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The death toll from an Israeli air strike on a Gaza City school has risen to 80, Palestinian health authorities said.
The Israeli military acknowledged the strike on the Tabeen school on Saturday morning, claiming it hit a Hamas command centre within the school. Hamas denied having a base at the school.
Continue reading...Compound where about 6,000 displaced people were sheltering hit as many prepared for dawn prayers
At least 80 people have been killed in Israeli missile strikes on a school compound in Gaza City, according to the territory’s civil defence service, the latest in a string of attacks on schools that the Israeli army says are targeting militants using them as bases.
The bombing of Tabeen school, where about 6,000 displaced people were sheltering, was hit when many people were preparing for dawn prayers on Saturday, and reportedly caused a fire. Video from the scene showed horrific loss of life, with body parts, rubble and destroyed furniture scattered across blood-soaked mattresses.
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Josep Borrell, the EU’s foreign policy chief, has said the bloc “joins Egypt, Qatar & the US in their call for concluding, without delay, the ceasefire & hostages release deal.”
“We reiterate our full support to their mediation to put an end to the unbearable cycle of suffering,” he said, adding that “the deal will also pave the way for regional de-escalation.”
Continue reading...Joint statement says framework agreement is ‘on the table’ and there are no excuses ‘from any party for further delay’
The leaders of the US, Egypt and Qatar have called on Israel and Hamas to resume urgent negotiations to finalise a ceasefire and hostage release deal, saying there were no excuses “from any party for further delay”.
The three countries, which have been trying to mediate a deal, said in a joint statement the talks could take place in either Doha or Cairo on 15 August, adding that it was “time to bring immediate relief both to the longsuffering people of Gaza as well as the longsuffering hostages and their families”.
Continue reading...Other Islamic countries are not openly backing military response by Tehran and more targeted action appears likely
Iran may be rethinking the scale and format of its planned reprisal against Israel after the assassination of Hamas’s political leader, Ismail Haniyeh, but is not likely to be put off by the absence of explicit support from Muslim states for an Iranian military response, officials have suggested.
Meanwhile, Israeli officials have reportedly concluded that the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah is determined to carry out an attack in the next few days in response to Israel’s killing of senior commander Fuad Shukr, but the degree to which it will coordinate with Iran is unclear.
Continue reading...Israeli airstrikes hit a cluster of houses in central Gaza’s Al-Bureij camp and nearby Al-Nuseirat camp
Israeli foreign minister Israel Katz today said Israel’s decision to revoke the status of Norwegian diplomats serving the occupied Palestinian territories, was due to Norway’s “anti-Israel conduct”.
Israel has revoked the accreditation of eight Norwegian diplomats working as representatives to the Palestinian Authority, drawing a sharp response from Norway’s foreign minister who called it “an extreme act”.
Continue reading...Antony Blinken says US has been ‘engaged in intense diplomacy’ as the region braces for attacks from Iran and its allies
It has just gone 2pm in Jerusalem. If you’re just joining us, here are the day’s developments:
The United States has communicated to Iran and Israel that conflict in the Middle East must not escalate, secretary of state Antony Blinken said. The Middle East is bracing for a possible new wave of attacks by Iran and its allies after last week’s killing of senior members of militant groups Hamas and Hezbollah.
The Israeli military has issued new evacuation orders for an area in northern Gaza that was heavily bombed at the start of the war some 10 months ago. The IDF said it would respond to a Hamas rocket attack from the Beit Hanoun area the day before and urged residents to relocate to Gaza City, large areas of which have been destroyed.
More than 39,677 Palestinians have been killed and 91,645 have been injured in Israel’s military offensive in Gaza since Oct. 7, the health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza said in a statement on Wednesday.
Protesters have disrupted an Israeli supreme court hearing about a shadowy military facility where Israel has held Palestinian detainees throughout the war in Gaza. The protesters yelled “Shame!” as the attorney for a number of Israeli human rights groups argued that the Sde Teiman facility should be closed permanently over repeated allegations of detainee abuse. An Associated Press investigation into the facility, as well as others by rights groups, found detainees endured abysmal conditions there.
Continue reading...Announcement comes after former Hamas political chief Ismail Haniyeh killed in bombing attack last week
Hamas has named Yahya Sinwar as the new head of its political bureau, elevating the hardline militant to the group’s top post after the assassination in Tehran of its previous political leader.
Sinwar’s appointment was announced in a brief statement by Hamas on Tuesday that was aired on pro-Hamas Iranian state media channels.
Continue reading...Leaders expect a military response over Hamas assassination but fears grow of escalation into regional war
Vladimir Putin has reportedly told Iran to avoid civilian casualties in any retaliatory attack on Israel for the assassination of the Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh, an underlining of the constraints it faces as it frames its response.
It is a call for restraint that is likely to be echoed by many foreign ministers from the 57 countries inside the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) at a meeting in Jeddah on Wednesday as tensions in the Middle East grow.
Continue reading...Crisis meeting of Arab states this week may set agenda for retaliation as countries urge Iran to show restraint
Iran has called in foreign ambassadors based in Tehran to warn of the country’s moral duty to punish Israel for what it sees as its “adventurism” and law-breaking in assassinating Ismail Haniyeh, the Hamas leader, a week ago in the Iranian capital.
Iran has also secured an emergency meeting of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) on Wednesday where it will try to press Arab states to back its right to take reprisal actions against Israel.
Continue reading...UN fires employees from Palestinian refugee agency following internal investigation into their role in the Hamas-led attack on Israel
The UN has fired nine staff members from its agency for Palestinian refugees, Unrwa, after an internal investigation found they may have been involved in the Hamas-led 7 October attack against Israel.
