Closing summary
Hospitals in Gaza said Israeli airstrikes have killed at least 30 people so far today, including six children at a water collection point.
More than 58,000 Palestinian people have been killed in Israeli attacks on Gaza since 7 October 2023, the Gaza health ministry said in a statement on Sunday.
Israel and Hamas appeared no closer to a breakthrough in talks meant to pause Israel’s 21-month-old assault on Gaza.
In the West Bank, funerals were held for a Palestinian-American and a Palestinian friend of his who were reportedly killed by Israeli settlers last week.
Iran’s foreign minister, Abbas Araghchi, said his country would be willing to re-engage in nuclear talks with the US if there were assurances of no more attacks against it.
Araghchi also said that Iran’s cooperation with the UN nuclear watchdog, International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), “has not stopped, but will take on a new form”, after Tehran formally ended cooperation with the global nuclear watchdog in early July.
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Death toll from Israeli attacks on Gaza surpasses 58,000, says health ministry
The Gaza health ministry says the Palestinian death toll in the 21-month-long war in Gaza has surpassed 58,000, reports the Associated Press.
The ministry does not distinguish between civilians and combatants in its count but says that more than half of the dead are women and children.
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Funeral held for two men, including American-Palestinian, killed by Israeli settlers
A funeral has been held for two men – 20-year-old Palestinian-American Sayfollah “Saif” Musallet, and Razek Hussein al-Shalabi, a 23-year-old Palestinian man, who were killed by Israeli settlers in a town in the north of the occupied West Bank at the end of last week. Here is a report containing some video of the funeral on Sunday:
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Hospitals in Gaza say Israeli airstrikes killed at least 19 people on Sunday, including six children at a water collection point.
The Associated Press reports that the strikes occurred on Sunday as mediators struggled to negotiate a ceasefire in the 21-month conflict. Funerals for two Palestinians, including Palestinian-American Sayfollah Musallet, 20, were also held on Sunday. The Palestinian Health Ministry said Musallet was killed in an attack by Israeli settlers.
AP reported:
In Gaza, officials at Al-Awda Hospital in central Gaza said it received 10 bodies after an Israeli strike on a water collection point in Nuseirat, also in central Gaza. Among the dead were six children, the hospital said.
Ramadan Nassar, a witness who lives in the area, told The Associated Press that around 20 children and 14 adults were lined up Sunday morning to fill up water. When the strike occurred, everyone ran and some, including those who were severely injured, fell to the ground, he said.
He said Palestinians walk some 2 kilometers (1.2 miles) to fetch water from the area.
The Israeli military said it was targeting a militant but that a technical error made its munition fall “dozens of meters from the target.” It said the incident was being examined.
In the central town of Zawaida, an Israeli strike on a home killed nine, including two women and three children, officials at Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital said.
The military had no immediate comment on that strike. Israel blames Hamas for civilian casualties because the militant group operates out of populated areas.
On the funerals held in the West Bank, AP reported:
In the West Bank, where violence between Israeli troops and Palestinians has been compounded by attacks on Palestinians by Israeli settlers, funerals were held for a Palestinian-American and a Palestinian friend of his.
The Palestinian Health Ministry said Musallet, a Florida native, was killed after being beaten by Israeli settlers. Diana Halum, a cousin, said the attack occurred on his family’s land. The Health Ministry initially identified him as Seifeddine Musalat, 23.
Musallet’s friend, Mohammed al-Shalabi, was shot in the chest, according to the ministry.
On Sunday, their bodies were carried through the streets of Al-Mazraa a-Sharqiya, a town south of where they were killed. Mourners, waving Palestinian flags, chanted “God is great.”
In a statement Saturday, Musallet’s family said he was “a kind, hard-working, and deeply-respected young man, working to build his dreams.” It said he built a business in Tampa, Florida, and that he was deeply connected to his Palestinians heritage.
Musallet’s family said it wants the U.S. State Department to investigate his death and hold the settlers accountable. The State Department said it was aware of the reports of his death but had no comment out of respect for the family.
Israel’s military has said Palestinians hurled rocks at Israelis in the area on Friday, lightly wounding two people and setting off a larger confrontation.
Patrick Wintour is the Guardian’s diplomatic editor:
The Iranian president has said that Israel attempted to assassinate him by bombarding an area in which he was holding a meeting.
“They did try, yes. They acted accordingly, but they failed,” Masoud Pezeshkian told the US media personality Tucker Carlson in response to a question on whether he believed Israel had tried to kill him.
Carlson’s interview, conducted via an interpreter and released last Monday, is one the first interviews the Iranian president has given with western media since the 12-day war fought between Israel and Iran last month.
“It was not the United States that was behind the attempt on my life. It was Israel. I was in a meeting … they tried to bombard the area in which we were holding that meeting,” he said, according to a translation of his remarks from Farsi, without specifying whether the alleged attempt was during the recent war.
You can read the full story here:
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In 2015, Iran agreed a long-term deal on its nuclear programme with the US, UK, France, China, Russia and Germany.
The deal, formally known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), allowed Iran to enrich uranium to 3.67% – enough to fuel a nuclear power plant, but far below the threshold of 90% needed for weapons-grade uranium.
It also drastically reduced Iran’s stockpile of uranium, limited its use of centrifuges – which spin at supersonic speeds to enrich uranium - and relied on the International Atomic Energy Agency to oversee Tehran’s compliance through additional oversight. In return, crippling economic sanctions on Iran were lifted.
