Monday, July 8, 2024
13:04 GMT — The head of the main UN agency providing aid to Gaza has said half its facilities in the territory have been destroyed since the Israeli war began.
Philippe Lazzarini also said more than 500 people have been killed in those attacks.
The commissioner-general of the UN agency for Palestinian refugees spoke at a news conference with Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdelaty, who reiterated Egypt’s support for the agency known as UNRWA.
12:39 GMT — Israeli minister Smotrich rules out involvement in Gaza ceasefire
Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich has said a ceasefire and captive swap deal under discussion to end the war in Gaza would constitute a defeat for Israel and he wants no part of it.
"This deal is a defeat and humiliation of Israel," Smotrich told a meeting of the party he leads, which is part of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's ruling coalition.
"Mr. Prime Minister, this is not an absolute victory. This is a total failure. We will not be part of a deal of surrender to Hamas."
12:14 GMT — Malnutrition kills six-year-old Palestinian
A six-year-old Palestinian boy, Hikmat Raad Badir, has died of severe malnutrition caused by a crippling Israeli blockade in central Gaza, according to his uncle.
Ahmed Badir said his family had been displaced from northern Gaza to the Al Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in the central city of Deir al Balah.
"We went there in the hope of getting the necessary medical care and essential nourishment for Hikmat," he told Anadolu. "Unfortunately, here too, there are no suitable foods for children or even treatment, so his health deteriorated."
"It's not only children who suffer from malnutrition, but adults too amid harsh living conditions due to the Israeli war," he added.
11:41 GMT — Israel kills another Hezbollah member in clashes
Another Hezbollah member was killed in border clashes with the Israeli army in southern Lebanon, the group has said.
Hezbollah identified the slain operative as Mustafa Salman, also known as Abu Hassan, 33, without providing any details about the circumstances of his death.
At least 362 Hezbollah members have been killed since the outbreak of clashes with the Israeli forces on Oct. 8, according to an Anadolu tally.
Meanwhile, Lebanon's state-run news agency, NNA, reported that Israeli fighter jets struck the Qlaileh plain south of Tyre late Sunday, resulting in one death and another injury, though the identities of the victims were not disclosed.
10:30 GMT — Death toll in Gaza rises to 38,193 amid ongoing Israeli attacks
At least 40 more Palestinians have been killed by Israeli attack in the past 24 hours across Gaza, raising the overall death toll to 38,193, including more than 15,983 children and 10,637 women, the enclave's ministry said.
At least 75 Palestinians have also been injured, raising the total number of injuries since October 7 to 87,903, according to Gaza’s Ministry of Health.
10:07 GMT — Israeli army targets UN office again
The Israeli army announced that it launched a "ground operation" against targets including headquarters of the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA).
The Israeli army claimed in a statement that the operation is based on intelligence that indicates the presence of “Hamas and Islamic Jihad infrastructure, and operatives in Gaza City.”
Referring to the attack on UNRWA headquarters, the Israeli army alleged that the building housed weapons, investigation and detention rooms of Hamas and Islamic Jihad.
08:20 GMT — Israeli army says it intercepted drone over Lebanese airspace
The Israeli army has announced that it intercepted a drone over Lebanese airspace before it could penetrate Israeli territory.
A military statement said that Israeli air defences intercepted a suspicious aerial target (drone) in the skies of Lebanon.
It did not enter Israeli territory, and no alarms were activated, the statement added.
08:05 GMT — Israeli minister: stopping Gaza war now would be folly
Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich has said it would be a huge mistake to stop Israel's military offensive in Gaza now.
Smotrich, who heads a pro-settler party which is part of Prime Minister Netanyahu's governing coalition, made the comment as Israeli officials continued talks via mediators about a possible ceasefire deal with the Palestinian resistance group Hamas.
He wrote on social media platform X:
"Hamas is collapsing and begging for a ceasefire. This is the time to squeeze the neck until we crush and break the enemy. To stop now, just before the end, and let him recover and fight us again, is a senseless folly."
07:59 GMT — Israeli tanks storm Gaza City districts, residents report heavy fire
Israeli forces have pounded Gaza City and columns of tanks advanced into the heart of the city from different directions in what residents said was one of the heaviest attacks since October 7.
The Gaza Civil Emergency Service said it believed dozens of people were killed but emergency teams were unable to reach them because of ongoing offensives in Daraj and Tuffah in the east and Tel Al-Hawa, Sabra, and Rimal further west.
Israeli tanks had so far been stationed in some areas of Tel Al-Hawa and Sabra but hadn't advanced deep into the three other districts, which residents said had been bombed throughout the night into the early morning hours.
Several multi-floor buildings have been destroyed, they added.
