We are now closing this blog but you can read all our Gaza coverage here.
Summary of the day …
Antony Blinken has said there is a “sense of urgency” around proposals for an immediate ceasefire, confirming that Egyptian mediators had spoken to Hamas earlier today. While he refused to be drawn on details of the conversations, the US secretary of state said his country greatly appreciated the role being played by Egypt, but also said that everybody in the region needed to apply pressure to Hamas to get them to accept the deal that was on the table. Senior Hamas official Sami Abu Zuhri told Reuters Blinken’s comments were “biased to Israel” and that his stance is a real obstacle to reaching an agreement
However the prospect of a hostage deal between Israel and Hamas appears to be rapidly receding after the far-right Israeli cabinet member Bezalel Smotrich – on whom Benjamin Netanyahu is now reliant after the resignations of more moderate ministers at the weekend – said he would oppose a deal. Smotrich’s comments, during a Knesset committee meeting, came amid the fallout from the resignation of the former army chief of staff Benny Gantz from the war cabinet. Gantz quit on the same weekend that Israel rescued four Israeli hostages held in Gaza in an operation that Gaza’s health ministry said killed more than 270 Palestinians and injured hundreds more
The US is to try to shore up support for its proposed Gaza ceasefire deal by asking the 15-strong UN security council in New York to back a resolution supporting the deal. Washington is struggling to gain the unequivocal backing of Israel or Hamas for a three-stage deal proposed by the US president, Joe Biden
NBC News in the US is carrying claims that officials from Biden’s administration have discussed potentially negotiating a unilateral deal with Hamas to secure the release of five Americans being held hostage
Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi on Monday stressed the importance of international efforts to remove obstacles to delivery of aid to the Gaza Strip during his meeting with Blinken
The Palestine Red Crescent Society has criticised Israel for continuing to keep the Rafah border closed, calling it “an enforcement of collective punishment” while Gaza suffers what it describes as “acute levels of famine”
The health ministry in Gaza has issued new casualty figures, claiming that 37,124 Palestinians have been killed during Israel’s military campaign in the territory, with 84,712 injured. It has not been possible for journalists to independently verify the casualty figures being issued during the conflict
Pro-Palestine activists have targeted twenty branches of Barclays Bank in the UK, vandalising them in protest at the bank investing in fossil fuels and in arms trades involving Israel
Australian prime minister Anthony Albanese has asked activists to “turn the heat down” after the US consulate in Sydney was damaged in what appeared to be an act of pro-Palestinian support
Lebanon’s Hezbollah militia said it had attacked an Israeli military post in the Golan Heights with a “squadron of drones” on Monday.
Reuters reports that in a statement, the group said it had injured Israeli soldiers and caused part of the outpost to catch fire.
The claims have not been independently verified. Israel’s military is yet to comment.
Hamas official: Blinken comments show 'bias to Israel' and give cover for Israel's actions in Gaza
Senior Hamas official Sami Abu Zuhri told Reuters on Monday that US secretary of state Antony Blinken’s Gaza ceasefire comments were “biased to Israel” and that his stance is a real obstacle to reaching an agreement.
“Blinken’s speech during his visit to Egypt is an example of bias to Israel and it offers an American cover to the holocaust conducted by the occupation in Gaza,” the news agency reports he said.
Speaking after meeting Egypt’s President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi in Cairo, Blinken had earlier said “My message to governments throughout the region, to people throughout the region, is if you want a ceasefire, press Hamas to say yes.”
Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi on Monday stressed the importance of international efforts to remove obstacles to delivery of aid to the Gaza Strip during his meeting with US secretary of state Antony Blinken, according to a statement by the Egyptian presidency.
Sisi and Blinken agreed to intensify joint efforts to reach a ceasefire in Gaza and an exchange of hostages, Reuters reports the statement added.
Blinken: there is a 'sense of urgency' to get an immediate ceasefire
Antony Blinken has said there is a “sense of urgency” around proposals for an immediate ceasefire, confirming that Egyptian mediators had spoken to Hamas earlier today.
While he refused to be drawn on details of the conversations, the US secretary of state said his country greatly appreciated the role being played by Egypt, but also said that everybody in the region needed to apply pressure to Hamas to get them to accept the deal that was on the table.
He said “None of us can put ourselves in the minds of Hamas” and he said he did not know what their answer to the proposals would be.
