Israel war on Gaza updates: Israel kills 101 Palestinians in 24 hours

Here’s a quick look at the latest news:

• Al Jazeera’s correspondent in Gaza City reports that an Israeli air strike near al-Jawhara Tower in the central part of the city has killed at least three people, and left others wounded.
• Israeli broadcaster Channel 12 has published video from the mass antigovernment demonstrations taking place in the streets of Tel Aviv, Israel, showing police assaulting a member of the media.
• A 25-year-old soldier from the 205th Battalion was killed in fighting in the southern Gaza Strip, the Israeli military has said.
• The Palestinian government welcomed Cuba’s decision to join South Africa’s case accusing Israel of genocide to the International Court of Justice (ICJ).
• Two US Air Force members are requesting to become conscientious objectors over the US’s support of Israel’s war in Gaza, according to a report by NBC News.
• Israeli military says soldiers ‘violated orders’ by tying injured man to vehicle while driving through Jenin.
• EU foreign affairs chief Josep Borrell has called for a probe into deadly shelling that damaged an office of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) in Gaza.

The US army’s Central Command (CENTCOM) said it “successfully” destroyed three Houthi unmanned surface vessels in the Red Sea.

“It was determined these systems presented an imminent threat to US, coalition forces, and merchant vessels in the region,” CENTCOM said in a post on X.

The US military said the Houthis also launched three antiship ballistic missiles (ASBM) from an area controlled by the group in Yemen into the Gulf of Aden. No injuries were reported, said CENTCOM.

“This continued malign and reckless behavior by the Iranian-backed Houthis threatens regional stability and endangers the lives of mariners across the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden,” it said.

The Houthis say their attacks on Israel-linked vessels in the region are in solidarity with Palestinians in Gaza.

June 22 U.S. Central Command Update

In the past 24 hours, U.S. Central Command (USCENTCOM) forces successfully destroyed three Iranian-backed Houthi uncrewed surface vessels (USV) in the Red Sea. 

It was determined these systems presented an imminent threat to U.S., coalition… pic.twitter.com/JiWhrCki61

— U.S. Central Command (@CENTCOM) June 22, 2024

A number of Palestinians were injured by Israeli forces in the town of ar-Ram, north of occupied east Jerusalem, according to Palestinian news agency Wafa.

Medical sources in ar-Ram said that ambulances transported six people with injuries from live bullets after Israeli soldiers stationed near the Israeli West Bank barrier opened fire on people they claimed were trying to enter the city of Jerusalem, the outlet reported.

Israeli forces also arrested a number of people and fired gas bombs and sound bombs towards homes situated near the barrier, Wafa said.

The rescue organisation says on its Telegram channel that it recovered the bodies of two children from the scene of an Israeli air strike on a house near Beach Square, in the west of Gaza City near the Mediterranean coast.

The last day in Gaza City, in the north of the Strip, has seen numerous deadly air strikes carried out by the Israeli army, the worst of which hit an area near where the attack reported by the Civil Defence had just taken place.

The Palestinian news agency Wafa reports that many Palestinians were wounded as clashes between locals and Israeli forces broke out in the West Bank town of Tuqu, east of Bethlehem.

Local sources told Wafa that soldiers deployed rubber-coated bullets and tear gas against locals, who had confronted the soldiers after they stormed the town and stationed themselves in its streets.

Wafa also reports an Israeli raid on the Ein el-Sultan camp in Jericho, also in the West Bank, this evening. Clashes broke out there as well, according to witnesses, but no injuries resulted.

The Israeli military has launched attacks across the Gaza Strip after an assault on a tent camp in al-Mawasi in the south killed at least 25 people, according to Palestinian officials.

On Saturday, at least 42 Palestinians were killed by Israeli attacks on the Shati refugee camp and the Tuffah neighbourhood in Gaza City, the head of Gaza’s Government Media Office told Al Jazeera.

Reporting from Deir el-Balah, in central Gaza, Al Jazeera’s Tareq Abu Azzoum said the Israeli military targeted a residential neighbourhood in the Shati refugee camp, where displaced Palestinians from the north of the territory were told to seek refuge.

“Rescuers with the help of civilians are trying to sift through the rubble to find survivors,” he said. “The casualties arriving at Al-Aqsa Hospital are surging.”

Read more here.

