Hamas says 'no progress' in Gaza negotiations as Israel continues to bombard Shejaiya

TNA’s live coverage of the latest from the war on Gaza concludes for today. Join us again at 0800 GMT for updates from the besieged Palestinian enclave.

News publication Al Jazeera reports obtaining exclusive video footage depicting Israeli forces allegedly using Palestinian prisoners as human shields amidst the conflict in Gaza.

The news publication says the video reveals Israeli forces binding prisoners with ropes, equipping them with cameras, and compelling them to search damaged homes and tunnels for explosives.

Numerous prisoners appear injured and some are shown partially unclothed in the footage.

The funeral of Saeed Jaber, a 24-year-old commander in the Palestinian Islamic Jihad group, took place on Sunday in the Nur Shams refugee camp, located east of Tulkarm in the occupied West Bank. Jaber was killed by Israeli forces during a military operation.

The Palestinian Islamic Jihad group confirmed Jaber as one of its leaders, noting that he had previously survived multiple assassination attempts. The group stated that his death would "strengthen our resistance" against Israel.

According to the Israeli military, Jaber was targeted due to his alleged involvement in several attacks, including shootings and explosives, against both civilians and Israeli forces in the West Bank.

The occupied West Bank's Ministry of Health reported that the bombing also injured five others.

Al-Quds Brigades, the military wing of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ), said that they have launched attacks against Israeli soldiers and military vehicles near the Rafah crossing using mortar shells.

Nabil Abu Rudeineh, the spokesperson for Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, says that "there is no legitimacy for any foreign presence on the Palestinian territories", as reported by Palestinian news agency Wafa.

Abu Rudeineh also that the Palestinian people are the only ones who must have the right of self-governance.

"There is also no legitimacy for settlements or the policy of displacement that the occupation authorities are trying to implement on the ground through the bloody massacres they are pursuing," he said.

"The occupation government and its president will be delusional if they believe that they are able to determine the fate of the Palestinian people and perpetuate the occupation by bringing in foreign forces to replace the occupier in the Gaza Strip."

The Palestine Red Crescent Society (PRCS) wrote in a post on social media platform X that all crossings into Gaza must be opened to assist in getting aid into the devastated enclave.

"The humanitarian situation in Gaza is catastrophic, with almost the entire population experiencing severe food insecurity," the organisation wrote on X.

The humanitarian situation in Gaza is catastrophic, with almost the entire population experiencing severe food insecurity. All crossing points must be opened to ensure sustained, unimpeded humanitarian aid flows into all areas of the #Gaza Strip. #HumantarianAid #IHL pic.twitter.com/CI5gh4LdjN

— PRCS (@PalestineRCS) June 30, 2024

Israel's military said on Sunday 18 of its soldiers were injured, one of them seriously, when a drone struck their position in the occupied Golan Heights, which border Lebanon.

The Israeli army said in a statement the strike happened earlier on Sunday. It said since then, it had struck Hezbollah targets in southern Lebanon with air strikes and artillery fire.

Fighting between Israel and Lebanon's Hezbollah has been escalating, after it was triggered by the Gaza war.

Thousands of Jewish ultra-Orthodox men clashed with Israeli police in central Jerusalem on Sunday during a protest against a Supreme Court order for them to begin enlisting for military service.

The landmark decision last week ordering the government to begin drafting ultra-Orthodox men could lead to the collapse of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s governing coalition as Israel wages war in Gaza .

Tens of thousands of men rallied in an ultra-Orthodox neighborhood to protest the order. But after nightfall, the crowd made its way toward central Jerusalem and turned violent.

Israeli police said protesters threw rocks and attacked the car of an ultra-Orthodox Cabinet minister, pelting it with stones. Water cannons filled with skunk-scented water and police mounted on horses were used to disperse the crowd. But the demonstration was still not under control late Sunday.

Military service is compulsory for most Jewish men and women in Israel. But politically powerful ultra-Orthodox parties have won exemptions for their followers to skip military service and instead study in religious seminaries.

