The reports cannot be independently verified as media and international observers have been barred from Gaza, but the Red Cross has warned of an “unrelenting tide of injuries” that threatens to overwhelm the last remaining operational field hospital in the area.

That comes after the EU’s high representative for foreign affairs, Kaja Kallas, said she had brokered a deal with Israeli authorities to ensure Palestinians could access aid, amid fears of famine, water shortages and an almost total disintegration of the health care system.

“This deal means more crossings open, aid and food trucks entering Gaza, repair of vital infrastructure and protection of aid workers. We count on Israel to implement every measure agreed,” the former Estonian prime minister declared on Thursday, insisting that humanitarian supplies would begin flowing within days.

The European Commission did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the latest developments.

Top diplomats from EU member states will on Tuesday discuss whether to impose penalties on Israel amid growing pressure from capitals to take action to end the bloodshed. An options paper, first obtained by POLITICO, reveals Kallas will ask foreign ministers whether there is sufficient support to scale back cooperation with Israel on trade and other key areas.

Last month, a review by the bloc’s foreign service concluded “there are indications that Israel would be in breach of its human rights obligations” under the terms of an EU-Israel association agreement.

No. 16

Palestine Resists! Palestine Lives!

• Resistance Continues to Deal Heavy Blows

to Israeli Occupation Forces

• Ceasefire Negotiations Underway Despite

Israel’s Perfidious Plans

• Ansarallah Calls on Resistance Groups to Stand Firm

• Current Situation in Gaza

• Slaughter of Palestinians at U.S./Israeli

Humanitarian Aid Stations

• Origins and Aim of the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation

• U.S. Undertakes Significant Military Construction in Israel

Report of UN Special Rapporteur on Occupied Palestinian Territories

• Global Monopolies Supporting U.S./Israeli Genocide Condemned

• Quebec’s Deposit and Investment Fund and Government Step Up Investments That Support U.S./Israeli Genocide

For Your Information

• Main Contributors to Quebec Deposit and Investment Fund

Photo Review

• Relentless Global Support for Palestinian People and Condemnation of U.S./Israeli Attacks on Iran

Palestine Resists! Palestine Lives!

Reports from Palestine confirm that the pace of resistance ambushes has notably escalated, with Palestinian Resistance organizations carrying out a range of operations, including multiple successful ambushes and direct engagements against Israeli troops and military vehicles, that are dealing heavy blows to the Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF).

The Israeli newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth reports that June marked the deadliest month for Israeli forces since the start of the war, with 20 soldiers and officers killed — out of a total of 32 killed since Israel renewed its offensive in March. Of these fatalities, 21 were specifically attributed to explosive devices.

Official Israeli reports put the total number of Israeli soldiers killed since the start of the ground aggression on Gaza at 883 with more than 6,000 wounded. However, resistance sources report that the actual number is considerably higher because the occupation employs a policy of media blackout to manage perceptions and maintain the morale of its soldiers and Israeli citizens.

Resistance operations were reported on July 9 across several areas of the Gaza Strip. In Khan Younis to the south, IOF soldiers and vehicles were targeted with mortar shells. Israeli forces entrenched on Mars Street in central Khan Younis were struck with a 107 mm missile. Battles were fierce as Israeli helicopters, along with low-flying warplanes and artillery heavily bombarded Khan Younis that day. In the north in Sheja’iyya, east of Gaza City, al-Quds Brigades, the armed wing of Palestinian Islamic Jihad, released footage of two Israeli military vehicles being destroyed with anti-tank explosive devices and the capture of a drone. Meanwhile, in Tuffah, also to the east of Gaza City, an al-Quds Brigades sniper killed an Israeli soldier atop Mount Surani.

On July 8, al-Qassam Brigades, the military wing of Hamas, released video footage documenting operations targeting IOF troops and vehicles along incursion routes east of Gaza City and in the northern Gaza Strip. These operations are part of the resistance’s broad “Stones of David” campaign unfolding across multiple areas of the Strip. The video begins with scenes of an Israeli bulldozer being identified and then targeted. It switches to scenes of a sniper shooting two Israeli soldiers on Tal al-Muntar, east of Gaza City. It then shows close-quarters clashes with Israeli soldiers stationed inside a building in the Sheja’iyya neighbourhood. Later in the footage, a tank in Sheja’iyya is struck by a direct hit from a Rocket-Propelled Grenade. The clip concludes with scenes of IOF command and control positions being bombed east of the Tuffah neighbourhood in Gaza City.

On July 7, al-Qassam Brigades carried out a major ambush in Beit Hanoun in northern Gaza. At least six IOF soldiers were killed and another 14 wounded, two seriously. Abu Obeida, spokesman for al-Qassam Brigades, commended the operation. “The complex Beit Hanoun operation is an additional blow delivered by our mighty fighters to the prestige of the frail occupation army and its most criminal units in a field that the occupation thought was safe after it left no stone unturned.” He credited resistance fighters for the “battle of attrition” they were waging against the invading Israeli forces throughout Gaza’s entire expanse. The battle, he said, would go on to inflict additional losses on the invaders every day. According to the official, the regime was able to rescue some of its forces from the “hell” created by the fighters, but only “miraculously.”

Al-Qassam Brigades carried out multiple operations in Khan Younis on July 3 and 4, resulting in the deaths of Israeli soldiers and the destruction of tanks and military vehicles. Hamas fighters raided Israeli vehicles and troops in al-Mahta area of central Khan Younis on July 4. Two Merkava tanks were struck at close range with Shawaza explosive devices. The fighters also targeted an armoured personnel carrier (APC) using a Yassin 105 missile and later exchanged fire with an Israeli rescue unit that arrived at the scene. The footage also showed three additional APCs being targeted on July 3 in the Islamic Complex and al-Bi’a Street areas of central Khan Younis. Fighters emerged from the rubble to strike the vehicles and engage Israeli troops with light weapons. In an earlier action fighters shelled Israeli forces in al-Satar, north of Khan Younis with heavy mortar fire, and launched a salvo of Q20 rockets toward the settlements of Nir Yitzhak and Miftahim.

On July 4, al-Quds Brigades carried out a complex ambush on Israeli forces in the Sheja’iyya neighbourhood in central Gaza resulting in several casualties. The leader of the operation noted: “In this particular operation, the enemy soldiers could not take the initiative to respond. They resorted only to fleeing and barely fired a shot at our fighters.”

Strike by al-Qassam brigades targeting IOF in Khan Younis, July 4, 2025.

On July 1, al-Quds Brigades carried out a precise ambush on an Israeli infantry force in eastern Khan Younis in which their fighters booby-trapped a house where Israeli soldiers had fortified themselves, using specialized anti-personnel and anti-fortification explosives. Al-Quds Brigades fighters also engaged relief fighters that rushed to the scene, using machine guns and rocket propelled grenades, causing the IOF to send helicopters to rescue surviving soldiers. In the same region they confirmed the destruction of Israeli military hardware, neutralizing a D9 military bulldozer with a “barrel bomb” in the Absan al-Kabira area east of Khan Younis. Fighters returned safely after these successful operations.

Hamas releases Israeli detainees in a public ceremony, February 22, 2025. Israel has demanded as a condition for a new 60-day ceasefire and prisoner exchange no such public ceremonies be held.

Ceasefire negotiations between Israel and the Palestinian Resistance group Hamas began in Doha, Qatar on July 6. The discussions are focused on a negotiation framework proposed by Qatar for a 60-day temporary ceasefire in Gaza, which includes a phased prisoner exchange, humanitarian aid distribution and negotiations to secure a permanent ceasefire.

Hamas announced on July 5 that it had completed its internal deliberations as well as consultations with other Palestinian resistance groups regarding the Qatari proposal. Its statement noted: “The movement [Hamas] has delivered its response to the brotherly mediators, which was characterized by a positive spirit. Hamas is fully prepared, with all seriousness, to immediately enter a new round of negotiations on the mechanism for implementing this framework.”

Qatari Framework

The proposal sets out a schedule for the Resistance to release 10 living Israeli captives and 18 bodies of deceased captives over the 60-day period.

Israel will simultaneously release Palestinian prisoners through a prearranged mechanism, with the process conducted discreetly without public displays or ceremonial events.

Regarding humanitarian aid, the proposal stipulates that assistance will be delivered to Gaza immediately upon Hamas’ acceptance of the ceasefire agreement. It specifies that the delivery mechanism will align with the provisions outlined in the previous January 19 ceasefire agreement, which Israel breached on March 2 when it imposed a blockade on aid then restarted military operations. The aid package covers rebuilding water, power, and sewage systems, restoring hospitals and bakeries, providing equipment for clearing rubble, and re-opening the Rafah crossing for travellers, patients and trade.

Negotiations for a permanent ceasefire will address the release of all remaining Israeli captives in exchange for an agreed number of Palestinian prisoners held in Israeli jails, Israeli troop redeployment and withdrawal, as well as long-term security arrangements, post-war governance and reconstruction plans for Gaza.

All Israeli offensive military operations in Gaza are to cease when the agreement takes effect, with the occupation’s aerial activities (both military and reconnaissance) halting daily for 10 to 12 hours during prisoner exchange days.

Additionally, the Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) will withdraw from northern areas and the Netzarim corridor to positions defined in previous agreement maps. On day seven, the IOF will redeploy in southern areas to positions previously agreed upon in the same past agreement maps, again with minor adjustments to be finalized later.

The United States, Egypt, and Qatar will ensure the ceasefire holds throughout the 60 days and will guarantee that serious discussions take place regarding arrangements for a permanent ceasefire. The mediators will also ensure negotiations continue seriously for an extended period until both parties reach an agreement and maintain all measures outlined in this framework.

Israel’s Perfidious Plans

Although Israel sent a negotiating team to Qatar, it was revealed on July 7 that it is not empowered to make any decisions and its lead negotiator Ron Dermer is not at the talks. The Israeli side is led by the deputy head of Shin Bet, the Israeli intelligence service.

