Israeli drone attack hits car south of Beirut

Several Lebanese media outlets have reported that an Israeli air raid has hit a vehicle on a busy motorway in the Khaldeh area, about 12km (8 miles) south of Beirut.

A Lebanese security source told Al Jazeera that casualties resulted from the strike, but these reports are still unconfirmed.

Bombing an area near the Lebanese capital marks another escalation by Israel, which has been carrying out near-daily attacks in Lebanon since it reached a ceasefire with Hezbollah in November of last year.

In a statement, Israeli army spokesman Avichay Adraee said the military carried out an attack against a person “involved in arms smuggling” and planning attacks against Israeli soldiers and civilians.

It is not clear if the attack Adraee was referring to is the same drone attack on the vehicle south of Beirut.

Israeli forces detain foreign activists near Masafer Yatta: Palestinian media

The Palestinian news agency Wafa has reported that Israeli forces have detained several foreign activists in the Palestinian town of Masafer Yatta, whose population Israel has long sought to expel. It is near Hebron in the occupied West Bank.

Quoting a correspondent, Wafa reported that Israeli soldiers accompanied by a group of Jewish settlers arrested several activists trying to document attacks on Palestinians in the village, which is the subject of frequent attacks by Israeli settlers.

Israeli forces routinely detain and imprison Palestinians protesting against the theft of their land in the West Bank while settlers who carry out attacks operate largely without consequences and sometimes with the assistance of soldiers.

‘Last lifelines for survival being cut off’ in Gaza: Guterres

The UN secretary-general has warned of dire consequences if fuel is not allowed into the Strip. “Without an urgent influx of fuel, incubators will shut down, ambulances will be unable to reach the injured and sick, and water cannot be purified,” Guterres wrote on X.

He reiterated that the UN is prepared – and able – to deliver humanitarian assistance to Palestinians in Gaza, but must be allowed to carry out its work “safely and at scale”.

As we’ve been reporting, Israel has blocked most humanitarian assistance from entering Gaza while promoting an alternative aid scheme that bypasses the UN.

Hundreds of Palestinians have been killed in recent weeks while trying to get food at US- and Israeli-backed aid distribution points run by the so-called Gaza Humanitarian Foundation.

Doctor in Gaza says ‘no doubt’ attacks on aid seekers are deliberate

Tarek Loubani, an emergency physician working in southern Gaza, has said that Palestinians seeking aid in Gaza are being consistently and intentionally attacked by Israeli forces, and that Gaza Humanitarian Foundation’s (GHF) denials that its security contractors have shot Palestinians seeking aid are “obscene”.

“As medical people, very often we’re in a situation where you wonder what the intent was. But in this specific case, it’s obvious. Patients can sometimes be sitting there, doing nothing, waiting for the site to open, and then they get shot in the head. I’ve seen that numerous times,” he told Al Jazeera.

“Patients often get lined up and brought into these very compressed spaces, and then they get fired on, with spreadshot fire where someone pulls a trigger on a machine gun. They have artillery fire on them. It is deliberate. There is no doubt. I did not need to see the [Associated Press] video to know that it is deliberate. Patients tell me, the injury patterns tell me, the ways in which people are killed, the massive numbers in which they are killed, tell me.”

Loubani stated that there is “no doubt” of GHF involvement in the massacres, stating that denials by the group have been “delusionally obscene”.

Main events on July 3rd

• At least 101 Palestinians have been killed in Israeli attacks across the Gaza Strip on Thursday, medical sources tell Al Jazeera, including dozens attacked while seeking desperately needed aid.
• The UN’s special rapporteur on human rights in the occupied Palestinian territory, Francesca Albanese, has called for countries to break trade ties with Israel over what she dubbed its “economy of genocide”.
• Pressure continues to build on the US- and Israeli-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) after an Associated Press report found that American contractors fired on Palestinian aid seekers; the GHF has denied any wrongdoing.
• An Israeli drone attack on a vehicle very near Lebanon’s capital, Beirut, has killed at least one person and injured three others as the Israeli military continues to strike sites across the country despite a months-long truce with Hezbollah.

