US special envoy 'satisfied' with Lebanon reply to US roadmap to disarm Hezbollah
"What the government gave us was something spectacular in a very short period of time. I'm unbelievably satisfied with the response," Barrack told reporters after meeting Lebanese President Joseph Aoun, without giving details of the response.
Aoun's team gave Barrack a seven-page reply to his June 19 proposal.
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The Guardian
20 minutes ago
- The Guardian
Israel launches air and ground assault on Deir al-Balah in central Gaza – Middle East crisis live
Update: Date: 2025-07-21T14:09:22.000Z Title: Belgian authorities Content: Deaths reported as Israeli tanks move in on area IDF believes Hamas are holding some hostages Tom Ambrose (now); Joe Coughlan and Tom Bryant (earlier) Mon 21 Jul 2025 15.09 BST First published on Mon 21 Jul 2025 07.48 BST From 12.17pm BST 12:17 Peter Beaumont Peter Beaumont is a senior international reporter who has reported extensively from conflict zones including Africa, the Balkans, the Middle East and Ukraine Israel has launched substantial air raids and a ground operation in Gaza, targeting Deir al-Balah, the key hub for humanitarian efforts in the devastated Palestinian territory amid mounting warnings of widening starvation in the coastal strip. The latest assault comes a day after the highest death toll in 21 months inflicted by the Israeli military on desperate Palestinians seeking food aid, with at least 85 killed on Sunday in what has become a grim and almost daily slaughter. The UN food agency, the World Food Programme, said the majority of those killed on Sunday had gathered near the border fence with Israel in the hope of getting flour from a UN aid convoy when they were fired on by Israeli tanks and snipers. Witnesses described massive airstrikes overnight in Deir al-Balah – the last remaining area of Gaza that has not suffered significant war damage. Israeli sources have said the reason the army has so far stayed out is that they suspect Hamas might be holding hostages there. At least 20 of the remaining 50 hostages in captivity in Gaza are believed to be still alive. Israel launched its renewed assault despite reports in the Hebrew media that Israeli officials believed Hamas was close to agreeing to a ceasefire. The latest Israeli assault followed forced evacuation orders for between 50–80,000 people in Deir al-Balah, in the centre of the Gaza Strip, leaving almost 87% of the territory under such orders. 'With this latest order, the area of Gaza under displacement orders or within Israeli-militarised zones has risen to 87.8%, leaving 2.1 million civilians squeezed into a fragmented 12% of the strip, where essential services have collapsed,' the UN said in a statement released by its Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affair. 3.09pm BST 15:09 said on Monday that they had briefly held and questioned two Israeli citizens who attended an electronic music festival, after pro-Palestinian groups accused them of war crimes, Agence France-Presse (AFP) reports. Prosecutors said they received legal complaints alleging that two Israeli soldiers responsible for 'serious violations of international humanitarian law' in Gaza were spotted at the Tomorrowland festival near the northern city of Antwerp last week. The federal prosecutor's office said it had 'asked the police to locate the two people named in the complaint and to interview them'. 'Following these interviews, they were released,' it said in a statement. The office said that it took action after concluding that Belgian courts have extraterritorial jurisdiction over alleged war crimes. 'No further information will be given at this stage of the investigation,' the office said. The pair have not been named. Last week, the Hind Rajab Foundation (HRF), a Belgian pro-Palestinian organisation, said it had identified two Israeli soldiers 'responsible for grave international crimes' in Gaza among the crowds at Tomorrowland. It claimed that a group of young Israeli men was seen at the festival waving a flag of the Givati Brigade, an Israeli military unit involved in the fighting in the Palestinian territory. HRF said it then filed a complaint with prosecutors in association with the Global Legal Action Network, a lawyers group specialising in human rights violations. 2.52pm BST 14:52 The UN agency for Palestinian refugees said on Monday that it was 'receiving desperate messages of starvation' from its Gaza staff, as the Palestinian territory experiences surging levels of hunger, Agence France-Presse (AFP) reports. Gaza's population of more than 2 million people are facing severe shortages of food and other essentials, with doctors, the civil defence agency and medical charity Doctors Without Borders (MSF) reporting a spike in malnutrition cases in recent days. In a post on X, Unrwa said that shortages in the Palestinian territory had caused food prices to increase by 40 times, while the aid stockpiled in its warehouses outside Gaza could feed 'the entire population for over three months.' 