Twenty-one Palestinian children with cancer to get treatment abroad: Gaza ministry

Gaza’s Ministry of Health has said that a children’s relief organisation in the US cooperated with the World Health Organization to coordinate the exit from the besieged enclave of 21 Palestinian children with cancer.

More than 25,000 children need treatment abroad, it added.

_{Palestinian patients, sit inside a vehicle before being transferred for treatment abroad through Kerem Shalom crossing in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip}

It's something, yet there are over 9,000 cancer patients in Gaza. Will it be just another photo op, or the start of more evacuations. Of course what should be done is getting the hospitals back in functioning order in Gaza.

‘Most of our patients were children’: US health workers recount missions to Gaza

Even after surviving horrific bombing injuries, patients in Gaza’s few working hospitals are still dying from infections due to lack of medical supplies, while many victims are children, US health workers who have returned from the war-torn territory said.

Adam Hamawy, a former US Army combat surgeon, told the AFP news agency that humanitarian aid must enter Gaza in “sufficient volumes to meet the demands”.

“The level of civilian casualties that I experienced was beyond anything I’d seen before,” Hamawy said in an interview following a medical mission to Gaza’s European Hospital last month.

“Most of our patients were children under the age of 14,” said the 54-year-old medic, who has volunteered in warzones and natural disaster-hit countries for the past 30 years.

“You could give all you want, you can donate,” Hamawy said. “But if these borders [in Gaza] don’t open up to allow that aid to get in, then it’s just useless,” he said.

_{Palestinian girl Eman al-Kholi, whose limb was amputated after being wounded in an Israeli strike that killed her parents, lies on a bed as she receives treatment at the European Hospital in Rafah, in the southern Gaza Strip, in December 2023}

Bodies of thousands of missing children under the rubble in Gaza: UNICEF

Palestinians buy ‘salty, polluted’ water after Israel destroys infrastructure

Palestinians have been lining up to buy dirty water after Israel destroyed all five of Gaza’s wastewater treatment facilities, as well as water desalination plants, sewage pumping stations, wells and reservoirs, the AP reports.

Adel Dalloul, a 21-year-old living in a tent near the Nuseirat refugee camp, says he found out the water he’d brought from a vendor was contaminated, after drinking it.

“We found worms in the water. I had been drinking from it,” Dalloul told AP. “It was salty, polluted, and full of germs.” “I had gastrointestinal problems and diarrhoea, and my stomach hurts until this moment,” he said.

Israel has not only destroyed Gaza’s water and sanitation facilities, but it has also killed workers who tried to fix them. This month, an Israeli attack in Gaza City killed five government employees repairing water wells, city officials said.

‘Preconditions of cholera’: Gaza’s decimated sanitation systems causing illnesses

We’ve been sharing updates from a new AP report detailing how Israel’s destruction of water and sewage infrastructure has affected people in Gaza.

Joanne Perry, a doctor working in southern Gaza with Doctors Without Borders, or MSF, told AP that most patients she sees already have illnesses or infections caused by poor sanitation. Scabies, gastrointestinal illnesses and rashes are common, and Perry fears cholera could be on the horizon.

“The crowded conditions, the lack of water, the heat, the poor sanitation — these are the preconditions of cholera,” Perry told AP.

The World Health Organization (WHO) says 485,000 cases of diarrhoea have been reported since October.

WHO figures also showed an outbreak of Hepatitis A, which is spread through consuming water or food contaminated with faecal matter, had led to 81,700 reported cases of jaundice, as of early June.

Palestinians in Gaza surrounded by sewage and rubbish


_{Palestinians gather to fill water jugs near one of the Strip’s few functioning desalination plants in Deir el-Balah}

_{Palestinian kids sort through rubbish at a landfill in the Nuseirat refugee camp}

At least 9 killed, many injured in overnight Israeli attacks: Report

Six people were killed and several injured in an Israeli attack overnight on a group of people in the Jabalia area of northern Gaza, the Wafa news agency reports.

One person was also killed in an Israeli attack on the home of the Wadi family in the Beit Lahiya area, also in the north of the Palestinian territory.

