Gaza live: Israeli attack hits Unrwa centre

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Good evening, Middle East Eye readers.

Our live Gaza coverage will shortly be closing for the evening.

Here are the day's key developments:

• Gaza's health ministry said that 47 people had been killed in Israeli attacks on the enclave in the past 24 hours, bringing the total to 37,598 killed since 7 October. Additionally, 86,032 have been wounded since the start of the war.
• Eight Palestinians were killed on Sunday in an Israeli air strike on a training college near Gaza City being used to distribute aid, Palestinian witnesses said, as Israeli tanks pushed further into the southern city of Rafah.
• Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Sunday that the phase of intense fighting against Hamas was coming to an end but that the war would not end until the Islamist group no longer controls the Gaza Strip.
• Hezbollah said in a statement that it launched a drone attack on Israeli soldiers and officers in Ayelet Hashahar, a kibbutz about 10km inside Israel's border with Lebanon.
• An Israeli offensive in Lebanon has the potential to increase the risk of a broader conflict that draws in Iran and Iran-aligned militants, particularly if Hezbollah's existence is threatened, the top US general said on Sunday.
• The UN's Palestinian refugee agency, Unrwa, has said that 69 percent of school buildings where displaced people sought shelter have been directly hit or damaged during the war.
• Netanyahu defended his decision to release an English-language video criticising the US and accusing the country of holding up weapons shipments to Israel.
• Israel's Defence Minister Yoav Gallant is heading to Washington to meet top US officials, saying these meetings will be "critical for the future of the war".
•  A Jordanian humanitarian aid convoy consisting of some 70 trucks has reached northern Gaza, Jordan's Roya News reported.

Lebanon's transport minister denied on Sunday that Hezbollah was storing weapons at Beirut airport, as fears grow of all-out war between the militant group and Israel.

Ali Hamieh called a press conference at Beirut airport to deny the allegations of "absurd articles" in the media, and attacked the British Daily Telegraph newspaper.

The newspaper claimed the Shia militant group was storing missiles and rockets at the airport, where "whistleblowers" had reported the arrival of "unusually big boxes". 

Backed by Iran, Hezbollah has been exchanging near-daily fire with Israeli forces in support of its ally, Hamas.

"I am holding this press conference to clarify that everything that has been written in the Telegraph is false and to say that there are no weapons entering or leaving Beirut airport," Hamieh told journalists.

Hamieh invited ambassadors and journalists to inspect the airport on Monday morning in a visit "open to all".

The Lebanese air transport union condemned in a statement "simply erroneous statements and lies aimed at endangering Beirut airport and its employees, all civilians, and those who frequent it."

The Yemeni Houthi group said on Sunday that its forces had attacked two ships in the Red Sea and the Indian Ocean.

The first ship, Transworld Navigator, had been targeted in the Red Sea using "an uncrewed surface boat" which led to a direct hit against the ship, Houthi military spokesman Yahya Saree said.

The second vessel, Stolt Sequoia, was attacked in the Indian Ocean with a number of cruise missiles, he said.

It was not clear when the attacks took place.

He said the ships belonged to companies that "violated the ban on entering the ports of occupied Palestine".

Yemen's Houthi group has been launching drone and missile strikes in shipping lanes since November, saying that it acts in solidarity with Palestinians in Israel's war in Gaza.

In dozens of attacks, the Houthis have sunk two vessels, seized another and killed at least three seafarers.

An Israeli offensive in Lebanon has the potential to increase the risk of a broader conflict that draws in Iran and Iran-aligned militants, particularly if Hezbollah's existence is threatened, the top US general said on Sunday.

Air Force General CQ Brown, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, did not predict Israel's next steps and acknowledged Israel's right to defend itself. But he cautioned that a Lebanon offensive "can drive up the potential for a broader conflict".

"Hezbollah is more capable than Hamas as far as overall capability, number of rockets and the like. And I would just say I would see Iran be more inclined to provide greater support to Hezbollah," Brown told reporters in Cape Verde on his way to regional defence talks in Botswana.

Brown noted that the United States could be more limited in its ability to defend Israel from attacks by Hezbollah than it was helping intercept Iran's April missile and drone attack on Israel, which was largely thwarted.

"From our perspective, based on where our forces are, the short range between Lebanon and Israel, it's harder for us to be able to support them in the same way we did back in April," Brown said.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Sunday that the phase of intense fighting against Hamas was coming to an end but that the war would not end until the Islamist group no longer controls the Gaza Strip.

Once the intense fighting is over in Gaza, Netanyahu said, it will allow Israel to deploy more forces along the northern border with Lebanon, where fighting has escalated with Iran-backed Hezbollah.

"After the intense phase is finished, we will have the possibility to move part of the forces north. And we will do this. First and foremost for defensive purposes. And secondly, to bring our (evacuated) residents home," Netanyahu said in an interview with Israel's Channel 14.

"If we can we will do this diplomatically. If not, we will do it another way. But we will bring (the residents) home," he said.

Many Israeli towns near the border with Lebanon have been evacuated during the fighting.

