Compilation of news reports – IAK staff
Israeli forces killed at least 60 Palestinians across Gaza on Monday, including 14 people waiting for aid near a distribution point run by the US-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation in southern Rafah.
At least seven Palestinian civilians were killed on Monday when an Israeli drone strike targeted a tent sheltering displaced people in the Al-Mawasi area, which Israel had previously designated a “safe zone.”
A young girl reportedly died of malnutrition in Khan Younis; also among the dead was a journalist, Moamen Abu Alouf.
More than 130 Palestinians have been killed and around 1,000 injured at Israeli-controlled aid distribution sites managed by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) since the initiative began in late May, Gaza officials said on 9 June.
For detail on Israeli attacks in Gaza on Monday, go here.
GAZA FLOTILLA UPDATE:
The Madleen, a UK-flagged boat, was intercepted by Israeli naval commandos at 3:02am CEST. The vessel was in international waters at the time of the interception, the flotilla’s organizers told Middle East Eye.
MEE asked the UK government if it condemned the interception of a UK-flagged vessel; the Foreign Office merely said that the UK wanted to see Israel resolve the detention of the vessel “safely with restraint, in line with international humanitarian law”.
“Israel had absolutely no authority to attack a UK flagged vessel – a sovereign UK territory in international waters,” lawyer Huwaida Arraf, of the Freedom Flotilla Coalition, told MEE.
“The civilians on that UK vessel were actually carrying out the obligations of the United Kingdom, which is the obligations of every country around the world: to act to prevent genocide” (continue reading here).
The 12 activists, including Greta Thunberg, who were aboard the Gaza-bound Madleen flotilla arrived at the Israeli port city of Ashdod on Monday evening, roughly 17 hours after being detained by the Israeli military.
The Foreign Ministry said in a post on X that the activists underwent medical examinations to “ensure they are in good health.”
According to Adalah Legal Center, which is legally representing the passengers, those who agree to be expelled will be transferred to a detention center at Ben-Gurion Airport, where they can stay for up to two weeks. Those who refuse to board a plane will be transported to Givon Prison, where they will be able to appeal the expulsion.
Speaking to reporters after the Madleen was seized by Israeli commandos, US President Donald Trump said: “I think Israel has enough problems without kidnapping Greta Thunberg. She’s a young, angry person… I think she has to go to an anger management class.”
NOTE: The flotilla movement was begun by Greta Berlin, Paul Larudee, Mary Hughes-Thompson, Sharyn Locke, AND Eliza Ernshire. Afterward, Jewish Voice for Peace and some others tried to ‘cancel’ Greta Berlin and Ann Wright, despite their heroic and extremely consequential actions.
RELATED:
Gaza Aid Flotilla Organizer Says ‘Absolutely’ More Ships Planned
‘Piracy’: World reacts to Israel’s seizure of Gaza-bound aid vessel Madleen
Seizure of Madleen is the latest in more than a decade of Israeli attacks on aid flotillas
Delegates from 32 nations march to Gaza, call for end to blockade and genocide
An international solidarity march set off towards the Gaza Strip on Sunday, aiming to break the ongoing blockade and demand an end to what participants describe as the genocide being committed by Israel since 7 October 2023.
Thousands of supporters from 32 countries are taking part in the march, with plans to reach Gaza’s border through the Rafah crossing with Egypt. Their goals include delivering humanitarian aid and expressing support for the Palestinian people.
Organizers said the participating convoys are expected to gather in Cairo on Thursday, before heading to the city of Arish in north-eastern Egypt. From there, participants will continue on foot towards the Rafah border crossing, where protest tents are planned to be set up.
The main organizers, the “Global March to Gaza”, said it has representatives in most European, North and South American countries, as well as in several Arab and Asian nations. This, it said, reflects growing international momentum in support of the Palestinian cause (continue reading here).
UN says most flour delivered in Gaza looted or taken by starving people
The United Nations said on Monday that it has only been able to bring minimal flour into Gaza since Israel lifted an aid blockade three weeks ago and that has mostly been looted by armed gangs or taken by starving Palestinians.
The organization has transported 4,600 metric tonnes of wheat flour into Gaza via the Kerem Shalom crossing, the only entry point Israel allows it to use, Deputy U.N. spokesperson Fahan Haq told reporters.
Haq said aid groups in Gaza estimate that between 8,000 and 10,000 metric tonnes of wheat flour were needed to give each family in Gaza a bag of flour and “ease the pressure on markets and reduce desperation.”
“Most of it was taken by desperate, starving people before the supplies reached their destinations. In some cases, the supplies were looted by armed gangs,” Haq said.
According to World Food Program guidelines, 4,600 metric tonnes of flour would provide roughly eight days’ worth of bread for Gaza’s 2 million residents, based on a standard daily ration of 300 grams per person.
An eyewitness to the aid distribution in Rafah on Monday said she saw men from a local militia led by Yasser Abu Shabab trying to organize the crowds into lines on the road. When people pushed forward, the gunmen opened fire. People then hurled stones, forcing the gunmen to withdraw toward the Israeli positions, she said.
The Abu Shabab group, which calls itself the Popular Forces, says it is guarding the surroundings of the GHF centers in southern Gaza. GHF has said it does not work with the Abu Shabab group. Aid workers say it has a long history of looting U.N. aid trucks.
RELATED: Who Is Abu Shabab? Meet the Gaza Gangster that Israel Armed to Counter Hamas
Israel blocks UN from reaching desperately needed fuel supplies in Gaza
The United Nations says Israel continues to prevent it from retrieving crucial fuel stocks from its warehouses in Gaza, and the move could bring already crippled international aid efforts to a halt.
“Fuel stocks in Gaza are critically low, putting further strain on critical services and humanitarian operations,” said Farhan Haq, the deputy spokesperson for UN Secretary-General Antonino Guterres.
He said that, over the weekend, about 250,000 liters (66,000 gallons) of fuel were looted in northern Gaza.
“Prior to this, the UN had repeatedly attempted to reach these stocks to retrieve them, but these attempts were denied by the Israeli authorities,” he added.
Since May 15, UN missions to retrieve its fuel – desperately needed to run hospitals and desalination plants for drinking water – were denied by the Israeli authorities 14 times, said Haq.
NOTE: Israeli officials have claimed that Gaza has plenty of food – so much that the blockade is an opportunity to reduce obesity. Others insist, without evidence, that Hamas has been stealing aid. On the contrary, Israeli news outlets have reported that the Israeli military has been coordinating and facilitating the looting of aid trucks.
WEST BANK HEADLINES:
(For background on the West Bank, read this and this)
