Israel-Palestine live: Week three ends with over 7,000 Palestinians killed

Hamas' armed wing has released two captives after mediation from Egyptian and Qatari authorities, a spokesperson for the Qassam Brigades said on Monday.

"We in the Qassam Brigades, through Egyptian-Qatari mediation, released two detainees, Nurit Yitzhak and Yochved Lifshitz, knowing that the enemy has refused to accept them since last Friday," spokesperson Abu Ubaida said on the armed wing's Telegram channel. 

"We have decided to release them for humanitarian and poor health reasons, despite the occupation committing more than eight violations of the procedures agreed upon with [Qatari-Egyptian] mediators... to complete the handover process," he added.

The Biden administration has said it wants to see "safe passage" for people out of Gaza ahead of a potential ground invasion by Israel, making particular reference to American citizens.

"We still want to see safe passage out and particularly for the several hundred American citizens that we know are in Gaza and want to leave," White House national security spokesman John Kirby said on Monday.

Palestinians have previously told MEE they would not leave Gaza through the Rafah border should a humanitarian corridor be opened, fearing a "second Nakba".

In his latest column for Middle East Eye, Jonathan Cook argues that Israeli disinformation over a deadly blast at Gaza's al-Ahli hospital has taken the focus off Palestinian victims. 

He writes: "Instead of giving the victims proper attention, instead of finally galvanising anger over Israel’s wanton killing of thousands of Palestinian civilians in two weeks, the media’s reporting reverted to a predictable formula.

It weighed claim and counter-claim over the hospital strike, it carried profiles about Islamic Jihad, and - most importantly for Israel - it adopted a wait-and-see, don’t-rush-to-judgment approach.

A moment that might have led to concerted diplomatic pressure on Israel to stop its rampage and negotiate a ceasefire dissolved into a round of bickering in which the hospital victims entirely disappeared from view.

By the time outside observers get into Gaza and carry out forensic tests, assuming they can, the story will be cold. No one will care, and Israel will not be held to account - morally, diplomatically or legally."

You can read the full opinion piece below. 

Column: Israel is caught lying time and again. And yet we never learn

The Israeli military is ready to launch a ground invasion in Gaza but is awaiting approval from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, according to a report in Haaretz. 

The report said the army presented its position of readiness in front of senior political figures, but “sense hesitancy”. 

The hesitancy was linked to Netanyahu’s lack of confidence in the military’s ability to meet goals defined by the government, the report stated. 

But Aryeh Deri, a minister in Netanyahu’s coalition government, has denied that politicians are refusing to give the green light, and instead hinted that the army was underprepared. 

“You can’t just go in at a moment’s notice. I can’t divulge all the details, but it’s not like the army is ready and the political side isn’t letting it [invade],” Deri said during a weekly meeting of his political faction. 

“There’s a lot of baseless reports causing confusion, in society and also among the soldiers,” he added.

You can read here about what Israel learned from the last time it launched a ground invasion of Gaza nine years ago. 

Days after two US-Israeli women were released by Hamas, Israeli President Isaac Herzog invited representatives of the captives' families to the presidential residency in Jerusalem.

Among the representatives was Michal, the relative of three-year-old Abigail, who came holding her picture.

"Both of her parents and her two brothers were murdered. The neighbours noticed her, took her and then they too were kidnapped. I want the whole world to know that a three-year-old girl, who no longer has a father, mother and brothers, is there in Gaza and we don't know how she is doing," Michal said.

"We feel like no one is listening to us. We want to raise public awareness everywhere; we want the world to at least listen to us."

Israel says Hamas took 222 people captive when it attacked communities near the Gaza Strip on 7 October, though that number may be higher, as the fate of several others is not yet known.

You can read Peggy Cidor's full report from Jerusalem below. 

Read more: Herzog gives captives' families comfort but little news

Residents of the Sinai region have gathered to demand that Egyptian authorities allow them to return to their homes, according to a rights group. 

Sinai for Human Rights posted footage on Monday of hundreds of displaced people gathering in the area. 

Since 2013, the Egyptian army has destroyed over 12,000 homes in the province and closed off 6,000 hectares of farmland, displacing thousands, according to Human Rights Watch. 

Cairo has justified the demolitions and evictions as necessary in its fight against Wilayat Sina, a local Islamic State (IS) group affiliate responsible for attacks against civilians and military targets.

Egyptian authorities have reportedly begun logistical preparations for setting up tents in the Sinai cities of Sheikh Zuwayed and Rafah in the event of a mass exodus of Palestinians, according to a report in Mada Masr earlier this month.

Palestinians from Gaza told MEE that forced displacement to Sinai would be akin to a "second Nakba". 

Turkey asked Hamas' top leadership to leave the country on the day that hundreds of Palestinian fighters attacked Israeli communities near the Gaza Strip, several sources have told Middle East Eye.

All of Hamas' senior leaders in Turkey have since left the country after being asked to, two sources familiar with the issue said.

On Sunday, Al Monitor reported that Hamas' political leader Ismail Haniyeh and his entourage were "politely sent away" after footage circulated on social media of him giving prayers of thanks while watching the attack on TV in Istanbul.

One source said that Hamas leaders did not stay in Turkey permanently, spending time in the country depending on talks, conferences and other events they attended there and abroad.

Another source said Turkey may not have wanted to be seen hosting Hamas leaders on a day that the Palestinian movement led an attack that resulted in the deaths of around 1,400 Israelis, the majority of them civilians, including children.

"The optics of it would have been damaging," they said.

You can check out MEE Turkey bureau chief Ragip Soylu's full report below.  