The long-standing arrangement has bred resentment among the broader public, a sentiment that has grown stronger during the eight-month war in the Palestinian territory. 

Ultra-Orthodox parties and their followers say forcing their men to serve in the army will destroy their generations-old way of life. Earlier Sunday, thousands of men crowded a square and joined in mass prayers. Many held signs criticizing the government, with one saying "not even one male" should be drafted.

The ultra-Orthodox parties are key members of Netanyahu’s governing coalition and could potentially force new elections if they decide to leave the government in protest.

Party leaders have not said whether they will leave the government. Doing so could be risky, with Netanyahu's coalition's popularity lagging since the Oct. 7 Hamas attack.

Now in Jerusalem: Ultra orthodox protesters attack the car of Minster Yitzchak Goldknopf during a mass demonstration against enlistment to the Israeli army pic.twitter.com/VJfUBcrA3u

— Oren Ziv (@OrenZiv_) June 30, 2024

A coalition of American Muslim political organizations has urged President Joe Biden to withdraw from the 2024 presidential race, citing his policies on Israel's conflict in Gaza and concerns about his capability to serve another term.

The coalition, named the American Muslim 2024 Election Task Force, comprises groups such as Americans for Justice in Palestine Action, CAIR Action, ICNA Council for Social Justice Action, Muslim American Society Action, Muslim Civic Coalition Activate, and the US Council of Muslim Organizations Civil Action Network.

In their statement, the task force emphasized: "President Biden should now step aside so that the Democratic Party can identify and nominate a new, able, and qualified candidate who better reflects the values and views of most voters, including opposition to US support for the Gaza genocide."

🚨 BREAKING: The American Muslim 2024 Election Task Force, a national coalition of American Muslim 501(c)4 political organizations, today called on President Biden to withdraw from the 2024 presidential race after losing the confidence of key voters. (1/2) pic.twitter.com/wPG9JukiQP

— American Muslim 2024 Election Taskforce (@amtaskforce24) June 30, 2024

Gaza’s Civil Defence reports that three were killed in an Israeli shelling of a house in Gaza City's Sheikh Radwan neighbourhood.

News outlet Al Jazeera English has also confirmed that the bombing took place as victims were attended to and others also surveyed the damaged left by the attack.

News publication Al Jazeera English has reported the killing of one person and another injured following the Israeli bombing of a house in the Sheikh Radwan neighbourhood, northwest of Gaza City.

The outlet added that it had obtained footage of those among the casualties being attended to, while people were scouring through the damage due to the shelling.

Israel's national carrier El Al said Sunday its Warsaw to Tel Aviv flight was not allowed to refuel at Antalya airport after making an emergency landing to evacuate a passenger for medical reasons.

Turkish workers at Antalya airport refused to refuel flight LY5102 before it could take off for Israel, El Al said in a statement.

"Local workers refused to refuel the company's plane even though it was a medical case," it said, adding that the passenger was evacuated.

The plane then took off to Rhodes in Greece where "it will refuel before taking off to Israel", the airline said.

Relations between Turkey and Israel have deteriorated since the war in Gaza broke out on October 7, with all direct flights between the two countries cancelled since.

Turkish diplomatic sources confirmed the plane was allowed to make an emergency landing to evacuate a sick passenger.

"Fuel was to be provided to the plane due to humanitarian considerations, but as the relevant procedure was about to be completed, the captain decided to leave of his own accord," a Turkish diplomatic source said.

Israeli newspaper The Times of Israel said the plane was on the tarmac at Antalya for several hours before it took off for Rhodes.

The Palestinian health ministry said an Israeli strike on Sunday in the occupied West Bank killed a man identified by the Islamic Jihad group as one of its commanders.

Contacted by AFP, the Israeli military did not immediately comment on the attack, which official Palestinian news agency Wafa said was carried out with a drone.

The Ramallah-based health ministry said a Palestinian man was killed and five other people were wounded "following a strike by the (Israeli) occupation" in the northern West Bank's Nur Shams refugee camp.

