‘We were constantly in terror’: Israeli hostage tells of captivity in Gaza

Taken from her home on 7 October with three of her children, Chen Almog-Goldstein recalls being held captive by Hamas

Chen Almog-Goldstein refuses to forget her eldest daughter’s last moments. Yam, 20, was gasping for breath, having been shot in the face by Hamas gunmen, who minutes earlier had killed her father.

Almog-Goldstein, 49, did not see Yam or her husband, Nadav, again because she and her three surviving children were bundled into a car and abducted. During the seven-minute journey across the border into Gaza on 7 October, their two captors smiled and took photographs of the traumatised mother and children.

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Australia to announce Gaza aid as pro-Palestine and pro-Israel supporters rally

Pro-Palestinian protesters gathered in Sydney to demand a ceasefire while a separate pro-Israel rally against antisemitism took place in Adelaide

Pro-Palestinian protesters have taken to the streets after more than 100 Gazans were killed while trying to secure food as Australia flags more humanitarian aid.

About 120 Palestinians were killed as they tried to access humanitarian resources from an aid convoy, the local Hamas health authority said, attributing the deaths to Israeli gunfire.

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Labour rattled by Galloway win as Sadiq Khan slams PM over racist ‘poison’

London mayor says Sunak must be tougher on his party, while Gaza ceasefire fracas piles pressure on many sitting Labour MPs

Sadiq Khan has condemned Rishi Sunak for failing to call out “racist, anti-Muslim and Islamophobic” remarks by a senior Tory MP, following the prime minister’s Downing Street address in which he criticised political extremists.

In a blunt response to Sunak’s unusual intervention, the London mayor said the prime minister had still not fully addressed the nature of the remarks made by former Tory vice-chair Lee Anderson, who said Islamists had “got control” of Khan and London. Khan, one of the most powerful Muslims in public life, warned that the past few weeks had seen “a concerted and growing attempt by some to degrade and humiliate minorities for political and electoral gain”.

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Gaza airdrops might not be necessary if Israel faced more pressure on aid

Delivering by parachute is risky and inefficient – and other options could open up if the west were to expend more diplomatic capital

Half an hour before Rishi Sunak launched his assault on British extremism, the foreign secretary, David Cameron issued his own strong statement.

Cameron said the killings of more than 100 Palestinians in Gaza as crowds gathered around aid trucks on Thursday were horrific and required an investigation and accountability. He said the halving of the number of aid trucks entering Gaza in the past month was “completely unacceptable” and that Israel had an “obligation” to ensure significantly more humanitarian aid reached the territory.

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US aircraft carry out airdrops of aid to Gaza with 38,000 meals

Three C-130 aircraft dropped a total of 66 bundles of aid to the Palestinian territory besieged by Israel

The US air force began airdrops of aid over Gaza on Saturday afternoon, in a joint operation with Jordanian planes in a last-resort attempt to get food into the besieged coastal strip as mass starvation looms.

US officials said that US and Jordanian C-130 planes taking off from Jordan dropped 66 pallets of food, containing a total of 38,000 meals at mid-afternoon local time, in the first of a series of airdrops that Joe Biden announced on Friday.

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Middle East crisis live: UK-owned cargo ship sinks in Red Sea days after Houthi attack; US aircraft carry out airdrops of aid to Gaza – as it happened

Officials say a British-registered cargo ship hit in a missile attack by Yemen’s Houthi rebels has sunk in the Red Sea. This blog is now closed.

The US will start airdrops of food and emergency supplies into Gaza in the next few days, Joe Biden has announced, amid UN warnings of famine and after Israeli troops opened fire on Gazans seeking food aid.

The use of airdrops is a spectacular but inefficient way of delivering aid, and Friday’s announcement suggests that Biden had given up on being able to persuade Israel in the near future to coordinate a large-scale ground-based relief effort under the threat of mass starvation across Gaza.

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‘I wish I had never come to the UK’: Palestinian academic despairs of getting visas for family stuck in Gaza

A lecturer doing his PhD on a British Council scholarship in York is frightened for his wife and two small children who are under Israeli bombardment

When Bassem Abudagga heard in 2022 that he had won a British Council scholarship to do his PhD in Britain, he was elated. “I was so proud,” he recalls. “It is what every academic in Palestine hopes for: to gain a qualification from the UK.

“It felt like a turning point for my career, my future, my family. It would shift my prospects to a completely different place.”

