The Israeli occupation army (IOF) continued carrying out deadly attacks on different areas of the Gaza Strip, killing and injuring dozens of civilians.
Israeli forces continued to detonate and bomb more homes and displace families in the Gaza Strip, further deepening the dire humanitarian crisis as the population grapples with worsening famine.
Israeli attacks continued across the Gaza Strip, including an Israeli strike on a tent in al-Mawasi area of Khan Younis that killed four people and injured many others.
Seven other people were killed by Israeli gunfire near US-backed aid distribution points in Khan Younis and Rafah, south of Gaza.
An Israeli warplane also bombed a house belonging to the family of al-Dahdouh in Gaza City’s az-Zeitoun neighbourhood, killing five siblings.
The bodies of seven martyrs and 40 wounded people arrived at the Awda Hospital, after Israeli forces opened fire at aid seekers near a distribution point in Salahuddin street in central Gaza.
The Awda Hospital received the bodies of 30 martyrs, most of them in pieces, in the morning following several overnight Israeli strikes on homes in the north of an-Nuseirat refugee camp in central Gaza.
A citizen and his four children were massacred when an Israeli drone bombed their tent in al-Mawasi area of Khan Younis.
Another Israeli strike on an apartment near the Haidar rotary in Gaza City killed a man and his wife and injured others.
More people were martyred or injured in Israeli attacks on aid seekers near US-backed distribution points in southern and central Gaza.
The Dutch government on Monday officially barred Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir and Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich from entering the Netherlands, citing their incitement to violence and support for ethnic cleansing amid the ongoing genocide in Gaza.
Dutch Foreign Minister Caspar Veldkamp announced that both ministers have been declared ‘persona non grata’, and their names have been entered into the Schengen Area’s system of unwelcome foreign nationals.
The decision comes in response to what the Dutch government described as ‘repeated incitement to settler violence against Palestinians, continued support for the expansion of illegal settlements, and open calls for the ethnic cleansing of Gaza’.
‘This decision is a direct reaction to their role in encouraging atrocities during Israel’s war of extermination in Gaza,’ Veldkamp said on Monday evening.
Israeli Ambassador to The Hague Modi Ephraim is expected to be summoned to the Dutch Foreign Ministry for a formal reprimand.
According to Veldkamp, the Israeli government will again be urged to change the direction of its current policies.
‘The current situation is untenable and indefensible,’ he said, adding that the Netherlands will maintain pressure to achieve a ceasefire in Gaza.
The move comes amid growing momentum within Europe to impose consequences for Israel’s ongoing violations in Gaza and the West Bank.
The Netherlands has already recommended suspending Israel’s participation in the EU’s flagship research initiative, the Horizon Europe programme, and may consider further trade restrictions if Israel continues to ignore its obligations under international agreements.
Dutch Prime Minister Dick Schoof indicated that the Netherlands supports broader European actions, including in the area of trade, should Israel fail to comply.
‘The Netherlands will back the EU’s plan to suspend Israel from Horizon if it’s shown that relevant agreements are not being respected’ said Dutch lawmaker Tom Kok in a post on X (formerly Twitter).
This decision marks one of the most serious diplomatic rebukes of Israeli policy by a European country since the start of the war on Gaza, signaling a potential shift in European tolerance for Israel’s far-right leadership and its actions against Palestinians.
After weeks of the latest round of negotiations between the Palestinian resistance and Israel, mediated by Egypt and Qatar and under a US umbrella supportive of Israel, the US administration issued statements declaring the negotiations officially collapsed and signalled a transition to a more escalatory phase against the resistance and the residents of Gaza.
These statements were made by US Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff, who described Hamas’s stance as ‘selfish’ and threatened to explore non-negotiated means to retrieve captives.
US President Donald Trump announced last Friday the withdrawal of the American mediation team from the talks, adding that they are shifting toward fighting to eliminate Hamas, as he put it.