But during his first term, US president Donald Trump unilaterally withdrew Washington from the deal, arguing it wasn’t tough enough and didn’t address Iran’s missile program or its support for militant groups in the wider Middle East. That set in motion years of tensions.
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Iran says cooperation with nuclear watchdog will take 'new form'
We can bring you some more comments from Iranian foreign minister, Abbas Araghchi, who addressed diplomats in Tehran on Saturday.
He said that Iran’s cooperation with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) “has not stopped, but will take on a new form”, after the Islamic republic formally ended cooperation with the global nuclear watchdog in early July.
The order by the Iranian president, Masoud Pezeshkian, included no timetables or details about what that suspension would entail. Iran has limited IAEA inspections in the past as a pressure tactic in negotiating with the west.
Araghchi said on Saturday that requests to monitor nuclear sites “will be reviewed on a case-by-case basis... taking into account safety and security issues”, and be managed by Iran’s supreme national security council.
Israel, which condemned Iran’s move, is believed to be the only nuclear-armed state in the Middle East, and the IAEA doesn’t have access to its weapons-related facilities.
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The Guardian’s diplomatic editor, Patrick Wintour, filed this report last week:
European nations will act to impose “dramatic sanctions” on Iran in the coming weeks if it does not end the uncertainty about its nuclear programme, including by allowing the return of UN inspectors, the UK foreign secretary, David Lammy, has warned.
He also told the Commons that Iran could not assume Israel would not strike its nuclear sites again.
His tough warning was echoed by the French foreign ministry, which is working closely with the UK in an attempt to persuade Iran to end its new ambiguity about its nuclear intentions and re-engage in talks with the US.
The UK, France and Germany – the E3 – signed the original nuclear deal with Iran in 2015 and according to its terms can impose “snapback” UN sanctions without the risk of a security council veto, so long as they act by its expiry in October. Alternatively, they could table a UN resolution to delay the snapback by some months if Iran shows a willingness to negotiate.
The three countries are also using their power to reimpose UN sanctions as a lever to persuade the US to join the talks with the Iranians, but have so far had no success. You can read the full story here:
Israel claims it acted because Tehran was within reach of a nuclear weapon.
US intelligence agencies and the International Atomic Energy Agency had assessed Iran last had an organised nuclear weapons program in 2003, though Tehran had been enriching uranium up to 60% - a short, technical step away from weapons-grade levels of 90%.
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During the 12-day war, Israeli airstrikes killed hundreds of people, including civilians, and injured thousands of others in Iran, according to official figures.
As we have already mentioned, the war on Iran – cast as a preemptive attack for self-defence – was launched by Israel and later joined in by the US.
Israel claimed the attacks were necessary before its adversary got any closer to building an atomic weapon, although experts and the US government had assessed that Iran was not actively working on such a weapon before the strikes.
Israel has acknowledged being hit by more than 50 missiles during its war with Iran, resulting in at least 28 deaths, but the true extent of the damage may never be known due to stringent media restrictions.
The Iranian foreign minister’s comments about the possibility of restarting nuclear talks follow Donald Trump’s Monday meeting with his Israeli counterpart, Benjamin Netanyahu, where he reportedly said he was open to lifting sanctions on Iran.
Earlier this month, the US issued a new wave of sanctions against Iranian oil exports. “I would love to be able to, at the right time, take those sanctions off,” Trump told a journalist at the White House on Monday night.
During the meeting with Netanyahu, Trump also said he “hoped” that the US would not strike Iran again.
“They want to work something out,” he said. “They’re very different now than they were two weeks ago.”
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Iran says it would resume nuclear talks with US if guaranteed no further attacks
Welcome to our live coverage of the Middle East, with a focus on the prospect of US-Iran nuclear talks restarting.
According to state media, Iran’s foreign minister, Abbas Araghchi, said on Saturday that his country would be willing to re-engage in nuclear talks with Washington if there were assurances of no more attacks against it.
Araghchi served as lead negotiator in the strained nuclear talks with the US over the summer, which collapsed after Israel launched a surprise attack on Iran’s nuclear sites on 13 June, including at the key Natanz nuclear site as well as at ballistic missile sites.
Referring to the subsequent 12-day Israeli bombardment of Iran’s nuclear and military sites, and the US airstrike on 22 June, Araghchi said that if the US and others wish to resume talks with Iran, then:
First of all, there should be a firm guarantee that such actions will not be repeated. The attack on Iran’s nuclear facilities has made it more difficult and complicated to achieve a solution based on negotiations.
Both Israel and the US struck Iranian nuclear facilities in June but did not destroy the Iranian nuclear programme, likely setting it back by a couple of months, according to an early Pentagon intelligence assessment of the attack.
The Trump administration, which claims that Iranian nuclear facilities were completely destroyed in the attacks, insists that Iran cannot be allowed to have a nuclear weapon.
Following the airstrikes, Iran suspended cooperation with the UN nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), which led to the departure of inspectors.
Iran says it is not developing nuclear weapons and that its enrichment of uranium is for peaceful purposes.
Iran is maintaining a fragile ceasefire with the US and Israel but the risk exists of the crisis flaring up into further warfare unless a diplomatic agreement is found soon.
We’ll continue to bring you the latest developments and analysis throughout the day, stay with us.
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