Summary of the day …
Israel’s prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu 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
Netanyahu’s finance minister, Bezalel Smotrich, has said it is “My life’s mission is to thwart the establishment of a Palestinian state”. He told a meeting of the Religious Zionism party “We will establish sovereignty in Judea and Samaria [an Israeli name for the occupied West Bank], first on the ground and then through legislation. I intend to legalise the young [illegal] settlements”
Germany’s foreign minister, Annalena Baerbock, will make her eighth trip to the region since the 7 October attacks. She is to hold talks in Israel, the West Bank and Lebanon with a view to contributing to de-escalation amid fears of war with Hezbollah. At an EU foreign ministers’ meeting in Luxembourg before leaving for Tel Aviv, Baerbock said “the images from Gaza and thoughts of the still-held hostages from Israel are heartbreaking”
Unrwa chief Philippe Lazzarini said the international community should push back against Israel’s efforts to have the UN agency for Palestinian refugees 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. If we do not push back, other UN entities and international organizations will be next, further undermining our multilateral system”. 193 Unrwa personnel have been killed in Gaza since Israel began its assault on the territory
In its latest operational update, Israel’s military has claimed to have killed a senior Hamas figure who was responsible for projects and development in Hamas’ weapons manufacturing headquarters, and said it is continuing operations in Rafah and in central Gaza
An Israeli airstrike at a medical clinic in Gaza City killed Hani al-Jaafarawi, the director of Gaza’s ambulance and emergency department, the territory’s health ministry has said
The Al-Quds Brigades has claimed an attack on Israeli ground troops operating inside Rafah
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
An Israeli commission investigating suspected wrongdoing in government purchases of submarines and missile boats from Germany issued a warning to Netanyahu on Monday. The panel notified the prime minister 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. 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”
Officials from Hamas and Fatah have both blamed each other behind the scenes for the cancellation of proposed talks on a reconciliation to be held in China
Lebanon’s national news agency has reported that one member of a civil defence team working to put out a fire in the southern Lebanese town of Taybeh was injured by shrapnel from Israeli artillery fire
Greece’s foreign minister said on Monday that threats by Iran-backed Hezbollah against Cyprus were unacceptable and the EU would stand by member states against all such threats
Lebanon’s national news agency has reported that one member of a civil defence team working to put out a fire in the southern Lebanese town of Taybeh was injured by shrapnel from Israeli artillery fire.
