Gaza live: Fresh Israeli order forces over 170,000 Palestinians to leave their homes

Eight Palestinian children from Gaza with severe medical conditions were evacuated from Egypt to Italy on Thursday where they will receive treatment in hospitals across the country.

The children, who range in age from newborns to a 17 year-old, have conditions requiring specialised medical care complex heart defects, cancer, severe trauma involving multiple fractures in the skull and legs and third degree burns.

The evacuation, supported by the US-based Palestinian Children’s Relief Fund (PCRF), is the third mission of its kind in recent weeks.

It comes after PCRF, the World Health Organisation and the European Commission agreed on a framework last month designed to facilitate the evacuation and treatment of injured Palestinian children in hospitals across Europe.

PCRF also supported the evacuation of eight other patients who were on the same flight. 

Vivian Khalaf, PCRF’s board chairwoman said: “The evacuation of these 16 children is a critical step, yet it underscores the urgent and ongoing need for a more sustainable solution to address the broader humanitarian crisis in Gaza and ensure that all children receive the care they deserve.”

Thousands of children in Gaza facing severe medical conditions are currently denied exit and access to necessary treatment as the Rafah and Karam Abu Salem crossings remain closed, PCRF said.

“Each evacuation represents hope for these children and their families,” Tareq Hailat, PCRF’s Treatment Abroad Program head, said, adding that his organisation seeks new partnerships to enhance its response.

“We continue to call for increased international action to overcome the systemic challenges and barriers that prevent the evacuation and treatment of all children in need,” he said.

The United Nations Satellite Centre (UNOSAT) estimates that 63 percent of all structures in Gaza have been damaged or destroyed during Israel's war on the enclave.

In its findings, based on satellite images, UNOSAT classified 156,409 structures as destroyed, severely damaged, moderately damaged or possibly damaged.

The hardest-hit areas have been Rafah, with 15,030 new structures assessed as damaged, and northern Gaza with 2,300.

The Israeli army says it has killed two Hezbollah operatives in a strike on south Lebanon's Naqoura on Friday.

Lebanon's Foreign Minister Abdallah Bou Habib said that his country supports the Qatari-American-Egyptian statement calling for a renewed commitment to Gaza ceasefire negotiations.

"The efforts of the leaders of these countries deserve praise," Bou Habib's statement said.

It’s been just over 20 years since CBS News published the sobering photographs that proved the US army was carrying out unspeakable crimes against Iraqi prisoners at Abu Ghraib prison.

Rape. Degradation. Homicide. Torture, both psychological and physical. Sexual humiliation. 

The revelations of US barbarity were greeted with horror around the world and played a major role in turning opinion against the Iraq War.

In recent days, it has become all too clear that something comparable to Abu Ghraib - and very possibly worse - has been taking place in Israeli prisons since 7 October when the war on Gaza broke out.

This week, appalling leaked video footage captured Israeli soldiers sexually assaulting a Palestinian detainee, just as a report from the Israeli human rights group B’Tselem highlighted the state’s policy of systematic prisoner abuse and torture since the start of the war. 

READ MORE: Israel has created its own Abu Ghraib - and the world is silent, opinion by Lubna Masarwa and Peter Oborne

The United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) said on Friday that a ship had reported being attacked for the fourth time, with a missile landing close to it in the Red Sea, 45 nautical miles south of Yemen's Mokha.

By Reuters

Lebanon's Economy Minister Amin Salam told Emirati outlet The National that the country's economy was in a "very dangerous spot" as it prepares for a potential wider war with Israel.

"A full-scale war in Lebanon would, in my opinion as Minister of Economy, destroy what is left of this nation," he said.

Salam said the country's current diesel supplies would last for only a month to six weeks in a scenario similar to 2006, which saw Hezbollah fight a month-long war with Israel.

Food is not immediately threatened, as stocks would last for three to four months in the markets.

The economy has already been hit by 10 months of clashes, he said, as agriculture and tourism were heavily affected.

Instead of the projected growth that would have followed a years-long economic crisis, "the economy is going backwards," he added. 

In its latest report, Human Rights Watch documented an incident on 21 December in which Israeli forces stormed a home in Gaza City, "throwing grenades inside and opening fire on a room where a civilian family was sheltering".

The organisation said the attack killed seven people, including a pregnant woman, and severely injured two, including a five-year-old.

"Witnesses also allege that Israeli forces shot a blind 73-year-old man after securing the building and forcing all other family members out," the report read.

"The incident should be investigated as a possible war crime, and forces involved should be held accountable."

Belkis Wille, the associate crisis, conflict and arms director at Human Rights Watch, said: "There is no excuse for soldiers storming into a home full of civilians and firing without precaution. They decimated a Palestinian family and orphaned a small child who may never be able to walk again."

Wille added that "this incident highlights the deadly cost of Israeli forces’ failure to safeguard, and in some cases to apparently target civilian lives in Gaza, including children".

Israeli forces stormed a Gaza City home on Dec. 21, 2023, throwing grenades inside and opening fire where a civilian family was sheltering.