In nearby Gaza City, two people were killed and several wounded when Israeli aircraft attacked homes in the Sabra neighbourhood. People remain missing and are believed to be buried under the rubble following the attack, Wafa reports. A separate attack on the home of the al-Wahidi family resulted in an unknown number of casualties in the neighbourhood.

In southern Khan Younis, women and children were among those killed and injured in an attack on a school housing displaced people.

Israeli artillery attacks were also reported in Gaza City’s Zeitoun, Hawa and Sheikh Ijlin areas, while Israeli ground forces in southern Rafah were reported to have systematically demolished residential buildings in the west of the city.

Video footage shared by our colleagues at Al Jazeera Arabic shows the aftermath of an overnight attack in Beit Lahiya.

شهيد وجرحى في قصف إسرائيلي استهدف منزلا في بيت لاهيا شمال قطاع غزة#الأخبار#حرب_غزة pic.twitter.com/e9ZlZ5hqPt

— الجزيرة فلسطين (@AJA_Palestine) June 27, 2024

Translation: One dead and one wounded in an Israeli bombing that targeted a house in Beit Lahiya in the northern Gaza Strip.


Israeli military says warplanes attacked Khan Younis school

Aftermath of Israeli strike on school sheltering displaced people

_{A Palestinian boy walks on rubble, following an Israeli strike on a school sheltering displaced people in Khan Younis, in the southern Gaza Strip.}

As a result of the attack al-Hansa Girls’ School in the east of the city was destroyed. Many buildings around the school were destroyed or heavily damaged as a result of the attack

Rescue missions ‘may stop at any moment’: Gaza’s Civil Defence

The Civil Defence in Gaza has issued a statement, warning that it is running out of fuel and its rescue missions “may stop at any moment”.

It said on its Telegram channel that rescue crews carried out several missions this morning alone, involving recovering bodies and survivors from four homes attacked in Gaza City’s Sabra neighbourhood, as well as two separate houses in the Shujayea area.

“Our crews cannot deal with the huge number of targets while running out of fuel,” its statement said. “The reality of the health system in the northern Gaza Strip is tragic as the aggression continues.”

Israel steps up attacks on residential areas of central, northern Gaza

We continue to hear loud Israeli explosions and attacks across central and even northern Gaza. There has been a clear step-up in attacks in these areas.

Overnight and into the early hours of the morning, the Israeli military targeted five residential homes in Gaza City’s Sabra and Shujayea neighbourhoods. At least three people have been killed in Sabra, while five others have been killed so far in Shujayea.

Gaza’s Civil Defence says its crews have managed to rescue a number of civilians trapped under the rubble in these areas. There are still some missing victims.

In the central area, the Bureij refugee camp has been widely targeted. We can still hear the sound of explosions there. At least one Palestinian has been reported killed, with two others wounded. They have been transferred to al-Awda Hospital for treatment.

_{Palestinians walk past destroyed buildings at al-Bureij refugee camp in the central Gaza Strip}

Palestinian girl dies of malnutrition: Report

Citing a health official, the Reuters news agency is reporting that the girl died overnight in Gaza’s Kamal Adwan Hospital. She is among dozens of children to die from starvation or dehydration during the war, including at least four others this week.

Many more could suffer the same fate as one in five Palestinians in Gaza face “catastrophic food insecurity”, according to the UN’s hunger monitoring system.

Israeli tanks rolling into Shujayea: Report

Israeli tanks are moving into Gaza City’s Shujayea neighbourhood and waging fierce attacks as people flee, according to local residents quoted by Reuters.

The ongoing attacks in Shujayea, which also suffered a wave of overnight bombardment, are making it impossible for rescuers to reach injured people in the area, according to the Palestinian Civil Defense.

“We are being starved in Gaza City, and are being hunted by tanks and planes with no hope that this war is ever ending,” Mohammad Jamal, a 25-year-old resident of Gaza City told Reuters.

Palestinians fleeing Shujayea ‘don’t know where to go’

We can now bring you accounts from Palestinians fleeing Israel’s surprise assault on Gaza City’s Shujayea neighbourhood.

