• Hamas announces the dissolution of its governing body in Gaza after nearly 20 years in power, paving the way for a technocratic committee to implement civilian government.
• Israeli forces continue their attacks on Gaza, killing at least six Palestinians and wounding 20 others.
• A UN human rights body has called Israel’s detention of Gaza doctor Hussam Abu Safia arbitrary and demanded his immediate release as concerns grow over risks to his life.

Hamas cedes Gaza governance as Israel’s deadly attacks continue

Hamas is dissolving its civilian governing body in Gaza after nearly 20 years and transferring its responsibilities to a new National Committee for the Administration of Gaza.

If implemented, the move would represent a significant shift in Gaza.

But since the announcement, Israeli air strikes have shown no sign of easing.

Attacks continued across the Strip throughout the day on Monday, and medical sources say at least six Palestinians have been killed. Among them were a husband and wife killed when an Israeli rocket struck their apartment building.

The proposal by Hamas leaves many questions unanswered: How the National Committee would be formed, who would oversee it, and whether it would gain broad public and international support remain unclear.

Those issues are expected to feature prominently in discussions on any broader agreement on Gaza’s post-war future.

The announcement may signal that Hamas is willing to step back from directly governing Gaza. Whether that evolves into a genuine transfer of power – or remains part of the ongoing negotiations – will depend not only on Hamas, but on the outcome of ceasefire talks and the broader political consensus over who will take their place once the fighting ends.

For Palestinians here, the debate over Gaza’s future is unfolding under the threat of military operations. Their reality remains defined by air strikes, displacement, and a humanitarian crisis that political proposals have yet to resolve.

Israeli officials dismiss Hamas dissolution as a ‘media stunt’

Israeli media is quoting senior officials as saying that the Hamas announcement (of the dissolution of its governing committee) amounts to a “media stunt”, a diversion, an attempt to deflect from Israel’s accusation that Hamas is not dismantling itself.

It is not disarming and thus not implementing the Trump plan for Gaza.

Over the past months, Israel has expanded its occupation of territory in Gaza to reach more than 70 percent of the Strip. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu recently said there would be no reconstruction, no withdrawal, no talk of any of that until and unless Hamas completely disarms.

It is not clear how Israel wants that disarmament to happen without the presence of the local governance committee set up by the Board of Peace, a committee that has welcomed that announcement (by Hamas) for now.

And the fear, the anticipation, or the trepidation, rather, in Israel right now is that this announcement may open the door for pressure on Israel to implement more of its obligations under the ceasefire.

Hamas accuses Israel of trying to engineer ‘administrative vacuum’ in Gaza

The Palestinian group – which has announced the dissolution of its governing body in Gaza – says Israel is trying to engineer an “administrative vacuum” in the territory by continuing to block the UN-backed technocratic committee from taking over governance of the Strip.

Hamas said the dissolution of its governing body was a necessary step to facilitate the transition of power to the National Committee for the Administration of Gaza, or NCAG, which was formed in January but has been blocked by Israel from entering the Strip.

“The movement remains fully committed to implementing all provisions of the Gaza ceasefire agreement until administration is fully transferred to the National Committee,” Hamas said.

It added that Israel is attempting to obstruct the implementation of the US-brokered ceasefire agreement and create “a reality of administrative vacuum” in Gaza to deepen Palestinian suffering and undermine efforts to restore normal life in the territory.

Hamas went on to urge international mediators to pressure Israel to stop obstructing the handover.

Dissolution of Hamas’s governing body marks ‘important step’ for Gaza

The dissolution of [Hamas’s] emergency committee, the resignation of its head, Mohammed al-Farra, and the handover of all files, including the security file, mark important steps towards reorganizing Palestinian internal affairs.

Gaza’s Government Media Office is not simply announcing this; it is framing these measures as closing off pretexts for the occupation and clearing the way for the national committee, headed by Ali Shaath, to take over administration of the Gaza Strip.

Hamas welcomed the move and underscored its commitment to handing over all governance files, with full authority to the national committee.

Observers believe the success of this step will depend on the ability to overcome the obstacles imposed by the Israeli occupation, starting with the mediators pushing to allow the national committee’s entry into the enclave.

This marks the first time an effective dissolution of a governmental body run by Hamas has ever been announced, in a step paving the way for the transfer of the Strip’s administration to the national committee.