As debate over massive tax bill roils US politics, support for Israel’s war continues

For weeks, a contentious tax and spending package has been at the centre of US politics, prompting debate about what policies and ideas should receive priority when it comes to shaping economic policy. The bill, which Trump is expected to sign into law this afternoon, includes massive cuts to social programmes providing services such as healthcare.

But as that debate has unfolded, one area remains a subject of largely bipartisan consensus among US lawmakers: Continued arms transfers to Israel, despite widespread evidence of Israeli abuses in Gaza.

“Remember this as Trump prepares to cut billions from Medicaid and SNAP: He’s used over $12 billion of our taxes for weapons to Israel since taking office,” the IMEU Policy Project, a pro-Palestine advocacy organisation based in the US, said in a social media post. “He announced $510 million more for weapons to Israel just this week.”

Groundhog day continues in Gaza

Gaza’s nutrition crisis grows as families rely on dangerous, inadequate food aid

Palestinian families in Gaza face relentless bombardment, starvation and a lack of essential supplies. Food aid delivered by the controversial Gaza Humanitarian Foundation is scarce, nutritionally poor, and dangerous to access, with many killed trying to receive it.

The distribution centres offer parcels meant to last days, but families say they fall far short of their needs. A severe shortage of water and cooking gas makes preparing even basic food a major challenge. Malnutrition is spreading, especially among children who show signs of weakness and exhaustion.

Israeli military carries out deadly attacks on displaced Palestinians

The Israeli military has carried out several deadly attacks targeting displaced Palestinians in southern Gaza over recent hours, our Al Jazeera Arabic colleagues report.

In the al-Mawasi area near Khan Younis, Israeli fighter jets bombed tents housing displaced Palestinians, killing at least 15 people and injuring others, according to sources at the nearby Nasser Hospital.

Israeli forces have also shelled a tent housing displaced Palestinians on a beach in Khan Younis, killing at least seven people and injuring more.

An earlier attack on tents housing displaced Palestinians near the Taiba Towers, west of Khan Younis, has also killed five people and wounded others.


_{Relatives of Palestinians, who were killed in an Israeli attack on Khan Younis, attend a funeral ceremony in front of Nasser Hospital in Gaza City, Gaza on July 4}

Gaza municipality warns of spread of disease as fuel shortages cripple basic services

The Gaza municipality says it has been forced to reduce basic services due to a lack of fuel and other resources inside the enclave. Local authorities called on international organisations to provide what is needed to mitigate the disastrous humanitarian situation and to limit the spread of disease.

“The city is suffering a real, worsening, and dangerous disaster due to the displacement crisis and waste accumulation,” the municipality said. With only a trickle of humanitarian aid allowed to enter Gaza and sweltering heat, Palestinians in Gaza are facing a disastrous public health crisis.

Malnourished families, already worn down by months of war, live in unsanitary conditions with no clean water and overflowing rubbish that facilitates the spread of disease.

Gaza’s Nasser Hospital ‘one massive trauma ward’: WHO

Nasser Hospital in southern Gaza’s Khan Younis city is operating as “one massive trauma ward” due to an influx of patients injured at non-United Nations food distribution sites, the World Health Organization has said.

“They’ve seen already for weeks, daily injuries … and (the) majority coming from the so-called safe non-UN food distribution sites. The hospital is now operating as one massive trauma ward,” Rik Peeperkorn, WHO representative in the Palestinian territory, told a media briefing.

‘A lack of everything’ at Gaza’s Nasser Hospital: WHO

Rik Peeperkorn, the WHO’s representative in Palestine, said the hospital is seeing a daily influx of dozens of patients who are all wounded at the controversial food sites that are not run by the United Nations.

