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

Foreign ministers from several Arab states have denounced Israel’s refusal to allow their planned visit to the occupied West Bank this weekend.

The Jordanian foreign ministry said the ministers condemned “Israel’s decision to ban the delegation’s visit to Ramallah (on Sunday) to meet with the president of the State of Palestine, Mahmud Abbas.”

The group, which included ministers from Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Jordan, and Bahrain, was expected to attend alongside the Arab League’s secretary-general.

Israel announced late on Friday that it would not permit the visit, using its control over the territory’s borders and airspace to block the delegation.

US Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff criticised Hamas’s reaction to his ceasefire proposal, calling it “totally unacceptable and only takes us backward.” 

Witkoff insisted Hamas should accept the framework as the basis for proximity talks, set to begin next week. He claimed this was the sole path to a 60-day ceasefire allowing some hostages to return home.

Earlier on Saturday, Hamas said it welcomed a ceasefire proposal by Witkoff, but is requesting modifications, a senior official told Reuters on Saturday.

The official confirmed the group responded “positively” to the initiative, though discussions remain ongoing.

He declined to specify what changes Hamas is demanding in the current version of the proposal.

The Israeli army has claimed it killed Mohammad Sinwar, Hamas’s commander in Gaza, during a strike on 13 May.

Sinwar was reportedly the target of an Israeli air strike in southern Gaza earlier this month.

Mohammad Sinwar was the younger brother of Yahya Sinwar, the senior Hamas leader accused of masterminding the 7 October 2023 assault on southern Israel.

Hamas has not officially confirmed or denied reports of his death

The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) barred its 2025 class president from attending Friday’s graduation ceremony after she delivered an unauthorised pro-Palestinian speech a day earlier.

The university announced the decision on Friday, without naming the student, stating she gave a speech during Thursday’s OneMIT commencement that had not been approved in advance.

"While that individual had a scheduled role at today’s Undergraduate Degree Ceremony, she was notified that she would not be permitted at today’s events," said university spokesperson Kimberly Allen. "MIT supports free expression but stands by its decision, which was in response to the individual deliberately and repeatedly misleading Commencement organisers and leading a protest from the stage, disrupting an important Institute ceremony."

The Palestinian Youth Movement later identified the student as Megha Vemuri. Wearing a keffiyeh, Vemuri criticised MIT’s connections with the Israeli military, accusing the institution of “aiding and abetting” its actions against Palestinians.

"As scientists, engineers, academics and leaders, we have a commitment to support life, support aid efforts and call for an arms embargo and keep demanding now as alumni, that MIT cuts the ties," she said.

The crowd responded with applause, with some students waving Palestinian flags.

“Right now, while we prepare to graduate and move forward with our lives, there are no universities left in Gaza,” Vemuri said. “We are watching Israel try to wipe out Palestine off the face of the earth, and it is a shame that MIT is a part of it."

In a garden in southern Gaza under Israeli attacks, Aziza Qishta dug a grave with her bare hands. 

With no shroud, the 65-year-old Palestinian wrapped her husband’s body in a window curtain and buried him alone. 

Ibrahim Qishta, 70, had died after being struck in the neck by shrapnel during Israel’s military incursion into Rafah earlier this year. 

For two months, the couple remained trapped in their home in Khirbet al-Adas, surviving off dwindling supplies as air strikes and shelling pounded the city. 

When neighbours fled, Ibrahim refused to be displaced, and his wife refused to leave him behind. 

Read more: ‘No voices, no light’: Palestinian buries husband alone after two months trapped under Israeli siege

Hussein al-Sheikh, vice president of Palestine, has condemned Israel’s decision to block a ministerial delegation from visiting the occupied West Bank, calling it “arrogant, provocative, and unprecedented behaviour”.

“We are examining, along with our Arab brothers, how to respond to this decision,” he posted on X.

Jordan’s Foreign Ministry confirmed earlier that the scheduled visit to Ramallah had been cancelled after Israeli authorities prevented the delegation from flying through airspace over the occupied territory.

The delegation was set to include foreign ministers from Egypt, Jordan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the UAE.

In a statement, Amman said the move amounted to deliberate obstruction and underscored growing regional frustration with Israel’s policies in the occupied Palestinian territories.

Addressing a protest in Haifa on Saturday, Ayman Odeh, a prominent Arab Israeli lawmaker and head of the Hadash movement, called for an immediate end to the war and the creation of a Palestinian state.

“Gaza won, and Gaza will win,” he told the crowd, the Israeli daily Haaretz reported.

Odeh described the ongoing war as “a historic loss for right-wing ideology,” arguing it had exposed deep contradictions within Israeli politics.

He also praised anti-government protesters in Tel Aviv — most of them Jewish — for taking a stand. But he criticised those who oppose Prime Minister Netanyahu’s government while ignoring what he called the core issue: the occupation.

