Israeli Military Kills Six in Gaza and Expands Control Zone, Locals Say

Palestinians assess damage at the site of an Israeli airstrike in Khan Younis, southern Gaza Strip, on June 7, 2026. (AFP)
Palestinians assess damage at the site of an Israeli airstrike in Khan Younis, southern Gaza Strip, on June 7, 2026. (AFP)
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Israeli Military Kills Six in Gaza and Expands Control Zone, Locals Say

Palestinians assess damage at the site of an Israeli airstrike in Khan Younis, southern Gaza Strip, on June 7, 2026. (AFP)
Palestinians assess damage at the site of an Israeli airstrike in Khan Younis, southern Gaza Strip, on June 7, 2026. (AFP)

Israeli strikes killed six Palestinians, including a child, in the Gaza Strip on Monday, health officials there said, as Israel's military expanded the area under its control, according to residents. 

The reports came as mediators in Cairo said they were pressing on with efforts to salvage a fragile US-brokered ceasefire deal that has ended major clashes but left many key points unresolved. 

Medics said two people were killed when an Israeli strike hit near a tent encampment in the Mawasi area of Khan Younis in the south of the enclave. 

In the Jabalia refugee camp in northern Gaza, medics said three Palestinians, including an 8-year-old boy, were killed and others were wounded in an ‌Israeli airstrike that ‌hit near a group of people digging a well. 

Later on Monday, an ‌Israeli ⁠airstrike near the ⁠Al-Aqsa Hospital in Deir Al-Balah in central Gaza Strip, killed one person and wounded three others, medics said, taking Monday's death toll to six. 

The Israeli military did not immediately comment on the reports of the attacks or of its forces moving markers to expand the "Yellow Zone" under their control. 

Israel and Hamas have repeatedly accused each other of violating the truce. Israeli strikes have killed more than 950 people since the truce, health officials say, while Israel says four soldiers were killed by fighters during the same period. 

ISRAEL'S NETANYAHU ORDERED EXPANSION 

Israeli ⁠troops still control more than 60% of Gaza's territory, where they have ordered ‌residents out and destroyed remaining buildings. Nearly the entire population of ‌2 million people now live in a tiny strip of land along the coast, mainly in makeshift tents or damaged ‌buildings, under Hamas control. 

The territory has been bombarded to ruins by Israel's two-year military assault that ‌followed the 2023 Hamas attack on southern Israel. On Sunday, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reaffirmed that he had directed Israel's military to expand its hold and take control of 70% of the enclave. 

"We are not allowing them to arm themselves or harm us, and we are also eliminating their senior commanders," he said in a speech. 

Witnesses in the ‌southern Gaza areas said the Israeli forces have in the past few days expanded the "Yellow Zone", in some areas in eastern Khan Younis and northern ⁠Rafah where new markers ⁠and concrete blocks have been placed. 

They added that new markers bring forces closer to areas populated with tents and displacement centers. 

In Bani Suhaila town, in eastern Khan Younis, some people say they could see the tanks from their tents. 

MEDIATORS PRESS ON WITH TALKS 

Three days into a new round of ceasefire talks in Cairo, leaders of Hamas and other Palestinian groups told mediators that Israel must end attacks to allow discussion on the second phase. 

They demanded more flow of aid and goods into Gaza, and the retreat of Israeli forces to original October ceasefire lines. 

A Hamas official told Reuters on Monday that Israel had so far refused to make commitments to mediators over any of the demands made by Hamas and the factions. 

No agreement has been reached to implement a further US-backed plan for Israeli troops to withdraw, Hamas to disarm and Gaza to be rebuilt. 

"Israel refuses to end attacks on civilians in Gaza, allow 600 trucks of aid and goods into Gaza as agreed and it continues to occupy more land every day," the official said. 



Countries Request Urgent UN Debate on Sudan's al-Obeid

Sudanese women make a wicker bowl at the al-Rahmaniyah camp for displaced people, near the city of El-Obeid in the South Kordofan region, on June 29, 2026. (Photo by AFP)
Sudanese women make a wicker bowl at the al-Rahmaniyah camp for displaced people, near the city of El-Obeid in the South Kordofan region, on June 29, 2026. (Photo by AFP)
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Countries Request Urgent UN Debate on Sudan's al-Obeid

Sudanese women make a wicker bowl at the al-Rahmaniyah camp for displaced people, near the city of El-Obeid in the South Kordofan region, on June 29, 2026. (Photo by AFP)
Sudanese women make a wicker bowl at the al-Rahmaniyah camp for displaced people, near the city of El-Obeid in the South Kordofan region, on June 29, 2026. (Photo by AFP)

The UN Human Rights Council has received a request for an urgent debate on the situation in Sudan's al-Obeid city, a spokesperson said on ⁠Tuesday.

