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

Mohammed al-Bukhaiti, a senior political official and spokesman for Yemen’s Houthi group, warned against the prospect of Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) joining a US coalition to protect Israeli ships in the Red Sea. 

"If the Saudis and the UAE do not join this coalition to protect Israel, then the region will remain calm. But if they do, winter is coming, and Yemen will destroy their oil facilities and attack oil ships, Europe will be cut off from energy by Russia and Yemen," said Bukhaiti.

On Tuesday, the US State Department announced that its special envoy to Yemen, Timothy Lenderking, will travel to the Gulf this week to coordinate efforts in securing maritime security in the Red Sea.

READ MORE: Western officials privately warn Houthi attacks on shipping lanes will continue

Israel’s Ministry of Defense says it has received "the 200th cargo plane carrying military equipment for the Israel Defense Forces [Israeli army]".

In a post on X, the Israeli ministry said that over 10,000 tonnes of military equipment have been delivered since the beginning of the war, including armoured vehicles, armaments, personal protective equipment and medical supplies. 
 

Amnesty International has found evidence that the Israeli military used US-made precision-guided munitions in two air strikes on Gaza in October, killing 43 civilians in their homes.

The discovery of the weapon fragments in the rubble of the homes comes as a separate investigation uncovered that the US has rushed orders of precision-guided missiles to Israel since 7 October.

US-based NGO Women for Weapons Trade Transparency (W2T2), citing a State Department source, reported that US officials had invoked a section of the 2021 National Defense Authorization Act to allow the transfer of missiles.

W2T2 have called on the US to immediately halt the transfer of precision-guided missiles to Israel, with Amnesty calling for the strikes to be investigated as war crimes.

“The fact that US-made munitions are being used by Israeli military in unlawful attacks with deadly consequences for civilians should be an urgent wake-up call to the Biden administration," said Agnes Callamard, Amnesty International’s secretary general.

Click on the link below to read the full story. 

Read more: 43 Palestinians killed in two air strikes with US weapons, says Amnesty

An Israeli air strike which struck Gaza’s Jabalia refugee camp has killed the father, mother, and a number of siblings of the Al-Jazeera Arabic journalist Moemen al-Sharifi, the news agency announced on Wednesday. 

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

“None of the civil defence crews are unable to reach their bodies,” he said. “

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

At least 21 members of al-Shrafi’s family were killed in the air strike, including his nieces and nephews. 

The state of Saxony-Anhalt in eastern Germany announced on Wednesday that residents who apply for citizenship will be required to declare in writing that they believe in Israel's right to exist, according to a report in Haaretz.

The country's Ministry of Interior issued an order whereby people applying for citizenship who do not declare support for Israel will not be able to become naturalised. The content of the order was published by the German news agency DPA.

Saxony-Anhalt's interior minister, Tamara Zieschang, wrote to the ministries which handle the naturalisation process to explain that each candidate will have to confirm in writing that they "recognise Israel's right to exist and condemn any effort directed against the existence of the State of Israel".
 

A cabinet meeting on Tuesday between Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, freed captives and the families of those still held in Gaza since 7 October ended in furore, according to reports in Israeli media.

Anger directed at Netanyahu could be heard in voice recordings from the meeting, with families accusing Israeli leaders of putting their political careers before the lives of the captives. 

Some of those present at the meeting walked out in anger, while others described a tense atmosphere where voices were raised at Netanyahu. 

The meeting had finally taken place at the request of the families of the captives, after being postponed three times. 

Read more: Families of Israeli captives clash with Netanyahu during tense meeting

France has condemned an Israel strike in south Lebanon which killed a Lebanese soldier.

"France is gravely concerned by the ongoing clashes on the border between Lebanon and Israel. France condemns the Israeli strike which cost the life of a member of the Lebanese armed forces, and sends its sincere condolences to the victim's relatives," a French foreign ministry spokesperson said on Wednesday.

One Lebanese soldier was killed and three others wounded by Israeli shelling near a border village in southern Lebanon on Tuesday. 

