Gaza live: Israeli protesters demand ceasefire as war enters 10th month

The funeral of Saeed Jaber, 24, who was killed by Israeli forces in the Nur Shams refugee camp, east of Tulkarm in the occupied West Bank, was held later on Sunday. 

The Palestinian Islamic Jihad group confirmed that "the martyred leader" was one of its commanders, adding that he had previously "survived several assassination attempts".

Jaber’s killing "will strengthen our resistance" against Israel, the group said.

Jaber was targeted by the Israeli military because he was accused of direct involvement in several "shooting and explosives attacks against civilians and Israeli forces" in the the West Bank, the military said.

Five others were injured in the bombing, according to the ministry of health in the occupied West Bank. 

A national coalition of American Muslim political organizations has called on US President Joe Biden to withdraw from the 2024 presidential race over his policies on Israel's war in Gaza and "widespread concern about his ability to serve as president for another four years."

The American Muslim 2024 Election Task Force members include: Americans for Justice in Palestine Action, CAIR Action, ICNA Council of Social Justice Action, Muslim American Society Action, Muslim Civic Coalition Activate and the US Council of Muslim Organizations Civil Action Network.

In a statement, the task force said, in part: "President Biden should now step aside so that the Democratic Party can identify and nominate a new, able, and qualified candidate who better reflects the values and views of most voters, including opposition to US support for the Gaza genocide."

🚨 BREAKING: The American Muslim 2024 Election Task Force, a national coalition of American Muslim 501(c)4 political organizations, today called on President Biden to withdraw from the 2024 presidential race after losing the confidence of key voters. (1/2) pic.twitter.com/wPG9JukiQP

— American Muslim 2024 Election Taskforce (@amtaskforce24) June 30, 2024

Good evening,

Its nearly 7pm in Gaza and here is your latest update on the unfolding situation as Israel continues its fight against Hamas in the besieged enclave. 

• Israel has escalated its ground invasion across various parts of the Gaza Strip, including in Rafah and central Gaza. 
• Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanayahu has vowed to "eliminate" Hamas and said Israel will continue its campaign against the group on multiple fronts in Gaza. 
• Israel killed a 24-year-old Palestinian man and injured five others after it struck the West Bank city of Tulkarm with a drone. 
• The Palestinian health ministry warned that hospitals in Gaza could run out of fuel within 48 hours. 

Stay up to date with the unfolding situation in Gaza by following Middle East Eye on all social media platforms. 

An Israeli drone struck the West Bank city of Tulkarm, killing a Palestinian and injuring five others in the Nour Shams refugee camp. 

Palestinian news agency Wafa said the Palestine health ministry confirmed that the Israeli strike killed 24-year-old Saeed Izzat Jaber when the Israelis bombed his home in Nour Shams. 

Wafa said the Palestine Red Crescent sent ambulance crews to the area but were unable to enter Jaber's home because it caught on fire. 

Civil defence crews put out the fires and worked with residents to search for survivors trapped under the rubble. 

Earlier this month, Jaber survived an assassination attempt while he was in his vehicle at a petrol station near Nour Shams and an Israeli drone fired a missile in the area, Wafa said

Israeli tanks pushed further into Rafah and parts of Central Gaza and Shujaiya on Sunday as it intensified its ground assault on the besieged enclave.

Residents told Reuters that Israeli tanks had killed at least six people and destroyed several homes in Rafah on Sunday.

Speaking after his weekly Sunday cabinet meeting, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu praised his troops and said they would continue fighting until "Hamas is eliminated".

"Our forces are operating in Rafah, Shejaia [Shujaiya], everywhere in the Gaza Strip. Dozens of terrorists are being eliminated every day. This is a difficult fight that is being waged above ground, sometimes in hand-to-hand combat, and below ground as well," Netanyahu said.

"We are committed to fighting until we achieve all of our objectives: eliminating Hamas, returning all of our hostages, ensuring that Gaza never again constitutes a threat to Israel and returning our residents securely to their homes in the south and the north."

Israel's finance minister has extended a waiver that allows cooperation between its banking system and Palestinian banks in the occupied West Bank, a ministry spokesperson said on Sunday.

Israel’s finance ministry wields extensive control over Palestine’s economy, which relies heavily on this relationship to process transactions made in Israeli shekels. 

Israel, which collects tax on goods that pass through Israel into the West Bank on behalf of the Palestinian Authority, has repeatedly withheld Palestinian tax revenues during the war on Gaza.

In March, Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich threatened to paralyse the Palestinian Authority's economy in response to the United States imposing sanctions on four West Bank extremist settlers accused of violence against Palestinians.