“The hospital is completely overflown with patients,” Peeperkorn told Al Jazeera from Deir el-Balah in central Gaza, after visiting the facility yesterday.

He said there is “a lack of everything, including beds” at the hospital, which is running at nearly double its capacity. “There used to be an intensive care unit with only 15 patients – now there are more than 60 patients on the ICU.”

The desperate situation has led to the creation of makeshift, ad hoc units to treat those in need, Peeperkorn added. “We saw patients on the floor being intubated, on the stretchers, etc,” he said. “It’s incredible.”

The UN health agency’s representative in Palestine said most of the patients were treated for bullet wounds. “And it’s everywhere; it’s in the head, the neck, the chest, the abdomen and the knees,” he added.

Peeperkorn highlighted the cases of a 13-year-old boy and a 16-year-old boy who are fighting for their lives after being shot while attempting to get much-needed aid.

“Their families … had doubts to send out their children to get the so-called food boxes from these so-called ‘safe’, non-UN food distribution sites – and this is what happened, they got shot,” he said.

“I mean it’s insane, people who are desperate for food, that getting a little bit of food supply – no one should have to risk their lives, get killed or get injured,” Peeperkorn added.

“Gaza needs to be flooded by food. It needs to be flooded by water, essential medicines and medical supplies and a regular flow of fuel. And above all, of course, we need a ceasefire – and we need it now.”

At least 613 killed at GHF hubs and near humanitarian convoys: UN

The United Nations human rights office has said it had recorded at least 613 killings at aid points run by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) and near humanitarian convoys.

“We have recorded 613 killings, both at GHF points and near humanitarian convoys – this is a figure as of June 27. Since then … there have been further incidents,” Ravina Shamdasani, the spokesperson for the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, told reporters in Geneva.

Israel using private military contractors at aid points to ‘outsource genocide’

Military analyst Yusuf Alabarda has discussed with Al Jazeera why Israel is using private military contractors at aid distribution centres in Gaza, which have been the scene of routine deadly violence against Palestinians seeking aid.

Speaking from Ankara, Alabarda said Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was using private security contractors in a “kind of outsourcing [of] the genocide”.

He said the private contractors at the aid distribution centres were playing a role in “ethnic cleansing and changing the demography inside Gaza”.

“One of the biggest advantages of using private military contractors [is] they are not responsible to anyone and they are under-regulated,” he said. “For this reason, many countries have used private military contractors for their dirty work to be done.”

Alabarda said Netanyahu did not want to implicate the Israeli military “in all the genocide”. “He wants to use the private contractors in the food distribution centres in order to collect intelligence, in order to shoot defenceless people, and for many different purposes.”

Starvation in Gaza ‘amounts to a form of structural genocide’

The catastrophe unfolding in Gaza cannot be understood solely through the lens of humanitarian crisis. What we are witnessing is not just a tragic consequence of war, but the deliberate use of starvation as a tool of political and demographic control. This strategy, designed to dismantle Palestinian society, amounts to a form of structural genocide.

The Israeli military and political leadership, in its pursuit of dominance and the erasure of Palestinian national aspirations, has moved beyond the tactics of bombardment and physical destruction. Today, its methods are more insidious. They target the core of Palestinian survival: Food, water, and the means to endure.

Breaking the will of a people by denying them the ability to feed themselves is not collateral damage. It is policy. According to reports from independent international bodies, more than 95 percent of Gaza’s farmland has been destroyed or rendered unusable. That figure is not just an economic loss; it is the intentional dismantling of food sovereignty, and with it, any hope of future independence.

Israel’s forced displacement orders push more people to ‘death trap’ al-Mawasi area

The Israeli army’s latest forced evacuation orders for Gaza target the central and northeastern parts of Khan Younis, key areas of the city that are densely populated. Many people who fled other areas are staying there.