The attack killed seven people, including a pregnant woman, and severely injured two, including a 5-year-old. https://t.co/zaMDBm8uOV pic.twitter.com/SzLd9spTIY

— Human Rights Watch (@hrw) August 8, 2024

The Israeli army said it launched new combat operations around Khan Younis, which civilians were ordered to evacuate yesterday.

The military said its troops were clashing with Palestinian fighters "both above and below ground" in the area while locating Hamas infrastructure.

The army also says it carried out 30 airstrikes in Khan Younis over the past day.

Good morning Middle East Eye readers,

Here are the latest updates:

• At least eight Palestinians were killed in overnight strikes across the Gaza Strip, according to the Wafa news agency
• A senior US administration official warned Iran that it would face "quite significant consequences" if it attacks Israel, Reuters reports
• The Guardian reports that Iran may go after the individuals involved in killing Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh rather than attacking Israel itself
• United Airlines has suspended flights to Israel indefinitely, stating that it will only resume when it is safe for both customers and crew
• US Secretary of Defence Lloyd Austin informed Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant that the US F-22 Raptors that arrive to the region are there to "to deter aggression, defend Israel and protect US forces in the region"

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

Here are some of the day's key developments:

• Gaza's health ministry said that the Palestinian death toll of Israel's war on Gaza has risen to 39,699, with 22 people killed in the past 24 hours. At least 91,722 people have also been wounded since the start of the war

• At least 56 people have been killed and dozens injured in Israeli strikes across Gaza since morning, Al Jazeera reported

• Nagasaki's mayor said on Thursday it was "unfortunate" that US and British ambassadors have refused to attend a ceremony marking the 1945 atomic bombing of the Japanese city because Israel was snubbed

• Israel's Foreign Minister Israel Katz said on Thursday the diplomatic status of Norwegian envoys to the Palestinian Authority would be revoked over Oslo's "anti-Israel behaviour" since the Gaza war began in October

• Norwegian Foreign Minister Espen Barth Eide said that Israel's decision to revoke the diplomatic status of Oslo's envoys to the Palestinian Authority was an "extreme action" that would "have consequences"

• The EU's top diplomat Josep Borrell said he "strongly condemns" the Israeli government's decision to revoke the diplomatic status of Norwegian diplomats dealing with the Palestinian Authority

• The Breaking Defense website quoted the commander of the US Fifth Fleet, stating that the Houthi group in Yemen now has a more powerful military arsenal than it did a decade ago

• Hamas political bureau member Izzat al-Rishq condemned Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich's call to starve two million Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, labelling it as "an actual adoption of a policy of genocide"

The Israeli Prime Minister's Office announced early Friday that Israel will send a delegation to either Doha or Cairo on August 15 to finalise the details of the Gaza cease-fire framework, which has been developed by Egypt, the United States, and Qatar.

United Airlines has announced the suspension of its flights to Tel Aviv indefinitely, stating that services will resume only when it is safe for both customers and crew.

Many airlines worldwide are adjusting their schedules to avoid Iranian and Lebanese airspace, and are also canceling flights to Israel and Lebanon due to growing concerns over a potential escalation of conflict in the region following the Israeli killing of senior members of Hamas and Hezbollah. 

Social media users slammed US Vice President Kamala Harris' response to protesters at her rally after she equated protesting against the war in Gaza with support for Donald Trump.

About halfway through the presidential candidate's Wednesday speech at a rally in Detroit, a group of pro-Palestinian protesters started chanting: “Kamala, Kamala, you can’t hide, we won’t vote for genocide”.

Harris first tried to recognise the protesters and said: “I’m here because we believe in democracy, everyone’s voice matters. But I’m speaking now.”

As the protesters continued, Harris’ tone changed suddenly, and she said, “You know what, if you want Donald Trump to win, then say that. Otherwise, I’m speaking,” which triggered the crowd to chant “Kamala” to drown out the protesters. 

Read more: Kamala Harris faces backlash for accusing pro-Palestinians of helping Trump

Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris' team has publicly disavowed suggestions that she is open to an arms embargo on Israel, a day after progressive activists described an "openness" from the vice president to discuss regulating military aid to Israel.

In a statement from Harris' campaign, the US vice president said that she "has been clear: she will always work to ensure Israel is able to defend itself against Iran and Iran-backed terrorist groups".

On Thursday morning, Phil Gordon, Harris' national security advisor in her capacity as vice president, issued an additional clarification, writing on social media platform X that Harris "does not support an arms embargo on Israel".

The statements from Harris' teams are in contradiction to a statement on Wednesday issued by Layla Elabed and Abbas Alawieh, founders of the Uncommitted national movement, that has sought to push the Democratic Party to change its policies on Israel's war on Gaza.

The Uncommitted activists said they spoke briefly with Harris and her vice presidential candidate Tim Walz, and said Harris "shared her sympathies and expressed an openness to a meeting with Uncommitted leaders to discuss an arms embargo".

Read more: Kamala Harris aides reject Israel arms embargo, refuting 'Uncommitted' activists