The UN secretary general’s office announced the move in a brief statement on Monday. It did not elaborate on the Unrwa staffers’ possible role in the attack. It said the nine included seven staffers who were fired previously over the claims.
Continue reading...Response from Tehran, which blames Israel for killing of Hamas leader, could risk wider regional conflict
As Israel braces for what appears to be a likely Iranian retaliation, it is almost certain western and regional powers will be drawn in. Overnight, Yoav Gallant, Israel’s defence minister, briefed his US counterpart, Lloyd Austin, discussing according to Israel’s readout “a series of scenarios” and corresponding “defensive and offensive capabilities” should Tehran attack.
Gallant held a similar discussion with the UK defence secretary, John Healey, on Friday, giving the new Labour minister “an operational situation assessment”, Israel said. A day later Britain indicated it was moving military assets into Cyprus to prepare for a possible evacuation of UK nationals from Lebanon. The need for heightened readiness in the Middle East will not be lost on the RAF and its Typhoon pilots stationed at the Akrotiri airbase, either.
Continue reading...Foreign minister’s rare visit to Tehran appears likely to fail given Iranian insistence on making a decisive response
Jordan’s foreign minister, Ayman Safadi, has made a rare visit to Iran in a last-ditch effort to persuade it to hold back from attacking Israel in response to the assassination of the Hamas political leader, Ismail Haniyeh, in Tehran last week.
The western ally with a large Palestinian population is facing a tough balancing act as it faces domestic calls to break off relations with Tel Aviv and to stop protecting it after shooting down Iranian missiles aimed at Israel earlier this year.
Continue reading...The assassination of a Hamas leader in Tehran humiliated Iran’s leaders, dashed hopes of a ceasefire and left the heavily armed nations of the Middle East moving inexorably closer to an all-out war they all claim not to want
If Iran’s newly elected president, Masoud Pezeshkian, was hoping for a honeymoon period after his inauguration last week, he must be sadly disappointed. Less than 12 hours after Pezeshkian was sworn in, an explosion, reportedly caused by a remotely controlled bomb, shook an Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) compound in central Tehran. The target: Ismail Haniyeh, Hamas’s political leader, an honoured guest at the inauguration, and one of the Middle East’s most wanted. The bomb under the bed killed Haniyeh instantly. Honeymoon over.
Pezeshkian was the surprise winner of last month’s presidential election. Edging out a conservative hardliner favoured by Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Iran’s supreme leader, he promised to repair tattered ties with the US and Europe. Many hoped his victory would herald a more open, more progressive era and defuse social tensions, especially over the enforced wearing of the hijab, which triggered huge unrest under his predecessor, Ebrahim Raisi.
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Thousands of pro-Palestine protesters are marching through central London, UK.
Protesters waved banners reading “stop arming Israel”, “ceasefire now” and “from the river to the sea, Palestine will be free”.
This terrorist operation was carried out by firing a short-range projectile with a warhead of about 7 kilograms - causing a strong explosion - from outside the accommodation area.
Continue reading...Hamas killing is further snub to Biden administration, which does not share methods or objectives of Israeli leader
Standing alongside Donald Trump in Florida a week ago, Benjamin Netanyahu was vague on the latest prospect of a ceasefire in the war in Gaza.
“I hope we are going to have a deal. Time will tell,” the Israeli prime minister said, two days after his controversial address to a joint session of the US Congress.
Continue reading...Washington is bracing for Iran and its allies to respond to the killing of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh, which Tehran blames on Israel
The US military will deploy additional fighter jets and navy warships to the Middle East, the Pentagon said on Friday, as Washington braces for Iran and its regional allies to make good on a promise to respond to the killing of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran.
After the back-to-back assassinations of Haniyeh in Tehran on Wednesday and top Hezbollah commander Fuad Shukr in Beirut the evening before, international diplomats have scrambled to head off a full-fledged regional war. Rising tensions have spurred a growing list of major airlines into cancelling flights to Tel Aviv or Beirut, including Lufthansa, Delta and Air India.
Continue reading...Iran has vowed revenge for death of Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran, which came hours after killing of Hezbollah commander Fuad Shukr
Crowds gathered in Doha to bury the Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh, assassinated in Tehran this week, as the US president, Joe Biden, said the killing had “not helped” efforts to broker a ceasefire in Gaza and warned he was concerned about escalating regional conflict.
Iran has vowed revenge for the humiliating attack in the heart of its capital, which came just hours after Israel killed the top military commander of Hezbollah in an airstrike on Beirut.
Continue reading...Hassan Nasrallah calls for revenge at funeral of Fuad Shukr as does Iranian president at funeral of Hamas’s political leader, Ismail Haniyeh
The leader of Hezbollah has said that the Lebanese group’s conflict with Israel has entered “a new phase” after the back-to-back assassinations of a senior commander and Hamas’s political chief that risk plunging the Middle East into a regional war.
In a televised address broadcast to about 1,000 mourners at the Beirut funeral of Hezbollah’s second-in-command, Fuad Shukur, Hassan Nasrallah vowed that the powerful Shia militia would seek revenge.
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The head of Hamas’ military wing, Mohammed Deif, was killed in an Israeli airstrike in Gaza last month, the Israeli military said on Thursday, a day after the group’s political leader was assassinated in Teheran.
“The IDF (Israel Defense Forces) announces that on 13 July 2024, IDF fighter jets struck in the area of Khan Younis, and following an intelligence assessment, it can be confirmed that Mohammed Deif was eliminated in the strike,” the military said.
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