'The suffering in Gaza is manmade and must be stopped,' it wrote. 'Lift the siege and let aid in safely and at scale.' After talks to extend a six-week ceasefire broke down, Israel imposed a full blockade on Gaza on 2 March, allowing nothing in until trucks were again permitted at a trickle in late May. The civil defence agency on Sunday reported at least three infant deaths from 'severe hunger and malnutrition' in the past week. The ministry said 18 reportedly died of starvation within 24 hours between Saturday and Sunday. Mohammed Abu Salmiya, the director of Gaza's al-Shifa hospital: Infants under one year of age suffer from a lack of milk, which leads to a significant decrease in their weight and a decrease in their immunity that makes them vulnerable to diseases. Israel on Monday said there was 'no ban or restriction on the entry of baby formula or baby food into Gaza.' Cogat, the Israeli defence ministry body that oversees civilian affairs in the Palestinian territories, said that 'over 2,000 tons of baby food and infant formula were delivered into Gaza', without specifying the time frame. The body wrote on X: We urge international organisations to continue coordinating with us to ensure the entry of baby food and formula without delay. Our commitment remains firm: to support humanitarian aid for civilians - not for Hamas. 2.38pm BST 14:38 Belgium's King Philippe described abuses in Gaza as a 'disgrace to humanity' in a speech on the eve of Monday's national day, Reuters reports. He said speaking at his palace in Brussels: I add my voice to all those who denounce the serious humanitarian abuses in Gaza, where innocent people are dying of hunger and being killed by bombs while trapped in their enclaves. The current situation has gone on for far too long. It is a disgrace to all of humanity. We support the call by the United Nations Secretary-General to immediately end this unbearable crisis. The king's role in Belgium is limited to giving advice, support, and warnings to the government without making any political decisions. 2.22pm BST 14:22 The UK and more than 20 other countries called on Monday for an immediate end to the war in Gaza and said the Israeli government's aid delivery model was 'dangerous, fuels instability and deprives Gazans of human dignity'. The joint statement said: We, the signatories listed below, come together with a simple, urgent message: the war in Gaza must end now. The suffering of civilians in Gaza has reached new depths. The Israeli government's aid delivery model is dangerous, fuels instability and deprives Gazans of human dignity. We condemn the drip feeding of aid and the inhumane killing of civilians, including children, seeking to meet their most basic needs of water and food. The countries called on the Israeli government to immediately lift restrictions on the flow of aid and 'urgently enable the UN and humanitarian NGOs to do their life saving work safely and effectively'. They added: We are prepared to take further action to support an immediate ceasefire and a political pathway to security and peace for Israelis, Palestinians and the entire region. The statement was signed by the EU Commissioner for Equality, Preparedness and Crisis Management, as well as the foreign ministers of Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and the UK. 2.12pm BST 14:12 Johana Bhuiyan Johana Bhuiyan is a senior tech reporter and editor for Guardian US, based in San Francisco. Meta is hosting ads on Facebook, Instagram and Threads from pro-Israel entities that are raising money for military equipment including drones and tactical gear for Israeli Defense Force battalions, seemingly a violation of the company's stated advertising policies, new research shows. 'We are the sniper team of Unit Shaked, stationed in Gaza, and we urgently need shooting tripods to complete our mission in Jabalia,' one ad on Facebook read, first published on 11 June and still active on 17 July. These paid ads were first discovered and flagged to Meta by global consumer watchdog, Ekō, which identified at least 117 ads published since March 2025 that explicitly sought donations for military equipment for the IDF. It is the second time the organization has reported ads by the same publishers to Meta. In a previous investigation from December 2024, Ekō flagged 98 ads to Meta, prompting the tech giant to take many of them down. However, the company has largely allowed the publishers to start new campaigns with identical ads since then. The IDF itself is not running the fundraising calls. 'This shows that Meta will literally take money from anybody,' said Ekō campaigner Maen Hammad. 