07:23 GMT — Thousands of Palestinians flee as Israel bombs southwest Gaza
Thousands of Palestinians have fled large areas of southwest Gaza City after Israeli forces unexpectedly intruded for the first time in over three months and opened heavy fire targeting roads, homes, and residential buildings, resulting in dozens of casualties.
The Israeli forces' incursion prompted a mass exodus of thousands of Palestinians to the city's northwestern neighbourhoods.
An Anadolu Agency correspondent reported that Israeli military vehicles entered the Tel al-Hawa neighbourhood, the industrial area, the university zones, and the southern outskirts of the Rimal under heavy fire from fighter jets and artillery.
Massive explosions and continuous air and heavy artillery bombardment targeted eastern, central, and western Gaza City overnight and into Monday morning, witnesses said.
This was the first large-scale military offensive since the Israeli army's attack near al-Shifa Hospital and its surroundings at the end of March.
03:59 GMT — Hundreds of Israelis protest near Netanyahu’s home demanding truce deal with Hamas
Hundreds of Israelis have attempted to reach the residence of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in West Jerusalem to pressure the government into striking a truce deal with Palestinian factions.
They demonstrated near Netanyahu's residence on Gaza Street and attempted to reach it, but the police prevented them, according to Israel’s Yedioth Ahronoth daily.
Dozens of protesters in Tel Aviv also demanded a hostage swap deal and attempted to block a section of the main Ayalon Highway in the city centre, the newspaper said.
03:45 GMT — Several Palestinians killed in Israeli strike on Gaza home
Several Palestinians have been killed in an Israeli air strike on a house in the northern part of Gaza, the Civil Defence Agency in the enclave has announced.
The agency said in a statement that its teams retrieved several bodies after an Israeli warplane targeted a house belonging to the Al Hajin family in Jabalia.
The attack destroyed the house and caused severe damage to the surrounding area, eyewitnesses said.
Civil Defence teams and residents are digging through the rubble in search of victims, they added.
Earlier, the agency said dozens of Palestinians were killed and injured due to Israeli air strikes on areas of Gaza City.
“There are dozens of martyrs, injured and trapped people in residential areas in the al-Daraj, Tuffah and Old City neighbourhoods due to the Israeli occupation's insane bombing of these areas,” Mahmoud Basal, the agency’s spokesperson, said in a press release.
03:30 GMT — Al-Ahli Baptist Hospital evacuated after Israeli army’s warning
Medical teams in Gaza evacuated wounded Palestinians from al-Ahli Baptist Hospital after the Israeli military issued a warning to leave the Al-Daraj, Al-Tuffah and Old City neighbourhoods of Gaza City.
A medical source at the hospital who spoke to Anadolu Agency said the teams transferred the wounded and other patients from the hospital to medical facilities in northern Gaza.
The source said Israeli quadcopter drones were heavily present around the hospital, firing at civilians and prompting the medical teams to evacuate the hospital.
02:40 GMT — US military says four Houthi drones destroyed in past 24 hours
The US military's Central Command said in a statement that in the past 24 hours its forces destroyed two Houthi drones in Houthi-controlled areas of Yemen while partner forces destroyed two Houthi drones over the Gulf of Aden.
"It was determined these systems presented an imminent threat to US, coalition forces, and merchant vessels in the region. These actions were taken to protect freedom of navigation and make international waters safer and more secure for US, coalition, and merchant vessels," the statement read.
02:31 GMT — Palestinian succumbs to his injuries from Israeli army gunfire in occupied West Bank
A young Palestinian man succumbed Sunday to injuries he sustained from Israeli army gunfire during an incursion into Jenin city in the northern West Bank.
Fawaz Hammad, the director of Al-Razi Hospital in Jenin, announced the death, saying that Ahmad Rashad Mahmoud Abu Al-Haija, 24, succumbed to his wounds inflicted during the Israeli aggressi on on Jenin and its refugee camp last Friday, according to the official Palestine news agency Wafa.
The agency reported that with Abu al-Haija's death, the number of Palestinians killed from the Israeli raid on Jenin last Friday rose to eight.
02:00 GMT — Hezbollah launches drone attack on Mount Hermon in Israeli-occupied Syrian Golan Heights
The Hezbollah group said it launched a drone attack on Mount Hermon in the Israeli-occupied Syrian Golan Heights where Israel has a key surveillance centre.
It said this was its first such bombing since it began trading fire with Israel on October 8, a day after its Palestinian ally Hamas attacked southern Israel, sparking the Gaza war. Hezbollah says it would halt operations only when the war ends.
Although it had hit other areas in the occupied Syrian Golan Heights repeatedly, Lebanon's Hezbollah said it was the first time to hit the military target that is at the highest elevation in the Israeli-controlled territory.
Our live updates from Sunday, July 7, 2024, click here.
