Live: 54 Palestinians killed, 831 wounded in 24 hours

Senior church figures and foreign diplomats have called for Israeli settlers to be held accountable following a surge in attacks on the predominantly Christian town of Taybeh in the occupied West Bank.

Delegates from over 20 countries—including the UK, Russia, China, Japan, Jordan, and members of the European Union—visited the town on Monday in a show of solidarity with the local Palestinian community.

Speaking in Taybeh, Greek Orthodox Patriarch Theophilos III and Latin Patriarch Pierbattista Pizzaballa condemned a recent attack in which settlers set fire to land near a church.

They accused Israeli authorities of failing to respond to urgent calls for help during the incident.

Good morning Middle East Eye readers, 

Here are some of the latest updates from the Israeli war on Gaza: 

• Gaza’s Health Ministry reported at that at least 117 Palestinians were killed and more than 557 wounded in Israeli strikes over the past day.

• Dr Hussam Abu Safiya, a Palestinian paediatrician and former director of Kamal Adwan Hospital, is in critical condition following his detention by Israeli forces, Middle East Monitor reported Monday.

• The Israeli army confirmed three soldiers were killed in Gaza on Monday by Palestinian resistance groups.

• An Israeli soldier took his own life at a northern military base, marking the third suicide among Israeli troops in just over a week.

• A Knesset motion to expel Palestinian-Israeli lawmaker Ayman Odeh failed after falling short of the required 90-vote supermajority.

• A source close to Israel-Hamas talks told Haaretz that Israel may offer more concessions on troop positions in Gaza during a potential ceasefire.

• Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar confirmed Syria’s inclusion in an upcoming EU-Middle East meeting in Brussels, marking the first time Israeli and Syrian foreign ministers will share a public forum.

A branch of the United Torah Judaism party threatened on Monday to leave Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's ruling coalition government unless it is presented with a draft of a bill exempting yeshiva students  from military service, multiple news sources reported.

Degel Hatorah is giving the government 24 hours to make a decision. Ultra-Orthodox party Shas is also  reportedly threatening to resign from the government within days.

A yeshiva is an Orthodox Jewish college.

A bid to expel Arab Israeli lawmaker Ayman Odeh from Israeli parliament - the Knesset - failed to obtain the necessary threshold of 90 votes on Monday. Instead, the bid garnered only 73 votes.

Odeh has been targeted for his opposition to the war on Gaza. 

US Senator of Vermont welcomed the result. In a post on X on Monday he said, "Israel’s far right tried to expel Ayman Odeh, an Arab Israeli opposition leader, from the Knesset because of his opposition to Netanyahu’s war.

"Today, they failed. If Israel is going to be considered a democracy, it cannot expel members of parliament for their political views," he added. 

Dr Hussam Abu Safiya, a paeditrican and former director of the Kamal Adwan Hospital in northern Gaza who was detained by Israel, is in critical condiiton, Middle East Monitor reported on Monday.

Since he was detained by Israeli forces without charge in December and put into the notorious Ofer prison in Israel, he has lost nearly half of his body weight his lawyer Ghaid Ghanem Qassem said due to forced starvation.

He was severely beaten on 24 June, his lawyer said, and sustained injuries to his rib cage, face, head, and neck.

Dr Abu Safiya is currently suffering from high blood pressure and a heart condition but has been denied medication or access to specialist medical care by Israeli prison authorities.

Qassem said he was being held in solitary confinement in an underground cell, where the sun does not enter, as well as enduring torture. 

Qassem added that glasses that were delivered to Dr Abu Safiya were deliberately broken.

Chairman of the Euro-Med human rights monitor Ramy Abdu visited Dr Abu Safiya on 9 July, and reported that he was being held in harrowing conditions.

The Israeli military has disproportionately targeted health workers since its war began.

Three members of the UN’s Human Rights Council (UNHRC) investigating human rights abuses in Israel and Palestine have suddenly quit, Al Jazeera reported on Monday.

Navi Pillay, 83, of South Africa resigned, citing her age as the primary reason. She headed the international tribunal for Rwanda,

Chris Sidoti, 74, of Australia and Miloon Kothari, of India also both resigned. 

