Gaza live: Palestinian death toll passes 37,000 after brutal Israeli attack on Nuseirat
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Israeli military vehicles have broken into the city of Khan Younis and the outskirts of the Shujaiya neighbourhood in the east of Gaza City, Wafa news agency is reporting.
Israeli forces advanced towards the towns of Abasan al-Jadidah and al-Zana, east of Khan Yunis, the agency said citing local sources.
Heavy gunfire and shelling targeting the two towns has forced hundreds of Palestinians to flee from areas near the incursion, they added.
In Gaza City, Israeli troops made a limited incursion into the eastern Al-Shuja'iya neighborhood, deploying artillery shelling and drone fire.
Israeli Minister of Heritage Amichai Eliyahu has called for the destruction of Hamas and the occupation of Gaza, saying that it is the "only way to victory."
The far-right minister, who is a member of National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir’s far-right Otzma Yehudit (Jewish Power) party, also previously said that dropping a nuclear bomb on Gaza was "one option" to resolving the war.
Eliyahu has also opposed admitting any humanitarian aid into Gaza, saying “there is no such thing as uninvolved civilians in Gaza.”
Satellite image analysis by the United Nations Satellite Centre (UNSOAT) has revealed that 55 percent of all Gaza's buildings have been destroyed or damaged by Israel's ongoing war on the besieged enclave.
The analysis identified 36,591 destroyed structures, 16,513 severely damaged, 47,368 moderately damaged, and 36,825 possibly damaged structures.
According to the analysis, Deir el-Balah in central Gaza, and Gaza City in the north sustained the worst damage between April 1 and May 3.
🏚️ According to our analysis, we identified 36,591 destroyed structures, 16,513 severely damaged, 47,368 moderately damaged, and 36,825 possibly damaged structures. A total of 137,297 structures, or about 55% of the total in Gaza, are affected. #DamageAssessment #SatelliteImagery pic.twitter.com/UZjh64o0j7
— UNOSAT (@UNOSAT) June 3, 2024
Former Conservative cabinet minister David Jones told Middle East Eye that support for Israel in the UK’s governing party is due to the success of its pro-Israel lobby group.
Jones also said Britain should suspend arms sales to Israel and broke ranks with Tory leadership by labelling Israel’s actions in Gaza “disproportionate”. He added that he believes a Labour government would not have handled the war any differently than the Conservatives.
A senior Tory who served as secretary of state for Wales between 2012 and 2014 and deputy chairman of the European Research Group since 2020, Jones remained the Conservative MP for Clwyd West in Wales until 30 May, when Parliament was dissolved for the general election.
He is standing down as MP and won't be contesting his seat during the 4 July vote.
In a wide-ranging and candid interview with Middle East Eye, Jones set out his thoughts on the UK’s response to Israel’s war on Gaza, much of which contradicts the positions of the Tory leadership.
READ MORE: UK should suspend arms sales to Israel: Former Tory minister
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he is not ready to end the war on Gaza, adding that US President Joe Biden's description of the proposed ceasefire agreement was "not accurate".
During a Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee meeting at the Israeli parliament, Netanyahu reportedly said the current deal being discussed would lead to a temporary ceasefire in the first phase and would not end the war.
He added that conditions for a second phase would be discussed 16 days after the first part of the deal comes into effect.
Israeli forces have killed at least 40 Palestinians and wounded 150 more in the past 24 hours in four "massacres", according to the Palestinian health ministry.
This brings the Palestinian death toll since 7 October 2023, to 36,479, with more than 82,777 wounded and an estimated 10,000 missing, likely dead and buried under rubble.
Health officials report that over 70 percent of the victims are children and women.
Israeli opposition leader Yair Lapid urged Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to finalise a Gaza ceasefire agreement today.
Speaking at a State Control Committee hearing in the Israeli parliament, Lapid reiterated his offer to support Netanyahu's governing coalition if far-right ministers quit over the deal.
Lapid stated the government should "send a delegation to Cairo today to finalise the final details and bring home the men, young women, elderly and soldiers imprisoned in the tunnels," according to Israeli media.
ראש האופוזיציה לפיד מתייחס בוועדה לביקורת המדינה להודעה המצרית לפיה חמאס מקבל את ההצעה הישראלית לעסקת חטופים : "עכשיו גם ממשלת ישראל צריכה להסכים להצעת נתניהו, ולשלוח עוד היום משלחת לקהיר כדי לסגור את הפרטים האחרונים".
