Israel-Palestine live: US and Israel air differences over Gaza strategy

White House aide Jonathan Finer said the Palestinian Authority is the only "institutionalised Palestinian political entity" that can govern Gaza.

Finer also said on Thursday that the US had not given Israel a “final deadline” to wrap up major combat operations in Gaza.

“If war were to stop today, Hamas would continue to pose a threat to Israel, which is why the US is not asking Israel to stop,” deputy national security adviser Finer told the Aspen Security Forum. Commenting on Israel’s expansion of the bombardment of southern Gaza, he said the US believes there are “legitimate targets” left in the south.

The aide also said that the US believes Iran is behind the planning, execution and authorisation of Houthi attacks on ships and Israel.

The “extremist” march at Al Aqsa Mosque complex in Jerusalem on Thursday evening was aborted after police asked participants to leave.

According to a police spokesperson, given the racist chants and protestors disobeying police, it was decided not to allow the continuation of the protest "to prevent friction and maintain public order in the place."

"The Israel Police will continue to allow freedom of expression and protest within the limits of the law, but will not allow the violation of public order contrary to the law," the spokesperson said.

A massive deployment of police officers was sent to the Damascus Gate ahead of the march.

Israelis were chanting slogans such as “Death to Arabs”, “We Must build the Third Temple” and “The Third Temple (Al Aqsa Mosque) is ours!”

According to MEE reporter Faiz Abu Rmeleh, they were also shouting insults at the Prophet Mohammad and calling for the Islamic Waqf to be expelled.

Police confiscated banners at the mosque and tried to remove signs with inflammatory language, leading to some minor clashes. One protestor was detained.

Some banners showed statements like “A bullet in the head of every terrorist” and “We demand full sovereignty over the Temple Mount“.

Earlier this week, Israeli authorities gave permission to extremist settler groups to hold a march at Al Aqsa Mosque complex in Jerusalem on Thursday evening, calling for an end to the administration of the site by the Waqf, the Islamic trust responsible for its management.

Earlier on Thursday, Qatar’s Foreign Ministry condemned “in the strongest terms” the demonstration “of extremists”.

In a statement, Qatar’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs wrote that it “considers this a serious provocation of feelings and a blatant attack on the rights of the Palestinian people and the historical Hashemite custodianship of the holy sites in occupied Jerusalem”.

The son of Gadi Eisenkot, the Israeli war cabinet minister, was killed in northern Gaza, the Israeli army announced on Thursday.

Gal Meir Eisenkot was a 25-year-old soldier "who died in battle", the Israeli army said in a statement.

Gal Eisenkot's father served as the chief of the general staff of the Israeli army from February 2015 to January 2018.

“May the memory of Gal and the memory of all those who fell in the battle for the home of all of us be blessed. Also in his name, also in their name, we continue the mission," Benny Gantz, a member of the Israeli Knesset said in a statement.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu also expressed his condolences and wrote on X, “The government of Israel and the citizens of Israel mourn together with you. Our heroes did not fall in vain. We will continue to fight until victory."

Qatar condemns “in the strongest terms” the demonstration “of extremists” at Al Aqsa Mosque complex in Jerusalem on Thursday evening.

Earlier this week, Israeli authorities gave permission to extremist settler groups to hold a march at the Al Aqsa Mosque complex in Jerusalem on Thursday evening, calling for an end to the administration of the site by the Waqf, the Islamic trust responsible for its management.

Scheduled to include 200 participants, the march is set to pass through the Damascus Gate and the Muslim Quarter.

In a statement on Thursday, Qatar’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs wrote that it “considers this a serious provocation of feelings and a blatant attack on the rights of the Palestinian people and the historical Hashemite custodianship of the holy sites in occupied Jerusalem”.

The ministry warned that such steps would increase the tension and expand violence in the region.

Turkey’s Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan is set to visit Washington on Friday with members of a "contact group" of Muslim nations to deliberate and focus on the war in Gaza, Turkey’s foreign ministry said on Thursday.

The contact group was established last month during a summit between the Arab League and the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC).

The group consists of representatives from Turkey, Jordan, Qatar, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Indonesia, Nigeria, the Palestinian Authority, and the OIC.

Key players in Saudi Arabia-Israel normalisation talks are still keen to resume the process even after the 7 October events and war, Kurt Campbell, US deputy secretary of state nominee, said on Thursday.

“I think it is understandable that at this moment, some of those discussions are quiet and they are difficult,” Campbell, speaking at his confirmation hearing at the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said.

He also said that he is not in favour of conditioning aid to Israel at this time. 

Israeli forces stripped dozens of Palestinian men who were detained near a school housing displaced Palestinians in northern Gaza.

The men, who were not resisting their arrest, were forced to strip to their underwear near a school that shelters thousands of displaced Palestinians in Beit Lahia.

According to Al-Araby correspondent Will Christou, the news channel's Gaza correspondent Diaa Kahlot and his family were among those arrested. In an accompanying photo, they could be seen being forced onto a military truck.

In another photo, a group of Palestinian men could be seen blindfolded and held in a deserted area.

Hamas’s military wing, the al-Qassam Brigades, says it completely or partially destroyed 79 Israeli army vehicles in the last 72 hours, according to Al Jazeera English. 

Writing on its Telegram channel, the al-Qassam Brigades said its fighters had also laid a booby trap at the opening of a tunnel in Gaza City’s Sheikh Radwan neighbourhood and detonated it as Israeli soldiers moved towards it.

Several Israeli soldiers were killed or wounded, they said. 

Since 7 October, the World Health Organization (WHO) has documented an "unprecedented number of attacks" on Palestinian healthcare workers in the occupied West Bank. 

A total of 236 attacks were recorded, which included killings, obstructing treatment, the use of force against healthcare workers, and the detention of health staff or ambulances.

Six Palestinian healthcare workers have been killed in the West Bank since 7 October, according to the WHO. 

Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu threatened to turn the Lebanese capital Beirut and southern Lebanon in "to Gaza and Khan Younis" should Hezbollah go for an all-out war, Axios reporter Barak Ravid reported.

Video footage from the Gaza Strip shows detained Palestinian men sitting on the streets, many stripped of their clothes as Israeli soldiers inspect them.

A reporter from Israel's Kan News agency said that Israeli forces are "checking to see if any of them are terrorists or Hamas or Islamic Jihad operatives".

Three Israeli soldiers have been killed so far in Gaza today, The Times of Israel reported, bringing the reported total death toll of Israeli soldiers in Gaza to 87.

The head of medical charity Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) described the situation in Gaza as "chaotic", claiming the catastrophe goes far beyond a humanitarian crisis.

"My people on the ground keep updating me on the situation, and I can tell you that it has gone far beyond the humanitarian crisis," Dr Christos Christou, international president of MSF, told reporters in Geneva.

"It is a humanitarian catastrophe. It is a chaotic situation, and I'm extremely worried that very soon people will be in a mode of just trying to survive, which will come with very severe consequences."

Israel’s rescue service, Magen David Adom, said on Thursday that a 60-year-old was killed by an anti-tank missile fired from the direction of Lebanon towards the Israeli village of Matat.

Israeli army spokesperson Daniel Hagari said that several additional launches were detected from the direction of Lebanon, and that the army has responded by firing from helicopter gunships, tanks and artillery. 
 

The Palestinian Ministry of Health announced on Thursday that at least 350 Palestinians were killed and 900 wounded in the past 24 hours due to Israeli aggression.