'So little of the checks and balances the platform ought to be doing actually takes place and if it does, they'll do it after the fact.' Meta said it reviewed and removed the ads for violating company policy after the Guardian and Ekō reached out for comment, according to Ryan Daniels, a spokesperson for the social media firm. Any ads about social issues, elections or politics are required to go through an authorization process and include a disclaimer that discloses who is paying for the ad, the company said. These ads did not. You can read more of Johana Bhuiyan's piece here: Meta allows ads crowdfunding for IDF drones, consumer watchdog finds 1.58pm BST 13:58 In its daily update, Gaza's health ministry said at least 130 Palestinians had been killed and more than 1,000 wounded by Israeli gunfire and military strikes across the territory in the past 24 hours, one of the highest such totals in recent weeks, Reuters reports. The figures come as Israel launched substantial air raids and a ground operation in Gaza on Monday, targeting Deir al-Balah, the key hub for humanitarian efforts in the devastated Palestinian territory amid mounting warnings of widening starvation in the coastal strip. 1.45pm BST 13:45 Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdoğan praised his Syrian counterpart Ahmed al-Sharaa for showing a strong stance and not compromising in Syria's conflict with Israel, and said Sharaa took a 'very positive' step by reaching an understanding with the Druze, Reuters reports. Hundreds of Bedouin civilians were evacuated from Syria's predominantly Druze city of Sweida on Monday as part of a US-backed truce meant to end fighting that has killed hundreds of people, state media and witnesses said. In comments to Turkish media released on Monday, Erdoğan said Syria's government had established some control in Sweida and the country's south with about 2,500 soldiers, with all but one Druze faction agreeing to respect the ceasefire during talks in Amman. He also told reporters on his flight returning from northern Cyprus that the US now understood it needed to 'own' the issue more, warning that the main issue was Israel using the fighting as an excuse to invade Syrian lands. 1.31pm BST 13:31 Al Jazeera reporter Anas al-Sharif has accused the Israeli army of threatening journalists in 'an attempt to silence' them. The reporter said in a post on X on Sunday: The Israeli army is once again threatening journalists for exposing the truth from Gaza. After I reported live on civilians collapsing from hunger, I was directly targeted with public incitement by the army's spokesperson. This is an attempt to silence us—and to cover up a genocide unfolding in real time. I call on international officials, human rights defenders, and global media to speak out and share this message. Your voice can help stop the targeting of journalists and protect the truth. The post came after IDF spokesperson Avichay Adraee labelled al-Sharif and researcher Saeed Ziad as supporters of Hamas, saying in a post on X that they were weeping 'crocodile tears'. Adraee said: Suddenly, all Hamas tools and mouthpieces began crying on live television, in a repeated Brotherhood behavior after all propaganda tools to cover up Hamas's setback failed. 1.19pm BST 13:19 The co-founder of a pro-Palestinian campaign group sought on Monday to challenge the British government's decision to ban the group under anti-terrorism laws, a move her lawyers said had 'the hallmarks of an authoritarian and blatant abuse of power', Reuters reports. Huda Ammori, who helped found Palestine Action in 2020, is asking London's high court to give the go-ahead for a full challenge to the group's proscription, which was made on the grounds it committed or participated in acts of terrorism. Earlier this month, the high court refused Ammori's application to pause the ban and, after an unsuccessful last-ditch appeal, Palestine Action's proscription came into effect just after midnight on 5 July. Proscription makes it a crime to be a member of the group, carrying a maximum sentence of 14 years in prison. Ammori's lawyer Raza Husain said Palestine Action is the first direct action group to be banned as a terror group, a move he argued was inconsistent with 'the honourable history of civil disobedience on conscientious grounds in our country'. Dozens have been arrested for holding placards purportedly supporting the group since the ban and Ammori's lawyers say protesters expressing support for the Palestinian cause have also been subject to increased scrutiny from police officers. Britain's interior minister Yvette Cooper, however, has said violence and criminal damage have no place in legitimate protest and that Palestine Action's activities – including breaking into a military base and damaging two planes – justify proscription. The group accuses the British government of complicity in what it says are Israeli war crimes in its ongoing bombardment of Gaza. Israel has repeatedly denied committing abuses in its war in Gaza, which began after Palestinian militant group Hamas attacked Israel on 7 October 2023. 