Mazzaltov World News provides you with the latest live coverage of Current Affairs, Sports, Health, Weather, Entertainment, Business and Travel News from around the world.
Here’s where things stand on Sunday 28 June 2025:
- Israeli attacks across Gaza today have killed at least 47 people, including several aid seekers and children, according to medical sources.
- Israel’s attack on Evin Prison in Iran’s capital killed at least 71 people last week, Iranian judiciary spokesperson Asghar Jahangir says, with the dead including family members of detainees.
- At least 66 children have died of malnutrition in Gaza over the course of Israel’s war, authorities in the territory say.
- Israel’s war on Gaza has killed at least 56,500 people and wounded 133,419, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry. An estimated 1,139 people were killed in Israel during the October 7 attacks, and more than 200 taken captive.
Number of deaths around GHF distribution points ‘extraordinary’
Geoffrey Nice, a human rights lawyer, has talked to Al Jazeera about the potential complicity of the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, the US- and Israel-backed organisation, alongside Israeli forces in the reported killings of civilians near aid distribution points.
“If the overall plan is not to bring humanitarian aid, but to achieve something different, and if that something different is a war crime, then they are complicit in it,” Nice, who also took part in the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia, said, speaking from Dubrovnik, Croatia.
“If the underlying objective is starvation or removal of Palestinians from their land and this organisation is actually a part of that … then they are culpable,” he added, noting how the previous aid system relied on partnerships with local contacts and organisations coordinated by the UN.
“[It] was not associated with deaths of this kind or this number so far as I understand it,” he stressed.
Nice said the “extraordinary” number of deaths cannot be explained by claiming people looked “suspicious” or “strange” as they were in a “desperate” situation.
“You are providing aid to starving people … you must reasonably expect them to behave in a way such people would behave: Desperately,” he concluded.
Today’s death toll in Gaza rises to 47
Israeli attacks across Gaza have killed at least 47 people so far today, according to medical sources.
More than 20 of them were killed in attacks on parts of northern Gaza, where Israeli forces have intensified bombardment.
Israeli cabinet to discuss partial deal for Gaza amid fears it could become permanent
Israel’s centre-right news outlet Israel Hayom is reporting that the cabinet will hold a special session tonight on the future of military operations in Gaza.
The report said security leaders, coalition bloc leaders, and Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer are expected to discuss a partial deal and a temporary ceasefire.
Chief of Staff General Eyal Zamir is scheduled to report on the progress of combat operations, potentially fuelling debate over the extent of Israeli control in Gaza versus Hamas. While the army is expected to claim that it has nearly completed the major ground offensive in Gaza, some government officials are set to reject this, maintaining that Hamas has not yet been defeated and that Israel’s war goals have not been achieved.
The report added that the “Witkoff Plan” – named after US envoy to the Middle East Steve Witkoff – is seen as the most likely path forward. It would allow for a temporary ceasefire and a captive-prisoner exchange, but would not preclude a resumption of fighting later. Zamir is said to support this approach, while Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu maintains his declared goals of wanting to destroy Hamas.
Still, some cabinet ministers fear that if Washington applies enough pressure, a temporary Gaza deal could lead to a “permanent situation.”
Israeli settlers shoot, injure 3 people in West Bank town: Report
A group of Israeli settlers has stormed into the Palestinian town of Hizma, near Jerusalem, and fired shots at residents on the main street, reports Wafa.
The attack wounded three people, including a boy, according to witnesses cited by the agency.
The witnesses said the settlers, who also set fire to a resident’s property, were protected by Israeli forces.
Surge in Israeli attacks across Gaza amid ongoing displacement, hunger
There is a surge in aerial attacks with about 50 aerial attacks across Gaza today, with a particular focus on the eastern part of Gaza City.
Among the targets were residential buildings, tents, people walking in the street, people gathering around water tanks, or people trying to find food in some neighbourhoods.
