UN adds Israel to 'list of shame' as Gaza carnage continues with 77 killed

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Anti-war activists demanding an end to the war in Gaza and to American support for Israel plan to surround the White House during a weekend protest, prompting additional security measures, including anti-scale fencing.

Advocacy and activist groups like CODEPINK and the Council on American Islamic Relations said on Friday that demonstrations were planned on Saturday, marking eight months of Israel's war in Gaza that has killed tens of thousands while causing a humanitarian crisis with widespread hunger and destruction.

The United States, Israel's key ally, has seen months of pro-Palestinian protests ranging from marches in Washington and vigils near the White House to the blocking of bridges and roads near train stations and airports in multiple cities and encampments on many college campuses.

At least eight officials have quit the administration of President Joe Biden citing their opposition to his policy. Protesters have also disrupted some of Biden's reelection campaign events. Biden is currently in France for an official visit.

Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International have both welcomed the UN's decision to place Israel on a "list of shame" of countries and armed groups violating the rights of children.

Amnesty Secretary-General Agnes Callamard said on Twitter that rights organisations “have long been documenting” Israeli violations against children.

“It should not have taken 15,000 children killed in Gaza for Israel to be on this shameful list,” she said.

Over 15,500 Palestinian children have been killed in Israeli attacks on the Gaza Strip since last October, according to the Gaza government media office.

UN Director for Human Rights Watch Louis Charbonneau said that the UN decision was a “thoroughly justified” step.
 

Finally UN adds Israel to list of states committing violations against children. ⁦⁦⁦@amnesty⁩ and others have been long documenting such violations. It should not have taken 15,000 children killed in Gaza for Israel to be on this shameful list https://t.co/sP2EWdeLnT

— Agnes Callamard (@AgnesCallamard) June 7, 2024

A spokesman for the Nuseirat municipality in central Gaza said Friday that the town's mayor, Iyad al-Maghari, had been killed in an Israeli strike while visiting a water pumping station.

Maghari had been at the water management facility that serves Nuseirat when an air strike hit it at around 10:30 pm (1930 GMT) on Thursday, spokesman Muhammad al-Salhi told AFP at the nearby Al-Aqsa Martyrs hospital, where mourners gathered ahead of the funeral.

"We were surprised by a treacherous and cowardly attack on the mayor inside the plant, which led to the martyrdom of the mayor, Dr Iyad Al-Maghari, and four members of his family," Salhi said.

The Israeli army said it was aware of reports that Maghari had been killed in the strike and claimed that he was a "Hamas operative".

AFP journalists at the water station on Friday said the facility was in tatters, with concrete strewn about, electrical equipment torn apart and bloodstains on the ground.

Workers were assessing the damage to the large pipes that transport water to Nuseirat's residents.

One resident, Ibrahim al-Hur, told AFP: "We heard several explosions, and we were surprised that the explosions were right next to us, in the nearby water station."

"With just one missile, look what happened," he said, pointing to the demolished wall of the station behind him.

At the hospital, the mayor's body was wrapped in a white sheet adorned with a high-visibility vest, before it was loaded onto an ambulance on a stretcher.

The Nuseirat municipality said it mourned "its mayor, who chose to fulfil his duty with dedication and devotion to serve our people in Nuseirat until his last moments".

Israel's war cabinet member Benny Gantz said Friday he will hold a press conference on Saturday, with Israeli media reporting he was likely to announce his departure from the government.

Gantz said last month he would resign from the war cabinet if Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu did not approve a post-war plan for the Gaza Strip by June 8.

Gantz's office said he would give a statement to the media at 8:40 pm (1740 GMT) on Saturday in Ramat Gan, a suburb of Tel Aviv.

His National Union Party submitted a bill last week to dissolve the Knesset, Israel's parliament, and hold an early election.

Gantz is seen as a favourite to form a coalition in the event that Netanyahu's government is brought down and early elections are called.

Netanyahu is under pressure from far-right coalition partners, who have threatened to quit the government if he goes ahead with a hostage release deal outlined by US President Joe Biden.

Gantz said this week that returning hostages from Gaza was a "priority".

Hamas and other Palestinian groups took 251 hostages during their October 7 attack of Israel, 120 of whom remain in Gaza, including 41 the army says are dead.

Israel's indiscriminate war on Gaza has killed at least 36,731 people, mostly women and children.

Palestinian militant groups Hamas and Islamic Jihad - as well as Israel - will be included on an upcoming UN list of countries and armed forces deemed as failing to protect children during war, a diplomatic source told AFP Friday.