1.05pm BST 13:05 Medical Aid for Palestinians (MAP) said on Sunday that evacuations orders from Israel have directly endangered 'vital humanitarian and primary healthcare sites'. The charity said in a statement that the move was 'accelerating the systematic dismantling of Gaza's already-decimated healthcare system'. MAP went on to say that several humanitarian organisations' offices and guesthouses had been ordered to evacuate immediately. It added that nine clinics, five shelters, and a community kitchen have been forced to shut down. Included in the facilities forced to shut were a major water desalination plant and MAP's Solidarity Polyclinic, which it said provides critical care, including physiotherapy and mental health services, to about 320 patients a day. Steve Cutts, MAP's interim CEO, said: This latest forced displacement order is yet another attack on humanitarian operations and a deliberate attempt to sever the last remaining threads of Gaza's health and aid system. MAP now has to suspend critical services we have been providing to the Palestinian population, including a primary health clinic that serves hundreds of civilians every day. With Israel's systematic targeting of health and aid workers, no one is safe. Not only are we prevented from carrying out our lifesaving work to support Palestinians, we are also unable to protect our own teams. Newborn children are starving to death as mothers are unable to produce breast milk due to their own malnutrition and Israel cruelly restricts life-saving baby formula from entering Gaza. Israeli forces have stooped to new depths of depravity, having now killed more than 900 Palestinians attempting to reach food to feed their starving families. 12.38pm BST 12:38 Gaza's health ministry has said the Palestinian death toll has surpassed 59,000 after more than 21 months of war. In an update from the Associated Press, the ministry says 59,029 people have been killed since the war started on 7 October 2023, while another 142,135 have been wounded. The ministry doesn't distinguish between civilians and combatants in its count but says more than a half of the dead are women and children. Updated at 1.05pm BST 12.31pm BST 12:31 An Israeli undercover force detained Marwan Al-Hams, a senior Gaza Health Ministry official, outside the field hospital of the International Committee of the Red Cross in the southern Gaza Strip on Monday, the health ministry said according to a report from the Reuters news agency. Hams, in charge of field hospitals in the enclave, was on his way to visit the ICRC field hospital in northern Rafah when an Israeli force 'abducted' him after opening fire, killing one person and wounding another civilian nearby, according to the ministry. Medics said the person killed was a local journalist who was filming an interview with Hams when the incident happened. The Israeli military and the Red Cross did not immediately respond following separate requests by Reuters for comment. Israel has raided and attacked hospitals across the Gaza Strip during the 21-month war in Gaza, accusing Hamas of using them for military purposes, an accusation the group denies. But sending undercover forces to carry out arrests has been rare. 12.23pm BST 12:23 Pope Leo has warned against the 'indiscriminate use of force' and the 'forced mass displacement' of people in the Gaza strip in a phone conversation with the Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas on Monday, the Vatican said in a statement. It was the first official conversation between the two men since Leo's papacy began. 'The Holy Father repeated his appeal for international humanitarian law to be fully respected, emphasising in particular the obligation to protect civilians and sacred places, the prohibition of the indiscriminate use of force and of the forced transfer of the population,' the Vatican wrote in a statement. The pope emphasised 'the urgent need to provide assistance to those most vulnerable to the consequences of the conflict and to allow the adequate entry of humanitarian aid', it said. Updated at 12.47pm BST 12.17pm BST 12:17 Peter Beaumont Peter Beaumont is a senior international reporter who has reported extensively from conflict zones including Africa, the Balkans, the Middle East and Ukraine Israel has launched substantial air raids and a ground operation in Gaza, targeting Deir al-Balah, the key hub for humanitarian efforts in the devastated Palestinian territory amid mounting warnings of widening starvation in the coastal strip. The latest assault comes a day after the highest death toll in 21 months inflicted by the Israeli military on desperate Palestinians seeking food aid, with at least 85 killed on Sunday in what has become a grim and almost daily slaughter. The UN food agency, the World Food Programme, said the majority of those killed on Sunday had gathered near the border fence with Israel in the hope of getting flour from a UN aid convoy when