Live: Israel and Hamas claim victory as fragile ceasefire holds

On Tuesday, rallies and vigils were held across the UK as part of an international day of action in response to Palestinians’ call for a general strike. 

In Windrush Square in London’s Brixton, activists bearing Palestinian flags and placards held dabke dances and poetry readings.

Speakers expressed solidarity with the Palestinian people and called on the UK government to acknowledge its historic and ongoing role in their oppression, writes MEE freelancer Katherine Hearst.

“This is the first time Palestinian society has been on full general strike since 1936… It’s in the spirit of the uprising in 1936, the spirit of the uprising of 1948, the uprising of the 1980s of the early 2000s……  it’s in the spirit of the Palestinian right to life and resistance that we’re here today,” activist Zena Agha told MEE in Brixton.

“Palestinians from Haifa, in Nazareth in the Galilee, in the south, in the Negev desert, Palestinians living under siege in Gaza, Palestinian living under occupation in the West Bank, in Hebron… everyone’s rising up. The streets of Ramallah today were packed with protesters. Palestinians are saying no more and we’re here in solidarity,” she added.

“This is not just a Palestinian question, no one is free until everyone is free. We are here in Brixton celebrating black life, supporting black uprisings, black business.”

US President Joe Biden told Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that he "expected a significant de-escalation today on the path to a ceasefire", the White House said after a call between the two leaders on Wednesday.

The statement comes amid the US president's refusal to explicitly call for an immediate ceasefire, despite growing pressure from Democratic lawmakers and the international community.

"The two leaders had a detailed discussion on the state of events in Gaza, Israel’s progress in degrading the capabilities of Hamas and other terrorist elements, and ongoing diplomatic efforts by regional governments and the United States," the White House said. "The president conveyed to the prime minister that he expected a significant de-escalation today on the path to a ceasefire."

Biden has spoken to Netanyahu several times over the past week. On Monday, the White House said the US president "expressed his support for a ceasefire" after a call with the Israeli premier.

The Biden administration has been voicing unquestioning backing for the Israeli government, asserting what it calls "Israel's right to defend itself" as the Israeli military continues to heavily bomb Gaza.

A Palestinian woman was killed by Israeli fire this afternoon in the southern occupied West Bank city of Hebron, Palestinian news outlets have reported.

Official PA news agency Wafa reported that the woman was shot dead at one of the entrances to the Israeli settlement of Kiryat Arba, on the outskirts of Hebron.

Paramedics were reportedly barred from reaching her body lying on the ground.

Israeli media have claimed that the woman - whose identity and age remain unknown - attempted to carry out a stabbing and shooting attack. However, different photographs and videos of the scene seen by Middle East Eye showed her body both with and without an assault rifle lying near her.

MEE has contacted the Israeli army for comment.

Four rockets were fired from southern Lebanon towards northern Israel, military officials said, as the Israeli army responded with artillery fire. 

Two landed in the northern city of Shfaram, the Israeli police said, adding that they caused no damage or injuries.

Israel’s military said it has shelled “a number of targets” in Lebanon in response to the rockets.  

The rockets were launched from near Seddiqine, a village in the region of the coastal city of Tyre, Lebanese sources told Reuters.

Sirens warning of incoming rockets had sounded in lower Galilee, in northern Israel.

Residents of the town of Krayot, near Haifa, told Reuters that they heard three explosions.

It was not clear who was behind the cross-border fire, the third in the past week.

On Monday, six rockets fired from Lebanon fell short of crossing the border.

Last Thursday, three Grad rockets were fired towards Israel from Basateen al-Qulayla, a southern coastal area near al-Qulayla village, but landed in the Mediterranean Sea. 

The area lies around 1km from the Palestinian refugee camp of al-Rashidiya, down the coast from Tyre.

Benjamin Netanyahu has suggested Israel could reoccupy the Gaza Strip to rid the besieged enclave of Hamas.

Speaking to a group of foreign diplomats, the prime minister said the ongoing Israeli bombing in Gaza sought to "degrade Hamas' capabilities, their terror capabilities, and degrade their will".

But, he added, further escalation was possible.