Yair Golan, the leader of the Israeli Labour Party, has taken to X to denounce mass arrests and brutality meted out by Israeli police on demonstrators, who are out in force tonight calling for an end to Prime Minister Netanyahu’s government.

“Tonight’s violence in the demonstrations crossed all borders”, he said.

“The police must not be allowed to become a tool in the hands of the corrupt and failed government of Israel’s destruction government”,  he added.

Tens of thousands of protesters waving Israeli flags and chanting slogans against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government rallied in Tel Aviv on Saturday, demanding new elections and the return of captives held in Gaza.

Large protests have occurred in the Israeli city on a weekly basis over Netanyahu’s handling of the nearly nine-month-old war in Gaza started by Hamas’s October 7 attack on southern Israel.

Many protesters held signs reading “Crime Minister” and “Stop the War” as people poured into the biggest Israeli city’s main thoroughfare.

“I am here because I am afraid of the future of my grandchild. There will be no future for them if we don’t go out and get rid of the horrible government,” said contractor Shai Erel, 66. “All of the rats in the Knesset … I wouldn’t let any one of them be a guard of a kindergarten.”

Read more here.

Israeli broadcaster Channel 12 has published video from the mass antigovernment demonstrations taking place right now in the streets of Tel Aviv, Israel, showing police assaulting a member of the media.

Other video from the protests posted on social media – and verified by Al Jazeera – shows police engaging violently with demonstrators and carrying out mass arrests.

Tonight, protesters in Israel are calling for the removal of Prime Minister Netanyahu, an end to Israel’s war on Gaza, and the safe return of the Israeli captives held there.

גם הערב המשטרה לא מאפשרת לעיתונאים לסקר את המחאה: כך דוחף שוטר את כתבת חדשות 12 יולן כהן@yollancohen

צילום : עידית פחימה הרשקוביץ pic.twitter.com/XHyhcwmaX5

— החדשות – N12 (@N12News) June 22, 2024

Translation: Even tonight, the police are not allowing journalists to cover the protest – This is how a policeman pushes 12 News reporter Yollan Cohen.

Parts of the Gaza floating dock washed up to Frishman Beach in Tel Aviv, according to Israeli media.

Footage posted by local platforms showed parts of the US-built pier on the shores of the beach amid crowds of stunned settlers.

The US has maintained that the pier has provided “much-needed humanitarian aid” to Gaza, while aid groups warn it is an ineffective way to deliver aid and cannot be a substitute for opening land routes, which have been severely restricted by Israel.

The pier has been damaged and taken out of commission for repairs by the US several times.

UN agencies are warning that over one million Palestinians in Gaza could face severe starvation by mid-July.

The hunger crisis is intensifying as Israel continues to block humanitarian aid from entering the region.

This blockade has left parents desperately struggling to keep their children alive.

A 25-year-old soldier from the 205th Battalion was killed in fighting in the southern Gaza Strip, the Israeli military has said.

It said that this brings the Israeli ground operation toll in the Gaza Strip to 315.

The Pentagon has said that the Eisenhower ended its deployment to the Red Sea and will briefly reposition to the Mediterranean Sea.

“The [Eisenhower carrier strike group] protected ships transiting the Red Sea, Bab-el-Mandeb and the Gulf of Aden, rescued innocent mariners against the unlawful attacks from the Iranian-backed Houthis and helped to deter further aggression,” the Pentagon said in a statement.

The Pentagon announced the US aircraft carrier Theodore Roosevelt (CVN-71) will follow the Eisenhower, heading to Middle East waters once it completes an exercise in the Pacific.

The move comes amid fears that the Gaza conflict could widen, dragging Lebanon into a conflict with Israel.

Raising Israeli flags, protesters in Tel Aviv have been chanting slogans against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government, and demanding new elections, as well as the return of captives held in Gaza.

Large protests have occurred in the Israeli city on a weekly basis over Netanyahu’s handling of the nearly nine-month-old war in Gaza.

Many protesters held signs reading “Crime Minister” and “Stop the War” as people poured into the biggest Israeli city’s main thoroughfare.

Antigovernment protest organisation Hofshi Israel estimated more than 150,000 people attended the rally, calling it the biggest since the Gaza war began.

