Gaza live: Israel strike kills 30 Palestinians, mostly children

Hamas has condemned the Israeli attack on Hamama School in the Sheikh Radwan neighbourhood of Gaza City, which was sheltering thousands of internally displaced Palestinians.

“The occupation’s criminal attack on Hamama School, which shelters thousands of displaced persons, is an insistence on the brutal war of extermination,” the group stated.

“The occupation army continues its lies by claiming that civilian sites, including schools, hospitals, and displacement centres, are being used for military purposes.”

“The occupation army uses these lies as a pretext to target defenceless civilians in Gaza,” Hamas added.

Jewish settlers have set fire to agricultural land near the town of Surif and thrown rocks at the Palestinian village of Al-Mughayyir in the occupied West Bank, reported the Palestinian news agency Wafa.

A Palestinian was injured in the incident.

Surif's mayor, Hazem Ghneimat, told Wafa that settlers from the "Beit Ein" settlement stormed the city, attacked homes, and burned 60 old olive trees.

Israeli raids on Hamama School in the Sheikh Radwan neighbourhood of Gaza City resulted in 17 fatalities and at least 70 people wounded. 

Amongst the seriously wounded were children. 

The hospital scenes were chaotic, with some of the injured lying on the floors and grieving Palestinian families filling the corridors.

One of the survivors reported that the strikes occurred without any prior warning

Nine people have been killed in two Israeli air strikes on the city of Tulkarm in the occupied West Bank.

The Palestinian news agency Wafa said the Israeli army killed four people in a second air strike on the occupied West Bank city of Tulkarm, hours after killing a Hamas commander and four other Palestinians in another strike.

Wafa, citing local sources, said Israeli forces hit a car near the village of Bal'a, killing four people. The agency added that they blocked ambulances from reaching the scene. 

Read more: Nine killed in two Israeli strikes on Tulkarm in occupied West Bank

The Israeli negotiating delegation has returned from Cairo following a disagreement with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu over a potential ceasefire with Hamas, according to the Israeli newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth.

The UK government has issued a warning for its citizens in Lebanon, advising them to leave the country immediately due to escalating tensions and the potential for a broader regional conflict between Israel and Hezbollah.

Foreign Minister David Lammy said: "Tensions are high, and the situation could deteriorate rapidly."

He added, "While we are working around the clock to strengthen our consular presence in Lebanon, my message to British nationals there is clear – leave now."

On Friday, Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro, a leading contender to be Kamala Harris' running mate, attempted to downplay his involvement in a recently resurfaced college op-ed, in which he said he was a former Israeli army volunteer and suggested that Palestinians are too focused on conflict to pursue peace with Israel.

The Philadelphia chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (Cair-Philadelphia) has called on Shapiro to apologise for his remarks.

In the 1993 opinion piece, Shapiro claimed that peace would "never come" to the Middle East and argued that Palestinians were unable to establish their own state, labelling them as "too battle-minded".

The executive director of Cair-Philadelphia, Ahmet Tekelioglu, expressed concern over Shapiro's comments, stating: "We are deeply disturbed by the racist, anti-Palestinian views that Governor Shapiro expressed in this article. We are also troubled by his failure to clearly apologise for those hateful comments, especially given how quickly and harshly he has targeted college students protesting the Gaza genocide for their speech."

Shapiro also sought to distance himself from the decades-old claim that he "volunteered" with the Israeli military after it resurfaced on Friday.

The Pennsylvania governor wrote a newspaper column in 1993 mentioning that he had volunteered with the Israeli army. When asked about the extent of his involvement, Shapiro's press secretary clarified that "at no time was he engaged in any military activities".

At least 24 Palestinians have been killed in Israeli strikes on Gaza since dawn today, according to reports by Al-Jazeera Arabic.

Holding Palestinian flags and placards, tens of thousands of people attended a pro-Palestine march in central London to oppose Britain's continued support for Israel's war on Gaza. 

Just days after the killing of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh, protesters began their march at Park Lane amid a heavy police presence and ended it outside Downing Street.

Meanwhile, the rest of the United Kingdom has been rocked by far-right marches in town centres and outside mosques.

The Wafa news agency said the Israeli army killed four people in a second air strike on the occupied West Bank city of Tulkarm. This follows an earlier strike that killed a Hamas commander and four other Palestinians.

Citing local sources, Wafa said the Israelis hit a car near the village of Bal'a, resulting in four deaths. 

The Palestinian news agency also reported that the Israeli army blocked ambulances from reaching the scene. 

Earlier, the Israeli army announced that it had killed five Palestinians, including a Hamas commander. The army said that it killed them in a morning strike after they opened fire on Israeli forces during fighting in Tulkarm.

Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) said Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh was killed by a "short-range projectile with a warhead of about 7kg, accompanied by a severe explosion from outside his room".

The IRGC said in a statement that Haniyeh's assassination was "planned and carried out by the Zionist regime" and supported by the "criminal government of the US", adding that Tehran's response will be "severe and at the appropriate time, place and manner".

Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) said Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh was killed by a "short-range projectile" that was fired from outside his residence in Tehran. 

This statement follows a report by the New York Times, which claimed that Haniyeh was killed by a bomb placed inside his room.

Israeli newspaper Haaretz reported that the chiefs of Shin Bet and Mossad arrived in Egypt on Saturday to discuss a ceasefire. 

The security chiefs attended these talks following the assassination of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh, who was a key figure in the ceasefire negotiations.

Iran has arrested dozens of people in the wake of the assassination of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in the capital, Tehran, earlier this week.

Among those arrested are senior intelligence officers, military officials and staff workers at the guest house where Haniyeh was killed.

According to sources familiar with the investigation, speaking to the New York Times, security officials have also targeted Tehran’s international and domestic airports, reviewing months of camera footage from the arrival and departure lounges and examining flight lists.

The sources said the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) specialised intelligence unit for espionage is handling the investigation.

Israel announced on Saturday that it had killed a Hamas commander in the occupied West Bank city of Tulkarm, as the Israeli army continues its siege on the city. 

The Israeli army said it struck a Hamas cell near Tulkarm but did not provide further details.

The Palestinian news agency Wafa, citing health officials, said four men were killed in Tulkarm.

Hamas-affiliated media outlets reported that a vehicle carrying fighters had been struck, resulting in the death of one of the commanders of its Tulkarm brigades.