Mikati says Lebanon in a state of war, urges Israel to stop attacks

Lebanon’s National News Agency reports that caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati made the call during a visit to a Lebanese army operations centre 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 was quoted as saying.

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.

Israeli jets bomb southern Lebanon overnight

The Israeli military says its jets bombed Hezbollah’s operational infrastructure and a military structure in the towns of Taybeh and Rab Thalateen in southern Lebanon.

The attacks took place during the night, it said in a post on X.

US, Europe warn Lebanon’s Hezbollah to back down

US and European mediators are trying to keep intensifying cross-border attacks between Israel and Hezbollah from spiralling into a wider Middle East war.

Hopes are fading for a ceasefire in Israel’s war on Gaza that would calm attacks by Hezbollah and other Iran-allied groups. With the stalled talks in mind, American and European officials are delivering warnings to Hezbollah about taking on the military might of Israel, Reuters quoted current and former diplomats as saying.

They’re warning Hezbollah shouldn’t count on Western nations being able to restrain Israeli leaders if they decide to execute battle-ready plans for all-out war on Lebanon.

Gerald Feierstein, a former senior US diplomat in the Middle East, said “it certainly seems the Israelis are still … arranging themselves in the expectation that there will be some kind of conflict … an entirely different magnitude of conflict”.

Analysts expect other Iran-allied groups in the region would respond far more forcefully than they have for Hamas, and some experts warn of ideologically motivated fighters streaming into the region to join in.

While Iran, which is preoccupied with a political transition at home, shows no sign of wanting a war now, it sees Hezbollah as its strategically vital partner in the region – much more so than Hamas – and could be drawn in.

_{A woman carries a child as she walks past buildings destroyed during previous Israeli military fire on the southern Lebanese village of Aita al-Shaab, near the border with northern Israel on Saturday}

Lack of medical supplies leads to ‘catastrophic’ health scenario

The head of a UK-based medical charity working in Gaza says the health situation has reached a “catastrophic stage” because of the impossibility of acquiring supplies to treat the hundreds of patients flowing into field clinics.

David Wightwick, CEO of UK-Med, said his team is focusing on the southern city of Khan Younis where the largest proportion of the population is now located. His aid group set up a field hospital in al-Mawasi and has two others in the south.

About 1,400 victims of war violence in the region seek medical help from UK-Med each day, Wightwick told Al Jazeera.  Most of the conflict-related emergencies are blast injuries and gunshot wounds.

But medical supplies have become scarce ever since Israeli forces captured the Rafah border crossing with Egypt last month and began restricting the transport of desperately needed aid.

‘All crossing points must be opened’: PRCS

The Palestine Red Crescent Society (PRCS) has called for all crossings into Gaza to be opened to help aid get into the enclave. “The humanitarian situation in Gaza is catastrophic, with almost the entire population experiencing severe food insecurity,” the group said 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

Video shows Palestinian prisoners used as human shields

Exclusive footage obtained by Al Jazeera shows Israeli forces using Palestinian prisoners as human shields during the fighting in the Gaza Strip.

The footage shows the Israeli forces tying prisoners with ropes, installing cameras on their bodies, and forcing them to enter destroyed residences and tunnels in search of explosives. Many of these prisoners are seen wounded, many of them undressed.

In some scenes, we can see one man clearly beaten and bloodied, with his hands tied behind his back, going up the stairs of a building that has been completely destroyed, searching for weapons or more Hamas fighters.

In that same video, you can see dead bodies all over the floor from when the building was destroyed. Additionally, we know that another prisoner was walking behind him with a camera strapped to his chest.

In another part of the video, we see Palestinian prisoners who are dressed in army gear, without any weapons, in some of these other buildings, [also] searching for weapons or Hamas fighters.

The Israeli military, tying a rope across the body of one Palestinian prisoner, forces him into a tunnel where he is being essentially suspended by this rope, which can be tugged by the army.

This is not the first example we’ve seen throughout this war of the Israeli army using Palestinians as human shields in either Gaza or the occupied West Bank.

Euro-Med: Army Uses Family As Human Shields, Runs Over Mother

https://imemc.org/article/euro-med-army-uses-family-as-human-shields-runs-over-mother/

The Israeli army continues to use its tanks to deliberately run over live Palestinian civilians and crush their bodies, in addition to using civilians as human shields, in the ground operations of its crime of genocide in the Gaza Strip that has been ongoing since 7 October 2023.

