Key events
Palestinian news agency Wafa is reporting that five people have been killed and 30 others wounded as a result of Israeli bombing on Rafah, in the south of the Gaza Strip.
It also reports that at least 30 Palestinians – including a child and a woman – were rounded up by Israeli security forces in the occupied West Bank during the past day. The number of Palestinians detained by Israeli forces in the occupied West Bank since 7 October is now reported to stand at over 9,000.
Additionally Wafa reports that a family in Masafer Yatta, south of Hebron, were attacked by Israeli settlers, who uprooted olive and almond trees.
The claims have not been independently verified. It has not been possible for journalists to verify casualty figures being issued during the conflict.
Antony Blinken arrives in Egypt for talks ahead of visit to Israel
US secretary of state Antony Blinken has arrived in Egypt. He is expected to meet with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi in Cairo before traveling to Israel where he will meet with Benjamin Netanyahu and Yoav Gallant.
It is Blinken’s eighth trip to the region since 7 October, and he is expected to push for the ceasefire deal which US president Joe Biden has been backing.
The visit comes amid discouraging signs, and after a weekend in which over 200 Palestinians were killed as Israel staged a rescue of four of the hostages held in Gaza by Hamas.
Prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a statement “We are committed to total victory” and that he is not prepared “to stop the war without achieving our goals of eliminating Hamas.”
A senior Hamas official, meanwhile, has said the onus is on the US “to put pressure on the occupation to stop the war on Gaza.”
The health ministry in Gaza has issued new casualty figures, claiming that 37,124 Palestinians have been killed during Israel’s military campaign, with 84,712 injured.
The claims have not been independently verified. It has not been possible for journalists to verify casualty figures being issued during the conflict.
Finance minister Smotrich: releasing detained Palestinians in hostage swap deal could lead to ‘murder of many Jews’
Israel’s finance minister Bezalel Smotrich has said that releasing Palestinians held in Israeli detention in return for hostages could lead to “the murder of many Jews”.
Speaking at a Knesset finance committee session which was attended by family members of hostages still held in the Gaza Strip, Smotrich said Hamas was demanding the release of “hundreds of murderers”.
Haaretz quotes him saying:
This could lead to the murder of many Jews. When Hamas demands to end the war while it’s surviving in Gaza, it means that the group is arming itself, digging tunnels, buying rockets and that many Jews could be murdered and taken hostage on another 7 October.
This is the dilemma we are facing. And it is painful. It is our responsibility as leadership to think not only about the current situation, but also about its long-term consequences.
He said the Israeli government could not agree to any move that would amount to “collective suicide”.
The meeting erupted into a shouting match, with one family member of a hostage suggesting that Smotrich should offer to take their place in captivity. Another, according to Hebrew news website Ynet, said “You will take responsibility. There are 120 abductees. You will replace 120 Knesset members with 120 abductees.”
On Sunday former military chief Benny Gantz resigned from Benjamin Netanyahu’s government, potentially ushering in more political instability evan as Israel continues it months-long campaign against Hamas inside the Gaza Strip.
Gantz had given the prime minister a deadline to produce a “day after” proposal for Gaza, and has accused him of pushing strategic considerations such as a hostage deal aside for his own political survival.
Here are some of the latest images sent to us over the newswires from the Al-Aqsa Martyrs hospital in Deir al-Balah, where Palestinians are grieving over more people who have been killed by Israeli airstrikes.
Haaretz reports that a house in the northern Israeli kibbutz of Menara has caught fire after a rocket was fired from Lebanon.
Australian prime minister Anthony Albanese has asked activists to “turn the heat down” after the US consulate in Sydney was damaged in what appeared to be an act of pro-Palestinian support.
Albanese said “People are traumatized by what is going on in the Middle East, particularly those with relatives in either Israel or in the Palestinian occupied territories. And I just say, again, reiterate my call to turn the heat down and measures such as painting the U.S. consulate do nothing to advance the cause of those who have committed what is, of course, a crime to damage property.”
Windows were damaged and inverted red triangles were painted on the building.
Associated Press reported that New South Wales premier Chris Minns said “We can make our point in this country without resorting to violence or malicious behavior.”