"There are only two ways that you can deal with them," Netanyahu told the ambassadors at a military base in Tel Aviv.

"You can either conquer them, and that's always an open possibility, or you can deter them, and we are engaged right now in forceful deterrence, but I have to say we don't rule out anything."

Israeli efforts to settle the Gaza Strip, which it occupied in the 1967 Middle East war, were largely unsuccessful, and in August 2005 Israel began to pull its settlers and troops from the coastal territory.

Only 8,000 Israelis had settled in Gaza, a far cry from the hundreds of thousands in the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem.

Israel and Egypt then imposed a blockade on Gaza after Hamas took power in 2008 - a crippling siege that is ongoing.

The Palestinian Prisoners’ Society, an NGO based in the occupied territories, said that at least 1,800 people have been arrested since hostilities began in April 2021.

- 900 Palestinians arrested inside Israel. 

- 900 Palestinians arrested in West Bank and East Jerusalem.

- Most of those arrested in East Jerusalem and Israel were released on bail.

- Most of the Palestinians arrested in the West Bank are still in detention.

A senior Russian official warned Israel's ambassador on Wednesday that further civilian casualties in Gaza were unacceptable, Russia's foreign ministry said. 

A barrage of rockets set off sirens in the central Israeli city of Rehovot and the southern city of Be'er Sheva. 

Funerals took place for 15-year-old Islam Wael Bernat and 20-year-old Adham al-Khashef, who were both killed while protesting in the West Bank city of Al-Bireh. 

The young men were killed by Israeli forces while participating in the general strike, taking place across the occupied territories and Palestinian towns in Israel.

Palestinian Authority spokesperson Abu Rudeineh has defended the PA's security coordination with Israel and said it was necessary for the protection of Palestinians. 

“Israel has security coordinations with all Arab countries. Has one shot been fired from south Lebanon in the past 16 years? Has a shot been fired, officially, from the Syrian border? Or from Egypt or Jordan?,” Abu Rudeineh said when asked what the PA was waiting for to stop its security coordination with Israel.

“The security coordination with Israel is a type of Palestinian sovereignty and defence of our people.”

Israel is assessing whether it will stop bombing the Gaza Strip but said it was preparing for "more days" of strikes if necessary, an Israeli military source told AFP. 

The source said Israel was looking at the "right moment for a ceasefire" but said it was still evaluating whether its military objectives against Hamas had been achieved. 

A group of pro-Palestine activists occupied the site of an Israeli drone factory in Leicester on Wednesday morning. 

Campaigners from the UK-based Palestine Action group said its occupation shut down operations at the factory run by Elbit Systems. 

Activists were pictured scaling the roof of the Leicester factory and locked the factory's gates. 

Elbit Systems, one of Israel's largest arms companies, runs the factory site in Leicester with the Thales group. 

Palestine Action say the factory manufactures the Hermes drone, which is used extensively by the Israeli army, according to activists.  

Israeli police arrested 58 Palestinian citizens of Israel overnight Tuesday in a round of mass detentions, a legal NGO said.

The detentions were carried out as Palestinians protested against the bombardment of Gaza and expulsions in Jerusalem’s Sheikh Jarrah.

The Legal Centre for Arab Minority Rights in Israel (Adalah) said Israeli police arrested Palestinians in several locations across Israel, raiding their homes in the process.

Adalah recorded arrests in al-Raba, Abu Snan, Tamra, Baqa al-Gharbiyye, Deir Hanna, Ein as-Sahla, Kafr Yasif, Jdaideh, Acre, Nazareth and al-Half, as well as across the south.

Last week, around 850 Palestinian citizens of Israel were arrested amid protests against discrimination, bombing in Gaza and violations in Jerusalem.

The Gaza Health Ministry said that at least 1,530 people had been wounded by Israeli air strikes in the besieged enclave. 

These latest figures include the deaths of 63 children, 36 women and 16 elderly people. 

Save the Children confirmed that at least 50 schools in Gaza had been damaged by Israeli fire in the last week.

Since the bombardment began, schools have been shut in Gaza and used as shelters for hundreds of displaced people. 

Three schools have also been damaged by rocket fire from Gaza in southern Israel, with schools also closed in the area since hostilities began.