— Anna Rayva-Barsky אנה ברסקי (@AnnaBarskiy) June 3, 2024
לפיד חוזר על הצעתו לתת לנתניהו רשת בטחון פוליטית לביצוע… pic.twitter.com/WwqXAnVchd
A group of United Nations experts called on Monday for all countries to recognise a Palestinian state to ensure peace in the Middle East.
The call came less than a week after Spain, Ireland and Norway officially recognised a Palestinian state, prompting anger from Israel, which has found itself increasingly isolated after nearly eight months of war in Gaza.
The experts, including the UN Special Rapporteur on the human rights situation in the Palestinian territories, said recognition of a Palestinian state was an important acknowledgement of the rights of the Palestinian people and their struggle towards freedom and independence.
"This is a pre-condition for lasting peace in Palestine and the entire Middle East – beginning with the immediate declaration of a ceasefire in Gaza and no further military incursions into Rafah," they said.
"A two-state solution remains the only internationally agreed path to peace and security for both Palestine and Israel and a way out of generational cycles of violence and resentment."
UN experts urge all States to recognise the State of #Palestine:
— UN Special Procedures (@UN_SPExperts) June 3, 2024
Recognition a pre-condition for lasting #peace in Palestine & the Middle East, starting with immediate #CeasefireNOW & no further military incursions into #Rafah.https://t.co/totkelYJ0B pic.twitter.com/qkBccb2YuX
Reporting by Reuters
At least 40 Palestinians from the Gaza Strip died in Israeli custody since 7 October, according to the Israeli newspaper Haaretz.
Among the known cases are 36 who died in a detention camp at the Sde Teiman military base, where widespread torture and abuse of Palestinians is reportedly taking place.
Four others died while being transferred to Israeli detention centres and one more died while in custody inside the Gaza Strip.
According to Haaretz, military sources cite six other cases of suspected unlawful killing of Palestinians, which include people who died while being transferred from Gaza to Israel or during an investigation in Israel.
In total, military police are investigating the deaths of 48 Palestinians who died at the hands of soldiers, most of whom were detainees, according to Haaretz.
The Egyptian foreign minister said Cairo was clear on rejecting Israeli presence in the Rafah border crossing.
Sameh Shoukry said Monday that it was difficult for the crossing to continue operating without a Palestinian administration on the other side.
He added that Hamas said the proposal presented by US President Joe Biden is positive, and that now Cairo was waiting for Israel.
Reporting by Reuters
Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant restated his government's commitment to dismantling Hamas as a governing and military authority in the framework of any deal to wind down the Gaza war, his office quoted him as telling the top US diplomat.
In the call with Secretary of State Antony Blinken, Gallant also "discussed the issue of identifying and enabling the emergence of a local, governing alternative" to Hamas, the Defence Ministry statement on Monday said.
Reporting by Reuters
More than 3,500 Palestinian children in the Gaza Strip are at risk of death due to the "Israeli policy of starvation," the government media office in the besieged strip has said.
The children, who are under five years of age, suffer from acute malnutrition and are exposed to infectious diseases, the office said in a statement on Monday.
It added that the Israeli blockade on aid has led to a shortages of food, milk, nutritional supplements and vaccinations.
The Israeli military has forcibly displaced over one million Palestinians from Rafah after expanding its aerial and ground attacks there last month, according to the UN agency for Palestinian refugees.
In a post on social media platform X, Unrwa said thousands of families are now taking shelter in damaged and destroyed facilities in Khan Younis, a city north of Rafah that was heavily bombed between January and April.
"Conditions are unspeakable," Unrwa said.
Forced displacement has pushed over 1 million people away from Rafah.
— UNRWA (@UNRWA) June 3, 2024
Thousands of families now shelter in damaged & destroyed facilities in Khan Younis, where @UNRWA keeps providing essential services despite increasing challenges. Conditions are unspeakable.#CeasefireNOW pic.twitter.com/qRVnWmfZSr
Israeli forces have killed at least 21 Palestinians across the Gaza Strip on Monday morning so far, according to Wafa news agency.
They included six people who were killed in artillery shelling on Tel al-Hawa and Zeitoun neighbourhoods in southern Gaza City.
An air strike on a house in Sabra neighbourhoods killed four more people.
In the central Gaza Strip, six people were killed in the Bureij refugee camp, including an infant.
An Israeli who went missing during the Hamas-led 7 October attack, and was presumed to be among captives taken to the Gaza Strip, has been located dead in the border town where he had lived, Israeli media said on Monday.
Israel's military confirmed the identification of Dolev Yehud's remains, saying this required lengthy forensics. It said he was killed by Hamas during the attack in Kibbutz Nir Oz.
Reporting by Reuters
