Live: Hamas agrees to release 10 Israeli captives

The Houthis condemned the “silence” from most Arab and Muslim countries about Israel's war on Gaza, Al Jazeera reported on Friday.

“We condemn the global silence and complicity, and the reliance on deceptive verbal stances that encourage the enemy to persist in its crimes,” the group said in reference to Israel.

“We call on Arabs and Muslims, both people and governments, to boycott the goods and products of Israeli and American companies.”

The statement, which was read at a large rally in Sanaa to protest Israel's war on Gaza, said Yemenis will not stop supporting Palestinians, and they are “prepared for any escalation, regardless of its scale or source” from Israel, the US, and its allies..

Ireland is donating £3.45m (€4m) to support Palestinian children to access education, the tanaiste and minister for foreign affairs, Simon Harris announced on Thursday.

The funding package includes £2.59m (€3m) for children’s education, £604,000 (€700,000) to organisations working in the area of human rights, and £259,000 (€300,000) to support public services and vulnerable families.

The funding will be used support the delivery of teacher training, the provision of school materials and the rehabilitation of school buildings.

The UN Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) warned that "starvation is increasing" in Gaza in a post on X on Friday, and pleaded for the opportunity to resume its humanitarian work in the strip.

"People are fainting in the streets from hunger," the statement said. "The current aid distribution system has humiliated and dehumanised hungry and scared, injured and exhausted families. No person, anywhere, should be forced to choose between risking their life and feeding their family.

It added that during the ceasefire, the UN - including UNRWA - proved it can deliver life-saving assistance safely and at scale across the Gaza Strip.

"We have the systems, the expertise, and the will. What we need is access. Lift the siege. Let us do our job."

Israel banned UNRWA from operating in Gaza and Israel on 28 October 2024,

Israeli military stormed a remembrance service in Hebron on Friday night and fired stun grenades and used tear gas canisters on mourners, Wafa news agency reported, citing local sources.

The service was being held for Ayman Abu Dawood who had been killed on Thursday in the Gaza Strip during an Israeli airstrike. Abu Dawood was a former detainee from the West Bank who had been exiled to Gaza several years ago. 

Israeli soldiers raided the service in the Wadi al-Hariyya neighborhood of Hebron wreaking havoc inside with the tear gas and stun grenades, destroying chairs and forcibly evacuating everyone present.

Malaysia on Friday expressed its "support" for France's efforts to revive the Israeli-Palestinian "two-state" solution, AFP reported.

"We condemn the continued bombing and atrocities inflicted on civilians, women, and children. It is a shame that the international community is unable to put an end to them," Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim said during his visit to France to meet with French President Emmanuel Macron.

"I am of course interested in your initiative" to "try to resolve the ongoing conflict in Gaza", Ibrahim told Macron.

Emmanuel Macron was scheduled to co-chair an international conference with Saudi Arabia at the United Nations in New York City on 17 June to revive a two-state solution, which he postponed.

"The momentum we have initiated in preparation for the international conference for the implementation of the two-state solution, in conjunction with the kingdom of Saudi Arabia, must continue as quickly as possible,"  Macron said on Friday.

Macron met with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman on Thursday to discuss a new date. A new date is expected to be announced next week.

Hamas said on Friday it was ready to start talks "immediately" on a proposal for a ceasefire with Israel in Gaza, after holding consultations with other Palestinian factions, reported AFP.

"The movement is ready to engage immediately and seriously in a cycle of negotiations on the mechanism to put in place" the terms of a draft truce proposal received from mediators, the group said in a statement.

A London High Court judge on Friday upheld the proscription of Palestine Action in the United Kingdom.

The direct action group, known for targeting companies involved in the Israeli arms trade, was designated as a terrorist group by the UK government this week. The move has been heavily condemned by human rights groups and lawyers.

Proscription makes it a crime to be a member of Palestine Action, and membership carries a maximum 14-year prison sentence. The ban comes into effect at midnight on Friday.

Four more aid seekers have been killed by Israeli soldiers near an aid distribution point in central Gaza, Al Jazeera reported on Friday, citing sources at al-Awda Hospital in Nuseirat. 

Before today, Israel has killed 610 starving people seeking aid near distribution points since 27 May, when the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation began distributing food at four distribution points in southern and central Gaza, but not northern Gaza, leaving residents there in a food vacuum.

A march by Palestinians in the West Bank village of Sinjil on Friday to protest against Israeli settler attacks on nearby farmland was disrupted by settlers, AFP reported on Friday.

After local Palestinian residents and activists had begun their march, settlers appeared on a hill belonging to the village. and threw rocks from the high ground. 

Wafa news agency reported that three Palestinains were injured in the attacks by Israeli settlers, including one man who the settlers tried to kidnap after they assualted him. Local Palestinians managed to rescue him.