This happened after reported tense clashes between Palestinian resistance and invading Israeli forces in the area. It was followed by five hours of intense bombardment. Many people will be forcefully displaced again and pushed towards the al-Mawasi area, which itself is not safe and has become a death trap.

At least 15 people are reported killed in the latest attacks on al-Mawasi, half of them from the same family. This has happened numerous times, to the point where we can’t keep up with the attacks on these supposedly “humanitarian” areas.

The Israeli military also launched many more attacks, including on the Tuffah neighbourhood, and on Jabalia city in northern Gaza. Many of the casualties were transferred to al-Shifa Hospital, which is now operating at less than half of its former capacity. The resources are not enough to deal with the injuries that are pouring in.

_{A Palestinian man looks on at the site of an Israeli attack on Thursday that damaged and destroyed residential buildings in Gaza City’s Shati refugee camp, July 4}

Israel put 85 percent of Gaza under forced evacuation orders, militarised zones: UN

The UN’s agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) reports that 85 percent of Gaza is now within Israeli-militarised zones or under forced evacuation orders.

More than 714,000 Palestinians have been displaced yet again since Israel violated the ceasefire in March, according to the agency’s latest report, which also warned that the fuel crisis in Gaza is deepening since no fuel has entered the enclave for more than four months.

“The health response in the Gaza Strip continues to face severe operational challenges, including extensive damage to health facilities, obstacles to safe movements and restrictions on the entry of medical supplies and fuel.”

138 killed Palestinians brought to Gaza hospitals in last 24 hours: Health Ministry

The Gaza Health Ministry has provided an update on the latest casualty figures in the enclave:

Former MSF worker among more than 16 killed by Israel while collecting aid

Doctors Without Borders, known by its French initials, MSF, says healthcare worker Abdullah Hammad was among at least 16 Palestinians killed by Israeli forces yesterday while waiting for aid trucks amid the Israeli siege and starvation of Gaza.

“Israeli forces deliberately targeted a group of people, including Abdullah, without warning as they waited for aid trucks” in Khan Younis on Thursday, the organisation said, adding that Abdullah was a hygienist who worked in al-Mawasi clinic for a year-and-a-half until June 30.

“In addition to the loss of Abdullah, MSF has already lost 11 colleagues since October 2023. We demand an end to this bloodshed.”

MSF said the real number of casualties is likely much higher since Israeli forces refused to allow dead bodies to be retrieved from the site, and that the mass killing comes two weeks after a similar incident, next to a desalination plant in the area.

‘Whomever got a bag of flour, got shot in the head’: More from MSF

A staff member of Doctors Without Borders, known by its French initials MSF, who survived the mass killing in southern Gaza’s Khan Younis by Israeli soldiers that we reported on earlier, has recounted the horrific incident.

“Five trucks were parked to let people come in and take what they could. Then the [Israeli] tanks started advancing and we could see a lot of snipers in the area too. Suddenly, shots started coming from every direction. Whomever got a bag of flour, got shot in the head. The bags of flour were all over the ground. Covered in blood,” said the MSF worker, whose name was changed to protect his identity.

“There were so many bodies on the ground. After that, a quadcopter came to where we were hiding under the rubble of one of the houses. [The quadcopter] told us to put our hands up and come out. It said ‘you are not allowed to take flour. Keep walking and don’t pick up any of the dead or wounded from the ground.’ Some people stayed, we could still hear the tanks firing. Young men, dying for a bag of flour.”

MSF Emergency Coordinator in Gaza Aitor Zabalgogeazkoa said the level of desperation for food in Gaza is “beyond comprehension”, and humanitarian agencies are restricted by Israel.

“Israeli authorities are limiting movements and supplies and have devised a new militarised way to distribute food that is degrading and deadly. The systemic and deliberate starvation of Palestinians for over 100 days is pushing people in Gaza to breaking point. This carnage must stop now.”

