Gaza live: Israel to build 'different government' in Gaza, says defence minister
Live Updates
Good morning Middle East Eye readers,
Here are the latest updates:
- An Israeli air strike on the al-Nabih family home in Gaza City killed three people
- Israeli forces killed a 17-year-old boy, Mohammad al-Bitar, in the Aqabat Jabr camp in the occupied West Bank
- Israeli President Isaac Herzog thanks US President Joe Biden for his "his ongoing efforts to bring about the release of all the hostages held by Hamas in Gaza", saying he informed Netanyahu of his "full support" for a hostage-release deal
- The Israeli army said it hit a Hezbollah compound in northeastern Lebanon overnight
Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir threatened to leave the coalition and topple the government if Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu enters a Gaza ceasefire deal that would entail ending the war without the elimination of the Hamas movement.
Such a deal would be "foolhardy, constituting a victory for terrorism and a threat to Israel's national security," the ultranationalist head of the Jewish Power party said on X.
Finance Minister and head of the ultranationalist Religious Zionism party Bezalel Smotrich joined Ben-Gvir in threatening to leave the fragile coalition if the Israeli proposal for the hostage deal presented by President Biden goes through
US Senator Bernie Sanders said that he will boycott the Israeli Prime Minister's recently planned address to congress.
"It is a very sad day for our country that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has been invited – by leaders from both parties – to address a joint meeting of the United States Congress. Netanyahu is a war criminal. I certainly will not attend."
It is a very sad day for our country that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has been invited – by leaders from both parties – to address a joint meeting of the United States Congress.
— Bernie Sanders (@SenSanders) June 1, 2024
Netanyahu is a war criminal. I certainly will not attend. pic.twitter.com/0tQgVGv3qa
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has accepted an invitation to address both houses of the US Congress, his office said on Saturday, adding that he would become the first foreign leader to make four such appearances there.
"I am moved by the privilege of representing Israel before both houses of Congress, and of presenting, to the representatives of the American people and the entire world, the truth about our righteous war against those who seek our destruction," the statement quoted him as saying.
On Friday night, House Speaker Mike Johnson formally invited Netanyahu to address a joint session of Congress, with the backing of all three of his fellow Congressional leaders.
Read More: Netanyahu accepts invitation to address Congress a fourth time
Israeli forces fatally shot a 17-year-old Palestinian in the Aqabat Jaber refugee camp near occupied West Bank city of Jericho, the local Palestinian Health Ministry reported.
The ministry identified the teen as Ahmad Ashraf Hamidat.
An Israeli group made up of the relatives of those held captive in Gaza have launched an "emergency operation" to garner votes in the Israeli Knesset for the US-led ceasefire deal that would see captives return from Gaza, The Times of Israel reported.
"The [The Hostage and Missing Families Forum] demands that hostages are returned, some for recovery and some for burial, and not to miss the opportunity created to bring them home," the group said in a statement.
"In the next few hours, families of abductees will reach all the members of the cabinet, the government, and the Knesset and demand to approve the [Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s] deal now".
The armed wing of the Hamas movement, al-Qassam Brigades, released a photo they say is of one of the Israeli soldiers captured last week in the Jabalia tunnel ambush.
The group shared the photo on their Telegram page.
Abu Obaida, the spokesperson for the brigades, released a message last week saying several Israeli soldiers had been captured. His message was followed by a video released by the group showing fighters pulling inside a tunnel a man who appeared to be unconscious. He was pulled alongside military gear.
The video separately showed three semi-automatic rifles and other military gear that Hamas said were taken from the captured Israelis.
Middle East Eye could not independently verify when or where the video was filmed.
The Israeli army denied that any soldiers had been captured in the Jabalia tunnel operations.
An American official told Israel's Walla news agency that the White House was disappointed by Israeli war cabinet minister Benny Gantz's initial reaction to the contents of Biden's speech on the ceasefire and hostage deal.
The unnamed source said that Gantz and Defence Minister Yoav Gallant were informed of the speech's content ahead of Biden's address.
The White House is also reportedly disappointed that Gantz has yet to make a statement on Biden's speech.
A Hezbollah rocket attack launched earlier on Saturday caused heavy damage to an Israeli army base near Kiryat Shmona, according to footage from the scene.
The Israeli military said that no injuries were reported from the attack.
הותר לפרסום: רקטת הבורקאן של חזבאללה פגעה הבוקר במחנה גיבור, מפקדת חטיבה 769 בקריית שמונה@Doron_Kadosh pic.twitter.com/HCo0KQ4W8Z
— גלצ (@GLZRadio) June 1, 2024
Gaza's health ministry said that 95 people have been killed in Israeli attacks on the Palestinian enclave in the last 24 hours, bringing the total to 36,379 people killed since 7 October.
Additionally, 82,407 people have been wounded since the start of the war.
The Israeli army said it has launched a new raid against Hamas in Gaza City's Sabra neighbourhood, the Times of Israel reports.
The outlet reports that the army killed "dozens of gunmen and demolished a weapons depot in Sabra over the past two days".
The Israeli military had previously entered the neighbourhood last year, at the beginning of the ground invasion.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Saturday that Hamas's destruction was part of an Israeli plan presented by US President Joe Biden to end the war on Gaza.
Netanyahu’s statement came a day after Biden said Israel had proposed a new roadmap towards a full ceasefire in Gaza in exchange for Hamas releasing Israeli captives.
"Israel's conditions for ending the war have not changed: The destruction of Hamas military and governing capabilities, the freeing of all hostages and ensuring that Gaza no longer poses a threat to Israel," Netanyahu said.
"Israel will continue to insist these conditions are met before a permanent ceasefire is put in place. The notion that Israel will agree to a permanent ceasefire before these conditions are fulfilled is a non-starter.”
Biden called on Israel and Hamas to accept a three-phase deal that includes the release of captives in Gaza, the withdrawal of Israeli troops from the enclave, a permanent ceasefire and an exchange of prisoners.
READ MORE: Israel's Netanyahu says no permanent Gaza ceasefire until Hamas destroyed
A meeting is expected to take place on Sunday between Egyptian, American and Israeli officials where they will discuss the reopening of the Rafah border crossing, a high-level source told Egypt's state-linked Al Qahera TV.
Al Qahera reports that Egypt insists on Israel withdrawing its forces from the crossing.
The Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ), one of the groups fighting alongside Hamas in Gaza, said it looks "with suspicion" at the Israeli ceasefire plan announced by US President Joe Biden.
The group says that the proposal suggests "that the American administration has changed its position", but that it remains "completely biased towards the Zionist entity, covering up its crimes and participating in the aggression".
"We will evaluate any proposal in a way that ensures an end to the war of genocide against our people, preserves their interests and rights, and meets the demands of the resistance," the group added.
Lebanese media reports that an Israeli drone has been shot down over southern Lebanon.