Meanwhile, Israel has been carrying out its Operation Gideon’s Chariots since May 16 to destroy the Resistance and ethnically cleanse Gaza and seize control over 75 per cent of it. In recent weeks it has been on a killing spree to “depopulate” northern Gaza, despite negotiations for a ceasefire agreement. Turkish news agency Anadolu, quoting sources close to the Palestinian Resistance, noted that Israel is “trying to take advantage of the few remaining days before any anticipated truce to expand the scope of destruction and annihilate cities […] Israel seeks to destroy what remains of life-sustaining infrastructure in northern Gaza, eliminating any chance for Palestinians to return in the future.”

On July 5, the Jerusalem Post reported that the IOF Chief of Staff Lt.-Gen. Eyal Zamir has presented “three alternative options” for the period following the completion of Operation Gideon’s Chariots. The first option, said to be the least favoured by the military and senior security officials, is the imposition of an IOF military government. The second involves surrounding Gaza City and the central camps and transitioning to a strategy of attrition and raids on Hamas strongholds from the air and ground. The third option is an agreement for the release of hostages, combined with a ceasefire to allow the IOF to regroup and give breathing room to its ground and air forces to then continue their ethnic cleansing.

On July 2, the Middle East Monitor reported that 14 ministers from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s Likud Party called on Netanyahu to immediately annex the occupied West Bank. In a letter addressed to Netanyahu and shared by his Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich on social media, the signatories called on the government “to apply sovereignty over Judea and Samaria [the West Bank] before the end of the Knesset summer session,” which concludes on July 27.

While the U.S. is being called on to be a guarantor of a possible new ceasefire, it is also Israel’s partner in carrying out the genocide. Thus, the Israeli ministers argued that the current “strategic partnership and backing and support of the U.S. and President Donald Trump create a favourable time to lead this move [annexation] now.”

Leader of Yemen’s Ansarallah resistance movement Abdul-Malik al-Houthi

The leader of Yemen’s Ansarallah movement, Abdul-Malik al-Houthi, has called on resistance groups across the West Asia region to stand firm against aggressive actions by Israel and the United States. In a televised speech on July 6, al-Houthi said the U.S. and Israel were desperately trying to destroy faith and sacred symbols, pursuing occupation, resource theft, and human enslavement. Despite the challenges and sacrifices ahead, al-Houthi said, he is confident that the path of resistance will lead to freedom and dignity.

“This is the best choice we have in the face of humiliation, disgrace, and surrender. This is what we seek for our nations; the path of righteousness in the face of American and Israeli aggression…” he added. The Ansarallah leader also called on resistance groups across the region to stand firm against aggressive actions against Muslims by Israel and the United States, “starting with the genocide in Palestine, its violation of the sanctity of holy sites, and all forms of injustice and crime, as well as its actions in the Islamic world outside Palestine.” Highlighting examples in Gaza, Lebanon, Iran, Iraq, and Yemen, he reaffirmed full support for the Palestinian cause, saying that confronting the Zionist project is a collective Muslim duty, promising no retreat despite pressure or warfare.

On July 7, Brigadier General Yahya Saree, military spokesperson for Ansarallah, announced that the group launched a major operation at dawn that day, targeting several Israeli sites with three ballistic missiles and eight drones. The strikes reportedly hit Ben Gurion Airport, the port of Ashdod, the Ashkelon Power Station, and the Port of Eilat. The escalation came in response to Israeli air strikes earlier on Yemen’s Red Sea coast, including the ports of Hodeidah, Ras Issa, and Salif, as well as the central power station in Ras al-Kathib in Hodeidah city.

He added that Yemeni air defences successfully confronted the Israeli assault, forcing many aircraft to retreat. “Our air defenses engaged the Israeli aggression with a large barrage of domestically manufactured surface-to-air missiles,” he said, “causing significant confusion among enemy pilots and operations rooms.”

Nasr al-Din Amer, deputy head of Ansarallah’s media authority, also underscored that Israeli airstrikes would not halt Yemeni attacks deep inside Israeli territory.

Yemen Targets Greek Ship Destined for Israel

Merchant vessel Magic Seas hit by Yemeni armed forces missile and drone attack, July 7, after it violates ban on sailing to ports in occupied Palestine.

On July 7, the Yemeni Armed Forces claimed responsibility for a missile and drone attack on the merchant vessel Magic Seas in the Red Sea, that was bound for the Israeli-occupied Palestinian territories, saying the ship violated a ban on sailing toward Israeli ports, which is in effect to support the Palestinians in Gaza.

General Saree said the Greek-owned, Liberian-flagged ship “is now at risk of sinking, and our forces allowed the crew to safely leave the ship.” He added that the ship had refused to turn around after repeated calls to do so. “We will not hesitate to use appropriate force to prevent any ship belonging to this company that has dealt with the Zionist enemy and violated the ban on entry to occupied Palestinian ports,” Saree said. He emphasized that Yemeni armed forces “will continue to prevent Israeli navigation in the Red Sea and the Arabian Sea and to disrupt the port of Eilat until the Israeli aggression on Gaza stops and the blockade is lifted.” Yemeni forces later confirmed the ship had sunk.

(With files from Press TV, Palestine Chronicle)

More than 2 million displaced Palestinians are trapped in a narrow strip of land that constitutes no more than 15 per cent of the area of the Gaza Strip. About 85 per cent of Gaza has been designated closed-off areas, either through military control or by means of forced displacement orders. Since the start of the war, both local and international organizations have documented the destruction of more than 92 per cent of homes in the Gaza Strip. More than 80 per cent of schools have sustained severe damage or have been completely destroyed, 90 per cent of hospitals are no longer able to function and all the universities have been destroyed. Entire cities and neighbourhoods have been wiped off the map, most notably Khuza’a, Khan Younis, Rafah, and vast areas of Gaza City. People are crammed into tents. They have no water, no medicine, no privacy. Dr. Rizq Abu Shaeira, a surgeon in a field hospital called the situation catastrophic adding, “We sometimes operate without anesthesia, using the light from a phone during surgeries. There are no medicines, no blood bags, no sterilization materials. We watch people die in front of us, and we stand helpless.”

(Palestinian Information Centre)

Gaza Humanitarian Foundation aid in Gaza

Since late May more than 770 Palestinians have been systematically killed and close to 5,000 injured by the Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) and U.S. military contractors while seeking aid at distributions sites run by the criminal U.S.-based agency fraudulently called Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF). The UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) continues to operate in Gaza (and the Occupied Territories) in defiance of a ban by Israel since October 2024, but Israel’s blockade of aid since March 2 means it is seriously hampered in doing so. As a result, many people are forced to go to one of the four GHF sites to seek aid. These sites are all located near IOF positions, and the IOF also vets whatever aid is distributed by GHF.

On July 2, the Associated Press reported that U.S. military contractors guarding the distribution points are using live ammunition, stun grenades, and other aggressive crowd control measures. The report cited two contractors working for UG Solutions, a U.S.-based company subcontracted to provide security at the GHF sites, who said that unqualified and heavily armed guards regularly fired weapons, often without provocation, while distributing aid. This was confirmed by an earlier report in the Israeli newspaper Haaretz. Israeli troops told the newspaper that they were ordered to fire on Palestinians at the GHF food distribution sites “even when no threat was present.”

The Communist Party of Canada (Marxist-Leninist) resolutely condemns the heinous crimes of the fraudulent U.S./Israeli GHF, that is nothing more than a front for the ongoing slaughter of Palestinian children, women and men as they gather in desperation for food relief at distribution sites in Gaza.

On June 30 more than 170 humanitarian organizations issued a joint statement condemning Israel’s deliberate and systematic dismantling of the humanitarian system in Gaza through its “blockade and restrictions” which, they pointed out, are “being used to justify shutting down nearly all other aid operations in favour of a deadly, military-controlled alternative that neither protects civilians nor meets basic needs.” This is forcing civilians to choose between “starvation or gunfire.”

The organizations point out, “Under the Israeli government’s new scheme, starved and weakened civilians are being forced to trek for hours through dangerous terrain and active conflict zones, only to face a violent, chaotic race to reach fenced, militarized distribution sites with a single entry point. There, thousands are released into chaotic enclosures to fight for limited food supplies. These areas have become sites of repeated massacres in blatant disregard for international humanitarian law.”

The statement warns that Gaza’s humanitarian crisis is rapidly deepening amid widespread hunger, fuel shortages, lack of clean water, lack of health care and other necessities to sustain life.

The groups urge donors “not to fund militarized aid schemes that violate international law, do not adhere to humanitarian principles, deepen harm, and risk complicity in atrocities,” and calls on all states to support “restoration of a unified, UN-led coordination mechanism — grounded in international humanitarian law and inclusive of UNRWA, Palestinian civil society, and the wider humanitarian community — to meet people’s needs.”

One of the longstanding aims of the U.S. and Israel is to dismantle UNRWA, because it is a key mechanism to affirming the rights of the Palestinian people, especially their right to be and right of return. With the GHF, the U.S. and Israel have descended to a new low in pursuing their goal of genocide.

Families mourn those killed seeking food at GHF aid centres, July 3, 2025.

The Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) was established in February, following Israel’s ban on the operations of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA). Israel’s parliament passed a bill designating UNRWA as a terrorist group in October 2024.

The GHF is registered as a non-profit organization in the U.S. state of Delaware and is funded in large part by the U.S. Department of State. It was established to take over delivery of food aid to Gaza, replacing UNRWA and other international humanitarian organizations. GHF is partnered with a private mercenary firm, Safe Reach Solutions, founded in January by Philip F. Reilly, a former senior CIA officer, to provide “security” at food distribution sites in Gaza.

The GHF has four aid distribution sites located in southern Gaza, three in Rafah and one in Gaza City. The previous UN-led food distribution network had over 400 sites in the Gaza Strip. To access food, most people in the north have to cross the Netzarim corridor occupied by the Israeli military.

The takeover of food distribution in Gaza by GHF is aimed at completely dismantling the existing humanitarian infrastructure in Gaza. Humanitarian and human rights organizations, in a May 19 press release, describe GHF as “a project led by politically connected Western security and military figures, coordinated in tandem with the Israeli government, and launched while the people of Gaza remain under total siege. It lacks any Palestinian involvement in its design or implementation.”

