Live: 54 Palestinians killed, 831 wounded in 24 hours

Israeli attacks killed at least 101 Palestinians, including 81 aid seekers, and injured 625 others across Gaza in the past 24 hours, the Palestinian health ministry in Gaza said in a statement on Telegram.

Israel’s war on Gaza has killed 60,239 Palestinians and injured 146,894 others since 7 October, 2023, the ministry said.

A total number of 1,320 Palestinians have been killed and more than 8,818 injured while seeking aid since 27 May, when the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, a controversial Israel- and US-backed aid distribution mechanism, commenced operations in Gaza.

Israeli minister Miri Regev has said that "There is no famine. There is no humanitarian disaster. And according to the hostages' testimonies – there are also no innocents or uninvolved people."

Sharing the picture of a newspaper front page in a post on X, she wrote: "We are not waiting for an apology, not from the New York Times, not from 'Haaretz,' and not from the hundreds of media outlets that echoed the lie of famine in Gaza."

The article showed an image of a woman from Gaza carrying her starving son. 

UN agencies have said Gaza is currently on the brink of famine, due to the Israeli-imposed blockade on aid. 

On Tuesday, the World Food Programme, Unicef and the Food and Agriculture Organisation issued a warning that "time was running out" and that Gaza was "on the brink of a full-scale famine". 

At least 155 Palestinians have died due to starvation, as Israel continues to block aid to Gaza.  

Since May, Israeli forces have killed more than 1,239 Palestinian aid seekers. Over 8,152 others have been wounded in Israeli attacks, mainly at the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation distribution sites run by the US and Israel. 

There is no information about the health status and the conditions of detention of Marwan al-Hams, a doctor and the director of field hospitals in Gaza. 

The Gaza Health Ministry says that Hams was seized by an Israeli undercover unit outside the field hospital of the International Committee of the Red Cross in Rafah. 

"Israel is practising enforced disappearance against imprisoned medical personnel," the ministry said.

At least 361 medical personnel remain imprisoned in Israeli jails, it added. 

Over 10,000 Palestinians are currently held in Israeli prisons, according to figures shared by the Palestinian Prisoners and Ex-Prisoners Affairs Authority. This number does not include Palestinians detained in Israeli military camps. 

A young man from Rafah has died from starvation, Al Jazeera Arabic reported, quoting sources at Nasser Medical Complex in Khan Younis. 

At least 155 Palestinians have died due to starvation as Israel continues to block aid to Gaza.  

Since May, Israeli forces have killed more than 1,239 Palestinian aid seekers. Over 8,152 others have been wounded in Israeli attacks, mainly at the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation distribution sites run by the US and Israel.

Sweden on Thursday called on the EU to suspend the trade section of its association agreement with Israel over its conduct of the war on Gaza.

"The situation in Gaza is absolutely appalling, and Israel is failing to fulfil its most basic obligations and agreements on emergency aid. Sweden therefore demands that the EU freeze the trade section of the association agreement as soon as possible," Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson said in a post to X, calling on the Israeli government to allow "unhindered humanitarian aid into Gaza."

The Israeli army says its 98th Division has completed its operations and withdrawn from the northern Gaza Strip following several months of operations in Khan Younis and Gaza City’s Shujaiya and Zeitoun neighbourhoods, according to The Times of Israel.

The military said that "the forces are now preparing for additional tasks". Four other divisions remain inside Gaza.

At least 27 people have been killed in the Gaza Strip this morning, including 10 aid seekers, Al Jazeera reported, citing medical sources.

The report also said seven people, including two children, died by starvation and malnutrition in the last 24 hours.

Lebanon's President Joseph Aoun said on Thursday that Lebanese political parties need to seize the opportunity and hand over their weapons sooner rather than later, as Washington increases pressure on Hezbollah to give up its arms.

He added that the country would seek $1bn annually for 10 years to support the army and security forces in Lebanon.

Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas welcomed Canada's "historic" move to recognise the state of Palestine during a phone call with Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney, Wafa reported Wednesday.

Abbas "appreciated Canada's historic position in recognising the State of Palestine, which will enhance peace, stability, and security in the region", the official Palestinian news agency said.

An Israeli strike hit a tent shelter housing displaced Palestinians south of Gaza City, killing at least two and injuring others, according to Al Jazeera Arabic.