The real test remains whether this step translates into practical reality to pave the way for the national committee to ease the suffering of Palestinians in the Strip first, and help mend the political rift second.

Hamas urges mediators to press Israel on Gaza committee’s entry

Hamas spokesperson Hazem Qassem has told Al Jazeera that mediators and guarantor states must now pressure Israel to allow a transitional Palestinian technocratic committee to enter the Gaza Strip and take over the enclave’s administration.

“There was a meeting with the Palestinian factions, all of which welcomed this decision,” Qassem said, referring to Hamas’s move announced on Monday to dissolve its Government Emergency Committee and hand administration of Gaza to the National Committee for the Administration of Gaza (NCAG).

“There was also a meeting with civil society forces and with international parties, all of which welcomed this decision and considered it a step in the right direction,” he added. “Now the ball is in the court of the mediators and the guarantor states to pressure the occupation to allow the national committee to enter the Gaza Strip.”

The NCAG, a non-political body composed of Palestinian public figures, says it is responsible for the territory’s day-to-day civil affairs. It has operated out of Cairo since mid-January but has not yet been able to enter Gaza.

The latest on the ‘ceasefire’ in Gaza

• Under the US-brokered deal last year, the last captives held in Gaza were freed in exchange for the release of hundreds of Palestinian prisoners, but Israel continues to flout its commitments, including restricting the entry of humanitarian aid and medical evacuations of thousands of sick and wounded people.
• Israel also continues its near-daily attacks on Gaza, killing more than 1,000 Palestinians since the truce, and expanding its control to more than 70 percent of the territory.
• Humanitarian conditions in Gaza remain dire, with the vast majority of its 2 million people living in overcrowded and squalid tent camps, infested with rodents, and with little access to healthcare.
• Hamas has refused to disarm, citing Israel’s continued violations and warning that stripping weapons from an occupied people would make them an “easy victim to be eliminated”.
• The technocratic committee to govern Gaza, led by former Palestinian Authority minister Ali Shaath, was formed in January, but it has not been able to enter Gaza.
• A multinational International Stabilization Force is preparing to deploy between Israeli– and Palestinian-controlled areas in Gaza and has said that its first tactical vehicles have arrived at a base outside the Strip.

Palestinian FM presses UK to take tougher steps against Israel

Palestinian Foreign Minister Varsen Aghabekian Shahin has met UK Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper in London and pressed the UK to take firmer action against Israel over its policies in the occupied Palestinian territory, the Wafa news agency reports.

Shahin thanked the UK for recognizing the state of Palestine, saying the move should mark the start of a clear policy towards ending the occupation, including of East Jerusalem. She welcomed recent UK measures, including sanctions on hard-line Israeli colonist groups, restoring funding for the UN Palestinian refugee agency, UNRWA, and easier UK medical travel for wounded and sick Palestinians from Gaza, according to Wafa.

But she said the measures were not enough given what she described as ongoing Israeli “crimes” in Gaza after more than 1,000 days of war.

Shahin also raised concerns about East Jerusalem, citing curbs on Palestinian residents and pressure on the city’s Christian community and churches, including high taxes on church-affiliated land. She urged London to impose comprehensive sanctions on illegal Israeli settlements and block settlement goods from UK markets, saying there was “no such thing as a good settlement and a bad one”, according to Wafa.

US lawmaker demands release of abducted Gaza hospital director

US Congresswoman Delia Ramirez has called for the release of Dr Hussam Abu Safia, the director of Gaza’s Al-Shifa Hospital, who was abducted by Israeli forces on December 27, 2024.

Ramirez said the doctor has been detained “for 18 months without charge or trial”, and cited reports that he is now in “critical condition after being beaten” by Israeli soldiers.

“We must put an end to the impunity and violations of US and international law. We must defend our shared humanity,” she wrote on X.

Ramirez also urged support for her Block the Bombs Act, which seeks to prohibit the US from selling, transferring, or exporting specific offensive weapon systems to Israel.

Her appeal follows a warning from Abu Safia’s lawyer, Nasser Odeh, who said the doctor’s health condition is in serious decline, posing a “tangible danger to his life”.

