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

Hundreds of Israeli settlers have raided occupied East Jerusalem's Al-Aqsa Mosque with Israeli police protection, the Wafa news agency reports.

The Al-Aqsa Mosque Affairs Department, also known as the Waqf, said that over 1,200 settlers raided the mosque's grounds.

Israeli police reportedly complicated Palestinians' entry to the mosque and were heavily present to ensure the settlers' movement.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken spoke on the phone with his Turkish counterpart Hakan Fidan.

Blinken's office says he spoke "about the importance of Hamas’ return to negotiations on August 15 to finalise the framework for achieving an immediate and durable ceasefire in Gaza and securing the release of all hostages".

From his side, a spokesperson for Fidan said the foreign minister urged the US to put pressure on Israel to secure a permanent ceasefire in Gaza.

Fidan said Israel must avoid "provocative actions" that could escalate tensions in the region while Hamas had shown a "constructive attitude" in previous truce talks.

Fidan added that Israel's assassination of Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh in Iran and the "ongoing massacre against Palestinians once again demonstrated Israel’s lack of willingness to establish peace".

Good morning Middle East Eye readers,

Here are the latest updates:

• Israeli forces carried out several air strikes across the Gaza Strip, killing several Palestinians, the Wafa news agency reports
• Israeli forces killed a young man and injured at least four during their raid on prisoners' homes Ramallah and al-Bireh in the occupied West Bank. They also destroyed two apartments belonging to Palestinian detainees
• The UN Security Council is set to meet today to discuss Gaza following Israel's deadly attack on a school sheltering displaced Palestinians, which Secretary General Guterres called "devastating"
• The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said that Israel continues to deny access to a third of all aid missions to Gaza since the start of the month

Half of the school buildings that have been directly hit by Israeli strikes since October 2023 were sheltering displaced people, the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) has said in a update on Monday.

Israel’s most recent strike on Gaza’s al-Tabin school, which was sheltering hundreds of displaced people, killed at least 100 Palestinian civilians during early morning prayers on Saturday.

OCHA added that since 1 August, about a third of aid missions within Gaza were denied access by Israeli authorities.

The recent attack on a school sheltering hundreds of displaced families in #Gaza has caused mass casualties and utter devastation.

Half of the school buildings that have been directly hit since October 2023 were sheltering displaced people.

Watch the aftermath 📹⬇️

— UN Humanitarian (@UNOCHA) August 12, 2024

A group of wealthy pro-Israel political donors in the US have spent the last few days raising hundreds of thousands of dollars, in an eleventh-hour campaign trying to unseat Congresswoman Ilhan Omar in her primary election this week.

The campaign follows a string of losses for "Squad" members Cori Bush and Jamaal Bowman earlier this year, after the pro-Israel lobbying group, the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (Aipac), spent tens of millions of dollars in campaign spending against the progressive lawmakers.

Until now, Omar had not faced an Aipac offensive in her primary election this year and has been able to raise triple the amount of funds that her opponent Don Samuels has. Omar has raised $1.6m, compared to Samuels' $535,000.

But after Bush lost her primary election last week, largely in part to a massive spending campaign by Aipac and its Super PAC, The Intercept obtained access to a WhatsApp group, titled, "Zionists for Don Samuels Against Ilhan Omar", where a screenshot was posted saying that nearly $100,000 was raised in 24 hours for the campaign against Omar.

One participant in the chat, entrepreneur Michael Sinensky, said he had worked with a Super PAC, called, Make a Difference MN, to raise over $120,000 for Samuels since 31 July, the Intercept reported, based on messages Sinensky sent to the group.

“I’ve heard dozens of questions of where is AIPAC,” Sinensky said in the WhatsApp group. “We are fucking AIPAC now.”

READ MORE: Pro-Israel donors raise hundreds of thousands in last-minute funds to unseat Ilhan Omar

The American Association of University Professors (AAUP), a union committed to safeguarding academic freedom with 500 chapters on campuses around the country,  announced on Monday that it had reversed its longstanding policy of opposing academic boycotts.

