US and Israel allowed tax-deductible donations to groups blocking Gaza aid

Three groups that have prevented humanitarian supplies reaching the Palestinian territory have raised over $200,000

Under American pressure, Israel has pledged to deliver large quantities of humanitarian aid into the war-ravaged Gaza Strip. But at the same time, the US and Israel have allowed tax-deductible donations to far-right groups that have blocked that aid from being delivered.

Three groups that have prevented humanitarian aid from reaching Gaza – including one accused of looting or destroying supplies – have raised more than $200,000 from donors in the US and Israel, the Associated Press and the Israeli investigative site Shomrim have found in an examination of crowdfunding websites and other public records.

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Israel-Gaza war: US warns of ‘serious concern’ about recent civilian casualties in Gaza – as it happened

The US secretary of state reportedly told senior Israeli leaders they must do more to reduce civilian casualties

At least eight Palestinians were killed and several were wounded in an Israeli air strike on a school in central Gaza on Tuesday, Gaza health officials said.

The strike hit Al-Awda school in Al-Nuseirat camp, the ministry said.

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Tuesday briefing: What David Lammy’s Middle East visit says about Labour’s foreign policy plans

In today’s newsletter: The new foreign secretary has met with officials from Israel, Palestine and relief agencies – but what do his actions and words mean for the conflict?

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Good morning. A few months before the election, David Lammy outlined his vision for Britain’s role on the international stage under a Labour government: “progressive realism”, or “the pursuit of ideals without delusions about what is achievable”. Just over a week into his tenure as foreign secretary, we have our first concrete indications of how he intends to operate those principles in practice.

On a visit to Israel and the occupied Palestinian territories over the last couple of days, his first international trip as foreign secretary, Lammy says he is sending a clear message: “We need an immediate ceasefire, the immediate release of all hostages, the protection of civilians, unfettered access to aid in Gaza and a pathway towards a two-state solution”.

Republican national convention | Donald Trump named JD Vance, the Ohio senator who was once one of his fiercest critics and called him “America’s Hitler”, as his running mate at the Republican national convention on Monday. Trump, wearing a bandage over his wounded ear, shook hands with Vance in his first public appearance since the assassination attempt against him.

US politics | A Florida judge appointed by Donald Trump has dismissed the case against him for illegally retaining classified documents, ruling that the special counsel who brought the prosecution had been improperly appointed. The stunning decision, in defiance of precedent going back to the Watergate era, is likely to be appealed.

UK news | Rescue teams on the Spanish island of Tenerife have discovered the body of a young man in the area where the British teenager Jay Slater disappeared four weeks ago. Police said it appeared that the person could have died after an accidental fall from a cliff.

UK-EU relations | Britain is taking its first steps towards forging closer trading links with the EU in meetings between the new business secretary, Jonathan Reynolds, and international counterparts in Italy. Reynolds will say that the new UK government wants to foster a “closer, more mature relationship with our friends in the EU”.

Defence | Britain and its allies are facing a “deadly quartet” of China, Russia, Iran and North Korea who are acting together against the west, the newly appointed head of Labour’s defence review said. The comments from former Nato secretary general George Robertson reflect concerns that the grouping are increasingly sharing arms, components and military intelligence.

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Yvette Cooper to chair meeting of taskforce considering ‘alarming rise’ in candidate intimidation – as it happened

Home secretary to host meeting of government’s Defending Democracy taskforce after reported rise in harassment during election campaign

More in Common, the group that campaigns to reduce polarisation in politics, published a good slideshow presentation last week, based on polling it carried out, giving an analysis of the general election results. It has followed that up today with the publication of a 129-page report on the election, based on the same polling and on what it learned from focus groups.

One of the main interesting points it makes is that the government will be judged, above all, on whether it can bring down NHS waiting lists and the cost of living, polling suggests. The report says:

How does the public plan to judge the government on its delivery of change and what benchmarks will they use to evaluate progress?

First and foremost, the public will look to NHS waiting lists and the cost of living to judge Labour’s success or failure. These are top performance indicators for every segment, with the elderly tending to be more concerned than average about waiting lists and younger generations more so about the cost of living. As inflation falls and interest rates seem set for a summer cut, waiting lists are arguably the new government’s key challenge in maintaining public support.

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UK foreign secretary repeats ceasefire call as Israel continues to pummel Gaza

David Lammy holds second day of meetings with Israeli officials but hopes of immediate ceasefire are dwindling

Israeli air and naval strikes continued to pummel Gaza as the UK foreign secretary, David Lammy, reiterated his demand for a ceasefire during a visit to Jerusalem.

