Gaza, Netanyahu against his military on 'tactical pause': 'Unacceptable, we are a country with an army, not the other way around'

The Hamas Ministry of Health, which governs the Gaza Strip, today announced a new death toll of 37,337 since the start of the war between Israel and the Palestinian Islamic movement more than eight months ago. At least 41 people have been killed in the last 24 hours, Hamas said in a statement, adding that 85,299 people have been injured in the Palestinian territories since the start of the war on 7 October, triggered by Hamas' attack on Israel.

Iran's Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei pardoned or commuted the sentences of more than 2,654 detainees on the occasion of Eid al-Adha and Eid al-Ghadir, at the request of Judiciary Chief Gholamhossein Ejei. Those pardoned included 182 women, 30 foreign nationals (mainly Afghans), six teenagers and 53 security detainees. The death sentence of 29 detainees was commuted to imprisonment, State TV reported. Eid al-Adha (which this year falls on 28 June) is the festival of sacrifice in honour of the Prophet Ibrahim's decision to sacrifice his son as an act of obedience to God's command. Eid al-Ghadir (which falls on 15 July this year) marks the appointment of the Shia Imam Ali by the Prophet Muhammad as his successor.

The final communiqué approved by not all participants at the peace summit in Switzerland 'reaffirms the territorial integrity' of Ukraine.

Many key countries of the Global South - such as Saudi Arabia, Mexico, India, Brazil, South Africa, Indonesia - did not sign the final declaration of the Lucerne Peace Summit.

The tactical pauses near Rafah are 'delusional', says far-right Israeli Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir. "He who decided on a 'tactical truce' for the purpose of a humanitarian transition, especially at a time when many of our soldiers are falling in battle, is evil and a fool who should not continue in his position," he attacks. Sky News reports. "Unfortunately, this move has not been presented to the government and is contrary to its decisions," the ultra-right-wing minister urges.

German police shot a man armed with a pickaxe and a Molotov cocktail near Hamburg's Reeperbahn. This was reported by the Dpa news agency. The man was shot in the legs by an armed officer and is receiving medical assistance, a police spokesman confirmed. According to initial reports, 'there is no connection to football', he pointed out. The Poland-Netherlands match of the European Football Championship is being played in Hamburg today.

- 'The Kremlin's accusations of illegitimacy against Volodymyr Zelensky are clearly a strategy to undermine the peace process'. Baiba Braže, Latvia's foreign minister, told ANSA during an interview on the sidelines of the peace summit in Lucerne. "Moscow," she added, "put a lot of pressure on several countries not to attend the summit but it was unsuccessful: what we see here is the emergence of a majority of global support for the principles of the UN Charter. "The fact that China is not here is a loss for Beijing and I think they will realise that." (

Moscow has claimed the conquest of another city in southern Ukraine. It is Zagirne, in the Zaporizhzhia region, Russian agencies write. "Units of the Eastern Forces Grouping have liberated the Zagirne settlement in the Zaporizhia region and occupied more favourable positions," the Russian Defence Ministry said in its daily briefing.

"Russian President Vladimir Putin does not reject negotiations with Ukraine, but their outcome must be approved by the legitimate Ukrainian government. Volodymyr Zelensky does not belong to this category." This was stated by Kremlin spokesman Dmitri Peskov, Tass writes. Zelensky 'is not the person with whom one can register an agreement in writing because de jure this registration will be illegitimate'. "However, Putin does not reject anything, he does not reject the possibility of negotiations, according to the country's constitution," Peskov added.

"The process of drafting the communiqué is in the final stage. We have no problem' with the fact that Russia must also be involved in any peace negotiations, as 'it is clear that in order to put an end to the war, you have to have both sides at the table. My job and the priority of President Volodymyr Zelensky is to bring Ukraine to the table in the strongest possible position'. This was stated by Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba on the sidelines of the Ukrainian peace summit organised at the Buergenstock, an ultra-luxury resort in Canton Nidwalden, central Switzerland.

