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

The US, Egypt, and Qatar have issued a joint statement announcing that a deal to halt Israel's war on Gaza is nearly complete and should be finalised without delay.

The statement notes that after months of negotiations, the mediators are ready to present Israel and Hamas with a final proposal, with only implementation details remaining to be resolved.

The mediators urge Israel and Hamas to resume talks in Cairo or Doha next Thursday to finalise the agreement and begin its implementation.

There has been no response from Israel or Hamas yet.

Reportedly, the agreement is expected to proceed in three phases, starting with the release of some civilian captives and a partial withdrawal of Israeli troops from certain areas of Gaza.

The United States criticized Israel for revoking the diplomatic status of eight Norwegian diplomats to the Palestinian Authority, stating that Oslo has been a key player in the Middle East.

State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller told reporters, "Norway has a long history of playing a productive role in engaging with both the Israeli government and the Palestinian Authority. We don't believe that preventing them from fulfilling this role is particularly helpful."

Miller highlighted Norway’s past contributions, including its secret diplomacy in brokering the 1993 Oslo Accords and its recent efforts in collecting tax revenue for the Palestinian Authority.

The US State Department has called for a swift investigation into allegations of sexual abuse of Palestinian detainees by Israeli soldiers at the Sde Teiman detention facility, State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller said on Wednesday. 

“There ought to be zero tolerance of any sexual abuse, rape, of any detainees, period,” said Miller at a press briefing.

"If there are detainees who have been sexually assaulted or raped, the government of Israel, the IDF need to fully investigate those actions and hold anyone responsible accountable to the full extent of the law," he continued. 

Miller's comments come after Israel's Channel 12 leaked surveillance video showing Israeli prison guards at the controversial Sde Teiman detention facility sexually abusing a blindfolded Palestinian detainee. 

Yoel Donchin, the doctor who treated the prisoner, said he suffered from "a ruptured bowel, a severe injury to his anus, lung damage and broken ribs", Haaretz reported. Donchin told reporters that "he couldn't believe an Israeli prison guard could do such a thing".

Read more: US calls for 'zero tolerance' of sexual abuse of Palestinians in Israeli detention facilities

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.

"This is of interest for all working for peace and stability in the Middle East. Full solidarity to Norway," he added.

Hussein al-Sheikh, the secretary general of the executive committee of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), also slammed Israel's decision to revoke the diplomatic status of eight Norwegian diplomats who dealt with the Palestinian Authority.

In a statement on X, Sheikh warned the move "carries dangerous dimensions and has major repercussions”.

“The countries of the world, especially the European countries, must respond to this measure in kind, as it constitutes a violation and breach of international norms and laws,” he said.

Israeli occupation forces stormed several towns in Ramallah in the occupied West Bank, conducting raids and making arrests of Palestinian citizens. 

Before President Joe Biden finally bit the bullet and bowed out under tremendous pressure, passing the torch to Vice President Kamala Harris, the US presidential race looked truly miserable, with a self-confessed Zionist actively engaged in genocide pitted against a rank charlatan, convicted felon and opportunist running on a fascist ticket.

This was a sorry state of affairs, even for the most ardent of American liberals. They finally heaved a sigh of relief when Harris took over and pumped some enthusiasm into an otherwise morbid election. 

Overnight, millions of dollars flooded towards her presidential bid and the prospect of a woman of Indian and Caribbean descent sitting in the Oval Office energised the country’s moribund politics. 

In domestic terms, for liberal Americans, Harris is head and shoulders above her competitor, former President Donald Trump. What he has to offer is nothing more than a past record of chicanery, deceit, barefaced racism and xenophobic white supremacy. 

Read more:  Just like her predecessors, Kamala Harris is fully on board with Israel's genocide

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".

Rishq described Smotrich's statement as "scandalous", accusing him of endorsing a policy of genocide. He criticised the statement as revealing Israel’s intention to commit genocide in Gaza.

In a press statement published by Hamas, Al-Rishq remarked, "Typically, criminals try to conceal their crimes, but we are dealing with an audacious enemy that openly declares its heinous actions."

The Israeli security cabinet is meeting tonight in the army's underground command room, known as “the pit”, according to the Times of Israel.