A member of the Israeli Knesset and leader of the Opposition in the Israeli parliament, Yair Lapid, recently accused the Israeli government of funding GHF Safe Reach Solutions as its “shell companies.” A GHF spokesman told the Washington Post “the foundation has already secured $100 million from an undisclosed donor.” Another Israeli opposition figure and Knesset member, Avigdor Lieberman, said in a social media post: “The money for humanitarian aid comes from the Mossad and the Ministry of Defense,” complaining, “Hundreds of millions of dollars at the expense of Israeli citizens.”

A leaked internal GHF document acknowledged that the food distribution centres and residential compounds it was constructing in Gaza could be perceived as “concentration camps” with “biometrics.” The GHF model serves Israel’s plan to occupy 75 per cent of the Gaza Strip, forcing Palestinians into what it calls “humanitarian islands.”

(With files from the Grayzone, Washington Post, European Journal of International Law)

The U.S. is undertaking a significant military construction program in Israel, involving projects worth over $1.5 billion, all financed through U.S. aid provided to Israel, newly released documents from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers reveal, as reported by the Israeli newspaper Ha’aretz.

The extensive initiative encompasses the building of airbase runways, helicopter hangars, ammunition storage facilities, and command centres, in addition to establishing a headquarters for the Israeli military’s Shayetet 13 naval commando unit, according to the information. The project is being funded through military assistance as part of the $3.8 billion annual aid package established in 2016 during Barack Obama’s presidency.

(Ha’aretz)

Report of UN Special Rapporteur on Occupied Palestinian Territories

On July 3, Francesca Albanese, UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Palestinian territories occupied since 1967, presented her latest report to the 59th Session of the UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC). It is entitled From Economy of Occupation to Economy of Genocide. It demands UN member states and private corporations based in these states, who are invested in and profiting from the U.S./Israeli genocide, take immediate action to end their complicity in the slaughter and displacement of the Palestinian people. In presenting her report to the 47-member Human Rights Council, Albanese pointed out: “This report shows why Israel’s genocide continues: because it is lucrative for many.”

The report is based on Albanese’s investigation which shines a light on some of the biggest global monopolies who are doing business with Israel and profiting from the suffering of the Palestinian people. More than 200 submissions were received from member states of the UN, human rights groups, academics and researchers, and also the private sector on the activities of these monopolies. Her office established a database of more than 1,000 companies that provide what she terms “scaffolding” for the Israeli state and which have been instrumental in the deadly transformation of Israel’s “economy of occupation” to “an economy of genocide.”

In the report’s Summary she notes: “While political leaders and Governments shirk their obligations, far too many corporate entities have profited from the Israeli economy of illegal occupation, apartheid and now genocide. The complicity exposed by the report is just the tip of the iceberg; ending it will not happen without holding the private sector accountable, including its executives.”

The report points out: “International law recognizes varying degrees of responsibility — each requiring scrutiny and accountability, particularly in this case, where a people’s self-determination and very existence are at stake. This is a necessary step to end the genocide and dismantle the global system that has allowed it.”

Speaking to the UNHRC, Albanese noted, among other things, “In the past 21 months, while Israel’s genocide has devastated Palestinian lives and landscapes, the Tel Aviv stock exchange soared by 213 per cent, amassing U.S.$225.7 billion in market gains — including $67.8 billion in the past month alone.”

Albanese underscored how Palestine has become the “epicentre of a global reckoning, exposing the failure of international business and legal systems to uphold even the most basic rights of one of the world’s most dispossessed peoples.”

She pointed out: “Corporate actors are deeply entwined in the system of occupation, apartheid and genocide in the occupied Palestinian territory. […F]or decades, Israel’s repression of the Palestinian people has been scaffolded by corporations, fully aware of and yet indifferent to decades of human rights violations and international crimes.”

The report names more than 60 companies from arms manufacturers to oil and gas companies to heavy machinery manufacturers to companies in the tourism industry and others.

The report points out that the Israeli military has benefitted from “the largest ever defence procurement program” for the F-35 fighter jets, made by U.S.-based Lockheed Martin with the involvement of more than 1,600 other manufacturers and eight states, including Canada. Albanese informed the UNHRC that “companies supplying F-35s, drones and targeting technology, have enabled 85,000 tons of bombs — six times the amount dropped on Hiroshima — to be dropped on Gaza.” The report names Elbit Systems in Israel, which is the biggest Israeli weapons manufacturer and the eighth largest weapons manufacturer in the world, and underscores that weapons manufacturing has become the “backbone of the Israeli economy.”

The report also names energy companies such as Chevron in the U.S. and British Petroleum which supply corporations involved in the genocide. Construction equipment companies such as U.S.-based Caterpillar and south Korea-based HD Hyundai are also named for supplying the Israeli military with the heavy duty equipment used to bulldoze and destroy Palestinian homes and property and facilitate the theft and illegal settlement of Palestinian lands.

Technology companies such as Alphabet, Amazon, Microsoft and IBM and others are named as “central to Israel’s surveillance apparatus and the ongoing Gaza destruction.” Palantir Technologies for example, has been providing AI tools to the Israeli military to identify Palestinian targets in the battlefield.

Large investment companies are identified as holding shares in companies directly involved in committing war crimes against the Palestinians. For example, Albanese’s report notes that Blackrock is the second largest institutional investor in companies on the list including Palantir (8.6 per cent), Microsoft (7.8 per cent), Amazon (6.6 per cent), Alphabet (6.6 per cent) and IBM (8.6 per cent), and third largest in Lockheed Martin (7.2 per cent) and Caterpillar (7.5 per cent).

Albanese warned that the rulings of the International Court of Justice in 2024 and the International Criminal Court’s arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Israeli Minister of Defence Yoav Gallant, should put all actors including the corporations listed in her report on notice.

She added: “The serious, structural, and sustained nature of Israel’s crimes and violations triggered a prima facie responsibility to disengage — one that many corporations ignored. Corporate fixation on narrow technicalities and isolated violations rather than confronting the structural illegality of their ties to Israel’s occupation is disingenuous.”

Part of the report’s Conclusions notes: “The entities named in the report constitute a fraction of a much deeper structure of corporate involvement, profiteering from and enabling violations and crimes in the occupied Palestinian territory. Had they exercised due diligence, corporate entities would have ceased involvement with Israel long ago. Today, the demand for accountability is all the more urgent: any investment sustains a system of serious international crimes.”

The report calls on all member states of the UN to impose a full arms embargo on Israel, suspend trade agreements and hold to account all private corporations and institutions within their boundaries which are invested in and collaborating with Israel to end their complicity.

Albanese concludes her presentation to the Human Rights Council stating, “Palestine is a mirror held up to the world’s moral and political failures.” Recalling the consequences of corporate complicity in Nazi Germany, for example, Albanese said that “Palestine today represents a defining moment for humanity. Ending this genocide requires not only outrage but rupture, reckoning and the courage to dismantle what enables it.”

The report itself ends with a call to action addressed to unions, legal professionals, civil and political organizations and ordinary citizens “to press for boycotts, divestments, sanctions, justice for Palestine and accountability at international and domestic levels; together we can end these unspeakable crimes.”

To read the Special Rapporteur’s report in full, click here.

Montreal, June 14

The latest report from Francesca Albanese, UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Palestinian territories at the 59th session of the UN Human Rights Council on July 3 contains important information. The UN Special Rapporteur refers to more than 60 international companies, including arms manufacturers and technology companies, accused of profiting from an Israeli economy that has become an “economy of genocide.” Among them are large companies headquartered in the United States, Western Europe and NATO member countries including Canada, which are benefiting from announcements by NATO and the European Union that they will increase their military spending to five per cent of GDP.

“The arms and surveillance industries have increased their contracts with Israel. This has had an impact on the country’s economic growth in specific sectors of the Israeli economy,” Albanese explained at a discussion forum.

“Last month alone, there was a $70 billion increase in stock market value. Why? Because Israel continues to sell weapons and surveillance systems that are tested and used in Gaza and other parts of the occupied Palestinian territory. This is part of the global arms race,” she noted.

Albanese provides a list of “enablers — financial, research, legal, consulting, media and advertising firms — long involved in sustaining the settler-colonial occupation through knowledge, narratives, skills and investment, [that] have continued to support, profit from and normalize an economy operating in genocidal mode.”

Among the financial institutions mentioned at the top of the list is the Quebec Deposit and Investment Fund (CDPQ) and the Quebec government. By stepping up investments in companies that do business with Israel, especially to supply its war machine, they are fully complicit in the genocide the U.S./Israeli Zionists are carrying out in Gaza.[1]

The CDPQ manages $473.3 billion in savings of 6 million Quebeckers. At least $9.6 billion of this is invested in arms and high-tech companies mentioned in the Special Rapporteur’s document.

A closer look at the CDPQ’s 2024 annual report reveals that there has been a marked increase in its investments in the military sector, and more specifically that it has invested $27.4 billion in more than 76 companies that are complicit in Israel’s crimes in Palestine, including companies headquartered in Quebec with close ties to the state of Israel.[2]

Among them is Montreal-based CAE, in which the CDPQ holds more than $78 million in bonds. CAE specializes in flight simulators and signed a $100 million contract in 2013 with the Israeli company Elbit Security Systems to train Israeli Air Force pilots for the “next generation of combat aircraft,” meaning the F-35 fighter jets currently used to bomb the population of Gaza. In February, the Canadian government awarded CAE a 37-year, $5 billion contract to train Canadian pilots for the CF-35A fighter jets it has contracted to buy from U.S. arms manufacturer Lockheed Martin.

The CDPQ owns more than $159 million in shares in Lockheed Martin. Lockheed Martin’s website says the company contributes more than $6 billion to the Israeli Air Force and Army, as well as to the Israeli military industry. The fund also owns $53.8 million in shares of Northrop Grumman, which produces key components of the F-35, and $103.2 million in shares of Boeing, which makes the F-15 jets used by Israel.

