Gaza live: Israel to build 'different government' in Gaza, says defence minister

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that the destruction of Hamas remained a part of an Israeli plan presented by US President Joe Biden to end the war in Gaza.

"Israel’s conditions for ending the war have not changed: the destruction of Hamas’s military and governing capabilities, the freeing of all hostages and ensuring that Gaza no longer poses a threat to Israel," he said in a statement.

Good morning Middle East Eye readers,

Here are the latest updates:

• A 13-year-old child has died of malnutrition and dehydration in al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in Deir al-Balah, central Gaza, bringing the total to 37 people dying from these causes in the besieged enclave
• Palestinian journalist Ola al-Dahdouh has reportedly been killed in an early-morning strike on her home in Gaza City
• Indonesia's president-elect Prabowo Subianto said his country is willing to send peacekeeping troops to Gaza to enforce a ceasefire should the need arise
• The State of Palestine moved closer to full membership at the World Health Organisation  following the broad approval of a World Health Assembly resolution which gives the Palestinian Authority all rights of a member state, save for the right to vote

Hello MEE readers. On Friday, US President Joe Biden announced that Israel had sent its latest proposal for a ceasefire and end to the war on Gaza. 

The three-phase deal outlined by Biden includes a “full and complete ceasefire” in Gaza. The deal appeared nearly identical to the one Hamas agreed to in early May.

Hamas later responded to the news, saying it viewed it in a positive light.

“The Islamic Resistance Movement Hamas views positively what was included in US President Joe Biden’s speech today,” the group said in a statement.

During the first phase of the deal, Hamas would exchange hostages, including women, the elderly and the wounded, for hundreds of Palestinian prisoners. US citizens would also be released as well as the remains of dead hostages. During this period there would be a six-week halt in fighting.

Biden said that Palestinians would also be able to return to “all areas of Gaza”, and 600 aid trucks would enter the enclave each day. This has been a key sticking point for Hamas and matches the text of the agreement MEE reported on 7 May. 

Here's what else happened today:

• Leading US lawmakers have invited Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to address a joint meeting of Congress.

• The decomposed bodies of dozens of Palestinians were retrieved from the Jabalia refugee camp on Friday morning.

• At least one medic was killed and another was wounded in an Israeli air strike on an ambulance in southern Lebanon.

• Egyptian authorities detained a group of students who expressed support for Palestine and the boycott movement against Israel.

• The death toll in Gaza has risen to 36,284.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken spoke with the foreign ministers of Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Jordan to discuss the latest proposal to achieve a ceasefire in Gaza.

Blinken spoke in separate calls with the ministers during a flight to Washington from Prague.

Hamas welcomed US President Joe Biden’s call on Friday for Israel and the group to agree to a three-phased hostage deal leading to a permanent ceasefire in Gaza.

“The Islamic Resistance Movement Hamas views positively what was included in US President Joe Biden’s speech today,” the group said in a statement.

On Friday, Biden called on Israel and Hamas to accept a three-phase deal which includes the release of hostages in Gaza, the withdrawal of Israeli troops from the enclave, a permanent ceasefire, and an exchange of prisoners.

The proposal Biden outlined in great detail appeared nearly identical to the one Hamas agreed to in early May. The main exception appeared to be no reference to the complete lifting of Israel's blockade of the Gaza Strip.

US media reports suggested that the US opposed the former agreement Hamas accepted just before the Rafah invasion, but Middle East Eye reported that CIA director Bill Burns, who has led the US negotiating team, reviewed the deal and that the US had backed the agreement. 

Click below to read the full story.

Hamas views Israel ceasefire proposal ‘positively’, group says after Biden's speech

Sirens were sounded in northern Israel in the city of Kiryat Shmona, after rockets were fired from Lebanon.

Leading US lawmakers have invited Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to address a joint meeting of Congress, according to a report by The Hill news website, which cited a letter to Netanyahu.

It didn't specify a date for the address.

Biden said the first six-week phase of the proposal would include a full ceasefire across Gaza and the withdrawal of all Israeli forces from all population centres. Israel and Hamas would exchange some hostages, including US citizens.

Palestinians would also be able to return to “all areas of Gaza” Biden promised, and 600 aid trucks would enter the enclave each day. 

The second phase would include talks on a “permanent end to hostilities” in Gaza. Crucially Biden said, the full ceasefire from phase one would continue as long as Hamas and Israel continue negotiating.

Biden said Egypt, Qatar and the US would guarantee the deal. The third and final stage would include the reconstruction of Gaza.

Click here for the full story, where we will be providing more updates.

US President Joe Biden said during remarks on Friday that Israel has offered a new ceasefire proposal, and the offer has been transmitted to Hamas through Qatar.

Biden said the new proposal includes a six-week ceasefire for its first stage and would be “a roadmap to an enduring ceasefire and the release of all hostages”.

Piles of rubble and mounds of sand as far as the eye can see.

This is the view in Gaza’s Jabalia refugee camp following a 20-day Israeli assault, says Ibrahim Rabaa. 

The camp resident fled his home earlier this month after the Israeli military launched a large-scale aerial and ground attack there.

For nearly three weeks, bombs rained down relentlessly on the densely populated area as tanks and troops advanced on the ground and laid siege to it.

On Friday, Israeli forces retreated from the whole of northern Gaza, including Jabalia, allowing displaced people like Rabaa to return.

What Israel's military left behind was a path of total destruction.

Click below to read more.

Jabalia left an 'unrecognisable' wasteland after Israeli assault

The decomposed bodies of around 70 Palestinians were retrieved from the Jabalia refugee camp on Friday morning, according to local reports.

The majority of them were women and children, according to the reports. Palestinians have returned to Jabalia this week to salvage what remains of their homes and belongings after being forcibly displaced from the area by Israeli forces.

A Lebanese security source told Reuters that at least one medic was killed and another was wounded in an Israeli air strike on an ambulance in southern Lebanon.

The strike hit an ambulance belonging to Hayaa Sahiya Islamiya (Islamic Health Commission), which is affiliated with Hezbollah, in the town of Naqoura. Israel's military did not immediately comment.

US President Joe Biden will be giving public remarks on the Middle East this afternoon, the White House said.

The announcement comes as Israel pushes deeper into Rafah. While the US has previously said it opposes a full-scale invasion of Rafah, it says it is not opposed to Israel's current operations there.

“In the afternoon, the president will deliver remarks on the Middle East,” the White House said, without giving further details.

The death toll in Gaza has risen to 36,284 since the war broke out on 7 October 2023, according to the Gaza health ministry. 

In the last 24 hours alone, the ministry reported at least 60 people were killed and 280 wounded.

The US Secretary of State Antony Blinken has said that the closure of the Rafah crossing is a "real problem".

Speaking in a news conference, Blinken pointed out the dire humanitarian situation in Gaza and the ongoing  Israeli military operations in Rafah.

“Rafah remains closed and that’s a real problem,” he added.

Israel seized the Palestinian side of the crossing earlier this month, resulting in its closure while it continues its offensive in other parts of Rafah and maintains security control.