"That will most ⁠likely take place on Friday," Pascal Sim, a spokesperson for the ⁠council, told a press briefing in Geneva.

The request was submitted by countries including Britain and Germany.

The UN has warned of "substantial" Rapid Support Forces troop movements around the city ahead of a possible ground assault, raising fears of a repeat of the atrocities seen in El-Fasher, the Darfur city which fell to the RSF last October in an attack the UN said bore "the hallmarks of genocide.”

After breaking a prolonged siege in February last year, the Sudanese army has struggled to stop the RSF from reimposing a blockade through repeated drone strikes targeting al-Obeid, its infrastructure and the main highway out.

Recent attacks have hit the main power station and fuel depots, plunged neighborhoods into darkness and shut down water pumps.


Egypt Moves to Step Up Fuel Supply Ahead of Rise in Power Demand This Summer

 Egyptian youths play football in an open area beside a mountain near Cairo, Egypt, June 29, 2026, as the country follows the FIFA World Cup. (Reuters)
Egyptian youths play football in an open area beside a mountain near Cairo, Egypt, June 29, 2026, as the country follows the FIFA World Cup. (Reuters)
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Egypt Moves to Step Up Fuel Supply Ahead of Rise in Power Demand This Summer

 Egyptian youths play football in an open area beside a mountain near Cairo, Egypt, June 29, 2026, as the country follows the FIFA World Cup. (Reuters)
Egyptian youths play football in an open area beside a mountain near Cairo, Egypt, June 29, 2026, as the country follows the FIFA World Cup. (Reuters)

Egypt's ‌electricity and petroleum ministers met on Tuesday to coordinate fuel supply and grid management ahead of a summer in which power demand is expected to rise 8% over last year's record peak of 40,000 megawatts, according to a joint ministry statement.

Electricity Minister Mahmoud Esmat and ‌Petroleum Minister Karim ‌Badawi said the two ‌ministries ⁠were working as "one ⁠team" to secure fuel supplies for power stations and stabilize the national grid during peak hours.

Esmat said the electricity sector planned to add 2,200 MW of renewable ⁠energy capacity and 1,300 MW ‌of battery ‌storage to the grid this year, and ‌had already cut fuel consumption ‌per kilowatt to below 170 grams.

Badawi said that LNG regasification vessels were operating at high efficiency to supplement gas ‌production, while the Damietta LNG export terminal was being used ⁠to ⁠store LNG cargoes to be used when needed.

Egypt suffered severe rolling blackouts in 2023 and had to rely on foreign funding to stabilize its grid in 2024.

Egypt's gas production stood at 3,214 million cubic meters in April, while imports were 2,190 million cubic meters, according to the Joint Organizations Data Initiative (JODI).


Arab League Secretary-General Condemns Israeli Attacks on Syria

A man holds an unexploded artillery shell that fell during reported overnight Israeli bombardment that hit the village of Abidin in Syria's southwestern Daraa province, close to the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights, on June 29, 2026. (AFP)
A man holds an unexploded artillery shell that fell during reported overnight Israeli bombardment that hit the village of Abidin in Syria's southwestern Daraa province, close to the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights, on June 29, 2026. (AFP)
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Arab League Secretary-General Condemns Israeli Attacks on Syria

A man holds an unexploded artillery shell that fell during reported overnight Israeli bombardment that hit the village of Abidin in Syria's southwestern Daraa province, close to the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights, on June 29, 2026. (AFP)
A man holds an unexploded artillery shell that fell during reported overnight Israeli bombardment that hit the village of Abidin in Syria's southwestern Daraa province, close to the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights, on June 29, 2026. (AFP)

Outgoing Arab League Secretary-General Ahmed Aboul Gheit strongly condemned on Tuesday the Israeli attacks and repeated incursions into Syrian territory, most recently the artillery shelling that targeted the governorates of Quneitra and Daraa.

He described these actions as a “blatant violation” of Syria's sovereignty and a “flagrant breach” of international law.

In a statement, Aboul Gheit warned that “the continued violations by the Israeli forces threaten to widen the scope of the conflict and undermine efforts to restore security and stability.”

He called on the United Nations Security Council “to fulfill its responsibilities by taking action to end these aggressive actions and ensure Israel's compliance with the 1974 Disengagement Agreement.”