Live: Hamas agrees to release 10 Israeli captives

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will visit the White House for talks with President Donald Trump on July 7,  AFP reported on Monday citing its sources as a US administration official. 

White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said earlier on Monday that Netanyahu had "expressed interest" in what would be his third meeting with Trump since the Republican returned to power in January, and that both sides were working on a date.

The visit comes as Washington presses for a ceasefire in Gaza.

The ICC issued arrest warrants last November for both Netanyahu and former Defence Minister Yoav Gallant, accusing them of war crimes and crimes against humanity over Israel’s ongoing war in Gaza.

The US is considering a potential $510m arms sale to Israel, the US Defense Security Cooperation Agency (DSCA) announced on Monday.

It follows a request by Israel to buy 3,845 Joint Direct Attack Munition (JDAM) guidance kits for the BLU-109 bomb and 3,280 KMU-572 F/B JDAM guidance kits for the MK 82 bomb.

“The United States is committed to the security of Israel and it is vital to U.S. national interests to assist Israel to develop and maintain a strong and ready self-defense capability,” the DSCA said in a statement.

“The proposed sale will enhance Israel’s capability to meet current and future threats by improving its ability to defend Israel’s borders, vital infrastructure, and population centres,” the statement went on to say.

The principal contractor will be Boeing, based in St Charles, Missouri.

Morgue officials at Nasser Medical complex in Khan Yunis announced on Monday that they have run out of graves to bury people due to the large numbers of people killed in Israeli attacks on Gaza, Quds News Network reported on Monday.

Oxfam’s UK chief executive, Dr Halima Begum, expressed disappointment at a British court ruling which refused to halt the export of F-35 fighter jet parts to Israel, which it’s using in its war on Gaza, on Monday. Oxfam submitted evidence in the case.

“The judgment is surprising and deeply disappointing,” Begum said.

“The Court and the Government have both acknowledged that UK arms are at risk of being used in breaches of international humanitarian law in Gaza yet prioritise the supply chains of fighter jets over the lives of Palestinians,” she added.

“It is unconscionable that the Government would continue to license the sale of components for F35 jets knowing that they are used to deliberately attack civilians in Gaza and destroy their means of survival, including vital water supplies.

“In the 10 months since the Government suspended some arms licences to Israel, over 15,000 people in Gaza have been killed, the majority of them women and children.

“There can be no excuse for the UK government’s continued complicity in war crimes and crimes against humanity. The UK government should…immediately suspend all arms sales to Israel.”

Israeli military officials admitted they fired at Palestinian civilians lining up for aid in Gaza even though they posed no threat, according to a report by Haaretz newspaper on Monday.

The admission follows a report by the newspaper on Friday in which Israeli soldiers admitted they were directed to fire at starving civilians at the five distribution points in Gaza, where the US-Israel backed Gaza Humanitarian Fund (GHF) has been delivering limited aid since 27 May. Nearly 600 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli forces seeking aid since then.

The officials in the Southern Command unit said they were “ordered to fire at unarmed crowds near food distribution sites in Gaza, even when no threat was present” and said “that civilians had been killed due to ‘inaccurate and uncalculated’ artillery fire”, according to the report.

They said that in the most serious incident, between 30 and 40 people were targeted. 

Israel's Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer is flying to Washington, DC, on Monday to meet with President Donald Trump for talks on Gaza, Iran, and the expansion of the Abraham Accords this week, The Times of Israel reported.

Multiple news outlets reported that ending the war in Gaza will be on the agenda during meetings.

Trump told reporters on Friday that a Gaza ceasefire is "close".

Palestinian photojournalist Baraa al-Najjar was killed in an Israeli air strike near Halawa roundabout in Jabalia, northern Gaza Strip, Al Quds Network reported on Monday.

The Israeli army killed one Palestinian and wounded eight others while they were waiting for aid east of Khan Younis, Al Jazeera reported on Monday, citing Nasser Medical complex as a source.

Israel has killed almost 600 people waiting in line for aid since it took over distributing aid from United Nations and human rights organisations at the end of May.

The Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), the controversial US-Israeli organisation operating aid points in Gaza, has been widely condemned by human rights organisations for its lack of transparency and accountability. 

On Wednesday, 15 human rights and legal groups called for the suspension of GHF for its role in undermining international humanitarian organisations and fostering the “forced displacement” of Palestinians in Gaza, amounting to what could be complicity in “crimes under international law, including war crimes, crimes against humanity, or genocide”.

Israel's Knesset House Committee voted to advance the impeachment of prominent lawmaker Ayman Odeh, a Palestinian citizen of Israel, on Monday, over comments he made earlier this year, which were perceived as being pro-Palestinian and against the war in Gaza.

