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

Israeli forces withdrew from Gaza City's Shujaiya neighbourhood on Wednesday, leaving behind a trail of death and destruction. 

Residents returned to the scene of flattened homes and massive destruction of civilian infrastructure. 

The Gaza-based government's media said the Israeli army pulled out after "horrific massacres and the displacement of thousands of people". 

The Palestinian civil defence said they reached some areas for the first time since the assault started two weeks ago, but only found dead bodies. 

There are almost no houses still suitable for habitation, it added, with Shujaiya now turned into a "ghost town".

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is mulling sacking Defence Minister Yoav Gallant, according to Israeli media. 

The move was discussed by Netanyahu and his close advisors in recent days. 

A potential replacement could be Gideon Sa'ar, a former Likud member who is currently an opposition member of parliament, public broadcaster Kan reported. 

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez on Wednesday urged the West to reject "double standards" regarding the war on Gaza as he joined Nato leaders in supporting Ukraine.

Spain under Sanchez has infuriated Israel's right-wing government by recognising a Palestinian state and criticising Israel's conduct of its war on Gaza.

"If we are telling our people that we are supporting Ukraine because we are defending the international law, this is the same to what we have to do towards Gaza," he said at Nato's 75th anniversary summit in Washington.

The socialist leader said there should be a "consistent political position" in which "we don't have double standards."

Sanchez said the world needed to press to "stop this terrible humanitarian crisis" affecting the Palestinians and called for an international peace conference to push for a Palestinian state.

"We need to create the conditions for an immediate and urgent ceasefire," he said. "There is a real risk of escalation to Lebanon."

Sanchez said he also supported "democracy, freedom and the right to exist of a country such as Ukraine."

Nato leaders at the summit issued a declaration that said Kyiv was on an "irreversible" path to join the alliance.

Reporting by AFP

Good morning Middle East Eye readers,

Here are the latest updates from the Israeli war on Gaza, now in its 279th day: 

• As Israeli forces withdrew from the Shujaiya neighbourhood in eastern Gaza City, bombardment intensified on the western side, where the army launched a ground incursion earlier this week. 

• White House national security spokesperson John Kirby told CNN the US  was "cautiously optimistic" about Gaza ceasefire talks, which started on Wednesday in Doha and was set to continue Thursday. 

• Doctors Without Borders (MSF) said their last health facility in north Gaza has been forced to temporarily close after the latest Israeli displacement orders. Most health facilities in north Gaza are no longer functioning, it added. 

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

Here are some of the day's key developments:

• At least 30 Palestinians were killed in an Israeli strike on Tal al-Hawa neighbourhood in Gaza City
• Israel ordered a forced displacement of all Palestinians from Gaza City
• A US official confirmed that President Joe Biden's administration has resumed shipping 500-pound bombs to Israel
• The UN agency for Palestinian refugees (Unrwa) documented 453 attacks on its premises and staff since 7 October
• The UN office for the coordination of humanitarian affairs said that more than 550 Palestinians have been killed in the occupied West Bank since 7 October
• US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen urged Israel to continue providing tax revenue it collects on behalf of the PA to Ramallah
• A new lawsuit was announced by an Israeli hostage rescued by Israel in a bloody raid on Nuseirat refugee camp that is seeking damages from a US nonprofit arguing it gave a platform to his "jailor"

The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said that more than 550 Palestinians have been killed in the occupied West Bank since 7 October.

The deaths came amid more than 1,000 attacks against Palestinians by Israeli settlers.

In addition, the UN office said nearly 1,400 Palestinians, including 660 children, have been displaced by settler attacks and policies to drive Palestinians from their land.

US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen has said that Israel must ensure financial ties between Israeli and Palestinian banks are not interrupted.

In a meeting with Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz, she said Israel must ensure the continued flow of tax revenue collected on behalf of the Palestinian Authority.

“Secretary Yellen also emphasized the need for Israel to maintain economic stability in the West Bank by regularly transferring clearance revenues to the Palestinian Authority and ensuring that correspondent banking relations…remain uninterrupted,” Yellen said.

US President Joe Biden's administration has resumed shipping 500-pound bombs to Israel, but will maintain its pause on 2,000-pound bomb shipments, a US official said on Wednesday.

Times of Israel reported earlier on Wednesday that the Biden administration had restarted 500 pound shipments. 

Biden said in May the US was holding back supplying Israel 1,800 2,000-lb bombs and 1,700 500-lb bombs, which he said Israel would use on “population centres”, adding that it was “just wrong”.

At least 30 Palestinians were killed in an Israeli strike on Tal al-Hawa neighbourhood, according to Arabic media reports.

The Palestinian civil defence forces in Gaza said that rescue teams came under fire from Israeli forces as they attempted to rescue people trapped in the rubble.

Israel earlier in the day ordered a forced displacement of all Palestinians in Gaza City.

Israel announced new casualties and one death among its soldiers fighting in the Gaza Strip.

The military said Sgt. First Class Tal Lahat, 21, an Israeli commando, was killed by a Palestinian sniper in Gaza City on Tuesday. His death brings Israel’s military death toll to 327.

Separately, Israel’s military said two reservists in its Alexandroni Brigade were seriously wounded by an explosive device during fighting in Gaza City.

Israeli aircraft pummelled Gaza City on Wednesday night, according to Arabic media reports.

The strikes came after Israel dropped leaflets ordering a forced displacement of people from Gaza City, with photographs posted on X showing donkey carts and trucks loaded with Palestinian civilians.

Israel has dropped thousands of flyers ordering a forced displacement of all Palestinians in Gaza City, according to Arabic media reports and posts on social media.

The leaflets appeared to address "the residents of Gaza City in its entirety", calling them to move to so-called “safe passages and corridors”.

An Israeli hostage rescued by Israel in a bloody raid on Nuseirat refugee camp in June is suing a Palestinian US nonprofit and its director, arguing they gave a platform to his "jailor", Fox News reports.

According to the report, Almog Meir Jan, 22, is suing The Palestine Chronicle and the tax-exempt non-profit that runs it, the People Media Project.

The lawyers argue that the organisation gave a platform to Abdallah Aljamal, a journalist and spokesperson for Gaza’s labour ministry. Israel and the rescued hostages accuse Aljamal of holding Israeli captives in his home.

“By providing this platform to Hamas Operative Aljamal and compensating Hamas Operative Aljamal for his propaganda, Defendants aided, abetted, and materially supported both Hamas Operative Aljamal and Hamas itself,” the plaintiff argues.

Aljamal was killed during Israel's raid on Nuseirat. 

Hamas has called on the International Criminal Court (ICC) to investigate Israeli soldiers for war crimes, in a bid to widen the scope of the court’s probe into Gaza.

The group said the ICC needed to “urgently investigate the monstrous behaviour” of Israel’s rank-and-file soldiers, citing documented cases of the “most brutal crimes against Palestinians, including shooting civilians and burning down homes”.

The group added that Israeli soldiers had targeted women, children and the elderly for their “own entertainment”.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s close associates are deciding whether or not Defence Minister Yoav Gallant should be fired in the coming months.

According to a report by Israel’s Chanel 12 news, the aids believe Gallant has become too independent and is no longer following Netanyahu’s positions. They also believe he has been leaking to the media.

The report claims associates are weighing firing Gallant during the Knesset’s upcoming summer recess, to avoid the possibility of it triggering elections.