament and Netanyahu’s residence, clashing with police and urging new elections as part of what has been dubbed a week of disturbance by activists. Nine people were arrested
A senior envoy from the Biden administration met Netanyahu for talks aimed at averting a deepening conflict between Israel and the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah, after Israel warned over the weekend that it was on the brink of a “wider escalation”. Amos Hochstein also met Israeli defence minister, Yoav Gallant, on Monday before flying to Lebanon where he will meet Nabih Berri, the octagenerian speaker of the Lebanese parliament and leader of the Amal movement, who has represented Hezbollah’s views to western interlocutors
Unrwa chief Philippe Lazzarini said the agency has not seen a change in the position on the ground since Israel’s military announced it would take tactical pauses in its action to facilitate the delivery of humanitarian aid in Gaza on Sunday. He told reporters in Oslo “operationally, nothing has changed yet. For the time being, I see nothing which would qualify to the definition of a pause”
Residents of Rafah said Israeli forces were advancing deeper into the central and western areas of the southern Gaza city under heavy fire from the ground and the air on Monday. Armed groups led by Hamas were fighting from close range inside the Al-Shaboura camp in the heart of Rafah, according to militants and residents, who reported hearing sounds of non-stop explosions and gunfire
A senior Israeli negotiator told AFP Monday that tens of hostages held by Hamas in Gaza are certainly alive and that Israel cannot accept halting the war until all captives are released in a deal. Hamas militants seized 251 hostages on 7 October, of whom Israel believes 116 remain in Gaza, including 41 who the army says are dead. “Tens are alive with certainty,” the official said on condition of anonymity as he was not authorised to speak publicly on the issue
The Palestinian Authority could collapse in the coming months, Norwegian foreign minister Espen Barth Eide said on Monday, 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
Eight Palestinians were killed by Israeli fire as merchants and civil guards waited for commercial trucks along the eastern road of the Gaza Strip, which is designated for commercial trucks to roll on, health officials told Reuters on Monday
