Israeli attacks on Gaza City ongoing as Lebanon border heats up

The Israeli military said on Sunday that one of its soldier's was "severely wounded" by a drone and has been hospitalised.

The statement follows multiple Hezbollah drone attack on an Israeli military barracks in Ayelet Hashahar and Beit Hillel in northern Israel.

The cross-border violence has killed at least 480 people in Lebanon, most of them fighters but also 93 civilians, according to an AFP tally.

Israeli authorities say at least 15 soldiers and 11 civilians have been killed in the country's north.

The Jordanian army conducted two airdrops of humanitarian and food aid into southern Gaza on Sunday, according to Jordan's Roya news agency.

The Jordanian Armed Forces along side an Egyptian army aircraft "included relief and humanitarian assistance to support the people of Gaza" a statement by the JAF said.

Earlier on Sunday, Jordan led a 70 truck humanitarian aid convoy into Gaza, carrying food parcels and medical supplies, the Roya news agency reported. The supplies were organised by the Jordanian army and the Jordan Hashemite Charity Organization and will be distributed to residents in north Gaza.

Israeli tanks advanced to the edge of al-Mawasi displaced persons' camp in the northwest of the southern Gaza city of Rafah on Sunday in fierce fighting with Hamas-led fighters, residents said.

Images of two Israeli tanks stationed on a hilltop overlooking the coastal area went viral on social media, but Reuters could not independently verify them.

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The United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) said on Sunday that it had received a report of a distress call from a vessel 96 nautical miles southeast of Nishtun, Yemen, adding that authorities were investigating it.

The crew has been recovered by an assisting ship while the abandoned ship remains adrift, it 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 in Gaza.

(Reuters)

Gaza's health ministry has released its daily report citing a further 47 deaths and 121 injuries in the past 24 hours in the Strip.

It brings the total to 37,598 killed and 86,032 wounded since the start of Israel's war in October.

It added that a number of victims remain out of reach and cannot be accessed by ambulance services or civil defense teams.

Hezbollah said it fired a "squadron of drones" at an Israeli military base near Ayelet HaShahar just south of the Lebanese border.

In a statement on Sunday, Hezbollah said it targeted the "headquarters of the 91st Division in Ayelet Hashahar"  which resulted in "killed and wounded".

Israeli media said that fires had broken out in the area sparked by Israel's missile interceptor.at a military base near the northern community of Ayelet HaShahar, about 10 kilometers from the border.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Sunday a row with the United States over weapons delays relating to the Gaza war would be resolved soon, amid simmering tensions between the allies.

"About four months ago, there was a dramatic drop in the supply of armaments arriving from the US to Israel. We got all sorts of explanations, but... the basic situation didn't change. In light of what I have heard in the last day, I hope and believe that this issue will be resolved in the near future," he told a cabinet meeting.

Israel said on Sunday morning that its air defence missile system sucessfully intercepted "a surveillance UAV that crossed from Lebanon", following warning sirens in the Galilee region in northern Israel.

"Sirens regarding rocket and missile launches were activated in the area due to the danger of falling shrapnel from the interception," the Israeli army said in a statement.

The armed wing of Hamas, al-Qassam Brigades said on Sunday it fired "mortar shells" at Israeli forces in Yabna camp area of Rafah in southern Gaza with support from al-Quds Brigrades.

The New Arab's Arabic language sister title Alaraby Aljadeed said that al-Qassam brigrades announced the destruction of an Israeli vehicle in Rafah.

Israeli forces launched an invasion into the southern governorate in May which has devastated the city and forced over a million Palestinians to flee.

Lebanon's Hezbollah group said on Sunday it targeted the base of an Israeli battalion in Beit Hillel with an assault drone, in response to the attack carried out by Israel the day before on the the town of Al-Khayara.

In a statement on the group's Telegram channel, it said the attack caused soldiers "to be killed and wounded".

Earlier on Sunday, the Israeli army said it launched "an interceptor" at the UAV which triggered rocket and missile sirens, but added that no injuries were reported.

More than two-thirds of Gaza's schools have been damaged by Israeli attacks since October, the UN's Palestinian refugee agency said on Sunday.

UNRWA said on social media site X that "69 percent of school buildings where displaced families were seeking shelter have been directly hit or damaged."

"This blatant disregard of humanitarian law must stop," it added.

Thousands of families have sought shelter in UN schools in Gaza as Israel's military incursion has ripped up neighbourhoods and forced civilians to flee homes. Many are living in squalid and overcrowded conditions which aid agencies have said are unsuitable for habitation.

Nowhere is safe in #Gaza.

According to @GlobalEdCluster, 69% of school buildings where displaced families were seeking shelter have been directly hit or damaged.

This blatant disregard of humanitarian law must stop. We need a #CeasefireNow. pic.twitter.com/izwPNeKOVC

— UNRWA (@UNRWA) June 23, 2024

An aerial drone likely launched by Yemen's Houthi rebels struck and damaged a vessel in the Red Sea on Sunday, officials said, the latest attack by the group targeting the vital maritime corridor.

The attack comes as the U.S. has sent the USS Dwight D. Eisenhower back home after an eight-month deployment that saw it lead the American response to the Houthi assaults. Those attacks have seen shipping drastically drop through the route crucial to Asian, Middle East and European markets in a campaign the Houthis say will continue as long as the Israel-Hamas war in the Gaza Strip rages on.

The drone attack happened around dawn off the coast of the rebel-held port city of Hodeida, the British military's United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations center said. It said the vessel sustained damage but its mariners on board “were reported safe.” It did not elaborate on the extent of the damage, but said an investigation was ongoing.

The private security firm Ambrey identified the ship involved as a Liberia-flagged container ship bound for Qingdao, China.

Israel's defence minister Yoav Gallant flew to Washington on Sunday and is expected to meet with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken alongside other prominent officials including CIA chief William Burns and special envoy Amos Hochstein who was in the region last week.

Gallant will discuss with US officials "phase three" of the Gaza war, according to Israeli media. Speaking before he left, he said the meetings were "critical for the future of the war".

"During these meetings, I plan to discuss developments [on the southern and northern fronts], in Gaza and Lebanon," he said in comments carried by Times of Israel.

The trip comes following a week of heightened tensions between Israel and Lebanese group Hezbollah as Israeli military chiefs threaten an all-out war into southern Lebanon. Hezbollah's leader Hassan Nasrallah has said the group would be ready.