Read more: Turkey asked Hamas' leadership to leave the country, sources say

Labour leader Keir Starmer has faced fresh criticism from the Muslim community in the UK after posting a tweet saying he had used a visit to a mosque in South Wales to reiterate the party's call for Hamas to release hostages held in Gaza since its attack on southern Israel.

Posting on X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter, following his visit to the South Wales Islamic Centre, Starmer said: "I repeated our calls for all hostages to be released, more humanitarian aid to enter Gaza, for the water and power to be switched back on, and a renewed focus on the two-state solution."

Since his post, the Cardiff mosque has faced a backlash over its decision to host Starmer, who has faced previous criticism over comments in which he appeared to defend Israel's decision to cut off electricity and water to the Gaza Strip.

While Faridah asked Kier Starmer: "What exactly can the Muslim community in the south of Wales do about [releasing hostages]? Or are you assuming that all Muslims are Hamas?"

Read more: Starmer uses mosque visit to demand Hamas release hostages

Friends and colleagues are remembering the Palestinian photojournalist Rushdi al-Saraj, who was reportedly killed in his home by an Israeli air strike on 22 October. 

“Despite the dangers of wartime, he preferred to stay at home in the northern Gaza Strip, explaining that his family had fled Jaffa in 1948 and that he did not want to relive a second Nakba,” said Frederic Metezeau, a former colleague of Saraj's at Radio France Internationale. 

Agnes Callamard, the secretary general of Amnesty International, wrote:

“We have lost a friend and colleague: Rushdi Saraj, who worked with Amnesty on a short film, was murdered today in an Israeli air strike. Rushdi was a talented film maker and journalist - another victim of Israel bombing of Gaza.”

At least 23 journalists have been killed since the war began on 7 October. 

Read more: Colleagues remember slain Palestinian journalist Rushdi al-Saraj

Almost 20,000 people have been internally displaced in Lebanon, mostly in the south, since the Israel-Palestine war began. 

The International Organisation for Migration said 19,646 people had been displaced since 8 October. 

Lebanese fighters have exchanged fire with the Israeli military along the military on a frequent basis over the past two weeks. 

Hezbollah said 28 of its fighters have been killed since hostilities began, in addition to 11 fighters belonging to Palestinian groups based in Lebanon. Meanwhile, Israel says seven of its troops have been killed along the Lebanese border.  

Babies in Gaza's neonatal intensive care units could die within minutes, if incubators lose power. 

"We call on everyone to send the necessary medical supplies for this critical department or else we face a huge catastrophe," Nasser Bulbul, a doctor at Al-Shifa hospital in Gaza City, told Reuters. 

"If the electricity is out, in these departments, where there are 55 babies, we will lose all those who need electricity within five minutes."

One baby at al-Shifa hospital lost 11 members of her family, including her mother in an Israeli bombing. Doctors are waiting for a relative to come forward and name the infant, according to Reuters.

"When the baby gets better we don't know who is going to take care of him after he became an orphan," a physician treating the baby said on Facebook.

There are 130 newborn babies in electric incubators in the Gaza Strip, the Palestinian health ministry said. 

The United States is preparing to wage war on three fronts in the expectation that Israel’s attack on Gaza will escalate into a regional conflict, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken has said.

In an interview with NBC on Sunday, Blinken said US military forces in the Middle East were ready for a possible conflict between Israel and Hezbollah in southern Lebanon and northern Israel, and for attacks on US forces in the Middle East by Iran-backed groups.

“We don’t want to see a second or third front develop. We don’t want to see our forces or our personnel come under fire. But if that happens, we’re ready for it,” said Blinken.

Earlier, US Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin said additional US troops were preparing to deploy to the region.

Read more: US ready for escalation on three fronts, says Blinken 

A crisis of trust is emerging between the Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and leaders of the military, including the defence minister, Yedioth Ahronoth reported on Monday. 

The Israeli daily said Netanyahu is "angry" at the leadership of the army and believes they bear responsibility for the failure to detect or stop the Hamas-led attack on 7 October. 

The premier is reportedly reacting with "impatience" to opinions and assessments presented to him by senior generals and is hesitant to adopt their recommendations. 

His relationship with Defence Minister Yoav Gallant is also shaky, the paper said. Israeli media previously reported the two disagreed over launching a preemptive strike against Hezbollah, with Gallant advocating for it and Netanyahu stopping it. 

The disagreements are hindering the government's ability to make unanimous decisions on key issues regarding the next steps in the war, Yedioth Ahronoth added.

The spokesperson of the Israeli military previously said troops are ready for a ground invasion of Gaza but are waiting for a political green light. 

After 15 years of failing to conceive, Wafaa and Fadi al-Baba, a married couple from the Gaza Strip, thought they would need a miracle to have children.

Wafaa had long had a profile picture on her Facebook account featuring a woman in prayer with the caption: "God, give me what I wish to have."

And on 9 September, the miracle Wafaa and Fadi had prayed for happened when Maha, Khaled, Abdul-Khaleq, and Mahmoud - a quadruplet set of a girl and three boys - were born.

Their story became known among the people of Gaza, and many shared their congratulations to the happy couple on social media after the birth was reported on local news.

Tragically, however, the dream would prove to be short-lived. Exactly one month later, Wafaa and her four babies would be killed in an Israeli air strike on their home in Gaza City, leaving Fadi the sole survivor of his new family.

Read more: Years of waiting, a miracle of four babies, one deadly strike: A Gaza family story

The Israeli military said it intercepted a drone that entered Israeli airspace near Acre from Lebanon.