Strikes on central Gaza followed two days of particularly deadly attacks including one in a humanitarian zone in southern Gaza that killed at least 90 people when Israeli forces targeted the head of Hamas’s military wing, Mohammed Deif.

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Israel-Gaza war: Gaza municipality says it can no longer provide 700,000 people in area with drinking water – as it happened

Deir Al-Balah, in central Gaza Strip, says it can no longer provide drinking water after running out of fuel

After a night spent shaking in fear as the roof rattled from explosions, and a long walk along a crowded road, Diana Mahmoud arrived at the hospital where she gave birth to her son, Yaman.

Mahmoud, 22, discovered she was pregnant a week after the outbreak of the war in Gaza and, like other mothers who became pregnant about that time, spent her entire pregnancy fearing for her own safety as well as that of her child. Miscarriages are three times more likely than before the war, according to a February report by the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine and the Johns Hopkins Center for Humanitarian Health.

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Clearing Gaza of almost 40m tonnes of war rubble will take years, says UN

Assessment puts cost at $500m-$600m and underlines immense challenge of rebuilding after months of Israeli offensive

A fleet of more than one hundred lorries would take 15 years to clear Gaza of almost 40m tonnes of rubble in an operation costing between $500m (£394m) and $600m, a UN assessment has found.

The conclusions will underline the immense challenge of rebuilding the Palestinian territory after months of a grinding Israeli offensive that has led to massive destruction of homes and infrastructure.

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Dozens of Palestinians killed in latest attacks on Gaza City, say officials

Airstrikes add to one of deadliest weeks amid uncertainty over whether Hamas has withdrawn from ceasefire talks

At least 31 Palestinians have been killed and more than 50 wounded in fresh Israeli bombings across the Gaza Strip, rescuers and health officials have said, as conflicting reports emerged over whether Hamas was withdrawing from ceasefire talks after the targeting of the group’s top military commander.

Four attacks in various parts of Gaza City in the early hours of Sunday morning occurred less than 24 hours after Israeli forces said Mohammed Deif, who is believed to be the mastermind behind the 7 October attack on southern Israel, was the target of a strike in the city of Khan Younis in southern Gaza that, according to the territory’s emergency services, killed more than 90 people and injured 300 others.

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David Lammy to call for Gaza ceasefire in talks with Benjamin Netanyahu

Foreign secretary will also push for release of hostages and increase in aid during visit to Israel and West Bank

David Lammy is to call for an immediate ceasefire during talks with Israel’s prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, on his first visit to Israel and the occupied Palestinian territories as foreign secretary.

Lammy said he would push for the release of all hostages as well as an increase in aid into Gaza, announcing a new £5.5m humanitarian and medical assistance package.

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Israel-Gaza war: IDF says 7 October mastermind ‘struck’ in Gaza attack reported to have killed 90 – as it happened

Hamas says 90 people killed and almost 300 injured in attack – but it is unclear if Mohammed Deif is among them

The Hamas military chief Mohammed Deif, who it has been reported was the target of an Israeli strike in Gaza, has previously been described as the “mastermind” of Hamas’s 7 October attack.

In this piece from November, the international security correspondent of the Guardian, Jason Burke wrote of Deif:

The exact role of different Hamas leaders in the attack is yet to be established, but it is clear that Sinwar and Deif were central to its planning.

Deif means “guest”, a reference to the 58-year-old’s constant relocation to avoid detection by Israel. A member of Hamas since his early 20s, the former science student oversaw a wave of suicide bombings against Israeli civilians in the early 1990s, and another a decade later. Deif may have been crippled by one of many Israeli assassination attempts, and his wife and young family were killed in an airstrike in 2014. Israeli officials have described Deif, whose real name is Mohammed Diab Ibrahim al-Masri, as “a dead man walking”.

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Hamas mastermind of 7 October attack target of deadly Gaza strike, claims Israel

Health officials say at least 90 people killed and 289 injured by strike on camp for displaced people in Khan Younis

Israeli forces say the Hamas military chief, Mohammed Deif, the mastermind of the 7 October attack, was the target of a strike in Khan Younis, southern Gaza, which, according to the territory’s emergency services, has killed 90 people and injured hundreds more.

Deif, 58, who has been on Israel’s most-wanted list since 1995 and escaped multiple Israeli assassination attempts, is believed to be the chief architect of the attack that killed 1,200 people in southern Israel and triggered the Israel-Hamas war.

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Bodies of about 60 Palestinians reportedly found after Israeli attack on Gaza City

Forces involved in week-long offensive against Hamas in territory’s largest urban area have now pulled back

Emergency workers claim to have recovered the bodies of approximately 60 Palestinians from two districts of Gaza City after Israeli forces pulled back from days of battles with Hamas militants in the territory’s biggest urban area.