In the Mawasi area, west of Khan Younis in southern Gaza, another strike on a tent shelter killed at least two people and wounded several more.

Meanwhile, three people were killed and multiple others injured when an Israeli strike targeted an apartment building in the Saftawi neighbourhood, north of Gaza City.

Good morning, Middle East Eye readers,

Here are the latest updates from Israel's ongoing war on Gaza:

• Two resolutions that would have blocked arms sales to Israel in response to civilian casualties in Gaza were blocked in the US Senate on Wednesday, although they garnered more support than similar measures earlier this year. The resolutions were introduced by Senator Bernie Sanders, a Vermont independent aligned with Democrats.

• Brown University reached a deal on Wednesday with President Donald Trump's administration to restore funding for the university's federally sponsored medical and health sciences research and to resolve some compliance reviews, the university and the government said on Wednesday. The university agreed to take actions "to support a thriving Jewish community, research and education about Israel, and a robust Program in Judaic Studies," according to the terms of the deal.

• US President Donald Trump believes that recognising Palestinian statehood would be rewarding Hamas and he does not intend to do that, a White House official said on Wednesday.

• A trade deal between Canada and the United States will likely be hindered by Canada's Wednesday promise to recognise a Palestinian state, Trump said on social media.

• The Israeli police are refusing to release the body of activist Awdah Hathaleen, who was shot by a settler in the village of Umm al-Khair in the southern West Bank on Monday, even though the autopsy was completed on Wednesday, Haaretz reported.

• The Israeli government this week distributed 29 all-terrain vehicles along with security and logistical equipment to illegal settler farming outposts in the occupied West Bank, saying the move was intended to “strengthen the resilience” of the outposts and “deepen” Israeli control over the territory, The Times of Israel reported.

• Two Palestinians were killed by Israeli army gunfire in a settler attack on the town of Silwad, east of Ramallah in the occupied West Bank, Al Jazeera Arabic reported, citing two medical sources.

• A Palestinian man, his wife, and two children were killed in an Israeli drone strike on a tent sheltering them in central Deir al-Balah, Al Jazeera Arabic reported, citing al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital.

An Israeli campaign on social media this week is claiming there is no hunger in Gaza, while Palestinians have been documenting people dying from starvation due to the Israeli-imposed blockade on the strip. 

The official X account of the State of Israel has shared numerous posts suggesting that images of starving and malnourished children being shown across the world are fabricated, claiming that the children are suffering from other illnesses, such as “cystic fibrosis”.

In recent weeks, many international organisations, as well as the Palestinian health ministry, have warned of looming famine in Gaza. 

The United Nations has warned of “catastrophic hunger” in Gaza and said the entire population of over two million people is severely food insecure. "One out of every three people has not eaten for days, and 80 percent of all reported deaths by starvation are children,” the agency said.

You can read more here.

US lawmaker Bernie Sanders has called Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu "a disgusting liar" in a post on X on Wednesday. 

The Senator for Vermont said, "Children are starving to death.  The United States cannot continue to supply his racist government with hundreds of millions of dollars in military aid that is used to kill innocent people".

His comments come ahead of a resolution he has introduced to stop sending weapons to Israel. 

Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney announced on Wednesday that Canada will recognise a Palestinian state at the United Nations General Assembly in September. 

Western countries have been under mounting pressure to do something about the humanitarian crisis and looming famine unfolding in the Gaza Strip. 

Carney has said the recognition is conditional on Hamas no longer governing Gaza.

The Palestinian health ministry urged civilians to protect a convoy of World Health Organisation medical trucks that will enter Gaza on Thursday to provide vital supplies to the sick and wounded, Al Jazeera reported on Wednesday. 

“The items expected to arrive are of great importance and urgent need to continue providing medical care to the wounded and sick and save lives,” it said in a statement.

“The Ministry of Health calls on honourable citizens, all dignitaries, families, and relevant parties to make every effort to protect the convoy, to prevent any interference with the trucks, and to enable their safe arrival to hospitals to save the lives of patients and the wounded.”

Looting of humanitarian aid has taken place amid mass hunger in the strip. 

Over 1000 people have been killed while seeking aid near distribution sites by Israeli forces or mercenaries.