United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres expressed increasing concern over the escalating war of words and deadly border clashes between Israel’s military and Lebanon’s Hezbollah fighters.

UN peacekeepers are working to calm the situation and prevent “miscalculation” after both sides heightened their rhetoric and raised the possibility of full-scale conflict, the secretary-general said on Friday.

“One rash move – one miscalculation – could trigger a catastrophe that goes far beyond the border and, frankly, beyond imagination,” Guterres told reporters. “Let’s be clear: The people of the region and the people of the world cannot afford Lebanon to become another Gaza.”

Far-right Israeli minister given more powers over Palestinians

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has criticised pro-Palestine protesters in the US over their support for Hamas, labelling LGBTQ supporters in particular as “an absurdity”.

“Who are they supporting? These murderers, these rapists of women, the beheaders of babies, the burning of innocent civilians, the taking of hostages, including Holocaust survivors,” Netanyahu said in an interview with US outlet Punchbowl News.

“You have Gays for Gaza. That’s an absurdity if I’ve ever heard one. If you are gay in Gaza, you’ll be shot in the back of the head. Women for Gaza. What are women in Gaza – they’re chattel and other such absurdities,” he added.

Netanyahu’s comments come as he is set to address a joint session of Congress on July 24, in a controversial speech being boycotted by several high-profile Democrats, including Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders.


Every accusation is an admission. Anyway no one gets shot for being gay in Gaza.

https://www.peoplesworld.org/article/theyd-kill-you-islamophobic-campaign-aims-to-diminish-queer-support-for-gaza/

While LGBTQ+ rights hang in the balance as the move to right wing extremism continues

https://theconversation.com/israeli-protesters-fear-for-the-future-of-their-countrys-precarious-lgbtq-rights-revolution-205915

The Israeli military has claimed there is no evidence that it is responsible for Friday’s deadly attack on a tented camp in the al-Mawasi area of southern Gaza, which has killed 25 people and injured 50 more, the AFP news agency reports.

“An initial inquiry conducted suggests that there is no indication that a strike was carried out by the [Israeli military] in the humanitarian area in al-Mawasi. The incident is under review,” a military spokesman told AFP.

A statement published by the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) described “high-calibre projectiles” landing “within metres” of its office in the encampment, which it said was surrounded by displaced Palestinians living in tents.

The ICRC did not specify who it believed had fired on the camp.

One survivor of the attack told Al Jazeera fire was “consuming” them “from every direction”.

“We had just eaten and were about to sleep and take some rest, and the next we knew was the sound of resounding explosions destroying our places. We find ourselves alone not knowing what to do. We still can’t process what happened,” the survivor said.

Reuters news agency spoke to a resident of the camp that was attacked who said that “two tanks climbed a hilltop overseeing Mawasi, and they sent balls of fire that hit the tents of the poor people displaced in the area”.

The interview, conducted over a chat app, supports interviews conducted by Al Jazeera correspondents in Gaza regarding the al-Mawasi attack, which killed at least 25 people and injured 50.

Reuters reports that the Israeli military said the camp attack was under review.

Earlier, Israel’s military said its forces were conducting “precise, intelligence-based” actions in the Rafah area.

The number of Israeli women applying for gun permits has soared in particular, with Ministry of National Security data saying there have been 42,000 gun permit applications by women since October 7.

With 18,000 approved, the number of women-held licenses has more than tripled since the war began. The surge has been enabled by the loosening of gun laws under Israel’s right-wing government and its far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir.

More than 15,000 women civilians own a firearm in Israel and the occupied West Bank, with 10,000 enrolled in mandatory training, according to the ministry.

While the immediate trigger for the surge in gun buying was the October 7 attack, Ben-Gvir was already pledging to reform firearms legislation when he became security minister in late 2022. He promised to raise the number of civilians holding weapons and “increase self-defence capacity”.

Eligibility criteria for gun ownership in Israel now include being a citizen or permanent resident over the age of 18 and having basic command of Hebrew and medical clearance.

The full list of requirements makes it nearly impossible for non-Jews to obtain a permit.

In March, Ben-Gvir, who is himself a settler in the occupied West Bank, hailed civilian weapon ownership passing the 100,000 mark, while showing off his own gun at a rally.

Two US Air Force members are requesting to become conscientious objectors over the US’s support of Israel’s war in Gaza, according to a report by NBC News.

For Larry Hebert Jr., the death of 6-year-old Hind Rajab in February after she was trapped under Israeli fire was a turning point.

“She looks almost just like my daughter, and that was something that was extremely hard to grasp, is that all these children that have aspirations and dreams and lives that many of us are living and want, and it’s wholly unjustified to support what’s happening,” Hebert told NBC News, adding that he worked on a US operation to provide weapons sales to Israel.

US Airman Juan Bettancourt also said he could not support the US’s role after watching news from Gaza. “I see the slaughter of thousands of innocent civilians all while the world watches through their smartphones,”  Bettancourt told the US news outlet.

By objecting publicly, the pair hope to influence the US’ position on support to Israel.

The number of children who have died in the hospital due to malnutrition has risen to four within one week, Hussam Abu Safia, the director of Kamal Adwan Hospital has announced.

“We lost a child in the nursery department of the hospital during the past few hours. He is the fourth child to die in the hospital in the last week due to malnutrition,” he said in a news conference held in the northern Gaza Strip.

Children starving to death as hunger spreads in Gaza

Up to 39,000 senior high school students in the Gaza Strip should be sitting very important exams at the moment, called tawjihi, which would enable them to enrol in higher education.

