Live: At least 75 killed in Israeli strikes on second day of Eid al-Adha

Hisham Mhanna, spokesperson for the International Committee of the Red Cross, said its field hospital in Rafah treated 184 wounded Palestinians following an Israeli assault early on Wednesday morning near an aid distribution site.

Nineteen people were already dead when they arrived, and eight more succumbed to their injuries shortly after.

The bodies of the 27 victims were later moved to Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis.

Yasser Abu Lubda, a 50-year-old displaced man from Rafah, described the chaos as gunfire erupted around 4am near the city’s Flag Roundabout, roughly one kilometre from the aid hub. "I saw people drop, some killed, others bleeding on the ground," the Associated Press (AP) reported.

Neima al-Aaraj, a woman from Khan Younis, shared a grim account.

"There were many martyrs and wounded," she told AP. She described the Israeli gunfire as "indiscriminate" and said she walked away empty-handed after making it to the site.

"There was no aid there," she added. "After the martyrs and wounded, I won’t return. Either way, we will die."

Rasha al-Nahal, another witness, said gunfire came "from all directions". She counted more than a dozen bodies and several injured on the roadside. “They fired at us even as we turned back,” she said, noting the absence of any aid at the location.

Israeli forces have launched a wide-ranging campaign of raids and arrests across various areas of the occupied West Bank, detaining several Palestinians, including the brothers of a wanted man, the Palestinian Prisoners' media office said on Tuesday. Those known to have been arrested include:

• Ahmad al-Fasfous – brother of wanted man Mahmoud al-Fasfous – Dura, Hebron

• Nidal al-Fasfous – brother of wanted man Mahmoud al-Fasfous – Dura, Hebron

• Abd al-Salam al-Fasfous – brother of wanted man Mahmoud al-Fasfous – Dura, Hebron

• Shaher al-Sharha – Dura, Hebron

• Mohammad Abd al-Rahman al-Fayyad – town of Ya’bad, Jenin

• Saif Qaraan – Umm al-Sharayet neighbourhood, al-Bireh / Ramallah

• Suhail Shiha – Umm al-Sharayet neighbourhood, al-Bireh / Ramallah

• Ramadan Nazzal Ramadan Ria (28 years old) – Beit Sahour, Bethlehem

• Hamza Nazzal Ramadan Ria (30 years old) – Beit Sahour, Bethlehem

Earlier, we reported that Israeli forces shot and killed 24 Palestinians near an aid distribution point in Rafah, southern Gaza.

Gaza’s health ministry has now confirmed the death toll has climbed to at least 27 and many more wounded. 

If you have spent the past 20 months wondering why British leaders on both sides of the aisle have barely criticised Israel, even as it slaughtered and starved Gaza’s population of more than two million people, you finally got an answer last week. 

Conservative Party leader Kemi Badenoch said the quiet part out loud. She told Sky: “Israel is fighting a proxy war [in Gaza] on behalf of the UK.” 

According to Badenoch, the UK - and presumably in her assessment, other western powers - aren’t just supporting Israel against Hamas. They are willing that fight and helping to direct it. They view that fight as centrally important to their national interests. 

This certainly accords with what we have witnessed over more than a year and a half. Both the current Labour government of Prime Minister Keir Starmer, and its Tory predecessor under Rishi Sunak, have been unwavering in their commitment to send British arms to Israel, while also shipping weapons from the United States and Germany to help with the slaughter. 

Read more:  Badenoch blurts out the truth: Britain is at the heart of Gaza 'proxy war'

• Israeli forces arrested two brothers in Beit Sahour, east of Bethlehem, early Tuesday after raiding their home. Security sources identified them as Ramadan Nazzal Raya, 28, and Hamza Raya, 30.

• Bulldozers demolished a house in Umm al-Fahm within Israel’s 1948 borders. Police sealed off the Aqada al-Fuqa neighbourhood before machinery tore down the property.

• Three Palestinians were detained in Dura, south of Hebron, after troops stormed the town. Locals named them as brothers Abdul Salam and Nidal Al-Fasfous, and Raafat Shaher Al-Sharha.

• A young man, Muhammad Abdul Rahman Fayed, was seized in Ya’bad near Jenin during overnight raids. Israeli forces have escalated operations in Jenin since January.