'Zelensky should think about Putin's peace offer because the military situation in Kiev has worsened'. This was stated by Dmitry Peskov, the Russian president's spokesman, as Tass writes.

Harsh clash in Israel between the government and the army. The IDF rejected criticism of the suspension of fighting near the Gaza humanitarian corridor, and also the claim that the political class was not informed of the decision. Haaretz reports. The army stated that 'the decision is a military one' and that Netanyahu had recently instructed security chiefs to increase aid to Gaza and allow safer access to aid workers in light of the new International Court of Justice hearing and incidents in which aid workers were killed by IDF fire

"The countries that did not come to the summit see what is happening: Ukraine is building consensus around the peace formula and this allows us to take huge steps towards a just peace, not at all". Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said this, speaking to reporters. "The next summit should bring an end to the war and we need the other side to be at the table: our task is to bring Ukraine to that table as strong as possible," he said, pointing out that "the process of finalising the communiqué is in its final stage".

"The countries that did not come to the summit see what is happening: Ukraine is building consensus around the peace formula and this allows us to take huge steps towards a just peace, not at all". Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said this, speaking to reporters. "The next summit should bring an end to the war and we need the other side to be at the table: our task is to bring Ukraine to that table as strong as possible," he said, pointing out that "the process of finalising the communiqué is in its final stage".

The detainees who took staff hostage at a remand centre in Rostov-on-Don were killed. This was reported by the Russian media, according to which 'the criminals have been eliminated and the employees held hostage have been released and are not injured'.

Prime Minister Netanyahu's office let it be known that "when the prime minister heard on Sunday morning the news of a humanitarian pause in the fighting for 11 hours a day, he told his military secretary that this was unacceptable". Haaretz reports this, adding that after the clarification "the prime minister was informed that there is no change in IDF policy and that the fighting in Rafah will continue as planned."

An investigation by the New York Times reveals, based on a confidential report, alleged doping cases of three elite Chinese swimmers, medallists at the 2021 Tokyo Olympics, who might participate in the next Olympics in Paris. The US newspaper also mentions a world record holder among the names. Last April, it emerged that 23 elite Chinese swimmers had tested positive for a banned substance months before the last Summer Olympics in Tokyo 2021. China and the world anti-doping authority, Wada, vigorously defended their decision to allow them to compete at the Games in 2021. The US newspaper, however, discovered while making those claims, China and the anti-doping authority were both aware that three of those 23 swimmers had tested positive several years earlier for a different doping drug and had escaped public detection and suspension even then, according to the allegation of a secret Chinese report, viewed by the New York Times. In both cases, China claimed that the swimmers had unintentionally ingested the banned substances, an explanation greeted with considerable scepticism by some anti-doping experts. The newspaper adds that the confidential report identifies the three swimmers by name: Wang Shun, who at the Tokyo Olympics became the second Chinese to win an individual gold medal in swimming; Qin Haiyang, the current world record holder in the men's 200-metre breaststroke; and swimmer Yang Junxuan, who was 14 or 15 years old at the time of her positive test in 2017, but went on to win gold and silver medals at the Tokyo Games.

"This Swiss 'animal farm' is pure surrealism. Kafka and Orwell smoke nervously in the background.

None of the participants in the 'peace forum' knows what he is doing there or what his role is'. Thus the deputy chairman of the Security Council of the Russian Federation, Dmitry Medvedev, on his Telegram channel, criticises the international conference on peace in Ukraine that began yesterday in Bürgenstock, Switzerland: 90 countries from all over the world are taking part, but not Russia.

Armed with knives are the Isis detainees who took two guards hostage at the remand centre in the Rostov region. This was reported by the Interfax news agency, which pointed out that the detainees demanded a car and to be allowed to leave the prison freely. "A group of six prisoners who took two employees hostage demanded that they be provided with a car and be allowed to leave the pre-trial detention centre freely. In response, they promised to release the hostages. Negotiations are ongoing,' the emergency services said.

