Live: Strike announced in Israel amid mounting anger at Netanyahu
Live Updates
When it comes to the world’s normalisation and acceptance of Palestinians being killed by Israeli forces, it should be of no surprise that the deaths of two Palestinian teenagers in the occupied West Bank in separate incidents last week barely registered.
What was extraordinary about these 18-year-olds was their commitment to fighting Israeli occupation, despite their young age.
Wael Mishah and Tariq Daoud were both released during the prisoner exchange between Israel and Hamas last November. During the swap deal, 240 Palestinian women and children were freed in exchange for 81 Israelis and 24 foreigners held in the Gaza Strip.
According to the Palestinian Prisoners Society, Israel has since rearrested 24 of those it released.
READ MORE: Why Palestinian teenagers are driven to battle, opinion by Linah Alsaafin
Thirty UK-based doctors and medical staff who served in the Gaza Strip have written a letter to Prime Minister Keir Starmer demanding a ban on arms sales to Israel.
"It is difficult for many of us to recount the scenes we witnessed in Gaza, not least of all in the knowledge that many of the injuries we treated may have resulted from the use of weapons systems and components supplied from Britain," the letter reads.
The letter, quoted by the International Centre of Justice for Palestinians, says that according to British law, international humanitarian law, and Britain’s own strategic export licencing criteria, ending arms sales to Israel "is the morally as well as legally right thing to do".
🚨BREAKING🚨
— ICJP (@ICJPalestine) August 22, 2024
30 UK-based doctors and medical staff who volunteered in Gaza have written an open letter to Prime Minister @Keir_Starmer demanding a total end to arms sales to Israel.
They say it is 'the morally as well as legally right thing to do.'https://t.co/IPSf5bqSgM
In a letter to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, government ministers and the attorney general, Ronen Bar, the head of the Shin Bet security service, warned that Jewish terrorism was endangering Israel's existence.
Bar says that those he calls Jewish terrorists "want to cause the system to lose control, causing indescribable damage to Israel".
He also said that police incompetence and "perhaps a sense of hidden support" is increasing.
Bar added that perpetrators of these acts have lost any fear of administrative detention "due to the conditions they get in prison and the funds they receive after their release from [parliament] members as well as legitimacy and praise, alongside a delegitimisation campaign against the defence officials".
He also referred to far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir's storming of Al-Aqsa Mosque as a "spectacle" that could "to profuse bloodshed and change the state's face unrecognisably".
"We're on the threshold of a significant, reality-changing process," he wrote. "The damage to Israel, especially at this time, and to the majority of the settlers is indescribable: world delegitimisation even among our best friends, deploying [Israeli] forces at a time the army, which isn't meant to deal with these missions, is finding it difficult to carry out all its tasks.
"Revenge attacks that ignite another front in the multi-front war we're in, bringing more people into the terror circle to carry out their revenge. This is a slippery slope that strengthens the feeling of lack of governance, another difficulty in creating regional alliances that "are necessary to deal with the Shi'ite axis and above all: A large stain on Judaism and on all of us."
Good morning Middle East Eye readers,
Here are the latest updates:
- At least three Palestinians, including one child, were killed in an Israeli strike on the town of Abasan near Khan Younis, southern Gaza.
- Israel has released over 40 Palestinian detainees, with the Palestinian Prisoners' Society saying some of them have signs of abuse
- In her acceptance speech as the Democratic nominee for president, Kamala Harris said that "now is the time" for a hostage and ceasefire deal in Gaza
- Harris said that Israelis "must never again face the horror" of the 7 October Hamas attack and that "what has happened in Gaza the past 10 months is devastating"
- Her speech comes as no Palestinians were allowed to speak at the Democratic National Convention
- Australia will take command of the maritime task force in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden from October, the Australian defence ministry says.
The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said that ninety percent of Gaza's residents have been displaced as a result of Israel's war.
"Mass evacuations in Gaza choke survival and severely constrain aid operations," Muhannad Hadi, Humanitarian Coordinator for the Occupied Palestinian Territory, was quoted saying in OCHA's post on X.
Thousands of Palestinians have now fled areas of Deir al-Balah previously designated as "humanitarian zones" due to increased Israeli military operations there.
In 10 months of war, Israeli evacuation orders have displaced 90% of #Gaza’s residents.
— UN Humanitarian (@UNOCHA) August 22, 2024
"Mass evacuations in Gaza choke survival and severely constrain aid operations," warns Muhannad Hadi, Humanitarian Coordinator for the Occupied Palestinian Territory.
This cannot continue.⬇️
Former US President and current Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump accused Vice President Kamala Harris of causing Hamas' 7 October attack on southern Israel.
"SHE HATES ISRAEL," Trump posted on his social media platform Truth Social as part of a string of posts reacting to Harris' speech at the Democratic National Convention. "Wouldn’t even show up to Congress for [Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin] Netanyahu’s session!"
Harris met Netanyahu in private during his visit to the US.
"She caused the Attack of October 7th," Trump said in another post. "Iran was BROKE – Didn’t have money for Hezbollah."
Trump then shared posts boasting about the hard line he took against Iran and saying he defeated ISIS during his presidency, adding that he "kept the Middle East at peace, kept [the US] out of wars through strength".
He then claimed Harris would "take us into a Nuclear World War III!"
Our live coverage from Gaza will shortly be closing until tomorrow morning.