Netanyahu also reiterated his rejection of the idea that the West Bank-based Palestinian Authority run Gaza in place of Hamas.

Eight Palestinians were killed on Sunday in an Israeli air strike on a training college near Gaza City being used to distribute aid, Palestinian witnesses said, as Israeli tanks pushed further into the southern city of Rafah.

The strike hit part of a vocational college run by the UN Palestinian refugee agency (Unrwa) that is now providing aid to displaced families, the witnesses said.

"Some people were coming to receive coupons and others had been displaced from their houses and they were sheltering here. Some were filling up water, others were receiving coupons, and suddenly we heard something falling. We ran away," said Mohammed Tafesh, one of the witnesses.

A Reuters photographer saw a low-rise building completely demolished and bodies wrapped in blankets laid out beside the road, waiting to be taken away.

"We pulled out martyrs (from beneath the rubble), one who used to sell cold drinks and another who used to sell pastries and others who distributed or received coupons," Tafesh said. "There are about four or five martyrs and 10 injured."

An image of a wounded Palestinian man strapped to an Israeli military vehicle has sparked outrage, with many accusing the military of using him as a "human shield".

Social media footage of the man, identified by medics at 24-year-old Mujahid Raed Abbadi, went viral on Saturday after the incident.

Abbadi can be seen strapped horizontally to the bonnet of a military jeep as it passes through a narrow alley in the West Bank city of Jenin.

On Sunday, the Israeli military said it was investigating the incident, which took place during a "counterterrorism operation" to arrest wanted suspects in the area of Wadi Burqin, near Jenin.

"In violation of orders and standard operating procedures, the suspect was taken by the forces while tied on top of a vehicle," it said, adding that he was later transferred to the Palestinian Red Crescent for treatment.

READ MORE: Image of Palestinian strapped to Israeli security vehicle sparks outrage

An Israeli strike on the eastern gate of UN aid agency Unrwa's headquarters in Gaza City killed five people, Palestine's Wafa news agency reported.

Apparently conflicting reports referred to it being an aid centre that was hit.

The agency said seven people, among them women and children, were injured and have been taken to al-Ahli hospital for treatment.

The Israeli army said that several explosive-laden drones were launched from Lebanon towards northern Israel at noon (9am GMT).

The military said one of the drones was intercepted by air defences, but several others impacted, causing fires.

Footage circulating on social media shows a Hezbollah drone impacting in northern Israel, before a second drone is shot down by air defenses. pic.twitter.com/YPhz9o1CI6

— Emanuel (Mannie) Fabian (@manniefabian) June 23, 2024

Gaza's health ministry said that 47 people were killed in Israeli attacks on the enclave in the past 24 hours, bringing the total to 37,598 killed since 7 October.

Additionally, 86,032 have been wounded since the start of the war.

Hezbollah said in a statement that it launched a drone attack on Israeli soldiers and officers in Ayelet Hashahar, a kibbutz about 10km inside Israel's border with Lebanon.

Israel's Fire and Rescue Services said they are trying to extinguish blazes that were sparked in three locations by either Hezbollah's attack or the Israeli military's interception of the drone.

لبنان: المقاومة الإسلامية: الهجوم استهدف أماكن استقرار ضباط وجنود الفرقة 91 في "أييلت هشاحر" شمال شرق صفد وأوقعهم بين قتيل وجريح

— الميادين عاجل (@AlMayadeenLive) June 23, 2024

Israel's Channel 12 reports that generator purchases saw a dramatic rise following last week's warning from an electricity official saying his country's electricity sector would sustain heavy damage in a full-scale war against Hezbollah.

The Machsanei Hashmal chain told Channel 12 that its website saw five times the number of searches for generators following Shaul Goldstein's comments.

Goldstein leads Israel's Independent System Operator Ltd.

Machsanei Hashmal said it saw a 108 percent jump in sales on Friday compared to other Fridays. The majority of sales were in Haifa and other northern towns.

Following the panic caused by Goldstein's comments on Friday, the electricity official said he made "irresponsible remarks that I shouldn't have".

 A Jordanian humanitarian aid convoy consisting of some 70 trucks has reached northern Gaza, Jordan's Roya News reports.

The convoy was sent in collaboration with the World Food Programme and supported by several governments and companies.

The convoy carries "essential food parcels, consumables, medical supplies, and medications".

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu defended his decision to release an English-language video criticising the US and accusing the country of holding up weapons shipments to Israel.

While he started the weekly cabinet meeting by expressing gratitude for US President Joe Biden's support for Israel in its war on Gaza, the Israeli premier said the weapons pipeline to his country saw a "dramatic drop" four months ago.

"For many weeks, we appealed to our American friends to speed up the shipments," he said. "We did it time and time again. We did this at the senior echelons, and at all levels, and I want to emphasise - we did it in private chambers. We got all kinds of explanations, but we didn't get one thing: the basic situation didn't change."

Netanyahu added that "certain items trickled in, but the bulk of armaments were left behind".

Following the release of Netanyahu's video, the White House said that there is only a hold-up in a shipment of 2,000-pound bombs, but that everything else is flowing as usual.