Anwar al-Ghafri, a lawyer and member of Sinjil's city council, told AFP that such incidents are not new but have intensified in recent days in the area, just north of the West Bank city of Ramallah.

"A group of settlers, with support and approval from the Israeli army, are carrying out organised attacks on citizens' land," he told AFP.

"They assault farmers, destroy crops, and prevent people from reaching or trying to reach their land," he said, describing the events that had prompted Friday's march.

Israeli authorities recently erected a high fence cutting off parts of Sinjil from Road 60, which runs through the entire West Bank from north to south and which both Israeli settlers and Palestinians use.

Mohammad Asfour, a 52-year-old resident, told AFP that the fence was isolating his community, like other Palestinian cities and towns that recently had gates erected by Israel to control access to the outside.

"Sinjil is suffering greatly because of this wall. My house is near it, and so are my brothers' homes. The settler has the right to come to Sinjil - but the sons of Sinjil aren't allowed to climb up this hill," Asfour said.

Thousands of Yemenis gathered in Sanaa for a large rally to demonstrate against Israel’s war on Gaza and US support for Israel, Al Jazeera reported on Friday.

The Houthis, who control Sanaa and several western and northern areas of Yemen, have been launching missile and drone attacks on Israel since November 2023 to protest against Israel's war on Gaza.

At least one person was killed and several others were injured when two drone missiles hit Al-Sabra Girls’ School in Gaza City, Al Jazeera reported on Friday. 

It is the second attack on a school on Friday. Earlier in the day, a drone strike killed three Palestinians when it targeted a group of people near Al-Hurriya School in Gaza City’s Zeitoun neighbourhood.

Veteran BBC presenter Gary Lineker said that the British broadcaster "should hang its head in shame" after watching Gaza: Medics Under Fire, a documentary originally commissioned, then dropped by the news corporation. 

Speaking after a screening of the film in London on Thursday, the BBC’s former Match of the Day presenter said it was "one of the most important films" he'd seen.

"It really did need to be seen, I think everyone would agree with that," he added.

The documentary tells the stories of Palestinian doctors and health workers working in Gaza under Israeli bombardment and lays out allegations that the Israeli army systematically targeted hospitals and medical staff in the besieged strip throughout its military campaign.

The BBC announced that it had dropped the film in June after a months-long delay due to impartiality concerns.

Gary Lineker: BBC 'should hang its head in shame’ over shelved Gaza documentary

Hamas has said it is holding consultations with other Palestinian groups on a proposed truce with Israel.

"The movement is conducting consultations with leaders of Palestinian forces and factions regarding the proposal received... from the mediators," Hamas said in a statement early on Friday.

Two previous ceasefires mediated by Qatar, Egypt and the US have seen temporary halts in fighting, coupled with the return of Israeli captives in exchange for Palestinian prisoners and detainees.

Hours earlier, Netanyahu vowed to bring home all Israeli captives held in Gaza. 

"I feel a deep commitment, first and foremost, to ensure the return of all our abductees, all of them," Netanyahu said.

Trump said on Thursday he wanted "safety for the people of Gaza".

"They've gone through hell," he said.

A Palestinian source familiar with the negotiations told AFP earlier this week there were no fundamental changes in the latest proposal compared to previous terms presented by the United States.

The source said the proposal "includes a 60-day truce, during which Hamas would release half of the living Israeli captives in the Gaza Strip - thought to number 22 - in exchange for Israel releasing a number of Palestinian prisoners and detainees".

Out of 251 captives taken by Palestinian groups during the 7 October 2023 surprise attack, 49 are still held in Gaza, including 27 whom the Israeli military says are dead.

Two civilians have been killed and several others wounded after Israeli forces targeted an area in Nuseirat refugee camp in central Gaza on Friday.

According to local media, an Israeli drone struck a group of civilians in the al-Hasayneh area, west of the refugee camp.

Palestinian football star Muhannad Fadl al-Lay died on Thursday after being wounded in an Israeli attack on his home earlier this week. 

The attack took place on Monday at al-Maghazi refugee camp in central Gaza. Lay's death makes him the second football player to be killed this week in the besieged enclave. 

Lay was a player for the Al-Maghazi Services Club and the Palestinian national football team.

The Palestinian Football Association said in a statement that: "A drone fired a missile at Muhannad's room on the third floor of his home, causing him to suffer a severe skull haemorrhage, which led to his death." 

The association noted that the footballer attempted to travel outside the blockaded strip to join his wife in Norway before the outbreak of the war, but he was prevented from leaving and was not able to see his family. 

Read more: Gaza football star killed in Israeli strike, raising athlete death toll to 585