Here are some of the day's key developments:
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42 Palestinians were killed in Israeli attacks on Gaza in the past 24 hours, bringing the total to 40,265 killed since 7 October
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Israel's dawn raid on Tulkarm refugee camp, in the occupied West Bank, has caused widespread destruction to infrastructure and private property
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Israeli settlers have set up a new illegal outpost north of the city of Jericho in the occupied West Bank
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Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas is heading to Saudi Arabia and Egypt in the next two weeks to seek support for his planned visit to the Gaza Strip
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Israel suffered the biggest economic slowdown between April and June among the 38 countries in the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development
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The 'Uncommitted' movement launched a sit-in protest outside the Democratic National Convention (DNC) after it was told that a Palestinian-American could not speak on the convention's main stage
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An Israeli official said that Israel will continue to fight to achieve its war aims, whether or not a deal is reached
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Israel's military court has extended the house arrest of soldiers accused of sexually abusing a Palestinian detainee at Sde Taiman detention facility in southern Israel
Israel's military court has extended the house arrest of soldiers accused of sexually abusing a Palestinian detainee at Sde Taiman detention facility in southern Israel.
The house arrest is prolonged until 4 September, but during a hearing on Sunday, the defence is permitted to request an alternative detention, including “a place of work and suitable supervisors".
The UN special rapporteur on torture has said the alleged sexual abuse case is "particularly gruesome" and called on Israel's civilian courts to investigate and hold the soldiers accountable.
Since 7 October, the UN has received multiple reports of torture and sexual abuse against Palestinians.
A tongue-in-cheek jab is circulating among Arab diplomats that no country in the region may be more eager for the US’s flagging efforts to secure a Gaza ceasefire to succeed than its foe, Iran.
“Iran desperately wants an off-ramp,” an Arab diplomat from the Gulf told Middle East Eye on condition of anonymity.
US and Arab officials believe if a ceasefire is reached it would lower regional tensions, giving Iran and its allies space to back down from their vows to avenge a pair of Israeli assassinations that have pushed the region to the brink.
Hezbollah and Iran both pledged to retaliate for the killings of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran and senior Hezbollah military commander Fuad Shukr in Beirut.
But with ceasefire talks flailing and more than three weeks having passed since the killings, some wonder if Iran will respond at all.
“The language coming out of Iran suggests it is trying to dodge this,” Mohanad Hage Ali, deputy director of research at the Carnegie Center in Beirut, told MEE.
Read more: Why Iran and Hezbollah have not yet responded to Israel's assassinations
The Democratic National Committee rejected a call to have a Palestinian speaker on the main stage of their convention, after providing time to the relative of an Israeli hostage to speak on Wednesday evening.
The call to feature a Palestinian speaker had been made by the Uncommitted Movement, a group of activists and Democratic operatives who initially withheld from voting for Joe Biden in the primary elections over his support for the war on Gaza.
Since Biden dropped out, the Uncommitted Movement has called on Democratic nominee Vice President Kamala Harris to achieve a ceasefire in Gaza and impose an arms embargo on Israel, but the group continues to support Harris for the upcoming US presidential election in November.
Earlier this week, the Uncommitted Movement held a panel on Palestinian human rights on the sidelines of the convention.
After receiving news of the rejection, members of the Uncommitted Movement and other democratic delegates joined a small protest outside the United Center, where the convention was being held.
However, the DNC's rejection and subsequent protest highlighted fissures in the broader pro-Palestinian protests taking place in Chicago. The Uncommitted Movement has distanced itself from the protests outside the convention, noting that it wants to operate within the Democratic Party system.
READ MORE: DNC 2024: Democrats reject Palestinian speaker, attendees cover ears when hearing names of Gaza victims
An Israeli official told the Times of Israel that Israel will continue to fight to achieve its war aims, whether or not a deal is reached.
“So long as Hamas doesn’t agree to a deal, we will continue fighting,” said the official. Even if they do, the war will continue,” the official told the Times of Israel.
“Of course, if there is a deal, there will be a lull in the fighting in the first stage. But we will continue fighting until we achieve all of our war aims,” he continued.
The crew of Greek-flagged Sounion which was attacked by Yemen’s Houthis on Wednesday was carrying 150,000 tonnes of crude oil, and now poses an environmental hazard, the EU’s Red Sea naval mission “Aspides” said on Thursday.
The vessel was targeted on Wednesday by multiple projectiles off Yemen’s port city of Hodeidah.
US and Israeli delegations started a new round of meetings in Cairo on Thursday aimed at resolving gaps in a truce proposal, two Egyptian security sources said.
Egyptian and US officials had met to seek compromises over plans for providing security on Egypt-Gaza border following a demand by Hamas for a withdrawal of the Israeli military.
The proposals were due to be presented to Israeli officials later on Thursday, with a Qatari delegation due to join on Friday, they added.
At least 11 Palestinians were killed in an Israeli strike on a residential building in the northern Gaza town of Beit Lahia in the early hours of Thursday, Palestinian news agency Wafa reported.
Israel's dawn raid on Tulkarm refugee camp, in the occupied West Bank, has caused widespread destruction to infrastructure and private property, according to Wafa news agency.
An Israeli air attack on a house in the Aktaba suburb of the camp during the raid killed three Palestinians this morning.
Imad Tayseer Shraim, Wassim Anbar and Muawiya Al-Hajj Ahmed were killed, the Palestinian health ministry announced.
According to Faisal Salama, head of the Popular Committee for Tulkarm Refugee Camp Services, the situation in the camp resembled a "disaster zone".
He told Wafa that Israel's incursion had caused damage to streets, private property, and infrastructure including sewage systems, water, electricity, and communications.
Salama said Israeli forces cut off the camp from surrounding areas by blocking entrances and bulldozing streets.
Israeli forces reportedly demolished the wall of the UN refugee agency (Unrwa) health clinic and the perimeter wall of Al-Awda Hall in the refugee camp.
