Trump calls for Gaza ceasefire deal as Israel orders thousands to flee

Israeli strikes have hit at least three schools being used as shelters in Gaza in recent hours, according to Al Jazeera.

One strike targeted a school in Gaza City’s Zeitoun neighbourhood, while another, also in Zeitoun, killed three people and wounded several others.

A third school was hit in Jabalia, leaving four dead and more injured.

Under international humanitarian law, attacks on civilian infrastructure such as schools are prohibited. However, throughout its deadly assault on Gaza, Israel has repeatedly bombed schools—most of which are now serving as shelters for forcibly displaced civilians.

The Israeli military has killed 785 Palestinian athletes and sports officials in Gaza and the occupied West Bank since October 2023, according to the Palestinian Football Association.

Turkish state media Anadolu Agency cited Susan Shalabi, the association’s deputy head, who said the casualties include both players and administrative staff across various sports. Most were killed in Gaza, with 23 deaths reported in the West Bank.

Shalabi stated that 437 of the dead were football players, including 15 from the West Bank. She added that the association has been documenting the toll using player registration records and data from its Gaza office.

However, she cautioned that the actual number may be higher, as many people remain missing under rubble in areas where access is severely restricted.

US President Donald Trump has renewed his pledge to prevent Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons, following the conclusion of the recent Iran-Israel conflict, during which the US conducted military strikes.

He has remained consistent in his messaging, despite ongoing questions over the effectiveness of the US assault on Iran’s nuclear infrastructure.

Speaking on the Fox News programme Sunday Morning Futures with Maria Bartiromo, Trump repeated his assertion that Iran was "weeks away" from building the weapons.

Although he has claimed the targeted nuclear sites were "obliterated", multiple major news outlets, citing intelligence sources, have reported that the US strikes failed to destroy the facilities.

At least 63 people have been killed in Israeli attacks across Gaza today, according to medical sources.

The majority - at least 43 - were killed in airstrikes targeting northern areas, including Gaza City, where Israel has intensified its bombing campaign.

Doctors Without Borders (MSF) has condemned the conditions in Gaza, stating:

“People in Gaza are facing an unbearable dilemma: risk your family starving or risk your life to maybe get food at an Israeli-US distribution site.”

In a post on X, the organisation added: “This is not humanitarian aid. It is slaughter,” apparently referencing the repeated killings reported near aid distribution points run by the US- and Israeli-supported Gaza Humanitarian Foundation.

People in Gaza are facing an unbearable dilemma: risk your family starving or risk your life to maybe get food at an Israeli-US distribution site.

This is not humanitarian aid. It is slaughter.https://t.co/wr81qwjpFw

— MSF International (@MSF) June 29, 2025

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Sunday that his country's "victory" over Iran in their 12-day war had created "opportunities", including for freeing Israeli hostages held in Gaza.

"Many opportunities have opened up now following this victory. First of all, to rescue the hostages," Netanyahu said in an address to officers of the security services.

"Of course, we will also have to solve the Gaza issue, to defeat Hamas, but I estimate that we will achieve both goals," he added, referring to his country's campaign to crush the Palestinian militant group in Gaza.

Turkish intelligence chief Ibrahim Kalin met senior Hamas leaders on Sunday for talks on Gaza's humanitarian tragedy and efforts to reach a ceasefire, state news agency Anadolu reported.

Kalin held talks with Mohammad Darwish, head of the political council of Hamas that rules Gaza, and his delegation at an undisclosed location, Anadolu said, citing security sources.

They discussed the humanitarian tragedy in Gaza and Turkey's efforts to end the war and "ensure the immediate passage of aid" to the territory.

They also spoke of "the need to reach a consensus among Palestinian groups during this critical period... (and) the steps to be taken to achieve a permanent ceasefire in Gaza," the sources said.

The meeting came after US President Donald Trump voiced optimism about a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas, saying Friday it could happen "within the next week".

