Israeli security officials 'shocked' by Netanyahu's attempts to sabotage ceasefire proposal

Victims

More than 38,153 dead* and at least 87,828 injured in the Gaza Strip. Of the dead, 28,428 have been fully identified. Among them, 7,779 children, 5,466 women and 2,418 elderly people as of 1 May. In addition, it is estimated that approximately 10,000 others are under the rubble*.
More than 571 Palestinians killed, including 136 children, in the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem.**
Israel revised down its October 7 death toll estimate from 1,400 to 1,140.
680 Israeli soldiers have been reported killed and 4,096 wounded by the Israeli military since October 7.***

*The Gaza branch of the Palestinian Health Ministry confirmed this figure in its daily report, published via its WhatsApp channel on July 7, 2024. Some human rights groups estimate the death toll to be much higher when including those presumed dead.

** The death toll in the West Bank and Jerusalem is not updated regularly. According to the Palestinian Health Ministry, this is the latest figure as of July 7.

*** These figures are published by the Israeli army, indicating soldiers whose names “have been authorized for publication.” The number of wounded Israeli soldiers, according to statements by the head of the IDF’s wounded association to Israel’s Channel 12, exceeds 20,000, including at least 8,000 permanently disabled as of June 1. Israel’s Channel 7 reported that according to figures from the Israeli War Ministry’s rehabilitation department from June 188,663 new wounded have joined the army’s disabled rehabilitation system since October 7.

Main developments

Israel has killed 200 Palestinians and wounded 562 in Gaza since Thursday, July 4, bringing the death toll since October 7 to 38,153 and the number of wounded to 87,828, according to the Gaza Health Ministry.
Israel and Hamas resume ceasefire and prisoner exchange negotiations in Qatar, based on amended U.S. proposal.
Netanyahu says no deal should prevent Israel from pursuing war aims later.
Israeli opposition leaders criticize Netanyahu’s conditions for a deal. Lapid offers Netanyahu a “security net” if he accepts a deal to end the war.
Israeli public radio said Israeli security chiefs were “shocked” by Netanyahu’s statement on the preconditions for a deal.
Reuters quotes unnamed Hamas officials as saying the group has accepted “a significant part” of the U.S.-proposed deal and is waiting for Israel to accept it.
Israel launches new raid on Tal al-Hawa, west of Gaza City.
Israel bombs a school sheltering displaced Palestinians in Nuseirat, central Gaza, killing 16 and wounding 50.
Medical sources at Naser Hospital in Khan Younis say newborns are at risk of dying if power generators stop due to fuel shortages. Several departments at the hospital are already out of service.
Hamas military spokesman Abu Obaida said the Qassam Brigade’s combat capability was “in very good shape” and that it had recruited thousands of new fighters during the war.
According to UNRWA Commissioner-General Philippe Lazzarini, 50% of UNRWA institutions in Gaza have been destroyed, including schools; Gaza “loses an entire generation” if children are not “returned to a safe educational environment,” Lazzarini says.

Ceasefire talks resume as Israeli opposition criticizes Netanyahu for setting preconditions for deal

Indirect negotiations between Israel and Hamas have resumed in Doha, Qatar, based on the amended ceasefire agreement proposed by the United States. Israeli media reported that Netanyahu was scheduled to meet with military and security officials on Sunday for “limited” consultations on the talks.

Israeli public radio also reported that the heads of various intelligence agencies would meet on Wednesday to discuss the talks, including CIA chief William Burns, Egyptian intelligence chief Abbas Kamel, Israeli Mossad chief David Barnea and Qatari Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Mohammad bin Abdul Rahman Al-Thani.

Meanwhile, Israeli War Minister Yoav Gallant said Israel was in “urgent need” to conclude a prisoner exchange deal, while Israeli President Isaac Herzog said “an absolute majority” of Israelis supported a deal to return Israeli captives.

On Sunday, Netanyahu’s office issued a statement stressing that any future agreement must allow Israel to continue the war until the war’s objectives are achieved.

Israeli public broadcaster reported that Israeli security services were “shocked” by the statement from Netanyahu’s office, expressing concern that Netanyahu could sabotage the possibility of a deal.

Meanwhile, Israeli opposition leader Yair Lapid said Sunday that Netanyahu “does not have to choose between a deal and the government,” citing threats of resignation from Netanyahu’s coalition allies Bezalel Smotrich and Itamar Ben-Gvir, who have threatened to resign if a deal is reached, causing the government to collapse. Lapid said he would offer Netanyahu “a security net” and commit to it.

Meanwhile, protests are growing in Israel demanding a prisoner swap and new elections. On Sunday, thousands demonstrated in Tel Aviv, while families of Israeli prisoners in Gaza demanded that Netanyahu not travel to Washington for his planned speech to Congress “before he brings them home.”

Israel launches new invasion of Gaza City as Hamas claims to have recruited thousands of new fighters

Thousands of Palestinians fled the Tal al-Hawa neighborhood in western Gaza City on Sunday night as Israeli forces launched a surprise invasion accompanied by massive shelling.

Local media sources reported that the invasion included the neighborhoods of al-Daraj, al-Rimal and al-Sabra.

In January, Israel invaded Tal al-Hawa, along with the rest of the city, before declaring control over it. This latest invasion coincides with an ongoing invasion of the neighboring Shuja’iyya neighborhood, east of Gaza City, also for the second time since the start of the war.

Meanwhile, the Gaza branch of the Palestinian Health Ministry announced in its daily updates that Israeli airstrikes targeted at least 14 family homes. On Saturday, Israeli forces killed 16 Palestinians, including several children, and injured 50 others in an airstrike on an UNRWA school sheltering displaced families in the Nuseirat refugee camp in central Gaza.

Heavy fighting between Israeli forces and Palestinian resistance was reported in Gaza City, Rafah and the Netzarim Corridor, with the Israeli army acknowledging the death of two officers in combat in Shuja’iyya over the past week. The Israeli army also announced on Monday that 17 soldiers had been wounded in the Gaza Strip in the space of 24 hours.

On Sunday, Hamas’ Qassam Brigades spokesman Abu Obaida said in a recorded video statement that the group’s combat capability was “in very good condition,” adding that the Qassam Brigades had recruited thousands of new fighters during the war and continued to manufacture new weapons while reusing unexploded Israeli bombs.