An average Gazan here has been displaced or pushed into displacement 10 times so far, without access to food or water supplies, without any of the basic necessities to help them survive these difficult conditions.
Meanwhile, there is a systematic campaign of home demolitions in the northern part of the Gaza Strip, and this time it is concentrated in Jabalia.
Hamas slams incursion by Israeli settlers into Al-Aqsa Mosque
Hamas says the move is an escalation in Israel’s “violations of the sanctity of Al-Aqsa Mosque and a desperate attempt to impose control over it”.
The group also condemned the settlers for performing Talmudic rituals in the compound under the protection of the Israeli army and called on the Palestinians in the occupied territory to defend it.
According to the status quo dating back to 1967 at the site, the Israeli government allows the Jordanian-appointed Waqf body to maintain day-to-day control of the area, and only Muslims are permitted to pray there. Israel, however, controls access.
Photos: Thousands of children’s shoes placed in Dutch square in Gaza protest
In Israel, growing signs of potential movement towards Gaza deal
Earlier today, Trump signalled his determination to achieve a ceasefire and secure the release of Israeli captives still held in Gaza.
It’s a bit hard to say no to him, especially if you are the largest recipient of military aid, as the US president reminded everybody in Israel in his social media post.
There are some things happening that could indicate that Netanyahu will be pushing for some sort of deal to go through on Gaza – the Israeli government said it will no longer pay compensation to displaced Israelis from the southern communities for alternative housing.
This invited a response from the families of captives who said if it’s safe for these communities to go back and begin rebuilding, that means there is nothing left to fight for, and the only thing the Israeli government should be doing right now is reaching a deal to get the captives out.
That begins to give you a bit of an inclination of where things could move politically in order to keep Trump happy, given the talk about everything else that may be in store for Israel and the US regionally in terms of normalising deals and so on in the coming period.
Meanwhile, Netanyahu got a one-week postponement in his corruption trial after a meeting during which the judges were told this could be a decisive week politically and in terms of national security and that the Israeli prime minister needed to focus all of his attention on that.
A lot of observers make the point that Trump’s forceful request – and many would say intervention in this judicial process – comes as a way to repay Netanyahu for what he’s about to do – possibly a ceasefire deal in Gaza, possibly other deals in the region.
German police use force at pro-Palestine march in Berlin
Footage shared online by activists shows heated exchanges and violence between German police and pro-Palestine demonstrators in Berlin yesterday.
The footage, verified by Al Jazeera, shows police using force against a large group of protesters, including a 13-year-old boy and a veiled woman. In one video, officers confronted the child as he held up his scarf.
The video below shows police forcibly detaining a woman, causing her veil to be removed.
Four more people killed in Khan Younis and Jabalia
We are getting reports of more deadly attacks in Gaza.
One Israeli air raid targeting a house in northern Gaza’s Jabalia killed at least two people.
Gunfire from Israeli forces to the east of Khan Younis, meanwhile, killed two others.
Gaza Civil Defence reports 22 operations in 24 hours
Gaza’s Civil Defence says its teams have carried out 22 operations in the latest 24-hour reporting period, including firefighting, rescue and medical missions:
- In northern Gaza, crews treated casualties at a house belonging to the Nasr family near the Halima al-Saadiya School in Jabalia and evacuated three wounded people to al-Ahli Arab Hospital after Israeli strikes in the Zarqa area.
- In Gaza City, two bodies and three wounded were pulled from the Abu Kuwaik family home at al-Samer Junction, and more were rescued from the Azzam family house in the Zeitoun neighbourhood.
- Crews also tackled a fire at the al-Nakhala family home on Yaffa Street, removed a collapsing wall in the Remal neighbourhood and evacuated residents from a building hit by a drone strike near Jabalia.
- In central Gaza, a blaze was extinguished at a shop in the Nuseirat refugee camp.
- In Khan Younis in southern Gaza, responders treated two wounded people and recovered the body of a woman killed in the al-Shaer area.
