Gaza live: Palestinian death toll passes 37,000 after brutal Israeli attack on Nuseirat

Israeli forces have unlawfully dropped white phosphorus munitions on densely populated areas in southern Lebanon, Human Rights Watch has warned.

In a report released on Wednesday, the rights group said it had verified images and footage of multiple airbursts of artillery-fired white phosphorus in at least 17 municipalities since October 2023, including five municipalities where the phosphorus was used unlawfully on populated residential areas, resulting in civilian displacement.

The use of airburst white phosphorus on areas with a dense civilian population is prohibited under international law, as the weapon inflicts indiscriminate harm on civilians.

White phosphorus is an incendiary chemical that ignites when in contact with air and can cause severe burns in people or structures it comes into contact with.

Images and footage shared with researchers showed the munitions hitting residential buildings in the southern Lebanese border villages of Kafr Kila, Mays al-Jabal, Boustane, Markaba, and Aita al-Chaab.

Read more: Israel unlawfully used white phosphorus in south Lebanon, HRW warns

Oxfam has warned that there is roughly one toilet per 4,130 people in Gaza’s al-Mawasi evacuation zone and that unhygienic conditions were threatening a health crisis.

“This area was designated a humanitarian zone, but there is nothing humanitarian about the situation here,” said Meera, an Oxfam staffer in al-Mawasi.

“The conditions are unbearable, there is no access to clean water, people are forced to rely on the sea.”

A new poll has suggested that a majority of 18-24-year-olds in the UK think that the state of Israel "should not exist".

The polling, conducted by Focaldata for the website UnHerd, found that 54 percent of the age group agreed with the statement "The state of Israel should not exist” compared with 7 percent of 65-year-olds and older.

21 percent of 18-24-year-olds disagreed with the statement.

The new polling also found that 50 percent of the age group blamed Israel for the ongoing violence in Gaza, compared with 25 percent who thought Hamas was to blame.

The Gaza health ministry said that at least 36,586 Palestinians have been killed and 83,074 wounded in Israeli attacks on the enclave since the beginning of the war on 7 October.

A New York Times investigation has found that Israel's Ministry of Diaspora Affairs organised and paid for an influence campaign last year targeting US lawmakers and the American public with "pro-Israel messaging", and calls for supporting Israel amid the war on Gaza.

The report finds that the ministry allocated about $2m to the operation and hired Stoic, a political marketing firm in Tel Aviv, to carry it out.

At its peak, the campaign used hundreds of fake accounts posing as real Americans on X, Facebook and Instagram to post pro-Israel comments.

The campaign focused on US lawmakers, particularly those who are Black and Democrats, such as "Representative Hakeem Jeffries, the House minority leader from New York, and Senator Raphael Warnock of Georgia, with posts urging them to continue funding Israel’s military".

ChatGPT, the artificial intelligence-powered chatbot, was used to generate many of the posts. The campaign also created three English-language news sites publishing pro-Israel content.

Meta, which owns Facebook and Instagram, has "disrupted the operation" since last week, according to the Times.

Lebanese Foreign Minister Abdallah Bou Habib condemned the Wednesday morning attack on the US embassy in Beirut, affirming Lebanon's commitment to protecting diplomatic missions operating in the country "in accordance with our obligations and the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations".

1-وزير الخارجية والمغتربين، د. عبدالله بوحبيب:
أدين الاعتداء الذي حصل على حرم سفارة الولايات المتحدة الأميركية في بيروت صباح اليوم، وقد أجريت عدة إتصالات هاتفية لمتابعة الحادثة والوقوف على تفاصيلها مع الأطراف المعنية.

— mofa lebanon1 (@mofalebanon1) June 5, 2024

Hundreds of Israelis have stormed Al-Aqsa Mosque, under heavy protection from Israeli police, ahead of the far-right annual "flag march" through occupied East Jerusalem. 

Around 800 Israelis raided the mosque on Wednesday morning, entering through the Moroccan Gate, according to a report by Wafa news agency. 

They took provocative tours of the compound, the report stated, and were joined by rabbis and Moshe Feiglin a far-right former MP. 

The Israelis performed Jewish rituals near al-Qattanin market and Bab al-Qattanin (The Cotton Merchants' Gate), one of the main entrances to the mosque's courtyards.

