“Our heroic combatants fell in the battle to defeat Hamas and free our hostages in the south of the Gaza Strip,” wrote Netanyahu on X. “Together with all the citizens of Israel, my wife and I mourn and grieve the fall of seven of our soldiers from the Combat Engineering Battalion. May their memory be a blessing.”

After 12 days of intense air strikes between Iran and Israel, US President Donald Trump announced on Monday that the rivals had reached a ceasefire.

The ceasefire came after the US struck three key Iranian nuclear facilities on Saturday. In retaliation, Tehran launched a missile attack on the Al Udeid airbase in Qatar – the largest United States military base in the Middle East – with no reported injuries as a result.

As Iran and Israel traded missile salvoes, Trump stayed busy on social media, especially on Truth Social, which he owns.

Sources in Gaza hospitals tell us that Isreal has killed 41 in the Strip since the early hours of this morning, including 14 near aid distribution centers.

Pope Leo XIV has appealed to Iran and Israel not to pursue further hostilities after 12 days of war, which the US joined with air strikes in support of Israel.

“May all logic of oppression and revenge be rejected, and may the path of dialogue, diplomacy, and peace be chosen with determination,” the pontiff said in remarks at the end of his weekly audience in St Peter’s Square.

Aid distribution centres run by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) are set up very close to where Israeli forces are stationed, with their tanks, armoured vehicles and surrounding snipers. So when large crowds gather, they are vulnerable to Israeli fire.

Disturbingly, people are given just 20-minute windows at the aid centres to get their hands on whatever is available, such as food parcels. Once that 20-minute period ends, shooting often starts. That is one of the reasons we’re seeing large numbers of people dying at these centres.

Despite the danger, people feel that they have to go to the sites. If they don’t, their children will not eat.

The head of the UN nuclear agency, Rafael Grossi, says his inspectors’ top priority is returning to Iran’s nuclear facilities to assess the impact of recent military strikes on Tehran’s nuclear programme.

Grossi, the head of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), was speaking to reporters at an Austrian cabinet meeting in Vienna.

Grossi also called for a long-term solution to the Iranian nuclear program, and that the agency’s reports indicate that Israel’s 12 day war and US strikes only set it back by a matter of months.

Continuing his remarks to reporters at The Hague, Trump says he doesn’t buy Iranian claims that they moved enriched uranium out of the Fordow nuclear facility before the US attacked.

“I believe they didn’t have a chance to get anything out because they acted fast,” said Trump. “If it would have taken two weeks, maybe, but it’s very hard to remove that kind of material … and very dangerous.”

“Plus, they knew we were coming,” Trump added. “And if they know we’re coming, they’re not going to be down there.”

Here’s a recap of the latest developments:

• At least 31 people have been killed in Israeli attacks on Gaza, including 10 who were queueing for aid.
• The Israeli army has confirmed that at least seven Israeli soldiers were killed in combat in Gaza yesterday.
• Iran’s parliament has passed a bill to suspend cooperation with the UN’s nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency.
• US top diplomat Marco Rubio said US strikes on three Iranian nuclear sites did “very significant, substantial” damage, setting their nuclear capacities far back, conflicting with several reports saying the strikes posed only minor setbacks to Iran’s nuclear programme.