The almost 20 months of war has torn Gaza apart, often displacing residents multiple times and killing more than 54,000 people, according to the Hamas-run Health Ministry. A U.S.-brokered ceasefire agreed in January collapsed in March as Israel enforced a blockade on all humanitarian aid into the strip.

The new mission includes the renowned Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg, who speaks with Democracy Now! live from the Madleen. AMY GOODMAN: As Gaza faces more than three months of a near-total Israeli blockade,

Activist Greta Thunberg said in a video released on Wednesday (June 4) the story the world needs to focus on is what she called Israel's "siege and oppression" of Gaza, rather than her voyage with a humanitarian group to deliver aid to the enclave.

Israeli Americans Judi Weinstein Haggai, 70, and her husband Gadi, 72, were killed during the 7 October 2023 attacks.

The bodies of two Israeli-American hostages abducted by Hamas on October 7 were recovered from southern Gaza during a military operation, according to a statement from Israeli military and the Shin Bet security agency.

Judi Weinstein Haggai and Gadi Haggai were killed on Oct. 7, 2023, Israeli officials said. Hamas was holding their bodies, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said.

The U.S. vetoed a U.N. Security Council resolution on Wednesday that called for an “immediate and permanent ceasefire in Gaza.” The resolution was cosponsored by the U.N.’s E10, a group of ten non-permanent members of the Security Council.