As Israel intensifies its bombardment of devastated Gaza, diplomatic efforts feel like they're unfolding on another planet
On Monday, one of Gaza City's few remaining beachfront cafes - a rare location still offering reliable internet access - was hit in a deadly airstrike.
The cafe was crowded at the time, and was popular with university students.
According to medical responders, at least 22 people were killed in the attack.
2:22
Eyewitnesses described the horror of what happened. "Forget red lines. We're past that. Nothing left to say. Looked around all I see is blood. Men, martyrs, limbs.
"Unbelievable. People come here to take a break from what they see inside Gaza. They come westward to breathe."
Among the dead were Frans Al-Salmi, a prominent Palestinian artist, and Ismael Abu Khatab, a well-known photojournalist.
More than 50 others were wounded in the blast.
Graphic images from the scene show chaos and carnage.
Images captured moments after the explosion show journalist Bayan Abu Sultan covered in blood and visibly dazed.
The attack came as part of a broader escalation in airstrikes across the Gaza Strip.
In the last 24 hours, Israel has intensified its bombardment, launching some of the heaviest raids seen in recent weeks.
The strikes coincide with new evacuation orders issued for areas in northern Gaza, triggering yet another wave of mass displacement among an already devastated civilian population.
Each day in Gaza brings new funerals and new grief. Civilians - exhausted, hungry, and increasingly desperate - have little choice but to endure.
Meanwhile, on the diplomatic front, there is talk of a potential breakthrough.
A proposed 60-day truce, tied to a staged hostage exchange, remains on the table. Yet significant differences remain.
Hamas wants a permanent end to the war, while the Israeli government insists on retaining the right to resume military operations once any temporary ceasefire expires.
These fundamental disagreements have repeatedly derailed negotiations in the past - and could do so again.
For the people trapped in Gaza, the renewed diplomatic efforts feel distant, abstract - as if unfolding on another planet.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Independent
22 minutes ago
- The Independent
Amnesty International says Israel and aid system use starvation to commit Gaza genocide
Amnesty International issued a report Thursday claiming a controversial Israel i- and U.S.-backed system to distribute aid in Gaza uses starvation tactics against Palestinians to continue to commit genocide in the Gaza Strip during Israel's war with Hamas. The U.K.-based human rights group condemned Israel and the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, which the U.S. and Israel have backed to take over aid distribution in Gaza from a network led by the United Nations. Israel's foreign minister denounced the Amnesty report, saying the organization has 'joined forces with Hamas and fully adopted all of its propaganda lies.' Gaza's Health Ministry says more than 500 Palestinians have been killed at or near GHF distribution centers over the past month. The centers are guarded by private security contractors and located near Israeli military positions. Palestinian officials and witnesses have accused Israeli forces of opening fire at crowds of people moving near the sites. The Amnesty report said Israel has 'turned aid-seeking into a booby trap for desperate starved Palestinians' through GHF's militarized hubs. The conditions have created "a deadly mix of hunger and disease pushing the population past breaking point.' 'This devastating daily loss of life as desperate Palestinians try to collect aid is the consequence of their deliberate targeting by Israeli forces and the foreseeable consequence of irresponsible and lethal methods of distribution,' said Agnès Callamard, Amnesty's secretary general. Israel rejects claims The Israeli army says it has fired warning shots to control crowds and only fires at people it says are acting suspiciously. The Foreign Ministry and COGAT, the Israeli defense body in charge of coordinating aid to Gaza, said Israel has facilitated the entry of over 3,000 aid trucks into the Gaza Strip since May 19 and GHF has delivered boxes of food with the equivalent of 56 million meals. Humanitarian organizations say that amount is not nearly enough to meet overwhelming need in Gaza. GHF did not immediately return requests for comment. The World Food Programme says despite the new Israel-backed initiative, food consumption reached a critical low last month, with food diversity reaching its worst level since the conflict began. 'The continued closure of crossings, intensified violence since March, soaring food prices, and extremely limited humanitarian and commercial supplies have severely restricted access to even basic food items,' the WFP said in a June report. GHF hubs are close to Israeli military positions Amnesty's report follows a statement earlier this week from more than 165 major international charities and non-governmental organizations calling for an immediate end to the foundation. They say the new mechanism allows Israel to use food as a weapon, violates humanitarian principles and is ineffective. It's the latest sign of trouble for the GHF, a secretive initiative headed by an evangelical leader who is a close ally of President Donald Trump. Last month, the U.S. government pledged $30 million for the group to continue operation, the first known U.S. donation to the group, whose other funding sources remain opaque. GHF started distributing aid May 26 following a nearly three-month Israeli blockade that pushed Gaza's population of more than 2 million to the brink of famine. Palestinian witnesses have describe scenes of chaos around the distribution sites, and two contractors in the operation have told The Associated Press that colleagues fired live ammunition and stun grenades toward crowds of people. Palestinians often must travel long distances to reach the sites. In a statement Tuesday, GHF rejected criticism of its operations and claimed it has delivered more than 52 million meals to hungry Palestinians. 