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Here’s where things stand on Sunday 1, June 2025:
- Israeli forces open fire on Palestinians gathered at aid distribution sites run by a US-backed group in southern and central Gaza, killing at least 30 people in Rafah and one more near the Netzarim Corridor.
- Hamas is seeking changes to a ceasefire deal proposed by the US, but the country’s Special Envoy to the Middle East, Steve Witkoff, says that the group’s response is “unacceptable”.
- Israel’s war on Gaza has killed at least 54,381 Palestinians and wounded 124,054, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry.
- The Gaza Government Media Office updated its death toll to more than 61,700, saying thousands of people missing under the rubble are presumed dead. An estimated 1,139 people were killed in Israel during the Hamas-led attacks of October 7, 2023, and more than 200 were taken captive.
What is Project Esther, the playbook against pro-Palestine movement in US?
When the Heritage Foundation, a prominent right-wing think tank in the US, released a playbook last year for how to destroy the Palestine solidarity movement, it did not garner much attention.
But more than eight months later, the policy document – known as Project Esther – now faces heightened scrutiny from activists and media outlets, in part because President Trump appears to be following its blueprint.
The authors of Project Esther have presented their report as a set of recommendations for combating anti-Semitism, but critics say the document’s ultimate aim is to “poison” groups critical of Israel by painting them as Hamas associates.
Project Esther was created as a response to growing protests against the US support for Israel’s war on Gaza, which United Nations experts and rights groups have described as a genocide.
So, what is Project Esther, and how is it being applied against activists?
Find out in our comprehensive explainer here.
Eight students, staff at CUNY keep up hunger strike over Gaza war
The group from the City University of New York (CUNY) are continuing the hunger strike that they started on May 27, calling on the institution’s chancellor to divest from Israel-linked companies.
In an op-ed published by Mondoweiss, a US-based news outlet, the group said that CUNY had so far refused to disclose its investments in Israel.
But as of 2021, CUNY had 13 contracts exceeding $8.5m with “companies that aid in, or profit from, zionist colonization, occupation, and war crimes, including Dell, IBM, HP, Lenovo, Cisco, and BMC Software”, they said.
“We refuse to allow our tuition and tax dollars to fund genocide. We refuse to allow our university to profit off our academic research into colonialism while materially investing in the most brutal forms of colonial violence. We will be on hunger strike until CUNY divests,” they added.
Another Palestinian killed in Israeli shooting at US-backed aid hub in central Gaza
We’ve been following an Israeli attack on the GHF’s aid site in southern Rafah, which killed at least 30 Palestinians and wounded 120 others.
We are now getting reports of another deadly Israeli attack at another GHF site in central Gaza, near the so-called Netzarim Corridor.
At least one person has been killed and another wounded, according to Al Jazeera Arabic.
We’ll bring you more when we have it.
‘We hope to God that we will be rid of this war’
Palestinians are clinging to the hope that a ceasefire deal can be reached.
Motasim, a displaced man in Deir el-Balah, said Palestinians would find a way to feed themselves as long as the war ends.
“We suffered, some of us died of hunger, no one cared about us, no Arab cares about us,” he said.
“We hope to God that we will be rid of this war. We want to stop the bloodshed. We don’t want aid from anyone. We will plant and feed ourselves. We hope to God that the bloodshed in Gaza will stop, the massacres that are taking place daily will stop. We are exhausted. I swear to God, we are exhausted.”
Abu Tamer Haniyeh, another displaced person, said: “A fundamental demand of every Palestinian, young and old, is to stop the war and establish calm so that aid can reach the people properly.”
The sudden surge of genocide critique in the West
More than 600 days into its genocidal war in Gaza, some of Israel’s closest allies have begun to condemn its actions.
Alongside the changing global narrative, growing opposition in Israel to the Netanyahu government’s war methods has seeped into the media coverage, fracturing a consensus that dates back to October 7, 2023.
Saudi top diplomat arrives in Jordan for meeting on Gaza
Saudi Arabian Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud has arrived in Jordan for a ministerial meeting on efforts to end the war and blockade on the Gaza Strip.
The meeting in Jordan is taking place after Israeli authorities blocked the delegation of Arab foreign ministers from gathering in Ramallah in the occupied West Bank this weekend.
Death toll at US-backed aid site rises to 30
We are following an Israeli attack on Palestinians gathered near an aid distribution point set up by the US-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation in Rafah.