they were fired on by Israeli tanks and snipers. Witnesses described massive airstrikes overnight in Deir al-Balah – the last remaining area of Gaza that has not suffered significant war damage. Israeli sources have said the reason the army has so far stayed out is that they suspect Hamas might be holding hostages there. At least 20 of the remaining 50 hostages in captivity in Gaza are believed to be still alive. Israel launched its renewed assault despite reports in the Hebrew media that Israeli officials believed Hamas was close to agreeing to a ceasefire. The latest Israeli assault followed forced evacuation orders for between 50–80,000 people in Deir al-Balah, in the centre of the Gaza Strip, leaving almost 87% of the territory under such orders. 'With this latest order, the area of Gaza under displacement orders or within Israeli-militarised zones has risen to 87.8%, leaving 2.1 million civilians squeezed into a fragmented 12% of the strip, where essential services have collapsed,' the UN said in a statement released by its Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affair. 11.59am BST 11:59 Israeli tanks pushed into southern and eastern areas of the Gazan city of Deir al-Balah for the first time on Monday, an area where Israeli sources said the military believes some of the remaining hostages may be being held by Hamas. Gaza medics said at least three Palestinians were killed and several were wounded in tank shelling that hit eight houses and three mosques in the area, and which came a day after the military ordered residents to leave, saying it planned to fight Hamas militants. Gaza health officials said on Monday at least 13 people, including two women and five children, were killed in Israeli strikes since the previous night. The Israeli military had no immediate comment on the strikes. It blames Hamas for civilian casualties because the group operates from populated areas. Gaza's civil defence agency said at least 93 Palestinians had been killed queueing for food on Sunday, while Israel issued fresh evacuation orders for areas packed with displaced people. The territory's health ministry said scores were killed by Israeli fire while waiting for UN aid trucks entering through the northern Zikim crossing with Israel. It was one of the highest reported death tolls among repeated recent cases in which aid seekers have been killed by Israeli fire. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitor said on Monday that the ceasefire in the southern province of Sweida was holding, despite isolated gunfire in areas north of Sweida city with no reports of casualties. The agreement announced on Saturday put an end to the sectarian violence that has left more than 1,100 dead, most of them Druze fighters and civilians, according to the monitor. The Syrian government on Monday started evacuating Bedouin families trapped inside the city of Sweida, where Druze militiamen and Bedouin fighters have clashed for over a week. The UN International Organization for Migration said about 128,571 people were displaced in the hostilities that started with a series of tit-for-tat kidnappings and attacks a week ago. A US envoy doubled down on Washington's support for the new government in Syria, saying on Monday there is 'no Plan B' to working with the current authorities to unite the country still reeling from a nearly 14-year civil war and now wrecked by a new outbreak of sectarian violence. Tom Barrack, who is ambassador to Turkey and special envoy to Syria and also has a short-term mandate in Lebanon, took a critical tone toward Israel's recent intervention in Syria, calling it poorly timed and saying that it complicated efforts to stabilise the region. A trilateral meeting between Iran, Russia and China will take place on Tuesday regarding Tehran's nuclear programme and the UN snapback mechanism, Iranian foreign ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei said on Monday. The UN snapback mechanism refers to efforts to reimpose international sanctions on Iran. Tehran on Monday accused the UK, France and Germany of failing to respect the 2015 Iran nuclear deal, after they threatened to reimpose sanctions over its atomic programme. The 2015 deal, reached between Iran and the UN security council's permanent members – Britain, China, France, Russia and the US – plus Germany imposed curbs on Iran's nuclear programme in exchange for sanctions relief. Updated at 12.11pm BST
Sky News
2 hours ago
- Sky News
Middle East latest: Israeli military launch ground assault on central Gaza city of Deir al Balah, charity says
