Iranian police arrested as many as 21,000 “suspects” during the country’s 12-day war with Israel in June, Reuters reports, citing state media.

Following Israeli air strikes that began on 13 June, Iranian security forces began a campaign of widespread arrests accompanied by an intensified street presence based around checkpoints and “public reports” whereby citizens were called upon to report on any individuals they thought were acting suspiciously.

“There was a 41% increase in calls by the public, which led to the arrest of 21,000 suspects during the 12-day war,” police spokesperson Saeid Montazerolmahdi said.

He did not say what those arrested were suspected of, but Tehran has spoken before of people passing on information that may have helped direct the Israeli attacks. The Israel-Iran conflict has also led to an accelerated rate of deportations for Afghan migrants believed to be illegally in Iran, with aid agencies reporting that local authorities had also accused some Afghan nationals of spying for Israel.

“Law enforcement rounded up 2,774 illegal migrants and discovered 30 special security cases by examining their phones. 261 suspects of espionage and 172 people accused of unauthorised filming were also arrested,” the spokesperson added.
Montazerolmahdi did not specify how many of those arrested had since been released.

Israel's defence minister in fresh row with military chief

The Council of Europe urged its member states on Tuesday to halt deliveries of weapons to Israel if they could be used for human rights violations.

Michael O’Flaherty, the Council’s commissioner for human rights, said member states should do “their utmost to prevent and address violations of international human rights” in the conflict.

“This includes applying existing legal standards to ensure that arms transfers are not authorised where there is a risk that they may be used to commit human rights violations,” he said, in a statement.

It was also “essential to intensify efforts to provide relief to those affected by the conflict, by supporting efforts to ensure unhindered access for humanitarian assistance and by pressing for the immediate release of hostages,” O’Flaherty said.

The call by the Council – a human rights organisation representing 46 states – comes shortly after Germany said it would halt delivery to Israel of some weapons that could be used in Gaza as part of Israeli plans to take control of Gaza City.

O’Flaherty said the Council had taken note of this and other government initiatives, and also of contributions by some national human rights structures in raising awareness.

“However, more needs to be done, and quickly,” he said.

The Elders group of international stateswomen and statesmen for the first time on Tuesday called the situation in Gaza an “unfolding genocide”, saying that Israel’s obstruction of aid was causing a “famine”.

“Today we express our shock and outrage at Israel’s deliberate obstruction of the entry of life-saving humanitarian aid into Gaza,” the non-governmental group of public figures, founded by former South Africa president Nelson Mandela in 2007, said in a statement after delegates visited border crossings in Egypt.

“What we saw and heard underlines our personal conviction that there is not only an unfolding, human-caused famine in Gaza. There is an unfolding genocide.”

Helen Clark, former prime minister of New Zealand, called on Israel to open the Rafah border crossing between Egypt and Gaza so aid could be delivered, after visiting the site.

“Many new mothers are unable to feed themselves or their newborn babies adequately, and the health system is collapsing,” she said. “All of this threatens the very survival of an entire generation.”

Clark was joined by Mary Robinson, former president of Ireland and former UN high commissioner for human rights, on the visit.

She said that international leaders “have the power and the legal obligation to apply measures to pressure this Israeli government to end its atrocity crimes”.

WHO asks for more medical aid to be allowed into Gaza before Israeli offensive

At least 89 Palestinians, 31 seeking aid, have been killed and 513 injured in Israeli attacks across Gaza in the past 24 hours, according to the territory’s health ministry.

Eleven bodies were also recovered from the rubble of previous Israeli attacks, the ministry statement said on the Telegram messaging app. Israel’s war on Gaza has killed a total of 61,599 Palestinians and injured 154,088 since October 7, 2023, the ministry added.

Israeli opposition leader backs calls for general strike in solidarity with hostages still held in Gaza

Gaza’s civil defence agency said Israeli air strikes on Gaza City have intensified in recent days, following prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s security cabinet approving plans to expand the war there, AFP reports.

The Israeli government has not provided an exact timetable on when its forces would enter the area, but according to the civil defence agency spokesman Mahmud Bassal, air strikes on Gaza City have been increasing for the past three days.

Bassal said the residential neighbourhoods of Zeitoun and Sabra have been hit “with very heavy airstrikes targeting civilian homes, possibly including high-rise buildings”.

“For the third consecutive day, the Israeli occupation is intensifying its bombardment,” said the spokesman.

“The Israeli occupation is using all types of weapons in that area - bombs, drones, and also highly explosive munitions that cause massive destruction to civilian homes,” he added.

Bassal said that at least 24 people had been killed across Gaza on Tuesday, including several casualties caused by strikes on Gaza City.

“The bombardment has been extremely intense for the past two days. With every strike, the ground shakes. There are martyrs under the rubble that no one can reach because the shelling hasn’t stopped,” said Majed al-Hosary, a resident in Zeitoun.

AFP provides some analysis on what Israel’s military can expect to face in its new offensive on Gaza City:

In a dense urban landscape, with likely thousands of Hamas fighters lying in wait, taking Gaza City will be a difficult and costly slog for the Israeli army, security experts say.

On Sunday, Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu laid out his vision of victory in Gaza following 22 months of war – with the military ordered to attack the last remaining Hamas strongholds in Gaza City and the central camps further south.

Amir Avivi, a former Israeli general and head of the Israeli Defense and Security Forum think tank, described the city as the “heart of Hamas’s rule in Gaza”.

“Gaza City has always been the centre of government and also has the strongest brigade of Hamas,” he said.

According to Michael Milshtein, who heads the Palestinian Studies Program at Tel Aviv University, Hamas’s military wing could have as many as 10,000 to 15,000 fighters in Gaza City, many of them freshly recruited.

“It’s very easy to convince a 17, 18, 19-year-old Palestinian to be a part of Al-Qassam Brigades,” Milshtein told AFP.

Other obstacles could include improvised explosive devices (IEDs) and the use of civilians as human shields in a dense urban maze of narrow alleys and tall buildings, according to press reports.

“It’s almost impossible to go in there without creating both hostage casualties and a large humanitarian disaster,” said Mairav Zonszein of the International Crisis Group. “They will simply destroy everything, and then nothing will be left,” she said.

Israel continues strikes on Gaza City