Footage verified by Al Jazeera’s Sanad fact-checking agency shows crowds of people in eastern Gaza, many carrying their belongings in backpacks and carts, walking westwards.

One elderly man said he would head towards al-Shifa Hospital. Many others have no idea where they will go.  “We were suddenly and intensively bombarded by Israel,” said one man fleeing the area on foot. “We came out and we don’t know where to go.”

“Today, we saw shelling … and injured people on the ground,” said a woman, also leaving on foot. “I don’t know where I will go with my family.”

Israeli military carries out arrests in raids across the occupied West Bank

The Israeli military has arrested two men during the storming of the town of Urif, south of the city of Nablus in the occupied West Bank, local media reports.

Israeli forces have also arrested two men in the town of Beit Daqqu, northwest of occupied East Jerusalem, and one man in the city of Dura, south of Hebron.

Israeli troops have also shot two Palestinian men after storming the Dheisheh refugee camp south of the city of Bethlehem. The condition of the victims is not currently known.

Over 3 days, at least 113 Israeli military raids, more than 80 arrests in occupied territory: UN

Over just three days last week, Israeli forces carried out at least 113 “search and arrest operations” in the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem, and more than 80 Palestinians were detained during the June 20-23 monitoring period, the UN reports.

Restrictions on entering Jerusalem also continue for Palestinians who, since October, are not allowed to enter the historic city without Jerusalem identification cards.

On June 22, six Palestinians were shot and injured by Israeli forces and others detained for attempting to enter the city without permits, UNRWA said.

Three arrested, one wounded as Israeli military storms Jenin

The Israeli military has arrested three Palestinians during an ongoing raid in the occupied West Bank city of Jenin and the Jenin refugee camp, the Wafa news agency reports.

Israeli forces, supported by bulldozers, drones, and Apache attack helicopters, stormed the city and neighbouring camp on Wednesday evening, resulting in intense clashes with Palestinian resistance groups.

Gunfire, tear gas and explosions have been reported, with one Palestinian man wounded in the face by shrapnel, according to Wafa. Ambulance crews have been prevented from reaching the man and his condition is currently unknown.

At least 17 Israeli soldiers reported injured in Jenin blast

Local media is now reporting that at least 17 Israeli soldiers have been injured in a blast carried out by Palestinian fighters in the occupied West Bank city of Jenin.

Earlier, we reported that Palestinian fighters ambushed Israeli forces amid intense clashes in the Jenin area, leaving some in critical condition. Footage from the scene shows Israeli helicopters evacuating the wounded.

Israeli forces have also arrested three Palestinians and wounded one other after storming the area with support from bulldozers, drones and Apache attack helicopters.

تغطية صحفية: تواجد قوات الاحتلال داخل المخيم الجديد خلال الاقتحام المستمر لمدينة جنين pic.twitter.com/o8JdjVcJSR

— شبكة قدس الإخبارية (@qudsn) June 27, 2024

One Israeli soldier dead following Jenin ambush: Report

An Israeli soldier has died and 17 others have been injured following a blast in the occupied West Bank city of Jenin, our Al Jazeera Arabic colleagues are reporting.

Israeli drone kills one person on motorcycle in Lebanon’s West Bekaa district

A person has been killed in the town of Sohmor in Lebanon’s Western Bekaa district after an Israeli drone hit a motorcycle, according to local media.

A video circulating on social media showed ambulances rushing to the scene, while a photo showed a charred motorcycle.

Palestinians in Lebanon ready to fight if Israel starts war with Hezbollah

https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2024/6/27/palestinians-in-lebanon-ready-to-fight-if-israel-starts-war-with-hezbollah

Palestinians living in Lebanon believe they will be targeted for attack if Israel’s cross-border conflict with Hezbollah develops into a full-blown war.

In the Shatila Palestinian refugee camp in Beirut, many said they were not scared and would fight to support Hezbollah against Israel.

But they also worry for their families and civilians, fearing that Israel would target densely populated residential areas – such as Palestinian refugee camps in Lebanon – where tens of thousands of people live packed tightly together.

