Militant group describes Israeli offer at Cairo talks as ‘intransigent’, while Israeli PM says Rafah invasion will go ahead
Welcome to our latest live news blog on Israel’s war in Gaza and the wider Middle East crisis. Here’s a rundown on the latest news.
Hamas says Israel’s proposal it received from Qatari and Egyptian mediators in ceasefire negotiations did not meet any of the demands of Palestinian factions.
An Israeli strike on southern Lebanon killed a field commander in the country’s militant Hezbollah group early on Monday, while the UN warned that shelling was spreading and urged a halt to the violence. Hezbollah and the Israeli military have regularly exchanged fire across Lebanon’s southern frontier in parallel with Israel’s war on Gaza.
In the US, sixteen more Democrats have signed a letter urging the US president, Joe Biden, to halt weapons transfers to Israel.
Nicaragua has called on the UN’s top court to halt German military and other aid to Israel, arguing that Berlin’s support is enabling acts of genocide and breaches of international humanitarian law in the war.
Palestinians began returning to the devastated city of Khan Younis on Monday after Israel’s unexpected withdrawal of forces from southern Gaza. Those returning to the city, which has been under a relentless Israeli military assault for the past four months, described scenes of widespread destruction.
Israel is yet to provide a satisfactory explanation for the death of seven aid workers last week, the prime minister of Australia, Anthony Albanese, said as it appointed a senior former military official to study Israel’s inquiry into the attack. Israel said on Friday its soldiers mistakenly believed they were attacking Hamas gunmen. Two officers were dismissed and others reprimanded.
Lebanon’s prime minister, Najib Mikati, and the visiting Cypriot president, Nikos Christodoulides, discussed the Syrian refugee crisis on Monday, Beirut said, as Nicosia pushes Lebanese authorities to stem boat departures.
The commander of a European Union naval mission in the Red Sea wants to significantly increase its size to better defend against possible attacks by Houthi rebels based in Yemen, as just four warships are patrolling an area twice the size of the 27-nation bloc. The EU mission – dubbed Aspides, from the Greek for “shield” – has escorted 68 ships and repelled 11 attacks since it was established less than two months ago.
Iran’s foreign minister, Hossein Amirabdollahian, left Oman to visit Syria’s capital of Damascus a week after Iran’s consulate there was targeted in a suspected Israeli attack, state media has reported. Iran has vowed to avenge the death of seven of its Revolutionary Guards commanders killed in the attack.