'Instead of bickering and throwing insults from the sidelines, we would welcome other humanitarian groups to join us and feed the people in Gaza,' GHF said. GHF has called for Israel's military to investigate the allegations from Gaza's Health Ministry, but last month the organization said there has been no violence in or around its centers and its personnel have not opened fire. Israel demanded the alternative plan because it accuses Hamas of siphoning off aid. The U.N. and aid groups deny there is significant diversion. Amnesty's allegations of genocide Amnesty accused Israel last year of committing genocide in the Gaza Strip during its war with Hamas, saying it has sought to deliberately destroy Palestinians by mounting deadly attacks, demolishing vital infrastructure, and preventing the delivery of food, medicine and other aid. Israel, which was founded in the aftermath of the Holocaust, has adamantly rejected genocide allegations against it as an antisemitic 'blood libel.' It is challenging such allegations filed by South Africa at the International Court of Justice and has rejected the International Criminal Court's accusations that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his former defense minister committed war crimes in Gaza. ___ Dazio reported from Berlin. ___
Reuters
2 hours ago
- Reuters
UN expert asks states to cut trade ties with Israel over Gaza situation
GENEVA, July 3 (Reuters) - A U.N. expert on Thursday called on states to impose an arms embargo and cut off trade and financial ties with Israel, which she alleged is waging a "genocidal campaign" in Gaza. In a speech to the U.N. Human Rights Council presenting her latest report, U.N. Special Rapporteur on the Occupied Palestinian Territories Francesca Albanese accused Israel of being responsible for "one of the cruellest genocides in modern history". Israel has rejected accusations of genocide in Gaza, citing its right to self-defence following the deadly October 7, 2023, Hamas attack.
Daily Mail
2 hours ago
- Daily Mail
Iran feared to be ASSASSINATING 'pro-US' Swiss diplomats after two died and another was wounded - including woman who fell from 17th floor apartment - before shocking discovery during autopsy
Swiss diplomats may have been assassinated in Iran, their intelligence service has said. The bleak warning comes after the mysterious deaths of four Swiss citizens in Iran which were considered as potential repercussions to their ties with the US. Russia, China and North Korea have all heightened their intelligence activity against Switzerland but Iran had particularly increased 'the visibility of Swiss personnel to hostile services', the Federal Intelligence Service (FIS) claimed. Switzerland acts as an intermediary between Washington and Tehran and has represented US interests in Iran since the Islamic Revolution in 1979. The regional conflict would have increased the risk of 'direct pressure' on Swiss personnel in Iran, with diplomats prime targets for surveillance, according to ex-intelligence officials. Sylvie Brunner, the Swiss deputy ambassador to Tehran, was allegedly pushed from the 17th-floor of her balcony in 2021, according to a former officer in Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC). 'They view the Swiss embassy as a point for the Americans. In Iran, they believe some embassy staff are working for the CIA,' he told SRF, who conducted the joint investigation with fellow Swiss broadcaster RTS into the deaths. He claimed that it was 'an espionage mission that went wrong' but Iranian officials have ruled the death a suicide. Many at first believed the stories of mental health issues - even though Iranian emergency workers said there was no clear reason why she would take her own life at the time. But the official who made the comment was dismissed and has since been retracted. Iranian authorities have refused to share the full investigative file with Bern and removed several of her main organs before her body was repatriated. This prevented a comprehensive toxicology test, with the pathologist unable to rule out that the involvement of 'one or two persons', a Swiss-commissioned forensic review said. Two years later, a Swiss defence attaché collapsed in a hotel in Tehran, suffering from severe head and abdominal injuries, and died months later after flying home. SRF reported that the man had been working on a sensitive assignment and may have been exposed while on a mission but Iran have said the death was natural. Not three months later in September 2023 did a Swiss Embassy employee get stabbed and shot while walking to work. This was dismissed as a robbery by Iranian authorities but Swiss analysts cast doubt on this explanation, arguing this would be unlikely in such a heavily policed capital. And then in January 2025, a Swiss tourist in his 60s hanged himself in Semnan prison after he was jailed on spying allegations, Provincial Judge Mohammad Sadeq Akbari told Iranian state media. His body has been returned to Switzerland but the results have not yet been made public. Switzerland's Foreign Ministry are working towards 'full clarity' on the deaths but do not have the investigative authority to do so on Iranian soil, they told SRF. Ms Brunner's brother, Vincent, told SRF that he 'always believed it was murder'. He said that before she died clear boot prints were left in her apartment, meant as a clear warning to Ms Brunner that she was being watched. Swiss officials were allegedly made aware that Ms Brunner felt she was being intimidated and harassed by Iranian operatives but their police were unable to help. The family are considering civil action after the Office of the Attorney-General closed the criminal probe into the diplomat's death over lack of evidence. Some Swiss politicians had called for a 'transparent international investigation' although no inuqry has been scheduled.