13:45:01 Who are the Bedouins and the Druze? The conflict between the Bedouin armed tribes and the Druze militia in Syria's southern district of Sweida has led to hundreds of deaths. But who are the two factions? Bedouins The Bedouins are traditionally nomadic, Arabic-speaking tribes who live in the deserts of the Middle East and North Africa. In Syria, Bedouins have primarily lived in the al-Badia desert, which covers much of the country's south and east, including provinces like Sweida. Bedouin tribes in Syria follow Sunni Islam and have clashed with the Druze sect for a long time. Druze The Druze religious sect is an offshoot of Ismailism, a branch of Shiite Islam. About half of the roughly one million Druze worldwide live in Syria, with most others in Lebanon and Israel, including the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights. The Druze largely celebrated the downfall of Bashar al Assad in December after an almost 14-year civil war, but were divided over interim president Ahmad al-Sharaa, a former militant linked to al Qaeda who led Islamist rebels to overthrow the Syrian autocrat. A few months after the transition, government forces clashed with pro-Assad armed groups on Syria's coast, spurring sectarian attacks killed hundreds of civilians from the Alawite religious minority to which the former president belongs. The violence left other minority groups, including the Druze in the south, and the Kurds in the northeast, increasingly mistrustful of the new Sharaa government and worried whether it would protect them. Multiple Druze militias have existed for years, originally set up to protect their communities against ISIS and drug smugglers - and they have been reluctant to lay down their arms. 13:22:48 Gaza doctor 'abducted by Israeli special forces', health ministry says The Hamas-run Gaza health ministry says the director of a hospital in the south of the enclave has been abducted by Israeli forces. It said Dr Marwan Al Hams, director of Abu Youssef Al Najjar Hospital in southern Gaza and a spokesperson for the health ministry, was taken by an Israeli special forces unit this afternoon. The ministry called Dr Al Hams "one of the most prominent humanitarian and medical voices" and said his abduction "represents a direct targeting of the voice of the sick, the hungry and the suffering" in Gaza. "We hold the occupation fully responsible for Dr Al Hams's safety and demand his immediate and unconditional release," a statement said. Israel has not yet publicly commented on this story. 12:56:09 Israeli action in central Gaza 'makes no sense at all' Israel's latest action in central Gaza "makes no sense at all", military analyst Michael Clarke has said. Earlier, Medical Aid for Palestinians (MAP) said an Israeli ground assault had begun in Deir al Balah in central Gaza - an area that has been left relatively untouched. "By and large in other parts of Gaza they are bombing the rubble but in this part of Gaza they haven't conducted so many operations," Clarke said. "They are moving into an area now that has been left relatively untouched until now. "They have said they think some of the Israeli hostages are there but by the time they move in they won't be there. "At least 40% of the tunnel network that Hamas had is still sufficiently intact for Hamas to move around and the hostages will be moved." Clarke said the move by Israel is a "process of trying to drive the Gazan population to a strip on the coast". He added: "What will happen to the rest of Gaza? Who knows. "Elements in the Israeli government say they will retake the Gaza Strip - they will re-colonise it again. "But Netanyahu isn't exactly saying that - and it is not clear what he thinks because they don't seem to have a plan they are prepared to share with the rest of the world for what happens next." 12:28:56 Pope warns against 'indiscriminate use of force' on Gaza civilians Pope Leo has warned against the "indiscriminate use of force" and the "forced mass displacement" of people in the Gaza strip in a phone call with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas today, the Vatican has said. During the call, the pope also renewed an appeal for respect of international and humanitarian law. The Vatican also said that the pontiff had taken a call with Benjamin Netanyahu on Friday during which he urged a "renewed push" for an end to the conflict. "We insisted on the need to protect the sacred places of all religions," Pope Leo said, "and to respect people and sacred places and try to leave behind all the violence and the hatred". 12:08:37 Smoke rises from buildings in Deir al Balah Images are emerging of smoke rising from buildings in Deir al Balah in central Gaza amid the Israeli military operation there. It's the first time a ground offensive has been launched in the area since the war began. Medical Aid for Palestinians (MAP) said medical aid had been suspended to the city because of the Israeli ground assault (see 9.34am post). It said that thousands of displaced people are living in this area, including MAP staff, and the latest orders by Israel "directly endanger vital humanitarian and primary healthcare sites". 