Live: Strike announced in Israel amid mounting anger at Netanyahu

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has accused Hamas of being the obstacle in negotiation talks for a ceasefire deal.

In a cabinet meeting on Sunday, he called for more pressure on Hamas and its new leader Yahya Sinwar ahead of new rounds of talks.

Hamas said on Saturday that Israeli negotiators are obstructing a deal by insisting that Israel should be able to restart the war as part of the agreement.

Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu accused Hamas of being an obstacle in the negotiation talks for a ceasefire deal during a cabinet meeting on Sunday, and called for more pressure on Hamas and its new leader Yahya Sinwar ahead of new rounds of talks this week. pic.twitter.com/RpNKyaPeSW

— Middle East Eye (@MiddleEastEye) August 18, 2024

At least nine Palestinians have been killed and more injured due to fresh Israeli strikes targeting central Gaza.

One strike hit a residential home in the Nuseirat refugee camp and killed five people, according to the Palestinian Civil Defence.

Another strike hit a home east of Deir al-Balah, killing four, according to Al Jazeera. 

Hezbollah said it launched a volley of Katyusha rockets into northern Israel near the border with Lebanon. 

The Iran-backed group said the rockets targeted the Israeli military headquarters in Beit Hillel.

The Israeli army said it intercepted some of the rockets. Hezbollah claimed five attacks on Israeli positions, including artillery shelling in areas along the border, including the occupied Kfarchouba hills.

Saudi Arabia's Al-Sharq al Awsat reported that the US proposal for a Gaza ceasefire did not include the Israeli army's withdrawal from Gaza and commitment to a future ceasefire. 

A Hamas source told the Saudi outlet that the proposal "completely contradicts the document agreed on July 2" and said the Palestinian group was still waiting for the results of its meetings in Doha and Cairo. 

The proposal for the Israeli army to reduce its presence in the Philadelphi route without a complete withdrawal of forces and discussions on a permanent ceasefire will take place in the second phase of the deal, and Israel will be able to resume fighting if the parties do not reach an agreement. 

The UN peacekeeping mission in Lebanon (UNIFIL) has confirmed that an explosion in south Lebanon has injured three UN peacekeepers. 

UNIFIL said that three peacekeepers on patrol were "lightly injured" when a UN-marked vehicle was struck in the village of Yarin in southern Lebanon.

"All peacekeepers in the patrol returned safely to their base," said UNIFIL spokesperson Andrea Tenenti. 

"We are looking into the incident. We are strongly reminding all parties and actors of their responsibility to avoid harm to peacekeepers and civilians."

Palestinian news agency Wafa reported on Sunday that Israeli forces killed a Palestinian woman and injured several others in the north-west of Khan Younis in southern Gaza. 

Wafa said witnesses saw military vehicles firing at civilians in the vicinity of Hamad city. 
 

The Israeli army will replace Major-General Aharon Haliva, who will retire as head of military intelligence, with General Shlomi Binder, the army's commander of Operations Divisions. 

Last April, Haliva was the first Israeli intelligence official to announce his resignation because of the October 7 attack on Israel. 

In a letter announcing his retirement, Haliva acknowledged that the Intelligence Division "did not live up to the task" when the October 7 attack occurred. 

Palestinian health officials said Israeli strikes killed 25 people and injured 72 others in the last 24 hours in Gaza. 

Health Ministry officials added that the death toll in Gaza now stands at 40,099 and 92,609 wounded.  

Lebanese media are reporting that Israeli air strikes in southern Lebanon injured a Ghanian soldier stationed in the area as part of the UN peacekeeping mission in south Lebanon, UNIFIL.

Lebanon 24 said the Israeli strikes took place in southern Lebanon's ad-Dhahira and Tayr Harfa towns. 

Palestinian health officials said Israeli strikes killed 19 people in Gaza on Sunday, including six children, as US Secretary of State Antony Blinken pushes for a ceasefire. 

Health officials told Reuters that the children and their mother were killed in an Israeli strike on a house in the town of Deir al-Balah. 

"There is nothing left to us but the sea," said Tamer al-Burai, who lives in Deir al-Balah with several extended family members.

"We are tired of displacement. People are being pushed into narrow areas in Deir al-Balah and al-Mawasi, which have become pressure cookers," Burai told Reuters via a chat app, adding that tanks were just 1.5 km (0.9 miles) away.

"No one knows where to go if the tanks keep coming."

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken will arrive in Israel on Sunday to push for a ceasefire in Gaza. 

Earlier, US officials said they were optimistic about bringing a deal over the line but said work still needed to be done to make it happen.

"What we've done is taken the gaps that remain and have bridged those in a way that we think basically is a deal that is now ready to close and implement and move forward," a senior Biden administration official told reporters on Friday.

Blinken's tenth visit to the region since the war began in October 7 comes amid feared regional escalation. 

Iran has threatened to retaliate against Israel after the assassination of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran on July 21. 

Good evening Middle East Eye readers,

Here are the latest updates:
 

• An Israeli strike in Lebanon has killed at least 10 people
• Two Israeli soldiers have been killed by Hamas-planted roadside bombs in central Gaza
• Hamas has blamed Israel for the talks in Doha failing to lead to a ceasefire agreement
• Palestinian Health Minister Majed Abu Ramadan has announced an extensive polio vaccination campaign for children under 10 in Gaza
• Israel’s Netanyahu has reportedly “refused to meet” British Foreign Secretary David Lammy over the UK’s support for the ICC
• A British Foreign Office official has resigned over UK ‘complicity in war crimes’ in Gaza

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu refused to meet British Foreign Secretary David Lammy on Friday during his trip to Israel, according to Israeli media reports.

The British government made multiple requests for a meeting with Netanyahu, Israel's Channel 13 News and The Times of Israel reported.

But the government was told Netanyahu had a scheduling conflict.

According to Channel 13 News, citing Israeli sources, the Israeli prime minister was angered by the new Labour government's recent decision to withdraw British objections to the International Criminal Court's decision to apply for arrest warrants for Netanyahu and Defence Minister Yoav Gallant.

Read more: Netanyahu 'refused to meet David Lammy over UK's ICC position'

Hamas has blamed Israel for the failure of talks in Doha to lead to a ceasefire agreement. 

Hamas spokesperson Osama Hamdan said Israel declared in the negotiations that they want the right to restart the war, according to Al Jazeera.

"Even if there was a prisoner exchange, they want to have the right to attack whenever they want," he said. "How can any Palestinian accept that?"

A second Israeli soldier was killed in the central Gaza Strip earlier on Saturday, the Israeli military has said.

It was reported earlier than a reserve officer was killed by Hamas-planted roadside bombs in the Netzarim Corridor area.

The military has confirmed the death of a second soldier,  Sergeant Major Mordechai Yosef Ben Shoam, aged 34.

Hamas has claimed responsibility fo the bomb attack.