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Joe Biden confuses Gaza with Ukraine in airdrop announcement

President says US will ‘insist’ Israel does more to facilitate help, saying ‘children’s lives are on the line’

Middle East crisis – live updates

Joe Biden twice confused Gaza with Ukraine as he was announcing that the US would provide desperately needed aid to Palestinians.

The US president, 81, confirmed on Friday that humanitarian assistance would be airdropped into Gaza and said the US would “insist” Israel did more to facilitate help for those affected by famine and the effects of war, saying: “Children’s lives are on the line”.

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Police aggression towards Gaza march observers ‘on the rise’ in UK as woman says officers knocked her over

Legal adviser to pro-Palestinian protesters was taken to hospital by passersby after the incident on Westminster Bridge in London

A 71-year-old legal observer has accused a group of police officers of deliberately knocking her over and leaving her bloodied and unconscious on the ground during a Gaza ceasefire protest in London.

Lesley Wertheimer – who was wearing a hi-vis bib with “legal observer” printed on the back – crashed face down into the road when a phalanx of about 30 police officers ran towards Westminster Bridge during the first pro-Palestine demonstration of 2024.

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Israel faces mounting pressure to investigate Gaza food aid deaths

Calls for independent inquiry as UN team visiting the wounded in Gaza City’s al-Shifa hospital report seeing ‘large number of gunshot wounds’

Israel is facing growing international pressure for an investigation after more than 100 Palestinians in Gaza were killed when desperate crowds gathered around aid trucks and Israeli troops opened fire on Thursday.

Israel said people died in a crush or were run over by aid lorries although it admitted its troops had opened fire on what it called a “mob”. But the head of a hospital in Gaza said 80% of injured people brought in had gunshot wounds.

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US to begin aid airdrops into Gaza but critics dismiss effort as inadequate

Decision to airdrop supplies suggests Biden has given up on being able to persuade Israel to coordinate ground-based relief

The US will start airdrops of food and emergency supplies into Gaza in the next few days, Joe Biden has announced, amid UN warnings of famine and after Israeli troops opened fire on Gazans seeking food aid.

The use of airdrops is a spectacular but inefficient way of delivering aid, and Friday’s announcement suggests that Biden had given up on being able to persuade Israel in the near future to coordinate a large-scale ground-based relief effort under the threat of mass starvation across Gaza.

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Politicians from 12 countries unite to press for arms ban on Israel

Letter aims to bring public anger over 30,000 deaths of Palestinians in Gaza into heart of parliaments

More than 200 MPs from 12 countries have committed themselves to trying to persuade their governments to impose a ban on arms sales to Israel, arguing they will not be complicit in “Israel’s grave violation of international law” in its assault on Gaza.

The letter, organised by Progressive International, a network of socialist MPs and activists focused on international justice, is seen as the best practical measure possible to bring public anger over the 30,000 deaths of Palestinians in Gaza into the heart of parliaments, where calls for an immediate unconditional ceasefire have so far fallen on deaf ears or been rejected by national governments.

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Israel yet to provide evidence to back UNRWA 7 October attack claims – UN

Allegations against 12 employees led major donors to suspend funding to UN Palestinian agency despite hunger crisis in Gaza

A month after Israeli allegations that a dozen United Nations staff were involved in the 7 October Hamas attack, UN investigators have yet to receive any evidence from Israel to support the claims, though they expect some material to be forthcoming “shortly”.

The allegations against the 12 employees of the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine (UNRWA) led 16 major donors to suspend contributions totalling $450m at a time when more than 2 million Gazans are facing famine. UNRWA says it is approaching “breaking point” and only has sufficient funds to continue functioning for the next month at most.

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Middle East crisis live: US calls Gaza aid convoy deaths ‘tremendously alarming’ as France says Israeli fire ‘unjustifiable’

White House says US ‘urgently seeking’ information after more than 100 Palestinians killed when Israeli soldiers open fire near aid trucks

The families of people being held hostage by Hamas in Gaza are on the third day of their march from the site of the Nova music festival, which was attacked on 7 October, to Jerusalem. On this day they are expected to be joined by war cabinet minister Benny Gantz, and the marchers will be carrying. 134 stretchers, intended to symbolise the 134 hostages that Israel believes are still in captivity.