Albanese reports that the Anglo-Swiss mining oligopoly Glencore, which owns the Horne smelter in Rouyn-Noranda and the Raglan nickel mine in Nunavik, is also complicit in Israel’s crimes. It continues to supply the coal needed to fuel Israel’s power plants, which should also be providing power to Gaza. However, “Since October 2023, Israel has cut energy to most of Gaza. Without electricity or fuel, most water pumps, hospitals and transport reached the brink of total collapse; collapsed sanitation systems have contributed to a resurgence in polio; and vital desalination plants were forced to shut down,” notes the report. Glencore’s operations in Canada are supported through deferential government treatment permitting them to skirt environmental regulations in Canada.[3][4][5]

Notes

(With Information from UNHRC, TML, Radio-télévision suisse, Coalition du Québec Urgence Palestine, Just Peace Advocates, CAE, Boeing, Lockheed Martin)

For Your Information

The Quebec Deposit and Investment Fund (CDPQ) website, under the heading “Our clients, the depositors,” says:

“We manage the funds of 48 depositors, primarily pension and insurance funds in Québec’s public and parapublic sectors, who represent over six million people.

“We seize the best investment opportunities for them, targeting optimal performance of their funds, based on their specific yield objectives, risk tolerance and investment horizons.”

It states that there are three types of depositors:

– Pension plans, such as the Québec Pension Plan and the pension plans of hundreds of thousands of public and parapublic sector employees, representing $413.7 billion as of December 31, 2024;

– Insurance plans, such as the government-run Quebec Automobile Insurance Board (SAAQ) which has a fund to provide indemnities to victims of road accidents and to promote road safety, representing $38.8 billion, as of December 31, 2024; and

– Other organizations, such as the Office of Consumer Protection and the Quebec Finance Ministry, amounting to $20.8 billion as of December 31, 2024.

Under the heading “Our Main Depositors,” the CDPQ says that the nine largest depositor funds represented 96.4 per cent of its net assets as of December 31, 2024.

The nine largest depositors are, in order of importance:

1. Quebec Pension Plan Fund (QPP) — Base Plan

– net assets: $125.9 billion

– 4.3 million contributors

– 2.2 million beneficiaries

– $18.1 billion paid in benefits annually

– administered by Retraite Québec

2. Pension Plan Amortization Fund (FARR)

– net assets: $123.2 billion

– enables the Government of Quebec to capitalize the employer’s share of pension benefits for public and parapublic sector employees

The FARR is a Quebec fund created in 1993 to finance public sector pension plans, such as the Government and Public Employees Retirement Plan. It is a savings mechanism that accumulates contributions to guarantee the payment of pension benefits to current and future participants.

In other words, the FARR is a financial tool that manages the funds needed to pay the retirement pensions of Quebec public sector employees. It is funded by contributions from employees and the employer (the government) and serves to guarantee the long-term solvency of pension plans.

3. Government and Public Employees Retirement Plan (RREGOP)

– net assets: $91.4 billion

– 635,000 contributors (mainly health, education and social services workers as well as all civil servants)

– 341,000 retirees are beneficiaries

– 24,000 people who have lost a spouse or parent are beneficiaries

– $7.8 billion paid in benefits annually

4. Supplemental Pension Plan for Employees of the Québec Construction Industry

– net assets: $33.6 billion

– 203,000 contributors

– 104,000 retirees or beneficiaries who have lost a spouse

– $1.0 billion paid in benefits annually

5. Occupational Health and Safety Fund

– net assets: $21.3 billion

– 234,000 contributing employers

– 4.2 million workers covered

– $2.8 billion paid out in benefits annually

– Administered by the Commission for Standards, Equity, Health and Safety at Work (CNESST)

6. Generations Fund

– net assets: $18.7 billion

– funds used to repay Quebec’s debt

– administered by Quebec Ministry of Finance

The Generations Fund was created in 2006 by an Act of Quebec National Assembly. According to the government, it was intended to reduce long-term debt through special revenues. The Act has been amended several times since then. To finance its tax cuts, the Legault government reduced transfers to the Generations Fund by 39 per cent, limiting its contribution to $3 billion per year.

7. Quebec Pension Plan Fund — Additional Plan

– net assets: $15.7 billion

The Quebec Pension Plan Fund — Additional Plan is a complementary component of the basic QPP. It aims to provide workers with a higher retirement pension by gradually increasing the income replacement rate from 25 per cent to 33.33 per cent and raising the maximum pensionable earnings to 114 per cent.

To finance this plan, workers and employers make additional contributions equal to those made to the basic plan, and these contributions are invested by the CDPQ to generate returns. In the case of self-employed workers, they are solely responsible for all contributions.

8. Quebec Automobile Insurance Fund

– net assets: $13.7 billion

– 8.9 million people covered

– approximately $1.3 billion paid to insured persons in claims and other related expenses

– administered by the SAAQ

In the wake of the SAAQ-Clic scandal, which resulted in cost overruns of several hundred million dollars, the audit committee of the SAAQ’s board of directors analyzed the possibility of drawing on the fund intended to compensate road accident victims. The SAAQ board was considering drawing between $125 million and $130 million per year to cover part of the administrative costs. From the late 1980s to the mid-1990s, the Quebec National Assembly passed a series of legislation allowing the government to draw on the fund’s surplus for a total of $2.2 billion, a decision that was upheld by the Court of Appeal in 1996.

9. Pension Plan of Management Personnel (RRPE)

– net assets: $13.0 billion

– 35,000 contributors

– 36,000 retirees

– 3,000 beneficiaries who have lost a spouse or relative

– $1.8 billion paid out in benefits annually

Photo Review

Montreal, June 21

Ottawa

On the evening of June 11, the Association of Palestinian Arab Canadians (APAC) hosted its 9th annual Palestine Day on the Hill, in the Sir John A. MacDonald Building in front of Parliament Hill. The event was co-hosted by parliamentarians Salma Zahid, Fares Abu Al Soud, Mario Beaulieu, Alexandre Boulerice, Don Davies, Leah Gazan, Jenny Kwan, Heather McPherson and Jenna Sudds.

This year’s theme, “Threads of Resilience,” spoke to the unbroken strength of the Palestinian people in the face of generations of dispossession, occupation, and now, genocide, and to the fact that Palestinian resistance is not just a story of endurance, but a demand for justice and accountability.

In her introduction to the event, an APAC spokesperson elaborated: “Threads of Resilience refers to the method used in Tatreez, the traditional cross-stitch patterns of Palestinian dress such as those used on our keffiyehs. Often these threads are what we hold close here in the diaspora because they tie us back to our home, reminding us of our duty to our people and our land. Threads are part of our story. One thread can easily be broken, but woven together, they can become unbreakable.”

The next speaker, APAC President Waleed Ibrahim, said in part:

“We gather today on day 613 of Israel’s relentless genocide against the Palestinian people. For 613 days, the men, women, and children of Gaza have been forced to endure the heaviest and most sustained bombing campaign in modern history, a campaign where Israel has dropped roughly five times the equivalence of the nuclear bomb that was dropped on Hiroshima, in one of the most densely populated strips of land on Earth, one seventh the size of the City of Ottawa.

“For almost two years now, Israel has been allowed to commit unspeakable atrocities. The truth is that the most reputable human rights organizations and international law authorities as well as humanitarian aid organizations have all been sounding the alarm that Israel is committing war crimes. The ICJ [International Court of Justice], the world’s foremost legal authority, has said that there is plausible reason to believe that Israel is committing genocide in Gaza, and the ICC [International Criminal Court] has issued arrest warrants for Benjamen Netanyahu. The evidence is clear. We don’t’ need more of it.

“The bottom line is that we are at a critical moment. Israel is committing genocide and openly speaks of ethnically cleansing Palestinians with the support of the U.S. President who muses about turning Gaza into the Riviera of the Middle East. As a Canadian of Palestinian origin and the son of a Nakba survivor, it is difficult for me to admit that we may be witnessing the final stages of the ethnic cleansing of Palestine.

“But it is not too late to prevent it from happening if we act now. Palestine is a litmus test and how we respond will tell us how History will judge us. Decision-makers have to confront the reality that what Israel wants now, and has always wanted, is Historic Palestine without the Palestinian people.

“Accepting this reality will position Canada to rethink its foreign policy so that we can urgently take the following much needed actions:

“1. Given the very real danger of mass expulsion and annexation, now is the time to recognize the State of Palestine without condition.

“2. Canada must impose a long overdue arms embargo without loopholes. We refuse to engage in arms trade with a State that is accused at the ICJ of genocide.

“3. Canada should ensure our commitment to International Law and abide by the rulings of the ICC and ICJ. We urge the government to immediately suspend the Canada-Israel Free Trade Agreement.

“4. We call on our government to continue to forcibly insist that Israel allow humanitarian aid agencies, especially UNRWA, to operate, and for our government to significantly expand humanitarian assistance.

“5. That this government recognize that the silencing of Palestinian voices and the denial of our narratives, including the Nakba, is a rapidly growing problem domestically and a distinct form of hatred that must be recognized as part of the Federal anti-racism strategy.”

Other speakers were Samar Odeh, a member of the APAC Board of Directors; Salma Zahid, Liberal Party MP and Chair of the Canada-Palestine Parliamentary Friendship Group; Mario Beaulieu, Bloc Québécois MP; Heather McPherson, NDP MP; Fares Abu Al Soud, Liberal Party MP; Amira Elghawaby, Canada’s special representative on combatting Islamophobia.

June 11

The March for Gaza demonstration took place in Ottawa on Saturday, June 14. The march was of particular significance, as people from Ottawa and Gatineau had travelled to Egypt to take part in the March for Gaza heading to the Rafah border to break the Israeli siege and to let humanitarian aid into Gaza. One of them is Doctor Yipeng Ge, who has practiced in Gaza and who, at every opportunity, speaks out against the genocide and for a free Palestine.

