Israel-Palestine live: Israel and Palestinians agree to truce, hostage deal
Live Updates
Brunei, Indonesia and Malaysia on Saturday called for a durable and sustained humanitarian truce to the fighting between Israel and armed Palestinian groups in Gaza.
The countries issued their statement during a meeting of leaders from the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (Apec).
The Apec forum, which includes Russia, China, and the US, did not mention the conflict in its final joint communique. Rather a separate statement noted that the forum had “exchanged views on the ongoing crisis in Gaza”.
Several more members of US Congress have joined a growing list of lawmakers calling for a ceasefire in Gaza.
Congressman Robert Garcia, a Democrat from California, and Jamie Raskin, a Maryland Democrat, issued statements saying that a ceasefire along with the return of all captives held by Hamas is a necessary step towards achieving peace.
“Now is the time for American strategic, diplomatic and political leadership to press for a breakthrough change in the relentless and dangerous dynamics of war and violence. The world has seen enough death and destruction," Raskin said in a statement.
Several more members of US Congress have joined a growing list of lawmakers calling for a ceasefire in Gaza.
Congressman Robert Garcia, a Democrat from California, and Jamie Raskin, a Maryland Democrat, issued statements saying that a ceasefire along with the return of all captives held by Hamas is a necessary step towards achieving peace.
“Now is the time for American strategic, diplomatic and political leadership to press for a breakthrough change in the relentless and dangerous dynamics of war and violence. The world has seen enough death and destruction," Raskin said in a statement.
Imam Omar Suleiman, a prominent Muslim leader in the US who is also Palestinian American, said that his Instagram account was being censored.
Suleiman has been vocal in his support for Palestine even prior to the war in Gaza beginning on 7 October.
"Honestly, the censorship has been shameful even by their standards. At some point, we may need to organize a global boycott of these platforms to send a strong message about censorship," he said on Instagram.
The social media accounts of a number of Palestinian individuals and organisations have been censored over the past several weeks.
The number of Palestinians who were killed in an Israeli air strike early on Saturday has now risen to at least 26, with most of them being children, according to the Palestinian news agency Wafa.
The mass killing now stands as one of the largest in recent days and comes after US President Joe Biden said that Israel was no longer conducting the "indiscriminate bombing" that it was in the early weeks of the war.
The number of Palestinians who were killed in an Israeli air strike early on Saturday has now risen to at least 26, with most of them being children, according to the Palestinian news agency Wafa.
The mass killing now stands as one of the largest in recent days and comes after US President Joe Biden said that Israel was no longer conducting the "indiscriminate bombing" that it was in the early weeks of the war.
As much of the world's attention is focused on Gaza, worshippers being prevented by Israeli forces from praying at Jerusalem's Al-Aqsa Mosque have become a common scene.
“They don’t let us in, oppress us, and hit us,” said Mohammad Salaymeh, an 18-year-old man who has not been able to pray at the mosque since the beginning of the war in Gaza.
The prayers, which usually see an average of 50,000 worshippers in and around the mosque, only had around 4,000 people this week.
To read the full story, click below.
Under the cover of war, Israeli forces impose restrictions on Al-Aqsa prayers
Israel's military raided the occupied West Bank city of Tubas, leading to confrontations between Israeli forces and Palestinian fighters, according to the Palestinian news agency Wafa.
At least one Palestinian, 18-year-old Omar al-Shahrouri, was killed in the Israeli raid, according to medics at the Tubas Turkish Hospital.
Wafa further reported that another two Palestinians were injured during the raid.
The White House said in a social media post on X that it was glad Israel has agreed to deliver fuel to Gaza, noting it had made a "strong request" for Israel to do so.
It added that the delivery of fuel into Gaza should happen "continue on a regular basis and in larger quantities".
After Hamas launched its attack on Israel on 7 October, Israel imposed a full siege on Gaza, cutting off all goods into the enclave, as well as cutting off water to the Strip. It has since begun to allow some aid trucks in via the Rafah border crossing with Egypt.
Israel on Friday announced it would deliver 140,000 liters of fuel into Gaza every two days after a request from Washington.
The number of Palestinians killed by an Israeli strike on Khan Younis has risen to at least 19, according to several Palestinian news reports and Al Jazeera Arabic.
The strike on Khan Younis, located in southern Gaza, comes after Israel had ordered Palestinians to leave the north of the Strip and head south.
Israel's former prime minister Ehud Olmert has claimed that Hamas's command centre is located in Khan Younis, after Israel had claimed it was in al-Shifa Hospital in northern Gaza.
The UK's Minister of State for the Middle East Tariq Ahmad will travel to Bahrain and Qatar for talks on the situation in Gaza, the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) said in a statement on Saturday.
Ahmad will also meet with Middle East leaders, including the secretary general of the Arab League.
At least 15 Palestinians were killed in an Israeli air strike on Khan Younis during the early hours of Saturday morning, according to Al Jazeera Arabic.
The air strike hit a residential neighbourhood in Khan Younis, located in southern Gaza, and among those killed were children.
Elon Musk, the billionaire owner of the social media platform X, has said that the terms "decolonisation" and "from the river to the sea" implicitly call for genocide.
He said that "clear calls for extreme violence are against our terms of service and will result in suspension".
Earlier this week, Musk said the term "decolonisation" implied the genocide of Jewish people.
The slogan "from the river to the sea" has been around for decades among Palestinians and pro-Palestinian campaigners, and refers to liberating the territory that exists between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean Sea in historic Palestine.
But many Israelis and supporters of Israel have claimed that the chant effectively calls for genocide and implies the destruction of Israel.
To read more about the term, click here.
At least five Palestinians have been killed by an Israeli bombing of the Balata refugee camp, located just east of the West Bank city of Nablus, several Palestinian news outlets have reported.
The strike targeted the headquarters of the Fatah movement. At least two other Palestinians were injured in the bombing.
