Updates: Israel strikes south Beirut as Gaza daily death toll rises to 52

The live blog is now closed.

To read more about Israel’s most recent strikes on Beirut, you can find our reporting here.

You can also find our coverage of the armed gangs supported by Israel in Gaza here.

We will be closing the live page soon. Here’s a brief review of the day’s main events:

• Israel carried out a series of strikes in the south of the Lebanese capital Beirut, in what Lebanon’s president decried as a “blatant” violation of Israel’s ceasefire with Hezbollah.
• The Trump administration announced sanctions against four International Criminal Court judges, citing the court’s role in probing alleged Israeli atrocities in Gaza and issuing an arrest warrant for Netanyahu.
• Netanyahu admitted that his government was coordinating with “clans” in Gaza are part of an effort to weaken Hamas. Some of those clans have been accused of stealing humanitarian aid.
• International medical organisations such as Doctors Without Borders and the World Health Organization have warned that Israeli displacement orders could cause Nasser Hospital to cease functioning, warning that closing the facility would be a “death sentence” for at-risk patients.

Al Jazeera is reporting from Amman, Jordan, because it has been banned from Israel and the occupied West Bank.

Hamas has stated that from the outset, they’ve been willing to come to the negotiating table.

That was true even before January, they say, when the initial ceasefire agreement was put into place and both parties agreed to it. At that time, Hamas was pushing for talks on phases two and three of the deal, while the Israelis were the ones who didn’t want to come to the table.

Hamas is saying they did not fully reject a previous proposal from mediators. Instead they gave it back with some amendments, because they wanted to ultimately see a total and complete end of the war.

They wanted a deal that would stop all of the aggression on the Palestinian people in the Gaza Strip, which Israel had refused, saying that they would only be willing for a partial agreement for a period of up to 60 days.

The Lebanon News Agency has reportrd a drone strike in the town, after Israel earlier today issued an evacuation order for the area.

It was not immediately clear if there were any casualties.

Meanwhile, Wafa news agency reported that 100 housing units were destroyed in Israel’s strikes on southern Beirut today.

Hezbollah is unlikely to seek further escalation after Israel’s most recent attacks on Beirut, Ali Rizk, a security affairs analyst based in Beirut, told Al Jazeera.

The reticence is partly out of concern that a substantial response could give Israel a pretext to expand attacks in Lebanon, he said.

“Hezbollah has learned from its mistakes. It doesn’t want to fall into an Israeli trip or allow Israel to set the tempo of any new round of warfare,” he said.

“There’s no doubt that this particular strike is larger than the previous ones. Is it going to lead to the full-scale conflict which we saw between September and November of last year? I still remain sceptical of that,” he said.

“I think Israel might want [that], but I think Hezbollah is going to continue exercising strategic patience in dealing with the situation.”

The international medical group MSF has said that Israeli displacement orders and movement restrictions in Gaza have pushed Nasser Hospital to the edge of “becoming non-functional”.

“Ordering hospitals to refuse new patients and making it harder for people to reach places of care has been a pattern by the Israeli forces throughout this war, aimed at closing the hospitals,” the group said in a news release.

“Nasser is the last remaining referral hospital in the south of Gaza, a vital lifeline for people in need, and its full functionality must be immediately restored and preserved,” it said.

Jose Mas, head of MSF emergency programmes, said that putting the hospital out of commission would be a “death sentence” for severely wounded patients, the critically ill, and women in need of emergency obstetric care.

The World Health Organization (WHO) has also called for the protection of Nasser and al-Amal Hospitals in Gaza.

WHO calls for urgent protection of Nasser Medical Complex and Al-Amal Hospital in the Gaza Strip

WHO warns that the #Gaza Strip’s health system is collapsing, with Nasser Medical Complex, the most important referral hospital left in Gaza, and Al-Amal Hospital at risk of becoming… pic.twitter.com/fsdjdZRWWl

— World Health Organization (WHO) (@WHO) June 5, 2025

Several rights groups have urged support for a congressional resolution in the US calling on the Trump administration to use “all diplomatic tools at its disposal” to ensure aid reaches Palestinians in Gaza.

“US-origin weapons have been a significant part of what we determined is an ongoing genocide in Gaza,” Amnesty International USA Director Paul O’Brien said in remarks in support of the measure.

“Despite opportunities to change course, the Biden administration failed to do so, and now the Trump administration is failing to do so,” he said.

The Council on American-Islamic Relations also released a statement on Thursday saying every member of Congress “with a shred of morality” should support the bill to end US complicity for Israeli abuses against the Palestinians.

“We saw repeatedly evidence of U.S. weaponry being used to take out multi-generational families… U.S.-origin weapons have been a significant part of what we determined is an ongoing genocide in Gaza. Despite opportunities to change course, the Biden administration failed to do… pic.twitter.com/vFM3IWtAux

— Amnesty International USA (@amnestyusa) June 5, 2025

In a post on X, Israel Katz has hailed today’s strikes on southern Beirut, saying they were needed to “enforce the ceasefire rules”.

