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

The Jordanian air force carried out their fourth airdrop mission to deliver humanitarian “to our people in Gaza,” the Jordan News Agency reported.

The aid was delivered to a hospital in Khan Younis, south of the strip.

The aid drop included vital supplies such as medical materials, medicines, dialysis treatments, food parcels, ready-made meals, clothing, health kits, baby formula, and specialised medical items for children.

Dozens of Palestinian civilians, including women and children, have been killed at dawn on Thursday in ongoing Israeli strikes in Gaza. 

Reports by Wafa, the Palestinian news agency, said Israel was targeting the Strip by land, sea and air.

An Israeli warplane bombed a mosque in the Al-Daraj neighbourhood in Gaza City, killing at least 12 and leaving dozens of others wounded, reported Wafa.  
 

On a visit to Israel last week, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken told officials in Israel’s war cabinet that the Biden administration believed the conflict should end in weeks, not months, US officials with knowledge of the discussions told the Wall Street Journal.

Israeli officials made no guarantees but expressed their interest in a return to normal, particularly so that the country doesn’t take a hit economically, according to the WSJ.

US officials also told their Israeli counterparts that the civilian death toll in Israel's campaign in the south should not be as high as it was in the north, however, no explicit consequences were laid out if just as many civilians were killed. 

Good Morning readers of Middle East Eye, 

As the horror continues to unfold, Israel last night attacked a call by UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres for a "humanitarian ceasefire". Guterres warned that the humanitarian system in Gaza could collapse and called on the UN Security Council to avert a "catastrophe".

Israeli Foreign Minister Eli Cohen had said on X that Guterres' "call for a ceasefire in Gaza” meant that he supported Hamas.

The EU's foreign policy chief, Josep Borrell, however, has asked European states to back Guterres.

"I ask the EU members of the UN Security Council and like-minded partners to support UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres' call," he posted on X.

"The UNSC must act immediately to prevent a full collapse of the humanitarian situation in Gaza," he added. 

UN Security Council members will consider a draft ceasefire resolution today. 

Good evening readers of Middle East Eye,

Today marked the 61st day of the Israeli war in Gaza. The Palestinian death toll since 7 October has been increasing.

In Gaza, 16,248 people have been killed including 7,112 children, 4,885 women, 286 medical professionals, 32 paramedics, and 81 journalists. In the West Bank, the number of those killed is 254.

The UN Human Rights Office in the Occupied Palestinian Territories reported that Israeli forces have claimed to have carried out at least 10,000 air strikes since the start of the hostilities on 7 October.

United Nations human rights chief Volker Turk warned there was a heightened risk of atrocity crimes in "apocalyptic" Gaza, urging parties involved to refrain from committing such violations. 

Here are some of the  updates from the past few hours: 

• The US said it would oppose any suggested buffer zone within the Gaza Strip, as this would contradict Washington’s stance that the size of the Palestinian territory should not diminish following the Israel-Palestine war.
• The state of Saxony-Anhalt in eastern Germany announced that residents who apply for citizenship will be required to declare in writing that they believe in Israel's right to exist.
• An Israeli air strike which struck Gaza’s Jabalia refugee camp killed 22 family members of Al Jazeera Arabic journalist Moemen al-Sharifi.
• Israel would pay a very heavy price if it targets Hamas members in Turkey, the country's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said.
• The World Food Programme called for a humanitarian ceasefire in Gaza, warning of a disaster unfolding for the civilian population. 

On Wednesday, Israel approved a "minimal" increase in fuel supplies to Gaza to avert a "humanitarian collapse," announced Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office.

A "minimal supplement of fuel - necessary to prevent a humanitarian collapse and the outbreak of epidemics" had been approved to enter "into the southern Gaza Strip", Netanyahu's office wrote on X.

He added that the "minimal amount" would be reconsidered "from time to time by the War Cabinet."

On Wednesday, Republican senators blocked a White House proposal for $110.5bn in urgent aid, mainly for Ukraine and Israel, as conservative members objected to the absence of immigration reforms they sought in the agreement.