Al-Aqsa Mosque is an Islamic site where unsolicited visits, prayers and rituals by non-Muslims are forbidden, according to decades-long international agreements. 

READ MORE: Israelis storm Al-Aqsa Mosque ahead of provocative 'Flag March'

The Israeli government increased the cap on reservists the army can call up from 300,000 to 350,000, as the Rafah operation is requiring more personnel than initially planned.

Initial reports had said that the decision came amid rising tensions with Hezbollah in Lebanon, but the military says the increase is not related to the northern front.

Israel is phasing out the notorious military-run Sde Teiman detention camp, State Attorney Aner Helman told the Israeli Supreme Court. 

This comes after the court held a hearing on the serious abuses against Palestinian inmates from Gaza reported from the camp.

Helman said that 700 inmates have been moved to Ofer military facility in the occupied West Bank, with another 500 set to be transferred in the weeks to come. Around 2oo are set to remain in Sde Teiman.

US President Joe Biden last week announced that “Israel has offered a comprehensive new proposal” - one that “brings all the hostages home, ensures Israel’s security, creates a better ‘day after’ in Gaza without Hamas in power, and sets the stage for a political settlement that provides a better future for Israelis and Palestinians alike”.

Why Biden decided to present this as an Israeli proposal instead of a US one is unclear. In the past, Middle Eastern politics was accustomed to US mediation and facilitation; now, Washington appears to be limiting itself to presenting Israeli proposals. 

To a certain extent, this lends credibility to the argument that the US has always been Israel’s best lawyer. But the reality this time could be a bit more nuanced.

READ MORE: Why Biden's ceasefire speech was a sham, opinion by Marco Carnelos

Israel's top court discussed on Wednesday the closure of the desert detention camp of Sde Teiman, where arrested Palestinians from Gaza were taken and allegedly held under conditions of severe abuse.

The hearings comes in response to a petition filed by the Association for Civil Rights in Israel (ACRI) and other human rights groups.

A CNN investigation last month had former Palestinian detainees and Israeli whistleblowers describe "horrific conditions at the facility, including continuous blindfolding and handcuffing".

The report raised international concern over Israel's treatment of detainees from Gaza and calls from independent investigations.

A medical source told Al Jazeera that 75 people have now been killed in central Gaza in the past day as Israel launched intensified strikes and ground operations in the areas of al-Bureij, Maghazi and Deir al-Balah.

The Lebanese army said that a man attacked the American embassy in Lebanon on Wednesday morning, leading the army to fire back, injuring him.

The army says the man was arrested and taken to a hospital for treatment.

Lebanese media reports that one embassy security guard was injured in the attack.

The US embassy said in a statement that "our facility and our team are safe. Investigations are underway and we are in close contact with host country law enforcement".

Investigations are underway to determine the circumstances behind the attack, the army said.

At 8:34 a.m. local time, small arms fire was reported in the vicinity of the entrance to the U.S. Embassy. Thanks to the quick reaction of the LAF, ISF, and our Embassy security team, our facility and our team are safe. Investigations are underway and we are in close contact…

— U.S. Embassy Beirut (@usembassybeirut) June 5, 2024

At least 66 people have been killed in Israel’s bombing on central Gaza over the past 24 hours, Al Jazeera’s correspondent in Gaza has reported.

The central refugee camps of al-Bureij and Maghazi were the most affected, as Israeli forces claim to be hitting Hamas targets while ground troops operate “in a focused manner with guidance from intelligence” in the al-Bureij area.

This comes as US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan says they are "waiting for a response from Hamas" regarding ceasefire talks, with the Palestinian group asking for guarantees regarding a full ceasefire and Israeli withdrawal from the Gaza Strip.

In tech, former Meta employee Ferras Hamad is suing his employer for discrimination and wrongful termination, saying he was fired for trying to help fix bugs causing the suppression of Palestinian posts on Instagram.

READ MORE: Israeli strikes kill 66 Palestinians in central Gaza camp

Lebanese media outlets have reported repeated gunshots near the American embassy in Awkar, roughly 15 kilometres away from central Beirut.

The roads leading to the embassy have been closed due to gunfire.