In the West, most far-right political parties have generally thrown their weight behind Israel in recent years.

At a conference in Spain in early May, hosted by the Spanish far-right Vox party, representatives of several ultra-nationalist political movements gathered to hear Israel's minister of diaspora affairs, Amichai Chikli, describe the fighting in Gaza as "an existential battle for the future of western civilisation against radical Islam".

Far-right support for Israel is nothing new, feeding off nationalist fear-mongering about non-white immigration and Muslims while seeing the Israeli state as the vanguard of their own struggle.

However, since the beginning of Israel's war on Gaza, a small but seemingly influential group of nationalist activists has emerged, amassing large online followings by posting content condemning Israel's bombardment of Gaza and depicting the carnage in the enclave.

Read more: The far-right activists advocating for Palestinians

Israeli forces conducted several raids in the occupied West Bank this weekend, detaining at least 20 Palestinians.

During the raids, which took place in Hebron, Tulkarm, Nablus and Jerusalem, the Israeli forces beat the detainees, threatened their families, and caused damage to civilian homes, said the Palestinian Prisoners Society.

The group said that, since 7 October, Israel has detained 9,450 Palestinians in the West Bank.

At least least 37,877 people have been killed in Israel’s military offensive in the Gaza Strip since 7 October, the Palestinian health ministry said.

The toll includes at least 43 deaths over the past 24 hours, the ministry said, adding that 86,969 people have been wounded since the start of the war.

Gaza’s few functional hospitals and health facilities could run out of fuel in the next 48 hours, the Palestinian health ministry said, issuing a plea for supplies to power generators.

The health ministry warned that without fuel, life-saving medical equipment will stop working.

“We appeal to all relevant, international and humanitarian institutions to intervene quickly to bring in the necessary fuel,” the ministry said in a statement.

Israeli tanks on Sunday pushed deeper into several areas in the east, west and centre of Rafah, while a strike on a family home in the city killed six people.

The bodies of the Zourob family members were taken to Nasser Hospital in the nearby city of Khan Younis. Dozens of relatives mourned over the bodies shrouded in white, and then carried them in their arms to prepared graves.

Residents said the Israeli army had torched the al-Awda mosque in the centre of Rafah, one of the city's best-known.

A number of people were also wounded further south in Rafah, while air strikes targeted several towns east of Khan Younis, including Abasan and Khuzaa.

The Israeli government has unanimously approved the appointment of lawmaker Danny Danon, a Likud party lawmaker, as Israel's envoy to the UN.

Danon was Israel’s envoy to the UN between 2015 and 2020. He will replace Gilad Erdan, who has been serving in the post for the past four years.

The Israeli army fired shells towards several houses in Shujaiya, in north Gaza, leaving families trapped inside and unable to leave, residents told Reuters.

Residents also said that they do not have food, according to Al Jazeera. Some people are wounded and ambulances have not been able to reach that area.

The Israeli military said it had killed several Palestinian fighters, located weapons, and struck military infrastructure over the past day. On Saturday it announced the death of two Israeli soldiers in northern Gaza.

Hamas and the Islamic Jihad reported fierce fighting in both Shujaiya and Rafah, saying their fighters had fired anti-tank rockets and mortar bombs against Israeli forces operating there.

Our live coverage from Gaza will shortly be closing until tomorrow morning.

Here are some of today's key developments:

• The United Nations Humanitarian Agency (OCHA) said that "about 60,000 to 80,000" people were displaced from Shujaiya in Gaza. 

• Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi reiterated calls for an immediate ceasefire and  delivery of aid to Palestinians trapped in Gaza.

• The Uncommitted National Movement, which urges US voters to vote "uncommitted" protest ballots in state primaries over the Biden administration's handling of Israel's war in Gaza, called on the US to impose an arms embargo to leverage a ceasefire. 

• The Arab League removed Hezbollah from its list of designated terror groups.

• Saudi Arabia's embassy in Lebanon called on its citizens to leave the country amid rising concerns over an all-out war between Hezbollah and Israel.

Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz has responded to what he said was a threat by Iran to destroy Israel if it attacks Hezbollah in Lebanon.

"My response to Iran is clear: If Hezbollah does not cease its fire and withdraw from southern Lebanon, we will act against it with full force until security is restored and residents can return to their homes," he said in a post on X.

"A regime that threatens destruction deserves to be destroyed," Katz added.

Iran threatens today to destroy Israel if Israel fully responds to Hezbollah attacks from Lebanon.
My response to Iran is clear:
1. If Hezbollah does not cease its fire and withdraw from southern Lebanon, we will act against it with full force until security is restored and…

— ישראל כ”ץ Israel Katz (@Israel_katz) June 29, 2024