Blinken said in the absence of a “day after” plan for Gaza there were only three options for Gaza, which would either leave Israel in occupation, Hamas returning to government, or a total power vacuum. He said none of those options were viable.
Blinken said “It is imperative that there be a plan. And that has to involve security. It has to involve governance. It has to involve reconstruction.”
Asked about his intention to meet with Benny Gantz, who quit Benjamin Netanyahu’s government at the weekend, Blinken said “I think on virtually every trip to the region I’ve met with leaders in Israel whether part of the government or not”.
He said it wasn’t for the US to decide who was in the Israeli government, but added he would continue to meet people who lead major political parties in Israel.
Updated
Antony Blinken is speaking to the media at the airport as he is about to depart Egypt. We will bring you the key lines that emerge.
US to ask UN security council to back Joe Biden’s Gaza peace deal
Patrick Wintour is diplomatic editor for the Guardian
The US is to try to shore up support for its proposed Gaza ceasefire deal by asking the 15-strong UN security council in New York to back a resolution supporting the deal.
Washington is struggling to gain the unequivocal backing of Israel or Hamas for a three-stage deal proposed by the US president, Joe Biden, that would lead to the release of all the remaining hostages in return for Israel accepting steps towards a permanent ceasefire and the eventual withdrawal of its forces from Gaza – two key Hamas demands.
After months of failed peace efforts, Biden went public on 31 May on a plan for an initial cessation of hostilities that would turn into a permanent ceasefire and the full withdrawal of the Israel Defense Forces from Gaza.
The draft UN resolution backing his proposal suggests the move to phase two and the permanent end of hostilities will occur “on the agreement of both parties”, but says if the negotiations to reach that stage take longer than six weeks, “the ceasefire will continue as long as the negotiations continue”.
Diplomatic sources said a security council vote was planned for Monday but had not yet been confirmed.
Read more here: US to ask UN security council to back Joe Biden’s Gaza peace deal
Pro-Palestine activists have targeted twenty branches of Barclays Bank in the UK, vandalising them in protest at the bank investing in fossil fuels and in arms trades with Israel.
The Evening Standard reports that three people were arrested in London after a branch in Moorgate was vandalised with graffiti. The BBC reports that in Edinburgh rocks were thrown through the windows of one branch which were inscribed with the names of Palestinians killed during Israel’s ongoing assault on Gaza.
BREAKING: Palestine Action and @shut_system target 20 Barclays branches across England and Scotland!
— Palestine Action (@Pal_action) June 10, 2024
Our collaboration demanding divestment from Israel’s weapons trade and fossil fuels has left the bank shattered. pic.twitter.com/ZSUMf06tCy
A spokesperson for Barclays said “While we support the right to protest, we ask that campaigners do so in a way which respects our customers, colleagues and property.”
Reuters reports that it has been told that US secretary of state Antony Blinken will also meet with Benny Gantz when he is in Israel tomorrow. Gantz quit Benjamin Netanyahu’s war cabinet at the weekend.
NBC News in the US is carrying what it describes as an exclusive, in which it claims that officials from Joe Biden’s administration have discussed potentially negotiating a unilateral deal with Hamas to secure the release of five Americans being held hostage in Gaza.
The news network reports:
Negotiations would not include Israel and would be conducted through Qatari interlocutors, as current talks have been, said two current senior US officials and two former senior US officials, all of whom have been briefed on the discussions.
The Biden administration has said it believes Hamas is holding five American hostages who were abducted during the 7 October terrorist attack on Israel. US officials are also hoping to recover the remains of three additional US citizens who are believed to have been killed on that day by Hamas, which then took their bodies into Gaza.
The officials did not know what the US might give Hamas in exchange for the release of American hostages. But, the officials said, Hamas could have an incentive to cut a unilateral deal with the US because doing so would likely further strain relations between the US and Israel and put additional domestic political pressure on Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
The Palestine Red Crescent Society has criticised Israel for continuing to keep the Rafah border closed, calling it “an enforcement of collective punishment” while Gaza suffers what it describes as “acute levels of famine”.
The Israeli Occupation continues to close off the #Rafah Crossing amidst imminent acute levels of famine across the Gaza Strip.