Confirmation of the two groups' inclusion comes after the Israeli ambassador to the United Nations lashed out at his national military's addition to the annual list of violators.

A decision to add Israel's military to a global list of offenders who have committed violations against children is "a step closer to holding Israel accountable for its crimes," the Palestinian president's spokesperson said on Friday.

Nabil Abu Rudeineh made his comment to Reuters after Israel's UN envoy said he had been officially notified of the decision by United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres to add the Israeli military to the list.

The list is included in a report on children and armed conflict that is due to be submitted to the U.N. Security Council on June 14.

Pope Francis gathered the Israeli and Palestinian ambassadors to the Vatican Gardens on Friday to pray for an end to the war in Gaza, marking the 10th anniversary of a similar encounter with the Israeli and Palestinian presidents with a new appeal for peace.

“Every day I pray that this war will finally end,” Francis told the small gathering, which included around two-dozen cardinals and the Holy See’s diplomatic corps.

Among them were Israeli Ambassador Raphael Schutz and Palestinian Ambassador Issa Kassissieh, as well as representatives of Italy's Jewish and Muslim communities.

The event recreated the first such encounter Francis hosted in the gardens this time 10 years ago, when he welcomed Israel’s then-President Shimon Peres and Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas.

At the time, a round of US-mediated peace talks had stalled. But Francis told the two presidents that he hoped their summit would mark “a new journey” toward peace. Then as now, Francis said too many children had been killed by war, and he begged for both sides to agree to a cease-fire in Gaza and the immediate return of hostages to Israel.

“All this suffering, the brutality of war, the violence it unleashes and the hatred it sows even among future generations should convince us all that every war leaves our world worse than it was before,” he said.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken will travel to the Middle East next week, the US State Department said on Friday, as Washington tries to put pressure on Israel and Hamas to accept a ceasefire proposal that President Joe Biden laid out last week.

In his eighth visit to the region since the Gaza war began on October 7 2023, the top US diplomat will visit Egypt, Israel, Jordan and Qatar and meet with their senior leaders.

Blinken's visit comes after Biden laid out a fresh ceasefire plan to end the eight month-long war and at a time when tensions between Israel and Lebanon's Hezbollah has escalated in recent days, with both sides signalling a readiness for a bigger confrontation.

"The Secretary will discuss how the ceasefire proposal would benefit both Israelis and Palestinians," the State Department said in a statement. "He will underscore that it would alleviate suffering in Gaza, enable a massive surge in humanitarian assistance and allow Palestinians to return to their neighbourhoods."

Talks mediated by Egypt, Qatar and others to arrange a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas have repeatedly stalled, with Israel still refusing to agree to any permanent deal.

The ceasefire, the State Department said, would also unlock the possibility of achieving calm along Israel's northern border with Lebanon and set conditions for further normalisation between Israel and its Arab neighbours.

"The Secretary will also continue to reiterate the need to prevent the conflict from escalating further," it added.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Wednesday that Israel was prepared to attack Lebanon. He warned in December that Beirut would be turned "into Gaza" if Hezbollah started an all-out war.

Israel's ground and air campaign in Gaza has left the territory in ruins, led to widespread starvation, and killed more than 36,000 people, according to Palestinian health authorities.

While in Jordan, Blinken will attend a conference on humanitarian response to Gaza, the department said

- Yemen's Houthis launched two military operations in the Red Sea, targeting "vessel Elbella and vessel AAL GENOA," the Iran-aligned group's military spokesman Yahya Saree said in a televised speech on Friday.

The Iran-backed Yemeni rebel group says that it is targeting ships linked to Israel in solidarity with Palestinians facing continued Israeli attack in the Gaza Strip.

Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu decried the reported addition of Israel onto the UN blacklist of countries and armed forces that fail to protect children during conflicts.

Netanyahu said in a post on X that "the UN put itself on the blacklist of history today when it joined the supporters of the Hamas murderers."

"The [Israeli army] is the most moral army in the world, and no delusional decision by the UN will change that."

Colombias private mining association has said that a potential ban on coal exports to Israel would violate international agreements and risk foreign investment.

According to Bloomberg, it reported on Thursday that the country's Commerc Ministry may ban coal shipments to Israel after President Gustavo Petro cut diplomatic ties for its military conduct in Gaza.

"This decision would not comply with international commitments by Colombia that should be respected and puts at risk the confidence of markets and foreign investment," the Colombian Mining Association (ACM) said in a statement.

Israel's UN envoy on Friday said he was "disgusted" that the Israeli army is to be included on an upcoming United Nations list of countries and armed forces that fail to protect children during war.

