Israel’s war on Gaza updates: ‘Hell on Earth’ as Israel intensifies attacks

A Palestinian official has accused Alice Wairimu Nderitu, the special adviser on the prevention of genocide to United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, of “failing to comply with her mandate”.

During a speech on Tuesday at a Security Council meeting on the protection of civilians in armed conflict, Alice Wairimu Nderitu spoke extensively about Sudan but did not mention Israel’s war on Gaza.

“There’s a failure to comply with her mandate by deciding to say nothing about the plight of Palestinians in Gaza, to decide to say nothing when the ICJ is currently examining the accusation of genocide against Israel,” said Deputy Ambassador to the Palestine mission to the UN Majed Bamya.

“The world is seeing Israel deprive our people of the most basic necessities of life. Israel is methodically destroying all of the basic indispensable conditions for life. Not a word was mentioned on Gaza while talking about prevention of genocide. Not a Word when a genocide is currently under way in Gaza,” Bamya added.

This live page is now closed.

Follow along for the latest updates in the Israel-Gaza war on our new page, here.

To learn more about the Israeli military’s deadly raid on the Jenin camp, which killed seven Palestinians, including a doctor and a teacher on their way to work, watch this report.

This live page will close soon. Here’s a recap of the day’s events.

• A major Israeli military operation in the Jenin refugee camp in the occupied West Bank killed seven Palestinians, including a doctor, a teacher and a ninth-grade student.
• The UN agency for Palestinian refugees has said that food distribution in Gaza’s southern city of Rafah has been suspended due to a lack of supplies, as Israel keeps border crossings closed, and security issues.
• The UN World Food Programme is warning that the new US-built pier for delivering aid to Gaza may fail unless Israel starts providing the safe conditions humanitarian groups need to operate, after a chaotic launch of the project ended with looted aid and one man dead.
• Israeli authorities are reversing course after confiscating video camera equipment from the Associated Press news agency, following condemnation from media groups and even the US.
• France, Belgium and Slovenia have released statements supporting the International Criminal Court and its chief prosecutor’s request for arrest warrants for leaders of Israel and Hamas.

The American Friends Service Committee says the failure of the US-built pier to get food to starving Gaza people so far shows it’s more imperative than ever to reopen the three established land crossings.

“The pier itself can only bring in 90 trucks a day. We need 500 minimum, more like 1,500, to meet the vast humanitarian need that exists in Gaza,” said Kerri Kennedy from the organisation, which has worked in Gaza for 75 years.

“We are on the brink of a famine that is unprecedented in Gaza. There are 600,000 children on the edge of death. To think that we are playing around with building a pier… it is not [a] serious aid [effort].”

She told Al Jazeera the aid pier is a distraction from the much more effective land crossings that Israel continues to block.

“They’ve been there for decades. They have the infrastructure, the security mechanisms. This is a system that is not working – and it seems it was designed not to work.”

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken says he’s unsure whether Israel is ready to make compromises to reach a deal to normalise relations with Saudi Arabia, notably on a pathway to a Palestinian state.

Blinken acknowledged doubts about whether Netanyahu and his hard-right government would meet Saudi requests if the normalisation issue became more than “hypothetical”.

“I can’t tell you whether Israel – whether it’s the prime minister or the country as a whole – is prepared to do in this moment what would be necessary to actually realise normalisation,” Blinken told a Senate committee. “Because that requires an end to [the war on] Gaza and requires a credible pathway to a Palestinian state.”

His frank assessment came after Jake Sullivan, Biden’s national security adviser, visited both countries and briefed Netanyahu on the “potential” for a historic accord.

The International Criminal Court’s top prosecutor seeks arrest warrants for Israeli and Hamas leaders.

The United States condemned the move against its ally. But will the ICC’s action deepen Israel’s international isolation for its war on Gaza?

London – Marieha Hussain, 37, has been charged with a racially aggravated public order offence after mocking Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and ex-Home Secretary Suella Braverman.

Hussain joined thousands of pro-Palestine protesters in London to call for an end to Israel’s war in Gaza. During the rally, she raised her placard depicting the faces of Sunak and Braverman alongside coconuts under a tree on a beach.

Coconut is a divisive term which, as it is brown outside and white inside, suggests a Black or brown individual is akin to a traitor who has betrayed their heritage by indulging white opinion.

Days later, the Metropolitan Police posted a photograph of Hussain and her placard on X, announcing she was being sought in relation to a hate crime. The post went viral.

Read the full story here.

None of the 569 tonnes of humanitarian assistance that arrived at a US-built pier in Gaza has been distributed to those in need.

While some of the aid coming off the pier has made it to warehouses, trucks have also reportedly been intercepted by crowds of desperate Palestinians after leaving the loading area.

Pentagon spokesman Major-General Pat Ryder told reporters he did not believe any humanitarian relief has yet reached hungry Palestinians.

“We fully appreciate and recognise that land routes are the optimal way to get aid. It’s also important to remember that this is a combat zone and that it is a complex operation,” he said.

A major Israeli military operation involving dozens of vehicles has continued into the night at the Jenin camp in the occupied West Bank.

As night fell, the occasional sound of firing and explosions could still be heard as military vehicles moved in the darkened refugee camp adjacent to the city, but the intensity of the fighting has gone down, witnesses said.