"Academic boycotts are not in themselves violations of academic freedom; rather, they can be considered legitimate tactical responses to conditions that are fundamentally incompatible with the mission of higher education," a statement approved by the organisation's committee on academic freedom and tenure said.

While the statement did not specifically refer to Israel, the war on Gaza "was likely the reason” that the professors' association chose to revisit its policy, Haaretz reported.

Israeli soldiers shot and killed 18-year-old Tareq Ziad Abdulraheem Daoud near the town of Azoun, east of Qalqilya in the occupied West Bank, the Palestinian health ministry says.

Daoud reportedly opened fire at an Israeli civilian who entered Qalqilya, wounding him and two Palestinians, before being shot by Israeli soldiers. 

Abu Obeida, spokesperson for Hamas's military wing, the al-Qassam Brigades, blamed the killing of one Israeli hostage on “Israeli massacres against Palestinians”.

"The enemy government (Israel) bears full responsibility for these massacres and the resulting reactions that affect the lives of Zionist prisoners," Abu Obeida said in a statement posted on Telegram.

Reuters reported on Monday that one Israeli hostage was killed by his guard and two other female captives were seriously wounded in two separate incidents in Gaza.

Spokesperson for Hamas's military wing al-Qassam Brigades Abu Obeida said on Monday that one Israeli hostage was killed by his guard and two other female captives were seriously wounded in two separate incidents in Gaza, Reuters reported.

Obeida added, that attempts to save their lives are underway and that a committee has been formed to investigate, which will announce further details.

Israeli military spokesperson Daniel Hagari on Monday said that Israel is monitoring developments in Iran regarding a threatened strike against Israel, but the military has not changed its safety guidelines to the public.

"We are following what is going on specifically with Iran, with all our capabilities. We are also not following alone. We are following with the United States and other partners," Hagari said.

The US has prepared for potential “significant attacks” by Iran or its proxies in the Middle East as soon as this week, White House national security spokesperson John Kirby said on Monday.

The US has increased its regional force posture in recent days and shared Israel's concerns about a possible Iranian-backed attack, Kirby told reporters.

The concerns for an Iranian attack come after the assassinations of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh and Hezbollah military chief Fouad Shukr last month which Hamas believes have been carried out by Israel.

UN secretary general Antonio Guterres on Monday urged Israel and Hamas to conclude a ceasefire deal and condemned the continued loss of Palestinian lives in Gaza.

"He also again underscores the need to ensure the protection of civilians and for unimpeded and safe humanitarian access into and across Gaza," deputy UN spokesperson Farhan Haq said.

Gaza peace talks are expected to move forward as planned, the US State Department said on Monday during a press briefing, adding that it believes a ceasefire agreement is still possible.

Deputy spokesperson Vedant Patel said the State Department will continue to work with the parties involved to reach an agreement.

International pressure has mounted for a ceasefire in Gaza, as Britain, France and Germany released a joint statement calling for a ceasefire with "no further delay" on Monday.

"The fighting must end now, and all hostages still detained by Hamas must be released," French President Emmanuel Macron, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said in a joint statement.

"The people of Gaza need urgent and unfettered delivery and distribution of aid. There can be no further delay,” the statement continued.

On Sunday, Hamas released a statement saying it wants an implementation of the plan "rather than going through more negotiation rounds or new proposals".

Zainab al-Jabri, 80, was asleep in a classroom full of displaced Palestinian women when three explosions rocked the school. 

She woke up to a scene of panic and chaos, as people rushed to the school’s prayer hall, the target of the Israeli air strikes. 

That’s when she became immediately concerned for her only two sons and their children, who were there to pray. 

“I used my walker and moved while calling ‘Ziad... Ihab... my sons,’” she recalled. “When I saw the burned pieces of bodies, I realised no one survived.”

Al-Jabri’s sons and grandchildren were among more than 100 Palestinians killed in the Israeli attack on Saturday. 

The strikes targeted the prayer hall of al-Tabin school in Gaza City as dozens of people lined up to perform the dawn, or Fajr, prayer around 4.30am.  

Read more: Survivors recall Israel’s deadly school mosque attack