Wafa identified the slain man as Saeed Izzat Jaber, 24.

Palestinian armed group Islamic Jihad later said "the martyred leader" was one of its commanders, adding that he had previously "survived several assassination attempts".

Jaber's killing "will strengthen our resistance" against Israel, the group said.

According to Wafa, the Israeli military had fired three projectiles from a drone at a house in the camp near the town of Tulkarm.

The Palestinian Red Crescent said its crews were treating two people wounded from "shrapnel following a strike on a house in the Nur Shams camp".

The organisation added that rescuers were initially unable to enter the targeted building "due to fire".

Israel’s opposition leader Yair Lapid has denied any discussions with Prime Minister Netanyahu about forming an official investigation committee into the deadly Hamas-led attack on 7 October.

“For everyone who asked, there are no contacts with Netanyahu regarding the composition of a state investigative committee,” Lapid wrote on X.

“There is a law, and the law is clear: only the president of the Supreme Court determines the composition of an investigative committee. I will not participate in any games. We need an investigation committee, and it should be set up immediately."

לכל מי ששאל, אין שום מגעים עם נתניהו על הרכב ועדת חקירה ממלכתית.

יש חוק, והחוק ברור: רק נשיא בית המשפט העליון קובע הרכב של ועדת חקירה.

לא אתן את ידי לשום משחקים. צריך ועדת חקירה, והיא צריכה לקום מיד.

— יאיר לפיד - Yair Lapid (@yairlapid) June 30, 2024

Multiple casualties have been reported from Israel’s attack on a home in the Nur Shams refugee camp.

One person was killed and five others were wounded, two severely, according to a statement from the Palestinian Health Ministry.

Nur Shams, known as a center of Palestinian resistance in the occupied West Bank, has faced regular Israeli raids and attacks throughout the war on Gaza.

Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi stated that the Middle East is experiencing "serious changes" due to the Israeli invasion of Gaza, Al Jazeera reported.

He accused Israel's leaders of attempting to "impose forced displacement [of Palestinians] towards Egyptian territories."

In a televised address, el-Sisi remarked, "In this war, the conscience of humanity was absent, and the international community remained silent, turning its face away from tens of thousands of innocent victims.

According to The Jerusalem Post, Israel’s ground invasion of Shujayea, a neighborhood in northern Gaza City, is expected to last weeks as the army aims to destroy Hamas tunnels it “missed during the first time through.”

Israeli forces withdrew from northern Gaza in January, claiming Hamas had been “dismantled” there. However, ground operations were recently re-launched after Palestinian armed groups returned to the region.

The Post reports, “[Israeli army] sources were somewhat defensive about needing to return to so many parts of Gaza where they had declared having achieved operational control.”

The sources noted, however, that the speed with which the military was able to penetrate the northern area – 40 minutes compared to the weeks it took in December – indicated that whatever version of Hamas was trying to return was exponentially weaker.

At least 37,877 Palestinians have been killed and 86,969 have been wounded in Israel’s military offensive in the Gaza Strip since 7 October, Gaza’s health ministry said on Sunday. 

The Israeli military reported bombing two military sites in the southern Lebanese towns of Houla and Kfarkela earlier today, where Hezbollah members were tracked operating.

Meanwhile, Hezbollah announced that one of its fighters, Mustafa Hassan Yassin, was killed in an Israeli attack.

According to a count by the Anadolu news agency, he is among at least 454 Hezbollah members killed during the Gaza war.

Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz said on Saturday that Iran's message of an "obliterating war" made it worthy of destruction.

⁠"A regime that threatens destruction deserves to be destroyed," Katz said in a post on X. He also said Israel will act with full force against Iran-backed Hezbollah if it does not stop firing at Israel from Lebanon and move away from the border.

Iran's UN mission said on Friday that if Israel embarks on a "full-scale military aggression" in Lebanon, "an obliterating war will ensue."