• Troops raided Balata refugee camp near Nablus, ransacking homes in the Maghdousha area. No arrests were reported despite military vehicles patrolling the city.

• Israeli soldiers assaulted Palestinians at a checkpoint near Al-Lubban Al-Sharqiya, attacking a truck driver and harassing villagers from Salfit governorate.

• Jordan condemned extremist settlers’ incursions into Al-Aqsa Mosque, calling them a violation of international law. Foreign ministry spokesperson Sufian Qudah rejected Israel’s attempts to alter the site’s status.

The Israeli army has admitted opening fire on Palestinians near a US-supported aid distribution point in Gaza, saying the group was roughly 500 metres away from the so-called Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) site.

According to the military, the individuals “posed a threat” as they approached Israeli forces, a familiar line often used to justify deadly force against unarmed civilians.

The so-called Gaza Humanitarian Foundation claims its aid deliveries on Tuesday unfolded “without incident,” a statement that rings hollow after Gaza health officials confirmed Israeli forces killed 24 Palestinians near one of the distribution sites that same morning.

In a carefully worded statement, the foundation distanced itself from the massacre, saying, “We don’t control the area outside of our distribution sites and surrounding vicinity, and we have no knowledge regarding IDF (Israeli army) activities beyond our perimeter, which is still an active war zone.”

Despite fatalities just outside its operations, the group insisted its work went smoothly. “While the aid distribution was conducted safely and without incident at our site today, we understand that IDF is investigating whether a number of civilians were injured after moving beyond the designated safe corridor and into a closed military zone,” the GHF added.

The foundation further shifted responsibility, stating: “This was an area well beyond our secure distribution site and operations area. Questions regarding the potential incident should be referred to the IDF Spokesperson.”

The foundation’s statement has sparked outrage among Palestinians and rights advocates, who accuse it of complicity by turning a blind eye to the lethal realities of Israel’s ongoing siege.

Former US State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller has sparked outrage after saying he believed “without a doubt" that Israel has committed war crimes. 

On Monday's episode of Sky News' Trump 100 podcast, Miller, now speaking as a private citizen, said he does not believe Israel is carrying out a genocide, but that it is failing itself as a democracy by not holding soldiers accountable for their actions in Gaza. 

He added that there were "disagreements all along the way" on how to handle Israel's war on Gaza. 

Miller served as the State Department spokesperson from 2023 until the end of Biden's presidential term, during which he frequently defended Israel's war on Gaza.

When asked if he believed Israel was committing a genocide in Gaza, Miller replied: “I don’t believe it’s genocide, but I think it is without a doubt true that Israel has committed war crimes.”

Read more: ‘Smirker of the genocide’: Outrage after Matthew Miller says Israel committed war crimes

Good morning Middle East Eye readers, 

Here are the latest updates from the Israeli war on Gaza, now in its 605th day: 

• Israeli forces opened fire on Palestinians awaiting aid in Rafah’s Muwasi area on Tuesday, killing at least 23 and wounding dozens.

• Local activists call it “another aid massacre”, marking one of the deadliest incidents since aid distribution began in southern Gaza.

• The Israeli military confirmed three soldiers died in an explosion in Jabalya, northern Gaza, with two others moderately wounded.

• US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Saudi Foreign Minister Faisal bin Farhan discussed Gaza, Syria, and Ukraine talks on Monday, the State Department said.

• Israel dismisses UN chief Antonio Guterres’ call for an inquiry into Gaza aid violence as a “disgrace”.

• Israeli troops raided the Indonesian Hospital in Beit Lahia on Monday after staff and 55 civilians, including critically ill patients, were forced to evacuate.

• Witnesses say the hospital faced severe shortages, with no food or water for nearly 10 days, amid fears of bombing.

Our live blog will shortly be closing until tomorrow morning.

Here are the day's key developments:

- Israel has killed at least 38 people in Gaza since dawn on Monday, bringing the death toll to more than 54,4170 since 7 October 2023.

- Despite local officials confirming three people dead and 35 others injured in the overnight hours as Israeli forces shot at Palestinians collecting aid in Rafah, the US ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee said that the reports are fabricated.