On Thursday, Hamas submitted its response to the ceasefire proposal in Gaza to the mediators.
This response was met with praise from both Egypt and Qatar for its flexibility and positive tone.
The White House, a day earlier, had stated that the US wanted to reach a ceasefire in Gaza and secure the release of hostages ‘as soon as possible’.
At the same time, Israeli Broadcasting Authority cited unnamed sources saying the Israeli negotiation team in Doha had been authorised to discuss ending the war with the mediators.
The Authority reported that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who is wanted by the International Criminal Court for war crimes in Gaza, wants to end the war during the ceasefire phase, according to ministers he recently spoke with.
Security sources said the Israeli army’s diminishing strength in Gaza is one reason behind Netanyahu and Chief of Staff Herzi Halevi’s desire to conclude the war after a ceasefire agreement.
Despite the optimism shown by the mediators following Hamas’s response and the Israeli Broadcasting Authority’s reports of Netanyahu’s interest in ending the war, the Israeli far-right, led by Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich and National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir, demanded an end to negotiations, continued starvation of Gaza’s population, and occupation of the Strip.
As a result, the US administration declared the negotiations blown up, using unprecedentedly threatening language.
It promised escalated killings, continued starvation in Gaza, and the assassination of resistance leaders, including those abroad. Some viewed this as a tactical move to pressure Hamas, while others saw it as a shift in US strategy that could signal imminent escalation.
Hamas described the US statements as ‘negative and surprising’, emphasising that it had presented a positive and flexible stance after extensive consultations with factions and mediating countries.
The Israeli military has jailed three soldiers who refused to return to the Gaza Strip after they killed Palestinian children.
According to the Israeli outlet ‘Kan’, four soldiers from the 931st Battalion in the Nahal Brigade were removed from combat and punished after informing their commanders that they would not return to fight.
The four had fought for several rounds in the Gaza Strip, spending between 13 and 17 months in the enclave during the ongoing war.
Kan cited the soldiers as saying they were suffering from a ‘deep internal crisis’ during the fighting.
One of the soldiers imprisoned told Kan that he felt unable to return after killing children and a mother.
‘We were in an extermination area, we saw three figures entering the area and, as instructed, we shot. Later it turned out – these were 12-13 year old children and their mother. We didn’t know. We followed orders,’ they told the outlet.
‘After this incident, we had three soldiers leave because of post-traumatic stress disorder who suffered from dreams at night, insomnia, they would see these children. They didn’t talk to us, they didn’t bring us a psychologist, everything continued as usual.’
Three of the four soldiers received prison sentences ranging from one week to 12 days. The fourth has not yet been tried.
Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) mercenary Anthony Aguilar, a retired US Special Forces officer, told the BBC that he witnessed the Israeli army firing on crowds of Palestinians at Gaza Humanitarian Foundation sites.
He cited this as the primary reason for his resignation.
Aguilar recounted the story of a child named Amir, who was shot and killed by Israeli forces after receiving half a kilo of lentils and thanking Aguilar with a kiss on the hand.
Aguilar stated that the incident compelled him to step down, adding: ‘In my entire career, I have never witnessed such brutality and the indiscriminate, unnecessary use of force against a civilian population, an unarmed, starving population.’
The Freedom Flotilla Coalition (FFC) says US labour activist Chris Smalls has been physically assaulted in Israeli custody, condemning the ‘discriminatory treatment’ towards Smalls and called for accountability.
Smalls, the former president of Amazon Labour Union, was one of the 21 activists and journalists from 10 countries on board the Handala when it was intercepted by Israeli forces in international waters as it approached Gaza earlier this week.
The FFC said in a post on social media that ‘seven uniformed individuals … choked him and kicked him in the legs, leaving visible signs of violence on his neck and back.’
‘When his lawyer met with him, Christian was surrounded by six members of Israel’s special police unit. This level of force was not used against other abducted activists,’ the group said.