“We value you and your persistence, but we cannot accept that you don't see the crux of it all. The judicial coup came from the occupation, and there is no democracy with occupation,” Odeh said.

Hamas has welcomed a ceasefire proposal for Gaza put forward by US President Donald Trump's Middle East envoy, Steve Witkoff, but is requesting modifications, a senior official told Reuters on Saturday.

The official confirmed the group responded “positively” to the initiative, though discussions remain ongoing.

He declined to specify what changes Hamas is demanding in the current version of the proposal.

A spokesman for Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital told Al Jazeera Arabic that Israeli forces are “systematically targeting” Gaza’s already fragile healthcare sector by striking power sources that keep hospitals running.

“The occupation targets the electric generators that supply hospitals,” he said, adding that the army has destroyed “the three largest power generators supplying hospitals in the Gaza Strip.”

Without power, hospital departments are shutting down, forcing staff to ration electricity where possible to keep essential services operating.

“The occupation’s targeting of electricity generators means a death sentence for patients,” the spokesman warned, highlighting that Israeli authorities are also blocking the entry of critical spare parts needed for repairs.

“Various hospital departments cannot continue operating without electricity,” he said.

Gaza’s hospitals have faced relentless bombardment since Israel launched its war on the besieged enclave nearly eight months ago. Medical teams now find themselves scrambling to save lives with dwindling resources, no fuel, and no reliable power.

“The international community must intervene to pressure the occupation to protect the health system,” the spokesman urged.

Hamas announced on Saturday that it has officially responded to the latest Gaza ceasefire proposal brokered by the United States, a plan that has drawn criticism for allegedly favouring Israel.

“After conducting a round of national consultations, and stemming from our deep responsibility towards our people and their suffering, we have delivered our response to the proposal by US envoy Steve Witkoff to the brotherly mediators,” Hamas said in a brief statement.

The group said its response aims to secure a permanent ceasefire, ensure a full withdrawal of Israeli forces from the Gaza Strip, and guarantee the sustained delivery of humanitarian aid to the territory.

As part of the proposed agreement, Hamas stated it is prepared to release 10 living Israeli captives and hand over the remains of 18 others, in exchange for an unspecified number of Palestinian prisoners.

Students at the UK’s University of Cambridge have relaunched a protest encampment outside Trinity College, one of its largest and wealthiest colleges, calling on the institution to disclose and divest from companies complicit in Israel’s war on Gaza.

The group behind the protest, Cambridge for Palestine (C4P), is demanding the University “take urgent steps” to end what it calls its “moral and material complicity in Israel’s genocide of Palestinians.”

C4P says Trinity College holds investments in companies such as Elbit Systems, Caterpillar, L3Harris Technologies, and Barclays - despite the university's previous commitment to review its “responsible investment” policy following a similar months-long encampment last year.

In a statement, C4P said the renewed protest came after “months of student, faculty, and community frustration” over the University’s failure to honour those pledges.

Read more: Cambridge students relaunch pro-Palestine encampment

Israeli forces killed at least 60 Palestinians and wounded 284 in the past 24 hours, according to the Palestinian health ministry. 

This brings the death toll in the besieged enclave since 7 October 2023 to 54,381, including 4,117 killed since Israel broke the ceasefire on 18 March. 

More than 124,054 Palestinians have been wounded overall. At least 10,000 people are still missing, likely dead and buried under rubble.

Health officials report that over 60 percent of the victims are women and children.

Saudi Arabia's Foreign Minister, Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al-Saud, has postponed his planned visit to the occupied West Bank after Israel blocked the trip, a Saudi source told Reuters.

According to Palestinian sources, the visit was arranged at the invitation of the Palestinian Authority (PA) to host a Saudi-led delegation of Arab foreign ministers in Ramallah. 

Reporting by Reuters

In a garden in southern Gaza under Israeli attacks, Aziza Qishta dug a grave with her bare hands. 

With no shroud, the 65-year-old Palestinian wrapped her husband’s body in a window curtain and buried him alone. 

Ibrahim Qishta, 70, had died after being struck in the neck by shrapnel during Israel’s military incursion into Rafah earlier this year. 

For two months, the couple remained trapped in their home in Khirbet al-Adas, surviving off dwindling supplies as air strikes and shelling pounded the city. 

When neighbours fled, Ibrahim refused to be displaced, and his wife refused to leave him behind. 

Since Israel broke the Gaza ceasefire in March, the army has killed nearly 4,000 Palestinians, bringing the death toll since October 2023 to over 54,000. 

In the following account, Aziza tells her story to the Middle East Eye. 

Read more: ‘No voices, no light’: Palestinian buries husband alone after two months trapped under Israeli siege

At least 60 Palestinians have been killed and another 284 injured in Israeli attacks across Gaza in the last 24 hours, the enclave's health ministry is reporting.

The latest casualties have brought the overall toll of Palestinians killed by Israeli forces in Gaza since October 2023  to 54,381, with another 124,381 people injured.