Mediators have engaged in months of negotiations aimed at ending 20 months of war in Gaza, where Israel stopped all food entering over two months ago, leading to warnings of famine.

At least 47 Palestinians have been killed in Israeli attacks in Gaza since dawn on Sunday, Al Jazeera Arabic reports, citing medical sources.

Israel's Oil Refineries said on Sunday it had partly resumed activities at its Haifa facility, which was shut down following an Iranian missile strike two weeks ago.

Israel's Oil Refineries, or Bazan, said in a regulatory filing in Tel Aviv that it was gradually restoring operations and would likely be fully operational by October. It noted that it holds insurance covering damage and profit losses of up to $250 million caused by acts of terrorism and war.

The company said on 15 June that its pipelines and transmission lines in Haifa had been damaged by Iranian missile strikes, which killed three employees, and that it was examining the impact of the damage on its operations and implications on its financial results.

(Reuters and TNA staff)

Syria and Lebanon need to reach peace agreements with Israel, the US special envoy to Syria said Sunday.

"President [Ahmed] al-Sharaa has indicated that he doesn't hate Israel... and that he wants peace on that border. I think that will also happen with Lebanon. It's a necessity to have an agreement with Israel," Tom Barrack said in an interview with Turkey's state news agency Anadolu.

(AFP and TNA staff)

Germany has accused Iran of making "threats" against the UN's nuclear watchdog after Tehran rejected its request to visit nuclear facilities bombed by Israel and the United States.

Tehran has accused Rafael Grossi, head of the International Atomic Energy Agency, of "betrayal of his duties" for not condemning the Israeli and US strikes on Iran's nuclear sites, and Iranian lawmakers this week voted to suspend cooperation with the agency.

"I commend director general Rafael Grossi and his team for their efforts and their unrelenting professionalism. Threats against them from within Iran are deeply troubling and must stop," German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul said on X, without specifying further.

On Friday, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said on X that "Grossi's insistence on visiting the bombed sites under the pretext of safeguards is meaningless and possibly even malign in intent".

(AFP and TNA staff)

At least 45 Palestinians have been killed in Israeli attacks in Gaza since dawn on Sunday, medics tell Al Jazeera Arabic.

Twenty-nine were killed in Gaza City and the north of the enclave, they said.

The Israeli military earlier issued a displacement order for parts of Gaza City and Jabalia refugee camp, ordering the thousands of residents to go to the south of the territory.

The Israel-Iran war has opened the way to a "new road" for the Middle East in which Turkey will have a key role to play, Washington's envoy to Turkey said Sunday.

"What just happened between Israel and Iran is an opportunity for all of us to say: Time out. Let's create a new road, (and) Turkiye is key in that new road," Ambassador Tom Barrack, who is also the US special envoy to Syria, told the Anadolu state news agency.

(AFP and TNA staff)

Israeli forces have killed 580 Palestinians at aid sites controlled by the Israel- and US-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation over the past five weeks, the Gaza Government Media Office said Sunday.

More than 4,200 others have been wounded by Israeli fire since the organisation began operations on 26 May. Another 39 people are missing, the statement said.

A blast and smoke rising at Iran's northwestern Tabriz refinery were caused by the explosion of a nitrogen tank, Iranian state media said on Sunday.

There were no casualties in the incident and the refinery continues to operate normally, the report added.

(Reuters)

Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu is imposing "impossible conditions" to reaching a ceasefire in Gaza, a senior Hamas official said on Sunday.

Netanyahu is insisting on only naming 10 captives he wants released, rather than accepting the release of all remaining Israelis held by Hamas in Gaza, Mahmoud Mardawi wrote in a statement on his Telegram channel.

"He lies when he claims he does not interfere in the selection of names... Netanyahu does not want a deal, instead he misleads, delays, and keeps the war hostage to his calculations," he said.

US and Israeli officials have talked up the prospect of a Gaza ceasefire since the Trump administration brokered an end to the 12-day conflict between Israel and Iran earlier this month.

An Israeli soldier was killed by an explosive device in northern Gaza on Sunday, the Israeli military said in a statement. 

