Israel's War on Gaza Live: Israel pounds Rafah in overnight strikes
Live Updates
Good evening,
It has just turned 5:30 PM in Palestine and Israel, and here is your latest update on the situation as the war enters its sixth month.
Palestinian health officials said that Israeli forces have killed at least 33,175 Palestinians in Gaza since the start of the war.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reiterated that there would be no ceasefire in Gaza unless all hostages are returned home.
His announcement came as negotiating teams from the United States, Israel and Hamas travelled to Cairo to begin negotiations.
Here are other key developments from the last few hours:
- Defence Minister Yoav Gallant said Israel was ready to respond to any threat posed by Iran after an attack on the Iranian consulate in Damascus killed 11 people.
- The Israeli military confirmed that it had withdrawn most of their troops from southern Gaza.
- A military spokesperson told Reuters that the army had left the Nahal brigade to be stationed at the centre of Gaza, where they will be tasked with securing "Netzarim corridor" and prevent Palestinians returning to the north.
- Outside of Gaza, the Houthis confirmed that it had struck a missile in close proximity to a ship in the Yemeni port city of Aden.
Israel said it launched air strikes on eastern Lebanon and hit Hezbollah infrastructure on Sunday after the militia took down an Israeli drone.
In a statement, the Israeli army said that fighter jets struck a military complex and three other sites belonging to Hezbollah in the eastern city of Baalbek.
The strikes came after Hezbollah downed an Israeli-made Hermes-900 drone. Hezbollah said it fired dozens of Katyusha rockets that hit an air defence base in the occupied Golan Heights, in response to Israeli raids on eastern Lebanon.
White House National Security spokesperson John Kirby said the Israeli army's troop reduction in Gaza appears to be a "rest and refit" and not necessarily indicative of any new operations.
"As we understand it, and through their public announcements, it is really just about rest and refit for these troops," Kirby told ABC News.
"[This is] not necessarily that we can tell indicative of some coming new operation for these troops," Kirby said when asked about the step."
Al-Jazeera is reporting that Mossad head David Barnea will be involved in the negotiations taking place in Cairo.
Barnea's presence come after the Israeli war cabinet meeting on Sunday said that the delegation heading to Egypt had been given an expanded mandate.
The cabinet did not clarify what that expanded mandate entailed but comes after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said there would be no ceasefire unless hostages were released.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said there would be no ceasefire in Gaza without the release of all hostages.
He added that Israel was “one step” away from victory in Gaza.
His comments come as negotiators visit Cairo to discuss a possible ceasefire.
British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak reiterated Britain’s support for Israel as pressure mounts on the UK to end arms sales to Israel after Israeli forces killed three British aid workers.
In a statement to mark six months since Israel launched its bombardment of Gaza, Sunak called for the return of the hostages taken by Hamas.
“We continue to stand by Israel’s right to defeat the threat from Hamas terrorists and defend their security,” said Sunak.
“But the whole of the UK is shocked by the bloodshed and appalled by the killing of British heroes that were bringing food to those in need.”
Israel said it has withdrawn all its troops from southern Gaza, except for one brigade, a military spokesperson told Reuters.
An Israeli brigade typically consists of a few thousand troops.
The army did not clarify whether the withdrawal would delay a possible incursion into Rafah, where more than a million have sought refuge.
The army added that the Nahal brigade will be stationed in the centre of Gaza and tasked with securing the "Netzarim corridor" and prevent Palestinians returning to the north.
The Palestinian Health Ministry announced on Sunday that Israel had killed at least 33,175 people in Gaza since the start of the war.
Local health officials said the death toll includes 34 recorded deaths in the last 24 hours.
Since the start of the fighting, Israel has killed more than 14,000 children and 9,220 women.
The UK Maritime Trade Organisation said a missile was fired near a ship in the Yemeni port city of Aden.
The UKMTO said the missile struck the vessel "in close proximity" to the ship.
It added: "No damage to the vessel reported and crew reported safe."
This attack comes hours after two missiles targeted a ship southwest of the Yemeni port city of Hodeidah, according to the UKMTO.
US-led coalition forces intercepted one missile and the second missed the ship, UKMTO said.
Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant said Israel was ready to respond to any threat posed by Iran.
Gallant's office released the statement after he was pictured meeting with Israeli military officials, according to Reuters.
"Upon completing the assessment, Minister Gallant emphasised that the defence establishment has completed preparations for responses in the event of any scenario that may develop vis-a-vis Iran," his office said in a statement.
His comments came after Iran vowed to take revenge following an attack on the Iranian consulate in Damascus that killed 11 people last week, including an Iranian commander from the Revolutionary Guards.
The Israeli army said it has lost hundreds of soldiers since the start of the war, according to new data.
Figures published by Israeli Army Radio related to its wars on Gaza and Lebanon show that at least 604 soldiers, including 204 inside Gaza, had been killed since 7 October.
Other figures released by the Israeli army include:
- 41 Israeli soldiers killed by friendly fire.
- 12,000 fighters from Hamas and other Palestinian groups killed in Gaza.
- 4,700 Hezbollah positions hit in Lebanon.
Good morning Middle East Eye readers,
It's just after 11am in Palestine and Israel as the war on Gaza enters its sixth month.
For 184 days, the world has looked on as heavy Israeli bombardment and a ground invasion have reduced vast areas of Gaza to a ruined wasteland.
The decades-old Israeli-Palestinian conflict escalated on 7 October when Palestinian fighters led by Hamas burst into southern Israel following Israeli provocations at the third-holiest site in Islam, Jerusalem's Al-Aqsa Mosque.
After the high-tech border fence that surrounds the besieged Gaza Strip was overwhelmed, more than 1,100 people were killed in the attacks, the majority of them civilians, according to an MEE tally based on official figures.
Israel responded by dropping more bombs on Gaza than the weight and power of the three nuclear bombs dropped on the Japanese city of Hiroshima by the Americans in World War Two.
Crowded urban areas have been pancaked and more than half of all buildings across Gaza have been destroyed.
So far, nearly 33,000 Palestinians, more than two-thirds of them women and children, have been killed.
Israel has faced mounting international pressure to end its war but has been largely been shielded by US diplomatic and military support.
Here are some key developments from the last few hours:
- Intense fighting has been reported in and around Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip
- The military wing of Hamas, the Qassam Brigades, claims it has killed at least 14 Israeli soldiers during clashes
- WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus has said Al-Shifa Hospital is 'an empty shell with human graves after the latest siege'
- Israeli forces have arrested 45 Palestinians in the occupied West Bank, including worshippers leaving the Al-Aqsa Mosque
