Deadly strikes across Gaza as Israel commits to ceasefire talks

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Egypt's state-affiliated Al Qahera News TV said on Saturday that the country will host Israeli and U.S. delegations to discuss "outstanding issues" in a possible Gaza ceasefire agreement.

Citing a senior official, Al Qahera News said Egypt is conducting talks with the Palestinian faction Hamas to conclude ceasefire and hostages-for-prisoners swap deals.

Britain wants a balanced position on the war in the Middle East and will use diplomatic efforts to ensure a ceasefire is reached and hostages held by Hamas are released, its new foreign minister David Lammy told Reuters.

"The time has come for the United Kingdom to reconnect with the outside world," Lammy said in an interview in Berlin.

"I want to get back to a balanced position on Israel and Gaza. We've been very clear that we want to see a ceasefire ... We want to see those hostages out."

He added: "The fighting has to stop, the aid has got to get in, and I will use all diplomatic efforts to ensure that we get to that ceasefire."

Lammy did not elaborate.

A source close to Hezbollah said an Israeli drone strike targeted a vehicle in eastern Lebanon Saturday, killing an official from the Iran-backed group.

"A local Hezbollah official" was killed in an "Israeli drone" strike on a vehicle near the eastern city of Baalbek, the source close to the group said, requesting anonymity as they were not authorised to speak to the media.

Lebanon's official National News Agency reported one person was killed when an "enemy drone" targeted a vehicle in the Shaat area, around 15 kilometres (nine miles) north of Baalbek.

The area is around 100 kilometres from Lebanon's southern border with Israel.

استهداف رابيد مفرق شعت ....البقاع
غارة من مسيرة استهدفت سيارة رابيد في شعت - بعلبك..*
*شهيد في الغارة* pic.twitter.com/VviONNjdLC

— 🛡الإعــــلام الميــدانـي🛡 (@leader_Leb) July 6, 2024

Gaza's health ministry said an Israeli strike on a school where displaced people were sheltering killed 16 people on Saturday.

The ministry said another 50 people were injured in the strike in the Nuseirat area in central Gaza. The Israeli military made no immediate comment when approached by AFP.

The Gaza Health Ministry has announced the first-ever case of West Nile fever to be recorded in the occupied West Bank.

The fever is transmitted by infected mosquitoes and has flu-like symptoms. 

The ministry said the frequent Israeli raids and the destruction of water pipelines and sewage networks have led to the uptick in mosquitoes - particularly in Jenin.

The Gaza Ministry of Health confirms the number of civilians killed by an Israeli strike on a UN school has risen to 15.

The strike targeted a school sheltering displaced Palestinians in Al-Nuseirat in central Gaza, the official Palestinian news agency said on Saturday.

The Israeli military said it was looking into the report. 

At least 13 people have been killed in an Israeli strike on a school sheltering displaced Palestinians in Al-Nuseirat in central Gaza, the official Palestinian news agency said on Saturday.

(Reuters)

Starmer's new government has appointed lawyer Richard Hermer as the country’s attorney general.

Hermer has been vocal about Israel's war on Gaza, speaking out about how the state is violating international law and must comply with it.

Labour Party candidate Keir Starmer won the UK presidential election on Friday.

Israeli settlers set fire to Palestinian agricultural fields in the town of Turmus Aya in Ramallah in the occupied West Bank.

Palestinian security sources told Wafa that dozens of dunums planted with olive trees were engulfed.

Settlers have been preventing Palestinians from accessing their own lands in the vicinity of the town, leading to weeds getting overgrown and contributing to the rapid spread of fire.

Israeli settler militias set fire to Palestinian agricultural fields in the town of Turmus Aya in the occupied West Bank. pic.twitter.com/g6xvv5sCbm

— Quds News Network (@QudsNen) July 6, 2024

Palestinian prisoners in Gaza have said the Israeli army targeted the group with bombs shortly after releasing them - Al Jazeera reports.

Farid Sobh, among the 15, said after being released, they started walking off the asphalt, where they threw grenades and fired a drone missile. Seven men were killed.

The story was corroborated by another survivor, Mahmoud Abu Taha.

Israel carried out deadly airstrikes in Gaza on Saturday and engaged in combat with Hamas, while to the north, it exchanged fire with Hezbollah across the Lebanese border.

The fighting raged as diplomatic efforts to halt the war, which will enter its tenth month on Sunday, continued with Israel saying on Friday it would send a delegation next week to continue talks with Qatari mediators.

In a statement announcing the move, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's spokesman said "gaps" remained with Hamas on how to secure a ceasefire and hostage release deal.

That came after a delegation led by the head of Israel's Mossad intelligence agency, David Barnea, held a first round of talks with mediators in Doha.

Gaza's police have condemned Israeli forces targeting and killing six police officers in an airstrike in Rafah.

The General Directorate of Police in the Gaza Strip said in a statement the attack confirms "that the occupation seeks to spread chaos in the Gaza Strip and the absence of any signs of order, as hundreds of police officers and members have been martyred since the beginning” of the war.

Hamas has given initial approval for a US-backed proposal for a phased ceasefire deal in Gaza, dropping a key demand that Israel give an up-front commitment for a complete end to the war, a Hamas and an Egyptian official said on Saturday.

The two officials, who spoke on conditions of anonymity to discuss the ongoing negotiations, said Washington’s phased deal would first include a “full and complete” six-week ceasefire that would see the release of a number of captives, including women, the elderly and the wounded, in exchange for the release of hundreds of Palestinian prisoners.

During these 42 days, Israeli forces would also withdraw from densely populated areas of Gaza and allow the return of displaced people to their homes in northern Gaza, the pair said.

