Key events
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Opening summary
Hello and welcome to the Guardian’s continuing coverage of the crisis in the Middle East.
Israel’s defence minister has laid out plans to force all Palestinians in Gaza into a camp on the ruins of Rafah, in a scheme that legal experts and academics described as a blueprint for crimes against humanity.
As reported by the Guardian’s Emma Graham-Harrison, Israel Katz said he has ordered Israel’s military to prepare for establishing a camp, which he called a “humanitarian city”, on the ruins of the city of Rafah. It would involve Palestinians going through “security screening” before entering, and once inside would not be allowed to leave.
Eventually, the entire population of Gaza would be housed there, and Israel aims to implement “the emigration plan, which will happen”, Haaretz newspaper reported.
Palestinians carry containers for water at a camp for the displaced in Deir al-Balah, Gaza Strip. Photograph: Abdel Kareem Hana/AP
Elsewhere, Iran’s government has said at least 1,060 people have been killed in the war with Israel. Officials say that this figure could rise to 1,100, given how badly some people are wounded.
This figure comes from Saeed Ohadi, the head of Iran’s Foundation of Martyrs and Veterans Affairs, who spoke in a televised interview on late Monday (7 July) – according to AP News.
As the outlet reports, Iran downplayed the effects of Israel’s 12-day bombardment of the country, which decimated its air defences, destroyed military sites and damaged its nuclear facilities. However, since a ceasefire agreement was reached on 24 June, Iran slowly has been acknowledging the breadth of the destruction, though it still has not said how much military material it lost.
In other developments:
Israel’s far-right national security minister Itamar Ben Gvir calls on prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu to withdraw from talks with Hamas. As Times of Israel reports, he said: “We should not negotiate with those who kill our soldiers. They should be crushed to pieces, starved to death, and not resuscitated with humanitarian aid that gives them oxygen.”
The Israeli military says five soldiers were killed in an attack in northern Gaza, while health officials in the Palestinian territory say 18 people were killed in Israeli strikes.