[ad_1]
Key events
In the early hours of Sunday morning, Al Jazeera Arabic’s journalists on the ground reported Israeli raids in Rafah in the south of enclave and in the vicinity of the Kamal Adwan hospital in northern Gaza, where raids were also reported in the sheikh Zayed and Zeitoun neighbourhoods.
Opening summary
Hello and welcome to the Guardian’s live coverage of Israel’s war on Gaza and the wider crisis in the Middle East.
The al-Aqsa Martyrs hospital, in central Gaza, said on Sunday that an Israeli airstrike targeting a house at a refugee camp killed at least 20 people.
“We received 20 fatalities and several wounded after an Israeli airstrike targeted a house belonging to the Hassan family in al-Nuseirat refugee camp in central Gaza,” the hospital said.
Witnesses said the strike occurred about 3am local time. Palestinian official news agency Wafa reported that several children were among the injured people, and that rescuers were searching for missing people trapped under the rubble.
Fierce battles and heavy Israeli bombardments have been reported in the central Nuseirat camp since the military launched an offensive on Rafah in early May.
Meanwhile, the United Nations said 800,000 people had been “forced to flee” Israel’s offensive in Rafah, the southern city where hundreds of thousands of Palestinian civilians had sought refuge from Israeli bombardments. Israel’s military says Hamas militants are located there.
“800,000 people are on the road having been forced to flee since the Israeli forces started the military operation in the area on 6 May”, the Unrwa chief said on X.
Here is a recap of the other latest developments:
-
Two Israeli soldiers were killed in a battle in the southern part of the Gaza Strip, the Israeli military said on Sunday. It said airstrikes hit more than 70 targets across Gaza with ground troops conducting raids in eastern Rafah, killing 50 militants.
-
Joe Biden’s national security adviser Jake Sullivan met early on Sunday with Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman to discuss what the kingdom described as the “semi-final” version of a wide-ranging security agreement between the countries. “The semi-final version of the draft strategic agreements between the kingdom and the United States of America, which are almost being finalized – and what is being worked on between the two sides in the Palestinian issue to find a credible path – were discussed,” the statement released after the talks said. That included “a two-state solution that meets the aspirations and legitimate rights of the Palestinian people” and “the situation in Gaza and the need to stop the war there and facilitate the entry of humanitarian aid,” the statement added.
-
Hamas’s armed wing, the Ezzedine Al-Qassam Brigades, said it fired a barrage of rockets towards Israel’s port of Ashkelon and targeted an Israeli command centre at the Jabalia refugee camp in northern Gaza. On Saturday evening, Israel’s military issued new evacuation orders for parts of northern Gaza, saying militants in the area had fired rockets at Israel.
-
In northern Gaza’s Beit Lahia, witnesses reported airstrikes near Kamal Adwan hospital.
-
Israeli war cabinet minister Benny Gantz demanded on Saturday that prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu commit to an agreed vision for the Gaza conflict that would include stipulating who might rule the territory after the war. In a news conference, Gantz said he wanted the war cabinet to form a six-point plan by 8 June. If his expectations are not met, Gantz said he would withdraw his centrist party from the emergency government. Netanyahu hit back, calling the threat “washed-up words” that would mean “defeat for Israel”.
-
Aid has begun entering Gaza via a temporary US-built floating pier. The Israeli army said 310 pallets began moving ashore in “the first entry of humanitarian aid through the floating pier”. Satellite pictures showed more than a dozen trucks lining up Saturday on its approach road. In the coming days, about 500 tonnes of aid are expected to be delivered via the pier, according to US Central Command.
-
British security firm Ambrey said on Saturday it had received information that a Panama-flagged crude oil tanker had been attacked approximately 10 nautical miles southwest of Yemen’s Mokha. Ambrey later added that the tanker had received assistance and one of its steering units was reportedly functional. It did not indicate who provided the assistance.
-
Austria said on Saturday it will restore its funding to the UN agency for Palestinian refugees (Unrwa) after suspending it over allegations that staff were involved in the 7 October Hamas attacks. A total of €3.4m ($3.7m) in funds have been budgeted for 2024, and the first payment is expected to be made in the summer, Austria’s foreign ministry said in a statement.
