Live: Hamas agrees to release 10 Israeli captives

French authorities sealed off Israeli weapons industry booths at the Paris air show on Monday amid wars in Tehran and Gaza, a move that Israel condemned as "outrageous", AFP reported on Monday.

Black walls were installed around the stands of five Israeli defence firms at the trade fair in Le Bourget, an air field on the outskirts of Paris.

The booths displayed "offensive weapons" that could be used in Gaza - in violation of agreements with Israeli authorities, a French government source told AFP.

The companies - Israel Aerospace Industries, Rafael, Uvision, Elbit and Aeronautics - make drones, guided bombs and missiles.

An Israeli exhibitor wrote a message in yellow chalk on one of the walls, saying the hidden defence systems "are protecting the state of Israel these days. The French government, in the name of discrimination, is trying to hide them from you!"

French Prime Minister Francois Bayrou defended the decision during a press conference at the air show. 

"The French government's position was very simple: no offensive weapons at the arms exposition," he said. "Defensive weapons were perfectly acceptable."

Bayrou cited the "extremely serious" situation in Gaza as the rationale behind the ban.

"Given the situation in Gaza... which is extremely serious from a humanitarian and security point of view, France was keen to make it clear that offensive weapons should not be present at this exposition," Bayrou said.

Israeli President Isaac Herzog said he was shocked by the "outrageous" closure of the pavilions, saying the situation should be "immediately corrected".

"Israeli companies have signed contracts with the organisers... it's like creating an Israeli ghetto," he said on French television channel LCI.

The Israeli defence ministry said in a statement that the "outrageous and unprecedented decision reeks of policy-driven and commercial considerations".

"The French are hiding behind supposedly political considerations to exclude Israeli offensive weapons from an international exhibition - weapons that compete with French industries," it said.

"This is particularly striking given Israeli technologies' impressive and precise performance in Iran."

The presence of Israeli firms at Le Bourget, though smaller than in the past, was already a source of tension before the start of the Paris air show, because of the war in Gaza.

A French court last week rejected a bid by non-governmental organisations to ban Israeli companies from Le Bourget over concerns about "international crimes".

Local lawmakers from the Seine-Saint-Denis department hosting the event were absent during Bayrou's visit to the opening of the air show in protest against the Israeli presence.

"Never has the world been so disrupted and destabilised," Bayrou said earlier at a roundtable event, urging nations to tackle challenges "together, not against each other".

Amir Baram, a general in the Israeli defence ministry, called the French decision "anti-Semitic", adding Israel would challenge the move in French courts.

The show's organisers said "dialogue" was underway to find a favourable resolution.

Israeli attacks on Palestinians seeking aid in the Gaza Strip have killed at least 338 civilians, according to Palestinian health officials.

In the most recent series of assaults on civilians at aid delivery points, at least 20 Palestinians were killed and more than 200 left wounded around dawn on Monday. 

The besieged enclave's population is grappling with starvation, as a result of an Israeli blockade on essential food and water supplies entering the territory.

Israel and its allies in Washington have only allowed the controversial US-run Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) to distribute essential supplies to Palestinians.

However, ki of those seeking aid by Israeli soldiers and GHF-aligned mercenaries have been a daily occurrence.

You can read more here. 

Israeli shelling has killed 48 people across the Gaza Strip since dawn on Monday, with more than 30 killed at aid distribution points, Al Jazeera reported.

UN Human Rights Chief Volker Turk has delivered a sharp rebuke of Israel’s military operations in Gaza, accusing it of causing “horrifying, unconscionable suffering” for Palestinians trapped in the besieged enclave.

“Israel’s means and methods of warfare are inflicting horrifying, unconscionable suffering on Palestinians in Gaza,” Turk told the Human Rights Council in Geneva during the presentation of his annual report.

He condemned the Israeli government for deliberately obstructing humanitarian aid and using starvation as a weapon of war.

“Israel has weaponised food and blocked lifesaving aid,” he said. “I urge immediate, impartial investigations into deadly attacks on desperate civilians trying to reach food distribution centres.”

Turk also expressed alarm over statements made by senior Israeli officials, warning that “disturbing, dehumanising rhetoric” from government figures bears chilling resemblance to the gravest crimes in recent memory.

The Gaza Ministry of Health reported that hospitals in the Gaza Strip admitted 68 martyrs and treated 182 wounded individuals over the past 24 hours due to Israeli military actions.

Since October 7, 2023, the ministry recorded a total of 55,432 deaths and 128,923 injuries resulting from the ongoing Israeli offensive.

Hospital officials in Gaza say Israeli attacks have killed 37 Palestinians since daybreak, including 21 people waiting at an aid distribution point.

Medical sources confirmed the casualties as bombardment continued across the territory.

The Gaza Ministry of Health announced that Israeli forces shot dead 20 Palestinians and injured over 200 others near a humanitarian aid distribution point in western Rafah, southern Gaza Strip.

Israeli troops have repeatedly targeted civilians seeking aid across multiple sites in Gaza, exacerbating the dire hunger crisis fuelled by Israel’s ongoing blockade, which severely restricts humanitarian aid from reaching the territory.

