- At least 11 Palestinians were killed in two Israeli air strikes targeting aid supplies in Gaza on Monday, according to medics.
- Three people were killed in an attack on a food distribution center near the Shanti refugee camp in Gaza City.
- At least eight people, including security personnel escorting aid trucks, were killed in another attack near the town of Bani Suheila in the southern Gaza Strip.
At least 11 Palestinians killed in two Israeli airstrikes targeting aid supplies In Gaza On Monday, medics said Israeli tanks had pushed deeper into Rafah in the south and returned to areas in the north they had seized months ago.
Three people were killed in an attack on a food distribution center near the Shati historic refugee camp in Gaza City. At least eight people, including security personnel accompanying aid trucks, were killed in another attack near the town of Bani Suheila in the southern Gaza Strip, medics said.
There was no immediate comment from Israel, which has denied attacking aid efforts and accused militants of operating among civilians to cause harm.
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The director of Gaza’s ambulance and emergency department was killed in an Israeli airstrike on a medical clinic in Gaza City overnight, Gaza City’s Health Ministry said. The Israeli military said a senior Hamas armed commander was killed in the attack.
A Palestinian inspects damage at the Al-Daraj clinic, which was hit by an Israeli attack in Gaza City on June 24, 2024. At least 11 Palestinians were killed in two Israeli airstrikes targeting aid supplies in Gaza on Monday, medics said. (Reuters/Dawood Abu Alqas)
The Health Ministry said the killing of Hani al-Jaafarawi brings the number of medical staff killed by Israeli fire since October 7 to 500. At least 300 others have been detained so far.
In a statement, the Israeli military said the target of the attack was Mohamed Salah, who was responsible for developing weapons for Hamas.
No ceasefire agreement
More than eight months into the fighting, international mediation backed by the United States has so far failed to secure a ceasefire agreement. Hamas says any agreement must end the conflict warWhile Israel says it will only agree to a temporary pause in fighting until Hamas is wiped out.
On Monday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he remained committed to the proposed ceasefire and hostage deal announced by US President Joe Biden in May.
“We remain committed to the Israeli proposal that President Biden has welcomed. Our position has not changed. Secondly, which does not contradict the first, we will not end the war until we destroy Hamas,” Netanyahu said in a speech to parliament.
Mourners attend the funeral of Palestinian Hani al-Jaafawi, director of ambulance and emergency services at the Ministry of Health, who was killed in an Israeli attack on the al-Daraj clinic in Gaza City on June 24, 2024. (Reuters/Dawood Abu Alqas)
In Rafah, near the Egyptian border, Israeli forces seized control of eastern, southern and central parts of the city, and continued to advance into western and northern areas, residents said, describing heavy fighting.
On Sunday, residents said Israeli tanks had reached the edge of the Mawasi displaced persons camp northwest of Rafah, forcing many families to flee north to Khan Younis and Deir al-Balah in central Gaza, the only towns in the enclave that tanks have not yet attacked.
“The situation in Tel al-Sultan in western Rafah remains very dangerous. Drones and Israeli snipers are chasing people who try to check their homes, and tanks continue to shell areas overlooking al-Mawasi in the west,” Rafah resident Bassam told Reuters via a chat app.
The Israeli military said the army continued to carry out “intelligence-based targeted operations” in Rafah, locating weapons and rocket launchers and killing militants “who posed a threat to them.”
In the northern part of the enclave, where Israel said its forces completed operations months ago, residents reported tanks had returned to the Gaza City suburb of Zeitoun and were bombarding several areas there.
In Deir al-Balah, the last refuge for thousands of Gazans after the assault on Rafah, doctors at a clinic were attempting to treat malnutrition among children and measure the extent of hunger sweeping across the Strip.
“Because of displacement, communities are settling in new places where there is not adequate access to clean water or food,” said Dr. Muammar Said of the aid group International Medical Corps. “We fear that more cases may be missed.”
A Palestinian inspects damage to the al-Daraj clinic in Gaza City on June 24, 2024. (Reuters/Dawood Abu Alqas)
Netanyahu says intense fighting could end soon
Israel’s ground and air campaign in Gaza began when Hamas-led militants stormed southern Israel on October 7, killing about 1,200 people and seizing more than 250 hostages, according to Israeli figures.
Retaliatory Israeli air strikes have killed some 37,600 people, according to Palestinian health officials, and wreaked havoc in Gaza.
Since early May, fighting has centered on Rafah, on Gaza’s southern edge, where about half of the territory’s 2.3 million people have taken refuge after fleeing other areas.
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Netanyahu said The period of intense fighting against Hamas will end “very soon”.
In an interview with Israel’s Channel 14 he said Gaza-based troops would be freed to move north, where Israel has warned of a possible full-blown war against Lebanon’s Hezbollah movement, which has attacked the border region in a show of solidarity with the Palestinians.
“After the intensive phase is over, we will have the possibility to move part of our forces to the north. And we will do that,” Netanyahu said.
It was Netanyahu’s first television interview since the war began, which he has favoured in election campaigns.
Ezzat al-Reshik, a senior Hamas political official in exile, said in a statement that the remarks showed Netanyahu was merely using the ceasefire talks as a procrastination tactic while fighting continues.