This is the first time such a meeting has been held there since the night of 13-14 April, when Iran launched a missile and drone attack on Israel in retaliation for an attack on its embassy.

Channel 12 reports that the meeting is being held in “the pit” not due to security concerns but to prepare for potential emergencies.

The Israeli army is preparing for the possibility of receiving an order from the security cabinet to carry out a preemptive strike against Hezbollah, the Israeli Channel 12 said, without specifying sources, according to The Times of Israel.

Channel 13 in Israel has reported that the latest Israeli assessment suggests Hezbollah may attempt to target a senior Israeli official in response to the killing of senior commander Fuad Shukr.

Italy’s Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni urged Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian to help avoid escalating tensions in the Middle East during a phone call, according to a statement from her government.

Meloni stressed the importance of preventing the conflict in Gaza from spreading, particularly to Lebanon. She encouraged her counterpart to de-escalate and return to dialogue, the statement said.

Meloni also reaffirmed Italy’s commitment to promoting peace and stability in the region, emphasising the necessity of a ceasefire in Gaza and the release of captives being held there.

Reports indicate that the Israeli military has launched a new assault in the Khan Younis area of the southern Gaza Strip, forcing thousands of Palestinians to flee.

Yahya Sinwar, Israel's most wanted man and believed to be in tunnels deep below the Gaza Strip, is the new political leader of Hamas. 

The assassination of his predecessor, Ismail Haniyeh, in Tehran last week left the Palestinian movement with a leadership decision to make that would define its direction and outlook.

It is a decision that the internal hierarchy made within a matter of days. 

Internally promoting Sinwar, who headed Hamas in Gaza, was intended as a "bold message", according to academic Khaled Hroub.

It is a message "that the movement is not caving under pressure, and not in the mood of compromising its positions and declared adherence to resistance," Hroub, author of Hamas: A Beginner's Guide, told Middle East Eye. 

Read more: Why Hamas picked Yahya Sinwar as its new leader

Dozens of Palestinian families have been seen fleeing the eastern neighborhoods of Khan Yunis in southern Gaza, as documented by activists and Palestinian media outlets in the last few hours.

This followed renewed forced displacement orders by the Israeli army issued in anticipation of a possible military operation.

The Emir of Qatar, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, stated that his meeting with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is part of ongoing efforts to strengthen strategic relations, enhance bilateral cooperation, and coordinate responses to regional developments and challenges.

In a tweet on X, the Emir added that the meeting aims to "reduce escalation in the region and find a solution to stop the war on Gaza".

Al Thani visited Turkey on Thursday, where he met with Erdogan amid rising regional tensions.

Erdogan officially welcomed Al Thani at the presidential complex, before the two leaders held a high-level meeting to discuss the recent assassination of Hamas chief Ismail Haniyeh and other regional issues.

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.

“There’s a line of effort right now that continues to look at all supply coming into the Houthis and … we  don’t believe is necessarily limited to the Iranians,” he said in a webinar hosted by the Center for International and Strategic Studies on Wednesday. “The Iranians certainly back the Houthis, but the Houthis are diversifying.”

Compared to a decade ago, the Houthis have “developed … far beyond the ways we used to look at the Houthis being supplied”, he added.

Blindfolded, arms behind his head and standing by the barbed wire fence of the Israeli Sde Teiman detention camp. 

It was one of the first photos leaked from the notorious army base, where thousands of Palestinian prisoners were held without charge and routinely tortured.

The man in the picture, Ibrahim Salem, was released last week after nearly eight months of detention.

He told Middle East Eye that the photo, first published by CNN, was just the tip of the iceberg of his horrific experience in detention, which included rape, electrocution and frequent beatings.

“Most of the prisoners will come out with rectum injuries [caused by the sexual assault],” Salem, 36, told Middle East Eye. 

The prisoners will tell each other it is haemorrhoids, he added, but most are just avoiding admitting they had been raped, sometimes by female soldiers.

In the following eyewitness account, Salem recalls his ordeal, starting from his arrest at a hospital in Gaza until his release. 

Read more: ‘Raped by female soldiers’: Palestinian in leaked Sde Teiman photo speaks out