The Euro-Med Human Rights Monitor field team documented a compound and comprehensive crime against a civilian family comprising an elderly woman and her four children, including three young women and a one-and-a-half-year-old granddaughter. The family was attacked with gunfire and bombs after Israeli forces stormed their house on Thursday evening, 27 June. They were later taken outside and detained for over three hours despite their injuries in their home, near Israeli tanks in a dangerous combat zone, where they were used as human shields. The 65-year-old mother, identified as Safiya Hassan Musa Al-Jamal, was run over by an Israeli tank and killed in front of her son.

Israeli forces target multiple neighbourhoods: Report

Several people were killed and injured in an Israeli bombardment of the Sabra neighbourhood, south of Gaza City, the Wafa news agency reports, citing local sources.

Israeli artillery also bombed the Shaboura neighbourhood and the vicinity of Al-Awda Roundabout in the centre of Rafah, Wafa reports.

Israeli raids across the West Bank and Jerusalem

Israeli forces have raided several towns across the occupied West Bank and Jerusalem tonight.

Here’s a look at recent developments:

Search for survivors after Israeli strike in Nur Shams camp, West Bank

_{Palestinians search for survivors after Israeli strike destroyed a home in the Nur Shams Refugee Camp in Tulkarem, occupied West Bank on Sunday}

Saeed Jaber, 24, was killed in the attack, with the Palestinian Islamic Jihad later describing him as one of its commanders and saying the attack ‘will strengthen our resistance’.

The Health Ministry in the occupied West Bank reported that five others were injured in the attack, including two who were in a serious condition. The Israeli military said it targeted Jaber over alleged direct involvement in ‘shooting and explosives attacks against civilians and Israeli forces’

18 soldiers injured in drone attack: Israeli military

Israel’s military says 18 of its soldiers were injured, one of them seriously, when a drone struck their position in the occupied Golan Heights, which borders Lebanon.

The military said in a statement that the strike happened earlier today. It had since hit back at Hezbollah targets in southern Lebanon with air strikes and artillery fire.

Israel and Hezbollah have been engaging in tit-for-tat attacks since the war on Gaza began.

Australian PM says Senator who voted to recognise Palestine ‘undermined’ party position

Australia’s Prime Minister Antony Albanese has said that Senator Fatima Payman‘s vote in favour of recognising a Palestinian state was “designed to undermine” the collective position of the Labor Party, in an interview with ABC radio this morning.

Australian site 6 News reported yesterday that Payman had been indefinitely suspended from meetings with the rest of Labor’s parliamentary members after she joined the Australian Greens to vote in support of Palestinian recognition last week.

However, journalist Hugh Riminton noted in a post on X that Labor’s National Platform (PDF) “calls on the Australian Government to recognise Palestine as a state”, as determined by members at the party’s National Conference in August 2023.

_{Labor Senator Fatima Payman has reportedly been asked to no longer attend meetings with other Labor parliamentary members after voting in favour of Palestinian recognition}

‘It’s in the Likud charter’ – Australian PM on ‘from the river to the sea’

Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has told the Australian Parliament “it’s just a fact” that the phrase “from the river to the sea” is used by supporters of Israel, as well as supporters of Palestine.

“It’s in the Likud charter,” Albanese said, after some members of parliament appeared to question his statement it was also used by supporters of a single Israeli state.

Albanese added that he “unequivocally” condemned the use of the phrase “because it speaks about a single state”.

Although Labor’s National Platform (PDF) said it expects recognising Palestine to be an “important priority for the Australian Government” under Albanese’s leadership, his government has said Palestinian statehood should be achieved “as part of a peace process in support of a two-state solution”.

Earlier today Albanese said that Senator Fatima Payman had undermined his party’s position by voting in favour of recognising a Palestinian state.

Free Palestine protest in Melbourne, Australia

<sub>Thousands of people joined the weekly Free Palestine protest at the State Library of Victoria, in Melbourne, Australia on Sunday


Weekly protests against the war in Gaza in Australian cities and towns as well as outside suburban factories where weapons are manufactured.</sub>

ICC arrest warrants against Israel get blocked by Britain

How Jewish Americans Are Turning On Israel - w/. Simone Zimmerman

Israeli military bulldozers destroy roads in Tulkarem, impose siege on Nur Shams camp

Two Israeli military bulldozers have destroyed roads during a raid on Tulkarem in the occupied West Bank, the Wafa news agency is reporting.

Israeli forces also imposed a siege on the Nur Shams refugee camp, in Tulkarem, with Israeli soldiers raiding homes and high-rise buildings as Israeli snipers were deployed on roofs, Wafa reported.

The Tulkarem Brigade, a group of Palestinian fighters from West Bank refugee camps, said they detonated an explosive device in an Israeli military bulldozer at the entrance to the Tulkarem camp, our colleagues at Al Jazeera Arabic report.

The raid comes after an Israeli strike on a home in Nur Shams camp killed a Palestinian Islamic Jihad commander and injured five others.