Thousands of pro-Palestine protesters are marching in London for the people of Palestine and for an end to Israel's war on Gaza.

Protesters can be seen waving the Palestine flag and signs, as well as chanting "Free Palestine".

The march was organised by the Palestine Solidarity Campaign, with speakers including Leanne Mohammed, Jeremy Corbyn and Doctor Ghassan Abu Sitta.

Thousands of people getting ready to march for Palestine again in London. Join us! 🇵🇸#CeasefireNOW #FreePalestine #StopArmingIsrael pic.twitter.com/fOhk9GXQej

— PSC (@PSCupdates) July 6, 2024

Palestinians are being prevented from praying at Al-Aqsa Mosque ahead of Islamic New Year.

قوات الاحتلال تستنفر في البلدة القديمة وتمنع دخول المصلين إلى المسجد الأقصى المبارك pic.twitter.com/xEhzv5Ym8s

— القسطل الإخباري (@AlQastalps) July 6, 2024

A restaurant owner in Hanoi, Vietnam, refuses to serve Israeli customers over Israel's war on Gaza.

"Your bombs are being dropped on babies," the owner told the couple in a video filmed by the Israeli couple.

The Railway Tuan Cafe displays a "Free Palestine" sticker on its sign.

The couple accused the owner of being antisemitic, asking him whether they were refused entry because they are Jewish.

"Your bombs are being dropped on babies."

A restaurant owner in Hanoi, Vietnam, refuses to serve Israeli customers in protest of Israel's murder of Palestinian children. pic.twitter.com/99QI1QJXSa

— Quds News Network (@QudsNen) July 6, 2024

Fuel shortages in Gaza are affecting functional hospitals in Gaza, particularly those that use generators, oxygen stations, and refrigerators to store medicines, the Gaza Health Ministry said in a statement.

They say work has been suspended in many departments within the remaining operating hospitals, and austerity measures are being followed.

"We repeat our appeal to all concerned, international and humanitarian institutions to intervene and quickly provide the fuel necessary to operate the generators."

Israeli forces arrested 15 Palestinians across the West Bank over the past 24 hours - according to the Palestinian Prisoner's Society (PPS).

PPS confirmed the arrests were in the provinces of Qalqilya, Hebron, Ramallah, Jericho, and occupied Jerusalem and included former prisoners. 

The detainees were also met with assaults and threats against them and their families, while homes and properties were damaged. 

This bring the total number of Palestinians detained by Israeli forces to over 9,535 since 7 October.

At least six Palestinian police officers were killed Saturday morning after an Israeli airstrike targeted a police car in Rafah - according to the Quds News Network.

At least six Palestinian police officers were killed this morning in an Israeli airstrike targeting a police vehicle in Rafah. pic.twitter.com/kViH67NEWl

— Quds News Network (@QudsNen) July 6, 2024

Gaza's Government Media Office has confirmed the five journalists who were killed by Israel in Gaza over the last 24 hours:

• Amjad Jahjouh from the Palestine Media Agency was killed in Nuseirat.
• Wafa Abu Dabaan from the Islamic University Radio in Gaza was killed in Nuseirat.
• Rizq Abu Ashkian from the Palestine Media Agency was killed in Nuseirat.
• Saadi Madoukh from Deep Shot Media Production Company was killed in Gaza City.
• Ahmed Sukkar from Deep Shot Media Production Company was killed in Gaza City.

Al Jazeera's team confirmed two more Palestinian journalists have been killed after Israeli forces bombed the Nuseirat refugee camp. 

Amjad Jahjouh and his wife, Wafa Abu Dabaan, and their child were among the 10 killed at the camp.

Palestinian journalists Saadi Madoukh and Ahmed Sukkar were also killed on Friday, after Israeli forces raided Madoukh's family home in the Daraj neighbourhood in Gaza City.

The Gaza Media Office confirms the total number of journalists killed since 7 October has risen to 158.

At least 38,098 Palestinians have been killed and 87,705 others injured in Israel's military offensive on Gaza since 7 October, the Gaza Health Ministry said on Saturday.

The toll includes at least 87 deaths over the past 48 hours, a ministry statement said. 

Thousands of Palestinians have been forcibly displaced from the Gaza city, Khan Younis, south of the Gaza Strip after Israel sent out evacuation orders. 

"Forced displacement is again pushing people in Gaza to seek safety where there is none," the UN said on X.

"Thousands have left Khan Younis, setting up makeshift shelters among the rubble & on the shore."

Forced displacement is again pushing people in Gaza to seek safety where there is none.

Thousands have left Khan Younis, setting up makeshift shelters among the rubble & on the shore.@UNRWA's efforts to deliver aid are severely hampered by restricted access & security issues. pic.twitter.com/MVtJzTn5Pt

— United Nations (@UN) July 5, 2024

Thousands of displaced Palestinians in northern Gaza have sought refuge in what was once the territory’s biggest football arena, where families scrape by with little food or water as they try to keep one step ahead of Israel's latest assault.

Many fled to the Yarmouk Sports Stadium, which was heavily bombed and largely emptied early into the offensive. Many of the people who ended up in the stadium say they have nothing to return to.

Hamas has accepted a US proposal to begin talks on releasing Israeli captives, including soldiers and men, 16 days after the first phase of an agreement aimed at ending the war on Gaza, a senior Hamas source told Reuters on Saturday.

The Palestinian group has dropped a demand that Israel first commit to a permanent ceasefire before signing the agreement, and it would allow negotiations to achieve that throughout the six-week first phase. The source told Reuters on the condition of anonymity because the talks are private.

A Palestinian official close to the internationally mediated peace efforts had said the proposal could lead to a framework agreement if embraced by Israel and would end the nine-month-old war on Gaza.