Lawmakers from both the ruling coalition and opposition Yesh Atid and National Unity parties voted 14-2 in favour of impeachment, while two Knesset members from the Palestinian Ra'am and Ta'al parties opposed the move.

Odeh had earned the scorn of several Israeli lawmakers earlier this year when he welcomed a long-awaited ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas.

"I am happy about the release of the hostages and prisoners. From here, both peoples must be freed from the yoke of the occupation. We were all born free," Odeh wrote on 19 January after Hamas released three Israeli women after 471 days in captivity.

A 22-year-old Palestinian is suspected to have died of injuries he sustained while being detained in an Israeli prison, Wafa news agency reported on Monday.

Lo’ay Faisal Nasr-Allah, from Jenin in the West Bank, was transferred from Ketziot Prison to Soroka Medical Centre, where he died on Monday.

Nasr-Allah was taken into detention on 26 March 2024 and had no prior health issues before being held captive.

Hamas issued a statement on Monday following Nasr-Allah’s death, saying, "We warn of the catastrophic conditions of our prisoners in occupation jails amid ongoing abuses against them.

“The crimes of killing prisoners in occupation jails require intervention at all levels: official, popular, and human rights, they added.

“We call for pressure on the occupation and support for our prisoners in light of the brutality and criminality they are subjected to”.

The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) apologised in a statement on Monday for not pulling a live stream of punk-rap group Bob Vylan's performance at the Glastonbury festival on Saturday, when they led the crowds in chants of "Death to the IDF", referring to the Israeli army. 

"With hindsight, we should have pulled the stream during the performance. We regret this did not happen," the BBC said.

It called the comments “deeply offensive".

"The BBC respects freedom of expression but stands firmly against incitement to violence," it added.

Visual artist Frans al-Salmi was one of nearly three dozen Palestinians killed in an Israeli missile attack on al-Baqa Cafe, the Palestinian writer Mosab Abu Toha reported on Instagram on Monday.

At least 33 Palestinians, including Palestinian photojournalist Ismail Abu Hatab, were killed in an Israeli missile attack on al-Baqa Cafe on Gaza City beach, according to eyewitness testimony and reporting from the local media.

At least 21 Palestinians, including one journalist, have been killed in an Israeli missile attack on al-Baqa Cafe on Gaza City beach, according to eyewitness testimony and reporting from the Quds News Network. 

Photos and videos posted online showed Palestinian children injured in the attack, as well as the wreckage of destroyed buildings. 

Palestinian photojournalist Ismail Abu Hatab was among those killed, according to Gaza's government media office. 

Read more: Israeli attack on Gaza City beach cafe kills at least 22, including journalist 

A group of over 400 cultural figures from across the political spectrum has called on British Prime Minister Keir Starmer and Home Secretary Yvette Cooper to halt the proscription of Palestine Action on free speech grounds. 

The novelist Alan Hollinghurst, writer Reni Eddo-Lodge and musician Brian Eno are among those who have signed a joint statement organised by Fossil Free Books. “Whether we as individuals support Palestine Action is irrelevant: what is at stake here is the very principle of freedom of expression,” the statement reads.

Pankaj Mishra, whose recent book The World After Gaza responds to the impact of Israel’s war on Gaza, has signed the statement, as have the journalist George Monbiot, economist Yanis Varoufakis, academic Kojo Karam, comedian Frankie Boyle and the writers Aja Barber, Max Porter and Afua Hirsch. 

In a separate letter organised by Artists for Palestine UK, another group of high profile British cultural figures, including the actor Tilda Swinton and the musician Paul Weller, said: "The real threat to the life of the nation comes not from Palestine Action but from Home Secretary Yvonne Cooper’s efforts to ban it."

Read more: Starmer and Cooper urged by over 400 cultural figures not to ban Palestine Action

British punk duo Bob Vylan have been dropped as clients by United Talent Agency (UTA) following their performance at Glastonbury Festival, where vocalist Bobby Vylan chanted "death to the IDF (Israel Defence Forces)". 

The chant was misreported in the Daily Mail as "death to Israelis". Both Prime Minister Keir Starmer and Glastonbury Festival condemned the remarks. 

In an Instagram post, Bobby Vylan related a story about his daughter filling in a survey about her school dinners. "Today it is a change in school dinners, tomorrow it is a change in foreign policy," he wrote.

UTA, which is based in Beverly Hills, California, also dropped actor Susan Sarandon after she spoke at a pro-Palestine rally in November 2023. 

Weeks earlier, the agency's vice chairman branded a letter seeking to defend pro-Palestine students as "rife with falsehoods about Israel", adding that it sought to "defend the horrific savagery of the Hamas massacre".