Germany is aiming to establish a joint German-Israeli cyber research centre and deepen collaboration between the two countries' intelligence and security agencies, German Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt said on Sunday.

"Military defence alone is not sufficient for this turning point in security," Dobrindt said during a visit to Israel, according to Germany's Bild newspaper.

Germany - one of Israel's closest allies - has increasingly looked to draw upon Israel's defence expertise amid rising tensions with Russia over the war in Ukraine.

According to Bild, Dobrindt outlined a five-point plan aimed at establishing what he called a "Cyber Dome" for Germany, as part of its cyber defence strategy.

Dobrindt, who was appointed by new German Chancellor Friedrich Merz last month, arrived in Israel on Saturday.

(Reuters and TNA staff)

Iran called for the United Nations to recognise Israel and the United States as being to blame for their recent 12-day war, in a letter to the secretary-general published on Sunday.

"We officially request hereby that the Security Council recognise the Israeli regime and the United States as the initiators of the act of aggression and acknowledge their subsequent responsibility, including the payment of compensation and reparations," Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi wrote in the letter to UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres.

(AFP and TNA staff)

The number of Palestinians killed by Israeli forces since dawn on Sunday has risen to 37, medical sources tell Al Jazeera Arabic.

Twenty-three people were killed in Israeli attacks in Gaza City, they said.

An Israeli court on Sunday postponed Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's testimony in his corruption trial after he requested a delay with the support of US President Donald Trump.

"Following the explanations given... we partially accept the request and cancel at this stage Mr Netanyahu's hearings scheduled" for this week, the Jerusalem district court said in its ruling, published online by Netanyahu's Likud party.

Netanyahu's lawyers had asked the court to excuse him from testifying over the next two weeks so he could focus on security issues following a ceasefire with Iran and amid ongoing fighting in Gaza.

(AFP and TNA staff)

Israel's security service said Sunday it had arrested 60 Hamas members in the occupied West Bank it claimed were planning to carry out attacks.

The Shin Bet internal security agency said in a statement that "a significant, complex, and large-scale Hamas infrastructure was exposed" in the West Bank town of Hebron.

It said it broke up 10 militant cells that "operated to carry out attacks in various formats in the immediate time frame".

Hamas did not immediately comment on the statement.

(AFP and TNA staff)

At least 86 people have been killed and 365 wounded by Israeli forces in Gaza over the past 24 hours, according to the Gaza health ministry.

The ministry said that hospitals have received 88 bodies over the past day, two of which were recovered from the rubble. 

A total of 56,500 people have been killed by the Israeli military since 7 October 2023 and 133,419 have been injured.

The US Embassy in Bahrain said on Sunday that it has returned to normal staffing and operations, according to a post by the embassy on X.

Shortly before this month's 12-day war between Israel and Iran, the US military had allowed families of service members in Bahrain to depart the country temporarily. 

(Reuters)

The Israeli government recorded 414 separate incidents of 'nationalist crimes' committed by settler extremists in the first six months of 2025, a 30% increase on the same period the year before, according to Israeli Army Radio.

The data includes includes violent confrontations, arson, stone-throwing and anti-Palestinian graffiti.

The Israeli government recorded 318 such incidents in the first half of 2024.

"The increase is reflected not only in the number of incidents but also in their severity. The incidents are becoming more and more severe," a senior Israeli officer said.

German Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt expressed support for Israel on Sunday during a visit to the site of an Iranian missile strike near Tel Aviv, part of the destruction left by this month's 12-day war.

It was the first visit by a senior foreign official since the war between Iran and Israel, which ended on Tuesday after a ceasefire was announced.

"We must deepen our support for Israel," Dobrindt said, speaking amid the rubble in Bat Yam, south of the coastal hub of Tel Aviv, where an Iranian strike killed nine people including three children.