_{Israeli military bulldozers during a raid, on Tulkarem, in the Israeli-occupied West Bank on January 17}

Israeli armoured vehicle drove over bomb in Nur Shams: Army Radio

We reported earlier that the Tulkarem Brigade claimed to have attacked Israeli forces as they besieged the Nur Shams refugee camp, in Tulkarem.

Israeli Army Radio is now reporting that an Israeli armoured vehicle drove over a bomb during the raid, and that more explosives were fired at Israeli soldiers as they exchanged fire with Palestinian fighters. A video shared by an Israeli Army Radio reporter on X shows a large plume of smoke rising from between buildings in Tulkarem.

The attack comes after the Palestinian Islamic Jihad said one of its fighters was killed in an Israeli air raid that destroyed a building in the Nur Shams camp, injuring five others.

_{Israeli soldiers take cover behind a military bulldozer during an Israeli raid in Deir al-Ghusun, in the occupied West Bank}

Israeli troops arrest 16 Palestinians across the occupied West Bank

Israeli forces detained at least 16 Palestinians throughout the occupied West Bank, the Wafa news agency reports.

The detainees include a female student at Birzeit University, children, former prisoners, as well as five civilians from Gaza residing in the occupied West Bank, according to the Detainees and Ex-Detainees Commission and the Palestinian Prisoner’s Society.

The figure includes those detained from their homes and at military checkpoints, those who surrendered under pressure, and those taken as hostages.

At least three Palestinians have been arrested in the occupied West Bank’s Ramallah, five in the city of el-Bireh and another one in the city of Nablus, according to the Wafa news agency.

The Israeli forces made the arrests at dawn, the report said, adding that those arrested in el-Bireh were from Gaza. The man arrested in Nablus was named as Qasim al-Aklik, a former prisoner who spent 20 years in an Israeli jail.

Footage shows destruction after Israeli incursion into Nur Shams camp

A video verified by Al Jazeera’s Sanad fact-finding agency documents the outbreak of a fire in a house as a result of its destruction by Israeli forces during the storming of the Nur Shams refugee camp in the occupied West Bank city of Tulkarem.

The footage also shows plumes of smoke rising from Nur Shams and remnants of an Israeli army vehicle later targeted with an explosive device in the camp.

انفجارات خلال اقتحام قوات الاحتلال طولكرم ومخيم نور شمس صباح اليوم#فيديو pic.twitter.com/a4f6Uenzd0

— الجزيرة فلسطين (@AJA_Palestine) July 1, 2024

Translation: Explosions during the occupation forces’ storming of Tulkarem and Nur Shams camp this morning.

Intense Israeli army raid ongoing in Nur Shams, Tulkarem

Residents are telling us even though Israeli forces started to withdraw, their raid continues with troops returning to the main street between the Nur Shams refugee camp and Tulkarem city.

A drone strike targeted a house in Tulkarem, killing a woman in her 40s after she was hit by shrapnel. In addition to that, a 15-year-old boy died after being hit by a live round to the head.

‘Large number’ of Israeli troops wounded: Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigade

The armed wing of Fatah says its fighters confronted Israel’s forces in the occupied West Bank’s Nur Shams refugee camp with small-arms fire and explosive devices.

“We carried out a number of precise ambushes that directly injured a large number of soldiers and vehicles until they withdrew in defeat,” al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigade said in a statement.

Al-Quds Brigades claim attack on 5 Israeli settlements near Gaza

Palestinian Islamic Jihad’s armed wing, al-Quds Brigades, has claimed an air attack on Israeli settlements near the Gaza Strip, including Kissufim, Third Eye, Nirim, Sufa and Holit.

It did not elaborate on the results of the air raid.

The announcement came after Israeli media reported that about 20 rockets were fired from the south of the besieged Palestinian enclave. The reports said there were no casualties.

The Israeli army said on X that some of the rockets were intercepted. It did not say whether others caused any damage.

“[Israeli] forces are now attacking the sources of the fire with artillery,” the army added.

Ground invasion of Gaza City’s Shujayea area continues for fifth day

Another journalist killed in Gaza, says Government Media Office

A statement by the office on Telegram says the number of media workers killed since the start of Israel’s war on Gaza has increased to 153.

The office said Muhammad Mahmoud Abu Sharia, a journalist at Shams News Agency, is the latest to be killed in Israel’s attacks. The Committee to Protect Journalists has noted “an apparent pattern of targeting of journalists and their families by the Israeli military”.

