Live: 54 Palestinians killed, 831 wounded in 24 hours

The embattled Columbia University in the US announced formally adopting the definition of antisemitism promoted by the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA), which classifies criticism of the state of Israel as antisemitic.

A wide description of antisemitism on IHRA's website includes "targeting of the state of Israel, conceived as a Jewish collectivity," and "denying the Jewish people their right to self-determination, eg, by claiming that the existence of a State of Israel is a racist endeavour".

In March, the Trump administration issued nine demands to Columbia University before discussing lifting the cancellation of $400m in federal funding, including that the university adopt the IHRA definition of antisemitism.

Academics and members of the Jewish community criticised the definition as conflating criticism of Israel with antisemitism.

Twenty Palestinians were killed on Wednesday at an aid distribution site run by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), in what the US-backed group said was a crowd surge instigated by armed agitators.

The United Nations rights office says it has documented at least 875 deaths over the past six weeks near aid sites and convoys in Gaza, the majority of them near GHF distribution points that it describes as "death traps".

The GHF, which is supported by Israel, said 19 people were trampled and one was fatally stabbed during the crush at one of its centres in Khan Younis in southern Gaza.

"We have credible reason to believe that elements within the crowd – armed and affiliated with Hamas – deliberately fomented the unrest," GHF said in a statement.

Palestinian health officials told Reuters at least 20 people had died of suffocation at the site. One medic said lots of people had been crammed into a small space and had been crushed.

The Israeli military struck Thaala military airfield near Sweida and another site in Daraa in Syria, according to Lebanon's Al Mayadeen.

The report said several members of the Syrian forces were killed and wounded in Sweida. 

At least 20 Palestinians have been killed in Israeli attacks across Gaza since the early hours of this morning, Al Jazeera Arabic reported.

The Israeli military killed at least 11 Palestinians in the early hours of the morning, according to Al Jazeera.

Four of the victims, including two children, were killed in an Israeli attack on tents in al-Mawasi camp in southern Gaza, the report said.

The UN's expert on Palestinian affairs, Francesca Albanese, said on Tuesday that Washington's sanctions following her criticism of the White House's stance on Gaza are a "violation" of her immunity.

The United Nations' special rapporteur on the occupied Palestinian territories made the comments while visiting Bogota, nearly a week after US Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced the sanctions, calling her work "biased and malicious".

"It's a very serious measure. It's unprecedented. And I take it very seriously," Albanese told an audience in the Colombian capital. 

"It's clear violation of the UN Convention on Privileges and Immunities that protect UN officials, including independent experts, from words and actions taken in the exercise of their functions," Albanese said.

Good morning Middle East Eye readers, 

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

• US President Donald Trump will meet Qatari Prime Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani at the White House on Wednesday. Beforehand, Trump will meet the prime minister of Bahrain, Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa, according to Axios.

• The United Nations' special rapporteur on the Occupied Palestinian Territories, Francesca Albanese, said on Tuesday that it's time for nations around the world to suspend all ties with Israel to stop what she called the "genocide" in Gaza.

• In a post on X, the French Embassy in Israel said that the renewal of the E1 settlement project in the occupied West Bank "should not be implemented. It is contrary to international law and jeopardises the possibility of a two-state solution".

• Israeli attacks on Gaza killed 88 Palestinians and wounded 278 over 24 hours on Tuesday, the Palestinian health ministry in Gaza reported.

At least 61 Palestinians have been killed in Israeli airstrikes and gunfire in Gaza since dawn on Tuesday, Al Jazeera reported. This includes 23 people who were killed in the Shati refugee camp and two peopl who were fired upon near an aid centre in Rafah.

A Berlin court has ruled that a gag order preventing award-winning British-Palestinian surgeon Ghassan Abu Sittah from speaking in Germany is unlawful, Al Jazeera reported on Tuesday.

Abu Sittah was detained and deported at Berlin Airport in April 2024 when he was on his way to give a talk at the Palestine Congress.

Abu Sittah is currently Rector of the University of Glasgow. 

The US ambassador to Israel, who has encouraged Israeli settlement building and supports the annexation of the West Bank, said "there must be accountability" for the murder of an American citizen by Israeli settlers on Tuesday. 

"I have asked @Israel to aggressively investigate the murder of Saif Mussallet, an American citizen who was visiting family in Sinjil when he was beaten to death," Mick Huckabee said in a post on X. "There must be accountability for this criminal and terrorist act. Saif was just 20 yrs old."

It is believed to be one of the first times Huckabee has commented on endemic settler violence in the West Bank. He did not back Mussallet's family's call for a US investigation. Israeli investigations rarely result in criminial prosecutions. 

Saif Mussallet was beaten to death by Israeli settlers on Friday in the West Bank. The setttlers, with the help of the Israeli military, prevented medics from attending to him for several hours. The settlers also killed a Palestinian man, who was a friend of Mussallet.

The Israeli military on Tuesday raided a factory belonging to a Palestinian family in Hebron in the West Bank, and assaulted several workers, Wafa news agency reported on Tuesday.

They also detained two members of the al-Jamal family, who own the factory. 

Four workers were taken by the Palestinian Red Crescent Society (PRCS) to a hospital, suffering from cuts and bruises inflicted by the Israeli military.

Israeli settlers on Tuesday launched an attack on a Palestinian home in the village of an-Nassariya, near Nablus in the West Bank, Wafa news agency reported on Tuesday, citing local sources.

The attack happened under the protection of the Israeli army.

Settler attacks have disproportionately increased on Palestinian land, property and civilians since Israel's war on Gaza.

The UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (Unrwa) continues to be targeted by Israel. In the latest attack on the agency, Israeli Energy Minister Eli Cohen announced the government was planning to cut off electricity and water to the aid group's offices in a post on X on Tuesday.

In October 2024, Israel banned Unrwa from operating in Israel. It followed this up by forcing six Unrwa-run schools to close in East Jerusalem.

At least 30 Palestinians have been injured at an aid centre north of Rafah after Israeli soldiers fired at starving people lining up for humnaitarian aid, Al Jazeera reported on Tuesday.

Nearly 900 Palestinians have been killed by the US and Israel-backed Gaza Humanitarian Fund, which has been distributing food since late May, displacing human rights groups who had been working for decades in Gaza.

A second ultra-Orthodox group has withdrawn from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's ruling coalition this week, leaving him holding on to power with the minimum number of seats required, multiple news outlets reported on Tuesday. 

The Agudat Yisrael faction withdrew on Tuesday, leaving Netanyahu's coalition with 61 seats in the Knesset out of a total of 120 seats, while the Degel HaTorah faction withdrew on Monday.

Both groups withdrew in protest against a bill not being drafted to exempt ultra-Orthodox Jews from military service. 

The Shas party - also an ultra-Orthodox party - is threatening to withdraw on Thursday. If this happens, it would lead to the collapse of the Netanyahu government and trigger elections.