“Undercover forces raided the area suddenly and they were firing at any moving body in the street,” said ambulance driver Hazim Masarwa. “They were targeting anything moving.”

Authorities said a teacher and a doctor, both of whom were on their way to work in the city, as well as a 15-year-old and a 16-year-old, were among seven people killed.

The Irish government will announce the recognition of a Palestinian state on Wednesday, Reuters news agency reports, citing a “source familiar with the matter”.

The Irish government on Tuesday evening said the prime minister and foreign minister would speak to the media on Wednesday morning, but did not say what the topic would be.

European Union members Ireland, Spain, Slovenia and Malta have indicated in recent weeks they plan to make the recognition, arguing a two-state solution is essential for lasting peace in the Middle East.

The International Criminal Court’s top prosecutor says Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defence Minister Yoav Gallant bear criminal responsibility for war crimes and crimes against humanity.

Prosecutor Karim Khan also applied for arrest warrants for three Hamas leaders for the October 7 attack on Israel.

So what does this mean for the devastating war on Gaza? And how does international legal pressure on Israel impact the realities on the ground?

A Gaza ceasefire deal is still possible but an International Criminal Court (ICC) arrest bid for Israeli leaders has set back diplomatic efforts, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken says.

“I think we’ve come very, very close on a couple of occasions,” Blinken told the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. “We remain at it every single day. I think that there’s still a possibility.”

Blinken added, however, “it’s challenged by a number of events and I have to say, yes, the extremely wrongheaded decision by the ICC prosecutor yesterday – the shameful equivalence implied between Hamas and the leadership of Israel – I think that only complicates the prospects for getting such an agreement.”

Mirjana Spoljaric Egger, president of the International Committee of the Red Cross, says it’s vital for the bodies of those killed be recovered during war time.

“Large numbers of people are at great risk of disappearing as human remains are left in the rubble or abandoned in the battlefield, as they are buried in mass graves or left in overcrowded morgues not identified and documented, and as they are taken hostage and used as bargaining chips,” she said at the United Nations.

“I urge the Security Council to recall parties to uphold international humanitarian law and Resolution 2474 to prevent people from going missing in the first place. And to clarify the fate of those who have. Amidst hostilities, and as an integral part of any plan for reconstruction, states must make certain that human remains are recovered, identified and returned to their families in a timely and dignified manner.”

Gaza’s health ministry estimates about 10,000 people are missing and believed buried in the debris of collapsed building from Israel’s unrelenting bombardment. More than 35,000 people – mostly women and children – have been confirmed killed so far in eight months of war.

National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir says he “expects” Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to appoint him to the war cabinet.

“I have no doubt that Netanyahu will bring me in. I think Netanyahu understands very well what I want from him. We have private conversations and in private conversations I allow myself to tell him many things,” Ben-Gvir is quoted by The Times of Israel as saying.

The comments come amid turmoil within the current war cabinet with both Defence Minister Yoav Gallant and Benny Gantz criticising Netanyahu for failing to outline a post-war plan for Gaza.

The UN World Food Programme is warning that the new US pier project for delivering aid to Gaza may fail unless Israel starts providing the conditions the humanitarian groups need to operate.

Tuesday’s warning came after a chaotic launch to the $320m US project ended with much of the aid looted and one Palestinian man dead.

Steve Taravella, a spokesperson for the UN food agency, told The Associated Press that, “Unless we receive the necessary clearance and coordination to use additional routes, this operation may not be successful.”

“Without sufficient supplies entering Gaza, these issues will continue to surface. Community acceptance and trust that this is not a one-off event are essential for this operation’s success,” he said.

Israeli authorities are reversing course after confiscating camera equipment belonging to The Associated Press, following widespread condemnation from media groups and criticism even from its closest ally, the United States.

“I have now ordered to cancel the action and return the equipment to the AP,” Communications Minister Shlomo Karhi said in a statement. He said the final decision would be made by the defence ministry, which he said wants to examine the issue.

The ministry earlier accused AP of breaking the law by providing a live broadcast to Al Jazeera, which it placed under a temporary ban earlier this month.

Officials hadn’t previously told The AP that the positioning of its live camera was an issue. Instead, they repeatedly noted its images appeared in real-time on Al Jazeera Media Network.

“While we are pleased with this development, we remain concerned about the Israeli government’s use of the foreign broadcaster law and the ability of independent journalists to operate freely in Israel,” said Lauren Easton, AP’s vice president of corporate communications.

The UN’s human rights office in Palestine says on X that is “horrified by deadly Israeli Forces operation in Jenin”.

At least seven Palestinians were killed during the raid, which began Tuesday morning local time, including two children, a teacher and a doctor.

“This senseless bloodshed must stop, & those responsible must be held to account,” the office said.

The US Department of Defence has said that new routes for the movement of aid in Gaza have been created after some aid trucks had been intercepted, adding that aid is now moving from assembly areas to warehouses in Gaza.

“As we work out processes and procedures, alternative routes for the safe movement of that cargo have been established. And aid is now being taken from those assembly areas to warehouses for further distribution throughout Gaza,” Pentagon spokesperson Brigadier General Pat Ryder told reporters.

War cabinet member Benny Gantz threatened to quit the unity government if Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu fails to present a post-war plan for Gaza by June 8.

What could this mean for the future of Netanyahu’s administration?