Gaza live: Israeli attack hits Unrwa centre

Good morning Middle East Eye readers,

Here are the latest updates from Israel's ongoing war on Gaza now on its 250th day:

• Israeli strikes in Gaza City and Rafah have killed at least nine Palestinians, including two children, on Wednesday morning, according to Palestinian news agency Wafa. 

• In the occupied West Bank, the city of Jenin is observing a commercial strike over the killing of six Palestinians by Israeli forces on Tuesday night during a raid on nearby Kafr Dan village. 

• Mediators said Tuesday night they received Hamas's official counter-offer to the latest ceasefire proposal. The United States said it was "evaluating" the Palestinian group's response. 

• Hezbollah confirmed that senior commander Taleb Abdallah was killed an in Israeli strike on Tuesday night. A Lebanese military source told AFP the commander was "the most important in Hezbollah to be killed up to now since the start of the war".

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

Here are some of the day's key developments:

• Gaza death toll rises to 37,164

• The UN has warned that there are now less than 100,000 people left in Rafah following Israel's attack on the city

• Intel is halting its plans for a $25-billion factory in Israel, according to the Israeli financial news website Calcalist, Reuters reported on Tuesday

• Blinken calls for increased aid to Palestinians in Gaza following US-backed destruction

• 3,000 malnourished children at risk of ‘dying before their families’ eyes’: Unicef

• The UN human rights office has ctied possible war crimes by Israeli forces and Palestinian armed groups following the deadly assault by the Israeli army that freed four captives over the weekend and killed and wounded hundreds of Palestinians

• Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad submitted their official response to a proposed ceasefire deal a Hamas official told Reuters on Tuesday

• US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin spoke with the Israeli war crimes suspect Defense Minister Yoav Gallant today to congratulate him on the release of four Israeli captives that resulted in the killing of hundreds of Palestinians

US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin spoke with the Israeli war crimes suspect Defense Minister Yoav Gallant today to congratulate him on the release of four Israeli captives that resulted in the killing of hundreds of Palestinians. 

The UN human rights office has ctied possible war crimes by Israeli forces following that operation. 

The two also discussed efforts to “de-escalate tensions along the Israel-Lebanon border in the wake of Lebanese Hezbollah’s increased aggression,” the statement adds.

Unicef spokesperson James Elder says “so much suffering is being inflicted on Gaza”.

“The intentions must now be clear. The absolute devastation of Gaza, indeed, it’s already happened,” Elder, who is currently in the coastal enclave, added in video post on X.

“Homes, hospitals, schools, universities, agriculture, the economy … devastated. And still the bombs fall”.

Last month, Spain, Ireland and Norway formally recognised Palestine as a state, joining more than 140 UN member countries that already recognise it.

This recognition has been hailed as a positive step forward, particularly as the International Criminal Court (ICC) considers issuing arrest warrants against Israeli leaders for their involvement in alleged war crimes in Palestine. 

The move by the three countries was welcomed by Palestinian officials, as other nations were urged to follow suit. Legally, achieving statehood would enable Palestine to join numerous international agreements and treaties related to human rights and trade. 

Although the recent recognitions are merely another step towards full UN recognition, Israel has condemned them and discussed escalatory measures against the countries involved, accusing them of supporting terrorism. 

Read more: Can Palestine achieve financial independence?

Earlier, we reported that Israeli officials began briefing against Hamas' ceasefire proposal, spinning it as a rejection.

Now, a widely respected Israeli analyst, Yonatan Touval from the Israeli Institute for Regional Foreign Policies, has called the leaks by Israeli officials "shamefully misleading."

"In its response to the proposed deal, Hamas is reportedly asking for guarantees that the ceasefire will, in fact, be permanent. This comes after Netanyahu has made it clear that no such commitment is part of the deal," added Touval, referring to the Israeli prime minister who has not publicly accepted the ceasefire deal.

An Israeli strike on the village of Jouya in southern Lebanon late Tuesday killed at least four people, including a senior field commander in the Lebanese armed group Hezbollah, three security sources told Reuters.

An Israeli official widely quoted by Hebrew media claims that Hamas "effectively rejects" the ceasefire proposal, though no evidence was provided.

This claim was reported by the Times of Israel shortly after Hamas announced that it had submitted a response to Qatari and Egyptian mediators, expressing "readiness to positively" consider a deal to end Israel's assault on Gaza.

Meanwhile, another Israeli source told Haaretz that "Hamas' response included amendments to the Israeli proposal, including a timetable for a permanent ceasefire and a complete withdrawal of Israeli forces from the Gaza Strip, including Rafah."

Hamas' demand for a full withdrawal is not new and has been part of the proposal since the beginning of Israel's war on the Strip.

"Talks will continue through Qatari and Egyptian mediators in coordination with the United States to see if an agreement can be reached," the Israeli source told Haaretz.

Congress is eyeing deepening cooperation between the US and Israeli militaries on tunnel fighting, as a result of the Hamas-led 7 October attacks on southern Israel.

In a proposed amendment to the fiscal 2025 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), a bipartisan group of lawmakers aim to improve cooperation between the United States and Israel on anti-tunnel defence capabilities.

The legislation has been proposed by Republican Congressmen Joe Wilson, Don Bacon and Doug Lamborn, alongside Democrats Ruben Gallego, Brad Schneider and Seth Moulton.

In addition to enhancing cooperation, the lawmakers are calling on the US to provide an additional $30m to Israel to detect, map and fight in underground tunnels. Last year the US provided $47.5m for the efforts.

Read more: Congress aims to deepen Israel 'anti-tunnel' defence capabilities

The United States has received and is evaluating Palestinian group Hamas' formal reply to an Israel truce proposal sent to Qatari and Egyptian mediators, White House spokesperson John Kirby said on Tuesday.

Kirby, in a virtual briefing with reporters, said it was helpful to have a response from Hamas and that US officials were working their way through it.

A Berlin court on Tuesday rejected an urgent request by a number of Palestinian residents from Gaza to stop the government approving permits for the export of German weapons to Israel on grounds that they might be used in violation of humanitarian law.

The court said that the Palestinians had not shown that decisions on arms exports to Israel were actually pending.

Germany had abstained from issuing any export licenses this year.

Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad submitted their official response to a proposed ceasefire deal a Hamas official told Reuters on Tuesday.

"The Hamas response reaffirmed the group's stance any agreement must end the Zionist aggression on our people, get the Israeli forces out, reconstruct Gaza and achieve a serious prisoners swap deal," the official told Reuters.

Egypt and Qatar confirmed that they had received Hamas' response to the proposal.

The Israeli army raided the town of Kufr Dan near Jenin in the northern occupied West Bank earlier today.

The Palestinian Ministry of Health now reports that at least six people have been killed by Israeli forces. 

The UN human rights office has ctied possible war crimes by Israeli forces and Palestinian armed groups following the deadly assault by the Israeli army that freed four captives over the weekend and killed and wounded hundreds of Palestinians

Palestinian health officials said at least 274 Palestinians, including dozens of women and children, were killed in the Israeli operation.

"All these actions by both parties may amount to war crimes," said office spokesman Jeremy Laurence at a UN briefing in Geneva. "It was catastrophic, the way that this was carried out in that civilians — again — were caught smack bang in the middle of this," Laurence added.

According to Israeli reporter Barak Ravid, who cites a pair of unnamed sources with knowledge of the matter, Hamas has given Qatari and Egyptian mediators its official response to the ceasfire agreement.