Malnutrition in Gaza’s children surges during ‘enforced starvation’
In Gaza, children are not just dying from bombs. They are also dying from hunger – slowly, painfully and silently.
Doctors said cases of severe acute malnutrition have spiked dramatically in recent weeks, and food shortages are killing the youngest Palestinians first.
“[With] the blockade and the enforced starvation, children across Gaza have become weak,” said Dr Susan Marouf with the Friends of Patients Medical Society in Gaza City. “We managed to help some of the cases and reduce the level of severity. Others, tragically, developed much worse conditions.”
UNICEF says 5,000 children aged six months to five years old have been admitted to hospital for acute malnutrition across Gaza. At least 66 children have died from malnutrition since Israel’s war began in October 2023.
Today’s death toll in Gaza rises to 45
Israeli attacks across Gaza have killed at least 45 people so far today, according to local medical sources quoted by our colleagues on the ground.
Twenty-nine of the victims were killed in Gaza City or northern Gaza.
Strikes have been particularly intense in Gaza City’s Tuffah neighbourhood and in Jabalia, where at least 10 homes have been destroyed, our colleagues reported.
Al-Quds Brigades claims attacks on Israeli forces in Khan Younis
The armed wing of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad group says its fighters destroyed an Israeli army vehicle by detonating a barrel bomb in the Abasan al-Kabira neighbourhood in the east of Khan Younis.
Separately, the group said it bombarded Israeli soldiers and vehicles in multiple locations in southern Khan Younis with mortar shells in conjunction with the Qassam Brigades, Hamas’s armed wing.
At least 580 aid seekers killed by Israel
The number of aid seekers killed by Israeli forces near aid distribution points in Gaza now stands at 580, the Government Media Office says.
At least 4,216 Palestinians have also been wounded while 39 are missing, it said.
What’s behind EU’s lack of action against Israel over Gaza?
An EU summit in Brussels calls for a ceasefire in Gaza – but not for sanctions against Israel.
Germany has led member states in blocking action throughout the war, as others express anger. What is behind the EU’s position on Israel and Gaza?
Netanyahu remains silent on potential Gaza ceasefire
There’s been nothing official from the Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, regarding the push for a ceasefire.
Last week, he had said mediators were constantly talking to negotiators behind the scenes to try and secure a 60-day pause in the fighting.
This is a proposal that was put forward by the US back in March in an effort to extend phase one of the ceasefire deal that Israel had violated when it resumed its attacks on the Gaza Strip.
Now, Netanyahu is under a lot of pressure as Trump has been quite outspoken for some time that he wants to see a ceasefire in Gaza.
And prior to Israel’s attacks on Iran just about two weeks ago, there was a lot of pressure from European allies because of the Israeli military’s conduct in the Gaza Strip.
Gaza City hospital overwhelmed with casualties amid escalating Israeli attacks
It has been a very bloody day in Gaza City as the Israeli army continues to attack civilian areas, including the Zeitoun neighbourhood, Sabra neighbourhood and al-Zawiya market.
I am at the reception area of the al-Ahli Hospital, where wounded people are arriving constantly. Many are lying on the ground because there are not enough beds or medical supplies to treat them.
There are too many wounded civilians here, including children. This facility is struggling to cope due to severe shortages.
The Israeli military has dropped leaflets in eastern Gaza City, ordering civilians to move south. These leaflets are often followed by intense and repeated attacks, resulting in the large number of casualties we are witnessing now.
Everyone I have spoken to here confirms they are civilians, and the vast majority of those brought to al-Ahli Hospital today are children. The situation is truly catastrophic.
If you’re just joining us
Let’s get you up to speed with the latest developments:
- The number of people killed in Israeli attacks across Gaza since dawn has risen to at least 37, according to medical sources.
- A child is among four civilians killed in an Israeli attack on a house in Gaza City’s Sabra neighbourhood.
- The Israeli military says a 20-year-old soldier, a member of the 601st Combat Engineering Battalion, has been killed in Gaza.
