Sunday, August 18, 2024
1010 GMT – Gaza death toll rises to 40,099
The health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza said on Sunday that at least 40,099 people have been killed in the Palestinian territory in more than 10 months of war with Israel.
The toll includes 25 deaths over the past 24 hours, according to ministry figures, which also listed 92,609 people as wounded in the Gaza Strip since the war began when Hamas fighters launched a cross-border attack on Israel on October 7.
0753 GMT — Israel continues to bomb Gaza amid Blinken's Tel Aviv visit
At least 11 Palestinians were killed when the Israeli army targeted several areas in central Gaza.
Medical sources at the al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital have said that seven Palestinians were killed and several others injured in an Israeli attack on Deir al Balah city.
They added that four more were killed and several others wounded in another Israeli attack on the Nuseirat refugee camp in central Gaza.
Eyewitnesses told Anadolu that Israeli artillery vehicles stationed east of Gaza are intensively shelling the eastern areas of the Maghazi and Bureij camps and the city of Deir al Balah in central Gaza.
0304 GMT — Blinken heads back to Middle East as hopes for Gaza truce rise
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken has left on a mission to the Middle East to push ahead with a Gaza ceasefire deal as cautious optimism rises.
The top US diplomat will fly to Tel Aviv ahead of expected meetings with the Israeli leadership.
0135 GMT — Thousands of Israelis protest to demand deal with Hamas
Thousands of Israelis have taken to the streets, demanding a prisoner swap deal with the Palestinian resistance group Hamas in besieged Gaza.
Tens of thousands of Israelis demonstrated in Kaplan Square, central Tel Aviv, to pressure Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government to finalise a ceasefire and prisoner exchange deal, according to state-run public broadcaster KAN.
The protesters threatened to intensify demonstrations if a deal is not reached within the next week, it reported, adding that protesters chanted against Netanyahu and accused him of disregarding the lives of the hostages in Gaza.
2255 GMT — Israel claims two officers killed in Gaza
Two senior Israeli officers have been killed by roadside explosives planted by Palestinian resistance groups in central Gaza, the army announced.
One of them, logistics officer Major Yotam Itzhak Peled, 34, of "the Jerusalem Brigade's 8119th Battalion ... was killed by roadside bombs planted by Hamas in the Netzarim Corridor area," the army said in a statement.
Releasing a separate statement, it said the second officer was Sergeant Major Mordechai Yosef Ben Shoam.
Also 34, he was a "truck driver with the Jerusalem Brigade’s 8119th Battalion ... was part of a convoy to supply troops in Gaza City’s southern Zeitoun neighbourhood with equipment," it added.
06:21 GMT — Israel kills 18 members of same family in Gaza
An Israel air strike in besieged Gaza killed at least 18 people, all from the same family, hours after mediators expressed optimism for an imminent ceasefire.
The air strike hit a house and adjacent warehouse sheltering displaced people at the entrance to the town of Zawaida, according to the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in Deir al-Balah, where casualties were taken.
05:14 GMT — Blinken heads back to Middle East as hopes for Gaza truce rise
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken has left on a mission to the Middle East to push ahead a Gaza ceasefire deal as cautious optimism rises.
The top US diplomat will fly to Tel Aviv ahead of expected meetings with the Israeli leadership.
04:35 GMT — Thousands of Israelis protest to demand deal with Hamas
Thousands of Israelis have taken to the streets, demanding a prisoner swap deal with the Palestinian resistance group Hamas in besieged Gaza.
Tens of thousands of Israelis demonstrated in Kaplan Square, central Tel Aviv, to pressure Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government to finalise a ceasefire and prisoner exchange deal, according to state-run public broadcaster KAN.
The protesters threatened to intensify demonstrations if a deal is not reached within the next week, it reported, adding that protesters chanted against Netanyahu and accused him of disregarding the lives of the hostages in Gaza.
04:00 GMT — Israel claims two officers killed in Gaza
Two senior Israeli officers have been killed by roadside explosives planted by Palestinian resistance groups in central Gaza, the army announced.
One of them, logistics officer Major Yotam Itzhak Peled, 34, of "the Jerusalem Brigade's 8119th Battalion ... was killed by roadside bombs planted by Hamas in the Netzarim Corridor area," the army said in a statement.
Releasing a separate statement, it said the second officer was Sergeant Major Mordechai Yosef Ben Shoam.
03:00 GMT — Egypt, Iran explore efforts to reach ceasefire in Gaza
Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty emphasised to his Iranian acting counterpart Ali Bagheri Kani the need to contain escalation in the region.
According to a statement from the Egyptian Foreign Ministry, the call between Abdelatty and Kani was "within the framework of Egypt's intensive efforts aimed at containing the escalation in the region, and the ongoing communication with all relevant regional and international parties to ease the tension in the region."
"Egyptian efforts to achieve a ceasefire in Gaza were discussed," with the Egyptian minister affirming that "the international community is more aware than ever of the need to end the war and achieve a deal for the exchange of hostages and prisoners."
For our live updates from Saturday, August 17, 2024, click here.