"I am utterly shocked and disgusted by this shameful decision," UN Ambassador Gilad Erdan said in a statement. "Israel's army is the most moral army in the world and you know it. This is an immoral decision that only aids terrorism and rewards Hamas."

The annual "Children and Armed Conflict" report from UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has not yet been published, but Erdan was responding after receiving notification of Israel's inclusion on the list of countries that do not take adequate measures to shield children from conflict.

Last week, the World Health Organization said that more than four in five children had gone a whole day without eating at least once in 72 hours.

According to the government media office in Gaza, at least 32 people, many of them children, have died of malnutrition in Gaza since the war began.

Guterres' report is expected to be published by the end of June.

Qatar has announced that it strongly denounced the brutal Israeli strike on the UNRWA-run school in Nuseirat refugee camp which housed displaced people.

Qatar's Foreign Ministry of the Gulf issued a statement on Friday to call the attack "a horrific massacre" and "a brutal crime" against defenceless civilians which violates international law.

The ministry renewed its calls for an independent probe into the attacks by Israel, as well as "continued targeting of schools and shelters for displaced persons".

It also urged the international community to stop Israel from displacing Palestinians from Gaza.

Statement: Qatar Strongly Condemns Israeli Occupation's Bombing UNRWA School in Gaza#MOFAQatar pic.twitter.com/78zERFwj7Y

— Ministry of Foreign Affairs - Qatar (@MofaQatar_EN) June 7, 2024

A spokesman for the Nuseirat municipality in central Gaza said Friday that the town's mayor, Iyad al-Maghari, had been killed in an Israeli strike while visiting a water pumping station.

Maghari had been at the water management facility that serves Nuseirat when an air strike hit it at around 10:30 pm (1930 GMT) on Thursday, spokesman Muhammad al-Salhi told news agency AFP at the nearby Al-Aqsa Martyrs hospital, where mourners gathered ahead of the funeral.

"We were surprised by a treacherous and cowardly attack on the mayor inside the plant, which led to the martyrdom of the mayor, Dr Iyad Al-Maghari, and four members of his family," Salhi said.

The Nuseirat municipality said it mourned "its mayor, who chose to fulfil his duty with dedication and devotion to serve our people in Nuseirat until his last moments".

The government media office said in a statement that Maghari was "sincere and devoted to his work, serving his people and homeland".

New Zealand has announced that it will start its annual payment of $1 million to UNRWA in the next "coming days".

This comes after Prime Minister Christopher Luxon said his country will halt any payments until the Israeli accusations were settled.

"This follows careful consideration of the UN’s response – including through external & internal investigations – to serious allegations against certain UNRWA staff being involved in the 7 October terrorist attacks on Israel," Winston Peters, New Zealand’s foreign minister, said on X.

"It also reflects assurances received from the UN Secretary-General about remedial work underway to enhance UNRWA’s neutrality."

New Zealand will be making its annual payment of $1 million to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) on schedule and in coming days. This follows careful consideration of the UN’s response - including through external & internal investigations - to serious…

— Winston Peters (@NewZealandMFA) June 6, 2024

The Palestine Red Crescent Society (PRCS) says that the operation of its Al Quds Field Hospital has started after its relocation from the Al Mawasi Rafah area to the Al Mawasi Khan Younis area in southern Gaza.

The preparation and operation of the PRCS Al-Quds Field Hospital have begun following its relocation from the Mawasi Rafah area to the Mawasi Khan Yunis area, to continue providing health services to patients and the injured. pic.twitter.com/ck6odJqdSa

— PRCS (@PalestineRCS) June 7, 2024

The International Rescue Committee (IRC) has said it is “deeply concerned” by a report issued by the Famine Early Warning Systems Network that demonstrates famine being "likely underway" in northern Gaza.

"The fact that the conflict and humanitarian access constraints have impeded collection of the data required for an official classification is emblematic of the nearly impossible constraints that aid agencies are operating under," the IRC said on X.

"We know from experience around the world, that once famine is declared, it is too late for too many. We need unimpeded access to fully assess and meet humanitarian need, and a permanent ceasefire to prevent further loss of life and enable the release of all hostages."

The IRC is deeply concerned by this week’s FEWS NET report indicating that famine is likely underway in northern Gaza. As the report states: children are already dying from hunger-related causes. https://t.co/bRwBJbcKhy

— International Rescue Committee - UK (@RESCUE_UK) June 7, 2024

The United States on Friday reestablished a temporary pier to boost aid deliveries into Gaza after the structure suffered storm damage and underwent repairs in a nearby port, the country's military said.