Hind Khoudary, reporting from Deir al-Balah in central Gaza for Al Jazeera, writes that:
Israeli forces have withdrawn from the eastern part of Deir al-Balah, but it is a very sad morning. Civil defence teams were able to bring the bodies of five people who were killed in the area. We’re expecting them to bring more bodies from eastern Deir al-Balah. There have been a couple of airstrikes in the area after the Israeli forces withdrew.
Last month Benjamin Netanyahu’s Israeli government banned Al Jazeera from operating inside Israel. An Israeli court recently upheld the decision.
Reuters reports that ahead of Antony Blinken’s visit to the region, senior Hamas official Sami Abu Zuhri has urged the US to pressure Israel to end the war in Gaza.
“We call upon the US administration to put pressure on the occupation to stop the war on Gaza and the Hamas movement is ready to deal positively with any initiative that secures an end to the war,” he said.
Neither Hamas or Israel have been able to agree any kind of ceasefire or hostage deal since December.
Palestinian news agency Wafa reports widespread bombardment of the Gaza Strip is continuing, with Israeli artillery shelling multiple areas. It said “a number of citizens were killed, and others were left with various injuries” without providing specific numbers.
It reported “Two citizens were killed, and others sustained various injuries, as a result of the occupation aircraft bombing a house in Shujaiya neighbourhood, east of Gaza City.”
Wafa also reports that in the West Bank a 15-year-old child has been killed by Israeli forces near Tubas and a 21-year-old student was killed by Israeli forces near Tulkarm.
The claims have not been independently verified.
Antony Blinken’s expected trip to the Middle East today is the eighth time the US secretary of state has visited the region since the surprise 7 October attack inside southern Israel by Hamas.
Blinken is set to meet with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi in Cairo before traveling to Israel where he will meet with Benjamin Netanyahu and Yoav Gallant.
Opening summary
Hello and welcome to our continuing live coverage of the Middle East crisis. The future of Israel’s war cabinet, formed after the Hamas attacks of 7 October, is uncertain after former defence minister Benny Gantz resigned in protest at Benjamin Netanyahu’s handling of the Gaza war.
Gantz, the leader of the centre-right National Unity party, said: “Netanyahu is preventing us from progressing towards a true victory” and called for fresh elections, having set a deadline of 8 June for the prime minister to present concrete “day after” plans for the Gaza Strip.
The turmoil in Israeli politics comes amid international anger at the scale of devastation in central Gaza’s Nuseirat refugee camp as a result of the operation to rescue four Israeli hostages. The EU’s foreign minister, Josep Borrell, condemned the attack as a “massacre” of Palestinian civilians, and urged a ceasefire, saying: “The bloodbath must end immediately.”
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Hamas has warned that conditions would worsen for the remaining Israeli captives after the raid at the weekend in which at least 274 Palestinians were reported killed by Gaza’s Hamas-run health ministry. The ministry also said about 700 people were wounded in the operation that was centred on the Nuseirat refugee camp in central Gaza. The operation resulted in the rescue of four Israeli hostages who had been held captive since Hamas’ 7 October attack on Israel.
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Noa Argamani, Almog Meir, Andrey Kozlov and Shlomi Ziv were freed during the operation. Israel has used its military to return seven hostages since the outbreak of the war, with over 100 thought to remain in Gaza, many of whom are believed to be dead.
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Hamas claimed three Israeli hostages were killed in the rescue operation, including a US citizen. No evidence was provided and the Guardian could not independently verify the claims. Hamas has released a video showing three unidentifiable corpses with censor bars over their faces.
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US secretary of state Antony Blinken was heading back to the Middle East on Monday to push a ceasefire plan, but political upsets in Israel and silence from Hamas raised further questions as to whether he can succeed.
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Israel continued to attack central Gaza on Sunday. Reuters reported that separate Israeli airstrikes on houses in the city of Deir Al-Balah and in nearby Al-Bureij killed three Palestinians in each location earlier today, while tanks shelled parts of nearby Al-Maghazi and Al-Nuseirat.
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Israeli tanks also advanced into two new districts of the southern city of Rafah. It appears to be an apparent effort to complete the encirclement of the entire eastern side of the city.
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Aid has been delivered into Gaza from a newly repaired American-built pier after it suffered storm damage. In a post on social media, US Central Command confirmed aid was delivered in Gaza via the pier on Saturday morning.