Odeh, who visited Abu Safia last week at the underground Rakefet interrogation facility in Nitzan prison, documented fresh bruising and wounds to his head, eyes, ears, and neck, along with breathing difficulties and repeated loss of consciousness.

The "Unlawful Combatant" Category: International law, specifically the Geneva Conventions, divides captives into two clear, exhaustive categories: lawful combatants (who are entitled to Prisoner of War status) and civilians. Legal experts and human rights organizations argue that IHL does not recognize a separate legal limbo category of "unlawful combatant" to justify indefinite detention without trial.

Arbitrary Detention: Both the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) and IHL strictly prohibit arbitrary detention. Under IHL, internment is an exceptional security measure strictly for imperative reasons of security, not a punitive measure. The law’s failure to stipulate a maximum detention limit or require a standard criminal charge renders it unlawful arbitrary detention.

Denial of Due Process: Recent amendments to the law that expand the period before a detention order is issued (up to 45 days) and deny legal counsel for up to 90 days are cited by watchdogs as severe violations of fair trial guarantees and codification of incommunicado detention, which facilitates abuse.

What does international law say about the Israeli Unlawful Combatants Law without criminal charge, which is used against the Al-Shifa Hospital Director Dr Hussam Abu Safia?

Breach of Protected Status: Medical personnel, such as the directors of major healthcare facilities, are explicitly protected under the Geneva Conventions and international humanitarian law. Targeting, abducting, and holding them without charge subverts these protections.

Arbitrary Detention: The use of "secret evidence," denial of access to legal counsel, and prolonged administrative detention violate the fundamental human rights against arbitrary deprivation of liberty under the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.

Prohibition of Torture: Rights groups report that detainees held under this legislation—including prominent physicians—face inhumane conditions, enforced disappearances, and physical abuse, which constitute violations of the absolute prohibition on torture under the UN Convention against Torture.

Amnesty condemns ‘terrifying’ treatment of detained Gaza doctor

Erika Guevara Rosas, Amnesty International’s senior director for research, advocacy, policy and campaigns, has taken to X to condemn Israel’s abuses against detained Palestinian doctor Abu Safiya.

In her post, Guevara Rosas described the emerging accounts of his detention as “terrifying” following reports from his lawyer that he has been subjected to “torture, severe abuse, and prolonged solitary confinement”, which have left his life at “imminent risk”.

She further asserted that a doctor “who refused to abandon his patients during Israel’s Gaza Genocide‌ should never have been imprisoned in the first place”, emphasizing that he must be released immediately and that “states cannot remain silent while his life hangs in the balance”.

EU ministers to discuss trade measures against Israeli colonies

The European Commission will present an options paper this week outlining possible trade measures targeting products from illegal Israeli colonies, ahead of a meeting of EU trade ministers next week, according to spokesperson Olof Gill.

The paper is set to be discussed by EU member states at the Economic and Financial Affairs Council, which is scheduled for July 10.

The discussion comes in response to requests from the EU’s foreign policy chief, Kaja Kallas, and several member states to assess possible measures related to goods produced in Israeli settlements, which are deemed illegal under international law.

Israel’s trade with the EU exceeds 43 billion Euros ($49.2bn) annually, making the bloc its largest overall trading partner and accounting for roughly 32 percent of its global goods trade.

According to the legal nonprofit Global Echo, Israeli exporters routinely declare fruit and vegetables grown in illegal settlements in occupied Palestinian land and the occupied Syrian Golan Heights as produced in Israel in order to ship them to European markets.

Baby dies after Israeli troops block emergency journey to hospital

Four-month-old Palestinian baby Ahmad Marouf Zeid died on Sunday after his family’s urgent attempt to reach hospital was blocked by Israeli forces at a military checkpoint in the occupied West Bank.

Israeli forces arrest two Palestinians in occupied West Bank

Israeli forces have arrested two people during a raid on the city of Salfit in the occupied West Bank, according to the Palestinian Wafa news agency.

Citing local sources, it said that troops arrested Mahmoud Al-Bar, head of the workers’ unions in Salfit Governorate, and resident Islam Hassan Wael Yassin after raiding and searching their homes.

Israeli forces also stormed the city of Nablus at dawn and raided several homes in different areas of the city. They also raided the town of Doha, west of Bethlehem, this morning and raided a number of Palestinian homes, Wafa reported.