At the Human Rights Monument, before the march, a spokesperson for the Palestinian Youth Movement addressed this issue as things were unfolding:

“People of conscience from around the world right now are trying to break the siege by marching to the Rafah border. These peaceful marchers were immediately met with violence from the treacherous Egyptian government — violently detaining individuals, stealing their passports and forcibly deporting them. Despite this, the march continues and we stand here in support of our brave brothers and sisters who are risking everything in the hope of helping Gaza.

“While regular people desperately try to offer any kind of material support, Western governments are putting off even discussion on recognizing a Palestinian State. This week, a special UN meeting was supposed to be held in New York to discuss the topic of recognition. But after Israel’s illegal attacks on Iran, this meeting has been postponed. We remind our government that recognition means nothing without an end to the genocide.

“Recognition will not stop the ethnic cleansing of the Palestinian people, but an arms embargo could. This is why we march week after week, month after month, to fill the streets with our demand: Arms Embargo Now! But even as this demand echoes across the country, Canada shamefully still provides Israel with diplomatic cover and material support, even as the violence against Palestinians reaches new heights, even as Israel breaks ceasefire deal after ceasefire deal, continuing to bomb Lebanon to this day, even as Israel forcibly expands into Syria and even as they suddenly and viciously attacked Iran just a few days ago

“But we will not allow Israel’s crimes to go unseen. We stand with our people in Gaza, the West Bank, and across Palestine. We stand with the people of Lebanon, Syria, Yemen, and Iran, with the people of conscience around the world that the Zionist regime thinks it can crush. We will continue to stand with them until the end of the genocide, until the end of the occupation, and until Palestine is free.

“Gaza, Gaza, Food and Water! Egypt, Let Them Cross the Border!”

June 14, March for Gaza

June 21

On Saturday, July 5, hundreds of people gathered at the Human Rights Monument in Ottawa to demand an end to the siege on Gaza and an end to the genocide. In the call to action, organizers pointed out:

“In February of 2024, we took to the streets to condemn the flour massacres, when Palestinians were murdered as they tried to get bags of flour. Now, more than a year later, the complete siege on Gaza has only been tightened. Aid centres have become killing zones and what little flour Palestinians are able to get is being laced with opioids. The people of Gaza deserve to live and the only way they can is for an end to the genocide and an end to the siege. Until these demands are met, we will continue marching!”

Before the march, a spokesperson for the Palestinian Youth Movement said:

“We are here today to oppose the ongoing genocide on the people of Palestine for the past 637 days. As we gather, the Zionist entity continues to escalate its genocide against the people of Gaza. This past week, the Israeli Occupation Forces has carried out relentless massacres on the people of Gaza, targeting densely populated areas and obliterating entire family lineages. Israel continues to lure Palestinians into American aid sites, only to execute them on video, reinforcing its clear pattern of targeting safe areas and aid seekers.

“For 126 days, all borders crossing into Gaza have been completely sealed, blocking any and all essential aid from entering the Strip. What we’re witnessing is a systematic use of starvation, siege, and extermination as weapons of control.

“For the past 21 months, Israel has also been bombing Yemen, attacking Syria, invading Lebanon, and striking Iran, and the Canadian government continues to be complicit in all of it. Canada profits from the occupation by exporting weapons, funding surveillance technologies and offering political cover for Zionist crimes. It is not silence. It is active support. Our demands are clear: We need a two-way arms embargo now!”

July 5

Montreal

June 14

June 21

Toronto

On the evening of June 13 several hundred people gathered at Bay and Front Streets for an action called by the Palestinian Youth Movement. The purpose was to support the Global March on Gaza and denounce the attacks on participants by the Egyptian government and others who collaborate with the criminal Zionist state to maintain the siege of Gaza and deny humanitarian aid.

Speakers congratulated the thousands of people from 54 countries around the world, including Canadians, who are taking part in the Global March. They organized to march to Rafah to demand an end to the brutal siege on Gaza and the deliberate starvation of the heroic Palestinian people by the U.S.-backed Israeli Zionist regime. Speakers also condemned the Zionist regime for its criminal aggression against Iran, backed by the U.S., an attempt to engulf the whole region in the flames of war. In spite of this, the demonstrators assured, the Resistance will not be deterred.

After listening to the speeches, they marched through the downtown area; among their slogans: End the Siege on Gaza Now!, Stop Bombing Gaza! Stop Bombing Lebanon! Stop Bombing Syria! Stop Bombing Iran!

On June 15 as the Leaders’ Summit of the Genocide 7 began in Kananaskis, another rally and march took place on the Lakeshore. People gathered outside the Prince’s Gate entrance to the Canadian National Exhibition, where they were joined by a car caravan from Mississauga. The theme was worldwide solidarity in support of the Resistance in Gaza, in all of Palestine, in Lebanon, Yemen and Iran.

Speakers emphasized that the 616 days of the current Israeli war on Gaza, supported by the countries of the G7, is a continuation of an occupation and violation of the rights of the Palestinian people that has been going on for 77 years. They condemned the Canadian government for its complicity in U.S./Israeli crimes and demanded an immediate two-way arms embargo and that Canada fulfil its obligations under international law, including defending Canadians under attack in Egypt. They saluted every effort being made worldwide to break the siege and end the occupation, including the Global March and the Freedom Flotilla, expressing confidence that the Resistance will triumph and the worldwide movement will build until Palestine is free.

Chants of In our Millions, In Our Billions, We Are All Palestinians! and We Are All the Children of Palestine! and others condemning the Israeli occupation and siege of Gaza and U.S./Israeli crimes in the Middle East filled the air, with many passing drivers honking horns and raising fists in support.

Several hundred Torontonians gathered at the U.S. consulate in Toronto on June 22 to denounce the U.S. bombing of Iran’s nuclear facilities and Israel’s ongoing military aggression against Iran.

Contingents of workers, youth, artists, and people from all walks of life vigorously denounced the U.S./Israeli crimes against Iran and the genocide of the Palestinian people, with chants of Free Palestine!, Hands Off Iran!, End the Occupation Now!, Ceasefire Now! echoing through the streets as demonstrators marched from the consulate through the downtown area. Many signs and slogans condemned the complicity of the Canadian government in the genocide and called for an immediate arms embargo.

June 15

July 5

Sudbury

A picket took place in front of Scotiabank on Barrydowne July 5. Scotiabank is one of the largest investors in Elbit Systems, Israel’s largest armaments manufacturer. Elbit is the prime contractor for the Merkava tank which has been used extensively in Gaza. Investigation by the No Nickel For Genocide Working Group has shown that the tank engine and transmission are made in Germany from nickel refined in Norway but mined and smelted in Sudbury. The action demanded Scotiabank divest from Elbit.

July 5

Windsor

June 14

A militant Hands off Iran! rally was held on June 21. The first speaker was Margaret Villamizar of the Marxist-Leninist Party who denounced the Canadian government for not uttering a word about Israel’s criminal and dangerous unprovoked attack on Iran’s nuclear facilities, an egregious violation of international law and the UN Charter. Instead, she said, Canada repeats Israel’s bogus claim of self-defence and refuses to acknowledge where it clearly does apply, which is to Iran’s actions. It also repeats the other big lie that the legitimate resistance of an occupied people like the Palestinians constitutes terrorism.

She said the call for Canada to implement a two-way arms embargo with Israel is now more important than ever, as is stepping up the work to make Canada a zone for peace by getting out of the U.S. war machine. That means removing Canada from the aggressive U.S.-led NATO alliance and the U.S.-commanded NORAD. It is work that falls to us, the people of Canada and Quebec, Margaret said, as the government and parties in parliament who in our name are supporting the U.S./Israeli war of extermination against the Palestinian people and criminal attacks on Iran while also committing to spend billions more on war preparations to appease Trump, are not about to do it.

Speakers that followed, representing the youth and student organizations that called the action, hailed the achievements of the Palestinian Resistance and those standing with them in dealing blows to the U.S./Zionist aggressor from South Lebanon, Yemen and the Islamic Republic of Iran. They decried others such as the UN, NATO, the Arab League and governments, including Canada’s, as well as others that give lip service to Palestinian liberation. However, they are too busy collaborating with the aggressors and making backroom deals for money, land and other arrangements beneficial to themselves, to fulfil their obligations under the UN Charter and international law or to turn their words of support for Palestine into deeds.

Organizers stressed the need for activists to move beyond the notion that awareness is resistance, and to actually stand in support of the Resistance, and to do it with a clear conscience, without hesitation or allowing those fomenting division on a sectarian or any other basis to disrupt the unity that is needed to stop the enemy.

The rally ended with repeated shouts of Long Live the Resistance! Long Live Palestine! Free Free Palestine! and Hands off Iran!

June 21

Calgary

June 20

Vancouver

June 21, 2025

INTERNATIONAL

United States

New York City

June 22 rally welcomes Mahmoud Khalil, freed from illegal detention for his organizing work at

Columbia University in support of Palestine.

Chicago

June 28

San Francisco

June 23

Mexico City

June 15

Quito, Ecuador

June 15

Brazil

São Paulo June 15

Rio De Janeiro

June 14

Santiago, Chile

June 14

England

London

June 21

July 7, protest demands charges be dropped against leaders of pro-Palestine actions

Somerset

Support for Palestine at Glastonbury Festival, June 28

Liverpool

June 29

July 6

Ireland

Dublin

Limerick

Oslo, Norway

June 15

Berlin, Germany

June 22

Almere, Netherlands

Thousands of pairs of children’s shoes, June 29

Brussels, Belgium

Protest against mistreatment of Samoud convoy, outside European Parliament building, June 23

Bern, Switzerland

June 22

Paris, France

June 21

Italy

Rome

June 17

Brescia

June 14

Sana’a, Yemen

June 27

July 4

Tunisia

Tunis

Samoud Convoy is welcomed back June 19, after being prevented from entering Egypt on its mission to reach Rafah and bring aid to the people of Gaza.

Ben Gardane Samoud Convoy, June 10

Tripoli, Libya

Greeting the Samoud Convoy, June 11

Samoud Convoy, on the road in Libya , June 11

Jakarta, Indonesia

June 30

Seoul, Korea

July 6

Australia

Sydney

Melbourne

June 23

(To access articles individually click on the black headline.)