- Members of Israel’s Knesset have accused Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of using the war on Gaza to secure an end to his corruption trial.
- Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi has written a letter to UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres asking the world body to formally recognise the US and Israel as the “initiators of the act of aggression” in the latest conflict.
Video captures Israeli air raids on Gaza City
Footage shared on social media and verified by Al Jazeera shows multiple Israeli attacks on buildings in Gaza’s Zeitoun neighbourhood.
The scenes posted on Instagram documented the moments air strikes hit buildings in the southeastern Gaza City neighbourhood.
Bob Vylan’s anti-Israel chants prompt UK police review
British police say they’re examining videos of a band that led chants of “death” to Israel’s military at the Glastonbury Festival.
Rapper Bobby Vylan of the rap punk duo Bob Vylan led festivalgoers on Saturday in chants of “free, free Palestine” and “death, death to the [Israeli military]”.
The Avon and Somerset Police said it’s aware of comments made by acts at the festival and its officers will review video evidence “to determine whether any offences may have been committed that would require a criminal investigation”.
Festival organisers said on Instagram that Vylan’s chants “very much crossed a line”.
“We are urgently reminding everyone involved in the production of the Festival that there is no place at Glastonbury for antisemitism, hate speech or incitement to violence,” they said.
Health Secretary Wes Streeting condemned Bob Vylan’s actions as “appalling”.
Protesters in Vienna demand ceasefire in Gaza
Dozens of people in the Austrian capital have protested in solidarity with the Palestinians in Gaza.
In videos shared on social media and verified by Al Jazeera, they chanted slogans on Saturday such as “Ceasefire now!” and waved Palestinian flags and held banners in support of Palestinians.
Several people also gave speeches, including activist Yasmine Acar, who this month boarded a Gaza-bound humanitarian aid ship in an unsuccessful effort to break Israel’s siege on the enclave.
‘I can’t buy it for my children’: Prices of baby formula skyrocket in Gaza
Laila al-Shana, project manager with the NGO Humans To Be, says the situation for infants in the besieged territory is worsening as baby formula prices are surging due to severe shortages.
“There is no food for infants like fruits or vegetables or even medicines for them,” she told Al Jazeera from the Bureij refugee camp.
Al-Shana explained that the cost of baby formula has soared to about $100 per can – an impossible sum for many families in Gaza.
“I can’t buy it for my children, so I’m very afraid for them. … It’s like it’s threatening the lives of infants all around Gaza,” she said.
Al-Shana’s work at Humans To Be once involved providing psychological support to children, but she said that aspect has come to a halt.
“I stopped … because the most important thing before making psychological decisions … is they should have food. That is a priority,” she said.
Hamas calls for end to ‘systematic starvation’ in Gaza
The Palestinian group has released a statement on the hunger crisis in the Gaza Strip due to Israel’s crippling siege.
Calling Netanyahu – who is wanted by the ICC over alleged war crimes in Gaza – a “war criminal”, Hamas said his government has imposed a stringent blockade and systematic starvation on Gaza since the beginning of March.
It added the “brutal crimes” against children, including starvation, bombings and massacres, represent a grave violation of humanitarian and international laws and values.
Hamas said Israel is committing “these crimes knowing it is shielded from accountability” and called on the international community to take immediate and urgent action to stop “the ongoing crime of starvation”.
Court delays Netanyahu’s testimony in corruption trial
The Times of Israel reports the Jerusalem District Court has postponed Netanyahu’s planned testimony in his corruption trial this week after the Israeli prime minister argued “diplomatic and national security issues” need his attention.
According to Reuters, the ruling said that new reasons provided by Netanyahu, the head of Israel’s spy agency Mossad and the military intelligence chief justified cancelling the hearings.
The decision comes a day after Trump lambasted the trial itself, calling it a “POLITICAL WITCH HUNT” that the US is “not going to stand for”.