Israel has repeatedly claimed that Lebanon’s government is unable to oversee the ceasefire agreement reached with Hezbollah in November of last year. It has maintained its attacks on Lebanon since the agreement was reached are in line with the ceasefire.

“We will continue to enforce the ceasefire rules without any compromises and will not allow any entity to create threats against the northern communities and all citizens of the State of Israel,” Katz said.

The UN special coordinator for Lebanon had previously called for a “halt to any actions that could further undermine” the ceasefire.

The ICC has released a statement saying that it stands by its staff, condemning US sanctions as a “clear attempt to undermine the independence of an international judicial institution”.

“Targeting those working for accountability does nothing to help civilians trapped in conflict. It only emboldens those who believe they can act with impunity,” the statement said.

“The ICC stands fully behind its personnel, and will continue its work undeterred, in strict accordance with the Rome Statute and the principles of fairness and due process, with a view to bringing justice to victims of war crimes, crimes against humanity, genocide and the crime of aggression,” it added.

In a statement, the Yemen-based armed group says it has targeted Ben Gurion International Airport outside Tel Aviv.

The Israeli military had said earlier that it had intercepted a missile fired from Yemen.

A Houthi missile in early May landed close to Israel’s main international air hub in an incident that drew Israel’s air defences into question.

The Houthis said the attack was in response to the ongoing war in Gaza.

The US has announced sanctions against four judges with the International Criminal Court (ICC), an international legal body tasked with investigating and trying individuals accused of grave violations of international law.

The court roused US anger when it issued an arrest warrant for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defence Minister Yoav Gallant for alleged abuses in Gaza, including crimes against humanity and war crimes.

The ICC has also drawn the opprobrium of the US by investigating alleged war crimes committed by US forces in Afghanistan.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio said that the sanctions would target Solomy Balungi Bossa of Uganda, Luz del Carmen Ibanez Carranza of Peru, Reine Adelaide Sophie Alapini Gansou of Benin and Beti Hohler of Slovenia.

“As ICC judges, these four individuals have actively engaged in the ICC’s illegitimate and baseless actions targeting America or our close ally, Israel. The ICC is politicised and falsely claims unfettered discretion to investigate, charge, and prosecute nationals of the United States and our allies,” Rubio said in a statement.

Hamas chief Khalil al-Hayya has said in a pre-recorded speech that the Palestinian group did not reject a proposal for a ceasefire in Gaza put forward with US special envoy Steve Witkoff, stating that Hamas had instead requested some changes to ensure an end to the war.

Al-Hayya added that Hamas is ready to engage in further talks and that communications with the mediators are ongoing. Israel broke off a previous truce in March to resume the war in Gaza.

For his part, Witkoff on Thursday said that Hamas must accept a ceasefire proposal “put forward so that the remaining living hostages can return to their loved ones and the remains of those killed can come home to their families”.

Hamas has said that it previously accepted a ceasefire proposal from Witkoff, who then modified the agreement based on new Israeli demands. Witkoff then accused Hamas of spoiling a deal when it took issue with some of those changes, the group said.

Guterres has said that more than one in every 50 UNRWA staff members in Gaza have been killed during the war, a figure that he said constituted the “highest staff death toll in United Nations history”.

Meanwhile, Guterres told reporters that geopolitical divisions have kept the UN Security Council “paralysed” to the frustration of supporters of international law.

“Unfortunately, today in the world, we have impunity everywhere,” he said, when asked whether Israel enjoys impunity for abuses in Gaza.

“Unfortunately, we have not only humanitarians and journalists killed, but we have civilians killed in dramatic situations and there is total impunity.”

Al Jazeera is reporting from Amman, Jordan, because it has been banned from Israel and the occupied West Bank.

The Israeli military did release a statement shortly before these massive air strikes in the southern Lebanese suburbs. They said they were going to attack what they described as an underground area where they say Hezbollah members were manufacturing drones.

Israel has said it is going to do everything in its power to uphold a ceasefire agreement signed by the two sides. But these acts, in and of themselves, are, of course, a violation of that agreement that was signed many, many months ago.

The Israelis have repeatedly and continuously carried out air strikes across Lebanese territory, claiming Hezbollah activity and giving forced evacuation orders.

But the Israeli military never gives any proof or backing for a lot of the claims that they use to justify their air attacks in different parts of the Middle East.

Here’s a brief recap of the most recent developments:

• Israel has begun striking the southern Beirut suburbs of Dahiyeh, causing widespread panic. It has accused Hezbollah of using underground infrastructure in the area to manufacture drones, and it has issued evacuation orders for several neighbourhoods.
• At least 52 Palestinians have been killed in attacks in Gaza today as Israel carries out heavy strikes across the Strip.
• International criticism of Israel’s war in Gaza mounts with Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva accusing Israel of carrying out a “premeditated genocide”.
• Israeli media report that the government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has been offering arms and support to gangs in Gaza as part of an effort to bolster armed groups that are rivals of Hamas. Netanyahu later confirms Israel is coordinating with groups in Gaza but doesn’t provide details.