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Israel closes key route for aid into Gaza as Palestinians seeking food continue to be killed in Israeli attacks
We are continuing our live coverage of the latest developments in the Middle East, with a particular focus on Israel’s war on Gaza.
Israel closed crossings into northern Gaza on Thursday, cutting the most direct route for aid to reach hundreds of thousands of Palestinian people at risk of famine due to Israeli restrictions on food being allowed into the devastated territory.
After blocking all food for two and a half months, Israel has allowed only a trickle of supplies into Gaza since mid-May.
As the Guardian’s international security correspondent, Jason Burke, notes in this story, the closure of the Zikim crossing, which Israel claimed was necessary to stop Hamas seizing aid, was “very problematic” and would directly impact aid distribution. Here is an extract from his piece:
New food distribution points set up by a secretive US- and Israel-backed private organisation called the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation are located in central and south Gaza, out of reach of most of the million people estimated to be in the north.
The Israeli government ordered the closure of the northern crossing points after footage surfaced on social media showing armed men guarding a shipment of aid.
Israeli rightwing rivals to Benjamin Netanyahu claimed they were Hamas, but aid workers and others in Gaza said the guards were loyal to a council of local community leaders who had organised protection for a convoy of much-needed supplies.
The crossing closure came amid reports of Israeli forces killing more Palestinian people waiting for food. Gaza’s civil defence agency said 56 people had been killed in Israeli attacks on Thursday, including six who were waiting for food in two separate locations.
An Israeli airstrike yesterday hit a street in central Gaza where witnesses said a crowd of people was getting bags of flour from a Palestinian police unit that had confiscated the goods from gangs looting aid convoys. Hospital officials, according to the Associated Press, said 18 people were killed.
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Benjamin Netanyahu’s request to the court came shortly after his closest ally, US president Donald Trump, called for the long-running corruption trial to be cancelled or, at least, for the Israeli leader to be pardoned.
Here is an extract from my colleague Jason Burke’s write up of the unusual intervention from Trump.
Trump on Wednesday posted a lengthy diatribe against the trial, which could lead to a prison sentence for his ally, describing a “ridiculous witch hunt” that was an “unheard of … horror show” and showering praise on Netanyahu for his leadership of Israel during the short war with Iran that was ended by a ceasefire earlier this week.
Netanyahu, whose relationship with Trump was reported to have been under strain until the recent conflict, thanked the president for his “heartfelt support for me and your incredible support for Israel and the Jewish people”.
Netanyahu is keen to meet Trump at the White House in the coming weeks to celebrate the joint US-Israeli bombing campaign of Iran’s nuclear program, Israeli officials have told Axios.
Benjamin Netanyahu's request to postpone upcoming criminal trial testimony is rejected
The state attorney’s office has dismissed Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s request to postpone his upcoming testimony in his criminal trial by two weeks.
The request, submitted on Thursday by Netanyahu’s attorney Amit Hadad, argued that the Israeli leader needed to focus on urgent national security matters and diplomatic relations, in the aftermath of the war with Iran and amid Israel’s ongoing assault on Gaza.
In its response, however, the state attorney’s office said the “general reasons detailed in the request cannot justify cancelling two weeks of hearings, particularly in the run up to the (summer) recess”.
Netanyahu is standing trial for three charges of bribery, fraud and breach of trust. He denies the accusations levelled against him and say they are politically motivated.
The Israeli leader has been on trial for a long time: since May 2020, partially because he has been employing numerous legal delay tactics.
Israeli airstrikes kill at least 11 Palestinians in southern Gaza - report
At least 11 Palestinian people were killed in Israeli airstrikes and drone attacks on southern Gaza this morning, according to Palestinian news agency Wafa.
Israeli warplanes reportedly bombed a makeshift tent sheltering displaced people in al-Mawasi, a so-called humanitarian safe zone south-west of Khan Younis in the south, while drones targeted the Bani Suheila and Sheikh Nasser neighbourhoods, east of Khan Younis.
Another person, according to Wafa, was killed in a separate Israeli air raid targeting the town of al-Qarara. We have not yet been able to independently verify these claims.
Gaza’s Government Media Office said in a press release published to Telegram on Wednesday that at least 549 Palestinian people have been killed and 4,066 others injured by Israeli forces while trying to access humanitarian supplies over the last month.
“A full month has passed since the start of work and the establishment of the so-called “American-Israeli aid centers,” which within 30 days have turned into death traps and traps for daily mass killing and luring,” it wrote in the Telegram post.
The media office said the killings occurred as desperate Palestinians tried to obtain food “amidst the policy of starvation and comprehensive siege”.
Since the blockade was eased to the bare minimum level last month, the UN has tried to bring in aid but has faced major obstacles, including Israeli military restrictions, continuing deadly airstrikes and growing anarchy.
Israel closes key route for aid into Gaza as Palestinians seeking food continue to be killed in Israeli attacks
We are continuing our live coverage of the latest developments in the Middle East, with a particular focus on Israel’s war on Gaza.
Israel closed crossings into northern Gaza on Thursday, cutting the most direct route for aid to reach hundreds of thousands of Palestinian people at risk of famine due to Israeli restrictions on food being allowed into the devastated territory.
After blocking all food for two and a half months, Israel has allowed only a trickle of supplies into Gaza since mid-May.
As the Guardian’s international security correspondent, Jason Burke, notes in this story, the closure of the Zikim crossing, which Israel claimed was necessary to stop Hamas seizing aid, was “very problematic” and would directly impact aid distribution. Here is an extract from his piece:
New food distribution points set up by a secretive US- and Israel-backed private organisation called the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation are located in central and south Gaza, out of reach of most of the million people estimated to be in the north.
The Israeli government ordered the closure of the northern crossing points after footage surfaced on social media showing armed men guarding a shipment of aid.
Israeli rightwing rivals to Benjamin Netanyahu claimed they were Hamas, but aid workers and others in Gaza said the guards were loyal to a council of local community leaders who had organised protection for a convoy of much-needed supplies.
The crossing closure came amid reports of Israeli forces killing more Palestinian people waiting for food. Gaza’s civil defence agency said 56 people had been killed in Israeli attacks on Thursday, including six who were waiting for food in two separate locations.
An Israeli airstrike yesterday hit a street in central Gaza where witnesses said a crowd of people was getting bags of flour from a Palestinian police unit that had confiscated the goods from gangs looting aid convoys. Hospital officials, according to the Associated Press, said 18 people were killed.