— PRCS (@PalestineRCS) June 10, 2024
📌 This enforcement of collective punishment on the Palestinian population in #Gaza not only further exacerbates the humanitarian situation in the… pic.twitter.com/8suRJK6dP1
Haaretz reports that an Israeli has been wounded by shrapnel near the UN-drawn blue line that separates Israel and Lebanon when a rocket fell in kibbutz Kabri in the north-west of Israel.
Palestinian news agency Wafa is reporting that five people have been killed and 30 others wounded as a result of Israeli bombing on Rafah, in the south of the Gaza Strip.
It also reports that at least 30 Palestinians – including a child and a woman – were rounded up by Israeli security forces in the occupied West Bank during the past day. The number of Palestinians detained by Israeli forces in the occupied West Bank since 7 October is now reported to stand at over 9,000.
Additionally Wafa reports that a family in Masafer Yatta, south of Hebron, were attacked by Israeli settlers, who uprooted olive and almond trees.
The claims have not been independently verified. It has not been possible for journalists to verify casualty figures being issued during the conflict.
Antony Blinken arrives in Egypt for talks ahead of visit to Israel
US secretary of state Antony Blinken has arrived in Egypt. He is expected to meet with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi in Cairo before traveling to Israel where he will meet with Benjamin Netanyahu and Yoav Gallant.
It is Blinken’s eighth trip to the region since 7 October, and he is expected to push for the ceasefire deal which US president Joe Biden has been backing.
The visit comes amid discouraging signs, and after a weekend in which over 200 Palestinians were killed as Israel staged a rescue of four of the hostages held in Gaza by Hamas.
Prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a statement “We are committed to total victory” and that he is not prepared “to stop the war without achieving our goals of eliminating Hamas.”
A senior Hamas official, meanwhile, has said the onus is on the US “to put pressure on the occupation to stop the war on Gaza.”
The health ministry in Gaza has issued new casualty figures, claiming that 37,124 Palestinians have been killed during Israel’s military campaign, with 84,712 injured.
The claims have not been independently verified. It has not been possible for journalists to verify casualty figures being issued during the conflict.
Finance minister Smotrich: releasing detained Palestinians in hostage swap deal could lead to 'murder of many Jews'
Israel’s finance minister Bezalel Smotrich has said that releasing Palestinians held in Israeli detention in return for hostages could lead to “the murder of many Jews”.
Speaking at a Knesset finance committee session which was attended by family members of hostages still held in the Gaza Strip, Smotrich said Hamas was demanding the release of “hundreds of murderers”.
Haaretz quotes him saying:
This could lead to the murder of many Jews. When Hamas demands to end the war while it’s surviving in Gaza, it means that the group is arming itself, digging tunnels, buying rockets and that many Jews could be murdered and taken hostage on another 7 October.
This is the dilemma we are facing. And it is painful. It is our responsibility as leadership to think not only about the current situation, but also about its long-term consequences.
He said the Israeli government could not agree to any move that would amount to “collective suicide”.
The meeting erupted into a shouting match, with one family member of a hostage suggesting that Smotrich should offer to take their place in captivity. Another, according to Hebrew news website Ynet, said “You will take responsibility. There are 120 abductees. You will replace 120 Knesset members with 120 abductees.”
On Sunday former military chief Benny Gantz resigned from Benjamin Netanyahu’s government, potentially ushering in more political instability evan as Israel continues it months-long campaign against Hamas inside the Gaza Strip.
Gantz had given the prime minister a deadline to produce a “day after” proposal for Gaza, and has accused him of pushing strategic considerations such as a hostage deal aside for his own political survival.
Here are some of the latest images sent to us over the newswires from the Al-Aqsa Martyrs hospital in Deir al-Balah, where Palestinians are grieving over more people who have been killed by Israeli airstrikes.
Haaretz reports that a house in the northern Israeli kibbutz of Menara has caught fire after a rocket was fired from Lebanon.
Australian prime minister Anthony Albanese has asked activists to “turn the heat down” after the US consulate in Sydney was damaged in what appeared to be an act of pro-Palestinian support.
Albanese said “People are traumatized by what is going on in the Middle East, particularly those with relatives in either Israel or in the Palestinian occupied territories. And I just say, again, reiterate my call to turn the heat down and measures such as painting the U.S. consulate do nothing to advance the cause of those who have committed what is, of course, a crime to damage property.”
Windows were damaged and inverted red triangles were painted on the building.
Associated Press reported that New South Wales premier Chris Minns said “We can make our point in this country without resorting to violence or malicious behavior.”