Hamas accuses Israeli PM of thwarting truce talks
Senior Hamas official Mahmoud Mardawi says Netanyahu is proposing “impossible conditions” aimed at thwarting the possibility of reaching a ceasefire and captive-prisoner swap.
Netanyahu is refusing to commit to components of the agreement he already approved in the past, Mardawi said on his Telegram channel.
The prime minister insists on releasing only 10 captives instead of freeing all in one phase, he added.
“Netanyahu is lying when he claims he is not involved in choosing the names of the hostages [to be released in the deal],” Mardawi wrote. “He does not want a deal.”
Israeli soldier killed in northern Gaza, military says
The Israeli military has named the soldier as 20-year-old Sergeant Yisrael Natan Rosenfeld. He was a member of the 601st Combat Engineering Battalion.
His death brings the total number of Israeli soldiers killed in combat since the Gaza war broke out to 880, according to Israeli figures
Iran asks Azerbaijan if Israeli drones used its airspace for attacks
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian has urged his Azerbaijani counterpart, Ilham Aliyev, to investigate whether Israeli drones were flown into Iranian territory from Azerbaijan during the recent conflict.
“We have received information that a small number of drones have flown into Iranian territory from the territory of neighbouring countries,” said Mehdi Sobhani, Iran’s ambassador to Armenia.
“Therefore, during a telephone conversation between the presidents of Iran and Azerbaijan, our president asked Aliyev to conduct a serious investigation into this matter. We will await the results of this investigation.”
Sobhani said information about the incident was provided by Iranian intelligence, according to the ISNA news agency.
Child among latest Gaza City casualties during Israeli attacks
A child is among four civilians killed in an Israeli attack on a house in Gaza City’s Sabra neighbourhood, the Wafa news agency reports.
A separate Israeli hit on Gaza City’s Tuffah neighbourhood killed another person and wounded others, according to Wafa.
The death toll in Gaza has risen to at least 56,500 with 133,419 injured since October 7, 2023. Since Israel broke its ceasefire with Hamas on March 18, at least 6,175 Palestinians have been killed and 21,378 wounded.
Germany seeks to partner with Israel on cyber-defence
Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt says Germany is hoping to set up a joint cyber-research centre with Israel amid efforts to boost intelligence and security cooperation.
“Military defence alone is not sufficient for this turning point in security,” Dobrindt was quoted as saying by Germany’s Bild newspaper during a visit to Israel. “A significant upgrade in civil defence is also essential to strengthen our overall defensive capabilities.”
Germany, one of Israel’s closest allies, has increasingly looked to draw upon Israel’s defence expertise.
Last year, Germany was brought before the International Court of Justice over its arms exports to Israel, but The Hague-based court declined to impose emergency measures halting the transfers.
Iran asks UN to name US, Israel as ‘aggressors’ in 12-day war
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi has written a letter to Secretary-General Antonio Guterres asking the UN to formally recognise the US and Israel as the “initiators of the act of aggression” in the latest conflict.
The letter also called on the UN to acknowledge the two countries’ “subsequent responsibility including the payment of compensation and reparations”.
The war broke out on June 13 when Israel launched major strikes on Iranian nuclear and military sites, leading to days of deadly attacks between the two nations. The US directly joined the fray on June 21, carrying out its own strikes on three Iranian nuclear facilities.
![A man holds an Iranian flag by an Iranian Red Crescent ambulance that was destroyed during an Israeli strike, as seen here in Tehran on June 23, 2025. [Atta Kenare/AFP]](https://www.aljazeera.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/000_63G96JM-1750695871.jpg?w=770&resize=770%2C524&quality=80)
‘Growing number of people’ in Iran demanding a nuclear bomb
Iranian affairs analyst Mostafa Khoshcheshm says Iranians are increasingly wanting the government to build a nuclear weapon after the Israeli-US attacks earlier this month.
Anger among Iranians is rising at the UN’s International Atomic Energy Agency after it said Iran failed to comply with its obligations under a nuclear pact, and Israel attacked the country a day later.