The civil defence agency in Hamas-run Gaza on Friday said the bodies were found in the Tal al-Hawa and Al-Sinaa districts after the week-long offensive.

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Israel-Gaza war: US mediators making progress on ceasefire deal but still ‘gaps to close’, says Biden – as it happened

In his Nato news conference, the US president acknowledged concerns about Israeli actions despite his overall support

Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said on Friday it is not possible for Nato to continue its partnership with the Israeli administration, reports Reuters.

“Until comprehensive, sustainable peace is established in Palestine, attempts at cooperation with Israel within Nato will not be approved by Turkey,” Erdoğan said at a news conference at the Nato summit in Washington DC. Turkey also continues its diplomatic efforts to end the Russia-Ukraine war, he said.

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Thousands of Palestinians missing amid Gaza’s unrelenting warfare

International Committee of the Red Cross takes between 500 and 2,500 calls a week, mostly from family members

About 6,400 Palestinians reported as missing to the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) since the outbreak of the war in Gaza on 7 October are yet to have been found, the group has said.

Many are believed to be trapped under debris, buried without identification, or held in Israeli detention while others have been separated from their loved ones, who have been unable to contact them.

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US steps up sanctions against Israeli settlers and ‘outposts’ in occupied West Bank

Targeting ‘outposts’ suggests Biden administration prepared to take some action to confront blatant land grab

The US has stepped up efforts to target violent Israeli settlers, adding new individuals and organisations to a growing sanctions list and warning banks to check transactions linked to all Israeli “outposts” in the occupied West Bank.

The new sanctions cover the far-right group Lehava, already listed by the UK, and two founding members of Tsav9, a campaign group that blocked aid from reaching Gaza. The new measures also target outposts, suggesting the Biden administration is prepared to take at least some steps to confront Israel’s creeping land grab on the West Bank.

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Israel-Gaza war: Hamas accuses Israel of ‘stalling’ over ceasefire negotiations – as it happened

Group says that mediators have not provided any updates over negotiations about a deal to end the war

Iran is still conducting indirect nuclear talks with the United States via Oman, Iran’s Etemad newspaper on Thursday quoted Iran’s acting foreign minister as saying.

Ali Bagheri Kani’s reported comments followed remarks on Monday in which a White House spokesperson said the United States was not ready to resume nuclear talks with Iran under the newly elected president, Masoud Pezeshkian, Reuters reported.

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US to resume sending 500lb bombs to Israel while withholding 2,000lb bombs, official says

US had paused shipment of bombs of both sizes amid concern over their impact in Gaza

The Biden administration will resume shipping 500lb bombs to Israel but will continue to hold back on supplying 2,000lb bombs over concerns about their use in densely populated Gaza, according to a a US official.

The US in May paused a shipment of 2,000lb and 500lb bombs due to concern over the impact they could have in Gaza during the war that began with Hamas’ deadly 7 October cross-border raid.

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Palestinians told to leave Gaza City as Israel steps up offensive

Evacuation order follows deadly airstrikes on locations including schools and shelters in past few days

The Israeli military told all Palestinian civilians to leave Gaza City and head south on Wednesday as it stepped up a military offensive in the territory that has killed dozens of people over the past 48 hours.

The evacuation order, carried out by dropping leaflets urging “all those in Gaza City” to take two “safe routes” south to the area around the central town of Deir al-Balah, came after a series of deadly strikes over the past two days in other parts of Gaza.

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Israeli strike on Khan Younis shelter kills at least 31 amid surge in Gaza fighting

IDF reviewing airstrike after confirming an attack using ‘precision munitions’, which Gaza officials say killed eight children

An Israeli airstrike on the entrance of a school-turned-shelter in southern Gaza has killed at least 31 people as a stepped-up military offensive in the territory sent thousands fleeing in search of refuge.

The airstrike on Tuesday afternoon hit the tents of displaced families outside a school in the town of Abassan, east of Khan Younis. Officials at the nearby Nasser hospital said on Wednesday that 31 people had been killed, including eight children, and more than 50 wounded.

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US Gaza aid pier to be permanently dismantled after operating for just 20 days – reports

Pier, which has delivered the equivalent of a single day’s pre-war land aid deliveries in two months, will reportedly be removed in a few days’ time

A US military pier, built two months ago as a way to bring sea-borne humanitarian aid into Gaza, is to be permanently dismantled within a few days, according to a new report.

The Associated Press (AP) reported that the pier, which has had to be moved repeatedly to avoid bad weather, would be reconnected to the Gaza coastline on Wednesday but would operate for just the next few days before being disassembled by the US army and navy.

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