11:43:31 Erdogan praises Syrian leader's 'very positive' step Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has praised his Syrian counterpart Ahmed al Sharaa for showing a strong stance and not compromising in Syria's conflict with Israel. In comments to Turkish media, Erdogan said Syria's government had established some control in Sweida and the country's south with around 2,500 soldiers, with all but one Druze faction agreeing to respect the ceasefire during talks in Amman. He also told reporters on his flight returning from northern Cyprus that al Sharaa took a "very positive" step by reaching an understanding with the Druze. And when it came to the US, Erdogan said Washington now understood it needed to "own" the issue more, warning that Israel using the fighting as an excuse to invade Syrian lands. 11:18:54 Hundreds of Bedouins being evacuated from Sweida Hundreds of Bedouin civilians are being evacuated from Syria's predominantly Druze city of Sweida today as part of a US-backed truce meant to end fighting that has killed hundreds of people. Shoaib Asfour, a member of the Syrian security forces overseeing the evacuation, told Reuters that the initial batch included some 300 Bedouins and a second group of about 550 civilians will be evacuated within the next 24 hours if the situation remains calm. The next phase would see the evacuation of Bedouin fighters detained by Druze militias and the transfer of bodies of Bedouins killed in the fighting, Asfour said. Syria's state news agency said a total of 1,500 Bedouins would be evacuated from Sweida city. With hundreds reported killed, the violence in the southern province of Sweida has posed a major test for interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa. A ceasefire took hold on Sunday as interior ministry security forces deployed on Sweida's outskirts. And interior minister Anas Khattab said the truce would allow for the release of hostages and detainees held by the warring sides. You can watch our special correspondent Alex Crawford reporting on the fragile ceasefire here... 10:53:22 Netanyahu court appearance delayed after food poisoning Over in Israel, Benjamin Netanyahu has had his upcoming hearings in his corruption trial postponed after getting food poisoning. The Israeli leader has been ordered by doctors to conduct state affairs from home for the next three days after being diagnosed with intestinal inflammation and dehydration. The next court appearance will not come before September now. Netanyahu's office said: "In accordance with his doctors' instructions, the prime minister will rest at home for the next three days and will manage state affairs from there." Why is Netanyahu on trial? Netanyahu was indicted in 2019 on charges of bribery, fraud and breach of trust - all of which Netanyahu denies. The trial began in 2020 and involves three criminal cases. He denies the charges and has pleaded not guilty. Case 4000 Prosecutors allege Netanyahu granted regulatory favours worth around $500m to Bezeq Telecom Israel. In return, prosecutors say, he sought positive coverage of himself and his wife Sara on a news website controlled by the company's former chairman, Shaul Elovitch. Case 1000 Netanyahu has been charged with fraud and breach of trust over allegations that he and his wife wrongfully received almost $210,000 in gifts from Arnon Milchan, a Hollywood producer and an Israeli citizen, and Australian billionaire businessman James Packer. Prosecutors said gifts included champagne and cigars and that Netanyahu helped Milchan with his business interests. Packer and Milchan face no charges. Case 2000 Netanyahu allegedly negotiated a deal with Arnon Mozes, owner of Israel's Yedioth Ahronoth newspaper, for better coverage in return for legislation to slow the growth of a rival newspaper. 10:28:10 In pictures: Explosions in Gaza Flames and plumes of smoke have been spotted rising from a residential building in Gaza City today. The scenes come after Medical Aid for Palestinians (MAP) said medical aid had been suspended to the city of Deir al Balah in central Gaza because of an Israeli ground assault there (see post at 9.34am). Reuters reports that Israeli tanks have pushed into southern and eastern areas of the Gazan city of Deir al Balah for the first time today. It is an area where Israeli sources said the military believes some of the remaining hostages may be being held. 10:05:55 Syrian Red Crescent in southern Syria As we reported earlier, Syrian's Red Crescent convoys have been sent to provide vital aid to the southern Syrian city of Sweida. And now an image has emerged of a Syrian Red Crescent vehicle driving into the village of al-Mazraa, in southern Syria. The Syrian Red Crescent said yesterday it had sent 32 trucks loaded with food, medicine, water, fuel and other aid, after the fighting left the province with power cuts and shortages. Syria's state news agency SANA reported that the convoy entered Sweida on Sunday, but accused Druze leader Hikmatal Hijri and his supporters of turning back a government delegation that accompanied another convoy.