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Website: www.cpcml.ca Email: editor@cpcml.ca

From 1d ago 11.49 BST UN says fuel shortage in Gaza at ‘critical levels’ The UN said on Saturday that the fuel shortage in Gaza has reached “critical levels”. The statement said that fuel supplies were needed to move essential goods across the Gaza Strip and operate a network of bakeries producing fresh bread for the affected population. It said a lack of fuel meant “lifelines will vanish for 2.1 million people”, who the UN said were “teetering on the edge of starvation”. It added: Without adequate fuel, Gaza faces a collapse of humanitarian efforts. Hospitals are already going dark, maternity, neonatal and intensive care units are failing, and ambulances can no longer move. Roads and transport will remain blocked, trapping those in need. Telecommunications will shut down, crippling lifesaving coordination and cutting families off from critical information, and from one another. Without fuel, bakeries and community kitchens cannot operate. Water production and sanitation systems will shut down, leaving families without safe drinking water, while solid waste and sewage pile up in the streets. These conditions expose families to deadly disease outbreaks and push Gaza’s most vulnerable even closer to death. The UN welcomed the small amount of fuel that entered Gaza this week for the first time in 130 days, but said it was a “small fraction” of what is needed each day to keep daily life and critical aid operations running. Share

24h ago 14.29 BST Closing summary This blog will be closing shortly, here is an overview of the day’s main developments: The UN said on Saturday that the fuel shortage in Gaza has reached “critical levels”. The statement said that a lack of fuel meant “lifelines will vanish for 2.1 million people”, who the UN said were “teetering on the edge of starvation”. It said fuel supplies were needed to move essential goods across the Gaza Strip and operate a network of bakeries producing fresh bread for the affected population.

Israeli airstrikes killed at least 28 Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, including four children, hospital officials said on Saturday. The four children and two women were among at least 13 people who were killed in Deir al-Balah, in central Gaza, after Israeli airstrikes pounded the area starting late on Friday, officials in Al-Aqsa Martyr’s hospital said.

The family of a Palestinian American man who was beaten to death by settlers in the Israeli-occupied West Bank have demanded for an investigation to be launched, claiming a group prevented ambulance from reaching him for three hours. The Palestinian Health Ministry said in a statement that US citizen Sayafollah Musallet, who was in his early 20s, died after being severely beaten in the incident on Friday evening in Sinjil, north of Ramallah. A second man, Hussein Al-Shalabi, 23, also died after being shot in the chest.

Iranian foreign minister Abbas Araqchi warned on Saturday that a so-called snapback of UN sanctions could end Europe’s role in the issue of Tehran’s nuclear programme. The comments came as the minister said the country’s cooperation with the International Atomic Energy Agency “will take on a new form”. A new law from the Iranian parliament stipulates that any future inspection of Iran’s nuclear sites by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) needs approval by the Supreme national security council, Iran’s top security body.

The UN said on Friday that nearly 800 people had been killed trying to access food in Gaza since late May, when Israel began easing a more than two-month blockade on deliveries. UN human rights office spokesperson Ravina Shamdasani said most of the deaths occurred near facilities operated by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), backed by the US and Israel.

Asked about the UN figures, the Israeli military said it had worked to minimise “possible friction” between aid seekers and soldiers, and that it conducted “thorough examinations” of incidents in which “harm to civilians who arrived at distribution facilities was reported”. GHF called the UN report “false and misleading”, claiming that “most deadly attacks on aid sites have been linked to UN convoys”.

Lebanon’s health ministry said an Israeli strike on south Lebanon on Saturday killed one person, the latest attack despite a ceasefire between Israel and Iran-backed Hezbollah. In a statement, the ministry said that an “Israeli enemy strike” on a home in Wata al-Khiam killed one person. Share

24h ago 14.16 BST Iranian foreign minister Abbas Araqchi warned on Saturday that a so-called snapback of UN sanctions could end Europe’s role in the issue of Tehran’s nuclear programme, Agence France-Presse (AFP) reports. Such measures “would signify the end of Europe’s role in the Iranian nuclear dossier,” Araghchi said. A clause in the 2015 nuclear agreement between Iran and world powers allows for UN sanctions to be reimposed in the event Tehran breaches the deal. Araghchi told diplomats in the Iranian capital: The Islamic Republic of Iran remains ready to build this confidence through diplomacy but, before that, our counterparts must convince us that they want diplomacy and not that diplomacy is a cover for other goals and objectives they have. The minister also said that access to Iran’s bombed nuclear sites posed security and safety issues. The comments came as the minister said the country’s cooperation with the International Atomic Energy Agency “will take on a new form”, Reuters reports. A new law from the Iranian parliament stipulates that any future inspection of Iran’s nuclear sites by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) needs approval by the Supreme national security council, Iran’s top security body. State media cited Araqchi as saying: The risk of spreading radioactive materials and the risk of exploding leftover munitions … are serious. For us, IAEA inspectors approaching nuclear sites has both a security aspect … and the safety of the inspectors themselves is a matter that must be examined.”

Share

1d ago 13.56 BST The family of Sayfollah “Saif” Musallet, a 20-year-old Palestinian-American who was killed by Israeli settlers while visiting relatives in the occupied West Bank, said a group prevented ambulances from reaching him for three hours. They added that Musallet died of his injuries before reaching hospital. “I was the first one to reach Saif,” said Mohammed Nael Hijaz, a 22-year-old friend of Musallet. “He was not moving when I got there and he could barely breathe. There was time to save him.” Another Palestinian man, 23-year-old Razek Hussein al-Shalabi, was fatally shot during the attack and was left to bleed to death, the Palestinian health ministry said. The funeral for both men will be held on Sunday so they can be buried together, according to a cousin of Musallet. My colleagues William Christou, Sufian Taha and Joseph Gedeon have written more on the topic in the article below: Israeli settlers kill American-Palestinian visiting relatives in West Bank, says family Israeli settlers kill American-Palestinian visiting relatives in West Bank, says family Read more Share Updated at 14.02 BST

1d ago 13.40 BST Iranian foreign minister Abbas Araghchi said on Saturday that Iran’s cooperation with the International Atomic Energy Agency “will take on a new form”, following a law suspending ties with UN watchdog, Agence France-Presse (AFP) reports. “Our cooperation with the agency has not stopped, but will take on a new form,” said Araghchi, adding that requests to monitor nuclear sites “will be reviewed on a case-by-case basis… taking into account safety and security issues”. Share

1d ago 13.24 BST Summary of the day so far The UN said on Saturday that the fuel shortage in Gaza has reached “critical levels”. The statement said that fuel supplies were needed to move essential goods across the Gaza Strip and operate a network of bakeries producing fresh bread for the affected population. It said a lack of fuel meant “lifelines will vanish for 2.1 million people”, who the UN said were “teetering on the edge of starvation”. The statement came as Israeli airstrikes killed at least 28 Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, including four children, hospital officials said on Saturday. The four children and two women were among at least 13 people who were killed in Deir al-Balah, in central Gaza, after Israeli airstrikes pounded the area starting late on Friday, officials in Al-Aqsa Martyr’s hospital said. Another four people were killed in strikes near a fuel station, and 15 others died in Israeli airstrikes in Khan Younis, in southern Gaza, according to Nasser hospital.

The Israeli military said in a statement that over the past 48 hours, troops struck approximately 250 targets in the Gaza Strip, including militants, booby-trapped structures, weapons storage facilities, anti-tank missile launch posts, sniper posts, tunnels and additional Hamas infrastructure sites. In other developments: The UN said on Friday that nearly 800 people had been killed trying to access food in Gaza since late May, when Israel began easing a more than two-month blockade on deliveries. UN human rights office spokesperson Ravina Shamdasani said most of the deaths occurred near facilities operated by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), backed by the US and Israel.

Asked about the UN figures, the Israeli military said it had worked to minimise “possible friction” between aid seekers and soldiers, and that it conducted “thorough examinations” of incidents in which “harm to civilians who arrived at distribution facilities was reported”. GHF called the UN report “false and misleading”, claiming that “most deadly attacks on aid sites have been linked to UN convoys”.

The family of a Palestinian American man who was beaten to death by settlers in the Israeli-occupied West Bank have demanded for an investigation to be launched. The Palestinian Health Ministry said in a statement that US citizen Sayafollah Musallet, who was in his early 20s, died after being severely beaten in the incident on Friday evening in Sinjil, north of Ramallah. A second man, Hussein Al-Shalabi, 23, also died after being shot in the chest.

Gaza’s civil defence agency said Israeli forces killed at least 30 people on Friday, including 10 who were waiting for aid in the south of the war-ravaged territory. Gaza civil defence official Mohammed al-Mughayyir said that 10 people were shot by Israeli forces on Friday while waiting for supplies in the Al-Shakoush area northwest of Rafah, where there have been repeated reports of deadly fire on aid seekers.

