Gaza live: Israel strike kills 30 Palestinians, mostly children

Alitalia announced on its website that it has suspended flights to and from Tel Aviv until 6 August. 

The airline said in a statement on its website that the decision was “due to the geopolitical developments in the Middle East and to ensure the safety of its passengers and crews”.

A number of airlines have suspend flights to Tel Aviv following the recent assassinations by Israeli forces, including the targeting of Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh in Iran and Lebanese Hezbollah leader Fouad Shukr in Beirut, as well as the subsequent threats of retaliation.

Turkey has blocked access to Instagram, according to its national communications authority, after a senior government official criticised the platform for “censoring” content related to assassinated Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh. 

On Wednesday, Fahrettin Altun, the communications director for the Turkish presidency, accused Instagram of "censorship" after reports that it was blocking condolence posts regarding Haniyeh.

“This is censorship, pure and simple,” Altun wrote on X.

“We will continue to defend freedom of expression against these platforms, which have repeatedly shown that they serve the global system of exploitation and injustice,” Altun stated.

“We will stand by our Palestinian brothers at every opportunity and on every platform,” he added.

An Australian government review into the Israeli military's killing of several aid workers from the US-based NGO World Central Kitchen (WCK) in Gaza concluded that "serious failures," including "mistaken identification," led to their deaths.

The review also found that Israeli forces mistakenly launched missiles at the convoy, believing it had been hijacked by Hamas fighters. The armed personnel they observed were actually locally-contracted security guards.

Australian Air Chief Marshal Mark Binskin, who travelled to Israel to investigate the incident, stated, “Controls failed, leading to errors in decision-making and misidentification.”

“Based on the information available to me, it is my assessment that the [Israeli military] strike on the WCK aid workers was not knowingly or deliberately directed against the WCK,” he added

US President Joe Biden stated on Thursday that the assassination of Hamas' political leader, Ismail Haniyeh, has not aided efforts to secure a Gaza ceasefire and a hostage-release deal.

Biden characterised the conversation he and Vice President Kamala Harris had with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as “very direct.”

At least four people have been confirmed dead after an Israeli military strike targeted an apartment building in Gaza City, according to local media.

Earlier the Palestine Red Crescent Society reported that several "martyrs" were recovered from the rubble of the apartment, which was owned by the Abu Hashem family and located on al-Jalaa Street in Gaza City.

Sweden's foreign ministry announced that it is tightening its travel advice for Israel and Palestine due to the "serious" security situation in the Middle East, which "could quickly get worse."

"From now on, all travel to both countries is strictly advised against," the ministry said in a social media post shared by Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson.

Similarly, Slovenia’s ministry of foreign affairs said that "due to the situation" in Israel, "we advise against all travel for security reasons."

"There is the risk of rocket attacks from Lebanon and Gaza and the possibility of an escalation of tensions. The danger of attacks and threats from Iran has increased," the ministry added

Good morning Middle East Eye reader, 

Here are the latest updates from the Israeli war on Gaza, now in its 301st day:

• The Palestinian death toll since 7 October stands at 39,480, with more than 91,128 wounded and an estimated 10,000 missing, likely dead and buried under rubble

• Israel has carried out 3,457 "massacres" since the start of its war on Gaza in October of last year, according to a report published on Thursday by Gaza's government media office

• At least 15 Palestinians have been killed and 40 wounded by an Israeli strike on a school sheltering dozens of displaced families in the Gaza City neighbourhood of Shujayea

• Turkish President Erdogan has told US President Biden that Israel does not want a ceasefire in Gaza and Haniyeh’s killing “dealt a heavy blow” to peace efforts

Our live coverage from Gaza will shortly be closing until tomorrow morning.