“I’ve been hearing increasing voices in Tehran from among the public demanding a nuclear bomb from the Islamic Republic,” Khoshcheshm told Al Jazeera.
He noted Ayatollah Ali Khamenei’s decree that the country will not pursue atomic arms. Khamenei, who has the final say on the matter, banned the development of nuclear weapons in a fatwa, or religious edict, in the early 2000s, saying it is “haram”, or forbidden, in Islam.
“Still, there are a growing number of people demanding the Islamic Republic to make a bomb in order to protect their security,” said Khoshcheshm.
Death toll from Israeli attacks today rises to 37
The number of people killed in Israeli attacks across Gaza since dawn has now risen to at least 37, according to medical sources.
Among them were at least five Palestinian aid seekers killed near the GHF-run food distribution centres north of Rafah.
What is Kneecap, and why are its members in the news?
Kneecap is an Irish-language hip-hop trio formed in 2017 in Belfast, Northern Ireland. It consists of members Liam O’Hanna, Moglai Bap and DJ Provai.
In recent months, they’ve made headlines worldwide because of their outspoken pro-Palestine activism during Israel’s 20-month war on Gaza.
April
At the California music festival Coachella, the band displayed pro-Palestinian messages on video screens, including “Israel is committing genocide against the Palestinian people.”
May
O’Hanna, who performs under the name Mo Chara, was charged under the UK Terrorism Act after allegedly waving a Hezbollah flag during a London concert in November. Chara said he picked the flag after it was thrown on stage without him knowing what it represented.
He is currently on unconditional bail as the case continues.
June
Kneecap performed at Glastonbury on Saturday despite calls from Starmer and other politicians that the band not be allowed to play at the prestigious music event.
The trio’s set included chants against the UK prime minister, the display of Palestinian flags and support for the Palestine Action Group, which UK Interior Minister Yvette Cooper announced last week would be banned under the Terrorism Act of 2000.
Meanwhile, British rap punk duo Bob Vylan, who performed just before Kneecap, led chants of “free Palestine” while calling for the “death” of Israel’s military. The BBC said it would not reair Bob Vylan’s performance.
Israeli officials discuss next army moves in war-battered Gaza
Netanyahu is holding talks with security officials on the progress of Israel’s war on Gaza as calls grow to end the conflict and free captives held by Hamas.
The prime minister is meeting Defence Minister Israel Katz and army Chief of Staff Eyal Zamir to map out the next moves in Gaza.
“If hostage negotiations do not result in a breakthrough in the coming days, the [army] is expected to embark on a wider military operation,” The Jerusalem Post reported.
An unnamed senior security official told the Reuters news agency the military will tell Netanyahu the campaign is close to reaching its objectives and warn that expanding fighting to new areas in Gaza may endanger the remaining captives.
Gaza death toll rises
Gaza’s Ministry of Health says at least 88 bodies and 365 wounded people have arrived at hospitals over the past 24 hours.
Since Israel broke a truce agreed with Hamas on March 18, at least 6,175 Palestinians have been killed and more than 21,378 wounded.
The confirmed total death toll from Israeli attacks since the start of the war in October 2023 has now risen to at least 56,500 with 133,419 people wounded.
Babies struggling to survive without enough breast-milk, formula
Christy Black, an Australian nurse volunteering in Gaza City, says the hospital she’s based in is short of “every kind of medical supply”.
That includes formula for pregnant women who require nasogastric feeding – leaving many without the nutrients needed to lactate – as well as baby formula, she said.
“Our most vulnerable are dying,” Black told Al Jazeera. “We’ve seen a couple of babies die over the last couple of days in Gaza City. It’s really desperate here.”
Palestinian on bike tries to flee falling debris after Israeli attack on Gaza
Dramatic footage shows the aftermath of an Israeli attack on northern Gaza.