Our colleagues at Al Jazeera Arabic say the death toll has risen from 22 to 30 and that at least 120 people have been wounded.
We’ll bring you more when we have it.
US-Israeli aid sites in Gaza are ‘mass death traps, not humanitarian relief points’
The Government Media Office in Gaza has issued a statement confirming Israel’s killing of at least 22 people and wounding of 115 others at a US-backed aid site in Rafah, and said the toll is likely to rise.
It also said the latest killings have taken the toll at such sites to at least 39 in less than a week. More than 220 people have also been wounded.
It said the killings “reflect the nature of these areas as mass death traps, not humanitarian relief points”.
It added: “We confirm to the entire world that what is happening is a systematic and malicious use of aid as a tool of war, employed to blackmail starving civilians and forcibly gather them in exposed killing points, managed and monitored by the occupation army and funded and politically covered by the occupation and the US administration, which bears full moral and legal responsibility for these crimes.”
Here are the details of Hamas’s counter proposal
Al Jazeera has obtained the proposal Hamas presented to the US.
It calls for:
- A 60-day ceasefire in Gaza
- the release of 10 living Israeli captives in three stages
- the return of the bodies of 18 captives
- the entry of unconditional aid into Gaza, through the UN and its aid agencies
- negotiations on a permanent ceasefire to begin on day one
- the Trump administration to guarantee the talks to reach a final settlement to the war.
What is Hamas’s response to Witkoff’s proposal?
The Palestinian group says the proposal the group discussed with Witkoff was different from the one finally presented to it.
Earlier, we spoke to Basem Naim, the head of Hamas’s political and international relations. Here’s what he said:
- One week ago, Hamas agreed with Witkoff on one proposal. The Trump envoy went to the Israelis to get their response and brought Hamas a “totally new” text, which “had nothing to do with what we agreed upon”.
- This new proposal does take into account the “basics of our needs” and does not even guarantee a 60-day temporary ceasefire or the inflow of humanitarian aid into Gaza.
- There are also no guarantees for negotiations to end the war, or a permanent ceasefire or a total withdrawal of troops from the Strip.
- Instead, it “legitimises” the US-Israeli plan for aid distribution in Gaza, which has been rejected by the international community.
- It also only talks about the “redeployment” of Israeli forces inside Gaza, and requires “negotiations from the beginning about the new redeployment plans within the 60 days”.
That’s why, he said, Hamas has sought changes to the proposal, to find a way to guarantee “the minimum of the needs of our people”.
In a statement earlier, the Palestinian group said:
- Its proposal “aims to achieve a permanent ceasefire, a comprehensive Israeli withdrawal from the Gaza Strip and ensure the flow of aid to our people”.
- As part of the agreement, 10 living Israeli captives will be freed and the bodies of 18 others will be returned in exchange for an agreed-upon number of Palestinian prisoners.
Death toll at south Gaza aid site rises to 22
We are following an Israeli attack on a group of young Palestinian men near an aid distribution point run by the US-backed group in Rafah.
Our colleagues at Al Jazeera Arabic say the toll has now risen from 14 to 22.
The number of those wounded has also risen to 115.
What is in Witkoff’s truce proposal?
According to The Times of Israel, the proposed deal calls for:
- A 60-day ceasefire
- Hamas to release 10 living captives and the bodies of 18 others
- Israel to release more than 1,100 Palestinians held in Israeli jails, including some 100 serving long sentences after being convicted of deadly attacks
- Israel to allow humanitarian aid into Gaza
- Israeli forces to pull back from Gaza based on maps to be agreed upon
- Negotiations to begin on a permanent ceasefire, the release of the remaining captives and Israeli “redeployment and withdrawals”.
Has Israel turned Gaza into a starvation camp?
Months of a total Israeli blockade have turned Gaza into the “hungriest place on Earth”, with some 2.3 million Palestinians facing famine.
Hundreds of deaths have been reported due to shortages of food, water and medicine. Tonnes of aid are waiting at the border, but the UN says only a trickle is being allowed through.
So, is Israel using starvation as a weapon of war?
And what effects will famine and hunger have on Palestinians, especially children, in the years to come?
Israeli forces kill 14 Palestinians at US-backed aid site in south Gaza
Our colleagues at Al Jazeera Arabic are reporting that Israeli forces have opened fire near an aid site run by a US-backed group in Rafah, killing at least 14 Palestinians.
More than 50 others were wounded.
