U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres is “appalled” by the humanitarian conditions in the Gaza Strip, where “the last lifelines keeping people alive are collapsing,” his spokesperson said on Monday.
“The Secretary-General strongly condemns the ongoing violence, including the shooting, killing, and wounding of people trying to feed their families,” Stephane Dujarric told reporters in New York.
Death toll from violence in southern Syria rises to over 1,260
Violence in Syria’s southern Sweida province has left more than 1,260 people dead ahead of a cease-fire that came into effect on Sunday, according to a new toll released by the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR).
The NGO reported additional deaths that occurred before the truce began. Among the dead are 505 Druze fighters and 298 Druze civilians, including 194 who were “summarily executed by members of the Defense and Interior Ministries.” The toll also includes 408 members of government security forces and 35 Sunni Bedouins, three of whom were “summarily executed by Druze fighters.”
Additionally, 15 government soldiers were killed in Israeli airstrikes, according to SOHR.
According to our correspondent in South Lebanon, the victim of the Israeli drone strike in Tiri, Bint Jbeil district, was identified as Mohammad Fadi Cheaito.
He was a member of Hezbollah. His father was killed last fall during the ongoing war between Israel and Hezbollah.
An Israeli drone targeted a motorcycle in Tiri, in the Bint Jbeil district, killing one person, according to our correspondent in South Lebanon.
The motorcyclist was killed upon arriving in front of his home.
UNRWA raises alarm over growing malnutrition in Gaza
The United Nations agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) has warned of worsening hunger in the war-torn Gaza Strip, saying it is receiving “desperate messages reporting famine” from some of its staff on the ground.
In a message posted on X, UNRWA stated that food shortages in Gaza have driven prices up by a factor of 40.
“Lift the siege and allow humanitarian aid to enter safely and at scale,” the agency pleaded, adding that it has supplies stored outside Gaza that could feed over two million people for more than three months.
Israeli forces reportedly fired on aid seekers holding white flags
A report by the Wall Street Journal, and according to Al Jazeera an Israeli army reservist, reveals that Israeli forces shot at Palestinians seeking aid near a Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) site last month — despite the victims reportedly waving white flags.
The reservist told the paper that soldiers opened fire after the group deviated from a designated route. “We have an unwritten rule that if you are worried and they get too close and you see that it could be something that puts you and your team at risk, you don’t take that risk,” he said. He added that although troops are instructed to fire warning shots or aim at the knees, "mistakes happen."
More than 900 Palestinians have been killed since the GHF began distributing food, with many deaths occurring as civilians tried to access essential aid.
UK and 24 countries call for 'immediate' end to Gaza war
The United Kingdom and 24 countries, including France, Canada and Japan, called for an "immediate" end to the war in the besieged Gaza Strip in a joint statement.
"We ... come together to send a simple and urgent message: the war in Gaza must end immediately," wrote the signatories, for whom "the suffering of civilians in Gaza has reached new heights," AFP reported.
"The aid distribution model implemented by the Israeli government is dangerous, fuels instability and deprives Gazans of their human dignity," they added.
First call between the Pope and the Palestinian president
Pope Leo XIV received a phone call from Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, four days after a deadly Israeli strike on a Catholic church in Gaza, the Vatican announced. During their meeting, the first made public since the American pope's election on May 8, the latter "renewed his call for full respect for international humanitarian law, emphasizing the duty to protect civilians and sacred places and the prohibition of the indiscriminate use of force and the forced displacement of populations," according to the Vatican statement. Leo XIV also reaffirmed "the urgency of providing aid to those most exposed to the consequences of the conflict and of allowing the entry of humanitarian aid."
The appeal comes after three people were killed Thursday in an Israeli strike on the only Catholic church in the Gaza Strip, a refuge for the small community since the start of the war 21 months ago.
According to the Gaza Health Ministry, in a statement released Sunday, at least 18 people died of starvation in 24 hours.
'Yemen's fate is the same as Tehran's,' Katz says
Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz announced that the strikes targeted "terrorist targets" of the Houthi rebels in the Yemeni port of Hodeidah.
"As I have made clear, the fate of Yemen is the same as that of Tehran. The Houthis will pay a heavy price for the missile attacks on the State of Israel," he stated.
Iran accuses Europeans of not respecting the 2015 agreement
Iran blamed European countries for the failure of the 2015 nuclear deal and accused them of failing to keep their commitments, a foreign ministry spokesperson said ahead of talks in Istanbul on Friday with France, the United Kingdom and Germany, AFP reported.
"The European parties were at fault and negligent in implementing" the nuclear deal, said foreign ministry spokesperson Esmail Baghai. Paris, London and Berlin are threatening to reinstate U.N. sanctions against Iran as permitted by the deal, accusing Tehran of failing to respect its nuclear commitments.