The commission was created in 2021 and is made up of 47 UN member states. It periodically reviews the human rights records of member states. In February, both the US and ISrael announced they were boycotting the UNHRC.

The Israeli military killed a Palestinian youth near the town of Yaabad near Jenin in the West Bank on Monday, Wafa news agency reported.

The military opened fire on 20-year-old Yousef Walid Abdullah Sheikh-Ibrahim, from Kafr Ra‘i, and killed him. Thy have not released his body to his family. 

Save the Children UK has called on the UK government to “immediately suspend all arms to Israel, including parts for the F-35 fighter jets being used to kill and maim children” in a post on X on Monday.

The charity referred to the killing of six children waiting on water on Sunday, as well as the killing of eight children killed while queuing for nutritional supplements outside of a clinic as examples of children being killed in Israeli airstrikes.

“These children have names, they had hopes and dreams for the future," the charity added. "They are someone’s everything, their entire universe. We refuse to allow their suffering to become normalised".

It condemned the UK Government as "complicit" and urged it not o be an "ally to Israel's atrocities".

The uncle of 20-year American citizen Sayfollah Musallet, who was beaten to death by Israeli settlers on Friday, described him as “a very rare soul” during a press conference in Tampa on Monday.

“Saif was a very rare soul,” Hesam Musallet said. “He was very loving and caring. He would come to my house always, come to his grandmother, give her a hug, kiss her hand.

“Everyone who met him fell in love with him. He was loving and respectful.”

Hesam said he was “like any other 20-year-old, who would go out with his friends, and watch comedy”.

Sayfollah was badly beaten by Israeli settlers in the village of Sinji, just north of the West Bank city of Ramallah.

Hesam said “illegal Israeli settlers” and the Israeli military stopped an ambulance coming to help his nephew for three hours.

His brother witnessed him take his last breath and said he was “gagging because of the pain”, Hesam added.

The Houston chapter of the civil rights organisation, the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR-Houston), on Monday demanded the immediate release of a 22-year-old Palestinian man who has been reportedly confined for nine days at George Bush Intercontinental Airport (IAH).

Muhanad J M Alshrouf has been held in a secondary screening room since entering the country on 5 July on a valid immigrant visa. His father is a US citizen, and Alshrouf spent years going through the immigration process to obtain his visa. 

Alshrouf has not had any access to legal counsel, a change of clothes, proper food, or shower facilities during this time. 

Maria Kari, attorney and executive director of legal non-profit Project TAHA, said Alshrouf's treatment was "unlawful, unjust and profoundly inhumane".

"Airports are not detention centers. Yet Muhanad has been subjected to an unconscionable confinement, forced to wear the same undergarments for over a week. Is this the dignity America offers its newest residents? Every American should be outraged,” she added.

At least 72 people have been killed in Israeli attacks since dawn on Monday, Al Jazeera reported.

Israel plans to divide the West Bank in half, Haaretz reported on Monday.

The idea was first touted in 2021, but now the government plans to discuss the proposal on 6 August.

The plan would involve the construction of 3,412 housing units for Israelis across over 10 square kilometres, according to Haaretz.

Local Palestinians, human rights, and environmental groups have all objected to the plan.

Egyptian intelligence chief Hassan Rashad and Qatari Prime Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman al-Thani have been involved in talks to push for a ceasefire in Gaza, Al Jazeera reported on Monday.

A branch of the United Torah Judaism alliance threatened on Monday to leave Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's ruling coalition government unless it is presented with a draft of a bill exempting yeshiva students from military service, multiple news sources reported.

Degel Hatorah is giving the government 24 hours to make a decision. The ultra-Orthodox party Shas is also reportedly threatening to resign from the government within days.

A yeshiva is an Orthodox Jewish college.

Israeli forces killed 117 Palestinians and wounded a further 557 in the past 24 hours, the Palestinian health ministry said on Monday. 

At least five people were killed over the past day while seeking humanitarian aid.

It brings the total death toll of Palestinians in Gaza killed by Israeli forces since October 2023 to 58,386. Over 138,500 others have been wounded during that time.