But due to the ongoing Israeli military assault, students such as Doaa al-Zaanin can only hope for the war to end so that they can go back to school.

“Before the war started, I was studying. I worked really hard,” al-Zaanin, from Beit Hanoon, told Al Jazeera. “I had my lessons and then would go home, revise, do extra lessons and exams with special teachers.”

Since the war started in October, the majority of Gaza’s schools and universities have been destroyed, including al-Zaanin’s. “Our future is gone. Our education is gone. But I won’t give up. I’m continuing with my studies. I study in my shelter which is a school.”

Israeli attack on al-Mawasi camp involved two strikes – the second was lethal: Report

Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) fighters participating in the battle for Rafah city fired a surface-to-air (SAM) missile at an Israeli helicopter on Friday, the Institute for the Study of War (ISW) and the Critical Threats Project (CTP) say in their latest joint battlefield report.

The US-based defence think tanks said the helicopter was evacuating Israeli casualties from Rafah when it was targeted by PIJ fighters armed with a Russian model SA-18 Grouse portable missile launcher.

Elsewhere in the Gaza Strip on Friday, Palestinian fighters fired multiple mortars, rockets and rocket-propelled grenades at Israeli forces deployed along the Netzarim Corridor in central Gaza, in Rafah in the south, and at the Karem Abu Salem (Kerem Shalom) border crossing with Israel.

Three rockets were also launched from the Nuseirat area of central Gaza towards Israeli territory on Friday, the ISW/CTP said, adding that all three fell in open areas.

In the last 24 hours, there has been an increase in Israeli attacks in one of the areas designated as a safe zone.

Witnesses said Israeli tanks carried out a sudden and unexpected incursion in al-Mawasi, launching a number of artillery shells towards the evacuation centres and makeshift tents.

The entire area of al-Mawasi is an evacuation centre. It’s a very tiny strip of land where more than 100,000 Palestinians have been taking refuge. It’s the place where field hospitals have been established and it’s a centre for humanitarian organisations.

There is a partial infiltration for the Israeli troops to the western portion of Rafah district, despite all the US warnings on expanding the military operation in Rafah. They have full operational control of the Philadelphi Corridor.

According to Gaza’s Ministry of Health, Israeli attacks killed 101 Palestinians and wounded 169 in the latest 24-hour reporting period. “A number of victims are still under the rubble and on the roads, and ambulance and civil defence crews cannot reach them,” the Health Ministry said.

This is the highest daily death toll recorded in the enclave by the ministry since June 8, when Israeli forces killed at least 274 Palestinians to free four Israeli captives in the Nuseirat refugee camp.

Local media is reporting casualties following the bombing of houses in Shati refugee camp, west of Gaza City.

https://twiter.com/QudsNen/status/1804445197494853936

At least 42 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli attacks on the Shati refugee camp and the Tuffah neighbourhood in Gaza, the head of Gaza’s Government Media Office told Al Jazeera:

• 24 killed in seven homes in Shati
• 18 killed in Tuffah

‘Vast majority of killed are women and children’

_{A Palestinian carries the bodies of dead children after an Israeli strike on al-Shati refugee camp in Gaza City}

Wounded from Shati attack brought to al-Ahli Arab Hospital

_{Palestinian children receive medical treatment at al-Ahli Arab Hospital after getting injured in an Israeli attack on Shati refugee camp in Gaza City, Saturday}

_{Palestinians retrieve bodies of relatives killed in the attack}

Gaza’s civil defence spokesperson Mahmoud Basal told Al Jazeera that it was “very difficult” to reach victims of the Israeli shelling in Shati refugee camp.

He also said:

• The ability of the civil defence is limited compared with the scale of destruction.
• Rescue teams are still searching for missing people under the rubble.
• The number of people under the rubble is unknown.
• The residential square has turned to dust, showing the intensity of the shelling.
• Israeli jets targeted several residential buildings in the camp.

The air strikes took place throughout the day on Friday, and the targets were located in the Lebanese town of Khiam, the Meiss el-Jabal area and in the vicinity of the villages of Taybeh and Tallouseh, Israel’s military said.

Hezbollah “military structures”, “terrorist infrastructure” and a “military position” were targeted in the attacks, the military said in a post on social media, accompanied by grainy, aerial footage of locations being hit with huge explosions.

The Civil Defence in eastern Lebanon says a Lebanese man has been killed in an Israeli raid that targeted his car in the Western Bekaa district.

The Israeli military has said that it targeted Hezbollah members and sites belonging to the group. It struck in Aita al-Shaab, targeting what it said was a Hezbollah operative who had been spotted at one of the group’s observation posts.

The military said that a fighter jet also struck a building in Yaroun where a Hezbollah operative was detected. Fighter jets struck another building used by Hezbollah in Ramyah, the military added.

The Yemeni group says it attacked the US Navy aircraft carrier, the USS Eisenhower, in the Red Sea and a ship known as the Transworld Navigator in the Arabian Sea. The group did not say when it launched the attacks.

The Transworld Navigator was directly hit by a missile, the Houthis said in a statement. The operation against the Eisenhower had achieved its objectives successfully, the group also said, without adding more detail.

The Houthis say they have been launching attacks on Israel-linked ships, and military vessels belonging to an international coalition formed to defend them, in the waters near Yemen in a show of solidarity with Palestinians in Gaza.

US orders aircraft carrier leading mission against Houthis to return home