President Trump fires three senior pro-Israel officials – Merav Seren, Eric Treger and Morgan Ortagus – due to disagreements with Netanyahu, allegedly over their pro-Israel positions.
Euronews explains that: “Despite the tensions, Israel will participate in the EU meeting on strengthening relations with the Middle East and North Africa at the level of foreign ministers, which will be held in Brussels on June 23.” A senior Israeli official said: “The goal is to participate in the meeting, it has not yet been determined whether Foreign Minister Gideon Saar will attend.”
Some EU countries, including Germany, are considering restrictions against Israel, Bloomberg reports. “For many European governments, it has simply become impossible to continue supporting Israel’s war, despite their firm commitment to Israel’s security,” said Julien Barnes-Dacey, director of the Middle East and North Africa programme at the European Council. In a dissenting voice from Germany, the foreign policy ministry said: “Germany will continue to support the State of Israel, including by supplying weapons.”
At a press conference on the evening of the third, IDF spokesperson Brigadier General Effie Defrin presented for the first time a map showing the ongoing ground offensive against Hamas. According to the map, the Gaza Division is operating in the Rafah area; the 36th and 98th Divisions are advancing on Khan Yunis from the south and east; the 252nd is operating in Gaza City and the Netzarim corridor; and the 162nd is fighting against Hamas in the north of the Strip.
Also on the military front, the Israeli press reports: “Three soldiers from Battalion 82’s armored unit will be arrested and are in military prison after refusing to carry out a military mission inside the Gaza Strip. The soldiers insisted on their position and were tried on charges of refusing to carry out a military order.”
According to Israel’s Channel 12: “Amid threats to dissolve the Knesset, a member of the Shas Council of Elders invites State Bloc leader Benny Gantz to a meeting.” Shas party chairman Aryeh Deri: “We are in an unprecedented crisis. We have no choice. We will go to elections.”
Attempts to bring Israeli prisoners home continue. Former minister and pilot, current Knesset member Matan Kahana: “The military operation must serve to bring back the prisoners, because there will be plenty of time for Hamas and the rest of our enemies to defeat and eliminate them, but our prisoners do not have the time.”
Knesset member Yitzhak Kreuzer (Ben Gvir’s party): The price to pay in the Gaza Strip is very high, we would have liked to see more strength against the Strip, the fighting there is taking place in an extremely difficult situation, there are still 58 male and female prisoners on the field and the battles are taking place against one of the worst organizations ever in the context of the guerrilla warfare.
Hagai, father of prisoner Matan Angrist: “What makes me angry is that the Prime Minister is not fighting for his soldiers: he is responsible for that. There is a feeling that the contract between the government and the people has been broken. Some of Matan’s friends say they are no longer able to do it, that they cannot continue to fight.”
And now a look at the military scenarios updated at 15:30 on June 4. Saudi artillery shelling against border villages in the Baqim district of Saada governorate, Yemen, Houthi area.
Israel Hayom: “the new Shin Bet chief David Zinni conducted a secret tour in some internal areas of Syria, on the outskirts of Damascus”. Two Grad rockets launched from the Syrian region of Daraa targeted the Golan Heights. Two different groups have claimed responsibility for the launch of two rockets from southern Syria towards the Golan Heights. The initial claims come from the Mohammed Deif Brigades, a group that claims to be affiliated with Hamas, but which Hamas claims to have never heard of. While the second group, Kataib Awli al-Bass, is part of the Islamic Resistance Front and has ties to Iran and Hezbollah. Kataib Awli al-Bass, in addition to claiming responsibility, also released a video that it claims shows the launchers used in southern Syria.
Israeli artillery shells the Yarmouk basin area west of the Daraa countryside in southern Syria. Israel holds al Ahmed al Sharaa, Syrian president, responsible for the incident. Also in Syria, an explosion at the military airport in Hama, in Syria, were caused by an explosion in an airport ammunition depot.
In Lebanon, the IDF dropped leaflets threatening the mayor of the border town of Yaroun, showing a photo of him and saying he was under surveillance from the air and the ground. They threatened to kill him if he continues to cooperate with the civil NGO “Lata’awano”, which provides aid to Shiites across Lebanon and is behind the prefabricated houses initiative in border towns. The NGO is called “Yellow” by Jews. An Israeli drone drops bombs on a bulldozer in the Sultani area, near the town of Yaroun, in southern Lebanon.
The “Freedom Flotilla” ship “Madeleine”, heading to Gaza to break the siege, sends distress signals after detecting drones flying over the area. The ship set sail from Sicily last Sunday, carrying 12 international activists to break the Israeli blockade on Gaza and deliver humanitarian aid. This attempt followed the failure of a previous attempt due to an Israeli drone strike on another ship in the Mediterranean Sea, near Malta, in early May. Mission Madeleine is a direct extension of the Mavi Marmara, which was the victim of a deadly Israeli attack in 2010, resulting in the deaths of ten volunteers while attempting to deliver humanitarian aid to Gaza.
The campaign organizers see this mission as a continuation of that humanitarian legacy, a rejection of international silence and submission to political blackmail.
The Gaza Government Press Office condemned the IDF’s shelling of the roof of the main building of Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital (in the central Gaza Strip) on Wednesday, which caused material damage. The government stressed that targeting hospitals is a flagrant violation of all international and humanitarian conventions.
Al-Quds Brigades announced that they targeted an Israeli Hummer jeep with a high-explosive device east of Gaza. Saraya al-Quds: “We targeted an Israeli military vehicle west of Beit Lahia.”
In Jordan, resistance fighters throw more than 15 homemade bombs during clashes with IDF forces in the town of Silat al-Dahr, south of Jenin.
Antonio Albanese e Graziella Giangiulio
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