Israel-Palestine live: Netanyahu rejects Hamas ceasefire proposal, vows ‘total victory’

Official Wafa news agency reported that medical sources said Israeli forces have committed 38 massacres in the Gaza Strip in the last 48 hours, killing 350 people, of whom at least 24 were killed in the Israeli shelling of Khan Yunis, in southern Gaza.

Meanwhile, the Palestine Red Crescent Society (PCRS) said that civilians were forced to bury three displaced persons, who were killed following Israeli shelling, inside the courtyard of the al-Amal Hospital in Khan Yunis due to the intensified Israeli shelling in its vicinity.

At least 26,422 people in Gaza have been killed since 7 October, according to the Palestinian health ministry.

In addition, 65,087 have been wounded, the ministry added.

The United States will respond to the attack that killed three US service members near the Jordan-Syrian border, US President Joe Biden said at a campaign event in South Carolina.

"We shall respond," he said, asking for a moment of silence.

Former US President and current presidential candidate Donald Trump slammed US President Joe Biden over his foreign policy in the wake of the attack on US troops near the Jordan-Syria border. 

"This brazen attack on the United States is yet another horrific and tragic consequence of Joe Biden’s weakness and surrender," Trump wrote in a social media post.

He added that today’s incident, Hamas’s 7 October attack and the Russian invasion of Ukraine would not have happened if he had still been in power.

"Instead, we are on the brink of World War 3," Trump wrote.

Thousands, including ministers from Netanyahu's party, gathered in Jerusalem Sunday for a conference calling to re-settle the Gaza Strip.

At least 12 Israeli ministers participated in the conference about rebuilding Israeli settlements in Gaza and encouraging displacement of Palestinians from Gaza, Israeli journalist Barak Ravid reported.

Ministers Ben Gvir, Bezalel Smotrich and several others from Netanyahu's Likud party gave "supportive speeches", he said.

Itay Epshtain, a special advisor for the Norwegian Refugee Council, said that within the first hour of the conference a plan was presented for the re-establishment of 15 Israeli settlements and the addition of 6 new ones.

The proposals are located on destroyed Palestinian communities.  

Read more: Israeli ministers attend 'Return to Gaza Conference', speak in support of resettlement

Talks initiated by Qatar, the United States and Egypt to broker a deal between Israel and Hamas were "constructive" but meaningful gaps remain, a statement from the Israeli prime minister's office said.

The statement said the summit was held in Europe and that the parties would continue to hold discussions during additional meetings planned for later this week.

"There are still significant gaps in which the parties will continue to discuss this week in additional mutual meetings," the statement said.

An attack that killed three American servicemen was not on Jordanian soil but in Syria, a spokesperson for Jordan's government said.

Muhannad al Mubaidin told Jordanian public broadcaster al Mamlaka television that the attack had targeted the US al-Tanf base in Syria.

Read more: Three US service members killed in drone attack on US forces in Jordan, says Biden

Three US troops were killed and others wounded after an unmanned aerial drone attack on US forces stationed in northeastern Jordan near the Syrian border, President Joe Biden said on Sunday.

"While we are still gathering the facts of this attack, we know it was carried out by radical Iran-backed militant groups operating in Syria and Iraq," Biden said in a statement.

"We will carry on their commitment to fight terrorism. And have no doubt - we will hold all those responsible to account at a time and in a manner of our choosing," he added.

US Central Command said that as per protocol, the identities of those killed would be withheld until 24 hours after their next of kin have been informed. The deaths mark the first US troop fatalities since war broke out in Gaza over three months ago.

While Biden did not state how many troops were injured, CNN reported that at least two dozen were wounded by the attack.

Former US House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi has claimed that some pro-Palestine protests in the US could be linked to Russia, and called on the FBI to investigate their funding.

"For them to call for a ceasefire is Mr Putin's message, Mr Putin's message. Make no mistake, this is directly connected to what he [Russian President Vladimir Putin] would like to see," Pelosi told CNN in an interview on Sunday.

"I think some of these protesters are spontaneous, and organic and sincere. Some, I think, are connected to Russia," she said. "Some financing should be investigated and I want to ask the FBI to investigate that."

Pelosi provided no evidence for her claims. 

Protests have been held throughout the country over the past three months, and have included interruptions of speeches by US President Joe Biden.

In an opinion piece for Middle East Eye, Johannesburg-based strategist and former diplomat Zeenat Adam argues that South African triumph at the ICJ signals a shift in the "imperial global order". 

She writes: "South Africa's valiant move to invoke the Genocide Convention at the highest global judicial organ and its momentous triumph bears an incredible shift in the imperial global order, with growing persistent defiance of oppression and supremacy.

This global awakening has come at an immense cost to Palestinians, who have been subjected to unrelenting bombings, deliberate starvation and the inhumanity and indignity of a genocidal holocaust.

Symbolically, having a country that emerged from colonialism and the brutal crime of apartheid leading the case bears tremendous weight, a decision that was not taken lightly."

You can read the full column below. 

Opinion: South Africa's triumph bears an incredible shift in the imperial global order

The Biden administration has said there was no change in its policy on Israel, after a report by NBC News stated that Washington was discussing using weapon sales to Israel as leverage in an attempt to persuade the Israeli government to scale back its military campaign in Gaza.

"Israel has a right and obligation to defend themselves against the threat of Hamas, while abiding by international humanitarian law and protecting civilian lives, and we remain committed to support Israel in its fight against Hamas. We have done so since 7 October and will continue to. There has not been a change in our policy," a spokesperson for the White House National Security Council said on Sunday.

Turkey has expressed concern after several countries suspended financing for the UN agency for Palestinian refugees, and urged states to reconsider the decision.

In a statement, Ankara's foreign ministry said the pause in funding primarily harmed Palestinian civilians.

"Working under very difficult conditions, Unrwa meets the vital needs of millions of Palestine refugees. Since 7 October, more than 150 Unrwa personnel have been killed by Israel in Gaza," the ministry said on Sunday.

The international community must make international humanitarian law "applicable to everyone", Saudi Arabia's Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan said on Friday.

The foreign minister added that Israel's complete rejection of the International Court of Justice ruling on Friday is what has "led to the situation we're in right now".

He was speaking at a joint press conference with his Egyptian counterpart Sameh Shoukry.

Cairo's foreign minister said he was "surprised" by several countries' decision to cut funding to the UN agency for Palestinian refugees (Unrwa).

The HMS Diamond, a British warship, has repelled a drone attack from Yemen's Houthis in the Red Sea, according to British officials.

"Deploying her Sea Viper missile system, Diamond destroyed a drone targeting her with no injuries or damage sustained to Diamond or her crew," the Ministry of Defence said in a statement on Sunday.

"These intolerable and illegal attacks are completely unacceptable and it is our duty to protect the freedom of navigation in the Red Sea."

The Houthis have launched several drone and missile attacks at vessels in the Red Sea, in what it has described as an act of solidarity with Palestinians under Israeli bombardment in Gaza.

Israeli jets have launched aerial attacks on two Hezbollah military sites in the southern Lebanese villages of Zibqin and Khula, according to Israel's military.

Military spokesperson Daniel Hagari said Israel also fired artillery on Sunday morning towards several areas in south Lebanon "to remove a threat".