Hezbollah said on Wednesday that it directly hit a “radar site” in northern Israel, according to a report by Anadolu news agency.

The Israeli army said it had detected launches from Lebanese territory towards a military post and an outpost along the border, and was striking the sources.

The army added that it had been striking Hezbollah targets in Lebanon since Wednesday morning using tanks, aircraft and artillery fire.

Palestinians in the Gaza Strip are living in "utter, deepening horror", the UN human rights chief said Wednesday, as he pleaded for an immediate ceasefire.

Volker Turk said there was a high risk of atrocity crimes being committed in such "catastrophic humanitarian circumstances".

"Civilians in Gaza continue to be relentlessly bombarded by Israel and collectively punished - suffering death, siege, destruction and deprivation of the most essential human needs such as food, water, lifesaving medical supplies and other essentials on a massive scale," he told a press conference. 

"Palestinians in Gaza are living in utter, deepening horror." 

He said 1.9 million of the Palestinian enclave's 2.2 million people had been displaced and were being pushed into "ever-diminishing and extremely overcrowded places in southern Gaza, in unsanitary and unhealthy conditions".

After five days of intense Israeli attacks in western Gaza City, tanks retreated from some of the residential areas they have been attacking since the end of the truce on Friday. 

In their wake, they have left widespread destruction and death. 

Mohammad al-Hajjar, an MEE contributor, was trapped at home with his family, like many Palestinians in the city. 

He said anyone who dared to move was immediately targeted with gunfire from tanks and drones. For five days, it was so quiet in the neighbourhood that you would be able to hear a pin drop, he said. 

"When someone shouted 'God is great' in defiance, the house he was in was shelled," Hajjar recounted.

"We tried to keep silent and avoid windows as much as possible."  

On Wednesday morning, the Israeli tanks retreated for a distance of about 300 metres, without explanation. Families, coming out after five days of siege, are now assessing the extent of the damage left behind. 

Hajjar says he saw three bodies strewn on his street when he stepped out to dump the rubbish for the first time in days. 

"One of them was shot about 20 metres from my house," Hajjar said. 

People who attempted to flee amid the attacks were shot, he added, with some escaping the bullets and others dying on the spot.

No ambulances have been able to reach the area for days. 

Israeli fighter jets bombed five UN schools sheltering displaced Palestinians in the past 24 hours, killing and wounding hundreds, a human rights group said on Wednesday. 

The Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Monitor said it condemns in the "strongest terms" the Israeli escalation targeting schools across the Gaza Strip. 

The group documented air strikes and artillery shelling that took place on Tuesday and Wednesday morning targeting Palestine and Salah al-Din schools in the Jabalia refugee camp in the northern Gaza Strip, the al-Falah school in the al-Zaytoun neighbourhood south of Gaza City, Maan school in Khan Younis, and another school in Bani Suhaila town in the southern Gaza Strip. 

It said some of these schools were operated by the UN agency for Palestinian refugees, Unrwa. 

"Israel must fulfil all its obligations in accordance with international humanitarian law, including stopping the targeting of civilians and United Nations facilities," the monitor said in a statement. 

Britain's Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) agency said on Wednesday it had received reports of an incident involving an "uncrewed aerial system" west of the port of Hodeidah in Yemen.

It said vessels in the area are advised to exercise caution and report "suspicious activity" to UKMTO. 

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

"My humanitarian colleagues have described the situation as apocalyptic. In these circumstances, there is a heightened risk of atrocity crimes," Turk told reporters in Geneva.

"Measures need to be taken urgently, both by the parties concerned and by all states, particularly those with influence, to prevent any such crimes."

The World Food Programme on Wednesday called for a humanitarian ceasefire in Gaza, warning of a disaster unfolding for the civilian population.

"WFP urgently calls for a humanitarian ceasefire in Gaza," the UN body said in a statement on X. 

"The recent pause allowed us to reach 250,000 people, but the distribution of aid is now almost impossible and endangers the lives of humanitarian workers."