Lebanon’s health ministry said an Israeli strike on south Lebanon on Saturday killed one person, the latest attack despite a ceasefire between Israel and Iran-backed Hezbollah. In a statement, the ministry said that an “Israeli enemy strike” on a home in Wata al-Khiam killed one person. Share Updated at 14.27 BST

1d ago 12.40 BST Depleted Hamas focuses on desperate new aim: capturing an Israeli soldier Jason Burke As Hamas intensifies its insurgent campaign against Israeli forces in Gaza, it is focusing on a new aim: capturing an Israeli soldier. Last week, an Israel Defense Forces (IDF) sergeant was killed in Khan Younis in southern Gaza in an attempted abduction. Hamas militants also tried to take away the remains of 25-year-old Abraham Azulay but abandoned the effort when attacked by other Israeli forces. The capture of a soldier or their remains would offer significant new leverage for Hamas as indirect negotiations continue over a ceasefire deal, and have a major impact on public opinion in Israel. “This attempt failed. [But there is] no doubt Hamas will increase its attempts to take new hostages, including bodies of dead soldiers and civilians,” said Michael Milstein, the head of the Palestinian studies forum at Tel Aviv University. Hamas is still holding 50 of the 250 hostages seized during its surprise attack on 7 October 2023, when militants killed 1,200, mostly civilians, and triggered the conflict in Gaza. More than half are thought to be dead, and the release of 28 is being discussed in the ceasefire talks in Qatar. “Hamas may release captives to have a ceasefire, at least for now, but is also attempting to capture more … so is signalling that any agreement is not going to be a permanent end to the overall conflict,” said Abdeljawad Hamayel, a Ramallah-based political analyst. Read on here: Depleted Hamas focuses on desperate new aim: capturing an Israeli soldier Read more Share

1d ago 12.14 BST The Israeli army has warned residents of the Gaza Strip not to enter the sea along the coast of the area. IDF spokesperson Avichay Adraee said in a post on X: We remind you that strict security restrictions have been imposed in the maritime area adjacent to the Strip, where entry to the sea is prohibited. The IDF forces will deal with any violation of these restrictions. We call on fishermen, swimmers and divers to refrain from entering the sea. Share

1d ago 12.03 BST Lebanon’s health ministry said an Israeli strike on south Lebanon on Saturday killed one person, the latest attack despite a ceasefire between Israel and Iran-backed Hezbollah, Agence France-Presse (AFP) reports. In a statement, the ministry said that an “Israeli enemy strike” on a home in Wata al-Khiam killed one person. There was no immediate comment from the Israeli military on the incident. Israel has repeatedly bombed Lebanon despite a November ceasefire that sought to end over a year of hostilities between Israel and the Lebanese armed group Hezbollah. Under the agreement, Hezbollah was to pull its fighters back north of the Litani River, about 30 kilometres (20 miles) from the border with Israel. Israel was required to fully withdraw its troops from Lebanon but has kept them deployed in five border points it deemed strategic. On Friday, Lebanese president Joseph Aoun said that while he was open to peaceful relations with Israel, normalisation of ties was “not currently part of Lebanese foreign policy”. View image in fullscreen Lebanese president Joseph Aoun at the Presidential Palace in Nicosia, Cyprus on 9 July 2025. Photograph: Reuters Share

1d ago 11.49 BST UN says fuel shortage in Gaza at ‘critical levels’ The UN said on Saturday that the fuel shortage in Gaza has reached “critical levels”. The statement said that fuel supplies were needed to move essential goods across the Gaza Strip and operate a network of bakeries producing fresh bread for the affected population. It said a lack of fuel meant “lifelines will vanish for 2.1 million people”, who the UN said were “teetering on the edge of starvation”. It added: Without adequate fuel, Gaza faces a collapse of humanitarian efforts. Hospitals are already going dark, maternity, neonatal and intensive care units are failing, and ambulances can no longer move. Roads and transport will remain blocked, trapping those in need. Telecommunications will shut down, crippling lifesaving coordination and cutting families off from critical information, and from one another. Without fuel, bakeries and community kitchens cannot operate. Water production and sanitation systems will shut down, leaving families without safe drinking water, while solid waste and sewage pile up in the streets. These conditions expose families to deadly disease outbreaks and push Gaza’s most vulnerable even closer to death. The UN welcomed the small amount of fuel that entered Gaza this week for the first time in 130 days, but said it was a “small fraction” of what is needed each day to keep daily life and critical aid operations running. Share

1d ago 11.24 BST Latest Israeli strikes kill 28 Palestinians, hospital officials say Israeli airstrikes killed at least 28 Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, including four children, hospital officials said on Saturday, the Associated Press (AP) reports.

The four children and two women were among at least 13 people who were killed in Deir al-Balah, in central Gaza, after Israeli airstrikes pounded the area starting late on Friday, officials in Al-Aqsa Martyr’s hospital said. Another four people were killed in strikes near a fuel station, and 15 others died in Israeli airstrikes in Khan Younis, in southern Gaza, according to Nasser hospital.

The Israeli military said in a statement that over the past 48 hours, troops struck approximately 250 targets in the Gaza Strip, including militants, booby-trapped structures, weapons storage facilities, anti-tank missile launch posts, sniper posts, tunnels and additional Hamas infrastructure sites. The military did not immediately respond to the AP’s request for comment on the civilian deaths.

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1d ago 11.14 BST Here are some of the latest photos of Gaza coming to us through the wires: View image in fullscreen Palestinians perform funeral prayer after Israeli attack towards al-Mawasi neighbourhood claimed Palestinians’ lives in Gaza Strip on Saturday, 12 July 2025. Photograph: Anadolu/Getty Images View image in fullscreen Palestinians inspect the wreckage of a gas station destroyed in an Israeli airstrike in Deir al-Balah, central Gaza Strip on Saturday. Photograph: Abdel Kareem Hana/AP View image in fullscreen Relatives and loved ones of Palestinians, who lost their lives in Israel’s attacks on different parts of the Gaza Strip, mourn their loss as the bodies are brought to Shifa Hospital for funeral procedures in Gaza City, Gaza on Saturday. Photograph: Anadolu/Getty Images View image in fullscreen Palestinians inspect the damage at the site of an overnight Israeli airstrike that hit a tent sheltering displaced people, in Khan Younis, southern Gaza Strip, on Saturday. Photograph: Ramadan Abed/Reuters Share

1d ago 10.54 BST Talks aimed at securing a ceasefire in Gaza are stalling over the extent of Israeli forces’ withdrawal from the Palestinian territory, Palestinian and Israeli sources familiar with the negotiations in Doha told Reuters and Agence France-Presse (AFP). The sources said the indirect talks over a US proposal for a 60-day ceasefire are expected to continue despite the latest obstacles. Delegations from both sides began discussions in Qatar last Sunday to try to agree on a temporary halt to the 21-month conflict sparked by Hamas’s deadly attack on Israel on 7 October 2023. A Palestinian source told Reuters on Saturday that Hamas has rejected the withdrawal maps which Israel has proposed, as they would leave about 40% of the territory under Israeli control, including all of the southern area of Rafah and further territories in northern and eastern Gaza. Two Israeli sources told Reuters that Hamas wants Israel to retreat to lines it held in a previous ceasefire before it renewed its offensive in March. The Palestinian source said matters regarding aid and guarantees for ending the war were also presenting a challenge, and added that the crisis may be resolved with more US intervention. Another Palestinian source told AFP that mediators had asked both sides to postpone the talks until the arrival of US president Donald Trump’s special envoy, Steve Witkoff, in Doha. The source said: The negotiations in Doha are facing a setback and complex difficulties due to Israel’s insistence, as of Friday, on presenting a map of withdrawal, which is actually a map of redeployment and repositioning of the Israeli army rather than a genuine withdrawal. Hamas has long demanded an end to the war before it would free remaining hostages; Israel has insisted it would end the fighting only when all hostages are released and Hamas is dismantled. Both Hamas and Israel have said that 10 living hostages who were taken that day and are still in captivity would be released if an agreement for a 60-day ceasefire were reached. Share Updated at 10.54 BST

1d ago 10.29 BST Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said on Saturday his country had achieved victory after Kurdish rebels destroyed their weapons, ending their decades-long armed struggle against Ankara, Agence France-Presse (AFP) reports. Erdoğan said: Turkey has won. Eighty-six million citizens have won. We know what we are doing. Nobody needs to worry or ask questions. We are doing all this for Turkey, for our future. Friday’s symbolic weapons destruction ceremony in Iraqi Kurdistan marked a major step in the transition of the Kurdistan Workers’ party (PKK) from armed insurgency to democratic politics – part of a broader effort to end one of the region’s longest-running conflicts. The PKK was formed in 1978 by Ankara University students, with the ultimate goal of achieving the Kurds’ liberation through armed struggle. It took up arms in 1984 and the ensuing conflict has cost more than 40,000 lives. It decided in May to disband, disarm and end its separatist struggle after a public call to do so from its long-imprisoned leader Abdullah Ocalan. Share

1d ago 10.11 BST Kiran Stacey Kiran Stacey is a political correspondent based in Westminster. Nearly 60 Labour MPs have demanded the UK immediately recognises Palestine as a state, after Israel’s defence minister announced plans to force all residents of Gaza into a camp on the ruins of Rafah. The MPs, who include centrist and leftwing backbenchers, sent a letter to David Lammy on Thursday warning they believed Gaza was being ethnically cleansed. They are urging the foreign secretary to take immediate steps to prevent the Israeli government from carrying out its Rafah plan, and to go further and recognise Palestinian statehood immediately. The letter was sent just after the French president, Emmanuel Macron, made a similar plea at a joint press conference with Keir Starmer, the UK prime minister. The MPs wrote: It is with great urgency and concern that we are writing to you regarding the Israeli defence minister’s announcement on Monday of his plans to forcibly transfer all Palestinian civilians in Gaza to a camp in the ruined city of Rafah without allowing them to leave. The defence minister’s plans have been described by a leading Israeli human rights lawyer, Michael Sfard, as ‘an operational plan for crimes against humanity. It’s about population transfer to the southern tip of Gaza in preparation for deportation outside the strip. Though an accurate description, we believe there is a clearer one. The ethnic cleansing of Gaza. You can read more of Kiran Stacey’s article on the letter here: Nearly 60 Labour MPs call for UK to immediately recognise Palestinian state Nearly 60 Labour MPs call for UK to immediately recognise Palestinian state Read more Share

1d ago 09.55 BST An international conference meant to revive work on a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict has been rescheduled for July 28-29, diplomatic sources told Agence France-Presse (AFP). Originally set for mid-June, the conference at the UN headquarters in New York was postponed at the last minute due to Israel’s surprise military campaign against Iran. It has now been rescheduled to late July, diplomatic sources said, although they could not provide details on any changes to the agenda or level of attending representatives. Heads of state and government had been expected to attend in June. The conference was convened by the UN general assembly and is co-chaired by France and Saudi Arabia. On Thursday, French president Emmanuel Macron called during his UK state visit for joint recognition by France and Britain of a Palestinian state, saying such moves are “the only hope for peace” in the region. Share