_{Members of the PFLP-GC march in a parade marking the annual Quds Day at Burj al-Barajneh Palestinian refugee camp in Beirut on April 14, 2023}

Mapping 7,400 cross-border attacks between Israel and Lebanon

https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2024/6/27/mapping-7400-cross-border-attacks-between-israel-and-lebanon

Israeli army drills simulate combat near Lebanon border

The Israeli military has published videos and photos on its official website, saying it showed its fighters carrying out military exercises simulating combat scenarios in the northern border area with Lebanon.

The drills that took place last week trained the Israeli soldiers for “responding to various threats with the cooperation of the infantry, armor and fire forces”, the army update said.

The troops also practised combat scenarios “in a tangled terrain that simulates combat on a northern route, progress along a mountain route and the use of gradual fire”, the statement added.

US advises citizens to avoid travel to Lebanon

The US has issued a travel advisory urging its citizens to stay away from Lebanon, as tensions soar along its border with Israel. “We remind US citizens to strongly reconsider travel to Lebanon,” said the notice published by the US Embassy in Lebanon.

In particular, US citizens should avoid going to Lebanon’s south, its border with Syria, and refugee settlements, the advisory specified. The advisory said the Lebanese government could not ensure US citizens’ safety in the event of “sudden outbreaks of violence and armed conflict”.

The advisory comes after Germany and the Netherlands issued similar notices calling on their citizens to leave Lebanon yesterday.

As well as Canada. It's not a good sign when all the close allies of Israel, trying to stave of all out war with Hezbollah (or so they say) tell their citizens to leave.

Israeli air attack targets southern Lebanon’s Aitaroun: Report

من مكان الغارة في عيترون pic.twitter.com/dYSStbwqHD

— bintjbeil.org (@bintjbeilnews) June 27, 2024

Why an Israel-Hezbollah war would be far more dangerous today than the last time around

https://www.cnn.com/2024/06/27/middleeast/israel-lebanon-hezbollah-analysis-intl-latam-hnk/index.html

“We can plunge Lebanon completely into the dark and take apart Hezbollah’s power in days,” former Israeli war cabinet member Benny Gantz declared Tuesday at a conference at Reichman University in Herzliya, Israel.

It was just the latest threat from a prominent Israeli public figure against Lebanon and Hezbollah as tensions flare.

It won’t be difficult for Israel to plunge Lebanon into darkness. The country’s power grid, already crippled by decades of mismanagement and the country’s economic collapse, barely functions as it is. A few well-aimed airstrikes will easily finish it off.

Taking apart Hezbollah’s military power in days, however, is a far taller task. Since its inconclusive 2006 war with the Lebanese militant group, Israel has been planning for a re-match. Hezbollah too has long been preparing for war.

Its arsenal includes, according to Israeli estimates, at least 150,000 missiles and rockets. Israel estimates the group has already fired 5,000 since October, which means, as Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah said in a speech last week, much of its arsenal remains intact.

CNN has reported that Israeli officials have been surprised by the sophistication of the militant group’s attacks.

These include systematic pinpoint strikes on Israel’s array of surveillance outposts along the border, shooting down high-flying top-of-the-line Israeli drones, and hits on Israel’s Iron Dome batteries and anti-drone defenses. Perhaps the biggest surprise for Israel, however, was the nine minutes of drone footage Hezbollah published online of highly sensitive civilian and military infrastructure in and around the northern city of Haifa.

Highly trained and disciplined

In addition to its weaponry, Hezbollah can probably field between 40,000 and 50,000 fighters – Nasrallah recently said more than 100,000. Many of these gained combat experience fighting alongside regime forces in the Syria civil war.

As a fighting force, Hezbollah is highly trained and disciplined, unlike many other guerrilla groups. During the 2006 war, in the experience of this correspondent, it was rare to encounter Hezbollah fighters. One day we came upon several of them in the ruins of a southern Lebanese village. They were polite but firm, devoid of boastful bluster and swagger, insisting we leave immediately for our own safety. They wouldn’t take no for an answer.

Unlike Gaza, Lebanon is not hemmed in by hostile neighbors. It has strategic depth, with friendly regimes in Syria and Iraq, allowing direct access to Iran.