_{Palestinians attend funeral ceremonies as more than 60 Palestinians are killed in attacks carried out by the Israeli army on Gaza since the morning hours, on July 3}

Hamas seeks ceasefire guarantees as more are killed in Gaza: Report

Hamas is seeking guarantees that a new US-backed ceasefire proposal for Gaza would lead to the war’s end, a source close to the group has been quoted as saying by Reuters, as medics said Israeli strikes across the territory had killed dozens more people.

Israeli officials said prospects for reaching a ceasefire and captive deal appeared high, nearly 21 months since the war between Israel and Hamas began.

Efforts for a Gaza truce gathered steam after the US secured a ceasefire to end a 12-day aerial conflict between Israel and Iran, but on the ground in Gaza, intensified Israeli strikes continued unabated, killing at least 59 people on Thursday, according to health authorities in the territory.

On Tuesday, US President Donald Trump said that Israel had accepted the conditions needed to finalise a 60-day ceasefire with Hamas, during which the parties will work to end the war.

Hamas is seeking clear guarantees that the ceasefire will eventually lead to the war’s end, the source close to the group told the news agency. Two Israeli officials said those details were still being worked out.

In a statement early on Friday, Hamas said it was discussing the ceasefire proposal with other Palestinian factions and would submit its response to mediators once those talks conclude.

Gaza’s civil defence calls on mediators to secure ‘comprehensive’ truce

Mahmoud Basal, the spokesperson for Gaza’s civil defence, has called on “all mediators to establish an immediate and comprehensive humanitarian truce – until a final agreement is reached”.

“Civilians are not a party to this war, and they must not pay the price for delayed political understandings,” he said in a statement published in English on Telegram. “I urge you to act now. There are lives beneath the rubble, wounded without medicine, and displaced people without shelter,” Basal added.

Israeli ‘red lines’ for ceasefire reportedly include dismantling of Hamas

Israel hasn’t officially given the go-ahead for this ceasefire proposal that’s being pushed by US President Donald Trump. But there is a lot of anticipation, a lot of talk about what it could entail, including some Israeli “red lines” being discussed in the media, citing unnamed official sources.

These include Israel not moving out of the so-called Morag Corridor in southern Gaza – meaning that it does not want to clear the way for people to return to Rafah, a city that’s been obliterated.

Israel is also insisting it will only end the war if Hamas is dismantled, by handing over its weapons and its surviving leaders going into exile. Hamas, for its part, is not commenting on these issues – although some reports say that it has not discussed the idea of handing over its weapons.

So, we’re still waiting to see whether Hamas will make a positive announcement – and if that happens, there still needs to be negotiations about implementation. The impression that this was going to be an immediate thing might not be entirely accurate, because what is on the table is a framework for a temporary ceasefire, not a detailed proposal.

That's not a ceasefire nor a truce, that's 'negotiating' total surrender. 

Israeli demand to dismantle Hamas ‘nearly impossible’

Israel’s reported red line that Hamas must be dismantled for any ceasefire to take place in Gaza “is the most difficult part of the discussions” and would be “nearly impossible”, says Tamer Qarmout, an associate professor in public policy from the Doha Institute for Graduate Studies.

He told Al Jazeera that, while there could be an agreement for Hamas to surrender its weapons to another party, to “dismantle Hamas and end its political life in Palestinian society, I think that’s not achievable”.

“Hamas could transform itself to a different political party, [but] the ideology remains because the occupation remains,” Qarmout said. “My point is, as long as there’s no bigger vision to end the conflict … then I think again, it’s going to be another wasted opportunity.”

Hamas says submitted ‘positive response’ to mediators on ceasefire proposal

Hamas says it submitted its response after completing consultations with Palestinian forces and factions.

“The movement has submitted a positive response to the mediators, and the movement is fully prepared to immediately enter into a round of negotiations regarding the mechanism for implementing this framework,” it said in a statement posted on Telegram.