- Unrwa said that boxes of food intended for distribution in Gaza, stored in the agency's Amman warehouse in Jordan, are approaching their expiry dates. Some have been in storage since January.

- British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said that the situation in Gaza was getting "worse by the day" and that it was important to ensure the Palestinian enclave receives more humanitarian aid urgently.

- Former US State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller, who worked under the Biden administration and frequently defended Israel's war on Gaza, has now told Sky News he believes that Israel has "without a doubt... committed war crimes".

- The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (Ocha) reported that Israeli settler attacks against Palestinians have reached their highest rate in at least 20 years, with settlers injuring over 220 Palestinians, averaging 44 per month.

The reputation of Hamas sank to its lowest point after its attack on 7 October 2023, in which 1,200 Israelis and foreigners were killed and 251 taken hostage. 

In Israel, this attack provoked a tsunami of anger, strident calls for revenge, demands for the ethnic cleansing of Gaza, and a national consensus in support of the total eradication of Hamas. The result has been the longest, deadliest and most ruinous war in the history of the Arab-Israeli conflict.

Hamas is a social movement and political organisation with a military wing, al-Qassam Brigades. The military wing was proscribed by the British government as a terrorist organisation in March 2001, and in November 2021, former Home Secretary Priti Patel added the political organisation to the list of proscribed groups. 

Read more: This decision marked a reversal of the previous policy, which made a distinction between Hamas’s political and military wings

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Monday posted a fresh warning on X to visa holders, one day after a man who overstayed his visa attacked a pro-Israel march in Colorado.

"In light of yesterday’s horrific attack, all terrorists, their family members, and terrorist sympathizers here on a visa should know that under the Trump Administration we will find you, revoke your visa, and deport you," Rubio said. 

Rubio has made visa revocations for vocal criticism of Israel a key priority since he took office in January.

The suspect in an attack on a pro-Israeli rally in Colorado that injured eight people was being held on Monday and is being charged with a hate crime, assault and the use of explosives, in lieu of a $10m bail, according to official records.

The posted list of felony charges against Mohamed Sabry Soliman, 45, also includes charges of murder in the first degree, although police have said on social media that no victims were killed in the attack, which took place on Sunday in the city of Boulder. Authorities could not be reached immediately to clarify.

Few details were available about the suspect, but Todd Lyons, acting director of US Immigration and Customs Enforcement, said Soliman had overstayed a visa and had an expired work permit. He is an Egyptian national. 

Witnesses reported the suspect used a makeshift flamethrower and threw an incendiary device into the crowd. He was heard to yell "Free Palestine," according to the FBI, during what the agency called a "targeted terror attack".

Four women and four men between 52 and 88 years of age were transported to hospitals after the attack, Boulder Police said.

- Reporting by Reuters

Former US State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller, who worked under the Biden administration and frequently defended Israel's war on Gaza, has now told Sky News he believes that Israel has "without a doubt... committed war crimes".

In a podcast interview published on Monday, Miller - now speaking as a private citizen - said he does not believe Israel is carrying out a genocide, but that it is failing itself as a democracy by not holding soldiers accountable for their actions in Gaza. 

Miller added that there were "disagreements all along the way" on how to handle Israel's war on Gaza. 

"The administration did debate, at times, whether and when to cut off weapons to Israel. You saw us in the spring of 2024 stop the shipment of 2,000-pound bombs to Israel because we did not believe they would use those in a way that was appropriate in Gaza," he said.

"We found ourselves in this really tough position, especially in that time period when it really came to a head," Miller told Sky News.

"We were at a place where - I'm thinking of the way I can appropriately say this - the decisions and the thinking of Hamas leadership were not always secret to the United States and to our partners."

"It was clear to us in that period that there was a time when our public discussion of withholding weapons from Israel, as well as the protests on college campuses in the United States, and the movement of some European countries to recognise the state of Palestine - appropriate discussions, appropriate decisions - protests are appropriate - but all of those things together were leading the leadership of Hamas to conclude that they didn't need to agree to a ceasefire, they just needed to hold out for a little bit longer, and they could get what they always wanted," Miller said of the Biden administration's policy approach.