Qassam Brigades: Israeli troops killed in booby-trapped house in Rafah

The armed wing of Hamas says fighters lured Israeli troops into an explosives-rigged house used recently as a sniper’s nest in the east of Rafah city. “Immediately after the soldiers entered the house a bomb was detonated, leaving the force members dead and wounded,” it said on Telegram.

Separately, the armed group said fighters targeted two Merkava-4 tanks with two Shawaz explosive devices in the Shujayea neighbourhood, east of northern Gaza City.

Qassam Brigades says it killed Israeli troops in rocket attack in Shujayea

The armed group of Hamas says its fighters attacked soldiers holed up inside a house in the neighbourhood in the east of Gaza City.

A statement on Telegram said the building was targeted with a “TBG thermobaric rocket”, killing and wounding the soldiers. Fighters also “managed to snipe” an Israeli soldier inside a separate home in the neighbourhood.

The Israeli military, meanwhile, reported “short-range encounters” with Palestinian fighters in Shujayea, claiming the air force “eliminated dozens of terrorists” and weapons sites in strikes.

3 ‘massacres’ by Israeli forces kill 23, injure 91 in past 24 hours

Gaza’s health ministry says nearly two dozen people were killed and 100 wounded in Israeli strikes over the past day.

“Israeli attacks killed 23 people and injured 91 others in three massacres against [Palestinian] families in the last 24 hours,” the ministry said. “Many people are still trapped under rubble and on the roads as rescuers are unable to reach them,” it added.

10,000 Israeli soldiers required immediately: Defence chief

The Israel Broadcasting Authority has quoted Defense Minister Yoav Gallant as saying the Israeli army needs 10,000 additional soldiers immediately.

He told the Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee that 4,800 of those required can be recruited from Israel’s ultra-Orthodox community, broadcaster N12 News reports.

Last week, Israel’s Supreme Court ruled unanimously that the military must begin drafting ultra-Orthodox Jewish men for military service. Under longstanding arrangements, men from the ultra-Orthodox community had been exempt from the draft for religious reasons.

_{An ultra-Orthodox Jew protests conscription in West Jerusalem}

‘Ongoing catastrophe’: Call for safe entry of aid into Gaza

As reported by our humanitarian partners, the access to #Gaza remains severely constrained. Aid is piling up at the borders. Safe and unimpeded access for humanitarians and goods is a matter of life and death. It must be granted at scale to address the ongoing catastrophe. #IHL pic.twitter.com/B1on7clXMK

— Janez Lenarčič (@JanezLenarcic) July 1, 2024

Foreign envoys condemn largest Israeli demolition since October 7

Diplomats based in West Jerusalem and Ramallah condemned Israeli destruction of Palestinian buildings during a visit to Um al-Kheir in Hebron.

Representatives from Belgium, Canada, Denmark, the European Union, Finland, France, Germany, Netherlands, Sweden and the United Kingdom noted in a joint statement that this was the largest demolition operation in the occupied West Bank since October 7.

Diplomats witnessed the aftermath of the Israeli demolition of residential structures, the community centre, and an electricity generator that supplied power to the community.

The delegation called on Israel to respect its obligations under the Fourth Geneva Convention, including the prohibition of forcible transfer and to stop demolitions and confiscation of Palestinian property.

Today we visited Um al Kheir in South Hebron Hills, seeing the impact of recent demolitions. Diplomatic missions in Jerusalem & Ramallah condemn these actions, calling on Israel to halt further demolitions and fulfil its obligations as the occupying power under international law. pic.twitter.com/F6qKYsK5ki

— UK in Jerusalem🇬🇧 (@UKinJerusalem) July 1, 2024

Israel launches attacks on southern Lebanon after 18 Israeli soldiers injured

The Israeli military has launched a series of attacks on villages in southern Lebanon, including Kfar Kila and al-Bayyaada, Israel’s Army Radio said in a post on X. The attacks were reportedly aimed at Hezbollah sites, after a drone attack injured 18 Israeli soldiers yesterday, Army Radio added.

_{Residents walk on the rubble of buildings destroyed during previous Israeli military fire on the southern Lebanese village of Aita al-Shaab, near the border with northern Israel, on Saturday}

Israeli forces bomb 2 more towns in southern Lebanon

We earlier reported on Israeli forces attacking the villages of Kfar Kila and al-Bayyaada in southern Lebanon.

The Israeli army said that it also bombed buildings in the towns of Hula and Rab el-Thalathine in southern Lebanon, claiming they belonged to Hezbollah.

Hezbollah members attacked in southern Lebanon: Israeli army

A statement on X says a warplane carried out an air strike on Hezbollah fighters spotted entering a building in southern Lebanon.

A fighter jet struck the building with a missile in the village of Blida after the operatives from the Lebanese armed group entered. It didn’t say if there were any casualties.