Gaza live: Dozens killed and wounded in Israeli strikes on Gaza and Yemen

Seven Palestinians have been killed in Israeli air strikes in Deir al-Balah and Khan Younis.

According to Wafa news agency, the Palestine Red Crescent Society emergency teams retrieved the bodies of five Palestinians, including two children, after a residential home was destroyed in an attack.

Another 10 people were injured in an attack on nearby Nuseirat refugee camp.

In Khan Younis, two Palestinians were killed when a residential house was targeted.

Good morning Middle East Eye readers,

Here are the latest updates from the Israeli war on Gaza, now in its 281st day: 

• At least five Palestinians, including two children, have been killed in Israeli air strikes in Khan Younis and Deir el- Balah, where the Israeli military has instructed people to evacuate.

• The Israeli military has alleged, without providing evidence, that one of the four aid workers it killed in a strike on Khan Younis on Friday was a member of Hamas's security forces.

• According to the Gaza government office, over 70,000 people in Gaza are infected with hepatitis.

• According to Israeli media, an Israeli security official has said that a hostage deal could be imminent, but that Netanyahu's insistence on non-negotiable conditions are stalling negotiations. Netanyahu's office rejected the claim, claiming that Hamas was "changing the plan".

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

Here are some of the day's key developments:

• At least 16,054 children have been killed since Israel's onslaught on Gaza began on 7 October, according to the latest figures released by the Gaza government media office

• Among the 38,345 Palestinians killed since the start of the war, at least 10,700 are women

• An entire generation of Gaza's children could be lost if Israel's assault on the enclave continues, Unrwa, the UN agency for Palestinian refugees, said on Friday

• A survey by Channel 12, an Israeli news outlet, revealed that 72 percent of the Israeli population wants Netanyahu to step down following the events of 7 October

• In its first investigation into the 7 October Hamas-led attack on Israel, the Israeli army released the findings on the failures that led to the killing of 101 civilians and 31 security personnel in the kibbutz of Be'eri

• The International Court of Justice has announced it will deliver its advisory opinion on the Israeli occupation of Palestinian territory in a week's time

• In a bid to hold on to power, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is delaying a ceasefire agreement with Hamas by introducing new demands, reported the Times of Israel

Arab Gulf states are hedging their bets on Donald Trump’s return to the White House, telling the former president’s surrogates they are waiting in the wings for his new administration, in an unexpected hitch to the Biden administration's Middle East diplomacy.  

The Gulf States’ calm response to poll numbers indicating that Trump’s chances of returning to the White House are rising stands in sharp contrast to the panic among some of the US’s European allies who are on edge over how Trump will handle the Nato alliance and Russia’s war on Ukraine.

“It’s a tale of two partners,” Gregory Gause, an expert on Gulf politics at Texas A&M University, told Middle East Eye. “The Europeans and Gulf states both experienced a Trump term. For the former, it was a disaster but for the latter, it was pretty good,” he said.

“They know exactly what they are going to get and aren't worried". 

Read more: US post-war Gaza plans collide with President Biden’s faltering campaign

At least 16,054 children have been killed since Israel's onslaught on Gaza began on October 7, according to the latest figures released by the Gaza government media office.

Of those children, 34 died from hunger, the office reported.

Among the 38,345 Palestinians killed since the start of the war, at least 10,700 are women.

Additionally, around 10,000 Palestinians remain missing

A survey conducted by Channel 12, an Israeli news outlet, revealed that 72 percent of the Israeli population wants Netanyahu to step down following the events of 7 October.

The poll showed that 44 percent of participants think Netanyahu should resign immediately, while 28 percent believe he should wait until Israel's onslought in Gaza is over.

Additionally, the survey indicated that 64 percent of respondents support a ceasefire agreement aimed at securing the release of Israeli captives in Gaza. 

An American professor who was removed from her teaching position after describing the Hamas-led operation against Israel on 7 October as "exhilarating" will be allowed back into the classroom after a college investigation found her comments had not endangered any of her students.