Over the years Israel has regularly struck targets in Syria it believed were involved in trans-shipment of weapons to Hezbollah, but all indications are those strikes have been only partially successful.

In the event of war, full-scale war, both sides will be able to inflict significant pain on the other.

‘Fire and blood’: The chilling reality facing Israel in a war with Hezbollah

https://www.calcalistech.com/ctechnews/article/skc0dbmia

Over 100 senior military and government officials participated in a report by Reichman University’s Institute for Counter-Terrorism which details how unprepared the Israeli home front is for an all-out war with Hezbollah

UNICEF says deal agreed with Israel to boost Gaza water supply

The United Nations children’s fund says Israel had agreed to restore power to a key desalination plant in southern Gaza.

“UNICEF confirms an agreement (with Israel) was reached to re-establish the medium voltage feeder power line for the Southern Gaza Desalination Plant,” said Jonathan Crickx, the agency’s spokesman in the occupied Palestinian territories.

Water has become scarce for the Palestinian territory’s 2.4 million residents since war broke out nearly nine months ago.

More than two thirds of Gaza’s sanitation and water facilities have been destroyed or damaged, according to data cited by UN agencies, and only an intermittent supply of bottled water has been allowed in since Israel imposed a punishing siege on the territory.

The plant in Khan Younis, once resupplied with electricity, should produce enough water to “meet what humanitarian standards define as a minimum intake of 15 litres (3.96 gallons) per day of drinking water per person, for nearly a million displaced people” in southern Gaza, Crickx said.

“This is an important milestone, and we are very much looking forward to seeing it implemented.”

Lack of gas deliveries puts 18 ambulances out of operation

The Palestine Red Crescent Society (PRCS) says 18 ambulances, or 36 percent of its fleet, have stopped operating in Gaza because of a lack of fuel.

In a statement posted on X, the organisation said it hasn’t received its daily share of petrol from the UN for more than a week. “This share previously covered only 6 percent of the operational capacity of the ambulances, as the Israeli occupation has prevented fuel from entering the Gaza Strip,” it said.

“As a result, the PRCS warns of a decline in its ability to provide ambulance and emergency services in the coming days due to the fuel shortage, with the Israeli occupation continuing to keep the Rafah border crossing closed for about 52 days.”

🚨The Palestine Red Crescent Society (PRCS) expresses its concern over the halting of 18 ambulances in the #Gaza Strip due to fuel shortages, which represents 36% of the PRCS’s ambulance fleet capacity. The PRCS has not received its daily share of gasoline from the United Nations… pic.twitter.com/C9MRhdcWxl

— PRCS (@PalestineRCS) June 27, 2024

US lawmaker calls for Gaza pier shutdown

A US Republican lawmaker has written to the Biden administration demanding the closure of the Gaza aid pier, calling the operation ineffective, risky and a waste of money.

Casualties after Israeli attack in northern Gaza

Several people have been killed and injured, including children, after an Israeli air raid hit an apartment block in the Tuffah neighbourhood, east of Gaza City. Earlier, Israeli forces carried out a surprise assault on Gaza City’s Shujayea neighbourhood.

Footage verified by Al Jazeera showed crowds of people in eastern Gaza, many carrying their belongings in backpacks and carts, walking westwards from the attacks.

‘Residents running through the streets in terror’ in Gaza City

Shujayea resident Omar Sukar says the violence began as people in the area were collecting drinking water, which has been in limited supply because of the Israeli siege.

“People were filling water in the Shaboura area in Shujayea,” he told AFP news agency. “The water truck had just arrived when the shelling began.”

Israel previously said it pulled its troops out of the mostly devastated north after claiming it “dismantled” Hamas months ago there.

In Gaza City, a witness in Shujayea who declined to be named said the situation was “very difficult and frightening” as Israeli military vehicles approached the area during air strikes and shelling.

“Residents are running through the streets in terror … A number of wounded and martyrs lie in the streets.”

The Israeli military’s Arabic-language spokesman Avichay Adraee earlier told people in Shujayea to leave “for your safety” in a message posted on social media.