Hamas leader Haniyeh says the group's response to the latest ceasefire proposal in Gaza is consistent with the principles of the Biden plan. Reuters writes.

"The Group of Seven (G7), in a political move, resorted to false and unsubstantiated claims against Iran's nuclear programme, but we advise the group to take a lesson from the past and distance itself from its past destructive policies." This was stated by Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Nasser Kanani in reaction to Friday's G7 statement against Iran's uranium enrichment activities and its military aid to Russia in the war with Ukraine. "The illegal measures of the US and the E3 (UK, France and Britain) are the main cause of the current situation," he added, stressing that "these countries should avoid fruitless political actions." "Iran will continue to cooperate with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) within the framework of the country's rights and mandates, and will continue with its peaceful nuclear plans, based on the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) and the Safeguards Agreement, outside of any pressure and political turmoil," Kanani stressed, quoted by Isna. In other statements, Kanani stressed that any attempt to link the war in Ukraine to mutual cooperation between Tehran and Moscow is only a politically motivated move.

The Israeli army has announced it will begin a 'tactical pause' in its activities in southern Gaza to allow more aid deliveries to enter. The pause in fighting will take place along a route in southern Gaza from 8am to 7pm daily "until further notice", the Israel Defence Forces (IDF) said. The route goes from the key border crossing of Kerem Shalom to the Salah al-Din Road, which is the main highway in the strip, and then northwards to the Khan Younis area. The pause is aimed at "increasing the volume of humanitarian aid" reaching the besieged Palestinian territory, the IDF said, adding that it is working with the UN and international humanitarian agencies. After eight months of fighting between the Israeli army and Hamas militants, the UN's World Food Programme (WFP) warns that populations in the southern part of the Gaza Strip could soon suffer the same terrible levels of hunger as those experienced in northern Gaza. Carl Skau, the agency's deputy executive director, said on Friday that while progress is being made in the north, the situation is deteriorating again in the south. The United Nations Relief Agency for Palestinians (UNRWA) said Saturday that more than 50,000 children in Gaza need treatment for acute malnutrition. For months, Israel has been concentrating its military offensive in and around the main southern city of Rafah, considered the last stronghold of the Palestinian militant group Hamas.

Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni is expected in Switzerland this morning to attend the high-level conference on peace in Ukraine. This was announced by Palazzo Chigi. The Prime Minister, who yesterday held the G7's closing press conference in Borgo Egnazia, will arrive in Zurich at 11.30 a.m. and then move on to the Burgenstock resort (near Lucerne) where the summit, attended by 100 delegations from all regions of the world, is being held. Also present at the conference since yesterday is Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani.

The Israeli army announced that two more soldiers were killed in combat yesterday in the north of the Gaza Strip.

As has been the case every Saturday for months, thousands of demonstrators took to the streets in different cities in Israel to demand the release of hostages and protest against the government of Benyamin Netanyahu. This evening, Benny Gantz also took part in a demonstration in Sha'ar HaNegev in southern Israel, less than a week after resigning from the government. Demonstrators also gathered in front of Netanyahu's official residence in Jerusalem and in Tel Aviv, where opposition leader Yair Lapid accuses the premier of "stalling so that people forget that he is guilty and responsible" for the Hamas assault.

- "Achieving peace requires involvement and dialogue between all parties," reads a joint communiqué issued at the end of the first day of the ongoing Ukraine Peace Summit in Switzerland and quoted by the international media.

"It is necessary for Islamic countries to use all available means to stop the Zionist genocide in Gaza as soon as possible and to help the oppressed people in the enclave". This was stated by the acting Iranian Foreign Minister, Ali Bagheri, in a telephone conversation last night with his UAE colleague, Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan, reports the Mehr news agency. The Emirati foreign minister, for his part, emphasised the need to send humanitarian aid and take effective measures to stop Israeli attacks on Gaza, and said his country was doing its best to achieve this goal.