The vote was 45 in favour to 48 against, indicating that the bill failed to secure the required 60 votes in the 100-member Senate necessary to initiate debate on the legislation.

The voting reflected party divisions, with all Senate Republicans and Senator Bernie Sanders voting against it. Sanders had voiced objections regarding the funding of Israel's "current inhumane military strategy" against Palestinians.

"Today’s vote is what it takes for the Democratic leader to recognize that Senate Republicans mean what we say. Then let’s vote. And then let's finally start meeting America's national security priorities, including right here at home," Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell said in a floor speech earlier on Wednesday.

Al Jazeera condemned the Israeli air strikes that resulted in the death of 22 family members of Al Jazeera journalist Moamen al-Sharafi, in a statement released Wednesday.

“The Network demands that the Israeli military is held accountable for the daily crimes committed against journalists and innocent civilians in the Gaza Strip,” the statement said.

Al Jazeera added that it will pursue all legal steps to hold accountable those who are responsible for the crime.

An Israeli air strike that struck Gaza’s Jabalia refugee camp killed al-Sharafi's father, mother, three children, nieces, nephews, and several siblings, the news agency announced on Wednesday.

Al-Sharafi told Al Jazeera that an explosive barrel hit the home, resulting in a deep hole.

“We are prevented from saying goodbye to our loved ones, and are deprived of giving them a proper burial,” he added.

On Wednesday, the US government released safety recommendations for religious communities, responding to a heightened terrorism threat level that led the FBI director to express concern about “blinking lights everywhere”.

Recommendations from the Department of Homeland Security include creating a security strategy, assigning security responsibilities to an individual or a group, conducting risk assessments, collaborating with the local community, and recognising accessible resources.

Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas said on Wednesday that the DHS is collaborating with the FBI and other agencies to disseminate information to the private sector and the public. This includes guidance on measures that can be taken to reduce threats, he explained.

The US State Department is reviewing Amnesty International’s report that said US-made munitions killed civilians in Israeli air strikes in Gaza, State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller said on Wednesday.

The report, which was published on Tuesday, revealed that remnants of US-manufactured Joint Direct Attack Munitions were discovered in the rubble of demolished homes in central Gaza, where 43 civilians, including 19 children, were killed in an Israeli air strike.

The US would oppose any suggested buffer zone within the Gaza Strip, as this would contradict Washington’s stance that the size of the Palestinian territory should not diminish following the Israel-Palestine war, State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller said on Wednesday.

Last week, Reuters reported that Israel had conveyed its plans for its buffer zone proposals to a number of Arab nations and Turkey.

Israel’s military announced late Wednesday that their units in Gaza were conducting operations in the “heart of Khan Younis” for the first time.

It said soldiers “arrived at the centre of Khan Younis and began targeted raids in the heart of the city”, which it identified as a symbol of Hamas’ military and administrative rule, Reuters reported.

United Nations secretary general Antonio Guterres cautioned the Security Council on Wednesday that the war between Israel and Palestine in the Gaza Strip "may aggravate existing threats to international peace and security".

Guterres invoked the rarely used Article 99, which allows him to "bring to the attention of the Security Council any matter which in his opinion may threaten the maintenance of international peace and security".

"We are facing a severe risk of collapse of the humanitarian system. The situation is fast deteriorating into a catastrophe with potentially irreversible implications for Palestinians as a whole and for peace and security in the region," Guterres wrote in a letter to the 15-member council.

"Such an outcome must be avoided at all costs," he said.

Israel’s “catastrophic” bombing campaign in Gaza “has approached that caused by the years-long carpet-bombing of German cities during the Second World War,” the Financial Times reports. 

“Gaza will also go down as a place name denoting one of history’s heaviest conventional bombing campaigns,” said the report. 

Almost 70 percent of all buildings in Gaza have been destroyed in the last two months by Israel with the support of US weaponry.