Middle East: Dozens killed in Gaza, Red Sea ship targeted

• Israeli air strikes have killed dozens of Palestinians in the Gaza Strip
• A ship has reportedly come under attack in the Red Sea
• An Israeli delegation is traveling to Qatar for ceasefire talks

Here are the latest headlines from around Gaza, Israel and the wider Middle East on Sunday, July 6.

07/06/2025July 6, 2025

Far-right Israeli minister criticizes Gaza aid distribution plan

Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich has slammed a decision by Israel's Security Cabinet to approve a plan to allow international organizations to distribute more aid in the north of the Gaza Strip.

Far-right hardliner Smotrich called the plan, which was reported by the Times of Israel newspaper, a "grave mistake".

He said the plan would benefit the militant Palestinian group Hamas and serve as "logistical support for the enemy during wartime."

Reports in Israel spoke of a "heated" Security Cabinet meeting during which Smotrich allegedly accused Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Chief-of-Staff Eyal Zamir of not fulfilling their mission in Gaza and failing to ensure that aid entering the enclave did not fall into the hands of Hamas.

He said he was considering his "next steps" but stopped short of explicitly threatening to quit the coalition.

Smotrich himself lives in an illegal Israeli settlement in the occupied West Bank and is staunchly opposed to the idea of a Palestinian state, among other radical views. But Netanyahu is dependent on far-right and religious parties for a majority in the Knesset.

07/06/2025July 6, 2025

Dozens of Palestinians killed in Israeli strikes

Israeli air strikes again killed dozens of Palestinians in the Gaza Strip on Saturday night and Sunday morning, although the precise number of casualties is currently unclear.

Gaza's civil defense agency told the AFP news agency that 14 people had been killed, including 10 in a pre-dawn strike on Gaza City's Sheikh Radawn neighbourhood.

A local resident told the agency: "The rest of the family is still under the rubble. We are losing young people, families and children every day, and this must stop now. Enough blood has been shed."

Palestinian sources cited by the dpa news agency put the death toll at 17, including four children aged 6-12 from the same family who were killed by an Israeli drone when sheltering in a tent near the city of Khan Younis.

The Associated Press (AP) quoted hospital officials in both Gaza City and Khan Younis who said that at least 38 people had been killed.

Among the 130 targets which the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said they struck in the last 24 hours were a tent camp for displaced persons in the coastal area of Muwasi and two houses in Gaza City, where a further 25 people were injured, according to the sources cited.

The IDF made no immediate comment on the individual strikes, but regularly insists that it only targets locations linked to the Palestinian militant group Hamas.

07/06/2025July 6, 2025

Welcome to our coverage

Hello and welcome to DW's coverage of developments in the Middle East on Sunday, July 6, 2025.

An Israeli delegation is expected in Doha, Qatar, on Sunday to take part in Gaza ceasefire negotiations – despite Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu dismissing alterations proposed by Hamas as "unacceptable."

Netanyahu himself is flying to Washington for talks with US President Donald Trump, who suggested on Friday that there "could be a Gaza deal" next week.

Meanwhile, dozens more Palestinians have been killed by Israeli strikes in Gaza.