Live: Hamas agrees to release 10 Israeli captives

A Palestinian man was killed on Wednesday after being shot by Israeli forces in the village of al-Walaja, west of Bethlehem, in occupied East Jerusalem. 

Wafa news agency said, citing a security source, that Israeli forces assaulted Ali Hamza Hajajleh, 22, and fired live bullets at him from close range after raiding his home. His body has reportedly been detained by Israeli forces.

Business registration documents filed in Israel last month by a private US contractor operating in Gaza reveal a wider network of Americans linked to a controversial aid plan whose funding has remained opaque as more than 400 Palestinians have been killed seeking food from its sites.

Safe Reach Solutions (SRS) is providing security and logistics for the sites recently set up as part of the plan, which has seen the UN-led aid distribution system in Gaza sidelined and replaced by the Israeli- and US-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF).

Questions about the foundation’s funding have plagued it for weeks, leading reporters to look for answers in the wilds of Delaware, a state known for its culture of corporate secrecy where GHF was registered earlier this year.

While the organisation’s backers remain a mystery, a Middle East Eye investigation based on registration documents filed by SRS in Israel last month show a confluence of former US government contractors, investors, and firms representing ultra-rich individuals involved in the for-profit company.

The revelations come as the US State Department is reportedly considering providing $500m to the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation.

Read more: Israeli documents reveal further US interests in firm guarding Gaza aid hubs

A YouGov poll reveals 55 percent of Britons oppose Israel’s military campaign in Gaza, with 82 percent of these opponents saying the actions amount to genocide.

• Overall, 45 percent of UK adults view Israel’s actions as genocidal.

• Among Labour voters in the 2024 General Election, 68 percent oppose Israel’s actions, with 87 percent of those believing it constitutes genocide - representing 59 percentof Labour supporters.

• Public backing is strong for legal action: 65 percent of Britons support the UK enforcing the International Criminal Court’s arrest warrant for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

• Labour voters show even stronger support for ICC enforcement, at 78 percent, with only 5 percent opposing.

• On Palestinian statehood, 30 percent of Britons favour immediate recognition of Palestine as independent, 19 percent prefer recognition at a later date, and just 10 percent oppose.

• Among Labour voters, 43 percent support immediate recognition, 21 percent back later recognition, and only 2 percent oppose.

• Labour supporters also back humanitarian efforts, with 56 percent endorsing a Gaza visa scheme similar to “Homes for Ukraine,” compared to 27 percent opposing.

For two days, Ramez Jendiya’s wife and five children heard nothing from him after he left to collect a food package from a US-backed aid distribution point in central Gaza.

After dozens of failed attempts to reach him from her makeshift tent in Palestine Stadium in Gaza City, his wife finally received the news: he had been killed near the aid distribution point.

“On Friday, he told his wife he was going to collect aid after they ran out of food. He didn’t usually take his phone with him, but she expected him to be late because this was his third or fourth attempt and he came back late every time,” Ahmed Jendiya, his brother-in-law, told Middle East Eye.

“She waited for him late into the night, but when he didn’t return, she grew anxious. She tried calling the men who usually went with him, but none answered. She couldn’t sleep for two days, desperately trying to reach him or find out anything about his fate, especially after hearing that people had been killed near the distribution point."

Read more: ‘Execution site’: Palestinians face death collecting food at US-Israeli Gaza aid points

The number of Palestinians killed since Israel’s war on Gaza began on 7 October 2023 has climbed to 55,493, with at least 129,320 wounded, according to the Palestinian Ministry of Health on Tuesday.

Since 18 March 2025 alone, the ministry reported 5,194 more deaths and 17,279 injuries.

As fighting between Israel and Iran escalates, Israeli forces continue to bomb Gaza, with at least 34 Palestinians killed across the territory on Tuesday, according to the Palestinian news agency Wafa.

Among the dead are civilians and people searching for humanitarian aid:

• In central Gaza, Israeli gunfire killed 11 people and injured more than 100 as they gathered for aid, civil defence spokesperson Mahmoud Bassel said.

• A woman and several of her children were among 10 people killed in an Israeli air raid on their home in Maghazi refugee camp.

• In Gaza City’s Zeitoun neighbourhood, eight people died under Israeli shelling.

• Five others, including two children and a woman, were killed in Khan Younis when Israeli forces struck a tent camp, Wafa reported.

At least 11 Palestinians have been killed by Israel and over 70 wounded while waiting for humanitarian aid near the Netzarim junction in central Gaza, according to a source at Al-Awda Hospital.

The hospital reported that all the casualties were civilians who had gathered in hopes of receiving desperately needed assistance.