Hind Khoudary, reporting from Deir al-Balah in central Gaza for Al Jazeera, writes that:
Israeli forces have withdrawn from the eastern part of Deir al-Balah, but it is a very sad morning. Civil defence teams were able to bring the bodies of five people who were killed in the area. We’re expecting them to bring more bodies from eastern Deir al-Balah. There have been a couple of airstrikes in the area after the Israeli forces withdrew.
Last month Benjamin Netanyahu’s Israeli government banned Al Jazeera from operating inside Israel. An Israeli court recently upheld the decision.
Reuters reports that ahead of Antony Blinken’s visit to the region, senior Hamas official Sami Abu Zuhri has urged the US to pressure Israel to end the war in Gaza.
“We call upon the US administration to put pressure on the occupation to stop the war on Gaza and the Hamas movement is ready to deal positively with any initiative that secures an end to the war,” he said.
Neither Hamas or Israel have been able to agree any kind of ceasefire or hostage deal since December.
Palestinian news agency Wafa reports widespread bombardment of the Gaza Strip is continuing, with Israeli artillery shelling multiple areas. It said “a number of citizens were killed, and others were left with various injuries” without providing specific numbers.
It reported “Two citizens were killed, and others sustained various injuries, as a result of the occupation aircraft bombing a house in Shujaiya neighbourhood, east of Gaza City.”
Wafa also reports that in the West Bank a 15-year-old child has been killed by Israeli forces near Tubas and a 21-year-old student was killed by Israeli forces near Tulkarm.
The claims have not been independently verified.
Antony Blinken’s expected trip to the Middle East today is the eighth time the US secretary of state has visited the region since the surprise 7 October attack inside southern Israel by Hamas.
Blinken is set to meet with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi in Cairo before traveling to Israel where he will meet with Benjamin Netanyahu and Yoav Gallant.
Opening summary
Hello and welcome to our continuing live coverage of the Middle East crisis. The future of Israel’s war cabinet, formed after the Hamas attacks of 7 October, is uncertain after former defence minister Benny Gantz resigned in protest at Benjamin Netanyahu’s handling of the Gaza war.
Gantz, the leader of the centre-right National Unity party, said: “Netanyahu is preventing us from progressing towards a true victory” and called for fresh elections, having set a deadline of 8 June for the prime minister to present concrete “day after” plans for the Gaza Strip.
The turmoil in Israeli politics comes amid international anger at the scale of devastation in central Gaza’s Nuseirat refugee camp as a result of the operation to rescue four Israeli hostages. The EU’s foreign minister, Josep Borrell, condemned the attack as a “massacre” of Palestinian civilians, and urged a ceasefire, saying: “The bloodbath must end immediately.”
Hamas has warned that conditions would worsen for the remaining Israeli captives after the raid at the weekend in which at least 274 Palestinians were reported killed by Gaza’s Hamas-run health ministry. The ministry also said about 700 people were wounded in the operation that was centred on the Nuseirat refugee camp in central Gaza. The operation resulted in the rescue of four Israeli hostages who had been held captive since Hamas’ 7 October attack on Israel.
Noa Argamani, Almog Meir, Andrey Kozlov and Shlomi Ziv were freed during the operation. Israel has used its military to return seven hostages since the outbreak of the war, with over 100 thought to remain in Gaza, many of whom are believed to be dead.
Hamas claimed three Israeli hostages were killed in the rescue operation, including a US citizen. No evidence was provided and the Guardian could not independently verify the claims. Hamas has released a video showing three unidentifiable corpses with censor bars over their faces.
US secretary of state Antony Blinken was heading back to the Middle East on Monday to push a ceasefire plan, but political upsets in Israel and silence from Hamas raised further questions as to whether he can succeed.
Israel continued to attack central Gaza on Sunday. Reuters reported that separate Israeli airstrikes on houses in the city of Deir Al-Balah and in nearby Al-Bureij killed three Palestinians in each location earlier today, while tanks shelled parts of nearby Al-Maghazi and Al-Nuseirat.
Israeli tanks also advanced into two new districts of the southern city of Rafah. It appears to be an apparent effort to complete the encirclement of the entire eastern side of the city.
Aid has been delivered into Gaza from a newly repaired American-built pier after it suffered storm damage. In a post on social media, US Central Command confirmed aid was delivered in Gaza via the pier on Saturday morning.