(AFP)

Iran is highly doubtful that Israel will maintain the ceasefire that ended an air war between the two countries, Iranian armed forces Chief of Staff told Saudi Arabia's Defence Minister Prince Khalid bin Salman on Sunday, according to Iranian semi-official Tasnim news agency.

"Since we have complete doubts about the enemy's [Israel] adherence to its commitments, including the ceasefire, we are prepared to give it a strong response if it repeats the aggression," Abdolrahim Mousavi said. 

(Reuters)

Al Jazeera Arabic is now reporting that the number of Palestinians killed by Israeli forces on Sunday has risen to 21.

Medics told the Qatari broadcaster that four people were killed by Israeli troops while waiting for food in Rafah.

Earlier on Sunday, Israeli airstrikes in Gaza City and Khan Younis killed at least seven people, including women and children.

British police said they were considering whether to launch an investigation after performers at Glastonbury Festival made anti-Israel comments during their shows.

"We are aware of the comments made by acts on the West Holts Stage at Glastonbury Festival this afternoon," Avon and Somerset Police, in western England, said on X late on Saturday.

Irish hip-hop group Kneecap and punk duo Bob Vylan made anti-Israeli chants in separate shows on the West Holts stage on Saturday. One of the members of Bob Vylan chanted "Death, death, to the IDF" in a reference to the Israel Defense Forces.

(Reuters)

Israeli forces killed at least 14 people in Gaza on Sunday morning as they continued their relentless attacks across the strip. 

Medics said at least one person was killed while waiting for aid, Al Jazeera Arabic is reporting.

Airstrikes in Gaza City and Khan Younis earlier this morning killed at least seven people, including several women and children, as we reported earlier.

Israeli forces killed at least seven people in a series of attacks in Gaza City and Khan Younis in the south on Sunday morning.

Medics said five people - including two women and a child - were killed in an airstrike on a tent in the Al-Mawasi displacement camp, Palestinian news agency WAFA reported. A number of others were wounded.

An airstrike in the Al-Zaytoun neighborhood in Gaza City killed at least two children and left others injured.

Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu must leave office, his hard-right predecessor Naftali Bennett said in a televised interview on Saturday, refusing to say whether he intends to challenge the country's longest-serving leader in an election.

In an interview with Israel's Channel 12, former prime minister Bennett said Netanyahu "has been in power for 20 years... that's too much, it's not healthy".

"He bears... heavy responsibility for the divisions in Israeli society", Bennett said of growing rifts within Israel under Netanyahu, who has a strong support base but also staunch opponents who have demanded his departure including over his handling of the Gaza war since October 2023.

Netanyahu "must go", said the former prime minister, a right-wing leader who in 2021 joined forces with Netanyahu critics to form a coalition that ousted him from the premiership after 12 consecutive years at the helm.

(AFP and TNA staff)

US president Donald Trump renewed his call for a ceasefire in Gaza on Sunday morning, writing "MAKE THE DEAL IN GAZA. GET THE HOSTAGES BACK!!!" in a post on Truth Social.

The US president has talked up the prospects of a truce in Gaza in the days since Israel and Iran agreed to end their recent 12-day conflict. On Friday he told reporters that a deal could be made “within the next week”, but declined to provide details.

Qatar - a key mediator between Israel and Hamas - has voiced optimism that the Israel-Iran truce could provide momentum to end Israel's assault on Gaza, and has renewed its push for a ceasefire agreement.

The Israeli military issued a displacement order for parts of northern Gaza, warning Palestinians in areas of Gaza City and Jabalia refugee to flee to the south.

Israeli forces are "operating with extreme force in these areas, and these military operations will escalate, intensify, and extend westward to the city center", military spokesperson Avichay Adraee said in a statement posted on social media.

Adraee ordered residents to "evacuate immediately south to Al-Mawasi".

Israel has issued dozens of displacement orders since resuming its onslaught on Gaza in the middle of March, forcing hundreds of thousands of people into ever smaller corners of Gaza.

More than 80 percent of Gaza is now effectively a no-go zone for Palestinians due to displacement orders or having been seized by Israeli forces.