Here are some of the day's key developments:

• Death toll in Gaza climbs to 39,480 as Israeli bombing continues

• Israeli settlers stormed the Al-Aqsa mosque in occupied East Jerusalem, under the protection of Israeli police

• Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah has said that the "only solution" to the escalating tensions between the group and Israeli forces is to "end hostilities in Gaza"

• Israel has turned into a "rogue" state with its assassination of Ismail Haniyeh and needs to be stopped, Jordanian Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi said

• Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh was assassinated by an explosive device that was secretly smuggled into Tehran weeks ago, according to a report in the New York Times on Thursday

• Retaliataion against Israel is 'inevitable', Hezbollah chief Nasrallah says 

• Iran and several Tehran-backed groups are reportedly preparing a coordinated retaliation meant to deter Israel but avert all-out war

• Aljazeera denies claims that killed journalist was Hamas member 

• Hezbollah said it launched dozens of rockets on northern Israel Thursday in response to the killing of top military commander Fouad Shukr earlier this week

The US anticipates Iran's so-called "axis of resistance" to take the lead in retaliating against Israel for assassinations in Tehran and Beirut, a move that could signal Iran wants to de-escalate tensions but also injects a new layer of uncertainty to US war gaming.

The US is particularly on alert to Iran’s proxies from Yemen, Iraq and Lebanon carrying out coordinated attacks on Israel, a US official told Middle East Eye, adding that the US is combing signals intelligence and conducting cryptographic analysis to see how the groups are organising themselves.

“Iran’s proxies are expected to play a more prominent role in this retaliation than April’s attack,” a former senior US official familiar with the administration’s thinking told MEE. “We could get into a situation where the tit-for-tat is more unpredictable with tertiary effects for US partners.”

Israel delivered two humiliating blows to Iran’s "axis of resistance", assassinating senior Hezbollah commander Fuad Shukr in Beirut on Tuesday and then allegedly killing Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh at a Tehran apartment complex controlled by Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.

The strikes, particularly the killing of Haniyeh in Tehran, have embarrassed the Islamic Republic and its allies across the region. On Thursday, Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah said a response was “inevitable”, warning Israel: "You do not know what red lines you crossed.”

While the attacks have plunged the region into uncertainty, the Biden administration does have a model to replicate as it girds for Iran's response. 

READ MORE: US officials brace for Iran's 'axis of resistance' to spearhead retaliation to Haniyeh killing

Israeli forces have demolished a house and a well belonging to a Palestinian home near an illegal Israeli settlement south of Hebron in the occupied West Bank, Wafa news agency reported.

At least 318 Palestinian structures have been demolished by Israel in the first half of this year, according to the Palestinian Authority’s Wall and Settlement Resistance Commission.

Earlier today, Israel’s army spokesperson Daniel Hagari confirmed that an Israeli air strike targeted and killed Aljazeera journalist Ismail al-Ghoul and his colleague Rami al-Rify in Gaza on Wednesday.

Hagari also claimed that al-Ghoul was a member of Hamas and took part in the 7 October attack on Israel.

“Aljazeera strongly refutes the baseless allegations made by the Israeli occupation forces in an attempt to justify its deliberate killing of our colleague”, the media network published on its website today.

On 18 March, the Israeli army raided Gaza’s al-Shifa Hospital and detained al-Ghoul for a period of time before releasing him again, which refutes the military’s claim of al-Ghoul’s supposed Hamas affiliation, Aljazeera stated.

Hezbollah said it launched dozens of rockets on northern Israel Thursday in response to the killing of top military commander Fouad Shukr earlier this week.

The attack marks the group’s first attack since Shukr's assassination.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Thursday declared Friday, 2 Aug, a day of national mourning over the killing of the head of Hamas's political bureau, Ismail Haniyeh.

"In order to show our support for the Palestinian Cause and our solidarity with our Palestinian siblings, a day of national mourning was declared tomorrow [Friday 2 August] due to Hamas Political Bureau Chairman Ismail Haniyeh's martyrdom," Erdogan posted on X.

Iran and several Tehran-backed groups are reportedly preparing a coordinated retaliation meant to deter Israel but avert all-out war, sources and analysts close to Hezbollah have told AFP.

The plans for retaliation come after the killing of senior Hamas official Ismail Haniyeh and top Hezbollah military commander Fouad Shukr by Israeli air strikes this week. 

The meeting between Iranian officials and representatives of the so-called "axis of resistance" - a loose alliance of Iran-backed groups hostile to Israel - took place on Wednesday in Tehran.

Iran and several Tehran-backed groups are reportedly preparing a coordinated retaliation meant to deter Israel but avert all-out war, sources and analysts close to Hezbollah have told AFP.

The plans for retaliation come after the killing of senior Hamas official Ismail Haniyeh and top Hezbollah military commander Fouad Shukr by Israeli air strikes this week.