‘Children are going through rubbish for food’
Christy Black, an Australian nurse volunteering at a hospital in Gaza City for four weeks, has described the scenes of desperation she’s witnessed.
“We thought we knew what we were coming into, but nothing can prepare you for what you see on the ground,” Black told Al Jazeera. “We’re seeing children going through the rubbish trying to find something to eat … Children who might be nine or 10 years old that look like two-year-olds.”
She said people’s wounds are “not healing because of malnourishment” and there is a big uptick in respiratory illnesses because of the “massive amounts of bombs being dropped on Gaza City and the rest of Gaza”.
“It is so catastrophic here,” she said. “I don’t know of any kind of healthcare service in the world that would be able to deal with what we’re seeing.”
However, Black praised the health workers in Gaza who she said are working with all their energy day after day “to provide the best kind of healthcare they can. Our colleagues are just amazing.”
Pro-Palestinian demonstrator disrupts Israel-Switzerland basketball game
A protester waving a Palestinian flag disrupted a youth basketball match between the national teams of Israel and Switzerland in the Swiss city of Lausanne on Saturday, during the group stage of the 2025 FIBA Under-19 Basketball World Cup.
The man was seen jumping onto the court and running with the flag, drawing loud applause and cheers from the crowd before being escorted out of the arena.
The incident caused a temporary stoppage of play.
At least 4 killed in northern Gaza: Medical sources
One of them was killed in an Israeli attack on Jabalia al-Balad, a source at al-Shifa Hospital has told Al Jazeera.
The three other Palestinians were killed in an attack on their house in Sabra, southern Gaza City, according to sources at al-Ahli Hospital. Many people were wounded in the attack.
Israeli forces have killed more than 20 people today across the Gaza Strip, according to medical sources.
Israeli lawmakers accuse Netanyahu of using Gaza to fight charges
Members of Israel’s Knesset have accused Netanyahu of using the ongoing war on Gaza to secure an end to his corruption trial.
“[Netanyahu] is conditioning the future of Israel and our children on his trial,” Naama Lazimi, Knesset member for the Democrats Party, told The Times of Israel.
The Israeli premier showed he is unfit for the office by “trading his indictment in exchange for a political settlement and an end to the war”, she said.
Democrats lawmaker Gilad Kariv denounced the Israeli leader and his circle’s “willingness to play with the national security of the State of Israel and the issue of the hostages in order to save Netanyahu from conviction in court”.
Karine Elharrar, Knesset member from Yesh Atid party, warned that Netanyahu is “acting against the Israeli public interest” by linking his legal fate with captive negotiations and regional normalisation agreements.
If you’re just joining us
Let’s bring you up to speed:
- Israeli attacks in Gaza have killed at least 21 people so far today, including four aid seekers in northern Rafah, according to local medical sources.
- Israel’s military has issued forced displacement threats for people in areas of northern Gaza, including Gaza City and Jabalia, warning of intensified military operations.
- Trump praises Netanyahu, who is wanted by the ICC over alleged war crimes, as a “war hero” and slams his ongoing corruption trial. The US president also claims Netanyahu is in the process of “negotiating a deal with Hamas”.
- IAEA chief Rafael Grossi says Iran, despite the latest attacks on its nuclear facilities, has the capacity to begin enriching uranium again “in a matter of months”.
‘Screams of children and women were nonstop’
Two children have been killed in an Israeli air attack on their home in Gaza City’s Zeitoun neighbourhood.
“The house was completely destroyed,” said Abdel Rahman Azzam, 45, a member of the family. He said he first “heard a huge explosion at my relative’s house”.
“I rushed out in panic and saw the house destroyed and on fire. We evacuated more than 20 injured people, including two martyrs, two children from the family. The screams of children and women were nonstop,” Azzam said.
“They bombed the house with a missile without any prior warning. This is a horrific crime. We sleep without knowing if we will wake up.”