Some demonstrators lay on the ground covered in red paint in the city’s Democracy Square to protest what they say is the death of the country’s democracy under Netanyahu.

A separate Tel Aviv rally night drew thousands of relatives and supporters of the hostages.

They also marked the 20th birthday of Naama Levy, who has been held in Gaza since October 7, and called for an immediate ceasefire with Hamas.

Senior Red Cross official William Schomburg recalled the events of yesterday when an Israeli air raid hit near the charity’s compound in Gaza, killing 22 people.

At approximately 3:30pm local time (12:30GMT), three explosions rocked the walls of the compound, Schomburg said.

Following that, a “flood of wounded people” came in seeking help, said the international charity’s chief.

“There were piles of dead bodies, blood everywhere,” he added.

The charity’s office is located just south of a humanitarian zone identified by the Israeli army in the besieged Strip.

“All of our buildings are very well known to all parties to the conflict,” Schomburg said.

The Ministry of Health in the besieged coastal enclave has said that dozens of health institutions have been damaged in Israeli bombardments, while more than 498 health and medical workers have been killed, and at least 310 arrested.

The ministry said that 22 out of 38 government-run and private hospitals, and 64 out of 90 health centres, are currently out of service. Those remaining ones are partially operational in difficult circumstances.

Israeli shelling and bombardment has also led to the destruction of more than 130 ambulances, the ministry said in a statement.

It also said that the total number of requests for treatment abroad has reached 25,000, while the number of those approved to travel reached only 6,645. Of those, only 4,895 have been able to travel outside the Gaza Strip.

The Rafah border crossing has been closed by Israeli authorities since the beginning of May.

The Palestinian government has welcomed Cuba’s decision to join South Africa’s case accusing Israel of genocide put forth to the International Court of Justice (ICJ).

“The Ministry affirms that this decision exemplifies Cuba’s steadfast commitment to justice and the international rule of law, and underscores the deep-rooted solidarity and historical friendship between our nations,” the Palestinian Foreign Ministry said in a post on X.

“Palestine calls upon all states party to the Convention to actively engage in the proceedings before the Court. Ending the ongoing genocide against the Palestinian people and combatting Israel’s impunity are responsibilities we must shoulder together in the interest of humanity and the law,” it added.

دولة فلسطين ترحب بإعلان #كوبا التدخل في قضية الإبادة الجماعية ضد إسرائيل أمام محكمة العدل الدولية 🇵🇸 🇨🇺

The State of Palestine Welcomes #Cuba’s Declaration of Intervention in the Genocide Case Against Israel Before the #ICJ@CubaMINREX @CIJ_ICJ #Gaza_under_attack… pic.twitter.com/r6jRMmVikS

— State of Palestine – MFA 🇵🇸🇵🇸 (@pmofa) June 22, 2024

A claim by Yemen’s Houthi group that its forces had attacked the US aircraft carrier Dwight D Eisenhower in the Red Sea is false, two US officials have told Reuters.

“That is incorrect,” one of the officials said, speaking on condition of anonymity.

The Houthis first launched drone and missile attacks in the key waterway in November in what they say is solidarity with Palestinian militants in Gaza, where Israel has waged a more than eight-month-old war.

In more than 70 attacks, the Houthis have sunk two vessels, seized another and killed at least three seafarers.

Earlier, the Houthi group said its forces had attacked the Eisenhower in the Red Sea and the operation had achieved its objectives successfully without elaborating. The group also said it attacked a commercial ship, Transworld Navigator, in the Arabian Sea. It did not say when the attacks took place.

A Houthi statement said the Transworld Navigator took a direct hit from a missile.

Yoni Levy, the father of Naama Levy, an Israeli soldier who was taken captive by Hamas during the group’s October 7 attacks on Israel, has spoken at a protest in Israel at which large crowds are demanding the downfall of Prime Minister Netanyahu’s government.

Today is Naama Levy’s 20th birthday, her father said.

“Twenty is a number of youth and light. I turn to you, prime minister, on my daughter’s birthday, and demand [that you] love your neighbour like yourself! Love Naama as you do, take care of her and the abductees as you take care of yourself. Bring the girl home to me”, he said.

Protests such as these have occurred on a consistent basis in Israel for months now, as public anger at Netanyahu’s failure to bring home the Israeli captives in Gaza grows. The largest protests are typically on Saturdays.