1d ago 09.42 BST Family of Palestinian American man call for investigation following death The family of a Palestinian American man who was beaten to death by settlers in the Israeli-occupied West Bank have demanded for an investigation to be launched, Reuters reports. The Palestinian Health Ministry said in a statement that US citizen Sayafollah Musallet, who was in his early 20s, died after being severely beaten in the incident on Friday evening in Sinjil, north of Ramallah. A second man, Hussein Al-Shalabi, 23, also died after being shot in the chest. Musallet’s family, from Tampa in Florida, said in a statement that medics tried to reach him for three hours before his brother managed to carry him to an ambulance, but that he died before reaching the hospital. The family statement said: This is an unimaginable nightmare and injustice that no family should ever have to face. We demand the U.S. State Department lead an immediate investigation and hold the Israeli settlers who killed Saif accountable for their crimes. A US state department spokesperson said on Friday it was aware of the incident, but that the department had no further comment “out of respect for the privacy of the family and loved ones” of the reported victim. The Israeli military said Israel was probing the incident in the town of Sinjil. It said confrontations between Palestinians and settlers broke out after Palestinians threw rocks at Israelis, lightly injuring them. The military said forces were dispatched to the scene and used non-lethal weapons to disperse the crowds. Share

1d ago 09.16 BST Turkish president Tayyip Erdogan said on Saturday that a new page opened for Turkey following the start of a weapons handover by Kurdistan Workers’ party (PKK) militants, Reuters reports. He said: As of yesterday, the scourge of terrorism has entered the process of ending. Today is a new day; a new page has opened in history. Today, the doors of a great, powerful Turkey have been flung wide open. Thirty PKK militants burned their weapons at the mouth of a cave in northern Iraq on Friday, marking a symbolic but significant step toward ending a decades-long insurgency against Turkey. View image in fullscreen The first group of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) lays down and destroys their weapons in Sulaymaniyah, northern Iraq on 11 July 2025. Photograph: Anadolu/Getty Images Share

1d ago 09.03 BST At least 30 reported killed in Gaza including 10 waiting for aid Gaza’s civil defence agency said Israeli forces killed at least 30 people on Friday, including 10 who were waiting for aid in the south of the war-ravaged territory, Agence France-Presse (AFP) reports. Gaza civil defence official Mohammed al-Mughayyir said that 10 people were shot by Israeli forces on Friday while waiting for supplies in the Al-Shakoush area northwest of Rafah, where there have been repeated reports of deadly fire on aid seekers. The latest deaths came as the UN said nearly 800 people had been killed trying to access food in Gaza since late May, when Israel began easing a more than two-month blockade on deliveries. UN human rights office spokesperson Ravina Shamdasani said most of the deaths occurred near facilities operated by the US- and Israel-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) “We’ve recorded now 798 killings, including 615 in the vicinity of the GHF sites,” from the time the group’s operations began in late May until 7 July, Shamdasani said on Friday. An officially private effort, GHF operations have been marred by chaotic scenes and frequent reports of Israeli forces firing on people waiting to collect rations. UN agencies and major aid groups have refused to cooperate with the foundation over concerns it was designed to cater to Israeli military objectives and violates basic humanitarian principles. Responding to the UN’s figures, Israel’s military said it had worked to minimise “possible friction between the population and the (army) as much as possible”. It said: Following incidents in which harm to civilians who arrived at distribution facilities was reported, thorough examinations were conducted… and instructions were issued to forces in the field following lessons learned. GHF called the UN report “false and misleading”, claiming that “most deadly attacks on aid sites have been linked to UN convoys”. Share

Project Hope said Thursday morning’s strike in front of its Altayara health clinic in Deir al-Balah happened as patients had gathered outside, awaiting its opening to receive treatment for malnutrition, infections, chronic illnesses and more.

“Suddenly, we heard the sound of a drone approaching, and then the explosion happened,” witness Yousef al-Aydi told AFP news agency. “The ground shook beneath our feet, and everything around us turned into blood and deafening screams.”

Graphic footage posted on social media, which was verified by the BBC, showed the immediate aftermath of the attack, with adults and young children lying in a street, some severely wounded and others not moving.

At the mortuary of nearby al-Aqsa hospital, relatives of those killed wept as they wrapped the dead children in white shrouds and body bags before performing funeral prayers.

One woman told the BBC that her pregnant niece, Manal, and her daughter, Fatima, were among them, and that Manal’s son was in the intensive care unit.

“She was queuing to get the children supplements when the incident happened,” Intisar said.

Another woman standing nearby said: “For what sin were they killed?”

“We are dying before the ears and eyes of the whole world. The whole world is watching the Gaza Strip. If people aren’t killed by the Israeli army, they die trying to get aid.”

Project Hope’s president and CEO, Rabih Torbay, said the aid group’s clinics were “a place of refuge in Gaza where people bring their small children, women access pregnancy and postpartum care, people receive treatment for malnutrition, and more”.

“Yet, this morning, innocent families were mercilessly attacked as they stood in line waiting for the doors to open,” he added. “Horrified and heartbroken cannot properly communicate how we feel anymore.”

“This is a blatant violation of international humanitarian law, and a stark reminder that no-one and no place is safe in Gaza, even as ceasefire talks continue. This cannot continue.”

Unicef boss Catherine Russell said: “The killing of families trying to access life-saving aid is unconscionable.”

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said in a statement that it struck a member of the elite Nukhba forces of Hamas’s military wing who had taken part in the 7 October 2023 attack on Israel.

“The IDF is aware of reports regarding a number of injured individuals in the area. The incident is under review,” it added. “The IDF regrets any harm to uninvolved individuals.”

The Israeli news outlet, Haaretz, reports that soldiers operating near food aid sites in Gaza have deliberately fired upon Palestinians.

Israeli soldiers have deliberately shot at unarmed Palestinians seeking aid in Gaza after being “ordered” to do so by their commanders, the Israeli newspaper Haaretz reports.

Israel ordered an investigation into possible war crimes over the allegations by some soldiers that it revealed on Friday, Haaretz said.

At least 549 Palestinians have been killed and 4,066 injured while waiting for food aid distributed at sites run by the Israeli-and United States-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), the Gaza Government Media Office said on Thursday. The GHF has been a source of widespread criticism since its establishment in May.

According to the Haaretz report, which quoted unnamed Israeli soldiers, troops were told to fire at the crowds of Palestinians and use unnecessary lethal force against people who appeared to pose no threat.

“We fired machineguns from tanks and threw grenades,” one soldier told Haaretz. “There was one incident where a group of civilians was hit while advancing under the cover of fog.”

In another instance, a soldier said that where they were stationed in Gaza, between “one and five people were killed every day”.

“It’s a killing field,” that soldier said.

Method of ‘control’

The Israeli army “strongly rejected” the accusations in the report, according to a military statement published on Telegram. “Any allegation of a deviation from the law or [military] directives will be thoroughly examined, and further action will be taken as necessary. The allegations of deliberate fire toward civilians presented in the article are not recognized in the field,” it said.

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Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defence Minister Israel Katz condemned the report, calling it “blood libel” on the Israeli Defence Forces (IDF), according to a statement carried by The Times of Israel news outlet.

“The IDF operates under difficult conditions against a terrorist enemy that operates from within the civilian population,” they said. “IDF soldiers receive clear orders to avoid harming innocent civilians, and they act accordingly.”

According to Haaretz, the Military Advocate General has told the army’s General Staff’s Fact-Finding Assessment Mechanism, which reviews incidents involving potential violations of the laws of war, to investigate suspected war crimes at these aid sites.

One of the authors of the report, Nir Hasson, told Al Jazeera that the Israeli directive to fire on civilians is part of a method to “control” the aid seekers.

“It’s actually a practice of … controlling the crowd by fire, like if you wanted the crowd to run off [from] a place, you shoot them at them, even though you know they are unarmed … You use fire to move people from one point to another,” he said from West Jerusalem.

While the journalist and his colleagues do not know the name of the commander who might have issued such a directive, Hasson said that he would likely hold a position high up in the army.

Despite this practice at these sites, most Israelis and the army’s troops still believe the war on Gaza is just, even while some cracks are emerging in this understanding, the journalist said.

“[There are] more and more people who are asking themselves if this war is necessary, but also what is the humanitarian price the Gazan population is [paying] for this war,” he said.

‘A death trap’

“War crimes” are taking place at GHF aid distribution sites in Gaza, the enclave’s Government Media Office said in a statement, referencing “the shocking confessions” published by Haaretz.

“The report’s direct military orders to fire on unarmed civilians who pose no threat, and the use of heavy machine guns, artillery, and shells against peaceful gatherings waiting for food, are further evidence that the Israeli occupation army is pursuing a systematic policy of genocide under the false guise of ‘relief’,” the statement added.

Reporting from Amman, Jordan, Al Jazeera’s Hamdah Salhut said the Haaretz report is “shocking”.

“People in Gaza have said these distribution centres have now become a death trap for Palestinians,” Salhut said. “Aid groups have said that Palestinians are left with no choice – to either starve to death, or die seeking the very little food that is offered in the distribution centres run by the GHF.”

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The GHF operates four sites in Gaza – one in the centre and three in the south – and attacks on aid seekers have only increased since an Israeli blockade was lifted and the Foundation started distributing food at the end of May.

On Friday, medics said six people were killed by gunfire as they tried to get food in southern Gaza.

The GHF has come under intense condemnation by aid groups, including the United Nations, for its “weaponisation” of vital items.

“We don’t need a report of that nature to acknowledge that there have been massive violations of international law [in Gaza],” UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres said in response to a question from Al Jazeera about the Haaretz report. “And when there is a violation of international law, there must be accountability,” he added at a press conference in New York.

Elsewhere on Friday, medical charity Doctors Without Borders, known by its French initials, MSF, called the GHF’s aid distribution sites “slaughter masquerading as humanitarian aid”.

Since Israel began its war on Gaza in October 2023, at least 56,331 people have been killed, with 132,632 wounded in Israeli attacks, Gaza’s Health Ministry reported.