Good morning Middle East Eye readers, 

Here are the latest updates from the Israeli war on Gaza, now in its 620th day: 

• Eight killed in Zeitoun strike: A Baptist Hospital source confirmed an Israeli air strike hit a home in Gaza City’s Zeitoun neighbourhood on Wednesday.

• Ten dead in aid queue attack: Al-Awda Hospital reported 10 killed and 70+ injured as people waited for aid near Netzarim axis in central Gaza on Wednesday.

• At least 89 Palestinians killed in Israeli attacks across Gaza on Tuesday, according to the Palestinian health ministry.

• Internet and phone lines cut: The Palestinian Authority blamed Israel for damaging a key fibre optic cable, disrupting services in central and southern Gaza.

The Israeli military issued a new forced displacement order for a part of the southern Gaza Strip on Tuesday. 

“The IDF is operating with great force in the areas where you are located to destroy the capabilities of the terror organizations,” the Israeli military said. 

Israel has pounded the Gaza Strip even as it attacks Iran. 

The health sector in Gaza is in a critical situation, the UN Agency for Palestinians said on Tuesday. 

The UN said that "45 percent of essential supplies are already out of stock. Nearly a quarter more could run out within 6 weeks".

The agency added that "vital medicines" were nearly depleted. 

Israeli soldiers bulldozed agricultural lands on Tuesday in Zabuba village west of Jenin and raided the neighbouring village of Rummanah, Palestinian news agency Wafa reported on Tuesday.

Israeli bulldozers uprooted olive trees in the area. 

Israeli soldiers also deployed in Rummanah, west of Jenin. They converted houses in the area into military outposts for the fifth consecutive day, forcibly displacing residents, Wafa reported. 

At least 89 Palestinians have been killed in Israeli attacks across Gaza since dawn, with at least 80 killed in Israeli ambushes at US-run aid distribution centres in Khan Younis and Rafah, the Palestinian health ministry has said in a statement.

The attacks occurred as residents gathered at aid distribution points, where they came under artillery shelling from Israeli forces.

At least seven Palestinians have been killed in a wave of Israeli air strikes targeting central Gaza's Deir el-Balah and al-Buriej refugee camp on Tuesday evening, Wafa news agency is reporting.

In Deir al-Balah, an Israeli strike targeting a house in the city centre killed at least one person, while another attack targeting a tent sheltering displaced people in the Abu al-Ajeen area killed at least two.

Meanwhile, in al-Bureij, four members of the same family were killed in an Israeli strike targeting their house. The fatalities included women and children.

Wafa also reported Israeli artillery shelling in northern Khan Younis, which caused "further destruction and casualties".

Earlier today, Israeli forces killed at least 80 Palestinians in two ambushes at US-run aid distribution centres in Rafah and Khan Younis.

According to the Palestinian Ministry of Health, approximately 30 people were killed in the al-Alam area of ​​Rafah, while the death toll rose to nearly 50 in the al-Tahlia area of ​​Khan Younis.

The latest deaths have pushed the toll of Palestinians killed by Israeli forces in Gaza since October 2023 to 55,493, with another 129,320 injured.

For two days, Ramez Jendiya’s wife and five children heard nothing from him after he left to collect a food package from a US-backed aid distribution point in central Gaza.

After dozens of failed attempts to reach him from her makeshift tent in Palestine Stadium in Gaza City, his wife finally received the news: he had been killed near the aid distribution point.

“On Friday, he told his wife he was going to collect aid after they ran out of food. He didn’t usually take his phone with him, but she expected him to be late because this was his third or fourth attempt and he came back late every time,” Ahmed Jendiya, his brother-in-law, told Middle East Eye.

“She waited for him late into the night, but when he didn’t return, she grew anxious. She tried calling the men who usually went with him, but none answered. She couldn’t sleep for two days, desperately trying to reach him or find out anything about his fate, especially after hearing that people had been killed near the distribution point.”

On Saturday evening, Jendiya’s relatives travelled to central Gaza, planning to spend the night so they could begin searching near the aid distribution site early the next morning.

Read more: ‘Execution site’: Palestinians face death collecting food at US-Israeli Gaza aid points

Israeli settler groups have continued their attacks on Palestinian property in the occupied West Bank even as Israel entered a state of emergency over ongoing Iranian attacks.

Palestinian sources reported that settlers attacked Palestinian property and set fires near Ramallah, Nablus and Qalqilya.

In al-Mazra'a al-Sharqiya, east of Ramallah, settlers vandalised and set fire to Palestinian property on Saturday evening.

One group of settlers attacked an industrial facility in the town and smashed the windshield of a vehicle.

Abdel Samad Abdel Aziz, the owner of the facility, told Middle East Eye that 70 settlers had attacked the stone factory with the intention of destroying it, and the townspeople gathered to confront them.

Read more: Israeli settlers continue raids in the occupied West Bank despite Iran attacks