Israeli army claims to have struck Houthi 'military targets' in Hodeida port
In a statement published by its Arabic-language spokesperson, Avichay Adraee, the Israeli army claimed to have carried out strikes on Houthi "military targets" in the port of Hodeida.
"The targeted infrastructure included engineering machinery used for the reconstruction of port structures, fuel barrels, ships used for military activities, ships near the port, and other infrastructure used by the Houthi terrorist regime," the army said.
According to Israeli Army Radio, the army has begun carrying out strikes on the port of Hodeida in Yemen.
Authorities evacuate Bedouin families from Sweida
Syrian authorities are evacuating Bedouin families from the predominantly Druze town of Sweida, thanks to a cease-fire that ended bloody clashes between the two communities, according to AFP correspondents and state media.
An AFP correspondent on the outskirts of the devastated city saw a convoy of four buses and cars entering and leaving Sweida, loaded with civilians, including women and children. They were taken to reception centers in Daraa, further south, and in Damascus, in coordination with the Syrian Red Crescent, the equivalent of the Red Cross, he said.
According to the state-run Syrian news agency SANA, 1,500 people from Bedouin tribes are to be evacuated.
'Massive' Israeli offensive on Deir al-Balah
Israeli airstrikes have intensified on Deir al-Balah, in the central Gaza Strip, and the al-Bureij refugee camp in recent hours, according to several Palestinian media outlets and Al Jazeera. Witnesses also told the Israeli newspaper Haaretz that the strikes on Deir al-Balah are "massive." The city had so far been relatively spared, unlike other areas.
According to Al Jazeera, Israeli army units are also mobilized in eastern Deir al-Balah.
Good morning! Thank you for joining us for our live coverage. Be sure to read the Morning Brief so you are caught up with what has been happening.
At least nine Palestinians killed in Israeli strikes since dawn
According to Al Jazeera, citing sources in various Gaza hospitals, at least nine Palestinians have been killed in Israeli strikes on Gaza since dawn.
Medical sources at Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis reported that five people from the same family were killed in the bombing of a tent in the so-called "humanitarian" area of al-Mawassi, in the south of the city. Another strike on Jabalia, in the north of the enclave, left two dead, according to sources at al-Shifa Hospital. In Deir al-Balah, a town in the center of the besieged territory for which the Israeli army had issued an evacuation order on Sunday, artillery fire killed two Palestinians, according to the Wafa news agency, cited by Al Jazeera.
Around 1,000 families have already evacuated Deir al-Balah, threatened by an Israeli offensive
The U.N. humanitarian agency (OCHA) estimated that around 1,000 families evacuated Deir al-Balah after the Israeli army called for them to leave, prefacing an offensive on the city. OCHA said that around 50,000 to 80,000 people lived in the area affected by the evacuation call, which includes "numerous warehouses, four first aid clinics, four medical centers, and crucial water infrastructure."
The damage that could be caused to this infrastructure "will have deadly consequences," according to OCHA, which announced that its staff would remain in Deir al-Balah. The agency's director, Tom Fletcher, indicated on X that U.N. employees would remain "to help" in Deir al-Balah.
Initially located in Rafah, U.N. personnel relocated their operations to the central city after the ground invasion of that city in mid-2024.
Death toll from inter-communal fighting rises to more than 1,100
Intercommunal violence in the Druze-majority province of Sweida in southern Syria has left more than 1,100 dead in one week, according to a new report from the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR).
Among the dead were 427 Druze fighters and 298 civilians, 194 of whom were "summarily executed by members of the Defense and Interior Ministries." On the other side, 354 government forces and 21 Sunni Bedouins were killed, including three civilians "executed by Druze fighters," according to the London-based NGO, which relies on a vast network of sources across the country. 15 government forces were also killed in Israeli strikes, according to the NGO.
Talks between Iran and Europeans to resume Friday
Iran will hold new talks on its nuclear program with Germany, France and the United Kingdom on Friday in Istanbul, a month after the 12-day war between it and Israel and the United States.
"In response to the request of European countries, Iran has agreed to hold a new round of talks," Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmail Baghai said, according to state television, which added that the meeting will take place in Istanbul.
US envoy Tom Barrack tours Lebanese officials
U.S. envoy Tom Barrack, who arrived in Beirut on Sunday, traveled this morning to Baabda Palace, where he is scheduled to be met by President Joseph Aoun. He will then meet with Prime Minister Nawaf Salam at the Grand Serail.
This visit is part of the follow-up to efforts to implement a cease-fire between Israel and Hezbollah. This is the diplomat's second visit in two weeks. During his previous visit, he received the Lebanese response to a U.S. proposal aimed at restoring stability to southern Lebanon and the region, including the disarmament of Hezbollah.
You can find more on Barrack's latest visit here.
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