"US Central Command (CENTCOM) successfully reestablished the temporary pier in Gaza, enabling the continued delivery of much-needed humanitarian aid to the people of Gaza," the military command responsible for the Middle East said in a social media post.

Jun 7, 2024 at 16:09
At approximately 2:15 p.m. (local Gaza time) on June 7, U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) successfully reestablished the temporary pier in Gaza, enabling the continued delivery of much-needed humanitarian aid to the people of Gaza. In coming days, CENTCOM will… pic.twitter.com/YMJiCVGvwP

— U.S. Central Command (@CENTCOM) June 7, 2024

Al-Masirah TV, the main television news outlet run by Yemen's Houthi movement, said on Friday that U.S. and British forces had carried out four airstrikes on the airport of Hodeidah and the seaport of Salif, to the north. 

Israeli far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir called for the ban of fuel entry and reduction of humanitarian aid reaching the Gaza Strip.

"Israel should withhold fuel from Gaza and reduce the humanitarian aid that enters the strip," Ben-Gvir said on X.

"Israel should only declare humanity in exchange for humanity, but we will not agree to a deal that would jeopardize the future of the State of Israel," he said.

US news broadcaster CNN reported earlier that Qatar has threatened to expel Hamas leaders if the group does not reach an agreement with Israel for a ceasefire and hostage deal- which has been pushed by the US.

A Hamas official responded to the report by stating that an explusion was not advocated for but the US has continually pressured the group to agree to the deal.

"The difference is that we want an agreement that safeguards the Palestinian people's national interests," the official told CNN.

According to the official, the choice to either accept or reject a proposal has been given for the Hamas leaders to decide. 

The source said that expelling the Hamas leadership will have "no effect, and may only harden Hamas' position."

He also notes that the US might lose influence if the leadership moves to Turkey, Lebanon, or possibly Iran.

Israeli news publication Haaretz reports that a source affliated with the Israeli military said that Israeli settler extremists set fire to olive trees owned by Palestinians in the Ramallah town of Burqa in northern West Bank.

US news outlet Axios reports that Israel said it is has ruled out the Palestinian Authority from taking control in the Rafah border crossing.

Citing four US and Israeli officials, Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told his security cabinet that he was not prepared for the Palestinian Authority to run the border crossing.

The report indicated that his remarks contradicted a recently approved war cabinet policy, which agreed that any Palestinian governing body other than Hamas could manage the border crossing’s daily operations.

The crossing at the Rafah border has stayed shut since Israeli forces seized the Palestinian side last month, with Egypt refusing to reopen it until Palestinians regain control, to avoid appearing complicit with Israel's military activities in Gaza's southern city.

Despite US pressure leading to a tentative agreement last week to reopen the crossing for humanitarian aid, there has reportedly been little actual progress toward achieving this goal.

The health ministry in Gaza said Friday that at least 36,731 people have been killed in the territory during eight months of war.

The toll includes at least 77 deaths in the past 24 hours, a ministry statement said, adding that 83,530 people have been wounded in the Gaza Strip since the war began.

A spokesperson for the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in central Gaza's Deir el-Balah says that 54 Palestinians were killed, while dozens of others have been injured in Israeli attacks that targeted areas across the central Gaza Strip.

According to hospital spokesperson Khalil al-Dakran, the number of bodies and wounded patients that arrived at the hospital were within one day.

Israel’s war cabinet member Benny Gantz is expected to step down from the government on Saturday as the deadline he set last month for creating a definitive plan "to achieve victory" in Gaza lapses.

Israel’s public broadcaster Kan reports that Gantz plans to resign because the proposed plan was not finalised.

Families of Israeli hostages in Gaza have also pleaded with Gantz to delay his resignation until a prisoner exchange deal with Hamas is reached.

Netanyahu’s office has arranged an extended ministerial meeting for Sunday, right after Gantz’s deadline, according to the broadcaster.

The US-built pier off the coast of Gaza is set to resume aid deliveries later today, according to Israeli broadcaster Kan, after it was forcibly shut down due to bad weather conditions in May.

US President Joe Biden says Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had listened to his warnings to avoid major military action in Gaza's southern area of Rafah, in an interview with US news outlet ABC News.

When probed on whether he believed Netanyahu is listening to him, Biden replied, "I think he’s listening to me."

"They were going to go into Rafah full bore — invade all of Rafah, go into the city, take it out, move with full force. They haven’t done that," Biden says.

Asked if he believes Netanyahu will uphold the hostage deal proposal Israel presented last week, Biden said, "He’s publicly said he is. Our European friends are in on it. We have to get a ceasefire."

