Key Points

Israeli attacks killed more than 100 people in the last 24 hours

More than 21 people killed in Israeli attacks across Gaza, while at least five killed by gunshot at aid points

Gaza’s main hospitals face imminent shutdown amid fuel shortage

The Israeli military said its forces have carried out multiple strikes across Gaza over the past day, claiming to have killed dozens of Hamas members and destroyed militant infrastructure.

In a statement, the Israeli military said it targeted fighters emerging from combat compounds near Israeli troops. It also said an air strike in Jabalia hit a command-and-control centre, killing several Hamas members inside.

The military also said it carried out a targeted operation on 31 May that killed Arafat Diab, claiming he was a Hamas member involved in the 7 October attack.

Israeli air strikes and gunfire have killed more than 30 Palestinians since this morning and over 100 in the past 24 hours, with hundreds more wounded.

A humanitarian boat bound for Gaza, with 12 activists on board – including Swedish climate campaigner Greta Thunberg – will continue its journey “until the last minute”, campaigners said on Sunday after Israel ordered its military to block the vessel.

“We’ll stay mobilised until the last minute – until Israel cuts the internet and networks,” European parliament member Rima Hassan told AFP from the boat, named Madleen.

The Madleen, part of the Freedom Flotilla Coalition, left Sicily last week with a cargo of relief supplies to “break Israel’s blockade on Gaza”, where the Israeli war has entered its 21st month.

“There are twelve of us civilians on board. We are not armed. There is only humanitarian aid,” said Hassan.

Earlier in the day, Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz ordered the military to block the boat from reaching Gaza.

The coalition responded in a statement on X, saying it expected “interception and an attack from Israel at any moment” and calling for the governments of those on board to protect them.

Nationals of Germany, France, Brazil, Turkey, Sweden, Spain and the Netherlands are on the boat.

The Freedom Flotilla Coalition was founded in 2010 to oppose this blockade and deliver humanitarian aid.

Reporting by AFP

Israel’s defence minister on Sunday ordered the military to block an aid boat headed for Gaza with 12 activists on board, including Swedish climate campaigner Greta Thunberg.

“I have instructed the military to prevent the Madleen flotilla from reaching Gaza,” Israel Katz said in a statement from his office.

“To Greta the antisemite and her companions, Hamas propaganda mouthpieces, I say clearly: turn back because you will not reach Gaza,” Katz said.

The organisers of the Madleen’s voyage said Saturday they had reached Egyptian waters and were nearing Gaza, where the war between Israel and Hamas has entered its 21st month.

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The Madleen, a sailing boat operated by the Freedom Flotilla Coalition, left Italy on June 1 with the stated aim of delivering humanitarian aid and breaking the Israeli blockade on the Palestinian territory.

“Israel will not allow anyone to break the naval blockade of Gaza, which is aimed at preventing weapons from reaching Hamas — a murderous terrorist group holding our hostages and committing war crimes,” Katz said.

“Israel will act against any attempt to break the blockade or support terror groups — by sea, air or land,” he added.

The war was sparked by Hamas’s October 7, 2023 attack on Israel, which resulted in the deaths of 1,218 people on the Israeli side, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally of official figures.

On Sunday, the health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza said that the overall toll for the Gaza war had reached 54,880, the majority civilians. The UN considers these figures reliable.

Gaza’s civil defence agency said Israeli attacks on Sunday killed at least 10 people, including two girls, in the Palestinian territory.

“Five martyrs and dozens of wounded were taken to Nasser Hospital in Khan Yunis after the (Israeli) occupation forces opened fire on civilians at around 6:00 am”, agency spokesman Mahmud Bassal told AFP.

The civilians had been heading to an aid distribution centre west of Rafah, near a site run by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation. The United Nations refuses to work with the GHF, citing concerns over its practices and neutrality.

Asked to comment on the latest killings, the Israeli military said it fired on people who “continued advancing in a way that endangered the soldiers” despite warnings. It said the area around the distribution point had been declared an “active combat zone” at night.

“Around 4:30 am, people started gathering in the Al-Alam area of Rafah. After about an hour and a half, hundreds moved toward the site and the army opened fire,” eyewitness Abdallah Nour al-Din told AFP.

Outside the Nasser hospital, where the emergency workers brought the casualties, AFPTV footage showed mourners crying over blood-stained body bags.

“I can’t see you like this,” said Lin al-Daghma by her father’s body, while a man lay over his brother’s corpse.

Reporting by AFP