what to remember from Monday June 3

The Israeli army announced Monday the death of four hostages held in the Gaza Strip since the October 7 attack.

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A building destroyed following Israeli bombardments on the Al Bureij camp in Deir al-Balah, in the Gaza Strip, June 3, 2024. (ALI JADALLAH / ANADOLU / AFP)

Nearly eight months after the start of the war, Israeli bombings continued on Monday June 3 on several sectors of the Gaza Strip, including Rafah. The Israeli army announced the death of four hostages held by Palestinian Hamas in the Palestinian enclave since the October 7 attack. In this context, doubts are growing about the chances of success of a ceasefire plan announced by American President Joe Biden. Here’s what to remember from the day.

Israeli army announces death of four hostages

In a press release, the army announced that it had “informed the families of Chaïm Peri, Yoram Metzger, Amiram Cooper and Nadav Popplewell” of the death of these four hostages kidnapped during the unprecedented Hamas attack on October 7 in southern Israel and taken to the neighboring Gaza Strip. Their bodies are still in the hands of Hamas, she added.

“We believe that the four (hostages) were killed while they were together in an area of ​​Khan Yunis (southern Gaza), during our operation there against Hamas”, said Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari, army spokesperson. Amiram Cooper, 84, Yoram Metzger, 80, and Chaïm Peri, 80, were from the Nir Oz kibbutz, where they were kidnapped. Nadav Popplewell, a British-Israeli citizen, was kidnapped from Kibbutz Nirim.

Of the 251 people taken as hostages during the attack, 120 are still detained in Gaza, of whom 41 have died, according to the army.

At least 40 people killed in the Gaza Strip

In the besieged Palestinian territory, at least 40 people have been killed in the last 24 hours in Israeli bombings which continued Monday in several areas, according to the Health Ministry of the Islamist movement Hamas. Air strikes and artillery fire mainly targeted the west of the city of Rafah while the ground offensive pushed, according to the UN, around a million Palestinians to flee the city.

Strikes and artillery fire also left six dead in Bureij (center), ten in Khan Younes and four in Gaza (north), medical sources reported to AFP. Lhe conflict has so far claimed 36,479 lives in the Palestinian territory, according to data from the Health Ministry of the Hamas-led Gaza government.

About 55% of buildings in the Gaza Strip, mostly housing, have been affected since the start of the war, according to the UN. She estimates, using satellite images, that this concerns 137,297 structures.

Benyamin Netanyahu considers Joe Biden’s ceasefire proposal “incomplete”

The plan announced on Saturday by the American president provides in a first phase for a six-week ceasefire accompanied by an Israeli withdrawal from densely populated areas of Gaza, the release of certain hostages – women and sick – and Palestinian prisoners. . Une road map proposed, according to Joe Biden, by Israel.

“Allegations that we agreed to a ceasefire without our conditions being met are incorrect”reacted in a press release Benyamin Netanyahu, judging this proposal “incomplete”. Israel constantly repeats these conditions: “destruction” of Hamas and the liberation “of all the hostages”.

G7 countries ask Hamas to accept US plan

Hamas, which has not yet given its final response, said it was considering “positively” the plan while reiterating its demands for a permanent ceasefire and a full Israeli withdrawal from Gaza before any agreement. What Israel refuses. “Hamas is now the only obstacle to a complete ceasefire”declared Joe Biden, in “confirming Israel’s desire to advance on the basis” of the plan he announced.

G7 countries (United States, Canada, Japan, France, Germany, Italy and Spain) for their part announced Monday that they supported this ceasefire plan and asked Hamas to accept it. “We call on Hamas to accept this agreement, which Israel is ready to implement, and urge countries with influence over Hamas to help ensure that it is implemented.”, indicates a press release published by Italy, which holds the rotating presidency of the G7.

New Israeli strikes in Syria kill 16

According to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (OSDH), Israeli night strikes targeted a factory in which pro-Iranian groups are based, “causing strong explosions”. “Sixteen people, Syrians and foreigners, were killed”added the NGO based in the United Kingdom, but which has a vast network of sources in the country at war, without specifying whether they were all combatants.

The Syrian Ministry of Defense announced in a statement that“after midnight (…), the Israeli enemy launched an air attack (…) targeting certain positions near Aleppo”. He added that “the aggression left several martyrs and material damage”, without further details. According to Iranian news agency Tasnim, one of the advisers of the Revolutionary Guard Corps in Syria, died in this strike.


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