The Iranian mission also said in the post on X, formerly known as Twitter, that in such an event "all options, incl. the full involvement of all resistance fronts, are on the table."

Hezbollah has been exchanging fire with Israel since October, in parallel with the Gaza war. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defence Minister Yoav Gallant said this week they prefer a diplomatic path to resolving the situation.

Though Katz is a member of Israel's security cabinet, war policy has largely been led by Netanyahu and a small circle of ministers that includes Gallant, who visited Washington this week for talks on Gaza and Lebanon.

The United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) said on Sunday it had received a report of an incident 13 nautical miles southwest of Yemen's Al Mukha, but that the vessel and its crew were safe.

An UKMTO advisory note said a merchant vessel had reported being approached by 12 small craft which remained in the vicinity of the vessel for about an hour before leaving the area.

The vessel and crew were reported safe, and the vessel is proceeding to its next port of call, the advisory note added.

Yemen's Iran-aligned Houthi group has been launching drone and missile strikes in shipping lanes since November, saying that it acts in solidarity with Palestinians in Israel's war on Gaza.

In dozens of attacks, the Houthis have sunk two vessels, seized another and killed at least three seafarers.

According to Lebanon’s National News Agency, caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati said Lebanon is in a state of war during his visit to a Lebanese army operations center in the south of the country on Saturday.

“We are always advocates of peace, and our choice is peace and the implementation of Resolution 1701. Israel must stop its repeated attacks on Lebanon, and stop the war in Gaza, and everyone must implement International Resolution No. 2735,” he stated.

Resolution 1701 is the UN Security Council order that helped end the 34-day war between Israel and Lebanon in 2006, while Resolution 2735 is the one the council adopted earlier this month, urging Israel and Hamas to implement a three-phase ceasefire deal.

Israel's finance minister has extended a waiver that allows cooperation between its banking system and Palestinian banks in the occupied West Bank, the minister's spokesperson said on Sunday.

The waiver, which was due to expire at the end of June, allows Israeli banks to process shekel payments for services and salaries tied to the Palestinian Authority. Without it, the Palestinian economy would have taken a hit.

Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich extended the waiver during a recent cabinet meeting, his spokesperson said.

U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen has said it was important to keep open the Israeli-Palestinian correspondent banking relationships to allow battered economies in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip to function and help ensure security.

The Palestinian economy relies heavily on this relationship to process transactions made in Israeli shekels.

Israel.i forces conducted an airstrike on a family home in western Rafah, killing six people, including children, according to the Wafa news agency. Several others were reported injured in the attack.

Additionally, Israeli artillery strikes caused further injuries in the southern part of Rafah. Air raids also targeted multiple towns east of Khan Younis, including Abasan and Khuza’a.

A senior Palestinian Hamas official said Saturday in Beirut that negotiations for an agreement with Israel on a Gaza ceasefire and hostage exchange deal had not made any progress.

A plan presented last month by US President Joe Biden, which he said was proposed by Israel, included a six-week truce accompanied by an Israeli withdrawal from densely populated areas and the release of some hostages in exchange for Palestinian prisoners held in Israel.

According to US news site Axios, "three sources with direct knowledge" said Washington had presented a "new language for parts of" the proposed deal.

On Saturday, Osama Hamdan, a Hamas official based in Lebanon, confirmed that the movement had received the latest proposal on June 24, but that it included "nothing new".

"We can say that there is no real progress in the negotiations to stop the (Israeli) aggression so far", he said at a press conference.

The plan presented by Biden has so far failed to result in a deal, with both sides sticking to their demands.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said he will continue the war until Hamas is totally defeated and all hostages are freed.

Hamas insists on a permanent ceasefire and a complete withdrawal of Israeli forces from the Gaza Strip, which Biden promised in his initial announcement of the plan.

Hamdan said the proposals were "merely a waste of time and provide additional time for the occupation (Israel) to practise genocide".

He also said Hamas was being pressured to accept Israel's deal "as it is without modification".