"What [Israel has] done is they’ve agreed to a significant agreement that if in fact Hamas accepts it…"

Biden said the offer has been also supported by many Arab countries. 

"We’ll see. This is a very difficult time," Biden says.

President Biden tried to still sound hopeful in his ABC News interview when asked “Is Benjamin Netanyahu fully on board with what you proposed ?” He responded “He has publicly said he is.” but can he trust Netanyahu to keep his word? pic.twitter.com/LZpktwy8MR

— Philip (@rulesbasedworld) June 7, 2024

According to Israeli newspaper Israel Hayom, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken is expected to visit Israel early next week.

Blinken's trip comes as negotiations to reach an agreement for the release of Israeli captives and the end of the war on Gaza.

Unemployment in the Gaza Strip has reached nearly 80% since the war with Israel erupted last October, the United Nations labour agency said on Friday, bringing the average unemployment rate across Palestinian territories to more than 50%.

Unemployment in the Gaza Strip has reached 79.1%, while the West Bank has seen joblessness hit nearly 32%, the International Labour Organization (ILO) said in its fourth assessment of the impact of the war on employment. The figures give a combined unemployment rate of 50.8%.

"This excludes Palestinians who have given up on finding a job," said Ruba Jaradat, ILO Regional Director for Arab States.

"The situation is much worse."

"Imagine with this very high level of unemployment, people will not be able to secure food for themselves and for their families," Jaradat said.

"This is also impacting their health.... Even if they have money, there are no hospitals that can accommodate the catastrophic situation there."

In terms of the economy, the real gross domestic product (GDP) has contracted by nearly 33% in the Palestinian territories since the start of the war, with an estimated contraction of 83.5% in the Gaza Strip and by 22.7% in the West Bank, according to data published by ILO.

"In the occupied Palestinian territory and particularly in the West Bank, the reduction in incomes has pushed many families into severe poverty," Jaradat said. 

UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres called Thursday for an end to hostilities along the demarcation line between Lebanon and Israel, warning of the risk of a broader conflict.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, visiting the northern border area after eight months of war that has devastated Gaza, warned Wednesday that Israel was "prepared for a very intense operation" along the border.

Daily exchanges of artillery fire between Hezbollah and Israel have intensified in recent days as Israel wages war in the Gaza Strip. Both groups are backed by Iran and allies of each other.

"As the exchanges of fire across the Blue Line continue, the Secretary-General renews his calls to the parties to urgently cease fire," UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric said in a statement, referring to the demarcation line between Israel and Lebanon.

"These exchanges of fire could trigger a broader conflict with devastating consequences for the region," he added.

A Gaza hospital said at least 37 people were killed in an Israeli strike on a UN-run school on Thursday, that the Israeli military alleged housed a "Hamas compound".

The Al-Aqsa Martyrs hospital in Deir al-Balah, near Nuseirat, said it had received the bodies of at least "37 martyrs" from the strike.

The United States has called on Israel to be "fully" transparent about the strike.

"The government of Israel has said that they are going to release more information about this strike, including the names of those who died in it. We expect them to be fully transparent in making that information public," State Department spokesman Matthew Miller told reporters.

UN chief Antonio Guterres called the strike "just another horrific example of the price that civilians are paying".

"There will need to be accountability for everything that has happened in Gaza," his spokesman Stephane Dujarric said.

EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell called for the strike to be "independently investigated".

Russia and China, which hold veto powers in the UN Security Council, raised concerns on Thursday with a US draft resolution that would back a proposal - outlined by President Joe Biden - for a ceasefire between Israel and Palestinian group Hamas.

The council's only Arab member, Algeria, also signaled it was not ready to back the text, diplomats said. A resolution needs at least nine votes in favor and no vetoes by the US, France, Britain, China or Russia to pass.

Biden laid out a three-phase ceasefire plan for the Gaza Strip a week ago that he described as an Israeli initiative.

Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he will "present the truth" about the war in Gaza when he addresses the US Congress on July 24 during a visit to Washington, Republican leaders said on Thursday.

Netanyahu will speak to a joint session of the House of Representatives and the Senate, House Speaker Mike Johnson and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell said in a statement.

"I am very moved to have the privilege of representing Israel before both Houses of Congress and to present the truth about our just war against those who seek to destroy us to the representatives of the American people and the entire world," Netanyahu said in the statement.

Netanyahu's visit comes amid tensions between him and US President Joe Biden, who has supported Israel's campaign in Gaza but has recently been more critical of its tactics and withheld shipment of some bombs.

It was not immediately clear if Netanyahu would meet with Biden during his US visit.