We’ll bring you more when we have it.
Photos: Israelis protest for captive deal, ceasefire in West Jerusalem
Netanyahu ‘not interested in ending war on Gaza’
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office has released a statement saying that Israel had agreed to the proposal presented by the US envoy to the Middle East, Steve Witkoff.
The statement pointed the finger at Hamas, saying that they are refusing it, even though the Palestinian group said that this is something they were willing to work with.
But Hamas also wanted some conditions that, perhaps, could lead to negotiations for an end to the war.
It’s been one of their terms since the beginning of these talks, since the ceasefire deal collapsed back in March when Israel resumed its bombardment of the Gaza Strip.
But it’s important to note that from the beginning of these discussions, the Israeli prime minister had been clear that he’s not interested in an end of the war, that he had tough red lines for what it would take for the Israeli assault on Gaza to end.
That included a complete demilitarisation of Hamas and the release of the hostages.
It also included Trump’s plan for removing Palestinians from the Gaza Strip, something that has been denounced and condemned and is widely considered as ethnic cleansing.
So the Israelis, from the beginning, were not interested in negotiating an end to the war, and the Israeli prime minister is pointing the finger at Hamas for why these talks are not going in the right direction.
But Netanyahu is coming under a lot of pressure from the family members of Israeli captives who blame him for why there still hasn’t been a deal.
Doctor who lost 9 of 10 children in Israeli attack dies in hospital
Hamdi al-Najjar, who was wounded in the Israeli air attack that killed his children, has died of his wounds.
Al-Najjar spent days in intensive care.
His 11-year-old son is the sole survivor of the attack.
His wife, Alaa al-Najjar, who is also a doctor, left hours before Israel struck their home to go to work.
Ceasefire unlikely in coming days as Witkoff slams Hamas’s response
Steve Witkoff’s statement puts out a huge question now, which is: where does this go next?
Certainly, US President Donald Trump, speaking on Friday, suggested that he thought Hamas was on the verge of accepting the proposals that have been put forward, saying they were hoping to find a way out of what he described as this mess.
And, of course, in the past, Trump said, if there wasn’t a ceasefire deal and the release of captives pretty quickly, then there would be hell to pay.
But many people will point to the fact that when Netanyahu visited the White House, Trump effectively gave him the green light to do whatever he wanted to do in Gaza.
It seems that the phrase “permanent ceasefire” may have been a huge obstacle. Hamas wanted that included in any agreement, but the Israelis not so much.
But also, we know that there has been international criticism of the US, suggesting that rather than acting as an honest broker, it tends to favour what the Israelis want.
We had the US say that they were prepared to walk away from the Russia-Ukraine talks. They were prepared to walk away from doing a deal with Iran on its nuclear programme.
The question is now, are the US about to walk away from here?
Trump wants to be seen as a peacemaker. So that may be the small sliver of hope here.
But what is clear is that there are not going to be any talks in the near future, and certainly no ceasefire in the coming days.
‘Hungriest place on Earth’, all Gaza at risk of famine, UN warns
The United Nations has issued a stark warning, saying that Gaza is now the hungriest place on earth and its entire population is at risk of famine.
The UN says its mission to help starving Palestinians is the most obstructed in recent history.
This comes as aid agencies accuse the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation – backed by Israel and the US – of helping Israel’s war.
A recap of recent developments
- Hamas says it wants changes in the US-backed proposal for a temporary ceasefire with Israel, saying the current plan offers no guarantees to permanently ending the war and delivering aid.
- Steve Witkoff, the US special envoy for the Middle East, says Hamas’s response “is totally unacceptable and only takes us backward”.
- Israel’s military continues its bombardment of Gaza, killing more than 20 people on Saturday, including a family of five: a mother, a father and their three children.
- Israel’s military orders “all residents” of Khan Younis, Bani Suheila and Abasan in southern Gaza to flee after rockets were fired from the area.
- Foreign ministers of Arab countries who planned to visit the occupied West Bank have condemned Israel’s decision to block their trip.
- The Israeli military says it killed Hamas’s military chief, Mohammed Sinwar, in an attack on May 13, backing Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s announcement this week.
Welcome to our live coverage
Hello, and thank you for joining our live coverage of Israel’s war on Gaza, as well as its attacks on the occupied West Bank and the wider region.
Follow this page for round-the-clock updates and analyses of the latest developments.
You can read about key events from Saturday, May 31, here.