BBC News
2 hours ago
- BBC News
Gaza: Israel tanks advance into Deir al-Balah city for first time
Israeli tanks have advanced into the city of Deir al-Balah in central Gaza for the first time, triggering a fresh wave of displacement among journalists said the tanks entered southern and eastern areas early on Monday amid heavy air and artillery strikes, a day after the Israeli military ordered residents of several neighbourhoods to was no immediate comment from Israel. Deir al-Balah is one of the few parts of Gaza where Israel has not conducted a major ground operation during the 21-month war with UN said the evacuation order affected tens of thousands of Palestinians and dealt "another devastating blow" to humanitarian efforts. The neighbourhoods contain dozens of camps for displaced families as well as aid warehouses, health clinics, and critical water updates from GazaIsraeli forces kill 67 Palestinians seeking aid in northern Gaza, Hamas-run ministry saysIsrael levelling thousands of Gaza civilian buildings in controlled demolitions Local journalists told the BBC that Israeli tanks and other military vehicles pushed into eastern Deir al-Balah on Monday from the direction of the Kissufim crossing and under the cover of heavy artillery and air of shells struck the Abu al-Ajin and Hikr al-Jami areas, they footage shared on social media showed explosions and the sound of medics said several people there had been killed by shelling. A spokeswoman for the British charity Medical Aid for Palestinians (MAP), which operates a clinic in Deir al-Balah, described the situation as "extremely critical"."Shelling is taking place all around our office, and military vehicles are just 400m away from our colleagues and their families, who endured a harrowing night after relocating there," Mai Elawawda said in a statement."One colleague shared that the area is filled with shelling and quadcopter strikes, and there's growing fear about both staying and attempting to leave."On Sunday, the Israeli military ordered the immediate evacuation of six city blocks in southern Deir al-Balah, warning that it would be operating "with great force to destroy the enemy's capabilities and terrorist infrastructure".The UN Office for the Co-ordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said on Sunday night that hundreds of families had already fled in said the evacuation order covered about 5.6 sq km (2.2 sq miles) of Deir al-Balah, spanning four neighbourhoods which were home to between 50,000 and 80,000 people, including 30,000 who were sheltering in 57 camps for displaced said UN staff were remaining in Deir al-Balah, spread across dozens of premises whose co-ordinates had been shared with Israel, and stressed that they must be affected areas house several aid warehouses, four primary health clinics, four medical points, a water desalination plant, three water wells, a water reservoir, a solid waste dumping site, and a wastewater pumping station, it added."Any damage to this infrastructure will have life-threatening consequences," it said the order would also limit the ability of the UN and its partners to move safely and effectively within Gaza, "choking humanitarian access when it is needed most".Medical Aid for Palestinians said several humanitarian organisations' offices and guesthouses had been "ordered to evacuate immediately" by the Israeli clinics including MAP's Solidarity Polyclinic - which alone cared for around 320 patients a day - had been shut down, it added. Five shelters and a community kitchen had also closed. The UN and other humanitarian agencies relocated key parts of their operations to Deir al-Balah after Israeli ground forces entered the southern city of Rafah more than a year sources say that the possible presence of Israeli hostages held by Hamas is one reason why Deir al-Balah had so far escaped the fighting. At least 20 of the 50 hostages still in captivity are believed to be still is not clear what might have changed the military's families have expressed concern that an offensive could endanger their loved ones."Can anyone [promise] to us that this decision will not come at the cost of losing our loved ones?" they said in a statement on there are growing fears among Deir al-Balah residents that Israeli forces may be planning to establish a new military corridor that would isolate the military has established four such corridors elsewhere, including the Morag corridor, which cut off Rafah, and the Magen Oz corridor, which divided Khan Younis in to the UN, about 87.8% of Gaza is now covered by Israeli evacuation orders or is within Israeli-militarized zones, leaving the 2.1 million population squeezed into about 46 sq km of land where essential services have all of Gaza's population has been displaced at least once during the war, in which an estimated 92% of the territory's homes have been destroyed or damaged. Meanwhile, the World Food Programme warned Gaza's hunger crisis had "reached new levels of desperation" after more than 100 people were reportedly killed while waiting for food over the Sunday, at least 67 people waiting for a convoy of WFP aid lorries in northern Gaza were killed by Israeli fire, according to Gaza's Hamas-run health WFP said a crowd that surrounded the lorries shortly after it passed through the Israeli Zikim crossing point "came under fire from Israeli tanks, snipers and other gunfire".The Israeli military said its soldiers fired warning shots at a crowd of thousands "to remove an immediate threat" but disputed the numbers killed."Malnutrition is surging with 90,000 women and children in urgent need of treatment. Nearly one person in three is not eating for days," the WFP said."Only a massive scale-up in food aid distributions can stabilise this spiralling situation, calm anxieties and rebuild the trust within communities that more food is coming."The Israeli foreign ministry said on Sunday that 4,400 lorry loads of humanitarian aid had entered Gaza from Israel since mid-May, when it partially eased a total blockade on deliveries that lasted 11 weeks. Another 700 lorry loads were waiting to be picked up by the UN from the Gaza side of its crossing points, it launched its war in Gaza in retaliation for the Hamas-led attacks on 7 October 2023, which killed about 1,200 people and led to 251 others being taken attacks have since killed at least 58,895 people in Gaza, according to the territory's Hamas-controlled health ministry.