Northern Ireland band Kneecap shouts out to Palestine Action Group at Glastonbury
Irish-language rap group Kneecap has performed at the Glastonbury Festival in front of tens of thousands of fans chanting “Free Palestine”, defying United Kingdom Prime Minister Keir Starmer, who says he did not think it was “appropriate” for the band from Northern Ireland to appear.
The group’s Liam O’Hanna on Saturday also gave a “shoutout” to the Palestine Action Group, which UK Interior Minister Yvette Cooper announced last week would become a banned group under the Terrorism Act of 2000.
“The prime minister of your country, not mine, said he didn’t want us to play, so f*** Keir Starmer,” said O’Hanna, who appeared on stage wearing his trademark Palestinian keffiyeh in front of the capacity crowd.
Read the full story here.
Photos: People in Gaza mourn loved ones killed in latest strikes
Former PM Bennett says Netanyahu ‘must go’
In an interview with Israel’s Channel 12, former Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett said it is “too much” and “not healthy” that Netanyahu “has been in power for 20 years”.
“He bears … heavy responsibility for the divisions in Israeli society,” Bennett said in the interview that aired on Saturday about growing rifts within Israel under Netanyahu, who has a strong support base but also staunch opponents who have demanded his departure, including over his handling of Israel’s war on Gaza.
Netanyahu “must go”, said the former prime minister, a right-wing leader who in 2021 joined forces with Netanyahu critics to form a coalition that ousted him from the premiership after 12 consecutive years at the helm.
But the fragile coalition government Bennett led with current opposition chief Yair Lapid collapsed after about a year. Snap elections ensued, and Netanyahu again assumed the premiership with backing from far-right and ultra-Orthodox Jewish parties.
Gaza death toll jumps to 21
At least 21 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli forces in the Gaza Strip since dawn, including five people waiting for aid at distribution sites.
Children are among the dead, medical sources tell Al Jazeera.
Israel’s war on Gaza has killed at least 56,412 people and wounded 133,054 since it began in October 2023, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry.
Iran’s military chief questions Israel’s commitment to ceasefire
Abdolrahim Mousavi, chief of staff of the Iranian armed forces, says Iran has serious “doubts” about Israel’s commitment to the ongoing ceasefire, arguing that Israel has proven it does not respect international norms.
“Since we have complete doubts about the enemy’s [Israel’s] adherence to its commitments, including the ceasefire, we are prepared to give it a strong response if it repeats the aggression,” Mousavi said in a call with Saudi Defence Minister Khalid bin Salman Al Saud, according to Iran’s Tasnim news agency.
German minister praises Israel’s surprise attack on Iran
German Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt has offered unqualified support for Israel’s attack on Iran’s nuclear facilities during an unexpected visit to Tel Aviv.
“Iran has been destabilising this region for years, for decades, one has to say, with its support for terrorist groups to the north, to the south, to the east of Israel,” he said on the first visit by a senior German politician since Israel’s 12-day war with Iran.
The Iranian nuclear programme is “a real threat to Israel’s right to exist and also a threat well beyond, a threat for Europe as well”, Dobrindt said.
Tehran has been sent a clear signal that Israel, the US and other supporters such as Germany cannot accept Iran acquiring a nuclear weapon, he added. Tehran insists its nuclear programme is for purely civilian purposes.
Dobrindt made the comments while visiting the site of a deadly Iranian missile strike in the city of Holon with Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar.
He described the attack as a “war on the civilian population” and expressed the conviction that Iran would use any nuclear bomb it developed against Israel.
Qassam Brigades hits Israeli forces in southern Gaza
The armed wing of Hamas says it targeted a military bulldozer in the Bani Suheila area east of Khan Younis.
A 105mm al-Yassin missile was used in the attack, it added. It was unclear whether there were any casualties.
Last week, seven Israeli soldiers were killed in an attack in southern Gaza, the deadliest day for the military in the territory since it broke a ceasefire with Hamas in March. They died when an explosive device planted on their armoured vehicle ignited a fire, the military said.