Israel has killed more than 45 people in a series of attacks across the Gaza Strip since Sunday morning, half of whom were targeted while waiting for aid at US-Israeli distribution points. 

Gaza's civil defence agency reported that at least 23 Palestinians were killed near distribution points and trucks, including near the Netzarim Corridor in central Gaza, in Rafah in the south and near an aid entry route in al-Sudaniya in the northwest.

Mohammad al-Mughayyir, an official from the agency, told AFP that al-Awda Hospital in central Gaza received eight bodies and 125 wounded after Israeli drone strikes targeted people gathered near an aid distribution centre by the Netzarim Corridor.

In late May, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced a plan to allow limited aid into Gaza and turn over distribution efforts to the US-run Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF).

Read more: Israel kills aid seekers in Gaza and issues new expulsion orders

Telecommunications services have collapsed again across southern and central Gaza as Israel's offensive continues to damage critical infrastructure, the Telecommunications Regulatory Commission (TRC) reported Monday.

The TRC said it's working with providers to assess outages and restore connectivity. "We're monitoring the situation hour by hour to support repair efforts," the regulator stated, while demanding protection for repair crews attempting to access damaged sites, the Palestinian news agency Wafa reported.

Gaza has suffered repeated communication blackouts since October 2023, with the latest occurring after intense bombardment and generator fuel shortages last week. The TRC stressed the urgent need to maintain these vital services given Gaza's worsening humanitarian crisis.

Gaza's Government Media Office reports Israeli forces have killed at least 300 Palestinians and wounded more than 2,649 at food distribution points since 27 May. Nine people remain missing.

Officials described the US-backed Israeli aid centres as "death traps" deliberately targeting starving civilians. The attacks reportedly occurred at locations in Rafah and Wadi Gaza.

Good morning Middle East Eye readers, 

Here are the latest updates from the Israeli war on Gaza, now in its 618th day: 

• Gaza’s health ministry reports 55,362 killed since 7 October, mostly women and children, with 128,741 injured. Many victims remain trapped under rubble as rescue teams struggle to access affected areas.

• Al-Qassam Brigades claim attack on Israeli troops, saying they killed and wounded 11 soldiers east of Khan Younis with an anti-personnel missile.

• Protesters in Canada demand Gaza support during the G7 summit. Hundreds gathered in Calgary, opposing Trump and calling for action on the war.

• Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu hints at captive deal progress, saying: "I gave instructions the day before yesterday to move the negotiations forward because I have identified an opening, I am not giving up on anyone."

• Netanyahu pledges more Gaza aid after a call with EU chief Ursula von der Leyen. She stated: "I insisted and urged that humanitarian aid that is not reaching Gaza has to go into Gaza. He promised that this is the case and that this will be the case."

We previously reported that the head of intelligence for Iran's Revolutionary Guards, Mohammad Kazemi, and his deputy were killed in Israeli strikes on Tehran on Sunday.

Iran’s official news agency, IRNA, has now confirmed the deaths of Kazemi and his deputy, and reported that a third officer was also killed.

“Three intelligence generals - Mohammad Kazemi, Hassan Mohaghegh, and Mohsen Bagheri - were assassinated and fell as martyrs,” the agency reported, citing a statement from the Revolutionary Guards.

Israeli forces stormed several areas in Jerusalem and its surroundings on Sunday evening, triggering confrontations during which soldiers fired tear gas canisters, according to the Palestinian news agency Wafa. No injuries were reported.

Israeli forces also entered a town in the northeast of Jerusalem and fired tear gas, Wafa reported. No injuries were reported.

Palestinian citizens of Israel are having to fend for themselves amid ongoing missile strikes by Iran, with the beleaguered community lacking access to shelters and safe rooms due to discriminatory building policies.

On Saturday, four Palestinian citizens of Israel were killed in the predominantly Arab town of Tamra, some 25km east of Haifa, after an Iranian missile unexpectedly struck their residential building.

Local residents told Middle East Eye that four Christian women from the same family were killed in the attack, including a mother and her two daughters, aged 13 and 20.

Residents said that when the Israeli government instructed Israelis to stay in protected areas as missile alerts sounded, Palestinians in Tamra decided to shelter in place - or they sought safety in groups at the homes of other family members - due to the absence of public shelters and safe rooms.

"Most homes in Tamra, and those in predominantly Arab towns, lack shelters," Muhammed Soboh, a Tamra resident, told MEE.
 
"I live in the neighbourhood where the rockets fell," he said.

Read more: Iranian strikes expose lack of shelters for Palestinian citizens of Israel, residents say

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Sunday he ordered negotiators to "advance" talks on releasing hostages held in Gaza, after sensing an opportunity amid Israel's unprecedented attack on Iran.

"I gave instructions the day before yesterday to advance negotiations, because I sense an opening... 
We will complete... both missions: the destruction of Hamas and the release of the hostages," he said of talks with the Palestinian movement Hamas for the release of hostages held in the Gaza Strip since October 7, 2023.