China’s foreign ministry spokesperson Mao Ning has said the country is “shocked” by the deaths in Gaza yesterday, and called again for an end to the fighting. They said:

China is shocked by this incident and strongly condemns it. We express our grief for the victims and our sympathies for the injured. China urges the relevant parties, especially Israel, to cease fire and end the fighting immediately, earnestly protect civilians’ safety, ensure that humanitarian aid can enter, and avoid an even more serious humanitarian disaster.

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Rochdale byelection live: Labour ‘apologises to the people of Rochdale’ after George Galloway victory

Losing party says ‘Galloway only won because Labour did not stand’ and calls him ‘a damaging force in our public life’

Labour says George Galloway is “only interested in stoking fear and division”.

In a statement issued about the byelection result, the party apologised to the people of Rochdale for the fact that it did not have a proper candidate. (Azhar Ali, who was selected as Labour’s candidate, was disowned by the party after nominations closed because it was revealed that he had made antisemitic comments after the Hamas attack on Gaza. But it was too late to change nominations, and so he was listed as a Labour candidate on the ballot paper.) A Labour spokesperson said:

We deeply regret that the Labour party was unable to field a candidate in this byelection and apologise to the people of Rochdale. George Galloway only won because Labour did not stand.

Rochdale deserved the chance to vote for an MP that would bring communities together and deliver for working people. George Galloway is only interested in stoking fear and division. As an MP he will be a damaging force in our communities and public life.

I think Mr Tice has rather lost his balance, and Mr [Nigel] Farage too, and I remind Mr Tice that I have on my telephone a text from him inviting me to be the Reform UK candidate in a by-election not that long ago.

I’d prefer not to publish it, but if he keeps telling lies about me I will have to tell the truth about him.

Absolutely none. Ask the police, ask the police if a single one of our supporters has been arrested or spoken to by them.

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112 dead in chaotic scenes as Israeli troops open fire near aid trucks, say Gaza officials

Israeli military denies shooting into large crowds of hungry people and says most were killed in crush or run over trying to escape

More than a hundred Palestinians were killed in the early hours of Thursday morning, Gaza health officials said, when desperate crowds gathered around aid trucks and Israeli troops opened fire, in an incident that the US president, Joe Biden, warned was likely to complicate ceasefire talks.

There were starkly different accounts of how the victims died in the chaos that took place near Gaza City in the north of the strip.

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Media outlets call for protection of journalists working in Gaza

More than 30 news organisations sign open letter demanding freedom to report conflict in safety

More than 30 news organisations have signed an open letter expressing solidarity with journalists working in Gaza and calling for their protection and freedom to report.

The letter, coordinated by the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), was signed by global news agencies AFP, AP and Reuters, as well as other leading media outlets including the Guardian, the New York Times, BBC News and Israel’s Haaretz.

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Middle East crisis: Biden says killing of more than 100 Palestinians near aid trucks will complicate ceasefire talks – as it happened

This live blog is now closed. For the latest on the Israel-Gaza war, read our most recent report:

CNN are reporting that concern is rising among Biden officials that Israel may launch an incursion into Lebanon.

In a politics piece published on its website on Thursday, CNN cite US administration and intelligence officials as being “concerned that Israel is planning a ground incursion into Lebanon that could be launched in the late spring or early summer if diplomatic efforts fail to push Hezbollah back from the northern border with Israel”.

While a final Israeli decision has yet to be made, the worry is acute enough inside the Biden administration that the prospect of an incursion has made its way into intelligence briefings for senior administration officials, according to one person who received a briefing and was told an operation could happen early summer.

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UK should impose sanctions on two far-right Israeli ministers, says Ed Davey

Lib Dem leader fears war will spread to West Bank if those pushing for more settlements are not penalised

The UK should impose sanctions on two far-right Israeli ministers who have pushed for more settlements on Palestinian land, Ed Davey has argued, saying this is vital to stop the fighting in Gaza spreading to the West Bank.

The Liberal Democrat leader, who returned on Wednesday morning from a visit to Israel where he had spoken to charities, politicians and relatives of Israeli hostages held by Hamas, said there was a risk of the prospect of a two-state solution collapsing.

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Humanitarian workers face deportation from Israel after freeze on visas

Dozens of foreign staff have had to leave and new specialists can’t be brought in, says group representing aid agencies

Israel has stopped issuing visas for international staff of humanitarian organisations that work in occupied Palestinian territories, hampering efforts to get food and other vital supplies into Gaza.

Dozens of foreign aid workers, including heads of organisations, have had to leave Israel and the Palestinian territories, or are overstaying their visas and risking deportation so they can continue working, an alliance of aid groups has warned.

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