In a statement sent out to the university community earlier this week, Mark Gearan, president of Hobart and William Smith Colleges (HWS), said an investigation into Jodi's conduct had concluded that whereas "certain of Professor Dean’s statements caused harm to members of our community and were inconsistent with our community values and principles ... Professor Dean’s conduct did not rise to the level of harassment or discrimination under the law or our policies."

Gearan said the college had adopted the investigator’s recommended findings.

Read more: US professor suspended for describing 7 October as 'exhilarating' reinstated by university

A UK-based aid group said one of its employees in Gaza was killed Friday in an Israeli strike that hit its warehouse, located inside an Israeli-declared "humanitarian safe zone".

The targeted warehouse was situated in Muwasi, a region along Gaza’s coast that has been designated as a “humanitarian safe zone” by Israel, where Palestinians have been instructed to seek shelter but which Israel has regularly bombed.

The US Central Command (Centcom) announced on Friday that US forces have destroyed three unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) operated by the Houthis in a region of Yemen controlled by the group.

"These UAVs were deemed to pose an imminent threat to US and coalition forces, as well as merchant ships in the area. The actions were carried out to safeguard freedom of navigation and enhance the security of international waters," Centcom said. 

For several months, the Houthis have conducted assaults on ships in both the Red Sea and the Bab el-Mandeb Strait. The group says these actions are intended to show solidarity with Palestinians as a result of Israel's onslaught on Gaza.

Gaza's civil defence reports that quadcopter Israeli drones are firing live ammunition at Palestinians in Gaza City, located in the northern part of the territory.

The civil defence also noted that Israeli forces have not completely pulled out from the Tal al-Hawa neighbourhood. Several Palestinians have reportedly been killed by Israeli fire in that area. 

The Lebanese group has named the 27-year-old fallen fighter as Ali Nahleh.

Since the war in Gaza began, Israel and Hezbollah have experienced near-daily clashes.

Hezbollah honours its fighters killed in the conflict, describing them as having been "martyred on the road to Jerusalem", signifying their support for the Palestinians.

On Friday, Yemen's Houthis claimed responsibility for attacking the "vessel Charysalis" twice, targeting it in both the Red Sea and the Bab el-Mandeb Strait with a combination of ballistic missiles, naval missiles, and drones.

The group's military spokesman, Yahya Saree, confirmed the incidents, Reuters reported.

For several months, the Houthis have conducted assaults on ships in the surrounding waters. The group says these actions are intended to show solidarity with Palestinians as a result of Israel's onslaught on Gaza.

Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz has lashed out at Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan for rejecting Nato cooperation with Israel.

“First of all, Erdogan, you decide nothing,” Katz said on X, adding that Turkey should not be a member of the western alliance.

Erdogan earlier told a news conference at the Nato summit in Washington that “until comprehensive, sustainable peace is established in Palestine, attempts at cooperation with Israel within Nato will not be approved by Turkey.”

Nato decisions must be approved unanimously by all members, so Turkey can block a push by Nato to cooperate with Israel.

The US is considering a legal bid to question the International Criminal Court’s (ICC) authority in seeking arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his defence minister over alleged war crimes in Gaza, Middle East Eye can reveal.

A US official briefed on the matter told MEE that the Biden administration is considering submitting an amicus curiae to the ICC, voicing its staunch opposition to the decision of the court’s chief prosecutor to seek arrest warrants for the Israeli officials, despite the US not being a signatory to the treaty that created the court. 

The deliberations, not previously reported, come amid a lobbying campaign at the highest levels of the Biden administration to prevent the UK from dropping its legal appeal against the ICC.

The US official, who spoke to MEE on condition of anonymity, said US Secretary of State Antony Blinken personally asked his UK counterpart, David Lammy, to continue challenging the court’s jurisdiction over Israeli citizens.

Read more: US considers fresh legal bid questioning ICC jurisdiction over Israel