Massacres of Displaced Persons in Gaza and Israeli Violations in the West Bank Threaten Cairo Talks
Nine Palestinians, including two women, were killed and 15 others were seriously injured last night as a result of an Israeli airstrike that directly targeted tents housing displaced people near the Rimal Preparatory School for Boys in the Rimal neighborhood, west of Gaza City.
The Palestinian Foreign Ministry strongly condemned the horrific massacre, calling the targeting of shelters an integral part of the ongoing crime of genocide and a blatant disregard for the rules of international humanitarian law and relevant Security Council resolutions, including Resolution 2803, ignoring the outlines of the approved de-escalation plan.
In a press statement followed by the media, Hamas spokesman Hazem Qassem made direct accusations against the Israeli army of committing a horrific massacre of children and women with the aim of undermining and destroying the fragile ceasefire agreement, which was reached in October 2025 under the direct auspices of US President Donald Trump.
Qassem explained that the timing of this remarkable military escalation – which included intensive artillery shelling in western Gaza and al-Bureij camp, and targeting with "quad helicopter" drones – deliberately intersects with the start of a new round of talks in the Egyptian capital Cairo to save the agreement.
The movement's spokesman called on the guarantor countries (Egypt, Qatar, and Turkey) and the envoys of the "Peace Council" to break their silence and exert real pressure on Tel Aviv, reiterating the movement's condition for a complete cessation of attacks, the withdrawal of forces to the lines of the agreement, and the entry of aid as a prerequisite for any political progress, especially since the statistics of health officials in Gaza indicate that about 950 Palestinians have been killed since the aforementioned agreement came into force, in exchange for the death of 4 Israeli soldiers.
Targeting fishermen and paralysis in the ambulance and emergency sector
At dawn today, the Palestinian fisherman Mohammed Musa Abu Jayab was killed after his fishing boat was subjected to heavy and direct fire by the Israeli occupation army's gunboats in the Deir al-Balah Sea in the central Gaza Strip, according to local sources.
This crime is part of a series of deliberate and daily targeting by the Israeli navy against fishermen to drive them out of their livelihoods by firing guided missiles and poison gas, and destroying and confiscating fishing boats.
This coincided with the launch of an urgent humanitarian distress call by the Directorate of Medical Services in the Gaza Strip, warning that the remaining ambulances would stop working completely as a result of the tightening of the unjust siege.
The Palestinian Ambulance Sector on the Threshold of Paralysis
For his part, the Director of Ambulance and Emergency at the Medical Services, Colonel Fares Afaneh, confirmed in published press statements that the ambulance sector is practically on the threshold of complete structural paralysis due to the deliberate Israeli policy to prevent the entry of oils, batteries, and vital spare parts needed for the maintenance and repair of the emergency vehicle system.
Afaneh stressed that this ban directly and structurally threatens the ability of field medical teams to respond quickly to urgent calls and save the lives of the wounded and wounded, which deepens the humanitarian tragedy and exacerbates the human toll among unarmed civilians.
Raids and arrests
At dawn on Sunday, the Israeli occupation forces launched a large-scale campaign of raids and incursions that covered various parts of the cities and villages of the occupied West Bank, during which they searched houses and tampered with their contents.
According to Palestinian sources, Israeli forces arrested Dr. Bilal al-Shobaki, a political analyst and head of the political science department at Hebron University, from his home in Hebron after severely beating him, and Yazan Musa al-Ghouj was also arrested during the raid into the city of Jericho.
In a related context, activist Jihad Al-Qaq confirmed the arrest of three citizens from the village of Kafr Malik, east of Ramallah, namely Nidal Ahmed Hamayel, Amjad Jihad Ghneimat and Muhammad Jihad Hamayel, after raiding their homes and stealing their mobile phones.
In addition , last night, extremist settlers set fire to large areas of agricultural lands belonging to Palestinian citizens in the area of "Al-Naqar", northwest of the village of Al-Mughayyir, east of Ramallah, which resulted in the outbreak of huge fires that quickly spread to devour trees and crops, including a land belonging to the citizen Samih Al-Na'san.
Local and field reports reported that the Israeli army forces provided protection to the settlers and prevented Palestinian civil defense and fire crews from reaching the hotspots to extinguish them, which led to the spread of the flames towards the houses of the citizens, amid a state of extreme panic and tension in the area.
Western anger and European-French sanctions expected
These escalating developments on the ground come in conjunction with the disclosure by Western diplomats to the Reuters news agency of intensive moves led by France in cooperation and coordination with several European countries, including Britain and Norway, to increase international pressure on the Israeli government through the imposition of a coordinated and rapid national sanctions package.
The sanctions, which are expected to be officially announced in the coming days, will focus on asset freezes and travel bans on figures and leaders associated with settler violence and terrorism in the West Bank, and reflect growing Western anger toward the government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, specifically over expansionist construction plans in East Jerusalem's E1 area, a dangerous strategic plan that European diplomats say is explicitly aimed at undermining any remaining chances for a contiguous Palestinian state Geographically and viable by isolating the north of the West Bank from its south.
Through these unilateral measures, Paris seeks to impose a new deterrence equation a few days before hosting an expanded meeting on June 12, which includes about 10 foreign ministers and representatives of Palestinian and Israeli civil society organizations, to push the parties towards a real commitment to UN resolutions and ensure the unhindered flow of humanitarian aid, leading to the realization of an independent Palestinian state on the borders of June 4, 1967, with East Jerusalem as its capital.